Not sure if I still want to make aliyah! :(

amother

Mon, Jan 16 2012, 11:00 pm

We are planning to make aliyah next year be'h. I was so excited all the time but now I am not so sure anymore Sad

we were looking at ramat beit shemesh mostly, but now... do I really want to live there? and if not there , where? we really need to move as our current place does not offer a strong torah community like we would like. we def dont wanna live in mo or dl areas, as I may as well stay in this country where I am now then. but I would not clasify us israeli chareidi either. as in we are trying our best to keep mitzvos but dh is working and is not black an white, I am not all in black or brown either... and obvously we've got internet etc.
so if you are in israel and your hashkafa is similar to mine could you please help me and suggest places or if we should do it at all. we are very open minded and down to earth people. and would like freindly down to earth neighbourhood, shools, shul etc.

thanks a lot for trying to help in this difficult decision

Seraph

Mon, Jan 16 2012, 11:13 pm

Kochav Yaakov. Very nice mixed community, with people ranging from MO to chareidi, with a nice american yeshivish population but accepting of all different types.
Great people here.
And there's a chareidi neighborhood, Tel Tzion, where lots of people in KY send to school, daven, go to shiurim, and its free from extremists... Wink

And the americans there by and large have internet, many husbands work, etc...
Both Tel Tzion and Kochav Yaakov seem like they can work.

Oh, and very friendly communities both.

-Quasi chareidi, husband working, doesnt wear black and white aside for shabbos, but def not MO or Dati Leumi.

Depressed

Mon, Jan 16 2012, 11:20 pm

How old are your children. There was an article in the Aguda magazine several years back, and I hear manny lectures on the topic. Very big Rabbonim in chinuch will advise to only make the move if your children are younger then 2 or past 18.

In between those ages there is a 60% failure rate of kids going toward due to inability to adjust.

fiddle

Mon, Jan 16 2012, 11:50 pm

wait, so what was your hangup with rbs?
I hope you are aware that rbs is not necessarily where all the crazy stuff is going on. thats in bet. im in alef, and it is grouped basically by block. so were you yeshivish/charedi american/anglo, I would suggest streets like kishon, sorek, uriah, micha and revivim and the bottom of ayalon some new projects. if you were israeli chareidi, I would suggest noam, gilo. if you were american/anglo not yeshivish, baal tshuvah/frum and had money id suggest luz, rephaim, ayalon. if you were american/anglo frum id suggest lachish nachshon and dolev. if you were american/anglo with older kids and regular frum I would suggest ramat shilo...
then again ALL these streets have different types of people living there so its not a must to be a certain way and live on those blocks.
its a very nice place, I personally have family here and dont have very much to do with anyone. but there are plenty of schools, and shuls to find yourself in, and its a nice place to live.

merpk

Tue, Jan 17 2012, 12:12 am

Rekhovot is mixed and calm and quite lovely. And a city, if you're looking for city life. But a city that thinks it's a small town, if you're looking for small-town life.

We were told the most difficult ages for aliyah are 9 and older. I'll agree with that. My oldest was 8, and their klita has been b'H pretty smooth. The easiest, though, were the younger kids. My daughter was 6, just starting 1st grade, and it was absolutely perfect timing. The 8yo (now b'H 13) has had issues that the others didn't (the language issue gets more complicated as the kids are older, no matter how fluent you think they are) but it really is okay.

You have to think about why you'd be coming.