Merkazei klita, etc. etc.

amother

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 3:14 am

Consider this rhetorical, having read the responses to my thread which referred to the R'Wallerstein thread.

I should state, that the only respondent who to my recollection was completely non-assuming (forgive me if I overlooked others)... was the one who mentioned about merkazei klita. I'm wondering where they're located, are the rooms shared with others, does each have a kosher kitchen & bath, and how kosher the food stores nearby are, as well as up-to-par shuls for R"H, Y"K & Megilla.

As for the rest, I'm not sure if anyone has heard of the book "The Other Side Of The Story", but whichever of you respondents fancy yourselves to be intelligent, I challenge you to attempt stretching your imaginations, and attempt to figure out why your assumptions do not apply to my situation, and why it's obvious you didn't fully absorb my OP. For example, what makes you think I didn't already go thru aliyah many years ago, and what happened after that? And my current status vis-a-vis the current unpredictable closed-border, rocky-economy, war-like situation?

That thread was very enlightening. Did you know that according to prophecy, Moshiach will be able to read peoples' faces, and based on that, only some people will be allowed refuge, when a certain mountain will split open? For example, Moshiach might know "you had a chance to post sympathetically, but instead you acted scoffingly, even though your life is settled and the other person's wasn't". Or - "you had a chance to avoid further deepening someone's angst by avoiding assumptions, but instead you chose otherwise".

So...per my recollection of the tangents on that thread:
I'm not even sure it's a matter of 80% sympathy to non-charedim.
Even more so, it's a matter of "rachmanim, baishonim v'gomlei chassadim".

I.E. Who is a Jew?
(1) Rachmon - as in Non conclusion-jumping
(2) Baishon - ditto
(3) Gomel Chessed - ditto

IMO, the extremely convoluted debates on imamother are quite far from the ohr l'amim which G-d favors. It seems to me like the amim's worship of semantics vs. substance rubbed off on us, rather than vice versa. And it's precisely because of this, that I expect yet further cluelessness to come rolling in, and which is why I labelled this a rhetorical post.

Success10

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 3:32 am

I do apologize for what you perceived as assumptions and apathy. You posted a very attacking OP, and people are naturally going to be a bit defensive.

Secondly, no one assumed anything about you personally. We don't know your story, we never pretended to. You asked why there is not a communal effort to bring Americans on Aliyah, and the answers were pretty unanimous in saying that there is a concerted effort to help Olim, but the vast majority of Jews in America are not interested.

Rappel

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 3:55 am

Here's what I know about merkazei klitah:

They usually run for around 6 months.
They're essentially tiny apartments in a designated building. There are such buildings in the main cities all over the country.
They provide on-site ulpan, and sometimes job training.

There are merkazei klitah dedicated to young singles, young professionals, and to families'.

It's not considered a good option for families, because for the most part people whom choose to live in a merkaz klitah are very poor, and may not have their lives together in other ways, and there's no reason that they will have things together enough to get a job, manage their lives, and rent their own apartment after only 6 months.

I know two singles, and one family, whom made aliyah straight to merkazei klitah. They all had successful aliyahs, but not because of any help they received at the merkaz. They're each just really dedicated and committed, and made their own way. They each also had their lives mostly together to begin with.

As for tents: I wasn't being dismissive. I know people whom live in tents, and are raising their families there, in the name of the ideology of settling the land. It's a truly difficult life, for many reasons. And unless that's really your dream, there's no reason to do that as a klitah process. It would create more difficulties for a new oleh than not.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 4:06 am

essie14 wrote:

I dont think there are merkazei klita for Anglo olim anymore except the ones for singles.
Ulpan etzion is a dorm-like mercaz klita for single olim between 22-35.
AFAIK, the family style ones are for Ethiopians.

This. I remember asking a while ago about merkazei klita, if they were still in use, and was told that no, not really. Only for some specific reasons and then also for ethiopian olim. But not in general the way they used to be use, maybe 30 years ago.

OP, can you make your OP a bit clearer? I dont really get the point you are trying to make.

Elfrida

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 5:22 am

Quote:

I'm wondering where they're located, are the rooms shared with others, does each have a kosher kitchen & bath, and how kosher the food stores nearby are, as well as up-to-par shuls for R"H, Y"K & Megilla.

There are a few merkazei klita dotted around the country. As mentioned above they aren't really in use the same way they used to be.

In the more dati areas there is a higher chance of the kitchen being kosher, but you would have to treat it the same way as any other rented apartment. You don't know who has lived there in the past and what their level of kashrut was.

The local makolets would also reflect the local community and their eating habits.

The same with shuls. They are what the local community wants. If you walk further, there will be a wider range available. Your standards for Yamim Nora'im davening and Megillah is up to you. You can look for the perfect shul, or compromise on a local one. The perfect shul may be next door to a mercaz klita, but you can't count on it.

Merkazei klita are not designed as a long term option. They certainly don't give a high standard of living. They are there to give you somewhere to land, and stay there while you find your feet and make further plans. I think it is limited to six months to a year.[quote]

amother

Peach

Wed, Jun 17 2020, 5:47 am

I made Aliyah straight to a merkaz klita in central Israel more than 10 years ago. I was single at the time and had no family in Israel and not much money. They permitted me to stay for a whole year, several others also stayed that long and longer.
It was basic - hostel style, but okay. Being single, I had to share a small appartment with an older woman. We got along fine. However, as she didn't keep Shabbat and kashrut, it required some diplomatic skills, a lot of mutual good will and special arrangements in the kitchen. But I asked the local Rav a lot of she'elot about it and we made it work. There were kosher supermarkets around (most supermarkets in Israel are kosher) and various shuls, MO, sephardic, chabad, just plain frum Israeli style and others I didn't check.
There were some families with children in the merkaz klita as well, from France, Russia, Turkey and South America, if I remember rightly. They were there because they couldn't afford a place of their own. They got small appartments like the one I was in to themselves but it was somewhat cramped fir those with several children.
They offered general and profession-specific ulpan.
So, for people on a low budget it was a good thing.
I enjoyed my time there, it gave me a good start in Israel with no financial pressure.