Rivca Zacharia’s family moved from Israel to the U.S. in 1967 when she was just 6 years old. Traveling by ship, her family (father, mother and sister) arrived in Brooklyn on a cold and snowy February day. She remembers the cold and how she and her sister hated it at first. On their way to the U.S. they stopped in Greece to visit her father’s parents, his sister and family. They spoke only Hebrew and Greek and soon after enrolling in school, she would begin learning English with her new Americanized name, Rifka, that her teacher said she must take. She was young and having to change her name in school was very confusing.

Sadly, Rivca never had the opportunity to meet her maternal grandparents as they died at Auschwitz. Her mother was a concentration camp survivor but never spoke about it until they were much older when Rivca applied for reparations for her parents. Although it was for a good purpose, reliving this experience was very painful for her mother and for Rivca to learn about this in such detail was deeply upsetting. Her mother had endured grueling treatment.

Growing up, her parents owned and operated a butcher shop in the Bronx and later owned a men’s clothing store in Queens. Her parents worked relentlessly, and also went to adult education to learn English. She inherited her parents work ethic and assisted them in the store while maintaining a full-time courseload as a student attending Queens College and later Yeshiva University for her master’s in school psychology.

She’s worked in advertising and sales, and embraced her entrepreneurial spirit while owning and operating her own advertising company representing magazines for advertising sales and serving a large territory of publishers. She later felt called to return and get a 2nd masters in school psychology and currently works in a low socioeconomic school district supporting students and their families. Her role as a school psychologist is very rewarding, but presents deeply challenging issues. She continually seeks new and creative ways to make positive impact by providing resources and developing programs to enrich her student’s experience. Her personal struggles growing up as a young immigrant, and witnessing her parents strength and sacrifices has resulted in deep resilience and empathy which influences her approach to her work, raising her family and everyday life.