Posts tagged faces of orthodoxy

I was thrilled to be hired as the photographer for Faces of Orthodoxy Season 6 Atlanta (backed by the Orthodox Union). They profiled 6 movers and shakers, to tell their dynamic stories, and show the world that Orthodox people are relatable, rather than exotic or strange as seen in the media.

Week one: Batsheva Gelbtuch

“ I was raised in Israel in Chareidi society which is often categorized as insular. My father broke all stereotypes. His shtreimel & deep-rooted beliefs in the Chassidic way of life coexisted with his love of Zionism. He insisted on serving in the IDF despite a heart condition. My father was a lover of all humans. Growing up we weren’t allowed to use the word ‘chiloni,’ secular, when referring to non-observant Jews. Every Jew is holy.

I had a wonderful Bais Yaakov high school experience in Jerusalem. I was surrounded by strong, brilliant & brave women. We were encouraged to be inquisitive & to challenge the lessons in order to learn & grow.

Despite coming from a loving & nurturing nuclear family, there was darkness in my childhood. 3 out of my 4 grandparents survived the horrors of the Holocaust. Their open wounds served as the backdrop of painful familial dynamics. Wanting to have the tools to support those experiencing trauma fueled my desire to become a social worker. I received my master's at Wurzweiler & became a licensed marriage & family therapist. 19 years ago, my husband at the time & I moved to Atlanta. He had joined the Atlanta Scholars Kollel to do college campus outreach & I worked in private practice while teaching about Judaism on campus. When Atlanta joined the first JWRP trip for moms to Israel, I was tapped to help lead the Atlanta cohort. This became the birthplace of Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta, a thriving community of spiritually seeking women in Atlanta.

If I could define the common thread woven in the tapestry of my life, it would be finding beauty in holding space for the entirety of the diversity. I am divorced & am blessed to be raising 4 amazing humans. I am inspired by the way my children overcome their challenges & have created incredibly beautiful, unique life paths. Doing life is challenging. But I have learned that every dark path I needed to traverse was eclipsed by light, often in the form of angelic friends. Find your people. They are there. Don’t do it alone.

JWC Atlanta was founded & led by a team of diverse brilliant lay leaders who make the magic happen. It’s an organization by women for women. It started with that first cohort that went on that first Israel trip. They wanted to ensure that every Jewish woman in Atlanta had access to that wealth of Jewish wisdom & spiritual anchoring they experienced. JWC Atlanta’s goal is to connect women to themselves, to each other & to Hashem. Together we've built a spiritual community that unites women through friendship, learning & Jewish values, which in turn impacts women, their families & the Atlanta Jewish community. And there it is again, that familiar heart tug, my father's whisper, embracing the entirety of the diversity, & that our beauty as a people (and in all aspects) is borne from the differences & not the similarities.

My partner in crime is Julie Silverman who is my Rebbitzen, mentor & dear friend. Every day, we & our incredible staff & brilliant educators & lay leaders get to meet and learn Torah with thousands of brave incredible Jewish moms who are in the trenches ensuring a bright Jewish future for their families & the world at large. Our sages teach us that moms are the future of the Jewish people. What started as a grassroots effort morphed into a thriving community of thousands of Jewish women. To date, JWC Atlanta has had 1000s of women attend classes, join programs & travel all around the globe and explore our Judaism & what it means to us. I’m so blessed to currently work full-time as executive director for this thriving organization (my therapist role is on hold for the time being).

What’s the main thing women are seeking? I think it's anchoring and connection. We all want to be a part of a bigger story than ourselves. We want to find ways we can lead lives of meaning & impact. Meaning & connection is oxygen; we can’t live without it.”

BTS photos and brilliant eye: Yelena Hertzberg. I’d like her to come with me on every photoshoot ever.

