Do you know what you’re getting into?
While this website was created and is intended to promote aliyah, we understand that not everyone has a positive aliyah experience. Settling in can take many years. Some people choose to stick-it-out and others choose to leave. T.R. shares her story:
As Jews, many of us dream of making the Holy Land our home. And when we begin the process, we’re filled with hope, excitement and joy. When my husband and I got the call to go to the Israeli Embassy to get our passports stamped, we could hardly stand it! I think we could have made it from Barcelona to Madrid (where we lived at the time) without taking a train or airplane. We had enough adrenaline between the two of us to propel us for miles.
Arriving at Ben Gurion airport three years ago was the highlight of our lives. We were received by very nice people who welcomed us with open arms. However, the reality of life in Israel was soon to set in. We got into the taxi that was to take us to our absorption center. The driver grunted when we said hello and asked as to where we were going. After many hours on the road we arrived at our “new accommodations” which resembled camp barracks rather than apartments. Nobody bothered to tell us that we would need to bring blankets, pillows, pots and pans or other necessities. We were told that everything would be provided while we resided at said lovely place. Facing your first night in the heart of the desert in the month of March is not the way to begin your new life in Israel. It was so cold you could see your breath when you spoke.
Believe it or not the bureaucratic part of our Aliyah process was relatively smooth. We came across very nice people who made everything seem easy. But again, real life awaited outside the government buildings. For some reason people in this country tend to believe that because you are not fluent in Hebrew you must have an intelligence deficiency. They don’t realize it’s just a language challenge. So while they quote someone five shekels for a kilo of peppers, they charge you seven shekels for the same item. And let’s talk about getting your cable or telephone services connected. First, get ready to deal with people who don’t care about providing good customer service and will try to cheat you any which way they can. While we were told by a certain company that the deposit would be 250 Shekels, they withdrew 500 U.S Dollars from our bank account. And have you ever tried to get errors such as this one straightened out? It’s perhaps easier to obtain peace in the Middle East. We have been here for three years and we are still fighting with out Kupat Holim who has withdrawn dollars rather than shekels from our credit card, and thus we are paid for more than 2 years. However, they still demand payment! You might ask why did you give them your American bank account? I could give you a long list of reasons but it’s sufficient to say that dealing with banks in Israel is like trusting Bonnie and Clyde to hold your money. The only difference is that these two old western outlaws will cheat you with a smile while the Israeli bank managers will scream at you for just sitting at their desk. And did you know that asking for an insurance quote is the same as entering into a contract? We found out the hard way. After asking for the rates to insure the contents of our rental apartment, we received a bill and soon thereafter a letter from a lawyer. In America and in Europe, asking for a quote means you are shopping around for the best price.
We did however try to make lemonade out of lemons and integrate as best as we could. So we began to look into opening a business. Nobody told us that you needed co-signers just to go to the bathroom. My husband and I came to Israel and left our families behind in the United States, so nobody would co-sign on a lease, much less on a loan. And who in their right mind co-signs on a loan in today’s economy? So there went that dream. We contacted the Ministry of Culture as we were told that writers and artists enjoy certain benefits in Israel. After going through writing tests and interviews they awarded us high accolades and made us promises that as you can guess they never kept. With the demise of our second dream, as professionals, we decided to look for jobs. Talk about a shock! They want you to work for peanuts! Now I understand why the internet is filled with new and old Olim selling off their stuff as their planning on returning to their homes.
As American Jews we found this beautiful country to be stressful and surprisingly unfriendly. We found our Ulpan teachers to hold resentment towards us for being Americans and we faced discrimination, something we never thought could happen to us here. To make Aliyah you need to be the “ right Jew.” You must be extremely religious, speak Hebrew perfectly, be willing to scream and be screamed at and have lots of family waiting for you to give you moral support and perhaps co-sign for everything you buy.
The one good thing I can say is that medical and hospital care is wonderful. It’s too bad my husband had to get so stressed out with life in Israel that he had to experience congestive heart failure to find the good of making Aliyah.
When we stop to analyze what this experience has brought to our lives, one word comes to mind: patience. We have learned the true meaning of “savlanut,” laughed, cried and angered with frustration. We have questioned why there’s so much prejudice among Jews. We have wondered why mutual respect is non existent in a land that’s so despised by others. So why indeed settle for a stressful way of life? We came to Eretz Israel filled with hope; and we will leave with heaviness in our hearts and sorrow in our souls.
Anonymous shares with us:
I wonder if G-d is in the food business on the side. I know He is busy with important things like global warming, the global economic crisis and all other things global but how is it that all the festivals revolve around food? I think G-d is a major shareholder in the food industry.
