David Duchin – Anshei Darom Region

David Duchin was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas where his family were members of the reform congregation, Temple Beth-El.  As a teen, he was president of the local youth group, SAFTY and vice-president of the region TOFTY.  David attended the University of Texas in Austin where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master of business administration degree.  He met Rhonda in Austin during the fall of 1982 and they married the summer of 1985 in Dallas where they made their home.  They raised three children: Melissa, Steven and Jeremy.  Each have graduated college, reside in Dallas, and belong to Congregation Beth Torah.  In 2021, Melissa married Lance Friedensohn, who has a son from a prior marriage.  Rhonda and David were thrilled to have become instant bonus grandparents to an eight-year-old affectionately named “little” David.

David's career has primarily been in information technology, working as a consultant with a Big Six Accounting firm, and later in industries such as Incentive Travel, Mortgage, Real Estate, and Direct Mail Marketing.  David has enjoyed photography since his teenage years and in 2007 founded an event photography business which provides traditional photography services, as well as a green screen photo booth with instant prints.

David is a member of Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson, Texas – a suburb of Dallas.  He has served on the synagogue board as Publicity co-chair for two years; an At-Large Board member for two years; and Membership Co-Chair for one year.  He is serving in his second year as Development VP, which includes serving on the Executive Team.

He has been an active member of the Men's Club at Beth Torah and served on the Men’s Club board in the roles of Succah Build Chair, At-Large Board member, and Vice President.  David served as President for two years during which time the club experienced over a 20 percent increase in club members.  David continues to serve on the local club as Immediate Past President.  He served seven years as a member of the Dallas Kosher BBQ Championship committee, which earned the Gold Torch Award in the category of Community Outreach and earned the coveted Chairperson’s Torch Award at the 2017 FJMC convention.  David is very proud to be part of a local club with great leaders and mentors.  Beth Torah Richardson has earned the FJMC Quality Club every year except for the very first year it started.

Since David’s attendance at convention, the Southwest region was merged with Anshe Darom.  David has served as one of the two Anshei Darom regional representatives on the FJMC board.  He was one of the founding co-chairs of the FJMC Photography Affinity group and is currently serving in his second year as Vice President of Anshei Darom.

In mid-2021, David was selected as one of two Fellows representing Congregation Beth Torah in a year-long Board Improvement and Leadership Training program through a prominent National Foundation.  This provided his shul with grant funding for a consulting project on board improvement where he subsequently served on the steering committee.  This program also provided his shul access to a dollar-for-dollar matching grant which will run through 2024.  Throughout David’s time at Beth Torah, he has served as the “unofficial” photographer documenting events and getting articles and images published in the Texas Jewish Post.  For many years, his photos of the city-wide World Wide Wrap and his photos of Beth Torah’s Reading of the Names program would grace the front covers of the Texas Jewish Post.  He has twice been honored to receive the Beth Torah Volunteer of the Year Award.

David has also volunteered his time and photography services for many Dallas charity events over the past decade.  Rhonda and David were selected and completed the Federation Young Leadership training program back in the 1990’s.  Currently, Rhonda and David volunteer on a monthly basis at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in their ushering program. 

In addition to his volunteer activities, David enjoys tennis, chess, photography, and computers.  He recently completed his certification in a Continuous Improvement & Six Sigma Green Belt training program.