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Moving to Toronto from Europe?!?!



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amother
Orchid


 

Post Sun, Jul 17 2016, 4:02 am
This will probably come out as the most clueless post in this section, as I have very little information about Toronto… but I would like to share my doubts and questions with you.
Thank you in advance for reading and any contribution you might give.

Here's who I am:
I was born in Toronto, to a canadian mother. My father's family is from Europe , and we moved back to Europe when I was a baby. I grew up in Europe, went to school and university here. I visited Canada every summer as a child.
I have a B.A. in Linguistics from a European university.
I am Jewish by orthodox conversion, as my father is Jewish, and my mother is not.
I was have always been involved in community life and jewish youth movements here. I have been married to a European Jewish man, who's family has strong rots here. We have two children aged 5 and 1.5. We live in a relatively small Jewish community here on the old continent.
Both our children attend the local Jewish school.
My dh and I are both strongly committed to Jewish values and shemirat torah umitzvot.

Why I am considering moving :
The main reason is because of the tragic situation right now in Europe. I don't feel safe here and I don't see a bright future here for us or for our children.
(My in-laws were meters away from the spot where the latest terror attack striked last week, but had left the spot half hour before the attack, and my daughter was supposed to be vacationing there with them if not for the fact that I refused to send her because of my fears… ).
There have been isolated anti-semitic attack in the community where we live,
We do not live in France. But ever since the Toulouse attack in 2012, I have bee feeling that I do not want to live here anymore.

Apart from safety, other reasons to move away could include the search for:
-better career opportunities for both me and dh.
-a larger, more dynamic, jewish community.
-better jewish education opportunities for our children.

What is holding us here:
-our parents and extended family are all here, live close by, and we are all very involved in each other's lives.
-we are socially well settled in the jewish community here, and have friends.
-we own our apartment here (paying mortgage)

Why I am considering Toronto:
- Mainly because I am a Canadian citizen.
- Career-wise it seems to offer opportunities.
- because of welfare and social security.
-because of the large Jewish community there,and opportunities it could offer.
-(I have no relatives in Canada, only a few non-Jewish acquaintances).

(Other options:
-my dh would preferably opt for Israel because of ideological reasons and because we would be closer to our families back in Europe.
-moreover, my family owns a flat in Tel-Aviv that could be available to us.)

We would move to Canada on a low budget, (rent out our apartment here to pay off the mortgage). We could reasonably move in a year from now, meaning summer 2017.
We would start searching for jobs right away. We would have to be very budget wise in the beginning, as we build our economic security.

Other info about us:
apart fro the language of the country we live in (not French):
I speak english at home with my kids, so they are fluent.
My dh is fluent in French and English

MY QUESTIONS:
- does anyone in the jewish community send their children to public schools ? If so, are there any specific schools they have a higher jewish rate of pupils in the Toronto area?
How is the level of studies? How is the social environment?
our kids would be starting kindergarten and elementary. I am asking this mainly out of economic reasons, as we would probably not be able to pay tuition to private jewish schools in the beginning , until we are more economically secure.
- are there alternative ways for us to get involved and meet people in the jewish communities (synagogue, talmud torah, day camp, classes for women, etc..)? Consider we have no family or friends at all, and we fear isolation.
-We would initially rent an apartment: what area would you suggest? (walking distance from at least one modern orthodox synagogue?).
- I have been considering Toronto because it is the place I was born in (not such a strong reason..), and because it is a large urban area that could offer many opportunities job and jewish community-wise, but I could also consider other places in Ontario, provided they have a modern orthodox community and job opportunities… housing could be cheaper and we could be happy in a small comity setting (more like what we are used to back here).


-Do you think I am crazy and unrealistic?

SO many doubts and questions at this point…
This is really just a starting step for me.
Thank you for reading.
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amother
Coffee


 

Post Sun, Jul 17 2016, 5:07 am
If you are uprooting your family and going somewhere without a support system, why not go to Israel? Your children can get a Jewish education for free. There are plenty of olim to commiserate with. Downsides: the Rabbanut has been tough on gerim lately, and job opportunities depend on what fields you are in. But this is the center of the Jewish world. I lived in Canada for years and it's wonderful, but it's not a long term solution.
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Mrs Bissli




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 17 2016, 5:26 am
Would you consider London? We have multiple dozens of friends who moved here from Italy /France/Switzerland /Belgium /Spain /Hungary /Austria/Netherlands.

Currently you don't need a visa (and even after official Brexit, you can most likely get a visa via Canadian /Commonwealth connection).

Majority of Jewish schools are half public funded so tuition is very affordable. It's close to the Continent and Israel. If you have a legit gerut, there shouldn't be an issue with batei din here (though it would take time as United Synagogues do check background ).


Last edited by Mrs Bissli on Mon, Jul 18 2016, 11:52 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother
Indigo


 

Post Sun, Jul 17 2016, 5:49 am
Toronto is not a cheap place to live. I haven't lived there in many years but have friends and family there.
All the areas around (all) shuls tend to be expensive- even those that weren't are today.
There are Jewish kids in public schools but not sure there are too many religious kids in public schools there.
When I went to school, the schools were very understanding and accommodating to parents - not sure today. You might want to actually investigate different schools before rejecting them and assuming you need a public school.
If you are looking at other communities in Ontario- Hamilton comes to mind. Its the only out-of-town community with infrastructure - it has a day school affiliated with the only orthodox Shul, kosher butcher, supermarkets that stock kosher food and is only an hour drive from Toronto.
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Frenchfry




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 17 2016, 10:15 am
It is a very expensive place to live. There aren't really any religious kids in public schools, but there are schools on all ends of the frum spectrum and many of them will allow you to pay whatever you can afford. You can pm me if you'd like, I've been here for more than thirty years and I'm in education, I've been involved in many of the schools here.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Sun, Jul 17 2016, 1:19 pm
I've lived in toronto for many years. (I no longer live there) it is extremely expensive and upper class. impossible to buy a house due to the prices. look into hamilton ontario, which has a small jewish community and seems to fit where your coming from more.
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amother
Orchid


 

Post Mon, Jul 18 2016, 9:51 am
Thank you all for your answers.
Toronto sounds like a great place to live… but probably it is off budget for us.

I have come to the point, like many european Jews, of considering that Israel might be the best option for us after all. Israel is prepared to fight terror, it defends itself fiercely and successfully.
How scary to realize how unprepared European nations are to what is happening…
And how lucky we are to have Israel!

It's just hard and scary to come to this point of realizing that we should leave…
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UnFarvosNischt




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 18 2016, 1:57 pm
Hey Amother Orchid Smile
I don't know Toronto well but I know that Canada is a great place to work with linguistics! But in Israel too, especially with computational linguistics.
I happen to be in the middle of my MA in Linguistics so I would be happy to know if you're working in that field?
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