Marital status: Single Profession: Importer of acade- mic books City of residence: Ramat Aviv (suburb of Tel Aviv) What she likes best about Israel: "I'm glad I'm here physi- cally supporting the State of Is rael. I love it here...some days I think, I must be crazy to be living here...but then I can never see myself living in the United States." What's challenging: "It's finan- cially very difficult to make it here and everything is very expensive." Susan Kagan From Detroit Age: 38 Date of aliyah 1982 Marital status: Married Profession: Family therapist, house parent at Neve Yerushaly- irn (a girls' yeshiva for ba'alei teshuva, Jews who are becoming religious) Sharon Lapides and daughter liana at the local hamburger restaurant, Burger Ranch. City of residence: Jerusalem he likes about Israe e living in Southfi having a neighbor ne eligious.. : Here you ee ar er picture." How To Become An Israeli: The Nuts And Bolts Of Aliyah S o, you're ready to hop on the plane, claim your rights under the Law of Return and start your new life as an Israeli citizen. How do you set the wheels in motion? First, make sure you've done the re- search. According to Jeff Kaye, the Michi- gan Aliyah shaliach (emissary), a new immigrant's chances for success depend on having adequate preparation and fair expectations about Israeli life. Prepara- tion often means going to Israel, and not just on a quick tour. Akiva Werber at the Israel Aliyah Center's Midwest headquarters in Chica- go urges potential immigrants to "start with short- and long-term internships, getting to know Israel." The Michigan/Is- rael Connection (Detroit's aliyah office, in Bloomfield Hills) is a good place for ex- ploring the numerous programs and op- portunities available in Israel. Okay, so you tried Israel and were not dissuaded by the pushing and shoving at the shuk (market), the omnipresent smell of falafel, the lack of decent delis or the myriad of reasons many Ameri- can Jews just can't say goodbye to Di- aspora life? Now it's time to go back to the Michi- gan/Israel connection for an appointment with Mr. Kaye, who counsels potential immigrants and helps process their ap- plications. "It's important to know what people's expectations are," said Mr. Kaye, who sees roughly 25-30 Michiganians com- plete the aliyah process each year. In meeting with would-be Israelis, Mr. Kaye tries to assess how prepared for aliyah they are. He gets potential olim think- ing about the issues and decisions they will face, such as culture shock, job searches and educational options. Mr. Kaye stresses that he is neither in the business of persuading nor dis- couraging people about aliyah. "My powers are those of recommen- dation, rather than saying yay or nay," he said, adding that "I'm interested in a person being successful and happy [in Israel]. If I think [aliyah] is not in that person's interest, I point out the reali- ties." Once your file is opened, take a deep breath. You're about to be immersed in a heavy pile of paperwork and a process that will take anywhere from a month to several years. Among the paperwork: Two copies of a questionnaire, documented proof of Ju- daism, passports and visas, medical ex- amination forms and applications for available loans. Then there's the issue of sorting through the various benefits for which you, as a new immigrant, will be eligible and making sure you correctly fill out that paperwork. Benefits include health insurance, mortgage assistance and certain import tax exemptions. If all goes well, you'll make Mr. Kaye a happy man. "As far as I'm concerned, dealing with aliyah is the most rewarding part of my work," he said. "Everything I do in shlichut, (as a shaliach) comes to fruition when I shake someone's hand as they leave on aliyah." In addition to taking advantage of the resources offered through the Michi- gan/Israel Connection, you may want to explore the Aliyah Center's Web site: http://www.virtual. co 11/aliyah/aliyah. The site provides easy links to practical tips, information on necessary paper- work, job information, the opportunity to network with immigrants and poten- tial immigrants, and many other ser- vices. B'hatzlacha (good luck, in Hebrew) and next year in Jerusalem! [1 Marital status: Married Profession: Physician City of residence: Jerusalem Reason for making aliyah: "The reason we're in Israel is because we think it's our country and it belongs to us [the Jews] exclusively." Challenges of IsTaeli life: The me- dia here is violently left wing...if s so bad that I won't read a newspaper."