Tour de Force

Our conversation in the Stefansky home doesn’t feel heavy — Rochel Stefansky is nothing if not a “normal” woman — but I’m fascinated as Rochel goes from one hashkafah idea to another, easily quoting Rav Mordechai Miller (of Gateshead Seminary fame), Rav Avigdor Miller, Rav Pesach Eliyahu Falk, Rabbi Zecharia Wallerstein zichronam livrachah, and other rabbanim.

I’m even more intrigued when she tells me how these ideas became the soundtrack of her life.

“Sixteen years ago, I was hurrying home from shul on Motzaei Yom Kippur when I was attacked by two dogs. I was thinking that I needed to get home and check how my daughter was, and before I knew it, I was on the floor, fighting off two dogs who were on top of me, out of control, panting and pawing, drooling and biting. When the ambulance arrived, the medical personnel discovered that although I was very bruised, the thick white jacket I had just put on had saved me from an actual bite. But it was a horrendous trauma.

“The next day, people were calling my husband to find out how I was, and everyone was saying, ‘I hope you send her to therapy.’