March 16, 2010 / 1 Nissan 5770

During a tour of the south of Israel, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky spent time at the San Diego-IBIM Student Village in the Shaar Hanegev.

The March 11, 2010, visit gave Sharansky a chance to see up close the important work done by IBIM and its unique and long-standing partnership with the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County. After meeting with the IBIM staff, olim (new immigrants), families, and observing student programs, he left inspired. As he wrote in the visitor's book, "This is a paradise for new beginnings in Israel – well done!"

Joining Sharansky was Eli Cohen, the Jewish Agency's Director General of Aliyah and Absorption, as well as directors from the regional council Shaar HaNegev.

Sharansky was not the only one moved by what he saw.
 
Just the week before at a special, festive concert, parents who had only moved to Israel six months before and had settled in IBIM were moved to tears when they heard their young children singing nursery rhymes in Hebrew alongside their Israeli-born friends. The children, who live in IBIM, go to kindergarten at nearby Kibbutz Nachal Oz.

"The rapid integration of the children is exceptional," wrote San Diego-IBIM Student Village Director Soni Singer in a letter to the San Diego-IBIM Steering Committee. "Not only the parents, but many guests who came to the concert were very excited about the special relationship created between the children of immigrants and Israelis."