Richard studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for his BA in Jewish history, and a teaching certificate in general history. He was ordained a rabbi by the Sephardic Beit Midrash in Jerusalem. He spent two years in Uruguay as the director of adult Judaism studies and a teacher at the local Jewish school, and almost three years as rabbi of the Jewish community in Guatemala.
Richard studied to be a guide at the Yad Ben Zvi institution, and then went on to found a number of companies which are all about connecting Jews around the world to Israel – “Israel for You”, “CoolAm” focusing on young adults in Latin America, and “Olei Kadima” – the next generation of the “Olei” organization, which represents the entire Spanish and Portuguese-speaking immigrant population in Israel.