When Rebecca and Elie got married, they, like so many couples, agreed to be on a five-year aliyah plan. Elie even went to law school alongside receiving his semicha, thinking that it would make for a good career for Israel. As it happened, he hated being a corporate lawyer. Instead, he followed his passion and became a shul rabbi despite “a shul rabbi being the most non-Israeli friendly career of all,” eventually serving as the full time rabbi of Congregation Suburban Torah in Livingston, NJ, for eight years. Rebecca was the school psychologist at JEC and had a thriving private practice. With so much success in their professional lives, it really made no sense to move and the five-year plan ultimately became 17 years instead.
But when their oldest was going into 10th grade, Elie’s five-year rabbinic contract was up for renewal and they knew that if they didn’t jump now, it was likely that their family would eventually end up living on different sides of the ocean. Elie’s siblings were all living in Israel, in addition to his parents. Rebecca’s siblings were in Israel as well (her parents followed them a year later). As much as it didn’t make sense to go, it didn’t make sense to stay.
“I was yearning for something bigger,” says Elie. “I was sick of being on the sidelines of Jewish History. I had FOMO (fear of missing out) in a very big way – both for the good things and for the bad things. The future isn’t in America, the future is here. I remember when Ari Fuld was murdered and we were still in America, and I felt like how can we be here? I remember thinking that people are giving their lives in Israel, how can we be here in America just going to the pizza shop?”
Elie had concerns about how he would manage in Israel without being fluent in spoken Hebrew. But then he thought of the guitar that Rebecca had bought him earlier in their marriage which had always sat in a corner because he didn’t know how to play it. He told himself that if he could learn to play guitar, he could also learn to speak Hebrew better and he signed up for an online Ulpan course. As he notes, we are so much more capable than we realize.
Even with improved Hebrew, moving meant a career change. “I came with low expectations,” says Elie. “I had all sorts of back-up plans, including courses on how to write for legal websites, which I wasn’t particularly interested in, but hey, you need to support a family. But once I got here, all sorts of amazing opportunities opened up.” Elie went through a few different positions until he found a job that really captured his interests and talents, and as he says, it’s important to acknowledge that things aren’t always linear and smooth. Within a year though, he found a job he really enjoyed as Director of Education at Israel365. “I have the opportunity to pursue a passion I always had but never had the time for before, which is working with Christians. It has opened up a whole new fascinating world for me and while I enjoyed being a shul rabbi and it was good for my skill sets, there were parts that I didn’t enjoy as much. Only when I got here did I realize that I was born to be a rabbi for the Christians. The world is bigger than we realize. There are opportunities out there that we haven’t heard of and that we may have been made for. I feel like the leap of faith we took has been rewarded many times over by just expanding and doing exciting new things I’ve never been able to do before.” Elie also indulged in his love of writing by authoring a book and also working as the editor of Mizrachi Magazine. Rebecca continued her private practice on Zoom and also sees yeshiva and seminary students in Yerushalayim. She also works as the Director of Guidance at Midreshet Lindenbaum, so while she is continuing in the field she excels at, she is expanding in different ways.
The Mischels made aliyah three years ago and live in Efrat near Rebecca’s sister and brother. “Efrat is not too small and not too big and there are a lot of amenities and great chugim,” says Rebecca. “I love that school doesn’t end so late, as it allows kids to have a lot of friend and family time and to enjoy their independence. Something else that’s really different here is that all of the kids have businesses! One of our kids runs a nail business, one has a baking business, one runs a chug for younger kids. There is so much opportunity for them to be involved in their community.” Elie adds that in Efrat, there’s always a breeze but you hardly ever have to shovel snow, which he says, “makes being surrounded by Arabs worth it. After October 7, we both got guns, which we never expected but even with that said, it’s amazing living in Efrat being surrounded by idealists, who all chose to move to Israel. While shul life may be different here as it’s not as much about community, what makes up for it is the sense of nation and being part of something bigger. As an example, most American Jewish newspapers are boring, like reporting on the hockey games of one Jewish school against the next, but here, even the Religious Zionist freebie papers are full of stories about the nation and redemption and arguing back and forth and saying exactly what they think and it’s passionate and awesome.” They love their shuls, including Shirat David where Rabbi Shlomo Katz is the rabbi. Rebecca shares that, “Friday night is packed and everyone is singing and dancing together the whole time. Everyone should see it at least once; what davening can be.”
Among Elie’s aliyah perks: “I don’t have to wear a tie or suits anymore and I recently graduated and got permission from my wife to wear sandals (no socks!) and my feet are finally able to breathe. They’ve needed to breathe now for a long time!”
Their kids are doing great. Their oldest daughter is now doing Sherut Leumi at Hadassah Hospital. Their next daughter who is now in 11th grade attends a very Israeli high school and is pushing herself through the language challenge and doing very well, as are their 8th grader and 4th grader. “It’s fun to watch our kids straddle the two cultures wearing their very American sweatshirts with their socks and Naot!”
Rebecca says that her Hebrew has gotten better since moving to Israel but even when she isn’t sure about a word, she plows through and makes words up. The challenge is her accent. “Sometimes I use the right word but people don’t understand me and I have to get my kids on the phone. On the more serious side, even during the war, it’s been so meaningful to be here. It’s been very special helping Miluim families including watching my daughter who did nails for some of the kids of families whose fathers are serving. Even being in a bomb shelter when Iran was attacking, while scary, was still so special feeling a part of the nes that was happening and feeling a part of the nation in that way.”
