Arielle and Danielle are on opposite sides of the same move. For Arielle, aliyah is still a countdown.
She is trying to pack up her family’s life in the United States, finish a growing list of logistical tasks and prepare for the goodbyes she has been dreading.
Arielle Sabol's vlog - Week 4
For Danielle (Dani), the flight is already behind her. She made aliyah with her boyfriend and is now facing a different part of the process: transitioning from arrival to actual life in Israel.
Both are swamped, just at different stages of the journey.
Danielle's vlog - Week 4
Arielle has only days left before the family’s flight. “Getting it ready to go to Israel. Our flight is in 3 days,” she says as the packing intensifies. The shrinking timeline hangs over everything. It is their last Shabbat in the United States, then their second-to-last night, then their final evening before departure.
The pressure is not only emotional. There are arrangements to complete, bags to finish and an apartment in Israel to find from afar. “I just wanted to show the reality here is not like rainbows and butterflies. I’m feeling super frustrated today,” Arielle says.
Still, the hardest part of leaving has little to do with logistics. “Without a doubt, the most emotional part of the move and preparing to make aliyah has been the goodbyes,” Arielle says. “It’s, it’s so hard, honestly.” Leaving also means confronting what is being left behind. Arielle was born in the United States, as were her daughters. “To be leaving the country where I was born, my daughters were born. It’s just crazy,” she says.
As departure draws closer, however, the panic begins to give way to certainty. “I actually feel at peace. I know this is the right decision,” she says. “I’m proud of us for making this bold move. It’s obviously not easy to move across the world with two young kids.”
By the final night, the bags are packed. “We did it. We packed up,” she says. “It’s really feeling real.” For Arielle, the race is to close one chapter before the flight takes off.
Arielle packs up her bags ahead of the move
(Photo: Screenshot)
For Dani, it begins after landing. Her first days in Israel are filled with the practical tasks that turn a move into everyday life: getting an Israeli phone number, dealing with the bank, arranging health care, searching for an apartment and establishing new routines. “My healthcare, all of that, my bank account, but I need to get an Israeli SIM card first,” Dani says.
That sends her to Dizengoff Center. “So we’re in the Dizengoff Mall getting my Israeli phone number,” she says. “They’re setting up my eSIM for me right now.”
One errand leads to another. “So we’ve been running around pretty much every single day since we got here, getting everything set up, trying to find an apartment,” she says.
From errands to routines, Dani begins building a life in Israel
(Photo: Screenshot)
The contrast with Arielle is almost exact. Arielle is trying to finish everything before leaving. Dani is trying to get everything started after arriving. But between the bureaucracy and errands, signs of normal life begin to appear. “We just signed up for our gym membership,” Dani says after their first workout since arriving.
Then comes a first grocery run. “It’s officially time to start living like locals.” Slowly, the checklist gives way to the moments she had imagined before making the move: walking through the city, meeting friends, spending time by the sea and sharing Shabbat in Israel. “We’re meeting up with some friends to have, like, a little Shabbat picnic, which is like literally my dream,” Dani says.
Dani takes in her new home as life in Israel begins to feel real
(Photo: Screenshot)
Later comes another milestone. “We just had our very first Shabbat dinner as Israeli citizens, which is insane to me.” And at sunset, after days dominated by practicalities, the meaning of the move begins to sink in. “It just felt so surreal like being here and watching the sunset and just knowing that like … that’s my home.”
For Arielle, home is still the place she is preparing to leave. For Dani, it is the place she is beginning to build.
Daniel Bielak's vlog - Week 4
Daniel Bielak, meanwhile, approaches aliyah from another angle. For him, the move is not only about where he will live, but about who he wants to become once he gets there. “Making aliyah isn’t just about changing countries,” he says. “It’s about deciding who you want to become.” As he prepares for the move, Bielak puts that question on paper: “Who do I wanna be when I arrive?”
Daniel prepares to make aliyah in September
(Photo: Screenshot)
His answer is tied to the name Daniel Shalom. “For me, that means becoming more fully Daniel Shalom, living with greater peace, wholeness, and connection to Hashem,” he says, explaining his decision to rename his social media account @Daniel.Shalom.
He says the name reflects what he hopes to carry with him into his new life. “As I bring Daniel Shalom to Israel, I’ll share the things I love, with one purpose: to bring a little more shalom into the world.”
Preparing for aliyah, Daniel reflects on the person he wants to become
(Photo: Screenshot)
Week 4 captures aliyah from three different vantage points. Arielle is preparing to leave, Dani is trying to settle in, and Daniel is asking what kind of person he wants to be when he arrives. The flight may divide the before from the after, but for all three, aliyah is less a single moment than the beginning of a much longer adjustment.
Dani, Arielle, and Daniel all made aliyah with the help of Nefesh B’Nefesh in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and Jewish National Fund-USA.
In cooperation with Nefesh B’Nefesh
Watch more aliya vlog entries on Global aliyah
First published: 14:59, 08.13.26