Competency in the Hebrew language is the single most crucial skill you can acquire before making Aliyah. Does this mean that Aliyah is off the table if you don’t speak a word of Hebrew? No, it is fairly simple to get by day to day living in English, especially as a tourist or student. But for those making Aliyah consider this: what happens when you receive your electric bill, your army draft notice, or your lab results from your doctor all in Hebrew? How do you sign a rental contract for an apartment when you don’t understand what’s in the fine print? In some of these cases, it helps to have a friend translate; in others, it’s better to have a lawyer deal with any legal issues. Nevertheless, for all non-legal matters it is important to try to be as independent as possible. There are several ways to learn Hebrew, both before and after Aliyah:

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Traveling around Israel can be a little tricky. Luckily, many of the street signs are in three languages (Hebrew, Arabic, and English) so you can easily find your way around.

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The most important word when it comes to packing for Israel is DECLUTTER. This is true for any move anywhere. When we live in one place for many years, it’s natural to accumulate many things. But when it comes to moving to Israel, you don’t only have moving to a faraway place working against you. The apartments and houses in Israel are a lot smaller than we are used to in America. Many of the luxury items we enjoy here are also available in Israel, making it unnecessary to pack them from the US. With that said, decluttering is best performed in 3 stages:

While many people these days don’t use Facebook anymore, there is a virtual gold mine of resources for Aliyah through Facebook groups. There you can ask anyone with more experience living in Israel practically any questions you have about how to live in Israel. Just a few I’ve found include:

Packing for Israel depends on your length of stay and what kind of activities you plan on doing when you get there. It is important to travel as light as possible, with as little luggage as possible. Below are some things that should be included in your packing list every time you come to Israel:

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