By Mitch Elovitz
With eight states from Hawaii to Colorado, the Western Region is, by far, the most spread-out region within FJMC International.
So bringing us together for a Regional Retreat is no small feat!
We held our 2026 retreat in the Simi Valley/Los Angeles area in mid-May. We hadn’t had a retreat in seven or so years, so this was special and an incredibly big deal. The weekend encompassed the four tenets of FJMC – Friendship, Judaism, Mentorship and Community. We “climbed our mountains” or HMV’d our struggles, and learned from each other. We were embraced by our brothers and by nature at the beautiful Brandeis Bardin Campus of American Jewish University. The weekend was filled with multiple types of learning: from each other, from Torah, from sharing our struggles, from whisky vs. whiskey, and you name it!
We made new friends, enhanced our current friendships, learned from Executive Director Rabbi Noam Raucher and from our guides, celebrated and embraced the natural beauty of our surroundings, and had numerous opportunities to experience the splendor of mindfulness. I’m still charged by the conversations I had, the friendships I made, and from what I learned.
Thank you to our wonderful retreat committee and all those who made this possible: David Weil, Scott Vineberg, Stuard Wald, Norm Katz, Ken Matlick, Jason Hecht, Rabbi Raucher, Andre Ivory, FJMC Executive Vice President Gary Katz, FJMC Vice President Benny Sommerfield, the wonderful staff at Brandeis Bardin AJU, and everyone who came to join us and added to the weekend – especially FJMC Vice President Marc Cohen for schlepping all the way from Cherry Hill, N.J.
We also celebrated our past during the weekend, with our first-ever FJMC Western Region Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which took place that Sunday. Eight of our champions were honored, and it was exhilarating to enjoy our current state, get excited about our limitless future and embrace our past simultaneously.
From a club level, and for something completely different, Neveh Shalom in Portland Ore.(my club!) held its second-annual 5K Fun Run to support our synagogue’s food pantry. We raised nearly $5,000, which equates to over 51,000 meals, or enough to feed 154 families of four for an entire month! I’m so proud of Dr. Jake Sheff’s efforts!
See you all at LDI and at Convention 2027 in our neck of the woods – the Golden State, where Tony Bennett left his heart! We can’t wait to see you and show you all that the West Coast is most definitely the best coast!
Shalom!
Mitch Elovitz is Western Region President.
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