אוירא דארץ ישראל Avira DEretz Yisroel

‘Nisyonos UPLIFT Us’ – Rabbi Yosef Sholom Rabin of Kedushas Tzion

From America to HaShem’s Backyard

Yosef Sholom Rabin, Sha’arei Chesed, Yerushalayim

I was born and raised in the “Goldene Medinah” (lehavdil!), America, and spent most of my years in Passaic, NJ. For seven years I was zoche to absorb myself in the amazing Torah environment of Yeshivas Talmidei Telz in Riverdale, NY, after which I came to learn in Eretz Yisroel by R’ Meir Soloveitchik, zt”l. Toras Brisk and an emphasis on “tiffeh [deep] lomdus” were definitely a big part of my day back then, playing a significant role in my “Eretz Yisroel Yeshiva experience.” Today I am married with two kids, bli ayin hara, studying Israeli law, and also koveia itim laTorah to the best of my ability, happily living in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh.

My family had been coming to Eretz Yisroel for the Shalosh Regalim for a number of years and the decision for me to live permanently in Eretz Yisroel was somewhat natural. B”H I met my wonderful wife here and have been married and living here happily ever since. Obviously, it takes time getting used to the somewhat aggressive (and what can sometimes appear as obnoxious) Israeli culture, but I feel that there’s nothing more special than having the opportunity to live “B’Eretz asher Einei HaShem Elokecha bah meireishis hashanah v’ad acharis shanah,” or in other words, “HaShem’s backyard.” For thousands of years Yidden from all corners of the world davened to return to Eretz Yisroel, and B”H we have merited to see these tefillos come to fruition in our times. The Seven Nevu’os of Nechama take on a new and more palpable meaning as we witness the growth and tremendous hatzlacha of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisroel with our very own eyes.

The truth is that I had “life easy” with regards to some of the challenges chutznikim face when coming to Eretz Yisroel, but I can still relate to some of them on various levels and have B”H been active in helping to find solutions. The main problems everyone talks about is the lack of “normal chinuch,” finding jobs (especially for the women with regards to kollel yungerleit), and affordable housing within a warm kehillah.

As for housing, we’ve recently been looking seriously into moving to a Chareidi Yishuv and have been specifically interested in a place called Meitzad, which is about forty minutes from Yerushalayim by car and twenty minutes from Beitar. There is a wonderful cheider and developing Bais Yaakov there, but what attracted us most was the feeling of being in a somewhat “remote location” (not really, just feels like it), far from the hustle and bustle of the city, the large and spacious geographical setting, and the amazing views of Midbar Yehudah [the Judean Desert]. Furthermore, unless you go two or three hours up north or down south, nothing can beat the prices there and the size of the properties as well.

The language barrier can make everything exceedingly more difficult, but from my experience, once you’ve decided to “jump in” and “become Israeli,” conquering Ivrit is somewhat less terrifying. The fact that for many, their immediate family is almost three thousand miles away is also very challenging, but B”H with technology today, connecting overseas has become a lot easier. Still, nothing can replace having your shver and shvigger around the corner or spending a family Shabbos together without having to think twice. Baruch HaShem, I’m zoche to have both (almost), but I have many friends who suffer from this issue daily. When asked about these problems I often respond that chazal say “Eretz Yisroel nikneis beyissurim” and halevay that these are my only yissurim. Yes, coming to Eretz Yisroel to PERMANENTLY LIVE HERE—not for a vacation, not for yarchei kallah, and not even for a year or two of yeshiva—is definitely a nisayon. But while nisyonos can be difficult, aggravating and very taxing, they also help us grow and inspire us to achieve more. The word nisayon shares the same shoresh as the word nes [miracle] and lehisnoses—to “lift up.” When we rise to the occasion and exert our “superhuman” kochos, HaShem makes miracles for us as well and shows us the path to hatzlachah.

Of course, there is so much to see and experience in Eretz Yisroel from a geographical and historical perspective as well. From the beautiful Golan Heights down to the sun scorched Eilat, Eretz Yisroel is filled with breathtaking views, Jewish history and archeology soaked into its very essence. The mesirus nefesh of our ancestors and Jewish brethren is firmly planted in the Land and serves as a powerful source of inspiration to help us understand our unique tafkid here.

