Note: This is one of the most beautiful of all Love Stories to share this Valentine's Day. YOUR JEWISH NEWS
Published On Tuesday, February 14, 2012 10:34 AM
Phillip and Dorothy Grossman of Baltimore, married for 71 years, were greeted by their great-great-grandchildren at airport.The bible says Abraham was 75 years old when he left his native land of Haran and set out to make his home in Canaan. But he was a spring chicken compared with the couple who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday.
The couple from Baltimore, Maryland, which have been together for 71 years, were greeted at the airport by their family and immediately taken to their new home in Jerusalem.
“Phillip and Dorothy are probably the oldest Olim couple that the State of Israel has ever absorbed and they are proof that it is never too late to fulfill your dream and make such a significant decision in life,” said Erez Halfon, Vice Chairman of Nefesh B’Nefesh, a group which facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel. “We congratulate them and wish them many more years of health and happiness living together with their family in Israel.”
The Jewish Agency for Israel and Ministry of Absorption also assisted in organizing their flight.
Before he retired Philip earned a living as an accountant while Dorothy was a house wife. They have three children, one already living in Israel and a second who will make aliyah in the summer; five grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
“We love Israel and we are very excited about our Aliyah,” said Dorothy Grossman. “We are also extremely happy that we can live close to all our family in Israel.”
The Grossmans might be the oldest married couple to move to Israel together but neither of them come near breaking the record for the single oldestperson to make aliya. That distinction probably goes to two immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are said to have arrived in Israel aged 111 during the 1990s. Belle Goldstein, the oldest ole from North America, moved to Israel at the age of 102 in 1998. She passed away in 2001 three months shy of her 106th birthday.As for the youngest Jewish immigrant to arrive in Israel that title probably goes to the eight children, five boys and three girls, who were born on planes during OperationSolomon, the dramatic airlift in 1991 which brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
