Before I moved, I interviewed people who lived or were
living in Israel. I asked for advice. There were two common themes: be flexible
and learn Hebrew. I pass this advice to you.
Be flexible. I’m from America, so I’m speaking from that
perspective. In America, “The customer is always right” and “Aim to please” are
catchphrases that have become the invisible backbone in business, by and large.
Yeah, that’s not so in Israel. Do not come expecting “free” anything or
outstanding customer service or even all-in-one service. Here’s what I mean. We
are renting an apartment. The custom is to purchase your own appliances, so we bought
a fridge, an oven and a clothes washer and dryer. This does not happen
immediately, and delivery is not same day. When these appliances were
delivered, we needed a serviceperson to hook them up. That happened on a
separate day. For a few days, our oven was a coffee table sitting in the middle
of the kitchen. Our washer and dryer sat in boxes until somebody came to hook them
up (for an additional cost). The first week we ate a lot of take-out pizza. (But
you know what? We were eating it in our new home in Eretz Yisrael and it was
delicious!) When you call to have the phone or Internet hooked up, don’t expect
to automatically get an English speaker on the phone. And often you have to listen
to prompts in Hebrew to hopefully get you to the right automated destination. It’s
challenging. Be flexible. When you travel to an office to take care of
immigration business or to pay your bi-monthly taxes, the office might be
closed, willy nilly. Aim to please? “Mah?” That leads to the next piece of
advice, the other thing you can do to make life easier, and that’s learn Hebrew
now, wherever you are.
If you’re reading this, there’s probably at least a small
part of you that thinks one day you’ll be living in Israel. Even if you’re
planning your aliyah for decades from now, start learning Hebrew now. Learn as
much as you can. Every day, learn one word if you can. If you’re able to do
more, by all means. You won’t regret it. In fact, you’ll thank me. (I prefer smoky
scotch.)
One of the benefits you’ll receive as an oleh chadash (new
immigrant) is free ulpan (Hebrew course). It’s five months, four hours a day,
five days a week. If you have a good teacher and you do the homework you can
learn a lot. But consider this: if you will have to ultimately get a job to
support yourself, it doesn’t happen overnight. Ulpan and your job search will
fill your days, but what if you have children who need your attention? Something’s
gotta give, and hopefully it’s not your kids. When you ultimately get a job (please
G-d), you’ll have to work that job of course. If you land the job three months
after you land, will you be able to complete your ulpan course and work? Maybe. But probably not. You
can promise yourself you’ll complete it at another time, but who knows if you’ll
be able to. Start learning now. Incidentally, your kids will probably be speaking pretty well after six months. (Soon, my kids are going to be talking to each other and my wife and I won't understand what they're saying!)
I can recommend a couple options for you. I’ve used all of these.
HebrewPod101.com: You get a free word a day (or more)
emailed to you with sentences translated in English and transliterated. You can
also hear the words spoken.
Common Hebrew phrases. This You Tube video speaks popular
phrases in a female voice with the words displayed in Hebrew, English and transliterated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB7Dv_3hJ2Y
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/hebrew+phrases/14c8f4f0487f12c6?projector=1 http://hebrew-lessons.com/ This is a helpful site with words grouped
into categories and various ways to learn and study the words. (Four days after
landing, I needed directions to the highway. I knew how to say “highway” to a
pedestrian, thanks to this website. (K’vish maheir) Of course, I had no idea
what he said when he answered me.) You might have to pay but there are always
deals.
Pimsleur: http://www.pimsleur.com/learn-hebrew For $335you can get MP3 downloads of levels
1-3. You can even try a free lesson. These are basic, conversational Hebrew
lessons.
Knowing Hebrew when your feet hit the Holy ground will help
you in many ways and make your klita (absorption) much easier. After all, with
no oven or refrigerator waiting for you in your new home, you’ll be able to
order a pizza on the phone and get what you want!
