For English Speaking Boys aged 10 to 13 in Ma’ale Adumim

Create a Digital Game  *  Learn Torah  *  Swim  *  Play Sports & Games  *  Eat  *  Blog & More!

Full Details & Registration information at http://almosteden.co.il/camp

REGISTRATION Deadline is May 22^nd

Earlier this week I watched a brief AISH video by Lori Palatnik about the song we sing at the end of the seder – Le Shana Haba b’Yerushalayim (Next Year in Jerusalem). In this message, Lori asks how many people really mean those words. I found this surprising since she doesn’t live in Israel and this is a question most often used when challenging Jews to come home.

Many of the comments on the AISH page under the video are sad and surprising. I wonder how some people can be so blind to the dangers and negativity in their own surroundings; they look at their galut through rose colored glasses while viewing Israel (the unknown!) through the lens of the worst media propaganda available to them. Some have even visited Israel and had negative experiences during a vacation that has solidified their resolve to never live here! Imagine making a life-changing decision based on a few unpleasant experiences because you weren’t open to exploring and appreciating a different culture (or traveling to the communities in Israel that are densely populated by Americans) while on vacation! I wonder how many of their ancestors ran away from the US because their early experiences left a bad taste in their mouths (very few, I’m sure).

And then at the other extreme, there’s the convert who said “I am a convert. A year after I said these words the first time, I was in Jerusalem (without all the helps and money a jew can get for his aliya). It’s true: Whoever really means it can make it.” Why is it that a convert “gets it”, but someone who has spent their entire life immersed in Torah life and culture doesn’t?

I was saddened by the story of the Israeli who moved to Lori’s North American community to escape the problems of Israel! And again I wonder, is there one Jewish community anywhere in the world devoid of problems? In my view, many galut Jews perceive problems in Israel in order to conveniently excuse themselves from making Aliyah (a positive Torah mitzvah). Why are they willing to fix problems in foreign countries but not participate in rebuilding their God-given home? Pointing fingers at a secular Israeli government while refusing to come home and vote it out isn’t the answer. If you refuse, God will send others (e.g., the many converts who enter these gates every year).

My friend Rivkah posted a link on Facebook today to a video that helped me better understand this upsetting phenomenon – Secret of the Matzah, Liberate Yourself. The bottom line is that change is hard and requires courage, the ability to turn from something known to something unknown. People fear that they might fail on the new path they are contemplating and because of that some people will remain stuck in the same location, job, relationships, habits, etc. for the rest of their lives without having realized their potential – or their mission in this world.

So as we sing Le Shana Haba b’Yerushalayim tonight, let’s keep our fearful brothers and sisters in mind and pray that they be liberated with an extra dose of courage this year! And let’s try to alleviate some of their fear by educating them about the real Israel. If any of you are interested in participating in a “buddy system” to hand-hold galut Jews through Aliyah, please let me know and I’ll start building a resource database.

Chag Kasher v’Sameach!

Tehillah

Tzfat is one of the most popular destinations for olim who are considering settlement in Northern Israel. In addition to a growing economy and large English-speaking population, Tzfat offers a wide range of housing options, opportunities to affiliate with a compatible religious population, cultural and environmental activities, good schools and a wide range of helpful English-speaking support systems.

Housing in Tzfat ranges from the old stone buildings in Tzfat’s Old City and Artist Quarter to the newest neighborhoods of Biriya, Ramat Razim and Menachem Begin. In addition, there are many lower-cost apartments available for rent or purchase in the older neighborhoods of Canaan and the Darom.

English-speaking residents in Tzfat are affiliated with all of the town’s religious communities including the Sephardic community, Hassidic communities, the Carlebach shuls and even a small loosely-organized Jewish Renewal group. Many of these groups operate their own schools and parents can generally find a school that meets their religious philosophies. Tzfat also has a range of educational facilities for children with special needs. Most olim to Tzfat identify religiously in some form or other, but there is a large non-religious community in Tzfat and some new olim prefer to integrate into this community.

The Ministry of Absorption operates an ulpan in Tzfat for Kita Aleph and, when there is a demand, for Kita Bet. After olim learn the rudiments of Hebrew they can begin to look for jobs. Jobs as English teachers are often available and medical personnel can find work in the Rivka Ziv hospital which offers a wide range of services. The tourism industry is growing in Tzfat and many olim work in the tourist industry’s infrastructure as well as in local art galleries.

There is an English library and an English listserve (subscribe at tzfatline@aol.com) which serves the community for free.

I recently received the following e-mail solicitation from an American organization that will remain nameless:

Looking for a thriving, centrally located, modern orthodox community?

