Aliyah

Aliyah Journal — T minus 55 days

It’s interesting how there is a kind of emotional "doppler effect" surrounding big events in one’s life.  For me anyway, the days leading up to a big event in one’s life — like making aliyah or getting married — start to rush by in a blur.  When it’s a long time away, a year, six months, time seems "normal."  Then as the time for the big event gets closer, the passage of time speeds up, the days fly by, then the event is here and gone and after a few days of recuperation time goes back to normal.

I’m definitely in that "speeded up" mode.  It’s hard to believe that the movers will be here to pack up our house — to put our life into a forty foot shipping container — in a little over five weeks.  Where did the time go?!

We got good news today…we received our passports back in the mail from the israeli consulate in Philadelphia with our aliyah visas in place.  It’s pretty cool to look at them and see "status: aliyah" right there in the passport.  The final piece of paperwork is now complete, well before the deadline.  "All systems are go…" 

Got a few other things checked off the aliyah to-do list in the last few days as well…sent off our membership application to AACI (the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel), an organization that has a lot of useful resources for new olim; ordered the SIM cards so our cell phones will work the moment we get off the plane in Israel; ordered a credit card from Capital One which has the great advantage of NO foreign transaction fees, meaning it’s an easy way to move money from the US to Israel; and the new owner of my old piano came in from Tennessee and picked it up, while my new piano was delivered from California.  Next big thing on my list is putting my car up for sale.

We may have found an apartment in Jerusalem … still working out the details.  And so far, despite a big price reduction, no nibbles on selling the house.  I’d really rather just have Toledo occupy a place in my heart after we leave, not a place in my wallet…but "ein mah la’asot," there’s nothing else we can do now.

Reb Barry

Barry Leff

Rabbi Barry (Baruch) Leff is a dual Israeli-American business executive, teacher, speaker and writer who divides his time between Israel and the US.

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