Boston | Imamother

doctorima

Mon, Dec 16 2013, 12:21 pm

JPF means Just Plain Frum.

As far as Boston, for elementary school there's Torah Academy, which is the school that's more to the right and separated by gender (I think boys and girls are in the same building, and may even be together in class in the youngest grades, though I may be wrong about that). Maimonides is co-ed and much more modern. For high school there's a Bais Yaakov and Mesivta, as well as Maimonides.

Housing will depend where you want to daven and affiliate yourselves. The main communities are in Brighton, Brookline, and Newton. Brighton is more to the right (and cheaper), and is where the Kollel, Chaim Odom (litvish out-of-town Agudah-style shul), and Bostoner Rebbe are. Brookline has an area called Coolidge Corner, where the YI is; it's a much more upscale and expensive area. Newton has two shuls, Beth El and Shaarei Tefillah, both modern Orthodox; I don't know about the cost of living there. Is there any way you could go for a Shabbos to get a sense of the place and see where you feel most comfortable?

ectomorph

Mon, Dec 16 2013, 12:33 pm

You can PM me, I have a sister in Brighton.

If you daven in a "shteibel" you will definitely be more comfortable in Brighton. There are more young families with kids in Brighton.

The schools are true community schools. Doctorima is mostly right but her information about the schools is incorrect. Everyone who considers themselves frum or even just halachically observant sends their kids to TA. Class sizes are small and everyone in the community is basically involved in it. Boys and girls are not together in the youngest grades, although the girls are in the boys building for first grade, or vice versa, I don't remember which.

Liba

Mon, Dec 16 2013, 12:57 pm

ectomorph wrote:

I think that the MO community that sends to Maimonides would be more than a bit shocked to read the bolded.

I am from Boston, my MIL works at TA, my dh's younger siblings went to TA and yet my jaw dropped reading what you wrote.

amother

Mon, Dec 16 2013, 1:35 pm

I lived in Boston a while back while I was in school.

There are two main areas that are considered the "frum Boston community", Brighton and Brookline. They border each other, though, so it's more like a more affluent part of town and a less affluent part of town. Even Brighton is expensive, though. Many of the more yeshivish institutions, like the Kollel ,the Rebbe, Chai Odom, and Torah Academy, are roughly between the two sides.

In Brookline, there are apartment buildings and single family homes. There was one big frum apartment building when we were there, where many of our peers lived, which rented for about 2800 a month for a two bedroom apartment. The single family homes start in the area of $1m, if you can find one on the market at all.

In Brighton, it's slightly less expensive. Most of the housing, or at least the largest part of it, is apartments of about 1400 square feet in old two or three story houses. Some frum people own the house and rent half, others obviously are tenants. Few people live in an entire house; it's just too expensive. The apartments went for about 1900 a month then, now they're probably like $2200. We had a really difficult time finding an apartment because there are a ton of colleges around the area and most landlords prefer to rent to college students. On our way out, we were getting phone calls a year before I graduated asking when we were leaving and if our apartment was available.

There are no hard and fast rules, but generally, Brookline is associated more with Maimonides, Young Israel, older established professionals, etc. and Brighton is associated with Kollel yungeleit, Torah Academy, Chai Odom, etc. There are also some Lubavitch institutions, and the tension between Lubavitch and non-Lubavitch that you sometimes see in NY is not there.

The Brighton community is where we lived so I know it a bit better. Despite my negative portrayal of the real estate problems, Boston is a beautiful community. I was born and bred in town, but felt stifled there. The frum community in Boston is incredibly diverse, mostly educated, and very, very warm. Maybe it's because the fixed costs are so high, but there is very little gashmius competition and very little frum judgmentalism. We went to Torah Academy, which was an interesting combination. In some ways it seemed to run on a wing and a prayer, but they also have very qualified personnel in charge and really good teachers and have some educational luxuries like art and music. We were there for four years and my children definitely got a better education during that time than before or since in in-town schools.

