On My 18th Aliyah Anniversary, Here's My Story!

 מוצש״ק פר׳ מטות-מסעי תעש"ה

This post was inspired by Tomer Devorah's Aliyah Advice For Those Who Are Interested.

Coming up on my 18th anniversary of not only making aliyah, but arriving in Israel for the first in my life, I realized, thanks to Tomer Devorah, that I had never written about my personal aliyah story. Even though I have written tips on aliyah, before, during, and after, based on personal experience.

Eighteen years ago today, I landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport for the first in my life, and I stayed.

My flight took off from Los Angeles, where I was living for the last nine months of my life in the U. S. There was an hour stopover in Chicago, and then it was onto Israel. When we took off from Chicago, my thought was, "This is it!"

"Fly El Al - most of the pilots are former Israeli air force pilots who aren't afraid..." @ASoldiersMother

Periodically glancing at the real time, flight map at the front of the cabin, I saw when we were over international waters, and then past the half-way point of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. There was no turning back now. But, the truth was, I knew that I was never going back, at not permanently, and I never have. In fact, I only left for a two-week course in England, in 1998. That means I have not left Israel in 17 years. For years, I either did not have the money, or I did not have the time off from work. Now, I do not have any interest in leaving Israel at all.

My journey to Israel, however, actually began years before I actually landed here.

You see, I had already tried to come to Israel several times beforehand.

In 1985, I wanted to come for my junior year of study abroad. In 1994, I tried coming for a year of study in yeshivah. In both of these cases, I did not have the money to go. Remember that Birthright did not exist back then. Even though it is just over 10 years old, many Jews do not realize that it is...just over 10 years old.

In 1996, I visited with the shali'ah (State representative) in Los Angeles to "apply" for aliyah.

Taking his suggestion, I wrote several options as to what I would actually be doing Israel, to show how open and flexible I was. I wrote IDF service, yeshivah, ulpan (intensive Hebrew study) and work. I had already wrote to the Ministries of Health and Education to get my professional degrees and certifications recognized, and was in contact with the Israeli branch of my professional association.

But, in the end I was "rejected," for not being focused. Of course, the facts that I had never even visited Israel, nor knew anyone here, worked against me. But, what no one ever told me explicitly was that my only loss would be a paid flight, and help with a place to stay.

Finally, in 1997 everything fell in place very quickly. I believe very strongly that I was meant to come at this time, and not before.

A friend of mine found an ad for a teachers program in Israel, co-sponsored by the LA Federation, the City of Tel-Aviv, and the Jewish Agency. In April, 1997, I interviewed for the program, and was accepted. I was told not to worry about money. This program really took care of me. So, I must give credit where credit is due.

In June, I found a cheap, one-way ticket, from someone with whom I volunteered a couple times a month, who turned out to be a travel agent.

Only a week before I was to fly, I lost my passport. But, I was able to get a new one, with special, yet pricey, three-day service, and a cool boss who let me come into work late a couple of times, so that I could deal with this.

Although Nefesh b'Nefesh did not exist back then, and handouts of chunks of money had been cancelled, at least for Americans, and other olim (immigrants) from Western countries, I managed. The shali'ah in Los Angeles had told me that I should bring at least $11,000. with me, as a single person. Yeah, right! As if!

I stepped off the plane with just $300 in my pocket, a duffel bag, and one carry on bag. Of course, I had a job and a place to live lined up. Like I said, everything just fell into place. I might even say miraculously so.

I even had a place to stay in a merkaz qelitah (absorption center) for two years, which is unusual. Most olim do not even receive more than a year. Rent was only about $86. per month, as I distinctly remember that the rate of exchange was 3.5 sheqqels to a dollar back then.

I soon obtained a student visa, good for a year. Just over a year later, a came back to the Ministry of the Interior at 6:30am, yet I was still only 13th in line. Hours later, I met the same clerk who had given me my student visa. I brought my birth certificate, passport, and letter from my rabbi in San Diego, stating that I was Jewish. I had heard it recommended to bring in your mother's kethubbah (marriage contract) as well, but I did not, as I did not have access to it.

The clerk glanced over everything, but took only the letter and stamped my U. S. passport with my request, and told me to come back in 30 days. I did, and he gave me my te'udath zehuth (identity card), stood up, shook my hand, and said Mazal Tov.

One tip I discovered about the process, which I feel is important to share is that each rabbinical association has its own list at the Jewish Agency of recognized rabbis. The application is sent there for confirmation of ones Jewish status. I called the Jewish Agency in advance of my submission of documents at the Ministry of the Interior. When I mentioned the name of the rabbi who had signed my letter, I was told that his name was absent from the list.

