Letters from Home!

Dear friends & family,

We made Aliyah from Woodmere, N.Y. in August '05. My brother, Yudie, and his family made Aliyah with us on the same flight, making our klita that much more special.

All is well here, Baruch Hashem. The kids are finally adjusting in school and are making nice friends. Life here in Ramat Beit Shemesh has certainly taken a different pace than back in the States. Friday is a great day to have off from work. It gives me the opportunity to pursue my new hobby of mountain biking in the morning, help with the household chores in the afternoon and still have menuchat hanefesh going into Shabbat. I remember, not too long ago in New York, jumping on the subway, fighting the weekend crowds, sprinting through Penn Station to catch the last train, walking through the doors of my house within 20 minutes of candle lighting, and that was a good Friday!

I still can't get over the fact that the Kotel is only a half hour away. Ma'arat Hamachpelah is forty minutes away, and Harei Yehuda are my front vista. Kivrei Shimon Hageebor and Dan ben Yaakov Avinu are down the road from us too. There are too many tiyulim here to count. We have nature trails two minutes from our house.

We hope the friendships we forged in Woodmere will, B"H, act as a springboard for others to join us in Eretz Yisroel.

B'ahavah,
Dovid & Sara Baila Akselrud

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