Overview

Curated by Raizel Zucker

“Beitar, the Chassidic Torah city in the hills of Yehuda”.  Beitar is a thriving Chareidi city with a growing population of over 50,000 people. The population is made up of frum (mostly young) families. The average age in Beitar is nine years old.  It has every amenity a frum family could ask for including organized public transportation to holy sites.

Beitar has affordable housing and proximity to Jerusalem (20 minutes by bus.) It has an incredible public transportation service and has won awards for being the cleanest city in Israel. It’s easy to see why many frum families make Beitar home. There is an acceptance committee for potential residents.

Chabad in Beitar is thriving . There is a Chabad shul in reasonable walking distance from every neighbourhood.  Chabad education at every stage is locally available.  There is a daycare, two tracks of  preschools and elementary schools, and boys and girls high schools. Adult education classes are available in Hebrew and English. There are two mikvahs according to Chabad minhag.

Special events for men and women, girls and boys, are scheduled for all the dates on the Chabad calendar. Tzivos Hashem programs are weekly and summer camps are run by the schools. There is an increasingly active English N’shei Chabad and a very lively English N’shei Zahav group for older ladies (which includes trips and tours.) There is a very professional and active Shifra and Puah organization. They provide help and meals for Chabad mothers after birth.

Shuls

There are six Chabad shuls in Beitar.

Four shuls in ‘A’ :

“The Campus” on Ba’al HaTanya St. is the most established shul led by  Rav Asher Lemel Cohen – the official rav of the Chabad community of Beitar.

“The Sifriyah” also on Ba’al Hatanya St. is a small heimish Meshichist shul.

“Chabad on Zvil” is a large mainstream Chabad shul in a nice new building.

“Chabad on Igrot Moshe” is led by Rav Sharf. A mainstream small Chabad shul.

Two shuls in ‘B’ : Both small, mainstream Chabad shuls.

“Chabad on Motzafi”

“Chabad on HaMaggid MiMezritch.”

Schools

There are two Chabad school systems in Beitar.

The older, more established school system is the Chabad public schools which fall into the category of schools called “Mamlachti Dati”. These schools are funded by the government and are required to teach a certain amount of secular studies. They also benefit from publicly funded facilities and play areas and special ed programs etc.  You’ll find a wider range of personalities and a more energetic environment in these schools.

They are as follows:

Tiferet Menachem for boys on Nadvorna St. The school houses the boys preschool  (ages 3,4, and 5) as well as grades 1 through 8.  Special ed classes are provided for almost every grade level.  As a side note, Rabbi Sirotsky who is the principal speaks fluent English.

The office at Tiferet Menachem not only deals with the administrative aspects of the boys preschool and boys elementary school but the girls preschool as well.

The girls preschool is divided into three separate locations all nearby the boys school. Each age group (age 3,4 and 5) has their own building.

Beit Chaya for girls on Zvill St. houses grades 1 through 8.  It does have special ed classes but in a more limited scope than the boys elementary school.  Nechami Magor is the vice principal and her English is pretty good.

The second school system is a private school system run with government permission but with very limited government funding. This system of schools identifies as Chareidi Chabad and incorporates values of Chareidi culture together with values of Chabad.  In general there is a more stiff “old school” style. Since it is privately funded special ed programming is very limited.

Cheder Oholei Menachem is on Rechov Chabad. They have a beautiful new building that houses the boys preschool as well as grades 1 through 8. It is run by Rav Asher Lemel Cohen’s son Rabbi Mendel Cohen. It offers limited secular subjects.

Ateret Chaya Mushka is on Ruzin St. It’s housed in a collection of caravans. The girls preschools and grades 1 through 8 are on the same campus. It is run by Rav Cohen’s daughter Nechama Shachar. It does offer secular subjects.

There is only one Chabad girls high school and one Chabad boys yeshiva in Beitar.

The girls high school Ma’ayanot Beit Rivka is on Ohrbach St. It is a “newer” school and only about 30 percent of the girls in Beitar attend it despite it’s excellent reputation. Most of the girls travel to Beit Chana in Jerusalem to the school their mothers went to.

The boys Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim is run by Rabbi Elchonon Mishulovin. It is a mainstream yeshiva with a dorm.

 

Food/Kashrut

Mehadrin food in Beitar is almost the norm.  Most of the stores will only carry Mehadrin food. All of the restaurants are mehadrin and have “loitering policies” in order to discourage inappropriate mingling. During shmitta year most stores only carry produce from the sixth year or produce from outside of Israel.

Mikvaot

There are two Chabad (bor al g’bai bor) mikvahs in Beitar. One on Ba’al Shem Tov St. and the other on Kanyevsky/Igrot Moshe. Both are clean and have decent upkeep.