Givat Shmuel is next to Bar-Ilan University and, by English Wikipedia's count, has Israel's largest community of young English-speaking lone immigrants: students, gap-year and post-army olim, lone soldiers, bnot sherut and young couples. This page gathers what that crowd needs.
The Shabbat community: JLIC
JLIC Mizrachi Givat Shmuel / Bar-Ilan is the English-speaking anchor for students, lone soldiers, bnot sherut and young professionals (JLIC (opens in a new tab)). Its 2024-25 welcome packet says:
- Friday-night minyan at 80 HaZeitim St (Moreshet Neria school gym), with members hosting meals and a committee making sure nobody is left without one.
- Shabbat morning tefillah, a weekly kiddush and shiur, and Shabbatons through the year.
- A Sunday English shiur, Torah Tuesdays and a women's chabura.
- A WhatsApp community for all its groups, and Instagram @jlic.givash.biu (packet, PDF (opens in a new tab)).
The GSC (Givat Shmuel Community), a non-profit with 900+ members per NBN, runs Shabbatons, barbecues, open mic nights, shiurim, workshops and career mentoring.
Where students live
- Dorms: Bar-Ilan's Park 100 dorms are the closest to the Shabbat community; Ilanot is the other option. Yearly contracts run October to September; short stays go through the International School (dorms (opens in a new tab)).
- Off campus: JLIC says most of its community lives on the "Old side" (Ben Gurion, HaNasi and Yoni Netanyahu Sts). Start looking after Pesach for a summer move; JLIC points to yad2.co.il and to Facebook and WhatsApp groups for shomer-Shabbat roommates.
- Arnona: the municipality says it cannot give a discount just for being a student.
Bar-Ilan for English speakers
- The International School (Building 403) runs English-taught degrees, the Israel XP gap year, the multilingual ulpan and short dorm stays, and points new-immigrant students to Student Authority eligibility (new immigrants (opens in a new tab)).
- JLIC and Bar-Ilan run an English Beit Midrash Program that can count for Judaics credit; the Midrasha has evening batei midrash open to all students (Midrasha (opens in a new tab)).
- The FitUp gym (Building 107) is open Sun-Thu 07:00-22:00 and Fri 08:30-13:30, with women-only hours on Sunday and Tuesday and men-only on Monday and Wednesday, 15:00-17:00 (sports (opens in a new tab)).
- Bar-Ilan offers confidential student counselling, and the International School has a welfare coordinator.
Lone soldiers
I found no lone-soldier centre in Givat Shmuel itself. The national frameworks:
- NBN-FIDF Lone Soldiers Program: drafting guidance, benefits and events (NBN LSP (opens in a new tab)).
- Lone Soldier Center in memory of Michael Levin: community centres in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Be'er Sheva, housing, meals and round-the-clock support (LSC (opens in a new tab)).
- Garin Tzabar: for young adults who make aliyah and serve in the IDF (Garin Tzabar (opens in a new tab)).
JLIC welcomes lone soldiers and bnot sherut for Shabbat.
Ages 18-40: the municipal Young Adults Centre
The city's Young Adults Centre, part of the municipal youth and young adults department, helps residents aged 18-40 with studies and work, life skills and emotional support, and runs community and leisure activities (municipality (opens in a new tab)).
Getting around without a car
Dan 32 runs through the campus to Tel Aviv; Jerusalem buses stop at the Route 4 interchange; the nearest Red Line stops are Shenkar and Aharonovich. Nothing runs on Shabbat. See Getting around.
If you are part of this community and something here is out of date, please tell me.
