Initial Gathering of Data

Nefesh b'nefesh provided a list of those items that you need to move forward with Aliyah. Some of these presented difficulties for me.

• Passports. Much easier to get now, took several months last year.

• Apostilles. Was not even aware of what this was when we started this process. I can tell you now how to get them in several states and Washington.

What is a Apostille? Simply put, it authenticates the seals and signatures of officials on public documents such as birth certificates, court orders, or any other document issued by a public authority so that they can be recognized in foreign countries that are members of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty.

• Proof of Judaism- Easy, right? Show a bar mitzvah picture and get approved! Nope, I needed a

letter testifying about my Judaism from an approved Rabbi. This was a bigger struggle then I assumed because the Synagogue I grew up in had no minimal records and the Temple we were members have only knew us from the last decade or so. I was able to provide

lots of historical documentation, like what was attached. While I finally got the correct wording on the letter, the JA rejected it because they did not have my rabbi on the approved list. However, they finally relented and admitted I was Jewish.

All told, getting the entire list took around 5 months. We then had to get the information to the JA in Chicago for an interview, which we chose to do in person rather then via Zoom.

We also wanted pizza.

We had the interview and waited for the approval.

And Waited.

And Waited.

Called every week, and sent emails constantly. We finally got the approval on January 10th.