Shiya (Josh) Ingber // Hero Fulfillment

I was born in Monsey to two American parents. My father is a psychologist, and my mother was an importer of clothing for schools. I am the fourth of 14 children. My parents are very special people and always encouraged us to follow our dreams. When I got married, my wife told me, ‘Your mother has 14 only children.’ I don’t know any mothers like her.
“I was born while my father was still getting his psychology degree. We are Gerrer chasidim, and interestingly, the Pnei Menachem encouraged my father to study psychology, telling him, ‘You’re an American boy, uber ba dich vet es nisht shaten (however, for you, the studies won’t be harmful).’ Essentially, he pushed my father to get his degree. Today, my father, Rabbi Menachem Ingber, is a well-known psychologist in Israel. He specializes in trauma and also works with the IDF.
“When my father was studying, my parents decided to move to Israel. So I was born in America but grew up in Yerushalayim.
“My father grew up in the Bronx, and then his parents moved to Queens. My grandmother is a social worker. My father became a Gerrer chasid when he was 15.
“My grandfather is a rabbi and a doctor, a real professional who is very serious about his Yiddishkeit; he’s a very chashuve person. They used to go on vacation all over the US, but my grandfather always designated one hour a day when he and his sons would go to the local yeshivah and learn. They always went on vacation near a yeshivah. One year there was a Gerrer butcher whom my father befriended, and they ended up learning together during the vacation. I guess you could say my grandfather started the process of my father becoming a chasid.
“Growing up, I studied in the Gerrer yeshivah system. I was always entrepreneurial-minded. My father used to call me a businessman, and I would say, ‘No, I’m an entrepreneur.’ My brother and I even had a mini-bank of sorts where we would manage the gogoim [peach pits, part of a game played by Israeli children] for the boys in our cheder.
“When I was in yeshivah, I ran the gemach for food and supplies. We were not allowed to leave the yeshivah, so we had a little store inside, referred to as a gemach, where the bachurim could buy things. We carried everything; it was like a small grocery store. It was only called a gemach because I didn’t make money—the store did.
“That’s when I knew I had the skills to run a business, because I had helped build the gemach, and I loved the feeling of building something. When I was 16, I wanted to make my first deal by buying a falafel store, but my father shot it down, so I didn’t do it.
“I always had a hard time sitting still; I’m the same way today. I value Torah learning, and I have a chavrusa with Rav Weber, the Belzer dayan here. He ‘caught’ me and asked me to learn with him. He is my mashpia. He tells me where to give tzedakah. I also run a kollel here.