We couldn't have landed in a better place, for us, than the incredible Berman community of Rehovot. Before we even arrived we had a number of angels answering our questions, looking for apartments, setting us up for meals, lending us basic appliances and furniture and enveloping us with warmth and friendship.

 

And yet, all new beginnings are hard. And Aliyah is certainly no different. The Hebrew here is not the same as the one we learned in Jewish Day School, and Shua's Hebrew from home was a bit outdated. The kids had "some" Hebrew from their Zionist school, but it's not exactly the same...

 

We both had to find jobs, make new friends, acclimate our kids when we ourselves were trying to figure it all out, walk around everywhere in the heat since we weren't buying a car just yet, and live in a 105 meter apartment after leaving (what we had thought at the time was) a very modest town house.

 

Suddenly that old place seemed huge! A positive attitude, a great sense of humor, realistic expectations and incredible relatives and friends (old and new) got us through the trying times and celebrated all the holidays together.

 

I won't lie and say it was easy.

It was hard. But it was worth it.

It was a struggle. It IS a struggle. But it is a rewarding.

It was a physical downgrade. But it was an emotional and spiritual upgrade.

 

Shua and I will always be immigrants. But at the end of the day, we did it for our children. We wanted our children to grow up in our one and only Jewish Homeland. We wanted them to fulfill a dream that so many Jews could only dream of. We wanted them to find meaning in the mundane. We wanted Israel to be a place to live, not just a place to visit. We wanted them to become super independent, unapologetic, proud Jews.

 

And, have they ever! Our kids, now ages 13-21 are full-fledged, thriving Israelis thank G-d, with very embarrassing immigrant parents who have funny accents, make fashlot (awkward/embarrasing incidents) daily, who don't get "it" (the school system, the army, the right songs for the right occasions etc...). But we wouldn't have it any other way.

 

We have a proud officer on the Lebanon border in her 3rd year of service, a brand new Airforce soldier (2 weeks!) proudly beginning her two years (plus?) of service, an almost 11th grade son who was mistaken as a Sabra by his Kitah Aleph teacher after just one year here, and our "baby," Tamar, now 13, who only remembers life in the U.S. from pictures, and has the confidence, spunk, mindset and personality of a native.

 

Aliyah was truly the best decision of our life and the best gift we could have given our children. It is my hope and prayer that they will each continue to grow, thrive and give back to the country that has given them so much. And may we be blessed to celebrate many more wonderful milestones as a family for years and generations to come."

 

📸 Government Press Office