Last week, my supervisor and I were discussing the upcoming Nefesh B’Nefesh flight arrival and our plans to attend. We were sharing a sense of wonder at the indescribable nature of the experience and the Aliyah process. In what other country in the world do people wake up at 5:00 in the morning to scream… Read More Our Modern Day Rock Stars Have Arrived
Today is our Aliyaversary. We got onto the plane 12 years ago today with two little boys, a baby on the way and our whole lives ahead. I still can’t believe we did it or how rich and vibrant our lives would be as a result. But as I reflect on 12 years, there are… Read More Mazal Tov! It’s the Sussmans’ Only Bat Mitzvah!
There were so many amazing and awe-inspiring moments yesterday at the Nefesh B’Nefesh arrival ceremony. But the one that was the most inspirational for me was to watch my oldest son, Matan, with his Israeli friends. Matan arrived in Israel at the age of four. Here is Matan waiting to board the flight to Israel!… Read More And the Shofar Blows
Yes, ten years later I understand full well that I’m still an immigrant – and that I will always, always, be one. Most of the time, my immigrant status doesn’t really come into play. I live in a wonderful yishuv where I know almost everyone. Many of my friends are English speakers and those who… Read More The Scarlet Letter I
We are a people of so much hope, so much faith, so much joy. Yesterday, 228 Olim (new immigrants) from North America stepped off of a plane and became Israeli citizens. In his speech to the new Olim, Nefesh B’Nefesh Co-founder and Executive Director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass called them heroes. They are heroes for coming at such… Read More The Promise of Tomorrow
As I wrote in my last post, we are celebrating our 10 year Aliyaversary at the moment. We have talked for a while now about how we would make the anniversary special for the boys and we have had many ideas- some grand and some modest. But we didn’t expect to be at war when… Read More Helping Kids to be Kids..Even During War
We arrived in Israel on a Wednesday, on July 14th, 2004. We were the living statistic of the ‘average’ Nefesh B’Nefesh immigrant that year…we were both 33 years old and we had 2.5 children. And here we were. (We are on this video many times at times 1:46, 2:29, 2:45, 2:46 and more. Catch us… Read More A Decade of Dreams Fulfilled
Our lives here in Israel absolutely crack me up at times. I’ve written many times about the youth group, Bnei Akiva, which the kids join in 4th grade. Matan and Yehuda are very active in it and they participate every Tuesday afternoon, every Shabbat afternoon and a number of other times during the year when… Read More Tales from the Clueless Bnei Akiva Mom
Fifteen years ago, a beloved cousin died in a car accident on the way to his dreams. He and his wife worked their entire lives as teachers and school administrators. And they had a dream that they talked about often. The dream was to leave Chicago in retirement and to head to sunny Las Vegas.… Read More En Route to Our Dreams….
There are certain things that people don’t tell you before you make Aliyah. Like that someday you are going to be tapped to be “team mom” and to entertain a house full of Hebrew speaking second graders for an afternoon. Boy I would have enjoyed that warning before it occurred. Last year, Eliav’s teacher sent… Read More Team Leader Mom
