Anybody else in France?

amother

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:05 am

Hi,

Is there any significant American Jewish presence in France? If so, where and what kind of community? Also, is there anyplace with an eruv?

Thanks!

amother

Cerise

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:20 am

I'm in France, but not American. I don't know of a specific American Jewish community over here, but there are lots of Americans in Paris.

The vast majority of the Jews in France are North-African sephardim. There are a few ashkenazi communities in Paris and lots in eastern France (Strasbourg, Metz...)

Strasbourg also has a large eruv. I don't know of any others. There may be one in Metz, but I'm not sure.

Actually, Strasbourg may be a pretty good choice for you, as it's so international with the European parliament that pretty much everyone speaks at least one other language, often English.

amother

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:30 am

Thanks! Do you know what the schools are like in Strasbourg? Married to a French man of North-African Sephardi background, but haven't seen anything in France that feels like I would find my place at all. Even in Paris I think I met one American, a man with a French wife, so nothing culturally similar for me friendship-wise.

I speak French and Hebrew and have no problem having French/Israeli friends, but do have a problem not having any friends from my native culture, even if there are people who speak English.

amother

Cerise

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:44 am

I found it really hard at first to integrate into the sephardi culture (I'm in the south, so no alternative here). It's taken me over 25 years to feel at home here. And I still miss my own culture...

I don't know about schools, I'm afraid. How old are your kids?

amother

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:52 am

Yup, that's what I'm afraid of, and also the impression I got from the American man we met. He basically said he woke up every morning for a couple of decades wondering what in the world he was still doing there.

My kids are 3 - 9 years old and used to chareidi schools. Plus I don't want them to grow up completely removed from my culture, so it's also about having Americans around for that.

amother

White

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:54 am

Strasbourg is a beautiful city and the schools are supposed to be excellent. There's great quality of life for frum families- everything is walkable, there's an eiruv, plenty of affordable kosher food options, lots of shuls, nice parks.

Which American city/ culture are you from? You're not really going to find an equivalent in France, there's a very unique culture there of their own...

ETA I see you say your kids are coming from a chareidi background. There are lots of young families in Strasbourg that started off married life in Israel as part of the chareidi kollel system, and moved back to Strasbourg eventually for parnassa. So I do think your kids would find their niche if that's similar to your story.

amother

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 8:23 am

Hi,

That is similar to our situation, but not completely. I grew up OOT and then moved to NYC, and we spent our early married life in Israel. My husband did kollel part-time and worked, and hashkafically we're kind of middle of the road. I'm coming from a more or less American yeshivish background and my husband's fairly mainstream French religious, I.e. really strict about the things he's strict about and raised basically chareidi but wouldn't necessarily "look the part."

We'd be looking for an accepting community with chareidi/chareidi-lite education, schools where they're careful about TV/smartphones, etc. Just not sure if that package exists in France.

Thanks for your response!

Ruchel

Sat, Jun 22 2019, 7:39 pm

LOVE schools in Strasbourg. For charedi I'd say Beis Chana for girl and Eshel for boys
Most charedi here are charedi light compared to Israel and even NY
We would go to Stras if not the parnassa.
But again neither of us are American minded AT ALL (and we're ashk)

amother

Mon, Jul 22 2019, 12:07 pm

Hi there again imas!

The school year is approaching at a terrifying pace and we need to make decisions. Thank you so much for all your advice. To the ladies who suggested Strasbourg, does anyone have more information? Is there just one rav there? Do you know if actual houses are affordable and if it's possible to rent one? What I mean is, in the U.S. you can get a house OOT for the same/less than a big-city apartment, of course. Would that be a similar situation wrt Strasbourg/Paris?

Thanks again!

amother

Mon, Jul 22 2019, 12:18 pm

Oh yeah...I saw there's a nursing school there. Would they be likely to work with my Shabbat/YT requirements and/or accept previous credits I took in the States? I already have a B.A. in the U.S. in a different field but haven't seen one of those BA - BSN type programs in any of my French research.

amother

White

Mon, Jul 22 2019, 1:52 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Definitely not just one Rav, there are many shuls and many rabbanim! Housing is not cheap at all. Houses are quite expensive, and almost everyone lives in an apartment, which are also not especially cheap. But I don't know what you're comparing the prices to, or what you consider affordable. Less expensive than the city of Paris, but probably as expensive or more so than the suburbs.

amother

Mon, Jul 22 2019, 2:10 pm

amother [ White ] wrote:

Yay for many shuls and rabbanim! Very Happy

Let's put it this way, what we found in Paris that met our minimum needs was 1500 and considered a great deal. Sticker shock for me, but DH grew up there and says it's actually not insane and would be willing to shell it out. Doesn't really matter, because Paris is definitely not for me, but gives you an idea of what we're working with.