Lena Russovsky was Shlepped to Israel from Moscow at 9 Years Old, Now She's a Journalist, Activist, and Entrepreneur

Lena Russovsky was Shlepped to Israel from Moscow at 9 Years Old, Now She's a Journalist, Activist, and Entrepreneur

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Lena Russovsky — Soviet-born Israeli journalist, KAN broadcaster, biotech researcher, and founder of “Russian Women Without a Sense of Humor,” one of Israel’s largest online communities with over 56,000 members — for a conversation about Russian aliyah, immigrant identity, and building a life in Israel. Lena made aliyah from Moscow in 1991 at age nine, arriving just as the Soviet Union was collapsing. She grew up as part of the “1.5 generation” — Soviet-born children who immigrated young and came of age as Israelis — and has spent her career advocating for Russian-speaking olim, amplifying immigrant women’s voices, and building community across Israeli society. Also in the episoide: * The Soviet Jewish immigration experience and what the 1991 aliyah wave was really like * Discrimination and harassment faced by Russian-speaking women in Israel * What the melting pot ideal got wrong — and why immigrant identity can’t be erased * Building a 56,000-member community from a moment of rage on national TV * The 1.5 generation: growing up between two cultures, two languages, two identities * Returning to Russia 20 years later and feeling nothing * Aliyah advice for Russian-speaking immigrants making the move today * What freedom really means when you grew up Jewish in the Soviet Union This is a powerful conversation about immigration, identity, and the courage it takes to build a life among your people. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel. #LenaRussovsky #RussianAliyah #SovietJews #Israel #Aliyah #1point5Generation #RussianOlim #JewishImmigration #IsraeliSociety #IsraeliWomen #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #CommunityBuilding #JewishIdentity #FormerSovietUnion KEY TOPICS  0:00 – Intro 1:09 – Who Is Lena Russovsky: Russian Olah, Journalist, Activist, Community Builder 3:12 – Making Aliyah from the Soviet Union in 1991 4:58 – Arriving in Israel as the Soviet Union Collapsed 7:17 – How She Built a Career in Biotech, Broadcasting, and Activism 8:46 – Would She Be the Same Person If She’d Stayed in Russia? 9:50 – “Russian Women Without a Sense of Humor”: Why She Founded the Community 11:56 – Discrimination Against Russian-Speaking Immigrant Women in Israel 14:30 – Inside a 56,000-Member Community for Russian-Speaking Olim 15:35 – The 1.5 Generation and the Myth of the Israeli Melting Pot 18:49 – Growing Up Between Russia and Israel: The Immigrant Child Experience 20:34 – Did She Ever Consider Leaving Israel? 21:02 – Returning to Russia After 20 Years: What She Found 22:44 – What She Loves Most About Living in Israel 23:57 – Aliyah Advice for Russian-Speaking Immigrants 25:09 – At 80, Looking Back: Who She Became Because of Aliyah 25:49 – Rapid Fire: Hummus, Yalla & Hugging Strangers RESOURCES Follow Lena on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-russovsky-2131b2311/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-russovsky-2131b2311/]  Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go [https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go]  Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc [http://aleph.vc]  Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: http://aleph.vchttps://newsletter.aleph.vc/ [https://newsletter.aleph.vc/] Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/]  Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberghttps://x.com/aleph [https://x.com/aleph] ‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/] ‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ [https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/] CREDITS Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn  Executive Producer: Sarah Bard Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar  Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg Design: Nimrod Sapir

Pro-Basketball Player Tamir Goodman on Hidden Blessings in Adversity, Basketball as a Vehicle and Not Destination, and How it All Came Together in Israel

