US Queen of Kosher: “I’m a Jewish Person and it’s the Jewish Homeland, and I Want to Go Home!”
Latest update: August 3rd, 2012
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With great emotion and to the joy of Jewish foodies throughout the world, the Queen of Kosher cooking is coming home to rule the roast/roost. Jamie Geller is making aliyah and though she used to think that life in Israel was “so not me”, she is now encouraging others to take the plunge, too.
The kosher cooking magnate, mom, and returnee to Jewish tradition made the announcement that she is moving to Israel at the Nefesh B’Nefesh aliyah organization’s June 25 ‘Tweetup’. Since then, Geller has begun to share her experiences with her loyal followers on her ‘Joy of Kosher’ website and in reality-tv-style ‘Joy of Aliyah’ videos.
In an interview with the Jewish Press’s Yishai and Malkah Fleisher, Geller spoke frankly about her opinion of life in the “galus” (Diaspora) and what is driving her to make the move.
“My grandparents survived the Holocaust, and I just don’t feel like they did that so I can live in Spring Valley,” Geller told Jewish Press. “The end is not to achieve it here in America or wherever you may be, and I just feel like I’m a Jewish person and it’s the Jewish homeland, and I want to go home!”
From Highschool to HBO
Geller shared her earliest memory of wanting to live in the Jewish state, remembering a call she placed to her mother during a high school semester in Israel. “I’m not leaving, and if you’re going to make me leave then I’m going to come back after high school, and I’m going to join the army, and I want to live here forever,” Jamie told her mother.
Yet she neither stayed nor donned IDF fatigues after high school as she had planned. “I had that feeling, and it was so strong… [but] by the time I graduated high school, it wasn’t even on my radar anymore. My whole life was just taken up, and I was going to NYU, and I was going to become famous…”
And taken up she became. In just a few years, Jamie had soared to the top of her industry, writing and producing for CNN, Entertainment News, the Food Network, and HBO.
But Israel wasn’t done with Jamie Geller. It wasn’t long before she had a date with a nice young man who told her he wanted to live in Israel. “I was like ‘no way, absolutely not,’ it was almost a deal breaker. I laughed at him – and I was someone who had had those feelings!”
The Persistent Husband
It wasn’t a deal breaker. The couple married, and her husband’s dream of making aliyah did not fade. “My husband has always said – you’re not building a house in galus” and even when they bought their own house, Israel was a frequent topic of conversation.
“I think it was like water on a rock,” Geller said. “We would be Chol HaMoed (interim days of Passover and Sukkot) at Six Flags Great Adventure, an amusement park, and then [my husband] would show pictures of his brother in Hashmonaim… doing a tiyul [hike] in the land… [and it was as if he was saying] ‘it’s Chol HaMoed – what are we doing at Six Flags?’”
But while her husband talked aliyah to Israel, Geller’s career was taking off in America. In 2007, she authored her first cookbook, Quick & Kosher Recipes from the Bride Who Knew Nothing, with her second, Quick & Kosher: Meals in Minutes soon to follow. Now, Jamie publishes the largest online kosher cooking website, JoyofKosher.com, and a top-of-the-line accompanying magazine, Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller.
Saying Goodbye to the Serving Dishes
Yet with all that American success, Geller told the Jewish Press that she is ready to take on the challenges of life in Israel. “I’m not going out of a position of weakness, I’m leaving a 3400 square foot home behind to go live in something double the price that’s half the size, but I’m doing it because I believe it is the right thing and the best thing for our family… I know that I’ll be working extra and double, but it’s a small price to pay to be there.”
Along with the smaller space, Geller does not much lament the little things she will leave behind, including her oversized American furniture and special serving dishes (“ain’t no room for once-a-year serving platters in Israel”, she said in one of her Joy of Aliyah videos). “I don’t think that’s a reason, just because I love blueberries, not to live in Israel. Those are silly to me… that’s not on my top list of worries. I’ve got other ones.”
tell a friendAbout the Author: Malkah Fleisher is a graduate of Cardozo Law School in New York City. She is an editor/staff writer at JewishPress.com and co-hosts a weekly Israeli FM radio show. Malkah lives with her husband and two children on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
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Kol ha Kavod- may she be an inspiration for others to make aliya!
Kol ha Kavod- may she be an inspiration for others to make aliya!
Congratulations! My son made aliyah on March 27 and will be joining the IDF on August 26. He went alone, travelled the state, made many friends and now will fight for his grandparents who survivied but lost everyone in the Holocaust and jews, past, present and future. Best of luck to you.
You must be so proud, Ellie!
Yes, Kathleen, very proud he is fighting for something he actually believes in 100%
"So while Jamie is receiving the assistance all eligible aliyah applicants receive from the organization, she is not just a client, she’s also a spokesperson."