I almost started to freak-out. But, then a thought came to me.... I asked the person on the phone which list she had checked. She said the Orthodox Union [OU] list. Then I asked if Young Israel had its own list. She said yes, and sure enough, found the name of my rabbi on this list. I made a point of telling this to the Interior Ministry clerk, just in case.

I believe this insured that everything went as smoothly as it did. So, check to make sure that your rabbi is listed. I believe that Chabba"d also has its own list.

Almost a year and a half ago, I renounced my U. S. citizenship. I know that this is not the choice for everyone. You can read about my experiences with this, including how the process works, and about reporting ones income, and assets, or lack thereof, for the final time to the IRS.

After living in Tel-Aviv for two years, I moved around. Jerusalem, Beth-El, Ofra, and eventually to K'far Tapu'ah for five years. For the past six years I have been back in Jerusalem.

I have been homeless in Israel, in debt, unemployed, and survived a suicide bombing. I have interviewed, worked, learned, lived, and dealt with government offices. I have job hunted, apartment hunted, friend hunted, and community hunted. It has not been easy. We are even warned in the Talmud that it is not easy. But, this is home, and it is where all Jews belong, not in the U. S.

Don't Know Where To Vote?

3 of the Eleventh Month 5769

Don't know where to vote in the Israeli National Elections?

Didn't get your handy-dandy information card from the Interior Ministry?

No problem.

Just click here. Yes, it's in Hebrew. DO NOT PANIC! Scroll down a bit. You will see two empty lines to be filled in, the first with the numerical verification code found to the right, and the second with you te'udath zehuth (Israeli ID) number. Click the button to the immediate left. A new window will pop out and provide with the address of your polling location, and your polling station number.

Yes, it's in Hebrew. There's nothing I can do about that. Just print it out, or have someone else translate the information for you from the screen. Please try not to let Hebrew or any other potential frustration get in the way of exercising your right to vote, especially if you are a new citizen!

There are often more than one polling station at each location. This number will help you find yours more quickly, especially if you live in a big city. The polling stations with your names do not necessarily go according to the alef-beth order you might expect.

If you still have difficulties figuring out where to vote, you can always call 1-800-200-135.

The answers to your frequently asked questions [FAQs] about Israeli Elections can be found in English by clicking here.

Another One Of Life's Milestones

Pesah Sheni 5768

Over a half a year after getting the go ahead from my eye doctor, I finally purchased glasses.

What took me so long? Well, that's just how I am, my procrastination, combined with my need to investigate an issue thoroughly, sprinkled with money issues, or so I thought....

After making my biannual appointment with the ophthalmologist at my qupath holim (like an HMO, but not exactly), waiting two months, and paying my NIS 19 (about $5.65) co-payment, I received my eye examination, probably my third in Israel. I like this doctor, so I have stuck with him. If I didn't, I could always shop around, and find someone who doesn't cost any more than he does. Try posting an inquiry on JANGLO or TAANGLO, to glean from the experiences of those immigrants who came before you.

That's what I did when it came to finding an optometrist, which is the next step. Here, or at least the way my doctor worked, the ophthalmologist checks the health of your eyes, and for any problems or diseases, and can give you an idea of your prescription. I only needed reading glasses, and do not have any issue to incorporate into a prescription than that.

I had to find an optical shop and get another examination for an exact prescription, or so I thought. I asked around. I asked almost everyone I knew who has glasses. You'd be surprised to know how many people with stable prescriptions simply go to the eye doctor when the visit the U. S. [or Canada, etc.].

One person recommended his friend's father-in-law, another the chain which gives members of my health insurance group a 25 percent discount, bringing the total for a new pair of glasses with examination down to only NIS 450 (about $134.00). Still another found a shop owned by French immigrants which sold him a pair for only NIS 50 (about $15). I like to support immigrant owned businesses, so this appealed to me, as did the price.

But then I hit gold. A neighbor of mine who moved in from the Tel-Aviv area recommended that I visit Shuq HaKarmel in Tel-Aviv, where he found reading glasses for only NIS 15 (about $4.46).

What a find!

Granted, I only needed reading glasses. So, this is not an option for someone with a complicated prescription. First, also by recommendation of my neighbor, I double-checked my prescription with the self-diagnostic lenses at a major drug store which sells reading glasses, obviously with the intention of checking out their selection. I do not recommend using their equipment without permission. No doubt they'll let you if you ask, and you may see something you like, albeit for a higher price than the pair I ended buying at the Shuq in Tel-Aviv.

