Thinking of moving to Tzfat

Debbie

Sun, Oct 10 2021, 3:17 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

Tzfat is a little like the hippie city of the country. I’m not sure if I’d want to raise my children there.

Also there’s a lot of stairs. It’s worse than Jerusalem. Be prepared for that.

Oh yes the stairs and the hills can be challenging, but since moving here I have managed to shed around 10kg, so the hills have their advantages! 😃

amother

Purple

Sun, Oct 10 2021, 3:25 pm

Also the Breslov community is sort of a cult. The leader names the communities children and stuff and dictates who they marry.

This is what my Breslov friends tell me. They said they would never consider even going out with someone from there.

Debbie

Sun, Oct 10 2021, 3:41 pm

[quote="aaloof"

I'm worried about my kids really, Both my husband and I speak Hebrew (we consider ourselves khal chassid/breslov) but we never taught our kids. From what I can see there aren't many americans that move there, would my kids be lost in school there? Would I be able to get them help? Ulpan?[/quote]

I'm not sure where you got that idea from, there are plenty of Americans here.
They make up the vast majority of the olim here.

aaloof

Sun, Oct 10 2021, 3:45 pm

Debbie wrote:

I'm not sure where you got that idea from, there are plenty of Americans here.
They make up the vast majority of the olim here.[/quote]

So good to know! My advisor from Nefesh B'Nefesh, that's what he informed me (as well as the issue of getting help for my kids)
Any chance you can direct me to a facebook group or anywhere/one where I can get more information?

Debbie

Sun, Oct 10 2021, 3:45 pm

amother [ IndianRed ] wrote:

We lived there years ago. Before it became so intense. It has always been a hard place for parnasa. It’s fine if you have an American income or are learning. But to settle there I think would be challenging. Dh would move back in a minute but he’s actually an old hippie so it’s his favorite spot on earth. I OTOH worked while he learned. We were as poor as can be without support from parents. There’s definitely something magical about Tzvat though and in the end I’m happy we had those idyllic years.

Income can be a challenge.
Thankfully my husband and I have a British income from our accountancy business.
Not sure what we would have done otherwise!

Debbie

Sun, Oct 10 2021, 3:49 pm

aaloof wrote:

So good to know! My advisor from Nefesh B'Nefesh, that's what he informed me (as well as the issue of getting help for my kids)
Any chance you can direct me to a facebook group or anywhere/one where I can get more information?

There's a group called Tzfat Chevre and City of Tzfat English Page.

amother

Purple

Mon, Oct 11 2021, 1:01 am

Don’t trust nefesh bnefeshs info without going yourselves and researching. They exaggerated how many Americans lived up north in city they pushed us to move to, they weren’t upfront with a lot of things, and once we got there nefesh bnefesh completely stonewalled my family.

We were forced to move 10 months later to Yerushalayim because the city was such a bad fit.

amother

Apricot

Mon, Oct 11 2021, 7:49 am

I lived in Tzfat for 15 years, and have a large network of Israeli friends and family there.

Most of Tzfat are normative, hardworking, regular people. The city tends to be more frum than secular/traditional- especially in the last decade, when it became increasingly charedi.

It is a very poor city. I believe only 2 out of 10 on the socioeconomic scale. And that does affect the type of services you get there, and also reflects the population that lives there.

That said, the people I know in Tzfat are mainly educated professionals (doctors etc) and live regular quiet lives. Most of those I know tend to be dati leumi. I have less knowledge of the charedi/breslov/chabad lifestyle there.

Rosh Pina is a less than 10 min drive away and it seems many go there when they want to shop or sit in a cafe. Rosh Pina has become a very bustling centre.

The weather is similar to Jerusalem, maybe somewhat colder in the winter. Summers are very hot during the day (like the whole country) but the evenings are crisp and refreshing.

It is somewhat isolated. You don’t have a train station there and it’s distant from the major cities. In my opinion you really need a car there.

It’s funny that a few Beit Shemesh folks are saying Tzfat is full of loonies. There are a few ‘fringe’ peope there, true, but Beit Shemesh is far more infamous for its loonies.

amother

Apricot

Mon, Oct 11 2021, 8:10 am

Zeleze wrote:

Yea, Tzfat is a city full of interesting guys, hippies, drugs, wacky Breslever guys that sing and dance all day

I wouldnt want my children to play or live with them, not even see them

Do a good research of a few days living there beofre you decide anything

I guess it really depends who you hang out with.

I lived there for years, and raised my kids there. I have many, many friends there and don't know of even one who uses drugs. Sure there are drugs - they exist in every city. Do a higher percentage of Tzfat folks use drugs than those in Beit Shemesh? I doubt it.

We really didn't hang out with any wacky folks. It all depends on your friends and where you send your kids to school.

just wondering

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 12:28 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

How long ago did this happen

just wondering

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 1:26 am

[quote="FranticFrummie "If you want a nice, frum area with Anglos and good schools, look into Ma'alot. DD went to high school there. Housing is super cheap, and you're just a 45 minute bus ride to the beach in Nahariya. You can also take a 2 hour bus ride to Tzfat for a get away.[/quote]

can you please elaborate on ma'alot and anglos there?

amother

Purple

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 3:02 am

just wondering wrote:

How long ago did this happen

7 years ago. But we weren't the only ones. I unfortunately have met many many families who also ended up where we were and were forced to move, or went with NBN's Go North program, and couldn't move due to losing the benefits that they were relying on to live.

NBN is great, I just don't fully trust all their information. Don't rely on them after aliyah for anything as well.

just wondering

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 9:16 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Thanks

Just so you should know, They just hired a frum yeshivasha person for the chareidi olam

amother

Purple

Tue, Oct 12 2021, 9:39 am

just wondering wrote:

Thanks

Just so you should know, They just hired a frum yeshivasha person for the chareidi olam

Not about that - they lied and exaggerated how many anglos there were, the ulpans, and the help we'd have.

amother

Buttercup

Fri, Apr 29 2022, 2:23 am

Just saw this thread. I have made aaliyah to Tsfat with my family and we are extremely happy and integrated b"H into the charedi breslev community. I'm sorry to point out many of the posts here clearly don't know what they're talking about or have gotten false information. There are many chutznik that make up our community as well as guerim and I am very pleased with the school, shul, etc.
That being said I wouldn't recommend to anyone looking for materiality to move to Tsfat. It's a double aaliyah! There is so much ruchniyus here and there is a price to pay for it. Our Rav used to say that not everyone has the merit to live in Tsfat...
It wasn't my first choice and that's a story of its own but today when I travel elsewhere I am so glad this is my home and this is where I'm raising my kids.
An other important point worth mentioning is that for anyone making aaliyah the greatest challenge is finding the right community cause they become your "family" and support and wherever you go without this you are at risk. B"H we have found our "family" in Tsfat.