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Jewish Communities in West Virginia (USA)
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Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 26 2013, 12:32 am
Who has lived, or lives currently, or has relatives/friends in West Virginia?

Dh and I are looking at different small Jewish communities away from the tri-state area.
Where are there Jewish communities?
Is your community growing/shrinking?
Jewish infrastructure- synagogues, mikvahs, schools, etc- Give me the skinny, not what I can easily look up on google. How is it really, in your eyes?
Demographics? Parnassa opportunities?

If someone was considering relocating to your community, what do you think would be important for them to know?
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 26 2013, 11:19 am
Why WV? It might be almost heaven but I've never heard of anything there, yes in just about every other southern state.
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chocolate moose




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 26 2013, 8:27 pm
The Orthodox crowd there must be gone by now.
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doctorima




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 26 2013, 8:31 pm
I'm pretty sure there's no frum community or infrastructure there. I'd be surprised if there's even a Chabad that gets a regular minyan. There are plenty of small Jewish communities you could try though - Richmond, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, Charleston, all better bets than WV.
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shluchamom




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 26 2013, 9:13 pm
Get in touch with jewishwv.org
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JoyInTheMorning




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 4:13 am
I'm also wondering why West Virginia. It's pretty but it's an economically depressed area. Maryland and Virgina have healthy economies and both have several Jewish communities. Virginia is much prettier than Maryland; Maryland has much more Jewish life.
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 4:54 am
isn't that where richmond is? apparently they have some state-sponsored educational grant thing that allows them to give FULL tuition scholarships for grades K-12, and the income qualifications are not hard to fit at all.... it's a tiny frum community though. like 50 families, I heard...
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June




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 5:15 am
smss wrote:
isn't that where richmond is? apparently they have some state-sponsored educational grant thing that allows them to give FULL tuition scholarships for grades K-12, and the income qualifications are not hard to fit at all.... it's a tiny frum community though. like 50 families, I heard...


Richmond is in Virginia, not West Virginia. two separate states.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 8:24 am
I live in Richmond and love it!
Happy to answer questions Very Happy
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amother


 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 8:28 am
June wrote:
smss wrote:
isn't that where richmond is? apparently they have some state-sponsored educational grant thing that allows them to give FULL tuition scholarships for grades K-12, and the income qualifications are not hard to fit at all.... it's a tiny frum community though. like 50 families, I heard...


Richmond is in Virginia, not West Virginia. two separate states.



Whoah, Richmond imamother again, let's clarify some things!!!!!
Richmond is the CAPITAL CITY of Virginia and was the capital of the confederacy during the civil war.
We currently have about 12,0000 Jews, and 6 synagogues: 2 Reform, 2 Conservative, 1 mainstream Orthodox and 1 Chabad. Our yeshivah Day school (Rudlin Torah Academy) currently has 75 students in k-8, but are expecting a big kindergarten next year. We also have a JCC, two Jewish preschools (JCC and Chabad), a Kollel, a boys Yeshiva high school and a girls yeshiva high school.
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amother


 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 7:24 pm
bump!!
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 7:34 pm
amother wrote:
bump!!


Considering you got a number of replies and views in less than two days, not sure why you're bumping. You might just have to do even more detective work - Chabad? Hillel? - to see if there's anything resembling a community in WV.

Are you willing to consider anywhere else besides WV?
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Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 10:30 pm
Hi, OP here!

Thank you to everyone who replied. The bump above wasn't me. I guess some other crazy soul must be interested! What

I'm looking for a small, non-city jewish community outside of the tri-state area. Dh likes the South (he hates winter) but I do not want to move too far south (I love winter, and can't stand the heat). So that eliminates the upper midwest and the deep south, and leaves only the states sort of in the middle.

We don't need all the frum amenities. We're very self-reliant and we specifically want to get out of a large city community. I know that west virginia isn't exactly the jewish center of the world, someone we know lived there (years ago), and was very happy there (at the time). I don't know what has changed since then.

