Mazel tov to Gabrielle Strulowitz, daughter of Caron and Michael Strulowitz of Englewood, and Isaac “Yitzi” Markel, son of Celia and Michael Markel of Teaneck, on their engagement.
Gaby is a business operations analyst at Fundera in Manhattan. She graduated from Baruch College with a BBA in statistics and quantitative modeling. After attending The Moriah School and Ramaz Upper School, she learned at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Israel.
Yitzi is a senior associate, CPA, at Ernst and Young in Manhattan. He graduated from Yeshiva University with a degree in accounting. Yitzi attended Yavneh Academy and Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC) and learned at Yeshivat Lev HaTorah in Israel.
The engagement took place at Estihana in Teaneck, pre-arranged with its gracious owner, Yamin, and waitress, Louisa.
Gaby and Yitzi were introduced by friends and agreed to meet before realizing their families shared a deep connection. Gaby’s grandfather, Ira Lulinski z”l, and Yitzi’s grandfather, Isaac Aron z”l, were from Miory, a small town in Poland. On June 2, 1942, the Nazis liquidated the town. Only 25 of 1,200 the Jews of Miory survived the mass shooting. While dodging bullets, some of the survivors ran off into the woods where they joined a group of Partisans. They lived in the woods where they fought against the Nazis and they fought for their lives. Years later, Isaac Aron became a well-known Yiddish writer. In one of his books entitled “Fallen Leaves,” he told the stories of many heroic partisans, including the miraculous story of “The Cabin.”
Aron and several others built a cabin in the woods to provide shelter. Many Jews found their way to the cabin, including Ira, who was a young child, and his father Rabbi Joseph Lulinski z”l. As the harsh winter arrived, most left to find better shelter. They had to leave Rabbi Joseph and Ira behind, promising to return when they reached a safer place to stay.
A major snowstorm hit and continued on for days. Rabbi Joseph knew he needed to leave in order to survive, but the cabin door was completely blocked. A few miles away, Isaac Aron was battling the storm searching for the cabin which was extremely difficult to find in the snow. Feeling frozen and extremely weak, he was about to give up his search when miraculously, he saw the top of the cabin which he recognized because he helped build it. He broke through the roof where he found the two asleep. He woke them, and gave them bread and water. He saved their lives.
They reunited with the partisan group and resumed their lives as partisans. Gaby’s great grandfather, Rabbi Joseph Lulinski, officiated marriages in the forest, including the marriage of Yitzi’s grandparents, Chana and Isaac Aron.
After the war, when they came to the United States, they remained best friends and were like family, and the families remained close for many years. Shortly before Ira Lulinski passed away this past January, he had an enthusiastic phone conversation with Yitzi’s mother, and asked if she knew that his granddaughter was dating her son. “Yes, my father would be so happy,” she told him. He replied, “I’m sure he made the shidduch from shamayim.”
A summer 2019 wedding is being planned.
By Bracha Schwartz
