Ramat Gan, located between Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv.
Photo: Miriam Woelke
B”H
Some weeks ago I announced that I am planning to move back to Jerusalem. An announcement I regretted only a few days later. I had started to analyze whether I really want to move back to Jerusalem and if I was happy with this decision. I wasn't. Don't ask why because I cannot really tell myself. Maybe because I got used to the Tel Aviv mentality. And I don't mean this in a sense of the city's secularism but because of a rather "New York Life Style". Jerusalem seems to be so "village - like" compared to Tel Aviv. Furthermore Jerusalem's mentality simply became strange to me. Always being suspicious and the entire capital is full of pressure. Politically as well as in a religious sense. When I was in Jerusalem during Pessach, I heard some Yeshiva guys talking about this Halacha and that Halacha. One guy wanted to be more strict than the other. This is simply not my world anymore and I am not saying that it has something to do with religion. Maybe I just became too pragmatic. In Tel Aviv you work, you create and you act. I like this kind of life and not the typical Jerusalem complaint "What should I do ?"
However, I decided to stay in the Tel Aviv area but need to look for a bigger apartment. For the past year, I have been living in a matchbox where I can hardly move but pay a lot of rent. As everyone knows, Tel Aviv is expensive and some say that it is more expensive than Singapore. At least, this is what I read somewhere today.:-)
Rents are high and you have to work a lot in order to make a living. I guess that readers from New York know what I am talking about.:-)
This is why I decided to look for an apartment in Ramat Gan. The city is very close to Tel Aviv and on the other side of it we find the haredi part of Bnei Brak. Furthermore, Ramat Gan is still a bit less expensive than Tel Aviv and has lots of quiet parts.
My plan is moving there and I will try finding a place as close to Bnei Brak as I can. Hopefully by the end of May / beginning of June, I will be back at the chassidic Tishes. Not only in Mea Shearim but especially in Bnei Brak. I have to find out about Vishnitz and Nadvorna because their Rebbes just passed away recently and we have to see how the two chassidic groups are going to continue.
Haredi Bnei Brak
Photo: Miriam Woelke
In the upcoming weeks I am going to tell you about me looking for a new apartment. All those crazy experiences you have when you search for a new place to live. In addition to that you will get to know many details about Bnei Brak and the haredi life there.
B"H
ReplyDeleteWhy not move to Bnei Brak?
Rent is expensive in most frum communities and we all learn to live within our means.
Maybe in time you will find an apartment in an area that is right for you.
B"H
ReplyDeleteBnei Brak, as a frum community, is too expensive and I don't think that I fit in. Well, not yet.:-)
Besides all the frum life, I need somthing balanced as well and not only one side.
B"H
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you prefer to be surrounded by Torah observant Jews?
What is this balance that you are looking for?
I do agree that renting in many frum communities is very expensive.
B"H
ReplyDeleteRamat Gan actually has quite a few religious Jews and those who are looking for a haredi atmosphere, Bnei Brak is just around the corner.
In a way, I need both worlds. I cannot only be here and not only there but need a balance between the two.