I never noticed this in "chutz la'aretz" but when I arrived in Israel I saw how much food gets eaten on the Chagim.
On Rosh Hashanah we eat honey cake. You can buy it from as little as 5 shekels on the street corner. If you did not eat it endlessly during the Chag you can always eat it when you break your fast on Yom Kippur. Come to think of it, how many chickens lost their lives for the purpose of Slichot. The Etrog (Citron) does not go to waste either, it makes a wonderful preserve after Sukkot. Think about how many chocolates and sweets get handed out to children on Simchat Torah. As soon as that is over, jam doughnuts make their appearance. By the time Hannukah actually comes along you can no longer look at another jam doughnut so you survive the week on potato latkes.
January the 1st brings out an array of nuts and dried fruits. Each year more and more exotic varieties appear. By the time Tu B’Shvat actually comes along we have already spent a couple of hundred shekels on fruit and nuts. The next day oznei hamman make an appearance – poppy seed, dates, nuts, chocolate, halva and crème-de- liche. Yummy!
Pesach looms. As we all know that is a major food affair. Not only do we have to eat special food, but we also have to buy special food to make the special food we have to eat. We also have to buy special utensils to cook the special food we had to buy to make the special food we have to eat. To lighten the load on our hostess we bring pots of food to the Seder meal. The 20 different dishes she prepared could never be enough.
The holiday is over and we spent our entire salary on food. We feel great – overweight but great. We start walking the very next day; need to work off all that Matzah. Lo-and-behold that very evening there are adverts on TV for cheeses, yogurts and blintzes. If we buy 3kg of smooth white cheese, we’ll get a liter of chocolate milk for free. Well I need 3 liters of chocolate milk, so I can get that all for free if I buy 9kg of white cheese. Makes sense – no? We ate Brie and Camembert, Emmenthal and imported Cheddar, Roquefort and Philadelphia and a fair amount of Cottage too. We ate yoghurt in every flavor, and generously grated Parmesan on everything. We ate cheesecake 6 times a day. The lactose intolerant had no choice and could only eat salad. Ah Shame – it’s such a pity really. At least that holiday is finally over.
Wait a minute – what about Yom Haatzmaut – Meat, meat and more meat – how many cows lost their lives to the noble calling of being a “good steak” and how many little lambs go to the slaughter so that we can have a decent kebab?
Today I went to the supermarket to buy a few things; there are no more Chagim until September so I had a hard time deciding what to buy…
When I first interviewed Doreen Guinsberg, she promised to tell me the about her sister, Lynn - she had to find the article!
"What should I tell you about today; more about myself, about Lynn or the early days of Haifa?" I want to hear about Lynn's incredible journey to Israel, so I coax her in that direction.
"Let me read you the article I found – she really was an amazing woman." Her voice quivers and her eyes well up. "It's been a year already since she has gone, and only recently I found these papers. I did not know that she had written it all down."
I promised Doreen that I would publish Lynn's story in its original form…
Travelling to Israel up the Great Rift – By Lynn Durlacker
I set off (in 1963) from the Copperbelt in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) with Jambo, my car, a Morris Minor Traveller, for our journey of some 3,000 kilometers to Mombasa (Kenya) from where we would board a freighter bound for Eilat. Jambo was loaded with most of my worldly possessions inside and on the roof, the latter tied none too securely, and my large radio-gram sitting on the seat next to me. As petrol (gas) pumps are few and far between I had to carry petrol as well and, of course, some spare parts.
The rainy season had already begun - dirt roads all the way and it was necessary for me to cover about 300 kilometers a day between suitable night-stops, as I had limited time reach Mombasa to catch the last sailing of an Asian freighter, chartered by Israel.
For the first one hundred kilometers I travelled in a southerly direction to meet up with the Great North Road at Kapiri Mphosi (near Lusaka). The first night I reached the Mkushi River Lodge, which I knew from previous visits – an area of spectacular scenery with gorges and waterfalls.
The next day the road ran parallel to the Muchinga Mountain range on my right, not visible because several kilometers depth of forest lie between the road and the range. Beyond the Muchinga (mountains) is the Luangwa Valley, a western arm of the Great Rift, but inaccessible over the range. Recently I had spent twelve glorious days in the Luangwa Valley Game Reserve which teemed with game, especially elephant.
When I reached a turn-off to the left between two game reserves, I decided to deviate and visit the Livingstone Memorial - but I found that the road was merely a track which began to peter out as I proceeded, so I decided to turn back. On the way my roof carrier with the baggage fell off and scattered beside the track. Fortunately, after a short while, some locals appeared and kindly lifted the carrier and boxes back – but for the rest of my journey, the carrier was held on with a rope which was fastened through the windows which I had to release in order to lock the car at night.