To me, there is a difference between communities that are small & happy, and small & depressed. One place we visited in the midwest a few years ago was small, but the jews there were nice, the chabad rabbi and his family were nice, and the basics were accessible. The community had a happy feeling. In contrast, one place we visited in the southeast definitely gave me an unhappy sense that they were living on borrowed time. That's something I can't find out on a website, you know what I mean? That's why I asked on imamother. To get real women's opinions, borne of experience.
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Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Nov 27 2013, 10:35 pm
shluchamom wrote:
Get in touch with jewishwv.org


thanks!
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 28 2013, 1:44 am
amother wrote:
June wrote:
smss wrote:
isn't that where richmond is? apparently they have some state-sponsored educational grant thing that allows them to give FULL tuition scholarships for grades K-12, and the income qualifications are not hard to fit at all.... it's a tiny frum community though. like 50 families, I heard...


Richmond is in Virginia, not West Virginia. two separate states.



Whoah, Richmond imamother again, let's clarify some things!!!!!
Richmond is the CAPITAL CITY of Virginia and was the capital of the confederacy during the civil war.
We currently have about 12,0000 Jews, and 6 synagogues: 2 Reform, 2 Conservative, 1 mainstream Orthodox and 1 Chabad. Our yeshivah Day school (Rudlin Torah Academy) currently has 75 students in k-8, but are expecting a big kindergarten next year. We also have a JCC, two Jewish preschools (JCC and Chabad), a Kollel, a boys Yeshiva high school and a girls yeshiva high school.


right, virginia- not west virginia...

but richmond imamother, of the 12,000 Jews how many are frum?
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amother


 

Post Thu, Nov 28 2013, 3:25 am
I lived in a GORGEOUS but very small southern community - though it was definitely much bigger than anything remaining in west virginia. There is a big difference between a small community, a tiny community, a dead community and a dying community. WV is DEAD in terms of jewish life.

I lived in a a major southern city with a day school, 1 chabad and 1 orthodox synagogue. There were MAYBE 10 - 15 shomer shabbos families between the chabad and and the shul. When I say families, I don't mean all big families with lots of little kids running around....there were maybe 3 or 4 families with kids, and the rest were older couples or some younger couples - the younger couples were usually in and out - revolving door due to a local university. Living in a tiny community means sending your kids to a community day school, where half of the kids aren't even halachikally jewish. The school, in my case, was very anti-orthodox. Do you have kids? It was a struggle for the frum kids - to always be different, dress different, act different, not allowed to go to birthday parties because they were on shabbos or because they were not eidel activities. That really took a social toll on all of the kids. There weren't even really kids that all could play together because they were all different ages. Then what about high school? Now they are facing that issue. Some are home schooling - but its taking a huge toll on some of the kids that need social development - especially because they arent interacting with other kids. May of them I see, once they get older, don't want to be religious anymore. Tey are tired of spending their whole life being different and being singled out.

Living in a tiny community can be appealing, but it can be very very lonely. Living in a small community, even where I lived, in a major academic center, was like I was an alien. I am pretty cosmopolitan, but just knowing I was religious freaked people out - and jewish people had no problem attacking me for one stupid thing or another because "as a jew" they felt it was ok to express themselves as a modern member of society, while I was from the stone ages. I had someone come to my shul and start attacking me for wearing a sheitle.

Have thought about food? There were times we couldn't find kosher bread. In the beginning, we had to ship in our meat. For pesach we had to ship in for the whole week.

I really think you have no idea what its really like to live in such a tiny place....and where I lived was probably 100 times bigger then anything in WV.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the south and there are many nice communities in the south, but living in a very small community was MUCH more difficult than I could have ever imagined. It may be this vision of a beautiful southern town that is drawing you in, but the reality is very different then the dream. That said, as I mentioned there are many lovely places with smaller communities, that are still big enough to have enough resources to support a frum community (but not necessarily a high school): Savannah, Memphis, houston, dallas, richmond, new orleans, charlotte, greensboro (no orthodox synagogue AFAIK but there is a chabad and a very active jewish community with a pluralistic high school - AHA), and possibly charleston (its really really small).

