Living the Dream
Hey guys! Orly Wahba here living in the holy city of Jerusalem.
It’s always been my dream to live in this city; the city of Jerusalem and back in 2018 that dream was fulfilled. After many years of praying I was finally granted the privilege to live here. It’s a privilege I take seriously, recognizing that as much as I chose to live here, this city also chooses you.
After officially making aliyah to Israel in March 2020 I felt called to learn more about the country that I’ve loved and longed for ever since I was a little kid. What better way to do that? So I figured why not go to tour guiding school. It would give me the chance to see every aspect of the country and actually step foot in the places that I taught my students about back when I was a middle school teacher in Yeshivah of Flatbush. I didn’t really intend on becoming a tour guide but the moment I started the course, something inside of me lit up; it was sort of the same feeling I always got before setting out to do something BIG and world changing. I felt the same way walking into my first day of teaching, when I launched my non profit Life Vest Inside, when I shot my viral film Kindness Boomerang, when I took on the challenge of writing a book on kindness, when I launched Dance for Kindness – a global flashmob, when I chose to move to Israel, and when I began working on one of my newest initiatives Abraham’s Legacy – a tehillim app in memory of my grandfather. Bottom line, something felt super right. An opportunity to combine all my loves? My love for the land of Israel, the people of Israel, the G-d of Israel and the Torah. What could be better.
"As much as I chose to live in Jerusalem, the city also chooses you."
When I left my job teaching back in 2011 to pursue Life Vest Inside and fulfill my dream of shaking the world with the power of kindness, I always knew in my heart that teaching was my calling and that I would once again return to it. Not to say I haven’t been teaching in one way or another over these past 14 years working on Life Vest Inside, but to be able to come back to my greatest passion – the Torah and bring it to life – WOW!
And so here I am a newly licensed tour guide filled with immense passion, gratitude and a sense of responsibility to share the history of a country and of a city that not only belongs to me, but belongs to us all. A city, that with all the controversy surrounding it and contrary to popular belief, does in fact live up to its name – Jerusalem – Yeru shalem – the city of peace. My hope is to share the beauty of this city, of this country in the hopes that you’ll make your journey here in one way or another.
And so I invite you to tune in to my first video series starting right here, at Jaffa Gate, one of the 7 open gates surrounding the 1 square kilometer of the old city of Jerusalem.
As I mentioned, Jerusalem belongs to us all but it’s unique to each of us in a different way. As we know when it comes to something special, everyone wants to claim it and leave their mark on it whether spiritually or physically. And so over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing short clips focused on that very theme – leaving your signature on Jerusalem. While I’ll only be focusing on a distance of appx 150 meters, during our time together we’ll travel back in time and encounter various Empires, peoples who fought to hold onto this holy city, and catch a glimpse of the signatures, the marks they left behind, a testament to us and future generations that “they were here”.
My hope – to inspire you to leave your signature on this city in your very own way.
Stay tuned for the first video in the series “The Signatures of Jerusalem”.
And I hope you’ll consider me as a tour guide and/or event organizer for your journey to the Holy Land of Israel.