Moving to Israel

Times were that people moving to Israel were considered to be taking on a financial burden and sacrificing many of the luxuries of the Diaspora. Now it seems to be that people are continuing to make Aliyah, not just for spiritual and idealistic reasons but for financial gain as well - an unheard of concept not long ago.

Arutz Sheva reports how the Israeli economy has become a draw for North American immigrants in the face of the economic downturn abroad. In speaking on the subject Danny Oberman, executive vice president of operations at Nefesh B’Nefesh, describes some of the examples of economic advantages in living in Israel including a wider job market for recent university graduates, families with young children being able to find more affordable Jewish or college education in Israel than back in the U.S. and Canada, cheaper health insurance rates and more.

While the financial challenges of living in Israel still, and always will, exist, it’s good to see some of the financial incentives of making Aliyah catching up to the spiritual ones.

Looking forward to seeing you all here.

Ari

As I wrote here a few weeks ago the process of Aliyah and moving to Israel is often filled with challenges and difficulties. The other day I received a letter from a potential Oleh (name withheld) describing another hurdle that was encountered.

It seems this reader has been trying to move to Israel for 9 months now and has been presented with obstacles from the Jewish Agency, the Consular Division, paper work issues and more. As he put it “All in all Israel seems to be the hardest country for a Jew to move into because of incredible bureaucracy. I wonder if anybody in Israel even knows how difficult these bureaucrats have made the Alyiah process.”

I bring this up not to discourage anyone from making Aliyah (obviously, as this blog encourages that very action) as I know that all major moves bring up issues to resolve. I bring it up to try and spread the word out to the powers that be. These stories of hassles and red tape are just all too common and if we could start to get the message across to the bureaucrats in charge it would eliminate one of the most common complaints of Jews who want to come home.

Here’s to (hopefully) moving in a new direction and eliminating all the unnecessary heartache.

Ari

As many of you probably know, there are no shortage of bureaucracy issues here in Israel. Today I was reminded of that by reader and prospective Oleh Gene Maltsev.

Gene wrote in to tell me about an experience at the Ministry of Interior here in Jerusalem and what had transpired. Needless to say the event was colored with the seemingly all too common runarounds, lack of customer service and general rudeness.

While I am happy to report that Gene did ultimately get the visa extension sought, as was hoped, without any significant issues to speak of and that many of us know that such attitude is often expected at many of Israel’s governement offices, this does by no means excuse this activiy.

People such as Gene face enough challenges when considering Aliyah and moving to Israel that crude treatment by our own brothers and sisters should not have to be added to the list.

Ari

While constantly searching for Aliyah facts and figures I remember that sometimes the best way of getting the whole moving to Israel overview is by looking at some basic, raw numbers. With that in mind I wanted to point out to everyone this fantastic summary of the Aliyah numbers for 2008 courtesy of an article found at the Support Association for Zionism (SAZ).

While serving as a terrific guide for viewing the past year in Aliyah, it is also important to note what the report says. With the exceptions of North America, South Africa and Oceania, Aliyah was down in all other locations compared to 2007 while also being a 22% overall decrease compared to the number that arrived during the same period last year.

These are discouraging numbers so let’s continue to spread the word to all our brothers and sisters: we want you to come home now!

May Hashem soon bring the day where all the Jewish people are back where they belong.

 Ari

As promoting moving to Israel and making Aliyah is the primary purpose of this blog, I often try to point out some of the negative aspects of life outside of the Holy Land that make life so hard on the Jewish people. Unfortunately, there are often no shortage of examples to come up with and today is no exception.

It seems that Canada’s York University, celebrating its 50th anniversary, is allowing a pro-Arab group to stage a conference questioning Israel’s right to exist.  Several of the scheduled speakers were involved in Israel Apartheid Week activities and are active in the Israeli boycott movement.

The university is using the all too common mantra of “academic freedom” as defense of the event that promotes hatred and encourages the destruction of the Jewish State.

