How did this French Judaic studies teacher and her avreich husband became one of the most sought-after photographer duos of chareidi weddings — including those of famous rebbishe families — inIsrael? 

“Ten years ago we decided to make aliyah” soft-spoken Devorah begins in her lilting French-perfumed Hebrew. “Parisis not the ideal place to raise children — the pritzus there is not to be believed. At the time I taught limudei kodesh and my husband was learning. When we asked rabbanim in Eretz Yisrael about coming we were told: ‘There are enough poor people in Israel. If you want to make aliyah you need a parnassah!’ ”

Devorah and her husband Isroel then embarked on a mission to find a suitable profession. They didn’t need to look far. Isroel had always naturally assumed the job of designated photographer for his yeshivah’s events and the couple had recently photographed a family simchah presenting their relatives with an album as a gift. “Your pictures were better than the professional photographers!” came the heartening response.

“We had a knack for it so we decided on photography” Devorah says. But it wasn’t easy to learn the profession in a city where photography like other art forms is largely off-limits to the exalted Torah-true eye.

“It was simply out of the question for us to attend a regular university or to go to any secular classes so we hired private highly skilled teachers to teach my husband and myself together. We studied for two and a half years learning all sorts of techniques and modalities including creative photography that utilizes light and other effects to create a real work of art. Then we started doing weddings in Paris after which we finally made aliyah with a profession in hand baruch Hashem plus a portfolio album to show around.”