Aliyah diary: 1. Preparation in America

We’re scheduled to leave for Israel in two days. I put together thoughts and antidotes about the process so far . . . and hope to compare to what my post looks like after I arrive. A bunch of things “came together” and in May I agreed to make Aliyah … we’re now moving in August as a family with our kids, cats, and baggage. Grammar issues are due to anxiety.

Bringing your house to Israel

You get a “lift”. Depending on how much stuff you’re bringing, you can get part of one, a lot of one, or a full one. They’re those large crates that go on ships and trucks, standardized for the past bunch of decades. The Israeli government used to pay for them … then they’d pay half of the cost … and now some Christian organization pays for it only if you have a financial need.

Six guys came to our house and spent a whole day packing – they pack, not you. Their insurance requires it.

The next day eight guys came.

They spent about 10 hours each day.

We didn’t take a lot of our things … shape of the new house is different as is the style so we left or sold things. Some things were just worn out and not worth taking. We thought we had all the space we needed in this huge full-truck-size rectangular prism. The things look huge. Nope. On the first day they’re telling us to select what we didn’t want so much … “just in case” it didn’t fit. Nahh …

Once something is on the truck, they don’t remove it. Makes sense. Problem on the second day … they’re serious that we need to deselect things to put on the truck. There went my custom bamboo sukkah. There went our Pesach stuff they didn’t even get to … some benches, paintings, small appliances, and so on. At the end they were standing on top of a minivan with planks to slide our taken-apart outdoor table in the last slice of space.

Then I got all Schindler’s List the next day … if only I could have done things a little differently … I could have saved this piece of furniture and that one … if only …

Bringing your car to Israel

The advice I got when checking multiple places was basically … don’t. You can though it’s a huge headache and people regret it. Israel seems to be make it purposefully difficult. The cost of transport is not actually that high … a few thousand dollars. However, when it gets there they change the exhaust system, camera system (or add if it doesn’t have one), and I don’t even know what else. You can’t have a broker or professional deal with the government – they make you do it directly and the car is in Ashdod so you have to get there, perhaps multiple times. The car also can’t be too old, you have to have a mechanic that will sign off that he’ll service the car, etc. Unless you’re bringing a Lamborghini, I was told, sell your car in American and buy another one in Israel.

About that … tax on cars in Israel is 85%. Everyone says, “oh, but as a new oleh you get a discount!” Funny thing about that … the discount is about 8%. They keep lowering it. On electric cars it costs more – yes, more – to use your oleh discount. On used cars there’s no discount.

One nice thing is that you can buy a car without an Israeli driver’s license now. You have one year to convert your license.

Also – if you bring a car to Israel there’s a complicated tax formula based on the value they perceive it to be at present. Don’t think you skipped the taxes.

… and all cars have yearly registration fees in the thousands of dollars. I think my registration in New Jersey just cost me $40 or something around there. In America, cars are considered necessities. We don’t tax them much or charge high fees. Arnold Schwarzenegger won an election in California with a promise to lower car registration fees previously the very low three figure range. In Israel, they’re considered luxuries … that most people have.

… at least the public transportation works in Israel. It works very, very well. They take space away from cars for public transportation though. Strange.

Buying a car

Most new olim seem to rent a car upon arrival and then figure out how to buy one. I worked my contacts to try and get one ahead of time.

With five weeks to go I wrote to a caller dealer, ready to buy. “Let’s be in touch about a week before.” I’m not trying to buy a table lamp – I’m trying to make a $50k+ purchase in Israel and no, I don’t want to wait and see what you may or may not have at the last minute! I don’t get you people and by gone it, I’m an American. I want my car now and early.

… I have a guy who is supposed to bring two purchased cars to us on our day of arrival. Probably will be writing more about that after I arrive!

I’m about to wire him a lot of money – I don’t even know his name. He’s in my phone as “Israel car guy”. We communicate using Google Translate via Whatsapp. Apparently entire countries do business via Whatsapp. It’s quite something. I ask the lawyer if he has more references for him … “nah, he’s fine.” I ask the Israel car guy for another reference … “ask the lawyer for references.”

I tell him I’m sorry, I trust him, it would just make me feel better. He gives me a name and tells me the car will be waiting for me at the airport with “cold drinks and sweet things” (שתיה קרה ודברים מתוקים)

Okay, back to paying him…. the money transfer service I use … I sent them money for two cars. I have them convert the money to shekels. Then I ask them to pay … “we don’t pay for cars”. When did you want to tell me that and what am I going to do now? They agree to do it for me, however, I must get an invoice from the call seller. He moves, I don’t know, a few thousand cars a year, and says he’s never once sent an invoice before payment was received. Apparently he hasn’t dealt with an American money wire service either. Yeah… that’s a thing. In Israel, invoices come after you pay and not before.

