Sanity check: Shipping our Household to Israel

FranticFrummie

Tue, Jul 07 2015, 5:01 pm

Don't be scared off by narrow doorways and living room furniture. I have my great grandmother's furniture, and it is HUGE and heavy. I'm paying extra for delivery because they are going to use a hoist to get the furniture in through the double doors of the merpeset. Make sure you arrange it ahead of time with the moving company.

Regarding small kitchen appliances and dishes you don't want, find someone in your community who is converting. It is a wonderful gift to give, so they can offset the cost of buying a whole new kitchen setup.

If the new convert has a limited wardrobe, consider donating a lot of clothes that you are not bringing with you, too. I remember when I became observant, I was shocked at how much in my wardrobe did not "work" for me anymore, and how much I needed to replace. I would have loved to have someone give me a box of longer length skirts!

aquad

Tue, Jul 07 2015, 5:11 pm

We came a few months ago, and are still settling in. We're just a couple, and are expecting our first, so our situation is obviously different.
Just be sure you have the right amount of space for everything. We brought an American-sized oven for family members, and were storing it in our apartment for a while. The movers nearly couldn't get it through the door!
Unless you know the dimensions of everything, it's not necessarily worth bringing big appliances or furniture. Rooms are smaller- a standard bedroom doesn't necessarily have the space for a bed, night table, dresser, and desk.
I think it's worthwhile to bring your old furniture (assuming you like it) if you know it will fit, and you know its good quality. (We brought a solid oak dining room table. Its huge, I bought it for $70 secondhand, and it will last me for a lifetime.)
The only big appliance I brought was a huge second freezer, as those can plug in anywhere, and there are less moving parts- I don't really expect a freezer to die on me.

catonmylap

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 1:20 am

In terms of beds, the Israeli made ones open up to have storage underneath with is super helpful... they might end up costing more though...

Watch out for clumsy breakfront pieces, people don't usually have those here so they can be hard to fit into a standard apartment..

m in Israel

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 2:41 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

This is a really nice idea, and would apply equally well to someone just becoming frum. Maybe a local Kiruv organization would know of someone who is starting to keep kosher who would appreciate your things.

DrMom

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 7:17 am

Do you have blueprints of your new home? Did you check that it is really suited to this furniture?

I know many olim who just would not part with their high quality valuable wooden furniture when they made aliyah. Almost all of them regret having shlepped all this large clunky, oversized furniture with them.

Unless you are moving to an exceptionally large place (a luxurious villa in Cesarea, for example) the rooms here are smaller than rooms in the US, and your living rooms will look like a furniture store warehouse.

m in Israel

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 7:23 am

DrMom wrote:

An electric pencil sharpener is a must? Really?

Well, it's not quite as essential as ziplock bags or unclumpy onion powder, but it is pretty high up on the list Very Happy

The truth is I couldn't imagine anyone else actually brought one, and when I saw someone else listing it I thought it was really funny that I wasn't the only one! (But then again, on that same shopping trip I actually DID buy Crayola markers -- it was the Walmart back to school sale, and they were literally 99 cents a pack, and we were returning from that Chasuna entitled to 12 pieces of luggage and 6 carry-on bags Wink

)

mandksima

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 9:07 am

Another thing to think about is how long you will be in your first house/apartment. Your next place will have differently sized rooms. My house is crowded with furniture now but we will hopefully build on or move to a bigger place at some point. I am attached to my stuff so it made sense for me to bring a lot to use in the future.

AinOdMilvado

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 6:51 pm

I have to say I disagree with many of the writers here, but this is only based on my personal experience

I live here for over 10.5 years and I LOVE my American Appliances (220v that we bought when we made aliyah and would cost me twice as much to buy now IF I could even get it here), and wish I still had most of my furniture - but that I was able to outgrow quicker except for our recliner that has moved everywhere with us.

It's true that they are bigger than most Israeli kitchens are built for but we have moved several times and have
always made it work...occasionally we had to move a gas line (not huge $$) to a spot where the oven would fit, or install a "sheka koach" for the washer/dryer but it's totally worth it, I bake a lot (can fit 2 cookie sheets side by side & a whole challah recipe at once) and have several kids (= tons of laundry), & though I see some people do, I don't know how people manage without them...I count my blessings, as does DH, every time we use them! Oh, and I live off my ice machine in the fridge/freezer, it's awesome! You also cannot get a spare freezer with shelves here of a remotely comparable size (only drawers, even the biggest of them you'll be lucky if you can fit half of what you can fit in an American freezer).

Feel free to PM me if you have any other aliyah related Qs or if I can help in any other way...

4Sisters

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 8:23 pm

OP here: unmasking Smile

Thank you all SO MUCH for responding. You confirmed our ideas and we are in the process of booking the (full) lift now. b''eH, this will all be worked out tomorrow. We will be taking all the furniture that means something to us/our kids, or that we think would be very expensive to replace/not of the same quality.

I agree that it will be very helpful to have familiar things with us as we adjust.....

FranticFrumie: may your aliyah go smoothly. I have read many of your posts and I think we are on the same wavelength about many aliyah-related things Smile

. And, yes, we are also getting a crane (hoist?) to put things in through the mirpeset, rather than the front door.

b''H, our shul is having a yard sale soon and we are donating TONS of stuff. Last time we did this, people came from an hour away just to get frum clothing for $1/piece!

Aquad: hope your adjusting well (sounds like it!). Welcome!

DrMom: we do have blueprints of our house (rental for the first year, like mansksima says) and b''H, it seems like everything will fit. While the new place is smaller than our suburban home here in the US, it is big by Israeli standards. Hopefully we measured and judged correctly and it won't look stuffed to the gills Smile

Again, my thanks to each of you for taking the time to respond!!!!!

4Sisters

Wed, Jul 08 2015, 8:34 pm

Sanguine: yup, you got it: you really understood the finances involved. We would save $6000 by taking a smaller lift, but the question is how far would it go to replace my living room set and the other furniture we wouldn't take?

Like MandKsima said, I think it would be hard to need to run out shopping right away (with my lousy Hebrew and lack of car [oh, and I don't much like shopping anyway!.....)