Making aliyah iyH - questions, please help!

amother

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 11:16 am

Hi, I am so excited about our decision and also so overwhelmed!
Please help me with the following:

1. We will be moving to an apartment with an exterior machson. It's great for the sukkah, bikes, Pesach supplies, etc but there is no storage at all inside the apartment. Can I store plastic containers of out of season clothing in an exterior machson, or is that asking for my clothing to be damaged?

2. Will my sewing machine work there with a transformer, or is it more worth it to sell it and buy a new one there?

3. Our washer/dryer are in what is basically a tiny closet off of a bathroom...where in the world do people hang dry or lay out gentles that should not not go in the dryer? (I am not comfortable hanging any of our clothes on a clothes line on the merpeset).

4. Without linen closets, where do people store linen, bankets, towels, and household essentials like extra toiletries, medicines, lightbulbs, batteries, tools, art supplies, etc,etc, etc?

5. With no coat closets, where do your kids keep their backpacks, coats, boots, etc? The bedrooms are so small with just beds and arones for clothes...there isnt really room for desks or storing things like backpacks...

6. I've noticed a lot of buildings have more expensive "garden apartments" with small yards, and the rest of the apartments have sukkah porches...where do the kids without yards play? Do they have expectations of the owners of the garden apartment to share their yard?

7. What do people do about furniture for right when they move in? Like, how do we manage until we purchase our arones and beds and table? Is there a way to buy ahead?

Thank you for all your advice!

Reality

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 11:34 am

I don't have all the answers but I'll try to help. We recently made aliyah.

1. I don't know because we don't have a machsan. I do have neighbors who keep sealed up containers out in a hallway nook.

2. Call Bondy in Manhattan. He answered all our transformer questions. It's a frum owned store. I spoke with Avi who helped us so much. And we had complicated questions.

3. Hang on the mirpeset. Everyone does, even the frummest people. You can shield your private things with other clothes.

4. On some of the extra shelves in our bedroom closets.

5. Coats go on hooks on the wall. Boots in bedroom closets. Bookbags in their room.

6. I don't think people share their garden. We don't and nobody has ever asked us. Our building has a shared courtyard where my kids usually play. They only go in our private one if a ball goes over the wall.

7. You can buy ahead. We thought we would but it was too hard and nerve wracking to make a costly mistake. I did order appliances like a stove and fridge and had a family member come when it was delivered.

We borrowed folding tables and chairs. We brought in our duffle bags air mattresses, pots etc. that we would need in the beginning. If you do take air mattresses that self inflate remember to bring a transformer on the plane with you.

We are still living like this. Our lift hasn't arrived yet.

I'm on some whattsapp chats that were really helpful for this kind of nitty gritty questions. Pm me if you are interested in joining.

amother

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 11:38 am

Reality wrote:

Thank you! So helpful

Teomima

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:02 pm

1. I wouldn't store clothing in bins outside, I'd be worried about condensation and mold. Utilize whatever indoor storage space you can, such as the upper portion of closets and even on top of the closets, and under the beds.

2. I think it's best to buy all appliances here, certainly easier for parts and repairs.

3. Really people do hang things outside, there's nothing to feel uncomfortable about. But you can get a standing rack at any hardware/kolbo store and put things on it to dry on the mirpeset (not hanging off so no one can see) or in the living room.

4. I devote some space in each bedroom closet to linens and blankets. Bathroom cabinets and vanities for toiletries, toilet paper, and a medicine cabinet for medicines. Batteries in the kitchen. Art supplies in the kids' rooms and in the living room (bookshelf/cabinet unit). Lightbulbs and toolbox next to the washer. You just find wherever you have a spare corner and devote that spot to a particular item. Don't keep more on hand than you really need

5. I built a coat closet. In an empty corner near the door. Backpacks and boots go in the bedrooms, though.

6. No they don't share the yards. Kids play out in the local parks or shared outdoor space if you have it.

7. We slept on inflatable pool mattresses and friends lent us some plastic chairs and a table. It wasn't terribly comfortable but it sufficed until the lift arrived.

amother

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:08 pm

Teomima wrote:

Thank you!!!

Re #5: please explain how you built a coat closet? Do you mean you had a Carpenter build an American style coat closet?

Teomima

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:12 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Thank you!!!

Re #5: please explain how you built a coat closet? Do you mean you had a Carpenter build an American style coat closet?

Nope, I mean I bought a couple of Ikea units that together fit into the space I had and hacked them into a coat closet with extra storage space for tichels, scarves, extra sweaters, etc. (not their original purposes at all).

Teomima

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:42 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Very smart. Are you buying your IKEA furniture in a store or online? How does it work in EY? I assume European furniture like IKEA works well in Israeli size homes...

Ikea is awesome. I have a lot of their products in my apartment. Some of their stuff is really high quality and yes, the sizing works really well here.

You can't exactly order Ikea online, though I think there's now a third party option that will collect and deliver your items for you. But there are a bunch of Ikeas here (at least five) so going and buying things in person is not too hard.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:47 pm

1. We stored all kinds of things in our exterior machsan. The clothes could use a nice wash before I use them next but they didn't get ruined.