Spend a Shabbos at the xxxxx and experience our warmth and hospitality for yourself.
• Over 180 orthodox families and growing
• New Family Initiative – $25,000 interest-free loan
• Free membership first year and $10,000 savings in shul dues
• Hebrew Elementary School – $7,500 per student discount over 3 years (Grades K-6)
• Convenient Eruv and beautiful Mikveh
• Kosher Butcher/Takeout/Bakery/Pizza and more
• Easy Access to major highways and train

Having lived in Israel for close to 4 years now, I was a bit shocked at the escalation in the cost of Jewish American life! In the interest of educating those who may not yet have considered the benefits of life in Israel, here’s Israel’s counter-offer for you:

• A thriving Jewish community of over 6 million with a growing percentage of Modern Orthodox, Chardal, Chassidic & Chareidi – some living in seclusion, others living in mixed religious neighborhoods, and many people involved in kiruv living in mixed religious/secular neighborhoods.
• Free airline ticket to Israel for each family member.
• Nefesh B’Nefesh assistance with all required paperwork and processing.
• Sal Klita absorption basket financial benefits based on family size and ages.
• Modern and inexpensive health care
  (e.g., we paid over $12,000 in co-pays and premiums during our last year in the US for our family of three – and have averaged less than $2,000 per year for the same services with superior care in Israel).
• Free shul membership (in most Anglo communities) during your first year of Aliyah – which translates into approximately NIS 250/$65 to NIS 1800/$475 per year depending on shul (compared to $10,000 per year from the advertisement above!)
• Tuition-Free Public Hebrew Elementary Schools or discounted Private Elementary School costing 2500 shekels (under $700) to 10,000 shekels (approx. $2700) per year depending on your choice of school.
  In addition to free tuition, we have spent an average of 2000 shekels (approx. $525) per year for books, school shirts and class trips to Holy places.
• Eruvim in all communities with religious citizens and a beautiful selection of Mikvehs.
• Kosher Food everywhere! Choose your neighborhood and you’ll be sure to find butchers, grocery stores, restaurants, take-out shops, bakeries, pizzerias and more meeting your particular hechsher preference.
• Great public transportation and easy access to major highways.
• Top Notch Security
• Strong Economy – including Housing that’s increasing in value every day.
• Jewish history around every corner and under every stone
• Jewish culture
• Jewish holidays
• The home of the future Beit HaMikdash
• A community waiting to welcome you home! The only home for the future-thinking Jewish family.

If you’ve already made Aliyah, please feel free to add more comparisons below.

Nefesh B’Nefesh announced today the launch of a series of mega Aliyah events in the following major cities throughout North America:

• Toronto – Sunday, March 18, 1:00pm – 5:00pm
• Montreal – Monday, 19, 6:30pm-10:00pm
• Baltimore – Wednesday, March 21, 6:30pm-10:00pm
• South Florida—Thursday, March 22, 6:30pm-10:00pm
• New York City – Sunday, March 25, 12:30pm-5:30pm

The Aliyah-related seminars and workshops will include information on:

• The Aliyah Process
• Financial Planning & Taxes
• Employment in Israel
• Retiring to Israel
• Real Estate & Mortgages
• Communities & Education
• Israeli Healthcare
• Go North Program

Attendees can request personal consultations with staff from Nefesh B’Nefesh, Israel’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and the Jewish Agency. Representatives from various other Israeli ministries, health funds and shippers will also be present.

For more information and to register, please visit http://www.nbn.org.il/megaevent.

Music provides one of the most comprehensive available forms to study history and culture. Nowhere is this more evident than in the history of the modern Jewish aliyah to Israel.

Aliyah experiences in today’s world differ depending on the oleh’s age, financial resources, family status and ability to find work. However today’s aliyah cannot compare to the aliyah experiences of Jews who moved to Israel in the years preceding independence and in the early years of the State’s existence.

The Israel Suite, a unique project of the Milken Archives, documents the lives of these olim by exploring the music of the first Aliyot 1880 – 1936. The project, “Israel Suite” explores the optimism, Zionist idealism and determination of Israel’s pioneers as it was expressed in their music.

The Israel Suite project explores the development of Jewish music in pre-State and post-independence Israel. The project spans the Hebrew songs which incorporated the values of the “new” secular identities of First and Second Aliyot (1880s through WWI) olim. In addition, it documents songs that expressed a love and commitment to build the Land of Israel expressed by the Third and Fourth Aliyot. These songs demonstrate how the Jews incorporated their traditional Hassidic, Eastern European, Mediterranean and North African melodies into the new philosophy of the “New Jew.” In addition, the project includes new compositions which were composed by poets and professional musicians in the pre-State “Yishuv.”

