Tamara’s Story – Aliyah and Absorption

Tamara, a 20-year-old from Paraguay, grew up with strong Jewish and Zionist values.
While studying advertising, she faced escalating antisemitism on campus, including physical harassment from students.
After a transformative gap year in Israel she made Aliyah in January 2025.
Tamara is now in a Hebrew language program at Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael, working as a nanny while preparing to join the IDF by December 2025.

From Paraguay to Israel: One Young Woman’s Journey Home

Tamara Karlic, 20, grew up in a traditional Jewish home in Paraguay, surrounded by a deeply united and values-driven Jewish community of nearly 2,000 people. From a young age, she attended a Jewish school and was actively involved in the local Jewish youth movement. This was a formative space where her connection to Jewish life and Zionism grew.

Her family’s dedication to Jewish tradition and identity laid the foundation for a profound desire – not only to live in Israel, but to one day raise a large Jewish family of her own and be a proud mother to Jewish children in the Jewish homeland.

University Years and Rising Antisemitism

Before making Aliyah, Tamara pursued university studies in advertising. Her time on campus was marked by growing antisemitism. Although her university was small, Tamara became a key Jewish voice. She refused to stay silent, even when faced with hostility. “People would throw water at me, shout at me. But I never stopped being proud of who I was,” she recalls.

The turning point came when her professors began making antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks. These included jokes about the Holocaust, claims that Israel was a genocidal state and targeted comments in front of entire classrooms. “That was worse than anything. I could handle ignorant students, but when it came from professors, I realised I wasn’t learning anything anymore. I had to leave”.

Tamara’s Moment of Clarity

Tamara had already spent a transformative gap year in Israel on a leadership program. Although she had to return to Paraguay due to the outbreak of war in October 2023, her resolve to make Aliyah only deepened. In a powerful moment of clarity during a youth seminar in Netanya on 6 October – one day before the October 7 massacre – she felt an overwhelming sense of belonging. “I had never felt more at home. That night, we were singing on the beach, and I just knew I need to be here. I need to help. Israel needs me”.

A New Start, a New Life

Back in Paraguay, Tamara promised herself she would return to Israel. On 27 January 2025, she made Aliyah. Her older brother made Aliyah just before her and is already serving in the IDF. Their parents remain in Paraguay and do not plan to immigrate for now.

Tamara is currently completing her absorption process in the Keren Hayesod-UIA supported Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael Ulpan program. She studies Hebrew in the mornings and works in the afternoons as a nanny at a local kindergarten. “It’s a simple job, but I like it. I’m building my new life one day at a time”.

A Mission, not Just a Move

Looking ahead, Tamara is set to join Garin Tzabar in Ra’anana – a Jewish Agency for Israel pre-army program that supports lone soldiers through their IDF service. By December 2025, she will be drafted into the IDF. She’s not yet certain which unit she will serve in, but her dream is to join the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, where she can combine her background in communication with her passion for Israel.

“Making Aliyah is not just a move – it’s a mission. I want to build my life here, raise a Jewish family here and serve this country with everything I’ve got. I’m here because I believe in the future of Israel. And I want to be part of it”.

Read more about the UIA supported Aliyah and Absorption program: