5 weeks to aliyah – D’var Torah

I could not pass up the opportunity of sharing a few thoughts on the parsha this week since it has such profound ramifications with respect to aliyah. The sin perpetrated by the spies who went out to explore Eretz Yisroel has reverberations that we continue to feel to this day.

As we all know, the spies who were sent out were leaders of the nation, but they were overwhelmed by how difficult they thought it would be to enter Eretz Yisroel. And we see that when Calev answered them, he did not disagree and tell them that it would not be hard. Whether or not he agreed that it is hard, he answered them by saying “But we can surely do it”.

All my life, I have heard from many people about how hard it would be for them to move to Israel. Well, at this point I can tell you that, at least for me, it is truly very hard. It is not an easy thing to move away from family and change so many things about the way you live your life. But at the same time, I keep reminding myself that whatever challenges I meet, I will have to find a way to overcome them. “We can surely do it”.

The desire and need to live in Israel is such an essential part of our neshama. I have found that the feeling that I have when I have to leave Israel after a trip there is much like the feeling that I have after Shabbat when I lose that neshama yeseira. It is where we belong. We are out of place anywhere else.

It may be hard to move to Israel, but you have to still want to do it from the very depths of your soul. You can never give up the hope that you will someday move there nor can you stop making efforts to fulfill this essential mitzva.

Rabbi Moshe Lichtman, in his book “Eretz Yisroel in the Parsha” points out that galut – our exile from Israel – is a punishment. Nowadays when there is nobody stopping us from moving there, Hashem is no longer punishing us so why should we continue to punish ourselves?

Throughout history, the nations that defeated us and expelled us from our land made it so hard for us to all come back to where we belong. We should never resign ourselves to living in galut, thereby allowing them to win.

6 weeks to aliyah – Personal Finances

In the past few months, we have had to make purchases and pay contractors in Israel, pay bills there, transfer money and convert dollars to shekalim. All of this would hardly make us experts in how to best go about doing all of this, but we have learned a bit along the way so that we know some procedures that have worked well for us and a few that have not. There are books and postings and the like that have mentioned a few of these tidbits but they are often hidden amongst a lot of other information so some of the best practices that I have learned do not really stand out. I thought that I might share some of these hints today.

I am surprised that so few people seem to know about the “World Mastercard”. Several banks offer this or versions of it (including most notably Capital One and HSBC) but it is certainly a product that you should inquire about. The World MC comes in handy for both the oleh as well as for anyone travelling anywhere outside of the US, even as a tourist. The two most notable features of this card is that it charges no foreign transaction fee and that it covers some insurance when you rent a car in Israel.

Most credit cards will charge some foreign transaction fee for any purchases made outside of the US. This fee is often around 3% which might not add up to too much when buying small items or paying for meals in restaurants. But when you make larger purchases or when you make enough purchases, perhaps in a trip to Israel, the 3% can really add up. The World MC usually charges no such fee. They will of course have to calculate a rate for money conversion from NIS to dollars, but I have generally been happy with the rates that they use.

The other feature comes in handy when renting a car. If you call your credit card companies and ask if they will cover you on your accident insurance )for example, collision damage waiver) when you rent abroad, they will usually happily tell you that they do. But if you ask them to confirm that you are covered in Israel too, they will inform you that Israel is not covered, along with Beirut, Belfast and Jamaica - strange bedfellows. But the World MC will generally cover Israel as well. It still is important to tell the rental company that you are covered since most people don’t have this card so they usually tack on the charge without a second thought.

Transferring money to Israel can get to be rather expensive. Most US banks will charge anywhere from about $25 and up for an international wire transfer and the Israeli banks will also charge a fee when they receive the money. I try to use my World MC to pay anything that I can to avoid all of this when possible. When using the card is not possible then a few other options should be considered:

There are a number of foreign exchange companies that will offer a reduced charge for converting your money. In general, you must wire your money to them and they will hold it until you tell them to convert it and how much to convert. They will then place your money into the Israeli bank of your choice, thereby allowing you to possibly save a few points on the conversion rate. Although this sounds good, I have not found that the difference in rate was beneficial enough to warrant the added complexity of passing your money through yet another set of hands and since they don’t allow you to write a check to them, you are still not avoiding those wire fees.

When you establish a relationship with a bank in Israel, you can often negotiate a preferred conversion rate that might even be capped and could prove to be quite competitive with the forex companies.

