Making aliyah right out of seminary

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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling -> Seminary Info

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amother

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 7:44 pm

I hope it's okay to ask this here and not on the aliyah forum.

DD is considering staying in Israel after seminary and officially making aliyah.
I am trying to figure out whether this is something that is done. I assume that some girls from non-BY seminaries end up staying. DD is in a "Bais Yaakov lite" seminary.

I want to make sure she will have some sort of framework/chevra/direction/educational plan.

Who can she talk to about this? What kind of educational options will she have? She is somewhere between DL and Chareidi so I'm not sure what direction she should look into.

dena613

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 7:48 pm

What will she be doing next year? What are her plans?

amother

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 7:54 pm

dena613 wrote:

What will she be doing next year? What are her plans?

She doesn't know yet. She just knows that she feels a strong connection to the land and that it makes sense to start her life there now. Otherwise, it may take many years for her to get back--between college, shidduchim, marriage, kids, etc she could end up stuck in the US.

I support her 100%. I am just trying to help her figure out what kind of plans to conisder.

amother

Garnet

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 7:56 pm

Does she have a teacher or madricha she can speak to?

I am not your target audience.
I am MO/DL and many of DD’s friends stayed and made aliya. Most did Sherut Leumi, some the army, some Bar Elan/IDC/Hebrew U./Technion (1-but she is brilliant and it was planned from HS)

amother

Phlox

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 11:11 pm

Can Nefesh b'Nefesh help her with Aliyah from within Israel? There are also organizations that work with Bnot Sherut if that's what she wants to do.

amother

Freesia

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 11:14 pm

I know some BY girls who did this, but it definitely isn't super common. doable, though!

B'Syata D'Shmya

Sat, Jan 27 2024, 11:14 pm

Does she have family there who can act as surrogate parents? If not, tell her to come home, start shidduchim and go to school to learn something that will be useful for her in Israel, and make Aliyah a priority in shidduchim. Then she can make aliyah properly with a dh. Reassure her that you will continue to support her decisions re Aliyah.
If she goes alone, she may lose aliyah rights etc. Shidduchim is much harder alone and Aliyah is much easier together.

amother

Amaryllis

Sun, Jan 28 2024, 1:04 am

B'Syata D'Shmya wrote:

My sister followed pretty much this plan, while I made aliyah almost directly out of seminary. Both of us had different challenges along the way, but I wouldn't say that one way is harder than the other. My sister a d her husband set a deadline that their first child would start school in Israel. As it happened, she had some fertility issues, and their first child was only born after they made aliyah, but they had been working towards it since before they were married.

Where will she live? She can choose two.or three neighborhoods where she would want to live, and start looking for a place in a girls apartment there. Or she can get together with two or three friends and they can look for an apartment together. Will you pay rent a d bills for her, or will she need to cover it herself? If you will be paying, give her an idea of how much you are willing to pay.

Once she has somewhere to live, that will give her the basis of a chevre. There are a lot of young singles in Jerusalem, and she will meet more as she goes on.

What would she do educationally if she were in America? She can almost certainly do that in Israel. She might want to spend time focusing on learning Hebrew first. My sister and I work in the same field, and a major advantage of my having studied in Israel, ws that I was familiar with the professional vocabulary before I started working. She had to pass the requalification exam here, and learn the language.

If she doesn't have plans, that's also OK. She can spend a year working as something like a gannenet's assistant while she learns Hebrew, does a course for the psychometric exam, and decides what to do. University is much cheaper in Israel than America, and if she makes aliyah she will get it for free. Unless she is at Michlala, and plans to carry on there, she won't get any college credits for seminary. If she prefers a frum women's college there are plenty of options, or there is the regular college system. Most Israelis only start university after the army, do waiting a year or two while she decides what to won't make her the oldest.

She should certainly be in touch with Nefesh b'Nefesh for advice on all the practical issues. And whatever her plans, she should come back after seminary for a month or so to visit everyone before making aliyah.

amother

Natural

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 2:39 am

Girls from the MO seminaries definitely make aliya - I've met girls who made aliya after being in Tiferet and Shaalavim.
Sometimes they do sherut leumi - their teachers or madrichot should be able to guide them.
Or they go study something and share an apartment with roomates.

