Return Again

Jan 30 2025 51 ep. 83 mins 12

Return Again Podcast artwork

A no-holds-barred discussion about the ins and outs, and ups and downs, of building a life in Israel, with those who have been living in Israel long enough to have perspective. Follow Return Again on Twitter: @ReturnAgainPod

Religion & Spirituality

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Episode #50: Gilla Jasper

Jan 30 2025 82 mins

Gilla Jasper grew up in southern Connecticut – a town called Stamford, and knew from her earliest days that her father had moved to Israel from Iran in 1958, living there for 5 years before leaving for college in the US.So Israel was central to Gilla’s upbringing, but Aliyah was not. What turned the tide? This is an episode about Goel and his family’s Aliyah, in celebration

Episode #49: Eliyokim Cohen

Jan 30 2025 83 mins

Eliyokim Cohen grew up a proud Jew, first in Framingham, Massachusetts, and then in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a solid upbringing, but things started to go sideways for Eliyokim in college. Eventually, he found himself with 35 police weapons pointing at him after a 45-minute car chase. Something clearly needed to change. And change it did, as Eliyokim began a journey that led to him

Episode #48: R' Hayim Leiter

Jan 30 2025 82 mins

Hayim Leiter grew up in Philadelphia. Sure, his family was Zionistic. You know. Loved Israel, rooted for the IDF. But well, let’s just say it wasn’t at the top of the list for him in the same way that surfing was. He surfed off the coast of New Jersey… Rhode Island … California. But along the way, he began a dance with the Land of Israel that led him here permanently, where

Episode #47: Chaim Rutenberg

Nov 16 2024 69 mins

Chaim Rutenberg grew up in Muncie, New York, a follower of his heart from a very young age. He always tried to do the right thing, but not necessarily in a manner that his family and community expected. So when he heard a talk by Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz in Muncie, and Ketzaleh didn’t ask for money, but instead asked for Aliyah, Chaim was touched. And that was the beginning of

Episode #46: Dr. Michael Tobin

Nov 16 2024 107 mins

Dr. Michael Tobin grew up on Long Island, in New York, a big baseball fan who looked up to Willie Mays more than anyone else. Suffice it to say, Israel was not on his radar screen at all. But Jewish and Israel-focused messages were reaching him whether he liked it or not (Wait until you hear about his 20-mile run on Yom Kippur in the 70s), and things reached a crescendo when Michae

Episode #45: Josh Wander

Nov 16 2024 91 mins

Josh Wander grew up outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a suburb called McKeesport. He grew up in a pretty seriously Zionistic home – as Zionism was defined back then – and the more Torah he learned, the more he felt pulled to Israel. Josh has led a colorful life that even included a run as candidate for Mayor of Pittsburgh – even as he was sure he and his family would soon

Episode #44: Ari Singer

Nov 16 2024 61 mins

Ari Singer grew up in Manhattan, New York, a child of two Holocaust survivors - whose stories are amazing in their own right. While his upbringing in New York was going fine - he was a student at Manhattan Day School - his parents decided to end their family's exile in 1973, and Ari, then 13, made the big move to a 25-year old country that was just weeks away from the start of the

Episode #43: Gary Epstein

Sep 26 2024 54 mins

Gary Epstein grew up in a strongly Jewish and Torah-observant home, but – as he says – Aliyah was nowhere near the forefront of his mind for many, many years. In the early 2000s, he saw that perhaps the Israeli business world could use the help of his law firm, so he began spending more time in Israel. And Aliyah was still not on his radar screen. Then, he had two children make

Episode #42: Hezy Bentzur

Sep 25 2024 55 mins

Hezy Bentzur has become somewhat of a celebrity in the world of Aliyah, since he’s the owner of iAnglo English-speaking new car lease and buying service, which is used by many Olim looking for their first car in Israel. But man, oh man, his story is so much more – so much cooler – than just coming here and building a successful business. Join Goel on a wild ride that starts

Episode #41: Michoel Weichbrod

Mar 31 2024 74 mins

Now, I know that I’ve always interviewed people who have been in Israel long enough to have perspective, but Michoel Weichbrod’s perspective is so clear, so direct and so focused on Torah that he brings with him many, many centuries of perspective on living in Israel, even though he’s only been here for a few years. I met with him recently in his Ramat Bet Shemesh home, and