From classmates to soulmates at Alexander Muss High School in Israel

A story just in time for Tu B’Av, the Jewish Valentine’s Day on July 29th.

When Orlando resident 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 in the fall of 2020. It was during 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...