If you are Jewish, does it impact where in the country you would move?

[Anonymous]

I was reading one of the money threads and a FIRE person who had retired and moved to a super cheap part of the country posted about his life and it sounded pretty great. But then I got to thinking about how there often aren't a lot of Jews in many of the cheap places to live outside of the rat race on the coasts or near big cities. I think it is part of why I can't imagine living in many of those places. Currently I am saying Kaddish for a parent and so I am even more aware of how lucky I am to live somewhere with a robust Jewish community where I can find a minyan when I need one. Just curious if this is something in the back of other people's minds.

[Anonymous]

Yes. DH and I wouldn’t move to a place with a large Evangelical Christian community or without a lot of Jews. We’ve both been harassed for our religion and would rather not invite discrimination, especially in these scary times.

[Anonymous]

Totally.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we considered it a bit - like I didn’t want to move somewhere where there were none.

[Anonymous]

We are Orthodox, so absolutely. We have young kids, so we wouldn't move anywhere without a decent and suitable Orthodox school. Any place with a sufficient school would probably have everything else we need in terms of synagogue, kosher food, and other infrastructure.

We don't require a huge Jewish community, but I would estimate that we would need at least 100 Orthodox families for a location to be a candidate.

I wouldn't rule out a location based on anti-Semitism unless incidents were frequent.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! I would never want to live in an area that does not have a decent Jewish population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, we considered it a bit - like I didn’t want to move somewhere where there were none.

Yeah, every time I fantasize about living in a small town in Montana or Alaska or Maine, I remember how isolated we'd be in a religious/cultural sense. DH and I have talked about retiring to such a place and have decided that it would have to be at least a large college town so there would likely be a Hillel on campus and some Jewish community that way. (When I was in college many folks in the community came to the High Holiday and other services since there was no synagogue in town, only in the wealthier suburbs.)

It's certainly the main reason we picked Maryland over Virginia. Much greater choice of Jewish institutions and we love that there are enough Jews that the MoCo schools close for the High Holidays, or at least part of them anyway.

[Anonymous]

Agree with all the previous posters and I am a reform jew. DH (not Jewish bit agreed to raise children Jewish), was once offered a job in a place where I was concerned. The medium-sized city had 2 synagogues, one reform and one conservative, both on the smaller size in terms of congregations. He turned down the job.

[Anonymous]

I always watch shows that feature small towns (Gilmore Girls, Hallmark movies, etc...) and love the look and idea of a small town until I remember how isolating it would be. Only larger cities for me.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely.

[Anonymous]

DH is a professor, and we moved to a midwestern college town for his job. Because it’s a college town, the number of Jews isn’t insignificant, and we have a thriving (but small) community. It was a bit of a culture shock, but we have a great time, and are working on inviting more families to become members.

I wouldn’t move even a couple of miles outside of this particular city, though.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but really only because of kids. I actually really like small college or beach towns with one synagogue that is more non-denominational. I grew up in one and we vacation in one ever summer. Toy with the idea of working remotely from beach full-time. There are so many activities for kids for a rich Jewish experience in DC that could not get in a rural environment or small aging community. However, in retirement, would really enjoy a small and cohesive community.

[Anonymous]

Very much so. I was the only Jewish kid in my school and was told I was going to hell on a regular basis. Would never want to experience any place where people are not used to Jews ever again.

[Anonymous]

Yup. I wouldn't move anywhere without an appropriate synagogue with at least 200 or so families drawing from the wider community. I would like other kids of diversity present besides religious diversity because that makes me feel more comfortable, too.

[Anonymous]

100%. This is a game my husband and I play whenever we go on road trips... driving through small towns or beautiful areas, we always ask "could we live here? nope, no jews."