Matza FUN Stars & Bios | MatzaFun Tours

Jerry & Shelly Abramson MatzaFun Tours Owners	For 25 years, Jerry and Shelly have been providing the ultimate in service and kosher cuisine for their Passover resort guests. The hallmark of their successful programs is their attention to detail and innovative cuisine that only comes through decades of personal hands-on experience. Their combined backgrounds cover the culinary arts (Jerry began his classical training as a master chef in Europe), marketing (Shelly began her sales career at one of the nation’s top food products companies), kosher foods industry, and hotel management. In addition to MatzaFun Tours, Jerry and Shelly own and operate a year-round upscale kosher catering business in the Philadelphia region. They are also kosher foods purveyors, offering exclusive Glatt products and delicacies to the industry. Shelly and Jerry are both very active members of the Cherry Hill Jewish community, serving as volunteers and board members of several institutions.
Jay Press Reservations & Co-Host	Jay has been an on-site host for Passover Tours for many years. He is truly a master at the art of customer service. Jay has the great advantage of meeting all his guests and knowing their special requests and needs before they arrive at Ocean Place. It’s easy since all OP guests make their reservations exclusively with Jay. Jay is also the owner of International Travel Exchange, a travel agency based in Philadelphia.
Avery Umlas Co-Host	Avery is no stranger to the Passover scene. He spent 15 years as the ‘Tummeler’ at the Lebowitz Pine View Hotel and twenty years as the Program Director at the Homowack Hotel in Spring Glen, N.Y. Avery’s wonderful penchant for keeping people in good humor, stems from his Youth Director Days at the Y.I. of Hillcrest & Special Education career in the New York City School system. Both these positions have honed his skills as a people person and will serve him well as a Co Host for Matza Fun Tours.
Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Kanarfoget Scholar in Residence	Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel is the E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University. He teaches at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies and at Stern College for Women, where he is also head of the Jewish Studies program. Dr. Kanarfogel is an internationally recognized scholar of medieval Jewish intellectual and social history, and rabbinic literature. He is the author or editor of five books and more than fifty articles, and he has won a series of prestigious prizes for his work, including the National Jewish Book Award. Rabbi Kanarfogel was educated at Yeshiva University, from his undergraduate days through his doctorate and smicha, and he was also a member of the Kollel at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.Rabbi Kanarfogel is a much sought-after speaker and a world-traveler, lecturing at universities, synagogues and Jewish communities throughout North America, Europe and Israel. His vast historical and talmudic knowledge allow him to weave fascinating accounts and episodes of history and halachah, as he focuses on the productivity and resilience of the Jewish people in periods of plenty and persecution as well. He is also a sports fan and an amateur musician, two areas of interest that often find their way into his lectures in entertaining places. A talented talmid hacham and communal rav, Rabbi Kanarfogel is also an experienced darshan and maggid shiur.Rabbi Dr. Kanarfogel is married to Dr. Devorah Kanarfogel, an optometrist.
Cantor Pincus Cohen Cantor	Cantor Pinchas Cohen was born in Jerusalem and began his singing career at the age of six in the famous “SHIRAT ISRAEL CHOIR” under the direction of Rav Zalman Rivlin Z”L. He served in the Israeli army as a chaplain and fought in the 1967 Six Day War. He served as the Cantor in Atlantic Beach Jewish Center for 17 years. Now serving his 23nd year at the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center in Brooklyn. Cantor Pincahs Cohen is blessed with a powerful and dramatic tenor and has a very wide range. In addition, he has established for himself a worldwide reputation for his beautiful davening and concerts. He is invited to appear in many concerts and as a guest Chazzan in many congregations in the U.S., Israel and abroad
Israel Silverman Chess Master in Residence	Israel A. Silverman, J.D., MBA, is a U.S. Chess Federation Candidate Master, with over 30 years of tournament experience, including against world class grandmasters. He has run an online chess forum and taught chess to adults and children and provides exciting simultaneous exhibitions and private lessons at MatzaFun. Be sure to sign up when you check in!
Kehillas Bais Ben ZionRabbi Zushe Blech Kashrus Supervision	Rabbi Zushe Blech is a Musmach of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, and has been involved in Kashrus for the past twenty years. Rabbi Blech is an expert in the biotechnology and dairy industries. Rabbi Blech previously served as an Administrative Coordinator for the Orthodox Union. He travels throughout the world lecturing on and establishing Kashrus standards. He has written many articles on modern Kashrus issues, and is a regular contributor to Kashrus magazine.
Rabbi Yaakov K. Chaitovsky Lecturer	Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky was born in Philadelphia and received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University in 1984. He has held pulpits in Maryland and in Denver, Colorado, where he was Rabbi of the BMH-BJ Congregation, one of the largest OU- affiliated synagogues in the country. He spent ten summers on the rabbinical staff of the B’nai B’rith Leadership Training Kallah in Starlight, Pennsylvania. Rabbi Chaitovsky also received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law. For the past six years, he has been on the Judaic Studies faculty of the Shoshana S. Cardin School in Baltimore. A very popular and informative presenter, he has spoken to numerous teen and adult audiences around the country on a wide range of popular and scholarly topics. Rabbi Chaitovsky has extensive interest in Jewish ethics and contemporary society. He is committed to the unity and diversity of the Jewish people. He is also an accomplished musician and an avid tennis player.
Ronnie Baras Entertainer	Ronnie Baras has been performing professionally since 1982 . Ronnie has performed several times in Las Vegas including headlining at the infamous Venetian Hotel. He is the first Orthodox Jew to headline at a Las Vegas Hotel.Ronnie is a MatzaFun favorite as a featured entertainer and lecturer. He is best know for his entertaining hypnosis & comedy routines. Ronnie is a certified hypnotherapist and goes to great lengths to entertain, without embarrassing either his audience or his hypnotism subjects. In addition to hypnotism, Ronnie also performs ‘mentalism’ shows where he demonstrates the ability to ‘read minds’ in an entertaining fashion.
Donna Lazaros Camp Director	For the past seven years, Donna Lazaros has been director of several successful day camp Passover programs for area hotels. She has also served as director of the day camp program at the Orthodox Union annual convention. Donna has also directed the sports and aerobics programs at Camp Emunah and Camp Bnos. Her programs are not only enjoyed by her campers but also by her loyal staff who eagerly await each Pesach season.
Yaakov & Tzippy Charlap Teen & Senior Adult Coordinators	Tzippy is the Aquatics Director at Simcha Day Camp and has been working at the Boro Park “Y” for twenty years. Her hands-on experience includes children, adults and senior programs. In addition, Yaakov & Tzippy have years of experience organizing and supervising hotel programming. With teens of their own, they certainly have first hand experience with the teen community. Yaakov & Tzippy are both active members of the growing Kew Gardens Hills, NY community.
Marsha Greenberg Director of Entertainment	Marsha Greenberg has been part of the MatzaFun Ocean Place team for 7 years as director of entertainment. She has been involved in the world of Jewish music for longer than she’d like to think about, as founder of the Philadelphia based band “Kol Echad”, as a keyboard player for many of New York’s popular Jewish bands, and as an accompanist to many popular Jewish performers and chazzanim of today. A native of Philadelphia, Marsha now resides in Englewood, NJ (but retains her loyalty to the Phillies!) and teaches music at both the Yavneh Academy and Yeshivat Noam in Paramus, as well as the religious schools of New City Jewish Center in Rockland County, N Y, and Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Montclair, NJ.

MatzaFun Stars & Bios