ABOUT JUDY AND RICH BERGER
Judy Cagan Berger is proud to be an active member of Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus. Her positions have included: co-president of Sisterhood, Torah Fund chairperson and chairperson of Sisterhood Shabbat. In addition, she has served in multiple roles on the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism (WLCJ) Florida Region Board and on the International Board. She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and her career was as an elementary school music teacher in Massachusetts and Illinois. As a retired music educator, Judy continues to use her skills by playing flute in community bands during the month of July, in Vermont.
Rich Berger is currently the President of Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus, a position he feels is most important for sharing the love of Judaism with our congregants and those who come through our doors. He served as Ritual Director and Executive Vice President prior to his current role. Rich graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and has an MBA from Western New England University. His professional background is in Human Resources (HR), with a specialty in the area of technologies for HR professionals and employees. Rich most recently was the Vice President of HR Technology and Operations at Liberty Latin America and Cable & Wireless Communications. As a volunteer, he has been an international board member of and VP of the International HR Information Management (IHRIM) professional association. He is one of only 30 people who have been awarded the Summit Achievement Award from IHRIM. Rich is also a former member of the Jaycees and is a JCI International Senator.
Judy and Rich are both originally from Springfield, MA, but have also lived in Chelmsford, MA, Buffalo Grove, IL and are now living in Hallandale Beach with our four-legged “child”, Shira. We are the proud parents of Jeremy, who resides in Vermont with his husband Chris, and we always miss our daughter Rebecca, who passed away at the age of 15 in 2000.
We feel that membership in and volunteerism at synagogues is important and we have always been active in every community in which we have lived. While in Massachusetts, Rich was the youngest President of Temple Beth El (Lowell, MA), served as Mens’ Club president in 2 synagogues, and even was a synagogue Executive Director. Judy has been on the Board of Directors of 2 congregations and director of our synagogue choirs. Together we feel that through volunteering, the ability to make the lives of others better is fundamental to our values.
Our common passion is singing. From synagogue choirs to being founding members of Kol Zimrah (the Chicago Jewish Community Choir) to our current singing with the South Florida Jewish Chorale, we find great relaxation in being able to learn and perform Jewish music from various centuries and have audiences hear that liturgical melodies have changed over the years.
We love to travel in our spare time. Cruises have become our favorite vacations, and we have sailed in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and have been as far away as Australia and New Zealand. We’ve been to Israel multiple times. We look forward to more adventures in the coming years.
Judy and Rich are proud and humbled to be honored at this year’s Shabbat Event.
ABOUT THE SHABBAT EVENT
This year’s Shabbat Event will be virtual. Reservations by Thursday, October 29.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2020 AT 6:00 PM.
