Welcome

OK.  Everyone has so many questions about what our plans are, and how the planning is going, I decided to create a blog so everyone can know...

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions.

1. When are you leaving?

We are leaving Denver on July 24 and spending a week in Los Angeles.  Our aliyah flight leaves at 1PM from LAX on August 1.

2.  Where are you going?

We are moving to Efrat. We will be living in a new neighborhood called Dagan.  Happily, we will be close to the Eisens (yay!).

3.  Why did you choose Dagan?

There are several reasons.  First of all, Efrat is an easy place to start for Anglos (English speakers) when they first get to Israel.  There is a large community of anglos there, the schools know how to handle kids who don't speak Hebrew, and the community is friendly and welcoming to new immigrants.

Dagan, being a new neighborhood, is nice because everyone (pretty much) is new there.  There hasn't been time for decades long friendships (and feuds) to develop.  The shuls are new and there is a lot of opportunity for contributing to the direction of local institutions.

It is also very close to Jerusalem.  It takes about 12 - 15 minutes on the bus until you are in the outskirts of Jerusalem.  Then you just have to get on a regular city bus to get wherever you are headed.  In a car, it is about 20 minutes to the center of town (not during rush hour).

Here is a map of Efrat:

Here is a map putting Efrat into context of Israel.  The Dagan neighborhood has a star.

4.  Where are the kids going to school?

They are going to a school called Orot Etzion.  They have a boys and a girls division.  They have a lot of experience with new Olim.  Additionally, they use the Barkai method.  This is an educational philosophy that  "focuses on religious studies following the order stipulated by our sages: “Bible at the age five, Mishna at age ten and Talmud at age fifteen”(Ethics of the Fathers 5:21). At the same time, the program aims at achieving maximum integration of secular and religious studies, broadening students horizons in all aspects of life.  The curriculum is centered on Torah study, both quantitatively and qualitatively.  The Barkai programs view is that secular subjects are to be integrated into the wisdom of the Torah, in line with the ideas of the Rambam. " 

They DO have a uniform for the girls, but it is cute and easy.  They wear baseball shirts like this:

 They can wear blue or pink and any skirt.  Needless to say, Sima is very happy to say goodbye to her ugly button down uniform shirts.

Yes, there is a bus.  It is a couple of miles to the school, so it is great that there is a bus.

5.  Are you bringing a lift?

We are planning to bring a lift.  We are trying to bring as little as possible, however...Basically, beds, bookshelves, dressers and books.  We are seriously paring down.

6.  Are you bringing a car?

No.  Bottom line is that the shipping of the car costs about $4000, the government charges 75% tax (that is with the new olim benefit), and the car will need to be retrofitted to conform to European standards.  To bring our 6 year old van, it will cost about $16,000!!!!  We'll have to get a new car when we get there.

7.  What are you doing for work?

B'H, I am going to be working in tech.  Daniel will be looking for a job in special education.  

8.  What kind of house did you get?

A beautiful, 7 bedroom cottage.  Yes, we will have plenty of space for guests.  If you are going to be in Israel, yes we want to see you!  Remember, we'll be close to Jerusalem.

That's it for now...I'll try to post regularly as we get through all the steps of this process.  Boy, is it hard.