Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream Rebbetzin Ariela Davis

Director Judaic Studies, Addlestone Hebrew Academy, Charleston SC

Rabbi Moshe and Ariela Davis have served as spiritual leaders in Charleston, South Carolina (BSBI Congregation) for eight years, following four years in Houston, Texas. Following their very successful careers in the rabbinate and Jewish education in America they will be making aliyah with their children this summer be”H.

On this Parshat Shelach, Torah Tidbits is honored to have Rebbetzin Davis share her thoughts and emotions as they begin packing up and will soon board the plane for their beloved new home in Eretz Yisrael.

Fulfilling a Lifelong Dream; Leaving Past Dreams Behind

It’s a big week for our family. My oldest is graduating 8th grade and my youngest is completing kindergarten; each bookend symbolizing an end to an era, a concept that resonates with our family this summer. These events, even celebrated via zoom, are exciting not just on their own, but also because they give us a break from the ever-expanding list of errands to take care of in preparation for our upcoming aliyah. Our floor is littered with amazon packages of items we have ordered to bring with us- particularly those that will hopefully get us through the mandated two week quarantine and there is an equally large pile of items we need to give away.

But with all the celebrations and busyness in the house, there is another milestone that is happening this week that is less noted but certainly present in my mind. This week, with the end of the school year, I am concluding a 17 year career of teaching and working as a Judaic administrator in the Diaspora. While I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead in Israel, I find myself at an uncertain moment, wondering what will be next.

My heart has always been in Israel, as anyone who is acquainted with my obsessive thirst for Israeli politics, history and advocacy will attest. For years, I have shared this love with my students and congregants by teaching Israel and taking them around my beautiful country on trips. At home, I’ve been enthusing my children about aliyah since they were

babies, sharing stories about Israel and jubilantly dancing around the table at the conclusion of every Chag, singing “L’shana ha’baah b’Yerushalayim”. It was the most incredible feeling when after Shavuot this year, my husband and I looked at each other in surreal disbelief and said, “b’ezrat Hashem, next Chag, we will be in Israel”. After a lifetime of yearning to go home, there are simply no words to describe that feeling of the life-changing path we are about to take. And in moving to Israel, I am answering the question that I’ve always asked myself, but also encouraged my students to ask me: so, Mrs. Davis, if you love Israel so much, why aren’t you there?

The simple answer is that the jump is not so simple. I imagine it is for this reason, many passionately Zionistic rabbis and educators are still living in America. It isn’t easy to give up a career you love and where you feel you are truly making a difference to go to a country which doesn’t necessarily have the same framework to allow for that work to continue. In fulfilling our dream of living in Israel, we are giving up a piece of who we are. We are leaving the community we’ve loved, Charleston, South Carolina, where we’ve seen so many people embrace Judaism, where we have grown along with them. A cost we feel that aliyah is well worth.

As we embark on this journey of our dreams while walking away from another, I am reminded of the phrase from the classic song, Al Kol Elah: Al HaDvash v’al Ha’Oketz; On the honey and the bee sting; words that represent one of many such moments we are sure we will experience on our journey from rabbinic family to the place where our hearts reside. But at this juncture, we know this: it is truly a blessing to feel sadness about leaving a special community and life we’ve loved. And it is a blessing to look forward with great excitement towards a future of coming home.

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Davis with their children.

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