The Mayor of Haifa – Yona Yahav – greets new Anglo olim.
Hebrew: ברכות מראש העיר של חיפה – יונה יהב
I am pleased to see that the English speaking oleh community of Haifa is growing and contributing to the city and its development. Haifa is a special city, with a multicultural society – its residents coming from all different communities around the world.
Haifa’s natural beauty, the sea, mountain and forests all add to its appeal.
Residents, new immigrants, returning residents, young and old are able to benefit from the many employment opportunities, the fine educational institutions, the strong infrastructure and a wealth of other resources.
The Anglo-list is a wonderful initiative and a great resource for English speaking olim. Private initiatives go a long way in helping the oleh community in Haifa and the rest of Israel as well. This site will help with your integration. Your full integration will further the prosperity, development and cultural aspects of the city of Haifa which are of benefit to all of us.
An easy way to learn Hebrew – use our free word-sheets!
Common words and phrases, by topic, Hebrew, English & transliterations.
It is a challenge, but learning Hebrew is the foundation and key to a successful Aliyah and relocation. Knowing common and key Hebrew words and phrases is very helpful. Here is an easy-to-use list of transliterated Hebrew words and phrases for a range of different items and situations.
My name is Sanda Abromovici-Lam, no mistake; the R was dropped from day one. When I lived in South America people assumed that I HAD to be Sandra! After all where could the name Sanda come from? When I made aliyah I was so excited I could finally recover my identity. Wrong! In Israel they call me Sandra too, even when it’s written in Hebrew without the Reish. Guess my destiny is to keep fighting for my name among other identities. I decided I could write my story as an amateur story-teller. So here goes…
My story is not politically correct and I hope I will not abuse the concept. Born in Italy, raised in Argentina, married and lived many years in Peru and now, at long last, I am an Israeli/Jew, though the latter is not quite a politically correct term in Israel, the land of the so called Jews. I have one and a half double loyalties and I am not ashamed. I am a proud Israeli who loves Argentina deeply. To be honest, Argentina like many countries is an anti-Semitic one. Who says love is perfect? In Argentina I used to be known as the Italian Jew, in Peru I was the Argentinean Jew, the prejudice being more on the Argentinean side than on the Jewish side. Peru is not a racist country but anti-Semitism is in proportion with the around 3000 Jews living there right now. Anyway, there wasn’t much time to hate us as Peruvians were mainly concerned with their passion for football. So only once or twice, I was called a $%^& Jew but on more occasions, a %^& Argentinean. I am not complaining. I never encountered real physical danger there. I am a proud woman and now have the courage to stand up for myself and my people. In Israel you cannot guess the gender of people by their name. Being the descendant of Shoah survivors gave me an edge and the right to be a fighter/paranoid. I was born a year after the (Jewish) State of Israel. I was not old enough to have known a lot about my family’s personal story, but it did have bearing, for better or worse, on who I am now, what I believe in and feel deeply about.
When I was little I yearned to go to a Hebrew school and have a more traditional Jewish home. My parents were not religious or even fairly traditional yet my father was the proudest Jew I have ever met in my life, other than myself. I guess the ghosts of the war and originally being illegal immigrants in an Argentina where Nazis were welcomed and Jews were not had an effect. Nevertheless, we always observed Yom Kippur. I used to read a lot about Judaism until I became more interest in universal love and brotherhood. Proudly, I have lived in one of the most exciting and important ages on earth, women’s liberation, the civil rights’ movement, freedom of sexual expression, no wars, political heroes and more. During those revolutionary days I lived in one of the best countries on earth. We used to talk for hours trying to solve all the global problems. I was not a real hippie – even though I tried – I was a Jew.
One day in June, 1967 my life turned upside down for ever, my friends said that we were not strong enough and the Arabs would throw us into the sea. My grandmother cried reliving the ghosts of the Shoah. I was frightened by all this. News was coming in about Israel’s victories and my friends swallowed their words. I felt a deep sense of pride, relief and gratitude.
had been too cowardly to make aliyah on my own; the subject was kept hush, hush. Many Jews in the Diaspora have had similar experiences, so it is very boring to conjure up the ghosts of the past. Israel came second best to marriage and children. Soon the time had come to give the children a proper Jewish education and environment. As part of a school program they visited Israel, and one-by-one I waited anxiously to hear their first impressions of my beloved Israel even though they were still quite young.
