U

pon their permanent 
arrival to Israel as this 
summer ended, Mark 
and Badonna Berkman, for-
merly of Oak Park, added a new 
Hebrew word to their vocabu-
lary: bedood. 
The coronavirus bedood, 
or lockdown, was not the start 
of an aliyah the Berkmans 
may have chosen when they 
discussed the idea of becom-
ing Israelis as far back as their 
first dates while in their 20s. 
The Modern Orthodox couple 
spent the decades of their mar-
riage keeping the aliyah dream 
alive while raising a family of 
four children in an Oak Park 
four-bedroom colonial.
Mark, 59, worked for 30 
years as an assistant prosecut-
ing attorney for Genesee and 
Oakland counties. The students 
in Detroit’s Jewish day schools 
knew Badonna, 63, for years as 
a JARC School Inclusion special 
needs teacher. Now that three 
of their grown children are liv-

ing in Israel, the Berkmans in 
2019 knew the time was right to 
make aliyah a reality. 
Studying in a Tzfat seminary 
in the late 1970s and early ’80s 
sparked Badonna’s yearning to 
make aliyah. She remembered 
sharing living quarters with 
other young Detroit women, 
including Chabad’s Jewish 
Ferndale co-director, Chana 
Finman. 
“I have Aish HaTorah to 
thank for instilling my love for 
Jewish learning and a desire to 
live in Israel,
” Badonna said. 
“I’ve spent 40 years trying to get 
back to living there for good.
”
Beyond the emotional and 
spiritual pull of Israel, the 
Berkmans knew they’
d have to 
work out the practical logistics 
such as supporting themselves 
and acclimating to a new lan-
guage, smaller living quarters 
and a hotter climate.
Making aliyah was a 
10-month process that began 
long before the pandemic. 

The couple worked with the 
nonprofit organization Nefesh 
B’Nefesh to help with all the 
logistics. When all arrange-
ments had been finalized, 
the Oak Park house sold and 
their most essential belongings 
packed into a 20-foot shipping 
container, it was time for the 
Berkmans to say a departing 
shalom to America and book 
their one-way flight to Israel by 
late summer. 
The Berkmans adhered to 
the strict guidelines set by 
the Israeli Ministry of Health 
before, during and after flying. 
Unlike pre-pandemic Nefesh 
B’Nefesh aliyah arrivals, there 
were no large crowds at Ben 
Gurion Airport to greet them. 
But as the wheels touched down 
in Israel, the Berkmans, along 
with 60 olim, or immigrant, 
families still clapped and shed 
tears of joy. 
“The first moments of aliyah 
were not what we dreamed of, 
but still, there were no dry eyes 
on that plane when it landed,
” 
Mark said.

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE
The pandemic continues to 
unexpectedly shape these first 
few months of being Israelis. 
They hope to eventually work 
in their professions, but for now, 
they are getting to know their 
mostly French olim neighbors, 
keeping in touch with friends 
and family over social media 
apps, and taking on the biggest 
cultural change — learning a 
new language. While staying 
put in their Ranana apart-
ment — found by their oldest 
son Avraham, 32, before their 
arrival — they take online ulpan 
classes nine hours each week. 
Fulfilling the dream to live 

in Israel may be spiritually 
moving, but there remains a 
steep language barrier in nav-
igating life’s practicalities such 
as buying a car, setting up bank 
accounts, figuring out electric 
bills and figuring out parking 
space mobile apps. They are 
ever grateful for their children 
who are helping them in all 
things Hebrew. 
The Berkmans looked for-
ward to spending their first 
High Holiday season with their 
children and grandchildren. In 
September, shortly after their 
arrival and 14-day required 
quarantine, there were joyous 
outdoor reunions with their 
three children and two grand-
children. 
But just as the Jewish New 
Year began, the Israeli govern-
ment enforced a mandatory 
shutdown. There were no large 
family meals in a sukkah or 
travels around the country, but 
since moving to Israel, they are 
grateful for finally being near 
their children and grandchil-
dren and the “little miracles” 

that seem to happen daily. This 
includes procuring schach — or 
roof material for a sukkah — 
from a group of religious men 
who they randomly passed 
while cutting down some 
branches in the neighborhood.
“Where else in the world can 
you have a conversation about 
needing schach and a stranger 
will know exactly what you 
mean, even with a bit of a lan-
guage barrier,
” exclaimed Mark. 
“Being in Israel, a Jewish person 
no longer has to explain them-
selves. The familiarity of it all 
makes you feel like you are sur-
rounded by one large extended 
family.
” 

Living in
Israel

COVID pandemic doesn’t stop Oak 
Park natives from making aliyah.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

IN 
THED
JEWS

Badonna and 

Mark Berkman

“THERE WERE NO DRY EYES ON 
THAT PLANE WHEN IT LANDED.”

— MARK BERKMAN

 DECEMBER 24 • 2020 | 13

