7. Should I Make Aliyah? A Conversation With Izzy Sakhaie of "My Israel Narrative"

Hi everyone! Welcome back to The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we’re talking all about Israel. If you’re a Jew right now, Israel has constantly been on your mind since October 7th (and probably for awhile before that too!)

Those of us outside of Israel are experiencing violent protests from those who seem like they will stop at nothing to terrorize the Jews. When we’re living in such scary times, we’re reminded even more how badly we need Israel. We think of the Holocaust, of all those souls that weren’t able to leave or didn’t have a place to go.

As we continue to navigate the stressful climate we’re in, thinking about Israel and its significance is an important one. So today, I have my friend Izzy Sakhaie on the podcast to speak about all of the questions and points of inner conflict we may all be thinking about.

In this episode, we cover:

-How she became religious and got more deeply connected to Israel

-How her career trajectory evolved along with her Israel journey

-How she decided to make aliyah and the process of doing so

-What it’s actually like living in Israel

-How Izzy dealt with the challenges of life in Israel and how she took advantage of the positive aspects

-Why she decided to move back to America when the war broke out

-Tools she uses to connect to Hashem in her everyday life now

-What we can all pray for when we’re feeling stuck

-What those of us outside of Israel right now may need to be doing

-How she is connecting to her soul’s mission and what we can all learn from that

It was an amazing, inspiring conversation that I hope you can take something from.

Izzy’s Bio:

Izzy is a New York native who officially made aliyah in December of 2020. Although she returned to America right after the war began, one of her personal passions is shedding light on Israel through her documentary series “My Israel Narrative.” This project aims to unpack the myriad questions our current reality is presenting. Izzy focuses on unpacking two major ideas: “What is home?” and “What is Israel to me, on both a personal and collective level?” With Hashem’s help, this project will hopefully bring to light some real answers in what's certainly a confusing and challenging time for many.

In addition, Izzy manages Olami’s Zero Tolerance Campaign. Zero Tolerance is a national, student-run initiative helping to create a campus culture of zero tolerance for antisemitism. Their goal is to transform the culture on campus from one of intimidation, resignation, and apathy to one of zero tolerance to antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.

Izzy also seeks to capture the beauty of Israel through her photography (25% of proceeds go to causes supporting Israel).

Follow “My Israel Narrative” on Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.

Learn more from Izzy at myisraelnarrative.com.

If there’s a topic you want covered or a woman you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM on Instagram @chaionlifemag.

Thanks for listening!