Dr. Tate: Faces of Orthodoxy

Week five: Dr. Joseph Tate

“I’m named after my father, Yosef Leib, who was killed on D-Day while my mother was pregnant with me. He was from Eastern Europe & my mother was from India. They met in England during the war. My father’s dream was for me to be brought up in America, so my mother moved to Boston. I went to public school & Hebrew school through 7th grade. I probably had ADHD, but when my mother took me for an evaluation, the psychiatrist said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with him, he’s just bored.’ I went back to England to attend an upper-class Jewish boarding school. After returning to America, I got a chemical engineering degree at @northeastern & then went to work as a computer engineer. I helped invent & patent a part used in every car battery & got my MBA. But I didn’t feel fulfilled. I investigated many alternatives, & finally, much to my surprise, I chose to become a physician.

Once I got married, my wife and I decided to take on more Jewish practices. I made kiddush on Shabbos & we had a kosher home, but we didn’t keep Shabbos fully. Against what seemed like all odds, I got into medical school when I was 30 at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. I learned Dutch in a panic because that’s what my professors spoke. But there was nothing in Leuven for a Jewish family, so we moved to Antwerp. Two years later I transferred to the University of Antwerp.

We became best friends with our next-door neighbors who were religious, many of whom were Ger & Belz chassidim. They guided us along as we became more observant. As it turns out, we weren’t in Antwerp, of all places, for medical school; we were there to find our Judaism! And when Hashem knew we were on the road, He rewarded us. I transferred to @yale where I received my MD. Yale, of course, opened doors for residency. I matched at @emorydeptofmed & joined the Atlanta Beth Jacob community in 1980.

I’ve been in the Emory system for over 23 years & get to teach residents. Teaching is the best way to improve myself clinically. But I never thought I’d deliver babies in the Orthodox community. Today, there are 2nd generation kids I’ve delivered in the shul. I’ve delivered over 800 babies in the community.”

“@bethjacobatl was the first time I ever really belonged to a synagogue. We always understood the importance of giving back to the community. We were one of the builders of @tdsaofficial & I’ve been the president of the Eruv for over 30 years. The eruv is an urban boundary that allows carrying on Shabbos. Georgia Power helped us maintain it over the years. When we needed to switch over to a new method, I went out every Sunday rewiring 15 utility poles a day. I also counsel brides from all over the world leading up to their weddings. I get tremendous fulfillment being in service to my community & Creator.

I delivered my first “community baby” when I was still a resident. At one point, I had delivered 80% of the kids at Beth Jacob. On Simchas Torah, I’d pledge a donation for every kid I delivered who showed up to shul. Once it got to over 180 kids, I got sponsored by the community to raise even more for charity, and all the children come under a giant tallis prayer shawl with me while I give the blessing.

My wife & I have 6 children who were born all over – Boston, Antwerp, New Haven & Atlanta. We have 17 grandchildren & 2 great-grandchildren. Having a large family is the greatest blessing for an only child.

I maintain an inherent belief that women are created with the ability to have babies. This is how they are designed by G-d. Of course, we utilize modern science, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. I don’t think the current 35-50% C-section rate is right. I don’t believe in doing major surgery on a patient if we don’t have to. A large portion of my patients had previous C-sections. Most of them prove me correct and can give birth again without a cesarean. Before long, my name got out there as a proponent of VBAC. I was even featured on a @pbs Religion & Ethics Newsweekly series about how my Orthodox life impacts my delivery of babies. I truly believe that women can have babies if we allow them the chance.”

BTS photots and video by Yelena Hertzberg, best person ever to have on set with you.

