Too old for aliyah? This centenarian Jewish couple proved age is no barrier to moving to Israel

At first glance, the basic story of Sandy and Rosalie Goldstein’s aliyah seems unremarkable and not much different than the typical aliyah experience. The retired couple made aliyah from Englewood, New Jersey, in March 2023 and settled in Netanya, near their daughter, where they enjoy spending time with their family in Israel.

However, upon closer examination, the tale becomes far more compelling. That’s because Sandy will be celebrating his 105th birthday next week, and 100-year-old Rosalie will be blowing out 101 candles in January. One more impressive statistic: The couple will be observing their 79th wedding anniversary next month.

Sitting in their apartment on a sweltering summer afternoon, bowed by old age but not broken, Sandy and Rosalie tell the story of their lives, their aliyah, their thoughts about Israel, and their wishes for the future.

Though it’s nearly 35 degrees Celsius outside, their apartment is quite cool, and they both wear warm clothes to ward off the air-conditioning chill. Sandy wears a white textured crew-neck sweater, and Rosalie wears a cream-colored jacket with red embroidered trim over a red-and-black patterned blouse. Her nails are painted red to match her blouse, and she wears several rings, a bracelet, and a watch.

Sandy sits at the head of the table, Rosalie is to his left, and I sit close to his right because he has hearing issues. I speak slowly and clearly.

Born in 1921 in Fall River, Massachusetts, Sandy’s parents moved to the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn when he was a child. His parents operated a dry cleaning and tailoring store. Sandy’s mother was a talented seamstress, and his father ran the cleaning operation.

As an enterprising 12-year-old, Sandy sold copies of the Saturday Evening Post to commuters leaving the subway station for 10 cents, making two cents profit on each copy. Later, he worked in his parents’ business, riding his bicycle to deliver clothes to clients and collect payment.

Sandy attended City College in New York and studied accounting. On a lark, he took a civil service exam to qualify to work in the federal government. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the US Pacific Fleet that was stationed at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, bringing the US into World War II.

“All of a sudden after Pearl Harbor,” he recalls, “I would get telegrams every day saying that I was needed in Washington.”

Evidently, Sandy had scored high enough on the civil service exam to qualify for government work. He came to Washington and worked for the War Department for a year, handling accounting and vouchers. After the first year, the department was decentralized, and he returned to New York, working for the War Department there until the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945.

Sandy returned to City College, graduating with a degree in accounting, and becoming a CPA.

On Thanksgiving of 1947, Rosalie Aron, a Brooklyn native, was invited by her girlfriend to dinner, then went with her to a dance at the local synagogue. “I said to my girlfriend, ‘I’m looking for the tallest man here, because they were all shrimps.’ Sandy came with his friends, and he said that he was looking for the tallest girl there.”

The lanky Sandy invited Rosalie – the taller of the two friends – to go on a date with him. “We hit it off. Everything was smooth and likable,” recalls Sandy. Says Rosalie, “I could tell in a minute that he was flipping out over me.”

After their wedding in 1948, Rosalie worked briefly as a typist before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Looking at their wedding photos, Rosalie says with a smile, “I didn’t have a gray hair on my head.” The couple had three children – two girls and a boy – and were not fully Jewishly observant at the time.

Throughout his life, Sandy dedicated himself to community and Jewish causes, including many years of activism on behalf of Soviet Jewry, working for the freedom and emigration of Jews behind the Iron Curtain.

When their youngest child, Risa, became interested in Torah observance and joined NCSY, the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, the Jewish youth group sponsored by the Orthodox Union, Sandy and Rosalie followed suit and became more involved in religious practice.

After graduating high school, Risa spent a year in Israel studying at Neve Yerushalayim seminary, and her parents visited. Though it wasn’t their first trip to the country, this visit made a deep impression on them.

‘If not now, when?’

Some 10 years earlier, when the couple was in their 40s, they had actually considered aliyah and met with aliyah officials. “They were looking for CPAs to move to Israel, and we said that this was our opportunity. They interviewed us, and they asked him how old he was. He said he was 40, and they said that he was too old for aliyah,” Rosalie says, with a trace of irony in her voice.

