Why 10 days, not a week.
A week of aliyah pilot tends to produce a week of impressions. 10 days produces decisions. The difference is a second Shabbos in a different neighborhood, a second school visit after you've slept on the first, and a full 72 hours of walk-the-neighborhood-like-a-resident time. Every family that comes for 10 days leaves with clarity; families that come for a week often need a second trip.
Day-by-day arc.
Day 1 — arrival + jet-lag recovery.
Land Ben Gurion morning or early afternoon. Check into Prima Palace (larger rooms for families) or Yirmiyahu 33 (chareidi-neighborhood immersion starts Day 1). Light orientation walk. Dinner at hotel. Early night — jet lag is the enemy of good pilot-trip decisions.
Day 2 — Nefesh B'Nefesh + opening meetings.
Schedule the Nefesh B'Nefesh appointment 4-6 weeks before landing. Day 2 is opening meetings — NBN aliyah coordinator, a recommended olim-specialist accountant or attorney for US tax questions. Afternoon: walk Shaarei Chesed / Rechavia to anchor a frum modern-orthodox baseline, even if your hashkafa is chareidi. Contrast is useful.
Day 3 — chareidi neighborhoods.
Meet a local real-estate agent specializing in Geulah / Romema / Kiryat Mattersdorf / Bayit Vegan / Har Nof. Three neighborhood walks of 45-60 minutes each. Lunch with a family who made aliyah 2-5 years ago — the stretch where honeymoon is over but exhaustion isn't yet (best time for honest conversation).
Day 4 — schools.
2-3 schools per kid by age band. Sit through a class if permitted. If possible, schedule a 20-minute coffee with a current parent from each school. Dinner: conversation with a family whose kids are in the school you're leaning toward. Questions to ask: Ivrit immersion reality, homework load, shabbaton rhythm, kids' shul integration.
Day 5 — Shabbos prep + Kotel.
Kotel before Shabbos — whether or not you go every trip, this one anchors the week. Shabbos meals arranged with 2-3 local families through the JRM pre-trip brief. This is the highest-signal 25 hours of the entire pilot: you see the neighborhood living Shabbos, not performing it.
Day 6 — Shabbos in neighborhood.
Daven at the shul you're considering joining. Daven at a second one after lunch. Walk the neighborhood during the afternoon — see the park, the shul hallways, the kids' interactions. Motzei Shabbos: write down what surprised you. That list will shape Days 7-10.
Day 7 — Misrad Hapnim + bureaucracy preview.
NBN walkthrough of the full aliyah paper trail. Misrad Hapnim visit if appropriate at this stage. Kupat cholim (health fund) preview — which plan, which doctors take English, which ganim/schools integrate with which plan. Afternoon: rental market tour — 3-5 apartments in your top-two neighborhoods.
Day 8 — comparison neighborhoods.
Day 3 was chareidi Jerusalem; Day 8 previews alternatives: Efrat, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Beit Shemesh, Modi'in, Bet Shemesh Aleph/Gimel. Half-day drive to one or two. For families whose top choice is Jerusalem, this either confirms it or surfaces a real second option.
Day 9 — career + spouse.
Employer site visits (Jerusalem tech, education, healthcare, nonprofit); or consultation with an aliyah job-placement service; or chinuch-role conversations for spouses in education. Afternoon: the single most important meeting of the trip — family meeting with both spouses and school-age kids, comparing what each learned. Conflict is normal and the point.
Day 10 — departure + homework.
Late checkout. Final walk of the top-choice neighborhood at the time of day you'd most commonly walk it (morning drop-off, evening return). Lunch with one more family — the one who asked the questions you most need answered. Airport 4 hours before flight. On the plane: write down what you know now that you didn't before landing. That list is the decision.
What JRM coordinates vs. what's on the family.
JRM coordinates: hotel, NBN appointment timing, Shabbos meal hosts (from our network), real-estate agent introductions, school-visit connections, olim-family lunches, rental-market walkthrough, airport transfers.
Family owns: the actual aliyah decision; conversations with their rav in America; paperwork preparation (birth certificates, marriage certificate, tax documents); employer negotiation; letting friends and family know.