Where is a Good Place in Israel for English Speaking Jews According to ChatGPT

 That depends on what kind of lifestyle you’re looking for — urban vs. suburban, religious vs. secular, affordable vs. upscale, etc. For English-speaking Jews (especially olim / new immigrants), there are several cities and communities in Israel where English speakers tend to cluster, making integration easier. I’ll break it down by category:

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1. Jerusalem 🕍

Best for: Religious or traditional English-speaking Jews, families, retirees, students

• Neighborhoods:

  • Rehavia, Katamon, Baka, German Colony → Popular among Modern Orthodox and Dati Leumi Anglo communities.

  • Har Nof, Sanhedria, Ramot → More Haredi / yeshivish English-speaking populations.

• Pros:

  • Huge Anglo community — you’ll find English everywhere.

  • Rich Jewish life, synagogues, shiurim, and kosher options.

  • Cultural and historical center.

• Cons:

  • Expensive housing.

  • Crowded and politically tense at times.

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2. Beit Shemesh 🏘️

Best for: Religious families, especially Modern Orthodox and Haredi

• Neighborhoods:

  • Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph & Bet → Large Anglo populations, lots of synagogues and English-speaking schools.

  • Sheinfeld, Nofei Aviv → More mixed and modern.

• Pros:

  • One of the largest Anglo hubs in Israel.

  • Many schools, shiurim, and kosher restaurants cater to English speakers.

  • Strong sense of community.

• Cons:

  • Less diverse — mostly religious communities.

  • Rapid growth → infrastructure sometimes struggles.

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3. Modi’in 🌳

Best for: Young families, professionals, Dati Leumi, and traditional Jews

• Pros:

  • Planned city between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

  • Modern, family-friendly, and green.

  • Growing Anglo community, especially among Modern Orthodox and traditional families.

• Cons:

  • Housing prices rising.

  • Less of a tight-knit Anglo “bubble” compared to Jerusalem or Beit Shemesh.

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4. Raanana & Herzliya 🌴

Best for: Secular and Modern Orthodox Anglos, high-tech professionals

• Pros:

  • Raanana has one of the largest American, British, and South African Jewish communities in Israel.

  • High-quality schools, many English-speaking synagogues, and international vibes.

  • Close to Tel Aviv and the beach.

• Cons:

  • Very expensive.

  • Raanana leans more suburban; Herzliya is a mix of upscale and high-tech.

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5. Tel Aviv & Gush Dan 🌆

Best for: Secular or liberal Anglos, singles, young professionals

• Neighborhoods:

  • North Tel Aviv, Florentin, Neve Tzedek → Popular with Anglos.

  • Givatayim & Ramat Gan → More affordable alternatives nearby.

• Pros:

  • Thriving nightlife, cultural scene, startups, and international vibe.

  • Many English-speaking expats and olim.

• Cons:

  • High cost of living.

  • Less religious infrastructure unless you choose specific communities.

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6. Gush Etzion & Efrat 🏡

Best for: Religious Zionist families seeking community life

• Pros:

  • Efrat has one of the highest concentrations of English-speaking religious Jews in Israel.

  • Beautiful surroundings, strong communal life, English-speaking schools.

• Cons:

  • Politically sensitive area → some prefer central Israel for security reasons.

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7. Netanya 🏖️

Best for: Retirees, French & English-speaking Jews, mixed religious levels

• Pros:

  • Large Anglo and French Jewish population.

  • Coastal city with a relaxed vibe and lots of kosher options.

• Cons:

  • Less employment opportunities compared to central Israel.

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8. Tzfat (Safed) 🕊️

Best for: Spiritual seekers, artists, religious Anglos

• Pros:

  • Mystical atmosphere, many English-speaking religious and creative communities.

  • Affordable compared to central Israel.

• Cons:

  • Far from major job centers, limited infrastructure.

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Quick Summary Table

City / Area	Best For	Religious Mix	Anglo Density	Cost of Living
Jerusalem	Religious + mixed	All types	Very high	High
Beit Shemesh	Religious families	Mostly Orthodox	Very high	Medium-High
Modi’in	Young families	Mostly Dati Leumi	Medium-High	Medium-High
Raanana	Suburban + modern	Mixed	Very high	High
Tel Aviv	Secular + liberal	Mostly secular	High	Very high
Gush Etzion/Efrat	Religious Zionists	Mostly Orthodox	Very high	Medium
Netanya	Retirees, mixed	Mixed	High	Medium
Tzfat	Spiritual seekers	Mostly Orthodox	Medium	Low-Medium

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Emergency Aliyah Conference

A few days ago a bunch of idealistic people came together in Jerusalem and held an "Emergency Aliyah Conference". I also believe that it is urgent, that Jews all over the Diaspora pack up their bags and come home, Some interesting things were said:

How Can Jews Know When to Return to Israel? (Vayeitze 2020)

Biden, Harris and the Decline of American Jewry

At the moment that I am writing this, the final results of the 2020 presidential elections are not official.  The media has crowned Biden as the winner, although the Trump team has not given up and has turned to the courts for justice, claiming corruption and that a recount is needed.  But what I am about to write is true, regardless of who will be in the White House on the 21st of January.

