While I was getting ready to leave to Israel I was contacted by a journalist for the San Francisco based "Jewish Weekly"who was writing a story about Bay Area residents who decided to make Aliyah. Dan Pine wanted to know if he could do a short interview with me about my reasons for moving, and the experience in getting ready to leave. 

After a 30 minute phone interview in early May, Dan told me the story would run sometime in early June. This morning while writing my most recent blog post and catching up over a cafe afuch (the amazing Israel version of a latte) I received notice that the article has been posted.

Here is the excerpt where I was mentioned, and link to the original article which I encourage you to read:

One person he got to know is Joe Levy, 29, a Miami-born high-tech executive who lived in San Francisco for the last four years while working his way up the ladder of a successful startup. Since the beginning of this month, he has been calling Israel home.

Levy had traveled to Israel often, from his teen years into his mid-20s, and always felt a deep attachment to the country. Levy says a desire for new business opportunities drove his decision more than anything else.

“I realized Tel Aviv is the bastion of [high-tech] startups outside Silicon Valley,” he says. “I want to do something on my own, and I think Israel has a very supportive network to do that. Every Israeli I talked to said, ‘Let’s have coffee when you get here.’ It’s definitely not a religious basis for moving.”

Levy says the immigration application process went more smoothly than he expected, thanks to assistance from the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh. “I like that I did 90 percent of the application process online,” he notes. “It was easier than opening a bank account.”