YOCHEVED MENASHE ’01 STOOD AT NEBI SAMUEL, THE GRAVESITE OF THE PROPHET SAMUEL, OVERLOOKING THE CITY OF JERUSALEM — HER HOME.
For Jews, Jerusalem is the heart of Israel, an ancient land at the center of conflict and home to many cultures. As an Israeli citizen and convert to the Jewish faith, Menashe couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Israel is her land, her place of refuge. And the Jews are her chosen people.
As a child, Menashe remembers flipping with excitement through books with photos of the Holy Land. “I am a dreamer. I live halfway between the earth and the sky, and I’m not above dreaming the impossible,” she said.
Before her immigration to Israel, Menashe lived in Port Arthur and worked in continuing education at Lamar. In October 2000, she heard a presentation by the Israeli consul general in Houston at the Holocaust Museum, where she was a docent. The consul discussed the immigration of American Jews to Israel, known in Hebrew as Aliyah, and handed out pamphlets on the subject.
“I thought about it all the way home, and, when I went to bed, I started reading the little book. I finished it up as the alarm clock rang and it was time to go to work. During the drive, I thought, ‘I can really do this,’” Menashe said.
So her journey began. She contacted the consul general’s office, which put her in touch with the Aliyah office in Houston. She spoke to immigration officials, and the wheels were set in motion.
For the Aliyah office to consider her as a prospective Israeli immigrant, she was required to visit Israel for a minimum of seven days. She made that visit during a Thanksgiving holiday. “I did not want to come back,” Menashe said. In fact, she was so taken with Israel that she felt homesick when she returned to the United States. In her package from the Aliyah office was information about a master’s program affiliated with the University of Liverpool, the Israel Ministry of Education and the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yaffo school district. The linguistic program required graduate students to teach English as an intern in an Israeli public school for two years, follow a set curriculum and complete several papers and a dissertation. Menashe applied and was accepted.
She began preparing for the move, deciding what to take with her. “I had a house full of beautiful antique furniture, dishes and lots of stuff.” She donated her library to the Kollel (an institute of Jewish learning in Houston). Her other valuables went to very close friends. “The only things I brought with me were my clothes, some special treasures and my holy books.” Shedding worldly belongings gave her a sense of freedom, she said.
To prepare for her new role in Israel, she took every English as a second language and English as a foreign language course Lamar University offered. She also took courses at LU’s fire training school, receiving certification as a firefighter. The language courses at Lamar equipped her with much needed skills. “It prepared me quite well for both my master’s degree program and my work,” she said.
Having turned 60 on Nov. 2, she doesn’t meet the age requirements to join the Israel Defense Force. But “I wanted to do my service like every Israeli-born citizen. I wanted to be in the fight,” she said. Because firefighters are the first people to respond to crises such as bombings, she said, Yo chose firefighting as a way she could offer service to her country.
Menashe left Texas for Israel Aug. 1, 2001. “I came alone. I have no family,” she said. After living in Israel three years, she moved to a Netivot, a small town in the Negev, 15 miles east of the Gaza Strip. She taught English at a new high school and did the same for government employees. In June, she moved to Jerusalem. “Now that I have settled in Jerusalem, I am planning to volunteer at the fire department soon or at the police department bomb squad.”
Menashe, who now teaches high school in Jerusalem, said she doesn’t know what it’s like to live in her country during peacetime. “When you leave in the morning for work, the thought does cross your mind whether you’ll get back home. When there is an attack, I pray that all my students will be in class the day after.”
She uses public transportation and doesn’t miss driving. Most bus trips are uneventful, while others are more intense, depending on the day and the destination. Buses traveling in more dangerous areas are reinforced with armor. “I’ve been on buses that have been stoned, surrounded and detained until the Israel Defense Force came to get us out. The day Arafat died, I waited for my bus, flanked on either side by two of Israel’s finest with their weapons in firing position, until I was safely aboard.”
Despite the situation, she hasn’t been afraid. “I wasn’t scared. My heart didn’t skip a beat. I am living a miracle. That is the only explanation I have for that,” she said.
Some people living in Israel are fearful, she said. “It’s tense. The more attacks, the more tense it gets. Israelis are attached to the land. This is our country, and we love it. So, we get up every morning and go to work every day.”
That determination comes with a price. Many have died in the fighting, yet their persistence continues.
“I have students who have been near suicide bomb attacks. Other students have lost parents and/or siblings in suicide bomb attacks. And I have students who have had parents or siblings maimed in bus bombings. They still show up for school every day.” Despite the danger, Menashe has no doubt her students will take their place in the Israel Defense Force and defend their country when their time comes.
“All Israelis at the age of 18 are inducted into the army, male and female,” she said. “I had three 12th-grade classes this past year, and all of them were excited about their upcoming service.”
Her job as a teacher has made her a better Israeli, she said. “I wanted to serve in the army, but I exceeded the age limit for a volunteer. So my students give me some connection to that part of me that I cannot fulfill.”
And as her students inspire her, she also inspires them. They feel deep love for her because she chose to immigrate to Israel. “My Aliyah has been a blessing to so many Israelis, simply because I made a choice to come and stay.”
