Ramat Beit Shemesh, for newcomers and locals
Places checked against their own sources, this week's Shabbat times and weather, what's on, and the practical answers newcomers ask for.
324 Checked places10 Neighbourhoods mappedCandle lighting Friday 16:01
Photo: Davidbena, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
This week
This week in Ramat Beit Shemesh
א׳ בְּכִסְלֵו תשפ״ז
Shabbat
Parashat Toldot
Friday 13 November
- Candle lighting
- 16:01
- Havdalah
- 17:19
20-minute custom: 16:21
Ben-Gurion Day
- Parsha:Parashat Toldot (opens in a new tab)
- Haftarah:Malachi 1:1-2:7 (opens in a new tab)
- Daf yomi:Bechorot 54 (opens in a new tab)
Readings from Hebcal (Israel schedule); texts open on Sefaria.
Coming up
- 11Nov"The Eighth Note" exhibition in the Bell Cave, Bet Guvrin (opens in a new tab)On now · until 30 Nov · Hebrew · Mateh Yehuda tourism
- 11NovBring the Haftarah to Life: weekly English shiur for women (opens in a new tab)On now · until 30 Nov · English · ShemeshPhone events
- 25NovTrip to Yarkon Springs Park, for English speakers (opens in a new tab)08:45 · English · Matnas Beit Shemesh ticketing (smarticket)
Chanukah is coming
Get ready for Chanukah
The first candle is lit at nightfall on Friday 4 December. 23 days to go.
On Friday, light before the Shabbat candles, with candles that will burn until half an hour after dark.
Light the chanukiah
Candles go in from right to left. You light from left to right, the newest candle first, with the shamash.
Spin the dreidel
- Your coins
- 10
- Pot
- 2
You start with 10 coins and 2 in the pot. In Israel the letters stand for נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה פֹּה, "a great miracle happened here".
Who are you?
Start where you are
Pick the page that fits you: the first steps, the right places in the directory and the people to ask.
Explore
Everything for life in Ramat Beit Shemesh
Local directory
Places checked against their own source
Every listing links to where its details came from and shows the date it was last checked. Filter by language spoken, kashrut and neighbourhood.
- Home repairs & handymen30 places
- Doctors & clinics2 places
- Dentists5 places
- Health fund branches16 places
- Urgent care, hospitals & emergency8 places
- Therapy & counselling4 places
- Kosher restaurants & cafés20 places
- Groceries & bakeries16 places
- Shuls13 places
- Schools36 places
- Gan & daycare1 place
- Ulpan & Hebrew1 place
New in town
Your first weeks in Ramat Beit Shemesh, step by step
The paperwork, the health fund, the bank, the bus card and the arnona office, in the order that saves you trips. Your progress stays on your device.
- 1
Before you land
- Gather original documents
- Check your aliyah file is complete
- Compare the four health funds
- 2
First week
- Install Home Front Command and find your shelter
- Get a Rav-Kav or a payment app
- Open a bank account
- 3
First month
- Register for arnona at the municipality
- Sign up for ulpan
- Meet your absorption adviser
- 4
First three months
- Ask your employer about tax credit points
- Check your National Insurance status
- Decide on health fund supplementary cover
Guides
Practical guides, with the common questions answered
- 01Your first week in RBS: what to do, in what orderThe first-week checklist for new olim in Ramat Beit Shemesh: bank, Misrad HaKlita, kupat cholim, arnona discount, Rav-Kav and the community lists.
- 02RBS neighbourhoods compared: A, B, Gimmel, Daled, Hey and old Beit ShemeshHow the parts of Ramat Beit Shemesh and Beit Shemesh differ, from Anglo-heavy RBS A and Sheinfeld to the newer Gimmel, Daled and Neve Shamir.
- 03Schools and gans in Beit Shemesh: registration, zones and what olim needHow municipal gan and school registration works in Beit Shemesh (5787 dates, age bands, mamad zones, appeals), what new residents and olim must bring, costs, tzaharon and daycare.
- 04Health funds, doctors and urgent care in RBSKupat cholim in Beit Shemesh, switching funds as a new oleh, where the nearest hospitals are, and urgent care on weekdays and Shabbat.
- 05Getting around from RBS: buses, the train and Rav-KavTnufa's Jerusalem lines (600, 61x and more), Beit Shemesh Express city lines and Bnei Brak buses, lines to Tel Aviv, Modiin Illit, Beitar Illit and Efrat, why the train goes to Tel Aviv but not Jerusalem, and where to get a Rav-Kav.
- 06Shopping and kosher food in RBS and Beit ShemeshThe malls, supermarkets and eateries newcomers use in RBS and Beit Shemesh, and how to read the many different hechshers.
The place
A city of stone and hills, 30 km from Jerusalem
- First English-speaking olim move to Sheinfeld
- 1991First English-speaking olim move to SheinfeldSource (opens in a new tab)
- RBS A and B founded, doubling the city
- 1998RBS A and B founded, doubling the citySource (opens in a new tab)
- Residents of Beit Shemesh (2024)
- 176,786Residents of Beit Shemesh (2024)Source (opens in a new tab)
Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph spread across the valley below the Judean hills, seen from a rocky hillside
Photo: צביקי ולדמן (Hebrew Wikipedia user), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
Useful apps
The apps people here actually use
Organisations newcomers use
From our network
Good people I work with
A few organisations from the Consult With Ari network whose work reaches people in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
These are not paid listings, and they are separate from the checked directory.
Common questions
About this site
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