Personal
Childhood
I was born on June 9, 1977 at Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. I am an 8th generation Jerusalemite from my father's side and first generation Israeli from my mom's. My parents met at an Israeli Independence Day party in Jerusalem 1974. My father (Alex) was injured in the war of 1973 and was home on leave, my mom (Elana) was a visiting student at the Hebrew University from the University of Michigan. After a couple of months of courting my parents got married in Michigan in my grandparent's back yard.
My parents could not have planned my birthday any better as I was happy to be born on the wedding anniversary of my great grandparents from my mother's side. I was their first great grandson and was lucky to have had the chance to get to know both of them.
When I was a couple of months old my family moved to Yamit, a city in the Sinai. My first memories are filled with beautiful white/yellow sand. I remember walking to the beach, riding on my first bicycle and playing in the sand with friends. My sister, Maya, was born 1980 and I remember spending time with her in the sands of Yamit.
Growing up with an American mom had its influences on me. I spoke mostly English in my early years before going to kindergarten. I also had family to visit in the States! Every other summer, or so, we would visit the US. I think that is when I caught the Maize and Blue bug...
The Camp David Accords, a historic peace treaty, was signed between Israel and Egypt. Part of the agreement included the "return" of the lands of the Sinai to Egypt. My family left Yamit happy to be contributing to this historic peace opportunity. I can say that two of my personal heroes are the late Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat.
When I was 5 years old we moved to Petach Tikva (Opening of Hope), to a small neighborhood near Kfar Sirkin. I went to the local kindergarten "Gan Yehudit" and made new friends. My first formal education took place in the small Katzenelson Elementary School. I had only 21 kids in my class and no more then 150 students in the whole school! I enjoyed going to school and have great memories from that time.
When I was 7 years old, Dahna, my sister was born. I remember her first steps and her curly hair that turned straight in later years.
Go back to the topTeenage Years
I spent one year in Ben Zvi Middle School in Petach Tikva before my family moved to South Florida for 2 years. It was 1990 and my mom decided to continue her education and got her masters degree at Nova University. I studied at Nova Middle School and Nova High School.
While we were in the US the Gulf War started. I remember it as a tough time to be far away from home, family and friends. It was really surreal and gut wrenching to sit in front of the TV and hear that bombs had just been fired at Israel, not knowing if your friends and family were going to be there when you return... I was mad that I had that "privilege" of being out of danger and that I was not with my friends and family in Israel. I can say I was very relived that the damage to Israel from that war was relatively minimal.
We returned to Petach Tikva in 1993 and I went to Ben Gurion High School. It was great being home and making new friends. I ended up majoring in Biology after switching from Physics. School for me at the time was more of a social place than an educational place...
I can definitely say though that the highlight of my education in Ben Gurion was a trip to Poland. In my senior year we went for a journey that lasted 10 days where we visited sites of the Concentration and Work Camps, and the Jewish Ghettos. I was lucky to have my dad join me on this special trip. This trip has helped shape me to be who I am today. Every time I sing the Israeli National Anthem I see in my mind Miriam Yahav, the Holocaust survivor who was our guide, encouraging us to sing the song load and with pride!
During the time I was in High School there were political changes in Israel. First of all the terror had grown to new "peaks". Times had changed and going out to crowded places accompanied nervousness and heightened alertness (I vividly remember one incident on Israel's Independence Day when I was so alarmed by fireworks that I almost jumped to the ground when in celebration fireworks exploded in the sky like every other year). Close encounters of friends with terror attacks were numerous. Yet during this period of time there were negotations with the Palestinians and a peace agreement was signed with Jordon. I can say that I was supportive of these actions as I wished for peace. I went to a number of rallies but I guess that was not enough.
Go back to the topAge 18+ - old enough to serve and vote
On November, 3rd 1995, just a couple of weeks before I started my military service, Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated. I think that was the day that changed Israel unequivocally and the lessons have not been learned to this day. I feel guilty for not being more politically active before Rabin was assassinated and I believe that I could have helped with changing the atmosphere that made it seem to some people that Rabin should be murdered.
I served in the Paratroopers for three years. The first elections I voted in were in early 1996. I was in the middle of "war week" training. All of a sudden, out of the blue, the training was put on hold and we were called to vote... This was very surreal. On a mountain top in the middle of the Bek'ah behind a curtain I cast my first vote. I could only wish this first election would have been a couple of months later as it was due to Rabin's assassination.