Soon they grew up and their weddings in Israel were wonderful, a dream come true. As parents had waited all our lives to witness this point. Our children made some adjustments out of respect and love for us but in Israel the “Yiddsche mamme” is buried for ever, along with the father…but I don’t complain! Israel for us is a new world and much better one.
The Israeli-way is a subject that still amazes me. I thought that in Israel, the land of my dreams, I could shout to the winds I was Jewish. Wrong again! Where is the Jewish tradition here? I am told that I am still living with my Jewish Diaspora mentality. The mentality of the one who loves being Jewish and an Israeli without being afraid of being politically incorrect! In the Diaspora I knew who was Jewish and I was glad to meet them. I felt at home and safe. Here it seems a sin to tell, to ask or to be. So, me the rebel, the Diaspora Maccabean came to Israel, land of the Jews, became an Israeli, but feel like I am not a politically correct human being if I decide to be Jewish too. Many people, who live in Israel, don’t like to be either and in our democratic state they have license to hate and talk. What can I say? After all we are Jews, a nation of 7,000,000 Prime Ministers. Maybe the Jewish Israeli, Israeli Jewish way is so mingled and entangled that you can’t tell them apart. Where is the sacred way of Jewish life, the Menorah and other symbols? I do not yearn for the idea of the shteitel Jew; I yearn for the idea of united and proud Israeli Jews who don’t hide their identity. The new generations are the Israelis of tomorrow and we are part of 120 tribes that come from all over the world. We bring our different identities with us but the only thing in common, that we have, is our Jewishness. Ironically, I had to come to Israel to search for and find my true identity, cause in Israel I ended up being Argentinean.
Email us if you would like to share your story: anglolist [@] gmail dot com
Alon Gal, top business coach, shares his 10 top money saving an financial management tips for the Israeli household and the Aliyah budget.
You are probably familiar with the very old joke
Q. How do you make a small fortune in Israel?
A. Take with a big one.
Money is probably the biggest worry of aliyah. Many new immigrants struggle to adapt to Israel’s challenging economy. We hope to maintain our standard of living but our capital can often be drastically reduced by a bad exchange rate or unforeseen circumstances; perhaps you just started your own business or have not been able to find a job -maybe you were forced to take a much lower paying job. The various saving schemes, investment options and local banking practices have you pulling your hair out.
Alon Gal is the presenter of the very popular Israel Channel 2 television program – Mishpacha Horeget (Families in Progress). He is a highly regarded business coach and coaches families who are financially out of control. He is also the CEO of “TUT Tikshoret”. He shares his 10 top tips for saving and managing your money.
1. Mortgage Payments
When most families in Israel buy an apartment they take out a large mortgage. In many cases this is a wrong economic decision. We land up with very large monthly repayments resulting in huge debt. We are forced to deal with the cumulative debt that that this high mortgage may create and issues that may arise as a result. The quality of our life is affected. You have to put the emotional aspect of buying your dream home aside. A mortgage is a loan, a purely economic issue, and you have to think of it in those terms only. Carry on renting your smaller apartment for a few more years, manage with what you have, save more until you can purchase a more expensive apartment and afford a higher mortgage.
Solution: The total of all household loans, mortgages and other short- and long-term debts must not exceed 25% of your total net income.
2. Do you have a financial plan?
There are various expenses that we know we will have to face someday; our children’s bnei mitzvot, furthering their education etc., yet most families act really surprised when these expenses come along. There is no surprise. It is just, simply, a lack of planning on your part. You might suddenly be forced to cash in on your savings plan or take a loan against it under unfavorable conditions.
