By Rabbi Hayim Asher Arking and Rabbi Ezra Ghodsi

Why Do We Eat Symbolic Foods?

On Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat simanim – symbolic foods – representing blessings and hopes for the coming year. For example, we eat apples dipped in honey for a sweet year, pomegranates for abundant merits, and dates for the elimination of our enemies. Each food is often accompanied by a “yehi ratzon” prayer, linking its symbolism to a specific blessing for the year ahead.

Why Do We Eat Sweet, but Not Sour Foods on Rosh Hashanah?

It is customary to eat sweet foods and not have foods with a sour or bitter taste. This should be a siman – an omen – for the coming year that it shall be a sweet year. The sweetness of a food does not necessarily change its nutritional value or composition; however, the desire to eat something sweet and palatable prevails. So too, although judgement is being passed, and we know that we cannot avoid His judgement, Hashem grants the ability for the judgement to be sweetened in a way that allows us to gain the “nutritional value” and benefit of what He would like us to perform and accomplish in this world, yet in a way that is sweet and palatable.

Even more than the symbolism of foods eaten, one should be careful to exhibit a calm demeanor, not get angry, and just be happy, as this also portends the future year.

Why Are There Different Orders of the Simanim?

One can find in the Mahzorim two different orders for the simanim, one based upon the preference of order of blessings in general, and the other based on the successive order of vanquishing our enemies. Either way is good, and it is preferable for one to follow their custom.

Should Each Person Recite Their Own Blessing?

It is preferable for everyone to fulfill their obligation with the beracha of the leader of the household. When many people do a mitsvah together, it is a greater honor for Hashem, as the pasuk says, “be’rov aam hadrat melech – with more people performing a mitsvah together, it is the splendor of the King.” If one wishes to recite his own beracha and not be “yotzai” with the baalhabayit he may do so.

Why Should We Have a New Fruit on the Second Night?

All holidays outside of Erets Yisrael are each two days due to the sanctity imposed by custom of when the new month was determined by witnesses. Within Israel, all knew the determination of which day was Rosh Hodesh through messengers. However, outside of Israel, as it was distant, it may not have been known for a while, so two days of the holiday were kept. This custom infused this second day with holiness, and even after the custom of setting Rosh Chodesh by witness testimony was replaced with the fixed calendar system we follow today, the holiness of the second day continues with us. Rosh Hashanah, because it falls out on Rosh Hodesh, even in Erets Yisrael Rosh Chodesh was not known around the country until after the holiday. Therefore, this same custom of observing the holiday for two days had been rooted even then. Furthermore, the two days of Rosh Hashanah are of great symbolic nature, inherently considered like one long day. When it comes to reciting shehechianu, we recite it on both the first and second nights of each holiday. However, since Rosh Hashanah is considered as one long day, technically, one should not recite it on the second day. Therefore, the preferred way is to have a new fruit or a new suit or an item with which to recite shehechianu on in conjunction with the second night of the holiday. If you do not have a new fruit or new suit for the second night, you may still recite the blessing of shehechianu.

Victor Cohen

Over the past several decades, our community has been blessed with tremendous growth and success. Our institutions have flourished, our businesses have expanded, and our schools and synagogues have been beautifully renovated. Families celebrate joyous occasions with Pesach vacations, weddings, engagements, and large sebets. In many ways, community life has never been stronger.

Yet, this picture is not complete. Behind the scenes, there are families among us who quietly struggle to meet even their most basic needs. Some cannot put enough food on the table. Others find it difficult to afford a proper Shabbat meal or the extra expenses that come with our many Jewish holidays. For these parents, the most painful challenge of all is explaining to their children why they cannot provide what others seem to enjoy so easily.

In a community as blessed as ours, it may seem unthinkable that families could be struggling to put food on the table. And yet, this is a reality.

Thankfully, however, struggling families are not without support. For more than 25 years, theTomchei Shabbosorganization has stood quietly at the forefront of this effort – ensuring that families maintain their dignity by enabling them to enjoy large, scrumptious meals on Shabbat and holidays. Working discreetly and with great sensitivity, and without much advertising, publicity or fanfare, Tomchei Shabbos has become a lifeline for countless families.

Today, this vital organization turns to the community it has long served, asking for the help it needs to continue its essential work.