When I reached Mpika (in the north of Zambia) for the night, it was raining. Next morning the road was wet and slippery. Suddenly Jambo skidded and turned 180 degrees to face the way I had come. It was then time to attach the chains to the back wheels. They were too big and therefore rather loose. Some miles further on, Jambo slipped off the road into a ditch and stuck in the mud. I collected branches to place under the wheels, but to no avail. They just whizzed round throwing up mud while the chains beat against the mudguards.
After some time a car appeared – one can travel for miles without meeting any vehicle. The occupants pushed Jambo out of the ditch, being a pair of big strong men. They told me that there was a mission station a few miles ahead where I could find a night's hospitality. I was grateful for that as I had had enough for one day.
As the road surfaces were very bad for most of the journey I had to concentrate on the road and was therefore unable to keep an eye out for game in the bush through which I passed.
Near some cleared agricultural land I met some local farmers and asked why there were not already plowing for the new season's crops. They explained that the ground was too hard to work before the rains commence in earnest.
In the area of the border crossing at Tunduna (Tanzania – previously Tanganyika and Zanzibar) I travelled through forest along a ridge overlooking the Great Rift looking down on the vast valley below.
Eya, so near to Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi), I so want to deviate to that country, but my time was too limited.
Travelling on dry roads sometime they were so badly corrugated that it was necessary to drive on the wrong side against the corrugation, which I knew from experience to be less rough. At one point, while driving on the wrong side a huge lorry suddenly loomed round a bend so I had to swerve as quickly as possible. In the attempt Jambo mounted a rock on the side of the road. Fortunately some locals appeared and help lift Jambo off the rock. On examining underneath, I found that the rock had dented the sump. What luck that the rock was smooth and did not actually pierce the sump. I was then many kilometers from anywhere.
When I reached the Merogoro area (west of Dar es Salaam) I was in Masai territory. I tried to photograph an interesting group of Masai women carrying loads, but they ran away refusing to be photographed, so I only got the backs of the fleeing women. I was a little more successful taking a quick picture of a Masai man while I tried to speak to him – in no common language. But they were curious.
I reached Tanga on the coast (most northerly seaport city of Tanzania) with its cocoanut palm groves and colorful tropical vegetation where I stayed over-night, then took the coast road to Mombasa – but that road was not really along the coast, only known as the Coast Road, but inland through sisal plantations as far as the eye could see. After some delay in Mombasa (Kenya), Jambo and I boarded our ship.
After nearly a month en route I was met by my mother, my sister Doreen and a gentleman friend who had watched the ship sailing up the Gulf (of Aden) to Eilat in the early morning mist. As I was the first olah ever to arrive in Eilat by sea with car and personal possessions, the customs were rather flummoxed as to what to do with me. To salve their consciences they made me unpack everything. Suddenly the friend spotted my revolver which he surreptitiously grabbed and put in his pocket – not knowing that it was only a toy pistol!
When we reached Beersheva we were met by the press who had got wind of my arrival.
Jambo, (Swahili for Shalom) now 35 years old, is still with me – how could I have parted from her and come by air?
Doreen & Lynn kept the car for more than 40 years, finally parting with it about 8 years ago.
Doreen Guinsberg (95)
As I entered her very modest ground floor apartment in Ahuzza, Haifa, I immediately noticed an antique bookstand filled with lots of interesting old leather bound books. A large collection of nature scenes, watercolors and pastels cover the walls. On the coffee table are a selection of paperbacks on Aliyah, Israel and Zionism. As I talk with her I discover that Doreen is an ardent Zionist and has been ever since she first decided to come to Palestine in 1932 at the age of 18.
She starts to reminisce about her past, and constantly apologizes for the gaps in her memory. “Now was it 1937 or 1938?” she asks. I laugh to myself as I am unable to remember what happened last week!
Her caregiver brings us tea and cake and we settle down to some serious talking. She tells me about her childhood, growing up on a farm in a small town in the Orange Free State Province in South Africa. The Orange Free State is mainly a farming and agricultural region. The average town in the Free State has only a couple of hundred people and the “big” city in the area is Bloemfontein. The region was quite well populated with Jewish farmers and shopkeepers in those days. It was on her family’s farm that her strong love for the land grew.
Doreen’s mother was one of the founders of the Women’s Zionist League in South Africa, which later became affiliated to WIZO. Zionist leaders, important and influential people were always visiting their home and Doreen heard many stories of Palestine and the Zionist dream around the dinner table. Her mother organized groups and fund raising projects with the aim of getting young people to understand the meaning of Zionism. Fan Rafel, Felix Landau, Philip Gluckman and Nettie Davidoff are some of those that were involved in these groups. “It’s all written down, I must find the article” she says.
