Passover at the Ocean Place Resort & Spa

Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD

Edward Reichman is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he also teaches Jewish medical ethics, and holds the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Chair in Jewish Medical Ethics at Yeshiva College. He received his B.A. from Yeshiva University; M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Rabbinic Ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. In addition to his full-time clinical practice in Emergency Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Rabbi Dr. Reichman lectures internationally on Jewish medical ethics and Jewish medical history. He has edited numerous books and penned many book chapters and journal articles, and his book, The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History and Rabbinic Literature was recently published jointly by Koren/OU/YU presses (2022).

November 24, 2021

Rabbi Gedaliah Jaffe

Rabbi Gedaliah Jaffe proudly serves as the Rav of Congregation Ahavas Yisrael in Edison, New Jersey and brings his wealth of knowledge to the role of a seasoned Judaic studies teacher at Yeshivat Frisch in Paramus. In these capacities, Rabbi Jaffe imparts the wisdom of Chassidus, Halacha, Tanach, and Gemara to both adult learners and high school students. His unwavering commitment to education, community service, and spiritual leadership has left an indelible mark on those under his guidance.

Beyond his roles as a rabbi and educator, Rabbi Jaffe is a skilled musician, blending his passion for music with a profound understanding of Chassidic philosophy. His dedication to enhancing the lives of others is further evident in his multifaceted pursuits. A talented guitarist and avid chess enthusiast, Rabbi Jaffe also finds inspiration in reading the biographies of Tzaddikim.

Rabbi Jaffe extends the reach of his enlightening shiurim to a wider audience through YuTorah.org, embodying his commitment to sharing wisdom and making a positive impact. His holistic approach to education, spirituality, and artistic expression reflects Rabbi Jaffe’s enduring dedication to enriching lives.

January 3, 2022

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman

Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is an author, educator, speaker, and coach who lectures internationally on topics of Torah thought, Jewish medical ethics, psychology, and leadership. He received his BA from Yeshiva University, Semikha from RIETS, a Masters degree in Jewish Education from Azrieli School of Jewish Education, and a Masters degree in Jewish Thought from Bernard Revel Graduate School. He spent a year studying at Harvard as an Ivy Plus Exchange Scholar and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago. He is the founder and CEO of Self-Mastery Academy, the transformative online self-development course based on the principles of Torah, high-performance psychology, and leadership. Rabbi Reichman also holds a coaching certification in positive psychology from Robbins-Madanes Training, having received training from Tony Robbins and Cloe Madanes, world leaders in positive psychology. His book, The Journey to Your Ultimate Self- Lech Lecha is being published by Mosaica Press.

November 24, 2021

Jeffrey Lax

Jeffrey Lax is a professor of law at the City University of New York (CUNY) and has chaired the department of business at Kingsborough for the past 13 years. Professor Lax is a veteran on-air legal analyst having covered nearly every major legal matter in recent years (including Rittenhouse, Chauvin, Depp/Heard, Paltrow, Smollette, Cuomo, and others) for Court TV, Law and Crime Network, Scrips, and other networks.

Professor Lax is the founder and Executive Director of S.A.F.E. Campus, an organization dedicated to protecting and advocating on behalf of Zionist Jews on campus which has built an over 100-lawyer network fighting for campus antisemitism victims, at no cost to them, in the courts. Prof. Lax has been confronting, exposing, and fighting campus antisemitism on the front lines at CUNY for nearly a decade and is one of the most sought after spokespeople on the issue of campus antisemitism in mainstream media outlets including Fox News, Newsmax, CBS, NBC, NY1, and many other networks, podcasts, and popular radio.

December 28, 2023

Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom

Rav Yitzchak Etshalom was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavne, Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary and Yeshivat Har Etzion before receiving Semicha from the Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim, Rabbi Itzhak Kolitz.

Rav Etshalom has been a dynamic and exciting educator in the Los Angeles community since his return in 1985. His ability to reach out to today’s youth and share with them his passion for Jewish learning and Jewish life has enriched many young lives. He launched the Beit Midrash program at YULA Girls High School as well as opening the Beit Midrash at Shalhevet, where he currently serves as Rosh Beit Midrash. Rav Etshalom directs the Tanach Masters Program at YULA Boys’ High School as well as being as a sought-after Scholar in Residence throughout the country and in Israel.