Finally, there are some banks that have a presence in Israel that maintain a connection with their US counterparts. For the most part, the Israeli banks (e.g. Bank Leumi, HaPoalim, Israel Discount Bank, etc.) will tell you that they have nothing in common with the branches in the States other than the name. But I know for example, that HSBC in the US considers the HSBC in Israel to be part of the parent company if not quite a branch of it. Therefore if you are an HSBC customer in the US then you can open an account at the HSBC in Israel and connect your online presence of those accounts. Once that is done, they will allow you to transfer money between those branches for free.

Well, this is a bit long for a blog but still short for a novel, and I hope it offers just a few pointers that you will find useful.

8 weeks to aliyah – When are you moving to Israel?

I am convinced that Pearl did not REALLY send me here this week to get a job and get the house repairs started. Don’t get me wrong – I have made pretty good strides in both those areas. I have arranged 4 job “meetings”- I would not necessarily call them all “interviews” but they were all very job oriented and productive. And I have overseen the start of the shiputzim (repairs) which have taken off somewhat haltingly, but are still moving along.

Despite all that, I think that she really sent me these thousands of miles at a cost that we can hardly afford in order to clean the oven.

Allow me to digress a moment. I have a good friend (let’s call him “Yitzchak”) who moved here several years ago, who loves living here, but whenever he hears of anyone traveling here from the States, he asks that they bring something back here for him if possible. It is usually not a problem and they tend to not be too big items, but you have to wonder why, after all of these years, he still needs Listerine and cannot adapt to the local mouthwash (Ok, you know who you are now). I cannot imagine that he could find a single dentist here who would say “Yitzchak, there is only one thing that will save your gums now – good ole USA Listerine”. The last time that he asked me to bring back something I asked him when he plans to actually move to Israel.

So when I went to the Rami Levi to buy a few household items, although they had Pledge and Easy Off, I was determined to put my money where my mouth is and get the Israeli brands. Well, as anyone can tell you, things do not work here in Israel quite the way that they do in the States, (if they work at all).  The furniture polish smelled like Lemony Fresh WD-40 and I am convinced that the oven cleaner is a placebo. The only thing that it managed to dissolve is the skin on my fingers.

When we move to Israel, we are changing so much in our lives. We are disposing of a lifetime of items that we have grown comfortable with, leaving our 110 lives behind and replacing them with a 220 existence that we are unfamiliar with. As scary as that sounds, and it is scary, it is good too. Just the choice to move here itself is part of the process of deciding that you want to make a major change in your life, to make a major stride forward in one very important mitzvah.

So, if you need to retain a few of those comfy items that you could not possibly think of living without, then so be it. Stick with the Listerine or get that $100 transformer for that $50 toaster oven because it browns the toast so nicely on both sides at once. But you should also try to learn to eat vegetables with your breakfast.

9 weeks to aliyah - “This Land Is My Land”

I just arrived this morning in Israel for a brief stay to take care of a few items, including some job interviews and to start some of the shiputzim (home repairs) that need to be made. This was a last minute decision as far as these things go (that is, we decided one week ago, which is about as “last minute” you would want a trip to be, considering all of the arrangements that need to be made) so I don’t have all of my schedule worked out yet, but it is certainly starting to take shape.

We have taken many trips here in the past and this started out feeling no different from any of those. The flight was uneventful, the choice of movies was not too bad, unlike the taste of the food, and I slept very little on the plane, which seems to work for me anyway, so I am not complaining.

I picked up my car rental and left the airport heading East on Route 1 as I have done so many times in the past. On previous trips, I always felt a bit anxious knowing that, although I was certainly there for a vacation, I was usually going for a purpose with goals to accomplish and knowing that my “regular life” was awaiting me back home in just a few days. As I started out on Route 1 and saw the familiar landmarks, that twinge of anxiety started seeping in this time too.

But then, something strange happened. Those familiar landmarks looked a bit different this time. A very peaceful feeling seemed to descend on me. The fields on the side of the road looked familiar but in a different way. On my previous visits, I always knew that although this is my country as a Jew, I was just a tourist here. I would be heading home all too soon. But this time contrary to the stamp in my passport, I was not here as a tourist. This is the country that I will soon be moving to. The fields are my fields now and I will soon be a citizen of this great land, just like the people around me on the road.

Although I know that this time too, I will return “home” in a few days, I feel different this time. There is a certain primal emotion that you feel when you put that key into the door of the home that you own. You know that you really, really, REALLY are finally home.

10 weeks to aliyah – “This day will fade away, the sun will set and be gone – let us come to Your gates.” (Yom Kippur Ne’ila service, cf: Psalms 100:4)

There are so many things in our lives that have “soft” deadlines. That is, we know that we want to take care of it “someday”. Sometimes we get around to it and sometimes we don’t.

