Jun 18, 2026 · 30 min · 10 segments
Writer Shlomo Kates joins David Levine to discuss his Aliyah journey, life in Tel Aviv, volunteering for IDF service later in life, and why he believes Israel is the only place where he can fully…
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So first off, how long have you, when did you make Aliyah? How long have you been here? So I made Aliyah in January of 2022.
And the idea of, you know, coming to trips in Israel and Jewish education, that was something that was just very important to them and something that I grew up with.
I remember for my Bar Mitzvah and then once for when my brother was studying here at the Hebrew University.
i felt like it was the obligation we were visiting family you were doing the things that my parents were like i didn't really have that experience and it actually didn't give me the best experience of israel and and i never thought about making eliyah but i think really what sort of planted the seed and changed my mind was um going on birthright i think having sort of being in an environment with your peers and seeing it from a different perspective and doing all the touring and really understanding what i was learning in school in terms of like jewish history and actually seeing it for myself with my own eyes and not just seeing it but experiencing it and visiting the sites that kind of put two and two together and made me realize for the first time that yes i have a connection to this land.
And so it was something that I, you know, I thought about maybe, oh, I wonder what life could be like this little bit, you know, life gets away.
But there were three things later on in my life that really sort of, you know, sparks my interest in Aliyah.
The first, the first thing was I experienced for the first time in my life, antisemitism at work.
And it really raised a huge red flag to me about, well, Is it like to feel that you're made to be Jewish in an environment? And I actually worked for the government of Canada at the time, and it was coming from my box.
So first off, how long have you, when did you make Aliyah? How long have you been here? So I made Aliyah in January of 2022.
And the idea of, you know, coming to trips in Israel and Jewish education, that was something that was just very important to them and something that I grew up with.
I remember for my Bar Mitzvah and then once for when my brother was studying here at the Hebrew University.
i felt like it was the obligation we were visiting family you were doing the things that my parents were like i didn't really have that experience and it actually didn't give me the best experience of israel and and i never thought about making eliyah but i think really what sort of planted the seed and changed my mind was um going on birthright i think having sort of being in an environment with your peers and seeing it from a different perspective and doing all the touring and really understanding what i was learning in school in terms of like jewish history and actually seeing it for myself with my own eyes and not just seeing it but experiencing it and visiting the sites that kind of put two and two together and made me realize for the first time that yes i have a connection to this land.
And so it was something that I, you know, I thought about maybe, oh, I wonder what life could be like this little bit, you know, life gets away.
But there were three things later on in my life that really sort of, you know, sparks my interest in Aliyah.
The first, the first thing was I experienced for the first time in my life, antisemitism at work.
And it really raised a huge red flag to me about, well, Is it like to feel that you're made to be Jewish in an environment? And I actually worked for the government of Canada at the time, and it was coming from my box.
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