Imagine you want to live in the center of Israel, within a short commute to business hubs such as Tel Aviv and Herzliya. In your perfect “dream house” scenario, you would like to have a nucleus of English speakers in an intimate, thriving and growing suburban community, which offers relatively inexpensive housing and excellent schools.
Sounds impossible? Think again.
Tel Mond is located in the heart of the Sharon region, less than ten miles north of Ra’anana, twelve miles from Herzliya and within twenty miles of Tel Aviv. This central location, in close proximity to many high-tech parks, affords Tel Mond’s residents myriad job opportunities, shopping choices and even beach options close to home.
Though only a few short miles from major shopping centers, Tel Mond is a self-contained community, boasting a wide variety of stores and restaurants, as well as a public library, sports center and medical clinics.
Tel Mond’s residents utilize a train station in neighboring Bet Yehoshua, which offers service to Tel Aviv (20 minutes) and Haifa (50 minutes). In addition, Tel Mond is situated just off a number of major highways and is very close to the Bnei Dror intersection, which is a major transportation hub.
Tel Mond was established by Sir Alfred Moritz Mond. Mond was a member of the British parliament, president of the British Zionish Federation and the first president of the Technion. However, he was best known for helping to bring electricity to pre-state Israel. Mond sat on the board of the Palestine Electric Company and secured exclusive concessions from the British government to produce and distribute electricity in Palestine.
In 1929, Mond’s company purchased land in the region and planted citrus orchards to provide employment for Jewish laborers. Over time, farmers bought additional parcels of land and created a string of adjoining settlements. In 1954, a cluster of these agricultural settlements were united as one community known as Tel Mond. Today, Tel Mond has 14,000 residents, and is in serious growth mode.
Two thousand housing units are being built, half of which are semi-detached houses which are selling for around 3,000,000 NIS. The other half being developed are either large garden units or roof-top apartments, with prices starting at 2,300,000 NIS.
Tel Mond has historically been a secular city, although there have always been pockets of religious residents. Over the past fifteen years, a young, dynamic group of families comprised of many English speakers moved into Tel Mond, and they created a synagogue called Kehillat Mevaser Zion, which serves as a religious and social center for the English-speaking religious community. The synagogue offers a rich assortment of Hebrew and English classes, most of them presented by Rabbi Baruch Weintraub, a native Israeli who learned in Yeshivat Har Etzion under Rav Aharon Lichtenstein z”l, and then taught in Toronto’s Torah Mitzion/YU Kollel. The strong dati leumi (national religious) community continues to grow and now comprises 20% of the population.
Particularly unique about Tel Mond is the strong harmonious relationships between the secular and religious communities, not only amongst the adults but also amongst the youth. For example, the two neighborhood youth movements – the religious Bnei Akiva movment and the secular Tzofim scouts – have close relationships and often jointly run community activities. In addition, all the neighborhood shops are closed on Shabbat.
Tel Mond has also distinguished itself from an educational perspective. The local religious elementary school, Ohr Torah Tel Mond, is recognized as the top school in the entire Sharon region. In addition, there are a handful of religious preschool programs in the city. These excellent educational facilities have helped draw young families to the community.
I look forward to watching Tel Mond expand and seeing its flourishing religious community play a larger role in shaping this exceptional city’s future.
Gedaliah Borvick is the founder of My Israel Home (www.myisraelhome.com), a real estate agency focused on helping people from abroad buy and sell homes in Israel. To sign up for his monthly market updates, contact him at gborvick@gmail.com.