More Food to More Families

Based in Lakewood, NJ, the broader Tomchei Shabbos network is a 14 million-dollar organization, supporting over 2,000 families,each according to its particular financial needs. Those in the greatest need of assistance comeonce a week to receive food for Shabbat. Families who require less help making ends meet receive assistance monthly. There is also a “holiday-only section” providing food for those who need help only with their holiday expenses. Lines extend out into the highway as people receiving weekly or monthly assistance come to the Tomchei Shabbos warehouse where they are generously provided with food.

What sets Tomchei Shabbos apart from other organizations is its direct and efficient approach: it provides food itself, rather than simply offering financial assistance. By leveraging its infrastructure and strategic location in Lakewood, where food can be sourced at lower costs, Tomchei Shabbos maximizes every dollar to deliver more food to more families. With remarkable efficiency and complete discretion, the organization ensures that those it helps receive what they need while preserving their dignity.

For the past 25 years, our community has turned to Tomchei Shabbos under the dedicated guidance of Rabbi Ben Sion Kaye. Rabbi Kaye personally oversaw and carried out countless deliveries, often doing the work himself, to quietly and discreetly support families through Shabbat, holidays, and other occasions. His tireless efforts behind the scenes ensured that no family felt shame and that every table could be filled with the joy and honor befitting Shabbat and Yom Tov.

Tomchei Shabbat of the Jersey Shore

When Rabbi Kaye started this sacred work, he was delivering Pesach meals to 35 families. Unfortunately, the number of families in need of assistance has tripled.

For 25 years, Tomchei Shabbos’ Lakewood headquarters handled all this work themselves, but several months ago, around Pesach time, the organization soberly informed Rabbi Kaye that they would need our community’s assistance in order to continue providing food to our members.

Rabbi Kaye quickly convened a meeting with all the rabbis of the Jersey Shore to discuss the situation. They decided right away to move forward and open a new Sephardic Division of Tomchei Shabbat under the leadership of the director of development,Abie Tawil, who lives in Deal with his wife, Susan.And thus Tomchei Shabbat of the Jersey Shore was born.

The founders of the new division hit the ground running. Fundraising drives were held in the community’s synagogues each week. Numerous conversations were held with prospective donors, and significant sums of moneywere raised for struggling families.

“When we help others welcome the Shabbat, we’re welcoming blessing and peace into our homes,” says committee member Hymie Dana, who is heavily involved with Tomchei Shabbat. “Supporting Tomchei Shabbat is definitely a source of berachah for our homes.”

“Helping to feed those in need is one of the biggest mitzvot,” added Ricky Esses, who is also involved. “But giving a sense of joy and hope to these families on Shabbat and holidays is the greatest mitzvah. We must continue taking care of our community, and we must first start with those most in need. Tomchei Shabbat of the Jersey Shore does that.”

The Call of Our Community’s Rabbis

The initiative has been graced with the involvement of many community rabbis, who have lauded the organization’s work. Rabbi Shaul Kassin of Congregation Magen David said, “Tomchei Shabbat gives a tremendous amount of relief to these families who cannot imagine what they are going to do for Shabbat.”

“It is unimaginable in our eyes, but it really exists,” Rabbi David Ozeri noted. “We know for a fact that there are people in our community who cannot put food on the table for Shabbat.”

“There are families in our community that live down the block from you and me who can’t look forward to Friday night,” Rabbi Joey Haber said. “Tomchei Shabbat will ensure that every family in Deal is able to have the gift that all of us have.”

Rabbi Shlomo Diamond added, “We have an organization in our community called Tomchei Shabbat of the Jersey Shore that actually gives food to families throughout the year.”

Rabbi Moshe Douek of Eatontown Synagogue said that he personally knows many people who receive the boxes from Tomchei Shabbat, and when these packages, arrive, “a huge stress is taken off their head.”

“It is crucial for us to support Tomchei Shabbat because they support our community,” Rabbi Eli Mansour said.

Rabbi Joey Mizrahi called Tomchei Shabbat an “amazing organization” that “gives people basic necessities…that they need for weekdays, Shabbat, and just to live life with dignity.”

