Making Aliyah with your Pet

A few years ago, we put up a guest post on Dogs and the Law in Israel. I am happy to see that we receive some comments to this post. Several of them ask questions related to making Aliyah with a dog. Since I do not have a dog and did not make Aliyah with a dog, I have not been sure what to answer. So, I did a little research and have some information to share. Actually, in this post you will find information related to making Aliyah with a pet, not only a dog.

Israel does acknowledge that for pet lovers, one's pet is regarded as part of the family and not all families are willing to leave their beloved pet behind when making Aliyah. Hence some, but not all pets are permitted to come to Israel. One of the readers asked, "who decides what kinds of dogs might be dangerous?"

I did not know the answer to that so I looked into the matter a little. The answer is that the laws regarding which animals are permitted to be brought into Israel and which would be safe or dangerous is decided by:

• The Ministry of Agriculture known in Israel at Misrad Hachaklaut
• The Nature Reserves Authority known as Reshut HaTeva V'HaGanim
• ElAl

Each of the 3 determines which animals can fly to Israel and some other important information.

There is actually a list of animals that are regarded as pets and permitted to bring and which are illegal. This list I found on the Nefesh b'Nefesh website. You can take a look to find other information about Aliyah, Aliyah with pets and more. 

Animals that are forbidden to bring include those without appropriate documentation and those under 4 months old.

If your pet is in good health and fits into one of the following categories, you can apply to bring your pet with you. Permitted pets include: cats, household birds, rabbits, rodents and most dogs.

To answer the question of the reader as to which dogs are regarded as dangerous and therefore forbidden to bring, here is the list:

• Pit Bull Terrier
• American Staffordshire Terrier (Amstaff)
• Bull Terier
• Fila Brazileiro, Staffordshire Bull Terrier (English Staff)
•  Tosa Inu
• Rottweiler
• Argentinian Dogo
• A cross with any of the above

The following animals are regarded as wildlife and therefore are not permitted: Reptiles, Amphibians, rare and exotic birds. Monkeys are illegal. The Nefesh b'Nefesh website states that monkeys do not generally live with humans. I find this interesting as I am aware of a study that was carried out in Israel to explore training monkeys as service animals e.g for those in a wheelchair. I am not sure what the outcome of the study was, but that is a side bit of information and does not alter the law.

If you are bringing your cat, I discovered that the process involves taking your cat to have certain shots including the rabies shot.  Having your cat evaluated to make sure s/he is in good health. A certificate / letter is required to verify this. One month after the rabies shot, you need to take the cat back to the vet to check the titer which shows if the rabies shot was effective (from what I understand.) The cat will require a chip for Israel.

If you are making Aliyah with a dog and have made sure that the type of dog you have is permitted to come to Israel then the procedure is to take your dog for the rabies vaccine. As for the cat, after a month the titer must be evaluated. You will require a health certificate which is valid for 10 days. This certificate must be faxed to the Ministry of Agriculture in advance of your coming to Israel.  If the certificate expires prior to your making Aliyah, you need to have it renewed. The dog will also require a chip for Israel which can be obtained in Israel.

An Olah from Holland shared that from Holland the process is: Do some paperwork with your vet, go to the Food and Warren Authority to get this signed. It is a process that costs but is easy to do. 

For any other questions, check with your vet and with your Shaliach or visit the website for the Ministry of Agriculture, http://www.ppis.moag.gov.il/agri/English

This Post was written by:

Shoshanah Shear

Occupational Therapist, healing facilitator, certified infant massage instructor, freelance writer and co-author of "Tuvia Finds His Freedom" and author of "Healing Your Life Through Activity - An Occupational Therapist's Story"

Are You Up To Date on Web Accessibility?

Did you know that there is a move to make sure that the disabled population can access websites? It is not enough for them to be able to enter buildings and services that they might require physically. In today's time, when so much information is on the internet, there is a Web Accessibility Initiative WAI to make sure that websites are also accessible. A part of this means that your website is transferable to different devices. This can be PC or laptop or smart phone or tablet. However, the device used to access your website is not the only factor that is important. The type of content you write, how easy it is to understand and various details related to the layout, use of colour and even the template all have a part to play in making sure that your website is accessible to disabled or special needs persons. 

What does this mean? Someone with a visual deficit might have difficulty with identifying colours effectively or in reading print in one colour on the background of another. Colour combination is very important and can make the difference between being able to read and being unable to. Colour is not the only problem, for those who are blind, altering the size of the font or the colour combination will not make any difference. For the blind population special software is required that can turn the written word into audio. For another person, vision might be fine but s/he lacks mobility of his or her arms to be able to use a computer in a normal manner. For someone with motor deficit the method used to use a computer or other device, is also different. This can require use of switches or the mouse in an altered manner through assistive technology. As a result, those of us who have a website need to make sure that it is easy to navigate a website using arrow keys with ease.

