Communities suggestions in Israel

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 7:23 pm

We have a few months away for our Aliyah and I still haven’t decided which community we should settle in. So if any of you have any suggestions, I’d really appreciate it!

Here’s what I’m looking for:
-First and foremost, excellent schools. Looking for religious elementary/middle schools (can be co-Ed).
- public transportation is a must. Most likely we will not have a car (especially in the beginning). I don’t have to live in the center, but also not too far away if it would take 2+ hours with public transportation to get to Tel Aviv. Even though I have no idea where we’d work yet.
- a mixed community with dati leumi, traditional, secular. I don’t want to be in a big Anglo section, we want to mix in with Israelis.
- doesn’t have to be a big city, can be smaller town
- has activities for kids such as great chugim and parks
- good shopping areas
- rent: 3-4 bedrooms not more than 5000 shekels.
- sepharadic shuls in the area
- a safe, warm and family friendly community

Any ideas?
I looked into Harish which has really cheap rent but it’s relatively new so I don’t know much about religious schools, I’ve heard they have a charedi school, which is not for us. If you know anything more, let me know.

Thank you!!!!!!

grivky

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:36 pm

I live in Harish. I’d be happy to speak to you over the phone. Feel free to message me.

Here’s what I’m looking for:
-First and foremost, excellent schools. Looking for religious elementary/middle schools (can be co-Ed).

—Religious co Ed and separate options exist

- public transportation is a must. Most likely we will not have a car (especially in the beginning). I don’t have to live in the center, but also not too far away if it would take 2+ hours with public transportation to get to Tel Aviv. Even though I have no idea where we’d work yet.

—public transportation exists but is not amazing yet. Most people have a car. Depending on where in Harish you live you can manage without a car.
People definitely commute to Tel Aviv, but it’s not the easiest commute. Lots of people work in Netanya, Herziliya, Hadera, Yokneam....

- a mixed community with dati leumi, traditional, secular. I don’t want to be in a big Anglo section, we want to mix in with Israelis.

—mixed community. Lots of more anglos are moving in, but not in one specific area. You definitely need to mix with Israelis but we have lots of Anglo watsapp groups (Anglo, religious women...) that help to make the anglos feel more like a community. It’s hard to get together during covid times but we try to have some outdoor shiurim/ meet ups in English.

- doesn’t have to be a big city, can be smaller town

-Harish is officially a city but feels more like a smaller town.

- has activities for kids such as great chugim and parks

—Yes!

- good shopping areas

—yes! Whenever I find myself leaving Harish to buy something, I end up coming back to Harish and finding exactly what I needed for cheaper.

- rent: 3-4 bedrooms not more than 5000 shekels.
— rent would likely be between 2,500-3,500 depending on the apt (garden apartment or penthouse would be closer to 3,500)

- sepharadic shuls in the area
— lots
- a safe, warm and family friendly community
—yes!

Hope this helps! Again, I’d be happy to talk over the phone and give you other anglo families to speak to.

amother

Scarlet

Fri, Jan 01 2021, 12:16 am

As much as you may want to mix with Israelis, if you are moving with school age kids, it's vital to find a community with good olim services and other English speakers. That does limit you somewhat to the more expensive communities.

Gush Etzion (especially Efrat and Neve Daniel) would be a good social fit, but you need a car and your housing budget is a bit low. Also not good if you have to commute to Tel Aviv every day. (But so many people are working remotely now that this might not be an issue.) The population is fairly homogeneous.

Parts of Maale Adumim could work as well. Lots of local services and shopping, and good public transportation. A mix of types.

I don't know housing prices in Modiin, though that's a possibility, and obviously closer to Tel Aviv. There's a huge mall there and good municipal services.

Generally, the closer you get to the center of the country, the higher the prices get.

amother

Denim

Fri, Jan 01 2021, 2:34 am

Quite a few of my coworkers are from Harish. They all love it there. They are mainly dati leumi types, ages late 20s to early 40s. They say there is a real community vibe there. It is a mixed city, with secular, dati leumi, and haredi people there, but I am guessing a huge proportion of the city is dati leumi.