Rabbi Avi Harari of Ohel Yishak of Allenhurst described Tomchei Shabbat as “embodying the highest form of tzedakah,” noting how it extends help “with such discretion and dignity that families can rebuild their lives without shame, knowing their community stands behind them in their time of need.”

“Tomchei Shabbat is an organization that provides vital assistance to the families in need in our Jersey Shore community,” Rabbi Reuven Semah of Magen Abraham said. “Especially helpful are their food distributions during holiday times when expenses are high.” The rabbi then appealed to the community, imploring, “Please donate generously.”

“It is an honor to recommend Tomchei Shabbat, an organization which beautifully exemplifies the Torah values of caring for those in need,” Rabbi Aviad Bar Hen of Cedar Avenue Synagogue  said. “With dignity and compassion, they ensure that every family has access to Shabbat meals, fulfilling the sacred mitzvah of ma’achil re’evim – feeding the hungry.”

Many other rabbis also vouched for the organization, including Rabbi Shmuel Choueka, Rabbi David Tawil, Rabbi David Sutton, Rabbi David Nakash, Rabbi Raymond Beyda, Rabbi Meyer Yedid, and Rabbi David Ashear.

Becoming Eliyahu Ha’navi

Last month, to build on its growing momentum, Tomchei Shabbat held its inaugural community event at the home of Franny and Morris Beyda. The evening was both elegant and uplifting, bringing together inspirational speakers and community members united for a common cause.

The program opened with words from Rabbi Moshe Malka, who emphasized the importance of cultivating gratitude and avoiding attitudes that withhold blessing – such as excessive worry, anxiety, and ingratitude. When Hashem grants us blessings, he noted, we must share them. In this way, the work of Tomchei Shabbat – easing the worries of families in need and extending the blessings of our community to those less fortunate – embodies the path to continued success and divine favor.

Abie Tawil then spoke passionately about the responsibility we share as a community. “Through these few weeks,” he reflected, “I realized that we had to create this as a community. There are over 100 families who need our help. We have the sources, the distribution, and the mechanics to continue it. So we have to, and we have to save the ones who call the rabbis, saying, ‘We can’t afford to live without it.’ It’s so special that we have our community to step up and help our people.”

Shmuel Kairey told a story about a man who very much wished to meet Eliyahu Hanavi, and so he approached the Baal Shem Tov to ask where he could find him. The Baal Shem Tov told him to bring food to a certain town on Friday, and ask around for somebody to host him for Shabbat. He would then find Eliyahu Hanavi.

The man did precisely as he was told. He purchased food, brought it to the town, and asked around for hospitality. He ended up in the home of a poor orphan and widow. It was a beautiful Shabbat, but the man did not find Eliyahu Hanavi.

After Shabbat, he returned to the Baal Shem Tov, who told himto do the same thing the next Shabbat. Once again, the man bought food and went to the town. This time, already knowing the orphan and widow, he proceeded to their home, and spent another uplifting Shabbat with them – but once again, without encountering Eliyahu.

The Baal Shem Tov told him to go back once more, and so he made his way back to the town for Shabbat with more food.

This time, the window to the orphan’s house was open, and the man could hear the orphan, lying weakly in bed, saying to his mother, “I’m very sick, I don’t know what to do.”

The widow replied: “Hashem will send Eliyahu Hanavi again this Shabbat. He sent him the past two weeks, Hashem will send him again!”

The man stopped looking for Eliyahu Hanavi, as he understood what the Baal Shem Tov was trying to teach him. If you want to meet Eliyahu Hanavi, you should be like him. Take care of the orphan, take care of the widow, help those who cannot help themselves.

Through the work of Tomchei Shabbat, Shmuel Kairey said, “We are emulating Eliyahu Hanavi,” expressing his fervent hope that, with Gd’s help, the organization will continue assisting everyone in need.

Harry Adjmi, who led the fundraising rounds, spoke of his relationship with Rabbi Ben Sion Kaye of The Sephardic Torah Center, saying, “I don’t believe there is a single Jew in the world whom Rabbi Kaye does not have empathy for.”

He then added, “You couldn’t have heard more. Every rabbi in the community, whether they were on Joe Mansour’s video, or came this morning, showed up to support Tomchei Shabbat.”