I'd be happy to answer any questions about it if you have specific ones. The main drawbacks for us that prevented us from staying were the inability to find jobs (there are a lot of tech/medical research companies, but it's not a town where a frum person can do sales for a frum business while working on a degree at night, IYKWIM,) and the expense of real estate (so you can't really live frugally at all the way you might be able to in, say, Lakewood and it might be hard to foresee owning your own home).

Liba

Mon, Dec 16 2013, 1:55 pm

http://www.maimonides.org/cont.....ssion

Quote:

Our Mission הקו החינוכי של ישיבת רמב''ם

Maimonides School’s mission is to produce religiously observant, educated Jews who will remain faithful to religious beliefs, values, and practices as they take their place as contributing members of general society. Maimonides provides students with both an outstanding religious education and an excellent college preparatory general education in an atmosphere that reinforces their commitment to the values of Torah and to the observance of mitzvot, and that fosters a strong sense of identification with Medinat Yisrael.

Our Philosophy
Torah and mitzvot—the study and practice of Halachah—are the quintessential core of Judaism, and they must be taught in an honest, sophisticated and challenging manner.
Torah study is enriched by our understanding of science, philosophy, literature, art and music, which in turn is enhanced and enlightened by the teachings of Torah.

The School provides an all-encompassing religious atmosphere in which the observance of Halachah in the totality of its ethical and ritual components is central.

Our Goals
To expose our students to the beauty of the Jewish tradition and the power and profundity of the Jewish faith.
To encourage our students to strive for moral and spiritual excellence.

To provide our students with the finest possible general studies education so that they can continue their academic training in the colleges and universities of their choice.

To ensure that families from all sectors of the Jewish community seeking to give their children an intensive Jewish education are welcome in our school.

To produce graduates who will become respected and contributing members of the Jewish and general communities.

To forge in our students a spiritual bond and sense of identification with the State of Israel.

To imbue our students with an attitude of respect toward one’s fellow man (k’vod habriot) and love of one’s fellow Jew (ahavat Yisrael).

amother

Tue, Dec 17 2013, 7:58 am

Boston (Brighton/Brookline) is a really lovely community, we enjoyed living there and only moved bc of DH's job. Also the near impossibility of ever owning our own home def contributed a bit to the decision to move away too... The people are so warm. We have many friends still there. It's a very keiruv oriented community because of all of the colleges, so honestly the warmth we felt may be in part because we were in the process of being BT...
One thing worth mentioning is that it is an extremely transient community. Every August you see a dozen or more families moving out after finishing their degrees or moving on to Lakewood... But then come September two dozen new families move in. The cycle repeats every year. Lots of families stay approximately 4 yrs and then move on to where the jobs and cheaper housing are.
That part was kind of tough to deal with. I hate goodbyes, and had to say goodbye to many people who I was so close to over the years in Boston, only to have them move away. Phone relationships are just not the same!

And sorry, but I feel like I have to chime in on the schools. TA is a nice frum school but DH and I were not comfortable with how it seemed to be moving more and more to the right every year... The mastifta is completely to the right, like none of those boys go to college afterwards. That was not what DH and I were comfortable with... As far Maimo is concerned, they may be affiliated as a MO school, but it is all mixed classes and the students are all dating each other, texting on Shabbos, etc. Sure, back in the day is was a much frummer school and a lot of Boston families sent their kids there. I have heard Maimo alumni in their 30s/40s say that no way would they even consider sending their kids there now. It's not the same school as it was 2 decades ago... Just don't want it too sugar-coated for OP.

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 17 2013, 8:00 am

amother wrote:

As far Maimo is concerned, they may be affiliated as a MO school, but it is all mixed classes and the students are all dating each other, texting on Shabbos, etc. Sure, back in the day is was a much frummer school and a lot of Boston families sent their kids there. I have heard Maimo alumni in their 30s/40s say that no way would they even consider sending their kids there now. It's not the same school as it was 2 decades ago... Just don't want it too sugar-coated for OP.

Thank you. I didn't continue the above conversation because I didn't want to get into LH about MaiMo. But I know some of the people who send their kids there, and it doesn't sound at all like what Liba was describing.

It sounds more like what you are describing.