American Jewry, as a community that is connected to world Jewry at large, is in free fall.  If the polls are to be trusted, 70% of American Jews voted against the man who moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.  70% of America's Jews voted against the man who signed an executive order making Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act apply to anti-Semitic acts.  70% of American Jews voted against who advanced peace between the State of Israel and several Arab countries.   This is a shocking lack of solidarity, not only with the Jews of Israel, but also with their own children who suffer abuse from the radical left on college campuses.

Now let us take a look at whom they did vote for:  Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.   These two people are living examples of the destruction of American Jewry through intermarriage.  Joe Biden's daughter is "married" to a Jew.  I blogged about that "marriage" and some of its disgusting aspects way back in 2012.  Kamala Harris is "married" to a Jew named Douglas Emhoff.    

When learning the history of Jewish communities in the Diaspora, a pattern becomes clear.  Each community has a period of growth until it reaches its pinnacle.   Eventually, there is a decline:  "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot...".   Sometimes the decline is gradual. Sometimes the decline is speedy and violent.  Remember what happened to the Jewish communiites in Babylon, Spain, France, Germany, and Poland.  It seems to me the  Golden Age of  American Jewry is now officially over.  It is time to come home.

Jump At the Israel Opportunity (Haazinu 2020)

How To Survive the Riots (Beha'alotkha 2020)

Return to Israel the Moment It's Possible, Parshat Vayigash 2020, Beyond The 4 Amot

Secrets of the Return to Zion in the Story of Yosef, Parshat Vayeshev 2019, Beyond The 4 Amot

Kippalive - We Are Home

This is just so good:

Well done, gentlemen!

A Purim Warning to American Jews

It is better to come to Israel in order to fill the mitzvah of living in the land of Israel. However...

A Message From the Amazing RivkA

What a special lady! May her memory be a blessing!

I'm home, baby!

It's Time for Jews to Leave the U.S.A. for Israel

I really do think that the time has arrived. Actually, the minute that it was possible to get on a plane or a boat and come to Israel, almost every Jew that puts spirituality before materialism should have gotten up and left. But in light of the decision of the SCOTUS regarding so called "marriage equality" a decision which flies in the face of the Seven Noahide Laws, all 50 states are obligated to tolerate and facilitate this abomination. Even though the gentiles have not been diligent in keeping the Noahide Statutes (see Bava Kama 38A), this decision, as I wrote, is particularly anti-Noahide and as such anti-God.

Now that evil rules from sea to shining sea (along with Hawaii and Alaska), it is worthwhile reviewing the words of our great master and teacher, Maimonides:

It is natural for a man's character and actions to be influenced by his friends and associates and for him to follow the local norms of behavior. Therefore, he should associate with the righteous and be constantly in the company of the wise, so as to learn from their deeds. Conversely, he should keep away from the wicked who walk in darkness, so as not to learn from their deeds.

This is [implied by] Solomon's statement (Proverbs 13:20): "He who walks with the wise will become wise, while one who associates with fools will suffer." Similarly, [Psalms 1:1] states: "Happy is the man who has not followed the advice of the wicked."

A person who lives in a place where the norms of behavior are evil and the inhabitants do not follow the straight path should move to a place where the people are righteous and follow the ways of the good.

If all the places with which he is familiar and of which he hears reports follow improper paths, as in our times, or if he is unable to move to a place where the patterns of behavior are proper, because of [the presence of] bands of raiding troops, or for health reasons, he should remain alone in seclusion as [Eichah 3:28] states: "Let him sit alone and be silent."

If they are wicked and sinful and do not allow him to reside there unless he mingle with them and follow their evil behavior, he should go out to caves, thickets, and deserts [rather than] follow the paths of sinners as [Jeremiah 9:1] states: "Who will give me a lodging place for wayfarers, in the desert."

