I made aliyah, ask me anything :)

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 3:27 pm

amother wrote:

My 12th grade daughter wants to make aliyah. Do you think it's better to go right away, or wait till she has her bachelor's? (She wants to become a doctor) Do you speak perfect hebrew? Do you feel as an immigrant like you are at a disadvantage economically, like you'd be better off if you'd been born there?

I think it really depends on the individual. I came after my bachelors but I know many people who came and did university here and that was perfect for them.
Personally I think I speak 97% hebrew. Meaning, I can have a complete conversation in hebrew about almost anything but there are for sure words here and there that I just dont know if Ive never had to use before.
I do not think that olim are at a disadvantage economically, no.
I think protexia helps and being born here would have mae that more possible, but I dont think being an immigrant has hindered me economically.

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 3:30 pm

Israeli_C wrote:

How's your Hebrew?
How did you decide which community to live in?
If you could do one thing differently in the early years, what would it be?

My hebrew is just about fluent.
I made aliyah single to jerusalem and lived with other single girls. Then got married and we lived in a few different places until we chose the community we ended up in because of the area we liked and that it was close to where I was working (at that time). We did not have kids then and my husband was looking for work then, so that didnt come into the decision either. And we love where we live years later still.
If I could have done one thing differently, I would have made aliyah earlier and done uni in israel instead of america. It would have been a smoother transition from a younger age into the working life here, thats all.

trying hard

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 2:09 pm

Hi! My husband's lifelong dream has been to make Aliyah - we currently live in the US. We're trying to see if we can make it work this summer.
My biggest concern is for our children - specifically the older ones. I have concerns for all of them, but for today have questions about my son. He is in fourth grade, and is very smart, with many talents, but it is hard for him to sit still the whole day. He does not have ADHD, but he does have some of those facets- more energy, sometimes more disorganized, sometimes more immature and impulsive (In many ways he is very mature, bright and attuned to things, so this is hard to explain.) He had a couple of really rough years particularly during Rebbi time and was very turned off, and this year is finally settling in and getting back to himself. It took a lot of hard work and support, and the school knew that he is a very good kid, so they were very supportive.

Based on speaking to people in Ramat Beit Shemesh - which is where we'd go - I heard that if the schools there hear anything like this, they would not accept him. I hear that the schools in Israel have very large classes and less additional support, so I wonder how he would manage in that scenario as well. I am also extremely concerned that if he doesn't understand Hebrew fluently and is sitting there bored for most of the day (which is what I am told by parents who made Aliyah) it will really set him off track. And third, having a move of this magnitude this year, can be very stressful for him - leaving all his family and grandparents behind, friends and neighbors...and that alone can have a very negative affect. I am scared that if we do this now, we can mess him up for life or for a long time, or cause him a lot of problems.

Any insight at all? Or leads of where to post or who to talk to or ask? Anything would be super appreciated.

amother

Rose

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 2:21 pm

trying hard wrote:

I'm not the OP but I live in RBS. You should join this Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/group.....6902/

Post your questions and concerns and I think you will get the best answers from there.

Savta S

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 2:52 pm

You haven't indicated whether you'd be sending your children to chinuch atzma'I or mamlachti dati (whether torani or not). I can't comment regarding the charedi educational system (the chinuch atzma'I), but in mamlachti dati there are options. First of all, from Misrad Haklita you will be entitled for your children to get separate language tutoring or classes. I don't remember for how long, but it is for months. In addition, be aware that the legal class limit is a class of 40. Which means if the student count goes over 40, automatically they get a 'teken' approval for another class. That means if there are say 42 students for that year, it will translate into 21 children per class. Similarly divided if there are multiples of 40 per year, plus the leftover which gives the additional class. Here's what I am getting at, you do the investigation into each school possibility of how the numbers work for your son's grade (& the other children too). This often works out well in small communities, such as yishuvim in Yesha, but not only.

Be aware that you will need to ask everyone about the different benefits they either received or heard about, because this information will not be volunteered to you in any of the assorted gov't offices. You will have to ask for it.

Yes, chavlei klita, adjustment, is hard on all, including children, but in my case I wouldn't have it any other way. I live in an overwhelmingly Anglo community where often families here would be hosting friends' and relatives' children that are here for the year. Invariably our local kids would have little patience for the Americans. (Mind you all of them are children of Americans), calling them immature and spoiled.

One of my kids could readily have fit your description of yours. Yes, it was rough going. What can I say, I need to be honest. Yes, he was problematic throughout his 12 years of education. I felt it was a miracle he rec'd a bagrut. But today, he has a B.A., studying for a Master's (it amazes me, his mother). He matured & straightened out. Yeshivat Hesder & the army had a big part in that. Today though the system is much more attuned to children that don't fit the mold. My kids, are already adults raising their own families.

trying hard wrote:

amother

Green

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 3:01 pm

Savta S wrote:

She needs to do either national service (Sherut Le'umi) or army service in order to be eligible for medical school in Israel, in the Israeli program.

I have never heard such a thing. Are you sure? Is medical school here different from every other university program?
Girls here need a ptor (exemption) from the army, which is quite easy to get if they are religious. Once they have that ptor, they don't have to do any national service if they don't want to. It's something they have to actively sign up for. The dati leumi girls all sign up, usually for two years, while the charedi girls don't sign up at all.
I can't imagine medical school requiring national service or the army. It's just not logical.

In any case, AFAIK regular universities don't require any army service or any ptor. That's between you and the army.

trying hard

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 3:14 pm

Savta S wrote:

First, of all, thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it!

I think that we would be sending to the Chareidi educational system, but I will double check that. And that's really interesting about the 40 in the class - I will look into that as well. I was told by a friend of mine that we would have to pay for the tutoring...but maybe she did that in addition to what the school provided.

In terms of your son, thank you for your honesty.And I'm so glad to hear that things turned out well Smile

I truly have full faith that our son can be very successful too. I am just so worried that if we pull the rug out from him at this particular point, it can have lifelong reprecussions and I feel that it's not fair to him. His self esteem was really knocked and we put so much into building him back up. He's worked really hard too. My husband is so desperate to go asap and I don't think he truly understands what an emtional adjustment it is on the kids...if things were really solid it would be one story, but with him just getting back on track, I feel like we're playing with fire. So I'm trying to get as much info as possible.

Savta S

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 3:58 pm

amother wrote:

It's a requirement only for medical school (the program encompasses medical, dental & research). There is also an age requirement which escapes me, maybe 20. I've gone through this with one of mine, that's how I know. The only ones exempt from this are the Beduin.

And as I stated above it's either army or Sherut Le'umi.