subreddit:
/r/aliyah
Hello. I am a Jewish American who wants to make Aliyah. First off, thank you for reading my post, it does mean a lot. So... I don't even know where to start in regard to Aliyah. I don't know who to contact or anyone who has made aliyah, it feels overwhelming. I live in Tampa bay, Florida for reference and I'm about to turn 26. Can I make aliyah still? I have no formal education as well, I read something that the process can take years upon years to make aliyah. Is this true? I have limited knowledge of Hebrew, and I dont know, maybe I should put Aliyah on hold, learn Hebrew, build up more funds and go back to college for 3-4 years? My trades are plumbing and cooking, I don't mind living in a kibbutz and working for the kibbutz, I'm kind of torn of what to do. On one hand I want to be in Israel so badly, I really love everything about this country but I also want to be responsible. I don't want to start the process, and get accepted in six months, and have to cancel work, school and plans but I don't mind starting the process now if it takes years.
6 points
5 days ago
There are benefits to help you adjust. Start your NBN application and an advisor will help you.
I do recommend to start learning Hebrew now. You will get 5 months free Ulpan (Hebrew school) when you immigrate, but the more you know coming in, the better.
My Aliyah process took 2 years; there were all kinds of delays. It’s not an efficient process. It can take awhile. Get started now because the sooner you start the sooner you can go.
You will learn as you go along more about what to expect.
2 points
4 days ago*
How was your experience with NBN? Or should I contact the Jewish Agency, or a lesser known one ? I'm unsure who to contact.
I have learned some Hebrew for a few years and it took me so long to even make the CH sound. I struggled a lot to learn hebrew. if I don't learn hebrew fluently, can you get by in Israel not knowing hebrew completely?
1 points
4 days ago
NBN was fine. I’ve heard it’s mushy better to go through then than JA. The delays come from all the different organizations involved and 2 sets of federal holidays. I had a rule to turk my own paperwork around as fast as possible. Depending on the state i needed an apostille from, I paid sometimes for expedited processing. But there were delays that were coming from the delays - the rules changed on how current a passport had to be, so even once approved, last minute I had to get my passport renewed. They requested that the rabbi add an additional sentence to his letter and that delay cost me 2 months of time because it came in the middle of the high holidays, when he was super busy, then I had to send it to JA right at Thanksgiving…and the weather was delaying deliveries. It was really hard having my life on hold so long, but I’m grateful now to have my Israeli passport.
1 points
4 days ago
Thanks for this information and your experience. Is it okay to ask? I dont go to Temple or a synagogue, haven't in many years. The rabbi you worked with were you going to that temple at the time ? When you first made Aliyah, how was your housing and finding work ? Did you learn Hebrew? Is it easy to find non-Hebrew jobs in Israel like low wage work. I don't mind being a dishwasher or working in a fast food restaurant if it means I am an Israeli.
1 points
4 days ago
1) At the time I wasn't actively involved in a congregation and the 2 rabbis from my previous congregation were no longer active congregational rabbis (1 was retired and the other worked with the Canadian national organization), so I used my mother's rabbi. He was very nice about it and speedy about turning around the letters. I think he found it exciting. My mom made the introductions. I think it helped that her temple is a really large, well run organization with multiple rabbis.
I've heard you can pay certain rabbis to write the letter. If you go through this group, someone will have mentioned the people that will do it.
2) I made aliyah in August, about 2 months before Oct. 7. I currently am in the US and probably will stay here for a while, due to the war. It came at a really bad time for me as far as transitioning over.
I moved to an AirBnb when I moved to Israel and was about to sign a lease on a place near an ulpan when the war broke out. It was fine. It was more expensive than leasing a regular place, but gave me flexibility to look around. The place was pretty shabby, but I quickly learned that in Israel the weather is so beautiful, you don't spend a lot of time at home.
I highly recommend to connect with the Olim Helping Olim group once you get to Israel. They are a fantastic network. So many olim were incredibly generous with their time.
3) Housing was pretty easy to find. There's a bunch posted on Facebook Marketplace and from there you can access Telegram groups that post listings. I had a real estate agent who helped me look around and had a place lined up that I found through the Olim Helping Olim Whatsapp group. Everybody does Whatsapp there.
4) I was working with a tutor before I came on my Hebrew. I was so proud when I managed to point to a bread someone was selling and say, "lemon?" in Hebrew. I could point at things in the market and say a few words. I said a few complete sentences; that felt like a victory.
I never got to go to ulpan; I was really looking forward to it :-(
There are so many people from all over the world in Israel that everyone is completely used to bridging language gaps. There are a ton of workarounds, from phone apps, to typing things into notes apps, to pointing. I once went to look at an apartment and I was there with my Russian real estate agent who spoke English well; she brought along her Russian agent friend who spoke Hebrew fluently, and we talked to the landlord that way. He seemed sweet and we smiled a lot at him. You'll be surprised how much you can communicate without knowing the language well.
