As part of Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' special series commemorating Aliyah Day, we met with Yaakov Helfand, who immigrated to Carmay Hanadiv in Kiryat Malachi.
"I was just trying to find some sort of break in life. I was in my mid-twenties at the time and I came to Israel for a year. And I just sort of stayed," Yaakov told us.
"I like the country, I love the country. It was a great feeling to be here, and I've just been here ever since," he explained.
Yaakov said that he understood he was in Israel to stay "after that first year, pretty much. I learned Hebrew. I stayed with a bunch of Israelis, so I was sort of forced to learn Hebrew, which for me was great, because my Hebrew consisted of Tanach. That's not great for everyday speech. After that, I picked up most of the Hebrew that I needed. And I just felt comfortable here."
Yaakov feels at home in Israel, which is home to his personal family and for the entire family of the nation of Israel, especially during these days.
"Here it's a feeling that we're all just family. At the end of the day, especially with the current situation, we just band together. And that's just how it his," Yaakov explained.
"A lot of people says, 'Oh, you're at war.' We've been at war since '48. It's been a long war, really. We band together. People are looking to help everybody else," he said.
Yaakov moved with his family to Carmay Hanadiv and fell in love with the place and the community.
"I happen to love the community here. It's a feeling of closer-knit family than I expected it to be. I'd say Carmay Hanadiv currently has the best aspects of both a yishuv and a city. We're very close together. There's a big feeling of kinship. We're still building. There's still a lot to do, but it's a wonderful place to live," he said.
He added, "We get to take part in something that's being created. You're not walking into something that's pre-built. You get to help build up a community and be involved."
"It's a loving, close-knit community, and I'm very proud to say that I live here," Yaakov conclucded.