ISO Info on West Orange, NJ (moving from Flatbush)

bumpkin2

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 6:06 am

My family may be relocating from Flatbush to West Orange due to a job opportunity working in Kiruv/Outreach. We would therefore need to live in the direct community. Can anyone speak to any of the following:

1. Our kids are enrolled in the Cheder in Brooklyn. Does anyone know of a similar type yeshiva in or near the area? Similar parent body, hashkafos? What’s tuition like by said school?
2. Does the above yeshiva have a nursery program for 3 yr olds? Or is there a good single gender school there for boys?
3. How big is the kollel community there?
4. What percentage of the families there are Yeshivish-oriented? Meaning no TVs, a focus on learning, very strict Kashrus and tzinius standards?

Any and all information would be greatly helpful!
Thank you in advance?

Last edited by bumpkin2 on Wed, Jan 27 2021, 7:07 am; edited 1 time in total

bumpkin2

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 6:38 am

amother [ Cobalt ] wrote:

I’m interested In the responses because I was under the impression that it’s a low key MO community. I have 3-4 friends who live there and they’re def not yeshivish (wear pants and don’t cover their hair) I had no idea they had a RW contingent

We'd be moving there to work in a kiruv capacity. But there is supposed to be a Kollel there, I just don't know much about it...yet. Also a fairly large frum Lubavitch cohort. But the majority is supposed to be more on the modern side of modern. Let's swap info when we find out! Smile

amother

Mustard

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 7:32 am

bumpkin2 wrote:

I live in a different nearby community, so I can't say 100%, but
1. Look into Passaic schools like Yeshiva Ketana and the Cheder. West Orange families usually send to JEC and Kushner, which are not for you.
2. AABJ&D has a pre-school, but more modern than what you are looking for.
3. Zero - unless it is very new and under the radar. Might you be confusing it with another community?
4. Zero.

There is a longstanding Lubavitch shul and Judaica shop integrated into the community, but it is a chilled MO community not a Lubavitch community.

amother

Lemon

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 8:05 am

amother [ Mustard ] wrote:

Yeah this is accurate. I'm pretty confused where your info is from, OP. The most frum nearby school is kushner, and it's pretty frum, but it's coed.
BTW, there is not a lubavitch community in West orange. There is a Chabad shliach with a small kehilla. Not actual lubavitchers.

Also, I know there is already a couple involved in kiruv who work under aabj&d shul - the sefardi minyan. (who btw send their kids to kushner as far as I know) Very curious as to what exactly your position would be and why you're coming to west orange.

wordsmith

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 3:15 pm

I'm not sure what kind of kiruv opportunity you're looking into in West Orange, and in the interest of full disclosure, I don't live in West Orange, but very nearby so here goes:

1. Our kids are enrolled in the Cheder in Brooklyn. Does anyone know of a similar type yeshiva in or near the area? Similar parent body, hashkafos? What’s tuition like by said school?

The closest cheder school would be in Passaic/Clifton about 25 minutes away. There is also a Chabad cheder in Morristown, I'm assuming though since you are asking on this site that you are not Chabad so this would probably not be a good fit.

Many of the Orthodox kids in West Orange go to Kushner Hebrew Day School/Yeshiva High School in Livingston or JEC/Bruriah in Elizabeth. (I believe there are also some teens go to the Bergen County schools for high school.)

I don't know anything about the tuition at the school in Passaic. West Orange is part of the Jewish Federation of MetroWest and I believe there are some tuition breaks associated with people moving to the community as part of an incentive program, but these are for schools in the MetroWest system, including Kushner and JEC not Passaic schools.

2. Does the above yeshiva have a nursery program for 3 yr olds? Or is there a good single gender school there for boys?

There aren't single-gender preschools here. Again, possibly Passaic, but not sure.

3. How big is the kollel community there? I wasn't aware there is a kollel - as in a full-time kollel? Unless that is why you and your family are coming, and are part of the community creating a kollel.

4. What percentage of the families there are Yeshivish-oriented? Meaning no TVs, a focus on learning, very strict Kashrus and tzinius standards? This is a very diverse community and I can't give you an answer to this one. BTW, B"H we finally have a kosher supermarket (by Flatbush standards it's tiny, but for us it is AMAZING!! I hope it continues to grow). I also understand that West Orange is getting a branch of Hatzalah soon, so this is a growing area. (You may want to reach out to Rabbi Zwickler at AABJ&D on Pleasant Valley Way to learn about the community.)

amother

Lemon

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 3:42 pm

wordsmith wrote:

Oh yes I forgot about Arons opening up - quite a big deal. Otherwise there was the kosher bakery in west orange and a fairly big kosher section in livingston shoprite, plus lots of kosher and chalav yisroel at Costco. and a few places to eat out.
But Arons wasn't sure they could even stay open, bh they did. There wasn't quite a community there that needed it.

cnc

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 4:17 pm

bumpkin2 wrote:

There is nothing remotely like the Cheder. The closest would be in Passaic.

Most people send to Kushner. The more religious people send to Elizabeth( Bruriah, JEC) and that’s not at all comparable to the Cheder.

I don’t know of any Kollel community there and I’m very familiar with the community as a whole.

I can’t think of any people there that don’t have TVs besides for the Chabad people and the Rabbis.

It’s a diverse community. Plenty of pants, non covered hair and there are a number of people that dress tznius.

West Orange itself is very small , so you can technically live in a neighboring community but if you’re looking in West Orange directly - there’s isn’t much.

The Rabbis send to Elizabeth and the Lubavitchers send to Morristown and then CH for high school.

Feel free to PM me for more info

amother

Emerald

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 4:29 pm

amother [ Cobalt ] wrote:

I'm a bit confused too - DH and I lived in West Orange for a few years when we were first married. We are definitely low-key MO as were most of the people around us. Not aware of any kollel or more right-leaning community there. This was about 5 years ago.

FWIW we really enjoyed the community and only left for a job elsewhere.

cnc

Wed, Jan 27 2021, 4:32 pm

amother [ Emerald ] wrote:

It hasn’t changed - I’m familiar with it now and it’s basically the same!

Really nice place and nice people but definitely not right wing or kollel.

Also- I echo what a PP wrote. There isn’t really a Lubavitch community. There are maybe 3-4 Lubavitcher families and plenty of people daven at Chabad - but they aren’t actually Chabad .

amother

Emerald

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 10:13 am

cnc wrote:

OP, any updates? I'm super curious to know if there will be a kollel opening in West Orange.

After I posted on this thread DH and I were reminiscing fondly about our time there last night - we both liked living there so much. I hope you enjoy it too if you end up going.

bumpkin2

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 5:09 pm

amother [ Emerald ] wrote:

Hi
Just seeing this now. There is a very small kollel cohort there run by Rav Avrohom Stone, who my husband spoke to earlier. The Rav said it is not currently active due to COVID but the families are still there. When I say small, I mean less than a minyan # of kollel families live there, transplanted from places like Brooklyn/Lakewood.

cnc

Thu, Jan 28 2021, 5:15 pm

bumpkin2 wrote:

I know Rabbi Stone (he has his own Minyan)- I know some people that daven with him on Shabbos, and I don’t believe the situation is as described here . I don’t know of any Lakewood families there and I can think of a couple of Brooklyn families there but definitely not enough to have a kollel.