Cars compared to tuition

If I didn’t pay tuition for my kids in America I could buy a sports car every year.

In Israel, I don’t have to pay tuition and I can only buy a regular-person car every year.

A car in Israel cost about as much as two high school tuitions. A slightly used car costs about as much as two middle school tuitions. So if I stay in Israel more than one year the cars pay for themselves because school is near free.

Actually, school is about $600/kid per year in Israel … and includes bussing. That’s less than the amount of tuition increase in America had I stayed another year. That is … the increase in tuition alone would be more than that.

Also, college is free for olim. If you go to a private college in Israel, it’s not free though the amount they would have paid to the public college is credited to you and even so, tuition isn’t $60k+/yr like it is in America and a bachelor’s degree is three years instead of four.

Rent or buy a house

Before my pilot trip, I very much planned to rent. What if I don’t like where I am? It’s all one big black box. Google Streetview is only so useful.

Once I visited and we settled on a community, we looked at housing … it’s difficult out there. We need room for kids and offices. While we could make Beit Shemesh work – which is were most religious Americans end up – it’s become very expensive compared to what it used to be. Well, everything in Israel is like that … very expensive compared to what it used to be and the prices go up and up whether during a war, peace, or alternative day having an E in it.

Someone also told me he regretted renting first. Next year the house he wanted cost $200k more.

We found something we like … and it was literally the only thing we could find and we’re not sure what we’d of done otherwise … it’s not cheap though the tradeoff of having a place when we arrive, having a place that meets our needs in terms of space for the family and offices and being able to settle our kids without more moves to different places, etc … seems like the right move for us.

Setting Up a House with U.S. goods

Bed size – they’re different. If you’re bringing your bed, get new mattresses so they won’t need to be replaces so soon.

Mattress musing – someone asked me to bring a mattress for him from America – he couldn’t decide what to buy. When he made aliyah 20 years ago there were few choices. Now, he’s so overwhelmed by the number of choices, even for a single size.

Electricity – there are different types of transformers. Not only is the voltage different … the frequency is different! 50 Hz in Israel versus 60 Hz in the United States means step-up transformers aren’t fully sufficient. American appliances run 17% slower on a transformer in Israel.

Outlet adapter – most modern direct current (DC) appliances just need an adapter for the plug. That is, most electronics … not laser printers. They need proper transformers because the power intake is so high (1000 W+) so American printers aren’t made to run on 240 volts. Otherwise, for alternating current (AC), such as fans, motors, power tools, and kitchen appliances … they mostly need a transformer. Then you have to decide if it is worth it to run the transformer or buy a new 240 volt device.

Appliances – even if you can convert them for Israeli electricity or propane, apparently you can’t find parts in Israel so … don’t.

Gas and electricity

In America we have gas dryers. In Israel they usually have much smaller and weaker electric dryers. Why would you put a dryer, something that requires heat, on electricity? That’s inefficient and expensive. There’s a reason we use gas to hear our homes. You can get gas dryers though it makes you American if you do. So be it! The mitzvah is in living in the land, not living with utility bills.

This was eye-opening to me … how do you get gas into your home? No gas lines. They have “ballonim” … they are above-ground tall thin tanks which look like those we use to fill helium balloons. There are two on a house (presumably more on an apartment building) and you switch them out when one goes empty. In America I put in a gas line to avoid changing propane tanks on my grill … in Israel, the whole house runs on changing propane tanks.

Someone finally explained how a dud shemesh works. Basically, it’s a law in Israel to have a solar heater on your roof for your water tank … also on the roof. When it’s not hot, you turn on a switch which, again, is an electric coil that heats up the water and you wait. (Again, no gas – inefficient electric – though I guess that is offset by the fact that you have solar heat). Solution for Americans: instahot. When the water isn’t hot enough the instahot – using gas – heats up the water immediately. I’m not flipping a switch for hot water! That’s as un-American as closing the main street in a city and putting a train line there!

(What am I talking about … when I returned to Jerusalem about 7 years ago after a long time not in the country, I thought … I don’t even need the GPS. I know how to get where I’m going. Rahov Yaffo was no longer a street. It was a train line?!?!? Imagine New York City closing Broadway to cars and making it a subway line … never!)

Mortgages

Many standard Israeli mortgages has both the interest .. and the principal (!!) tied to the consumer price index. Thus, mortgage payments go up and the amount of principal owed goes up. You don’t “pay down” a mortgage in Israel … you “pay up” your mortgage. Be careful.

