The child of Holocaust survivors Esther was born and raised inBoroPark. “My parents were actually from very different backgrounds ” she says. “I don’t know if they would have met if the war hadn’t happened; my father was from a family of Gerrer chassidim from Lodz and my mother came from Lithuania — in fact her family had Zionist leanings and as a child she learned Hebrew with a tutor who taught the girls Chumash as well. My parents met inLidingo Sweden after the war where they both worked for the Vaad Hatzalah under Rav Shlomo Wolbe and Rav Wolf Jacobson.”

Her oldest sister Deena was born in Sweden; the other four children arrived after the family immigrated to New York. Esther describes her parents as “high-energy” people who founded a wholesale textile business and read the New York Times daily to keep abreast of world events especially Israeli politics. Learning was prized in the family — her father always had a sefer in his hand.

Esther remembers her mother as being quiet but impressively capable. Despite working long days with her husband she would come home make supper and clean up so smoothly that it never occurred to the kids to offer their help. “Our job was to do what we had to do in school ” says Esther a Bais Yaakov graduate. “But my parents weren’t the types to be running to PTA meetings or constantly checking up on us. They just assumed we’d do well and we did.”

Over time all of Esther’s siblings made aliyah as did her parents in 1983. Her sister Deena she recounts with pride married Reb Yerucham Levovitz the grandson of Rav Yerucham Levovitz ztz”l the famed mashgiach of the Mirrer Yeshivah and mussar giant. Her other sister Chaya Eiger married the son of the Lubliner Rebbe; their daughter is married to the current Gerrer Rebbe’s son. Esther’s brothers followed their father into Gerrer Chassidus. She proudly displays a framed photo of her be-shtreimeled father brothers and nephew with the Gerrer Rebbe.

Despite being born into a prestigious chassidic family Esther didn’t see herself living the same lifestyle. “I knew I wanted something different” she says matter-of-factly. She attendedBrooklynCollege majoring in political science married Jeffrey Resnick a CPA and moved to Flatbush. After her first two children were born she enrolled atCardozoLawSchoolwith the support of her “very warm and giving” husband. “I always wanted to be a lawyer even though it was quite rare for women to go to law school when I attended in1980 ”Esther says. “I had tunnel vision about it.”

Law school is famously challenging for single people with no responsibilities so how did Esther manage it while starting a family? “I have a lot of energy” she smiles and proceeds to describe the schedule she’s been following since law school: in bed by about 9:30 p.m. then up by about 2:30 a.m.  

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