Doreen couldn’t decide whether to follow a career in agriculture or in architecture. Then, one evening Joseph Baratz – the founder of the first kibbutz in Israel, Degania and Avraham Hartsfeld, a leader of the Labor Zionist movement, shlichim in South Africa at the time, were dinner guests at her home. She heard them talking about Palestine and Zionism and the conversation made a huge impact on this young girl. In the morning she told her parents she was going to live in Palestine.
Joseph Baratz contacted Ada Fishman; the founding principal of Ayanot Girl’s Agricultural School in Nes Tziona and arranged for Doreen to be enrolled there. A young girl, and alone, she boarded a ship in Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) in Mocambique and sailed via Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Mombasa and then onto Aden in Yemen. Whilst in Yemen together with a group of fellow Jewish passengers, they went to visit the Jewish community in Aden. The Rabbi, leaders and the community welcomed them. “Later these Jews made Aliyah in Operation Magic Carpet. Those were exciting times” she says. As she remembers her eyes light up and she smiles. They sailed through the Suez Canal to Katarah in Egypt and then boarded a train to Al-Arish in the Sinai and travelled through the desert. “We followed in the footsteps of Moses. It’s all written down, I must find the article” Doreen says again. The train finally arrived in Tel Aviv.
We must remember that Doreen was only 18 at the time. She travelled alone on the Indian Ocean and arrived in Palestine without family or support. I keep thinking how brave and determined she must have been. She got off the train in Tel Aviv and went to a friend on Rechov Geula for a few days. She decided to tour the country before commencing her studies which included a visit to Kibbutz Degania and her friend, Mr. Joseph Baratz. She began a 2 year study period at Ayanot Agricultural School, and while she loved it, she did not cope very well with the hard physical work. Her mother convinced her to leave and so Doreen decided to pursue a career in architecture - her second love. She was interned with an architect in Tel Aviv, and worked part-time for him in the afternoons. “I learnt everything except Hebrew” she said. “Thank goodness I had the opportunity to eat at the Mitbach Hapoalim (Worker’s Kitchen) and for just a couple of piastres I could get a hot meal every day. I might not have survived otherwise” she says. Erich Mendelsohn, the famous International Style architect saw her work and invited her to work part-time on the plans for the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The sad part was that as soon as the project was over, she no longer had a job. Doreen had to deal with being unemployed many times for the same reason.
She decided to tour the Jezreel Valley with a friend, working at the newly established kibbutzim along the way. She wanted to join Kibbutz Degania but was refused as the kibbutz was filled to capacity with Zionist youth, arriving in the country at the time.
She says “This story has nothing to do with your article but I must tell you anyway. I had to catch a train from Degania, and as I arrived on the platform the train pulled out of the station. The train driver saw me running for the train and so he stopped and let me board.” We laugh together.
Her older sister Lynn z”l wrote to her at the time and asked Doreen to meet her in Genoa, Italy. They had a wonderful time together and Doreen went back with Lynn to South Africa until she returned to Israel again in 1948. While in South Africa, she worked as a free-lance designer, designing the interiors of cinemas and other projects. She continues to tell me more work related stories and I am easily distracted.
On her return to Israel, she took up a position with the Women’s Zionist Council as the liaison officer in charge of Jewish communities in Southern Africa. In this capacity she actively spread the word about Israel and Zionism and was inspired by the enthusiasm of the Zionist Regional Committees.
The Women’s Zionist Council arranged for Doreen to accompany the last group of illegal immigrants aboard the Atzmaut ship from Cyprus. Prior to their departure she participated in a ceremony closing the last immigrant camp in Famagusta (Turkish Cyprus) thus marking the end of the Aliyah Bet. She describes the boat trip to Haifa as “the most exciting time” of her life. I can only agree.
The Women’s Zionist Council welcomed these new olim with refreshments while they were being “processed” to go to the Shaar Haliyah Immigrant Center at the southern entrance to Haifa. “The new olim experienced many difficulties and hardships in those days” Doreen says. “Schools and kindergartens had to be set up - in fact everything. They came to nothing with nothing.”
In 1958, her mother joined her in Israel. At this time, while living in Tel Aviv, she took up a position with the Head of Design at the Haifa Technion and had to commute three times a week. Doreen finally relocated to Haifa and rented an apartment in the French Carmel. She had a series of part-time jobs and faced unemployment regularly when the projects she was working on, came to an end. This was a very difficult situation, she explains, as she was taking care of her mother as well.