There are many righteous gentiles in the United States who deplore this decision. My heart is with them, and I hope that they will be able to remove this blight from their nation. As for those Jews that are still loyal to God's Torah, I ask, what more has to happen to make them abandon the fleshpots? As for those Jews of the SCOTUS that contributed to this scandalous decision, I bring a verse from the prophet Malachi,

"For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall set them ablaze, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

In order to end on a good note, here is the continuation of that prophecy:

"But unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I do make, saith the LORD of hosts."

Should France's Jews Make Aliyah?

Many are asking in the wake of the murder of four Jews by a Muslim terrorist in the Hyper Cacher store in Paris, "Should France's Jews make Aliyah? Should they leave their homes, livelihoods and all that is familiar to them to start anew in their true homeland, the land of Israel?

Of course they should! Just as I wrote a long time ago:

I believe that living in Israel is one of the positive precepts of the Torah, and as such I believe that every Jew should make his home here.

I also wrote,

Even one who makes aliyah while single has to do it with the knowledge that Eretz Yisrael, along with Torah and Olam Habah is one of the things that is acquired al yedei yisurim. While I strongly encourage aliyah, it has to be done wisely. A person should know what he is getting into and be prepared for the challenges that face him.

Now that the ground is burning under their feet, they should get on the first El Al flight before they get burned, God forbid! Israël est la patrie de tous les Juifs!

The Secret of Making a Living after Making Aliya

A very good post from my friend Tzvi Fishman:

A lot of people say they can’t come on aliyah because they don’t know how they will make a living. The issue of aliyah and livelihood is a legitimate concern.

Read the rest!

Rabbi David Samson: Why NOT Aliyah?

I'm With You Highland Park!

What's new on the banks of the old Raritan?:

The central New Jersey community of Highland Park was targeted Tuesday night in a series of anti-Semitic attacks on at least five Jewish-owned establishments.

Vandals hurled bricks through the plate glass windows of a kosher restaurant, a kosher pizza shop, two Judaica stores, and a Jewish-owned hardware store.

At least three other Jewish-owned establishments in nearby New Brunswick were also similarly attacked, including the Rutgers Chabad House, the Rutgers Hillel and an Israeli-owned falafel eatery.

The destruction took place on the anniversary of the 1947 United Nations Partition Vote to create the Jewish State in Palestine.

A report published by the Algemeiner Journal quoted "Facebook rumors" relating two separate incidents in which a local individual made anti-Semitic remarks and threatened to launch a new Kristallnacht -- a reference to the 1938 "night of broken glass" pogrom in which thousands of Jewish stores and synagogues were destroyed and that launched the Nazi Holocaust in Germany.

It is not clear whether the two incidents were related, nor is it clear whether all the attacks were perpetrated by the same vandal or vandals.

The newspaper pointed out that Highland Park has recently elected an Orthodox Jewish man as its mayor.

Local police said in a statement detectives were "actively investigating these incidents and are in contact with and coordinating efforts with other law enforcement agencies that may be able to expedite the investigation."

However, police cautioned that it was "too soon to reach a conclusion" as to the nature of the crimes.

"We would also like to briefly address the fear that these are acts motivated by anti-Semitism or that these are bias crimes," the statement said. "The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has been notified, but it is too soon to reach a conclusion.

“All of our officers are aware of the sensitivity of this situation and we will make every effort with patrols and surveillance to keep everyone safe. We would like to encourage you to communicate with your congregants and urge them to avoid speculation which could lead to unnecessary anxiety."

Hang in there Yidden...or better yet, make Aliyah!

Welcome to Israel, Jeff Hochman!

Interesting guy! Read about him.

Elul Thoughts #4

This is the time of year when I remember a very remarkable person, someone who unfortunately is not with us anymore. I was told that he was learning "Shmiras HaLoshon" with one of his children, when his soul, without prior warning, departed from him, and he fell from his chair. The person's name was Menachem "Kenny" Herman.

It was a few years back as I was preparing for the Seudah HaMafseket, the final meal before the Yom Kippur fast, I received a telephone call. On the other end of the line a mutual friend, who was clearly upset. In tears, he told me the bad news: Menachem was niftar!

I was shocked. How could somebody, who was so full of life, die so young? How could God take away such a tzaddik, someone who did so much for so many? "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD (Isaiah 55:8)." I cannot be God's accountant. What's more, He doesn't need one. It's His world and He manages it as He sees fit.

I got to know Menachem in the early 1980s, when we both learned at Rutgers College in New Brunswick, N.J. The college was about 30% Jewish at the time, but you wouldn't know that from strolling down College Avenue. Most of the Jews learning there were busy melting in the Melting Pot. Very few were involved in anything Jewish, whether it be the Hillel inconveniently located on the edge of Cook Campus or the Chabad House which then was still in its diapers. A Jewish student wearing a yarmulke was a very rare sight back then.