Although we seem to take it for granted that the west’s universities, supposedly the foremost intellectuals and some of the most powerful voices in the world, regularly sponsor and encourage such events, we should never forget exactly what is happening outside of Israel - where our best “friends” (U.S., Canada, etc.) are the proud hosts of these horrid functions.

Ari

As this blog is always trying to promote Aliyah and moving to Israel, we also like to keep tabs on Olim to get their feel for the pulse of immigrants throughout the country. On that note, it was interesting to see the news that a group of immigrant academics has written to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, urging him to take a clear stand in opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state in Israel.

The group, consisting of many of the Russian-speaking community in Israel, said such a state would be ”foreign to and hostile to the Jewish people… inside [Israel’s] historical borders and adjacent to its largest cities.”

While the ceation of a PA state has been the subject of debate for what seems like an eternity here in Israel, it is important to point out the feeling from this group of immigrants who, like many of us who have made Aliyah in the past, make up a large, core group of the citizens of the country and it is therefore always crucial to let our voices and opinions be heard. Vital decisions for the welfare of the country could depend on it.

Ari

“While the present situation presents us with many great challenges we should always remember how lucky we are to be able to witness the fulfillment of this great prophecy.”

The above quote comes this week’s must read article and reminds us that while, yes, the challenges of moving to Israel and making Aliyah are indeed formidable, we must always remember that it is also a blessing and miracle that such a possibility even exists. Yehezkel Laing, author of the article published at kumah.org, does an outstanding job of reminding us of this and also mentions other eye opening points that should get the Aliyah juices flowing as we near the Pesach holiday.

Ari

Although this is a blog that attempts to encourage people to move to Israel, we usually attempt to do it in a positive way. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and today this is one of those situations. Today I would like to bring a disturbing article to your attention that will probably make one think about moving to Israel but through negative events coming out of the United States.

The article, printed in the World Tribune and brought to my attention by Tamar Yonah, talks about the cool reception received by  Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi upon his visit to Washington. It talks of how the new administration in the United States has viewed Israel of more of a problem in the Middle East than a friend and solution and notes how America has not been very encouraging towards Israel in regards towards Iran.

These are disturbing events and, again, although we prefer to not use fear as a tactic to try and bring Jews home to Israel, sometimes the facts speak for themselves. Please read the article and after viewing it and others like it, it would not surprise me to see many Americans making the move towards Aliyah without much else being said.

Ari

Regular readers of this moving to Israel blog are well aware of what a fan of Tamar Yonah, one of Israel’s most popular English-speaking radio show hosts, I am. I am a regular consumer of all her content and am frequently quoting to her.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the other day she came out with a spectacular blog post that is particularly fitting for my readers. The post is entitled “7 Steps to Help You Make Aliyah” and is, as you might imagine, a great mini-guide to helping with the process of making the move to the Holy Land. The post comes complete with letters from real people at various stages of the (potential) Aliyah process and provides a 7 step plan for making Aliyah “especially if you have family members who are not as into the idea as you are,” as she puts it.

This is a must read for all potential Olim and is, once again, a fantastic piece of writing by Tamar.

Ari

I read another, what would seem to be, innocuous post on the TACHLIS news group this morning that really put an extra bounce in my step for the week. The post was from someone named “Ayala” and mentioned that they were looking for a community to move into in Israel with all their important prerequisites listed.

While posts like these may seem like “just another one” to many, to me they always make me smile. They make me happy because, despite all the trials and tribulations we go through here people continue to move to Israel, look for new communities in Israel, thrive in Israel and more. People are not letting all the very public struggles the country goes through on a regular basis prevent them from living their dream of living in the Jewish home land. It would be very easy for the Jews at large to let all the negative publicity and news stories coming out of the Holy Land discourage them from making such a dramatic overhaul to their lives. Thank G-d, I hear stories daily that this is not the case. People continue to “come home” and, as we hopefully continue to spread the word, this will only increase in number as the days, weeks and years go by.

Good luck Ayala. We will definitely be in touch over here at the Moving to Israel blog to extend a hand and offer any tools and/or encouragement that may be of service.

Ari