At first glance, New Jersey native Garrett Davis, 23, embodies the typical American aliya success story. His aliya resumé ticks all the boxes: a Birthright participant who “fell in love with Israel,” a Masa Teaching Fellow who taught English to Israeli youngsters in southern Israel, and a new immigrant who is striving to master the intricacies of the Hebrew language. Upon further examination, however, his story is framed with personal trials and a family tragedy, all of which make his aliya saga even more remarkable. Davis grew up in Cresskill, New Jersey. He attended Hebrew school, but his feelings for Judaism were somewhere between neutral and positive. “I wasn't very involved in the Jewish community, being that I only went to synagogue on the High Holy Days. I don't keep kosher, I don't keep the Sabbath. I learned a lot about Judaism, but it didn't really matter to me, because I didn't really keep it.” When he turned 12, his life changed drastically. Due to his serious personal issues, his parents sent him to the Grove School in Madison, Connecticut, one of the oldest therapeutic boarding schools in the United States. Therapeutic boarding schools are staffed with therapists who help students with emotional and learning challenges, which can range from family and emotional issues to academic concerns, and in some cases, substance abuse. He spent the next seven years – from age 12 until 19 – at the school. “I went there because as a child, I struggled in school, both socially and emotionally. I never got along with my brother.” Studying at the therapeutic boarding school “helped me emotionally control myself and be more flexible.” While it took some time to adjust to the program, he acknowledges “that I was the only one who could make the change, and they were there for support and encouragement.” Davis graduated in August 2013, receiving his high school diploma. Just a few months later, in January, he says, “my life flipped.” His older brother Gabriel, who had been taking painkillers while recovering from leg surgery, died suddenly in his sleep, after taking an over-the-counter flu medicine. The combination of the two medicines proved lethal. Davis is the one who discovered his older brother's body. “It was rough.” The two brothers, inspired by a cousin who had recently been in Israel, had planned to travel together to Israel that summer on a Birthright tour. The trip was postponed, and Davis lived at home for a year and a half, working at an art supply store. It wasn't until a year later, in July 2015, that he went to Israel on a Birthright tour. He says, simply, “I fell in love with Israel.” The high point of his 10-day trip was the visit to Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem – and the sense of connection that he felt there. It was, he says, “having the feeling of loss and being together and having the same mutual feeling. I didn't lose my brother in a war, or in violence, but it is still the feeling of loss.” The connection that he felt between his personal loss and the sense of national loss at these two memorials was eye-opening. He remained at home for another year, but wanted to return to Israel for a longer period. Davis considered programs offered by Masa, which provides study, internship and volunteer programs throughout the country. Eventually, he chose the Masa Teaching Fellows program, and was selected to teach English at a school in Beersheba. He returned to Israel in August of 2016. Davis arrived at the Etz Chaim elementary school, where the students, all boys, wore kippot and tzitzit. Smiling, he says, “It was like nothing I had experienced before.” The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, he says, but the English program was somewhat disorganized. The primary English teacher was on maternity leave for the first three months of the school year, and while the substitute teacher could understand English, she could not actually speak the language. Davis, whose job was to be a teacher's assistant, helping with small groups, found himself teaching the entire class of 30 children for the first three months. “It was a big struggle,” he admits, since he couldn't even read the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Ultimately, he broke through the language barrier and was able to communicate with the children. When the regular English teacher returned, Davis returned to his post, helping individual pupils and groups, from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. each day. During his spare time, he volunteered at a local animal shelter. He found teaching to be very rewarding. “At the end of every day, I felt very successful, and very positive.” He liked Israel so much that he began to consider the possibility of making a permanent move to Israel. When the Masa program concluded in June, Davis decided to make aliya, and moved to Beersheba. “It's a nice city, small, young and very cheap to live there,” he says. He returned to New Jersey to visit friends and family, and flew back to Israel in August, on a Nefesh B'Nefesh aliya flight. He now lives in Beersheba, attends ulpan daily and is job hunting. He attributes his happiness living in Israel to his ability to overcome his own personal difficulties. His experiences at the therapeutic boarding school were very helpful in how he related to his pupils in Beersheba. “A lot of kids had learning disabilities or challenges that they had to overcome.” His brother's tragic death forced him to grow up quickly and develop a more mature outlook on life. In addition, he says, it made him more caring and more supportive of others. “My brother had a big heart and liked feeding the homeless.” To perpetuate his brother's memory, Davis gives food to homeless people in Beersheba each month. He says that his Hebrew is improving gradually, and he would eventually want to work with children, either in a special needs setting or in some other teaching format. He traces much of his success to his years in therapeutic boarding school, and says, “I can honestly say that if I didn't go there, I would not be where – and how – I am today.” He remains in touch with his teachers and therapists. “They are happy that I have found peace and happiness,” he says. “I feel much happier here. I feel like I'm able to be myself and not hide my emotions.”
