HAKOL - October 2013

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY The Voice of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community

OCTOBER 2013 | TISHREI/CHESHVAN 5774

‘Susan’s Undoing’ brings inspiration to all

HOLOCAUST LEGACY EXHIBIT Dachau liberator speaks about his experiences.

See page 3.

HADASSAH CONCERT Singer-songwriter Avi Wisnia performs at this years concert. See page 24.

By Monica Friess Special to HAKOL

WEAVING A TALLIT A Bar Mitzvah gets his wish for hand-woven tallit.

See page 29.

No. 360 com.UNITY with Mark Goldstein 2 Women’s Division

4

LVJF Tributes

8

Jewish Family Service

15

Jewish Day School

18-19

Jewish Community Center

20-21

Community Calendar

30-31

In Judaism there is a notion of doing first and learning why later. This is rooted in the earliest Jews who, at Mount Sinai, signaled their acceptance of the Torah with the words, “We will do, and we will hear/understand.”

Susan Chase, a dancer, actress, teacher and breast cancer survivor, can certainly understand the power of this belief. In 2007 – five years after her diagnosis and successful treatment – she created a one-woman play entitled “Susan’s Undoing.”

On Sunday, October 27, at 10:15 a.m., Chase will perform “Susan’s Undoing” at the JCC. Though she could not know it then, the process of writing the piece signaled the true beginning of her recovery and ultimately enabled her to help others find strength on their own journeys.

The 2002 diagnosis stunned the then-45-year-old Chase. “I’ve always

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been health-conscious and have taken great care of my body,” she said.

“I could still perform as I did as a teenager.” Besides the physical toll to her body, Chase’s emotional well being was scarred as well. “My whole identity is tied up in my body, and the diagnosis threatened that completely,” she said.

Chase was a professional ballet dancer with the Boston Ballet Company and had been an ensemble member for 10 years at Touchstone Theater in Bethlehem. She was the associate director at Pennsylvania Youth Theater, a job which included acting, directing and teaching, and she was a drama therapist at KidsPeace.

Early into her treatment, Chase left her job at the youth theater due to an extreme lack of energy.

About six months later and after her therapy, she received a call from Madeleine Ramsey, the theater’s

Susan’s Undoing Continues on page 6

Rabbi, Muslim judge to speak at Lehigh

By Jennifer Lader Editor, HAKOL Rabbi Ron Kronish believes strongly that Jews and Muslims can live in peaceful coexistence together, in Israel, with greater mutual knowledge and understanding. As the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks proceed and occasional flare-ups in violence occur (see story page 23), he and his colleagues are working to advance peace on a less visible front.

Kronish will speak together with Kadi Iyad Zahalka on “The Other Peace Process: Interreligious Dialogue in the Service of Peace” in Lehigh University’s Maginnes Hall at 4:10 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8.

The event is sponsored by Lehigh University with support from the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding of Muhlenberg College and several other organizations. IJCU seeks to enhance JewishChristian Understanding by helping Christians understand Jews and Judaism more clearly, more deeply and more appreciatively, and by helping Jews understand Christians and Christianity more clearly, more deeply and more appreciatively.

The inherent signficance of Israel for the Jewish community is a key factor in drawing interest in the program from the IJCU, where Kronish was the Wallenberg Tribute speaker in 2011. “The political negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are back under way now,” said IJCU Director the Rev. Dr. Peter Pettit, “and Kronish and Zahalka represent the civil side of building co-existence for the day after the political process succeeds.”

If that day sounds too distant for some, Pettit suggests a more immediate import of the talk: “Kadi Zahalka is head of Sharia court in Jerusalem. If we are going to talk in this country about Sharia law, we need to understand what it is, and he is an expert.”

Zahalka earned his bachelor’s degree from Tel Aviv University and his master’s degree (summa cum laude) from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he is completing a PhD. In addition to fulfilling his responsibilities as a kadi, he serves as a member of the board of directors of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, of which Kronish is director.

The ICCI website explains “today there are 11 kadis in Israel -- one in each of the eight regions of the country and three on the appeals board. Each kadi has the status of a judge in the civil service of Israel. These kadis are becoming highly respected religious leaders of a community of over 1.2 million Muslim citizens of Israel. When a kadi walks into a mosque, the imam will acknowledge his presence and often ask him to lead the prayers or preach the sermon.”

Kronish further writes, “there is a new generation of kadis in Israel who are not only earning the respect of their own community but also of the Jewish community in Israel [and] the kadi and I will have a chance to share our views of moderation and religion, as well as about the goals and challenges of interreligious dialogue in our part of the world.”

This is something of which Pettit wants to see more “because the examples of religious leaders working together toward the peaceful resolution of conflict stands as an important corrective to fears that religions only ever create conflict.”

For information about the October 8 event, contact Chaplain Lloyd Steffen at lhs1@lehigh.edu or 610-758-3877.

Forty years in the desert This fall marks the anniversaries of the Yom Kippur War, which occurred 40 years ago; Camp David Peace Talks, 35 years ago; and the Oslo Peace Accord, 20 years ago. This photo shows soldiers during Shaharit prayers in Sinai during the war with Egypt and other neighbors that started on Yom Kippur in 1973 while most of the nation’s soldiers were home for the religious holiday. See photos direct from Israel and discover more about these historic events on pages 16 and 17.

com.UNITY

FROM THE DESK OF MARK L. GOLDSTEIN

Executive Director | Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley markg@jflv.org

Some letters make me proud, and anxious I get a lot of letters and e-mails. I mean a lot.

Some are typical business correspondence. Some are from individuals not happy with something the Federation or another Jewish organization has done or not done. Some write because they love where Federation invests its annual campaign contributions; some write because they don’t exactly agree with our funding decisions. There really are no boundaries.

But I read them all. Some make me think. Some make me dream. And some make me very proud, and a bit anxious.

Dear Mark: I just dropped my daughter off at camp and drove over two hours back alone in the car. With all that time to think, I thought of the summer that lay ahead for her. I know that she will begin each day with a prayer and spend the rest of the day enjoying the freedom that camp provides for her. I know that she will pray with her friends before and after meals and that once a week she will go out to the community to “give back.”

I know that she will participate in sports, arts and crafts and Judaic classes. And I smile because I know that she will experience Shabbat, not as a day of restrictions, but as a day of joy and relaxation…

The name of the camp is not important. There are great Jewish resident camps that serve the Lehigh Valley: Pinemere Camp, Camp Ramah, URJ Camp Harlam, Camp Galil, Camp Young Judaea and more. All provide a wonderful experience. …But there is so much more to camp that I do not know.

