I met my husband, Stuart Gherman, in the summer of 1964.
I was a guest at the Windsor Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. He had a summer job as a waiter there.
When I entered the dining room, there he was, wearing a uniform and carrying an enormous table over his head. He had the biggest muscles I had ever seen.
He still tells anyone who will listen, “I told my friend, ‘You see that [woman] who just came in. I’m going to marry her.’”
Last July 23 we celebrated our 58th wedding anniversary.
Many people in Jerusalem and every place else know Stuart Gherman. He has written several articles for The Jerusalem Post.
He is an amazing photographer, followed by many hundreds of people on Facebook and Instagram. In 2022, he had a solo photography exhibition at Heichal Shlomo, the Jewish museum in Jerusalem.
Whatever he does, he does with passion and determination. When he took up jogging as a dental student in New Rochelle, New York, he started running a few laps around an indoor track. He continued jogging and completed nine New York City marathons, each 42.2 kilometers, or 26.2 miles. He also completed five Long Island marathons and one Marine Corps marathon in Washington, DC.
Starting with photographing our children, he went on to photograph nature. He then became a street photographer, capturing the personalities and emotions of strangers.
On November 4, Stu had his 80th birthday. Although he has had a knee replacement and two spinal surgeries, he is active every day. He is also very young in spirit. To mark this milestone birthday, he knew he had to take up a challenge.
A milestone challenge for an 80th birthday
He told me many months ago that he was going to climb the Snake Trail on Masada. Many of my friends asked me why I didn’t dissuade him or even forbid him from doing it.
Well, they don’t know Stu the way I do. I knew that this would be good for him, and I knew that he would be able to do it.
Our children and grandchildren not only encouraged him but also decided to join him. The momentum for this climb grew and grew.
We ended up with 29 family members, which included our three children who live in Israel – Eliyahu, Tzvi, and Sarah – and 24 grandchildren, and even one of our great-grandchildren, Ruth, aged five months.
Many family members slept at the Masada guest house the night before, and the others arrived at 5 a.m. on Tuesday. Everyone was excited. Everyone did their part in helping Stu climb to the top.
The grandchildren took turns walking next to their Zayde so he could lean on them when necessary. One carried his water bottle. Most of the males carried their tallit and tefillin to daven at the top of Masada. The uphill climb took them less than two hours.
As Stu walked up the last few steps to the top, he spoke to them all, telling them that they should always follow their dreams. Everyone made it all the way up. It was glorious.
To say that I am proud of Stu does not come close to the way I feel. I never doubted that he could make it to the top. He is truly a role model for our family.
Our youngest son, Lee, and his family live in New York and felt so sad about missing this great family event.
Stu told them not to worry. They have tickets to come to Israel at the end of the month, and Stu has already assured them that he will climb with them to the top of Masada...
... and so the saga continues.