There are a number of countries that are working towards web accessibility. The USA is one of them and closer to home, Israel also has some laws in place. In Israel, the laws came into being in 2013 and web owners have been given until October 2016. There are certain leniencies for small business owners. I read an article that stated that small businesses can apply for exemption but in the same breath did not recommend doing so as it can draw attention to your website. To me that was rather confusing. If anyone has an answer on that point, I'd love to hear it. 

On our side, our website is currently built on weebly. I sent a question to weebly's support who was not able to assist with web accessibility. They did suggest doing a google search for any widget that can assist. So far I have not found one. If anyone reading this post knows of a suitable widget, please can you share in the comments below. Otherwise, it might be time to move on from weebly to another platform. We have researching options. So if any readers know of a website building platform that is cost effective and sensitive to website accessibility, please share the information. 

In the meantime, I am busy wading through the Web Accessibility Guidelines. There is a fortune to learn and then to put into practice. Don't be left behind. If you have a website, start now to learn what is required to make sure that your website is accessible.

Shoshanah Shear
Occupational Therapist

Finding the Resources you need when Apartment Hunting

If you are thinking of making Aliyah or have already moved here, you might be in need of finding a new apartment and / or community. Finding the right community and resources in the area that you move to is just as important as an apartment with the kind of space you might be looking for. 

If you have already selected your Kupat Cholim, knowing that healthcare is in your area might be of interest / necessity. If so, you can go onto their website to search for the location of branches. If need be, look up the phone number and call to make sure the frequency of doctors and nursing care, whether there is a pharmacy and any other medical need you might have. We are with Meuhedet and so, took a look at the Meuhedet website. You will need to read Hebrew or have someone with you who can read Hebrew as this information is not available in the English version of the Meuhedet website. The following link will take you to one of the pages for Muehedet in Jerusalem. You can of course search for whatever city or neighbourhood you might require. 

If you have a different Kupat Cholim, search on the website of your health insurance and look for the same. 

Once you have done your research about Kupat Cholim, you might want to know where the closest Mikvah is to the apartment you are considering. For women's Mikvaot, there is a Mikvah Directory which you can view on this link. Again I have clicked on Jerusalem Mikvaot but you can look for other cities if you need to. 

What other details are important for you when moving? Do you need assistance to navigate these sites or to understand the Hebrew? If you are in need of assistance, do be in touch for our personalized Aliyah assistance. We look forward to hearing from you.

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet

Exploring Cell Phone Contracts in Israel

We have had a little difficulty with our cell phone package and hence have been looking into other options. These are our findings so far.

Golan gives a number of options for packages, their big draw card for many is that it gives a service to 56 countries and 10 Giga. They do offer unlimited SMS and calls within Israel too. The contract is supposed to be for a year. If you sign up as a couple there are times that they suddenly alter one of the contracts to be only 5 months and you will have to pay NIS 49 to have a rate that suits you and you then lose being linked to the other party in the couple. About a month before the contract is due to expire you have to go online, check any special deals and call many times to find out the best price for a contract. In order to have the contract price that you want you have to pay a fee of NIS 49. If you go with Golan, calling to speak to a representative can take hours. They give an option to have a representative call you back but this can take days before you get the phone call. Golan at times has a limit of a few days to activate your card. If you do not activate on time, your contract is automatically put up to NIS 99 and you have to pay a penalty of NIS 120 in order to get the contract you originally arranged.  At the end of a year contract there is a fee of NIS 49 per line. However, this often ends up being at all different times of the year, not together if you sign up as a family. Hence you have to be well organized in documenting the time of the year and spend time constantly checking special deals. Every time you wish to switch to a special deal is at a fee of NIS 49

There is a company called Annatel that offers contracts of NIS 49 per month for a year and at the end of the year you are locked into paying NIS 99 per month with no option to alter this from what I understand.

Rami Levi offers unlimited phone calls and SMS in Israel and the option of either 1Giga, 5 Giga or 10 Giga. There are no overseas calling options. There are also no family deal options. The 5 Giga will be a cost of NIS 25 a month and the 10 Giga at a cost of NIS 50 a month. At the end of the year, in order to keep to the contract price you have arranged you have to pay a one time NIS 29 per line.

To call Rami Lavi took about 5 minutes to have someone answer.

Hot Mobile offers unlimited calls, SMS and MMS in Israel; 5 Giga and options for calls to 31 countries. They have a special deal for a couple and if you are a couple plus another family member there is a further special package rate. Hot Mobile offers delivery of SIM cards to your door at no extra charge and gives you a month to activate the SIM. At the end of the year there is the same need to check packages about a month before the contract will end. The one time fee to keep the contract you are on is NIS 39 per line. Hot was quite easy to get through to and the person was very kind and helpful. That part was a pleasure. When I told her I am an Olah and speak Hebrew but request her to speak slowly, she was happy to do so.

These are our findings thus far. If anyone has other info to add, please do so in the comments below. Please note, comments are moderated to prevent SPAM.

