(JTA) — Families and individuals interested in relocating met with representatives from nearly 60 communities in 19 states at a home and job relocation fair.
Attendees included representatives of Young Israel of St. Louis, the St. Louis Kollel, U. City Shul and Tpheris Israel Chevra Kadisha Congregation.
Communities in Israel also were represented at the Sunday fair in Manhattan, sponsored by the Orthodox Union.
The representatives told participants about amenities, schools, home availability and employment opportunities in the communities.
Rabbi Moshe Shulman of Young Israel said that people considering relocating from New York judge a community by whether “there are multiple shuls within walking distance.”
“Our focus was on the warmth of Midwest and the St. Louis Jewish community, the offerings of the Jewish day schools, the cost of living, the breadth of offerings in the community in terms of different types of shuls,” said Shulman, who attended the fair for the second time.
Among the other communities represented were Albany, New York; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Houston, Texas; La Jolla, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Memphis, Tennessee; Oak Park, Michigan; Overland Park/Kansas City, Kansas; South Bend, Indiana; West Hartford, Connecticut; West Orange, New Jersey; and Wynnewood/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Israeli communities represented include Efrat, Jerusalem, Modiin, Bet Shemesh/Ramat Bet Shemesh, and smaller communities in the North and South of the country.
“For various reasons, including the high costs of tuition and housing in the New York City area, there is a growing cadre of Orthodox families exploring other locations throughout the country and Israel to establish their homes. We are pleased to have been able to assemble so many Torah communities and to enable them to showcase to these families the attractiveness and advantages of their respective communities,” Orthodox Union President Moishe Bane said in a statement.
Eric Berger contributed reporting to this story.
