Arutz Sheva brings you the first in a series of interviews with some of the 221 olim who arrived in Israel on a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight this week.

One of those new olim is 90-year-old Sue Friedman, who made the trip from the Bronx to her new home in Israel. Friedman is the grandmother of MK Rachel Azaria (Kulanu).

“I wanted to come to Israel when Israel was a land, before it was a state,” she said, “and I remember in 1947 I sat by the radio with my sister, marking down [the UN votes] until it was decided that Israel would be a state.”

“I’m more excited today than I was in 1962 when I went to Israel for the first time,” Friedman continued. “I’ve been to Israel...I can’t count how many times. Since 1962 there’s hardly been a year where I didn’t go at least once, and many times twice.”

Asked what her message to the younger olim who arrived with her, Friedman said, “Study Hebrew and parents: Keep up the English and don’t let the kids forget their English, but study Hebrew and do it together, because you need both.”