Aliyah diary: 2. First Few Days

Miss the first diary entry?
See Part 1: Preparation for departure over here.

The plane leaves today

We’re finally here. The day we get on the plane. All our documents are in order – a stack of apostiled document, re-apostiled documents, personal records, cat records, financial records . . . if you want to commit identity theft, find someone on their way to immigrate to Israel.

We catch the cats – Buttercup isn’t so cooperative. It’s normal. Going on vacation – cat disappears. It’s like they know.

The Lyft XL that I paid extra for to transport six people and luggage … it holds five. Time for taxi two. Thankfully we live (well, lived) in a place where getting a Lyft or Uber to the airport takes minutes.

We get to the airport – a nice porter brings us a cart and loads our luggage onto it from the car. I tip him $5. He wants $10 because … I don’t know. I figure I’m not using small USD bills in Israel anyway.

We check in – while I’m emailing and calling Israel to make sure the additional funds are being transferred for the down payment after the bank decided to decrease the size of the mortgage for no good reason. I’m calling Bezeq to have them install my internet when I arrive – they come within one day. (To get a phone line installed used to take 7 years – no joke.) Then we find the outdoor fenced area for pets and bring the cats.

We didn’t check in the cats!!

We go back to check in … we pay $300 for the cats to go on the plane. We go through security with a separate screening room for the cats. (No line at security … and this is Newark. Amazing.) Cats are sedated. They’re chilling. Security lady tells us a story of a previous lady who over-medicated her cat, killed it, and insisted on leaving the body so she could make her flight. They called the police to get her to take the carcass out of the airport.

On the plane

The stewardesses love the cats. One keeps coming to our seat, we open up the cat carrier and she pets him and makes various sounds for long periods of time. You know, this article is probably going to mention cats too much.

Okay, so about the plane which doesn’t involve cats – it’s a plane full of Jews. Non-Jews aren’t traveling to Israel because of war. Jews … it’s our country and we have our airline and we’re going whether there’s a war or not. It’s like the whole country is in the mode of, “we do what we have to do with the terrorists and meanwhile go about our lives.” That’s literally the vibe here … if you don’t read the news you don’t even know there’s a war. Signs all over Israel say “Together We Will Win – יחד ננצח” and I’ve never felt this level of achdus amongst all Jews before. It’s a beautiful thing.

Terminal 1 to Process Aliyah

This is the terminal where you used to arrive … go down a flight of stairs from the plane and walk on in to the sandstone-color tile. The terminal is empty but for a large room where they’re processing everyone’s paperwork. There’s a jovial vibe going on, though everyone is tired. The nefesh b’nefesh people are far more energetic then the rest of us who are like, “yeah, this is cool – I’m not singing songs though. You do you.”

Now this room – it’s a large room with a small shul off to the side to daven, some “resting rooms” with beds, and rows of chairs where you wait while going to four different “stations” – it really was no wait though the process still took about three hours. Meanwhile, the cats roamed freely and everyone was cool with that.

We got handed a bunch of paperwork, our initial teudat zehuts which we need to replace in three months, signed some documents (e.g. that you can renounce your aliyah within three months), and got handed 3750 NIS in cash – about $1000 for our first payment of “sol klita” … benefits for new olim. That covers the cost of, I don’t know, about 1/3 of the apostiles they required.

Eventually, they take us back to terminal 3 for our luggage, nefesh b’nefesh representatives helping us with luggage and smiling the whole way. Finally, we exit terminal 3 to the ‘gauntlet’ of waving people and family who came to greet us. We make our escape fairly easily – whew.

Then there’s a taxi waiting to take us to our destination . . . then we realize, hey, we spent a very large amount of money doing all we needed to do to get the cats into the country and not once did anyone check our pile of cat paperwork or anything. No one actually cared … did we even need to check in the cats and pay $300? It’s not like El Al asked us for a “cat tickets” when we boarded. I wouldn’t recommend trying it, though …

Okay, I’m done talking about the cats for this article.

I’m an … Israeli?

For me, I’m still an American living an American bungalow colony. I’m not an Israeli and my primary phone number and time zone on my computer are American. I’m still working American hours and so forth. My wife changed her Whatsapp number to her Israel number immediately. Tells you where we are in our heads.