I made aliya after seminary but that was 30 yrs ago.

camp123

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 2:56 am

There are a lot of girls who share apartments in harnof or givat shaul. There is an email group of not yet married girls and women and shiurim that are arranged. I don't have the details but she should network and ask around. The easiest way to do this is to become a madricha at a seminary and still have time to study something or work. It's totally possible to do if she has a network of people.

happymommy12

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:18 am

I did this a few years ago but not from a BY seminary. I did shana bet and then sherut leumi. I had an amazing support system from seminary, extended family, and friends who did the same thing, and bH it was an incredible experience and an amazing decision for me. Unfortunately, my parents were much less on board which made things more difficult. They very much pushed me to come back to America, do college/get married, and then make aliyah. I had no interest in doing that as I was scared of "getting stuck" and also I just had no interest in being in America.. it was a hard few months but bH today they are super proud of me and completely understand my decision (it also helps that I got married and settled down pretty quickly).
I have spoken to many sem girls who are contemplating staying in Israel, as well as parents of sem girls who reach out to hear my experience.
I think that it is crucial that your daughter have a solid support system in Israel, either friends/family/teachers, etc that could look out for her, invite her for shabbos and chagim, and be there for her emotionally.
While it is amazing to live in Israel, it can be very lonely being away from family and friends.. especially for a BY girl, who may be less used to living independently, it is important to have a plan...
So first I would make sure that she has that, she can talk to her teachers for advice, maybe there are alumni who made aliyah who she can talk to?
In terms of what she should do next year, a good idea is to be a madricha in a seminary. I have a few friends who did this and it is great bc it gives her a place to sleep, with food, a good atmosphere, a (probably small) income, and free time during the day where she can do ulpan/start a degree/work..
Another option is sherut leumi. If she is interested in doing that it could be really great for her. Lots of chardal (charedi DL) girls do sherut leumi, she just needs guidance to help find an appropriate teken (job) where she will feel comfortable. If she has any friends who are also interested in making Aliyah I recommend them to try to do something together so she has a familiar face. Also she can speak to nefesh bnefesh to help with that.

I'm posting under my screen name so feel free to reach out if you want to discuss more.
Wishing her and you lots of clarity! It's a life-changing decision that can't be taken lightly. If things work out it is amazing, if not it can be very very difficult so it is important to go in with a plan! Lucky it is only January so there is lots of time to discuss and figure it out .. Smile

Success10

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:18 am

I did this, in the B"Y lite crowd. It's done, but not a huge group of girls. There are shared apts, shiurim and things. It also gets lonely as all the friends start marrying. Shidduchim, she'll need help from her teachers or rabbis from sem. If she doesn't have a good support system from her seminary staff, I'm not sure it's such a good idea.

She has to figure out what she wants to study. I used my aliyah rights for a professional course, but she gets more bang for her buck if she goes to an actual college. Or she can be madricha in the sem to buy her another year. But she can't float around and do nothing with no direction. You can PM me if you want more ideas.

AlwaysThinking

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:23 am

I would be wary of making a big decision like that while in the 'inspirational phase' of seminary. Can she stay for shana beis, go to a college like maalot or something, be a madricha, work towards college credits from within Israel, on a visa, without actually making aliyah?

I wouldn't advise actually making aliyah as there are many benefits that are far more useful when you're newly married and renting your own apartment, and those will be lost by the time that happens. Also, you never know what life brings, with shidduchim, family, etc.

Success10

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:28 am

AlwaysThinking wrote:

If she sticks around in Israel without making aliyah, she will also lose her rights.

LovesHashem

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:32 am

It's definitely done just not so much. Chedvas is a BY seminary for Shana bet Americans and Shana aleph American israelos and there's girls from there who make aliyah, or have already made aliyah.

There's a few apartments as others have said, I have visited two I had friends in. Both were large apartments with like 5- 6 bedrooms with 10-15 girls in each.

A big benefit of making aliyah is free college and that's worth more than the benefits as a newlywed with rent.

AlwaysThinking

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:33 am

Success10 wrote:

If she sticks around in Israel without making aliyah, she will also lose her rights.

There's a couple of years before that happens though. Years in which you can make a decision while knowing the reality of living here and where life is heading.

Elfrida

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:33 am

Success10 wrote:

If she sticks around in Israel without making aliyah, she will also lose her rights.

Not immediately. It may have changed, but when I made aliyah, you could be in the country for up to three years without making aliyah before it began affecting your rights.

amother

Oak

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:34 am

Success10 wrote:

If she sticks around in Israel without making aliyah, she will also lose her rights.

That too. I have a family member who is still taking Israel year by year and at this point there's no benefits to making actual aliyah so they currently are still not citizens.

They been here for 7 years and have 3 kids are on student visas.

Elfrida

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:37 am

LovesHashem wrote:

There's a few apartments as others have said, I have visited two I had friends in. Both were large apartments with like 5- 6 bedrooms with 10-15 girls in each.

Most single apartments that I know are three or four rooms, with each girl having their own room. I suppose your scenario would work for girls right out of seminary and happy with a dorm style environment in return for cheap rent. Once they have a job and are earning a normal income, they want their own space.

AlwaysThinking

Tue, Jan 30 2024, 3:38 am

amother Oak wrote:

I know of a few people who are doing this - I guess the bureaucracy isn't so bad? Renewing visas and dealing with births, kupat cholim etc. seems like it would be a headache.

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