Even as she realized she might be setting her sights too high—after all, “you can’t get everything you want”—she continued to read her list daily, perhaps as an exercise in prayer more than anything else. It was thus one of those classic “bashert” moments when her path crossed with David Horenstein’s, who had compiled a list of his own, which—to the amazement of both—mirrored Hanna’s.

As for not being able to “get everything you want,” Hanna points to two elements that matched up on paper but didn’t materialize in reality. “David stated that he ‘likes cats,’ but failed to mention that he is allergic to them,” she says. “He mentioned that he ‘likes shopping centers,’ but didn’t qualify it in that he likes building and buying them—not shopping in them! So, I guess the adage holds up; you can’t have everything… but you can have the most important things!”

David and Hanna Horenstein’s similarities hearken back to their childhood. Both grew up in the Valley with parents who were born and/or raised in Israel and spoke Hebrew at home; both had attended services, summer camp and/or Hebrew School at Chabad; both had attended Birmingham High School; and both had always been animated by a strong sense of Jewish pride and identity.

Hanna’s mother, Irina, was born in the former Soviet Union before immigrating to Israel in 1975. Soon after her arrival, she met Benny Segal, a former sergeant in the IDF who had grown up on a kibbutz. They were married shortly thereafter. After immigrating to Toronto, Canada, where Hanna and her sister, Galit, were born, the Segals made their way to the United States, joining Hanna’s uncle and grandfather in Southern California.

At the age of 22, after eventful career stops as a real estate agent and mortgage broker, Hanna auspiciously attended a seminar hosted by World Financial Group, a financial services company under the umbrella of Transamerica, that would change her life. Discovering basic financial principles like the “Rule of 72,” whereby simple saving and investing habits could enable the average earner to double his/her money over a given period of time, Hanna had found her professional calling. After extensive training and hands-on work experience with WFG, Hanna soon teamed up with friend, Jamie Villalovos, in opening their own branch office. Whether through financial needs analysis, money management, insurance products or retirement planning, Hanna found it deeply gratifying to introduce people to a new path to financial stability and peace-of-mind. She has also trained hundreds of men and women to do what she’s done: build their own financial services business.

“There’s no greater feeling than being able to pay forward the kindnesses shown to you,” says Hanna. “That is exactly what I get to do every day.”

As far along as Hanna might have taken her business on her own, it was after she teamed up with David that things kicked into higher gear still…

David Horenstein enjoyed a traditional Israeli upbringing. His father, Yecheskel Horenstein, who had played for the Maccabee-Netanya soccer team before immigrating to the United States in 1965, was regarded by all who knew him as a kind and decent man. Once in the States, Yecheskel met Adina Tapuchi, who descended from a lineage of prominent rabbis in Vilnius, Lithuania. They got married and moved to the Fairfax area before settling in the Valley.

In 1983, when David was eleven years of age, his father tragically passed away from a sudden heart attack. Having grown close to his rabbis and teachers while at Chabad of Tarzana, David’s Bar Mitzvah was an emotional affair which many remember to this day.
After graduating from San Francisco State University with a B.S. in International Business with a focus on logistics, David pursued his dream of traveling the world in search of import-and-export business opportunities. After a whirlwind year-long journey, he returned to the Valley, ready to get serious about settling down.

After a brief stint in the advertising business, David broke into the real estate game with some of the largest outfits in the business, including Insignia Esg Retail Group and Regency Centers, the largest grocery-anchored real estate company in the country. It was at the latter company that an executive named Gregg Sadowsky decided to take a chance on him, giving him major leasing responsibilities. Moving on from leasing to development, David successfully shepherded two major Regency development projects from inception to completion in Riverside.

In 2002, David decided to branch out on his own with the establishment of D.H. Holdings Incorporated, through which his group would acquire, lease and manage commercial, multifamily and residential properties in Nevada, Texas and California. An area of primary focus would become Wildomar, California—an “Agoura-Hills-type” seven miles north of Temecula—where D.H. Holdings had purchased three properties.

