Finding the fountain of youth in Israel

Age is nothing but a frame of mind for grandmother Dorraine Gilbert Weiss, who made aliya with her family in 2008

By JOSH HASTEN
Dorraine Gilbert Weiss (photo credit: courtesy)
Dorraine Gilbert Weiss
(photo credit: courtesy)
Dorraine Gilbert Weiss can’t remember how old she is.
Not out of senility, God forbid, but because this 65-year-old firecracker of a grandmother (she has seven grandchildren, all in Israel), feels that age is nothing but a frame of mind.
“We have all gotten younger here in Israel,” she says, referring to her husband, Barry, and her 91-year-old father, Phil. In fact, Phil has become so active since the family made aliya in 2008 that he interrupts this interview to say good-bye on his way to catch the bus to town.
Weiss was born into a navy family in Hawaii at the end of World War II. Her father was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and her mother, who was not in the service, took a job there so the family could remain together. When Dorraine was three months old, they moved to the New York area and then to Phoenix, where she spent her high school years and then attended college at Arizona State University.
One of the most momentous times of her life was in June-July of 1967. Within a onemonth span, she graduated college, married her first husband and witnessed Israel’s miraculous victory in the Six Day War. She recalls with tears in her eyes the trepidation among the members of her synagogue in Phoenix as they foresaw the destruction of the Jewish state at the hands of its enemies.
Israel’s miraculous victory elicited a renewed sense of Zionism for Weiss, and while aliya was not yet in the cards (her husband was drafted into the US Army to serve in Vietnam), she did the next best thing: join Hadassah, in which she has proudly served as an active member for over 40 years.
Moving to Los Angeles in the 1980s, she made many friends in Hadassah, whom she considered like family. Her first marriage ended in 1985, but a few years later she found love again. She was attending a Jewish dance for youngsters in West Los Angeles when she was approached by a would-be suitor, Barry Weiss. According to Dorraine, all it took was that first dance; they have been dancing together ever since.
They were married in 1992, but something was still missing from their lives: Israel.
ALIYA Her oldest son moved to Israel after a religious awakening in 1998, which paved the way, but it wasn’t until 2007 that the couple decided to take the plunge. It was a combination of their Zionistic drive, a yearning to be closer to grandchildren, and a desire for an enhanced quality of life that spurred the move. A vacation to New Zealand that same year – where, she says, “everyone was so hospitable and friendly, and it was such a non-commercial place, the way the United States was years ago” – reminded them of life in Israel.
In 2008, she, her husband and her father – along with Barry’s mother, who at that time was 96 years old (she has since died, after several “quality years living in Israel,” according to Dorraine) – boarded a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight for their new home. Upon arrival, the family moved into their Abu Tor apartment in the capital, which they had purchased on a pilot trip the year before aliya.
Weiss loves this home, with panoramic views of the city, and she loves the convenience of being close to both downtown Jerusalem, and her children and grandchildren, who live just outside the city in the Gush Etzion community of Betar Illit. She has another son, a successful accountant in Los Angeles, whom she hopes will one day join the rest of the family in Israel.
WORK Before aliya, Weiss had a variety of different professions, including teacher, librarian and decorator. Now, after encouragement from a rabbi’s wife, she is a full-time shadchanit, or matchmaker, working with young couples in pursuit of love and marriage.
She says she was always frustrated with 50-something Jewish women in the US who were unmarried and didn’t have children, not realizing what they were missing.
So two or three times a week, she interviews spouse-seeking singles in her apartment to find out what they are looking for in a mate. She then matches up those she feels have similar values and interests, and coaches them along the path of dating and relationships.
So far, it’s working; she takes pride in having made four successful matches, and the first couple she set up is expecting their first child. But she remains humble, acknowledging that ultimately God makes the matches and that she is just a “partner.”
SOCIAL LIFE AND RECREATION Weiss and her husband lead a very active social life. They are proud members of the World Ventures Travel Club and enjoy trips throughout the country. They recently participated in a Salsa weekend retreat in Netanya, where they had a chance to show off their moves alongside other couples from around the country.
She was pleasantly surprised that while not everyone on the trip was religious, when Shabbat came around, it was respected by all, including men who put napkins on their heads as kippot for Friday night dinner. She feels wholeheartedly that “the non-religious Jews in Israel are still more religious than Jews anywhere else.”
In addition, she and Barry are active members of the Kibbutz Ramat Rahel Sports Club and enjoy tennis and swimming. She does regret that her Hebrew is still not strong enough to sit around in the Jacuzzi at the kibbutz and schmooze with her fellow Israelis, but she would like to work on it.
THE ISRAELI MENTALITY Weiss is adamant in defending the Israeli mentality. Despite shortcomings, she loves that “we are all Jews living in the Jewish melting pot,” and how someone can “honk at you to speed up one minute and then help you park the next.”
She also cites Israelis’ sincerity and hospitality, noting that “if someone wants you over for a meal, they will keep calling till you can make it. It’s just not like that in America.” When her husband was sitting shiva, she recalls, everyone they knew showed up to help make a minyan for services, even her non-religious neighbors.
Another reason she likes living in Israel is the deep spirituality found here, something she says was lacking in America.
She happily admits that “I wake up every morning with a big smile on my face, being here in Jerusalem.”