Again at a crossroads in her life, Doreen’s mom suggested she take a holiday and off she went to Ashkelon. The Mayor of Ashkelon, an ex-South African too, told her to contact Eliza Tago. Eliza had started the first vocational training school in Beer Sheva. Eliza offered Doreen a position as a lecturer there. Doreen’s mom was living alone in Haifa and so Doreen commuted from her hostel outside Beer Sheva to Haifa on a weekly basis. “I still hadn’t learnt much Hebrew, but my colleagues taught me all the technical terms on the train commute” she said.
Later, she was offered to teach drafting at the WIZO Vocational School in Haifa and she jumped at the opportunity and worked there until her retirement.
Her sister Lynn retired and came to live in Israel. She bought a Morris Minor and drove it alone from Zambia, through Central Africa to Mombasa where she boarded a boat to Eilat. Doreen and her mother met her in Eilat. “It was very exciting” she said.
Lynn and Doreen bought a caravan and parked it permanently in Switzerland. Every summer they would travel the continent, with their caravan, spending 3 or 4 months in a country of their choice. They visited; Italy, France, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Austria, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Finland together. You can read all about it in their published book Life with Bondo: Our Cottage on Wheels.
Doreen loves to paint nature scenes and has had many exhibitions in Switzerland and in Haifa. She donated 35 of her paintings to WIZO in Switzerland.
Sadly, Lynn passed away last year. Doreen misses her terribly. She has been trying to sell the fully equipped caravan ever since. “It would be very difficult to make a trip on my own” she says.
When I ask her for her Aliyah advice, she says; “Your motive for coming to Israel should be based on Zionism. There are many difficulties here, and being a Zionist helps you get through them.” She still struggles with bureaucracy and learning Hebrew helps with that. Although she speaks Hebrew, she still cannot read too well and asks for help where necessary.
“Have realistic expectations. It will be harder to get a job if you don’t have the proper qualifications. Learn Hebrew thoroughly, that must be your first priority. Understand that you will have to lower your standard of living and if possible try to buy your own apartment. There is a lack of immigrants who came here out of choice and we have seen a decline in ideology. You have to be brave and you have to be determined.”
Before I leave, we arrange to meet again soon and she promises to tell me all about Lynn. “It’s all written down” she says “I must find the article.”
Some things I've learned after a year in Israel...
- Even though they teach you the word "savlanut" or patience, no one seems to have any.
- Pray that when the serviceman says he is coming on Tuesday, that he means this coming Tuesday and not one of the 52 Tuesdays this year.
- Although irons are readily available, they are obsolete, no one wears ironed clothes anyway.
- Even though you signed a guarantee check for the furniture and appliances in your apartment, nothing works properly and your landlord wont do anything about it.
- A weekend is Sefad constitutes going away for the summer.
- More than half your wardrobe is in a suitcase in a place called the "boidum" - pray the weather doesn't change overnight!
- Doggy-do on the sidewalk is part of the eco-cycle and should not be removed or tampered with.
- All the tenants in your building know how much you earn and how much your rent or mortgage is. There is no shame in asking.
- You can participate in a "minyan" on the train from Tel-Aviv.
- Saying "die already" to your parents is not wishing them an early demise.
- Do not buy blue crepe toilet paper even though it is cheaper.
- Four square meters of undergrowth next to your apartment, constitutes a garden.
- The words villa and cottage have a different definition in an Israeli dictionary.
- You can negotiate a parking fine and generally get out of it.
- You can have your groceries delivered to your door - let someone else break their backs.
- No one will refund your money - once you've parted with it, it is gone for good.
- You should have an overdraft
- You can have friends over "for watermelon"
- You should buy your kids state-of-the-art bicycles, even if they can only ride them on Yom Kippur
- Some people eat Matzah all year round
Leah
Eran shares with us...
Lots of unsteady, Zionist motivated, young American adults come to Israel to show their Jewish/Israeli attachment. Maybe it's just an excuse, and they are searching for their identity in what they presume is a different and friendlier society. In my case, I came to Israel, not because I wanted to contribute to Israel, but because I needed to get away from a hectic way of life in Los Angeles. I was searching for a combination of stability, equality, loyalty, individuality and even similarity. I hoped that my endeavors would propel my personal growth, maturity and purpose in life.
I was single and only 20 years old when I arrived in Haifa. I didn't do a lot of preparation before I came other than buy a plane ticket and find a friend to stay with temporarily. On my arrival, I had to get my identity card (te’udat ze’hut) from Misrad Hapnim (Ministry of the Interior), my Teudat Oleh (immigrant card) from Misrad Haklita (Ministry of Absorption). I had to open a bank account so I could make rental payments and organize a credit card so I could get a cell phone. Within a week, I had done this all and found a (reasonable) studio apartment to live in.
