Nesanel Gantz: Welcome to our panel. Our distinguished guests are three giants who do so much for Agudah and klal Yisrael as a whole; I’m humbled to be a part of this.
I’d like to begin by hearing your background stories.

Shloime Werdiger: I was born in Borough Park. My father was a Holocaust survivor and the youngest talmid in Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin. We are Gerer chasidim, but at the time, there was no Gerer shtiebel yet, so we often davened in the Agudah and in Bluzhev. Agudah is in the Gerer blood.
I went to Torah Vodaas for high school. In Eretz Yisrael, I learned in Tchebin, because the Beis Yisrael suggested I go there. Rav Boruch Shimon Schneerson was my rosh yeshivah, and I learned by Rav Avraham Genechovsky.
When I was a child, Rabbi Moshe Sherer took a liking to me, and I spent a lot of time with him. I received a strong indoctrination because he recruited me at a young age. When I was learning in Eretz Yisrael, we would walk together from Malon Hamerkaz to Gur. On the Yomim Tovim he would daven in Gur. The she’eiris hapleitah Yidden [Holocaust survivors] like my father always felt a responsibility to the klal, to help them rebuild. With the encouragement of the Gerer rebbes, he pushed me to get involved in the Agudah.
When I got married, my wife made parnasah working in the diamond industry on 47th Street, but I was struggling. I started as a schlepper in the shmatte business. I worked very hard, but it took a long time to climb up the ladder until, with the Ribbono Shel Olam’s help, I was able to start my own business, focused on sports apparel and clothing.

Nesanel Gantz: It’s difficult for someone who has never experienced that struggle to imagine what other people have to go through.

Shloime Werdiger: I think it’s a little easier to get ahead in business today than it used to be, but it’s still difficult. There is a tremendous shefa in klal Yisrael today, which is wonderful and is being used for good things, but there is still an imbalance with many who are struggling.
In those days, when we first got married, we were all struggling with parnasah. Nobody grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth, especially not the children of Holocaust survivors. Our parents didn’t have businesses for us to go into. They didn’t have real estate or nursing home empires. We had a drive to be successful on our own; we had no fallback.
My kids are active in my business. I’m still active in the sports apparel business, but baruch Hashem, I’m able to devote much of my time to askanus. Agudah is my main “parnasah.”

Nesanel Gantz: Ralph, this panel is taking place in Bell Works, your property. What led you to develop Bell Works? When you first saw it, it was just a huge empty shell.

Ralph Zucker: I was born in Baltimore, Maryland. My father, z”l, was a talmid of Rav Aharon Kotler in Lakewood. He was niftar when I was young. My mother remarried to Rabbi Meir Wunder from Eretz Yisrael, and we moved between Bnei Brak and Yerushalayim.
I went to Beis Hatalmud and then to Telz-Stone, where I was zocheh to learn first seder by Rav Gifter. We learned Chezkas Habatim; it was a good way to start a real estate career…
After that, I came back to America and learned in Long Beach by Rav Yitzchok Feigelstock before going to Lakewood.
My first real paying job was as a busboy in my grandfather’s hotel, Zucker’s, at Glen Wild Country Club. Then I needed a place to live, so I built my house. I started doing a little development, and over time it grew. At this point, it’s been about 35 years of real estate development.
As for Bell Works, it was yad Hashem. A real estate broker showed me the property. It was the largest vacant office building in the United States at the time, and I thought I could redevelop it. I didn’t have a clear idea of the challenges it posed. If I had, I probably never would have done it.
By the time I recognized the risks, baruch Hashem, we had already done a lot of development and I felt we could be successful with this as well. It took a long time, with a lot of siyata dishmaya. We started in 2008, and it took us about six years to open the doors.
Since then, we’ve opened two other Bell Works, bli ayin hara: Bell Works Chicagoland, outside of Chicago, and another one here in New Jersey, in Fort Monmouth.

Nesanel Gantz: Nechemiah, tell us about yourself.

Nechemiah Hoch: Let me start by saying that I must have been standing in the right place when they realized they needed to fill the third chair. In the company of Shloime and Ralph, I feel like a “player of the week” sitting next to two major league MVPs.
I was born and raised in Queens, and I’ve basically lived within the same few blocks my entire life, not counting my years in yeshivah. I learned in Toras Moshe in Yerushalayim and Ohr Hachaim in Queens. My first job after kollel was in the construction industry, selling insulation. If you work in sales for even a short amount of time, the first thing you learn is humility. You get a lot of doors slammed in your face.
After a while, I joined my family’s real estate business. We mostly do multifamily and apartment buildings throughout the United States; recently, we’ve expanded to offices as well. We buy and sell, depending on market conditions.

Nesanel Gantz: Each of you took some time to find your career path. Today many young men spend a few years in kollel or finishing yeshivah, and only after that do they address the question of how to make a parnasah. How would you advise someone who comes to you for help? Do you recommend going back to school? What fields do you see as viable options, other than nursing homes
and real estate?

Shloime Werdiger: As far as a career path, that’s the yad Hashem.
I would not encourage anybody to go into the shmatta business. Plenty of young guys come over to me, and I’m always happy to advise and encourage them.
First of all, you can’t just sit at home waiting for someone to call and offer you a job. No one is going to tap you on the shoulder while you’re sitting in shul and say, “Hey, are you looking for a job? I’m interested in hiring you.” You have to do hishtadlus.