Monday, March 7, 2011

Employment, Communities, and Other Aliyah Unknowns


We continued to make progress this past week in our Aliyah journey. On Thursday, we were able to submit the remaining documents needed for our application to Nefesh B’Nefesh. On Sunday, we schlepped into the city and had a wonderful meeting at Nefesh B’Nefesh with an Aliyah advisor. And today, we scheduled our next interview with our Shlichat at the Jewish Agency (two weeks from this Thursday).

The more things that we are checking off the list, the more anxious I am getting. There are just so many unknowns. No matter how much we learn now, I know that the knowledge pales in comparison to the experience.

Time seems to be flying by and the unknowns still linger. We are now focusing on finding a place to live (at least temporarily) when we finally make it home and finding employment.

We are still hoping that we will be able to participate in the First Home in the Homeland program (living on a kibbutz) or live in an absorption center but we are not taking those options for granted so we are exploring other options. There are a few communities suggested to us yesterday during our meeting which are around Jerusalem. It was also suggested that we look into the Go North program. We are taking all of these options into consideration and researching towns, apartments, costs, etc.

Employment is a completely different situation. Maybe I will be able to keep my current job (and salary) but I am not counting on that. I am anticipating having to find a new job and I have been networking for months to increase my chances of finding a job quickly. However, the Teaching English in Israel program has been brought back to life recently which is good news for my wife. She will be able to receive ulpan, training, and a stipend.    

We still have a lot of questions but we are slowly getting some answers. Hopefully we will get some more answers when we meet with our Shlichat. G-d willing, everything will go smoothly during our appointment and we will officially be accepted by the Jewish Agency.

With that said, any employment, community, real estate, or general Aliyah advice you would like to share would be greatly appreciated.

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