Speaker Bio
Orit Esther Riter was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a caterer by profession, holding a Culinary Arts degree from the Culinary Arts Institute in New Jersey. When she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2006, Orit was forced to close her off-premise catering company which served the Tri-State area for over fifteen years. Despite her incurable illness, she found healing through spiritual empowerment. In 2009, Orit made Aliyah from Monsey, New York to Beit Shemesh, Israel. She began teaching emuna and essentially went from feeding the body at simchas to feeding the soul b'simcha. She nurtures herself and others by emphasizing the importance of establishing a close knit relationship with G-d. She focuses on learning and teaching the essential value of living a meaningful life with joy.
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York she attended Yeshiva of Kings Bay until 5th grade. Family reasons lead her to move to New Jersey and there she continued her schooling in a public school environment. This led her to stray from Torah living. She remained at this school for three years and then made aliyah with her mother and stepfather. After receiving her high school diploma, Orit served for 6 months in the Israeli Defense Forces, being discharged after getting married. Three years later she traveled back to the States, earning her dream college degree in the Culinary Arts. After working for a caterer in New York City, she boldly opened her own catering business, Kosher Designers. In order to expand marketability, she decided to run her catering business under glatt-kosher supervision. This required a full-time mashgiach. In her daily interactions with Torah observant Jews, she realized the truth, beauty, meaning and purpose of a Torah life and her Jewish heritage. Her family gradually transformed from being secular and unaffiliated to that of ba'alei teshuvah. Her Torah learning took precedence and focus over her success as a caterer. Orit Esther's path had detoured in order for her to seek out her true mission in life.