Whether it’s the taxi driver who mentions Shem HaShem every third word, the receipts that say chag sameach, and just the overall experience of seeing Jews from all backgrounds coming home after so many years in galus, something about Eretz Yisroel continues to tickle my neshamah and demand ever higher levels of Avodas HaShem, bonding with Klal Yisroel and true Tikkun Olam beMalchus Shakai. May it be the Will of HaShem that all of Klal Yisroel merit to fulfill this wonderous mitzvah of living and truly thriving in Eretz Yisroel, and may we then merit the coming of Moshiach and the geulah sheleimah bekarov!

Creating a Voice for Chutznikim

One confusing “headache” for chutznikim is understanding the political scene (or mess) here in Eretz Yisroel…. In contrast to America, politics could actually have a direct impact on people’s day-to-day lives, so it is somewhat more important to pay attention to things. I think that American Chareidim in Eretz Yisroel could definitely help advance the general agenda of the Chareidi tzibbur here. They can also help create a voice for the unique needs of the slightly different chutznik mentality.

As a member of an organization called Kedushas Tzion, working towards bringing the government closer to Torah values and halachah is, to me, a particularly meaningful part of our goal. The more we can strengthen and broaden the influence of the Chareidi community here, the closer it will be to becoming a reality.

Reprinted with permission from Avira D’Eretz Yisroel.

Israel: The Mundane and the Spirit

Nature and Ruchniyus

I love nature and I’m also attracted to ruchniyus. It was only natural that I made Eretz Yisroel my home, being the place where ruchniyus is natural and where nature is ruchniyus.

From the Teveria apartment building I live in, there are views of the beautiful Kinneret and its green surroundings. I enjoy looking at the scenery and connecting to the kedusha. It’s not just a big and beautiful lake—all other lakes in the world get their chiyus from HaShem “personally” keeping His “eyes” on this one. This is true as well for all the other elements that make up nature—the mountains, valleys, plains, skies, oceans, and everything else you can think of. The kedusha root of all of it is in Eretz Yisroel.

One thing I love about Eretz Yisroel is that I can find a place where I can be a frum Yid and also ride a horse. (Maybe not really in the city, but not too far out.) I need access to nature, and here I have all of that as a frum Yid who is part of a normal kehillah.

Within the small area of Eretz Yisroel, there are plains, deserts, an alpine mountain (the Hermon), forests, a coastal region, and more. I try to go around as much as I can, exploring both my immediate surroundings and the wider area.

It used to be that we had to be in golus to collect the nitzotzos of kedusha from all around, but now many are making their way straight to us in Eretz Yisroel. Those coffee beans from Costa Rica don’t need us to be anywhere outside of Eretz Yisroel for us to make a brachah on them and thus be metaken them. We can find them in the coffee corner in our local shtiebel, and that’s just one small example.

I originally came to Eretz Yisroel from the U.S. on a tour, but while on the bus from the airport I was already sure this was the place I wanted to call home. My wife had been here for seminary, so she also knew what Eretz Yisroel was like. We lived in Milwaukee for the first two years of our marriage, which is I think a great community to be part of if you must live in chutz la’Aretz. We then had the zechus of pursuing opportunities in ruchniyus here in Eretz Yisroel, eventually ending up in Teveria.

We came about two years ago to join a small kehillah in Teveria Illit. We were previously living in Ramat Beit Shemesh, but the rising prices forced us out. The warm family-oriented feel of the small kehillah and the slower pace of life here in Teveria was a welcome change from the larger communities we had lived in before. My wife and children quickly made many friends, as might be expected in a new community.

We are now part of the unbroken chain of frum Yidden who have had a long and ancient presence here in Teveria, sanctifying this place with their Torah and mitzvos. Though there recently has been a renaissance of Chareidi life here, their presence has always existed. Since the days of Rav Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, talmid of the Mezritcher Maggid, who lived here in Teveria about 250 years ago, many chassidim have called this place home, infusing the city with a spirit of Torah and avodas HaShem.

More recently, there has been a steady growth in the frum community here, which includes many different sects of Chareidim. I sighted a busload of Toldos Aharon chassidim returning from Rosh HaShana in Yerushalayim. Karlin has an impressive representation and so does Sanz. The Litvish also have recently started a community here, and Sephardi bnei-Torah have always been around. There are some Slonimers and Lelovers as well.

