Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
Rebecca Lefkowitz – Waiting for Moshiach here
Reflecting upon my life, I am not certain why or when it started, but in my heart was always a desire to live in Eretz Yisroel. Perhaps its root was in an early trauma of mine – when I was 7 and my brother 4. At that time my father was stationed in Turkey for an extended stay, and my mother left us with relatives to rendezvous with him in Israel! How I wanted to go with her! But all is gam zu l’tova and perhaps those feelings planted the seed…

Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
Until 2006, at the great pleading of good friends of ours, who had made Aliyah a few years back, my husband Dovid had never been to Eretz Yisroel and I had only come once before as a teenager on a sponsored trip. The entire trip was a total of three weeks. But those three weeks were our turning point.  We went home knowing we were coming back, for good. We just didn’t know when.

Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
I grew up in Kensington – that’s between Boro Park and Flatbush, for those unfamiliar with Brooklyn, it’s in the heart of the frum community. I came to Eretz Yisroel straight after high school although I was a bit young and that was off the beaten track. I wanted to learn, and found my place in Yeshiva HaKotel – today known as Netiv Aryeh. I thrived there, learning full time for two years. 

Haaretz Hatovah
Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.
Above & Beyond “Normal”: Life in Eretz Yisroel.
Our family made “aliyah” from the U.S. to Ramat Beit Shemesh about six years ago. I was born in Highland Park, NJ but  I grew up in Baltimore, whereas my wife originates from Maryland.
Moving to Eretz Hakodesh has given us a tremendous opportunity, both physically and spiritually. We were making regular yearly visits to Israel for a while, as my wife’s mother is buried here. On one such occasion, we decided to jump in and just stay here for good!

Real Life Stories and Experiences of Yidden Settling in Eretz Yisroel.

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.

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.

Various Perspectives and Experiences of English speakers Living in Eretz Yisroel
I want people to know that life in many places here in Eretz Yisroel—the lifestyle, values, and education system—is very different than that in America. I love this life, but it is different, and it does have its challenges. People shouldn’t come here thinking they can continue living just like they did in America, only with the perks of living in Eretz Yisroel. Sometimes the challenges actually “are” the positives. That’s because life here is just “different.”

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.

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?”