Arutz Sheva-Israel National News met with Daniel and Rivka Katz, who immigrated to Carmay Hanadiv in Kiryat Malachi, and heard their Aliyah story.
"When I was 18, I studied in Israel, and I decided that I wanted to make Aliyah. I went back for university, met my husband, and I was only going to date someone who wanted to make Aliyah also," recalled Rivka.
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Added Daniel, "We were dating...probably within the first few months, and she said, 'Do you plan on living in Israel?' And I said, 'Yeah, that's in the plan.'"
"We definitely discussed that early on into dating, and we discussed how about five years after we get married, we'll make Aliyah, definitely before, when our kids are still little, so they can integrate well," said Rivka.
Daniel further explained, "For us, it was the trajectory that America is going on, the trajectory that Israel is going on, and we wanted to not be too late, and we felt that this was the right time. We came here last Sukkot. My parents had just moved to Yerushalayim, and we were sitting out on the balcony, and I was looking up, and I said, 'You know what, I think we should move in the summertime.'"
"When anybody takes a vacation to come to Israel, they're always like, 'Wow, Israel's amazing.' And then when you make Aliyah, you think the same thing, and then go, 'Okay, this is the future for us', and that's kind of how it went."
Rivka shared that a selling point for her and Daniel in moving to Carmay Hanadiv was the school system.
"My friend told us about Carmay Hanadiv, and the big selling point was the schools here. I was told they have good science, math, obviously Torah, it being a Torah-niche school. So those were really important for us, the high curriculum for both, as well as the embrace of the Anglos into an Israeli community."
"What really brought us here was that being part of Israeli society, being part of the Israeli community, is something that we wanted to do and wanted to jump into," added Daniel. "Here in Carmay Hanadiv, we have a lot of Olim, and more Olim coming in. And then on the flip side, you also have the Israeli culture, the Israeli community, that's very welcoming to the Olim, and they're happy that we're moving here and kind of helping the community and helping the society."
"We have a ton of Olim, with a bunch of young families, and we have older Olim as well, who are kind of our parents here, if your parents don't actually live here. And that's something that we really loved, with the Olim community growing, along with the Israeli community, and for us to integrate together and be a part of that, and them being so welcoming to us, it's something that's really special," he added.
Rivka stated that they are now looking forward to embracing new families who will be moving into Carmay Hanadiv.
Added Daniel, "It's really amazing here. There's a welcoming community. Everybody wants to be with each other, and everybody wants to help each other out. And there's just so much good that's happening here in Carmay Hanadiv, and the community is growing at an exceptional rate. Things are really on the up and up for Carmay Hanadiv, and I think it's only going to get better in terms of that. And if any Olim are thinking about it, don't be afraid to take the deep dive. We're all here to welcome you and help you with the Aliyah process."
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