Every week, more people arrive here in Teveria. New schools open and new batei midrash are built. One of the kehillos had built a new and beautiful beis medrash which was filled beyond capacity just two weeks after its inauguration, as they had not anticipated such quick growth.

The communities are primarily Israeli; though, there are a few English-speakers spread around, and even an English-speaking Rebbe (Lizhensk). I would be happy if other English speakers would join me in my community to take advantage of the opportunities Teveria affords.

Just a short few years ago, when I would have occasion to visit Ramat Beit Shemesh and people would hear that I live in Teveria, they would react incredulously as if I was living on the moon. Now, people are asking me about what’s happening here, as it’s becoming a more mainstream option for many.

The heimish infrastructure is well-developed and getting better all the time. There is also the wonderful pleasant feeling of the city—warm and inviting, quiet and relaxed. Cars stop for pedestrians with a smile.

 

Respect for the Land

Several years ago, we were operating a small vegetable farm in Yish’i, a small moshav near Beit Shemesh. After moving to Teveria, we restarted as a compost manufacturer.

Eretz Yisroel has a relatively dense population and there are not enough places to handle the waste produced. By turning food waste into compost, we are not only making a parnassah, we are also minimizing the amount of garbage piling up on the Land. If this is an important thing to do anywhere we live, it is all the more so in Eretz HaKodesh.

– Binyamin Klempner, Teveria Illit, Teveria

This article is part of our Eretz Chemdah series featuring Anglo-Chareidim living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. A joint project of Avira D’Eretz Yisroel, Kedushas Tzion and Naava Kodesh, coordinated by Yoel Berman – info@naavakodesh.org.

Reprinted with permission from Naava Kodesh.

Introducing a Pair of ‘Very Ordinary’ Jews Who Made Aliyah

Eretz Chemdah: An Inside View – How We Made It in Eretz Yisroel

Various Perspectives and Experiences of English speakers Living in Eretz Yisroel

How We Made It in Eretz Yisroel

It was over fifty years ago when my husband, Meir Miller, first came to Eretz Yisroel as a bochur to learn in yeshiva. He had a strong desire to learn Torah in Eretz Yisroel and therefore worked hard as a waiter for a whole summer just to save up for a ticket (by boat, in case you were wondering). The difficulties that such a move involved did not daunt him.

He grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, in one of the few shomer Shabbos families there. As there were no options for proper chinuch in his hometown, from the age of eight and a-half he would commute daily to cheider in Boston, Massachusetts, a commute of over fifty miles that took an hour and a-half each way, all by himself. In the following years, he would take along his younger siblings as well. This arrangement lasted until he advanced to yeshiva high school in New York.

Not knowing anything about the yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel, he inquired about them at the Jewish Agency in New York. They suggested he enroll in one of them, but when he arrived at the yeshiva, he found that they could not accept him because they didn’t have room. He then decided to go to Yerushalayim. He was referred to a Zionist yeshiva there, but he felt the atmosphere just wasn’t right for him.

Soon thereafter he chanced upon a childhood friend from America while walking through the Geula neighborhood in Yerushalayim. This friend had been referred to Yeshivas Kamenitz and was slated for an interview with the rosh yeshiva, HaRav Yitzchok Scheiner. The friend suggested that Meir join him at the yeshiva where the rosh yeshiva was American-born, and several talmidim were from America.

Meir was accepted warmly into the yeshiva by Rav Scheiner, and was quickly absorbed into the atmosphere of Yerushalyim, including being exposed to many of its special personalities. It was clear to him that he was here to stay, with his future awaiting him in Yerushalayim.

About four years later, Rebbetzin Herman, the wife of R’ Nochum Dovid (son of R’ Yaakov Yosef of “All for the Boss” fame) suggested our shidduch. I was an American girl, the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Europe, who had come to visit Eretz Yisroel after my first year as a teacher in New York. I was staying by my aunt and uncle in the Yerushalayim neighborhood of Sanhedriya. Yerushalayim captured my heart, and I dreamt of building my life here.

We shared the dream of building a true Jewish Torah home and being zoche to doros yesharim mevorachim, not in Providence, not in New York, but in Yerushalayim—shel matah and shel ma’alah.

