Aliyah - my two cents

blessedflower

Tue, Jun 16 2020, 10:13 am

You get ulpan for free. 90% off for arnona for first year. From 6 or 8 months after aliyah you get some money for rent every month (If you don't own an apartment).
You get huge discounts for studying.
You don't have to pay bituach leumi for the first 6 months or year (Don't remember, could be even longer).
You pay much less tax when buying a house for the first 5 or 10 years.
You don't pay tax for buying a car.
You choose a kupat cholim and they must take you no matter what your health history is.
There are more benefits.
Also the money you get for the first 6 months is for every family member (according to age) so the bigger the family the more money

Reality

Tue, Jun 16 2020, 3:29 pm

blessedflower wrote:

As someone who has been looking into aliya the last few months I know that not everything you wrote is so straight forward.

For example, the subsidies for education are only for younger olim. I'm in my late thirties and cannot qualify to go back to school.

If you want to buy a car tax free it has to be brand new. It may be cheaper to buy a gently used car and pay taxes.

Do your research. Nefesh B'nefesh has excellent webinars up on their site currently. Watch and learn what you are actually entitled to.

blessedflower

Tue, Jun 16 2020, 3:46 pm

Reality wrote:

absolutely. It's to complicated to write but it comes with a bunch of rules. You need to know how to play the cards right.
Much easier for a small and young family. The money we got the first 6 months was more than just living. We are able to use it to buy new things we needed like furniture. But I guess if you come with older kids it won't be enough money. Also my dh found work pretty quickly

2gether

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 2:53 am

Just please don't jump into aliyah on a whim!

I know more than one family who moved here before Agudas Israel said that families with teens shouldn't move here and their kids are so mixed up, late 20s and 30s and still can't settle down, OTD, divorced, moved back by themselves, etc.

Also moving here w/o a gameplan to earn a living is a real issue. Americans come here, don't go to Ulpan, can't find a job, live in levels of poverty they would of never dreamed of in the States.

Yes, NBN and the gov do help with Aliyah, but the help is very limited and limited to who they give it.

Last point, Aliyah is not a hospital just the same way marriage is not a hospital. If you have issues they won't get resolved by moving here. I know people move for a fresh start and because they might not be tied down, but that not a good enough reason to move.

Success10

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 2:57 am

2gether wrote:

Yes, yes, yes! Every last word. I know America is a terrifying place right now, these are very uncertain times, but jumping on the Aliyah boat without a financial plan and stable husband and kids of the right ages is just trading in one set of problems for another.

amother

Pewter

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 2:57 am

amother [ Beige ] wrote:

For the poster who asked about making Aliya with teenagers.
Do olim chadasim still get free university fees? They did in my day, but that was 25 years ago.

I think you also get tax-free purchase on a car (which cuts the cost of a new car by about half). Is that still a benefit for Olim?

I believe it's at least one year of tuition for free, or all three years, depending on how long you've been in the country.

Yes, you still get a tax break on a car, but taxes have gone down, so the discount isn't as steep as it once was. And hybrids have a tax incentive already, so there's basically no advantage for olim in buying a hybrid.

It's still amazing how much the government invests in olim.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 4:22 am

amother [ Beige ] wrote:

Free university is for 1 degree and under 30 years of age.
And the tax break is only on a new car (we did that 12 years ago)

amother

Teal

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 4:53 am

Op is confusing me

If people are really so desperate they are willing to live in a tent, and can't afford a lift, but they can't part with the belongings that they can't fit into 2 suitcases PER FAMILY MEMBER with no weight limit?

If you want to make aliyah because the situation gets really desperate because of mass aliya- it will look something like the aliyot if the past (russian, etheopian, mizrahi jews) huge merkazei klta/ absorption camps and then building subsidized housing projects in the periphery (with not very many high paying job opportunities) the first generation will have it very hard, have to work in difficult jobs/manual labor and the next generation will do better.
Though the fact we are in the age of the internet gives me hope that it would be a bit of a smoother process then those groups had it...

If the situation is that people have no FINANCIAL future in the states and would like to make aliya, but it isn't a desperate situation where everyone is able to flee and live in a tent with nothing.

There is a LOT in place to facilitate aliya in such a circumstance - free tickets, no tax on lift, no tax on car, sal klita....
NBN and the Jewish Agency + organizations here in israel who help navigate the system (like chaim v'chessed...)

I do believe that Misrad Hachinuch should start middle/high schools focused on helping older Anglo Olim integrate and learn hebrew- if they really are seeing such a spike in aliya this will really be necessary - they have such schools for russians, no reason they can't for anglo's - should be such for mamlachti, mamad, and charedi communities. I believe that if such schools where set up in cheaper parts of the country (Beer Sheva? Kiryat Shmona...) then NBN/Jewish Agency could send Olim to these places with cheaper housing costs, especially if the have remote jobs from the US....

LovesHashem

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 5:01 am

Success10 wrote:

Not necessarily. I know many people who were suffering financially, they came with NO place, No jobs, no savings, nothing. They kinda figured if their struggling already in the USA and can't pay bills, what's the difference of being in the same boat in Israel.

You CAN make aliyah with teens! I know many that have, I am an aliyah teen. If they want it it can totally work!