While things were progressing in promising fashion on the professional front, it was not until David met Hanna in 2006 that he felt his personal life following suit. After a two-year courtship, David and Hanna were married in 2008. In the ensuing years, “the best 2 events” in their lives occurred with the births of their daughter, Shayna Leah, and son, Ely Joseph.
When the Big Recession hit and banks stopped lending, effectively putting most development projects on hold, the Horensteins utilized David’s semi-hiatus from real estate to join forces in bolstering Hanna’s financial services business. With David’s strong business sense and ability to simplify complex issues, the Horenstein-duo did indeed propel Hanna’s WFG operation to new heights. Starting their own subsidiary within WFG/Transamerica called Virtuity Financial Partners, Hanna and David went about teaching and empowering people to open their own offices and build their own clienteles. Today, VFP, headquartered in Westlake Village, has some 17 locations with more than 450 associates operating under its auspices nationwide.

As the economy came back, David returned to real estate full time, including the reactivation of his Wildomar projects. Under his guidance, D.H. Holdings recently completed the construction of Wildomar Square, a 47,550 square-foot retail center, which was fully leased at the time of its Grand Opening in March of this year. The company is currently in escrow to purchase 14-acres of land adjacent to Wildomar Square, which promises to be a grander development still.

While successes in their respective careers are certainly rewarding for David and Hanna Horenstein, they view their financial gains as means towards ends rather than ends in themselves. Their top priorities in life are raising their children with a strong sense of values and improving the quality of life for the less fortunate.

They are very active on behalf of the Ilan Ramon Day School where Shayna and Ely go to school, with David serving as a member of the Board of Directors. They are also supportive and/or serve on the boards of several nonprofit organizations close to their hearts, including the ADL, All for One and Miracle for Kids.

Shortly after moving to Agoura Hills, the Horensteins began attending services at the Chabad synagogue on Canwood Street. The family had come home. “From Rebbetzin Matty Bryski’s exuberance for Yiddishkeit to the genuine caring and concern displayed by all in attendance, it was a breath of fresh air to walk into a synagogue and be welcomed with such warmth and acceptance,” says Hanna. “This is the way we’ve always felt Jewish community life should be!”

David agrees. “Whether it’s a Friday Night Dinner, a children’s program on a Sunday afternoon, a Torah class on a weeknight or the Rabbi’s sermon on a Saturday morning, one can feel how the teachings of Torah are so dynamic and relevant to our daily lives,” he says. “While we wish we’d have come to Chabad sooner, we’re making up for it now by not keeping this treasure to ourselves, but are doing everything we can to share it with as many others as possible.”

As vital fixtures of the Chabad of the Conejo Community, David and Hanna Horenstein indeed aspire to inspire others. “They are youthful, idealistic, accomplished, and driven to make a difference,” says Rabbi Moshe Bryski. “The upcoming gala will be an opportunity for us to celebrate a couple that truly aspires to channel their blessings into a source of blessings for the community at large.”

So, the fact that, today, Robyn Perchik is a well-educated, highly-successful, widely-respected, self-made professional woman, and the matriarch of a family committed to Jewish values, the mistress of a strictly-kosher home, and the impending Honoree of a Chabad Banquet-Gala, comes as little surprise to those familiar with her life-story and the chain of events that brought her to this point.

By the time she was 21, Robyn had earned her bachelor's degree in communications from SUNY Albany and was already proving herself in the commercial risk management underwriting department at The Hartford Financial Services Group in New York City. Earning her stripes in the male-dominated corporate world—in a Fortune 500 company no less—Robyn was adept at strategic planning, finance, business development and human resource management–skills she would later put to good use in founding and running her own company.

When, in 1980, she was set up on a blind date with one Michael Feinman from California, Robyn was not sure what to make of the intermediary's caveat that her date keeps kosher, until her mother advised her: "wear a dress, and don't order shrimp." Thus began a courtship with the aspiring doctor committed to his Jewish roots and driven by a desire to make his mark in the field of fertility and endocrinology. Robyn and Michael were married in October of 1982.

After some twelve years of moving from one location to the next on both coasts to accommodate Michael's residency, fellowship and early practice positions—and with their two eldest sons, Adam and Matt, having been born in New York and Philadelphia, respectively—the family finally settled in the Conejo Valley's Agoura Hills as their permanent place of residence. Youngest son, Alex, was born 13 years after their relocation to Southern California.