I do think you need at least one car to live there. There is bus transportation, but it is annoying to be dependent on that. Also I believe most people commute to work out of the city.

I agree with aquad that the wisest thing to do is to find a city along the train line and live there. That gives you the most efficient transportation to Tel Aviv, if that's important to you.

amother

Denim

Fri, Jan 01 2021, 2:54 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Any ideas?
I looked into Harish which has really cheap rent but it’s relatively new so I don’t know much about religious schools, I’ve heard they have a charedi school, which is not for us. If you know anything more, let me know.

Thank you!!!!!!

AFAIK they opened up new dati leumi schools for all age groups. Are they excellent? I have no idea. Harish is a new city, and it's full of young, energetic people, so hopefully the schools are good. OTOH, it's not a rich or established community, and that may have an effect on the schools.

amother

Fri, Jan 01 2021, 12:23 pm

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

Any idea about memlachti dati schools in Harish? Do they have any?

amother

Fri, Jan 01 2021, 12:25 pm

grivky wrote:

Thank you!!!! How many religious schools they have? Can you give me the name of the schools? I seem to find mainly mamlachti schools in Harish.

FYI, I once lived in modiin when they just started building the city, I liked it there but I remember it was extremely annoying to hear construction every single day, do you have that in Harish? Considering it’s still new.

grivky

Sat, Jan 02 2021, 11:34 am

My kids are still little but I can put you in touch with people who send to the religious schools.

I’m assuming you’re not looking for chareidi based on your first post so I won’t mention those. (I’m not familiar with them all but I’ve heard that there is a Beit Yaakov for girls, Chareidi Talmud Torah, Breslev talmud Torah (and I think a girls school too), Chabad just opened a first grade in a separate boys and girls school and there’s a chardal (more right wing dati leumi boys talmud Torah).
תלמי הדר is mamlachti dati /coed
כנפי רוח is mamlachti dati torani / separate boys and girls
Im less familiar with the middle school options as none of my friends have kids there.
I DO have construction out my window but I don’t hear the noise from it. It could depend where you leave and what they are building. On my street they are improving the sidewalks so I don’t hear loud banging but if they are building a school near you then it probably could be loud.

amother [ OP ] wrote:

FranticFrummie

Sat, Jan 02 2021, 12:23 pm

The most important question, is how strong is your family's Hebrew? Can you kids at least understand some basics?

If so, you would probably love Nahariya. I lived there for 3 years. DD didn't do well in school, because her small religious school didn't have an ulpan teacher, and she didn't pick up the language. They didn't make much of an effort to teacher anything.

They have a national school that is co-ed, with an excellent ulpan program for new olim.

Apartment prices are incredible. We had a 4 bedroom, 3 bath apartment with a view of the ocean, just 2 blocks from the beach.

Almost all of the shuls are Sephardi, except the on Chabad shul.

It is very mixed. On any given Shabbos you'll see everything from shtreimels and sheitels to girls in bikinis and boys going surfing. Lots of MO folks in between.

There is a small, tight knit Anglo community that has shiurim and get togethers (or at least they did before Covid.)

The thing to keep in mind is that almost all new Anglo olim are there for retirement. If you want friends your own age, you'll definitely need to have good Hebrew. On the plus side, everyone is very friendly and easy to get to know. They will also probably want to practice their limited English with you!

Nahariya is at the end of the coastal train line which takes you just about anywhere you could possibly want to go. The Maccabi medical offices are fantastic, and there is a world class hospital nearby (Western Galilee).

Because the city is a big tourist area in the summer, the mayor makes sure that everything is spotlessly clean, meticulously landscaped, and easy to get around.

The new public library is gorgeous. Plenty of restaurants with good heksherim, and a fairly good sized shopping mall.