Aliyah Mezuzah Ceremony, 20 May 2013
The ZCV is proud to support forthcoming olim as they move to Israel. As such, the ZCV honours olim at ZCV Executive meetings and gives each oleh or family a mezuzah at the ceremony.
On 20 May, we were proud to say Hatzlacha Raba to eight olim: two individuals and a family. State Labor Members of Parliament, along with Israel Aliyah Centre – Australia Director Bezalel Gleiser, presented the olim with their mezuzahs.
Sarah Dessauer
Sarah was born in Melbourne and attended Leibler Yavner College from kinder-grade 12. She spent a year on the Bnei Akiva MDA program after graduating high school.
She is planning on moving in July and living with her older sister Shoshi, who made Aliyah several years ago.
Sarah is planning to go to Sherut Leumi – National Service – after arriving in Israel and already has a place of service lined up.
Lee & Zehavit Silverstein, and their children Adi, Eitan, Talia and Amit
Lee was born in Melbourne and attended Mount Scopus Memorial College from kinder-grade 11, and he spent his final year at Bialik College. After graduating, he went to Israel and spent six months on AUJS Aviv and 6 months on Kibbutz Kfar Hanasi. When he returned to Australia, he started his own business in wholesale jewellery and hair products.
Zahavit grew up in Netanya, and she was a member of Bnei Akiva. She did Sherut Leumi in Beit Shemesh.
Lee and Zahavit met in 1995 at a Ramah Jewish summer camp in the United States. In 2001, after Zehavit completed her degree in Special Education from Bar Ilan University, she came to Australia and married Lee.
Mikayla Freedman
Mikayla was born in Melbourne and studied at Mount Scopus Memorial College from kinder-grade 12. She has been to Israel several times, including on Scopus’s Year 10 Ulpan program and on March of the Living. After she graduated from high school, she went to Israel to volunteer with several NGOs, and she also spent a semester at Hebrew University and at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
Mikayla will be going to Israel in July and plans to enlist to the IDF.
Mikayla is the third child in her family making aliyah. In her own words:
My name is Mikayla Freedman and I am making Aliyah. My flight’s booked for six weeks’ time; and I will hopefully enlist in the IDF around November.
I’m lucky because my family is very supportive. My brother was in the IDF, and my sister is now also serving.
Despite being the youngest, my sister has always said that I’m not only the most Zionistic of all three but also was the first out of all of us who knew that I wanted to move to Israel.
I’ve been to Israel multiple times in the past, and I’m so appreciative of the experiences which I was a part of.
Unlike most other people on gap years, I was not a part of a program but organised my year by myself. For the first six months of my yearlong trip I volunteered in various places in Israel – a children’s home in Netanya with disadvantaged children, Tel Hashomer Hospital with kids with cancer, and Kibbutz Grofit in South Israel working in the date fields. Then I studied for a semester at Hebrew University and Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in psychology and photography.
In my semester studies of psychology, I decided that I hope to serve in the IDF as a mashit tash – a social worker for other soldiers. I feel like this service job is an excellent example of how each and every serving soldier is important and how, as a whole, Israel is a country that cares for its people.
I met such amazing people in the last year and had incredible experiences. I can only hope that these years to come are going to be filled with just as many meaningful experiences.