Probably the most valuable item that Nefesh B

Scavenger Hunt
August 26, 2004

Probably the most valuable item that Nefesh B'nefesh provides is - no not the money that some people get nor the fanfare at the airport - a poster. Yes a poster. This poster is a step by step guide of what to do once you've made aliyah. (They also provide an excellent pre-aliyah poster.) Each step is represented as a box on the poster and each box is numbered; 1 to 13. Each box contains a wealth of information; what to bring to the various offices, the procedure for what to do there, what you'll receive when you leave, and phone numbers. The steps must be performed in order or else you have to start over from the beginning. No, seriously, the order is important because sometimes you need the results of one step for the next. Honestly, I don't know how people made Aliyah in the past without this poster.

The downside to the poster is that it engenders a little competitiveness among the olim. It's very similar to those scavenger hunts kids go on as a camp activity. Each team gets a list of items to find in, say a mall, and they have to run around finding everything on the list. Well sometimes this poster feels like the scavenger hunt list. First off there's that element of searching for something which was intentionally well hidden like the old Beatles album at the bottom of a pile in the music store in the mall or the MEMSI office hidden behind a big tree off of Ben Yehuda Street. (MEMSI is the Israeli version of AAA. It's where you go to get your picture taken for the license. Why you don't get your picture taken at the DMV or why you can't use one of the 8,000 passport size photos you were told to bring with you is another topic. I don't know the answer, but it's another topic.)

Additionally, I often find myself asking a fellow oleh, "So what step are you up to?" and of course the child in me quietly says "YES!" when my fellow says he's only up to step 3 and I'm on step 5. Then there are the super organized types who must have cheated and mapped out the steps well before setting foot on that El Al flight! They start out like 8 steps ahead of everyone else.

The good news is that we're pretty much done with the poster. We have a couple of items to mop up and still need to go for our driving lesson and tests, but overall we're in pretty good shape as far as the poster goes. There are some steps that are out of control like step #6, "Release Lift".

Speaking of our runaway lift, no it hasn't shown up yet, but thanks for asking. We received a call from the shipper last week telling us that our container was definitely off-loaded at a port in Italy and they expected it to be picked up the beginning of this week. We have a shot at having it by the end of next week. Randi and I decided what we miss most is our couch. It's hard to lounge around on Shabbos afternoon on a 2 inch thick Israeli mattress laying on a stone floor. The washer/dryer is coming up as close second and may surpass the couch as Randi quickly tires of schlepping the laundry a couple of blocks away to some very generous friends who have an open washer policy with us.

Raanan started school last Thursday. He is dorming at a Yeshiva about a half hour from here. He came home for Shabbos and again Tuesday night. This coming Shabbos is an "in" Shabbos, one out of four per month where the boys stay in the Yeshiva. He seems to be understanding a good amount of the class instruction and has even been bold enough to ask a question or two in Hebrew. (In his algebra class no less!) It is a big adjustment for him. His three roommates only speak Hebrew. Going from 8th grade to high school is tough enough, going to a dorming school is even tougher, and to top it off he's in a school in a foreign country where they don't speak his native language! He's our oleh of the week.

Elisheva will be returning to the states next week to begin her final year of high school in Brooklyn. Of course she'll only be there for 10 days before she turns around and comes home for the holidays. Etana and I went to Michlalah on Tuesday to pay the bill which, because she's an oleh chadash (new immigrant), is virtually nothing. Meira begins Gan on Wednesday and Randi and I are quite nervous about starting Ulpan next Sunday.

We had a couple of "only in Israel" moments over the past few days. We went to a home decorating store to select bathroom fixtures, e.g. tubs, toilets, etc., for our new house. We spent a couple of hours with Shifra, our saleswoman. It was quite a sight seeing Randi and I testing out the various toilets on display, but that's for another time. As Shifra was writing up the bill she asked if had a job yet in Israel yet. I told her that I'm working for the same company as I had for many years in the US, but at quite a reduced salary. She exclaimed, "B'emet" (Really!). She then proceeded to let everyone in the store in on this little tidbit of my life. Upon hearing this, one of the other customers came over to us to confirm that we were telling the truth because her brother-in-law, who works for GE, had a similar experience when he made aliyah. In general people were wishing us Mazel Tov and success on our aliyah and this woman walked out of the store with us showering us with brachot (blessings). I didn't feel the least bit offended. It just felt like Shifra was sharing this with our extended family.

Another night we were in Jerusalem on our way to use a restaurant gift certificate friends had e-mailed us. (We'll send you the URL if you are also interested in helping the Israeli economy by sending your friends to a restaurant!) I stopped in a shoe store on Jaffa Road as I was in desperate need of slip-on shoes. (Being a Kohen in Israel means that one "duchans" every day during the morning prayers and having laced shoes is a real hindrance to that process.) The proprietor spoke very little English, but all I had to say to explain what I wanted was "Ani Kohen" (I am a Kohen). As I was paying for the shoes he shared with me that his wife had some medical issues and he proceeded to write his and his wife's names on the receipt and asked that I keep them in mind when I "duchan".

We are all doing very well but continue to miss our friends and family. We have received very positive feedback regarding our e-mails and both Randi and I enjoy writing them. But more than that, we enjoy hearing from you in response!