Today we have reached a milestone in our aliyah planning – the file for ds17 with the Jewish Agency has offically been recognized as complete!  I was informed that they will now send the file to Israel to the Ministry of Absorption for him to be recognized as a returning minor.  

It’s amazing to me how long this has taken – well, beauracracy is what it is wherever you go, so I’m not shocked.  Just bemused.  I’m not a person who waits until the last minute to get things done, and I got started on this months ago, thinking to get it out of the way early.  In spite of giving in every piece of required documentation by mid April, I was told a month later that we still hadn’t proved parental (us) proof of living in the US from 2010 – 2011.  I was surprised, since I gave her one paper in her hand for 2000 until 2009, and emailed her the form for 2010 that evening.  But I sent it again.

A month later, we got another email telling us we need to send proof of parental residency in the US for 2010 – 2011.   Hmm.  I checked our sent email files and there were two copies of sent emails to her with the requested file attached, one from two months earlier and one from a month earlier.  We sent this yet again.  Do you think we received a confirmation email regarding this? 🙂  Nope. 

When almost weeks after that I was told yet again that I was holding things up by not sending them the necessary information and given a fax number to send it to, I asked her to check her recent emails to see if she had the attachment sent.  She didn’t bother responding.  I decided to just fax the paperwork to a different office, where we confirmed receipt by a phone call to that office. 

I was glad to have this finally out of the way – to me, ten weeks to get two pieces of paper officially received is way too long!  But my relief was premature, because a couple of days later we were told that we never submitted any proof of living in the US for any other years.  There was no reason to mention that I gave her the copy of the paperwork in person, clarified (twice) that she had it and that there the only missing piece of documentation was the one above.  Sometimes Hashem makes it obvious that your help isn’t coming from the sources you expect it to come from.  We sent every original document by fax to the other office, and finally today we were told the file is officially finished!

Every time I’ve asked a question regarding the status of dd16 (we’ve been trying to clarify that she can receive benefits as a returning minor while in Israel once she turns 17, since she won’t have been there longer than the allowed amount of time – logically and legally it seems she can, but I don’t like to depend on logic or legality since that doesn’t always seem to matter), I’ve been told that because our file isn’t complete, they can’t answer my questions.  Now that the file was completed I was told that we have to wait until she’s 17 and file an appeals while in Israel. This was so amazingly unhelpful I can’t even say – this has been a huge issue we’ve been trying to get an answer on for four months, even before we made the decision to move. 

Ah, well, I’m getting my share of reminders to let go of thinking that it’s my efforts that are making the difference and to turn it over to Hashem to take care of for me.  This might be one of the best preparations we can make for living in Israel. 🙂

Avivah

The question below is one that I think almost every single person who heard we’re moving to Israel has asked:

“Are you going with Nefesh B’Nefesh?”

For those who don’t know, Nefesh B’Nefesh is an organization that supports people who are moving to Israel as olim.  My husband and I were both studying in Israel when we met; we got married there and then decided it made sense to legally become citizens.  I believe we got a small monthly rental subsidy for the first year as a benefit of having made aliyah (becoming Israeli citizens); we didn’t make a lift because we didn’t have anything to bring from the US or the money to do it even if we had, I was able to attend ulpan for one week in between jobs, and that’s the extent of the benefits we received as olim!

We lived in Israel for eight years before moving back to the US to pursue a rabbinical position offered to my husband, and have been in the US for eleven years.  We no longer have the status of olim and the time we were entitled to claim them has run out, but are now considered ‘returning citizens’.   To be more accurate, we’re officially gorrerei zechuyot – those whose rights as olim were frozen when they left the country (we left after eight years and the final benefits run out at 10 years) – but have been working for several months to legally change our status to that of returning citizens.  We meet the technical requirements, but it’s been hard to find someone who knows how to handle a case like ours without sending us to Israel to first sign waivers before returning here to make the move – we’re in a gray zone that they rarely deal with.  People are usually olim or naturally born Israelis who are returning to live in Israel, but not olim who are returning citizens!  Hopefully this week it will finally be resolved and we can finally buy our tickets! :)) 

Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) doesn’t assist returning citizens – not even if you were born and raised in America, have lots of kids born in the US, or didn’t use the immigration benefits the first time around.  When I called NBN, they were pleasant but emphatically told me that I was welcome to browse their website but they wouldn’t be able to answer any questions or offer us assistance of any kind, including information.  And no, my kids born in the US don’t qualify for any benefits, either. (All of our children, those born in Israel and in the US, have the status of dual citizens as well.)   The exception is ds17, who will be considered a returning minor. 