Clients, Faces Of OrthodoxyRachel LinkwaldJuly 14, 2023obgyn, atlanta obgyn, jewish obgyn, Jewish, jewish photographer, faces of orthodoxy, atlanta, atlanta headshot, atlanta branding, brandingComment

Erika: Faces of Orthodoxy

Week four: Erika Needleman

“I come from a family of seekers. My father was always exploring. He was ordained as a Baptist minister at one point (he’s Jewish). My mom is a proud Jew. I have half-sisters who are 30 years older than me & both had gurus. I started yoga at 14 & met my first yoga teacher, Janice. I was always looking for a female role model who I could go to with questions. But after getting to know her, I saw that her life wasn’t as great as it looked in the yoga studio. At 19, I moved to an ashram in Upstate NY with Swamis, Hindu ascetics, to become a yoga teacher. I woke up at 5 a.m., meditated & studied Hinduism. By the end of the program, my back hurt from all the sitting & I didn't feel enlightened. But I knew a lot about Hinduism.

I then went to the Dominican Republic to do community service. I didn’t realize it was through a Christian missionary organization. Oops. I watched how they prayed, saw something was there, but the Jesus thing wasn’t sitting with me. My fellow volunteers asked me questions about Judaism, but all I could tell them was about Hinduism. It was embarrassing to be asked questions by missionaries about my religion which I knew nothing about. I had walked away from my people & heritage, but I didn’t know what I had walked away from. I needed a full grasp of my own religion, so I went back to my college, @arizonastateuniversity & became a religious studies major with a concentration in Jewish studies. I was the only Jew in the Jewish studies courses; everyone else was Mormon.

I got an internship at @hadassah_brandeis_institute feminist think tank at Brandeis. I had never encountered academic Jews before. They all had so much knowledge, & I was just a beginner. I had my first Shabbos at my professor’s house with all the interns. For the first time, I shut off my phone & computer. It was transformative. Shabbos was filled with delicious food & wonderful conversation. I felt truly present like I was exactly where I was supposed to be & there was nothing else to do. Like yoga, but it was my tradition. I was totally hooked.”

”They say you don’t know who you are as a Jew until you go to Israel. I went on Birthright & Ulpan. Before my next program, Pardes, started, I needed a place to stay for 3 weeks. My mom was friends with a survivor named Edith who was close to a family in Har Nof. She arranged for me to stay there. I was told to pack modest clothing. When I walked into their home, it wasn't just a husband and wife. It was a Rosh Yeshiva and Rebbetzin. I felt like an alien.

To my utter surprise, in the Rebbetzin I found the role model I was always looking for. I watched her navigate difficult phone calls and visits. I watched her pray in the morning. I saw someone really connected to G-d. This was a person who was in tune with her higher self, & I wanted that. She didn’t get caught in the spiral when things were overwhelming; G-d was at her center. I had never seen anyone able to do that. I saw in her what I didn’t see in my yoga teachers or professors.

I asked lots of questions but I started to realize that some of my questions didn’t make sense anymore. One morning I sat at her table grasping at straws as to why I wasn't religious, and I melted into a puddle of tears. I was going to have to change. Oh boy.

I decided I wanted to learn Torah in an all-female environment, so I went to Shearim Seminary, where I fell in love & felt at home. I told the head of school that I didn’t want to be religious, I just wanted to learn. She told me they just wanted to get my questions answered. Soon I realized this was exactly what I needed & wanted to be. A year later, I started dating. Edith told me that when you meet the right person, you’ll experience a fog. After my first date with my future husband, I experienced an actual fog. We got engaged 9 dates later.

We lived in Israel for the first year, moved to Passaic & then to Atlanta. Over Covid, it became clear that I needed to use my skills in addition to being a mother. I started life coaching. I began teaching Jewish classes to college students. I also speak to girls’ camps, schools & women’s groups. I call it my Renaissance of Self. I’m receiving all the time when I’m teaching or coaching. It fills me up.”

