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The Tauber family. (Photo by Yonit Schiller)<\/p>\n The Tauber family. (Photo by Yonit Schiller)<\/p>\n
When Dovid Tauber and his family moved to Israel, it was originally just so he could attend medical school, with the long-term goal being to eventually return to the Jewish homeland. The family planned on being in the Philadelphia area for Tauber\u2019s residency, but at a certain point when they were in the process of moving, Tauber and his wife realized something: they were meant to be in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were getting ready to leave and go back to America and we just looked at each other like, what are we doing? Why are we leaving? So we knew that we wanted to come back sooner than later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The seed of return was already planted in the family\u2019s mind, but it was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust \u2014 the Oct. 7 massacre \u2014 that really spurred action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Oct. 7 happened. And I think the initial reaction after Oct. 7 was like, \u2018We need to get there now. We need to be with our brothers and sisters, and be a part of the effort to help in any way we can,\u2019\u201d Tauber said.<\/p>\n
Today, the family is proud to say they are Israelis. They finally live full-time in the world\u2019s only Jewish state. This move was a long time coming, even though it took the horrific events of Oct. 7, 2023, to galvanize the family, Tauber said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like we were jumping on a plane and joining the volunteer efforts to help, but I just started working and making money and definitely gave a lot of charity to different organizations,\u201d he said. \u201cOct. 7, I would say, lit a fire under us to make sure that we didn\u2019t delay coming. So after my [residency] contract was up, we made our move, and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Easy Aliyah, a company that helps Jews move to Israel, in the month following the Oct. 7 massacre, aliyah increased 64.3% compared to pre-attack months. As of this past spring, the amount of people making aliyah had decreased compared to those first months but still stands above the totals from pre-Oct. 7.<\/p>\n
Tauber and his family live in Ramot, Jerusalem, and he said that the community is as tight-knit as can be. He said that this is partly due to the connection of Judaism that they share, but also because of their collective willingness to stand in the face of danger bravely. There have been terror attacks just minutes from their neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real strong sense of unity and a feeling that you\u2019re a part of something much bigger than yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that we knew coming in we would experience, but to experience it this quickly and so close \u2026 we really [understand] what it\u2019s been like to live here over the last hundred years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move wasn\u2019t all easy, as there are of course things that the family misses about Philadelphia and the United States as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found and made great friends. So I definitely miss them. There\u2019s great museums in Philadelphia. My kids love the Philadelphia Zoo, but those aren\u2019t things that we can\u2019t find here in Israel,\u201d Tauber said.<\/p>\n
Living in Israel also means that there are tough conversations that need to be had with children about safety and the war. Tauber said that it\u2019s something he doesn\u2019t take lightly.<\/p>\n
\u201c[There] are ways to help our children understand that we\u2019re a nation, we\u2019re a strong nation, and we\u2019re here at the heart of it, where God\u2019s eyes are always watching,\u201d he said.
For Tauber, this move was the culmination of a lifetime worth of Judaism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to Israel many times, and [during] my general upbringing, a lot of things that we pray for were about Israel,\u201d he said. \u201cIt all talks about building in Jerusalem and returning to Zion. My wife and I were very aligned on living in Israel at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n