Rabbi Meyer Yedid also spoke, emphasizing the important role that Jews have in the world. He explained that we were not chosen as Gd’s special nation because of our ability to do great things. Rather, “Hashem chose us because even when we are so big, when we get bigger, we ask more of ourselves.” We Jews are always saying, “I’m not doing enough!” – and this, Rabbi Yedid said, is one of the most special qualities of a Jew, his desire to continue doing more.

One committee member commented, “Since I started fundraising, we’ve gotten dozens of calls from people you’d never think of. The father’s trying to work and trying to make it work, even the mother is working. A lot of them are widows or divorcees.” People come to Tomchei Shabbat at their lowest, and it’s up to Tomchei Shabbat to help give these families the support that they need to get back on their feet.

No matter the circumstance – whether a family faces the loss of a loved one, a sudden job loss, or any unforeseen hardship – Tomchei Shabbat is there to lift them up, restoring hope, stability, and dignity with quiet compassion. It is a truly beautiful organization, built on the values of kindness and discretion, ensuring that no member of our community is left behind. With the continued support of the Jersey Shore community, Tomchei Shabbat will remain a steadfast source of strength, ready to help every family who turns to them in their time of need.

By Stuart H. Ditchek, MD
Board Certified PediatricianFaculty, NYU School of Medicine

The issue of childhood vaccinations is critical for parents to understand fully and not be influenced by parties that frankly will take no responsibility should a child be harmed by a serious and preventable infection.  During my early career and training, I witnessed the horror parents faced in the pre-vaccine era. I trained in the 1980s at Kings County Hospital which was an epicenter of care for many poor families and many new immigrant families.

Many came from countries that had very poor conditions, poor nutrition, and limited vaccination availability. We treated many cases of bacterial meningitis (typically Haemophilus Influenza B or Hib), whooping cough (Pertussis) and Measles.  Babies with whooping cough have sporadic but severe episodes of coughing spells to the point of turning blue (cyanosis).

Firsthand Experience in the Pre-Vaccine Era

The drooling and secretions would not allow the child to even take a complete breath. All we could do was provide oxygen by mask and hold the child until the coughing fit and choking resolved. Many suffered seizures as a result causing significant damage to their young brains.

In the case of bacterial meningitis which we saw frequently, there was not yet any vaccine (Hib  vaccine). Babies were brought to the hospital with fever and often poorly responsive as these infections act quickly and invade the spinal fluid surrounding the brain.

Spinal taps were a daily event in order to determine the extent and specific type of the infection. Virtually none of these babies left the hospital intact. Many died over days. Those that survived were often left with deafness, blindness, or severely cognitively impaired.  Since the vaccine introduction in the  early 1990s, the number of cases of invasive Hib infection in the United States has gone from 20,000 cases a year to less than 50 currently. This accounts for more than 99 percent reduction. I have not seen a case of Hib meningitis or invasive disease since 1991.

Measles victims were often admitted with classical rashes followed by high fevers, coughs and in many cases invasion of the lungs  and involvement of the developing brain(encephalitis). Many affected babies who were admitted died or were left with lifelong neurological impairment as Measles can destroy young brain tissue often  liquefying the damaged brain cells.  

Let’s take one more example that hit our community in the most catastrophic manner. The names have been changed for anonymity purposes. Years ago, Sara, a”h, was a young mother of a four-year-old child. Sarah was a patient in my practice in her later teen years. At the age of 26 years old, she developed rapid onset meningococcal disease (bacterial blood and brain infection). Despite dramatic efforts to save her, she succumbed to the infection within 36 hours. This was not uncommon in the pre-meningococcal vaccine era.

The meningococcal vaccine was approved several years later, too late to save Sara. Several years later when her mother Rebecca, a”h, was suffering from end stage cancer. I had the privilege of spending many hours with her. I asked if I could encourage apprehensive parents to vaccinate by using her name and discussing the tragedy. She looked at me and said, “Of course! Why should any parent ever suffer the loss of a beautiful child as we did when it is preventable? Please tell them what I said.”  I have not seen a single meningococcal infection since the vaccine has been implemented in my practice. 

