Very confused about communities, looking to make aliyah 2014

amother

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 3:06 am

DH finished his MBA and we are looking to make aliyah now that he is done. NBN is encouraging us to think about communities and do a pilot trip in the next few months, but we don't know where to start looking at communities and employment.
Some of the requirements:
1) Jobs - DH and I are late 20's and we both have graduate degrees. DH works as a regional sales manager for an international biotech company, and I work with social services in an organization that services pregnant teenagers.
2) DH does not wear a black hat. DH usually wears a colored button down shirt/tie to work and khaki's when he is not working.
3) I cover my hair fully with tichels primarily but I wear a sheitel whenever the mood strikes me, which is usually on Shabbat or for weddings.
4) I will wear a long denim skirt on occasion, but typically I wear a long black jersey skirt, a long t-shirt, and a layering t-shirt on top of that. I do not always wear socks.
5) We do not own a television.
6) We do not approve of mixed gender schools or youth group activities
7) We would theoretically send boys to hesder/army, but seeing as how we currently have 3 girls under 5 years old, it's easy to say something that isn't going to happen for at least 18 years.
8) DH has a heart condition and although he's fine most of the time, there have been a few scary times when he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance (so do we want to avoid a yeshuv? Should I be looking into places near a major hospital only?)
9) DH prefers a more relaxed non-city living environment. I don't think he wants to live in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. I'm not adverse to Jerusalem per se, but I prefer not squeezing 5 people into a 2 bedroom apartment (although that is what we are currently doing).
10) We do not have credit card debt, but we are not living the life of the rich and famous. We want a community that we can afford to live in, where our girls are neither the poorest nor the richest in the area.

Where should I start looking?

DrMom

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 3:16 am

Are you looking for a place where most of the other residents are more or less similar to you, hashkafa-wise? Or do you prefer a more mixed community?

Will you have a car?

Did you try looking at NBN's Aliyapedia and list of communities? You can get an idea of what's out there... and some places have contact people for potentila olim to contact with questions, or to help set up a pilot trip, etc.

ora_43

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 3:32 am

With all due respect to Tzfat, I'm going to anti-recommend it in OP's case.

OP, when you say you don't want mixed gender schools, does that include schools with both boys and girls but with gender-separate classes? What about schools that separate genders but only from age 8/9?

Places you might like: rehovot, Beit Shemesh, Efrat, Ariel, Maaleh Adumim, Kiryat Shmuel.

Rehovot has a bit of a city feel IMHO but is more laid back and is close to everything. Beit Shemesh is a bit expensive now but is a lovely city. The areas that you might feel comfortable in religiously are very heavily English-speaking (compared to Israel, of course, not America) - dunno if that's a plus or minus for you, but there it is.

Efrat, Ariel and Maaleh Adumim are all yishuvim but are all big enough to have things like shopping areas and a variety of youth group options, and are all pretty close to major cities by car.

Kiryat Shmuel is in Haifa, but it's pretty quiet and green and for the most part doesn't feel like it's in a major city, I think (Haifa is also a smaller city and IMHO is much calmer feeling (for lack of a better term) than Jerusalem or Tel Aviv). Kiryat Shmuel is very dati leumi so I'm not sure it'd be for you, but may be worth checking out.

**
I just realized I forgot to ask if you speak Hebrew, and if not, if you'd want to work with English speakers. If you'll be looking for a job in English, Beit Shemesh, Efrat or Maaleh Adumim would probably be a better bet than any of the others I mentioned.

amother

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 3:53 am

Tweedy wrote:

Rechovot

I agree (and I live in Rechovot).

It has almost everything on your list: the community is varied and you can fit in however you are/dress. BUT if you want to send to chareidi schools (like BY for your girls) if that's what you want, you should probably both change your dress a little. There is a Noam (separate) DL girls' school.

There is a large science park in Rechovot with jobs in your dh's field. I don't know about your field - unless you want to limit yourself to English speaking communities, you will need to learn Hebrew to work in your field in Rechovot.

There is a very large, respected hospital in Rechovot - Kaplan.

Housing is cheaper than Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv (but still more expensive than the north and south).

Rechovot is known for everyone getting along - chassidim, Litvish, DL, and secular. This isn't 100% true, but I think the situation is much better than in most communities in EY. However, this means that people will be nice to you in the street/ if you are their neighbor however you dress. But they will not accept you to their mosdot if you don't fit in.

There are several Anglo kehillot. Including chatam which is special in that you have Israelis, Anglos, and Russians, chareidim, and DL. They have a website http://chatam.org/

Rechovot is not for you if you want to stay in an Anglo bubble. Although there are a large number of English speakers, you will need to learn Hebrew to function, and the schools are definitely Israeli (even Etz Chaim which is the cheder founded by Rav Stein from chatam).