I did look around the Mahaneh Yehudah Shuq in Jerusalem, and found only place with a small selection, not really in the Shuq either, but farther up Aggrippas Street. He only had whole number and half sizes. I needed a quarter size, so that did not help me.

On Shabbath, it was finally too unbearable learning, even with the book miles away from my eyes. So, this afternoon I made the trek out to Tel-Aviv, and now I can see!

Job Hunting

3 of the Eleventh Month 5768 After living in Israel for 10 years plus, I have to admit, I have been going through I pretty rough time lately. It happens. I have been unemployed for quite some time, and it is really beginning to get to me. After making a lot of money at my previous job, I decided to take some time off, and relax a while. I hope to learn from this mistake, and not fall into the same trap again. Others can get away with this. However, I have found that I am just one of those people who needs to be working. It has been really frustrating because even though I have been doing the necessary groundwork [or so I thought]. Actually, I found my first job in Jerusalem by pounding the pavement, looking in store windows. I happened along a private English-language school, now closed, in the middle of Downtown. I found my first teaching job by sending resumes to schools I found listed in the Israeli Yellow Pages. Here is an additional on-line resource currently available, the Bezeq Directory, with its English companion, the Gateway to the Bezeq Directory. Don't forget Israel's on-line Reverse Look-Up. You never know when that will come in handy. And while I am on the topic of on-line, telephone resources, I was recently introduced to Free Fax Israel. Fax your resumes and other doc and pdf documents anywhere in Israel for free, even without a fax machine. Here are links to some job sites:

When you arrive in Israel, you will soon learn the meaning of the word "potexia" (connections). Here are some job opportunities advertised on your own personal, English-speaker protexia sites:
JANGLO Job Opps (Jerusalem Area)	TANGLO Job Opps (Tel-Aviv Area)
...and here are some more job sites in English:
AACI's Jobnet	Israemploy
Job Central Israel	Jobs In Israel
The popular Craig's List has even reached Israel:
Craig's List Jerusalem	Craig's List Tel-Aviv
And here is the main site in Hebrew I have been monitoring:
Drushim

