From classmates to soulmates

At Alexander Muss High School in Israel, Nili and Isaac found more than a connection to Israel. They found each other.

When Nili Arad Ivan and Isaac Makovsky first met, it wasn’t over coffee or sightseeing—it was waving to each other from six feet away.

The students, only 15 and 16 years old at the time, had just arrived at Alexander Muss High School in Israel (Muss) in the fall of 2020. It was COVID, and they were waiting out their state-mandated quarantine period in makeshift pods separated by plastic sheets. Just as the quarantine period came to an end, Israel entered another lockdown that kept the Muss students on campus. However, no longer separated by their individual pods, the entire cohort was free to interact. Isaac’s pod introduced themselves to Nili’s, and what began as a simple greeting grew into a deep connection that would sustain them through the adventure of a lifetime.

Six years later, Nili and Isaac are newly married, living in Israel, and building the future they began envisioning together during their time abroad.

“It was meant to be that I was at Muss at the same time as Isaac,” Nili said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be there that semester.”

After Nili’s Jewish school in Orlando unexpectedly closed, she enrolled in a Christian preparatory school with very few Jewish classmates. Missing the built-in Jewish community she craved, her family decided to send her to Muss in the spring of 2021. The semester-long session promised a unique academic and cultural experience of studying Jewish history where it happened. Wanting to be with friends who were also attending the program, Nili switched to the fall 2020 semester at the last minute before the pandemic changed everyone’s plans.

“Muss gave me a place where I could finally be completely myself, where I didn’t have to minimize my Jewish identity,” she said. “I feel like Muss brought me out of my shell because I could finally be authentic.”

A fourth-generation Coloradan, Isaac grew up in a Modern Orthodox family in Denver and attended Jewish day school throughout his childhood. When the pandemic upended normal high school plans, Muss offered the opportunity to experience Israel in person during an uncertain time.

Their friendship grew naturally through long days in Israel Studies classes and on tiyulim (trips) that took them across the country. Like every Muss student, they explored Israel by connecting each place to the story that built it. Whether hiking up ancient ruins, sharing long bus rides over unpaved desert roads, or celebrating Shabbat under bright city lights, they increasingly found themselves in each other’s company.

“He was always true to himself,” Nili said, reflecting on what stood out the most about Isaac. “Even when you’re away from your parents and it feels like there are no rules, he stayed grounded. He was always the one helping clean up the chairs afterward. He was just the nicest guy.”

One of the duo’s favorite memories came near the end of the semester during a tiyul to the Sea of Galilee. Their class gathered on a hillside to write letters to their future selves. Surrounded by classmates who had become family, the Israeli sunset illuminating the water below, Nili and Isaac found themselves reflecting not just on the semester that was ending, but on the future that lay ahead. They began to understand that many of the hopes they were writing about would begin to take shape together.

“It was toward the end of the program when I realized I really liked him,” Nili remarked. “Looking back, I think knowing we both wanted the same future is what helped us stay connected.”

As the years passed, the relationship Nili and Isaac had built at Muss only got stronger. They stayed connected through gap years, long distances, and life’s many changes, including eventually making aliyah (immigration to Israel) together. Along the way, they discovered that the bond they formed during that unforgettable semester proved unbreakable.

The young couple tied the knot in May of 2026. Nili, now 21, is studying communications and English literature at Bar Ilan University, and Isaac, 22, is serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“It’s incredible to see how one semester ended up shaping the rest of our lives in the best way,” said Isaac. “Everything fell into place the way it was supposed to.”

Muss alumni return from Israel remembering the history they learned, the places they visited, and the friendships they made. For Nili and Isaac, it also became the place where an unexpected friendship blossomed into a lifelong love story—one that began in the most unlikely circumstances and continues to grow today.

For more information about Alexander Muss High School in Israel’s life-changing semester abroad experiences, visit amhsi.org, call 800.327.5980, or email discover@amhsi.org.