Risa moved to Israel in 1995 and then returned to the US, making aliyah a second time in 2008.

Sandy and Rosalie lived in Englewood, NJ, near their older daughter. They both became ill with COVID-19 and were treated in a rehabilitation center. When they were released, the family decided it was time for them to move to Israel. As Risa says, “If not now, when?”

Rosalie adds, “There was always something that stopped us earlier. But when we thought the time was now, we retook it.”

Risa returned to the US in February 2023, helped her parents pack, and brought them to Israel on March 1 of that year. Rosalie was 97, and Sandy was 102. Risa had just relocated to Netanya, and her parents moved in with her until she remarried a year ago and settled nearby with her husband, Raymond Chazan.

Word had spread in Netanya that the elderly couple had made aliyah, and neighbors held an impromptu celebration in front of their building. “They had a big party, with singing and dancing, and I didn’t even know these people, and they didn’t know me. I was really overwhelmed with the reception,” says Rosalie.

In their family’s embrace

Since moving to Israel, Rosalie and Sandy have visitors on an almost daily basis – whether it is people from the neighborhood or one of their five grandchildren or 13 great-grandchildren. Sandy, an avid chess player for most of his 105 years, enjoys playing the game with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“Moving at 97 and 102 was a massive leap,” Rosalie admits. “In truth, staying in our comfort zone made us procrastinate aliyah for a long time, but necessity pushed us to make the best decision of our lives. If we hadn’t taken that step, we would have missed the incredible joy of being surrounded by our extended family, including 13 great-grandchildren.”

Since their aliyah, Sandy and Rosalie have participated in numerous family events, including their daughter Risa’s remarriage last year, the brit milah (circumcision) of a great-grandson, at which Sandy was the sandak (godfather), and bar and bat mitzvahs.

“It’s amazing,” says Rosalie. “I didn’t know most of my great-grandchildren. And now they come, they kiss me, and they hug me, and they say, ‘I missed you.’” Fortunately, she adds, they all speak English.

Sandy is not much of a Hebrew speaker but has read the Bible many times in English.

“I recommend that everyone read it carefully,” he shares. He is particularly emphatic about God’s promise to the Jewish people that he would give them the Land of Israel. “In the first part of the Bible, God tells Abraham to go to Israel, and all of it will be yours. That’s the important point: all. Not 82%, not part here, part there, but all of it. And He said the same message to Isaac and Jacob.”

Longevity, life

On August 28, Sandy will celebrate his 105th birthday with a helping of his favorite flavor of ice cream – chocolate. He attributes his longevity to steady consumption of blueberries and yogurt, maintaining a balanced diet, and following his doctor’s instructions.

Rosalie, no slouch herself at age 100, when asked for the secret of her long life, looks at her husband and says, “I hang with him.”

What is the secret of their long and successful marriage? “I gave in to you all the time,” Rosalie says to Sandy, with a gentle smile. Sandy adds, “The secret is to talk about everything, and to compromise.”

Recalling his years of advocacy for Soviet Jews, Sandy comments, “I could have spent time as an accountant picking up clients and making money, but I chose not to. I chose to help Jews.”

Having lived through the Depression, World War II, the establishment of the State of Israel – “I heard it on the radio,” says Rosalie – and Oct. 7, the Goldsteins are happy to be home in Israel.

“It can be frightening at times,” she admits, “but it’s better than the alternative. The alternative was to stay. In America, there is more antisemitism growing every day. Here, we have fighters fighting for us on our behalf.”

Sandy is a bit more feisty and insists that Israel must eliminate Hamas and the PLO. “It’s about time and total victory. This is what we need.” At the age of 105, Sandy remains engaged and optimistic, and says, “You can’t pray and hope you’ll keep alive. You’ve got to fight first, and then pray.”

Rosalie also remains optimistic but is a bit more placid, saying, “Thank God, I feel pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good. Over a century, you face many changes and challenges. Learning about tradition, running a kosher home, and welcoming friends into our home as a homemaker helped me grow, believe in myself, and pass those values to my children.”

