Tami Goldenhirsch, 96, passed away last Thursday, just four months after immigrating to Israel and reuniting with her relatives in Israel.
She died in good health and without pain, surrounded by her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Last June, the story of her aliyah was documented in "Israel Today", when she slowly got off the plane alongside the Ministry of Aliyah and Absorption employees who helped her register as a new immigrant.
Outside, many of the family members were waiting for her, wearing a red shirt with the blessing "Welcome, Grandma" and "Grandma Tammy is making aliyah."
Exciting: The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren received the 96-year-old who immigrated to Israel // Photo: Ministry of Immigration and Absorption
Three generations - 65 babies, young and old, have been waiting for the exciting reunion with their grandmother. From St. Louis, USA, she landed at Ben Gurion Airport, if the extended family and the reception hall were filled with a special atmosphere. Grandma Tammy did not even know that everyone was waiting for her with all her eyes, and was surprised by the warm welcome while all her descendants sang loudly and with great excitement "and boys returned to their border."
The person behind this special organization is Eli Zun, married to her granddaughter and father of five grandchildren.
"We are very grateful for the opportunity, and for the fact that despite the age, the many obstacles in the way, the medical condition and the corona - she makes this step of aliyah. It happened with the help of the Ministry of Aliyah and Absorption, the Jewish Agency and Nefesh. "Even though it all came down to a month. It's closing a family circle. Now four generations of life in Israel, Grandma came to her house, along with all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Yesterday, just before she boarded the plane, she said to my mother-in-law: 'I did not believe this day would ever come.'"
After the excitement of registering as an immigrant, Goldenhirsch left the Netivot House and suddenly met all her sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren - some of whom immigrated three decades ago.
During the meeting, with great excitement, everyone stood and sang around the national anthem.
"This is how we understand the enormous difficulty that people who immigrate to Israel have," said Zun, who organized the meeting.
"I myself am an Israeli by birth, and those who have not experienced the aliyah process find it difficult to understand the power. Sometimes you look with a crooked eye at the new immigrants, and do not understand how difficult this step is."
Former Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Pnina Tamano-Sheta, said at the time: "Tammy is the proof that it is never too late to fulfill the dream and make aliyah to Israel."
