Looking for community/schools in Israel

amother

Mon, May 18 2020, 8:54 am

Hi I am extremely uneducated about the communities in Israel but we really want to move there. Can someone help us find the right place?
Challenges: we barely know Hebrew and a few of our kids have learning challenges.
Parnassah has also been challenging so a community with cheaper living standards would be a plus. (Housing, not too much pressure on gashmiyus)
We consider ourselves orthodox and growing but let our kids watch videos.
My kids would feel more comfortable in a community where dress code is non existent. They love colorful socks/clothing etc.
We also try to live a healthier lifestyle not sure if there’s a community like that...
Grass and gorgeous views major bonus!
TIA!

chanchy123

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:15 am

When you say dress code non-existent and give an example of colorful socks - in confused. Do you mean a mixed area with frum and secular Jews live together, a mixed frum area with different kinds of frum people with a wide range of tznius dress, or a laid back yeshivish area with a tznius standard but accepting of different shapes and colors as long as follow strict Halacha?
What fields would you seek employment in?
How about the green line - are you OK with passing it? What sort of schools would you be looking into regarding secular/Torah studies? Co-Ed?
ETA
If you are on the more frum spectrum maybe Bat Ayin. Very green, very hippyish, simple living. But very much Torah committed, I think men must grow a beard and women for sure have to fully cover their hair.

jerusalem90

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:18 am

Rehovot has a wide variety of religious, conservative and secular so no problem with videos or dress code, but plenty of room to grow. It's a big city, so lots of school options. It has cheaper areas and more expensive areas, all in all NOT cheap, but better than Tel Aviv/Jerusalem at least. There are Anglos, but of course the Anglo areas are more expensive.

Raanana is similar in that it's a mixed community so no dress code but room to grow religiously. Lots of choices in schools. More expensive than Rehovot, but more Anglos.

I know less about Zichron Yaakov, so someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I'm thinking it would be good for you religiously, lots of grass and trees and pretty, I'm thinking not so much education options but may happen to have what you need and I'm thinking it's expensive. Lots of anglos.

Elfrida

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:28 am

In terms of lifestyle you are probably looking at a Dati Leumi or mixed yishuv.

The cheaper areas are further away from the centre. That means it can be harder to find d a job, and may involve a long commute. What fields do you work in, or hope to work in. While people are willing to accept poor Hebrew, there are very few jobs that don't want at least basic Hebrew.

What kind of ages are your children and what kind of learning challenges? You don't have to go into detail, but some idea. Again the smaller yishuvim will have less facilities available. Will your children be able to cope with transitioning to a Hebrew speaking environment?

In Israel you will save a lot on tuition and health insurance, but life in Israel is not always cheaper. Make sure you think this through.

amother

Linen

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:29 am

Sounds like you might like a yishuv. Shilo or eli might be good. I think there is a school there that caters to kids who don't fit into mainstream school learning. I'm sure there are loads of other options. It would help if you would describe exactly where you see yourself religiously

amother

Orchid

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:33 am

In short: regarding less gashmiut, cheaper housing and colorful clothes, it might be worthwhile to look into dati leumi yishuvim in Judea and Samaria.
However, you'd have to be okay with living beyond the Green Line, a hearty dose of Zionism and you would need good Hebrew. No real Anglo bubbles out there. And unless you like hitchiking, you'd need a car.
If you want an English speaking environment, those places are usually more urban and a lot more expensive, like Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, Raanana etc. But they have much better public transportation.
Does your children's learning problem affect their ability to learn new languages? Not all learning difficulties do.
If they are in need of special education, there are more options in the cities.
Work - it would be a good idea to think up a plan of how you will make a living once you get here. Depends also on this where to live. Job opportunities differ depending on where you go.
Can you work for something in the US over the internet? If you plan to work in Israel on the ground, you need reasonable Hebrew. Without that your options would be very limited.

I think nefesh b'nefesh has on their website information about lots of communities in Israel.

A pilot trip to Israel to look first hand at communities and get the feel of them would be very useful, if you can afford it.

amother

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:43 am

It’s hard to describe where I am religiously. My kids were in the typical bais Yaakov type schools but did much better when I switched them to the nurturing environment of the more mixed school (some yeshivish, some more modern-very wide spectrum) very non judge mental type eg they came home from school the first day jumping for joy that they could wear light up sneakers and nail polish...

As far as learning options they definitely have issues learning Hebrew (my husband as well which will make job finding a bit more challenging). They need an environment that embraces their learning styles. 2 of my kids “graduated” the Ptach program just by having understanding and accommodating teachers.

amother

Mistyrose

Mon, May 18 2020, 9:45 am

The real challenge is that Anglo places (which you need if you don't have Hebrew +kids with learning challenges who also don't know Hebrew) is that they tend to be more expensive and gashmiyus.

Op, what is your source of income? How do you feel about going over the green line?

amother

Smokey

Mon, May 18 2020, 10:07 am

Gush Etzion is over the green line and very Anglo - but rather expensive. There's a pretty good range of services for kids who need special ed, which not every place has, and certainly not in English. You might want to look into the yishuvim there. Quick generalizations - Bat Ayin as someone mentioned, has a kind of hippie vibe, Alon Shvut is a little more Torani, Neve Daniel is a nice mix, Elazar is laid back, Efrat has the most services.

chanchy123

Mon, May 18 2020, 10:24 am

I had suggested Bat Ayin earlier I think it’s worth exploring. It’s in the Gush and has a lot of English speakers (not necessarily Olim). I forgot to add in my original post that one of the reasons I recommendEd it for you is the school. Reshit in the Gush. I don’t know that school you referenced but this school integrates special needs children within the school and offers in class help to student with challenges even if not formal special needs, also very open and out of the box learning. It’s co-Ed 1-3 grades separate classes 3-8 grades. Lots of high school options in the area. There are olim in the school and many of the kids speak English.
In Bat Ayin there is also a Talmud Torah and girls school that I know people are very happy with.

amother

Mon, May 18 2020, 11:52 am

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I’m going to look into all of them when my kids go to sleep.
Don’t have money or time to take pilot trip. Need to be out of America already as soon as we can get passports.

etky

Mon, May 18 2020, 1:11 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

heck out the school Aseh Chayil in Efrat or Reishit in Alon Shvut for students with learning issues.
The gush is not dirt cheap but there are yishuvim that are cheaper than others.

My kids are all graduates of Aseh Chayil. One has SN and was in one of their first kitot tikshoret, when the program was practically brand new. They've improved and expanded significantly since then. I think that in general, from what you've written, Efrat is worth checking out.