OU community fair:

Teacup9

Sun, Apr 28 2013, 11:12 pm

thedudette wrote:

looking for a more of OOT Frum type (chafetz chaim working type)..... anyone know a place?

It sounds like we are looking for similar. I did not find anything exactly that and took more of the approach that I was looking for a place where we could fit in and grow and be similar to a group of families, but most likely part of a more mixed community. When I looked into out of town communities prior to the fair, I was interested in Waterbury, CT , Clifton/Passaic, NJ, Edison/Highland Park, and Monsey (non of which were at the fair) if that gives you an idea of our hashkafa.

After leaving the fair I have decided to look into Elizabeth (the Elmora side with an established community of older families supposedly has a growing group of young families with more heimishie tendencies than the larger group of more MO type young couples on the North Elizabeth/Hillside end). I wouldn't call the JEC school chafetz chaim working type though, I am just curious whether a portion of the parent body is like us. Maybe someone else can weigh in.

Manalapan, NJ also caught my eye (seems close and to share school options with Edison/Highland Park) and the commute to NYC is fine, just doesn't work exactly for us.

I'm curious about one part of Fairlawn, NJ, but am thinking it is probably too modern for us.

This is just what I took from the fair and am looking to talk to my rabbi about his opinions of the schools. Anything from the fliers, the websites, and who exactly was at the community's booth while I walked by might influence these things and not be totally accurate or indicative of the community.

fromnj

Sun, May 05 2013, 5:02 pm

Teacup9 wrote:

thedudette wrote:

looking for a more of OOT Frum type (chafetz chaim working type)..... anyone know a place?

I live on the Hillside side of Elizabeth/Hillside. I'd disagree that the ppl on the Elmora side are more heimishe. Newcomers on both sides of town range from yeshivish to modern. Perhaps in Hillside we get more of the yeshivish types because the kollel is on our side while the Elmora side might get more of the sepharadim because their sephardi minyan is larger and more established there. The Hillside side is growing more rapidly, but the population is younger. People who move into Elmora often already have kids in school.

If you have any questions about the parents at JEC feel free to PM me. I've also lived in HP/Edison so I can give you a perspective on that as well.

amother

Mon, May 06 2013, 5:13 am

fromnj wrote:

Thank you for posting.

For some reason I thought most of the kollel men didn't live in Hillside. Another misunderstanding is I thought Elizabeth had lowish taxes when compared to the rest of New Jersey. I just looked up some houses for sale in what I thought was the frum Elmora section (south of Maggie, north of Westfield) and the taxes for four bedrooms, really reasonably priced four bedrooms, was 8-10k.

At JEC, I was just curious about what percentage of my kids' classmates watch TV regularly or go out to movies compared to the occasional Jewish video at home. Would I have to double check with a Rav before trusting a classmate's kashrut?

Mostly though, I assume a school like JEC will be more of a mix of modern and yeshivaish than our Brooklyn schools, but I want my children to have some friends in their grades with more conservative parents so that they never feel like the only way to have fun or not be left out is by doing more secular/non jewish things...they are preschool age now, but I am thinking of pre-teen age.

Does JEC recognize that some families say hallel without a bracha on Yom Hatzmaut? In what minority would my children be? I was curious how JEC parent body compared to nearby communities like RJJ in SI, YKP in Passaic, or I guess Shaare ? in HP/Edison.

fromnj

Wed, May 08 2013, 8:25 pm

amother wrote:

For some reason I thought most of the kollel men didn't live in Hillside. Another misunderstanding is I thought Elizabeth had lowish taxes when compared to the rest of New Jersey. I just looked up some houses for sale in what I thought was the frum Elmora section (south of Maggie, north of Westfield) and the taxes for four bedrooms, really reasonably priced four bedrooms, was 8-10k..

The kollel has a house in Hillside where the boys live. A fair number of men from Hillside daven with them. As for taxes, that is pretty typical for Elizabeth. In Hillside the taxes are higher. I think what you save in housing prices in NJ you pay back sometimes in taxes. You can always appeal your tax bill.

amother wrote:

At JEC, I was just curious about what percentage of my kids' classmates watch TV regularly or go out to movies compared to the occasional Jewish video at home. Would I have to double check with a Rav before trusting a classmate's kashrut?

Most of the kids in my childrens' classes have a TV or a computer for watching. We have a TV, but no cable. The kids watch what I put on for them. Some kids listen to secular music -- some not. Out of all the kids in my son's class, maybe 6 don't have a TV and don't watch TV on the computer. The community is uniformly "frum" so I dont' worry about people's kashrut like I did when I lived in Park Slope and Highland Park. People adhere to the norms of the community. We have a strong Vaad and a strong rabinate and people listen to them.

amother wrote:

Mostly though, I assume a school like JEC will be more of a mix of modern and yeshivaish than our Brooklyn schools, but I want my children to have some friends in their grades with more conservative parents so that they never feel like the only way to have fun or not be left out is by doing more secular/non jewish things...they are preschool age now, but I am thinking of pre-teen age.

My son is in 3rd grade. The big birthday party activity this year is watching a movie (about superheroes) and eating pizza. I'm not sure what kind of activities you mean. I know there is a group of high school boys who play poker. I live in Hillside, so we don't have so many high school boys!

amother wrote:

Does JEC recognize that some families say hallel without a bracha on Yom Hatzmaut? In what minority would my children be? I was curious how JEC parent body compared to nearby communities like RJJ in SI, YKP in Passaic, or I guess Shaare ? in HP/Edison.

There is a big thing here about "Minhag Elizabeth." This is pretty standard in older communities that are centrally organized. For example, the community keeps "minhag Ashkenaz" for sefira (mourning customs from RH Iyar till 3 days before Shavuos). For the most part, people are respectful of this. Davening is obviously a private thing. But if your minhag is different from minhag Elizabeth, then you would decline davening from the amud for Yom Haatzmaut. Honestly though, I can't remember if there is one minhag about hallel on Yom Haatzmaut or if it goes by one's personal minhag. I think it would be personal, since davening is personal.

I can't comment on any of those other schools, because I never had kids in any of them. Many Shaarei Tziyon boys attend JEC's high school (ST only goes through 8th grade).