Jewish Insider's Melissa Weiss on Building a Newsroom from Tel Aviv, the Challenges of Dating Israeli Men, and Her 20-Year Road to Aliyah

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 Israel through youth groups, Birthright, and winter break trips. After living in South Korea, Washington DC, New York, and Mexico City, she made aliyah four years ago — and hasn't looked back. She now leads Jewish Insider's Israel operations from Tel Aviv, covering US-Israel politics, campus antisemitism, and the war, often while sirens are going off overhead. Also in the episode: From the Catskills to Tel Aviv: Melissa's unlikely path to aliyah Building Jewish Insider from Israel — covering DC politics from a Tel Aviv time zone Reporting during October 7th, the Iran war, and life between bomb shelters and deadlines Making friends, finding community, and dating as a single Anglo immigrant in Israel The bureaucracy, the beauty, and the Shabbat smells from her mirpeset Aliyah advice: rolling with the punches when nothing is intuitive At 80, looking back: finally doing the one thing she always wanted to do This is a warm, funny, and deeply honest conversation about purpose, resilience, and what it means to build a life in Israel from scratch. Subscribe for more conversations with people who live, work, build, and stay in Israel. #MelissaWeiss #JewishInsider #Israel #Aliyah #TelAviv #JournalismInIsrael #October7 #IsraeliLife #AngloCommunity #JewishIdentity #YallaLetsGo #LifeInIsrael #WomenInJournalism #MakingAliyah #WarCorrespondent KEY TOPICS  0:00 – Intro 0:57 - Meet Melissa Weiss: Executive Editor of Jewish Insider and Tel Aviv Olah 3:02 - From the Catskills to Tel Aviv: Melissa's Path to Aliyah 4:04 - Why She Finally Made Aliyah After 20 Years of Thinking About It 5:48 - From Advocacy to Journalism: The Israel Project, Campus Coalitions, and Jewish Insider 7:33 - Running Jewish Insider's Israel Operations: Building a Newsroom Across Time Zones 8:24 - Covering DC Politics from Tel Aviv: How She Stays Plugged In 9:54 - Journalism Under Fire: Reporting October 7th, Iran, and Wartime Israel 12:17 - Sending the Newsletter From the Bomb Shelter: Normalizing the Abnormal 13:05 - Building Community as a Single Anglo Immigrant in Tel Aviv 15:35 - Dating in Tel Aviv: Apps, the Beach, and Israeli Men 17:57 - Has She Ever Considered Leaving? Her Answer. 18:10 - What It Means to Wake Up Every Day with Purpose 20:10 - What Grates on Her About Life in Israel 21:38 - The Go-To Girl: Building a Reputation as a Resource for Fellow Olim 23:00 - Aliyah Advice: Roll With the Punches, Lose the Expectations 24:44 - At 80, Looking Back: She Did the One Thing She Always Wanted 25:26 - Rapid Fire: Pomelo, Mamash & the Mount of Beatitudes RESOURCES Follow Melissa on X: https://x.com/melissaeweiss   Subscribe to Yalla, Let’s Go here: https://www.aleph.vc/yalla-lets-go  Learn more about Aleph: aleph.vc  Sign up for Aleph’s monthly email newsletter: https://newsletter.aleph.vc/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yallaletsgopodcast  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yallaletsgopodcast/  Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yallaletsgopodcast  Follow Aleph on Twitter: https://x.com/aleph ‍Follow Aleph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aleph-vc/ ‍Follow Aleph on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleph.vc/ CREDITS Hosts: Erica Marom, Abbey Onn  Executive Producer: Sarah Bard Producer: Sofi Levak, Dalit Merenfeld, Myron Shneider Video and Editing: Nadav Elovic, Yotam Kushnir Music and Creative Direction: Uri Ar  Content and Editorial: Jackie Goldberg Design: Nimrod Sapir