While the quality of the school system, scenic surroundings and opening of Michael's practice, HRC Fertility, in Westlake Village, figured most prominently in their decision at the time, the fact that Agoura Hills was where Chabad's most dynamic growth in the region was taking place would prove to be a major factor as well. When Chabad opened its new center on Canwood Street, Robyn and Michael were among its most prominent pioneering members. In 2004, the Perchik-Feinmans were honored, as a couple, by Chabad of the Conejo at a Banquet-Concert event at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center.

"The warmth, friendship, generosity and hospitality of this community is unique," says Robyn. "As far back as we can remember, we'd be invited to the Shabbat tables of many wonderful families–and we'd be delighted to return the favor. It does take a village to raise a child. Our village, for many years now, has been the Chabad Village."

Notwithstanding the appeal of the Agoura Hills public school system, the three boys would be exposed to a variety of educational experiences, among them Kadima Hebrew Academy, Conejo Jewish Academy, Agoura High School and Shalhevet High School.

Adam, a graduate of UCLA and USC, the latter institution being where he earned his dual Masters' in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, is now a technical risk expert by profession. He, his wife, Meira Feinman [nee Held], and their son, Yosef, live an observant lifestyle in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles. Middle son, Matthew, who met his future wife, Rebecca Schotz, while serving as Vice President of the Chabad Student Society at the University of Arizona Tucson, attended Southwestern Law School. He is currently practicing law in Phoenix. Youngest son, Alex, who celebrated his Bar Mitzvah two years ago, is strongly committed to Judaism and Israel. Having recently attended his first AIPAC dinner, he is looking forward to his third trip to Israel this summer.

"We are an eclectic family," says Robyn. "We each have our own inclinations and approaches, but we also have the greatest respect for each other's choices. With that sort of deference, nothing need be, or ever is, a conflict or imposition."

Having moved out to the west coast to be closer to their children and grandchildren, Robyn's parents, Hank and Carole Perchik are exceedingly proud of their progeny. In fact, Hank often accompanies Michael to services at Chabad and delights in the experiences.

As Robyn's children were finding their way, she decided to broaden some academic and professional horizons of her own. Pursuing her lifelong dream of going to law school, she attended the Southern California Institute of Law, from which she graduated as valedictorian in 2007.

In 2011, Robyn Perchik retired from The Hartford Group and purchased Beverly Hills Egg Donation (BHED), an agency that screens and matches suitable egg donors with fertility-challenged candidates. With her skills in risk selection, contracts and customer service providing the backdrop for the venture, Robyn Perchik has since elevated BHED's profile, broadening its reach to new areas, geographically and professionally. Utilizing advanced technology and protocols, Robyn and her team provide maximum empathy, care and consideration to individuals in all phases of the process—especially the intended parents.

Although her husband, Michael, a Reproductive Endocrinologist and expert in the field, serves as in-house medical advisor to BHED, both

Robyn and Michael work with other professionals in their respective fields. "Jumping the wall from solely business-driven results to the most personal and sensitive of issues—that of creating a family—has been one of the most gratifying developments of my life," she says. "Among the many things I've learned is the extent to which having a family is such an essential primal need. Whether the people I work with are 30 or 45, the need for that child is now!"

Robyn Perchik's efforts to help intended parents realize their greatest dreams have earned her the approval and commendation of medical professionals and nonprofit organizations across the spectrum, including the Puah Institute, which provides counsel and guidance regarding the intersection of medicine, fertility, ethics and Halacha to Jewish couples.

"I guess you can say I'm a 'shadchan' (matchmaker) of sorts," says Robyn with a chuckle. "Just as we cannot begin to imagine the pain and yearning of those who wish to be parents but are unable to, so we cannot imagine their joy when suddenly the opportunity is opened up to them. That is the incredible blessing we get to share with hundreds of intended parents each year."

As her line of work helps facilitate life in the physical sense, Robyn Perchik has a special place in her heart for Chabad in its efforts to nurture life in the spiritual sense. "I think the world of Rabbi Moshe and Rebbetzin Matty Bryski and everyone at Chabad," she says. "If I can somehow give back to this wonderful organization, I am more than happy to do so."

As far as Chabad is concerned, the choice to honor Robyn Perchik at this year's Aspire to Inspire Gala was itself a stroke of inspiration. "She is a kind, compassionate, spirited and energetic human being who loves her family and people, in general," says Rabbi Moshe Bryski. "She sees the good and the positive in everything and inspires those around her to do the same."