ERETZ

J

ulia Weinberg, 34, made 
aliyah to Israel in July 
of this year. She came 
with her husband, Josh, whose 
grandparents were Benno and 
Ruth Levi of Oak Park, and their 
children Sultana, Netanel, Benno 
and Bella.

Q: Growing up in Yardley, 
Pennsylvania, did you have an 
early Zionist education?
JW: I grew up Conservative, 
and at Hebrew school, we talked 
about Israel but not in a partic-
ularly Zionist way. In the history 
books that we would read in 
Hebrew school, we’
d learn about 
the Kotel and a little tidbit about 
the War of Independence and the 
Six-Day War.
Our family was very tradition-
al. We always lit candles and cel-
ebrated all the holidays, so Israel 
just went along with that as part 
of the Jewish theme.

Q: When was your first trip 
to Israel?
JW: I had been involved in 
NCSY in high school, and by the 
time I graduated high school, I 
was keeping Shabbat and kosher. 
I went to NCSY’s gap-year pro-
gram called Michlelet Esther for 
the year. I loved it so much I was 
tempted to stay another year, 
but I had already been accepted 
to NYU, and I decided to go 
through with the plan.
While I was in college, I 
participated in many Israel pro-
grams: an internship at Hebrew 
University, an Israel advocacy 

training program where we went 
to Poland and then to Israel, and 
a social action exchange program 
where students from NYU were 
paired up with students in Israel.
Both of us love the idea of living 
in Israel and raising our kids 
here. We are both very Zionistic 
and the fact that his whole family 
(except for one brother) lives in 
Israel helped with that decision.

Q: What was your final moti-
vation for aliyah?
JW: We’ve been talking about 
it since we got married, and 
we were worried our kids were 
going to age out. Our oldest 
daughter is 10, and we felt there 
was a cut-off age that your kids 
can take on the accent of a for-
eign language.
Another factor was the cost 
of tuition in America. If you 
want to send your kids to a 
private Jewish school, it’s out-
rageously expensive. Michigan 
is on the lower end of the scale, 
but we have four kids and that’s 
$60,000 a year. In Israel, tuition 
is basically free, so that’s a huge 
thing. Health insurance is free 
in Israel, and we all know that 
in the U.S., that can be very 
expensive.
Also, we love the style of 
child-rearing in Israel. The kids 
have a lot more independence 
in Israel, and it’s a very fami-
ly-friendly country. There are 
parks everywhere, and every 
Tuesday and Shabbat there are 
youth group meetings.
It’s a wonderful place to raise 

kids, and it’s a Jewish-centered 
life.

Q: How long were you living 
in Michigan? What schools 
did your children attend and 
what shul did you go to?
JW: We lived in Michigan for 
10 years. All my kids started out 
at Farber, and then when our 
daughter Sultana was going into 
kindergarten, we switched her 
to Bais Yaakov, and when our 
son, Netanel, was going into 
second grade, we switched him 
to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.
We went to Young Israel of 
Southfield for shul.

Q: What do you miss about 
living in Michigan?
JW: I miss the people. We had 
the best street, and our neigh-
bors were awesome. My parents 
literally lived three doors down 
from us. It was so amazing for 
my kids to walk to Grandmom 
and Poppop’s house whenever 
they wanted to see them. We 
also had our Uncle Noah and 
Aunt Cherie Levi, the Gotlibs, 
the Goniks, the Mendelsons and 

the Gevaryahus, all with kids 
our kids’ ages. Plus a few blocks 
away, we had Josh’s brother and 
sister-in-law, Ephy and Margi 
Weinberg, and adorable nieces, 
and that was hard to give up.
It was also hard for me to 
move away due to my interior 
design business, Julia Robin 
Interiors, which, thank God was, 
taking off. Luckily, I was able 
to hire an amazing designer, 
Miriam Horwitz, to go onsite for 
my ongoing projects, and I am 
still working remotely. I plan to 
continue working in Michigan 
while opening a new branch in 
Israel.

Q: Do you have a message for 
people living in Detroit who are 
reading this interview?
JW: If you’re thinking about 
making aliyah, start the process 
at least a year in advance because 
it takes a long time to get all the 
documents you need. Join Olim 
or Anglo Facebook groups and 
follow them. Also, if you’re think-
ing about buying something in 
Israel, do it immediately because 
the prices here are going up. 

Julia Weinberg: 
‘Israel Is a Wonderful 
Place to Raise Kids’

AVIVA ZACKS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

34 | OCTOBER 7 • 2021 

MEET THE OLIM

Josh and Julia 
Weinberg and 
family

