The New Immigrant’s Guide To: Living In Jerusalem
A Guide For Those Making Their First Steps in Israel In The Holy City
A little over six years ago, I began my aliyah journey in Israel in Jerusalem.
I didn’t exactly plan it this way.
When I had my first meeting with my Jewish Agency shaliach (emissary) in London, I had no idea where I wanted to live in Israel, although Tel Aviv seemed like the natural choice for somebody moving to Israel in their mid-20s.
Coming from one of the Jewish world’s great obscure landmarks — Cork, Ireland — I wasn’t very clued into what my options were. Therefore, when my shaliach provided me with three ulpan options and none of them included Tel Aviv, I assumed that these were my only choices (note: this was wrong. There is a nationwide network of ulpanim that you can qualify for and which worked through the Jewish Agency system. Also: even if you live in an obscure part of the Jewish world, I encourage anybody to do their homework online. There are Facebook groups and an Israel-centric subreddit and people are generally delighted to share their opinions and experience with newcomers).
So my choices — or what I believed to be my choices — consisted of Jerusalem, Lod, and Ramla. Ramla sounded vaguely like Ramallah and seemed to be the incarceration capital of Israel. Lod looked depressing (sorry, but Lod is kinda depressing). So Jerusalem easily stood out as the shining light among what seemed like a fairly dim firmament.
A few months and some random complications later (one day my shaliach excitedly called to tell me that she had taken the liberty of booking me into Lod. I wasn’t impressed), and I was on my way. To Jerusalem.
Having lived in this city of one million for more than six years now, here are a few tips to prepare the fresh off the boat — or soon to be.
Jerusalem Is Not Where The Jobs Are At In Israel
Sorry to have to start out on a bit of a sour note. But I’m a big believer in telling it like it is. Glossy aliyah brochures often result in a lot of misplaced expectations, in my opinion, and most new immigrants are going to want to be thinking about employment sooner rather than later.
Jerusalem may be the capital of Israel. But its economic powerhouse it is most certainly not.
Traditionally, Jerusalem has been thought of by Israelis as a poor and religious city.
It’s true that the government is a major employer in the city. But new immigrants are much more likely to be positioning for jobs in tech companies than at government offices.
The majority of startup jobs in Israel can be found in Tel Aviv and the surrounding area — commonly know as the merkaz (center) in Hebrew. Other cities like Herzlia and Be’er Sheva have commercial centers too.
The good news is that the fast train that runs between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv has cut down the transit times between the two cities enormously.
Given the fact that many companies have now switched to hybrid configurations, it’s more viable than ever to live in Jerusalem but work in Tel Aviv — without needing to do an arduous daily commute (I know many who have done this for years; and almost nobody who hasn’t ended up hating it).
The City of Jerusalem also has ambitious plans to develop business parks at the entrance to the city.
There are jobs in the private sector in Jerusalem — naturally. There are also some startups here and a few technology parks (Malha and Har Hotsvim are two of the major ones). It’s just that quantitatively, the city is still nowhere near parity with Tel Aviv. Historically, this has prompted a lot of emigration from the city among young people. This continues to this day.
If you do really want to find employment within the city, check out Made in JLM, which is a startup and tech community. They hold events and run a jobs board. LinkedIn Local Jerusalem is a newer and more informal organization.
Jerusalem Is Really Three Cities Mushed Into One
I used to wonder in astonishment at how Jerusalem could be a city of one million and yet seem so small to walk through. Understated is a good way to describe its downtown district (minus the giant duck, of course).
My hometown of Cork, in Ireland, has a population of just 124,000 — and yet its city center feels much more buzzy and lively than Jerusalem’s (sorry Jerusalem).
For a city of its size and importance, Jerusalem also retains an oddly small-town sort of feel — in both good and bad ways.
(At the time of writing) the city doesn’t have a single Indian restaurant — at least one that serves meat. Finding food after midnight is surprisingly difficult. There are enough bars here but not many.
The answer, I believe, is the fact that Jerusalem is much less one city, but rather a loosely allied conglomerate of three different cities.
I would take those to be East Jerusalem — which is Palestinian in character and, in many respects, functions as a de facto separate city. West Jerusalem which is the part that many tourists are familiar with. And Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jerusalem.
Regarding ‘West’ and ‘Haredi’ Jerusalem as two separate cities is perhaps pushing things a little — but they do have separate centers and distinct characteristics.
For those living in Jerusalem’s haredi neighborhoods, life revolves around Torah study and places of religious study — yeshivot and kollelim — are the community’s most numerous and prized institutions. Think: life as depicted in Shtisel which was based around the life of a family living in Geula, abutting Mea Shearim.
‘West’ Jerusalem — into which I would subsume the predominantly national religious (dati leumi) neighborhoods — functions mostly like any other world city, although the majority of Jewish residents are at least somewhat religiously observant (Jerusalem does have a secular community and the First Station complex was designed to cater for all needs).
East Jerusalem — the part to the east of the Green Line that once subsected the city with an international border — is predominantly Arab Palestinian, although there are a few Jewish enclaves populated by far-right-wing nationalists. East Jerusalem has its own bus system, hospital network, and identity.
When you consider that Jerusalem is more an urban conglomeration with three constituent parts, its relatively diminutive downtown starts to make more sense.
The Shuk Is Both A Vegetable Market And A Nightlife Center
Now here’s what I love about Jerusalem.
As much as it can feel oddly parochial and small, it’s also kind of the Noah’s Ark of Israeli cities: It’s so big that it has at least one of everything. But small enough to retain a sort of small city charm not befitting its stature or size.
