Even Shmuel

Drive thirty minutes from Beit Shemesh, and instead of making a left to rt 6 towards Meitar, we made our way to Even Shmuel. 

As we passed through several industrial plants and other business buildings, after making a right turn, I remarked "wow, look at those houses." Sure enough, it was Even Shmuel. 

Visiting a cousin of mine who has lived in Israel for 8 years and after some time in Modiin settled in the yishuv, we found her house in the new Harchava area. We decided to have a pizza dinner social distance style. With the open air, yards and size of the homes, this was not challenging. It was really nice to see family. 

We learned about the active bnei akiva in town and that there's a makolet and one pizza store. For larger items, Kiryat Gat services those who need to get to Tel Aviv, healthcare and other shopping needs. 

Even Shmuel is a religious yishuv where you need to be interviewed and accepted to live there. Houses range from 2.7+ and most in the newer parts are du mishpachti, even though the house itself is full and feels very private. The construction was somewhat similar to what we saw in Carmei Gat, however, every house is unique whereas Carmei Gat houses are mostly built by the same Kablan unless the family chooses Bnei Beitcha. 

Even Shmuel's layout comprises of flat roofs, no apartment buildings, and concrete frames. From the distance one can see the hills of Jerusalem. Off the main road we turned on waze to help us with walking directions since there are no street signs (names were distributed just last week and are yet to be approved - - my cousin believes they are names after flowers).

The yishuv locks its gate on Shabbat, so it is nice to have the sense of security that children can run around and play. One of their daughters, a 3rd grader, has only 40 children in her grade. This is very different from a city, such as Beit Shemesh where there are 30 to a class within the overall grade made up of 90 students. 

The realization from our brief visit is that in yishuv life, you MUST have a car. There are no buses that service within Even Shmuel (that we could see). The lifestyle felt similar to how I grew up in Silver Spring, however now I'm realizing that even that was a small little town just a 10 minute walk from downtown and city areas. So perhaps Beit Shemesh is actually more like Silver Spring and Sheinfeld is Woodside. The kids remarked how clean Even Shmuel was and sighted a park. Parks are still a big deal! 

Even Shmuel is absolutely beautiful and has a calm vibe. Kids run from house to house and have the time of their life. If you are looking for a tight knit, all religious yishuv, check it out! 

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