Q

: What were your early experiences 
of Zionism when you were growing 
up?
Rochelle Zelcer: Growing up, I went to 
Akiva Hebrew Day School [now Farber]
w and then I went to Hillel Day School, 
which were very Zionistic places in terms 
of education, the teachers and the overall 
messaging from the schools. I also went 
to Tamarack Camp, which is also very 
Zionistic.
My parents are from the former Soviet 
Union, and I grew up with an underlying 
value system that first, we are Jews, and 
then we are other things.

Q How old were you when you visited 
Israel for the first time?
RZ: The first time I came, I was 18 and 
came on Birthright. From that time, I said, 
“This is it. This is the place for me. This 
place is amazing.” Every winter break and 
summer break that I had going forward, I 

would go back to Israel. I went on any trip 
I could get on. 
If I couldn’t get on a trip, I would just 
go to Israel for the summer. One summer, 
I went to Nishmat, which is a seminary in 
Jerusalem, for the summer, and I was no 
longer a tourist. I was really getting the 
taste of Israeli culture and olim who were 
coming to live in Israel. This was where 
I wanted to raise my kids, and this was 
where I wanted to be.
But I had to go back and finish my 
psychology degree at the University of 
Texas. The day after I finished, I had a 
ticket to go back to Israel. I didn’t even 
stay for graduation. I found an internship 
working with psychologists. 
I assumed that I would get a second 
degree here in psychology and continue 
in that field, but that didn’t work out for 
various reasons. I had to prove it to myself 
and my parents that I could make it here 
and that I could create a life. So, I worked 

three jobs, including the internship. Then 
my brother got engaged, so I went back 
to Dallas. My parents asked me to move 
to New York for six months. I think they 
were hoping I would meet a New Yorker 
that would refuse to leave New York.
A month after I moved to New York, 
I met my husband. I told him I would 
only go out with him if we were going to 
make aliyah. He agreed and eventually 
we got engaged. The next day, I told him 
we needed to go to the aliyah office and 
register. I’m very fortunate and grateful 
that my husband, Barry, had a flexible job 
that allowed us to pursue this dream.

Q: Where did you live?
RZ:: I had a friend who was going 
away for the summer. So, she lent us her 
apartment. Then we moved a few times, 
and we have been living in Ramat Beit 
Shemesh for eight years.

Q: Tell me about your kids.
RZ: We have five boys, so that is pretty 
messy. It’s a beautiful jungle.

Q: What do you miss about living in 
Detroit?
RZ: I miss Detroit like crazy. I loved 
the winter. I loved the snow. It was such 
a big part of my childhood — having a 
huge yard and being able to go outside 
and play in the snow for hours and hours 
and shoveling the snow. I also love the way 
that people are so very real. I miss all the 
memories that I built there.

Q: What message do you have for anyone 
who’s reading this interview back in 
Detroit?
RZ: I see the beauty of Israel, but I also 
see the challenges; and I see them in a very, 
very distinct way. I hope that people won’t 
allow those challenges to become a deterrent 
for them when they want to make aliyah. 
There’s no shame in being an American in 
Israel. You can be who you are. That’s the 
beauty of Israel. When my parents came to 
the U.S., they wanted to assimilate because 
they felt that was important for us as 
children, but Israel is the melting pot of Jews 
from all over the world. 

Rochelle Zelcer:

‘This is the 
Place for Me’

AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

30 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 

ERETZ
MEET THE OLIM

Rochelle and 
Barry Zelcer 
and their 
five sons.

