Yom Ha’aliyah is an Israeli national holiday acknowledging immigration to Israel as a core value of the Jewish state, and to honor the ongoing contributions of Olim, “immigrants,” to Israeli society.
The last verse in the Tanakh calls upon the Jewish people to ascend to Eretz Yisrael. After decades of Babylonian rule, Persian king Cyrus, grants permission for the exiled Jews to return to their land and rebuild the Beit Hamikdash in Yerushalayim. This was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Yirmiyahu, that after 70 years Hashem would return the Jewish people home ( Jeremiah 29:10). Just as He fulfilled His word to return the People of Israel to the Land of Israel after the first exile, today as well God has begun to fulfill His promise to gather the exiles from the four corners of the earth and to bring the ultimate redemption (Deuteronomy 30:3-5). Since the establishment of the State of Israel, millions of Jews have returned home from more than 100 different countries.
How fortunate are we to witness the beginning stages of the tremendous miracle of the ingathering of the exiles. May we soon merit the final fulfillment of the complete redemption of Israel and the entire world.
“Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: “God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me with building Him a House in Yerushalayim, which is in Yehuda. Any one of you of all His people, Hashem his God be with him and let him go up.”
כֹּה־אָמַ֞ר כּ֣וֹרֶשׁ ׀ מֶ֣לֶךְ פָּרַ֗ס כָּל־מַמְלְכ֤וֹת הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ נָ֣תַן לִ֗י יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְהֽוּא־פָקַ֤ד עָלַי֙ לִבְנֽוֹת־ל֣וֹ בַ֔יִת בִּירוּשָׁלִַ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּֽיהוּדָ֑ה מִֽי־בָכֶ֣ם מִכָּל־עַמּ֗וֹ יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהָ֛יו עִמּ֖וֹ וְיָֽעַל׃
koh a-MAR KO-resh ME-lekh pa-RAS kol mam-l’-KHOT ha-A-retz NA-tan LEE a-do-NAI e-lo-HAY ha-sha-MA-yim v’-HU fa-KAD a-LAI liv-NOT LO VA-yit bee-ru-sha-LA-im a-SHER bee-hu-DAH mee va-KHEM mi-kol a-MO a-do-NAI e-lo-HAV i-MO v’-YA-al
Divrei Hayamim II (II Chronicles) 36:23