Born in 1934 in Lahaina, Maui, Hawai'i as the seventh of seven daughters of a sugar plantation crew boss, Rozita Villanueva Lee recalls a privileged life, because when her father became a boss, the family got electricity, a telephone, indoor plumbing, and fluorescent lighting in their house. The camps were organized by nationality: the Filipino workers and their families lived in one camp, and the Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and "haole" workers and their families each lived in their own.

Hershel Brooks was born December 3, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in an orthodox Jewish household, along with his four siblings, and attended Jewish community schools before pursuing his rabbinical studies. He studied at TelsheYeshiva in Cleveland, Torah Vodaath in New York, and Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.