Max Helfman compiled the music of this period which became part of the repertoire of campers at Brandeis Camp. Some examples of the music include “Laila had’mama”, a romantic view of kibbutz life and “B’yom kayitz”, a song set to a poem by the well-known poet Haim Nachman Bialik. Today, thanks to  Lowell Milken and his Archive, we are able to use this collection to learn about the history of aliyah and the first Jews of the new Yishuv. Lowell Milken is a strong supporter of Israel, the IDF and a founders of the Ariel settlement.

Last week while reading through some business news on LinkedIn, I came across Stick Around– language stickers for the home that can help us become more fluent in Hebrew. Being a 3-time Hebrew ulpan drop-out, I was thrilled to see a product that better addresses my learning style and at a very reasonable price. I’m anxiously awaiting my order’s arrival and will try to remember to report back to you soon on my impressions.

In the meantime, I spoke with the creator of Stick Around and after enjoying hearing the story of how this product came about, I asked him to share it with you too. So, here is a guest post by Amit Turkenitz, owner of Gingerhood.com

I spent my childhood being sent to private English teachers by my parents to perfect my English and give me an obvious edge in a world that is clearly turning more and more global. Little did I know of the downsides that perfect English can cause.

I met my wife, Jo, while I was traveling in Vietnam. We clicked and a year later she found herself packing up her life in Australia and moving to Israel. Israel was a great deal of fun for her at first, and we were definitely having a good time, but as time slowly passed, her “100 days of grace” started fading away and she started facing the hard fact of life: She is not a tourist – she needs to blend in.

Many people in Israel speak great English, so tourists get by easily. This was perfect for my wife, seeing as she didn’t have to struggle when going to a café, taking a taxi or asking for directions on the street. Whenever we met with friends, the conversations were mainly held in English. And of course there was me: I spoke English to my wife, because we met in English and we knew each other in English. All of the above left no incentive for my wife to learn Hebrew.

It all seemed peachy at first, but once you scratched the surface – you could see that her lack of Hebrew skills was problematic. Finding a job for my wife was difficult and limited her options only to the English-speaking job market. Any peripheral service she needed turned out to be handled only in Hebrew – health services, banking, authorities, etc… and finally – even the closest friends started getting tired of “working hard” to have English conversations and drifted to speaking Hebrew amongst themselves in big social situations. My wife couldn’t avoid it any more: she needed to acquire Hebrew skills.

Ulpan was a good start, and definitely pumped her up with the energy to learn. But as grammar kicked in and learning became more complicated, Hebrew became hard work. And with hard work comes excuses… “the teacher is boring!”, “why do I need to learn these ridiculous texts?” and so on. I tried thinking of ways to engage my wife into the Hebrew language. I didn’t mind the grammar mistakes as that can come later, I just wanted her to be able to follow conversations. I realized that more than anything else she needed vocabulary. That’s when I started filling our apartment with translation labels.

I made a long document of useful words for the things around us. Each word I wrote in English for her to understand the meaning and in Hebrew for her to recognize when she would see it. Then I added the link between them – a transliteration, a phonetic spelling in Latin characters to demonstrate the Hebrew pronunciation. Something like this:

I printed these labels and sticky-taped them to the actual objects that they describe. Every day I noticed more words that were missing (having fallen off), so I printed them, cut them, and taped them as well. It was a long process, but proved to be a rather helpful one. The labels were small enough not to overtake the space we live in, yet noticeable by those who needed them for learning.

Two years later, I introduced our product Stick Around – language stickers for home.

Stick Around contains 529 stickers to cover objects in five different living spaces: living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and office. The stickers are made of high quality vinyl, so they do not leave any sticky residue behind. They arrive in a nicely designed recycled cardboard package, ready to peel and label and – most important – they are a frustration-free product for people struggling with Hebrew.

The product is designed and manufactured in Israel and can be purchased online (with free shipping) at www.gingerhood.com (which is our website, both my wife and I are gingers…) and also in a growing list of retail stores that appear in detail on our website. This is all to help you… stick around!

If you’ve used Stick Around, please tell us (in the comments below) if and how the product helped you.

by Josh Ben-David

Israel’s mortgage industry can be very difficult to navigate. With over 30 loan products available, ranging from low rates and high risk to higher rates and no risk, securing a mortgage tailor-fitted to the borrower’s needs can translate into a savings of tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of shekels over the life of the loan.

