“That was always the memory that stuck with me,” Jacob recalled. “To this day, when I see the Old City, I think of it as home.”

That memory infused his commitment to making aliyah and helped him choose his career.

“I went into accounting specifically with the thought I could make aliyah,” said the New Jersey-born Jacob, who graduated from Lander College for Men (LCM) in 2009.  “I knew there was a big market in Israel for US tax experts.”

Jacob loved his time at LCM and developed personal relationships with his rebbeim and his professors. A serious chess player, Jacob felt drawn to the world of accounting.

“Chess and accounting are very similar,” explained Jacob. “Both fields require strategy: you need to figure out what pieces can move and how you can move them best.”

He credits his professors with giving him the skills to succeed in the marketplace.

“My professors built that sense of confidence in me,” remembered Jacob, “I wasn’t a face in the crowd. I had a relationship with my professors… They made me feel that I could tackle any problem that my clients could have.”

Jacob and his wife felt it was especially important to raise their children in Israel.

“I didn’t want my kids to have to compartmentalize their identity,” said Jacob. “I wanted them to always feel that they are a part of Am Yisrael.”

Jacob and his family made Aliyah in 2011, first working for power-house accounting firm PwC before moving to Phillip Stein & Associates, the largest US accounting firm in Israel. Every day in the office, Jacob feels that he’s contributing to the strength of Israel.

“Every company is symbiotic with the Jewish homeland,” stated Jacob. “You’re growing the economy. You’re helping the land grow.”