Yael (Ashley) grew up in Springville, Alabama and in August 2020 she followed her dream of going to Israel to teach English, a country she fell in love with and decided to make her permanent home.

Max is native of Long Island, New York, who also had thoughts of moving to Israel. Like many couples in 2020, the two met online thanks to a mutual friend in a Jewish group. It was love at first phone call, and despite living in different countries during a pandemic, their connection and relationship grew and blossomed.

In 2021, Max made his first visit to Israel, and the rest was history. All it took was one more visit for him to decide to make the official move to Israel and join Yael in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, where the two now live happily together along with their cat, Nova.

In November 2023, Max took Yael out to Lola Cafe, where they had their first date and asked her to marry him, and she answered with enthusiastic yes! Now they’re so excited to see what their future together in Israel holds, and are so happy to have their loved ones from near and far be a part of it.