Aliya and Changing Computers...

My work computer was ‘upgraded’ this week. There was nothing wrong with the old one – it had served me pretty well…its just the new one is supposed to better, more advanced – an upgraded graphics chip, a faster hard drive.

Yet in many ways the process has been frustrating. Some things didn’t quite survive the move - desktop items, my screensaver. Email addresses and signatures were lost.

My favorites webpages are somewhere in cyberspace. I-Tunes music needs to be downloaded again.

Things that made the old computer mine – pictures, emails and music - are no longer to hand.

Making the switch means being prepared to take a short term loss for what one assumes will be a longer term gain. And the hardest time comes before the gain becomes apparent.

In many ways changing computers reminds me of making Aliyah.

My friends and I didn’t run away from a country – our computer wasn’t broken. We just fancied an upgrade, believed that the new life offered a richer, (clearly not financially) more meaningful experience.

Yet the moving period is never without its problems – acclimatizing takes time, bureaucracy needs to be overcome, new friends and memories need to be forged anew. Professional and social status takes time to re-establish.

Sometimes important things disappear along the way. Some can be reclaimed; others can't.

Olim trade in an old life for a new because we believe (or hope) that in the long run it will be worthwhile… its just the bit in between that's difficult.