If you want warm, you may want to consider phoenix. If you want affordable and dont mind the cold of the midwest perhaps cleveland, detroit, south bend, kansas city, st louis or milwalkee. Another idea if you want to be more OOT but with the resources of a frum community, are places in Maryland like Owings Mills, MD - outside of Baltimore or Olney, MD, near Silver Spring but with one shul, one chabad, more country feel etc.

Good luck. I hope you find what you are looking for.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Nov 28 2013, 3:32 am
I am the amother above. one more thing I want to add - people seem to think everything is soo cheap in the south. This is not true. In the community I lived in TINY homes started at $650K...and for anything that was a decent size in good condition you were looking at a million....AND the salaries were lower than in NY. IN other cities things are definitely less, but most of the southern cities are not cleveland/detroit cheap.

I remember people asking me how much my rent was - they would say "what do you pay, like $200 for your apartment?" We had a nice 2 bedroom 1000 sqft apartment and it was 1650 per month. I think it was actually pretty reasonable, for our complex it was a steal. My point, is just that people often assume things in the south are dirt cheap, and they are clearly not.
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Peanut2




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 28 2013, 7:10 am
amother wrote:
I lived in a GORGEOUS but very small southern community - though it was definitely much bigger than anything remaining in west virginia. There is a big difference between a small community, a tiny community, a dead community and a dying community. WV is DEAD in terms of jewish life.

I lived in a a major southern city with a day school, 1 chabad and 1 orthodox synagogue. There were MAYBE 10 - 15 shomer shabbos families between the chabad and and the shul. When I say families, I don't mean all big families with lots of little kids running around....there were maybe 3 or 4 families with kids, and the rest were older couples or some younger couples - the younger couples were usually in and out - revolving door due to a local university. Living in a tiny community means sending your kids to a community day school, where half of the kids aren't even halachikally jewish. The school, in my case, was very anti-orthodox. Do you have kids? It was a struggle for the frum kids - to always be different, dress different, act different, not allowed to go to birthday parties because they were on shabbos or because they were not eidel activities. That really took a social toll on all of the kids. There weren't even really kids that all could play together because they were all different ages. Then what about high school? Now they are facing that issue. Some are home schooling - but its taking a huge toll on some of the kids that need social development - especially because they arent interacting with other kids. May of them I see, once they get older, don't want to be religious anymore. Tey are tired of spending their whole life being different and being singled out.

Living in a tiny community can be appealing, but it can be very very lonely. Living in a small community, even where I lived, in a major academic center, was like I was an alien. I am pretty cosmopolitan, but just knowing I was religious freaked people out - and jewish people had no problem attacking me for one stupid thing or another because "as a jew" they felt it was ok to express themselves as a modern member of society, while I was from the stone ages. I had someone come to my shul and start attacking me for wearing a sheitle.

Have thought about food? There were times we couldn't find kosher bread. In the beginning, we had to ship in our meat. For pesach we had to ship in for the whole week.

I really think you have no idea what its really like to live in such a tiny place....and where I lived was probably 100 times bigger then anything in WV.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the south and there are many nice communities in the south, but living in a very small community was MUCH more difficult than I could have ever imagined. It may be this vision of a beautiful southern town that is drawing you in, but the reality is very different then the dream. That said, as I mentioned there are many lovely places with smaller communities, that are still big enough to have enough resources to support a frum community (but not necessarily a high school): Savannah, Memphis, houston, dallas, richmond, new orleans, charlotte, greensboro (no orthodox synagogue AFAIK but there is a chabad and a very active jewish community with a pluralistic high school - AHA), and possibly charleston (its really really small).

If you want warm, you may want to consider phoenix. If you want affordable and dont mind the cold of the midwest perhaps cleveland, detroit, south bend, kansas city, st louis or milwalkee. Another idea if you want to be more OOT but with the resources of a frum community, are places in Maryland like Owings Mills, MD - outside of Baltimore or Olney, MD, near Silver Spring but with one shul, one chabad, more country feel etc.

Good luck. I hope you find what you are looking for.


That sounds a lot like an area I know in the south. Wonder if it's the same place...