BTS video courtesy of the talented Yelena Hertzberg

Faces Of Orthodoxy, ClientsRachel LinkwaldJuly 7, 2023faces of orthodoxy, erika needleman, life coach, headshot, atlanta brandingComment

Jodi: Faces of Orthodoxy

Week three: Jodi Wittenberg

“Shalom Y’all! I guess you can call me a born-and-bred Southern belle. All 4 of my grandparents are from Georgia. My grandmother had bleached blonde hair, hot pink nails & spoke Yiddish with a Southern twang. I grew up traditional; we had the third-row center bench seats in our conservative synagogue. I went to Jewish day schools & camp. A few years after college (I dropped out), the Atlanta Scholars Kollel came to town. My parents got very involved & constantly encouraged me to participate. I got an invitation to one of the rabbi's homes for Shabbat lunch. I parked down the street & pulled on a skirt over my jeans. When I entered a room of 10 single Jewish guys, I thought if this is observant Judaism, then this is a good thing. I co-started a Sunday night singles group at that rabbi’s house, which later became a huge success.

In 1993, I co-founded a family business, a natural food store called Return to Eden. After going on a 10-day learning safari trip to Israel with my rebbetzin, I took a summer break from work & went back to learn at Aish’s new Jewel program. I also knew there was a guy at Aish, Josh Wittenberg from back home, who had a crush on me. As I walked out the door for the airport, I told my parents I was going to marry him. We went on a few dates that summer & that was it! We agreed to go back to learn at Aish for a year, so we ended up being a kollel couple living in the Old City! We now have 3 fantastic kids & a 10lb havdalah plate of candle drippings to attest to our 25 years of marriage.

When we returned to Atlanta, Josh joined me in my business. Return to Eden was a 7500 sq ft. store with 32 employees. I loved introducing new kosher symbols & products to the community & having kosher-tasting tours. I was known for my kosher cheese selection, so after the sale of Eden, I decided to open up a small cheese shop, The Chosen Knish, in my garage. I showed up at Jewish festivals & it grew. I then created a business plan for a new kosher store. I asked my co-president of the sisterhood & her mother if they’d want to open a store in the neighborhood with me. They said yes! We opened The Spicy Peach in January 2014.”

“I love retail because you never know who’s gonna show up that day. I love my store because it's my creation & I truly love my biz partners; they make it super fun to come to work. I love to eat & cook but I REALLY love to entertain! I get my validation from feeding people. One of my favorite challenges is the hunt to find new kosher, exciting food & seeing my customers light up as they buy them. At The Spicy Peach, we offer a lot of specialty gourmet, hard-to-find kosher products. And of course, every kind of kosher cheese you’d ever want. The store is an extension of my home. When I’m making a panini for a customer, I feel like I’m in my kitchen. We also sell takeaway soup, salads & sushi. And we make great tuna fish (a Jodi favorite).

Almost all of our products are trucked down from N.Y. The companies we work with get a kick out of us 3 women in the South who own a kosher store called The Spicy Peach. I like to think that our shop has Southern charm and personality – along with our signature hot pink grocery bags.

Shabbos cooking for me always starts on Fridays at 4 pm & I magically whip up Shabbos lunch and dinner. My Friday afternoons are like a Chopped episode: candle lighting, knives down! Some of my specialties include making good ole’ Southern food kosher. I love American comfort food & I’m great at converting treif to kosher. I have a bbq smoker in my backyard. One day I hope to write an American/Southern kosher cookbook.

I’ll do anything to support my community. I have a really hard time saying no. Making it into the Guinness Book for The Israeli Cookie Flag for Israel’s 70th is one of my hugest highlights. During Hurricane Irma in 2017, I helped spearhead the effort to host over 1000 people from Florida who came to Congregation Beth Jacob for a week. With the support of the OU, we housed, fed & entertained all these people who were displaced. Of all the hosting I’ve done and meals I’ve served, 1000 people, 3x a day definitely tops the list. My biggest regret was that I didn’t make a picture book from this experience – the stories that came out were incredible. I felt like I was walking in G-d’s hand for a week.”

Behind the scenes with Jodi photos by Yelena Hertzberg, who was with me every step of the way.

