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For Judy Rebacz, making aliyah had been a dream of hers since first visiting the country with her Hebrew high school class. Her dream became a reality when Judy and her husband, Larry, moved to Israel on Dec. 30, leaving their home and jobs behind in Highland Park.

"This was something I wanted to do since I was 16 and it took over 30 years of marriage to convince my husband," Judy, who had lived in Highland Park for the past 18 years and was a member of Congregation Ohev Emeth, told The Jewish State in a phone interview from Jerusalem.

The Rebaczes are two of the 3,324 new immigrants from the United States who have moved to Israel in 2009, according The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI). This number is a 19-percent increase compared to the number of U.S. immigrants in 2008, giving 2009 the greatest number of new immigrants from the U.S. in 36 years.

For many American Jews, the decision to make aliyah at this moment represents an "old dream at the right time," explained Liran Avisar, head of the Jewish Agency's Aliyah delegation in North America.

The motivation for many, according to Avisar, is still primarily ideological, but the timing is based on a weak economy.

"People say to themselves, 'I have nothing to loose at this point'," she said.

This was not the case for the Rebaczes, who left good jobs behind in the states to start their new lives in Israel. They are joining their son, Marc, 26, who made aliyah after high school and is currently completing his studies at Hebrew University. Judy and Larry Rebacz hope to find employment as an English teacher and accountant, respectively.

For Yonit Rothchild, who grew up in Edison and was living in Miami with her husband Rabbi Moshe Rothchild and their three children, the timing of their aliyah was based on the fact that their oldest child was entering 1st grade and they wanted their children to be raised in Israel.

However, Yonit did acknowledge that part of the timing had to do with their desire to relieve some of the financial pressure from their Miami shul, of which her husband was the rabbi.

"If we hadn't gone this year, we would have gone next year. It definitely pushed us to move earlier than later," she said of her previous shul's economic challenges.

For Aryeh and Debbie Eisenberg, the move from Highland Park to Israel was also based upon ideological reasons, yet expedited by their oldest son's difficulties in the local day school system.

"It was always something my wife and I considered. We were both raised in Zionist homes and attended day schools growing up," Aryeh Eisenberg said in a phone interview from his home in Modi'in.

The Eisenbergs made aliyah with their two children, who at the time were 4 and 1, respectively, in August 2008. The two major challenges of the transition, Aryeh said, was finding employment and ensuring that his children adjusted well.

Aryeh, who had worked in Jewish day schools in New Jersey as a technology director, found employment as a trainer and content developer in a high-tech company there and said that his children have taken to their new home and schools.

"Many people compare aliyah to the first year of a marriage," Aryeh said of the differences, large and small, between life in the United States and life in Israel. "You know you love the person and you know it's where you want to be, but you have deal with the quirks and learn how to make it work."

Of recent olim from the United States, 59 percent identify as Orthodox, 11 percent as Conservative, and 5 percent, Reform. Avisar credited the growing number of "unaffiliated" Jews who are making aliyah to organizations such as MASA, which provides grants to young Diaspora Jews to come to Israel on an organized program, and Taglit-Birthright, which provides a 10-day all-expense paid trip to young Jews who have never been to Israel on an organized trip.

Thirty percent of the American immigrants are under the age of 18; 44 percent are between 18 and 34; 15 percent are between 35 and 54; 5 percent are 55-64; and 6 percent are over 65 years of age.

In terms of geographical distribution, 47 percent are from the tri-state area and New England; 10 percent are from Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and the Mid-Atlantic region; 12 percent are from Florida and the Southeastern U.S.; 13 percent are from Chicago and the Midwest; 5 percent are from the Greater San Francisco area and the Pacific Northwest; and 13 percent are from the Greater Los Angeles area and the Southwestern U.S.

The U.S. increase reflects global trends, where the total number of new immigrants (excluding Ethiopian Jews, which is handled specifically by Israel's Ministry of Interior) was 16,200, a 17 percent increase from 2008. The largest percentage growth by geographic area was from Eastern Europe (27 percent) and from the former Soviet Union (22 percent), followed by North America (17 percent, when including the only 6 percent increase from Canada). Specific countries with the largest percentage increases in the number of new olim included the United Kingdom (with an increase of 34 percent, to 835 new immigrants), Argentina (51 percent to 325), Spain (52 percent, to 38) and Scandinavian countries (104 percent, to 57 new immigrants).

Avisar predicted that such relatively large numbers of olim from the U.S. will hold in 2010.

"If I'm reading right what's going on in the American economy, the consequences will continue in the upcoming year," she said.

In addition to the faltering American economy, Avisar attributed such an upswing to the "innovative steps" that the Jewish Agency has taken in regard to prospective immigrants.

Avisar explained that JAFI sees the role of the shaliach (emissary) changing, from one where interaction with prospective olim comes after people had already begun to seriously consider the idea of emigrating to one that is more proactive in discussing the possibility with people who are "just playing with the idea."

"When you're having a more open conversation, you can have more of an influence," she said, adding that the Jewish Agency has also increased its presence on college campuses.