Advice for making aliyah to Tel Aviv or Akko/Acre?

September 8, 2015 9:54 AM

I'm giving serious consideration to making aliyah to Israel, specifically to Tel Aviv or Akko/Acre. Does anyone have experience / tips for picking a city and then finding a place to live?

Assume I've read the Nefesh B'Nefesh website a thousand times and I still have questions. Because I have and I do.

About me: mid-30's mostly secular lady Jew, left-leaning politically, does not speak Hebrew, but is learning. Likes books, beers, hiking, gardening, public transportation. Employment experience is mostly in the non-profit realm, both doing direct service working with youth and admin / fundraising / grant writing type stuff for youth and cultural / historical organizations.

I have family in Holon, which makes Tel Aviv slightly more appealing but the thought of a smaller city like Acre/Akko that still has decent public transportation and access to nature is nice. It also occurs to me that it might be smart to live in Tel Aviv to begin with since I assume it will be easier to find a job and housing there, but I assume it is accordingly more expensive.

Thoughts? Advice? Places I should check out to convince me one way or another? (What will I do without Yelp? How do people find cool stuff?)

posted by youcancallmeal to Travel & Transportation around Israel (3 answers total)

If you go with Nefesh b'Nefesh, you'll start in Ulpan, and while you're doing that, you'll have some time to figure out what community is best for you. That's part of what Ulpan is all about. Once you're done with the courses, they will help connect you with the right community for you, help you find your apartment, all of it. I'm rarely so blithe with advice, but you're overthinking it. Olim from the United States are pretty coddled when they arrive.
posted by juniperesque at 10:52 AM on September 8, 2015

Akko certainly certainly meets your criteria of being small, cheap and having access to nature but you should be aware that it's not exactly thriving economically. I suspect that jobs in general and especially of the type you mention are in short supply there. Perhaps try looking at Nahariya which is close to Akko? It's very pleasant. My wife's grandparents settled in Akko when they arrived from Morocco, but all the later generations migrated to Nahariya (or further) to find greater opportunities.
posted by Dan Brilliant at 1:01 AM on September 9, 2015

Many South Africans (especially families) who make Aliyah go to Ra'anana. I hear it's become quite popular for those who come from France as well.

I know Haifa is considered one of the more left leaning cities in Israel as well.
posted by PenDevil at 3:09 AM on September 9, 2015