The following are 3 reasons why you should consider seeking help from a mortgage consultant:

1. Objective and independent advice
In Israel, no single bank carries every mortgage product and some banks are more competitive than others on specific products. Interest rates on mortgage products also vary between banks, and even between different branches of the same bank! Each bank has unique terms and conditions, and there are several banks with hidden fees that can increase your effective interest rate without you ever knowing.

Your bank representative will avoid mentioning to you these details at all cost because he or she represents the interests of the bank. Only an independent mortgage professional can give you objective advice based on your personal needs.

2. Full service
For many people, getting approved for a mortgage in Israel is achievable. It all boils down to convincing the bank that you will make your monthly payments on time. Therefore, providing the right documentation and negotiating with the banks plays a key role in securing home financing.

The general rule is that banks offer better rates to lower risk borrowers, so presenting a good “case” or file to the bank means your payments will be lower. In addition to negotiating with the banks, the borrower must get an official appraisal of the property, run a title check, and collect the necessary documentation from the Israel Lands Authority (for refinancing, the process is a little easier but most issues listed here are still applicable). A good mortgage broker will take care of all this for you in a timely manner, allowing you to focus on preparing to move into your new home.

3. Financial savings
Since the law stipulates that banks cannot pay mortgage consultants directly for their services (which ensures transparency for the borrower), the banks offer mortgage consultants preferred rates which they then pass on to their clients. A good mortgage consultant can also get less-qualified borrowers approved and secure higher than normal loan-to-value financing which makes home ownership more attainable.

But lower rates and better terms are only part of the bigger picture. The most important aspect of mortgage consulting is knowing how to structure the loan in order to reduce risk and increase financial savings for the borrower. A correctly structured mortgage will allow you to pay less money to the bank and keep more money in your pocket.

Josh Ben-David is Mortgage Consultant and Business Development Manager at First Israel Mortgages
Blog: http://www.israelmortgages101.com/
Email: jbendavid@firstisrael.com

by Moshe Egel-Tal, CSPP & CEO Israpay

Havra’a is a mandatory payment by law. It is paid annually to all employees who have at least one year’s tenure with their current employer. There are several rates (for private and public sector) and they are updated each year in June.

The current rate (June 2011) in the private sector is 365 shekels per day. Employees are allotted days according to their tenure as follows:

1 year = 5 days

2 – 3 years = 6 days

4 – 10 years = 7 days

11 – 15 years = 8 days

16 – 19 years = 9 days

20 and onwards = 10 days

The amounts are gross and subject to income tax, social security and health tax.

They are usually paid in July’s salary, however some employer’s break it up into 2 or 3 payments during the course of the year and in Hi-tech they usually divide it by 12 paying 1/12th each month.

by Moshe Egel-Tal, CSPP & CEO Israpay

Just in time for the summer vacation! Make sure your teenage kids who found a summer-time job are paid according to the law. Effective July 2011, the new minimum wages for youth are as follows:

apprentices = 14.22 shekels per hour
up to age 16 = 16.59 shekels per hour
up to age 17 = 17.77 shekels per hour
up to age 18 = 19.67 shekels per hour
from age 18 and up = 22.04 shekels per hour

There are special regulations in effect for employing youth:

1. They can not be under 14 years old.
2. They need to have an employment booklet, available for free from the government employment service (Sherut Hata’asuka). In order to get the booklet a youth needs to bring 2 passport pictures and a doctor’s note that he/she is healthy and fit to work.
3. The maximum amount of hours that youth can be employed is 8 hours per day and not more than 40 hours per week. Overtime is not allowed ! Youth can not be employed on the weekly rest day (for Jews – Shabbat)
4. After 6 hours of work, youth must be granted 45 minutes break, of which at least 30 minutes must be consecutively.
5. Between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. the following day it is forbidden to employ youth under 16.
   Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following day it is forbidden to employ youth between age 16 and age 18, unless approved by special permission and even then not later than 11 p.m.
   Requests for permits should be applied for by phone 03-734-7440 (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment)
6. The employer is required to keep a log of all hours worked by youth. If it is not done by a computer, electronic or manual time-clock, it needs to be signed daily by both the youth employee and the employer. Youth should be encouraged to keep a separate log of their hours as well.
7. Travel expenses are mandatory for youth – up to 23.70 shekels per day.
8. Training hours and preparatory meetings, as well as trial periods are all mandatory paid hours.
9. It is totally forbidden to deduct money from youth’s salary for damages or fines.
10. Employers are required (the same as with adult employees) to issue a notification of employment within 7 days from the start of employment to each youth employee.