PART. FOUR. The Move. Number One. You Want to Pack?

Okay, Shloimy.

My wife and I have been in Israel for several weeks now, and we have just received our household goods.

Isn't that nice?

So, with all of this moving business on my mind, I will teach you how to move to Israel.

Shloimy, trust me. This is not complicated.

First, about a week after you submit your aliyah application, you call Nefeshbnefesh--the organization that mentors your aliyah-- to assemble information about moving your household belongings.

Then, you start making phone calls.

Very easy.

You will have a short list of companies who have moved Olim.  You call as many as you want.You ask your questions. You get answers. You ask as many questions as you like. They are very nice.You then  make a decision about who to hire to move.

Simple, right?

This part of your move is as easy as painting by the numbers.

You get two movers: the company in Israel, who will ship your goods from a US port, and deliver them to your new address in Israel.  You also get a second mover, a subcontracted company in your present city, who will pack your belongings and drive them to port.

Got that?

Next, after you have chosen your Israel mover, and you learn who will be your local subcontracted mover, you get to start packing.

Simple, don't you think?

For example. Maybe you have a lot of books. You are concerned that they be packed carefully, right?

So you pack them yourself.  Of course, you ask if you can pack these yourself. The Israel mover tells you, yes. but why do that? there's no charge for them to pack for you.

But you are careful about your books, right?  You prefer to do this part of the packing yourself. Do they have any problems with that?

No, the say. Not really.

So you buy maybe 100 flattened boxes, open the up, load them with your books, stack them. You make progress. The boxes accumulate.

Then you get a phone call from the Israel mover. They have a question: did you fill out the insurance forms?

You reply, "What insurance forms?"

They say, "The forms we sent you in the three emails."

Three emails?

Oh. Right. The emails that seemed to have about 60 pages of stuff that didn't apply to you, and another 120 pages of boring details.

So now you get to read the emails. You call the Israel mover to ask questions, to clarify.

Then, totally clarified, you unload all of the boxes you have packed. You write down the contents of each box. Then you repack.

Got that?

Next, you call the Israel movers again, to find out what, besides books,  you can pack yourself, and what they should pack.

Easy.

Then you get a phone call from the local mover here in the USA. They have a question: are you packing  books?

"Yes," you reply. "Why do you ask?"

They tell you, "Because it is our experience that people do not know how to pack books."

"Well," you tell them, "I'm not 'people'. I know how to pack books."

They tell you, "Good. Are you filling each box right up to the top?"

You reply, "Of course not. That will make the boxes too heavy."

They tell you, "If you do not pack the book right up to the top of each box, we will not insure them."

You argue.

They win.

So you unload the boxes and reload, this time making sure each box is loaded to the top.

Then a representative of the local mover comes to your house, to do an estimate. He looks at all of the book boxes you have packed. He frowns. He doesn't like the boxes. They are too flimsy.

Hr tells you to unpack the books. His men will pack--no extra charge.

You argue. This is how you want it done.

They argue. If they do not approve the book boxes, those boxes will be excluded from insurance.

They win.

You unpack the boxes.

Then, a compromise: the local mover calls to say that they will bring boxes to you. You can pack your books.

You wait until the boxes come.

Then you repack.

Got that?

Isn't this fun?