Debunking Vaccine Myths and Ensuring Safety

The  anti-vaccine movement has exploded in recent years for a variety of reasons, all false and misinformation. They would have you believe that doctors are being paid and influenced by “big pharma” or  false claims  that vaccines cause autism. This issue has been studied repetitively over the last forty years with absolutely no evidence of that claim. They will also tell you that vaccines are not monitored for safety, also false.

Vaccines go through well over ten years of study before approval. I have participated in both successful and unsuccessful FDA-monitored vaccine trials and I can attest that the oversight is absolutely intense and multi-layered.

Parents should not confuse theemergency implementation of the COVID vaccine with childhood vaccinations. That vaccine was critically needed during the peak of the pandemic when we were seeing many thousands of deaths a week during the Spring and Fall of 2020. At this time, the vaccine saved millions of lives worldwide. The mandates that followed were certainly politically influenced on both sides of the aisle. The mandates had nothing to do with childhood vaccinations for the diseases being discussed. At this point, there is very little need for COVID vaccination except in the highest risk groups.

Just to give one final example of how serious an issue vaccine safety is to physicians. In 1998, the initial Rotavirus vaccine was being implemented nationally. Many agencies and organizations were responsible to monitor for variations in safety signals. In 1999, monitoring agencies noticed a possible safety signal raising the question of whether a very small number of babies who received the vaccine had developed a complication of the intestine called intussusception.

The CDC, FDA, and American Academy of Pediatrics acted very quickly. Within 24 hours, ALL pediatricians in the United States received a series of  faxes instructing  doctors to immediately cease vaccination with Rotavirus vaccine and to return all existing doses to the manufacturer. The vaccine was put on hold, reformulated, tested, studied, and reintroduced in 2006 with none of the complications seen initially. That is how vaccine surveillance worked in the 1990s and it has improved dramatically since then with even better computer modeling. Pediatricians take vaccine safety very seriously as we should do with all therapies and interventions. 

Currently, parents are being inundated with false information from anti-vaccine activists on social media. These are individuals who frankly feel that if they can create fear in young parents who will then refuse or delay vaccination, it will somehow validate their own dangerous actions.

The Measles crisis in Texas(January 2025)  was very serious with three deaths and many hospitalizations including ICU admissions. Almost all cases were proven to be unimmunized.

Israel is currently experiencing a serious outbreak with over 500 cases in the past three months reported and growing. There have been many hospitalizations and currently several toddlers on ECMO(extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) who are critically ill, both with lung involvement. Unfortunately, a two-year-old passed away in Jerusalem in mid-August.

ECMO is used when the heart or lungs are no longer capable of providing oxygen when severely damaged. The child is sedated and invasive access lines are placed in the child as a life saving last effort. The ECMO machine then functions essentially as an artificial heart and lung by removing blood from the body and oxygenating the blood externally. The blood is then returned the bodyThis is a very high risk situation which can result in strokes, blood clots, bleeding, and infection complications, all avoidable if the children would have been immunized. These are preventable tragedies.

If the crisis hits our community, it could lead to many cases of Measles in children and pregnant women who have impaired immunity during pregnancy. Unfortunately, there are now many in the community who are avoiding vaccination, some by very nefarious means.

For those who have falsified vaccination records, they will be at very high risk when we are faced with new infections as the unimmunized account for more than 98 percent of new infections. What is especially dangerous to the public is that many with falsified records who come down with Measles will claim that they became infected despite immunization. This false claim will further erode trust in vaccinations which serves the anti-vaccine movement well.

Proper vaccination at 12 months and four years of age provides 98 percent immunity to children. Measles is a highly contagious infection which can remain in air particles in closed spaces such as rooms or elevators for several hours. The 2019 outbreak in the New York area had several terrible outcomes including children with encephalitis.

Why Vaccine Timing Matters for Babies

I am often asked why babies need to be immunized under a year of age. Some parents are attempting to tailor their own vaccine schedule starting late. This is a dangerous approach for a variety of reasons, most importantly the susceptibility of the young brain to infection.

Babies need to be protected from very young ages because they have limited ability to fight infections naturally. In addition, their immature blood brain barrier allows infection to invade from the blood to the young brain and damage the developing neurological system. Delaying vaccination until children are older makes absolutely no sense as it leaves the most susceptible, babies under a year of age, open to terrible outcomes should they get infected with one of these vaccine preventable infections.

