It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years since Andrew and I met on Masa’s Destination Israel. We have come a long way since that five-month internship program—we moved from Tel Aviv, to New York, back to Miami, where I came from—but Israel still holds a special place in our hearts.
We are still close to many of the friends we made on our Masa program. In 2018, we traveled to Israel for the wedding of a friend from our program. About 20 other participants from our cohort were also there—it was like a Masa reunion! Andrew works for an Israeli fintech startup, and the company’s relocation package lets us visit Israel together once a year.
Wherever we go, Andrew and I remain a strong team. One thing we love about each other is that we are both very understanding, and we can communicate easily and openly. Our energies just bounce off each other in a wonderful way.
Three months ago, our lives changed in the biggest way yet with the birth of our son. While we now apply our teamwork to things like diaper changes and night shifts, our bond is deeper than ever. We still relate to each other with that same easygoing spirit that made us fall in love in the first place.
When it came time to name our baby, “Aviv” was the natural choice. It’s a name that captures the Israeli spirit that still animates us. It means “springtime,” which is when our little Aviv was born. And it reminds us of Tel Aviv, the place where our story began.
Aviv is the perfect continuation to our Israel story. As soon as we can travel again, we’re planning to introduce him to the country we both love. We’ll show him his namesake city, and let him meet our Masa friends. And we hope that trip will be just the beginning of his own love story with Israel.