My daughter will somehow form an intensely close bond with her bunkmates and the incredible role models she has for counselors. She will somehow come back a stronger young woman and someone that identifies very personally to her Judaism. I see the growth in her at the end of each summer and I don’t know exactly how the camp does what they do, but I know that she would not have been able to experience it this summer without the help of the Jewish Federation. Even with the bad economy and the greater needs, the Federation came through with what they could to help a teen feel Judaism in her soul and live Jewishly every day of the summer. This is truly an investment in our future and I am grateful that the Federation helped my daughter have a meaningful, memorable, fun, Jewish summer.

As we do every year, we provide needs-based scholarships for summer

resident camps. Without the support of our Annual Campaign, this young woman might not have been able to attend camp.

So, I start this year, and most years, quite anxious.

Will we raise enough funds to help kids go to camp? Will the JCC be able to expand its children and youth programming?

Will we have the resources to combat the efforts to delegitimize Israel and her right to exist? Will we be able to address the growing needs of our growing older adult community? Will we be able to commit the necessary resources to broaden our outreach and engagement activities enabling young adults a connection to the Jewish community? Will our emergency financial assistance programs run short of funds? Will the JFS Food Pantry be able to meet the needs of every client requesting food assistance?

Letters like the one above make me very proud.

It should make you very proud. Our “system” works, blending the generosity of donors, with specific needs in our community, with services and programs from impressive agencies, synagogues, and organizations. The letter, addressed to me, is really

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, The Bethlehem Area Public Library recently put up for auction an autographed copy of “Israel: A Personal History” by David BenGurion. I stopped by the library during the bidding period. “How did you get the book?” I asked the librarian.

“It just came to us,” she said; it was part of an otherwise ordinary donation. “It’s happened to us before: Every once in a while we find something special.”

This experience is not solely the purview of the book world. As the stories for this month’s HAKOL came

together, I observed once again how lucky we are in the Lehigh Valley to have such a treasury of human resources who you will find quoted in many of this month’s stories, as well as of motivated volunteers doing all sorts of good works and of upcoming events, evident in this month’s packed Community Calendar.

The stories are a veritable reader’s banquet. At a banquet of similarly delicious food in the sukkah of friends one September evening, the JFLV Maimonides Society’s visiting physician Dr. Offer Paz asked for the English equivalent of “Bon appetit!”

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY HAKOL is published 11 times per year for the Jewish communities of Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and vicinity by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley.

COMMUNITY SUBMISSIONS Submissions to HAKOL must be of interest to the entire Jewish community. HAKOL reserves all editorial rights including, but not limited to, the decision to print any submitted materials, the editing of submissions to conform to style and length requirements, and the placement of any printed material. Articles should be submitted by e-mail or presented as typed copy; “Community Calendar” listings must be submitted by e-mail to hakol@jflv.org or online at www. jewishlehighvalley.org. Please include your name and a daytime telephone number where you can be contacted in the event questions arise. We cannot guarantee publication or placement of submissions.

Mail, fax, or e-mail to: JFLV ATTN: HAKOL 702 N. 22nd St. Allentown, PA 18104 Phone: (610) 821-5500 Fax: (610) 821-8946 E-mail: hakol@jflv.org

with more Jews, feed the hungry, and send young boys and girls to Jewish camp. Imagining our goals is easy. Imagining which one we might not achieve is frightening. And that’s why I’m anxious.

Our 2014 Annual Campaign is off and running.

And so is my anxiety.

HAKOL STAFF Jennifer Lader Editor

Allison Meyers

Graphic Designer

Diane McKee

Advertising Representative TEL: 610-515-1391 hakolads@jflv.org

JFLV EXECUTIVE STAFF Mark L. Goldstein Executive Director

Judy Diamondstein

Assistant Executive Director

Temple Coldren

Director of Finance & Administration

Stephanie Smartschan Director of Marketing

Jim Mueth

Director of Planned Giving & Endowments

Aaron Gorodzinsky

Director of Outreach & Community Relations

Taffi Ney

Donor Development Officer

Barry J. Halper President, JFLV

EDITORIAL BOARD

Monica Friess, Acting Chair Barbara Reisner Judith Rodwin Sara Vigneri

Member American Jewish Press Association

All advertising is subject to review and approval by The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley (JFLV). JFLV reserves the right to decline, withdraw and/ or edit any ad. The appearance of any advertising in HAKOL does not represent an endorsement or kashrut certification. Paid political advertisements that appear in HAKOL do not represent an endorsement of any candidate by the JFLV.

So now I say to you what I said then to Dr. Paz: “Dig in!”

Shalom and Chag Sameach, Jennifer Lader

JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY We gratefully acknowledge those individuals who have offered expressions of friendship by requesting that trees be planted in the Yoav--Lehigh Valley Partnership Park.

IN MEMORY

HARVEY GOLDSTEIN (Father of Joel Goldstein) Eileen and Roberto Fischmann HOWARD WIENER (Husband of Barbara Wiener) Elaine Lerner

TO ORDER TREES, call the JFLV at 610-821-5500 or visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org.

2 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

intended for the donors to our Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs.

We don’t start our year on January 1 after a night of revelry. We use the High Holiday season to remind us that a new year is beginning and the reflection and forgiveness afforded us enables us to start again.

And we do each year. A new Annual Campaign, a new board of directors, a new slate of goals.

Our communal goals challenge us, inspire us, and reflect our values. They enable us to strengthen our agencies, empower Jewish education, promote excellence in our synagogue religious schools, connect

JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY MISSION STATEMENT In order to unite, sustain, and enhance the Lehigh Valley Jewish community, and support Jewish communities in Israel and around the world, the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley is dedicated to the following core values:

• Supporting Jews in need wherever they may be.

• Supporting Israel as a Jewish homeland.

• Supporting and encouraging Jewish education in the Lehigh Valley as a means of strengthening Jewish life for individuals and families.

• Supporting programs and services of organizations whose values and mission meet local Jewish needs.

To accomplish this mission the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley is committed to the following operating guidelines: • Raising and distributing funds to support the core values.

• Developing Jewish leaders.

• Building endowments to support implementation of core values.

• Committing to ongoing Jewish community strategic planning.

• Fostering cooperation among organizations and community building.

• Evaluating all decisions with respect to fiscal responsibility.

• Identifying unmet needs and investing in community initiatives to help get them started.

• Coordinating and convening a community response as an issue or need arises.

• Setting priorities for allocation and distribution of funds.

• Acting as a central address for communication about events, programs and services of the Jewish community as a whole.