In my practice, I have never, and will never allow modifications in the recommended vaccine schedules. The timing of vaccination was not created in a vacuum. It required many years of testing and research to know which vaccines need to be given and at what timing. Vaccines in 2025 are the safest vaccines and continue to be monitored as always. Seeing reemergence of these vaccine preventable diseases is devastating knowing historically how life was before many vaccines were available My prayer is that our communities will take these warnings seriously. Having a child is a gift and a privilege. It is not an experiment when being educated by those who quite frankly will take no responsibility when a child is stricken.

“Drawing and painting are what I love to do. It’s demanding and hard work, but I love the challenge. Before I put brush to canvas, I approach my easel with a prayer to Hashem asking for success. I know that success depends on siyata dishmayah,  Divine intervention.”

~~ Chava Roth ~~

Ellen Geller Kamaras

Chava Roth is a gifted and passionate artist and teacher. She is a loving sister, wife, mother, and grandmother.  She has an extensive background in the visual arts and throughout her flourishing career has won scholarships and prestigious prizes for her art.

Her Flatbush home and art studio is a visual delight.  Portraits adorn the walls, including a beautiful rendition of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt”l, Chava’s husband’s rebbe.Another touching portrait features her husband sitting at a table learning, with their young son gazing at him.

Chava recently completed a stunning oil painting, a scene featuring the charming Yemin Moshe neighborhood in Yerushalayim.  Yemin Moshe was the first settlement built outside the Old City walls in 1892. Adding her own special touch, Chava included her personal vision and perspective to the painting, so you will not find the exact house or even block in Yemin Moshe if you go looking.

Her most popular painting is titled “Four Soldiers.” It depicts two soldiers and two Chassidim wearing talletim walking in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Chava’s studio is lovely, well-lit, and spacious. Her easel was signed by a mentor and close friend, the artist Itzshak Holtz, a”h.  Holtz was considered the most influential contemporary Jewish genre painter of his time.

Let’s explore Chava’s roots, her childhood and education, her professional trajectory, and Chavathe Jewish woman.

Roots

Of Ashkenazic descent, Chava was born and bred in Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents, Hadassa and Chaim Shapiro, were Polish Holocaust survivors who met and married in a D.P. camp in Germany before emigrating to the United States. 

Hadassa spent four of her teenage years in a concentration camp. After raising her children, she worked as a mashgiach for the OU and Star K. “My mother was a tremendous ba’alat hesed.”

Her father Chaim, a”h, was a renowned speaker and author who told of his war experiences of hiding and survival. He is the author of the popular memoir, Go My Son. As a young yeshiva student, he went from frozen tundra to battlefields, fleeing from the Nazis and barely escaping death. His account is an upbeat story of survival, faith, and ingenuity laced with miracles and Divine intervention.  He was the first to write about the Gedolim of Europe in his many articles in the Jewish Observer and his book Once Upon a Shtetl.

The second of five children, Chava describes her childhood as very happy.  Her parents chose to speak about the Shoah with their children. They always provided an uplifting and loving atmosphere filled with Yiddishkeit.

Chava studied at Bais Yaakov institutions from 1^st through 12^th grade. After high school she spent a year at “BJJ” Bais Yaakov of Yerushalayim Seminary in Israel.

“I had no formal art lessons until after seminary.  I recall my mother showing me how to draw flowers at a young age.”

In sixth grade, Chava had a school assignment to create a booklet of the 39 melachot, the categories of creative activity that are forbidden on Shabbat. Her fellow classmates illustrated their booklets with pictures from magazines.  Since her parents didnot subscribe to any magazines, Chava drew her own illustrations of the 39 melachot. Upon returning the graded booklets, her teacher praised Chava profusely and she became the “artist of the class” and the school artist as well.

Awarded a scholarship to the prominent Maryland Institute of Art, Chava began her studies there after studying in seminary in Israel.  While pursuing her degree, she taught in a Baltimore Hebrew school.  A summa cum laude recipient of a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Chava moved to New York to study for her master’s in fine arts at Queens College. 

Chava’s Essence

She possesses a special spark, charm, and chen (grace).  Her friends and family say she is creative and fun, and she lights up when speaking about her family and her art.

