Ra'anana, 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
- 25°
- Right now
- 15
- Neighbourhoods mapped
- 238
- Checked places
Photo: Avishai Teicher (PikiWiki Israel), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · Licence (opens in a new tab) · resized and converted to WebP
This week
This week in Ra'anana
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
- 11OctMommy Morning at the Ktantanim Center (opens in a new tab)09:30 · Ra'anana Municipality (tickets.raanana.muni.il)
- 12OctEnglish lecture: 'La Fille mal gardee' - a Royal Ballet masterpiece (part 1), Guy Baum (opens in a new tab)09:00 · Ra'anana Municipality (tickets.raanana.muni.il)
- 12OctEnglish lecture: The Electric Brain, Amit Avron (opens in a new tab)10:30 · Ra'anana Municipality (tickets.raanana.muni.il)
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 Ra'anana
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 garden city that started as Little America
- Founded by a group of New Yorkers
- 1922Founded by a group of New YorkersSource (opens in a new tab)
- Of residents are immigrants
- 22%Of residents are immigrantsSource (opens in a new tab)
- Residents (CBS estimate, Aug 2026)
- 85,677Residents (CBS estimate, Aug 2026)Source (opens in a new tab)
Aerial view of Ahuza Street running through Ra'anana, lined with trees, red-roofed houses and apartment blocks
Photo: Lev.Tsimbler, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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 Ra'anana, 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 Ra'anana: what to do, in what orderThe first-week list for new olim in Ra'anana: the order NBN recommends, the municipal absorption unit, the arnona discount, the 107 hotline and the city's English WhatsApp community.
- 02Ra'anana neighbourhoods compared: north and south, old and newHow Ra'anana's neighbourhoods differ, where the religious and English-speaking communities are, and why the city's WhatsApp groups are the best neighbourhood map.
- 03Schools and gans in Ra'anana: registration, olim, tzaharon and the unique gansHow school and gan registration works in Ra'anana, the 2026-27 dates as a guide while 2027-28 is unpublished, the English pages for olim, and the Batei HaTalmid after-school programme.
- 04Health funds, doctors and urgent care in Ra'ananaThe four kupot in Ra'anana, the nearest hospital, where to go at night and on Shabbat, duty pharmacies, and English-speaking doctors.
- 05Getting around Ra'anana: trains, buses, the free weekend bus and taxisRa'anana's two Sharon-line stations, the main bus lines to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and the airport (from the October 2026 timetable), Rav-Kav and planners, Shabbat, taxis and bike paths.
- 06Shopping and kosher food in Ra'ananaHow kashrut works in Ra'anana, the Ahuza kosher strip, Renanim and Azrieli malls (and what opens after Shabbat), secondhand shops and gemachs.
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 Ra'anana.
These are not paid listings, and they are separate from the checked directory.
Common questions
About this site
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