Recent info on Karmiel, Israel

amother

Springgreen

Wed, Apr 10 2024, 11:16 am

amother Lemon wrote:

hi, I know this is a veryyy old thread but the questions the OP asks are great.
Making aliyah this summer iyh and looking into neighborhoods. Whats the community like in karmiel?

Avivah Werner is really old - read her stuff, but we plan to go there eventually, and have done a ton iof research and been there for shabbos, and the community has grown a ton since she left.

Here I my answers to the best of my ability:

Is there an active nishei/ young nishei?
The anglo nshei/ womens get togethers is pretty active, but it isnt young per say, more off a mix. The israeli events are younger

Whats it like to be anglo there?
It is anglo friendly if the end goal is to integrate and become israeli while retaining angloness. Which is what is appealing to us, but can be hard for some people
What are the cheders and girls schools like?
Chedarim:
There is a Chafetz Chayim school that many of the anglo's send to that has a decent level of secular studies but mainly sends the kids to more mainstream charedi yeshiva ketana's. There is a nice mix of israeli's and americans, and it is a bit more open and mixed, but not really "modern"

The Talmud Torah is more of a typical mainstream charedi cheder

Girls - one big BY, a lot like an OOT BY, with lots of different types, from very modern/ masorati families to very charedi. At 6th grade the more modern element tend to switch out to Ulpanot and it becomes more Israeli BY

There is one yeshiva ketana, which is very academic feeds into good "top" yeshivos - many anglos either have kids who travel or dorm if they want secular studies or need something else

HS - one BY, and one new Ulpana

How integrated are the various 'types'?
Not sure what this question means

Are there different geographical areas to take into account? Eg is there an area that's more anglo etc?

Rabin/Macosh seem to have more anglo's, but the Dromit has a nice amount as well.

What are the approx prices for a 3 room apartment for buying and or renting?
Buying from 850,000 - 1,300,00 nis (depending on neighborhood), rent from 2,500 nis - 4,000 nis

Whats the public transport like? How easy/hard is it to occasionally get to Jlem etc? To the seaside?Is there nature in relatively easy reach?
There is 1 and half hour direct train to TLV, 30 min to Haifa ( with beaches) 20 min drive to akko, and a 2 1/2 hour bus to jlem (or take the train to the jlem tlv line). When we drove it took 2 hours from Jlem, but dh drives very fast. Tons of nature and mountains and hikes in the area, very suburaban feel

What are the parks like (socially and structurally - are there friendly mommy groups, and are the parks concrete jungles or also with some grass etc)?
Parks we saw where beautiful, grassy, literally tons of parks and full of friendly mommies

Whats the general 'feel' of the Yiddishkeit like? (probs its diverse, but the community we live in now is very "growing" and that's a big plus)

To me it feels like the closest to OOT america I have seen - diverse, growing, warm, friendly and simple.

What are the Shuls like?

I liked Matan Nachliel shul in Rabin the best - felt really OOTy and diverse and like a community. The Rav (israeli) was so nice, and there where tons of anglo's , and there is an older american israeli rav type person who people seem close to as well.
The Dromit in general feels more hard core charedi/yeshvish, but still very friendly and nice.

amother

Dahlia

Wed, Apr 10 2024, 1:25 pm

We're looking for recent info on Karmiel from someone who lives there or who has connections there. We already live in Israel. We'd like to know "everything" but some more specific questions (v. grateful if you can answer one or a few) include :

I live there. Spring green really did a great job. I'm writing in caps because bolding isn't working for me for some reason.

Is there an active nishei/ young nishei?

Active yes, but define young. Most people who come are probably in their 30s/40s, but sometimes women in their 60s will come too. I think the Olim skew a little older. I really can't think of too many that are younger than late 20s. Karmiel isn't a place for a newlywed couple to make Aliya to.

Whats it like to be anglo there?

It's wonderful. It has the advantage of having enough Anglos around to smooth the transition, but at the same time, a lot of very friendly Israelis. Plenty of the Israelis also lack family (live elsewhere or they're BTs etc. since Karmiel isn't so central), so I think that adds an openness. And a lot of BTs speak a great English too. (TV can be very helpful.)

Anglo community tries to make meals for new Olim and people that move in. After babies. After crises.

There is an English speaking rav. (I had been told there isn't, but it's not true!)

What are the cheders and girls schools like?

There are 2 boy schools. One is more of a cheder style. Less limudei chol. Pickier about who they accept. Really don't want smartphones and parents need to sign about filters on computers if need for work. Very Charedi. Although, they do have a nice yard to play ball.

