Making Aliyah? Here are Some Financial and Other Realities: Problems and Possible Solutions (Guest Post)

Biggest Issue for Those in Need of Gainful Employment

The biggest issue for those in their 30's to 60's is jobs - being employed in a job that uses their skills and pays a living wage.

Biggest Obstacles

• The biggest obstacle is not having a high level of Hebrew, written (both block and cursive), comprehension, and speaking.
• The second biggest obstacle is the illegal ageism which gets worse as the person ages.
• The third biggest obstacle is having skills that were in demand in another region of the world but are not in demand in Israel.

Possible Solutions

• Online Ulpan starting a year before Aliyah.
• Once in Israel having a buddy who you can teach your primary language and they can help you with Hebrew.
• Lobby the government to enforce current laws, educate employers.
• Have NBN, JAFI and other organizations produce skills matrixes so people can retrain before Aliyah.

Other Obstacles

• The biggest obstacle for a portion of Olim and most Israelis - the cost of housing, the cost of living in general. 
• A large issue for those who come in their 50 and 60's - who have no family in Israel - don't have the issue now but can have the issue in another 10 to 20 years is the dearth of native language assisted living, nursing home, and hospice facilities around the country. Continuing Care Communities (active to death) are expensive and out of reach to most of us. As you age, and if dementia happens you revert to your native language - most places don't have staff that speak different languages. Look at how the elderly Holocaust survivors are treated then look at the world baby boomer population.
• General language barriers - when you are sick, infirm, disabled, it is hard enough - not having personnel available to aid someone when they need it, be it clinics or the hospital needs to be rectified. Personally, Maccabi does have many people where I live that speak enough English for me to get by - and almost all the signs are in Russian along with Hebrew so people do get by but it's not optimal. The French and Ladino communities are still small but growing and they too need help in the health care related functions.

So here are 3 - I've heard many others - problems? Possible solutions?

Please feel free to share your own difficulties, challenges and solutions you have come across in your journey in making Aliyah by emailing us. We would be happy to include your own experiences and stories on our page.

~ With thanks to Stevie Sacks for this clear and direct post giving an insight into some of the challenges, difficulties and problems encountered in making Aliyah, and offering some possible solutions.

Stevie Sacks made Aliyah just over 11 months ago - in July 2014. She is the founder of the Lone Seniors Landing Pad Aliyah for 50+ solitary people making Aliyah - an information sharing and support group on Facebook.