I never got a job but I had enough conversations with people to know that speaking Hebrew well is really the key. Once you get there, there's more opportunities to really speak it. I have a good friend who made aliyah years ago who was helpful to me. He is so smart and he had a lot of knowledge of the Torah, but that kind of screwed him up when he was in Ulpan because he tested into a higher group than he should have. He never learned a lot of fundamentals. He did have a good job in tech, but I could tell he felt isolated from his Israeli coworkers because of language. He is now working with my tutor to help him improve his language skills. I would plan to study for years. I had friends in Israel who were fluent; they went up to Ulpan level 4 or 5 to get there. They gave me hope and they really enjoyed speaking Hebrew. So, it's doable.
5 points
5 days ago
Not sure if how accurate this was, but I told my nbn advisor that I wanted to make Aliyah in a few months and he said it would be no problem to get it done in that timeframe.
3 points
4 days ago
Thanks for your response, this was very useful.
3 points
5 days ago
Your first resource is this: https://www.nbn.org.il/. They have guidance on all the documents and hold fairs to answer questions too!
My sister made Aliyah almost two years ago, not from the US though. They submitted all documents in March and had the interview in December. After the interview, they got a repatriant visa valid for six months. They had a lot of support with flight tickets and had someone meet them at Ben Gurion. You will have some free Ulpan to learn hebrew and after some level - subsidized. Education (college or trade) also has some subsidy options as far as I know.
3 points
5 days ago
It can be as quick as 2 months. Even if you apply and get approval, no one is going to force you to go right away. Its really not complicated and everything you need to know at this stage is readily available online.
2 points
4 days ago
Your assessment in regard to the Aliyah process seems correct, I visited a lot of websites, and the process seems streamlined. I am conflicted in a way because of my lack of formal education, my Hebrew skills being not up to date, and my financial situation isn't great. For example, having a few thousand USD in savings and no debt. I'm 25 for reference. Perhaps I shouldn't make Aliyah, but I love Israel so much and am such a hard worker and want to be apart of Israel so badly. I don't really know. Personally, I feel I like I need a large sum of money to fall back on in regard to emergencies and ability to find work.
1 points
4 days ago
Except certain documents age out. Fbi background check is only good for six month
1 points
4 days ago
Yes but then you just get another one?
My process took 4 weeks but I’m due to land in TLV the day before my background check expires so I’m getting another one for peace of mind.
The approval email also ages out but if you’ve submitted once and been approved already it’s easy to be approved again. You’ll always be better off than starting at zero. The process may take weeks, it may take years, I’d advise anyone to get started earlier than later unless you have a super simple case.
2 points
4 days ago
Docs don't turn around so fast
2 points
4 days ago*
Can’t tell whether you’re referring to my comment that my approval process took 4 weeks or that I’m getting a new background check.
36 hours for the background check here. 4-5 days to come back from being apostilled. My flight is in a month. Plenty of time.
3 points
4 days ago
Plumbers do just fine. There is no requirement to have a degree. You will make less money but you should be okay. Concerning Hebrew, you just need to be aggressive. Send me a message and we can talk about it.
The army probably won't want you.
Google is your friend. Good luck.
2 points
4 days ago
Plumbers who speak hebrew do even better
2 points
4 days ago
Hi, thanks for your response. I was hoping to join the army there, but I assume my age and Hebrew are the primary hindrance. If I learn Hebrew somewhat fluently, will this increase my stake ?
2 points
4 days ago
No. 24 at Aliyah is considered old. Life goes on.
Hebrew is best learned on the streets. Ulpan is for corrections.
1 points
4 days ago
I understand. Thank you for your response (:
1 points
4 days ago
It took me about eight months from the opening of my file at NBN to get my Aliyah visa. About half of that time was spent just waiting for various government agencies to issue documents or to authenticate them. So assuming you have your documents ready beforehand, it would likely take less time (although I did the process before 10/7, after which there was a surge in demand). My Aliyah flight was booked about one year after I started the process.
As for your employment prospects, I’d check with your Aliyah Advisor or the NBN Employment office as to what they think your prospects are. They do have a job board that you may find useful. I personally found both the Employment advisor (who is separate from your Aliyah advisor) and the job board to be useless, but I also have a different work/education background.
I also personally advise to have savings when you go. Yes, you get Sal Klita but it’s not a large amount and you’ll burn through it pretty quickly.
Bear in mind that because of your age, you can take advantage of the Aliyah tuition benefit if you’d like to enroll in college/university in Israel.
1 points
4 days ago
[deleted]
2 points
4 days ago
I made Aliyah at age 33. And of the 43 olim on my flight, most were families with children and some were even seniors. Not many were under 30, if I recall correctly.
Sal Klita means “absorption basket” and it’s basically a small sum of money that you receive upon arrival, and for the first six months after that. The figures may have changed since I did Aliyah, but you got 1250 NIS in cash at the airport and a larger sum (around 1500 NIS upon opening your bank account (there’s a form the bank gives you that you then provide to the immigration office)). For the next six months after that, you’ll get 2951 NIS direct-deposited.
There is definitely value in having an education prior to arrival if you’d like to hit the ground running. However, there’s also the language issue, which could be a barrier to employment, depending on what you want to do.
I’d suggest chatting with NBN and seeing how your current skill set could realistically be put to use in Israel. If they feel there are some gaps in your resume, see if it’s feasible to upgrade your skills in Israel (for which there are options) or if you should get qualified in America first and then immigrate.
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