Aside from news coverage, we featured the Alan Gross case twice. On a trip to Washington, D.C., in November 2014, I interviewed his wife Judy (“Gross Injustice,” Mishpacha #537]. When we spoke, she had no idea that her husband would be released the very next month, in the middle of Chanukah. (Photos: Elchanan Kotler, Ouria Tadmor, AFP IMAGEBANK)

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uban authorities arrested Gross in December 2009 on charges that the equipment for Internet and mobile communications he brought to Cuba on a semi-covert, USAID-backed democracy program was intended to subvert the Castro government.

Gross was convicted in a two-day show trial and imprisoned for five years in squalid conditions, under which he lost over 100 pounds and many teeth.

His case ultimately became a cause célèbre, until his release in a December 2014 prisoner swap between the US and Cuba, resulting from talks that also culminated in the restoration of diplomatic relations after a 50-year break following Fidel Castro’s takeover and the Cuban missile crisis.

Aside from news coverage, we featured the Alan Gross case twice. On a trip to Washington, D.C., in November 2014, I interviewed his wife Judy (“Gross Injustice,” Mishpacha #537]. When we spoke, she had no idea that her husband would be released the very next month, in the middle of Chanukah.

Subsequently, I met Alan and Judy for lunch and a full-length interview on their visit to Israel in the winter of 2016 (“I Never Lost Hope,” Mishpacha #599).

Back then, Alan Gross was in good spirits, but still appeared introspective from his ordeal.

The Alan Gross I caught up with again a month ago for coffee at the Rimon Café in Jerusalem was as upbeat and cheery as anyone, flashing a broad smile with a fully repaired set of teeth, displaying a wry sense of humor, sometimes of the self-deprecating variety.

Progress Report

The biggest change in the Grosses’ lives since Alan came home is that now, they have really come home. The couple made aliyah on May 3, 2017.

“It was the day after my [68th] birthday and on Golda Meir’s birthday,” Gross says.

Prior to arriving in Israel, Alan spent much of his first two and a half years of freedom on the speaking circuit, appearing more than 50 times in more than 30 cities.

“It was lucrative, but I got tired of listening to myself,” he says.

Regarding their aliyah: “It’s something we always wanted to do. I had come to Israel 60 times and did a lot of work here and in the region, including Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Yemen.”

He and his wife Judy also served as madrichim on UJA missions to Israel in the 1970s.

“I’m in my element here, and this is where I should be,” Gross says.

Work & Pleasure

Now that he’s celebrated his 69th birthday in Israel, Gross hasn’t slowed down. He still utilizes his expertise in international economic development, based in his Tel Aviv apartment, a mere ten-minute walk from the beach. “I jokingly say I’m in retirement denial.”

Otherwise, he is enjoying his leisure time. “My health is great,” he says. “I take walks, visit with my daughter and granddaughter who live here, smoke cigars, and drink whiskey.” (Excerpted from Mishpacha, Issue 721)