Seattle, WA

With its unsurpassed natural beauty and booming economy, Seattle was the fastest growing among the 50 most-populous U.S. cities in 2015. Seattle boasts spectacular views of the incomparable Mount Rainier, offers numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation including skiing and boating, and is home to eight Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, Boeing, Costco, Amazon, Starbucks and T-Mobile. Microsoft and Amazon presently have thousands of open positions and Google and Facebook recently announced plans to substantially increase the size of their local offices. Seattle is also a hotbed for new ventures in high tech and biotechnology and is fortunate to have a number of nationally renowned medical centers and hospitals as well as the highly regarded University of Washington.

Seattle’s Jewish community is over 120 years old and has seven orthodox synagogues to choose from in several different areas of the city. Seattle’s Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities have a symbiotic relationship, with all synagogue Rabbis serving as members of the Seattle Vaad Harabanim. The Day Schools include three Pre-K through 8th grade day schools; Seattle Hebrew Academy, Torah Day School of Seattle, and the Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder. Seattle also benefits from the presence of a co-ed Yeshiva High School and a Girls High School. A Boys Yeshiva High School is set to open in Fall 2018. The Seattle Kollel serves as a hub for much of the Jewish learning and outreach in the city. The Kollel offers regular daily shiurim, open beis medrash in the evenings, and it’s very popular winter Saturday night program, Avos U’banim, where parents and their children learn together in a vibrant and fun environment. There are mikvahs, eruvim, and a number of summer camps in the city and kosher food is readily available at several local supermarkets that have kosher butcheries, bakeries, and take-out food. Affordable Kosher, an online kosher food service, also makes home deliveries citywide several times a week. Kosher restaurants include a full service dairy restaurant, a bagel store, and vegetarian Indian and Chinese establishments.

Seattle is the quintessential “out of town” Jewish community. It is well known for its warmth, hospitality, and chesed. There are numerous opportunities to get involved and make a difference. New arrivals often jump right in taking on lay leadership roles in the schools and shuls or volunteering to help with the Chevra Kadisha, the hospitality committee, or NCSY to name just a few. There is a wide array of housing options, including rental homes. Property taxes are roughly half of what they are in many East Coast cities. Despite its reputation, Seattle actually receives less rain than most cities on the Eastern Seaboard and enjoys mild winters and summers with winter highs averaging in the high 40’s and summer highs around 75 degrees.

With a hot job market, full service orthodox community, mild climate, and world class scenery, Seattle is an ideal place to establish a career and raise a Jewish family. Please come and visit, the community will be waiting with open arms.