This surprises most people, who assume that we are benefiting from the generous absorbtion benefits available to those making aliyah.  When I tell them we aren’t, almost everyone says, “But your tickets are paid for, right?”   No.  As returning citizens, we have to purchase our tickets but will be able to get a discounted price for one way tickets of $806 per person; we’ll also be allowed an extra piece of luggage per person.  This is a lot of money but it’s less than if we weren’t able to get this discount – if we had to pay $1300 per person (current prices), we simply wouldn’t be able to afford to move back. 

Another benefit to the returning citizen is that the reinstatement fee to participate in the national medical system is….well, here’s what it it is.  Every person above the age of 18 has to be pay something like 9600 shekels (approx $2500) to make up for the years that they haven’t been living there and paying into the system.  They recently passed a law that returning citizens will have 50% of this sum immediately refunded (I don’t know if that means immediate as in five minutes or five weeks), and the other 50% refunded after a year.  This means we need to come up with about $7500 in order to get medical insurance (for dh, me, and ds17 – he’ll be 18 by then) – kids in Israel are all automatically covered once the parents are paid in full.  The option to paying this money is to go without insurance for six months and then our insurance can be reinstated, which I don’t think is a great option even though I rarely avail myself of the traditional medical services.  (After this point we will pay a monthly fee for health insurance – it’s free to olim for the first year, but that’s it.)

There are some other benefits – like being able to bring a lift within 9 months and having to pay minimal taxes on it – but the one of most immediate importance to me is the discounted tickets.  I believe there’s some kind of assistance in finding employment but I can’t tell you what that is like until we get there (we called but they told us we have to be there first).  The absorption package that olim receive assists them significantly in getting started: buying furniture, stocking the kitchen, and paying expenses until they find work.  None of this is available to the returning citizen. 

One big expense in moving overseas is passports – though everyone is supposed to have up to date passports at all times, but because it was so expensive and we had no plans to travel anywhere, we didn’t have current passports for anyone.  Of course anyone who is moving overseas has to have passports from their country of origin, and in our case, we also need Israeli passports for every family member.  (I might be wrong but I believe if you’re making aliyah that you don’t immediately need Israeli passports.  Please correct me if this is inaccurate.)   We’ve spent over $2000 on passports for the eleven of us, and I’m really glad to have all of the passports issued and ready to go!

A number of people who I’ve spoken to who are in our situation would love to move back to Israel but feel it’s unrealistic.  It’s in large part because there’s so little assistance and the costs are so intimidating that very, very few olim who leave Israel later move back.  Not to mention the concerns and warnings not to come with children over age 10 or 12 because of the social risks in poor adjustments and all that comes along with that.   Obviously, we’re not the only people in this situation, but since I haven’t met anyone else, I haven’t been able to enjoy sharing the experience of this particular aspect of our aliyah experience with anyone. 

This leaves us in an interesting place – without the financial or social supports offered to olim, but facing similar challenges.  However, one advantage we have over many olim is that my husband and I are conversational in Hebrew and familiar with life in Israel (though undoubtedly life in Karmiel will be very different than life in Beitar). 

From a logical position, perhaps it doesn’t make sense for us to move to Israel, to give up our familiar life here to undertake a very major transition.  But I don’t know if moving to Israel is ever really logical for anyone.  I think the Jewish soul feels complete only when in Israel – certainly for me it was a very palpable feeling when I visited in February, of all parts of me being in one place at one time.  What is propelling this move is my strong soul-level feeling that our family belongs in Israel at this time, and it’s really from the soul level that I’m having to deal with confronting some of the concerns that pop up.  The concept that I hold onto is that Hashem has provided for us until now, and will continue to provide for us – my job is to do the leg work and make my best effort, and to trust that He will take care of us, perhaps particularly when it seems hardest to believe that.  And with His help, the pieces are falling into place!