He lectures annually at the prestigious “Ymei Iyyun” Tanakh Seminar at Herzog College. In addition, he teaches Daf Yomi and a popular Navi series at the Young Israel of Century City and his podcasts on Daf Yomi (http://www.dafyomiyicc.org/) have attracted an international following, as have his Tanakh podcasts, many of which are available at https://www.ou.org/, http://www.yutorah.org/, as well as on Spotify, iTunes and other popular podcast platforms. His critically acclaimed series “Between the Lines of the Bible” is a methodological guide to the study of Tanakh. He currently writes a weekly lecture for Yeshivat Har Etzion’s Virtual Beit Midrash on the books of Amos and Hoshea and his book on Amos will be published as part of the Koren Maggid Studies in Tanakh.

Rabbi Etshalom lives in Los Angeles with his wife Stefanie, also a dynamic educator and their five children live in Alon Shevut, Washington Heights and Los Angeles.

December 18, 2023

Marla Rottenstreich

Marla Rottenstreich is an AFAA-certified Group Fitness Instructor, ACE-certified Personal Trainer, 500HR Yoga teacher, IIN-licensed Health coach, licensed Zumba instructor (3 formats), ACSM Teen/Adolescent Fitness Instructor as well as ACSM Senior Fitness provider, DONA-certified birth doula and prenatal fitness provider, and licensed Beachbody PIYO & Insanity instructor. She currently owns Mekor Fitness LLC, a Central NJ Women’s Fitness & Wellness company.

March 15, 2022

Dr. Lauren Maza

Dr. Lauren Maza, a resident of Highland Park, NJ, received her medical degree from SUNY, Syracuse. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, where she also served as clinical instructor in medicine at Harvard University Medical School. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a primary care physician at Woodbridge Medical Associates. Prior to medical school, Lauren pursued a PHD in Nutrition and Biochemistry at University of Chicago. Her interests include women’s health, preventive medicine and Yoga and she enjoys lecturing on these topics to help her patients and others develop the best habits to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

January 31, 2023

Stefanie Etshalom

Stefanie Etshalom has worked with children of all ages from Mommy and Me class through college freshman as teacher, administrator, director of student activities, preschool Morah, camp psychologist and more. Stefanie enjoys sharing her experiences in formal and informal talks about child-rearing and early childhood education. She holds a master’s in education and administration and is currently the director of the Tora U’mada program for Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy in Los Angeles. She is the mother of 5 children in their 20’s and the proud wife of Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom.

December 20, 2023

Reina Potaznik Davis

For the past ten years Reina (Potaznik) Davis has worked as a NYC Public School dance teacher. In addition, she is certified as a Zumba and Zumbatomic instructor. She also facilitates Yoga and Mindfulness classes. In her current school, P.S. 86K, Reina is in charge of planning and implementing many SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) events for students and staff. Over the years, Reina has gained experience developing community-wide programs. She is a co-founder of Flattening the Hills: A Celebration of Jewish Life in Washington Heights, an all-day community fair. She envisioned and produced Ladies Got Talent, an all-female talent show, which originally took place in Washington Heights and then on the Upper West Side. For several years she judged and then assisted in running the Yeshiva High School Rikudiah, an annual dance competition. For several years Reina performed with Parparim, a professional Israeli Folk dance company. As part of Parparim she had the opportunity to perform at Citi Field for Jewish Heritage Day. Reina is an alumna of Barnard College from where she graduated with a BA in dance and psychology and holds an MA in dance education from NYU.

February 13, 2024

Ethan Davis

Ethan Davis, originally from Los Angeles and a ten year resident of Manhattan’s UWS, is an alumnus of both the University of Miami (FL) and St. John’s University. He holds two separate Master’s – one in Sport Administration and one in Adolescent Education. Ethan currently works as a Physical Education Teacher and Coach at The Abraham Joshua Heschel School – one of NYC’s largest Jewish Day Schools. As a coach for both the MS Volleyball and Basketball teams, he has led each team to multiple finals appearances and several championships apiece. Prior to becoming a PE Teacher/Coach, he was an entrepreneurial business owner in the fitness industry. Ethan also worked with ESPN’s X-Games and in the athletic communications department at the University of Miami.