I was on a solo mission; my parents were too old to move with me. I have family (uncles and aunts) around the country, but I couldn't depend on them for everything. In fact, I found doing things alone much easier. It was less demanding, I was more mobile, and it was much cheaper. Sometimes it was a hassle getting things done without knowing the language and understanding the process. But sill, I was eager to learn. Tirelessly, I asked locals how to get to places, and where and how to get things done.
Shortly after registering my address at Misrad Hapnim, I received my draft papers to join the army. At Lishkat Gi’yus, (the military drafting office) in Haifa, I completed the rudimentary questionnaires and psychology test. Six months later, because of my Hebrew level, I was sent to an Ulpan unit at a special base near Karmiel. In a 3 week basic training program, aimed at absorbing new immigrants, I was grouped with a bunch of Russians, a few French and American people. During this time, I realized that I wasn't suited for a fighting unit. Many army coordinating counselors lead me to focus my interest in the Air Force. I was appointed as a F16 Fighter Jet technician and immediately transferred to a base for a 2 month instructional course.
In the army I was registered as a lonely soldier (cha’yal bo’ded), and was appointed a Mashakit Tash, which is a kind of army social worker who was responsible for my well being. She researched my status in Israel and requested on my behalf, aid and assistance from numerous facilities. This assistance was a so important and it really helped me out. I managed to live rent-free from a subsidy I obtained. I received a higher (double) monthly army salary, and I had 3 evenings leave from the base every week. On my evenings off, I worked as a waiter and would return to the base the following morning. As long as I worked part time, it was not difficult to support myself during my army service.
Although my time in the army was aggravating, I found it an enriching experience. It was a comfortable environment and gave me the opportunity to learn, and get accustomed to, Israeli traditions. I found ways to follow orders and later on, give orders. I matured immensely. I would advise any single person who is planning on living in Israel to join the army first. Being patient, observant and open-minded, is a great way of starting over.
For more information on volunteering in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), click here
Gershom's story...
My wife and I made Aliyah to Haifa in July, 2007. We came from Chicagoland, having spent much of our lives in the New York/New Jersey area. Our two children are grown enough to have remained in the U.S., so there is still a major part of our lives in the U.S. But all our physical belongings that were not sold or given away came with us. That was quite a sorting process!!
We came to Haifa because I am one of the small percentage of Olim who could be reasonably sure to have a job here, thanks to Protekzia (also called Vitamin P). For those who have not learned the word, it simply means that I know someone who opened an employment door for me. And we visited Haifa on our Pilot Trip in 2006 and found that it would be a very nice place for us to live. We liked the urban setting in that it has all that we need and much of what we would want to do easily available. The very good public transportation system made it easy for us to decide not to get a car. The mixed population which lives together relatively harmoniously is another plus for us.
We decided not to fall into a common Oleh pitfall of trying to live our American lifestyle here in Israel. We made a point of trying to live on less money than we had planned. Our original plan was to assume that we would have no outside income for one full year after arrival. After the 42nd time that someone told us the joke, “How do you get a small fortune in Israel? You come with a large one,” we pledged not to overdue it financially. So we picked Hadar as our neighborhood to live in for a number of reasons:
- inexpensive apartments,
- ability to get buses and sheroot (shared taxi) service to anyplace in Haifa and many places outside of it,
- proximity to the Shuk for lots of fresh food,
- deficit of English speakers so that we would have to speak Hebrew to perform normal life functions,
- opportunity to interact with other groups and cultures so that we don’t just stay within our comfort zone.
We arrived in Israel knowing that Ulpan would be a critical part of our first few months here. We contacted them within the first few days and found that our class would start about two weeks later. We treated this as our full-time job until the class finished at the end of December. We did our best to do homework and study regularly, and as a friend told us, at the end of Ulpan Aleph we were ready to learn Hebrew. Or to put it more precisely, we understood many of the basics and were ready to learn to speak Hebrew by using it as much as we could manage in our daily lives. We also continued for some months after the Aleph level in additional classes at the Ulpan. Many of the Olim we see realize that they can do many things here in English, but when they restrict themselves to this we see them on the fringes of the society (and ourselves as well at times) because they do not understand the Hebrew that surrounds them. I often remember the Mexicans that I saw around me in Chicago who had trouble operating outside their own communities because they did not speak English. Now that is us.
