Israeli Native Pegged To Lead Cherry Hill's Katz JCC

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The Betty & Milton Jewish Community Center (JCC) has a new executive director. The Board of Trustees announced that Israeli native Oded Kraus has been named to the position following the retirement of Les Cohen, the executive director of the JCC for the last 30 years.

“We are so pleased to welcome Oded to our JCC and our community,” Katz JCC President Marcy Dash Friedman said. “Oded’s energy, creativity and results-driven philosophy is what our search committee was looking for as we usher in a new chapter in our JCC’s coveted history. I look forward to working with Oded and I know you will all join me in welcoming him and his family to our incredible community.”

“I am elated for this opportunity to join the Katz JCC, an illustrious JCC amongst the national JCC movement,” Kraus said. “The passion and commitment the leadership and staff have for the JCC is incredible and I look forward to us working together towards an even brighter future. My family and I feel so welcomed by the warmth of this community already, and we look forward to putting down roots in South Jersey.”

Kraus was a company commander in the Israeli Defense Force, supervising and training more than 250 soldiers and officers, according to the JCC.

He also has more than 15 years of experience in higher education, hospitality and event management, according to the JCC. Kraus was most recently the Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and the marketing director for a board school in North Carolina.

He has led and managed large teams for sophisticated events and budgets, amongst other initiatives, according to the JCC.

Kraus will join the JCC on April 5, and will be moving to Cherry Hill with his wife Deinorah and his two young children, Sarah and Samuel. Kraus will assume the position following Cohen’s retirement.

Cohen spearheaded the development of the JCC’s current home, which opened on Springdale Road in 1997. He was also behind the Fitness & Wellness Complex expansion in 2000, and the JCC’s hosting of two JCC Maccabi Games in 1999 and 2014.

“Les and the Katz JCC are synonymous, as he has been instrumental in leading the JCC from its humble beginnings to the well-respected, multi-faceted organization it is today,” Friedman said. “He has led our JCC with passion, grit and tenacity, worked closely with lay leaders and mentored staff over his tenure, and has helped our agency flourish into a beacon for so many in the South Jersey community. We express our sincere gratitude for Les’s years of dedication and leadership. He will be missed by all, and we wish him our very best as he enters into retirement.”