#Meet_The_Oleh Rebecca Pash

Aliyah Date: December 2006 Immigrated from: Manchester, England Currently living in Tel-Aviv

Remember, Olim help Olim! Rebecca hosts an incredible podcast, called “The Only Way is Up” featuring women who have made Aliyah to Israel, and built their lives here. Curious about how she succeeded to get this off the ground? Keep reading to find out!

Rebecca had visited Israel many times when she was young and loved it. She even took a gap year in Israel at 18-years-old where she came with a youth movement. She worked for a few years in London, and around that time, Nefesh B’Nefesh was just starting up in the UK, and many people were talking about Aliyah.

She decided to make Aliyah in April and finally arrived in December. After studying Hebrew for five months in Jerusalem at Ulpan Etzion, she moved to Tel Aviv, and has been there ever since!

In Tel Aviv, Rebecca worked in tourism and a few other jobs. She became really interested in personal training at this time. Then, about six years ago, she decided to attend Tel Aviv University to study Personal Training. She started out working at Holmes Place for about 18 months and then went to work on her own at a private studio. She would train from seven am to noon, and train clients in the evenings, but found she had a big gap of time in the middle of the day.

Rebecca listened to tons of podcasts during this time, before deciding to start her own. Most featured strong, American or British women-- women who opened small businesses, and the like. “But,” she says, “that doesn't translate to here."

She asked, “Where is that in Israel? There are so many women in the Olim community who are doing amazing things. We are a small community, and I knew I had to find a niche in the world of Podcasts.”

And so came Rebecca’s podcast, The Only Way is Up.

She decided to focus on the women who made Aliyah. To help tell their stories in English--the hardships, the successes, the changes. Women who do everything! One woman was a physiotherapist and after she came to Israel she became a tour guide. She features all sorts of women: her first interview was with a well-known kosher chef, Jamie Geller!

In each podcast, Rebecca asks three questions:

• What was the first challenge you had in Israel and how did you overcome it?

• If you never made Aliyah, where do you think your life would be today?

• If you were to build a city from scratch, what would it look like? – The first building, first law, and people you would bring with you.

Rebecca’s words of advice to succeed in Israel?: “Stay strong. Don’t let the small things annoy you. You get upset about the post office, an Israeli speaking rudely to you. And then you take it with you for the rest of the day. Let it go."

Rebecca says, "My podcast made me want to love Israel again, and I think that it's an amazing country. It's a struggle but you get through it. I’ve seen a lot of people leave, and I understand why because it’s a hard life. Everyone has their own story, so that’s why I am interviewing these women."