Eli and Chana Coten: From London to Ma’alot amid war and new beginnings

I wondered if they and their group of recent olim (new immigrants) were still in Ma’alot. After all, this development town of some 22,500 people is only 10 km. from the Lebanese border. How were brand new immigrants coping in such fraught circumstances? Other immigrants had already fled the country, perhaps never to return.

This war was a time of great peril: Ballistic and cluster missiles exploding on our population centers and deadly drones and artillery shells crossing our borders made citizens afraid to leave home for long, venture onto the roads, or even shower, especially residents of the North. Soldiers, of course, were at far greater risk.

When I caught up with the Cotens, however, Chana reassured me that their group was safe and in situ. Israela staff had advised all to rent apartments with a mamad (safe room), “since the official warning time from when the siren went off was immediate,” she explained. “Just before Passover, that was extended to 30 seconds. At first our daughters were understandably scared, but they adjusted.”

“One Shabbat morning, we heard a loud metallic bang overhead as the siren started. It apparently was a rocket that fell into the wadi nearby. Once, en route to Nahariya for a dentist appointment, I got caught out by three alarms. It’s a bit nerve-racking working out what to do,” she confessed. “But I know that worse comes to worst, I just have to lie down and cover my head, and either way it’s all in God’s hands.”

The Cotens had spent 15 years in what was, until lately, the safe haven of Golders Green before crossing paths with Rabbi Ilan Goldman, UK aliyah director. As they were contemplating aliyah and “outgrowing our flat in London,” they said, “it felt like the right opportunity and time to make this important decision.”

Goldman introduced them to Israela, a recent extension of the Alyah de Groupe (ADG) organization, which sponsored group aliyah for young French-speaking families for 33 years. Col. Golan Vach, the son of its founder, Shalom Vach, currently leads Israela in partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel, Nefesh B’Nefesh, and World Mizrachi.

Typically, in March 2025 the organization arranged a group pilot trip for 10 English-speaking families from the US, England, and Australia, including the Cotens, to introduce them to various communities. Subsequently, I learned that Israela claims an amazing 98% retention rate for their aliyah groups, which have extended to English-speakers since July 2024 and to Spanish-speakers even before. Also, it provides comprehensive preparation beforehand and support services for at least a year after arrival.

Another advantage for both Cotens is to have married siblings in central Israel and Chana’s parents, the Michaels, in Jerusalem. Undoubtedly, their upbringing and Jewish education influenced their decision to leave the UK.

Eli’s father was the rabbi of the Kingston, Surbiton & District Synagogue. It was actually in Kingston that the Cotens met the Michaels, who frequently spent Shabbat at Chana’s grandparents there. Even when Rabbi Coten moved his family north just after Eli’s bar mitzvah to become rabbi of Ruislip Synagogue, they remained friendly. Happily, this friendship culminated in the 2010 marriage of their children.

Eli and his siblings traveled to Hasmonean High School both from Kingston, then from Ruislip, from age 11 on. Yet Eli stresses the positive aspects of this train commute: “Yes, from Kingston it was about 1.75 hours. It was long but gave me a unique experience. During the first year I stayed with my grandma twice a week in Woodside Park. It certainly gave me plenty of confidence to travel around alone.” He notes that the bus commute from Ruislip was almost as long.

Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem was his next destination. Eli stayed for two years and found “a really comprehensive and in-depth approach” to learning. After obtaining a BSc in Liberal Arts, Eli did a one-year master’s degree conversion course to computer science at UCL (University College of London). He began working remotely at F5 during COVID, and continued with them here, focusing on a niche product solving security challenges for enterprise-grade websites. He is now completing an online Hebrew ulpan.

Chana followed a similar track. Growing up in Hendon, she graduated from Hasmonean. After a gap year at Midreshet Tehillah, part of the Neve Yerushalayim seminary, she studied math and computer science at King’s College London. She then worked for an employee research agency for five years, followed by an eight-year stint as BI (business intelligence) developer at the UK Health Security Agency.

“I really felt that I made a big difference there supporting surveillance of multiple infectious diseases,” she enthuses. However, as her grandparents aged, she was sometimes shocked to observe “a lack of respect and concern for older people” in the national health system.

Right now she attends ulpan in Ma’alot, while investigating career prospects.

Eli explained how their aliyah group operates. “Israela hired Miriam as local coordinator for our group. This involved assigning us host families, and together they dealt with all pre-aliyah queries, such as finding apartments, selecting appliances, and school registration. Even before aliyah, we had weekly sessions to discuss different aspects of life here, such as finance, health, business, and cars. They also provided three months of pre-aliyah ulpan online for adults and children separately.”

In Ma’alot, they are enjoying “a year-round program of group events such as cooking, learning, making food for soldiers, and entertainment.”

Overall, the Cotens are happy, and their daughters have adjusted well. Initially, “it was hard to see them struggle to participate in a new language. However, by now they have really picked up on Hebrew. They receive good results and reports from their teachers.” The family is getting used to shorter school hours and more informality, but “the positives of school here are how welcoming they have been, and how they emphasize societal participation,” Chana reports.

“We have so much gratitude to Israela, to group coordinator Miriam, to our host families, to the school and its teachers, to the Ma’alot community and municipality for everything they have done for us. We feel immensely privileged to be here, especially as being in the North means that we cannot ever take for granted the soldiers who protect us.”