Ari Stone, 21, casts his lot with Israel

By Paul Haist

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Ari Stone boarded a plane at Portland International Airport Dec. 25 bound for New York and from there on to Israel, his new home.

The 21-year-old Portland native, the son of Jim and Vicki Stone, didn’t have to stop and think when asked why he chose to make aliyah.

“I feel comfortable there because it is home; people accept me for who I am,” he said, referring to being Jewish in the Jewish state.

Stone has been there before. He went in 2002 on a National Council of Synagogue Youth program with Tzofim Chetz V’Keshet (Friends of Israel Scouts).

He visited for an entire year after he graduated from Wilson High School. He studied Hebrew then and volunteered at two hospitals.

He went again last summer.

“That’s when I decided I should make aliyah,” he said.

“I support the country and what it stands for. I am young and healthy and can help Israel grow,” he added.

Stone will spend his first five months in Israel on a kibbutz near Petak Tikvah, just north of Tel Aviv. From there he will move on to Jerusalem where he will work until he enters the army next September.

Asked how he thought his parents felt about his going he said, “They’re excited and they support me.”

“They are a little nervous,” he added, “but they raised me to be Jewish and to support the Jewish nation. They accept that I am doing what they taught me.”

Stone, who attended services here at Chabad of Oregon’s Congregation Bais Menachem, grew up immersed in his Jewish identity. He attended Maimonides Jewish Day School and Portland Jewish Academy. He was very active with NCSY, where he served as chapter vice president during his high school years.

“Our chapter was (named) the most improved group in the West Coast region in 2004,” he said.

Stone’s decision to move to Israel was facilitated by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a North American group dedicated to helping Jews here move to Israel. The Jewish Agency for Israel also helped by reimbursing part of Stone’s airfare to New York. He said the flight from New York to Israel was free.

He said he had “some regrets” about leaving his friends here, but was otherwise ready for this change in his life.

“It came to the point where we go different ways in our lives,” he said.

He remains available, however, to help others who may be thinking about doing what he chose to do.

He said that if other people his age have questions about making aliyah they should look him up on the Internet. One need only type in his name at Facebook.com or Myspace.com to get in touch with him.

Stone said that once he completes his military obligation he might like to become a teacher, “work with the community and help kids.”

Children figure in his plans in other ways too.

“I want to raise a Jewish Zionist family when I am older,” he said. “There is no better place for it than Israel.”