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| Ilana Skolnik |
Two women from very different backgrounds who today have a common commitment to Jewish life and practice will share how their lives have been shaped by Judaism at the Jewish Women’s Day program Feb. 10 at Chabad-Lubavitch of Western Monmouth County, N.J.
Ilana Skolnik, a former Miss South Africa who completed her conversion to Judaism in Tel Aviv in 1984, will speak about her journey to Jewish tradition beginning in 1973 when she became friends with the Israeli contestant in the Miss World Pageant in London, U.K.
The pre-Purim program is designed to celebrate both the inner and outer beauty of the Jewish Queen Esther says Tova Chazanow, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Western Monmouth County. Skolnik’s life story in particular, says Chazanow, reveals her “inner strength, unwavering faith and fierce determination.”
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| Elyse Zinger |
Elyse Zinger, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., will receive the Aishes Chayil (Woman of Valor) award will also talk about her journey, focusing on her participation for the past 12 years in a weekly Torah class with Tova Chazanow, and the guidance she has received from Chazanow and her husband, Rabbi Boruch Chazanow, recalling, “how they’ve inspired me to adopt a lifestyle of greater observance.”
The weekly class at Chabad, Zinger says, “opened my eyes and answered lots of questions about traditions that I had seen, but not fully understood while growing up in Brooklyn.” Zinger continues that she “came to appreciate the underlying reason for Shabbat rest, for example, as a day when we can put away thoughts of the hectic workweek and connect with our families and with G-d.”
Zinger will be honored for her voluntary commitments to the community including her leadership in the local Friendship Circle, the international Chabad-Lubavitch program that responds to the needs of thousands of children worldwide who suffer from various isolating conditions.
















