Moving to Israel - Not Kedai for most people

That's the portrayal of Nefesh b'Nefesh and other aliyah pushers. Oh, Israel used to lag behind America, but now its economy is advanced and its technology world leading. The only thing holding you back is your yetzer hara.  So I'm here to tell you that's all lies. Israel isn't even close to America. Your standard of living will decrease 80% if you move here. I go into detail about this in other posts. And I'm not talking about granite countertops. I'm talking health care, transportation, and living conditions. And all that takes an enormous toll on your sanity, your shalom bayis, and even your religious observance. Sometimes you hear that people are more religious in Israel. Well, aside from the 75% that violate Shabbos, the Modern Orthodox are far less religious. And the Haredim, well in Meah She'arim they are very good. But you are not moving to Meah She'arim. Wherever you move, the religious level is no better than Lakewood or Monsey. The middos

According to Wikipedia, People from the State of Israel have won 13 Nobel Prizes. 3 are peace prizes. One of the peace prizes went to one of Zionist terrorists who killed 17 Jews at the King David Hotel. Another of the peace prizes went to one of the Zionist commanders who sank the Altalena, killing 19 Jews. Of the remaining 9 (one in literature), 4 were born and educated elsewhere, but we'll ignore that. Switzerland, Austria, and Sweden which each have roughly the same population as Israel, have 27, 22, and 32 prizes respectively.  The Netherlands, which is double the population as Israel, has 21 prizes. Denmark, which has half the population of Israel has 13 prizes. So the claim that Israel "punches above its weight on Nobel prizes" is just plain false. [This claim was made by an otherwise good article that defended Charedim in Israel.] If you want to argue that the Nobel Prize was started before the State of Israel was founded, Switzerland has won 16 prizes (all in sci

List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita.        United States $85,373        Israel $53,372 Big difference.  But even this doesn't capture it because the GDP for Jews in America is $129,000.  Even worse, GDP per Capita in Israel averaged $32,492.68 from 1991 until 2023. So there isn't much wealth built up over the years.  In 1980 in Israel it was $6,357. In the USA it was $12,575. In 1960 it was $1,229 in Israel and $3,014 in the USA.  So figure that the standard of living is much more than double in the USA. And America goes back 300 years. Even colonial era buildings are more grand than nearly anything in Israel. Israel 70 years ago had very little - a bit in Jerusalem, Yaffo. America has hundreds of years of building infrastructure with much more gusto and style. You cannot compare the two. There is nothing in all of Israel like Princeton University or the Upper East Side of Manhattan or Montclair, NJ or 5,000 other lovely places. No place in Israel is lovel