February 13, 2024

Tal Vaknin

Tal Vaknin is an internationally acclaimed singer and composer of Jewish pop and soul music. Tal is known for his amazing vocal abilities and his success among all different streams of Jewish audiences both in Israel and abroad. Born in Jerusalem, and son of a musical cantorial parent, Tal was discovered at an early age as a musical prodigy child. Tal continued to wow audiences in concerts up until he joined the IDF. During his service in the IDF he performed in the Israeli Army band at bases all around the country.

Following the Army, Tal began performing his own unique Jewish hits. He quickly became a sought-after singer and began to perform in concerts and festivals for Chabad Israel and in communities all over the USA and Europe. Tal performed with famous opera singer Andreas Bocelli. Tal founded the radio station Galey Yisrael along with “Lehakat Darom” and served as the Music Director of the station. He founded the children’s group “Musickids”.

Among his hits is the album “Prayers” with singer Yossi Azulay; his single “Aneni Basharim” written by singer Kobi Aflalo; his single “Neshama” which he wrote along with Barak Elisha; a music video duet with Israeli Superstar Gad Elbaz called “Emunah” which Tal composed together with the arranger Ran Aviv; “Clouds in the Clouds” which was written by Kobi Afallo;; the song “Soul” composed by Uriel Aharoni and arranged by Ran Aviv and Gad Elbaz; “Ala” which he composed and wrote together with Ma’ayan Tamir to the words of Rabbi Kook; “Morning” composed and written by Elhanan Elhadad along with a music video with Rudy Rochman, Gad Elbaz, Binyamin Elbaz and Aharon Holder; the Hebrew adaptation of the French singer Daniel Levy’s song “l’envie d’aimer”;  ‘Hallo‘ a duet with singer Yossi Azulay; “Moda Ani”, a performance sign in 4 languages and the hit song “My Day”.

At the beginning of the Iron Swords War, Tal enlisted to establish a special unit in his area of ​​residence and at the same time handled the donations of tactical equipment to two thousand soldiers in the various sectors every night since the beginning of the war. At the same time as his military service, Tal travels between Israel Defense Forces bases and performs for the soldiers.  Tal is loved by his many fans.

February 21, 2024

Sarge

Comedian Sarge is an entertainer who has performed worldwide to adoring audiences. He delights audiences with humor that resonates with audiences of all ages. And he is much more than a comedian – – Sarge is a self-taught piano savant, an author and motivational speaker. His humor comes from a very personal place as his road to success was not a smooth one. He was born in Miami Beach, Florida during the Civil Rights Movement to a Jewish mother and black father, but given up for adoption soon after birth. Fortunately, he was quickly adopted by a couple who then raised him in Great Neck, Long Island. At the fresh age of seven, SARGE would entertain in between hands of his grandpa Herman’s card games by doing impressions and jokes on cue. It was also at this time that his grandfather took him to shows in the Catskill Mountains, which was the live entertainment capital of New York State.

After playing clubs and colleges all over America for three years, SARGE found himself opening for some of the biggest names in music – Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Paul Anka, The Beach Boys, The Four Tops, Taylor Dayne, Donna Summer and Wayne Newton, just to name a few. These high profile gigs enabled SARGE’s act to evolve from a comedy appearance to an entertainment performance because he learned to weave his own musical talents into his shows. SARGE has worked on some of the biggest stages in show business. From Radio City Music Hall to Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game to entertaining our nation’s troops in Iraq, SARGE’s ability to improvise and tailor his show to specific audiences is uncanny. Sarge is a highly sought after motivational speaker and for the last 27 years has been working in treatment centers and recovery. In 2019, Sarge released his autobiography and motivational book, “Black Boychick,” which traces his hilarious, inspirational life of twists and turns, ups and downs which will leave you exhilarated and entertained.

This past summer SARGE was cast for a co-starring role in a major motion picture “The NARROWS” set in BROOKLYN which will be released SPRING 2024. Also look for SARGE’s triumphant appearance airing on the wildly popular “Comics Unleashed”. He is a proud father to his son and loving husband to his wife Anna and lives in Florida.

