BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rich joined the KAHAL Board of Directors in early 2020 ready to make an impact in the Jewish community worldwide. A lifelong volunteer and philanthropist, Rich has served on a number of boards and worked countless volunteer hours. Rich also sits on the Board of Directors of Maot Chitim, an organization that assists needy members of the Chicagoland community with Passover and The High Holidays and other food-related needs so they may observe the holidays and daily life in a traditional and dignified manner, the Foundation for Jewish Camp, and Northwestern Hillel. Rich graduated from Northwestern University and worked as a marketing executive and co-owner of Production Services Associates Inc before retiring.

As a parent of a student and a leader in the community, I have seen few organizations make such an immediate impact on the lives of our young adults in the way KAHAL does each day.

I joined KAHAL because I feel that one of the greatest aspects of Judaism is a connectivity that transcends national borders and time. KAHAL reminds us of that fact by allowing many to experience something so familiar in a place so unfamiliar and I am fortunate enough to be in a position to help support that.

From my time living and traveling all over the world, I’ve learned how important finding a small bit of home can be when everything else around you is new and unfamiliar. I support KAHAL because they provide just that for Jewish students abroad, as well as a way to deepen their sense of global Jewish peoplehood.

KAHAL’s impact on students, in such a short span of their lives, is nearly unmatched in the Jewish world. I’m proud to be a part of an organization changing the lives of thousands of students each year.

I joined the KAHAL Board to be a part of and support the essential mission of guaranteeing Jewish outreach to a sector of our community currently not addressed. College students on their semester abroad have slipped through the cracks, and the KAHAL model fixes that.

As the parent of two post college students, one who had a Jewish abroad experience and one who did not, and seeing the dramatic difference in their personal relationship with Judaism and Israel is the ultimate reason that KAHAL thrives. KAHAL must be a truly integral part of every Jewish study abroad program.

I like being part of a growing organization like KAHAL that connects Jewish college students to other Jews around the world. KAHAL's tremendous growth in recent years highlights the need for KAHAL's services and illustrates how an organization can inspire and engage college students in a meaningful way.

KAHAL is the convergence of two of my personal passions - Jewish student engagement and study abroad. KAHAL has a proven, transformative impact on students' Jewish journeys during their study abroad experiences.

KAHAL is the convergence of two of my personal passions - Jewish student engagement and study abroad. KAHAL has a proven, transformative impact on students' Jewish journeys during their study abroad experiences.

Deb Lust Zaluda is a lifelong Chicagoan, growing up, marrying, and raising her own family there. Following a long and successful career as a lawyer, Deb turned her vocational efforts to two of her deepest passions: Israel and philanthropy. She has had leadership roles in numerous Jewish and Israel-centric charities and continues in that vein, including efforts to help grow the population (getting young people to stay or move back from the center and getting others to move from the center of Israel to the Galilee) and to introduce further-afield US communities to Israel’s great successes in the environment and community building. In order to put her passions for Israel and philanthropy in context, Deb furthered her education and completed her Masters of Arts in Jewish Professional Studies at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. She also participated in the Board Member Institute for Jewish Non-profits (having been in the same cohort as Alex). Her love for Israel led her to start her own Israel travel business back in 2010. She eventually combined that business with Puzzle Israel, and then began also working in the international travel arena with Puzzle International. The pandemic has now provided new opportunities - and having just left Puzzle is working on some new ideas that will combine her passions for experiential travel with philanthropy. Kahal certainly represents an amalgam of all of these passions!