In the last few weeks and months there have been a lot of deadlines for us to deal with. Some are deadlines that we set for ourselves, for instance getting our visas, organizing the lift, putting our finances in order, etc. and some are deadlines that are being thrust upon those around us. For example, we have lots of friends and relative who have wanted to get together with us over the years or wanted us to look at or address something for them, but nothing has ever pushed us in the past to set the dates. Well, now we have a hard deadline to work with.

Even aliyah in general works this way. Pearl and I have talked for decades about making aliyah, but it was so easy for us to say that we would like to do it “someday”. It only actually happens when you set a real date to that “someday”.

Aliya is something that takes a lot of planning and organization. There are a 1000 decisions that need to be made and lots of research to do. You find yourself working on 100 projects at once, many of which cannot be completed until a later date, but you have to keep on top of every one of them, following through with people who do not return phone calls or emails as responsibly as you would like. (By the way, employers, these are skills that are very applicable to the job that I am trying to get – hint, hint…). And you have to do it all in the right time-frame or it just doesn't get done.

Don’t get me wrong – this is not a complaint. Aliyah could be a real simple and easy thing for some people. But we happened to have made our lives rather complex at this stage of the game, so there are just a lot of factors that we have to address. I wish that people could look at our experience and say “look how easy it was for the Friedmans to make aliyah”. Although it is not always easy, aliyah is very doable if you make it your priority.

11 weeks to aliyah – This post should “lift” your spirits

First of all, I want to wish a Happy 65^th Birthday to Israel. May we celebrate many, many more of them, but TOGETHER from now on.

Choosing a company for your lift is not as simple as it might seem at first, partly because there are so many good companies out there and the rates tend to be pretty close, one to the next so you might be inclined to just randomly choose one and be done with it. But there are certainly differences between the various firms and your personal preferences in prioritizing those differences could help you make the decision that works for you.

Some of the costs that are involved in moving are pretty static and tend not to be all that different from one firm to another. For example, the cost of materials for packing (boxes, tape, padding, wrapping,

Zim Container ship in Haifa port

etc.) probably costs each firm pretty much the same so if one company expects that cost to be especially low, you might wonder if they are skimping on some materials. Also, they probably are all charged pretty much the same for a 20 or 40 foot container, so that price just gets passed along to you.

On the other hand, you will find differences in the size of the company, the number of years that they have been around, their reputation and local references, where they are based and insurance.

There are a few sites that allow people to post their experiences with the moving firms, for example this one: http://goo.gl/Qri8T (that is where the responses are posted). When reading the reviews, you have to be careful to give some of the companies the benefit of the doubt and take some of the comments with a grain of salt. Some complaints seemed rather petty to me and others seemed to be out of the shipper’s control. I noticed that 3 of the largest shippers had only positive comments so I started my search with them. I also include two firms that were recommended to me by people who had used them.

One factor that made a difference to me was where the company is based. Several of the firms used the same mover here in the NY area since they were based elsewhere in the US or in Israel so I figured that this aspect was all the same for those shippers and that local mover was probably pretty good. I wanted to focus my attention on a shipper that is based in Israel because I figured that might make the processing on that side a bit smoother.

Another factor that I considered was that one of the firms was self insured. That allowed them to reduce the cost of the insurance for me while also lowering the deductible. I interpreted this (for better or for worse) as a sign of confidence that they have in their ability to safely and reliably move my goods (although it could also be a sign of their reluctance to make payments on claims, but I tend to doubt that).

Some firms were unable to give me local references even though I know other Staten Islanders who had used them. The fact that they couldn't or wouldn't bother to try did not increase my confidence in them.

Whichever firm you choose, I hope that you have a smooth and worry free experience.

12 weeks to aliyah – “And now, a word from our sponsor”

Whenever I mention that we are going on aliyah, inevitably one of the first questions that people ask is “are you going with Nefesh B’Nefesh?”. I am not sure if people understand the role of Nefesh B’Nefesh in the aliyah process so I thought that I could at least talk about our personal experience to help shed light on what they have done for us at least.

NBN is here to help and encourage people to move to Israel, mostly by providing information, streamlining the aliyah process and providing contacts and other resources in so many areas associated with aliyah. In some cases, they also provide some financial assistance.

When we first started planning our aliyah, we turned first to the NBN website to start our research. They have an aliyahpedia that provides information on practically anything that you might have a question about. They also have a yahoo group that allows you to ask questions and get answers from many others who have made aliyah, from NBN representatives and from professionals offering services and advice.

You practically cannot make aliyah without going through NBN. If you try to go directly to the Jewish Agency I would assume that they would send you back to NBN to help you organize all of the papers that you need prior to going to the Jewish Agency and to tell you exactly what to bring. When you are ready to make aliyah, you schedule an appointment with NBN to go over the entire process and register with them. They then set up a webpage for you so that you can track the progress and see which documents to provide.

