At this year’s annual RCA Convention we are excited to honor and pay tribute to Rabbi Mark Dratch, who served with distinction as the Executive Vice President of the RCA from 2013 to 2024. Please join us for dinner, and join us in the scroll of honor.
As the Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America Rabbi Dratch, acted as an advisor, confidant, and advocate for the members of the RCA. Among the many projects and initiatives which he oversaw during his tenure are the audit and restructuring of the GPS Conversion system, the development and implementation of the RCA’s Code of Conduct, and the formulation of policies and procedures for the prevention of and response to incidents of child abuse in our communities. He successfully helped the membership navigate the myriad of halachic and policy challenges that arose during the COVID epidemic. Rabbi Dratch serves as the chair of IJCIC, the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, the body which represents world Jewry to the Vatican as well as leaders of other world religious bodies, and represents the RCA at the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations.
Rabbi Dratch served as the rabbi of Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT; Shaarei Shomayim Congregation in Toronto, Canada; Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York, NY; and Beth Israel in Schenectady, NY; and was the founding rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue. He was an Instructor of Jewish Studies and Philosophy at the Isaac Breuer College of Yeshiva University and the camp rabbi of Camp Morasha.
Rabbi Dratch founded JSafe: The Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse Free Environment, an organization confronting the scourges of domestic violence, child abuse, and clergy abuse in the Jewish community. He served on the leadership team of FaithTrust Institute, a multifaith organization addressing abuse in religious communities and on the Clergy Task Force on Abuse of Jewish Women International. Rabbi Dratch served as chairman of the RCA task force on rabbinic improprieties and was responsible for spearheading and formulating policy guidelines for responding to allegations against member rabbis.
Rabbi Dratch is the editor of “Foundation of Faith: A Tapestry of Insights and Illuminations on Pirke Avot” based on the thought and writings of Rabbi Norman Lamm, and is the author of many scholarly and popular articles, in both English and Hebrew. He is a graduate of Yeshiva University (BA, MA, and MSW) and received semicha from its Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
He was married to Sara Lamm Dratch, z”l, with whom he shares four children: Tova (Ted), Sam (Sari), Yolly (Yaakov), and Bobby, and seven grandchildren (Akiva, Nafi, Aliza, Margalit, Ashira, Lev Tzion, and Emunah). He is now married to Rachel Levitt Klein and added to their blended family Rachel’s children: Moshe (Eliana), Shuli, Benny, Aryeh, and grandson Eitan. Rabbi Mark and Rachel Dratch made Aliyah in July, 2023 and currently live in Jerusalem.
If You Are An RCA Member, Click Here to Register for the Convention
Contributions must be received by May 10th.