Miriam Lefkovits

Miriam Lefkovits was born in Toronto and came to New York in 1964, at thirteen. She has lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn ever since, where she is known in the community for her many good deeds. When Hatzalah first opened in Williamsburg, she was there from the very beginning, volunteering as a dispatcher handling emergency and EMT calls. And over the years she has hosted tea parties to raise money for different charities.

She discovered painting by chance. Working at a community center for older people, she noticed a woman carrying a picture and asked where she had bought it. "She told me she painted it herself," Miriam recalls, "and I thought - if she can do it, then so can I."

She has been painting ever since. What draws her to a subject is hard for her to put into words: "It just talks to my heart." Colors, flowers, nature - when a picture speaks to her, she paints it. She works in oils, early in the day; a morning person at the easel. She studied at a small private school with a teacher she still calls a perfectionist and "the best" - "I loved every minute I was there." Her work has been shown at the Hadassah Gallery on Willoughby Avenue in Brooklyn, in a group show, and she has a permanent space at the Shtetl Art Gallery.

Among her paintings, one holds a particularly profound personal significance: a tribute to her father. Like many holy men, he never allowed himself to be photographed, and when cameras were near he would lower his head to hide his face. Through her painting, she has preserved his memory.

Miriam is grateful to Hashem that He gave her this talent.