Who Said A Jewish Family Needs Over $150K Per Year?
Kosher Money
Living Lchaim
4.9 • 843 Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2025
⏱️ 74 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We head to Columbus, Ohio, a fast-growing, affordable Jewish community.
Rabbi Avi Goldstein and Meir Perlmutter share how it became a thriving hub of Orthodox life.
If you’ve ever wondered what out-of-town Jewish life really looks like, this episode will open your eyes.
We explore:
🏡 Why housing in Columbus costs a fraction of what it does in Lakewood or the Five Towns
💰 How families are saving tens of thousands of dollars in tuition in Ohio
👨👩👧👦 What it means to raise kids in a community where everyone knows your name
🌟 How two passionate community builders helped turn a small Midwest city into a center of Jewish growth
Columbus appears to offer a calmer, more intentional Jewish lifestyle with less financial pressure and more opportunities to start something big.
If you’ve ever said, “I could never leave the tri-state,” this episode might make you think again.
Visit https://www.columbuspathways.org/ to learn more.
You can also email Rabbi Goldstein at Rabbi@BJcolumbus.org or contact 614-448-8396.
And, no, this wasn't a paid episode. We don't do paid episodes. :-)
Here's our special episode with Rabbi Moshe Hauer zt"l: https://youtu.be/G2Xt_SGD5jw
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
01:13 Who Is Rabbi Avi Goldstein?
02:32 Finding Himself in Columbus, Ohio
03:20 How Meir Perlmuter Ended Up in Columbus
05:26 The Facts About Columbus
06:18 Orthodox Community That Got It All Started
08:06 What Jewish Life in Columbus Looks Like
11:23 The Number of Orthodox Jews in Columbus
12:10 Housing Costs in Columbus
14:03 Spreading the Word to Join the Community
17:04 Kosher Food & The Growth Mentality
20:58 Twillory’s High-Quality Clothing
22:23 BitBean Brings Your Ideas to Life
23:14 What Tuition Looks Like in Columbus
26:57 Resources in Schools for Special Needs
27:14 The Pace of Life in Columbus
29:54 Columbus Is Not a Cookie-Cutter Place
32:10 Emergency Services in Columbus
34:00 Why People Choose to Live Out of Town
36:29 How Can an Introvert Move Out of Town?
38:40 Columbus Is Not That Far
39:25 The Weather in Columbus, Ohio
39:35 No More State Income Tax?
40:00 Job Opportunities in Columbus
42:11 Women in the Workforce
42:54 Helping Each Other Get Jobs
44:02 Who Adapts Best to the Move
44:52 Evergreen Can Deliver to Your Community!
46:59 Colel Chabad Helps 1000s
48:13 Jewish Communities Communicating
50:05 Spending Shabbos in Columbus
53:34 The Uniqueness of Columbus
55:30 The Community Is Invested in Education
57:07 The Switch from New York to Ohio
1:00:02 Opportunity to Live a Happy, Fulfilling Life
1:02:17 Remembering Rabbi Moshe Hauer ZT”L
1:09:36 Where You Can Learn More
1:10:28 Outro: Takeaways + Sponsors + Subscribe!
🎓 Get free Jewish financial education resources: LivingSmarterJewish.org
📞 Call-in-to-listen Hotline: USA: 605-477-2100 | UK: 0333-366-0154 | Israel: 079-579-5088
📤 WhatsApp feedback: +1 (914) 222-5513
⚠️ Reminder: This episode or description is not financial advice.
Kosher Money is the bi-weekly podcast from Living Lchaim, hosted by Eli Langer.
#KosherMoney #JewishPodcast LivingLchaim
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In terms of housing, no, housing is not like it is here in Lawrence or in Lakewood. |
| 0:04.2 | It is incredibly affordable. |
| 0:05.9 | Just for example, my first house was $232,000. |
| 0:10.0 | I used an FHA loan, put down 3%, which was 7 grand. |
| 0:14.3 | So I bought my house for 7 grand. |
| 0:16.3 | I don't remember my specific interest rate at that time, but I'm not paying more than $1,800 a month for three-bedroom, |
| 0:23.5 | 2,000 square foots on two lots, nice brick house, beautiful, great. I don't think you get that |
| 0:28.6 | anywhere. Housing, pricing has come up a little bit due to us. It's good, I guess, also growth. |
| 0:34.1 | And inflation. Inflation. Yeah. And the world. And the world, everything. There's probably |
| 0:39.3 | 600 Orthodox affiliated families at different levels of observance, but probably if you took the |
| 0:44.7 | membership of three shules, it's probably about 600 members. You still can get a house in Columbus, |
| 0:50.1 | I'd say 300 to 500,000, depending on what type of amenities in the house you want or the size, |
| 0:56.3 | you know, the specific block. But you can still get a very nice house for $300,000, I would say. |
| 1:01.6 | And if you want a really nice house, you could get... |
| 1:05.0 | Being a Jew, awesome. Managing personal finances, not so awesome. Welcome to kosher money. |
| 1:14.2 | We're sitting here with two special guests. They came in from Columbus, Ohio. I've heard of |
| 1:20.1 | Columbus, but I'm ready to learn more. Let's start with Rabbi. Introduce yourself. Tell us a |
| 1:25.9 | little bit about yourself. And then we'll get over to |
| 1:27.5 | mayor thanks so much for having us uh my name is avie goldstein i'm from new york originally from |
| 1:33.5 | new city new york before munsey expanded into new city i grew up out of town in town and i went to |
| 1:39.9 | shahri torren moncee and um then to Tenari Srell for about 10 years. |
| 1:44.5 | I grew up in a Kura family. It was mostly it was I grew up in a |
... |
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