January 11, 2024

Karolina Protsenko

Karolina Protsenko is a 15 year old classically trained violinist.  Born in Kiev, Ukraine October 3, 2008, she moved to the United States with her parents Nikolay and Ella Protsenko in 2015 when she was just 6 years old. Later that year she started violin lessons and soon after she began busking on the streets of Santa Monica, she quickly won the hearts of Millions of followers as she became an Internet  sensation.  She is now well known all over the world for her  violin covers of top artists that she learns regularly by ear with her mother, and plays them live while dancing like no other.  Karolina has gone viral on many of her videos and has been featured on “The Ellen Degeneres Show”, “The Kelly Clarkson Show”  as well as, “Access Hollywood”. With her huge social media presence over 20M followers on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, her music videos were viewed well over 3 billion times worldwide. Her violin performances both classical and contemporary reach millions of people around the globe everyday. Karolina has become an inspiration not only to the young generation to learn to play the violin but also to those who are far beyond their youth. Besides playing the violin and dancing, Karolina has passion for singing, playing guitar and piano and has begun writing original songs. In her free time she loves riding her bike and playing with Cashew, her dog, and her two little brothers, Leo and Nicholas. Karolina Protsenko is a very bright and talented musician who strives to bring happiness, joy and hope with her dancing violin music to people around the world!

February 12, 2024

Michael Samen

Michael Samen, is one of Israel’s leading mentalists. Michael combines body language, psychology, facial expressions and influencing techniques to craft a mesmerizing show. Over the last few years, Michael has performed for tens of thousands of people including celebrities and VIPs. His social media posts have received millions of views. Prepare to be amazing by mentalist Michael Samen.

Michael Samen April 5, 2024

Mio

Mio has entertained around the world for presidents, princes and celebrities, and it’s an honor for him to share his love of Magic & Mentalism and perform for you!  A proud member of FISM (Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques), Society of American Magicians and International Brotherhood of Magicians, Mio was awarded the Order of Merlin in 2016, and voted Magician of the Year, Ring 45 in 2013! Born into a NYC show biz family, Mio has been performing professionally since 1989, sharing his love of Close-Up Magic and Mentalism Shows, in person or on a virtual platform. Mio was the featured entertainer at Barbra Streisand’s birthday party hosted by Donna Karan, where he also performed for Robert De Niro and Woody Allen.  Mio is a favorite at celebrity golf tournaments and parties for professional sports teams from the NBA to the NFL.  Mio’s is truly a World Class Magician & Mentalist!

 

February 21, 2024

Avi Maza

Avi Maza, our Master of Ceremonies, grew up in NJ, and is a descendant of a rabbinical and cantorial family that spans ten generations. He is a graduate of Yeshiva University where he was the lead Tenor saxophonist in the university’s Jazz Ensemble and where he also attended the Belz School of Jewish Music where he studied Cantorial liturgy and style under the tutelage of the world-renowned Cantors, Macy Nulman and Bernard Beer. After college, Avi joined the famous Ruach Orchestra, where he performed alongside many well-known Israeli and Hassidic recording artists. Avi currently performs regularly at celebrations and community events as the leader of the Avi Maza Orchestra. He has also served for many years at various congregations as High Holiday Cantor and on Pesach programs as Cantor and entertainer. Avi and his wife Lauren reside in Highland Park, NJ with their 3 children, Seth, Liana, and Jessica.

January 31, 2023

Dovid Pearlman

Starting his career in music as a Miami Boys Choir soloist back in 2009 at the age of 8, Dovid Pearlman has since become a prominent recording artist and performer, with an impressive discography of numerous albums and singles. Fresh off the heels of his recent U.K. tour, he is excited to be joining us at Leasure Time Tours Pesach program to enhance the Chag through uplifting music and davening!

February 21, 2024

Seth Maza

An accomplished pianist since the age of 3, Seth brings his exuberance and incredible talent to the bandstand and to all of the varied events he performs at on a regular basis including performing over many years at a variety of Pesach programs. His credits include finalist in the international Jewish Kids Got Talent competition, 2 time High School Battle of the Band Champion titles, composition and musical arrangement and performance of numerous original Jewish hit singles, including most recently Mordechai Shapiro’s hit release Ashira which was co-produced by Seth and in which he is featured throughout the release on keyboards and vocals. Seth’s high energy and tasteful playing, including his unique jazz style, is a great addition to any Simcha!

January 31, 2023