"Kenny" was weird in my eyes. This guy was walking around campus with a kippah on his head and tzitzit (fringes) dangling from his shirt. "Excuse me, are you Jewish?" he would ask anyone that he suspected was from the tribe. If the reply was yes immediately came the follow-up question: "Perhaps you would like to spend a Shabbos meal with a family in Highland Park? What's your phone number? Just let me know and I will arrange it for you."

As I mentioned most of the Jews on campus were firmly on the road to assimilation. Some Jews, when confronted with Kenny's "Excuse me, are you Jewish?", would lie and say no. For them Kenny was somewhat of a nuisance. He however knew where they were coming from. He himself had grown up in suburban New Jersey of the 1960s and 1970s, very full of "Temples" but very much lacking in Yiddishkeit. "Kenny" however, had found "the derech". After taking a year off to learn in a Yeshiva in Israel he returned to campus determined to bring as many Jews as he could closer to their Father in Heaven. I personally owe him a lot for not giving up on me. In the end he dragged me into the Chabad House. (Although I didn't become a Chabadnik, I owe Chabad a lot as well.) Who knows how many people this "weird" guy saved from assimilation?

After college we both worked in Newark, N.J. Menachem would use his lunch hour on Friday to visit the few Jewish patients that were sick in local hospital, to wish them a "Sei Gesund" and a "Gut Shabbos". That's just an example of how he would spend his time to help and bring cheer to others.

After working for a while his love of Torah overwhelmed him and he decided to devote himself purely to learning. He went to Monsey, N.Y. where he learned in the "Kol Yaakov" yeshiva. We kept in touch. Sometimes he would spend a Shabbat in my apartment. Sometimes I would visit him in the Yeshiva. Wherever he was there was happiness, song, learning, and most of all action. Menachem did not sit idly. "The day is short, and there is much work (to be done)... (Avot 2:18)" . Menachem ran from one mitzvah to the next.

Our ways parted when I made aliyah. I got married and built my home here in Jerusalem. He got married and built his home somewhere in Rockland County, N.Y. Unfortunately, we did not keep in touch. These were the days when trans-Atlantic calls were expensive, and when a letter sent from Israel arrived in America two weeks later. I heard that he learned a lot of Torah, and ascended the levels of chassidus. Did he know how short his day really was? Does anyone?

This post does not due justice to that very special Jew, Menachem "Kenny" Herman. It's a drop in the bucket, based on old but fond memories. These memories of this tremendous Ba'al Teshuvah come to my mind during this period of Teshuvah. May his memory be a blessing.

Blogging For Aliyah

I blog for Aliyah . I believe that living in Israel is one of the positive precepts of the Torah, and as such I believe that every Jew should make his home here. If this is "agenda blogging" than I have an agenda! If what I have published here in my modest corner of the jblogosphere has increased the love of the land of Israel, the people of Israel, and/or the love of Torah among even one reader, let this be my reward.

There is a wise saying: "Not everything you think should be said, not everything you say should be written, and not everything you write has to be published." This is particularly true when it comes to blogging about the land of Israel and its inhabitants. Some jbloggers that are like flies; they abandon the healthy flesh and only seek the sores. These grumblers spread a bad report about the land, often while sitting on the other side of the Atlantic. "Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united...(Genesis 49:6)". A jblogger should accustom himself to seeing the "good of Jerusalem (Psalms 128:5)".

Nefesh B'Nefesh, by sponsoring the upcoming blogger conference, has acknowledged the power of blogs as a way to encourage Aliyah. By reading Israeli blogs, Jews from all over the diaspora get an insider's view of Israel. Instead of seeing the Middle East through the anti-Israel biased eyes of the news wires and their Arab stringers, blogs give these Jews the opportunity to see Israel through the eyes of people similar to themselves. These Israeli bloggers are immigrants from English speaking countries. They did not come as refugees fleeing war, anti-Semitism or an insane tyrant! They came to Israel because of their love of the land. This love of the land is what sustains them and helps them overcome all obstacles. If a Jew currently living in the diaspora is searching for a way to make aliya successfully, these blogs provide a living example of how it is done.

At the end of the Kuzari the Rabbi leaves the King of the Khazars in order to leave for the land of Israel. The Rabbi explains that even when the land of Israel is desolate it is a great Mitzvah to live there. Not only that, is also a great Mitzvah to arouse in others the love of the land. I have no doubt that that many of the English speaking Israeli bloggers have done a great job arousing the love of the land of Israel in the hearts of many of their brothers and sisters that are still in the diaspora. This is an agenda that they can be proud of!