Extreme Weather Grounds Heathrow - But Aliyah Flight leaves on schedule!

Monday 20th December 2010 was a bitterly cold day with fog and ice. Many passengers were stranded at airports. 70 Jewish people were gathering at a hotel in London for the "Early Check-In". The weather had already prevented the Jewish Agency getting the documents to the hotel on time, and soon the large hall was full of olim and their luggage. El Al could not process anybody for the flight, as the passports had not arrived.

There was time to mingle and talk with the olim and listen to their stories. I met Hanna who is 96 years old. She told me that there is little that she will miss in England, just her friends. She said that there is something in her that "wants to live the dream" by going to live in Israel.

I also met Alan and Caroline. They had been to Israel many times and understood the culture and other difficulties they would face. Alan and Caroline import fancy umbrellas from China and sell them to specialised outlets in the UK. Most of their work is done on the internet so they will carry on their work from Israel with occasional business trips to the UK!

Caroline explained that she had never heard of Operation Exodus and wanted to know all about us. We talked and I gave her some literature. When she got to Israel she wrote an article about Operation Exodus and it was published in the Sussex Jewish News and circulated to thousand of Jewish people on the South Coast. It explained how we are working with the Jewish Agency and partnering with them for the "Aliyah on a Red Carpet."

"Who are these who fly like a cloud, And like doves to their roosts?"
Isaiah 60 v 8

Finally, very late, the Jewish Agency made it through the snow with all the documents. El Al staff started to process the olim, giving them boarding passes and taking the mountains of luggage. Slowly the crowd of expectant olim thinned out as they left to spend the night in a hotel. Operation Exodus and the Jewish Agency had arranged for everyone to stay at a nearby 4 star hotel to spend the night in comfort, ready for the next day.

The next morning 70 Jewish people took a coach to Heathrow. Only 2 aeroplanes flew out of Heathrow that day, and one of them was the Aliyah flight.

Joyeous time at the Western Wall with the Olim receiving their Israeli ID cards

By Phil Lumley - South East Prayer Leader, Operation Exodus