In America if you want a mortgage, there’s an advertised rate, you apply, and you get approved after a bunch of paperwork. That paperwork, however annoying, is given to you in two batches: 1) list of items to send them, 2) stack of papers to sign.

in Israel, if you want a mortgage there are multiple rounds of document requests and multiple rounds of documents to sign. It’s a seemingly never-ending clown car on a track going around and round. Plus, banks cost at 1pm or open and close at some weird hour, and the one and only one person in a branch you need to talk to is on coffee break. Then when you finally get a “mortgage offer” you have to start negotiating and you’re so worn down that you just accept the offer knowing the wear down isn’t going to get better. At an aliyah fair a presenter said that banks are a test of your zionism.

Further, it doesn’t matter that you’re going to a bank of a particular name because each branch is more like an independently owned and operated franchise which doesn’t actually have too many franchise rules. Every Dunkin Donuts may be independently owned and operated though each has the same menu, decor, and services. Israel banks … well, check out this story: I got a mortgage at one branch of Bank Mizrachi and they couldn’t complete it because I had opened a file at a different branch. The ‘different’ branch had to release my file … the bank manager refused because she had already “gone back and forth” trying to get me a mortgage. Did she? No! Didn’t matter to her – I wasn’t getting a mortgage at … the same bank, competing with itself to not be able to provide service.

More on banks

There’s a fee every time you use a debit card.

It is standard to pay for things over 12 months without penalty. However, there is a limited amount of credit to do this.

Most Israelis are overdrafted in their bank accounts and paying high interest rates. Why? Dunno. It’s silly.

Phones

Cellular phones are much, much cheaper in Israel. I’m paying $15/month per line with 5 GB of data, pret-paid T-Mobile plan. It’s a sweet deal. In Israel it’s coming out to $9/line with 1500 GB or something like that.

However … signing up is near impossible online. A lot of websites just aren’t as polished … e.g. there’s a “discount” listed only the overlay` covers part of the price so who can tell what it is?

After spending hours on their “English” website where the drop down to select a city doesn’t work, I called a relative in Israel. Even in Hebrew you can’t select the options you want, get to the end of a long list of pages, and something invariably doesn’t work. I don’t have an Israeli credit card and worse, I don’t have an Israeli cellular phone number which is a requirement to get a cellular phone number (!???!). The relative reached a very nice lady over the phone who set us up with all the phone-lines and sim cards we need. There are no e-sims though.

My American numbers are coverted to Google voice numbers or VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone numbers so I can use them just the same wherever I am. Especially with the 75+ crowd, I’m having a lot of trouble getting people to understand that I can make and receive calls just the same. No, you don’t need to answer the office phone for me. No, you don’t need to dial differently to reach me. Phone numbers are no longer linked to particular physical switching station where an operator plugs wire into a jack for a particular extension … it’s software, people. A phone number isn’t much different than a URL for a website – it’s just a shorthand to reach a particular device on the internet.

Buying products from outside of Israel

Melatonin is prescription only. You can buy medicine in the U.K. and have it shipped – it’s worth it for the right quantities, I’m told.

Israel taxes Amazon purchases over $75.
Amazon has free shipping on purchases $50 or more.

Electronics and clothing are much more expensive in Israel. Bamboo, surprisingly, is much cheaper as are services like painters, plumbers, and therapists. (So far, I’ve only ordered the bamboo.)

A tale of two bureaucracies

I love American bureaucracy now. My wife handled most of our paperwork – my job was cars, mortgage, and insurance … the financial side of things. I can’t believe I’m saying this … the New Jersey DMV is almost pleasant now. They’ve really fixed it up.

In New Jersey – making an appointment on their website is now required. It’s not too crowded … they also separated the lines into a) check your documents and b) get what you came in for. This speeds things up tremendously and there is a person there to hand you exactly what you need and highlight what you need to fill in. Then you’re called up when they’re ready for you and go to the ‘teller’ and that’s it – pay and get what you came in for.

New Jersey DMV was polite on both recent occasions I went (to get the title of a car I was selling and to renew my driver’s license – in two different locations because they know specialize on specific tasks in each location also streamlining things).

The Jewish agency also decided at the last minute that I needed some additional government document I never had. I drove to Trenton in a huff to get it that day … parked in front of the state courthouse … right in front … street parking and plenty available. The building was nearly empty … huffed up to the 6th floor and found the records office. The lady was supportive, calmed me down, and told me she’d be able to get me what I needed right now. This was in a well lit, carpeted office. Nicest bureaucratic experience ever.