As our hour-long visit comes to a close, I ask Rosalie and Sandy what message they most want to pass on to their descendants. “Never give up,” says Sandy. “Set a high goal and work for it. If you need tutors, get tutors. If you need help, get help. Persist.

“I have always said, ‘The best helping hand is at the end of your own arm.’ Throughout my life – from working hard as a CPA to advocating for Soviet Jewry – I learned that real accomplishment requires personal initiative and hard work. Goals are worth pursuing no matter how long they take. If something matters to you, keep striving for it – even if it takes a lifetime.”

To the Jewish community around the world, he adds, “Jews are one. Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox. We should all strive to help one another, and it’s time to come home to Israel.”

And what would they say to an older person who thinks that it’s too late to make a change in life and make aliyah? Reflects Rosalie, “If you’re well enough to get on a plane, come.”■

Aliyah after 65: Resources for retirees

Not everyone needs to wait until they become centenarians to make aliyah.

Retirees aged 65 and up are a significant minority of new immigrants to Israel. In 2025, 548 retirees made aliyah from North America with Nefesh B’Nefesh – more than 13% of the year’s 4,150 olim and substantially more than the 332 retirees who arrived during the pandemic year of 2020.

Miriam Naiman, senior liaison and special needs guidance manager, Post Aliyah & Advocacy Division for Nefesh B’Nefesh, says that the organization is seeing significant growth in the senior olim population, as more parents choose to make aliyah and reunite with their children and grandchildren in Israel.

Many older people are making aliyah while they are still independent, active, and able to make important decisions about how and where they want to build their lives in Israel. Senior olim choose a variety of living arrangements, from their own apartments to independent and assisted-living communities.

Making aliyah at this stage of life brings a distinct set of challenges, says Naiman, particularly around healthcare, community integration, and navigating Israel’s increasingly digital systems.

Naiman points out that leaving behind a familiar medical system, where individuals know their doctors, understand their coverage, and have established ways of managing their health, and entering an entirely new system can be daunting and overwhelming.

Nefesh B’Nefesh can help senior olim understand Israel’s healthcare landscape, learn how to advocate for themselves, and develop the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the system with greater confidence and independence.

Another growing area of support is digital literacy. Many essential aspects of everyday life in Israel, from healthcare and transportation to banking, government services, and translation, require the use of websites and mobile applications.

Every quarter, Nefesh B’Nefesh offers “Tech Made Simple,” a gathering where senior olim can become more familiar with these tools and receive individualized assistance navigating the apps and online services they need in daily life.

Readers interested in more information about services that Nefesh B’Nefesh offers retirees should visit nbn.org.il or call (02) 659-5800.

Organizations & resources for retirees

B’Lev Shalem

Offers personalized senior care management and advocacy in Israel.

www.blevshalem.com;

info@blevshalem.com; (02) 631-6181

Melabev

Provides community services for individuals living with various forms of dementia.

melabev.org.il/en; melabev@melabev.org; 

(02) 650-7113

OU Israel

The OU Israel Center in Jerusalem at 22 Keren Hayesod Street offers a wide range of activities and events for active retirees and new immigrants, including lectures, programs, Torah classes, volunteer activities, and community engagement.

OUIsrael.org; info@ouisrael.org; 

(02) 560-9100

AACI

The Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel Seniors Division has branches in every major city in Israel. It features special interest groups of all sorts: choral groups, handicrafts, drama clubs, folk dancing, exercises, Yiddish speakers, etc.

aaci.org.il; info@aaci.org.il; 

(02) 566-1181

ESRA

Offers social and cultural activities, volunteering opportunities, personal support, and practical assistance with integration. It has branches and activities throughout Israel.

esra.org.il; herzliyaoffice@esra.org.il; 

(09) 950-8371

Government benefits

Retirees are eligible for a Senior Citizens Certificate (received by men over the age of 66 and 4 months and women over the age of 61 and 4 months). This certificate provides a variety of discounts and benefits on public transportation, parks, concerts and plays, and other services.