Approved by the JFLV Board of Directors on November 15, 2000

‘AS IF IT WAS YESTERDAY’ Dachau liberator shares story at Holocaust exhibit opening

Holocaust survivors Marcel Guindine and Michele Levy with Holocaust Legacy Exhibit coordinators Shari Spark and Marylou Lordi.

Dachau liberatory Donald Burdick and Holocaust Resrource Center coordinator Shari Spark.

By Jennifer Lader Editor, HAKOL

Above and below, the Holocuast Legacy Exhbiti at the Sigal Museum in Easton features drawings, photos and artifacts relating to the Holocaust.

It is some 70 years now since the end of the Holocaust, but Donald Burdick remembers like it was yesterday. On April 29, 1945, the now-89-year-old Forks Township resident was a U.S. Army private first class with the 16th field artillery observation battalion and among those who liberated Dachau. Twenty years old at the time, he had already survived the Battle of Bastogne and witnessed atrocities but, he said, “I had never seen anything like this.”

Burdick spoke at the September 8 Open House Reception of the Holocaust Legacy Exhibit at the Sigal

Museum, sponsored by the Holocaust Resource Center of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. Holocaust Resource Center coordinator Shari Spark and volunteer curator Marylou Lordi developed the exhibit from the Holocaust Legacy exhibit materials they have available to take into schools and elsewhere to serve as a teaching resource.

At the time Burdick’s unit approached Dachau, though, he had no idea what he was about to see. Riding into the area in a jeep, he said to his driver, “What’s that smell?”

Burdick soon found out: “Alongside the road, they looked like Lincoln Logs, bodies …,” he said. “[Closer to the camp were] boxcars, 30 or 40 boxcars. On the right was the concentration camp. The 45th Infantry had already gotten to the first part [the camp], somebody else got the middle part, so we got the caboose – the boxcars. The bodies were sprawled, some in, some out, with little to no identification.

We were told to get out, that we would have to search the boxcars because there might be soldiers hiding under the bodies.”

Burdick said it was even worse at the gas chambers inside the camp. But first, he and his unit encountered the prisoners. “Dachau was a political camp,” he said. “There were no women or children, thank goodness. The prisoners were pushing to get out; I didn’t see how they had the strength to stand, let alone push. We were told to leave them alone.

We thought they wanted food, but they wanted cigarettes.”

The American soldiers were shocked to learn from the inmates of what had been going on in the camp. Burdick said: “There were overhead showerheads, only they weren’t showers. The people were told to come in and undress, that they would take a shower and be de-loused. All right, they got everyone in, locked the door, turned on the shower. They were gassed right there. Some of the other prisoners had to drag the bodies out. On top of that, this was the gory part, they were using hooks. There was excrement and blood all

over, they would drag them to a holding room.”

Burdick took several photos of what he witnessed; one soldier vented his feelings in another way. “One of the men in the 45th division had rounded up 25 or 50 SS soldiers,” Burdick recalled.

“About 3:00 in the afternoon, a machine gun went off. We had been through combat, if we could see something like this [we felt] no mercy. This was the state of mind we were in by this time. The guard said the prisoners were going to escape [so he shot them]. They weren’t going to escape … “ Neither could Burdick escape his memories of that day. “From 20 years old to 89, it’s as if it was yesterday,” he said. “I’ll never forget it, don’t want to forget it, we can’t let it happen again, but it looks like it is,” referring to the genocide that continues in our world.

Burdick also found Holocaust deniers deeply disturbing. So when The Morning Call’s David Venditta contacted Burdick a few years ago about his army days, he took the first step. Burdick had nearly completed the interview without hinting at where he was that April 29. Toward the end of the interview, as Venditta was packing up, Burdick suddenly began talking about what he had seen at Dachau.

Spark learned of Burdick’s experiences from The Morning Call article and approached him in 2010 about speaking on Yom HaShoah. Since then, he has become one of the cadre of Holocaust educators who visit schools and speak throughout the Lehigh Valley, but even for him, sharing what he witnessed has been a process: For the Yom HaShoah talk, Burdick unearthed seven photos he took in Dachau on that April morning in 1945.

“I never showed them to anyone before this,” Burdick said. “Even my wife of 59 years knew nothing about it.”

Thank you, Donald, for sharing your story. Those with Holocaust stories or related artifacts to share may contact Shari Spark of the JFLV Holocaust Resource Center at 610-435-3571.

Federation hires senior services assistant

By Stephanie Smartschan JFLV Director of Marketing Taking the next step toward meeting the needs of seniors as outlined in the Jewish Community Strategic Plan, the Federation has hired a senior services planning assistant.

Carah Tenzer, an Allentown resident with a master’s degree in social work from Kutztown University, will work closely with the strategic planning task force on a part-time basis.

While working on her masters, Tenzer, a mother of three, did an internship at Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley where she worked with seniors through the Benefits CheckUp program and learned about the varied needs of seniors living at home and in residential facilities.

“I think that there is a lot of need,” Tenzer said. “People are aging into 65 and older in higher numbers than ever before, and as a young adult, a person raising a young family,

I feel the Lehigh Valley is a great place to live, but I feel we need to expand it through the lifespan and it shouldn’t get harder for people to stay in their homes.”

One of the first projects Tenzer and the planning committee will tackle is the need of seniors aging in place for transportation.

“Anybody should be able to ride and nobody should feel that they can’t go to community-wide events, to the doctor or shopping because they don’t have transportation, so we’re working on that,” she said.

The committee will also look at providing comprehensive resources for seniors and their caregivers, she said.

“We have a great task force [that is] really very motivated to see some change and realize the potential of this community,” she said.

To learn more about the objectives for seniors in the strategic plan, visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org/ strategic_plan.aspx.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 3

WOMEN’S DIVISION OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY

SUSAN’S UNDOING

Pomegranates and Lions lunch in the sukkah

A SURVIVOR’S STORY

An intimate, behind-the-scenes portrait of a ballerina-turned-actress whose battle with breast cancer became a work of art and healing Followed by a panel discussion with physicians, experts and survivors

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Above, Women’s Division president, Carol Wilson, entertained beautifully and set the tone for the year ahead.

10:15 a.m., Jewish Community Center of Allentown 702 N. 22nd St., Allentown, PA 18104 Free for attendees.

Light refreshments will be served.

Register online now at www.allentownjcc.org or call 610-435-3571.

Pomegranate and Lion of Judah women get to know Rabbi Rebecca Schorr.

Co-sponsored by the JCC of Allentown, the Maimonides Society and Women's Division of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley and Jewish Family Service.