So let me get this straight: ALL ELIGIBLE ALIYAH APP"s huh"? She's a celebrity chef and getting help from NBN, but we were flat turned down, not once, but twice, and our two sons who came as Kotin Hozrin as well. I'm confused…..what exactly makes one ELIGIBLE, if you're olim chadashim, as we were. I know! MONEY. We were cash-poor but debt-free and anxious to make a new home in the Land. How does that make us "ineligible"? Everyone I know who got assistance from NBN were either bringing substantial savings with them, PLUS got the monetary boost from Nefesh, came over with job waiting (which almost NEVER happens) OR sold a size-able home in the states, pocketing the substantial wad of cash to live off of along with the Sal Klita and NBN funds that were doled out.
So, as you can see, a pattern is starting to appear, and Jamie Geller just confirms what I've suspected all along.
Victoria: what you say is so not true. I am a widow, a poor widow. My son didn't come from a wealthy family and was a struggling waiter when he applied with n'fesh b'nefesh. He supplied the required paperwork, proof of jewishness and went through his interview. Nothing more nothing less. He had no income except for his little job and recieved a grant of 1000. Certainly not much, but with the flight to Israel he recieved, he was able to got to a kibbutz. He goes into the army on Aug 26 and will receive assistance then too. I am not sure what you are angry about. Did you get to make aliyah, and if you did, what precluded from getting the "absorption basket?" I am just a little confused by your post. I don't if you are there in Israel, or not there?
Yes, we went ahead, made aliyah, only b/c of the sal klita, b/c my husband didn't have a job 'lined up", which last I checked was not a prerequisite, but had substantial job skills as an engineer. (2003) We basically sold our used car, and that was our savings, which Thank G-d, we at least had that. We're talking 2003 ok?, not now, when alot of folks have come with alot less then back then. This was the 2nd flight we were applying for.Upon submitting our application, they very promptly turned us down, almost too quickly, IMHO, to have realistically reviewed our application. however they said there *might* be a 3rd flight we could be considered for. But guess what? When that flight did eventually materialize, we never heard back from them. We contacted them to ask why, and all they (the office in Florida) could say was "sorry, you weren't eligible", but never an explanation as to why. Here's the kicker: I personally know of 2 families at that same time, one came before us on the 1st fight, and one followed the year after us, both with a decent savings. The 2nd family had well over 100K from selling a nice home, and yet both families *also* got $25K assistance from NBN. We got nothing, no help, not even an offer to take the charter flight so at least we'd get help with the paperwork on the flight. Nothing. And upon our arrival, people of course asked us "Did you come with Nefesh?" which is what Everyone Asks, when you get here. We said No, and people were SHOCKED. "WHY!" they asked. "I don't know" was our reply. We came to Ramat Beit Shemesh, where Rabbi Fass lives (their spokesman and on their board), lived then as now. People actually went over and banged on his door, outraged that we weren't rendered assistance, despite being without means, family living locally, having a job waiting for us, or anything that if lacking, would IMO deem us definitely 'needy', at least enough to get a little help; maybe not the 'mother lode' that others were given, but certainly something. Here's the irony: those two families I know….after just being here over 3 yrs (the min. time req'd by NBN to live in Israel so you won't have to refund their money), they RETURNED to the states, despite all the help they got. We however had to return after only 9 months b/c our sal klita ran out, the job market then was worse than now so my husband couldn't find any work whatsoever. I can't help but wonder if they had just helped us (job leads, monetary help to stretch our time here til work came along) we might have been able to stay put. But this year we *did* come back, without their help. Your son came alone, which makes a big difference. But again, so did my oldest son, last year. And his younger brother right after him. And neither of them had help. not sure why. People have suggested that now we're here, to look into whether they can still help us, and that they may be more inclined to do so, since we 'proved' ourselves by coming anyway without help, and coming back again, despite being in the same situation as before.
I'm not sure why you didn't get help either. My son applied for the flight and went on it from Newark, I just had to get him there from Florida. which was hard for me as we lost my husband from cancer before that, and there were really no funds. He is getting his Sal Klita and I understand it may stop while he is in the army, then restart again. But being a lone soldier (no family there) he will receive not only benefit from the army but governnent also. He has a small apt in Haifa which will be about 30 min from where the base will be. I read everyday of nfesh bnefesh aliyah flights. Maybe the times have changed, i don't know. I'm sorry you had to go through all you did. My son is a very pesistent and won't take no for an answer person and maybe that is why everything had gone smoothly, I just can't say. Hopefully, no one else will experiece the terrible things you did in trying to get there. Good luck to all of you and be safe.
What an amazing husband Jamie has! He lovingly waited for his wife to realize the obvious. I'm impressed. Kol ha kavod to the Geller family – welcome home.
I am so proud of Jamie Geller for making aliyah with her family, and even more so of her husband that kept pushing the idea till it stuck! Best of luck to all the new olim!