Why do so many Israeli families come to live in USA

↑ Success10

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 3:35 pm

I think there are people from all over the world that grapple with their own demons with wherever they were raised. It happens to be these people you are referring to are from Israel, so that's where they're going to run from. It could be overly intense religion, difficult family, lack of gashmiyus. Things they associate with Israel that maybe aren't even true. But in their heads, Israel represents "X" to them, and they want to be as far from that as possible. It's not something you should take into account when calculating your own aliyah.

LovesHashem

Tue, Oct 08 2024, 4:24 pm

amother OP wrote:

But why do they leave is the question. And yes I mean native Israelis

Are they frum? I've seen a lot of native Israelis who aren't frum move to America.

America isn't neccesarily easier financially as a frum jew. But if you are secular and don't need to pay crazy tuition costs, kosher food prices etc, than yes America is infinitely better for most people financially.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Oct 09 2024, 7:27 am

amother OP wrote:

I’m asking this question because I’m trying to get a sense of how hard it is in E”Y.

But you cant gauge that by the people who leave. You have to see that by the people that stay and live their lives here in israel.
How hard it is depends on so many factors.
Newsflash: not everyone is struggling in Israel. Many are living regular middle class lives. There are also many who are filthy rich in this country. Truly. Not everyone is poor and struggling. I promise you that.
And not everyone leaves israel because they are struggling.
I have a relative who moved to europe. They are not frum. They wanted an international life. That was it. There are so many reasons why people leave. Money is not always the reason.

ora_43

Wed, Oct 09 2024, 7:38 am

Why assume that if someone moved, it's because they couldn't "make it work" wherever they're from? I know French people and Indian people and Bahraini people in the US, I never assumed that their life in their country of origin wasn't also good.

Reasons that Israelis I know have moved abroad:
1. temporarily for career reasons (eg doing a postdoc abroad)
2. permanently for career reasons
3. relative with a complex medical need that can only be met like 2 places on earth (weirdly, I've known multiple people this happened to)
4. married someone from that country
5. enjoy living in that country

The only people I know who've gone to the US because they were struggling to make it here were American olim.

But if you're worried, you could talk over your thoughts on aliyah with some of the Israelis you know and see what they say. If they have specific warnings that's probably when they're share. And if they left for personal reasons, they'll probably have good advice.

spikta

Wed, Oct 09 2024, 8:18 am

IMO You see a lot of Israelis abroad because:
Secular life is much easier in the US for non religious people. Quality of life from a gashmius perspective is much better - trief fast food is much cheaper so you can eat out more. Clothes are super cheap, cars are cheaper, houses are much much larger, public school is free, salaries are higher and taxes are lower. Most don't actually think that the streets are paved with gold, but so many things that are commonplace for Americans are luxuries for many Israelis.

You don't know what you've got til it's gone. Plenty of Israelis don't understand how much they love Israel until they move away. I know that was true for me. I didn't realize that the this feeling of being where I belong, that people care about me even if they don't know me, It's because I live in EY and it's not just like that everywhere. You don't realize how amazing it is being a Jewish majority, so everyone celebrates Jewish holidays and understands the culture, until you've been a minority. You don't understand the power of celebrating and mourning with your own people, until you've lived somewhere else and have gone through days of celebration and mourning alone, surrounded by work colleagues that couldn't even begin to understand what you're feeling.

And yes, sometimes the war and the rockets and the stress and trauma are just too much.

amother

Cerulean

Sat, Oct 12 2024, 7:18 pm

And yes, sometimes the war and the rockets and the stress and trauma are just too much.[/quote]

This is something that worries me. Like it will never end until moshiach. I live in England and it's quite depressing and people can be quite cold. You don't have the amazing experience and warmth of Israel but you also don't have the violence and pain.

I'm completely on the fence about what to do.

amother

Daisy

Sat, Oct 12 2024, 8:14 pm

I have a chiloni doctor whose parents decided to leave Israel when he was about 5 (right after the Yom Kippur war) because they had 2 boys.

A number of Israelis recently joined my daughters’ classes. One of them came here because her family’s house was destroyed. I think they’re staying with relatives.

amother

Crystal

Sat, Oct 12 2024, 8:32 pm

I moved close to 12 years ago. We couldn’t make it financially. My husband was offered a job for 1000$ a week. That amount was astronomical for a young couple with one baby. Once we were here and settled, it got very complicated to move back. Things change, people change. I have no desire to put my kids in the Israeli school system. We found our community and our makom. We hope to move back when our youngest graduates when we’re not raising kids and hopefully we’ll be financially in a good place iyh.

amother

↑ OP

Sat, Oct 12 2024, 8:34 pm

spikta wrote:

No they’re all frum so the first paragraph doesn’t apply.

amother

Hunter

Sat, Oct 12 2024, 10:13 pm

amother Crystal wrote:

But then all your kids and grandkids will be in one place and you in another. Wont that be hard?

amother

Cappuccino

Sat, Oct 12 2024, 10:14 pm

I wonder if it's our friends that moved to your community. They moved to oot America. He is American (but has a perfect Hebrew) and she is Israeli. Their official reason is because his mother (in America) is sick but I really doubt that is the only factor. A lot of Israelis have ptsd from the army and this current war isnt helping that. Some think parnassa is better.

I read threads on here and think wow parnassa is so hard for so many in the US but for poor families the standard is still much higher in America (and the expectations are too).

I still wouldnt base aliya decisions on these families.