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 4:19 am

If you are looking for a Yishuv, my first thoughts were Peduel and Revava. Revava is probably more towards the chardali side.
A lot of the points you make pertain to life in American or specific charedi life in Israel. Jeans skirts and black hats aren't issues unless you are Chareidi. Not having a TV isn't uncommon with any of the observant streams. Separate classes is also mostly common across the board.

ally

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 6:17 am

DrMom wrote:

Any interest in living in the Galil/Golan or Negev? Lots of discounts for olim who want to live there (if you can find employment). Just throwing that option out there...

Also, do you care one way or the other about living over the Green Line?

Apparently, Haifa just became part of the "Go North" program and there are definitely plenty of biotech type jobs around there.

amother

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 10:16 am

OP Here -
I didn't even think about language! Thank you for pointing that out. I'm semi proficient at speaking and reading in Hebrew but I'd need an ulpan. DH doesn't speak a word of Hebrew and doesn't understand more than half a dozen basic sentences, and he has a hard time learning new languages. I'm not interested in living in an Angelo bubble, but at the same time, DH and I won't be comfortable if we can't communicate. I'm not so worried about my girls because they are so young. I figure that they'll easily pick up Hebrew in school.

We looked at Tsfat, but we were told that some of their social services aren't strong, and since that's my area, I want a job.

We have Maale Adumim on the list, but the prices from what we saw were really high! Ditto for Rechovot! Am I looking at outdated information? DH and I don't have jobs yet (so we have no idea how much money we will have for living expenses). We currently do not own our apartment and we pay $1400 a month.

We were also looking at some of the Northern communities, but it is really hard to decide a community based on the NBN blurb. Someone recommended Nahariya because they have a hospital and jobs in the biotechnology sector. Does anyone have information for me?

DH and I were talking about it more this morning, and he very specifically wants a house with a yard over an apartment in the city. He very strongly wants an area with parks and safe places for kids to play. At this point we do not want to be over the green line.

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 10:34 am

amother wrote:

DH and I were talking about it more this morning, and he very specifically wants a house with a yard over an apartment in the city. He very strongly wants an area with parks and safe places for kids to play. At this point we do not want to be over the green line.

You aren't looking at a lot of money for this type of set-up. You are looking at A LOT OF MONEY. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Marion

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 10:36 am

Tamiri wrote:

amother wrote:

You aren't looking at a lot of money for this type of set-up. You are looking at A LOT OF MONEY. Sorry to burst your bubble.

I hate to tell you, but I agree with Tamiri.

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 10:56 am

amother wrote:

Tamiri wrote:

DYou aren't looking at a lot of money for this type of set-up. You are looking at A LOT OF MONEY. Sorry to burst your bubble.

When I say "house" I mean a row house like in Queens. Not like a Monsey suburban house. DH just doesn't want another apartment with neighbors above/below. Is that still going to be a lot of money?

An apartment is a lot. a row house is a lot but bigger, a private house is a lotbut bigger. Figure in the 500k for something modest in a row house, if you are lucky in a big town. Nah, probably not even. MAYBE in Nahariya. Or Beer Sheva. If I am not mistaken

shalhevet

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 11:00 am

amother wrote:

We were also looking at some of the Northern communities, but it is really hard to decide a community based on the NBN blurb. Someone recommended Nahariya because they have a hospital and jobs in the biotechnology sector. Does anyone have information for me?

I haven't heard that there is a large and/or strong frum community there, certainly not chareidi (though there is a mekubal there, one of Rav Abuchatzeira's sons, so there must be frum Sephardim there), nor an Anglo community.

Quote:

I think you will have to sit down and prioritize. A house with a yard is a big, big luxury here. Unless you are living on a moshav in the Golan or the Negev. There are nice parks in most places (except Bnei Brak...).

Sanguine

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 3:50 pm

Deleting all my advice - I didn't see that you said that you don't want over the green line. Whoever said that you won't be able to afford a house with a garden is right. Yishuvim are over the green line. We have smaller communities with larger houses and gardens at reasonable prices. Many Yishuvim are all dati.

Last edited by Sanguine on Tue, Aug 13 2013, 4:35 pm; edited 3 times in total

LisaS

Tue, Aug 13 2013, 3:59 pm

I would start with employment as that will help narrow down the locations. Can you get a sense of where you will need to be commuting distance to?

As others have said, having a private yard here, is like having a private swimming pool in the US. But you can easily find a place to live adjacent to a lovely public park and it will become your backyard, with the added bonus of playmates for the kids.