Anyone interested in teaching English in Israel definitely needs to see the English Teachers Network in Israel [ETNI] site. You should also make a to your local Mefaqe'ah/at (Inspector). There are two for Jerusalem, one for the city and one for the surrounding area, which includes Bet-Shemesh, Mevaseret Tzion, Ma'aleh Adumim, Efrat, and Bet-El. There offices are located in the Ministry of Education Offices at Kanfei Nesharim Street 22, in the Givat Sha'ul shopping area, not far from the Nefesh b'Nefesh office. I suggest you call first to find out their office hours, 02-5602712. The Tel-Aviv Inspector is Beverly Topaz. Her e-mail address is beverlyto (at) education (dot) gov (dot) il, and her phone number is 03-6896382. Any professional requiring validation of college degrees needs to do so at the Ministry of Education, Diploma Bureau. The Jerusalem office is located in the same building as the English Inspectors. You will need to bring the original diplomas and transcripts, and submit copies of them. They receive the public on Mondays and Wednesdays. Call ahead, though, as the schedule is subject to change. Appointments are not necessary. Physicians, nurses, psychologists, pharmacists, and I believe physical therapists need to apply for certificate through the Ministry of Health. The Jerusalem office of professional certification is located at Yaffo Street 157. Please help me to keep this information updated by e-mailing me or posting a comment. I hope this information has been at least a little helpful. My experience is that new immigrants tend to get the most help from fellow new immigrants. I was very pleased recently to have received a call from Nefesh b'Nefesh. I had sent them a resume. They did not have anything available. However, the representative gave me some tips, which I found to be very helpful. She did not have to call me, but she took the time to do so anyway. This was my first experience with Nefesh b'Nefesh. It was not around when I moved to Israel. I must say I was impressed by its caring attitude. Meanwhile I am still looking for a job, and am getting a bit nervous. Although I have been getting interviews. I had a job helping to tile a bathroom, which was good for me in more ways than one. The bank is on my case big time. My phone will be turned off soon, hopefully just the outgoing calls, so I will still be able to receive calls from prospective employers. I tremp (hitchhike) into Jerusalem, so transportation costs are down. HaShem help me when it rains and snows! Food wise I am getting by, Barukh HaShem. My least favorite stereotype of Americans in Israel is that we are wealthy. There may be a little truth to that. I don't know. What I do know is that I am not one them. In fact, I don't believe I know any of these supposedly wealthy Americans. I assume they exist, because sometimes it's a American who propagates this stereotype. More than once when I have said that "I didn't have any money," it was an American who told me to go an automatic teller machine. Looking back at him in disbelief, I would say, "No. Really. I don't have ANY money." In equal disbelief, he would laugh, thinking that I was only joking. Then seeing my face, he would eventually realize that I wasn't. He could not possibly fathom how it could be that an American Jew didn't have money, but he would accept it as truth. I have long since learned to accept such reactions from my fellow American Jews. I sometimes get free coffee out of the deal, as anyone who has had this conversation with me refuses to let me pay for coffee when we go, even when I have money. Go figure. What Americans lack due to their occasional cluelessness in the "Hello! Jerusalem is not a neighborhoods in New York!" department, they make up for in the "love and caring" department. But, I digress.... As I mentioned above, I am frustrated. Everyone tells me how "employable" I am. Yet, no one seems willing to "employ" me. After teaching for eight years, obtaining jobs with ease through my professional connections, I found myself in a similar situation in which I find myself today, unemployed and broke. My last school of employment "ran out" of money. That was after a year and a half of not receiving regular paychecks. At the end, we were not getting paid at all, but stuck around because we did not want to let our students down their national matriculation exams (bragruyot). Fortunately, I had neighbors who gave me a job at their Internet cafe in Jerusalem. It was the frumest Internet cafe in Israel, if you believe there is such a thing. For six months, I worked the "graveyard shift," six nights a week. It was a lot of fun and hard work combined, but also with all the nuttiness of working at night in big city. I will spare you the details for now. Unfortunately, this place was closed down as well. After a period of employment, I got a job working at a company called IDT Global, which employs a countless number of new immigrants. It's a great company, owned by Howard Jonas. He has personally given countless Jews their first jobs in Israel. I cannot tell you how powerful it is to be able to work and get paid in Israel. It can be a big boost to ones attitude and self-esteem in the face of dealing with a new country and culture. It was kind of weird be back around mostly Americans, many of whom had only been in Israel for a short time. I found myself being "accused" of acting Israeli once or twice, which, I took as a compliment. My project at IDT eventually closed. There did not seem to be anything else available for me. Although the people IDT made every effort to find positions for those of us completing a project. I worked there for a year. I made a lot of money, especially by Israeli standards. Living out in the middle of the Shomron (Samaria), which, albeit not for everyone, certainly made it easy to survive off of savings due to the relatively inexpensive rent. The Ramba"m states that it is a higher level to assist someone to support himself than simply to give him money. When I was in my last year of graduate school, I attended a group consultation with a psychiatrist. I thought of how fascinating it would be to get consultation from a well-known, local psychiatrist who has,...well, seen it all. It was fascinating, but only in that he was so practical. Anytime a colleague mentioned a depressed client, this psychiatrist's first question was, "Is he employed?" If the answer was "no," his response would always be the same, "Help him get a job." Not much has changed since the Ramba"m first espoused this wisdom. The intention of this blog is to encourage aliyah, not discourage it. However, I am also not interested in covering up the, sometimes grave, realities of living here. motivations (religious, spiritual, nationalist, etc.) for coming to live in Israel aside, I believe that my life is better now that I do live here. The challenges of life do not disappear, though. They are just,...well, different. It is hard to put it into words. I will simply say that with every challenge there is a solution, even though it may be difficult to see at first. Even I have pondered jumping on the next plane to the U. S., assuming I had the money, which I do not. For me, that is not the practical solution. Money and dealing with a "new culture" tend to be the reasons why half of all North American immigrants return to North America within five years. That's what the statistics were 10 years ago. I believe that they are changing. THe funny thing is that when you have been in Israel as long I have, you too, will probably joke about what a culture shock it would be going back to the U. S. (or Canada, or the U. K., or wherever), even for a visit. My goal here is to lay out the truth, share some of my experiences with you, and perhaps help you to get through some of the same difficulties, which invariably occur. 

When you arrive in Israel, feel free to leave a comment here to be in touch. Let me know what I can do to help you. What may seem overwhelming to you, I may think is old hat. If I do not know the answer, I will probably know how to ask. But, there is a catch. Well, it is not really a catch, at least not one you will mind. When you have been here, even for just a short while, please try to be available to help the next immigrants who arrive. This is the key: Immigrants identifying with one another, understanding what it is like, learning, sometimes stumbling, getting up again, and then passing it on to the next immigrant.