Also, the south can be very car-focused suburban-sprawl-y, which can make Shabbos very difficult even if you survive without an eruv. Chabad often sets up near campus where real estate might be very expensive and hard to find, rentals geared towards students and not so nice, and often young families and grad students live in a complex over a highway... But yeah, it's nearby.

If there is an orthodox shul and chabad they might not be in the same area and impossible to walk from one neighborhood to the next. Often for a community for your kids you need to also socialize with other Jews, who might live in suburban sprawl outside of town. Basically, without a community any orthodox services are serving people who drive on Shabbos. Sometimes there are 10 Shomer Shabbos families living near each other and the conservative shul (the C rabbi, day school director, a few other families) and no observant or Jewish people near chabad.

I'm not trying to discourage you. It's just that it's a big challenge and most people end up in these places for work or school, not because they want to be there.

OP, if you want to message me I can suggest some nice places, but the problems above are based on these nice places.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Nov 28 2013, 8:46 am
Richmond imamother here!
There are about 90 frum families in town.

Also housing prices here are cheap!!!

We bought a 5 bedroom house from under 250k.
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amother


 

Post Thu, Nov 28 2013, 8:48 am
amother wrote:
I lived in a GORGEOUS but very small southern community - though it was definitely much bigger than anything remaining in west virginia. There is a big difference between a small community, a tiny community, a dead community and a dying community. WV is DEAD in terms of jewish life.

I lived in a a major southern city with a day school, 1 chabad and 1 orthodox synagogue. There were MAYBE 10 - 15 shomer shabbos families between the chabad and and the shul. When I say families, I don't mean all big families with lots of little kids running around....there were maybe 3 or 4 families with kids, and the rest were older couples or some younger couples - the younger couples were usually in and out - revolving door due to a local university. Living in a tiny community means sending your kids to a community day school, where half of the kids aren't even halachikally jewish. The school, in my case, was very anti-orthodox. Do you have kids? It was a struggle for the frum kids - to always be different, dress different, act different, not allowed to go to birthday parties because they were on shabbos or because they were not eidel activities. That really took a social toll on all of the kids. There weren't even really kids that all could play together because they were all different ages. Then what about high school? Now they are facing that issue. Some are home schooling - but its taking a huge toll on some of the kids that need social development - especially because they arent interacting with other kids. May of them I see, once they get older, don't want to be religious anymore. Tey are tired of spending their whole life being different and being singled out.

Living in a tiny community can be appealing, but it can be very very lonely. Living in a small community, even where I lived, in a major academic center, was like I was an alien. I am pretty cosmopolitan, but just knowing I was religious freaked people out - and jewish people had no problem attacking me for one stupid thing or another because "as a jew" they felt it was ok to express themselves as a modern member of society, while I was from the stone ages. I had someone come to my shul and start attacking me for wearing a sheitle.

Have thought about food? There were times we couldn't find kosher bread. In the beginning, we had to ship in our meat. For pesach we had to ship in for the whole week.

I really think you have no idea what its really like to live in such a tiny place....and where I lived was probably 100 times bigger then anything in WV.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the south and there are many nice communities in the south, but living in a very small community was MUCH more difficult than I could have ever imagined. It may be this vision of a beautiful southern town that is drawing you in, but the reality is very different then the dream. That said, as I mentioned there are many lovely places with smaller communities, that are still big enough to have enough resources to support a frum community (but not necessarily a high school): Savannah, Memphis, houston, dallas, richmond, new orleans, charlotte, greensboro (no orthodox synagogue AFAIK but there is a chabad and a very active jewish community with a pluralistic high school - AHA), and possibly charleston (its really really small).

If you want warm, you may want to consider phoenix. If you want affordable and dont mind the cold of the midwest perhaps cleveland, detroit, south bend, kansas city, st louis or milwalkee. Another idea if you want to be more OOT but with the resources of a frum community, are places in Maryland like Owings Mills, MD - outside of Baltimore or Olney, MD, near Silver Spring but with one shul, one chabad, more country feel etc.

Good luck. I hope you find what you are looking for.


Just curious what kind of non-eidel activities are happening at kids' birthday parties in the south??? What
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