Then there's a chinuch atzmai school called CHofetz Chaim It took over the local kiruv school because the crowd was becoming more "Chazak" but not on cheder level plus plenty of the parents value limudei chol. Anglos were part of opening the school. At first, the school attracted a nice mix of the kiruv families, DL torani, Anglos... But then the DL opened up a new school and the hanhala of Chofetz Chaim is going right because that seems to be the direction of the community. The school is getting less diverse but is also starting to attract families at the "cheder" because they want the services Chofetz Chaim has to offer, plus they are impressed with the product. It's much more focused on the individual talmid.

The girl school had a similar history. They are ahead of the boys though. They are now a proper BY with proper rules. The younger you go, the more Charedi because there now exists more options for families that used to send there. Uniform rules are getting stricter and overall rules too.

Anglo kids (and other Olim) do well in the schools. The schools are very used to them and can handle new girls. They offer some support too. And all the classes have AT LEAST one English speaker if not a handful.

How integrated are the various 'types'?
It's a friendly place. Torani DL and those who learn more Charedi are definitely friend and some of the events will have overlap especially with the Anglo crowd which has a nice sized element of families that don't quite identify perfectly with either group.

Are there different geographical areas to take into account? Eg is there an area that's more anglo etc?
Dromit is more central. The schools are in walking distance so are the main Charedi ganim. There is a makolet owned by Anglos. There are plenty of shuls and kollelim.

Macosh is mostly houses. Some Anglos and Israeli Charedi live there, but more are in Dromit.

Rabin is apartments. Newer and nicer than Dromit. There's a shul there called Matan Nachliel that is a huge mix and lots of people love. Macosh is pretty close to the shul too.

If you live anywhere besides Dromit, you need a car or things will be tough. In Karmiel itself a car is nice, but outside Dromit it's not really optional.

What are the approx prices for a 3 room apartment for buying and or renting?

Buying, I'd say 900,000-1.3 million depending on how nice. Maaaybe 800k. The prices aren't going down. Renting, I'd say starting at 2600 for something not so nice on a high floor till 3500 for a nice apartment with a garden.
Whats the public transport like? How easy/hard is it to occasionally get to Jlem etc? To the seaside?

Jerusalem, there's a direct bus. Takes around 3 hours IIRC. Or you can take 3 trains. Karmiel has the train and that's very helpful. Seaside is very easy. Close by car and there's a direct bus that comes often.
Is there nature in relatively easy reach?

yes, very. Some by foot and tons by car. Even just the view out of my window is unbelievable.
What are the parks like (socially and structurally - are there friendly mommy groups, and are the parks concrete jungles or also with some grass etc)?

Yes, social and friendly. Plenty of grass in some of the parks. I go to a smaller park where we all know each other pretty well. There's a bigger park too. There are a lot of very nice people. There's also some very grassy parks and some fun parks (Park Hamishpacha. Serious climbing toys) but that's more for entertainment than being social unless you invite a friend or bump into one.

Whats the general 'feel' of the Yiddishkeit like? (probs its diverse, but the community we live in now is very "growing" and that's a big plus)

Karmiel is growing in number and in ruchniyus. I think the schools are showing that. The Anglo crowd does have a range from very Charedi to DL and everything in between.
What are the Shuls like?

There's a few. There's the kollel which IIUC is the avreichim that learn there and some others maybe that learned there? I'm not sure. R' Margalit the Ashkenazi rav of the city is the rav there.

Then there's Maor Hagalil which is a kollel that also has minyanim. Avreichim go there and also yeshivish working men. I think more so than the Kollel but not sure.

Rabbi Schwartz (Anglo tour guide) has a shul too. It's young Israel style. Lots of singing. It used to be small, but it has really grown. There are Anglos that daven here but there are really Anglos in the other shuls too. And plenty of Israelis daven by Rabbi Schwartz too.

Matan Nachliel: A nice big mix. I haven't been there often so I can't tell you clearly but I think it's working men, avreichim, DL, Charedi. A lot of people really, really love it.

Many many thanks!!

I hope I helped someone!

You didn't ask these questions:

Karmiel has a very tranquil feel to it. The shoving your way around doesn't happen much around here. The pace is much slower. Things aren't very aggressive. I often have the only stroller on the bus and people will help me get it on and off...

I think the biggest turnoff about Karmiel is jobs: You need to be able to have a parnassah. The train does make commuting to the mercaz possible. There's direct to TA but it's still a shlep. There is plenty of hightech in the north but if you're in a field that doesn't have jobs, it can be tough.

Happy to answer more questions.