Olim with PhDs vs. the Education Ministry

People who move to Israel are not referred to by local residents as immigrants. They are referred to in Modern Hebrew as olim - "ascenders," lost souls who were finally allowed to ascend to the spiritual spheres that only the State of Israel can offer. That is, if they're Jewish. But leaving the ethnic and religious debate aside, the issue of new immigrants to Israel has never been dealt with lucidly. Over more than sixty years, a myth has been cultivated of grateful immigrants, overcoming great difficulties in the struggle to be a part of Israeli society. Abandoning an inferior lifestyle in their countries of origin, they are at the threshold of a new life and a better future. This can be a true myth for many immigrants. But like any other myth, it leaves little room for anyone who does not fit the mold.

The possibility that some new immigrants have a past; that they can be competent, well trained professionals who can contribute to Israeli society as well as to benefit from it, clashes with the romantic notion that some pioneering efforts are required on the part of new immigrants. Keeping in mind the heroic tales of their parents and grandparents who immigrated to Palestine in earlier times, Israelis judge the experiences of new immigrants with perceptions taken from the first half of the twentieth century. To come to Israel and land (so to speak) a good job off the cuff seems to many Israelis a sacrilege.

Particularly the arrival of highly professional immigrants with doctoral degrees strikes an emotional cord with Israelis who remember, either from the stories of their own ancestors or the stories of others, the pride that highly professional immigrants in the nineteen-thirties took at working the land and performing manual labor. Many of them feel that today's immigrants should, of course, be able to work in their chosen professions but… not right away.

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A Mossad situation

Because nobody's ever questioned me about my involvement with Israel's top-secret spy agency, the Mossad, I'm now ready and willing to talk.

It all began while I was still living in Toronto and planning my escape to Israel. One day I stumbled upon an advert in a national Canadian newspaper inviting people to join the Mossad by applying via their new website. Yeah, I was also very surprised to discover the rather unclassified ad. Anyhow, I applied but hadn't heard back from them by the time I had left for Israel to make Aliyup. This, incidentally, would be my second attempt at settling successfully in Israel. My very own "Second Aliyah" if you will.

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