Moving to Israel

I ran into a great blog this morning called “Rafi’s Studio” that I thought was excellent and figured my readers would be interested in knowing about. It is a regularly updated blog by Rafi Stern who decided to make Aliyah, moved to Israel from London in 1990 and currently lives in Beit Shemesh.

While the blog overall seems to be a personal one focusing on his art work, I was drawn in by his most recent post that was a touching tribute to his late father Gunther Stern. After reading this, I dug through his bio and archives and found an extremely patriotic Israeli who brought his whole family to The Holy Land and has written many great posts focusing on the country.

It is truly a worthy read and would definitely benefit you adding to your RSS feeds as a good, regular resource.

Ari

In what seem as an almost unbelievable show of interest, due to huge differences in salaries and living standards, 152 American doctors have approached Nefesh B’Nefesh to inquire into the “Doctors’ Aliyah” program. The program was established recently in order to stem off the wave of brain drain that has hit Israel. Many highly trained professionals, largely from the medical field, have left Israel to search for jobs in countries with better financial opportunities and less government interference and corruption.

The “Doctors’ Aliyah” project would give a $60,000 grant to any doctor who makes Aliyah. Despite the monetary grant, many doctors still remain reluctant to move to Israel due to the large gap in salaries and quality of living.

As Kosovo declared independence this week, the 50 Jews who still live there are asking questions about their future. Kosovo is a country that didn’t benefit from the recent economic upturn that has taken place in Eastern Europe. The average monthly salary is about $350 and over half the population is unemployed.

The Jews of Kosovo are finding that making a living is getting harder by the day. With crime and corruption are rampant, many are looking to move to greener pastures, possibly Israel.

The American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee  provides the Kosovo Jews with social services and hosts celebrations for Jewish holidays. The main question is if they are doing what they can to promote Aliyah to Israel. Although, the population of 50 Jews is not going to break any Aliyah records, Every Jew who makes it to the Holy Land counts.