48 | JULY 28 • 2022 

M

iriam Maor, 50, 
made aliyah with 
her family from 
Southfield in 2007 and moved 
into Ramat Beit Shemesh, 
about 25 miles west of 
Jerusalem, where she still 
resides. 

JN: Where did you grow up?
Miriam: I grew up in Palo 
Alto, Calif., and went to 
South Peninsula Hebrew 
Day School, which was a 
Bnei Akiva school. We sang 
all of the stanzas of “Kachol 
v’Lavan,” which hardly 
anybody knows.

JN: So, you had a strong 
Zionist education?
Miriam: Yes, until I moved 
to Pittsburgh. I went to 
Lubavitch school there, 
and then I went to Yavne 
seminary in Cleveland.
 
JN: What schools and shul 
did your family attend?
Miriam: My son learned at 
the Yeshiva of Toledo, and 
my other kids were in Bais 
Yehudah and Darchei Torah. 
We davened at Machon 
L’Torah and now Rabbi and 
Mrs. J. live right across the 
street from me! I also taught 
at Bais Yaakov.

JN: What was the motivation 
behind your aliyah? 
Miriam: First of all, we 
always wanted to live in 
Israel. This is HaShem’s land, 
which He gave to us, so this 
is where we’re supposed to 
be. 
 Also, a few things were 
happening at that time. My 
brother got married in Israel 
in 2004 and, when we got 
back to Michigan, we felt 
drawn back to Israel. A year 
later, Gush Katif [in Gaza] 
was being evacuated, and 
I remember sitting at the 
computer watching videos 
of it and crying. I thought 
I’d rather have my kids be 
garbage cleaners in Israel 
than live comfortably in 
America because Israel is 
where we should be.

JN: What was your aliyah 
flight like?
Miriam: We had six young 
kids and the youngest 
two were babies. We were 
obviously the last ones off 
the plane and then we were 
processed. It was a great 
feeling to be making aliyah, 
but there were some hard 
times at the beginning.

JN: What are you doing now?

Miriam: I am a fitness 
instructor: Zumba, toning, 
spinning. And now I’m also 
learning yoga. I also work 
for an organization called 
Pointed Discovery, where we 
listen to phone conversations 
of incarcerated individuals 
in the United States to find 
out information on criminal 
activity.

JN: What are your kids up 
to?
Miriam: Yehuda, 30, is an 
auto engineer who changes 
regular cars into racing 
cars. Nechama Shira, 28, 
is an editor for a scientist. 
Yechezkel, 25, is currently 
living in Jerusalem, learning 
Chinese medicine and is 
an aide to elderly patients. 
Zahava, 21, is working in 
Hadassah Hospital as a 
nurse’s aide and also in a 
pub. Tzivia, 16, is in 11th 
grade and is wonderful with 
animals and art. Betzalel, 
15, is in ninth grade and 
composes and remixes 
beautiful songs, designs art 
online and helps his friends 
with their computers.

JN: What do you love about 
living in Israel?
Miriam: I feel that just 

by living day-to-day life, 
everything’s a mitzvah 
because I’m doing it in Israel. 
And I love my community.

JN: What do you miss about 
living in Michigan?
Miriam: I miss the people 
and Trader Joe’s.

JN: Do you have a message 
for anyone back in Michigan 
about living in Israel? 
Miriam: The best thing a 
Jewish person can do is 
connect with HaShem, the 
Torah and His land. My 
stepfather gave me a book 
called Eretz Israel in the 
Parashah, and every time 
things are not easy here, I 
read this book. It talks about 
how certain mitzvot, like 
benching, are so much more 
meaningful in Israel.
Also, I felt that if we didn’t 
move, I was just going to get 
a new car and redo my house. 
Here, I can do all of that and 
it’s a mitzvah. Everything’s 
infused with Kedushah 
[holiness] because I’m living 
here. My mother told me that 
anyone who makes aliyah is 
paying to live here; there’s a 
famous saying: “Eretz Israel 
is acquired by hardships.” But 
it’s definitely worth it. 

AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MEET THE OLIM
ERETZ

Miriam Maor: 
‘It’s definitely worth it.’

