Yochy Fleischman // YF Productions

“I never thought that helping set up kiddush in shul would foreshadow what my parnasah is today.
“I was born and raised in Monsey. I learned in Pupa Cheder and then went to Rav Moshe Green’s yeshivah for beis midrash. I never learned in Eretz Yisrael, but I did go to visit my rebbe, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, several times.
“My father sits and learns, and my mother is a babysitter. My parents worked hard to support us and managed to pay the bills.
“The way I make my living today has its roots in something simple that I always enjoyed doing. When I was a bachur, I always helped the shamash in shul set up for kiddushim, melaveh malkahs and anything else that was needed. In yeshivah, I did the same thing—I always helped set up and arrange the events.
“Even when I went to the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, I helped with the tischen and different events, setting up the bleachers and doing whatever was needed. Wherever I was, I always managed to get myself involved in setting up for events.
“After my wedding, I learned in kollel until I got a call from Rav Usher Zelig Greenberg, zt”l, the rosh yeshivah of Shaar Ephraim in Monsey. He was looking for someone to help him run his yeshivah of over 300 bachurim. I ended up working as the manager there for close to eight years.
“I helped oversee every aspect of the yeshivah, from running the office to running the kitchen. I made sure the kitchen was stocked and running smoothly, and I got involved in cooking the food as well. I had always enjoyed cooking, and now that I was working in the yeshivah, I took a high-end chef course. The course didn’t actually change the way I cooked; the recipes I used were still my own. I just needed the certification for legal purposes. I became the yeshivah’s head chef in addition to being the manager.
“I worked crazy hours. Some days, I was in yeshivah from 7 a.m. until midnight. I cooked, ran the office and helped the yeshivah operate smoothly—everything from A to Z. I loved working in a yeshivah and did not do it for the money.
“As the chef, I used to make everything on a grand scale. From time to time, some of my friends asked me to provide them with some kugel and dips for smaller simchahs, like a vach nacht. That morphed into them asking me to provide all the food for the vach nacht.
“Then I received an interesting phone call that changed the trajectory of my career. Rav Chaim Shia Halberstam, the rav of Satmar in Monsey, was on the line. He had two children and was marrying off his first daughter, who was born to him after many years of marriage. It was going to be a big simchah, and he wanted me to arrange the entire wedding. I was shocked. Did I hear right? I really didn’t know what to say. What did I know about arranging an entire chasunah? But he insisted I was the right man for the job, so I went for it.
“The wedding was held in the RCC (Rockland Community College) in Monsey, and it was attended by over 15,000 people. Aside from the food, there were endless details such as obtaining city permits, parking, the kabalas panim, and arranging the different rebbes’ arrivals. I jumped right in and didn’t sleep for two weeks straight, but it ended up being a beautiful wedding. I had only done small events up to that point, so it was real siyata dishmaya.
“I am a big believer in transparency in business, and in life in general. Since I was working for the yeshivah at the time, I made sure to get permission from the rosh yeshivah to do this big wedding on the side. When you aren’t transparent about pursuing side work, both your main job and the side work will suffer.
“My next job was the Satmar Chof-Alef Kislev event in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, so my first two events were pretty large. I asked Satmar several times why they called me, and they simply told me that they liked the way I worked.

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