Yalla, Let's Go!

Danielle Yablonka, Miss Israel and founder of DY Judaica, on how October 7th ended her modeling career and why Tel Aviv is holier than Jerusalem. On this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica Marom and Abbey Onn talk with Danielle Yablonka, a Miami-born model and pro-Israel content creator who made aliyah through Masa and spent her first months teaching English in Rishon LeZion during wartime. She ex...

Why do sharks gather off Israel's Mediterranean coast? Shark scientist Dr. Leigh Livne studies them at Hadera, and her research on pregnant sharks made it into Sir David Attenborough's BBC series Asia. She also converted to Judaism, made aliyah, and runs Belle Aviv, Tel Aviv's nearly 35,000-member community for women. On this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica Marom and Abbey Onn talk with Leigh a...

In this special episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica Marom turns the microphone on her own co-host — Abbey Onn, Executive Director and co-founder of Nevo Network, the fellowship and professional community that has become the leading network for olim in Israeli high tech. Abbey moved from Fairfax, Virginia to Herzliya 11 years ago, and for the first time she is the one in the guest seat. Abbey traces...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Yoni Heilman — CEO of TAMID Group, IDF reservist with more than 400 days of miluim since October 7th, and the show's first guest to have made aliyah twice — for a conversation about coming back for good in the middle of COVID, writing from inside the war, and why life in Israel is never just fine: it's either amazing or crisis. Yon...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Nadav Keyson — CEO and co-founder of Riverside, the podcasting and video platform behind Taylor Swift's New Heights interview, Hillary Clinton's recordings, and Aleph's own Invested podcast — for a conversation about building a global company from Tel Aviv, moving from Amsterdam with his brothers, and why he has never once consider...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Daniil Chernov — Russian-born oleh, co-founder of The Reboot Startup Nation, Nevo Network board member, and an analytics leader who has worked at some of Israel’s biggest tech companies — for a conversation about arriving with a job but no network, building community from scratch, and what eight years in Israel taught him about imp...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Gili Fleekop — known online as Gili from Philly — co-founder of TikTok marketing agency Pink Chili, former social media lead at ironSource, and founder of Unit 107, the volunteer-run supply initiative that raised close to $400,000 for Israeli soldiers after October 7th. Gili shares her journey from the Philadelphia suburbs — raised...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Fay Goldstein — co-founder and CEO of Bardin, and an olah from the United States — for a candid conversation about talking her way into the IDF at 28, building a startup during wartime, and what it really means to become Israeli. Fay grew up in a Chabad family that moved constantly across the US before settling in Florida, and firs...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Jillian Goldberg — olah from Cincinnati, former CRO of Israeli automotive cybersecurity startup EcoMotion, Teach For America alum, powerlifter, and Israeli Ninja Warrior contestant — for a wide-ranging, deeply honest conversation about reinvention, belonging, and building an unlikely life in Israel. Jillian came to Israel for a one...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Melissa Weiss — executive editor of Jewish Insider and olah from the United States — for a candid conversation about journalism in wartime Israel, building community as a single immigrant, and why she has never once considered leaving. Melissa grew up in a small, secular Jewish community in upstate New York before discovering Israe...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Lena Russovsky — Soviet-born Israeli journalist, KAN broadcaster, biotech researcher, and founder of “Russian Women Without a Sense of Humor,” one of Israel’s largest online communities with over 56,000 members — for a conversation about Russian aliyah, immigrant identity, and building a life in Israel. Lena made aliyah from Moscow...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Tamir Goodman — the Jewish Jordan, Division 1 basketball pioneer, author, and entrepreneur — for an honest conversation about faith, resilience, and what it really means to build a life in Israel. Tamir shares his journey from Baltimore to the courts of Maccabi Tel Aviv: how he became the first Jewish athlete to earn a Division 1 s...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Giovahnna "Gio" Ziegler - Brazilian olah, marketing leader in Israel's high-tech ecosystem, former contestant on Brazil's Next Top Model, best-selling author, and mother of two. Gio shares her journey from Rio de Janeiro to Tel Aviv, why Aliyah was a philosophical certainty more than a logical decision, how she built a successful c...

In this episode of Yalla, Let's Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Avi Mayer - founder of Jerusalem Journal and former Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post - for a candid conversation about identity, belonging, journalism, and what it really means to choose Israel. Avi shares his journey from New York to Jerusalem at age six, navigating the Gulf War, the Oslo years, and the Second Intifada, befor...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Adeena Sussman, bestselling cookbook author of Sababa, Shabbat, and her newest book Zariz, for a conversation about food, identity, and building a life in Israel. Adeena shares her journey from Palo Alto to New York’s food scene to Tel Aviv, why she made aliyah, and how Israeli culture - especially the shuk - transformed her career...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Aaron Bours, native New Yorker, lone soldier, IDF reservist, and CMO of health tech startup Hyro, for a deeply personal conversation about identity, duty, recovery, and belonging. Aaron shares his journey from Great Neck, Long Island to Israel, why he joined Givati, how he built a career in Israeli tech, and what happened when he w...

Abbey and Erica record an unusual and very real episode of Yalla, Let’s Go! in the middle of the February 2026 war with Iran. Between sirens, bomb shelters, and sleepless nights, they reflect on what it actually feels like to live through war in Israel not as a headline, but as everyday life. They talk about the anxiety of parenting Israeli kids during missile attacks, the reality of running to sh...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Revital Moses: a leading voice in India-Israel cultural diplomacy, leveraging digital storytelling to bridge two of the world's most dynamic civilizations. As the creator of "Moses in Israel / Indian in Israel" a YouTube and social media project with millions of cumulative views. She has become a go-to commentator on the evolving I...

In this episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Aleeza Ben Shalom, a renowned relationship coach and matchmaker who shot to international fame as the star of Netflix’s Jewish Matchmaking. She is also the host of the “The Jewish Matchmaker” podcast on ILTV. To date, she has successfully helped over 250 people make their way down the aisle, and has trained over 450 matchmakers and...

In the very first episode of Yalla, Let’s Go!, Erica and Abbey sit down with Avi Lewis, who made Aliyah from Australia and now lives in Israel with his wife and four children. Avi is a software engineer at Meta’s Tel Aviv office and shares daily insights on LinkedIn through his “1 idea a day” series, helping people navigate Israel’s tech job market. Yalla, Let’s Go! explores what it really means t...