Meitar
There are three pools within the town, offering separate hours for men and women's swim. A dedicated library and lots of space for strolling. The closest hospital is Saroka, about 20 minutes away. The roads of the yeshuv-city are flat, on a grid and easy to get around.
The community is proud of its diversity. The mamlachti dati school, Chemdat, has boys and girls of all religious (and non religious) levels learning in harmony. The school goes through 8th grade and splits the genders in 6th grade. Many also choose to send their children to schools in Arad, Susya or Sansena. It is customary in Israel to send kids to boarding school in 9th grade. Chemdat hours end at 1:30ish with options for chugim, an extra torah after hours learning session (180 shekel for the year) and Chabad in the same complex also offers after hours care.
There is an active community Beit midrash program for both men and women. The men learn gemara, tenach, parsha Sunday through Thursday from 9 am to 12 noon on rechov kadesh barnea 40. The women's beit midrash meets every Sunday from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the central shul. Every Friday night there is a community oneg. During the winter there are Onegs geared to children as well (our 8 year old asked to go and now I regret saying no, as it would have been a great opportunity for him to meet more children).
Meitar has two buses at 6 am and 11 am to Jerusalem. It's a round about way, but otherwise there is a direct bus from Be'er Sheva to the Holy City as well. Kvish shesh connects to many destinations. And the fast train, if not yet introduced to the South, will be a game changer. As real estate prices grow higher and higher in the merkaz and Israel's population is expected to double in 20 years, Meitar is a gem of the South where right now buying there is a good investment.
There aren't too many formal restaurants within Meitar but Be'er Sheva offers shabbat catering with so far the best chopped liver that we have had. Some stores in Be'er Sheva will deliver.
The community of Meitar has three of four sections. The first is made up of older houses, known as the Southern neighborhood. This area was established in 1985. In the 90's the Rabin area was built, with homes that reminded us of Phoenix, Arizona. This was also a nice area with a bit less land but large homes with flat roofs and brick paved side streets where kids can play as it is quiet (look up for example a street called Revivim). Newer than that is an area called Kalaniyot where police and army families created a developed community. This is closer to the entrance of Meitar where a new public school is being built. We did not have a chance to see the Northern neighborhood.
There's talk of establishing a yeshiva high school in Meitar or adding more classes to the school Chemdat. These changes won't be immediate but there's discussion. The new principal of Chemdat travels from Yerucham. He's added a surge of new energy. Be'er Sheva has a local boys high school. And there are hasa'ot to schools in Yerucham, etc.
It was fascinating to learn about the dynamics on the community and that members of Meitar prefer to keep the schools combined and not separate. Many non religious or traditional families also send to Chemdat to maintain a foundation of Jewish customs. It takes a certain level of open mindedness to welcome this type of exposure.
The yeshuv has many shuls, a central one that is Ashkenaz and a more American minyan that holds services in a miklat (lots of miklats in the area and also, amazing to learn about how these were built and utilized throughout the country's history).
We are lucky to have our close cousins in Meitar as we continue to figure out the next step in our adventure to formally settle in a new country. We enjoyed taking walks on shabbat, seeing the different architecture of homes and avoiding being bit by barking large dogs - - but also held one super cute one.
Meitar is the closest community we've seen that is very similar to Sharon, Massachusetts and imagine given the attractive prices, that the more anglos and religious families that move to the town will benefit tremendously. There is no shortage of minyanim, a Mikvah, and greenery. Many houses also have yechidot diyur to help young couples save as they start their lives (and also rent the space to help pay off a mortgage!).
If you are looking for calm, open, a yeshuv of 10,000 families that is continuing to expand, realizing Ben Gurion's dream of the Negev and are ok not being in the merkaz, this is definitely a wonderful option.
For more information visit https://www.nbn.org.il/gosouth/community_profile/meitar/ and discover Meitar within the Go South program.
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