Day 1- Departure and Arrival

The word Departure is defined as "divergence or deviation, as from a standard, rule, etc." (Dictionary.com") Arrival is defined as "the reaching or attainment of any object or condition" (Dictionary.com). On most days I would never dwell on such simple sounding words. However, today I made Aliyah with my wife Mimi and kids Yitzi, Sruli, Goldie and Sarah. Today was no ordinary day. We departed South Florida, our home since marriage and mine personally since birth and moved to our Holy Land of Israel. Specifically we moved from Hollywood, Fl to Efrat, Israel. We moved with the assistance of Nefesh B'Nefesh and The Jewish Agency. After almost 7 years of talking about moving to Israel and then not not thinking it ever possible we arrived this morning after a long journey at Ben Gurion Airport. I am not a sappy kind of person but the feeling of walking off of that plane with my family is one that although I will try to put in words, I know can never be described but must be experienced. To put it as simply as I can it felt like moving a big army with supply lines of diapers and bottles, pajamas, extra clothes, car seats etc.; and even when  we saw it was possible, then realizing that we had finally made it, we had stepped off the plane as Israelis!  We then  walked into the open arms of many people who we have never seen or met before but that could not wait to hug, kiss, carry something or wheel my kids stroller. The emotions of these guests who woke up early in the morning to come to the airport to greet people and welcome them home to Israel were very real and tangible. 

A lot of people joke around about the Israeli bureaucracy and having to wait around to get things done. I want to address that issue because if today was an example of Israeli bureaucracy I think we can cope. Upon concluding the welcoming ceremony one member from each family had to go to the Ministry of Absorption office in the airport to get something called a Teudot Oleh and register for Health Insurance. So in other words the very first official thing the State of Israel is concerned about is 1. Making sure we as new immigrants get tax breaks and 2. Making sure we have health insurance. To me that speaks to the heart of the place we just landed in today. 

 Mimi stayed down stairs with the kids while I went upstairs to the office. We all were welcomed by the head of the department and told how things would work. There were a list of names on the wall of each office. Find your name and wait to be called. I figured that since I saw my name first that meant I would be the first called. It turned out that I was the last. It took quite a while to get in to see the clerk actually. A few people were called and then re called and some people were not even there. Now, here is the part that I found very interesting. I was sitting in an office with government workers who were processing government paper work. To me that is not the most exciting thing in the world. However, what made me take notice was how concerned the head of the office was that everyone had food and drink. It felt like I was over someone's house on Shabbos and they kept wanted me to eat more. The clerk inquired about my family and how my kids and wife handled the long trip. Later on I met the clerk with my family and introduced him to Mimi and all the kids. He played with them joked around. This was Israeli bureaucracy- a Long wait but with food and a hug. Pretty nice start to being in Israel.