Born in Belarus, Gregory, 27, studied technical engineering at a university in St. Petersburg, Russia. He worked as an engineer for some time in St. Petersburg and Minsk before the Russia-Ukraine war started, prompting him to move to Israel.
“I’d been thinking about making Aliyah since 2017 but never did because it was a big decision as I’d be moving alone and I always had reasons to not do it before,” explained Gregory. “But then with the war, even though it wasn’t necessarily felt in everyday life in Belarus, the economy was definitely impacted and it still was influencing our lives. So the war acted as a trigger for me to finally make Aliyah now, even though I left all my family and friends behind.”
Gregory moved to Israel in July 2022 and opted to participate in The Jewish Agency’s ulpan at Kibbutz Yagur, a Masa Israel Journey-sponsored program. The five-month immersive Kibbutz Ulpan Yagur near Haifa provides global participants with the opportunity to learn Hebrew while living, working on the kibbutz, or interning or volunteering outside the kibbutz.
“I’m really glad I chose Kibbutz Yagur when I was trying to decide which ulpan program would be best for me; it was a really good option and I got to live with people from all over the world and the staff were so welcoming,” Gregory shared. “In fact, I ended up staying not just for one cohort session but doing another half year with a second cohort.”
Before coming to Israel, Gregory had no Hebrew skills and didn’t even know the Hebrew alphabet. Now, after two sessions of ulpan, he has gained second-level Hebrew abilities. His part-time job as a bartender also helped him develop a better grasp of the language.
“Besides learning Hebrew, the program also arranged incredible trips for us around Israel which really helped us connect with each other and to Israel and our Jewish identities. They helped us understand and experience Israel as a local and gave us new perspectives,” said Gregory. “Before the program, I wasn’t so into Jewish traditions and holidays but then during ulpan, we did all these trips and events and activities together, even Shabbat dinners, which were really nice and helped us bond.”
Today, Gregory is starting university in Be’er Sheva where he will study program engineering for a master’s degree and also keep studying Hebrew, and is grateful for his time and the friends he made at ulpan.
“I became good friends with many of the other participants from ulpan and we’ve really been supporting each other and helping each other feel more comfortable getting settled. Especially since I came to Israel alone, it was important for me to build relationships,” added Gregory. “And The Jewish Agency assisted me a lot, I only have good things to say about how they made my whole Aliyah process – which can be stressful – way easier.”
