When he left the United States, Adam Berman took two suitcases, his Jewish faith and a one-way ticket to Israel. "Israel is my home," said Berman, a 24-year-old Columbus native who moved to the Holy Land last summer. "It has been a welcome change in my life. It's sort of a dream. I am where my community lives, and it's exciting."

When he left the United States, Adam Berman took two suitcases, his Jewish faith and a one-way ticket to Israel.

�Israel is my home,� said Berman, a 24-year-old Columbus native who moved to the Holy Land last summer. �It has been a welcome change in my life. It�s sort of a dream. I am where my community lives, and it�s exciting.�

Berman, who is the son of Rabbi Harold Berman of Congregation Tifereth Israel, is one of about 20 Jews in Columbus every year to make aliyah � Jewish immigration to Israel. Aliyah is a Hebrew word that means ascent. It is often described as a homecoming for Jewish people, referred to in the Bible as the �children of Israel.�

�The most common reason people come is to live a Jewish life in the state of Israel,� said Lior Abarbanel, the Israeli representative for the Columbus Jewish Federation. �We believe Israel is the country of the Jewish people. It�s the best and easiest way to (live a Jewish life) in terms of kosher food and religion and just being there.�

About 100 Jews from Ohio make aliyah each year, said Sophie Fellman Rafalovitz, aliyah coordinator for the Midwest region at the Jewish Agency for Israel. She said 4,000 American Jews make aliyah per year. Jews worldwide and of any age can apply to the agency to move to Israel. About 85 percent of them choose to move there permanently.

To make the move, Jews apply to the Jewish Agency for Israel. If accepted, they receive benefits such as a free one-way ticket to Israel, free Hebrew classes for up to 10 months, free health insurance for one year and six monthly payments totaling $5,000 per person.

Jewish immigrants such as Berman also present documents showing their Jewish connection, civil status, medical history and a list of their visits to Israel to be eligible to make aliyah through the agency.

�My list filled up one full page,� said Berman, who lived in Israel for a year after he graduated from Bexley High School.

Then he decided to make aliyah after he graduated from Yale University with a degree in political science.

He said the whole process, including the time to get his visa, took about six months.

Abarbanel said most Jews who make aliyah do so because they have family in Israel or have visited the country and felt a spiritual or cultural connection to its land and people.

�I was over there two years ago, and as a modern country, I love the energy there, and it�s a beautiful country,� said Sedona Rosenberg, an 18-year-old graduate of Lincoln High School in Gahanna who spent the summer of 2012 in Israel. �Culturally, I feel a strong connection to the land and am empowered by the idea of Israel � a land built for Jews by Jews.�

Rosenberg, like Berman, applied for aliyah through the Jewish Agency�s Nefesh B�Nefesh program for North American immigrants who want to move with a support group.

Rosenberg will leave in September and take Hebrew classes in Israel before joining the Israeli military, a requirement for citizenship. Berman now lives with the group he moved with on a kibbutz in southern Israel near the country�s border with Gaza.

He serves in the military as a media liaison for Israeli policy toward Gaza and has gotten used to working in the Hebrew language. But one aspect has been difficult.

�We get rocket fire from terrorists in Gaza almost every day,� Berman said. �That�s not something I expected. I�ll be at work and continue working from a secure bomb shelter.�

Adam�s father said he worries about his son�s safety but is proud of him for pursuing what he wants.

�We are very much like almost all other (Israeli Defense Forces) parents,� he said. �We are proud of our son and recognize, as an Israeli citizen, you have to be willing to put yourself on the line. On the other hand, we�re nervous for him because he�s in the army and faces real dangers."

Rosenberg said she�s unsure whether she wants to settle permanently in Israel, but Berman plans to stay.

�I have a deeper connection and a more mature attachment to Israel and Zionism,� Berman said. � It�s amazing being here and waking up with Israel every single day.�

mwiner@dispatch.com

@MadeleineWiner