YIWH 69th Anniversary Dinner

Meet The Honorees

Meet The Honorees

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Orit and Moti Lax  - Family of the Year

Seven years ago, Orit and Moti discovered the perfect blend of community and warmth in West Hempstead, making it their home after relocating from Kew Gardens Hills. Their commitment to the belief that the shul is the heartbeat of the community has driven their active involvement in the shul community.

Orit, a dedicated art teacher at Yeshiva Har Torah for nearly two decades, recently transitioned into the role of Mechanechet for middle school girls. Orit has also taken on oversight of the “Leeor’s Legacy Mentorship Program”, where 8th graders mentor 6th graders. Orit is a familiar face to many parents and students in the community. Her contributions were recognized when honored by the YHT PTA in 2018. Orit is actively engaged on the Youth Committee, orchestrated various art programs during the challenges of COVID, and is the resident face painter at the Purim Carnival.

Moti, a volunteer paramedic on Hatzalah for nearly 25 years, plays a regular role in shul security and is the Training Coordinator for the security team. In addition to these regular activities, Moti recently served as shul Gabbai and is on the board of directors. During the height of the COVID pandemic, Moti actively participated in a Hatzalah program in the community monitoring patients at home, avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations, and played a role in the community's vaccination efforts. He is also an active member of the NYC Regional EMS Council, sitting on multiple committees, and Chairing Training and Education, contributing to the modernization of the EMS system in New York City.

The Lax children follow this example of involvement in the immediate community and beyond. Shua has recently made Aliyah and soon joining the IDF B”H. Adina is a takes great pride in being a dedicated youth leader of the booming nursery group. Avi, perhaps, soon to give the Bodoff’s a run for their money in teen minyan and Netanel just generally running.

Charlie Weissman - Community Service Award 

Charlie has been living in West Hempstead for almost 30 years. He grew up nearby in Oceanside where early on, his parents set an example of being involved in their shul, community, Jewish organizations and charities. Charlie studied at HILI/HAFTR, MTA, and BMT in Israel. He earned a bachelors degree in Accounting from Queen College and a masters degree is CyberSecurity from the University of Delaware. Charlie is a Director of Customer Success at Cisco Systems.

Serving as the "Chief Technology Officer" of the shul, Charlie is involved in  creating and maintaining the web site and forms used by the Shul. He manages the yahrzeit data and mailings, produces the Gabbai reports and provides technical support to the office, administration and youth leadership. Charlie has been a YIWH board member for many years and has been a member of several committees. He has advised several shul presidents and officers in  matters of technology.

Charlie and Natalie raised Jordana, Scott and Evan in West Hempstead where they attended HANC elementary school, participated in YIWH activities, and forged deep friendships in both the YIWH and broader communities. Charlie is a Customer Success Director at

We are pleased to honor Charlie Weissman with the Community Service award for this year’s dinner, and congratulate him and his family.

Dr. Tova Isseroff - Aishes Chayil Award

It was a chance encounter in the summer of 2011 that would ultimately set into motion Tova’s eventual settling in the West Hempstead community. After being introduced to her future husband, Donnie, a long-time resident of West Hempstead, they soon married and settled in Manhattan until suburban life beckoned.

They purchased their first home sight-unseen after winning a bidding contest, soon settling in and eagerly becoming new Young Israel members. Tova shortly thereafter started to volunteer her time for the YIWH Sisterhood, working on various projects and fundraisers including the sisterhood sampler, mishloach manot, and bake sales.

In 2019 Tova became one of the Sisterhood’s executive vice presidents, serving a 2-year term. This was followed by becoming co-president in 2021, where she and her co-president Gari Ann Harris were part of the efforts to revive shul programming as the COVID pandemic was gradually ending. She completed her presidential term in July of 2023 and has continued to be involved in the Sisterhood’s activities. She is an active YIWH Board member as well.

Tova volunteers her time for other organizations including Jewish Orthodox Women’s Medical Association, having served as their director of membership for a few years after their inception in 2019. She works as an Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeon at NYU Langone- Long Island and is tirelessly dedicated to her patients. She is a busy wife and mother of three wonderful children- Adira-  age 10, Nava- age 6, and Azi, age 4 , all of whom attend HANC.  In her spare time, she enjoys crafting, shopping, cooking, and napping on a good couch. You can typically find fresh coffee beans to grind and brew on her kitchen counter sitting alongside a gourmet cookbook, and count on getting an email reminder from her after midnight.

Rabbi Dr. Chesky Gewirtz  - Harbatzas Torah

Rabbi Dr. Chesky Gewirtz moved with his family to West Hempstead over five years ago. Born and raised in Monsey, NY under the rabbinic leadership of Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dovid Tendler zatza'l, he studied at ASHAR, MTA, Sha'alvim and Yeshiva University. After completing a BA in psychology, he went on to complete a master's in Jewish Education and a doctorate in combined School-Clinical Psychology and received semicha from RIETS. Before coming to West Hempstead, Chesky served as a pulpit rabbi, a classroom teacher in middle school and high school, and a camp head counselor. Since moving to West Hempstead, he has shared Torah with many of us at the Young Israel and the community at large, often weaving together his knowledge of Torah and psychology. He leads a weekly chaburah on various practical halachic topics related to the Parsha and has taught at the Young Israel in numerous forums including Shabbos Parsha Shiur, Halacha Chabura, Women's Parsha Shiur, Shavuos Learning Program, Pre-Selichos Program, Parent-Child Learning, among others. Chesky leads the Yeshiva Minyan, a precious addition to our shul's variety of Shabbos minyanim. Chesky is currently the director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Department at Queens Hospital Center and has a private practice here in West Hempstead treating children and adults. He also teaches a college-level class in Psychology and Torah at Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central). He credits his amazing wife Aliza, a teacher of Torah in her own right, for his ability and privilege to spread Torah due to her loving support and encouragement. Chesky and Aliza have been blessed with four wonderful children; Ariella, Talia, Nafi and Shua.

We welcome new members who joined within the last 3 years and who haven't attended the dinner in the past to sign up for a full page ad and dinner reservations for 2 at the reduce price of $360 - please select the "New Member" option below