“My name is Mitchell Katcher, Shmuel Moishe ben Kalman, and I grew up in a kosher home in Brooklyn and Long Island, N.Y. On Long Island we belonged to the Israel Community Center, a conservative temple at which I celebrated my Bar Mitzvah and participated in the shul’s USY program. During Israel’s war with Lebanon in 1982, I served in the Volunteers for Israel program and lived on an Tzahal base for seven weeks constructing parking lots in the desert, changing drive shafts on trucks, painting the barracks, and conducting many other tasks to support the troops.
After studying at Queens College in New York, I spent the next 31 years in the N.Y.C. Department of Education as a teacher, dean of students, literacy instructional specialist, and retired after 11 years as an assistant principal. My wife Lilliam and I met as teachers and have been joyously married for 23 years, raised our two children, Eddie and Angelica, and now are blessed with two grandchildren. We moved to Orlando, Florida in 2021 and, after visiting a number of shuls, we felt at home at South Orlando Jewish Congregation (SOJC) and its welcoming and warm leadership and congregants. We soon became members and not only began attending Shabbat services, but I partook in Rabbi Crespy’s weekly study classes and also learned how to read Torah under the Rabbi’s tutelage. I now read Torah during Shabbat services on a regular basis.
In February of this year, I decided to run for a position on the Board of Directors at SOJC and was not only elected to the Board, but willingly accepted the task of organizing and running the Men’s Club. It has been arduous work, a true labor of love, and with the assistance of FJMC, especially that of Florida Region Director, Rich Nebb, we have hit the ground running. I have facilitated consistent monthly meetings and outings since taking over and our participation rate keeps growing. I look forward to continuing my role here at SOJC as the Men’s Club President and to successfully meet the needs of our congregation at SOJC.”
Kol Hakavod and thank you to Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation (SOJC) Men’s Club Past Presidents Jeffrey Imber and Ben Bolusky who helped to renew and rejuvenate the SOJC Men’s Club post-Covid, passing the baton to incoming SOJC Men’s Club President Mitch Katcher. Learn more about the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation Men’s Club at: https://www.sojc.org/copy-of-usy. or on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/southwestorlandojewishcongregation, or email SOJC at office@sojc.org or Mitch Katcher at: mensclub@SOJC.org.
The Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation is a proud member of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC). We are part of a confederation of over 200 Jewish Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods representing over 20,000 members across the United States, Canada, Latin America, and beyond. Learn more about how your Jewish Men’s Club or Brotherhood can affiliate with the FJMC at: https://fjmc.org/for-clubs/affiliating-with-the-fjmc/.
The Florida Region of FJMC serves the needs of affiliated Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods throughout the State of Florida. Get to know more about the FJMC Florida Region and our growing network of Jewish Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods at www.FloridaRegionFJMC.org and please visit and LIKE our Florida Region FJMC Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/FloridaRegionFJMC.
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