AUGUST 12 • 2021 | 31

S

itting down with Meir 
Goldberg, 39, was a 
leap back in time for 
me. I remember him when 
he was a teenager, and it was 
fun to catch up with him after 
all these years. Meir has been 
living in Israel for 18 years 
and says he would never live 
anywhere else. He lives with his 
young family in Ra’anana and 
enjoys going back to Michigan 
regularly for business and to 
visit family and friends.

Q: Where did you go to shul and 
school in Detroit?
MG: I grew up going to the 
Young Israel of Southfield 
where my father (Rabbi 
Elimelech Goldberg) was the 
rabbi and is still rabbi emeritus. 
I went to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah 
for elementary school.

Q: Did you come to Israel for the 
year after high school? 
MG: I studied at Yeshivat 
HaKotel during the Second 
Intifada, and that year, my 
father led a group of young 
people from my community on 
the March of the Living. I hung 
out with the group, and the 
discussions with the kids were 
understandably intense. They 
had come to Israel straight 
from the gas chambers of 
Poland. 
My great-grandmother 
died in Auschwitz, and my 
grandfather, for whom I was 

named, was a partisan fighter 
who smuggled children out 
of the camps. It was personal. 
Being with these young people 
who were reliving the depth 
of the Jewish experience made 
me feel even more intensely 
the blessing of the ground 
underneath me. It was a 
moment of awareness that my 
roots, my heritage, everything 
about me, was very much 
connected to this land.

Q: Tell me about your aliyah.
MG: I grew up coming to 
Israel regularly as a child and 
developed a great love for the 
country and the people. I never 
imagined, however, making 
Israel my home. It was after one 
particular trip, when I was 22, 
that I found myself connected 
to a great community of fellow 
Anglos. At the same time, there 
were tremendous business 
opportunities that were very 
attractive.

Q: After you’
d been living here 
for a while, why did you decide 
to make it permanent?
MG: The real estate market 
in Israel was booming. I 
began a business with my U.S. 
network, finding apartments, 
renovating buildings and 
eventually developing projects. 
I also met my wife who was 
born in England and moved 
here at a young age. Israel had 
become home, so it was natural 

to make aliyah officially. 

Q: And what do you do now?
MG: As much as I enjoyed 
real estate development, I 
saw the growing tech sector 
in Israel as an opportunity 
to help support the country 
while offering my growing 
U.S. network of investors real 
opportunities for top Israel 
investments. 
I joined an amazing 
company called OurCrowd, 
which was focusing a great 
deal of talent and know-how 
in choosing the right startups 
to invest in. As we have 
experienced extraordinary 
exits, my network of investors, 
including back in Detroit, has 
grown significantly. It gives me 
a great excuse to come back to 
Detroit often and see my family 
and friends.
I am also very passionate 
about the Kids Kicking Cancer 
program in Israel, where I sit 
on the board. My dad started 
KKC in Detroit a number of 

years after my sister passed 
away. We have a strong 
program in 12 Israel hospitals 
but have also supplied our 
martial arts therapy to young 
trauma victims all over the 
country. 

Q: What do you miss about 
living in Detroit?
MG: I miss my family. I also 
miss getting to see the Pistons, 
Lions, Tigers and Red Wings 
live. And Jerusalem Pizza, and 
not in that order.

Q: Do you have a message for 
anyone who is reading this in the 
Detroit area?
MG: Many people are 
challenged going a bit out of 
the culture that they are used 
to. However, when it comes 
to Israel, you don’t need a 
strong Hebrew or religious 
background to quickly feel 
enveloped by the country of the 
Jewish people. I love Detroit, 
but I know that in Israel, I am 
really home. 

Business opportunities attracted 
him to Israel.

Meet 
Meir Goldberg

AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ERETZ
MEET THE OLIM

Meir Goldberg 
and family.