I plan to work American hours while I’m here so I get to work. Too tired so I shouldn’t have, yet I did. Since Covid almost all of my clients are willing to meet by video … though as one would have it, the first potential client I talk to wants to meet in person back in New Jersey. Fine – I’ll set you up with my partner. I’m talking further with him … he’s from the next town over where I’m temporarily staying in Israel. He happens to be in America at present … I explain I just made aliyah though I’m still the same American lawyer with an office in New Jersey and maybe he’ll be okay with video …

Technology in Israel

Things I’ve learned . . . electric splitters here are like children’s toys … Duplo or something … big bricks with big connectors that look like dominoes. They don’t feel real until they spark at you every time you plug an American-shape plug into the adapter. They’re real.

American lamps are fine in Israel. Just use an Israel bulb meant for 240 volts which has the same connector as the American one.

So too – American extension cords are fine … just only plug in to them things that can handle 240 volts. So one adapter for all my computer stuff … no problem.

The walls in my house are made of cement – the old owner said he needed a mesh system, wired to each floor. He has Wifi 5 so that’s probably the problem, I thought. I have a fancy new super gaming router so I’m not worried. Ha. Running a speed test … 800 mb/sec … wow. Walk to the next room … 15 mb/sec. Whoops.

We traded routers. Now he has my fancy super one that is fine … this side of the cement … and I have his mesh system.

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork

Whatever paperwork you had to do to get here – the rest is cake. There are a lot of pieces of cake to gather in a scavenger hunt across the country. You really need to speak Hebrew in a many of these places. That, or use a lot of Google translate. Americans who have been here for decades tell me they use it often.

So far for us:

• bank in Jerusalem that handles international clients. (Or you can go to Tel Aviv.)
• health insurance (choose from one of four private/public insurance companies that compete with each other)
• biometric teudah zehut … we have to get it within three months … first appointment available is just short of that deadline
• car

… paperwork here … unless it’s the bank … it’s a lot less than America. When we went to pick up the car the license plate was already on it and there was one document to sign. Now you have to interact with the government to register the car … for that there’s “gov”. It’s a website to handle all sorts of things like that. That’s it. I felt like I was picking up a rental car, it was so quick. In America it took me four hours, each time I bought a car.

Another interesting thing – there are overtly frum people in all places in society around here. I don’t think you could find a woman in a tichel as a bank teller in America. In Jerusalem most of the workers had yarmulkes and tichels (never both).

Getting Health Insurance

Walk into the health insurance provider of your choice, give them your ID, choose your health insurance plan, and get a health insurance card with a magnetic strip. This health insurance card can be read at any medical facility in the country.

In America it goes something like this … you or your employer is paying about $2000/month for nothing then you . . . a) go to primary care doctor (pay $50 – $100), b) go to specialist (pay $100 – $300), c) go back to primary care doctor who doesn’t have the paperwork from the specialist. … and this thing called a “deductible” … it’s like unobtainium.

In Israel – as I understand it so far – health insurance is free … sort of … it’s 3% on your taxes – a flat tax on everyone equally. For all of 339 shekels per month … for the entire family (less than $100/month) copays are all $0. We opted for the lower level where copays are 32 shekels … that’s … $8 or so. That copay covers you for three months, as many times as you go back to that doctor. J-O-K-E. There is a more expensive level of health insurance too – I think they serve you lunch with your doctor’s visit or something. Unfathomable to my American brain what could be even better.

Israel credit cards and ID numbers

Without an Israel credit card, I still can’t get gas at a regular gas station. I flailed my arms a bit (see part 1) and got help again – at full service where it cost me about another $10 fill up a $100 tank of gas.

The other thing you need in so many places is your Israeli ID number (teudat zehut). I have one of those now … it just seems like such an invasion of privacy. Want to buy groceries? Enter the number. Want to buy cosmetics at a pharmacy? Enter the number. At least you can enter a fake number – how dare the government be able to track me. Next, they’ll be selling cars from China. (They do – I told the car guy to sell me anything not Chinese.)

As an adult, they give you an insert with your kids’ numbers as well so you have them. At age 16 kids get their own ID card with their picture and biometrics.

