06/17/2026
It's 2022 in the Shron home in New Jersey. We'd been talking about making Aliyah for, maybe, 15 years, and we knew we were quickly approaching "now or never."
We knew it was time to kick our plans into high gear. But we still needed to sell our home, and we knew that would take time. To complicate matters, our 14 year old son, AJ, was about to start high school.
Could we possibly send him to high school in New Jersey, have him fall in love with it, and then yank him out the next year to whisk him away to a new country?
The The Jewish Agency for Israel had the ideal solution: Na'ale.
Na'ale (נעל"ה) is an acronym for "Noar oleh lifnei ha'horim" - children make Aliyah before the parents. Naale Elite Academy is a program run by the Jewish Agency where students from around the world attend high school in Israel. Classes are taught in English at first, with intensive ulpan – with the goal of integrating students into the Israeli track as much as possible by 11th grade.
Best of all – the program is completely free – including the flight to Israel before 9th grade. The students get free room and board, and even receive a monthly stipend.
We selected Shaalvim high school in Nof Ayalon, just five minutes from Modi’in where my parents and sister live. We were sad to see him go, but knew we would not be far behind.
Last night, AJ graduated from the program.
And what a transformation it’s been!
AJ is confident, articulate, athletic, bright, and extremely personable. He and his friends effortlessly switch back and forth from English to Hebrew in their conversations. They have mastered the public transportation system, traveled the country from North to South, and are completely part of the culture in Israel. The young adults in the program – from America, Germany, Canada, Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Mexico, and Australia – have developed the strongest bonds and will undoubtedly remain lifelong friends.
AJ will learn in a yeshiva next year, and join the IDF afterwards. We couldn’t be prouder.
All of our older children went to high school in New Jersey and had amazing experiences. But watching AJ grow, learn, and flourish in our homeland…is nothing short of inspiring. We are bursting with pride today. So excited to be part of his journey into the future!
