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NEVER TOO LATE: Centenarian couple moves to Israel, fulfilling life-long dream

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The elderly American couple will settle in the coastal city of Netanya, where their daughter lives.

By World Israel News Staff

Sanford (Sandy) Goldstein, 101, and his wife of 75 years Rosalie Goldstein, 97, arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, having fulfilled their life-long dream of making aliyah from Englewood, New Jersey.

On arrival, they were greeted by their daughter, Israeli-American Risa Shapiro, and their five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Risa will settle them into her own home in Ir Yamim, Netanya.

Sanford and Rosalie Goldstein

New immigrants Sanford and Rosalie Goldstein with their daughter Risa Shapiro in their new home in Netanya, Mar. 1, 2023. (Courtesy)

Thanks to a community-wide initiative launched by Nechama Levy, founder of Alynu, a not-for-profit aimed at facilitating the successful integration of new immigrants to Israel (olim), the Goldsteins were welcomed and supported by local residents who joined together to offer any assistance required to make this major change in the elderly couple’s lives as stress-free as possible.

After many years of Zionist activism, Sandy applied for Aliyah while still in his 40s. It was a different era, and the Jewish Agency tried to dissuade him, he said, telling him life would be difficult without the American conveniences to which he was accustomed.

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But he never gave up on his dream – despite being told that he was too old and the country needed younger men.

On the same day that the couple arrived, 26-year-old terror victim Elan Ganeles, a U.S. citizen who had served in the IDF, was buried in the city of Ra’anana, just north of Tel Aviv.

Referring to the tragedies of last few weeks, during which 14 Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, Shapiro said:

“During these times of sorrow and heartbreak, we as a united Am Yisroel, cry together and celebrate together as one.”

“As Grandpa Goldstein says, “Chazak v’ematz – Be strong and steadfast,” Shapiro added, quoting the biblical Moses’s message to Joshua when he took over the leadership of the Hebrew nation before entering the Land of Israel.

The family chose to share their story in order to demonstrate that making Aliyah is uniquely fulfilling and it is never too late.