36 Hours in Southern Israel

Having just made Aliyah on Tuesday, we’re still pretty jetlagged and in desperate need of doing our laundry. The only problem is that we don’t yet have a washing machine. Luckily, we made some friends when we took a pilot trip earlier this year who have told us that we can use their washing machine! The Weisbergers made Aliyah two years ago from Cincinnati and really paved the way for American Olim in Even Shmuel. We’re thrilled that our kids are already becoming friends with their kids. 

Even Shmuel is just residential so we head to Kiryat Gat for lunch. It’s only a five-minute drive in our rental car. The pizza place is selling pies for 20 NIS each. We order two. 

Having come from the U.S., where we had a dryer, our kids aren’t used to hanging up their laundry. But in the South, where the air is very dry, almost no one has a dryer. So the kids have yet another new experience—and help me hang the laundry on the clothesline.

My husband takes the kids back to Kiryat Gat for some ice cream. He gets an ice coffee, which in Israel means crushed ice with tons of sugar. The kids tell the shopkeeper that they are new Olim and she gives them free candies. We’ve been telling everyone that we’re new Olim and getting tons of discounts wherever we go.

Our neighbors, the Nachshons invite us to pick some tomatoes from her garden. Their kids don’t like tomatoes, and mine do. Now we’ll have some fresh vegetables for Shabbat!

The kids spend the rest of the afternoon playing with some neighborhood kids and their dogs. Because we visited with the kids in May, they had a chance to make some friends before we moved here permanently.

We bring Shabbat in early and head to the Weisbergers for Shabbat dinner. That morning, we’d gotten three more invitations for Shabbat meals, but we were already booked! The Weisbergers make special desserts in our honor: Magen David-shaped cookies and chocolate cake with blue and white frosting. Delicious! 

Only my husband wakes up in time for shul. The rest of us are fast asleep. The shul has a very warm Sephardi crowd. During the Torah reading, my husband gets an Aliyah and the men throw candy at him to celebrate our recent Aliyah. 

Every week, people in the commu- nity host kiddushes for all sorts of occasions—whether just to be social or to celebrate someone’s homecoming from reserves. Although we are all too jetlagged to make it to a Kiddush this week, we look forward to going to them in the future!

12:30 PM

The Hascaloveci family, who are Olim from Canada, invite us over for a huge lunch. The parents’ married daughter and grandchildren are there, as well as another family from the community. The first course of salads is so filling that we can barely eat anything else. But we manage. After lunch, three of our kids head to the daughter’s house to play with her kids. My husband and I take our baby girl home and nap.

It’s finally cooled down enough to go to the park. Because Even Shmuel is a religious community, we can all walk through the streets without worrying about cars. The kids run around and tire out. 

Our neighbors had invited us to Seudah Shlishit, but we’d let them know that we may be a little too exhausted for it during our first Shabbat in Israel. We head home and eat some challah, hummus, tehina, and fresh tomatoes.

When Shabbat is over, we do Havdalah. My husband’s one complaint since moving to Israel is that Israeli grape juice isn’t as good as the American kind! 

While we’re organizing our house and setting up my husband’s office, our landlord pays a visit with his son-in-law, who speaks some English. We provide a list of all of the things that still need to be repaired, and our landlord promises to fix them in the coming weeks. 

Go South with NBN and receive employment assistance, social programming, ongoing staff support, and financial grants. Speak to an NBN Aliyah Advisor to find out more. Contact gosouth@nbn.org.il