Planning our third family trip to Israel
We had always been planning to do another family trip to Israel this coming summer, as we had done the past two years. However, now, with our Aliyah plans starting to take shape, it was clear that we would have to use this upcoming trip to gather information on where to live and possibly even do some job interviews if possible.
The Nefesh website talks about doing a pilot trip, usually about 6 months before moving, to choose a city, spend a shabbat there, get to know the community, possibly look at schools, synagogues, etc. The summer trip we had already planned was a year in advance, a little earlier than recommended, but nonetheless we decided to turn it into a mini pilot trip.
By now our list of cities included Zichron Yaakov, Netanya, Ra’anana, Jerusalem, and maybe Modi’in. So we booked an AirBnB apartment in Netanya for the first five days of the trip, during which time we would look at Netanya, Zichron and Ra’anana. And we booked an AirBnB apt in Jerusalem for the second five days of the trip during which time would look at different Jerusalem neighborhoods and Modi’in.
We studied the city profiles on the Nefesh website, asked a few friends we had in Israel, and friends of friends, etc. We studied the possible schools in each city. (more on that later) And lastly, I emailed and WhatsApp texted as many Israeli cardiologists as I could. Either by just trying to find any email addresses I could on various hospital websites, or via recommendations from friends, and by recommendations from the staff members from the physician section of Nefesh B’Nefesh. And slowly, I made contact with several cardiologists and was able to line up a few interviews for the trip.
This was going to be a very busy trip. And it was certainly not going to be your typical family-oriented tourism trip. And we still had not yet told our children….