Car trouble

I really love the car I bought – Mazda 6. Why’d I get a Mazda 6? Well, it turns it’s normal for Israelis to wait a few months for the car they want to be imported. I wanted a car right away … neither the car dealer nor my translator knew what a “sedan” was, so that was fun. Anyway, it’s a nifty car … they’re basically the same. Four wheels, drives forward and back …

It’s not available in America because it doesn’t sell well there. The major con: old fashioned interface. Please. It’s great. There are so few buttons – more buttons and controls are not better! They’re a distraction from driving and most people will only use a few of them anyway. Worst car I ever drove: a Lexus. Had this poor excuse for a mouse in the center console and low resolution screen. Couldn’t change the radio station without being distracted from driving for a good 20 seconds and the cabin was so isolated from the outside world that it’s no wonder the drivers don’t signal.

Now, the trouble with the Mazda: Twice I was not able to get the car to start. This is important to know for Americans … the first time I got an error like … “turn of the power off.” It is off. What are you talking about? (The error codes are in English. The radio screen thing is in Hebrew.)

After trying everything short of disconnecting the battery – which if I had a wrench on me I probably would have – it turns out that I had a backup battery plugged into a USB port to charge. Japanese be like … you’re going to drain the battery! Your car will no longer work until you take out the battery. Americans be like … dude, just don’t charge it when the car is off. I only figured this out from a YouTube short.

The other time I couldn’t start the car: it has a keypad where you have to enter a code before the car starts. I thought it was only on rentals in Israel … nope. Also on many purchased cars. If you dislexically enter the pin code a few times, as I did, it locks you out … for 15 minutes. If you try again during that time, the countdown starts again. Thank you guy who got stuck at the Dead Sea in summer waiting two hours to be towed until he figured it out and got his car to start – he shared it on the internet for me.

Food is so much better here

Everything just tastes better. It’s fresh – doesn’t have to sit in a truck from Mexico I guess. The air makes things cook better … I don’ t know. It’s just all better. I could get used to … I’m used to this.

Fun fact: calories are measured in “per 100 grams” and there is no “serving size” listed. More mathematical – consistent regardless of variations in density and what you consider a serving. Problem: the packages don’t seem to tell you how much they weigh!

Wine and beer is sold in grocery stores. The snack selection is very different and interesting.

Drink lots of water – I feel like I can never drink enough when I first arrive.

Lack of Signs

Ready Player One went big on the concept of “fill the person’s view as much as possible just before inducing a seizure”. Make the most money. That’s the American thinking.

Here – not a billboard on the street. For that matter, signs in general are harder to come by. So are addresses, and when you have the address the navigation apps don’t necessarily take you there. Looking for a school? It might be up the hill from the school you’re at, renting space in the other school with no signage for either. We chose the school we could find. There were other factors involved though probably consistent with the “we’re organized” ethos.

Driving rules

There are those that weave in and out and cut you off, though not as bad as I remember and not worse than New Jersey. Driving seems slower – there are few, maybe no “Route 80s” where you can gun it and go 100 MPH for a few miles – at least not in the center of the country. It’s almost a more leisurely drive with traffic circles, narrower roads, and just a more relaxed pace. We were told people drive minivans here – seen barely any and it’s difficult enough to park a car in the small parking spots and narrow lots around here.

You cannot make a right turn on red anywhere.

You can drive past stopped school buses.

You can make “illegal” U-turns at traffic lights, turning back from whence thou came. (I think – at least, Google Maps says I can.)

Rant about Haaretz newspaper

Reading this paper made my stomach turn – they compare the prime minister of Israel to Sinwar, the terrorist behind killing 1,200 Jews and taking another ~200 hostage. They have a headline that says “the government needs to say…” It’s bad enough in the U.S. when there’s a headline, “you’re going to eat a carrot, studies show”. This is … “we’re telling you to do a study on carrots and come up with this answer” rather than doing any actual reporting on the news.

Then there’s this op-ed with absurd logic about the right wing spending more money without raising taxes … except, they are raising taxes which they mention parenthetically making the entire argument moot. “You hate everything about me (except for all the times you showed love)” goes the Haaretz logic.

Arabs support Hamas in large numbers … says Haaretz: no they don’t because they just believe what they see on Al Jazeera. Umm … so … they do or don’t? Do you like the “they support terrorism because their stupid” people better than Jews in a different political party because it sure seems that you do.

Go on to Part 3: Moving Into Our House