Clients, Faces Of OrthodoxyRachel LinkwaldJune 30, 2023faces of orthodoxy, orthodox, orthodox union, atlanta photographerComment

Shlomo: Faces of Orthodoxy

Week two: Shlomo/Steve Storch

“I had challenges in high school, & after many failed attempts, I dropped out in 11th grade. 9/11 was a wake-up call & shortly after I went to Israel to a great yeshiva called Kesher. It was a transformative experience that taught me life skills I still use today. 5 years later I married my wife Elisheva. After a few years of learning full-time, I took a job for a company called Networx working the night shift in sales. I've always been driven, valued a strong work ethic, & curious about business. I was lucky to join a great group of people & soon moved up into marketing & operations, eventually as CMO. After 7 years in Ramat Beit Shemesh & after our third child, we relocated to our headquarters in Atlanta & I took over as CEO for six years. Now, I serve as the Chief Operating Officer.

Networx helps contractors grow their businesses by connecting them with homeowners searching for pros. My job is to oversee all operations of the business & create alignment between teams. I am most passionate about data, marketing, customer experience, & new technologies. While I didn't follow the traditional route, I value education & encourage my children to make smart decisions about their education. Joining a small company early on, I had the good fortune to work hand in hand with really smart people who helped shape me into who I am today.

As a young manager, I hit a roadblock. I was frustrated with my employees & myself & felt stuck. I was probably a typical type A overbearing boss. My father, a master educator & coach, pushed me to start reading management books & in particular, Energy Leadership by Bruce Schnieder. That book, along with my first foray into Ken Blanchard, was transformative.

I learned how to understand where my feelings & thoughts came from & how to better understand others. Creating an energetic culture in a workplace is hard & takes proactive & strategic planning. I really didn't buy into the stereotypical "bosses are bad." As I continued to grow & read anything I could get my hands on & then apply it, my leadership style improved & we began to win. Shortly after is when I had the opportunity to become CEO.”

“Some of the key points I've learned about business are: 1. What people say or do is about them. How you interpret it is about you. 2. Companies don't fire people & people don't quit companies. Managers hire & fire people, and people quit their manager. 3. Lead yourself consciously. How you show up has a big impact on those around you.

But what gave me the biggest perspective shift on life and work had nothing to do with work at all.

It occurred when I was granted the opportunity to give the gift of life to my father. While we were in Israel, my father fell ill & needed a kidney transplant. He asked if I'd be open to it, & I turned out to be a perfect match. Being a kidney donor for my dad has had a profound and lasting impact on me. It has taught me invaluable lessons about priorities & what truly matters.

We love living in Atlanta. It's a warm & welcoming community that embraces diversity & allows everyone to be their authentic selves without judgment or pressure. For our family, Atlanta has been the perfect place to thrive & grow. We take our Judaism seriously but stay away from labels.

Atlanta is a community that encourages personal development. We tend to be behind the latest trends, & there’s less focus on material possessions & appearances. One of the things we appreciate most is that there are fewer societal pressures for our children here. There’s no rigid path to follow or a sense of being just another face in the crowd. In this close-knit community, we embrace diversity & foster appreciation for others.

I am honored to serve as the president of Torah Day School of Atlanta, a role that allows me to contribute to the broader community. When I first arrived, the school was in a transitional phase with an interim head of school. My professional experience helped me be confident that I could add value to this amazing school. After dedicating 5 years as V.P., I was approached to take on the position of president of the board. Despite my limited availability, my deep appreciation for Torah learning & education motivated me to accept the role. I firmly believe that a vibrant school fosters a strong & close-knit community.”

Behind the scenes with Shlomo photos and video by Yelena Hertzberg, who busted her tush on set every day with her willing hands and meticulous eye.

