My Aliyah Journal

There is actually a fantastic Facebook group – “LoveLoveIsrael-Tried and Tested” – where you can find everything you may want to know about visiting almost anywhere in Israel.

The items wouldn’t be replaced or refunded. I was informed that they had been delivered by their use-by date and that I could have frozen them.

I spent the rest of the day wondering how he was doing. When I arrived for pickup, I was relieved to see his smiling face.

Every gift came with a personalized note, letting the recipient know that her Secret Maccabee was thinking of her.

As my kids and I have taken daily walks for a month now, it is not an exaggeration to say that we literally know every crack in the sidewalk within our allowed kilometer.

Here in Modi’in we have a wonderful Absorption Department, with olim coordinators that go above and beyond to help.

In true “Big Brother” fashion, the Shin Bet finds contact points between Covid-19 patients and others using cell phone tracking systems generally employed for counterterrorism operations.

While I certainly don’t love giving my Adi too much screen time, I must admit that I found myself easily caving whenever he begged me to allow him to “review” the videos just one more time.

Indeed, I could not believe how grown up she looked at her party. Sitting on her birthday throne, crowned in a wreath of flowers, bedecked in her best party dress, she looked like such a little lady!

He advised us, though, that we didn’t need to be a “fryer” (a naive oleh) and accept the terms since everything in Israel is subject to negotiation.

While my children and I did not attend shul this year (my husband attended a very small, very early morning minyan), we did manage to have a special davening experience.

I wish I could say it has been smooth sailing since then, but the banking system here is more complicated than I can do justice to here.

Perhaps the hardest questions have related to the political issues here in Israel.

As I watched my family devouring their ice cream cones on the walk back to the car, one thing was clear. My family was really enjoying their time in Israel.

Think that despite it all, things are going fine? Perhaps you “chai b’seret,” live in a movie – i.e. not in reality. (Someone who is a drama queen is referred to oddly as “l’echol sratim,” someone who “eats movies.”)

While we were cleared to leave the mamad 10 minutes after the siren ended, we continued to sit there long after, trying to process what had just occurred.

My husband and I debated what was best for the kids. We wanted to do whatever we could to keep them safe, but we also wanted to give them their best opportunities to grow, learn, and have fun.

While I generally had a lot of fun on these interviews, I still am embarrassed when I recall our first in-Hebrew television interview.

Unfamiliar with other parents in my daughter’s gan, we also didn’t have anyone to commiserate with during the long sleepless nights of my daughter’s illness.

From our first appointment, which was with a social worker, I realized that we were going to be facing a challenging experience.

While olim are offered a steep discount on taxes associated with purchasing a new car, it comes with many complicated strings attached.

While the chag was still nice, it just wasn’t the Adar excitement we had expected. Reflecting on this over Shabbat, my husband and I decided we still had time to make this holiday special.

Making aliyah is never easy, let alone in the age of coronavirus.

As I approached the school along with tens of other children and parents, the excitement was palpable. The principal stood at the gate of the school, greeting each child with an elbow bump and a smile.

In New York, you can walk into a showroom and examine a range of models; here, most stores carry a few show pieces and otherwise direct you to look through their catalogue to see if you like anything.

My husband Tzvi has settled into working remotely, and the kids love being able to drop in to supervise his work.

Neighbors congregated in the building hallway to commiserate. Apparently, like cats on patios, power outages are a common part of life here in Israel – especially in the summer.

Before calling the municipality to arrange a special pickup of furniture or large appliances, residents often post pictures of these items on Facebook or WhatsApp groups with the simple message of "limisira b'ahava" (for donation with love).

I was so much indebted to these heroes; what more could I do to keep their memories alive?

Generally, orders arrive in a matter of weeks. Little did I realize that due to coronavirus-related postal delays, our lift would arrive weeks before the books I ordered from this site!