Making Aliyah, please help narrow down location

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Forum -> Parenting our children

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amother

Blonde

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 9:55 am

It’s really happening!! Going to make aliyah beginning of this summer. BH parnussa is not a consideration as we have that covered.

Biggest issue is age of children and schooling. Yes kids are on board. Have two kids in elementary, one going into middle school and a two DS’s in high school. Yes I know old to be making aliyah and no one speaks Hebrew..... looking into the following areas.
1. Efrat
2. Beit shemesh
3. Someplace in Jerusalem. All the towns/cities are soo confusing. So many choices.

We have visited all the above areas but did not get to look at schools. Need lots of English atleast at first, want good secular (including for the high schooler) as well as Judaic studies. Would prefer kids only around observant Jews. We are really a mix... BT through Chabad yet kids go to a Yeshivish school. Does what we are looking for exist??? Any better suggestions? Need more info?? Ask away.

zebra111

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 10:13 am

If u want jerusalem maybe check into ramot-ramot bet has quite a lot of anglos and a school like ahavat yisrael could maybe be a good fit (boys)

Bnei Berak 10

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 10:16 am

Even if you are a mixed bag, which hashkafah do you say you have and which hashkafah would you like your children to have?
Second, get the entire family to get to Hebrew classes immediately please. It's a major factor IMO if you want successful aliya.

amother

Copper

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 10:42 am

Efrat is a religious yishuv, but you'll find that there's a range of acceptable behaviors. Beit Shemesh has different neighborhoods but you can live in a place where your immediate neighbors are very much like you. I don't think there's as much of a "dati lite" crowd in Beit Shemesh.

Both have schools that can handle olim and offer solid academics.

Where are you coming from? That might help us figure out what's the best fit for you.

ProudMommie

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 11:02 am

You can pm me if you would like.. and I will tell you what we know so far. Made aliyah almost 5 years ago and dealt with these issues. We are also baalei teshuva from New York. .. I can give you my number in the pm and we can speak on the phone if you would like. I am not a real big writer of long posts, etc..

amother

Tan

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 11:14 am

Look into YTA (yerushalayim Torah academy), for your high school kids. Their classes are in English and they have separate schools for boys and girls. I believe they have bussing from various different yishuvim.

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 2:06 pm

amother wrote:

Second this recommendation. A good idea for high school kids where they need to get right into the studying but hebrew will take more time. I personally know a few graduates and it was a good choice for them.
I personally would think that if you want only religious people you would do better in efrat as that is an all frum yishuv. Beit Shemesh is mixed with religious and not religious, so thats going to be different. You also have to know if you want a yishuv life or a city life.

amother

Blonde

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 5:51 pm

Wow YTA looks amazing. It looks like it is in Bayit Vegan. Is that driving distance only from Jerusalem or also near Efrat?

chanchy123

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 6:13 pm

Efrat is a suburb of Jerusalem. actually so is Beit Shemesh but Efrat is closer. I don't have any personal knowledge but I was also goinhg to suggest YTA for high school.
Efrat has a very large English speaking population and is probably 95% religious, but it is realy more of a MO community with a very large spectrum.
actually Baiyt vaGan is a neighborhood that is overwhelmingly religious and mostly black hat but a mix of israeli and American/French yeshivish, might be worth lookinh in to.
beit Shemesh is a city not a yishuv so it does have many secular residents but you can live in a neighborhood which is exclusively religious.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 1:37 am

amother wrote:

Wow YTA looks amazing. It looks like it is in Bayit Vegan. Is that driving distance only from Jerusalem or also near Efrat?

I believe that the students go by public transportation. Bayit Vegan is IN jerusalem and very close to the gush, where efrat is, about a 30 minute bus ride, give or take traffic. Not a bad commute at all.

hila

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 1:55 am

Also Efrat usually has ulpan for oleh kids during the summer. The younger ones would probably like to join the kaytanot in the area. Plenty of English speaking kids around to help them.

There is help in the Efrat schools for olim. But high school could be more of a problem. So YTA may be a good fit. They do learn Hebrew as well. And opportunities like part time jobs, babysitting, or summer jobs will help with Hebrew.

But you need to get moving soon. Schools usually finish registration by March. So start looking now.