One of the places that we are accepted well is at Or Hadash, our Reform synagogue here in Haifa. Rabbi Edgar Nof (also known as the rabbi with the guitar) is a warm, high energy leader of the community here. But it took me a while to understand the difference in organized religion here. In the U.S., we attended a Reform synagogue to be part of the Jewish community inside a largely Chrisitan community. To be part of the Jewish community here, all we have to do is to walk out of our front door. Almost anyplace we go, we are part of the Jewish community. So it took time to understand that the synagogue serves as a center of Jewish values, of promoting them within the community, as well as participating in Jewish observance and education. Or Hadash is also very active in promoting ties to the Jewish community outside of Israel, and to giving visitors a sense of connection.
Now, more than two years after Aliyah, we have settled into a regular routine of work (I am a technologist at Rambam Medical Center, my wife works at Madatech [Science Museum]) and socializing. We have some wonderful friends who helped us get oriented at the beginning and we continue to enjoy their company. Occasionally, we do some traveling within the country. In May ’09, we visited family and friends in the U.S…….. and were happy to return home to Haifa.
We continue to recognize the importance of our Zionism, doing our small part to make sure that Israel’s existence persists for future generations. We try to help to provide information and guidance to those English speakers, Olim By Choice, who continue to come. It is important that all know as much as possible about what they are getting into and how to manage the challenges that we all encounter.
So we continue to live with laughter and determination for the daily challenges that we encounter. And we see wonderful people like the founders of www.anglo-list.com, who put a great deal of effort into making this all work for us. Best of luck to all of you who decide to embark on this journey together.
David's story....
For most of my life, I have been the stereotypical “Wandering Jew”. I was born in the US but always felt out of place there, so as soon as I received sufficient academic qualifications, I headed out, working, studying, traveling, not having any base for longer than my job contract or study period.
Along the way I met my future wife, but it took a few years of international chess-like moves as both of us moved from country to country, sometimes crossing in the same one, until we married in Turkey. We continued to wander together, but eventually we decided that we needed a bit more stability. I had lived in my wife’s home country of Russia, and this did not seem to be the place for me any more than the US. We had both visited Israel before, and found the prospect of living there inviting. We knew that under the Law of Return, we could get citizenship. We made the decision to apply for Aliyah while we were in India, and were told that we would have to apply from Moscow. We flew to Moscow, and were told that, if all the papers were in order, this would take about a month. Fine! We stayed with my wife’s family in Samara, another Russian city, and traveled to Moscow to present the documents. Although my wife experienced as much anti-Semitism in Russia as any Jew, she is not listed as a Jew because her father, not her mother, was Jewish. I am also not Jewish. However, this did not create problems. What confounded the consular officer in Moscow was that she had no idea what to do with an American passport. She wasn’t even sure that she was authorized to put a stamp in it. She was very nice, but explained that our case was unique in the history of the consulate: an American with no known Jewish ancestry applying for Aliyah in Moscow. She had to send our papers to Tel Aviv for advice. We went back to Samara to wait. One day in our place in Samara, the phone rang, and my wife answered it.
-“Hello”
-“Hello, this is the Department of Foreign Affairs in Tel Aviv. Could we speak to (…my wife…)”
My wife: “Let me turn off the borscht…….”
Then followed half an hour of questions as to why she wanted to make Aliyah. They then asked to speak to me, and another half-hour conversation followed. They asked me why I wanted to make Aliyah, including the infamous “But you could go live in America!” But the first hint as to why they called me was when they asked me why I had been so long in Iran, Kuwait, Syria … They also asked me why I wanted to come to a country at war. (This was during the 2006 war with Lebanon.) Putting these two questions together could give a hint as to their suspicions, but these were made clearer when they called our references in Israel. These friends knew us well, and since they work for a company requiring top security clearance, this clinched it. Our friends contacted us right after and told us how they were amused by the implicit question whether I might be a spy.
So, my application was finally given approval after four months. At the airport, we stood out. The “Sochnut” (Jewish Agency) that was helping the Russians making Aliyah, were extremely generous with luggage allowance. Those making Aliyah on that flight brought so much luggage with them that I wondered whether the plane would get off the ground. My wife and I, with our relatively modest possessions, each one with a backpack and, bought special for the occasion, small suitcases, were a relief for the security at the airport.
Most new immigrants to Israel have, besides the typical problems with the language and employment, also a bit of culture shock, as they adapt to Israel. For my wife and me, a life of wandering had eliminated any chance of such culture shock.
Greta's story...
I was living on a kibbutz in the 1970s, as part of a “garin” (group or nucleus). My garin split up, and I attempted to join a more established kibbutz on my own. During that period, I received news that my father was terminally ill. I went back to Northern California to visit him. When I returned again to the kibbutz, I realized that my place was back with my mother in the USA. I was still single and this made the most sense.