NBN provides webinars and consultations for specific areas relating to where to live and how to find a job and so much more. Their representatives are knowledgeable and pleasant to work with. They also conduct their “Mega Event” each year where they have numerous information sessions and provide you with an opportunity to meet with vendors such as shippers, insurance companies and the various medical programs. And of course, they sponsor events like this wonderful contest that will hopefully directly result in one or more people landing jobs.

Finally, when all of the paperwork is done and you are ready to select a date, you arrange your aliyah flight with NBN as well. They are then with you on the flight (depending on the flight that you choose) and when you arrive to help you through the red tape in Israel.

NBN has been very helpful for us in our aliyah. It seems hard to imagine making this move without the abundance of resources that they have provided us. They have undoubtedly provided the resources that has resulted in many thousands of people making aliyah who would not have done so without them.

13 weeks to aliyah – Friends and family

Around a year ago we started cleaning up in earnest. I went up to the attic and brought down a room full of boxes and other items to throw out or give away. Pearl worked on clearing out cabinets and bookcases filled with toys, games, books, papers and other paraphernalia. We filled the cars with items to give away to friends and family members.

When I brought some of these to one of our friends they were shocked and said something like “so I guess you really are moving to Israel”.

When we first decided for sure to go, we agreed that we would not keep our plans secret for a number of reasons. Not wanting to surprise anyone was high on the list, but also we thought that it would help galvanize us to ensure that we would not chicken out and it would also perhaps give others a certain degree of “chizuk” to encourage them to go as well. There were practical reasons too – we had to sell our house and to do so, we needed to get the word out.

Yet even though our plans were quite public and most of our family knew that we talked for a long time about moving to Israel, the reality of it seemed to come as a surprise to some. I guess they were a bit more in denial about our move than we had been over the years. Closure is very important for most people - our kids wanted to see the house that they grew up in "one last time" and I am sure that our friends and family will want to throw a big bash for us before we move ;-)

The world is a lot smaller today than even just a generation ago. When my family went for the first time to Israel in 1970, it was a major expense that took a long time to plan and to save up for. A domestic long distance call was expensive and an international call was a major event. Now, we can call for pennies using a calling card or free from Israel with most of the cellphone plans. Skype, MagicJack and VOIP are ubiquitous and even annual trips to Israel are common for many of us. All of this lessens the pain just a bit of moving so far away from the ones that you love, but nothing can remove that pain. We just hope that they will all follow us there some day very soon.

14 weeks to aliyah – Finding a place to live was our next objective.

Although Pearl and I always planned on “eventually” making aliya, we never took actions toward that goal. A few years ago I switched jobs and although the actual work that I did was quite enjoyable in many ways and I got along very well with practically everyone at the office, I felt that something was missing and I would frequently come home from the office and say “when are we moving to Israel”. About 3 years ago Pearl finally said that we should make a pilot trip and see if it is possible and either do it or stop talking about it.

Neve Daniel

We made our first serious pilot trip in the summer of 2011, visiting numerous communities and narrowing down our list to about 5 possibilities. Over the course of the following year, we researched further, through the NBN website, other online sources, the NBN contact for housing (he was particularly helpful), real estate agents and friends. That helped us to refine our list of finalists so we returned last summer to explore those towns in earnest, eventually making our choice. We were particularly fortunate to find a house that we loved in that town and started the process of purchasing it.

Where to live was a most important factor to us. We wanted to be sure that we would fit in well and be comfortable because we hoped that this would be the last time that we would move. Although one could never be certain, we believe that we found the right place for us. This is one part of our aliya that we knew would have to be resolved before we could consider dealing with all of the other details. That might not be the case for others – some people are perfectly comfortable deciding that they can live anywhere and so they leave this factor to the end stages of their aliya planning. You must decide for yourself what works best for you.

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.

One of the things that I have noticed since we started this journey that that we have been a lot more attuned to the aspect of hashkacha pratis and its role in our move. Some might call it coincidence, but there have been too many "coincidences" to just ignore them. Pearl and I came across this contest when we attended the Nefesh B'Nefesh mega event this past Sunday. Some of my friends were a bit bewildered as to why we would need to attend it at this point, thinking that we are pretty much up to speed by now on most of the details about moving to Israel. But there are always more details to be learned and a bit of review never hurt anyone. When I looked into the specific jobs being offered, I was surprised to find that one of them is actually a really good match to my skills and background. Again, you have to wonder what the odds are for 1 of these 8 jobs to be so appropriate when there are so many types of jobs out there. Just another "coincidence" I guess.