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July 8, 2005
Heading for the promised land
Vancouverite has high hopes as he prepares to make a summer aliyah.
EVA COHEN
The first-ever plane load of Canadian Jews to immigrate to Israel
is set to depart from Toronto July 12. Another flight will be leaving
the same day from New York and two more flights are scheduled by
the end of the summer.
The Hebrew word for immigrating to Israel is aliyah, meaning
to go up – as a move to Israel is a move upwards spiritually.
The singular form for immigrant is oleh and plural is olim.
Among the 400 Canadian olim will be 27-year-old Joel Nider of Vancouver.
Nider was born in Richmond but only lived there for four months
before his family moved to Yellowknife and other northern destinations,
where he lived most of his life. He now finds himself at a crossroads
and feels that if ever he were to make a move to Israel, it needs
to be now.
"It's something I had been thinking about for a long time,"
said Nider. "I feel comfortable there."
Nider first travelled to Israel in 1997 with his then-girlfriend.
He visited again in 2000, when he participated in a five-month ulpan
program at Kibbutz Maale HaChamisha outside of Jerusalem. Kibbutz
ulpan programs are three working days and three learning days a
week. With this ulpan, Nider was able to get a grasp of the language
but says it will still be a challenge when he gets to the country.
"I can't read or write in Hebrew," said Nider. "I
can have a conversation - last month I went to Israel for three
weeks and had some of my job interviews in Hebrew, but I couldn't
give a speech."
For immigrants, ulpanim are available to learn the language, and
material can be found in English in many places. Nider is a software
designer and is hoping to get a position in his field. He has not
yet heard back after his interviews but he has high hopes.
"The high-tech industry is recovering," said Nider. "Now
is a good time for me."
Nider is making the move to Israel on his own. He leaves behind
a large family in Vancouver and all of his friends. He quit his
job one and a half months ago and sold many of his belongings before
the move. The rest of his things he has shipped in boxes to Israel.
He is not yet sure where he will be living but is hoping for somewhere
central.
"I have Israeli friends," said Nider. "Tel-Aviv is
good because it's close to everything and everyone is in Tel-Aviv."
Before any of this was possible, Nider needed to get in touch with
a shaliach (emissary) from the Jewish Agency for Israel,
who promotes Israel issues within a given community. Some shlichim
(plural for shaliach) work with community federations, while others
work with youth movements. Due to confusion about whether there
was a shaliach in Vancouver, Nider went through Dina Gidron, a representative
in Toronto. A tik aliyah (aliyah file) was started and Nider
was given a file number. He then went through a phone interview
and a written questionnaire, asking what he knew about Israel and
to see whether he was really serious about moving there. A group
called Nefesh b'Nefesh is helping take care of the paperwork.
Nider considers himself to be a Conservative Jew and had his bar
mitzvah at Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Richmond. Because he moved around
a lot, however, he rarely attended synagogue – but religious
affiliation is not an overriding factor for Jews who wish to move
to Israel. Any Jew can make aliyah and does not need to worry about
their knowledge or involvement in the religion.
An issue that does arise for all olim to Israel is army service.
Nider says that he cannot get a definitive answer on the subject.
"They're not taking anyone past the age of 28 on the books,
and I'm 28 in two months," said Nider. "I don't think
they're taking anyone over 23, especially if they're married. I'm
not married, but if I do have to serve it would be something like
only 100 days."
One thing Nider is looking forward to is that he has a girlfriend
in Israel awaiting his arrival. She is Sephardi and Nider is looking
forward to the different kind of foods that she prepares, especially
on Passover.
The mention of Passover also brought Nider to a more important point.
"Each year at Passover, Jews around the world say 'Next year
in Jerusalem' and then they don't do anything about it," said
Nider. "I want them to know that it's actually possible to
do and there is a big support group for those who are willing to
make the step. It's not as hard as it used to be."
Eva Cohen is a freelance writer living in Vancouver.
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