!From Naale to Aliyah

We had always considered making aliyah, but when our children reached high school age and we still lived in chu"l, it seemed like we would have to wait until our youngest completed high school.

  Our second child joined Naale in grade 10 at Yeshivat Shaalvim and throughout his first year he integrated well into the program, especially building on his Hebrew and knowledge of Israeli culture.

  His growth was so significant that we felt it was feasible to make aliya the following summer when our oldest had completed high school and our younger children had not yet reached high school age. 

Since making aliya over 3 years ago, with the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that our son in Naale received an excellent education, made many friends who live throughout Israel, and is fully prepared for life in Israel. 

In short, Naale changed our aliya timetable by years and facilitated a relatively smooth transition to life in Israel.

(A family from Toronto)

Our journey with Naale began in 2013 when our oldest son Adam applied to do the Naale entrance exams from South Africa. 

From a very young age Adam always dreamt of living in Israel and serving in the IDF and going to study in an Israeli university.

Adam was barely 16 when he arrived on the Naale program in Israel and went directly to Shaalvim. 

Adam had very little family support in Israel at the time and Shaalvim really became his home away from home. He quickly learned how to move around on the Israeli transport system and improved on his Hebrew skills quite quickly.

Adam matriculated in grade 12 with the Israel Bagrut certificate and went onto fulfill his dream of making Aliyah when he turned 18. 

He went onto join a pre-army Mechina for 1 year before drafting into the army in July 2017 as a combat soldier in the tanks unit.

In 2016 our younger son Joshua followed in his brother's footsteps and was fortunate enough to also join the Shaalvim Naale High school program. 

Joshua is now in his final grade 12 year, finishing his Israel Bagrut and he has formed close friendships with boys from all around the world. 

Both our sons are almost fluent in Hebrew and Joshua is ready to draft into the IDF in August 2019 in a combat role.

About 6 months after Joshua joined Naale, my husband and I realised our dream of finally making Aliyah as a family.

Naale gave us as parents the opportunity to enable our children to experience the Israeli school system and way of life before we were able to make Aliyah ourselves.

We did not think we would have made Aliyah so soon, but the realisation that our sons were flourishing in Israel and secure within the Shaalvim environment, was the final catalyst in making Israel our home.

Coming on the Naale program is quite a challenge for most teenagers as young as 16 but it gave both our sons the opportunity to grow, learn and thrive as true Israeli students and young adults.

Israel is truly the 'start up nation' and the land of miracles and our family is both privileged and grateful to have been a part of the Naale High School program.

Naale really did facilitate the beginning of a new chapter for our family, in our home land.

(A family from Johannesburg)