Life in Karmiel

Karmiel

Karmiel is the capital of the central Galilee. Though a city by Israeli standards, with its population of 50,000 people it is really more like a thriving “out-of-town” suburb in North America. Karmiel is one of Israel’s few “planned” cities (others are Arad and Modi’in), carefuly designed from the start to serve its population in the best possible way. It is breathtakingly beautiful, very clean, and extremely convenient to live in. In terms of the basic quality of everyday life here, we think it is the best place to live in the entire State of Israel.

Location

Karmiel is the urban center of a mostly rural area. It is surrounded by a large district called “Misgav,” which consists of Jewish hilltop settlements (called “mitzpim”). Besides Misgav, the rest of the area’s population is found in older rural communities: Jewish Moshavim & Kibbutzim, and Arab towns and villages (Muslim, Christian, Druze and Bedouin).

Geographically, Karmiel is midway between Akko (Acre) and Tzfat (Safed), but the drive to Tzfat takes twice as long because of the twisting, hilly road up to it. Karmiel is central to most of the small Jewish cities of the Galilee: Tzfat, Kiryat Shemonah, and Tiberias are each about 40-50 minutes away in different directions. Maalot is a 25-minute drive north. Akko is just 20 minutes to the east on a major highway; turn north on that highway just outside Akko, and in just another 5-10 minutes you will reach Nahariya.

But most important of all, Haifa itself is about 45 minutes away for an average drive (as long as you avoid rush hour). The suburbs north of Haifa on the way from Akko (called the "Kerayot”) are also centers of population and industry, and are themselves independent cities.

Public & Alternative Transit

There is quick and easy transportation to Haifa and through the Kerayot via buses and Sherut, and to the train via Akko (and from there on to Tel Aviv and the rest of the country). The train line to Karmiel itself is finally under intensive construction, and is planned to be operational by next year (summer 2017).

Karmiel has five local bus lines. You can buy a day pass, which costs less than two rides. Both biking and walking are very popular here: Biking can be a challenge due to the hilly nature of the city, but if you choose to do so your legs and lungs will be in great shape before too long. There is a very nice paved fitness trail following the border of the city for approx. 6 km and providing very picturesque views, and for the more adventurous rider it forms part of a 35 km trail (http://www.p2ktrail.org.il/) which continues on some rougher terrain outside the city.

Also see this helpful article about living in Karmiel without a car (we did it too for several years and it was great). Karmiel, by the way, is the ultimate city of traffic circles: Each beautiful circle has its own theme and hence its own name; we have very few traffic lights in town.

History and Population

Karmiel was founded in 1964 as part of a policy designed to attract Jews to the Galilee. That Zionist imperative remains as crucial today as it was back then.

The original residents were mostly secular Israelis looking for a quieter and nicer quality of life than they found in the center of the country. Such “refugees” from urban Israel have continued to come to Karmiel ever since then. Later, the children of Sephardic immigrants who had been settled in the small cities and moshavim of the Galilee began moving to Karmiel, bringing a passionate religious component with them. In the 1990s, the city’s population exploded with the mass immigration from the former Soviet Union. These immigrants have enriched the city immensely with their commitment to culture and educational excellence.

Karmiel is first and foremost a family city. Israel in general is a children-centered country, and Karmiel is one of the nicest places in Israel to raise children. There are also many households that have remained here in retirement after raising their children. All of Karmiel’s neighborhoods have a nice mix of families at different ages, though the new “Rabin” neighborhood tends to be the youngest, and the older part of town (near the “Old Mall”) tends to have more of the older residents. Young singles sometimes leave town until they are ready to marry and raise families, but there are many who continue to live here even when they are in the army, at university, or beginning to work.

The English-speaking population in Karmiel is quite small, but very warm and friendly. For many years it has boasted a very active retirement community. More recently a much larger number of young, English-speaking families with children have come to Karmiel, mostly in response to the “Go North” program (through Nefesh b’Nefesh), and some younger singles too.

English-speakers here are well integrated into the general population. It is positive and important to have some friendly and personal support from other English-speaking families, and you can find that here. But in Karmiel you really also need to learn Hebrew, and be willing to bring people from other backgrounds into your social sphere.

Facilities

All government offices have branches in Karmiel. All city offices and facilities are clean, convenient and efficient.

