Yael Berorsky is a young woman with many talents and a passion for making an impact in everything she does.
Born in Buenos Aires, Berorsky grew up in a very Zionist family. The eldest of three children, she and her siblings were immersed in a close-knit Jewish community.
“I went to a Jewish school until I was 12 years old, and then I went to a Modern Orthodox high school,” she says. “I was very active in the Jewish youth movement and held a number of leadership roles.”
At age 15, Berorsky was one of five students selected from her high school to participate in Israel’s Jewish Agency program for outstanding social activists. It was her first time visiting this country, but her life changed in those two weeks.
“I just fell in love with everything,” she says with enthusiasm. “I knew I had to go back.”
True to her word, after graduating high school with honors, she returned to Israel for a one-year program. Along the way, she realized that she wanted to make Israel her homeland. She left the program with her usual positive attitude and enrolled in a Hebrew ulpan in Kibbutz Yagur in the north.
“I wanted to improve my language skills before returning home,” she explains.
Berolsky returned to Buenos Aires for six months and made aliyah in 2013, at age 19, completely self-taught. Although her parents were happy for her, she was hesitant about this decision as she was worried that she would be drafted into the IDF. As soon as she arrived. Israeli Defense Forces soldiers salute during a memorial service for the fallen at Mount Olive Cemetery in Jerusalem. (Credit: Mark Israel Salem/Jerusalem Post)
She remembers the day she arrived at Ra’anana Absorption Center in June. “It was very hot, and the room I was given with three other roommates from Latin America was old, small, and bleak,” Berorsky recalls. “I cried on the spot.”
Helping her through those first difficult months was a third-grade friend who had made aliyah with her parents years earlier, and whom Berorsky has stayed in touch with. “She was always with me. I didn’t feel so alone because of her and her family.”
Served as a solo soldier in the Israel Defense Forces
After getting over the first hurdle, things looked up for Berolsky. Rather than wait for a call-up to the Israel Defense Forces, she took the initiative and went to a recruiting station five months after her arrival to begin her mandatory service. She was given the status of “lone soldier” because she had no immediate family in Israel, and for the same reason she requested to serve at an undisclosed base.
Mr. Berolsky served in the Air Force. She was the first female engine engineer for Israel’s new Hercules helicopter, which was renamed Shimshon in Israel.
“I trained as an engine technician and then relocated to a new base in the south,” she says. “I arrived at the base the same day these new helicopters were delivered. I worked with the rest of her two-person team to keep the engines in top condition.”
She speaks highly of the people she served with, especially her commanding officers. The day she moved out of her apartment, they all came to help her.
“I’ve met some of the most amazing people in this country,” she says. It feels great. ”
After two years on the job, Berorsky studied for the college entrance exam. The mentors she received through her organization, which supports retired and lone soldiers, told her about her Atidim program, which provides comprehensive support for students like her to earn engineering degrees. I did.
Berorsky attended Ariel University and majored in electrical and electronic engineering. With Atidim’s financial, academic, and social support, she excelled in her studies and also volunteered to tutor new students in their third and fourth years.
She said Atidim’s coordinators, whom she still keeps in touch with, have always been by her side to keep her going, and the donors who have sponsored her have been amazing. “It was like winning the lottery,” she says candidly. She said: “She is very grateful for the opportunity to start her new life in Israel.”
Belorsky’s partner, Egor Buyko from Belarus, whom he met at Kibbutz Yagur, was also a student at Atidim. They studied together at Ariel, majoring in engineering, and currently live in Petah Tikva.
After excelling in college, Berorsky was offered a student position at a global defense technology company, which seamlessly transitioned into a full-time position upon graduation.
While working, she began pursuing a master’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering in an accelerated course for gifted students. “It was an intense three years of working and studying full-time, but it was a lot of fun,” said Berolsky, who received her degree in February 2024.
She specializes in biomedical engineering, and with the help of one of her lecturers who allowed her to use her lab, she developed an AI algorithm for early detection of prostate cancer, the first non-invasive of its kind. We have developed a medical detection system. , she says.
“I never expected to get the results I did,” she enthuses. “It was very exciting.” She is now considering studying for a PhD in the near future.
Berorsky said he has been working even harder since October 7. Although she was not called up as a reservist, she says her hard work will help her cope during this difficult time.
Despite everything, she yearns for her parents and two younger brothers to make aliyah. Her mother is a retired kindergarten teacher, her father owns a gym, and they are considering moving.
“There is no better place for Jews to live,” Berorsky says. “I’m very happy to be here and I’m very proud to be an Israeli.” ■
Yael (Yael) Berolski, 30 years old, from Petah Tikva, Buenos Airest, 2013
