Shirley and Larry Hepner

The Hepners – Shirley and Larry – made aliyah a couple of years ago. These were their first impressions:

It will be two years on 17/9/2015 that we landed at Ben Gurion airport to go to our new home in Netanya. Did you know that all El Al airplanes have names? And the name of our airplane was Netanya, of course.

Mo Burg and Lenore Levin stopped by and helped to ease our shock. And, yes, we were in shock. New country, new language, new city. And Morrie Kaporovsky was a life saver in helping us with all the government stuff.

Larry and I went everywhere together that first year. I could never remember the names of the streets and he kept on taking short cuts, so I was doubly confused on where I was. (I still don’t remember the street names, but now I know where I need to go) We still go shopping together for groceries and to the shuk, and Larry does often go with me to other kinds of stores, but he doesn’t actually enter the store. He stands outside with his cell phone and ear buds. So, if you are looking for me and you see Larry loitering outside a store, I’m inside that store.

We don’t have a car which is quite fortunate because we got to know a lot about the stores and cafes in Netanya. Obviously I love to shop, so I peruse many of the stores in the central Netanya area and know a couple of the shop owners and shuk vendors. We are still struggling with Hebrew, but I can speak to my manicurist now and tell her about some of my “finds.”

Larry and I had to go back to the US in May for our son’s wedding — and we couldn’t wait to get back home. We love Netanya and this is our home! 

Shirley Hepner
Rosh Hashana 5777, September 2016