Givat Shmuel, 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.
- 17:55
- Candle lighting Friday
- 26°
- Right now
- 10
- Neighbourhoods & campus
- 203
- Checked places
Photo: Bar-Ilan University, CC BY-SA 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 Givat Shmuel
כ״ט בְּתִשְׁרֵי תשפ״ז
Shabbat
Parashat Bereshit
Friday 9 October
- Candle lighting
- 17:55
- Havdalah
- 18:51
- 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
- 12OctLibrary story hour: "Cat stories" (opens in a new tab)16:30 · Givat Shmuel Municipality events
- 12OctTheatre: Beer Sheva Theatre, "Reserved Seats" (Hebrew) (opens in a new tab)20:30 · Matnas Givat Shmuel
- 13OctChildren's show: "Inbaronet's world of imagination", ages 2-4 (Hebrew) (opens in a new tab)17:00 · Matnas Givat Shmuel
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 Givat Shmuel
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 small city that keeps growing up
- Residents, CBS estimate for end of August 2026 (via Hebrew Wikipedia)
- 31,209Residents, CBS estimate for end of August 2026 (via Hebrew Wikipedia)Source (opens in a new tab)
- Municipal area (2,570 dunams): about 12,100 residents per km²
- 2.6 km²Municipal area (2,570 dunams): about 12,100 residents per km²Source (opens in a new tab)
- Members of the GSC, the English-speaking community, per NBN
- 900+Members of the GSC, the English-speaking community, per NBNSource (opens in a new tab)
Aerial view of Givat Shmuel and Petah Tikva: red-roofed cottages beside a wide road, open fields and rows of residential towers
Photo: Davidi Vardi (דוידי ורדי), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
New in town
Your first weeks in Givat Shmuel, 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 Givat ShmuelCity hall hours, arnona, the parking permit, the absorption department, the library card and the 90-second rule: the first-week jobs in Givat Shmuel, in the order that saves trips.
- 02The neighbourhoods of Givat Shmuel comparedTen areas in one small city: where olim and students actually live, what each neighbourhood is like and what it costs to rent there, from the cheapest (Giora) to the priciest (Ramat Hadar).
- 03Schools and gans in Givat ShmuelHow gan, grade 1 and grade 7 registration works (2027-28 not yet announced; 2026-27 dates as a guide), tzaharonim and maonot, the schools, and support for olim and English-speaking children.
- 04Health funds, urgent care and hospitals near Givat ShmuelWhere each health fund's clinic is, which doctors list English, the Motzei Shabbat pharmacies, Terem urgent care, and the four hospitals within a short ride of Givat Shmuel.
- 05Getting around Givat Shmuel: buses, light rail, trains and parkingRav-Kav and Moovit basics, the buses to Tel Aviv, Bar-Ilan and Jerusalem, the nearest Red Line stops, the nearest train stations, Shabbat, bikes and parking.
- 06Shabbat and shuls in Givat ShmuelAbout 40 shuls, the young-adult and olim minyanim, the mikvaot and their hours, what is open on Motzei Shabbat, and the honest gaps: which shuls are English-speaking and where the eruv map is.
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 Givat Shmuel.
These are not paid listings, and they are separate from the checked directory.
Common questions
About this site
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