Well, it's official - we've been approved for aliyah by the Jewish Agency. I had thought that this was already taken care of, but they had been missing some minor elements from our application - namely our birth certificates. Anyway, Baruch Hashem we can now move forward to the next step, which is applying for visas.
We also chose a shipper today. The lucky customer (or, should I say "customee", since we are technically the "customer") is HK Shipping, who will ship our stuff out of Chicago. The packers will pack us up on Sunday, June 15, and the container will leave Detroit on Monday, June 16. It is scheduled to arrive in Israel on July 24, 2 days after we do, which sounds perfect. Emphasis on "sounds". It is my understanding (thanks to Tobi and Zvi) that these things don't always work out as planned or as promised. Flexibility is the middah of the day!
My new challenge is deciding about appliances - what to buy where. Even though we are renting, we need to buy all our appliances. However, the space is only available for small Israeli-sized appliances. Therefore, the plan right now is to buy second-hand, until we know our long-term plans. We will still be allowed 2 more lifts over the next 3 years as olim, so we can always ship larger appliances later, if we want them.
That's all for now. Feel free to post comments on the blog - I do check for them, and I am interested in what you have to add or suggest.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Petachya's Growing Up!
OK -- This isn't 
about Aliyah really, but it is about "moving up" in the world. Do you notice anything different about Petachya? If you don't in the first picture, what about the second?Today we got an email that the Frogels have friends that might be on our flight. Rena says that she has the sense that it will be a popular flight, which I'm sure it will, as it's before the Nine Days, and the reason we wanted to go then was to give ourselves some time to get settled before the kids start school.
Good Shabbos.
Ruby
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
FAQs
Hi! Since a bunch of you have expressed interest in our aliyah plans, I thought I'd just post it all on this blog. Thanks so much for your continued support and concern!
FAQs about the Spolter aliyah experience:
1. When are you going?
Iy”H, we will be on a July 21st flight out of the NY area
2. Are you going to be on the east coast to see family at all before you go?
Definitely! We will for sure be there after July 4th, and Rena and the kids might even go before – still up in the air (we’re not big on advance planning)
3. Do you have a place to live?
Yes. We will be renting half of a 2-family house in Yad Binyamin. It is, of course, smaller than what we have now, but it does have 4 bedrooms – one of them is waiting for you!
4. Where is Yad Binyamin?
At the intersection of 3 major highways – 6,3,7. It is about 15 minutes south of Rechovot, 20 minutes west of Beit Shemesh, and 40 minutes to Yerushalayim. Simcha and Efrat Friedman are already living there, and we are so excited to be close to family!
5. Do you have a job?
Ruby has a job at Orot, an Israeli teachers’ college that has a one-year “seminary” program for girls from the US (like Michlalah). Since there were only very few students for next year, the administration decided to close the program for next year, and hire Ruby to build it up again. Therefore, he will be travelling to the US periodically to recruit students and promote the new program.
6. What about Rena?
Rena will be keeping the job she has had for the last almost-11 years (it will be 11 years on July 5/30 Sivan). It is perfectly transferable to Israel, Baruch Hashem.
7. How do the kids feel about the move.
Pretty much the same as we do – excited and nervous. Simcha and Bezalel have very strong Hebrew and are good students, and Leah and Petachya are young enough that they’ll pick it up fast.
8. What school will the kids attend?
There is a great Mamlachti Dati Torani school in Yad Binyamin, called Broyer’s, that the kids will be attending. It is separate boys and girls on the same campus. The boys currently go up to 8th grade, but they want to add a high school. I’m pretty sure the girls go up to 6th, but we have a while until we have to deal with that. The school is very accommodating to olim, and offers ulpan as early as 1st grade. Petachya will be in a Hebrew-speaking gan. For those of you familiar with the Israeli educational system, he will be in “trom trom chova”.
I’m pretty sure that covers all the questions people here have been asking, but if you have any more, feel free to ask.
FAQs about the Spolter aliyah experience:
1. When are you going?
Iy”H, we will be on a July 21st flight out of the NY area
2. Are you going to be on the east coast to see family at all before you go?
Definitely! We will for sure be there after July 4th, and Rena and the kids might even go before – still up in the air (we’re not big on advance planning)
3. Do you have a place to live?
Yes. We will be renting half of a 2-family house in Yad Binyamin. It is, of course, smaller than what we have now, but it does have 4 bedrooms – one of them is waiting for you!
4. Where is Yad Binyamin?
At the intersection of 3 major highways – 6,3,7. It is about 15 minutes south of Rechovot, 20 minutes west of Beit Shemesh, and 40 minutes to Yerushalayim. Simcha and Efrat Friedman are already living there, and we are so excited to be close to family!
5. Do you have a job?
Ruby has a job at Orot, an Israeli teachers’ college that has a one-year “seminary” program for girls from the US (like Michlalah). Since there were only very few students for next year, the administration decided to close the program for next year, and hire Ruby to build it up again. Therefore, he will be travelling to the US periodically to recruit students and promote the new program.
6. What about Rena?
Rena will be keeping the job she has had for the last almost-11 years (it will be 11 years on July 5/30 Sivan). It is perfectly transferable to Israel, Baruch Hashem.
7. How do the kids feel about the move.
Pretty much the same as we do – excited and nervous. Simcha and Bezalel have very strong Hebrew and are good students, and Leah and Petachya are young enough that they’ll pick it up fast.
8. What school will the kids attend?
There is a great Mamlachti Dati Torani school in Yad Binyamin, called Broyer’s, that the kids will be attending. It is separate boys and girls on the same campus. The boys currently go up to 8th grade, but they want to add a high school. I’m pretty sure the girls go up to 6th, but we have a while until we have to deal with that. The school is very accommodating to olim, and offers ulpan as early as 1st grade. Petachya will be in a Hebrew-speaking gan. For those of you familiar with the Israeli educational system, he will be in “trom trom chova”.
I’m pretty sure that covers all the questions people here have been asking, but if you have any more, feel free to ask.
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