Aliyah, Pipelines and the Return of Christ

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News. There is a rise again this year in North American Jews making aliyah (immigration of Jews to Eretz Israel, the cornerstone of Zionist ideology.), the Jewish Agency estimates that 2009 will see an increase of 15% in the number of North Americans immigrating to Israel. A 12% increase has already been documented for the first third of 2009 (January through April) compared with the same period in 2008. The summer months generally see the largest numbers of Olim (new immigrants).