Avivah

I’m delighted to share that our computer situation has been resolved, which will make posting much easier!  I’m so grateful that the public libraries have computer access, which is what I used for the last couple of weeks when my home computer was out of commission.  Amazingly, I only needed to use the library computer three times in two weeks – for someone like me who uses the computer so much, that was pretty amazing!

I initially thought that the problem with the computer was the monitor, but it turns out that the entire computer is dead.  And what’s really nice about that, is now I don’t have to use our precious limited luggage allotment to take our bulky desktop computer with us to Israel, and I don’t have any conflict about buying something else when what we have is usable ! 

We haven’t yet purchased our tickets to Israel (I hope we’ll be able to buy them this week), but assuming we fly with El Al airlines, we’ll be allowed three suitcases per person, with a 50 lb weight limit per suitcase.  Of course we’ll be taking clothing, linens, and pots and pans, but other than that, I’m debating what’s worth bringing and what can easily be purchased at a reasonable price in Israel. 

For example, my dishes are stoneware, so I’m not taking them (way too heavy and breakable); I was thinking of purchasing Corelle to take along, but then thought that maybe I can get something like that (actually, I prefer nice melanine because it’s more child-friendly) there that is comparably priced.  My silverware has been steadily disappearing – of the service for 30 I bought, I now have five forks remaining.  So should I buy more cheapo quality flatware at Walmart now or just get something there?  Ditto with linens – most of our sheets are good quality sets that we’ve had for over 15 years so they’re still usable, but with the upcoming move, it seems a shame to take something that is at the end of its usable life.  But would I be better off buying new linens here or there? 

It’s hard to make these evaluations since I don’t know how much things cost in Israel.  And the question isn’t just about price – I’m guessing that most items are available less expensively in the US – but is also taking into consideration the luggage space it will take up (so taking one thing means not taking something else), and the convenience of having what we need right away vs. the run around factor of having to find and buy something when we get there.  Where we’re moving to in the north isn’t exactly the center of commerce, so I doubt bargain shopping is easily accomplished for items like these.  Obviously, it would be easiest to take everything that we’ll need, but since we won’t be taking a lift (too expensive), we’re going to manage with what we can fit into our suitcases (so obviously big items will be purchased when we get there.)  That means that there are a lot of decisions about what has priority in packing that we need to make.

As much as I’d like to take my canner, canning jars, and dehydrator, they won’t be coming along (though I think I’ll bring along a jar lifter).  My grain grinder will, and I’m thinking that I’ll use the 40 lb capacity square buckets that I store bulk foods in to pack smaller items into, then place them within the larger box.  They’re super convenient and it took me ages to aquire them here, and I’d think they’d be even harder to find in Israel. 

I’d like to take our Pesach dishes – we’ve had them since we were first married and they’ve made the move across the ocean twice,  across the US once, and within the cities we’ve lived in five times – and even though they’re heavy, I’m going to try to take them – they could easily be replaced, but it’s about the consistency of memories for our family; when those dishes come out every year, it feels like Pesach for everyone. 

Only a small number of books, games, and homeschooling supplies will come along – we’ll have to find libraries there with English sections, and eventually the kids will be able to read well enough in Hebrew that we can access the Hebrew language literature there.  I’d really like to take a few bottles of extra virgin olive oil, since it’s so expensive there, I still have a number of bottles left, and it’s something I use all the time – but weight-wise I’ll have to see if we can manage it.  I plan to take along whatever xylitol we have left – dd16 took some to Israel and had some regularly throughout the year, and she was one of the only girls in her program that didn’t get lice, even though she was checking other girls for lice and then cleaning their hair out.  (Thanks, Malkie, for sharing your experience with this when I wrote about xylitol!)

If you have an idea of what the most valuable things to take along would be (either because you live in Israel, have made a move like this, or are otherwise familiar with the issue at hand), please share your recommendations of what you found most valuable to take along! 

Avivah