As Rabbi Yair and Dr. Talia (Wiesen) Hindin reflected upon their aliyah in this candid profile, they both shared that finding themselves in Israel has been challenging, acknowledging that finding one’s place after aliyah does take time. Yair Hindin grew up in West Orange, NJ, but spent 7th grade in Israel, which laid the foundation for his desire to make aliyah. This feeling was heightened by the three years he later spent learning at Yeshivat Har Etzion. But Yair, like many ideologically passionate people, vacillated between the dream of aliyah and also wanting to teach and inspire through working as a shul rabbi and teacher. Talia, who grew up in a strongly Zionist home in Teaneck, wanted to make aliyah after returning from her year in Israel. When she married Yair, she accepted that she would probably need to table the aliyah dream for a life in the rabbinate. Yair worked for several years in a Kiruv Center in New Jersey, taught at Ramaz and then served as the Rabbi of the Jewish community at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. As a school-clinical psychologist, Talia worked as a school psychologist in several schools, most recently at Ben Porat Yosef in Paramus, NJ. She also worked as a kallah teacher and was very involved at Yesh Tikvah, an organization that supports families who are struggling with fertility, where she runs support groups and coordinates a peer-mentorship program. But aliyah was a dream that wouldn’t die, and knowing he was unlikely to continue working as a rabbi/teacher in Israel, Yair transitioned into real estate, starting his own company a few years later.
Contributing to the community was so much a part of the Hindin’s worldview and personality that they couldn’t imagine being just another family on the block. They chose to move to an area of Teaneck which was close to a rehab/nursing home facility called Care One, and volunteering and hosting people from there became a big part of their life. Yair was also involved at the shul where he served as President and ran learning programs. During their time in Teaneck, Yair made the ultimate contribution by donating a kidney through Project Renewal in 2018. The Hindin’s lived near Talia’s parents and her two grandmothers, as it was so important to them for strong relationships to develop between their kids and family, to the point that it was almost unfathomable for Talia to move away. But as their children grew older, the Hindin’s felt that they wanted them to grow up with the values that they saw in Israel – including feeling a part of Am Yisrael b’Eretz Yisrael. When Talia visited Israel a few years ago for a family simcha, she spent the day delivering packages to soldiers in Chevron and this really impacted her, recognizing that there would be so many opportunities to live such a meaningful life in Israel.
They made aliyah with their six children in 2021 to Efrat. But moving to Israel has come with incredible highs, and also some challenges.
The Hebrew their kids learnt at Yeshivat Ben Porat Yosef really helped with their transition to the Israeli school system. However, having worked in the place where her kids went to school, Talia went from being knowledgeable about her kids’ education and the school system to feeling like an outsider. “You really feel like an immigrant. I don’t know what they’re learning, I don’t know how to navigate the system or who to reach out to and this is a challenge I didn’t anticipate,” she said.
This extends to the professional realm, as well. As a renowned psychologist in the New Jersey area, Talia was accustomed to knowing the system and being a source of knowledge and a resource for others. Since their aliyah, Talia is the one who is now learning a new system and discovering what resources and organizations are available. It’s a humbling experience for an experienced professional, and disconcerting at times, but Talia is taking it slowly as she familiarizes herself with the system. In the meantime, she joined a virtual private practice that specializes in women’s maternal mental health, including fertility, postpartum, and grief around pregnancy. She also sees patients privately in Israel. “I’m slowly finding myself professionally,” says Talia. “I loved working at BPY and while I work in private practice now, I miss working in a school setting. I loved teaching kallah classes and it’s not really a thing here. Finding yourself is challenging and I wasn’t prepared for that. At the end of my first year, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I would look at myself and think, ‘who am I?’ In Teaneck, I worked full-time and then some and while I have a practice here, my schedule isn’t as rigorous and sometimes I think back to my day and think, what did I do today? I folded laundry and made supper. Now, I understand that this is a normal part of the transition to life in a new country and culture, and recognize that this is not an uncommon struggle, but it can be challenging while trying to find your footing.”
Yair continues to build his business, which takes time and also involves working American hours. He finds he is sometimes unable to eat dinner with his kids or be around to help with homework and this is something he finds to be tough. As a giver, Yair has found himself becoming involved with his shul community by giving a weekly daf yomi shiur (in Hebrew), and helping to create educational and chesed programming, especially since their shul doesn’t have a rabbi. On the social front, the Hindin’s have made incredible friends in Efrat who are “idealistic and geulah minded” and their children have found incredible meaning in living in Eretz Yisrael. “There are so many soldiers stationed near Efrat and on Friday afternoon, we often deliver packages of homemade baked goods or treats for Shabbos,” says Talia. “We made Purim seudah at a local base. We can go to the Kotel on a random evening or Friday. We go on hikes and appreciate the beauty of the land – and it’s our land – and our lives have taken on such a meaningful level that we had not previously experienced. Our kids have come to appreciate how lucky they are to live here. When we made aliyah, my son who is now 11, started an “Only In Israel List,” which included seeing watermelons carved with the words Shana Tova before Rosh Hashana, or chayalim wishing us Shabbat Shalom even when they’re not wearing a kippah. These moments bring home for them what it is to live in a Jewish state.”
Yair adds, “Living here these past few months has shown the strongest and most impressive qualities in our kids, through getting involved with chesed, asking questions about Am Yisrael, and thinking about the nation and feeling connected. Being here through this time, as dark and as painful as it can be, includes the incredible opportunities to go to shiva calls, do chesed and speak to people doing incredible things and this has been absolutely amazing. We feel 110 percent that we are with the future of the Jewish people and as much as Teaneck offered us a large and thriving community, the future of Am Yisrael is here and for us, being connected to that is really fantastic.”
