Message of Hope and Wellness

Dear Kosherica Friends and Family,

We are praying daily for Hashem to give strength to those that need it most. These times are unprecedented. However, in the midst of the darkness, we are determined to see the light.

Our guests are our light. Our office is flooded with calls and emails of support. You have been a daily source of inspiration.  We are so fortunate to have such elegant, kind, and inspirational guests who are truly like family. As a thank you we are collaborating with some of our most renowned scholars and entertainers to create an “Inspiration & Wellness Series”.
When its easier to fall, we choose to RISE up. We will all get through this challenging time with strength and grace.

M. Gary Neuman 
“Gary is one of the best psychotherapists in the world… I’ve been doing this a long time. He is the best.” – Oprah Winfrey
“When I was a kid, I used to have this fantasy that I had a board of advisors who used to give me life advice. Gary would be on my board.” – Anderson Cooper
“Gary, I like the way you operate.” – Steve Harvey
“I’m a huge fan of Gary Neuman. He’s been beyond helpful to me and my family.” – Ricki Lake
New York Times best-selling author M. Gary Neuman is a psychotherapist, rabbi, and author of seven books on the topics of marriage and divorce. There are over one million copies of Gary’s books in print. He is creator of Neuman Method’s Creating Your Best Marriage video program.
He has appeared over 50 times on the Today show, a dozen times on the Oprah Winfrey show as well as on NBC Dateline, the Katie Couric show, Steve Harvey, Good Morning America and the View.
Oprah referred to Gary as, “One of the best psychotherapists in the world,” when she had him on her Most Memorable Guests show. Gary and his work have been featured in People, Time, Parents, Parenting, Cosmo, Redbook, O as well as in newspapers including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Wall Street Journal.
Gary developed the Sandcastles Program, a group experience for children of divorce mandated in many divorce courts. Over 300,000 children have completed the Sandcastles program internationally.
He lives with his wife and children on Miami Beach, Florida. Visit www.NeumanMethod.com
Rabbi Steven Weil-
Rabbi Steven Weil is the Senior Managing Director of the Orthodox Union. Rabbi Steven Weil, the son of German “Viehhaendler”, grew up on a cattle farm in Upstate New York. His love for learning began early, and as a teenager prevailed upon his parents to send him away to Yeshiva. He continued his education at Kerem B’Yavneh and Yeshiva University, concurrently completing his ordination at the Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan Theological Seminary and a Masters in Business Administration from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Rabbi Weil began his career teaching, and then began pulpit work; first at the Young Israel of Oak Park Michigan and then at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, California. In both positions, Rabbi Weil significantly expanded the synagogue’s membership and programming and was involved in serving the needs of the greater community as well. In 2009 he became the chief executive officer of the Orthodox Union. Rabbi Weil is a popular teacher and lecturer, having delivered invocations for former President Bush, Governor Schwarzenneger as well as Speaker John Boehner and the House of Representatives among others. He has served internationally as scholar in residence on land and on sea, and is a passionate advocate for Israel and for Jewish education. Rabbi Weil resides in New Jersey with his wife and seven children. 
Dr. David Pelcovitz –
Dr. Pelcovitz holds the Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Chair in Psychology and Education at Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School where he also teaches pastoral psychology courses and is special assistant to the president of the university.
Before assuming his position on the faculty of Yeshiva University, Dr. Pelcovitz was a clinical professor of psychology in psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and director of psychology at North Shore University Hospital-NYU School of Medicine for over two decades. He has published and lectured extensively on a variety of topics including parenting, child abuse, trauma and loss.
Rabbi Steven Burg-

Rabbi Steven Burg is the Director General (Mankal) of Aish HaTorah Jerusalem and Aish HaTorah globally.
In addition to Rabbinic Ordination and a Masters in Medieval Jewish History, both from Yeshiva University, Rabbi Burg has has completed management courses at the Harvard Business School and at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University.
Following his ordination, he embarked on a 22-year career at the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU). In 2005, Rabbi Burg became the youngest International Director of NCSY, the youth movement of the OU, and spent the next years restructuring the organization. Under his leadership, NCSY grew to serve tens of thousands of Jewish teens around the world and sent over 2,000 adolescents to Israel every summer.  Rabbi Burg was the founder of the Jewish Student Union (JSU), a network of hundreds of public high School clubs that teaches unaffiliated Jewish teens about their heritage. Rabbi Burg also started the Anne Samson Jerusalem Journey (TJJ), an Israel experience for unaffiliated Jewish Teens, the success of which was recently highlighted in a study. Through NCSY, Rabbi Burg became one of the foremost leaders in Jewish teen engagement and is considered an authority on teen spirituality and development.  Rabbi Burg later served as the Managing Director of the OU. Under Rabbi Burg’s leadership, the OU increased internal efficiency, developed greater programming synergy among the OU’s many branches, and redefined the OU’s focus.
Most recently, Rabbi Burg served as the Eastern Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global Jewish human rights organization that confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, promotes human rights and dignity, stands with Israel, and defends the safety of Jews worldwide.

Avraham Fried-
Avraham Fried is a legend in the world of Jewish music. He’s been entertaining Jewish audiences for thirty years, in numerous concerts and venues. His music integrates a wide range of musical styles, combining them with Jewish lyrics and themes, to create unforgettable melodies that become all-time favorites. Fried is incredibly prolific, and has produced thirty CDs, the latest of which are “Yankel, Yankel” and “Live in Israel,” which is offered as both a DVD and a double CD. Fried lives with his wife and their six children in Brooklyn, New York.

