Today I announced to the world (aka Facebook) that I am making aliyah in two months. My mom wants me to keep a blog so she can continue reading my diary even after I've moved to the other side of the planet (JUST KIDDING, IMMA), but I figure this is the best way for my friends and family back in the States to keep up with what is going on in my life after I'm gone (goodness, I sound like I'm dying). Knowing the people I am closest to, I would have to tell every single story exactly one gazillion times if I didn't broadcast my life on the internet.
FAQ about my aliyah process (TL;DR's included):
[Update: TL;DR = Too Long; Didn't Read]
1. WHY?!?!?!?!?
Answer: This is going to be a long one. I was brought up in a fairly religious home (kosher, kept holidays and shabbat, went to synagogue every week, USY, Hebrew School, Jewish Day School...yeah, you could say Judaism was my life). Part of being a Jew in the US is finding your niche. For most people it's connecting with the Jewishness part (experimenting with kashrut, finding the synagogue that works for you, keeping family traditions, etc.), but I always struggled with religion. Yes, I will admit that in the 4th grade I claimed I wanted to be a rabbi, but here's why: I didn't know anything else. I thought that if you were a rabbi, God automatically knew and decided you were chosen and helped you get through everything. I liked praying because it was part of my daily routine at school and I liked the tunes. I thought if I prayed hard enough, I would find God. But I didn't. When I realized this, I realized that if I can't find God, then God isn't real. I'm a very hands-on person and I need facts, proof, and science, which led me to continue keeping traditions with my family because who needs more proof than the Shabbat dinner that happens every Friday night without fail? Even when my parents got divorced and the shabbat dinners got more and more confusing, the thing that remained constant was Israel. Religion is so confusing no matter what you believe or don't believe, but learning about a foreign country alongside your own from age 5 can create some attachments. I learned about US and Israeli history, governments, and why we should love both countries. We celebrated both independence days, all days honoring US and Israeli vets, and days remembering all fallen soldiers. I learned to respect and love both countries. We were told that if we ever needed a place to go, Israel is happy to be home to us. We were never forced, we weren't necessarily brainwashed (maybe a little), and none of us were realistically expected to make aliyah, but to simply visit at least once in our lifetimes. Flash back to my first semester of college, tensions are rising (again) because Hamas is still shooting rockets into Sderot and I've just lost a friend over an intense moral argument. That's when I knew. I was laying in my lofted bed in my dorm room, confiding in my roommate that I've only known a month or two that I plan on moving to Israel within the next few years. Skip ahead to my trip with Birthright Israel Experience, and I've made my decision to leave school and make aliyah, all before my 20th birthday in October in order to be included in the draft.
TL;DR: It was a natural progression of my upbringing.
2. Where will you be living?
Answer: The plan is to start in Petach Tikva (outside of Tel Aviv) with my long-time friend and her husband (she also has a blog!), but then I will be going to ulpan (intensive Hebrew training) on a kibbutz (google that one). After my Hebrew is good enough, I will tell the military I'm ready to be drafted. Hopefully I'll be a combat medic (preferably for Home Front Command Search and Rescue), which will give me one year total of training (basic and medic combined) and three years of service. If not, I'll have two years of service plus whatever training is necessary for the job. After that, I'll get a job and go to university to get a degree! Boring adult life begins for Shirit, but in Israel :)
TL;DR: A little bit of everywhere, starting with Petach Tikva.
3. Do you even speak Hebrew?
Answer: Some, enough to get by. But not enough to get the medic job...yet! I also read and write Hebrew. My biggest problem is that everyone speaks so FAST! So if you're Israeli and reading this, I would love it if you made me speak Hebrew, but speak slowly with me!
4. What are you going to do there? Like, do they use toothpaste and stuff?
Answer: Please. I'm not moving to a third world country. People don't ride camels to get to work and they definitely use toothpaste! Israel is an extremely modern country. Tel Aviv is known to show glimpses of fashion trends before they hit New York, even! One thing I will have to get used to is the public transportation. Coming from Nashville, TN, I'm not used to having a decent public transportation system to speak of, so I have a lot to learn in a country that is user-friendly!
5. Are you going to still be a US citizen?
Answer: Yes! I will have dual citizenship. I could technically go to the Embassy and renounce my US citizenship if I wanted, but that would be dumb.
6. How is your family taking it?
Answer: Everyone is different. My brother is ecstatic, as I'm doing what he didn't have the cohones to do when he had the chance. As soon as he pays off his student loans, I'll bet anything he's gonna be right behind me! My sister is extremely frustrated. She starts high school tomorrow and will only have her big sister's help for another two months before we'll both be addicted to Facetiming at weird hours to make up for the time difference. We've gotten each other through some tough stuff (I'm going to try not to curse on this page, we'll see how long it lasts), but this tough thing in particular is our separation. She'll be able to visit with my dad at some point, I think. My dad is very happy for me, as now he has a REALLY good reason to come with his wife on her yearly/bi-yearly trips (her sons live in Jerusalem). The concern is that his cancer came back a couple weeks ago and if anything happens it will be very hard to be on the other side of the world. And there's my mom. She and I have a very special bond because there have been times when we only had each other to talk to and to depend on. She is also very happy and very proud of me, but there is more sadness because at this point, we don't know how often she will be able to afford to come visit. Fortunately, we came to an agreement that she would buy my old iPod touch (4th generation) and learn how to use Facetime and iMessage.
You don't TL;DR family.
7. Do you have family there?
Answer: Technically, no. But the wonderful thing about Israel is that everyone is so hospitable that I already have several members of my surrogate family all across the country, including a "mom" approved by my biological mom!
8. How can you leave your friends?
Answer: It's going to be very hard. Telling some of my closer out-of-town friends via Skype before telling the internet resulted in some tears and awkward virtual goodbyes. My best friend has already decided she'll be at the airport to see me off to Newark with my family, even if she has to skip class. A few people have told me they'll be doing the same in a few years (but who knows?). I'll be spending a lot of time with the locals as much as possible, and might be making a trip to Knoxville to see my friends from school.
I hope this clears some things up for y'all, and remember I still have nine weeks in Nashville, savoring every hipster and country music star I can take in. Hit me up if you're in town so we can 'murica it up!!