Sitting in the sukkah is a mitzvah and the ladies took full advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoyed a meal there.

By Ferne Kushner Special to HAKOL It was a day to remember: A group of women, fresh from months of summer weather, gathered with two main purposes in mind: to continue their involvement with tzedakah and strengthen their religious beliefs. They listened

Rabbi Rebecca Schorr spoke about the sacredness of the Sukkot holiday and its intersection with women and philanthropy.

to Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr give her interpretation of a few of the leading women in the Torah that brought us to this day. She enlightened the ladies with stories like "Esther of the Megillah," who saved the Jews during what could have been an annihilation.

Brunch was served in the sukkah with all of nature’s glory around.

A sweet day for newest Pomegranate

After years of dedication as both a donor and volunteer to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, Sheila Berg is pinned a Pomegranate for the first time. Berg was pinned by Campaign Vice Chair Iris Epstein, left, at Campaign Ambassador Training night on September 17. Women’s Division President Carol Wilson, right, proudly looked on.

SPONSORED BY THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY’S WOMEN’S DIVISION

WELCOMING NEW BABIES to the Lehigh Valley If you’re expecting, know someone who is, or have a new baby, PLEASE LET US KNOW! Contact Abby Trachtman, 610-821-5500 | abbyt@jflv.org 4 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Handmade Afghans

BY EVA LEVITT

All proceeds benefit projects in Israel:

Food Banks in Israel Neve Michael Youth Village

For prices or to place an order, call Eva 610-398-1376. All payments are made payable to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley

Tax savings now, a legacy forever

owner must be at least age 70½, and the IRA distribution must go directly from the IRA to the Federation without passing first to the donor.

The result is that you save taxes and you can create a legacy that benefits the Jewish community now and

forever.

To learn more about making an endowment gift to the Lehigh Valley Jewish Foundation through the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, contact Jim Mueth at 610821-5500 or jim@jflv.org or visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org.

La PLume tkees

me too

fLeXX

doNaLd J PLiNer sam edeLmaN

NiNa formaL sHoes

kept reading to this point, you will have seen a recurring phrase in the previous paragraph: “subject to ordinary income tax.” Unless one plans, any distribution from a traditional IRA is subject to income tax. Fortunately, there is a tax-reducing alternative that will allow you to help the Jewish community now and forever.

It is the IRA charitable rollover. It allows owners of traditional IRAs to direct up to $100,000 from their IRA annually to qualified charities such as the Jewish Federation without having to recognize these distributions as income for tax purposes. There are a few restrictions. The account

YEARS OF FABULOUS FOOTWEAR 3 Day Extravaganza Raffles Giveaways and MOR! Oct. 31 – Nov. 1&2

tues & thurs 10-7 Wed & fri 10-6 | sat 10-4 19th st. theatre district 1823 W. allen St. allentown | 610.432.1183

LiNdsaY PHiLLiPs sWitcHfLoPs JoaN & david stuart WeitzmaN

It’s that time of year again.

The leaves are beginning to change colors. There is a hint of fall chill in the air. People are contemplating their mandatory annual distributions from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

Actually, planning for a mandatory distribution from one’s IRA is not as universal as the change in foliage color or the chill one feels on these brisk October mornings. But for one who is facing it, and as we all get older most of us will, the tax ramifications can be momentous.

First, let’s begin with a little background. Some of the language in the next two paragraphs will be a little technical; however, I promise to keep it short.

Traditional IRAs have been popular tax deferment vehicles for years. They allowed taxpayers to invest pre-tax income and reduce the amount of income tax owed during that year. As time passes, many IRA accounts have grown large through tax-free additions as well as tax-free growth.

Although it is true many IRAs suffered during the economic downturn in 2008, the market value of most have since bounced back.

There are three important age ranges when it comes to traditional IRAs: the years before one turns 59 ½, the range between 59 ½ and 70 ½, and then 70 ½ and older. The years before age 59 ½ are the savings years. Although IRA funds can be distributed, a pre-59 ½ distribution would be subject to income taxes and a 10 percent penalty unless it is subject to an exception. Between age 59½ and age 70½ is the optional withdrawal period. Any amount may be withdrawn and there is no 10 percent penalty tax, but the withdrawal is subject to income tax. Finally, when an IRA owner reaches age 70½, it becomes mandatory for the owner to withdraw funds.

Taxpayers are also required to withdraw specified amounts each year. If the required distribution is not taken, there is a penalty of 50 percent of the amount of the required distribution that was not paid out to the IRA owner as well as being subject to income tax.

You made it.

Congratulations! If you have

Poetic LiceNce

By Jim Mueth Director of Planned Giving and Endowments

cards gifts accessories

connect explore celebrate

march 16-18, 2014

new orleans, louisiana

Join over 1,500 Jewish young adults (ages 22-45) from across North America for an entertaining, interactive and educational celebration.

The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley is offering subsidies that COVER THE COST OF ADMISSION - a $500 value!

Contact Aaron Gorodzinsky, 610-821-5500 or aaron@jflv.org, to learn more.

Young Adult Division

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 5

Community relations/outreach director welcomed

By JFLV Staff Aaron Gorodzinsky has seen what’s happening in Jewish organizations from top to bottom, and from north to south, and he’s bringing the best ideas to the Lehigh Valley.

Gorodzinsky is the new director of outreach and community relations for the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley.

As a fan of comedian and political commentator Bill Maher (author of “New, New Rules”), Gorodzinsky isn’t afraid to break new ground when it comes to programming, and his wry humor can make him the life of the party.

Yet, he has a serious side.

While still in college, he supported the first election for the Federation of Jewish students, the Canadian umbrella orga-

nization for student groups.

Gorodzinsky also knows when to change gears and adapt to new conditions. He was born in Mexico City and grew up there. Although he planned to become a doctor and therefore went right from high school to medical school, as is the route in Mexico, he decided he didn’t want it badly enough to endure the lack of sleep and the 24/7 stress. He instead pursued conflict resolution and political science at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba.

Even more significant to his future career, Gorodzinsky got involved in Hillel, which in Canada is part of the Canadian Federation of Jewish Students, and restarted the school’s program.

After earning his bachelor’s degree, he lived and worked in Israel as a Spanish Media Fellow for the The Israel Project. He then continued his education, earning a master’s degree in Jewish nonprofit management at Hebrew Union College’s Jewish Institute of Religion.

While in graduate school, Gorodzinsky worked for the vice president of development for the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, helping to organize a mega mission of 450 people traveling to Israel,

the centennial campaign year, and a number of major gifts dinners.