Yaakov Shwekey-
Yaakov Shwekey was born in 1977 in Jerusalem, Israel. His family moved to New Jersey when Shwekey was eight years old — he spent his earliest years in Mexico City where he sang in the Ateret Yosef Choir. He began his musical endeavors in earnest in the United States with his brother Yisroel Meir, singing with the Miami Boys Choir. Prior to embarking on a solo career in 2001, Shwekey was a successful wedding singer. Since the release of his debut album, Shomati, Shwekey has issued a steady stream of popular contemporary Jewish music albums, compilations, and DVDs, including Shwekey 2 (2002), Yedid (2004), Leshem Shomayim (2007), Ad Bli Dai (2009), Libi Bamizrach (2010), Cry No More (2012), Kolot (2014), We Are a Miracle (2016), and Those Were the Days (2017). In 2018, he delivered Musica, which peaked at number three on the Billboard World Albums chart.

Rabbi Shmuel Goldin has served as spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, New Jersey, for 33 years.  Prior to assuming his role at Ahavath Torah, he served as Rabbi of Beth Sholom Congregation, Potomac, Maryland, and Assistant Rabbi, Beth Jacob Congregation, Beverly Hills, California.

Rabbi Goldin served for over twenty years as instructor of Bible and Philosophy at the Isaac Breuer College and the James Striar School of Yeshiva University and he continues to appear as a visiting scholar and lecturer in a wide variety of settings across the globe. He is a Past President of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the world’s largest association of Orthodox rabbis, and currently occupies the critical role of chairman of the committee overseeing the RCA’s policies and standards for conversion to Judaism.

Among others, Rabbi Goldin’s past positions include: President of the Rabbinic Alumni Association of Yeshiva University; President of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County and Chairman of its Kashruth Committee; Rabbinic advisor to the Jewish Youth Encounter Program; membership on the Executive Committee of the United Jewish Community of Northern New Jersey; membership on the Board of Directors of the Sinai Learning Disabilities Program of New Jersey; membership on the Board of the Orthodox caucus and Chairmanship of their Task force on Singles. Currently, Rabbi Goldin is a member of the U.J.A. Rabbinic Cabinet; the Rabbinic Cabinet of Israel Bonds; the Rabbinic Alumni Cabinet of Yeshiva University; the board of the United Jewish Community of Northern New Jersey and the boards and advisory committees of numerous other communal associations and organizations. He has received many honors and awards for his decades of service to the Jewish community.

Rabbi Goldin’s recently published five volume set of studies on the weekly parsha, “Unlocking the Torah Text” is based on his numerous years of lecturing in school and synagogue settings and has earned wide popular and critical acclaim in the broader Jewish community. He and his wife, Barbara, are the proud parents of five children and, thank God, an ever-growing brood of grandchildren.

Mr. Charlie Harary, Esq. is a business executive, author and prolific speaker, known internationally for his charismatic, passionate and sophisticated lectures,
seminars and keynote addresses.
Currently, Mr. Harary is the CEO of Ayven Point Group, an investment and advisory company based in New York.
Mr. Harary is the author of the best-selling book, “Unlocking Greatness,” published last year by Random House. His podcasts, videos, and radio show have reached hundreds of thousands of people world-wide, providing messages regarding business, personal growth and spirituality.
Mr. Harary was also an executive at RXR Realty, a multi-billion-dollar real estate company. Prior to RXR, Mr. Harary was an associate in Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Davis Polk & Wardwell. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was awarded the James Kent Scholar and the Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
For more on Charlie, visit http://charlieharary.com/unlockinggreatness/

Rabbi Eric Grossman has earned a reputation as an original, fascinating and thought-provoking teacher and lecturer. He is the author of numerous articles on Tanach, Jewish philosophy and Jewish education in scholarly and popular journals, and around the web.  A professional Bible scholar, he is also the author of a grammar of Biblical Hebrew.  Rabbi Grossman studied Yeshivat HaMivtar, Brandeis University, and York University. He was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is a two-time recipient of the Hebrew University Bible Prize. Rabbi Grossman lectures widely at universities, federations, synagogues, and academic conferences in the United States and Canada, and serves as Head of School at The Akiva School in Montreal.

Dr. Davidson draws upon his distinctive combination of experiences as a successful consultant, an entrepreneur, and a university dean to build businesses. He is a dynamic and engaging speaker who has addressed professionals, executives, and academics all over the world on a variety of topics and has over 60 publications, keynote speeches and presentations on various business topics, training, and development. He has been quoted and/or featured in numerous publications including the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Crain’s New York Business, and has appeared on CNN, CDN, and WB11 Cable TV and is a recipient of the prestigious Literati Award for Excellence.

Most of all, Dr. Davidson enjoys researching, developing and delivering thematic speeches that illustrate Torah values and concepts as they relate to and synthesize with the professional world, leveraging his unique and different skill set and industry experience along with his dry, British wit, to deliver them to diverse audiences. His lectures/shiurim have been described by both Rabbis and scholars alike as eloquent, highly entertaining and occupying a unique space along the spectrum. As a next generation survivor, he also addresses Holocaust Remembrance gatherings. Dr. Davidson has been involved as a Scholar-in Residence, spiritual leader, and/or featured speaker at Pesach and other programs for over 35 years. After studying in Yeshivas Itri in Jerusalem, Israel he immigrated to the United States and prior to his current position as Dean at Fordham University, he was the founding Dean of NYU’s SCPS Division of Programs in Business, and the founding Dean of the Manhattanville College School of Business.

Dr. Davidson has been extensively involved in providing advice and professional services to charitable organizations, most notably the Child Life Society for Children with Cystic Fibrosis, the RCCS Cancer Society, Puah Center for Fertility, the Jewish Center for Special Education, and the Queens Torah Library. Dr. Davidson was instrumental in the formation and growth of Yeshiva Netzach David, a post high-school Yeshiva founded for the benefit of those students who wish to continue their Torah studies while pursuing a full-time college education, where he also gave a weekly shiur.

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