Where to go? | Imamother

amother

Burgundy

Mon, Feb 15 2016, 11:46 am

Hi,
My husband and I started becoming more observant about 10 years ago through Chabad in a very secular area. When we needed school for our kids, we moved to another area with a Jewish community.

At the time we didn't fully understand the different shades of grey and ended up in a litvish/kollel community. After five years it has become apparent that this community and day school are not working for us or our kids. There is a MO option in the area that we are checking out next week, but from what I know if it, it's not what I want for my kids long term.

We feel disillusioned and are tempted to give this lifestyle up completely (though we worked so hard to get "here"), but we realize there must be a better option that will allow us to stay on this path. We have looked into various places. Visiting communities with young children isn't easy, so we are doing this research remotely until we narrow it down.

Much of our family (all nonreligious) is on the west coast of Florida, so my first choice is to go to South Florida (my kids miss their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins). Plus there is a mix of Chabad and nonChabad schools to choose from. But it seems to be expensive and difficult to find a home in walking distance to a shul.

My husband's job is somewhat flexible and can be transferred most places. I work part-time from home. Our kids range from middle school to preschool. We would need high school IYH in just a couple years and would prefer not to send them away.

Thanks in advance for any advice.