In his second year of graduate school, Gorodzinsky interned at the Anti-Defamation League as a speaker’s bureau coordinator and wrote speeches for lay leaders.

But he isn’t all talk. In his spare time, Gorodzinsky runs; he is currently working on building up speed. He enjoys other sports, both playing and watching: soccer (he is a fan of Mexico’s “America” team), football (the Tennessee Titans), hockey (the Vancouver Canucks), and baseball (the L.A. Dodgers).

In his work with the Federation, he will particularly reach out to the Jewish community at large and, within it, especially to young adults.

He brings a wealth of ideas, expertise and knowledge.

Having only recently moved to the Lehigh Valley, he also knows what it is to be a newcomer.

“I see myself as a bridge between Federation and those who want to get involved, those who are not really involved yet and those who have just gotten here,” he said.

Aaron can be reached at 610-821-5500 ext. 337 or aaron@jflv.org.

Susan’s Undoing Continues from page 1

founder, asking if she could come back and teach two dance classes. This was a critical turning point for her. After accepting, she put on a leotard for the first time since becoming ill. “I was shocked,” she said, “thinking, ‘I don’t know if I’m allowed to do this. Leotards are for healthy, exemplary bodies -- and my body is sick now. I don’t know if I’m allowed to wear the attire of a ‘dancer’ because now my identity is [that of] sick person … ’” Though still in pain from several surgeries and terrified that the children would view her as an invalid, she nevertheless found the strength to dance in front of the class. “That was the moment,” Chase said, “that I reclaimed my identity and that part of my life.”

Doctors and lay people involved in the treatment of cancer call you a success if you remain cancer-free for five years, which for Chase came in 2007. “The doctors said ‘you’re cured’ but I felt anything but,” she said. “That five-year mark is supposed to be a magic number, but I knew the cancer could return any time.”

Although she vowed to make the most of her time and live one day at a time, she still felt anxious and depressed and unable to live fully. Also at this time, her son was leaving home for five weeks on a school program, and Chase – a single mom – found herself alone. The idea to write a theater piece formed, and the process was cathartic, invigorating and ultimately self-affirming.

Chase discovered a true sense of purpose in performing her show and finds it deeply rewarding when audience members approach her and thank her for allowing them to be true to their feelings. She remembers her own reaction to well-meaning people who told her to stay optimistic. “If I want to sit here and cry a while, just let me,” she said. “I can’t feel positive right now.”

Her goal is to reach broader audiences with her play, which is not jut about cancer, but about the universal story of loss and acceptance. “The process has come full circle,” said Chase. “What began as a personal means to deal with a devastating life event has turned into a vehicle to help others to recovery.”

Chase’s performance is free and open to the public and will be followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Mark Gittleman, breast surgeon; Dr. Jeff Blinder, breast radiologist; Jennifer Sinclair, Cancer Support Community; Susan Chase, performer and survivor; Debbie Zoller, Jewish Family Service. Light refreshments will be served. To preregister, call the JCC at 610-435-3571 or stop by the Welcome Desk.

Sponsored by the Women’s Division and Maimonides Society of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, the Jewish Community Center of Allentown, Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley and the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley.

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Most cases are “isolated occurrences” but up to three to five percent could be part of a geneticallyderived susceptibility to cancer. As such, a significant family history of colorectal, gynecologic and other uncommon cancers should always be further investigated.

Interestingly, previous use of oral contraceptives and tobacco use decrease the risk of developing endometrial cancer.

The initial evaluation of women with postmenopausal bleeding usually includes imaging studies such as pelvic ultrasonography.

However, definitive diagnosis requires obtaining a sample of the endometrium for pathologic examination. This can and is most commonly performed in the office setting by means of a minimally uncomfortable procedure called endometrial biopsy.

This simple office procedure allows the physician to obtain tissue from the inner lining of the uterus. An exam under anesthesia with hysteroscopy and dilatation and curettage

may also be indicated for certain women.

Definitive treatment of endometrial cancer and many pre-cancerous conditions usually requires a total hysterectomy and removal of bilateral fallopian tubes and ovaries (bilateral salpingooophorectomy). Many patients with cancer may also benefit from removal of the pelvic and abdominal lymph nodes to determine the presence of metastasis in order to tailor postoperative treatment when necessary.

These procedures can most often be accomplished by minimally-invasive laparoscopic or robotic procedures which offer the patient the benefit of a shorter hospital stay and a faster recovery. It is advisable that a gynecologic oncologist be involved in the management of patients with endometrial cancer.

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Evaluation and prompt diagnosis and treatment certainly save lives of patients afflicted by uterine malignancies.

Holland opposes ban of Israeli products Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Netherlands opposes any kind of import ban on Israeli products, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, though it must enforce European Union legislation on labeling settlement goods.

“I would like to stress that the Netherlands opposes any type of import ban or the boycott of Israeli products,” a Dutch official wrote in Rutte’s name last month to the European Jewish Congress, or EJC. The letter, obtained by JTA, was sent to EJC President Moshe Kantor in response to Kantor’s letter to several EU heads of states, including Rutte, in which Kantor warned that labeling products from areas the European Union considers as illegal settlements was counterproductive to efforts to reach a peace settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Rutte’s letter followed reports in July that several Dutch supermarkets were boycotting settlement goods, though the supermarkets denied they had such a policy.

In March, the Dutch government advised business owners to refrain from labeling products from the Golan Heights, West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as made in Israel.

A decision last year by the EU Foreign Affairs Council to label settlement goods “obliges the Dutch government to fully and effectively enforce existing E.U. legislation,” Rutte wrote.

The council has yet to release practical guidelines on labeling.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague struck a less conciliatory note in his reply to Kantor’s letter.

“I am afraid that I cannot agree with your concerns about E.U. labeling of settlement produce,” he wrote. “The settlements are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace.”

On Sept. 16, Kantor published a full-page ad in the Financial Times saying the guidelines singled out Israel for criticism and “serve to minimize the chances for lasting peace.”

“Smile at new people.”

Life advice from Earnest M., Resident and Welcome Committee Member

Seems like the more time we spend with our residents, the more we learn about life.

We have something for everyone, from independent living and personal care to rehabilitation services and specialized memory care. All on a vibrant campus with activities, social events, day trips and individualized services. At Country Meadows, we think you’ll have plenty of reasons to smile.

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A Yom Kippur love story

Sylvia and Pini Peled after 40 years together.

Pini Peled, of Karmiel, Israel, visited the Lehigh Valley in August and September this year to celebrate the birth of his first 2 grandchildren twins Noam and Shai Peled, sons of KI's Cantor Jennifer Duretz-Peled and Matan Peled.

