Entrepreneur and new olah Maayan Gordon joins David Levine to share why she and her family left the comfort of American life and made Aliyah during a war.

From motherhood and business to community and purpose, this is a story about finding home and building a life in Israel—one messy step at a time.

After years of building businesses in the United States, Maayan never imagined she would one day leave the comfort and convenience of American life behind. But after October 7th, a long-awaited trip to Israel changed something deep inside her. For the first time, she experienced a sense of belonging and connection that made her realize Israel wasn't simply a place she loved—it was home.

In this episode, Maayan shares the emotional journey that led her family to make Aliyah, including convincing her non-Jewish husband to take the leap, welcoming a daughter, and ultimately arriving in Israel during the middle of a war.

She reflects on raising children in Israel, building community, entrepreneurship in Startup Nation, the realities of Israeli life, and why she believes that even amid the messiness of Aliyah, they are living the best life they could be living.

This is a conversation about identity, family, purpose, and finding home.

Follow Maayan:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maayangordonmedia/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maayangordonmedia

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maayangordon/

Website: https://www.maayangordon.com/

🎙️ Oleh at Large: Aliyah Stories

Real Stories. Real Advice. Real Aliyah.

Hosted by David Levine

Credits

Editing: Laura Brickman

Associate Producer: Daniella Edelman

Social Media: Tehila Simantov

#Aliyah #Israel #Motherhood #Entrepreneurship #StartupNation

Writer Shlomo Kates joins David Levine to discuss his Aliyah journey, life in Tel Aviv, volunteering for IDF service later in life, and why he believes Israel is the only place where he can fully embrace all parts of his identity. Shlomo shares his views on the future of Canadian Jewry and how LGBTQ Jews fare in Israel.

This is a conversation about belonging, resilience, and finding home.

Links Mentioned
Times of Israel @https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Havruta @https://havruta.org.il/en/
LGBT Olim @https://www.lgbtolim.org/

🎙️ Oleh at Large: Aliyah Stories
Real Stories. Real Advice. Real Aliyah.
Hosted by David Levine

Credits
Filmed on location at Soho House Tel Aviv
Editing: Laura Brickman
Associate Producer: Daniella Edelman
Social Media: Tehila Simantov

#Israel #JewishLife #LGBTQ #IDF #Toronto #TelAviv #canada

Meet Ambassador Michael Oren - historian, bestselling author, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, former member of Knesset, and one of the leading voices connecting Israel and the Jewish world.

But long before diplomacy and public life, Ambassador Oren was simply a Jewish kid from New Jersey who grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust and experienced antisemitism firsthand. Inspired by the Six-Day War and driven by a deep belief in Jewish sovereignty, he arrived in Israel with little more than a backpack and a dream.

In this conversation, Ambassador Oren reflects on his extraordinary journey from lone soldier in the paratroopers to ambassador, historian, and public intellectual. He shares what it was like to belong to a generation of American Jews who left the comfort and prosperity of the United States to build lives in what was then a young and isolated country.

Drawing on nearly fifty years of experience, Ambassador Oren discusses opportunity, language, identity, and why he believes Israel remains one of the greatest success stories of modern history. Despite wars, political divisions, and growing global challenges, he explains why his personal experiences, historical perspective, and spiritual faith continue to give him hope.

This episode is a powerful reflection on Jewish history, resilience, responsibility, and the extraordinary possibilities that emerge from taking a leap of faith.

From lone soldier to ambassador, this is a remarkable story of history, responsibility, and hope.

Follow Ambassador Oren on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ambmichaeloren
Website: https://michaeloren.org/
Substack: https://claritywithmichaeloren.substack.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@UC9PIP7ee_Ohu7c-4Pcbxj-Q
X: https://x.com/DrMichaelOren
---
Mentioned in this episode:
Israel Advocacy Group - https://www.israeladvocacygroup.org/
Tablet Magazine - https://www.tabletmag.com/
---
Oleh at Large: Aliyah Stories
Real Stories. Real Advice. Real Aliyah.
Hosted by David Levine
---
Filmed on location at Soho House Tel Aviv
Editing: Laura Brickman
Associate Producer: Daniella Edelman
Social Media: Tehilah Simantov
---
#AliyahStories #MichaelOren #Aliyah #Israel #JewishHistory #Zionism

Jay Schultz made Aliyah in 2006 on a one-way ticket — not out of fear, but out of choice. In this episode, Jay explains why life in Tel Aviv offers something Jews can’t find anywhere else, why Aliyah can be a “selfish” decision in the best sense, and how the city has transformed into a global hub of young Jewish life.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Jay explains why his Aliyah was, in his words, “selfish” — a decision rooted not in ideology alone, but in quality of life, human connection, and the lived experience of being Jewish in Israel. He contrasts the quantity of life available in cities like New York or London with the quality of Jewish life found in Tel Aviv, arguing that some things simply can’t be purchased elsewhere.