Faces Of Orthodoxy, ClientsRachel LinkwaldJune 23, 2023faces of orthodoxy, ceo, cooComment

Yelena: Faces Of Orthodoxy

Week one: Yelena Hertzberg

“I’m a religious CEO of a Film Production Company which I started with my husband. My story starts in the former USSR. Growing up under communism, I knew that my grandfather baked matzah underground for our community in Belarus & that I was a Jew. We lived 200 km away from Chernobyl & the nuclear disaster affected our family’s health. When I was 9, we got a visa from my grandparents in the States. Seeing my parents make hard choices for us made a lasting impression on me. We made it to L.A. & unintentionally settled in a religious area, Pico-Robertson, where my aunt owned a quadruplex. Like good Russian secular Jews, we put up a New Year’s ‘bush’ near a window. A religious neighbor told us we don’t put up Christmas trees. Slowly, I started realizing more about Judaism.

Early on I knew I had a talent for art. I went to art school for fashion design & was recruited by a top fashion house in L.A. Too busy to date during college, I thought I’d try my luck at meeting someone on AOL. I searched ‘film’ under hobbies and until this day, I have no idea why that was important to me. Elan Hertzberg came up. He was a production assistant & Jewish. We dated for 3 years & then got engaged. My best friend from childhood had recently become religious & was getting married 3 months after us. Participating in all her wedding festivities, we got immersed in this whole new world. It was very attractive to us. We spent every Shabbos for the next year in the Valley Village community & learned so much from the families. We moved back to Pico, took lots of classes, & enrolled our toddler in a Jewish preschool.

Being a fashion designer wasn’t conducive to our lifestyle, so I became a wardrobe stylist for commercials & print. In 2007 when the economy was going sideways, we moved to Charlotte, N.C., a small Jewish community with a film industry. We helped grow the community there, but we were growing faster. My husband produced for Nascar & commuted to Atlanta. We knew we had to move to Atlanta after he spent one Shabbos in Toco Hills. My husband also predicted, correctly, that Atlanta would be the new production capital & we needed to be the pioneers.”

“On our pilot trip to Atlanta in 2011, we walked into a kindergarten classroom at Torah Day School & the children stood up for us and started singing. I cried like a baby. I realized this is what our family was missing. Soon after we moved, the school called asking if I would run a dinner & auction. Somehow they must have found out about my volunteer shenanigans in L.A. & Charlotte! I then joined the board as a fundraising trustee. I’m now the fundraising trustee at Congregation Beth Jacob. I crave making a difference in the community.

I launched my own marketing & graphic design firm. My husband was a sought-after freelance producer for over 25 years. Together with two partners, we started our own film & post-production company, FilmTribe, in 2015. All our partners davened (prayed) at the same shul, so we consider ourselves a 13th tribe. We work with clients from concept to completion. We produce TV commercials, movies, & branded content for clients such as Netflix, MTV & Universal, to name a few.

Integrity drives our work. Everything is done according to our values & Torah guidance. We don’t schedule shoots on Fridays because they’ll likely wrap once Shabbos begins. My husband was directing for The Rock & asked him if they could move the shoot from a Friday to Thursday, to which he responded, ‘Of course.’ Shaq wishes us Shabbat Shalom. Everyone who works with us knows we are religious, that our office has weird scrolls hanging on every doorpost, that we have our own food on set & we don’t hug the opposite sex. We are respected for it & are so grateful for our relationships.

I believe the best way to reach people globally is through film & TV. People watch shows about us & believe them to be true. Hashem gave us the gift of visual storytelling to tell our Jewish story, the beauty of who we are. I think our whole career has brought us to this point to tell our story in the most impactful and relevant way using media. Our next chapter is creating Jewish content that is real & authentic. We have projects in development we’re really excited about. We’ve created a perfect team to tell our story. We think the world is listening.”

Behind the scenes:

BTS: Sara Newmark

Clients, Faces Of OrthodoxyRachel LinkwaldJune 19, 2023faces of orthodoxy, producer, film producer, Atlanta, atlanta photographerComment