By Pini Peled Special to HAKOL I served in the Israeli army for 35 years as a medic in combat brigades -- three years in the regular service in Golani, and another 32 years in the reserves. It was God’s will that I had the chance to save lives twice during my service and it was a really amazing feeling. It was also God’s will that I met my wife during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

I was 24 years old when I was drafted, exactly 40 years ago at Yom Kippur this year. A war had been just started between

Israel and its surrounding neighbors. After a short time in the north, we were positioned far south, in Africa on Mt. Ataka, a high mountain overlooking the gulf of Akaba (Eilat).

After two months in alert on that mountain, being isolated and taking care of our own supplies, we were transferred to a field hospital in Sinai to have some rest.

So we arrived at this field hospital, a bunch of bearded, tired soldiers, dressed in dirty uniforms -- we hadn’t had the chance to take showers or to wash our uniforms for almost 8 weeks -- facing 12 unbelievably clean, pretty and young nurses, all dressed in white.

Upon meeting the nurses, we decided to celebrate our first vacation night around a campfire, singing Israeli songs accompanied by my accordion, which I’ve carried with me always during wars and reserve services to make lonely, sad nights more happy.

That evening, one of the nurses, by the name of Sylvia, was 19 years old, with a beautiful, cute face and clever eyes, and two long, long braids. I just knew, from the moment our eyes met, that she was the only one for me.

It took us almost three years to get to know each other and to decide in which kibbutz we would continue our lives. Then, on June 8, 1976, we got married. After we married, Sylvia claimed that she had fallen in love with the accordion, not with me.

But it was again God’s will to test our love and devotion to each other: Over the following seven years, Sylvia had eight miscarriages and one fetus that died before the doctor determined that Sylvia suffered from hyperprolactinemia. After one year exactly of taking the prescribed medicine, the first of our three children was born. We called him Matan, which means “gift.”

LEHIGH VALLEY JEWISH FOUNDATION THE JEWISH COMMUNITY’S ENDOWMENT FUND | Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley

IN MEMORY SUSIE AUFRECHT (Mother of Nancy Cohen) Wendy and Ross Born Sam and Sylvia Bub & Family Iris, Jon, Harry and Charlie Epstein Lisa and Barnet Fraenkel Gail Levine Vicki and Stan Wax Barbara and Arthur Weinrach DOROTHY COHODAS (Mother of Jayne Cohodas-Cooney, Bart Cohodas and Jennifer Lebowitz) Randi and Donald Senderowitz HERBERT HYMAN (Husband of Mina Hyman and father of Nat and Michael Hyman) Lenny Abrams Sybil and Barry Baiman Wendy and Ross Born Lisa and Barnet Fraenkel Elaine Lerner Randi and Donald Senderowitz Laurie, Robby, Ben and Danny Wax LESLIE LERNER (Husband of Elaine Lerner) Sybil and Barry Baiman GERALD NEFF (Husband of Norma Neff) Suzanne Lapiduss MARY ANN ORGLER (Wife of Joel Orgler) Elayne and Leon Dubin Phyllis and David Sussman WALTER STEIGERWALD (Father of Bruce Steigerwald) Lori and Houman Ahdieh HOWARD ‘BUD’ WIENER (Husband of Bobbie Wiener and father of Joel and Stephen Wiener and Suzanne Diamond) Lori and Houman Ahdieh

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8 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Laura and Bob Black Wendy and Ross Born Lisa and Barnet Fraenkel Suzanne Lapiduss Selma Roth Barbara and Fred Sussman Randi and Donald Senderowitz IN HONOR ALIETTE AND MARC ABO Marriage of daughter, Alyssa to David Lubitz Vicki and Stan Wax LAURA AND BOB BLACK Birth of granddaughter, Layla Moon Stern Wendy and Ross Born Iris, Jon, Harry and Charlie Epstein Sandra and Harold Goldfarb Vicki and Stan Wax MARILYN AND NATE BRAUNSTEIN Birth of great-granddaughter Sybil and Barry Baiman JOAN BRODY Retirement Carol and Gary Fromer TEMPLE COLDREN Finalist in the 2013 Lehigh Valley Business CFO of the Year awards program Carol and Gary Fromer JUDY AND ABBOTT D’VER Birth of granddaughter, Ita Reva Carol and Gary Fromer KATHI AND SETH KATZMAN Birth of grandson, Brice Mosely Katzman Laura and Bob Black DEBBIE AND ANDY KIMMEL Birth of granddaughter, Esther Noa Carol and Gary Fromer SUE AND KEN KIRSHNER Birth of grandson, Charlie Isaac Kirshner Iris, Jon, Harry and Charlie Epstein

AL MISHKIN Special Birthday Marilyn and Elwood Kolb AL MISHKIN Speedy Recovery Renee Schwartz PATTI AND ALAN MITTLEMAN Marriage of son, Ari to Tara Brown Vicki and Stan Wax CANTOR JENNIFER AND MATAN PELED Birth of twin sons, Noam and Shai Wendy and Ross Born NANCY AND ABE ROSS Birth of grandsons, Jacob and Ryan Laura and Bob Black Iris, Jon, Harry and Charlie Epstein Sandra and Harold Goldfarb HELEN AND SOL KRAWITZ HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND IN MEMORY HOWARD ‘BUD’ WIENER (Husband of Bobbie Wiener and father of Joel and Stephen Wiener and Suzanne Diamond) Joani Lesavoy and Sid Greenberg IN HONOR ANNE CORNFELD Special Birthday Joani Lesavoy and Sid Greenberg We gratefully acknowledge those individuals who have offered expressions of friendship through recent gifts to the Lehigh Valley Jewish Foundation.

The minimum contribution for an Endowment Card is $10.

Call 610-821-5500 or visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org to place your card requests.

Thank you for your continued support.

Campaign Ambassadors find 'aha moments'

By Stephanie Smartschan JFLV Director of Marketing Leslie Dannin Rosenthal was almost 10 years old when Israel went to war with its Arab neighbors in 1967. She spent six tense days watching the coverage with her mother on TV, truly feeling that by week’s end, there might not be an Israel.

That experience helped shape her Jewish identity, but it was not her “aha moment.”

It didn't happen until 2000, when Rosenthal, campaign chair for the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, went on a community mission to the Ukraine. There she met a little red-headed girl who was eating her one hot meal of the day. The girl started speaking to her in another language, which Rosenthal couldn’t understand, but then someone translated for her: “If you were not doing what you were doing, I’d be dead.”