I lived in the USA for 30 years, from 1978 to 2008, with several visits to Israel in between. My daughter, the elder of my two children, lives on the East Coast now, but lived in Israel for a year after she finished college. My son and I came to visit her while he was still in high school, and then my son came to Israel on his own after high school and declared his intentions to stay here. He is now serving in the army, and I am a soldier's mom.
My mother passed away in 2003. Four years later, when my son finished high school and made aliyah, my own decision to move back to Israel made the most sense. I expected it to be difficult, and it is. I have made many new friends and reconnected with lots of old friends from the 1970s. Integration into this society is difficult, but I have a good foundation. The Internet makes it easier to meet people. I have gotten involved with the folk-music community, which is made up mostly of ex-patriots from English-speaking countries, most of whom have been in Israel for many years.
The best way to make aliyah or to return here is to come with enough money to get started in a new home. when families come here, they usually plan for this move for several years. But the failing U.S. economy has changed the outcome of even some of the best-laid plans. Also, returning citizens do not have the right to bring in a new car, and that right expired for me 30 years ago. As far as returning citizen rights, I have never owned real estate in Israel, so I still have the right (as does any Israeli citizen) to get a one-time government rate home loan (mashkantah). Unfortunately, however, I sold my home in California at a big loss, and came here with no cash to turn over into another home. I did manage to buy an old car. Even though I will be living from paycheck to paycheck for the next few years, I have no debts, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will reach full retirement age in the U.S. in another 8 years, and I will be eligible to receive my Social Security from the U.S. In addition to that, in another year and a half (i.e., the year I turn 60), I'll be eligible to withdraw from my Individual Retirement Account (IRA) in the States without paying an early withdrawal penalty, and I intend to use that money for a down payment on an apartment, and then get the government mashkantah to supplement that.
If you are "new again," and are not technically an oleh hadash, it's hard to get assistance from organizations which are aimed at helping olim. Most aliyah-related agencies assume that returning citizens (toshavim hozrim) are fluent in Hebrew, but there are many who are not, and we seem to fall through the cracks. Organizations giving aliyah assistance - like Nefesh B'Nefesh - are good if you are an oleh hadash. If you are a toshav hozer, theoretically they will help you with non-financial assistance, but this, in fact, is often not as helpful as it sounds. I joined Nefesh B'Nefesh while I was still in the States, for non-financial assistance only. On making inquiries after I was in Israel, they told me that they are really set up only to help new Olim,but they would try to answer my questions. The only issue they really helped me with was my re-entry into the Kupat Holim (health fund) system.
Health Fund re-entry is another matter which affects toshavim hozrim quite differently from the way it affects new olim. For example, any oleh hadash can get right into kupat holim and choose a health plan. A returning citizen has to wait two months for every year out of the country (since the law changed in 2001. Thus the maximum waiting period for someone returning now would be 18 years. But returning citizens have the opportunity to buy down the waiting period to six months, and/or pre-pay it while still outside of Israel, for a fee of almost nine thousand shekels, so that ,so that health coverage can begin immediately when they return to Israel. However, the catch is that you have to present volumes of paperwork to the national health institute (bituach leumi) upon re-entering the system, and if any documents are missing, that can hold up getting back into the system. Among the documents required are proof that you never received compensation from bituach leumi, and if you have changed your marital status, proof of all changes. For example, I had been married and divorced during the 30 years I spent outside of Israel. For them to accept my divorced status, I had to show my California civil marriage certificate - a document I was not carrying with me on my visit to Bituach Leumi.
As I said above, Nefesh B'Nefesh stepped in and did help me with the process when I got stuck in the bureaucratic abyss of bituach leumi. After one call to them, explaining the problems I had encountered, within two days I had my new health plan card in hand.
As far as finding a job here: My Hebrew was adequate, and so I did not need another ulpan. I was able to find a job in my field (medical transcription in English) by networking on a user-group. My job, at a major medical center, is a good one with good benefits. It is only a part-time position, so it's hard to make ends meet.
I came to Israel on a visit, to explore employment opportunities and to visit my son, eight months before I returned here. With certain exceptions of high level professions, most employers will not wait for someone who is making aliyah or returning. There are too many complications in the process that can delay your arrival. Looking for work is best done when you are already living here, and also, it is more productive to join user groups and network with others, than to answer employment ads.
My spoken Hebrew is better than average (I am told I underestimate myself). At my age, it is hard to integrate new words into my vocabulary. I have to hear them over and over again before I am able to retain them. Knowing Hebrew is important. I wouldn't want to isolate myself in an English-speaking community (such as a retirement community), but I would have no problem living in a community where there are many English speakers. The town I live in right now has very few English speakers. The differences are more culturally oriented rather than language oriented. Ideally, I would like to settle in a mixed, but somewhat more western-or Anglo-oriented community.
