Tel Aviv, 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.
272 Checked places14 Neighbourhoods mappedCandle lighting Friday 16:22
Photo: Jorge Láscar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
This week
This week in Tel Aviv
כ״ח בְּחֶשְׁוָן תשפ״ז
Shabbat
Parashat Toldot
Friday 13 November
- Candle lighting
- 16:22
- Havdalah
- 17:20
Sigd
- Parsha:Parashat Toldot (opens in a new tab)
- Haftarah:Malachi 1:1-2:7 (opens in a new tab)
- Daf yomi:Bechorot 51 (opens in a new tab)
Readings from Hebcal (Israel schedule); texts open on Sefaria.
Coming up
- 9NovArchitecture Quality: Shaping Reality (series launch) (opens in a new tab)19:00 · English · Liebling Haus
- 10NovHER Women's Reproductive Health and Fertility Panel (opens in a new tab)19:00 · English · Nefesh B'Nefesh
- 20NovPeter Grimes (Israeli Opera) (opens in a new tab)13:00 · English, Hebrew · The Israeli Opera
Chanukah is coming
Get ready for Chanukah
The first candle is lit at nightfall on Friday 4 December. 26 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 Tel Aviv
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.
New in town
Your first weeks in Tel Aviv, 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 Tel AvivThe order I would do things in during a first week in Tel Aviv-Yafo: national paperwork, the city's olim department, the arnona discount, 106 and DigiTel.
- 02Tel Aviv neighborhoods comparedHow Tel Aviv-Yafo's neighborhoods differ for newcomers: where English and French speakers and religious families settle, and what the sources say on rent.
- 03Schools and gans in Tel AvivHow gan and school registration works in Tel Aviv-Yafo, when it opens, the papers olim need, Hebrew support, and the English-language options.
- 04Health funds, doctors and urgent care in Tel AvivChoosing a kupat cholim in Tel Aviv, finding an English-speaking doctor, after-hours numbers, and how the Ichilov emergency room works.
- 05Getting around Tel AvivThe Red Line, buses and Rav-Kav, trains, free weekend buses, bike share and scooter rules, and how resident parking works in Tel Aviv-Yafo.
- 06Renting and buying in Tel AvivSourced Tel Aviv rent figures, where listings are posted, the Fair Rental Law basics, the city's model lease, and the olim purchase tax track.
The place
A city that started on the sand dunes in 1909
- Founded, as Ahuzat Bayit
- 1909Founded, as Ahuzat BayitSource (opens in a new tab)
- Residents at the end of 2024 (municipality)
- 467,270Residents at the end of 2024 (municipality)Source (opens in a new tab)
- Bauhaus buildings in the White City, UNESCO World Heritage since 2003
- ~4,000Bauhaus buildings in the White City, UNESCO World Heritage since 2003Source (opens in a new tab)
Rooftops of low White City apartment buildings in central Tel Aviv, with the office towers along Rothschild Boulevard behind
Photo: Eduard Marmet, CC BY-SA 2.0, 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 Tel Aviv.
These are not paid listings, and they are separate from the checked directory.
Common questions
About this site
Run a business or a community here?
Get listed free, or get a website that works
I'm Ari, and I built this site. Listings here are always free and never paid placement. I also build websites for businesses, shuls and organisations. If you'd like one, book a free call or message me.