It was this message, and the feelings that it left her with as she went on to increase her volunteer profile with the Federations that Rosenthal hoped to impart on the Lehigh Valley’s campaign ambassadors when she visited the community last month.

On her visit, she wore her Lion of Judah pin on a chain around her neck, but also her Pomegranate pin on her lapel as a tribute to the Lehigh Valley, where it originated 23 years ago.

To ask others to give, campaign ambassadors must first identify their own personal motivations for giving, and for volunteering, she said.

For Pat Glascom, vice president of Jewish Family Service and chair of the religious school at Congregation Keneseth Israel, that motivation came on a group trip to Europe in 1966 when she was 15. After touring Anne Frank’s hiding place, the group was supposed to meet Frank's father, Otto.

But at the last minute, Otto backed out because he was so

affected by the thought that his daughter was the same age as the teens when she died.

Barry Halper, Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley president, remembers celebrating Israel’s 10th anniversary as a 6-year-old standing in synagogue and singing Hatikvah. When he later moved to Pampa, Texas, he learned a lot and taught a lot about Judaism by being one of only a handful of Jews in town.

With their motivations in mind, Rosenthal then encouraged the ambassadors to think of their personal campaign goals. They would need them, as it turned out, because Campaign Vice Chair Iris Epstein started the evening by setting the bar high.

The 2014 Campaign for Jewish Needs is under way and will run until June 30. You can do your part today by mailing a gift to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, 702 N. 22nd St., Allentown, PA 18104, or making a secure donation online at www. jewishlehighvalley.org. Together, we do extraordinary things.

IDAN RAICHEL THE

PROJECT

Ambassador Pat Glascom chooses the donors she would like to have conversations with this year.

Leslie Dannin Rosenthal, campaign chair for the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, NJ, inspires volunteers.

Justin Corsa, left, who is heading up the campaign's Sponsor Division, helps connect ambassadors to donors.

Jeff Bernfeld and Michele Salomon of Congregation Keneseth Israel prepare to be inspired.

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Rabbi searches beyond ‘conventional answers’ Interview by Jennifer Lader Editor, HAKOL Harold S. Kushner, Rabbi Laureate at Temple Israel in Massachusetts and author of “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” talks about forgiveness and “minimizing the pain.” Kushner will speak in Bethlehem this October.

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Q. In your book, “How Good Do We Have to Be?,” you say that we don’t have to see bad behavior as driving a wedge between ourselves and God. Yet wedges happen so easily between people.

What if we offend someone who is not open to forgiving?

The God I talk about is the God of second chances. If you find someone who doesn’t want to forgive, there is a simple three-word answer: That’s their problem.

The more interesting question is when someone does something and you find it hard to forgive them. Ultimately, what I’m trying to say, and it’s a message that people need to hear, is you do it for yourself, not for the one you are trying to forgive.

There was a girl who missed a graduate fellowship [because of someone else’s poor behavior]. I said to her, ‘You’re not hurting that other person. If you are angry, why are you permitting him to live rent-free in your head?

He has hurt you enough. Why would you want to give him that power?’

Q. What are some of the answers you hear to that question?

There is the idea of getting even; perhaps one day he will seek public office … Then there is the idea that ‘what he did was wrong and I don’t want him to get away with it.’ [To that,] I say, ‘I’m terribly sorry, but he has gotten away with it.’

If you believe there is even a shard of truth – ‘I was a bad person, a bad mother, a bad student’ – it’s [hard to let go].

Q. You characterize prayer as ‘coming into the presence of God.’ Does praying help? If so, how?

It helps. I want to make a fundamental distinction between congregational prayer and individual prayer. Congregational prayer happens with other people, often in a language you don’t understand and sometimes with words you don’t agree with.

You lose yourself in something bigger. You lose your individuality and become part of a greater whole.

Individual prayer gives you the feeling that God is with you and everything becomes easier to handle as a result. That’s why that line in the 23rd psalm is so important – ‘Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, [I shall not fear because God is with me].’ Problems, rejection, unemployment all become easier to bear if we feel we are not abandoned by God. In prayer, we are connecting with God’s presence; sometimes God calms the thunderstorms and sometimes God lets them rage and calms the person.

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Q. You indicate it is best not to ask ‘why did it happen?’ but ‘what shall we do about it?’ What of the individual who is harmed, particularly if there is no opportunity to ask that question?

There is a sense of outrage; you’d think we’d have learned, with thousands of years of civilization, that if someone wants to do [incredible damage], God is not going to stop them. This applies to Syria, this applies to the Holocaust.

God creates a race of human beings with free will. If we want to harm others, it is society’s job to stop us, to put an end to wars…

Q. On My Jewish Learning, you write that painful things are not ‘in any way part of some grand design on God’s part.’ How do we know?

We don’t know it. But if God is in any way associated with what is right and good, God can’t be associated with [pain]. We are so desperate to make sense of the world …

Q. Isn’t it useful to do so?

It’s very helpful. Look at all the diseases we have found cures for -- smallpox, tuberculosis, [treatment for] AIDS. Our job is to see how can we minimize the uncertainty, the pain.

Q. What does it mean that so many Jews and non-Jews are open to your message?

I could give you the easy answer, but … I’m 78 years old, I’ve spent half a century listening to problems and finding where the shoe pinches. I’m never comfortable with the conventional answer. I have a respect and deep appreciation of God. That people want to hear this is an openness to messages that make sense to them and that present God in a light in which they want to accept God. I’m trying to liberate people from the sense that my religion says this and I don’t really believe it, but I guess I have to.

Q. Some would say that the message needs to reach people when they are still children. Have you worked with parents at all?

[Laughing] You have no idea what you’re asking!

Q. So tell me.

After “When Bad Things Happen,” I wrote a little booklet, put out by a small press, and it was called “When Children Ask About God.” A lot of what I wrote about later started there.

Rabbi Harold Kushner will speak on “Living a Life that Matters,” to be presented by Dr. and Mrs. Max Littner Memorial Lecture Series for Bereavement and St. Luke’s University Health Network at Bethlehem’s Central Moravian Church on Wednesday, October 9, at 7:30 p.m.

For more information or to order tickets, call 1-866-STLUKES or visit www.sluhn.org/kushner.

10 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Treasure life’s gifts Final airlifts of Ethiopian WRITINGS FROM THE

CLERGY

CANTOR KEVIN D. WARTELL Temple Beth El

Chair, Lehigh Valley Clergy Group

Teaching is a wonderful profession. It affords us the opportunity to pass on to others our passions and our values. As an educator, I am always looking for the perfect ingredient to what will work, that guarantee that your objective will be achieved and your students will get it. I am increasingly amazed at how what I might have thought of as a poor teaching moment turns out to be a break-through moment for the student ...and we as teachers find out about it years later.

