Hilarious! 10 Ways to Know Your Aliyah Is Successful.

This list comes from Ilene Rosenblum and was written in the spirit of Purim.  It's very funny.   Ilene is an olah and an incredibly talented freelance writer and digital media developer.   She has a very interesting blog, Aliyah L'Torah, which is worth following.    Thanks, Ilene.

10 Ways to Know Your Aliyah Is Successful

Israeli culture can be difficult to adjust to, but it gets easier with time. Here are some signs that you are blending in well:

#10. You met your 70-year-old Shabbat host when she shoved you aside in order to get on the empty bus.

#9. Your chain-smoking sherut driver doesn’t stay in the lane, but, Baruch Hashem, he says Tehillim.

#8. All of your 5 sons carry a gun. And so does your rabbi.

#7. Your morning commute involves hitchiking.

#6. Your Russian is coming along nicely.

#5. You wear a winter coat and hat when it is 18 degrees C outside. Sandals, however, are appropriate in any weather, or during any lifecycle event.

#4. You were set up on a shidduch during a job interview.

#3. You have no problem using a storage closet as a dressing room even though it doesn’t have a mirror, or a door. The cab driver idling by the storefront will tell you if the clothes are mat’im.

#2. You have eaten schnitzel for breakfast.

#1. You really begin your grocery shopping once you’ve put your cart in the checkout line.

A commenter to Ilene's blog added another one:

"The men mending the roof opposite, when they heard me ‘kvetch’ about the rain “Gveret, zarich le’hagid Baruch Hashem le’kol ha’geshem” – and I’m not even sure they were Jewish !!"

Havel Havelim: The Purim Edition

Check out the Purim edition of Havel Havelim!

Kumah.org Aliyah Revolution

I received a really cool album in the mail today.  It's from kumah.org and was free.  It's called the Aliyah Revolution Album.

Per the note that was included in the album cover:

"The Aliyah Revolution Album" is not about making it in Israel. It is about having the strength to break out of the powerful gravitational pull of America and the other countries of the Diaspora. The purpose of the music collected here is to give you strength and inspiration in those moments when you need a reminder or a boost - when the exile is getting you down. Music is a powerful medicine to mend the broken spirit, and that is what our nation needs now more than ever - spirit! We need guts to wake up, to get up, to stop being afraid. This album is about the freedom of fearlessness and the wings to fly home.


Here is the youtube video advertisement for the album.

My Nefesh B'Nefesh Essay

(We have returned from our pilot trip, and I really have so much to report, and to write about.  However, all of my time for the past 2 weeks has been spent getting over pneumonia, and filling out the Nefesh B'Nefesh application that is due this week.


However, part of the Nefesh B' Nefesh application is a supporting statement (i.e. essay) on why you want to make aliyah.  I thought I would include a draft of my essay here as a post. I am in the process of revising this essay and will repost when it's final)

The land and State of Israel have been pivotal in forming my Jewish identity.

Let me explain.

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Snow "State of Emergency" Best Thing to Happen

Its official.  At this point, this winter season has broken the record as Maryland's snowiest winter ever.

Its like Jadis, the White Witch, has come from Narnia and made it "always winter" here.  We received 3 feet of snow (yes, thats right, 3 whole feet) over Shabbos and only a few days later, another foot and a half of white fluff is being deposited on my steps as I write this blog post.  The Baltimore Sun is now reporting that two more snow storms are on its way for the following week.

Surprisingly, the result of all this snow in our lives has been positive.  Sure, there has been some hysteria (my mother calls every few hours to make sure I'm okay) and rumors of unfortunate events have spread, where purportedly emergency personnel were unable to make it to a "scene" quickly enough to save a life.  And in a more trivial matter, my wife had to wait over an hour to check out at the local supermarket yesterday before the beginning of the storm.

THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF A SNOW STORM

However, the real effect of these snow storms and self-proclaimed "state of emergency" has been positive.  Mainly, the Jewish community here in Baltimore has come together like never before.  Usually, with our houses spread out from each other, with having to drive to get anywhere, and with over 10 shuls within a convenient walking distance, I don't see my neighborhoods.  Its not exaggerating to say that I only see my immediate next neighbor only several times a year.

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Am I Allowed To Move To Israel?

(The following is a post from the blog Mystical Paths that I copied here.  Its fantastic.)
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I received the following question from a reader...

How is it that you have/are promoting aliyah if (you know?) :
The Talmud explains That we have been foresworn, by three strong oaths, not to ascend to the Holy Land as a group using force, not to rebel against the governments of countries in which we live, and not by our sins, to prolong the coming of moshiach; as is written in Tractate Kesubos 111a.

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A Spiritual and Halachic Guide to Making Aliyah

(Here is the information for a new book on the halachos of making aliyah and and below is review from Arutz Sheva)

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Oleh Chadash
The New Immigrant to Israel

A Spiritual and Halachic Guide to Making Aliyah

Rabbi Mordechai Friedfertig – former Rabbi of Kehillat Ohr Tzion in Buffalo, NY, and now spreading Ha-Rav Shlomo Aviner's Torah for Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim and living in Ma'ale Adumim - has authored a new book on halachot, customs and insights relating to all stages of making aliyah. "Oleh Chadash" – A Spiritual and Halachic Guide to Making Aliyah is a single, 2-sided volume (175 pages) with the full text in both English and Hebrew. Many of the halachot and insights are based upon the teachings of Ha-Rav Aviner.

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Shlock Rock: Walking In Eretz Yisrael

It Takes Less Money To Live in Israel

(The following is from Breslov.org)

One of the things that really kills me, now that I’m living in Eretz Yisroel, is how much money I had in the UK, that I wasted on nonsense. We were tremendously in debt in the UK. Even though I had my own high-earning business and my husband was a lawyer, we still spent far more than we earned every month.

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Why Aliyah Is Important For You

(The following is a post from Kumah.)

Wherever you might be right now there is one thing that is certain, you are a Jew. You might be a Jew living in New York, you might be a Jew living in London, you might even be an accountant. Its even possible that you might be looking for a whole new way to identify yourself, either way no matter what, you are a Jew first and a Jew last. It is important to clarify that because by speaking of Aliyah and its importance we need to understand what being a Jew and living in Israel has to do with each other. There are many countries and regions in the world filled with all kinds of people. There is but one country promised to one people, explicitly stated by G-d, and that is the land of Israel for the Jewish people...

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