Karmiel has two indoor shopping malls (the “Old Mall” and the “New Mall”) and two outdoor pedestrian malls within its residential areas, as well as smaller shopping areas in nearly every neighborhood. It boasts an enormous industrial zone, separate from the city, which allows only “clean” (non-polluting) industry. The industrial zone also contains the largest shopping center in the Galilee. There are five major supermarkets in the industrial zone, four more in the residential areas, and also a shuk.

All of the Health Funds have major clinics and affiliated doctors (including specialists) in the city. Karmiel does, however, lack its own major hospital. The nearest hospitals are in Haifa, Tzfat, Nahariya and Poriya (near Tiberias).

Karmiel has an active and well-run Merkaz Klita (with a beginner’s-level Ulpan). The residents are mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Argentina, and Ethiopia.

Education and Culture

Karmiel boasts excellent schools, and numerous cultural institutions. Karmiel’s State religious elementary school (Moriah) has twice won the Israel Prize for excellence. The school’s regular program is supplemented by numerous enrichment programs, which are sponsored by a non-profit group founded by American immigrants. A Hebrew-language video about the school may be viewed at this link (you can appreciate much of the video even if you don’t speak Hebrew).

Karmiel’s State religious high school, Amit, is a warm, supportive school with relatively small class sizes, and one of the highest success rates in the country for success on the Bagrut (high school matriculation exam). It offers “Yeshivah” and “Ulpanit” tracks, and has a high-level science track (math, physics, and computers).

Karmiel’s numerous non-religious state elementary schools and high schools are also noted for their excellence, and have boasted some of the highest bagrut rates in the country.

Karmiel also has a Chinnukh Atzmai school system (“independent” non-Zionist schools run by the Ashkenazic charedi community), from elementary through high school. Secular studies are offered at the Amichai elementary school by talented teachers, but Torah is the only value that is stressed: Higher secular education after high school is not stressed or encouraged, except perhaps as a basic necessity for earning a living. The charedi community itself sends its own boys not to Amichai but to a “Talmud Torah,” and then later to a yeshivah ketanah during their high school years (with no secular studies at all). The girls attend a Bais-Yaakov type high school where they take the special charedi version of the bagrut (matriculation exam).

Karmiel is the home of Ort Braude college, one of Israel’s most highly regarded colleges for science and business, where students study engineering, science, management and finance.

Karmiel also has countless institutions and societies supporting music, theater, sports, etc. Excellent performances come to the city’s Cultural Center regularly (http://www.htk.co.il), attracting audiences from all over the Galilee. The annual Karmiel Dance Festival, held each summer in the city’s huge outdoor amphitheater, brings tens of thousands of tourists.

Religious Life

Besides its religious schools (see above), Karmiel has nearly thirty synagogues and five mikvaot (including one for men only). The synagogues feature the customs of Am Yisrael in all their colorful variety: Yemen, Tripoli, Morroco, India, Ethiopia, and even a significant minority that are Ashkenazic. There are several stores that sell Judaica. All central supermarkets are fully kosher, and some carry food with special hechsherim.

In Karmiel you can find three systems of kollelim for adults (Religious Zionist, "Agudah", and Shas) that promote Torah study throughout the city. The Mibereshit organization is highly active in all of the schools and promotes Jewish and religious cultural events for the entire population. Midreshet Matat provides intensive Torah study along with the opportunity to do community service for young women in the year before their army service or national service, as well as Torah study for women in Karmiel and throughout the region. By the standards of North America, Karmiel would be considered a city with a major Orthodox community.

Nevertheless, it must be strongly emphasized that Karmiel is not a religious city, certainly not by Israeli standards. Our own rough estimate is that is it about 10% religious. To live in Karmiel you must be prepared to be in a place where observant Jews are a minority, and to interact fully with non-observant Jews as neighbors and friends. Karmiel is a place where tolerance and respect are typical; it is thus very suitable for Jews from western countries who are well adapted to living among diverse populations. In fact, it is a place where observant Jews from the west can make a unique personal contribution to Israel through their aliyah, namely by doing their best to serve as positive representatives of traditional Judaism they can make a tremendous Kiddush Hashem by living in a place like Karmiel.

There are four synagogues in Karmiel that have an above-average number of English speakers, and also boast very warm, welcoming communities:

• The Moriah synagogue near the old center of town (mostly retirees). We used to go there, and the people are very friendly.

• The Conservative synagogue (Kehillat ha-Kerem) in the new center of town (next to the “New Mall”). A dynamic community.