Solution: Make an assessment of all those big expenses that are likely to come along in the near and distant future, plan for them and start to save for them every single month. (Save with a Keren Hishtalmut)
3. Are you communicating effectively about your finances?
Many families I meet are not communicating well. A husband may not know what his wife is spending and she has no idea about the household debt or loans her husband might have. Very often they are also not sharing the general responsibility of the children. They live in disconnected worlds. They find it difficult to develop responsibility within the marriage. The result – they don’t help each other and they do not plan ahead.
Solution: Hold a monthly family meeting with all family members and at least once or twice a week, the husband and wife must sit together, catch up and plan their lives.
4. A short term deposit – is it a good idea?
Since most people never learn or become experts in the field of their investments, this area is often neglected. During my career I have met hundreds of families that have several hundreds of thousands of shekels sitting on short term deposit. The interest rate on these schemes is almost zero. There are many, very solid, investment possibilities and one should be aware of them. Treasury bills, government bonds and other schemes, offered by banks, pay more interest. Most people do not know that if the bank fails, short term deposits are not guaranteed. With short term deposits you are, in fact, lending the bank money and for this, the bank pays you a low rate of interest. Treasury bills, government bonds etc., on the other hand, are not guaranteed by the bank – the bank only keeps them on your behalf. Should the bank collapses, your investment is secured and you don’t lose your money.
Solution: Refrain from short term deposits and take advantage of more secure investments. More about banking in Israel…
5. Pension & retirement funds
Similarly, many people who don’t understand their investments, don’t understand their retirement and pension funds. Even if you have pension fund in the workplace, due to salary structures your employee may not be contributing to the pension fund. Suddenly, when you actually retire you only have around 50% or 60% of what you originally thought you’d have, and sometimes even less than that. The National Insurance (Bituach Leumi) old age pension is still ridiculously low. We all look forward to our retirement and pension, but often it can become a traumatic financial event. If you have not provided for it over the years, and certainly if you don’t have a work pension, it becomes a serious problem. We need to assess and manage our retirement on a yearly basis.
Solution: Determine your pension requirements start setting aside more money so that when you actually go on pension, you will have a reasonable income.
Most people do not understand the significance of this. G-d forbid, tomorrow you lose your ability or capacity to work. We think that we are completely covered by the National Insurance (Bituach Leumi). This is not completely accurate. First of all, the amounts paid by Bituach Leumi are very small and in order to get them, you have to go through a long and tedious process of proving your disability to the various authorities. It can be very difficult to accept that if you don’t have suitable coverage from your pension plan you could struggle to put food on the table.
Solution: Verify the exact coverage you have from your workplace and pension fund. Compensate by investing in a policy or other pension scheme so that you will still have a reasonable income.
7. Emotional spending & planned purchases
Most of us make emotionally based shopping decisions. For example we go abroad, overspend at the duty-free, buy a 50-inch plasma to watch the World Cup and indulge in impulsive sidewalk shopping. Often, if we have had a bad day we compensate by making purchases that are irrelevant, unimportant or not significant. These types of purchases cost us dearly. Suddenly we are in debt and overdrawn. We are forced to take short-term loans with very high interest rates in order to pay it all back. For the sake of a quick thrill and unnecessary spending, our financial resources can be destroyed.
Solution: Plan your purchases, determine your needs and budget for them at the beginning of year. You can then allocate part of your budget for items that are not a necessity.
8. Pocket money: when & how much to give?
Surprisingly, studies show that, few families give their children regular pocket money. Instead children come to their parents for money all the time. This is a mistake. Children do not learn to budget their expenses and cannot prioritize them. From a parents point of view, it can get out of control. The 50 shekels here and 30 shekels there can accumulate to several hundred shekels a month. Most of the time we never intended to spend this amount of money.
Solution: Organize your children’s pocket money. Together with them, help them to determine their needs and pocket money requirements.
9. Take advantage of a special offer? Are they super value?
Financial organizations market their items, especially consumer goods, with attractive special offers: buy 4 get one free, two for the price of one and other similar incentives. The bottom line; families are stuck with goods that have no need for and may have to throw away. These are unnecessary purchases which eat into our budget. Every business owner knows that he should not buy excessive stock and risk getting stuck with unnecessary goods that deplete his budget. The same is true for the “family business” – manage your inventory and stock wisely.
