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Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva of Edison held its annual Ad Journal Dinner Feb. 22, honoring Miriam and Shmilu Weiss, Marsha and Michael Wasserman, and township Mayor Jun Choi.

The dinner took place at the Doubletree hotel in Somerset, where Choi and the Wassermans were the recipients of the Community Service Award and the Weisses were the Guests of Honor for the evening.

Choi said he was very honored and humbled to receive the award. When he first came to America from Seoul, South Korea, he grew up in Staten Island in a neighborhood of religious Jews where for the first time he said he observed Jews walking to shul and wearing yarmulkes.

"I was always the one that was always called on a late Friday night, a snowy evening, a little boy apparently left the car windows down, and we were the go-to family," Choi said.

Choi told The Jewish State it was an honor and a privilege to be recognized for his commitment to the Jewish community in Edison and RPRY.

"Really my part is very small, and really the community deserves the credit," Choi said.

RPRY is truly an excellent institution for education and helps prepare the children for the real world, he said. The school is a very close, supportive, friendly, and loving environment where everyone feels at home, he said.

"RPRY is the sun, I am the moon and we are merely just reflecting the light," Choi said.

Both the Wassermans and the Weisses are truly extraordinary people that deserved to be honored, Choi said.

The Wassermans said they are deeply honored and have a great appreciation for RPRY. The school and the Jewish community of Edison go hand in hand, Michael said.

"Marsha and I fell in love with this community 40 years ago and have seen it grow steadily stronger as a result of this institution," Michael said.

The Wassermans moved to Highland Park in 1971, where their three children Dov, Noah, and Aliza all attended RPRY. For the past 25 years, Marsha has taught the 4th grade, the resource room, and math and science in the middle school. She also taught Hebrew school at the East Brunswick Jewish Center and created a special education program at the Hebrew School of the Highland Park Conservative Temple-Congregation Anshe Emeth.

The Guests of Honor, the Weisses for the past 12 years have dedicated a great deal of their time to the school. Miriam said when she thinks of RPRY, the one thing that comes to mind is the warm and friendly environment of the school.

"But RPRY is so much more than just a fine definition of a school," Miriam said. "I can honestly say with true confidence that my children, Malia, Shaje, and Mordechai are true RPRY graduates."

Shmilu said he and his wife were very excited to be honored. More importantly, the school has provided an excellent educational foundation for his children that have helped prepare them not just for high school, but for life itself.

They are longtime members of Congregation Ohr Torah; Shmilu is an RPRY board member, founded the RPRY golf outing, and overall they are dedicated to helping the school in any way possible.

Their daughter, Malia, who is a junior at Bruriah High School for Girls in Elizabeth, said she is extremely proud of her parents and all of the work that they have done for the school. Also, she said she is very grateful for having the opportunity have attended RPRY.

"Going into high school I felt very well prepared academically and socially," Malia said.

Rabbi Shraga Gross, principal of RPRY, said he felt all three honorees truly deserve to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to the Jewish community and the school. Choi is responsible for everyone in Edison, but at the same time he holds a special place in his heart for the Jewish community and RPRY, he said.

Gross said the Wassermans display a passion and belief in Jewish education that has been passed down to their children.

"They also reflect an outstanding commitment to our local as well as national Jewish commitment," he said. "Marsha is an outstanding teacher at RPRY, where she uses her God-given talent to touch the hearts and inspire the minds of our children."

The Weisses are truly remarkable people who embrace the Jewish community, Gross said. For 12 years, they have been committed to making RPRY a better place.

"They represent a synthesis of Torah and mentschlichkeit, which is the embodiment of an RPRY education," he said.