RBS: Working Women???

amother

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 4:57 am

DH and I JUST made aliyah, but have not settled on a long term community yet. We are in a short term situation. We have been exploring a couple of communities but after spending some time in RBS (Aleph) we feel like it could be a really nice place for us. A big thanks to our hosts and all of the wonderful people we met Smile

I just have one concern. I work (full time). I feel almost silly saying this - but I do work in the corporate/business world. I work for lots of reasons, but mainly because it adds an element to my life that makes me feel good and I think it also makes DH happy.

Here comes the tricky part. We really like RBS. We initially looked into more modern neighborhoods, because I wanted to be among more working women, but the hashgafah was just so drastically different and DH felt so out of place. After our experiences, a friend really encouraged us to look into RBS. Our visits were really positive and I when people asked me what I did (in terms of work) I never got the feeling that people thought what I did was weird. However, my friend mentioned to me that her only concern for us in RBS is that most of the women in RBS are stay at home moms or have small home businesses. She could pretty much think of 2 or 3 women who work out of the home (all of which seemed to be in healthcare, none in the corporate world). Here is my worry - Will I be considered strange for working full time? Will my children be considered strange for having a working mom? Will it be weird for us to have a full time nanny? There will always be people who judge, but I am trying to figure out if we will really be fish out of water and ostracized (even if its done nicely).

Would like to clearly state: Pardon my ignorance, I only know what I have been told Smile

I am anonymous because if you know there is a good chance you will make the connection - I haven't met too many people in my community who have pursued this path. That said, please feel free to comment openly if you do know who I am Smile

Thanks so much for helping us find our place in Eretz Yisroel Very Happy

amother

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 5:05 am

amother wrote:

We initially looked into more modern neighborhoods, because I wanted to be among more working women, but the hashgafah was just so drastically different and DH felt so out of place.

I'm surprised that working is considered a "modern" thing in RBS. I live in a very chareidi community (much more so than RBS) and almost all women work, and though a lot do work at home, I'd say even the majority work close to full-time OUT of the home.

amother

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 5:11 am

amother wrote:

We initially looked into more modern neighborhoods, because I wanted to be among more working women, but the hashgafah was just so drastically different and DH felt so out of place.

I may have been misunderstood. So just to clarify: I don't think its necessarily considered a modern thing in RBS - but more (at least according to my friend) is just not the norm. The connection I made with regards to looking into more modern neighborhoods was just that in the more modern neighborhoods I looked into there were more working women....that is not to say that working = modern, however. My friend was sharing an observation, that in RBS most of the women don't work (at least full time). That doesn't mean its accurate, its just her perception....all part of what I am asking and trying to figure out.

Another thought - some of it has to do with the field I am in, which is fairly male dominated.

kalsee

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 5:38 am

It is not common here for the anglo women to work (The Israeli ones do for the most part)
In the more modern/educated community- the husbands work and I guess make enough money to support the family
The more chareidi/learning in kollel -they have some support from parents/ they manage on little.

I work full time, my kids are in the daycare (which I'm very very happy with) where I think it's over 90% Israeli, even though RBS is over 50% anglo.

That's life here, I get used to it, my neighbors for the most part pity me but I love my life Smile

Welcome to RBS!

m in Israel

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 5:49 am

I'll chime in and agree with the earlier posters. I think among the Anglos here there are not a lot of real full time working mothers, but I don't see that it would be a stigma in any way. First of all, there are some who do, secondly there is a big variety of schedules among part time working mothers. So there are those who work only mornings, those who work U.S. hours (late afternoon into the night), those that do tutoring, etc. in the afternoon. So it is not like there will be one specific time when everyone is home and only your kids are with the babysitter.

Keep in mind there are also many different areas within RBS A itself, so you can find the niche that fits you best.

amother

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 6:41 am

kalsee wrote:

Welcome to RBS!

Thank you for your post. I didn't even consider day care as an option, but since you love it so much I realize we should definitely consider it. What are daycare hours and costs (any estimates are good). Thanks!!

kalsee

Sun, Dec 22 2013, 7:06 am

amother wrote:

kalsee wrote:

Welcome to RBS!

there are a few daycares here, I send to the one on Nachal Refaim. Beautiful, clean. huge yard with bikes and playground equipment. big kitchen, excellent fresh food. I love the metaplot - they are mostly young , warm chassidish women.

hours- 7:30 to 4 sun-thurs
fri-7:30 to 12

cost- sliding scale according to misrad hakalkala. Ranges from 500-2000 shekel (depends on amount of working hours, salary, number of children and more)