While the Israeli government does offer some support and incentives to promote new businesses, many Olim Chadashim face difficult challenges when navigating strict regulations, permits and  financial hurdles upon making Aliyah and setting up their business. This Nugget Series tells the story of Olim who successfully made Aliyah and launched their businesses in Israel.

Each story is different; each person’s journey is precious. And each person and successful business is  important to Israel, showing the spirit, vibrancy, and unique contributions of Olim to the one and only Jewish State.

Ophra Shoshtari grew up in a Modern Orthodox community in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her entire upbringing was very Zionist and her parents talked about making Aliyah when they retired. Yet, Ophra Shoshtari says, “I never really imagined myself making Aliyah. I was at the lowest Hebrew level and my identity was very much that of an American Jew. But, on the last day of 2009, Ophra made Aliyah.

Shoshtari’s Aliyah journey began after she had spent a gap year in Israel, returning to America to complete her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland. And it may indeed have been her Art Theory professor at the University of Maryland who planted a seed for Ophra as to what kind of business she would eventually decide on starting once she had made Aliyah.

“After my Art Theory professor noticed how much I enjoyed his class, he suggested that I might want to be a curator. My favorite part of my studio classes was always the critique and it just clicked. I created my own major in Museology and began working in galleries and museums. I very much wanted to get a job at one of the Smithsonian art museums,” Shoshtari said,

“I finished my degree in the winter of 2008. The economy had crashed and there was a hiring freeze at the Smithsonian museums,” Ophra Shoshtari continued. I got an unpaid internship at an art organization. After several months of working there in exchange for experience, I interviewed for a paying position. By this point, I had broken up with my college boyfriend and many of my friends had already made Aliyah. The job market in the U.S, was bleak for me. I made a deal with myself: if I didn’t get this job, I would make Aliyah. I didn’t get the job and I cried my heart out because I knew the next step was a huge one.”

After making Aliyah, Ophra lived in a Mercaz Klita in Jerusalem that had a program for young professionals, “It was like a summer camp/school for adults,” explains Ophra. “I made great friends and had a soft landing. Soon after, I got an apartment in the German Colony and started working for a small commercial gallery. I broke my teeth on the Hebrew and the job wasn’t ideal for many reasons. After a year and a half in Jerusalem. I chose to do my MA at the Univeristy of Haifa, where I studied Art History and Curation. I really enjoyed my life in Haifa. I lived near the Technion and found a community among the  very smart, English-speaking expats pursuing higher degrees there.”

While studying, Ophra  did fundraising research for the Vice President of the university. It was there that the head of the Art Department, Shoshtari recounts, “took a liking to me. She was a well-known artist and when a position opened at the gallery where she was represented, she suggested that I apply. I did and I got the job at the famous Gordon Gallery.”

Ophra Shoshtari then moved to Tel Aviv, to another young professionals’ Anglo community, continuing to learn a lot at the gallery and also meeting her husband, an Israeli-Anglo. The couple then moved to Netanya.

The next step in Ophra Shoshtari’s Aliyah journey found her working at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, registrar’s office,  the department responsible for all the works going in and out of the museum. She now had two children and, after a year, she moved with her family to Enav in the northern Shomron.  In Enav, Ophra found a warm native Israeli community which accepted her with open arms and for the first time since she came to Israel 10 years prior, her community was comprised primarily of Hebrew-speaking sabras and not just Olim. Then Corona broke out and Ophra was put on furlough. So, Ophra said. ” I started researching the artists of my region and found that there were many, many amazing artists here, but almost nowhere for them to show their work.”

Today, Ophra Shoshtari has her dream business in Israel called Mareh. She started out by creating exhibitions, but not receiving any payment for her work, raising funds to cover costs, but not for herself. “In this way I met artists, established a reputation with them and with the local municipalities and built up a network. It also allowed me to start pursuing my dream during a global pandemic and then a traumatizing war, while still making time for my growing family. I  have four kids now,” says Ophra.

And last year Ophra opened a business file and started getting paid for her work. She did an exhibition with the One Israel Fund in Shiloh, commemorating a teenager who was murdered in a terrorist attack. Then she did a project with the Binyamin Municipality where artists from Binyamin and Eshkol (Otef Aza) were brought together for three meetings which culminated in an exhibition at the Jerusalem Theater.

Currently, Shoshtari has an exhibition on view in Ariel called “Creating Space” and is working with the municipality to raise money to establish a permanent municipal art gallery on the second floor of the library. “We have raised half the funds so far. Additionally, the One Israel Fund has rented a space at the Jerusalem Theater for half a year and we will show two exhibitions featuring artists from Judea and Samaria during that time,” Shoshtari said.

“In addition to my work creating exhibitions, it was important to me to create a digital footprint for my artists and to show the productivity and creativity of the artists of the region to a wider audience who may not be able to come to the exhibitions. For this purpose, I created the site “Hazut.” I am very proud of “Hazut,” which I designed myself using an AI program. The business model for “Hazut” right now, Shoshtari told Israel Seen, “is a subscription paid by the artists. Although the price I charge them is very affordable, it is a goal of mine to find another way to fund the website, either through a patron or by selling prints of the artists’ work abroad. I haven’t found the perfect solution for funding “Hazut” yet, though, so for now, the subscription is the way I am handling it. “Hazut” currently features 40 artists, and I hope to grow it to 100 within a year. The artists are out there. I find new ones all the time.”