2. It will work. We have several appliances running through transformers with no problem: refrigerator for 9 years now and some small appliances.

3. Like others have said, I used to hang some clothes on dryer racks on our mirpeset. I now have some larger rooms that I use. I have one rack in my office for the kids' clothes and one rack in the attic for the adults' clothes.

4. I have a Keter closet in a hallway with all our linen and towels. I keep pillows in storage area in our guest beds. Extra blankets are in Rami Levi vacuum bags under out guest beds in the basement. Extra toiletries and medicines are in our bathroom Ikea dresser. Art supplies are in my office dresser.
Tools are in a toolbox on a stand in our laundry room alongside our detergents, dryer sheets and laundry baskets.

5. We have a 5 hook rack in our basement under the stairs for coats. Backpacks stay in our salon during the week (not thrilled with that but it is a losing battle) but in their bedrooms over Shabbat. Boots are in their rooms in their aronot.

6. While you can play in a friend's yard, they are not shareable. They belong solely to the owners.
There are driveways and parks everywhere. The kids are outdoors whenever they are not in school, eating or sleeping.

7. Before we got our lift, we used blow up mattresses and a pack n play for sleeping.
A relative set us up with a mini fridge from a gemach. Also a dozen plastic bins to store toiletries and some clothes. And a small folding table to eat on. We lived out of suitcases for a short while. We sent almost everything on our lift so did not buy pots/pans/furniture but anything you did not send you will buy the first week or so you are there.

amother

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:53 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

What does exterior machsan mean? A keter machsan outside exposed to the elements? Or a machsan that's built into the building? Most people have machsans built in the building.

I store out of season stuff there and never have had issues.

Its basically an unfinished/uninsulated room on one side of the apartment, with access from an exterior door only

amother

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 12:57 pm

amother [ Honeydew ] wrote:

What's a keter closet please? And how do you have a basement, I assume you are not describing apartment living? Thank you

FranticFrummie

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 1:43 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

I'd store anything there then.

About stuff. People just have less. It's actually freeing to have less stuff to remember, to clean, to deal with.

We live more minimally here.

This is really true. You'll find that the basic essentials are really all you need.
Kids play outdoors everywhere. From about age 4 and up (or younger if they have an older sibling with them) you will see them out on the streets until late into the night. Many kids don't seem to have a set bed time, even on school nights. Little kids also take the bus by themselves starting at around age 5. For someone who's not used to it, it can be nerve wracking at first.

Reality

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 1:57 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

I'd store anything there then.

About stuff. People just have less. It's actually freeing to have less stuff to remember, to clean, to deal with.

We live more minimally here.

It really is freeing. Part of me can't wait for my lift to come so we have a couch again and a normal sized table to eat together on. The other part of me is wondering do I still need all this stuff?

I sold, gave away and threw out a TON of stuff before we moved. We went from a house with a basement to an apartment. My stuff is supposed to come any day now. We'll see how well I did soon enough!

Just for the record we filled a 20 ft lift. Do not take a 40 ft lift for an average Israeli apartment. You will not have space!!

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 2:03 pm

grace413 wrote:

https://il.keter.com/136124-%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8-%D7%95%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%92%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%91%D7%99%D7%AA

Check out keter website for a selection of their closets.

You've already received great answers here.

Storage is a major problem in Israeli apartments but we all manage to cope.

Nothing left for me to say but Hatzlacha and Yishuv Tov!

*The* major problem I say. Even a couple without kids will have a hard time. Pesach equipment. Succot decorations and schach. Suitcases. Fans for summer and heating devices in the winter.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Dec 02 2021, 2:07 pm

1. I would not, but then again, it depends where exactly you'll be living. Maybe in the desert it would work.

2. No idea, sorry. But I would sell and buy new, I think.

3. Either a drying rack or hang on the mirpeset and shield it with your other clothes. Or, hang it on a hanger in your mirpeset sheirut, in your bedroom, or in the bathroom.

4. Linen, blankets, towels - in a closet in a bedroom. Toiletries - in the mirpeset sheirut. Medicines - in a kitchen cabinet up high. Lightbulbs, batteries, tools - in the mirpeset sheirut. Art supplies - in your closet or wherever you keep toys or office supplies.

5. Either you make a niche beside your door or you somehow make do... Backpacks for us go into a lower kitchen cabinet, coats are rarely wet so they also go in that cabinet. Boots stay by the door, on a shoe rack or on the floor. Or in the mirpeset sheirut. To dry coats we hang them either in the doorway of the kitchen (annoying but efficient) or in the bathroom on the shower rod (out of the way but they don't dry as well there).

6. No, the garden belongs to that apartment, there's no expectation to share. Kids play either on their porches or on the street/ in the park.

7. You could order ahead, or you could look for a gemach, or find an AirBnB, or rent a short-term furnished apartment. When we got married we lived in a furnished apartment. That's not the same as your situation, though.