She's Making Aliyah, Despite War and Others' Worries

by Bryan Schwartzman
August 10, 2006 
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/10310/
 
Friends, family and even a few strangers have told Julie Braman 
that it seems a little crazy -- sometimes they even use stronger 
words like "nuts" or "insane" -- to move to Israel now, by herself, 
with Israel and Hezbollah clashing in a full-blown war and hundreds 
of rockets falling daily in northern Israel as well as in the south 
near the Gaza Strip. 

But the 38-year-old Glenside native -- and by the time the paper 
comes out, former Willow Grove resident -- always replies that 
she won't be alone. For the first few months, she'll be staying in 
the Netivot home of Maurice and Iris Bitton, her "adoptive Israeli 
family." And she's bringing along two trusted companions on her 
life-changing journey: her cats Sambuca, or "Sammy," and Snickers. 

Then there's the intangible connection to the land and the people, 
an indescribable sense that even in the most difficult moments 
one is never truly alone in the Jewish homeland. 

"I have this family that treats me like part of their family. I wouldn't 
be doing this without them," said Braman, taking a break from 
packing several days before she was expected to depart. 
"All I can do is go and see what happens. No one knows 
100 percent until they have had the experience." 

Braman is one of 230 North Americans expected to make aliyah 
on Aug. 9, all flying on a Jewish Agency for Israel/Nefesh b'Nefesh 
flight leaving from John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. 
Despite the current situation, more than 3,000 North Americans 
are expected to make aliyah this year, according to Michael 
Landsberg, who heads JAFI's North American aliyah office. 

While Braman was expected to be the lone Philadelphia-area 
resident represented on the Aug. 9 flight, roughly 60 local 
residents are expected to move to the Jewish state in 2006. 

Nefesh B'Nefesh is a privately run organization that works jointly 
with the Jewish Agency and offers North Americans logistical 
assistance in moving to Israel, ranging from subsidies to job 
placement to helping olim navigate the Israeli bureaucracy. 
The last point is particularly pertinent for someone trying to 
bring two pets into the country. 

Braman -- a former special needs teacher at the Perelman Jewish 
Day School who has also taught at numerous synagogue Hebrew 
schools in the area -- first traveled to Israel in 2000 to visit friends 
she'd made while working at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. 

But it wasn't until last summer when she attended the Summer 
Teachers Ulan -- sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater 
Philadelphia's Israel and Overseas Center -- that she truly 
considered making Israel her home. 

"I did not want to leave. I was hysterical when I left," she admitted. 
"When I got home, I was crying all the time because I did not want 
to be here. Finally I said, 'I want to live there. I want to go back.' " 

On the summer program, Braman studied Hebrew five days a week, 
toured the country with fellow teachers, and lived with a 
Moroccan-Israeli family -- namely the Bittons. 

She even managed to date an Israeli while she was over there. 
Braman said that while, regrettably, that relationship didn't go 
anywhere, the experience made her realize that she wants to 
get married in Israel. 

Braman, who has worked as everything from a teacher to an 
office manager to a caterer, isn't quite sure what she'll do for a 
living in Israel. Her first goal is to improve her Hebrew and 
become completely fluent, while hoping to find part-time work. 

She also hopes she will be able to help her new homeland in 
some small way during its time of crisis. 

"I guess I have faith. When I was there last summer, I heard 
shelling every night and it didn't faze me," she recalled. 
"I guess I have to live with the same mentality that Israelis do."