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Tamir Goodman — the Jewish Jordan, Division 1 basketball pioneer, author, and entrepreneur — for an honest conversation about faith, resilience, and what it really means to build a life in Israel. Tamir shares his journey from Baltimore to the courts of Maccabi Tel Aviv: how he became the first Jewish athlete to earn a Division 1 scholarship while keeping Shabbat, what happened when an abusive coach shattered everything he'd worked for, and how he found his way back — first to basketball, then to Israel, and eventually to a new calling as an inventor and coach. The conversation continues with: * Growing up with a Holocaust survivor grandmother who shaped his identity * Keeping Shabbat at the Division 1 level — and the teammates who said "Shabbat Shalom" * The assault that broke him, and how he rebuilt himself * Signing with Maccabi Tel Aviv and making aliyah * Inventing Zone 190 and Aviv Net — and getting into the NBA G League * Coaching thousands of kids and bringing the spiritual side to the sport * Why Israel is forever home — even with three kids in the army This is a conversation about grit, faith, and finding the hidden blessing inside every challenge. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel. #TamirGoodman #JewishJordan #Israel #Aliyah #Basketball #Shabbat #Division1 #YallaLetsGo #JewishIdentity #MaccabiTelAviv #IsraeliSports #LifeInIsrael #Resilience #LoneSoldier KEY TOPICS  0:00 - Intro 0:50 - Meet Tamir Goodman: The Jewish Jordan 3:16 - From Baltimore to Jerusalem 3:44 - Why He Made Aliyah: A Grandmother, a Dream, and a Breaking Point 4:55 - Broken by a Coach: What Happened After His Freshman Year 5:23 - The Road Back: "God Invests in Everybody" 6:10 - The Maccabi Call and the One-Hour Tryout That Changed Everything 7:47 - Dyslexia as a Hidden Blessing 8:34 - From Injury to Invention: Creating Zone 190 9:46 - Aviv Net: An Anti-Microbial Basketball Net Born in COVID 10:45 - From Startups to Fabric: Powering NBA Events 10:53 - His Wife, His Mission, and the "Different Uniform" Moment 11:30 - Coaching Erica's Son — and Turning Injury Into Opportunity 12:30 - What Makes Him Never Give Up 14:38 - Was Shabbat Ever a Question? Not for a Second 16:29 - Bringing the Spiritual Side to Israeli Basketball 18:23 - His Dream Was Never the NBA — It Was Bigger 19:24 - Three Kids in the Army and Why Israel Is Still Forever Home 20:55 - What He Loves Most: The Authenticity of Life Here 21:09 - Aliyah Advice: Be Resilient 21:35 - Looking Back at 80: It All Started With Meeting His Wife 22:23 - Rapid Fire: Israeli Salad, Yihiyeh B'Seder & Maryland Falls RESOURCES Follow Tamir on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamir-goodman-1a231915/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamir-goodman-1a231915/] Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go [https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go]  Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc [http://aleph.vc]  Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: http://aleph.vchttps://newsletter.aleph.vc/ [https://newsletter.aleph.vc/] Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/]  Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberghttps://x.com/aleph [https://x.com/aleph] ‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/] ‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ [https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/] CREDITS Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn  Executive Producer: Sarah Bard Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar  Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg Design: Nimrod Sapir

Gio from Rio: On Leaving Modeling for Marketing, LGBTQ Life in Israel, and Having Tri-Lingual Kids

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Giovahnna "Gio" Ziegler - Brazilian olah, marketing leader in Israel's high-tech ecosystem, former contestant on Brazil's Next Top Model, best-selling author, and mother of two. Gio shares her journey from Rio de Janeiro to Tel Aviv, why Aliyah was a philosophical certainty more than a logical decision, how she built a successful career in Israeli tech without speaking Hebrew, and what it's like to raise trilingual kids in a Yemeni-Brazilian household. She opens up about the LGBTQ community in Israel vs. Brazil, why she'll never go back, and why Israelis' refusal to apologize in the supermarket is actually genius. The conversation continues with: * Growing up in a famous artistic family in Brazil - and rejecting it * Being the first openly gay contestant on Brazil's Next Top Model * Building a marketing career in Israeli tech from scratch * Starting (and quickly shutting down) her own agency * Raising kids in three languages in Tel Aviv * The LGBTQ community in Israel: openness, acceptance, and belonging * Why she feels Israeli - not Brazilian This is a bold, funny, and deeply personal conversation about reinvention, belonging, and the life you build when you bet on yourself. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel. #GioZiegler #Israel #Aliyah #BrazilianOlah #IsraeliTech #LGBTQ #LifeInIsrael #YallaLetsGo #TelAviv #Marketing #JewishIdentity #NextTopModel KEY TOPICS  0:00 - Intro 0:49 - Meet Gio: From Rio to Tel Aviv 2:17 - Life Story in One Minute: Hippie Roots, Corporate Career, and Two Boys 2:44 - Why She Made Aliyah: A Philosophical Decision 3:53 - Not Another Boring Marketeer? Actually, Kind Of 5:20 - New York Times, South Africa, and Getting to Israel 6:57 - Growing Up in a Famous Artistic Family — And Rebelling 8:27 - Did Moving to Israel Mean a Career Setback? 8:55 - How She Cracked the Israeli Tech Market 10:13 - Starting Her Own Agency (And Why She's Shutting It Down) 11:19 - Brazil's Next Top Model: The Tyra Banks Contract, the NDA, and the Gay Twist 13:52 - From a House of Models to Her Wife Hofit 14:01 - Marrying Into a Yemeni Israeli Household 15:35 - IVF in Israel: What's Free, What's Not, and the Danish Donor 17:16 - The LGBTQ Community in Israel vs. Brazil 19:43 - Raising Trilingual Kids: Hebrew, Portuguese, and English 21:16 - Would She Ever Go Back to Brazil? Absolutely Not. 21:37 - What's Hard About Living in Israel (Lines. Just Lines.) 22:07 - Why She Loves Israelis: Unapologetic, Good-Hearted, and Consistent 23:18 - Advice for Anyone Considering Aliyah: Just Do It 24:07 - Rapid Fire: Israeli Salad, Kafkafim & the Haredi Kid RESOURCES Follow Gio on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovahnna/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovahnna/]  Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go [https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go]  Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc [http://aleph.vc]  Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: http://aleph.vchttps://newsletter.aleph.vc/ [https://newsletter.aleph.vc/] Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/]  Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberghttps://x.com/aleph [https://x.com/aleph] ‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/] ‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ [https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/] CREDITS Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn  Executive Producer: Sarah Bard Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar  Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg Design: Nimrod Sapir

