Five years ago, on the day after Chanuka, I got on a plane at JFK airport and landed in Tel Aviv. The courtesy taxi took me to Merkaz Klita (immigrant absorption center) Ye’elim in Ir Ha’Avos, Be’er Sheva. B’chasdei shomayim about two weeks later two teenaged brothers from India, whom I had met at Ye’elim, invited me to Shabbos dinner at a nearby community Beis Midrash called Machon Orot Israel. My feeling of connection to the place was instant, and I asked the hosting Rav if he had time to learn with me during the week. He said start coming in and we will see… Little did I know that I had found my spiritual home of at least the next several years.