Dr. Ronald Wachtel, a retiree from West Hempstead, NY and fondly known as Ronny, is Kav L’Noar’s beloved Founder. Most people, on retirement, look to take things a little easier after many years of hard work. Ronny is not like most people. Instead, not only did he and his beloved wife, Carrie, pick up and move to Israel, but Ronny then took on the huge challenge, responsibility, and risk of creating and running a non-profit organization. 

Ronny created Kav L’Noar back in 2004 because Olim families all around him were struggling and unable to get the emotional support they needed in English. After opening Kav L’Noar with a small staff of family therapists, Ronny ensured that no family would be turned away because of financial limitations. He also insisted that in order to help these families attain lasting solutions, children and teens would not be treated in isolation; rather, the entire family needed to become involved in the process. Ronny further understood that young people’s problems often center on social skills and that for teenagers, clinically supervised informal support could be life changing.

Today, Kav L’Noar is still faithful to the principles that Ronny has always championed. We are still guided by the holistic approach, our main focus is still on Olim, (helping both English and French speakers), our organization is widely recognized for our expertise in providing informal social and emotional learning, and we work in schools across the country.

Nothing that Kav L’Noar ever has or ever will achieve would have been possible without Dr. Ronald Wachtel’s vision, commitment and passion to help others. Please consider supporting the Founder's Circle Development Fund in honor of his (second) retirement.