I love nature and I’m also attracted to ruchniyus (spirituality). It was only natural that I made Eretz Yisrael 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 (holiness). It’s not just a big and beautiful lake – all other lakes in the world get their chiyus (vitality) from the fact that Hashem “personally” keeps His “eyes” on this one. This is true as well for the mountains, valleys, plains, skies, oceans, and all of nature. The kedusha root of all of them is in Eretz Yisrael.

One thing I love about Eretz Yisrael is that I can be a frum Yid and also ride a horse. (Maybe not 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 Yisrael, there are plains, deserts, an alpine mountain (the Hermon), forests, a coastal region, and more. I explore as much as I can, both my immediate surroundings and the wider area.

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

I originally came to Eretz Yisrael 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 knew what Eretz Yisrael was like. We lived in Milwaukee for the first two years of our marriage, which is a great community if you must live in chutz la’aretz. We then had the zechus (privilege) of pursuing opportunities in ruchniyus here in Eretz Yisrael.

At first we lived in Ramat Beit Shemesh, but the rising prices forced us out. We came about two years ago to join a small kehillah in Teveria Illit. 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 has recently been a renaissance of the chareidi population here, their presence has always existed. Since the days of Rav Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, talmid of the Mezritcher Maggid, who lived in Teveria about 250 years ago, many chasidim 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, which includes many different sects of chareidim. I sighted a busload of Toldos Aharon chasidim returning from Rosh Hashanah in Yerushalayim. Karlin has an impressive representation, and so does Sanz. The Litvish have also recently started a community, and Sefardi bnei Torah have always been around. There are some Slonimers and Lelovers as well. One of the kehillos 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.

Every week, more people arrive in Teveria. New schools open, and new batei midrash are built. I too have opened a yeshiva; it is for English-speaking, unaffiliated
young Jewish men who are searching for a deeper understanding of the importance of
their Jewish heritage.

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

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

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.

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 Yisrael 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. This is an important thing to do anywhere; it is all the more so in Eretz Hakodesh.

 

This article is part of the Eretz Chemdah series featuring Anglo-Chareidim living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. A project of Avira D'Eretz Yisroel, coordinated by Yoel Berman - info@aviraderetzyisroel.org.