Haifa, 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.
- 17:44
- Candle lighting Friday
- 25°
- Right now
- 28
- Neighbourhoods mapped
- 270
- Checked places
Photo: FLLL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
This week
This week in Haifa
כ״ט בְּתִשְׁרֵי תשפ״ז
Shabbat
Parashat Bereshit
Friday 9 October
- Candle lighting
- 17:44
- Havdalah
- 18:50
- Parsha:Parashat Bereshit (opens in a new tab)
- Haftarah:I Samuel 20:18-42 (opens in a new tab)
- Daf yomi:Bechorot 22 (opens in a new tab)
Readings from Hebcal (Israel schedule); texts open on Sefaria.
Coming up
- 10OctChildren's play "Ma Be'emet?" with craft workshop (ages 3+) (opens in a new tab)11:30 · Haifa Municipality (events calendar)
- 11OctMusical: Billy Schwartz (opens in a new tab)20:30 · Haifa Municipality (events calendar)
- 12OctFree open-bus city tour for Haifa students (opens in a new tab)All day · Haifa Tourism Association (Visit Haifa)
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 Haifa
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.
The place
A city of newcomers on the Carmel's slopes
- Of residents arrived as immigrants from 1990 onward
- 23.7%Of residents arrived as immigrants from 1990 onwardSource (opens in a new tab)
- Olim arrive in Haifa each year, says the city's absorption authority
- ~2,000Olim arrive in Haifa each year, says the city's absorption authoritySource (opens in a new tab)
- Of coastline, with 8 beaches and promenades
- 17.3 kmOf coastline, with 8 beaches and promenadesSource (opens in a new tab)
The green slope of Mount Carmel running down to the sea, with Bat Galim's houses along the shore, breakwaters and a cargo ship in the bay
Photo: Zvi Roger (Haifa Municipality), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
New in town
Your first weeks in Haifa, 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 HaifaThe order I'd do things in during your first week in Haifa: Beit Ole, the Interior Ministry, the bank, the Ministry of Aliyah, your health fund and ulpan, with addresses, hours and the numbers to keep.
- 02Haifa's neighbourhoods comparedHaifa is a vertical city: the Carmel at the top, Hadar on the slope, the port below and the Krayot across the bay. Here's how the main neighbourhoods compare on rent, community and getting around.
- 03Schools and gans in HaifaHow gan and school registration works in Haifa, what olim children get, and the state, state-religious and independent schools newcomers ask about, from the Reali to Leo Baeck.
- 04Health funds, doctors and hospitals in HaifaHaifa's hospitals and after-hours clinics, which urgent care each health fund uses, Russian- and English-speaking doctors, and Rambam's free interpreter service.
- 05Getting around Haifa: Carmelit, Metronit, cable cars and trainsHaifa's public transport goes up the mountain as well as across it: the underground Carmelit, the Metronit, two cable cars, six railway stations and some buses that run on Shabbat.
- 06Shopping and kosher food in HaifaHow to check a kashrut certificate in Haifa, which supermarkets open after Shabbat, the malls' hours, and the city's markets, from Talpiot to Wadi Nisnas.
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 Haifa.
These are not paid listings, and they are separate from the checked directory.
Common questions
About this site
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