Firstly, I would like to point out that I changed my photo to one of me and Pearl because I feel that getting a job in Israel is really for the two of us, and I do feel that I have her support and encouragement and this is the way that I wanted to express that. 

15 weeks to aliyah – As we count down the days and weeks to aliyah I thought that it would be meaningful to talk about our personal experience. Of course, “your mileage may vary” and everyone has a different aliyah experience so although this could be viewed more or less as the roadmap that we followed, this might not work for everyone. 

The first decision we made was whether to make aliyah or not. That might seem obvious but it is really complex on a few levels. It means that you have to have a soul searching to think of the reasons that you are taking this step. There are many good reasons to move to Israel and there are a few bad ones so you might want to talk it over with someone if you are not sure that you have the right motivations. If you are moving in order to get a free flight to Israel, for instance, then your aliyah might turn out to be disastrous. 

We talked with our Rabbi about our decision. It made us think about how many people actually ask their Rabbis for advice when they decide *not* to move but ask him about a million other far less important matters. Yet the decision was a personal one and we ultimately made the choice on our own. The other reason that this is an important decision to make first is because it sets the stage for everything else. If you decide for sure to go, then where you live, how you will make a living and all of the other important and not so important other decisions become secondary. In our case, baruch HaShem, they all fell into place nicely. But we committed ourselves to going before we knew anything else. We picked a date (that is, a specific year – not a variable “X years from now” target date that tends to move with time) and let our friends know. There was no turning back.