Interested in Living "Out of Town?"
The OU is not paying me to run this advertisement (although I will happily allow them to pay me for making this announcement). I received the following in my email box and hope it might be of interest to my readers. Anyone able to attend that would like to post their notes as a guest post here is welcome to email me. Things are a bit slow on the blogging front while I attack some major projects, to say nothing about the most major project (Pesach).
On Sunday, April 6, 2008, at New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel, 12-6 pm, the OU will showcase fourteen growing Jewish communities from around North America where you could relocate. You will meet community representatives and learn directly from them about:
synagogues, day schools and yeshivot
kosher stores and other Jewish communal resources
exciting and lucrative job opportunities
affordable housing
close-knit and warm communities
Torah atmosphere in which to raise children
rewarding retirement opportunities
The following communities will be highlighted:
- Bay Area: Oaklandand San Francisco, CA
- Charleston, SC
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Houston, TX
- Indianapolis, IN
- Memphis, TN
- New Orleans, LA
- Omaha, NE
- San Diego, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Vancouver, BC, Canada
14 comments:
I was less than impressed by their ad. I blogged about how they left Israel completely off the list.
Try comparing affordable education between the US and Israel...
There is something fishy about this list. I'd love to see how much interest the seminar generates.
Yah, and what Jameel wrote too!
I don't anyone who attends something like is not going to realize that Israel is also a good option. NBN and other organizations are doing good job getting the word out about aliyah. Kol Hakavod for OU to do something like this.
...But since when is SF affordable??
Are these areas cheredi or mo?
I don't think there is anything fishy about the list (although the SF Bay Area and Oakland is anything but inexpensive). I think theses communities are all actively looking for new members.
To answer Ahavah's question, here is what I know:
Bay Area: Oaklandand San Francisco, CA (Modern Orthodox)
Charleston, SC (don't know much)
Columbus, OH (A mix of people, some more to the right, some more modern)
Dallas, TX (A Mix, Community Kollel)
Denver, CO (Different Sides of Town, one modern, one Yeshivish. Long established Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov as well as a modern day school)
Edmonton, AB, Canada (Don't know anything)
Houston, TX (A Mix, Community Kollel, MO K-12 school)
Indianapolis, IN (Modern Orthodox I believe)
Memphis, TN (A mix, MO day school with separate high schools).
New Orleans, LA (Modern Orthodox I believe)
Omaha, NE (Modern Orthodox)
San Diego, CA (A mix. . . not an inexpensive place to live, but a beautiful city)
Seattle, WA (A mix, Community Kollel, Sephardi Kehillah, new Bais Yaakov school, established Day School and co-ed Yeshiva high).
Vancouver, BC, Canada (I believe there is a small boarding high school for boys and a community kollel, but I'm mostly unfamiliar).
Jameel-I will check your blog. Certainly Israel should not be left off. But, at least judging by the yearly aliyah waves in many communities, Israel is an option many people consider.
in case anyone is curious, we have MO and Centrist here in Cleveland-- some full time learners too-- a nice mix. Really no Chabad community to speak of.
Cleveland wasn't on the list. Harumph. :)
Good for you for starting pesach cleaning.... I started making my list of what rooms/closets/drawers to do when--- does that count for something?
That is what I meant by fishy. Cleveland is affordable and runs the Observant Jew gamut. There are mosdot and schools. It's not so far out as to be "scary". Same goes for Pittsburgh. But Edmonton? That's not even the United States (Vancouver either but I think I have heard that Vancouver is "nice").
That is what I meant by fishy. Cleveland is affordable and runs the Observant Jew gamut. There are mosdot and schools. It's not so far out as to be "scary". Same goes for Pittsburgh. But Edmonton? That's not even the United States (Vancouver either but I think I have heard that Vancouver is "nice").
Most of these places have a larger Orthodox community and are more expensive than my community in New Jersey (Cleveland is MUCH bigger)...
Except for maybe New Orleans I can see why these communities are looking to attract people. They are, some of them, somewhat small, stable frum communities who want more people to guarantee that the stability remains. Some of them offer real benefits as well. You can't beat the weather in a few of them, or the natural beauty that surrounds some of the cities. There is economic opportunity, lower tuitions, a warmer, less judgemental community attitude. And in many of these cities the housing prices are way way lower relative to New York and environs.
New York City has really reached its saturation point; it cannot accomodate all the young couples Klal has. Look at the spillover into Long Island and into New Jersey. I guess these other communities are saying if you aren't going to be able to afford New York City and have to move outside of the city anyway then come give us a look. Makes sense to me.
Nothing fishy. Just a bunch of communities that want to attract new people. Some--like Houston and San Diego are ok--community wise, but need support. Others are more fledgling, need more. I think it's a great idea. I'm sure the OU reached out to its member synagogues and asked who wanted to send reps. Vancouver is my dream city, btw. Mountains, water, beautiful homes, clean downtown, beautiful parks, near inspiring nature destinations. Has a Kollel and I believe a Chafetz Chaim High School. But, we are wimps and will remain in the NY area near family. To sleep perchance to dream... of friendly Shuls, inclusive MO day schools, low-priced houses, friendly neighbors of all stripes, inspired youth with vibrant NCSY chapters........................
Some people from our shul are representing Indy at this event. While the shul is OU-affiliated and basically MO, we have black-hat members as well.
If you like what you hear at an event like this, you ought to come out to survey the scene in person.
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