Mar 13 2022 69 mins
Max Long made Aliyah from Boston, Massachusetts in 2015 and as a new immigrant with no Hebrew, family, or community, began his journey at the absorption center in Raanana. At the age of 18 Max enlisted in the IDF as a Lone Soldier in the Yahalom unit, which is a specialized combat engineering unit. After completing his service, he founded Concierge Group Real Estate and Aliyah Concierge with a mission to provide informed guidance, advice, and consultation to investors seeking economically-backed real estate investment opportunities in the Jewish Homeland. Max is also the founder and Executive Director of the GroWings foundations.
At Mikveh Alon, Max learned to make the best of the resources the Army made available to him, and committed himself to learning Hebrew. And yet, having arrived in Israel with no grasp of Hebrew, it was still far from perfect by the time he arrived at his unit. Max learned to read facial expressions and trust his instincts as he sought to react to commands he didn't quite grasp with the lightening speed required to be successful in basic training. Max credits the ability to read faces that has helped him achieve success in business to his IDF experience.
We touched on the challenges inherent in serving in a military that speaks a language you don't fully understand, particularly challenges around leadership that one might be qualified for but unable to assert. We discussed the March of the Return in 2018, and the level of desperation required for such dangerous actions on behalf of many Palestinians who participated. The morality of the IDF was apparent to both of us in the actions we observed by teammates and those we participated in, at times risking their/our own lives to prevent civilian casualties. We also spoke abut the terror tunnels built by Hamas at a cost of $150,000,000 that was meant to build up the infrastructure of Gaza, and the tragedy of leaders who are more interested in violence than the wellbeing of their people.
At the end of his service, Max created GroWings, a non-profit that brings together pre-draft lone soldiers and released lone soldiers for mentorship. The trip takes the group to Poland, where they can witness firsthand the atrocities that befell our people when we had no place to call home. Max has created a community, where released lone soldiers, new immigrants, and Israelis can help lone soldiers get housing, and find community in their new home. One of the many projects they undertake (with no overhead costs) is Mitzvah day, where people bring shabbat meals to lone soldiers apartments and check in on them.
After gaining invaluable experience helping lone soldiers navigate the Aliyah process, Max realized that anyone moving to Israel needs a home and support through that process, whether it's going to government offices or getting the rights they deserve. That's what lead to the birth of Aliyah Concierge, a business centered around helping people make Aliyah.
Max is in the process of developing an app that will help lone soldiers by aggregating the resources available to them into one place.
Max can be reached by email at: [email protected]