For about half of my service I was in a combat unit but my back was injured and I moved to a more "home front" position. I can not say I enjoyed my new position, but I was closer to home. There were peaks and valleys in my army service. However, the experiences and the friends gained are priceless.
Since I was closer to home in the later part of my service I got to come home more often. On Saturday night, August 8, 1998 I went in to a small mall near my neighborhood. In one of the gift shops my life changed. I met Sarit, who was a sales girl at the shop, and found the missing part in my puzzle.
Ever since I was very young I knew I wanted to study at University of Michigan. I tried to follow Michigan sports as much as possible and was looking forward to studying in Ann Arbor. When I was about to finish the army my dream was close to becoming a reality. I started fulfilling the needed requirements to go and study at U of M.
What to do??? I had just found the girl of my dreams and I had plans to leave the country soon. At the end I got to have my cake and eat it too! On my first date with Sarit I told her my plans to study at U of M. A couple of months later I was "flying high" and I heard these words from Sarit "I will go with you any where in the world!". I knew I was all set!
On Feb. 14th, in the business section of an ELAL airplane, a video was shown. It showed the story of how Sarit and I met. It ended up with me proposing... Meanwhile on the plane I was taking out my well hidden engagement ring and got on one knee. I still did not hear the response to this day (mostly tears and shock) but we did get married a couple of months later... (I would like to thank ELAL for permitting me to undertake this secret project and for all the nice gifts :))
June 3rd, 1999 was the day Sarit and I joined our lives officially. Our wedding was also somewhat of a going away party as we know we were moving to Ann Arbor soon. I had the most beautiful bride ever! The wedding was awesome! I was honored to have my grandfather (from my father's side) use his beautiful cantorial voice with the "7 blessings" prayer that is part of every Jewish wedding.
Marrying Sarit also joined me with her wonderful family. I can say that I felt right at home with her brothers, cousins, grandparents and of course parents. I was lucky not only with Sarit, but with the additions that came with her.
Michigan 1999-2005
We moved to Ann Arbor in August of 1999. It was a brand new experience to be just Sarit and I almost on our own. It was great to be close to my grandparents from my mom's side as we got to visit them a lot. But still we were mostly on our own. I think this time helped shape our relationship and made us even closer.
Studying in the US first in a small community college (WCC) and then at a large university was an awesome experience that I will cherish. Higher education in the US is very different than in Israel. Being a student is like a way of life - education does not end outside the classroom. Many extracurricular activities exist for students. Many student run organizations and events occur. It was great to take part in all of those. Especially Orchard Radio at WCC.
In addition, the opportunities in a large university in the US are enormous. I easily got involved in research projects in areas that interested me. I could try various areas of interest and find which ones suited me and interested me the most. Studying a wide area of subjects, I felt, was an addition as I could explore many different areas and get a more rounded education.
The change in seasons was an interesting addition to our lives. In Israel there are about 3 seasons that are not that extremely different from one another. Experiencing living with snow for the first time, and seeing the beautiful colors of the leaves changing in the fall, the blooming of flowers in the spring, and the occasional showers in the summer were enriching.
Living in Ann Arbor was fabulous! We fell in love with this small town. It was small yet had everything we could have asked for. It has such a colorful diverse population! From delicious ethnic restaurants, to celebrations and customs from all around the globe. We enjoyed the jazz clubs, pubs, and movie theaters. We surely will miss the amazing public library (where you could check out DVD's for free!) and all the lectures in almost any subject you can think of. The summer festival was one of the highlights of the year, with the free performances and movies on "top of the park". The Ann Arbor Art Fair is widely known and was enjoyed. The football Saturdays when the "Big House" is full and there is a feeling of a holiday in town, will never be forgotten. Oh Ann Arbor, such a great town!
Yet, we were in the US during some troubling times in the US and around the world. I vividly remember the morning of September, 11, 2001. It was one of the first days of school for me at the University of Michigan. The shock and disbelief was horrifying. Besides the terror attack on the USA, my home country was also suffering from terror attacks. It was a tough time to be far away from home.
We were lucky to be in an area that has a relatively large Jewish population. The Hillel at U of M was like a second family to us. We spent many evenings there socializing with other students, celebrating holidays, listening to lectures, political discussions and more.