The Good, Some Bad, And Some Ugly: Avi Mayer, Former Editor-In-Chief Of The Jerusalem Post, On October 7th Journalism, Tel Aviv Vs. Jerusalem, And Feeling Connected To Pot Holes

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Avi Mayer - founder of Jerusalem Journal and former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post - for a candid conversation about identity, belonging, journalism, and what it really means to choose Israel. Avi shares his journey from New York to Jerusalem at age six, navigating the Gulf War, the Oslo years, and the Second Intifada, before returning to serve in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. He opens up about leading the Jerusalem Post on October 7th, the fog of war in the newsroom, the mental health toll on journalists, and why he left to build something new. He also gets into why Jerusalem - not Tel Aviv - feels like home, the value of representing Israel on the world stage, and his honest take on whether aliyah is for everyone. The conversation continues with: * Growing up in Israel during defining historical moments * Building a career telling Israel's story: IDF, Jewish Agency, AJC * Running a newsroom on the worst day in Israel's recent history * Launching Jerusalem Journal and what was missing in the media landscape * The tension and beauty of daily life in Israel * Practical advice for anyone considering aliyah This is a rich conversation about purpose, press, and the pull of a place you can truly call your own. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel. #AviMayer #JerusalemJournal #JerusalemPost #Israel #Aliyah #October7 #IsraeliMedia #Journalism #JewishIdentity #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #IDF #IsraelStory #MakingAliyah KEY TOPICS  0:00 - Intro 0:50 - Meet Avi Mayer: The Journalist Who Chose to Tell Israel's Story 2:32 - From Great Neck to Jerusalem: A Life Built Between Two Worlds 3:45 - The Moment He Knew He Had to Come Back 4:38 - Growing Up Amid Terror: How Childhood in Israel Shaped Everything 6:05 - Finding His Purpose: Telling Israel's Story at Every Stage of His Career 7:00 - October 7th in the Newsroom: When Even the Best Sources Knew Nothing 8:11 - The Price Journalists Pay for Bearing Witness 9:30 - Fighting Disinformation with Good Journalism: Is It Enough? 11:23 -  Why Avi Left the Jerusalem Post to Build Something New 12:32 - Why Jerusalem Feels Like Home When Everywhere Else Doesn't 13:29 - One Foot in Israel, One Eye on the World 14:18 - What's Hard About Living Here (Even When You Love It) 15:47 - This Is Mine: On Belonging, Beauty & the Pull of Israel 17:11 - Come With Your Eyes Wide Open: Advice for Anyone Considering Aliyah 18:03 - Is Aliyah for Everyone? An Honest Answer 18:45 - "I Bound My Life With the Life of My People" 19:28 - Rapid Fire: Krembos, Gushpanka & Trader Joe's RESOURCES Follow Avi on X: https://x.com/avimayer [https://x.com/avimayer]  Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go [https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go]  Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc [http://aleph.vc]  Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: http://aleph.vchttps://newsletter.aleph.vc/ [https://newsletter.aleph.vc/] Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/]  Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast [https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast]  Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeeisenberghttps://x.com/aleph [https://x.com/aleph] ‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/] ‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ [https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/] CREDITS Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn  Executive Producer: Sarah Bard Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic  Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar  Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg Design: Nimrod Sapir

NYT Bestselling Cookbook Author Adeena Sussman on Finding Love (of Tahini and People) and Why It Matters That the Coffee Shop Knows Her Order

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Adeena Sussman, bestselling cookbook author of Sababa, Shabbat, and her newest book Zariz, for a conversation about food, identity, and building a life in Israel. Adeena shares her journey from Palo Alto to New York’s food scene to Tel Aviv, why she made aliyah, and how Israeli culture - especially the shuk - transformed her career and cooking style. She opens up about writing cookbooks rooted in Israeli ingredients, adapting Middle Eastern flavors for a global audience, and creating simple, joyful recipes during complex times. They also discuss life in Israel today, community, October 7th, and why she continues to double down on building her life here. Also on the docket: * Making Aliyah and finding community in Israel * Life in Tel Aviv and the Carmel Market (shuk) * Israeli food culture and pantry staples * Tahini, harissa, and modern Middle Eastern cooking * Adeena’s new cookbook Zariz * Cooking during wartime and simplifying recipes * Career growth in Israel vs. New York * October 7 and supporting Israel globally * Advice for anyone considering moving to Israel This is a conversation about food, culture, resilience, and creativity in Israel today. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, build, and create in Israel.