After getting married in the U.S., we came back and settled in Yerushalayim. It wasn’t easy, but no one promised me a life of roses. All we had was the shirts on our backs, no money and no “P.H.D.” (Papa has Dough). I knew that chazal say that Eretz Yisroel is only acquired through yissurim (by the way, Torah and Olam Haba, as well, are acquired through yissurim), so I decided to accept these yissurim with simcha!

Both of us were at a tremendous distance from parents and family, without the support that many young couples have. We really missed our family, but we did put in a lot of effort to make it here and build our own home by ourselves. We did have, though, the love and help of the Kamenitz rosh yeshiva and his wife, and of our dear aunt and uncle. As time went on, we also made many new friends. To quote Dovid HaMelech, Yerushalayim is the city “shechubera lah yachdav“—that makes all Yidden friends.

Throughout the years there were financial ups and downs. In one of the financially difficult periods, my husband, who had meanwhile received semicha, was offered a respectable rabbinic position in Providence with a high salary. It wasn’t easy to decline. We did have what to miss in the land we both grew up in, but Yerushalayim won out.

I think it was our firm resolve, perseverance, determination, and will power that brought about the tremendous Siyata Dishmaya that allowed us to fulfill our dream. Boruch HaShem and bechasdei HaShem, today we own a spiritual empire! Bli ayin hara, we built four generations here in Eretz Yisroel—children, grandchildren and a slew of great-grandchildren—all chareidim l’Dvar HaShem, bnei Torah, and all living in beautiful homes purchased here. They all have a chelka in Eretz Yisroel.

It all happened here in Eretz Yisroel, from scratch! HaShem saw we had the will and He did all the rest! We are very ordinary people, nothing special, so if we did it, you certainly can too.

“Ani Ma’amin” — My Beliefs

These are the beliefs that got me to decide, over fifty years ago—as an eighteen-year-old—that I was coming to live in Eretz Yisroel.

Without going into the essence of the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisroel, and of the practical pros and cons, I firmly believe that Eretz Yisroel is the safest place in the world to live in.

Why? Because the Torah says that this is the Land which HaShem’s “eyes” are always on, throughout the whole year.

Is this not enough of a guarantee for me to be satisfied?  What safer place in the world can there be?

Also, I firmly believe that Moshiach can come any day. I surely do not want to get caught up in the rush hour when throngs of Yidden from all over the world will be trying to come here to Eretz Yisroel when Moshiach arrives.

I want to be settled here before Moshiach comes! I want to have enough time to get dressed in my best to greet him and be able to absorb the highlight of the most magnificent moment of the world’s existence. 

– Meir and Leah Miller, Sanhedriya, Yerushalayim

This article is part of our Eretz Chemdah series featuring Anglo-Chareidim living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. A joint project of Avira D’Eretz Yisroel, Kedushas Tzion and Naava Kodesh, coordinated by Yoel Berman – info@naavakodesh.org.

Reprinted with permission from Naava Kodesh.

The Aliyah Experience – Yoel Berman Speaks

Present and Future

Various Perspectives and Experiences of English speakers Living in Eretz Yisroel

Present and Future

I came from Los Angeles as a bochur to the Mir Yeshiva, and then got married here in Eretz Yisroel.

I continued learning in the Mir, while my wife worked for Otzar HaChochma, the world’s largest digital seforim library, in its beginning stages of amassing and scanning thousands of seforim.

We then moved to Modi’in Illit, where, with the help of our parents for the down payment, we purchased our first apartment. As is common in this country, we bought “on paper,” paying the contractor in installments as the apartment was built. Meanwhile, we rented down the block. It was an interesting experience watching the progress of the construction of our apartment.

My wife then worked at ImageStore doing document digitizing and electronic archiving. It was one of a few companies which started the trend of creating workspaces tailored for large numbers of Chareidi women interested in working together, close to home in a sheltered environment. Next door to ImageStore was another such company, CityBook, which provided jobs to many native English speakers living in Modi’in Illit by outsourcing for American companies.

While my wife worked, I continued as an avreich in a small kollel in Kiryat Sefer where we would hear shiurim from HaRav Moshe Mordechai Karp shlit”a (author of the popular Hilchos Chag BeChag series). The group comprised a real mix of Litvish, Chasidish and Sephardi avreichim both from Eretz Yisroel and abroad.

