ERETZ

S

ean (or Zeesha) 
Littman, 31, made ali-
yah from Oak Park in 
2011, about two months after 
he married Ilana. He cred-
its the decision to his wife’s 
wisdom. They live with their 
children, Tamar, 9, Emuna, 
8, Tzofia, 6, and Ahuva Roza, 
17 months, in Ramat Beit 
Shemesh.

JN: Where did you 
move to?
Sean: At first, we lived in Tel 
Zion, which is a Yishuv out-
side of Jerusalem, where we 
knew one person who lived 
there. We ended up becoming 
close with the rabbi and reb-
betzin of the shul. Eventually, 
we moved to Ramat Beit 
Shemesh, where we have been 
living for eight years.

JN: Where did you 
grow up?
Sean: I grew up in Oak Park 
and went to Avery Elementary, 
Norup Middle School and 
Berkeley High. I went to YBY 
Day Camp for many sum-
mers and became friends with 
many Orthodox kids my age. 
Around the time of my bar 
mitzvah, I realized that my 
friends wouldn’t come to Beth 
Shalom because of the micro-
phone, so we had my bar 
mitzvah at Young Israel. My 

father became very close with 
Rabbi Reuven Spolter.

JN: Did you come to Israel 
for the year after high 
school?
Sean: I wanted to go to 
Yeshiva after high school, so 
I went to Derech Etz Chaim 
in Har Nof. I knew how to 
learn, but my (Hebrew) read-
ing was not that great. The 
Yeshiva suggested that I go to 
Machon Bernstein in Meah 
Shearim to help improve 
my reading skills. It worked 
like a charm, and now I can 
read Hebrew and Yiddish 
flawlessly. I learned at DEC 
for two years, and with some 
very powerful advice from a 
very wise friend, I learned in 
another Yeshiva for about six 
months, and then Ilana and 
I got engaged. Eventually, 
we got married and moved 
to Israel about two months 
later.

JN: Tell me about Ilana’s 
idea to move to Israel. 
Where did that idea 
come from?
Sean: It was brilliant. She said 
we haven’t laid any roots here 
in Michigan yet and that it 
made the most sense to be in 
Israel. It won’t be easy, but it 
will be where we need to be. I 
was hesitant at first, but once 

we did it, I never looked back. 
She always says, “If you don’t 
want to be here than you’ll 
never make it.” 

JN: What are you doing 
professionally?
Sean: I’ve worked for a lot of 
companies and have done a 
lot of different things. At the 
moment, I am running three 
different companies: a prop-
erty management company, a 
marketing agency that deals 
with nonprofits and a cyberse-
curity company that recently 
launched.

JN: Tell me about 
your kids.
Sean: My kids go to an amaz-
ing school called Talmud 
Torah Moriah, which has the 
educational approach of Harav 
Kook. My kids speak English 
and Hebrew, and they want 
to learn Russian because my 
wife speaks Russian. They love 
living here every single day. 
We were in America for five 
weeks this past summer, and 
we see how much better our 

life is here.

JN: What are their extra-
curriculars?
Sean: My children were very 
active in ballet for a while and 
now have switched to gymnas-
tics and love every minute of 
it. The baby even joins in with 
them! 

JN: Is there anything that 
you miss about Michigan?
Sean: Detroit is a wonderful 
community filled with amaz-
ing people, but I really only 
miss Jerusalem Pizza and a 
good Sara’s Deli sandwich! 

JN: Do you have a mes-
sage for anyone who’s 
considering making aliyah 
from Detroit?
Sean: If you want to make ali-
yah, move to Israel now. It’s an 
amazing place to be because 
there are so many different 
types of people here. I’ll give 
you my phone number, and if 
you have questions, are look-
ing for advice or are looking 
to start a business, call me. 

Sean Littman: 
“Move to 
Israel Now.”

AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

46 | MAY 26 • 2022 

MEET THE OLIM

Sean Littman

