New immigrants say Nefesh B'Nefesh abandoned them when they needed practical help

They call me to make sure i am getting all the help I need. I am being made to feel welcome. Of course, one needs to go out and make frieds and socialize. Make connections with those you arrived with. Thank you for helping me make the move. Irma Mendoza

Made Aliyah, live and interact with hundreds of other Anglos in Jerusalem, and No One (including many of their own employees) is impressed by the "work" Nefesh does for Olim. No job support. No connections inside Israel. Don't pretend to be a crutch to assist people in Aliyah, when they are more like a pot-hole or dead end, who just eat up your time if your journey out to their luxury offices, which for some reason the govt. helps pay for.

NBN Has helped over 30,000 people make Aliyah. I would like to find any organization in the world where 100% of the people were satisfied 100% of the time. I made Aliyah pre-Nefesh B'Nefesh and I was met at the airport given a badge and sent on my merry way. Not one follow-up call, not one email about job assistance or any job fairs. Maybe because NBN have set the bar so high people are complaining about issues that are relatively minor. NBN never promises anyone a job (that I know of) and a one hour commute (each way) is really not that bad. Well done, you found a couple of needles in an otherwise massive haystack of satisfaction.

If you're arriving as a new NBN oleh, make sure you have your own money (~$5K) for the first few months. NBN grant checks, if they are backed by money, take 3 weeks to clear. However, in my ulpan, 50% of the grant checks bounced! Their job help is also non-existent. Come to Israel with professional contacts in your field, and don't rely on NBN's "it'll be okay, we have a career counselor" line...they email around 1 or 2 jobs per month and they're really crap jobs for minimum wage. And regardless of what NBN tells you, YOU WILL NEED TO LEARN HEBREW. If you have trouble learning languages, 5 months of ulpan is nowhere near enough and not having Hebrew will be a horrible disadvantage for any jobs other than engineering jobs.

I can only say that I wish NBN were around when my family and I made aliyah, when Misrad Ha'pnim was a nigtmare and Misrad Ha'klitah was worthless. I'm not sure whom you interviewed, but I have heard only adulatory stories about the work NBN does. Here's one: "NBN helped my brother and sister-in-law make aliyah. My brother was in a vegetative state (on a stretcher, connected to feeding tube, oxygen, totally unresponsive) and NBN made his physical arrival possible. His wife has been helped on counceling, job hunting and general advice."

Thank you Ha'aretz for your in depth journalism, There is indeed nobody quite like you and hopefully the above comment is enough the get by the censor (wow...would think they would support "free speech.") I had commented that NBN does fantastic work and that the article is much ado about nothing about a few spoiled Americans who were shocked to find that Israel is a hard place to find work and didn't want to accept responsibility themselves. It really is not news. So why censor my comment?

How can you take the word if a few people when there are thousands of people that are more than satisfied.

Nefesh bnefesh single-handedly brought Aliyah back to the Western Jewish equation. So you found some disgruntled people to talk to. How about the thousands of others? come on give me a break

NY Nefesh office was totally ineffective, failed to follow through with anything, and just stalled my process. Chicago JAFI office was terrific, caring, diligent, expeditious, and effective. Need I say more?