A few months ago, neighbors of mine, Meira and Eli Greges,
moved to Ramat Beit Shemesh, in Eretz Yisrael, with their four children, the
oldest of whom is only seven. Meira’s parents, Eliezer and Sandy Gunzburg,
still live here in Baltimore. Since I am friends with Sandy Gunzburg, and I
know that Meira is close to her parents, I wondered what could motivate a young
couple to leave their parents to move across the world. But, first, I asked
Sandy what she thought.
The Gunzburgs have already visited their
children in their new home. “Our goal was to hang out and see what things were
like in our daughter’s new life,” Sandy told me. “Meira and her family live in
a community with both English and Hebrew speakers. We were so impressed with
the amazing support from her neighbors and the community. They are so willing
to help olim. We also visited each of
our grandchildren’s classes and teachers. There was such love and positivity
from the teachers. They are so interested in seeing our grandchildren succeed in
being integrated as olim and becoming
Israelis. In Moshe’s gan, where they do not speak or understand
English, they talked about each child’s special strengths, and when they came
to Moshe, they said he is special because he is an oleh. When Moshe said his first Hebrew phrase, the teachers
celebrated, and the whole class cheered for him. Even though most of us were
sick part of the time, we had an amazing visit. We are working on making aliyah by the end of the summer.”
DS: Meira, how did you and your
husband come to make this huge decision of leaving your parents?
MG: It was hard to leave my parents, but they actually
encouraged us to go. My mother felt that Israel was the right place for our
young family and that it would easier to move when the children are young. My
mother said that it has always been her dream to move to Eretz Yisrael, so if I
moved first, they may be motivated to follow.
DS: Is aliyah harder
or easier than you thought it would be?
MG: In some ways harder and some ways easier. B”H, we already feel very much part of
our community and shul; we feel like we have a place here. Our kids are also
happy. Some things that were harder were getting a schedule set up and having
time to start my husband’s remote job. The first few weeks, our kids hadn’t
started school yet, and there were lots of things to take care of. The language
and different culture is also a barrier, but so many people offer to
help!
DS: Have you been able to get your children into schools? Are
the schools similar or different than the schools here in Baltimore?
MG: One of our daughters is in a transitional gan for kindergarten, so that is
somewhat similar. The schools here are different, but we are very happy about
what we are experiencing. They live the Torah and aleph beis in a different way. Everything is just so exciting for
the kids. Rosh Chodesh and other
special days are honored by wearing a white shirt. I was surprised that, for
the yartzheit of Rochel Imeinu and on zayin Cheshvan, (when they begin saying vesein tal umatar), they wore white shirts and celebrated the day
in various exciting ways. Everyone around is celebrating those days as well. You
see it everywhere, and it’s so beautiful being part of a community where Torah
life is everywhere. Schools are in caravans for the most part, so that was
definitely different, but the teachers set them up beautifully. I don’t think
the kids even think twice about it. The teachers we have experienced so far are
all so loving and really trying to do everything they can to help make our
transition easier.
DS: How have you dealt with the language? Are you and your
children learning Hebrew?
MG: My children are all learning in Hebrew. I am not sure
exactly how much they know or don’t know at this point, but they play at home
making Hebrew sentences and acting out what happens in school. My oldest is in second
grade; she has ulpan (language
lessons) a few days a week with three other olim
(immigrants) in her class for two hours at a time. My husband and I are
learning more, but we haven’t had a chance yet to start ulpan. I am getting a lot of exposure because the teachers in my
son’s gan do not speak English and don’t really understand English either.
It was hard at the beginning – and sometimes still is hard – but it is helping
me learn the language quicker. My neighbor just
ran a kaytana (camp) for Chanukah in
the afternoon, after school, and my girls only speak Hebrew to her because she
is Israeli and doesn’t understand English.
DS: What is happening with the parnassa issue?
MG: My husband brought his job from America but has been
looking here as well. There do seem to be many job openings if you follow job
postings, but lots of them are American hours. That works for some people but doesn’t
work for others. Some have more flexible hours, and some people get jobs here.
DS: What kinds of shuls do you have in your neighborhood? Is it
very different than the place you davened in Baltimore?
MG: We found a shul that we are very happy with. It’s called Ezra
Hasofer, and it is a five-minute walk from our house. They have shiurim, a weekly kiddush, a nshei (women’s
group) that is wonderfully welcoming and has a program of events and
learning. It is made up of mostly Anglo
families. A lot of them are Israeli-Americans, and others made aliyah.
We had such a wonderful time on Simchas
Torah; our kids had a blast! There is another Anglo-style shul about two
minutes past our shul that is also very welcoming and nice.
DS: What benefits have you found living in Israel?
MG: We love being able to live Judaism as a community. We all
still can’t get over the beauty of Shabbos and Yom Tov here – walking on
Shabbos and my kids running in the street without any traffic. We love just
looking around and appreciating where we are and how wonderful it is. It is amazing being here over Chanukah with menorahs everywhere
and everything Chanukah related!
DS: What has been difficult?
MG: There are certain things about Israeli systems that are
different and hard to get used to, like the healthcare system. We expect to go
a second time to appointments as things don’t always go as planned. It is also
hard to be away from family and to communicate in an unfamiliar language. Having
our kids in an Israeli school system, it is sometimes hard not knowing the
language so well. With our kids, we show a positive attitude and ride the “waves”
that come and go. We try to talk
positively in front of our children so as not to color their experience.
DS: How did you end up in Ramat Beit Shemesh?
MG: We chose RBS gimmel, a
newly built neighborhood, only a few weeks before we made aliyah because
we had a last-minute change of plans. We are so happy that Hashem led us here!
We really feel like it’s an amazing landing spot, with a supportive community
and very supportive schools for olim. Also,
the rent is still affordable because it is not in the center of town! Readers
of the Where What When should feel
free to reach out to me if you have any comments or questions: meiragreges@gmail.com or
WhatsApp 718-541-2951.
