Alysa Cohen, 48, made aliyah in August 2019, from Teaneck to Zichron Yaakov with her husband, Amir, and children Rami, Daphna, Yonatan and Aviv, who are 20, 18, 16 and 10 today. Prior to making aliyah, Alysa was a teacher at Yeshivat Noam in Paramus where her children also went to school. Rami and Daphna attended Frisch in Teaneck for high school.

Zacks recently interviewed Cohen about her family’s aliyah.

Aviva: Where did you go to elementary and high school?

Alysa: I grew up in Fair Lawn and went to Yavneh and Frisch, both in Paramus, and then Bruriah High School in Elizabeth.

Aviva: Did you get any Zionist influence from your schools?

Alysa: I think the schools I went to did a pretty good job with teaching about Israel, but I went to Achva in Fairfax, Virginia for a summer and then Shayara for my gap year. I also went to Hebrew University for a semester abroad during college. Those were my bigger Zionist influences.

Aviva: What was your motivation to make aliyah?

Alysa: There were definitely times in my life when I wanted to live in Israel. I taught in Yeshivat Noam for 14 years, which has a very Zionist atmosphere, but I think my strongest influence was that I married an Israeli. His whole family lives in Israel so I felt drawn to aliyah.

Aviva: Why did you choose Zichron Yaakov?

Alysa: Amir’s family all lives in the north — everywhere from Netanya to Ramat HaGolan — and we wanted to live near family. Zichron Yaakov has enough of an English-speaking presence that we all felt culturally comfortable there.

Aviva: What are you doing professionally?

Alysa: As I mentioned, I had been an English teacher at Yeshivat Noam. In our first and second years, I tutored local children in English. Afterward, I obtained my Israeli teaching license and have been teaching English in a high school in Zichron. The pace of life here has also enabled me to spend more time on one of my other passions, which is cooking. After being here for a little over a year, before I started teaching in the school system, I started a cooking business, selling homemade desserts, dips and other food from my house.

Aviva: What are your kids up to these days?

Alysa: My oldest two kids are in mechina. Rami is planning on going into the army and Daphna will be in Sherut Leumi in the fall. Yonatan and Aviv are both thriving in school and are happy. My kids love it here so much that they don’t even have the desire to go back in the summers.

Aviva: How have your children adjusted to life in Israel?

Alysa: We spoke to them in Hebrew in America, so they were already fluent when we got here. Obviously, it’s a little more challenging for teenagers to adjust to a new school, but they all made friends quickly, and not exclusively from the Anglo community.

Aviva: What do you love about living in Israel?

Alysa: I love the independence my kids have. I love that in the summers, they don’t need to be in camp or be busy every second of the day. It’s more relaxed here and at a slower pace. I like not having to decide in October what I want to do in July. People don’t make plans months in advance. For example, we planned our son’s birthday party for a Friday on the Wednesday night before, and it was totally fine. I could never have pulled that off in New Jersey. There were always carpools and summer plans.

Aviva: What do you miss about living in New Jersey?

Alysa: I am grateful that I live at a time when I can WhatsApp and speak to my family any time I want, but I also miss my family and it’s hard to miss family events.

Aviva: Do you have a message for anyone who’s considering making aliyah with a family?

Alysa: Our kids all made friends very quickly, but it was more challenging for Amir and me because we are in our 40s and not going to the park with young kids and meeting people.

For most people who make aliyah, it’s not a vacation. It’s real life and it’s essential to be realistic about what it is to live here. Having said that, if you want to slow down and have a bit of vacation in your everyday life it’s possible to achieve that in Israel.

Aviva Zacks is a writer living in Israel who loves speaking to olim and hearing their stories. If you know of an oleh/olah who is interested in being interviewed for the Jewish Link, please email [email protected].