And Then Came Marriage

Chava was introduced to her husband, Dovid Roth, in her second year of graduate school.  He was a math lecturer and later became a statistical analyst working in medical research and for retail companies.

They adopted the hashkafa of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, Dovid’s rav, and raised their children accordingly. Rabbi Miller teaches that, “In Hakodesh Boruch Hu’s beautiful world, a person has to utilize everything around him to attain perfection of his soul. And to know that this temporary world is a corridor to Olam Haba, the true everlasting world.”

Now retired, Dovid is the gabbai at Rabbi Miller’s shul and instructs people of all ages how to learn Gemara. He studies and teaches Rabbi Miller’s sefer, Lev Avigdor, which imparts how to live successfully in this world. Lectures are available on Zoom.

During graduate school, Chava’s work was primarily abstract expressionism.  She appreciates her husband’s encouragement for her subsequent focus on realism.  Shortly after they married, he asked Chava to paint a charcoal portrait of Rabbi Miller.

“Several people saw it and commissioned me to paint the Rav’s portrait in oil. So began my career in portrait painting.”Chava has created portrait paintings of many famous rabbis including Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt”l.

She was given a photo of the Lubavitcher Rebbe delivering a lecture surrounded by his followers.  After obtaining written permission from the photographer, she began the painting. It took her a full six months to complete.  Leaving the Rebbe’s portrait for last, she spent all night working on it. In the morning the news spread that the Rebbe had passed away that night. 

Chava has created captivating, realistic Jewish marionettes, which are beautifully crafted.  She even madea marionette that looks like of herself as a narrator.  At the Maryland Institute, Chava took a course in puppet making.  Her teacher was a famous puppeteer who had performed in the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s family.  When her teacher retired, Chava bought his marionette stage (used in the White House performance) that he had spent a lifetime building.  She constructed the marionettes and stage sets and developed shows based on midrashim.

Her first puppet performance was in a notable Manhattan gallery, along with her paintings.  Metropolitan Museum of Art and Jewish Museum representatives attended. As a young newlywed, Chava received a government grant to create and perform puppet shows all over NY in hospitals, nursing homes, community centers, and schools.  She and her puppets appeared on television.

“When I was expecting our first child, I gave up puppeteering because the stage setup was physically too taxing.  But the puppets still accompany us to weddings to be misameach the chattan and kallah and for our grandchildren on Hanukah.”

Chava focused on two-dimensional projects for the next years, drawing and painting classical realism. She uses the classical approach to paint true-to-life strikingly beautiful scenes.

She took a position as an art teacher for women at the Boro Park Y when her youngest child started school.  Chava has been there for over 35 years, teaching Chassidic, Sephardic, and Ashkenazic women of all ages.  “These classes are so much fun and [are] an important part of my life.”  

Chava also gives art lessons to developmentally disabled adult women in HASC residences. These students especially enjoy the creative process.

She established her own company, Judaica Fine Art, where she sells originals, reproductions, and accepts new commissions.

Balance

Chava always found time to draw and paint.  When her kids were young, she focused on pastels instead of oils as this medium was neater, which was necessary in her small apartment. She worked on many commissions.

Her children appreciate her art.  Before leaving for camp one summer, one of her sons set up a shul scene in her living room for her to paint.  He borrowed a Sefer Torah cover and a parochet, (the Ark cover) from his yeshiva.  Chava added her own vision by inserting a sewing machine, thereby making it relatable to her. Portraits of her grandchildren are often included in Chava’s scenes, which gives them her own personal touch.

For over 40 years, Chava has created Judaica paintings portraying the Jewish people and religious places and objects that are close to her heart.  Her paintings have been showcased in galleries, museums, and private collections throughout the U.S., Europe, and Israel.

”It’s a privilege that I don’t take lightly to be able to focus on the beauty and splendor of Hashem’s world, for it is truly breathtaking.”

Fun Facts

Chava illustrates and paints portraits for invitations and benchers for semachot. Prints of her pictures hang in kosher restaurants and other venues. You can email Chava at chavaroth@verizon.netand check out her website, www.judaicafineart.com.Ellen Geller Kamaras, CPA/MBA, is an International Coach Federation (ICF) Associate Certified Coach.  Her coaching specialties include life, career, and dating coaching.   She can be contacted at ellen@lifecoachellen.com.