Hecht, Mel, Rabbi

Rabbi Mel Hecht was born July 8, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of five, his family moved to Miami, Florida where they had a large, extended Jewish family, complete with relatives who were hazzans and mohels. Soon after moving to Florida, his parents bought a hotel in Hialeah, a city 10 miles outside of Miami, where Hecht spent the remainder of his childhood.

Hecht attended the University of Miami where he earned a doctorate degree in Divinity, and attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1971, he became a rabbi upon graduating from seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. Three years later, Hecht joined the United State Army and served as a race relations officer in Germany.

After his service, Hecht returned to Fort Pierce in Florida to lead his own congregation, and in 1980, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada and became the congregational rabbi for Congregation Ner Tamid. In 1982, he left Ner Tamid to start a new congregation—Temple Beth Am—which grew swiftly. That same year, Hecht married his wife, Michelle. The couple had three children: Melissa Hecht, Karin Toti, and Adam Hecht.