Posts

Life on the Yishuv!

Image
  Merchav Am Merchav Am began about 25 years ago with just a few caravans (like trailers). A couple of residents today were actually part of those first caravans. Since the surrounding mo’atza is mostly chiloni (secular), establishing a religious yishuv here was considered a big deal. Nearby well-known communities include Sde Boker (David Ben-Gurion!), Ashalim, and Revivim (Golda Meir!). As more families arrived, the state built additional caravans, and eventually the first neighborhood was designated for housing. Families purchased migrashim (plots of land) and began building. While a few plots in that first neighborhood of roughly 30–40 migrashim are still empty, most are now developed, forming the core of the original neighborhood. With the caravans vacated, new families moved in, and although some continued building in the first neighborhood, a second neighborhood opened about 10–15 years ago . Construction there helped the yishuv expand even more. Today, when you drive in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Leaving America, Landing in Israel!

Image
  (If you'd like this sent to you every weekish when it comes out, shoot me a Whatsapp) From the start, our plan was to leave on the earliest flight possible. Our reason was that we wanted to get to Israel earlier in the summer so we’d have as much time as possible to adjust before school began. We knew that if we had the summer to get practical things done and to get used to our new surroundings, both we and the kids would feel more comfortable when the school year started. The lead-up to leaving was a little wacky. Since we had already sold our house and had a date we had to be out, we left our house and stayed with my brother in West Rogers Park for a week. The soonest Aliya flight we could get was July 8th and our choices were either out of New York or Florida. Florida made the most sense. It gave us and the kids one more chance to see all of our family there Jessie’s parents, Auntie Rachie and Uncle Mark, and my dad AND it gave us a home base to get ready to come to Israel. Ou...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Negev Darom" - Where are we??

Image
  After years in Yerushalayim, we’re discovering life in Israel’s south, Merchav Am and the towns that surround it. Here’s a window into our new corner of the Negev. Exploring Our New Corner of Israel One of the most exciting parts of our first few months here has been exploring a completely new part of Israel. Jessie and I both spent time in Yerushalayim after high school and again when I was in Semicha. We knew the hills and cities of Gush Etzion, took tiyulim up to Tzfat, and, of course, had plenty of visits to Beit Shemesh & Modiin. But now… where are we exactly? (See the map!) Merchav Am sits almost perfectly between Yerushalayim and Eilat. Google Maps (with no traffic!) says Yerushalayim is about 1 hour 45 minutes north, and Eilat is 1 hour 30 minutes south. Even for many Israelis, this part of the country feels like the edge of the earth. Most people live in the center area between the coastal cities from Rehovot to Netanya. Yerushalayim, Beit Shemesh, and Modiin are wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Aliya now? Why Merchav Am?

Image
  Hello All, While we’ve been in Israel for two months now, it’s finally time to begin sharing our journey with friends and family! Many have asked for pictures, descriptions, and updates. But in these first two months, it’s been hard to think about anything other than re-setting up our life here. These first few posts will be about this summer, and going forward I hope to post every few weeks or months. Why do this? Partly, it’s to update everyone. But also, we’re aware that our Aliyah journey has (and will continue to be) a little off the beaten Aliyah path. Because of that, we’d love to give everyone a window into what it’s like to make Aliyah to the Negev, to a small Israeli yishuv, 2.5 hours from Yerushalayim. Life here is new for us, and hopefully our journey will open a window for those of you who have never been to this area or known someone from a place like this. Why did we decide to make Aliyah? And why Merchav Am ? Jessie and I always wanted to make Aliyah. For me, it w...
2 comments
Read more