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet

Do It Yourself Plumbing - An Israel Necessity

Sunday marks the start of the week in Israel and what better way to begin the week than with a good blog post. I have a number of ideas going round in my head. I could write about the weather with the latest good rain and how much of a blessing that is. I could take a look at the progress in the level of the Kineret, always a good topic for discussion. I could write about my latest goals and ideas. But, my day began with one of those do-it-yourself tasks that are an "only in Israel" moment and my day is ending with completing the final phase of the task, so I guess, we'll chat about do-it-yourself plumbing, an Israel necessity.

Have you ever taken a bath and found your bathmat soaked from the water seeping out of the edges of those covers to the holes in the floor? If you know what I am talking about, what is your first response? Do you reach for your list of service providers, call your plumber and have him clean out your drains? Do you call your landlord, tell him that the drains are blocked again and have him come over to clear them out? Or do you open the covers to the holes to the plumbing and prepare for a good hour or a few of clearing out your drains? If you have become an expert in do-it-yourself plumbing in Israel then you might be familiar with the snake used to "snake the drain". Quite an odd term which entails taking a long metal spring and placing it in the pipes, twisting until it comes through most easily and then preparing to clean out the mess that has come free. 

It's not the most pleasant task one can imagine. Many will put down some kind of anti-kalk material or bleech or boiling water or a combination. Using something to provide a nicer aroma is a good idea too. After this time consuming task comes cleaning the snake and placing it to dry well. It's not a good idea to put away wet metal as it can result in rusting. Hence the hours and hours that this task can entail. Before you know it, the whole day has gone by as you finally put away the neatly coiled snake. 

Just another day in the life of an Olah in Israel. One of the joys to look forward to if you are considering Aliyah. Not everyone fancies the idea of clearing out their own drains. However, with the sediment that naturally builds up, cleaning out the drains every few months - approximately 6 months is a necessity to having healthy plumbing. You do have a choice of course but that choice is partly dependent on your bank account and income. If saving wherever you can is important, then this task is one of the musts to learn early on in your Aliyah. If you have a good income, then you can of course call in a plumber or a teen wanting to earn a bit of pocket money or even a fellow Oleh needing to earn a bit on the side. 

I must say that I am very relieved to have completed the task and be ready to head off for a well earned nights rest. In the next few days we can discuss some more exciting ideas. For now I'm turning in and wish you all a blessed evening and peaceful nights sleep. Pleasant dreams to all.

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet

Destressing the Chocolate Way

There's never a dull moment in Israel and today we decided to be part of the crowd in a fun competition taking place. The company "Elite" that makes yummy chocolates (amongst a few other products such as coffee) has a fun competition on the go. Purchase a slab or chocolate of their Origamoo range or אוריגמו. You can select the design of the paper from a few different wrappers and then the fun begins. Carefully remove the whole wrapper and follow the instructions on youtube for how to make up an Elite cow. 

The instructions are all in Hebrew so you get to practice your reading in Hebrew. They give some nice encouragement along the way too.

Take a photograph and share it on FB along with a tag that Elite requests and you now become part of the "Elite club". 

It's a fun way to de-stress from all that is happening in the world and to feel apart of the larger group of chocolate lovers in Israel. Of course, if you have managed to obtain a wrapper and gone through the process of making an Origami cow, you can now sit back and enjoy the yummy chocolate too.

Those entering have been really creative with their photographs, you'll have to visit the page on FB to find out. The images in this post are two of the ones we took after making our origami cows. Aside from the fun and de-stressing, there is another bonus, you stand in line to win an iPhone. 

Have a blessed day and stay warm as Israel prepares for another storm.

Shoshanah Shear

How to Purchase Cell Phone Accessories in Israel

Technology is a reality and often a necessity for work, communication and safety. So how do you know where and what to purchase? We have a few tips for you when purchasing cell phone accessories, cell phones / mobile phones too.

1) Do your research. Go online and look up whether a model, brand or accessory is popular and why. If it is not popular in Israel, the reason for this is very important and will help you to decide whether the purchase will be in your best interest or not. Regarding cell phone accessories, in addition to popularity, look into whether the item will meet your needs. 

2) Shop around for best prices. If a store says "this is the best price in town and you will really need it," shop around to find out whether the information they give you is true. 

Here is an example. We were told in a certain store that the covers they were selling for the mobile phone was the best available and the best price. Was it? We took a few hours and wandered around in downtown Jerusalem and found covers that did a better job at more than half the price.

What is the lesson? Do your homework. It might be that you find a better item at a better price. Remember, when it comes to the cover for the mobile phone, selecting the right one can mean the difference between your phone sliding out and dropping, causing you the additional cost of repairs too, to being safely held in place so that dropping or falling is very unlikely.

So make it a habit to do your research and shop around. Once you have all the correct information, you can make an informed decision and the most appropriate purchase for YOUR needs.

Have a blessed week

Shoshanah Shear

Chessed Ve'Emet