When one of my neighbors started teaching safrus, I jumped at the opportunity. I always had creative and artistic leanings, as well as an attachment to the written words of the Torah. The idea that I can actually create a physical object which would be imbued with kedusha also appealed to me. As I had dreamt about having my own real kosher Megillas Shir Hashirim for reading at the time of Kabbolas Shabbos, I figured that instead of spending the money (which I didn’t really have) to buy one, I might as well invest in learning the trade.

That decision served me well, as I have been able to turn this occupation into a livelihood as our family has grown.

My father bought the first Megillas Esther I wrote. He reads from it every year for many family members, including his mother—my grandmother. I remember hearing how excited she was to see the megillah, proud that her grandson was a real sofer. It was even more interesting to hear it from her, as a member of the generation that wanted to see their children as doctors and lawyers.

After some years in Modi’in Illit, a married cousin with several children followed suit and came to join us from Los Angeles. There weren’t enough Americans in the neighborhood to make it comfortable enough for her, so they ended up moving to a more Anglo neighborhood in Yerushalayim, where her husband also learnt safrus. Even though they ended up moving back to the U.S. after a number of years here, her husband still makes an income from the trade he learnt here—writing Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzos.

I ended up moving up north with my family to a new Chareidi kehillah in the neighborhood of Giv’at Hamoreh in Afula. What allowed for our move is the fact that safrus is an occupation that is not dependent on location. It was an amazing experience to take part in the growth of a new community in Eretz Yisroel, contributing our talents and efforts to make it happen. After several years there, we moved to Yerushalayim to be closer to my aging grandfather who had meanwhile immigrated here, where, utilizing the connections I have made up north and elsewhere, I am involved in promoting the more-affordable communities of Eretz Yisroel for the Anglo-Chareidi community, mostly in the north and south of the country.

Being the oldest in my family, I was the first one to establish myself here in Eretz Yisroel. Several siblings thereafter followed me, with three sisters currently living here with their families and other siblings coming to visit occasionally including when they are here on their post-high school or seminary stint. My parents also come to visit and to share in simchas.

I think my parents see Eretz Yisroel as the future not just of the Jewish people in general, but of our family specifically. Having grandchildren that are playing in the streets of Yerushalayim and elsewhere in Eretz Yisroel makes them feel strongly connected to this amazing part of our nation’s history that is playing out now. When, at the end of the Pesach Seder, they say “l’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim,” it is a Yerushalayim that is much more tangible to them, not just some esoteric concept. They’ve been here, they are represented here, and they have a future here.

I am proud to be part of that future.

 

The Security Situation

When, as a bochur, I decided—with my parents’ approval—that I was to go to learn in Eretz Yisroel, there were several relatives who expressed concern about the security situation in Eretz Yisroel.

It was just a few days before I was scheduled to leave home that my father and a few of my siblings went to do some shopping. While at the store, a gun-wielding teenager forced everyone into the freezer while he cleaned out the cash registers. (The cashier led them instead into the refrigerator.) Although, Boruch HaShem, the traumatic ordeal lasted just a short while, without any injuries, I was thereafter not subject to any dissuasion due to security concerns…

– Yoel Berman, Yerushalayim

This article is part of our Eretz Chemdah series featuring Anglo-Chareidim living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. A joint project of Avira D’Eretz Yisroel, Kedushas Tzion and Naava Kodesh, coordinated by Yoel Berman – info@naavakodesh.org.

Reprinted with permission from Naava Kodesh.

Eretz Yisrael – A Privilege, Not a Burden!

Eretz Chemdah: An Inside View – Ratzon HaShem

Ratzon HaShem

I came to learn in Eretz Yisroel after three years in Beis Medrash (post high school). I grew up in Lakewood, New Jersey, and, like most of my friends, when I came to learn in Eretz Yisroel I had no long-term intentions. I came to do the two-year Eretz Yisroel experience. Like most bochurim, this obviously included Shabbos seudos at the homes of many different types of people.

At one of those Shabbos meals, the question was posed: “How can people live in chutz la’Aretz if there is a mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisroel?”

I was put on the spot because honestly, I had never thought of it. I was indeed aware there is a mitzvah according to the majority of opinions, but somehow that all was theoretical knowledge. I totally ignored the step of applying my knowledge to my actions—I just honestly never thought about it.

