Site Purpose

My whole family made Aliyah more than 24 years ago when there was only the Israeli Government’s Absorption Ministry available to help us. Today there are other resources available such as Nefesh B’ Nefesh to assist you in your journey. 
But this site is designed to give those Jews; wherever they are; enough courage to take those first steps toward making Aliyah. To those of you who have not even given Aliyah a second thought, we want to call your attention to the fact that since living here, our whole family has seen many open miracles taking place before our eyes. I truly believe that had we not come here, those miracles may not have taken place.
The main point we want to bring out is that you must come with an open mind and heart to the Jewish State that did not exist when the Nazis murdered 6 million Jews. Living in Minneapolis while growing up I really had no personal experiences regarding the Holocaust and therefore I was not sensitive to what those that survived the Holocaust had to go through. 
I have heard many stories from the close relatives of those families that my children married into. But there are many other stories which we have experienced since being here. And if you have been reading my Blogs at Times of Israel you should be familiar with these stories. I can assure you this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many stories remain untold and those stories along with many others we intend to reveal on this site.
Those people who have never met a survivor of the Holocaust have a lot to learn. But it is more important to realize that what is taking place right now all over the world could be a definite sign for everyone to take notice of how fortunate we are to now have the State of Israel and a place to go to if things get unbearable for Jews no matter where they live.

Consider Your Children I speak to all of you from the heart. When planning your families’ future, there are obviously many things to consider, but the most important decision any parent has to make involves the future of our children. And when it comes to being Jewish, it is all the more important to take many things into consideration. Perhaps the most important of those is education so that your children will grow up learning a skill and support a family one day when the time comes for those children to look for a suitable partner to marry. 

But having lived here for so long I realize that it depends what type of child you have that determines the educational path your child takes. For everyone who lives outside of Israel, the primary goal for each child would most likely be to graduate from a top University which will open the door to many job opportunities. That is a very reasonable assumption to make. But from what I observe, things work very differently here and there really is no logical explanation for it.

Children’s Schooling

In religious circles here, the more educated and learned the Yeshiva bocher is, the more he is sought after by families looking for a suitable Chasan for their daughter. Coming from Minnesota and not being raised in a religious family, that was something I never knew before we made Aliyah. Even living in Johannesburg and for anyone else living in most other countries, the main consideration regarding a boy who wants to learn for a substantial portion of his life is how he will support his wife and family when they begin to have children. 

When we made Aliyah in 1996, I was under the impression the Yeshivas here all offered a path to a high school diploma known as Bagrut as well as concentrating on religious studies known as Limudei Kodesh. After all this seemed to be the norm in the vast majority of countries and therefore I thought the same applied in Israel as well but it soon became obvious that there were a limited amount of choices if I wished my boys to obtain a high school diploma and attend a Yeshiva at the same time. 

Since we first moved to the Jerusalem suburb of Neve Yaakov from the Absorption Center, I began my school and Yeshiva search in Jerusalem while still living on the Absorption Center. And much to my amazement the Yeshivas in Jerusalem only offered Limudei Kodesh and therefore I had to go elsewhere to find a school that also offered Bagrut. In fact, the Government would have allowed my oldest son who was 16 at the time to attend a high school which would have given him extra help to cope with the Hebrew language as well as the Bagrut tests, by making the test easier. The problem was the school was not religious and we did not feel it was a good idea to expose our son to this shortly after making Aliyah. 

So my wife and I spent many days and nights looking for suitable options for not only my oldest son but for all the children. My wife took care of our youngest girls who were three and five at the time and together we looked for suitable schools for our other two young daughters who were 15 and 12. We also needed to find appropriate schooling for our other sons who were 13 and 10.  

Education Opportunities Today Have Vastly Improved

Today the situation has vastly improved. Now there are many new schools that have opened which cater for the increasing number of children that are new Ohlim. In addition, many of those schools realize the needs of these children because they come from a totally different country and therefore those needs must be addressed because they spend the majority of their time in school.

I could go on and on about the schooling opportunities here in Israel but I just want to point out that it is an excellent idea to first come on a fact-finding tour and then you will be able to explore all the schooling options that Israel has for your loved ones.

But It Is Not Necessary To Come On A Fact Finding Tour In The Initial Aliyah Stage 

There are many questions that you must consider asking and finding answers for before looking into making Aliyah. And this is one of the primary purposes that “Your Aliyah Advisor” was established. After living here for more than one third of my life I wanted to make a strong statement to world Jewry that The Land Of Israel is indeed a rich and prosperous land and Jews who are now living outside of Israel should consider making Israel their home.

It is very understandable that many people are reluctant to even consider the idea, but I am encouraging all of you to at least consider making a fact-finding tour to explore what Israel has to offer for you and your family. 

Since being here, I can only say that indeed G-d has his eyes on this land throughout the year. Miracles are constantly happening here and you must be here to witness them for yourselves. 

The Rains Actually Come At The Exact Times We Daven For Them

The weather pattern in this part of the world is actually amazing to see. Rains come during the winter while it remains dry in summer. Since I have lived in, and visited many places, it’s amazing how unpredictable most of the weather patterns in those places really are. 

Israel Today Is One Of The Most Attractive Countries On Earth In Which To Live And Visit

There are many more advantages to consider as well which makes living here a very worthwhile family experience.                                                

We Welcome Your Questions And Comments

For your convenience you can visit our contact page and feel free to make any comment or ask any question. Since this is a new site we are interested to know what is on your mind relating to the subject of Aliyah. Your input will help us develop a better understanding of what your needs are and we will make every effort to help you as best as we can.

Please remember that after having lived here many years we have seen Israel develop to the point that it is clear you will be very welcome here and have opportunities now that never existed when we made Aliyah. 

It is our intention to display on our site interesting personal and general stories about life here today in Israel. There are many things you most likely are not aware of which hopefully will be of interest to your whole family.

But again we want to stress that our primary focus will be to generate interest for Jews everywhere to make Aliyah.