WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. (JTA) — The Orthodox Union installed Simcha Katz as president at its national convention.
Katz, a professor of finance at the Zicklin School of Business in New York City, succeeds Stephen Savitsky, who for six years held the presidency of the main Orthodox umbrella group in the United States.
The OU’s three-day biennial convention, held over the weekend at the Hilton Hotel in Woodcliff Lake, attracted more than 700 participants and featured sessions on the high costs of Jewish life and the Orthodox role in the wider American Jewish community.
In his acceptance speech, Katz highlighted assimilation and tuition affordability as the two priorities of his presidency.
The Orthodox Union features a kashrut division that certifies tens of thousands of products as kosher, as well as departments for youth, campus affairs, political advocacy, synagogue services and social welfare.
