Adam Finn, who is involved with Kehillat Shevet Achim[Missing Credit]
“We’re in the final push now,” Finn said. “Then we can really begin to expand our services and welcome even more people straight off the boat, as it were. We’re at the point now where we literally don’t have the room to grow.”
Finn, 30, originally from Prestwich, Manchester, said the large British contingency, predominantly from Manchester but also from Borehamwood, Hendon and Edgware, has brought the “best” of the British Jewish community’s customs and ideals.
“There’s a definite emphasis on inclusivity, and on being open to everyone, regardless of observance or beliefs. There’s also a very big focus on kids, children’s services and activities, which was inspired by the British Jewish community that many of us were raised in,” Finn, who made aliyah five years ago, added.
The British influence on the community is further evident through a weekly football game, during which “the Brits show the Americans how the game is meant to be played”; a “fiercely competitive” fantasy football league, and the occasional community-run pub quizzes to raise money for charity, said Finn.
Familiar customs and the fact that everyone speaks English, despite services taking place in Hebrew, has made for “a very soft landing” in the Jewish state for numerous immigrants over the last few years, Finn said. “Our community’s group chat is constantly announcing the arrival of a new couple or family, with people volunteering to give them a tour of the community or host them for Shabbat dinner.”
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Families at Shevet Achim[Missing Credit]
According to Finn, Netanya is “the best place” in the country to bring up families, with a strong community of young professionals, a 25-minute train commute to Tel Aviv, “great infrastructure, schools, shops, conveniences, and right near world-class beaches. It’s a great quality of life,” he said.
Besides the British majority, the community is made up of members from ten other countries, with the average age of adults estimated to be between 30 and 35. “Everyone brings the best of the community they were brought up in,” Finn said.
The shul is led by Rabbi Aharon and Shira Herskovitz, from New Jersey, and who were previously educators for Bnei Akiva in London, and, together, the community hosts events throughout the week, especially over the chagim.
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Some of the women from Kehillat Shevet Achim congregation in Netanya[Missing Credit]
Zara Wagner (née Shaw), another community member, who made aliyah from the UK three years ago, said: “Us parents are here struggling with the language, but our kids know the language, and they’re going to flourish here in the future. We’ve done the hard work.”
Wagner’s own parents were “core members” of Borehamwood and Elstree United Synagogue and helped to develop the community from the early 1980s onwards. “Now, I’m doing something similar to what they did then,” Wagner said. “That responsibility of strengthening and contributing to a community that is in its early years has been passed down to me. It’s so easy to build an amazing group of friends here, who are always looking out for each other and offering a helping hand. There is so much activity and excitement to be [in the country] within this community.”
She added: “Living in Israel can be a mixed bag of emotions in light of the war and hostages, but ultimately this is the only place we would want to be and, ironically, it’s where we feel the safest.”
She said that even though “it can be a sad state of affairs that three to five-year-olds in Israel know what to do when there is a siren, this is still where we want to raise our children. We seem to be living the dream. It’s a corny phrase, but it’s true.”
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