Zionism and Israel

18.10.2026

Aliya Day is a civic holiday celebrated every year on the 7th of Cheshvan. This day was set and approved by the Knesset of Israel on June 21, 2016 and its purpose is to educate and recognize the importance of aliyah to Eretz Yisrael as a basis for the existence of the State of Israel. The date was initially supposed to be the 10th of Nisan, the date the Jews initially entered Israel in the time period of Yehoshua bin-Nun, based on the verse in the book of Joshua 4:19: "And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month ..." However, due to the proximity of the original date to Passover and the fact that during this period the students of Israel are on vacation, it was decided to dedicate Aliyah Day on the 7th of Cheshvan, whose date corresponds to the reading of Parshas "Lech Lecha'' which describes the divine commandment to Abraham, the father of the nation, to leave the land of his birth, with its bountiful rains and many sources of water, in order to reach the land promised to him and his descendants by God.