• Kehillat Ohel Avraham, a small and new Modern Orthodox community which meets in the Amit high school’s synagogue in the Rabin neighborhood. This is an independent, democratic community that tries to reach out and attract the entire spectrum of residents, and meet the needs of diverse Jewish populations (native Israelis and immigrants who speak Russian, English, Spanish). It also strives to create an honorable place for the Jewish traditions of diverse ethnic backgrounds by allowing and encouraging hazzanim to lead the tefillot according to the custom of their choice (Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Yemenite...). It has been our chosen community for since 2010.

• The "Young Israel" (also in the new center of town near the "New Mall") was created by a recent immigrant, Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz, and provides an English-language environment under the chareidi supervision of Karmiel's official city rabbi.

One very important thing for Orthodox immigrants to keep in mind is that religious communities in Israel (and in Karmiel) are not the same as in the diaspora, and they are not always what new immigrants expect them to be. There are no direct equivalents here for "Modern Orthodox" or "yeshivish", and you cannot judge communities by why they seem to look like externally. A very nice article on this appears here. (The one place we disagree is when Avivah remarks how "that's the reality". We think it doesn't have to be that way: You don't have to judge people and groups by their externals, and you don't have to join the same kind of community that other people "like you" have joined. You can join a community which is diverse and in which you have a real voice. In fact, if you do this, your aliyah is likely to be a lot more successful.)

Housing

Karmiel offers plentiful housing of all types, from the smallest apartments to the largest villas, and everything in between. All types of housing are available both for purchase and for rent. Housing prices are a good deal lower than the national average, yet your money purchases a much higher quality of life than nearly any place else in Israel.

Please contact Nefesh b’Nefesh if you are looking for contacts who can help you with housing prices, finding real-estate agents, etc. There is also a mailing list where you can get up-to-date information on real-estate and other questions: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gonorthkarmiel/.

Employment

The Galilee, outside the urban centers of Israel, has both a smaller job market, and a smaller population competing for jobs, than does the greater Tel Aviv area. So both the playing field and the number of players are smaller. There are real opportunities here.

There are numerous opportunities for those seeking work in public fields like education, social services, and government agencies. Immigrant doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, etc., have been successful here in town, and there is demand for more. Small businesses of all kinds flourish. There are countless manufacturers in the low-tech to mid-tech range in Karmiel proper, and a great deal of work in traditional industry and electronics.

Many Karmiel residents work in high tech. A few of them commute to companies very far away but are willing stay here regardless, because they love Karmiel so much. There are also some who telecommute.

Most high-tech people in Karmiel do find work in or near the area. Karmiel proper has only a few software jobs. In the immediate area there is also Tefen, a small “clean” industrial zone about 15 minutes north, which has some high-tech companies. Yet another “clean” industrial area, Teradyne, can be found about 5-10 minutes south of Karmiel in Misgav, with several high-tech companies. Rafael (Israel Aircraft Industries) is also just 10 minutes from Karmiel.

For those willing to commute further, there are high tech jobs in the Migdal Ha-Emek area, plus a number of companies in Yokneam, about a 45-minute drive south of Karmiel. Finally, and most importantly, there is the enormous Matam complex in Haifa with lots of high-tech and software work.

About Ourselves

We made aliyah in the summer of 1995 (long before there was Nefesh b’Nefesh), and came to live in Karmiel in 1997. Shoshana is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of Engineering and works for a bio-tech company in Yokneam. Avi is a graduate and musmakh of Yeshiva University, and later did his Ph.D. at the University of Haifa. He taught for 9 years in the Nativ program of the IDF's education corps, and now teaches Jewish studies at Oranim Teacher's College, in the Overseas School at the University of Haifa, and in other adult education frameworks. We have two children, David Zvi (15) and Ezra Shmuel (12), both of whom graduated from the Moriah state religious elementary school in Karmiel and now study at the Amit high school.

We spent our first full year in Israel at the Merkaz Klita in Raanana. Our second year was in a brand new, all-dati neighborhood in Netanya. It was then that we decided to live in a non-exclusive environment together with all of Am Yisrael, in a city that is ethnically and religiously mixed. We also wanted to live in a smaller city with a higher quality of life, and we had always loved the Galilee. So we arrived in Karmiel in the summer of 1997 after buying an apartment, and we've been here ever since! We are very pleased that English-speaking olim have begun to discover Karmiel through the Nefesh b’Nefesh “Go North” program, and are happy to assist them in any way we can.

Other Karmiel Resources in English

• Virtual Tour of Karmiel (very cool)

• Go North Karmiel (mailing list)

Last updated Tishrei, 5774 (2014).