Back Story

I figure if I am going to take this aspect of my life public I should do it right. While there are many people out there who know my story there are many more who don't.

I have pretty much always wanted to make aliyah. While I would have loved to do it right after elementary school my parents were not about to send their 14 year old daughter off into the world on her own. Since that was out I figured that post high school I would spend a year in an Israeli midrasha and never return to Toronto. Not only did I know I wasn't coming back but everyone else knew it as well. In high school when our grade 12 Torah teacher told the class he always had the most Zionist person in the class read the first Rashi of the Torah my class voted it was me. Israel has always been such a huge part of my identity.

I am not this crazy spur of the moment person many people think I am. I had everything figured out. I applied to an Israeli midrasha to improve my Hebrew and ease into the whole Israeli social setting. I had figured out what schools to apply to in Israel and made sure I had the proper requirements. I even altered my career goals to match Israeli industry (I wanted to be an automotive designer but since there is no auto industry in Israel I figured I would major in industrial design, minor in mechanical engineering and do ergonomic design for Tzahal). I had backup plan on top of backup plan and knew I couldn't fail.

I applied to four different design programs in Israel and archaeology and Talmud at Hebrew U. Since I got into two extremely competitive design programs and two archaeology programs in Toronto I figured there was no way I wouldn't get into something in Israel. Yet, after a grueling application process, I mean I didn't sleep or eat or breathe for a few months, I got rejected from each and every one of the design programs I had applied to.

I was then left with what has remained as the most difficult decision in my life. I could stay in Israel and study archaeology and Talmud or I could return to Toronto. As much as I didn't want to go back to Canada I knew it was the smart decision. Archaeology is interesting but it means years and years of school and never having a steady income. Life is expensive, especially if you are a religious Jew and especially if you live in Israel so having a real career is important. On top of all that I love design and I know it is what I was meant to do. I don't believe in compromising on what you want in life and I knew there was more of a chance for me to have both Israel and design if I went back to Canada for my degree and then made aliyah than if I stayed in Israel and maybe one day reapplied to design school.

I decided to go back to Toronto.

I cried for about it for days, my mom cried about it for weeks (she wants me there as much as I want to be there), but what choice did I have?
I knew it was only four years and I knew I wouldn't lose sight of what I wanted. People kept saying to me "I know you will make aliyah when you are done... unless you get married to someone in Toronto." I told them that that wasn't going to happen. Of course then they give you one of their silly little condescending smiles, but I showed them- I haven't even gone on a single date outside of Israel. When I decide I want something I do everything in my power to get it.

It has now been three and a half years. I have had low points, but no matter how bad it has gotten I have never regretted my decision. It was the right one for me. I love what I am studying and can't imagine doing anything else.

Over the past 3.5 years I have lived almost a double life getting to Israel every chance I get. I have done internships there, looked into grad school there and pretty much started to build a life for myself there while phasing out the one I have here. I actually have exactly 176 friends on facebook in the York network and 176 in the Israel network so you can say I am 50/50 now. On my recent trip to Israel I even brought a duffel bag with me that I left there for when I make aliyah this summer.

That is pretty much my story as it stands now. Long as it is I have left many wonderful anecdotes out but I guess I have 6 months of blogging to slip them in somewhere.