After that Shabbos seudah, I decided to research the topic a little bit, until I discovered that Reb Moshe Feinstein ztz”l wrote a teshuva that there is no obligation to live in Eretz Yisroel, rather it is a mitzvah kiyumis—a mitzvah that one gets sechar for doing—but is not an absolute chiyuv to do.

I was happy. As far as I was concerned the “issue” was resolved. There is a legitimate opinion that there is no chiyuv to live in Eretz Yisroel, therefore I could live happily ever after in Lakewood. Case closed.

Sometime after that I had a conversation about this with a talmid chacham I knew. He told me something that changed my life. He asked me if, as a Yid, I saw mitzvos as a burden, or am I happy to be part of the Am Hanivchar (Chosen Nation) excited to do ratzon HaShem even if it isn’t the easiest thing. Without too much thought, I knew that the answer was the latter—a Yid has to be happy with his mitzvos and not look at it as if it is a burden.

He told me, even if we accept Reb Moshe’s view (which I understood not to be the pashtus), why does that give you the security to live in chutz la’Aretz? You have a mitzvah that is definitely ratzon HaShem to live in Eretz Yisroel, so even if it is not a chiyuv, shouldn’t you want to try to do it? He added, you don’t think it is easy? Many mitzvos aren’t easy and that just increases the sechar, as the Mishna in Avos says, “l’fum tza’ara agra.”

This talmid chacham continued to note that the many maalos of living in Eretz Yisroel mentioned throughout the Torah and chaza”l such as, “Eretz asher Einei HaShem…” meaning HaShem’s special Hashgacha Pratis in this Land or the famous gemara (Kesuvos 110b) stating the difference between one who is living in Eretz Yisroel and one who is living in chutz la’Aretz, concerning their relationship with HaShem. I once again was aware of these maalos, but somehow, I never thought about trying to apply them to my life. He asked me to forget about if it is a chiyuv or not, am I not interested in all these maalos?

I thought about this for a while and took it to heart. The reason a Yid is in this world is to do ratzon HaShem, not to look for loopholes in it. The ratzon HaShem in this case is very clear—HaShem wants Yidden to live in Eretz Yisroel.

I was just a bochur at the time, but when I started shidduchim my condition was clear. I went back to the States for shidduchim like the norm, but I knew that for the long term, I needed to live in Eretz Yisroel. My parents thought I wasn’t being rational, but they agreed I can “try” my condition for a year, and to rethink it if I still don’t find my bashert by then. A year passed and I started getting nervous, but then HaShem sent me my bashert, and B”H she agreed with my condition eagerly.

We got married B”H and started off in Yerushalayim, which was the normal place chutznikim my age lived. I continued learning in the same yeshiva I did as a bochur. My wife B”H found work for an American company through the computer. Neither my parents or my in-laws were financially supporting our stay in Eretz Yisroel, but we had Siyata Dishmaya and my wife had decent work. After a little less than a year, however, we realized that we barely could afford our budget, and this was without the added expenses that come with children. It was a hard but obvious decision: We knew we had to move out of the mainstream Yerushalayim to somewhere where the expenses were much cheaper.

After looking at the various options and spending a Shabbos here and there, we moved to the community we thought made the most sense.

B”H we are very happy, and I thank HaShem daily for letting me live my dream in Eretz Yisroel, as the gemara says, “duchta deMoshe v’Aharon lo zachu lah…” a place where even Moshe and Aharon did not merit….

 

Adjusting

For me, adjusting to our new community outside Yerushalayim wasn’t such a big deal. I continued learning in the same yeshiva in Yerushalayim, taking a bus every day.

For my wife, it was more challenging. We moved from a mostly English-speaking community to a building where almost nobody knew English. It took time, but eventually, she got connected to the English-speaking community there and also learned to make friends with our Israeli neighbors.

The chutznik community gave us a lot of chizuk. It wasn’t a group of people of which most were moving back after 2-3 years. It was an oylam of people doing the same thing we were doing.

– Yekusiel A., Gush Etzion

This article is part of Matzav.com’s Eretz Chemdah series featuring English speakers, living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. For more info please contact info@naavakodesh.org or visit naavakodesh.org/eretz-chemdah

Reprinted with permission from Naava Kodesh.