Lived off the beaten path?

amother

Mon, Sep 03 2012, 12:24 am

Have you ever lived someplace a bit off the radar, or do you live in such a place now?

To increase the likelihood of people answering let me add this question: know of any frum people or families or communities in such places? Where?

amother

Wed, Sep 05 2012, 7:38 pm

We've lived in Tokyo (and another poster in imamother did too, though we weren't overlapping). When we were there, there were probably about 5-6 frum families though noone with school-age children. This is before Chabad opened. Also a shaliach family in Kobe (I think it was after the earthquake).

We also know a family who lived in Bulawayo (now if you don't know google which country it is!) until about 6-7years ago though they were able to move before things got nasty.

Peanut2

Wed, Sep 05 2012, 8:42 pm

chocolate chips wrote:

Yup I have...my parents still do.

Where?

I've visited some far off places, like Bolivia, Peru, and the southern tip of Chile and Argentina...

Strudel

Wed, Sep 05 2012, 9:04 pm

I lived in Zimbabwe for a few years. This is before the country was in the mess it's in now. I have good memories, but feel it's better to be somewhere more mainstream to raise a family.

chocolate chips

Thu, Sep 06 2012, 9:07 pm

Peanut2 wrote:

chocolate chips wrote:

Yup I have...my parents still do.

Where?

I've visited some far off places, like Bolivia, Peru, and the southern tip of Chile and Argentina...

Its not sooo off the beaten path. Just a tiny community etc.

I do know a few families in pinsk, belarus though.

amother

Thu, Sep 06 2012, 11:22 pm

Quote:

My husband and I are living in Tokyo for a year! I actually just arrived very recently. It's work-related for him. We lived in a huge Jewish community before this, and plan to move back to one, a year with a visit home doesn't seem so long... but as I said, I've only been here a very short time.

amother

Sat, Sep 08 2012, 6:45 pm

amother wrote:

Do you know what the mikva situation is currently? Did Chabad build one? I presume people don't use JCC (it was cold water only, no ammenity, murky water plus mosquitos in summer and no heating in winter when I was there)?

amother

Sat, Sep 08 2012, 10:01 pm

I live very off the beaten path. @10 shomer shabbos families live here. we have a mikva, a couple of shuls, a school, a shop that sells kosher food.

amother

Sun, Sep 09 2012, 1:55 am

How can 10 families possibly support two shuls and a kosher store?! Where I live, there are about 70 families, and the stability of the store is always rocky.

bamamama

Sun, Sep 09 2012, 2:23 am

amother wrote:

How can 10 families possibly support two shuls and a kosher store?! Where I live, there are about 70 families, and the stability of the store is always rocky.

Note that amother said "a shop that sells kosher food" - presumably the shop also sells other things. 6:01 amother, I could've written your post. We also have about 10 frum families, a mikveh, 2 shuls (don'tgetme started.... Rolling Eyes

), but no school - only a preschool. We homeschool.

amother

Sun, Sep 09 2012, 8:00 am

amother wrote:

How can 10 families possibly support two shuls and a kosher store?! Where I live, there are about 70 families, and the stability of the store is always rocky.

10 shomer shabbos families plus lots of other families who keep kosher of some variety. Probably about 2000 Jews in the country, most in my city.

Its a non kosher shop with a kosher section.

2 orthodox shuls plus a non orthodox shul.

amother

Mon, Sep 10 2012, 11:41 pm

Quote:

The Chabad are building a mikvah and it's planned to be ready very soon, G-d willing. There is a mikvah in Kobe. I don't personally know anything about the JCC mikvah. When we asked about mikvahs, we were told to use the one in Kobe, and hopefully soon the one that the Chabad are building.