The sense of loneliness deepened when the family later moved from Netanya to Petah Tikva. Turgeman recalled that no one invited her anywhere and she did not know the language. She said a girl named Penina helped her connect, and she still calls her from time to time to thank her. That experience shaped the message she now repeats to her children and grandchildren, teaching them to notice new students or neighbors and be sensitive to their social needs.
After becoming more integrated, she grew through Bnei Akiva and an ulpana, and later served as a teacher-soldier, teaching Judaism in Sderot. She said she believed it was possible to combine deep religiosity with service in the military framework. Her meeting with her husband, Rabbi Turgeman, was tied to one of the most painful events in Israel’s military history, the Sultan Yaacoub battle during the First Lebanon War. She said several introductions led through people who were connected to soldiers killed in that battle, and from that tragedy came the connection that eventually led to her husband, whom she called “Turgi.”
Together they built a large family centered on love of music and a shared commitment to serving God. Turgeman said she always monitored the pace of family growth realistically, leaving wider gaps between children when she felt she needed rest. Today she advises brides and women to connect honestly with their own capacities, since every woman is different. Within the home, she focused on family life while her husband worked outside. After the move to Dimona, he built institutions and businesses at a rapid pace while serving as neighborhood rabbi, a role she said still demands great dedication.
Alongside her home life, she also took on public tasks in Dimona, helping establish National Service associations and working with a friend to create cooperation between different bodies so they would not compete unnecessarily in education and midrashot. Still, she said her true compass remained the family sphere, where she lives with a sense of joy, partnership, and education based on the values she and her husband believe in.