Jay reflects on the transformation of Tel Aviv over the past two decades — from a provincial city with almost no English-speaking olim into a global hub of young Jewish life. He shares why Tel Aviv, despite its secular reputation, may be one of the most Jewish places on earth, and why Western Aliyah has fundamentally reshaped the city.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Am Yisroel Foundation - https://www.amyisraelfoundation.org/jaymshultz
• Jaffa (Yafo) – https://www.tel-aviv.gov.il/Residents/Yafo
• Nefesh B’Nefesh – https://www.nbn.org.il/
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem – https://www.huji.ac.il/
• Albright Institute of Archaeological Research – https://www.aiar.org/
• Israel Antiquities Authority – https://www.antiquities.org.il/
• Birthright Israel – https://www.birthrightisrael.com/

Produced by Dellet Studios for Lightboat Media

Social Media Coordinator: Tehilah Simantov

Edited and Mixed by: Yazek Shrem

www.lightboat.media

IG: @aliyah_stories

© Lightboat Media Ltd.

Meet Aleeza Chanowitz — a Brooklyn native who made Aliyah at 21 with no clear plan and ended up creating, writing, and starring in her own Israeli TV comedy. In this episode, Aleeza shares her journey from film school in Jerusalem to prime-time television, navigating Israel’s entertainment industry as an American oleh.

She talks candidly about creativity, chutzpah, motherhood, building a life between religious and secular worlds, and what it really takes to make something in Israel without a roadmap.

Mentioned in this episode:

TLVFest (Tel Aviv LGBTQ Film Festival) – https://tlvfest.com/

HOT (Israeli TV Network) – https://www.hot.net.il/
Bar-Ilan University – https://www.biu.ac.il/

Sam Spiegel Film & Television School – https://www.jerusalemsamspiegel.com/
Henry Winkler – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001857/
Dismissed (Israeli TV Series) – https://www.hot.net.il/heb/tv/channels/hot3/
Bad Boy (Israeli TV Series) – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28541298/
Par Derrière (Wine Bar, Tel Aviv) – https://www.instagram.com/parderierre/

Produced by Dellet Studios for Lightboat Media

Social Media Coordinator: Tehilah Simantov

Edited and Mixed by: Yazek Shrem

www.lightboat.media

IG: @aliyah_stories

© Lightboat Media Ltd.

Meet Rina Deutsch, a single mother of 5, a coach, teacher, and newly minted entrepreneur who traded Toronto for Jerusalem just weeks before the school year started.

In this powerful episode, Rina gets candid about:

• The Defining Moment: Why the events of October 7th made a decades-long dream a non-negotiable reality.
• Family Dynamics: How she navigated moving to Israel with three of her five children, leaving the two oldest behind.
• The Fast Pivot: Going from high school teacher to securing three jobs in Israel and pivoting into the world of marketing—a true testament to the Aliyah hustle.
• Community Surprise: The surprising lack of stigma around being a single, divorced mother in her new Jerusalem neighborhood.

Plus, tune in for a hilarious round of Israeli Mom Rapid Fire and learn the meaning of the essential slang word: "Gahg."

Production by Yazek Shrem

Social Media & Business Coordinator - Tehliah Simantov

Follow us on Instagram @aliyah_stories

One oleh. Lots of stickers. A nation’s messages captured before they vanished.

Meet Jeff Weiss — an American oleh, author, and endurance athlete who found new purpose in Tel Aviv. After encountering the memorial stickers honoring Israelis killed on October 7th and in the war that followed, Jeff launched Stickers of Meaning, a project preserving their powerful mottos and personal stories.

In this episode, Jeff shares why these messages resonated so deeply, what they reveal about Israeli resilience, and how his own Aliyah journey — from New York to Florida to Tel Aviv — led him toward a renewed sense of meaning and connection.

Mentioned in this episode:

Stickers of Meaning — Israeli memorial sticker project https://www.stickersofmeaning.com/

Jeffrey Weiss Author Site — Books by Jeff Weiss -https://www.jeffreyweissauthor.com/

Nahalat Binyamin Market — Arts & crafts street fair -https://www.nachlatbinyamin.com/en/

Ben Yehuda 126 Synagogue (“126”) — Popular Anglo-friendly shul - https://www.facebook.com/126BenYehuda/

Production by Yazek Shrem

Social Media & Business Coordinator - Tehliah Simantov

Follow us on Instagram @aliyah_stories

In this episode of the Aliyah Story podcast, we explore how recovery didn’t just change Eric Levitz’s life — it gave him a mission that could only be built in Israel. Eric, the founder of AZ House Jerusalem, shares how his own near-death battle with addiction and his experience in a free, donation-based recovery center in Cleveland shaped everything he would later build in Israel.

Arriving in Israel with no Hebrew, no money, and no plan, Eric followed what he describes as a faith-based jump — trusting that the reason would become clear only after he arrived. Within six months, it did: he realized that the Jewish world had no free, community-driven recovery center, the very kind that saved his life.

Eric also shares how recovery gave him everything: his community, his life, even the introduction that led him to his wife. “Every dream I ever could have imagined — and many I couldn’t have imagined — came from the decision to get sober.”

This episode is a powerful look at how recovery doesn’t end with getting better — it can ignite a mission, transform a community, and root a person deeply in Israel.

Mentioned in this episode:

AZ House Jerusalem - Eric’s treatment center in Jerusalem. https://www.azhousejerusalem.com/

To support AZ House: https://donorbox.org/the-az-house-a-home-to-rebuild-lives

Pizgat Ze'Ev - https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/en/residents/communities/pisgat-zeev/

Anthony's Pizza - https://www.facebook.com/anthonys.pizza.jerusalem/

Follow us on IG: @aliyah_stories

Production: Yazek Shrem

Business & Social Coordinator: Tehila Simantov