Jerusalem is not exactly heaving with nightlife (in fact, there’s a notable lack of nightclubs), but there are a few decent bars around the shuk (Shuk Mahane Yehuda), although in recent years the demographic seems to have shifted drastically in the direction of drunken teenagers. Grumpy thirty year olds like me still dream about reclaiming our turf.
There are a couple of DJ stores where you can source specialist equipment like wireless microphones and mixers. And around the same part of town (Heleni HaMalka) you can find a few more bars to whet your palette after a hard day’s work or sightseeing.
For those looking to enjoy a few drinks at nighttime, there are plenty of happy hour deals around the city. So if you’re early enough you can dodge the otherwise painful alcohol prices in Israel (32 NIS is a common price for a pint of imported beer; at today’s exchange rate, that’s almost a whopping $10).
My list of favorite bars around the city has been drastically whittled by the coronavirus (sadly, three of my favorites never reopened), but HaTaklit (“The Record”) remains popular enough to have thankfully survived the plague.
There Are A Few Cool Neighborhoods Worth Checking Out Too — And There’s A Lot Of Church Property
Besides all the touristy things to do in Jerusalem — those can disproportionately be found in the Old City — there are some really nice neighborhoods worth checking out both as places to live and places to hang out.
Rehavia is probably the closest thing to a youngish and somewhat chic neighborhood in Jerusalem. There are a few decent bars in this part of town and places to grab a humus and falafel (if you want a quintessentially low-key but relaxing Jerusalem evening, meet a friend at one of these for a humus and a beer). Nearby Baka and Emek Refaim, in the German Colony, both have main streets lined with restaurants. These are probably the closest things to inner suburbs, with local centers, that can be found in Jerusalem.
Musrara and Talbiyeh are both beautiful and dotted with cultural institutions such as the Jerusalem Theater (although the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is based in Tel Aviv, the orchestra often performs in venues in the city). The area around Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and its Rose Garden, are both lovely places to walk around.
As you meander through the streets of Jerusalem, it’s hard not to notice how much property is owned by various churches, especially the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church (the Russian Compound is the nucleus), and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Those renting property in the city — upon checking the tabu (Land Registry) — commonly find that they are actually sub-tenants of a religious body!
In addition to this, various monastic orders have monasteries dotted throughout the city, the monastics living a cloistered life just meters from the hustle and bustle of the city (the soundtrack to the city is a mixture of endlessly beeping cars and constructions hammers; these aspects I am less fond of). Nuns and brothers can often be found roaming the streets of Jerusalem next to ultra-religious Jews — a juxtaposition that gets progressively more normal the more you live here, to the point that you find yourself not even noticing it any more. For all Jerusalem’s eccentricities — and the fact that it is the fault line of a major geopolitical conflict — it oddly, mostly, seems to work out.
There are even a few diplomatic missions — although these are actually sui generis institutions that are officially accredited to the City of Jerusalem but really accredited to the PA (for the details, see the article below. The push to attract world embassies to the city is an entirely separate endeavor).
Venturing just outside of Jerusalem, you also have the Jerusalem Hills which include many picturesque moshavim. This summer, these were the centerpoint of forest fires, some of the worst and most extensive in Israel’s history.
The reservoir at Beit Zayit — which for a large part of the year is dry — is worth seeing. I highly recommend visiting Motza, seeing its ancient synagogue, and enjoying the excellent food at its café. And if you need to stock up on home goods and kitchen appliances, there’s now an IKEA that can accessed in Eshtaol, near Beit Shemesh.
Jerusalem Is Actually A Pretty Mellow Place To Live
Although Jerusalem is lacking a coast, abundant economic opportunity, and a little bit in the nightlife department, I’m personally much more of a fan of the city than its more glamorous counterpart on the coast, Tel Aviv.
It’s historic. Parts of its are grand and beautiful. And there are just about enough amenities to keep most young people happy.
While there are a few academic institutions in the city — Hebrew University has two campuses and Bezalel is Israel’s most prestigious design school — the city doesn’t really have the bohemian feel of a typical college town.
For those going to college here, I’m told that Jerusalem is more of a quiet house party scene. For those past college age, its defining characteristics could probably best be summed up as ‘religious’, ‘family-oriented’ and ‘clean living.’
Another great thing about Israel is that it’s a really small country. Taking a weekend getaway to Tel Aviv is extremely easy — it’s only about one hour by car and the train, bus, and sheruts (shared taxis) now provide abundant transport options between the two cities.
In the other direction, the beaches of the Dead Sea — Kalia and Ein Bokek in order of distance down the coast — are actually closer (from where I live in south Jerusalem, my wife and I can get to Kalia in about 45 minutes depending on traffic; as you exit the city, you’re quickly surrounded by camels and sand dunes; it’s quite spectacular how close Jerusalem is to Judea and Samaria). In fact, the moment I hit the publish button on this piece, I’m off for some salty water and mud there!
Minus the sometimes inescapable construction, Jerusalem, as a city, is oddly liveable.
The city’s local government — in Hebrew called simply the iriyah (iriyah simply means municipality in Hebrew) — has ambitious plans to shore up construction links in the city, by adding more light rail tracks, and to attract employers to create jobs here.
Specifically, the city is planning on adding high rises to the downtown district and to create a sort of second urban center in Talpiot, a traditionally industrial wasteland of factories in the south of the city.
Although this has attracted vociferous opposition from both Israelis and immigrants, many (including me) would be glad to see Jerusalem advance and leave behind its historical image as a somewhat quaint city that at times feels like Israel’s capital in name only.
Jerusalem isn’t cheap. Politically, it’s contentious ground. But it affords a high standard of living for its residents.
And I’ve been proud to call it home for the past six years.