Yocheved84

Tue, Dec 17 2013, 9:51 am

My only advice would be to pick your areas carefully, and be prepared to have to search out other fellow Jews if you don't pick one of three communities.
It was very difficult for me--and I can speak only from personal experience--to go from NYC to Somerville and be the only house for blocks with a menorah in the window.

Jewish communities: Malden (which just opened a Mikvah, which is off the "Orange" subway line--the one that contrary to what everyone says, is the one that runs the best), Brighton (a great supermarket, btw), Brookline (which has all of the "green" trolley lines--that area is a bit more expensive; it's also very nice).

I don't know how old you/DH are or your kids, but I think that matters greatly in terms of getting the most out of the experience. And kudos to you for doing your research now. I wish DH and I would have done our homework before blindly moving.

Get involved with the local colleges. Attend lectures from Judaic studies departments. Make friends. Get girls from Tufts/etc to babysit. Really immerse yourself in the Boston scene. Participate in the Boston threads on Imamother.

My experience up there wasn't good, but that's for reasons which, in retrospect, are unrelated (for the most part) to Boston itself. So that's why I'm trying to be as objective as possible in saying "Here are things you can do to ensure a great experience." In this economy, go where the money is. And it's not like Boston is the boondocks. There are other Jews. Smile

Hatzlocha. Hugs.

ectomorph

Tue, Dec 17 2013, 11:24 am

amother wrote:

Thank you all for your help!!!
some more questions.... So is renting a smaller house a complete impossibility? We now live in a home so while its not impossible to imagine going into an apartment we would def need a three bedroom or a home. We are in our high 20s if that helps. Is there a way to live in Brookline but walk to a shteibel on shabbos or is it just too far?
In TA approximately how many kids are in each class? Is the educational level high medium or low? I have a very bright child and I don't want there to be a lag.

I asked my sister who I'm talking to Smile

She says Brighton is cheaper, several families with 3+ kids live there on student loans, Bostoner Rebbe is in Brookline, Kollel is in Brighton (kollel is yeshivish minyan) they're pretty close.

TA has about 10 kids per class, 15 max and 7 min. Kids of professionals, pretty smart, her child is gifted and happy. She's not sure about numbers.

Yocheved84

Tue, Dec 17 2013, 11:37 am

Renting a smaller house--or one floor of an older home--is a DEFINITE possibility. Remember, you're "competing" for rents with college/grad students. Landlords prefer the fact that you won't up and leave in August, that you won't trash the place with a keg party, etc.

- Of all, Brookline is going to be the most expensive. Renting there might also be the trickiest. But do your homework. Ladies with better geography than I can better advise, but can OP live more towards Allston? So if she is on Harvard Street heading AWAY from Brookline (so the Butcherie is on her LEFT, TJ Maxx is on her RIGHT), will she have a better chance?

- While I don't know from individual schools, remember that you are in the intellectual hub of the world (even if it seems that "COPS" was filmed on-location in some of the other outlying towns). If you feel that your child may not be getting the most intellectual experience in school, you have the best tutors at your disposal. After school, your child can learn with kids from Harvard, BU, etc. Also, a lot of the parents who are professors send their kids to amazing enrichment activities.
For a budding mind, I can think of no better place--second, of course, to the Upper West Side. Smile

And for you: ***Get involved.**** I can't say this enough. Because it's more suburban than NYC, it's very easy to retreat into a shell and not come out. Make the effort, and it will be worthwhile. You'll meet a lot of other couples studying interesting things, doing interesting work, etc. Attend evening talks and lectures. Visit the museums. Go to the coffee houses. Really make the most of your time there.

For realtors: Check out Boston Rental Exchange. Roy Seidenberg is the head of the company. You can feel free to tell him that you were speaking to a woman who lived up there for a couple years before heading back to the city (trust me--he'll know who I am right away) and ask him to show you around the neighborhoods. He's a real mentsch and a fantastic real estate agent: http://www.bostonrentalexchange.com/

Sorry I can't speak more to the school situation--I'm not in that part of life. But anything else--cultural life, eating, shopping, getting acclimated, where to buy warm coats, etc.--ask away.