Wednesday 7 October 2009

To make Aliya or NOT to make Aliya?


To make Aliya or not to make Aliya, that is the question. It is an important one.

Some make Aliya almost by default. They come to visit Israel, find themselves staying and then the next best thing to do is to simply make Aliya. If this is the route you are taking, do check out if you still have any rights. Why not, if you are eligible for Olim rights then why not get them.

Others think about living in Israel as an option to get out of problems in Chul / the diaspora. While others just love Israel and decide to give Israel a try. Whatever your reason for coming, it helps to make an informed decision.

For this reason, many advocate coming to Israel on a Pilot Trip or Tour. Visiting various cities, places, investigating your options. In another post we will go through what types of information to gather during your Pilot Trip.

In this post, I want to throw perhaps a spanner in the works, but an important piece of advice that could make or break your Aliya. Let us presume that you did your Pilot Trip. You gathered all your facts. You planned your Aliya and asked all the right questions, but then you actually come on Aliya and whoops. Your information from your Pilot Trip just does not seem to be matching your actual experience.

All of a sudden things begin to turn out differently to what you had planned. Different to what you expected. What do you do then?

As they saying goes, we plan and Hashem laughs. So know in advance that even with the most thorough investigation and planning, there are times that your experience will not pan out according to what you planned, expected or anticipated.

That does not need to mean that you have to leave or that your Aliya can not still be a success. All it means is that your Aliya will be different to what you thought it would be.

When I was a student, I had a clinical placement in a certain children's hospital and the head of department gave me excellent advice. When planning a treatment session for a child, know that children change their minds. They might begin a session with you and then suddenly want something totally different. Or suddenly they have an ache or pain or something you had not planned for. How do you deal with this? Have 5 options pre-planned and then be flexible. If all 5 potential plans don't work or don't match the scenario for the day, dont panic, alter your plan. Find out what the child does like or want for the day and then use your knowledge to adapt your treatment session to include their needs.

Coming to Israel is very much the same. When making your plans, if you have only one idea in mind, then when you come here, if that plan does not materialize, you are at risk of falling into huge stress, potential panic and more. In order to avoid this, have a few options up your sleeve and if none of them work out, don't panic, turn to the one who gave us the Land, pray and pray and be open for a new path to open up for you.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them at the end of this post. We hope (and plan) to share ideas and resources that will help you to know where to begin when your plans are not working out. What do you do next.

2 comments:

  1. Kol Hakavod, this is a great site and a good service to our OLIM!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Tzvi, we are glad you enjoy it and appreciate our service.

    ReplyDelete

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