If you have more Efrat questions - feel free to ask. And send me a pm if you want to join the efrat email list. (I just happen to be a moderator)

EBY

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 5:41 am

Don't want to burst anyone's bubble but.... It is not easy to get to YTA from Efrat unless you are driving directly in a private car. In the morning even in a private car it is likely to take 45 min unless you leave before 7:15. Also, there is no direct bus to Bayit Vegan from Efrat so you have to take at least 2 busses. I know this from someone from Efrat in YTA this year.

rzab

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 5:53 am

I made aliyah a few years ago to beit shemesh and currently work in one of the schools in Efrat. I would be more then happy to answer any questions you might have. Feel free to pm me

etky

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 7:15 am

EBY wrote:

First of all, it's worthwhile checking to which schools in Jerusalem there are currently dedicated school buses from the Gush. There used to be one to the Horev girls school in Bayit Vegan.Perhaps there still is? I know that there is still one to the boys' Horev school but I don't think it is near Bayit Vegan...
Second, there are people in Efrat who teach at YTA (at least the girls' school...).Maybe it is possible to get a ride in with them or with other commuters to the general area?
Third, Bayit Vegan is actually pretty accessible from the Gush by public transportation, relatively speaking.
One takes the bus to Jerusalem which lets you off at the Malcha Mall and from there it is another 15-20 min bus ride to Bayit Vegan. Alternately you can get off the bus from the Gush at Gesher Hameytarim and get the light rail to the entrance to Bayit Vegan.
Yes, traffic has become an issue but to be honest pretty much all of Jerusalem is a traffic nightmare these days. It would probably take longer to cross Jerusalem from north to south than to get from the Gush to one of the southern neighborhoods.

salt

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 7:38 am

etky wrote:

I know that there is still one to the boys' Horev school but I don't think it is near Bayit Vegan...
.

Horev boys school is near Har Hotzvim/ Sanhedria.

amother

Blonde

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 8:20 am

OP here. Thank you everybody for responding!! I had a very nice and insightful phone conversation with an imamother and PM’d a few of you. We for sure would be considered Dati in Israel. I spoke to YTA and that really does seem like a good fit for the high school kids. Maybe the schools in Efrat for the younger kids? Is there someplace amazing in the middle?? Bayit Vegan where school is I read is mostly Charedi. Is this correct?

amother

Copper

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 8:21 am

There's a bus organized (and paid for) by Horev parents to get from the gush to the girls' school in Bayit Vegan. It's been full the past few years, but that might change. And it really is possible to get from the gush to yta by bus or with staff members.

I think public transportation to Bayit Vegan from Beit Shemesh takes longer but busses are more frequent.

amother

Black

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 6:15 pm

YTA aside, I think your next top priority is making sure that your middle schooler, and probably also your elementary age kids, go to a school which really knows how to cater to olim, and that it's important you live in a area that has schools like that - it's easier to have a 16 year old commute than a 12 year old or a 7 year old. All schools have to provide ulpan hours for olim through the ministry of education, but there is a big difference between getting the basic ulpan and getting extra support, classes, services, staff, etc. For olim, especially middle schoolers, I don't particularly recommend Jerusalem middle schools as the particularly accommodating (there may be exceptions, but I just don't know), and even most Jerusalem elementary schools are not particularly accommodating (there must be a few, but I don't know which). As people suggested above, Efrat and Bet Shemesh are better options than Jerusalem.

You should also consider Modiin - many of the schools there have ulpan in middle school for olim, and some have special classes just for olim in various subjects and some have special coordinators just to help olim intergrate. Modiin also has an interesting system for elementary school, in which all olim kids go to one central school for their first year which is specifically geared to bringing them up to speed in terms of hebrew and then they integrate into the regular schools the following year, and those schools still have special additional Hebrew help as needed.

I know the middle schools in Raanana for girls also have special ulpan for olim, but I don't know about the boys schools. I also know the elementary schools are also used to olim and provide help.

You may also want to check out the Naale programs, which are specifically for middle school and high school olim at a variety of schools. They have a website https://www.naale-elite-academy.com/en/

amother

Blonde

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 6:29 pm

Thank you amother black, good points to consider!!!

doctorima

Tue, Apr 10 2018, 9:38 pm

I don't know about schools, but if you're looking for an Oleh-friendly neighborhood in Jerusalem, check out Har Nof, which has the full spectrum of religious groups plus tons of Anglos and English-language shuls, shiurim, etc.

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