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Olim in their own words FROM NEFESH B'NEFESH

Ariella Daniels

I can’t believe I am finally here in Israel. Thank you, Hashem!
There were several phases of my Aliyah to Israel, and all were filled with the unex-
pected and the unpredictable. Years of wanting and yearning, months of feeling
calm and collected, days of doubt and fear, hours of nerves and excitement – and
it all culminated with my asking myself at Ben-Gurion Airport, “Is any of this real?”

Since I was a child, I’ve been dreaming of the day I would move to Israel. I feel like my
entire life has been gearing up towards the moment I would get on a one-way flight
from Toronto. The journey has played out in my thoughts and dreams for so long.
It has been overwhelming to try and stay present and to take it all in with meaning.
Now, officially Israeli, I am faced with what comes next. It’s difficult to wrap my head
around being an olah chadasha (new immigrant) and to focus on the next stage of
my life.

It is difficult to leave something good – my family, community, career, synagogue,
mentors, spiritual leaders, comfort, stability, childhood home, great friends, and
birthplace – to begin anew. It’s a purely conscious and active decision to let go and
move forward. Each “lehitra’ot” came with tears and emotion, because everything has
been so good and so beautiful.

I had always put an unknown end-date on my time living in Canada. Every life decision
I ever made factored in ‘the move to Israel.’ Now I am here, fully open to receive what
comes next. Baruch Hashem.”

Michael and Shuli Sohn

Michael and Shuli Sohn always dreamed of making Aliyah. They knew that it was
something that was going to happen, the question was only a matter of when.
“Israel provides an all-around sense of comfort and belonging,” Michael said. The
Sohns moved from New York to Israel in 2014, just after they had their first child. They
decided to live in Ramat Beit Shemesh and later moved into a new neighborhood
called ‘Mishkafayim.’
Shuli says that it has been a dream watching the neighborhood grow over the last
seven years. At first it was nothing more than a construction zone and today it is a
huge blossoming community. Neither one of them have parents that live in Israel
and the community that they live in really is a community where you are able to feel
that your neighbors are your family. Shuli beams, “It just feels like you have family
everywhere here – it is so special.”
Now a family of six, the Sohns could not imagine their life anywhere but here.
Michael is the Executive Director of Yeshivat Ashreinu and Shuli works as a social
worker. Having fulfilled their dream, and answered the question of when, they are
thrilled to pursue new dreams from within the Land of Israel.

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