When a Jew today thinks of making aliya to move up to the Land of Israel, or even to visit the Land, all he has to do is get on a plane and arrive in a matter of hours. But when Ezra the Scribe laid the "foundation for aliya" (Ezra 7:9), by leading a large number of Jews from Babylonian exile to Eretz Yisrael, it took him four months until he arrived in Jerusalem.

This is how this historic foundation is described: "For Ezra prepared his heart to see the Torah of G-d, to do it and to teach the People of Israel the statutes and laws." (ibid. 7:10)

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