Kaldor's Korner is back!

Welcome back friends, family and loyal readers of Kaldor's Korner!  This blog is now back in service because of your requests! Today (July 11, 2012) I am in New York City ready to catch my flight back to Israel - only this time I am going for good!  I'm making aliyah (immigrating to Israel).  The Hebrew word aliyah literally means to go up.  In this context it means to go up spiritually where I am moving to a holier place.  I am excited to become an Israeli citizen and start my new life after getting off the plane on July 12th.

I quit my job last week, packed up my 137 pounds of belongings into 2 suitcases and a carry-on and flew to New York City in order to move to Israel.  In NYC I am meeting another 229 people from around the US and Canada who have packed up their lives as well to make the same move. The flight that I am taking is a special aliyah charter flight where everyone on the plane is moving to Israel.  They streamline the immigration process by processing a lot of our documentation during the flight.  When we walk off the plane there will be photographers, press and a ceremony to welcome us to Israel!

Once in Israel I will move to a community called East Talpiyot in Jerusalem and move into an absorption center for 5 months to learn Hebrew, or do what is called in Israel as Ulpan.  This specific program is one for young professional olim chadashim (new immigrants) from around the world to live together, learn Hebrew and get adjusted to our new lives as Israelis.

It was sad to leave my family and amazing friends in Toronto but at the same time I was overly excited about moving back to Israel and starting my new life.  I had a great last week in Toronto where I spent quality time with family and friends and had a few great going away parties. In my one night in NYC I also managed to meet up with a few friends to help send me off in style.

I hope that you all are as excited to hear about what is going on with my new life as an Israeli as I am in experiencing it for myself and sharing it with you.  Here is an article in the Jerusalem Post about the charter flight that I took and Nefesh B`Nefesh - the organization that facilitated the aliyah process.

Don't forget to follow this blog and become a facebook fan of Kaldor's Korner if you aren't one already.  Just so everyone knows, I arrived safely and I'm getting settled into my new place.  I'm not going to give too much more away but the next post will be all about the historic day that in which officially become an Israeli citizen.