Solution: Only buy what you need. Do not be tempted for the sake of a small discount, to spend more than you need or you should.
10. Plan your purchases
We have already talked about retirement, work capacity, medium and long-term debts, shopping and other issues. Still, most people do not know how much money they spend a month and cannot account for their spending. Once this happens you lose control of your life. You must first understand your budget. Your budget is your combined total net income. Plan your purchases.
Solution: Just as a business has to account for all its purchases, a family must do the same. Only when we take an actual stock of our spending will we know how to manage and control our budget.
Single, I arrived in Israel in 1988. I went straight to the absorption center in Raanana with a group of other singles for the 6 month program. It was always my intention to move north to Haifa. I loved the mountains, the sea, the forests and the way of life. Close to the end of my ulpan, on weekends, I would go up to Haifa, scour the local papers in search of accommodation. I knew that living in a house in Israel was the ultimate but at the same time I didn’t know anything about the different suburbs. I saw a lot of apartments, none of which really appealed to me, so when I heard about the availability a small cottage, I jumped at the opportunity. The cottage was in the Neve Yosef neighborhood, nestled between the Hadar and Yizreela / Neve Shaanan. I quickly signed the rental contract and moved in. I wasn’t fazed by the mattress on the floor, the canary yellow kitchen that had almost no cupboards, the bathroom painted in bottle green enamel, or the partly broken furniture that came as part of the deal – I had a house. I was a Zionist and I was living my dream. Now that I had a roof over my head, I could think about the rest of my life. A year later I got married and settled down. I managed to get a job for a large construction company earning 600 shekels a month. This seemed fine to me, even though I was paying almost half my salary to rent and utilities. I had oleh benefits and somehow we managed to come out.
My wife was attending ulpan at the Abba Houshy absorption center in Kiryat Eliezer. As part of a program to absorb the huge wave of immigrants from the FSU and Ethiopia at that time, families in Haifa were urged to adopt a new immigrant family and help through their integration and absorption.
Once we received the details of our adoptive family we were invited to meet them at a special ceremony at the Sportan Country Club near the southern entrance of Haifa. We were introduced to Yossi and Betty. Originally from Argentina, they had been in Israel for many years. They both immigrated with their families as teenagers. Betty was an English teacher so communicating with her was no problem Yossi on the other hand, was an Engineer, and spoke hardly any English so we were forced to communicate in Hebrew. We needed to learn Hebrew and they could help us.
Betty and Yossi helped us with everything: reading bills, welcoming us in their home, introducing us to people and allowing us to be part of their family. We soon learned that Neve Yosef was not a neighborhood we wanted to live in and when we found a new apartment they helped us understand our rental contract.
Five years later when the time came for us to buy an apartment of our own, Betty and Yossi guaranteed our mortgage. With Betty’s connections as a school teacher, she helped to get our kids into a better school out of our district. They did so much for us and we were very appreciative. We promised we would never let them down.
Ten years into our Aliyah, we felt that we were sufficiently integrated and could now take our turn to help new olim. We have adopted many olim and international students over the years. They learned from us and we have learned so much from them. Take someone under you wing. Giving to others will help you reflect and realize how far you have actually come.
Fast forward 27 years. After a long illness, Betty passed away a few years ago. Yossi and the children still remain part of our lives. We were delighted to attend their weddings and have enjoyed the celebrations when they welcomed their own children. We miss Betty very much, her lust for life, her smile, her laughter, her crazy Spanish expressions and most of all her loving and caring way. Had it not been for their interest in us, we might not have made it through those first critical few years.
33 years after our Aliyah, Yossi’s life is a struggle as he now also fights cancer.
I am pleased to see that the English speaking oleh community of Haifa is growing and contributing to the city and its development. Haifa is a special city, with a multicultural society – its residents coming from all different communities around the world.
