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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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