Fifteen doctors arrive in Israel as part of Nefesh B'Nefesh

[Gimel]

For Ari Simckes, immigration to Israel was a lifelong dream that nearly took a backseat to his medical career.

A pediatric nephrologist from Kansas City, Simckes gave up his job at the local hospital and an associate professorship to become one of 15 doctors moving to Israel this summer in memory of a slain American-Israeli colleague, Dr. David Applebaum.

"I had a great job" in the US, said Simckes on Tuesday afternoon at New York's Kennedy airport as he boarded a flight to Israel. "The perfect situation," he said. Still, for reasons he described as "idealistic and Zionistic," Simckes, 42, his wife Debbie, 36, and their three Hebrew-speaking children, ages 3, 6, and 8, decided to uproot themselves from a comfortable life in the US for uncertainty in Hashmonaim in a bid to fulfill both their own dream and Dr. Applebaum's legacy.

The doctors, all making aliyah with Nefesh B'Nefesh, are part of the organization's Applebaum Fellowship, which provides grants of up to $15,000 to North American doctors immigrating to Israel. Applebaum, the late director of emergency services at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital, was killed last September, along with his daughter Nava the night before her wedding, in a terrorist attack at Cafe Hillel. The death of a US immigrant who had devoted his life to helping others inspired doctors who were uncertain about immigration to make the move.

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