By Lawrence Cohen
As executive director of FJMC International, with a reach across North America and now beyond, Rabbi Noam Raucher gets around. And he makes it known that he’s willing and available to visit the organization’s regions and clubs.
The KIO+ Region took him up on that offer the weekend of Dec. 11-14, bringing Raucher into Ohio for a dose of Midwestern charm – and probably a little reminder of why he lives in southern California.
Raucher arrived in Cleveland on Thursday, December 11, and met with members from all three Cleveland clubs. He taught a lunch-and-learn session in person and on Zoom, and then attended a reception where Jerry Brodsky was honored as one of the 18 Difference Makers of 2025 by the Cleveland Jewish News for, among other things, his role as president of the International Region of FJMC. 
Mazel Tov to Brodsky and a big thank you to all of the executive committee members and KIO+ members who contributed to the ad recognizing Brodsky and publicizing the FJMC to the entire Cleveland Jewish community. Of course, Cleveland kept Raucher well fed.
On Friday, former KIO+ Regional President Dale Levy drove Raucher to Columbus, where he attended Friday night services at Tifereth Israel, and then went back to Tifereth Israel Men’s Club President Mark Rosenson’s house, for a beautiful Shabbat dinner with Doug Segerman and Karl Rubin and their wives.
Raucher joined Shabbat services again on Saturday morning, delivering an introduction to the haftarah while reuniting with Tifereth Israel’s senior rabbi Hillel Skolnik, with whom Noam studied in Israel when they were both preparing to become rabbis.
The Men’s Club was honored with an aliyah and sponsored the kiddush lunch, before about 20 people gathered in the chapel for some more learning with Raucher.
Of course, this is Ohio in December, so while the welcome was warm, the weather was not. Due to snow in the forecast, the group of men from Dayton and Cincinnati that planned to join us that day decided it was better and safer to stay home. Indeed, that’s about when the snow started.
Instead, Raucher spent the afternoon with Skolnik and his family, and then returned to Rosenson’s house through a full-blown snowstorm. Despite the snow, and after another meal, three guys under 40 gathered with older members for a scotch-tasting and education session. We had a great time learning about the different regions of Scotland while tasting some nice and expensive single-malt scotch.
After a few hours of sleep, Raucher made it to the airport for his flight to Newark to attend the Northern New Jersey Man of the Year brunch. Unfortunately, that flight and any other flights that would have gotten there in time for the event were cancelled due to the weather. We assume he made it back to balmy southern California at some point. Apologies for our weather.
Lawrence Cohen is regional president for KIO+.
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