Volume 8, Issue 2 / Shevat 5765 / February 2005

Making Aliyah Resiliently

"I firmly believe that the more strongly and emotionally people are drawn to Israel, the more they have difficulty in articulating their reasons for this."

"It was a dream of mine to live in Israel. I always thought idealistically that it was the land of milk and honey," says Alison Stern Golub, who came on aliyah in October 2003 from Providence, Rhode Island. "I firmly believe that the more strongly and emotionally people are drawn to Israel, the more they have difficulty in articulating their reasons for this."

Growing up in Seattle, Washington with little cohesive Jewish identity, Alison, 27, didn't hear about Israel until her teens. Since the age of 17, she visited Israel seven times - the first time on a Holocaust study mission with Israeli and American youth who met up in Poland. She also attended a two-month program and worked as a counselor at the Alexander Muss High School in Hod Hasharon.

The longest period of time away from Israel was during her years as an undergraduate student of psychology at Brown University in Providence. Alison became interested in psychological trauma and the study of resilience, a relatively new field of research which tries to explain why some people seem to cope better with trauma than others. Her undergraduate thesis focused on the way Holocaust survivors in America make meaning of their lives and identities and how a life narrative becomes organized around trauma. Alison presented a workshop on her research last summer at the Yad Vashem International Conference for Educators. She plans to conduct similar, comparative research with Holocaust survivors in Israel.

Alison's dream became a reality when she realized that more trauma and resilience research should be conducted in Israel and that she could have an impact on that process. "Israel is a world leader in trauma medicine. We should also be leaders in trauma psychology. We can take the lessons from here to help the world. Prof. Dan Bar-On, head of Behavioral Sciences at Ben Gurion University, is a leader in this field and one of the reasons that I came to Israel." Her MA/PhD thesis is on the coping techniques of Jerusalem bus drivers facing the recurrent threat of terror.

"As a society Israel has dealt with things that no other global society has dealt with," says Alison. She would like to discover what defines resilience in certain individuals, in addition to their inborn characteristics, and what characterizes resilience in different contexts. She would like to understand what facets of resilience can be taught to others in order to strengthen their current functioning.

Alison studied Hebrew intensively at Ulpan Morasha and Ulpan Etzion in Jerusalem as well as at Hebrew University. She moved to Beer Sheva in the fall of this year for her graduate studies at Ben Gurion University. Today she is able to follow most of her courses in Hebrew.

Although Alison lives and studies in Beer Sheva, she is still captivated by Jerusalem and travels there often. "The Ben Gurion University campus is beautiful, and real estate is cheaper here, but I'm not fully connected to Beer Sheva. Jerusalem is such a spiritually rich place, and has a great support system for olim."

Among those who have been easing her adjustment to Israeli life is Tziki Aud, a Jewish Agency employee. Shortly before her aliyah, Alison had trouble finding a place to live because of her pet dog Sava. She was referred to Tziki, Director of the Information Center of the Jewish Agency's Aliyah Department. He solved the problem and offered to buy her food for the upcoming Succot holiday as well as a house-warming plant. "I thought that would be the last I would hear of Tziki. I went to thank him and he invited me for a Shabbat meal. Since my aliyah, there were maybe 7 Shabbatot that I haven't been at the Aud family's home! His American wife, Aya, and their three sons have been wonderful to me. They're my only family in Israel."

Tziki has helped hundreds of young people over the years, including chayalim bodedim, IDF soldiers from abroad without family support. He does their laundry, gives them sheets and sends them back to the army every week with food packages. Tziki also assists Israeli youth who found themselves on the streets. Many went to the army and are doing well. He helps olim from all countries.

"Tziki and his family embody what I love about Israel - people who go out of their way for others, for no other reason other than love and generosity," states Alison. "I don't know how they manage it with all the guests every week, but they do. After dinner, Tziki just sits in the living room with all of us and is so content listening to us all. He is as proud of us as he is of his own sons."

Alison's background in psychology helps her understand why things happen differently in Israel than in America. "When I come across annoying cultural differences - I try to understand why I can't get my point across and why this is happening."

Alison conveys both the challenges and upbeat feelings of life in Israel in a bimonthly column published in the Jewish Voice and Herald of Rhode Island. The editor initially wanted Alison to write up her experiences from two months before aliyah to two months afterwards. "I never expected it to go on longer than that," recalls Alison, "but letters kept pouring in to continue. Some readers are thinking of visiting Israel or making aliyah after reading it."

The columns record Alison's ongoing process of absorption in Israel. Although the idealistic tone has somewhat lessened from her first months in the country, her true love for Israel has emerged even stronger over the past year.

Written by: Batsheva Pomerantz
Photo by: Noga

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