Dr. Jenn Lewin recently joined Mr. Brunton’s Global Immigration and Migration class through Zoom from the University of Haifa in Israel. 

Following World War II, Dr. Lewin’s family immigrated to the United States in 1950. She explained to the class how Israel was being formed at that time, and her grandparents wanted a more stable country, so they chose to move to the U.S.

Dr. Lewin explained how Israel is a country of immigrants. It is a “new country” less than 100 years old, and was formed by Jewish immigrants who had to leave Europe during World War II. The Hebrew term “aliyah” means to rise, but is synonymous with immigrating to Israel. In order to be a citizen of Israel, you must be of Jewish descent, through your mother’s side. The majority of Jews in Israel are Russian, and the most recent Jewish immigrants are from the Ukraine.

Dr. Lewin moved to Israel seven years ago, and now teaches at one of the five universities in the country.