As huge fans of the Pistons living near Detroit (or actually Auburn Hill's and we are talking relatively near) was like living a dream. Just the fact that ALL the Pistons gmes were shown on TV was like an ice cream sundae to me as I was used to watching maybe 4-6 games a season in Israel. The cherry on top of the sundae was the fact that the Pistons reached one of their peaks when we were there. We saw the team being rebuilt and reaching the goal of wining the NBA championship in 2004. We were lucky to have family members (Thank you Al and Marilyn) who got us tickets to see many games. One of the highlights was being in the playoff games of 2004 and 2005. Seeing Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Tim Duncan and of course all of the Pistons players on court was an unforgettable experience! GO PISTIONS!!!
The formation of the ICAA also marked a change in our Ann Arbor experience. We got to meet many Israelis that were somewhat in the same situation we were in. It also helped create more of a sense of community in Ann Arbor than we had felt before. Celebrating Israeli holidays together, seeing Israeli movies and just having a voice in Ann Arbor as Israel's was a great addition.
After finishing my degree I worked as a research assistant at the Ross School of Business and School of Information. In addition I worked as a Teacher's Assistant for a negotiation class for MBA's and later on became the Behavioral Lab Manager of the Ross School of Business. These positions helped me solidify my career choice and grant me experience in academia and the research field.
One of the highlights of my position was going to the Computer Supportive Cooperative Work (CSCW) conference in Chicago where the first paper I was a co-author of was published. I am grateful for the opportunity I had and I know that the experiences helped me get into graduate school and will help me along the way.
Still with all these great experiences Sarit and I missed Israel very much. We knew that Ann Arbor was not a final stop and that Israel is where we want to live. I eventually applied to the Technion to continue my education and was admitted.
Back to Israel 2005
In the summer of 2005 Sarit and I moved back to Israel. We were excited about returning home. I have started my master's degree at the Technion as a student of Organizational / Industrial Psychology / Organizational Behavior. My advisor is Anat Rafaeli.
A great new addition to my life is my daughter Shira! She was born on February 18, 2006. The whole pregnancy experience was amazing (easy for me to say, but I believe Sarit feels the same... positively of course!) and here are some photos of Shira BEFORE she was born. Shira's full name is Shira Tova Cheshin. Tova is in memory of Sarit's Aunt Tova who passed away in 2005 from cancer.
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Does she look like me??
Becoming a father!
February 18, 2006, I am now a father!!! Her full name is Shira Tova Cheshin. Shira means song in Hebrew and Tova means good. Tova was Sarit's Aunt that passed away after a hard battle with cancer in the summer of 2005.
April 06
Shira is amazing! My life (especially the nights) has changed now that she is around. I wish I had more time to spend with her. Sarit is the most dedicated mother in the world! You can find more photos of Shira here.
Work at the Technion is challenging yet fulfilling. I am taking classes, teaching and working on my research.
Spring 06
We found an apartment in Haifa, walking distance from the Technion. We know we will miss our close family in central Israel, but we are looking forward to having our own place. Working on my thesis at the Technion.
Summer 06
The 2nd Israeli-Lebanese War has postponed our plans on moving to Haifa. The whole experience is very surreal. I am glad it was relatively short.
Fall 06
We moved to Haifa and I started the 2nd year of my graduate studies. It is great being close to school and Sarit and Shira walk with me to the Technion.
Spring 07
Started my last semester of my Masters. My research is progressing well. Shira adds lots of joy and excitement to our life :-)
Summer 07
The highlight of the summer was presenting part of my MA thesis at the Academy of Management Conference in Philadelphia. Great experience but I did miss my girls.
Fall 07
Shira loves her kindergarten, and does not stop singing and reciting. Finished my MA thesis. Very happy with the final result :-) Got 96 on the defense exam. Sarit started her graduate studies of Gerontology at the University of Haifa.
Started my PhD Feb 2008. Still tring to figure out exactly what I will do my PhD on. I know it will extend my MA... so it will have to relate to emotions in organizations.
On June 26th 2008 (the exact due date) Raz Yaakov was born. He is named after my great grandfather Jacob Rose. So now I am a father of 2... Shira is an amazing older sister. She love's little Raz and looks after him.
The kids are growing... ShiRaz are amazing... Raz wants to do everything Shira does and Shira is very loving and caring although is frustrated sometimes when Raz takes her games or wants to join... Raz is very athletic compared to Shira but they both get along relatively well :-)
I had the opportunity to teach the Organizational Behavior class which was much more work than I thought. But it was a lot of fun. I am glad I had this experience. Research is going well, I am excited that I will have some field experience in my PhD work. Sarit is finishing her MA in gerontology! I know she will be perfect in this field...