Josh Botwinick, 30, moved to Israel from Washington Heights with his wife Margot six years ago. They made their aliyah official in 2017. Josh and Margot are the Mizrachi OU-JLIC directors at IDC Herzliya.
Aviva: Where did you grow up?
Josh: I grew up in Riverdale.
Aviva: What school did you go to in Riverdale and where did you daven?
Josh: I went to SAR and davened at a mixture of the HIR, RJC, and the Shteible in Riverdale, New York.
Aviva: Tell me about your Zionist education.
Josh: I went to SAR from nursery through 12th grade, where I learned a lot of Zionist values. Between SAR, Camp Stone and the Riverdale community overall, I developed a warm connection with Zionism and the land of Israel.
Aviva: What was your first trip to Israel?
Josh: The first time I visited Israel was on a hesed trip in 10th grade. We got off the plane and went directly to the Negev town of Yerucham to spend a week painting nurseries, working at homeless shelters and learning at a very Israeli yeshiva. We jumped right into the most Israeli experience you could imagine, and I loved it! I believe I was the only one in my grade who had never been to Israel, and my experience was not at all the typical tourist one.
Aviva: Where did you go after high school?
Josh: To the Gush (Yeshivat Har Etzion). In that year I finally saw the more classically known parts of the country through trips and other experiences, and that filled in a whole other perspective on Israel for me.
Aviva: When did you come to Israel and when was your aliyah official?
Josh: I came to Israel during my final year of YU Semicha. I was learning in the Kollel in Gush, and we were looking into Jewish education opportunities in America. We heard about a new OU-JLIC program opening at IDC. Both my wife and I are in Jewish education, and we thought working with English speakers within Israel would be an exciting opportunity. So, we moved to Herzliya and made aliyah from within Israel.
Aviva: Did you have a previous plan to live in Israel?
Josh: I always saw Israel as a place where I might end up one day, but as someone who was going into Jewish education, I thought I was best suited to be working with the North American population in America. Spending that year in Gush, I saw how many opportunities there are for English speakers in Israel, and I realized that once that’s an option, I would rather be an educator in Israel than in America.
Aviva: How do you see aliyah trends changing?
Josh: Aliyah is now being led by college students and young people. There are hundreds of yeshiva day school graduates from America making aliyah every year and going to places like IDC, TAU, Bar Ilan, Ben Gurion, and Hebrew University, where there are blossoming communities of young English speakers in Israel. It’s been very exciting to be part of that development over the past several years, providing a soft and welcoming landing to so many English-speaking olim. In fact, now Yeshiva University is also leaning into this new trend of college students making aliyah, and they are opening undergraduate and graduate programs in Israel, which we’ll be helping to launch next year. I think this is a huge development in our Modern Orthodox Jewish world.
Aviva: What do you love about living in Israel?
Josh: I live in the secular city of Herzliya, and on Sukkot there is a sukkah on every porch. Granted the sukkot are all pasul and they’re all playing music on Yom Tov, but still, they’re celebrating the holiday! This country is infused with national Jewish pride that you don’t experience when you’re a Jew living in America.
Aviva: What do you miss about living in New York?
Josh: My family, snow and squirrels.
Aviva: Do you have a message for anyone who’s considering making aliyah?
Josh: I find a big hesitation for many people is their perception of the lack of good jobs in Israel, especially jobs in Jewish education. The trend is that young English speakers are making aliyah and are joining institutions that need educators. There are tremendous opportunities here. If that’s what’s holding you back, come!
By Aviva Zacks
