'In New York, you can be queer or you can be a Zionist

It was hard to miss the families and young people arriving at New York’s JFK Airport to board flights to immigrate to Israel. Luggage carts were piled high with bags and oversized suitcases, the kind that make it clear someone is moving countries, not simply going on vacation. Some of the new olim, immigrants to Israel, even wore shirts made especially for the occasion, printed with their family names and, in a playful touch, the names of favorite Israeli foods they joked made the move all the more worthwhile. Among those making aliyah were Becca Stanford and Shira Dubin, a couple moving from New York to Jerusalem. The two met in June 2023 on a Birthright Israel trip, fell in love and later married. After Birthright, they began thinking about immigrating to Israel, and over the past year they lived in the country as students.