From Colombia to Ra'anana, a family built a new life in Israel

The Hod family of Ra'anana recounts a life that began in Colombia, continued in New York and Bogota, and later brought them back to Israel. Nicole Hod, 45, and Assaf Hod, 48, live in a single-family home they bought in 2017 for 4.5 million shekels, a property Assaf says is now worth significantly more because it is in one of Ra'anana's older neighborhoods.

Nicole said she was born and raised in Colombia, moved to New York after high school, and met Assaf there at a club. When they decided to marry, she told him he had to learn Spanish and start dancing salsa. The couple later moved to Bogota, where Assaf worked remotely for an American startup. He said the country surprised him, even if his first impression in Cali was unsettling. Nicole recalled saying, "it's all cocaine," while he described eventually embracing a higher standard of living because "everything is cheap."

Nicole said her father owned a textile factory, but she was always drawn to social impact work and felt troubled by inequality. In Bogota she worked with the most vulnerable communities until the family returned to Israel in 2009. Assaf said two things drove him away from Colombia, the unchanging weather and the traffic. Nicole said her parents had decided to move to Israel, and she told Assaf to go for a month and see if he could find work. He did, and they settled in Ra'anana.

In Israel, Assaf moved from a lifelong career in high-tech to become a mortgage adviser. Nicole sent out many emails before finding work with Bedouin women in the Negev, where she helped build e-commerce, production and business development for a rug-making nonprofit in Kseife. After three years she felt underused, won a Wexner Foundation scholarship, and spent a year in Boston with her family while studying at Harvard. Her daughters said the move shocked them, though it expanded their world.

Later, Nicole was recruited in Boston to head the philanthropic Miraz Foundation, founded by David Miraz. She said the goal was to turn the Negev into an attraction for young, strong residents by developing desert agritourism, especially wine tourism. She said the effort helped connect 60 small wineries and vineyards into the Negev Wine Club, and that the region received international recognition as a unique wine area about a month ago. The three daughters are all active too, with one serving in the Air Force, another in army recruitment work, and the youngest in school and youth movement leadership.