Meanwhile the stream of documents for Israel is never ending … I wake up each morning which is an Israeli workday (Sun – Thurs) to new documents and signatures and whatever else for this or that type of insurance, the mortgage, the bank, and … I’m not even dealing with the kids stuff which is my wife’s department. It just gets overwhelming seemingly providing the same thing over and over and over.

I must have sent pictures of my driver’s license 12 times, passport 18 times, and told people I don’t have a teudat zehut (Israel ID card) 22 times! No, I don’t have one! I’m not a citizen yet! Duh! Ugh.

Then they started asking for apostiled documents … that means you get the document, mail it to some guy who doesn’t know you anyway, he adds a cover sheet for $100, and sends it off. It’s worthless. I drew the line at the bank demanding that I apostile a W9 … a basic tax form which just has your tax ID. An apostile is to verify a government-issued document for authenticity – not a document you fill in. I think they’re just really out of touch and figure they can keep asking and asking until you finally push back and say you guys are over the top even for Israel. After that they asked me for a picture of the page in my passport showing the last time I entered Israel. Israel hasn’t stamped foreign passports in 20+ years. Clearly this couldn’t be an actual regulatory requirement in Israel so why were they even asking? Was this a test or incompetence?

Once I was told get a document notarized in the US while on a video call with a lawyer in Israel to watch. Notary in US won’t notarize a document in Hebrew. Have to find a Hebrew-speaking American notary and do it again. Then it has to be apostilled …

Also, documents have to be signed in blue ink. The Israeli lawyer sounded surprised when I told him it didn’t matter in the United States.

More on my love of New Jersey

I’ve lived here my whole life (except for while in Israel when in yeshiva) and I am going to miss full service gas. Pumping your own gas is just so … plebian. Dirty and I can’t even figure out how to use the pumps in the neighboring states. In Israel without a teudah zehut you put in your passport number or something and flail your arms around until someone tries to help and then tells you to try a different gas station. (It used to be fine when I was there years ago … well, I’ll have a teudah I guess.)

Israel’s vibrant democracy

When it comes to paperwork, the United States is a dictatorship compared to Israel. In the United States they give you the exact form that you have to fill out exactly with very exacting language refined over many versions over time. America is stoic.

Now, a form from Israel … that’s full of life. There have been about 100 that had to be filled out, most of them having duplicate information from prior forms again and again. One we received was particular humorous – I didn’t save it though it said something like, “Sign this document indicating that you are one of a non-Israel, Israeli, or person somewhere in between” with check-boxes which didn’t actually need to be filled in for the sentence to make sense. My wife called the Jewish agency and got someone on the phone – the man said he didn’t know and he’d call back in five minutes. He did.

He said, “we took a vote in the office and came to a consensus that you should check box 2.” That’s how democracy works in Israel.

Internet hacks

My U.S. bank doesn’t let me deposit checks with my phone, abroad. VPNs don’t work – they’re on to that. Some forms in Israel can only be accessed within Israel. My VPN thankfully has a server in Israel – that works. This overcomes one of the difficulties of doing business from a different country.

The best solution I found is a program called Tailscale – you can set up a virtual network between your computers anywhere in the world and have your network traffic exit through any of the “tails” on the network. I can have my computer in Israel use my internet connection in my office in New Jersey, when needed. What happens when that computer crashes and no one is there who can fix it? Ask me later.

Cats

We acquired the cats in April.
We decided to make Aliyah in May.
That’s proof we really didn’t plan to make aliyah because who gets a cat before going to Israel? Turns out that, yes, you can bring them. Israelis might look at you like an American would look at you if you immigrated with a pet squirrel though … our cats are so cute! We’re kind of attached.

To bring a cat (or dog) in the cabin of the plane, it has to be below a certain weight and in a carrier that fits under the seat. The seat size is different for every plane, El Al gives dimensions to use which are near-impossibly dimensioned, and says somewhere that you can violate those amounts a little as long as the cats fit under the seat. Hoping for the best here.

Now for the rest – the cats have to have micro-chips, have rabies shots some nice long time period apart, have serological tests, health checks … and this is over at least two visits to the vet, and not just any vet. It has to be a vet which can handle international travel and paperwork and there aren’t many of them nor are they inexpensive.

We’re told we should sedate the cats … and during the security screening the cat carriers have to go through the X-rays so we should ask for a separate screening room so the cats don’t run all over the airport.

You know those El Al flights with a crying baby the whole way? That’s child’s play. Time for two cats.

Go on to Part 2 – the first few days.