In addition, there is something quite special about being a teacher of religion. Unlike many other subjects, we attempt to

help our students live with life. That’s right: There is a major difference between experiencing life and living life to its fullest.

Judaism teaches us to treasure life’s gifts. These gifts cannot be found in the department store or the mall, not on the Internet or on television. These gifts can be found in our relationships with each other.

Even as we hold onto this thought, our society is becoming more and more isolationist. Why, you wouldn’t have to ever leave your house if you didn’t want to. Everything can be done with the click of a mouse!

But there is no relationship in that, in the sense that relationships mean caring and loving, supporting and giving, appreciating the others in our lives and reveling in the opportunities we have to enjoy each others’ company. Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher, called this the “I-Thou” relationship.

At this time of year, as we approach the increasing darkness of fall and the cold of winter, let us try to remember the warmth of being a community.

When we treat each other with kindness and gentleness, we are emulating G-d. In the living with life, we can ask no more than that.

immigrants arrive in Israel Jewish Telegraphic Agency The final two charter flights of new immigrants from Ethiopia landed in Israel on August 28.

The two airplanes carrying the 450 new Israeli citizens arrived at Ben Gurion Airport.

A steady trickle of approximately 200 Ethiopian immigrants per month has been coming to Israel since 2010, when Israel launched Operation Wings of a Dove after checking the aliyah eligibility of an additional 8,000 Ethiopians.

The new immigrants are known as Falash Mura -- Ethiopians who claim links to descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity generations ago but now seek to return to Judaism and immigrate to Israel. They have been accepted to Israel under different rules than those governing other immigrants.

In advance of the final airlift, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky turned over the keys to the Jewish school of Gondar to the Ethiopian city’s mayor. The Jewish Agency donated all the school buildings and equipment to the municipality.

Ethiopian Jews also were airlifted to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1992.

Ethiopian Jews kiss the ground upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport as part of Operation Wings of Dove, which ended the Ethiopian immigration to Israel, Aug. 28, 2013.

The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley as part of Jewish Federations of North

America and their donors funded this program throughout its duration.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 11

NEWS AND VIEWS OF AMERICAN JEWS

Johnstown, Pa.: More than a place, a state of mind

By Jennifer Lader Editor, HAKOL Eighty miles past Harrisburg, up and over the Allegheny Mountains’ Babcock Ridge, elevation 2,700 feet, lies the city of Johnstown. It sits in the Conemaugh Valley at the lowest point in the 20 mile descent of the Conemaugh River, where it intersects with another river.

Johnstown was home to the Cambria Iron Works that developed in the 1800s and lasted until 1992, enabling the population to grow from 5,000 in 1850 to 30,000 people from all over the world in 1889. The city numbers fewer than that today, with about 24,000 residents and just 60 people in its Jewish community.

“We’re officially the belt buckle of the rust belt,” said Rabbi Irvin Brandwein, who on a mid-summer Sunday morning opened the doors of the city’s only remaining synagogue, Congregation Beth Sholom, for a tour.

It hadn’t been easy to find the synagogue. The route from the Lehigh Valley involves taking the Pennsylvania Turnpike west to Highway 56, which leads to a scenic drive eventually snaking into the city’s downtown, eventually split near the river and the way was unclear. Brandwein called that area “the old city -- not Jerusalem, but for here it’s the old city.” The biblical parallel turned out to be spot on.

Sitting across town from the synagogue, just to the right of Highway 56 is Noah’s Ark Day Care Center. The logo shows the ark floating on the waters, a peculiar image for a building in this landlocked city, unless one is aware of the history of the place.

The court house has three high water marks: Flood waters reached eight feet in 1977 and 17 feet in 1936. But on May 31, 1889, the water reached 21 feet. On that day, Johnstown experienced the worst disaster up to that time in the history of the United States.

WHOM DO WE THANK FOR IRON DOME?

THE GREAT FLOOD It happened in the afternoon, after a poorly constructed manmade dam upstream began to leak. At the same time, an unusually strong storm swept into the area from the Midwest. The waters surged against the weakened dam. In a flash, the dam burst and 20 million tons of floodwater thundered down the riverbed, crashing against the stone cliffs lining much of the route.

As documented in “The Johnstown Flood,” a pen-andink illustrated movie available in some Lehigh Valley libraries, many of the townspeople were in their homes, even taking tea -- it was just a regular day -- when the flood swept them away downstream.

The flood was hugely destructive: “250 houses and various industrial buildings were wiped off the map,” according to one exhibit on the flood. Some of the people from the houses managed to hold onto doors or other floating objects, or even remain in houses that were being swept away whole. The waters carried all downstream to a massive bridge against which all manner of wood, blocks, furniture, debris and even a steam locomotive were thrown. To make matters worse, the buildup was ablaze and there was no way to rescue most of the people trapped there.

Twenty-two hundred men, women and children died that day.

THE SCENE THAT FOLLOWED On the recent summer morning of this reporter’s visit, clouds rolled over the mountain ridges that surround the city, adding a dramatic cast to the downtown, which presents a mixture of ornate 1800s-era stone buildings, rundown houses and defunct

Thank the Technion. As recently seen, Israel’s Iron Dome can intercept and destroy missiles – and save lives. In terms of capabilities, speed and accuracy, there is no system like it anywhere in the world. It was developed at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, whose CEO says, “We couldn’t have done it without Technion graduates…some 80 percent of our engineering force are Technion graduates.” n And there are many more breakthroughs at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. As one of the world’s leading universities in science, technology and medicine, the Technion is a major source of innovation.

The brainpower of its graduates helps drive the Israeli economy and contributes to the health and security of people in Israel and around the world. n The American Technion Society consists of thousands of people in the United States who support the Technion. Please join us and help make the next generation of Technion breakthroughs possible. For more information, visit www.ats.org/IronDome or call 610.940.3800.

American Technion Society – Eastern Seaboard Region 100 Four Falls Corporate Center, Suite 211, West Conshohocken, PA 19428 610.940.3800

12 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY 3588_Iron_Dome_4x10.indd 1

7/25/13 9:39 AM

One of the ornate stained glass windows at Congregation Beth Sholom, in Johnstown, Pa. Services are held every Friday evening and Saturday morning at the synagogue, which has a congregation of 60 people and has fused its Reform, Conservative and Orthodox roots. businesses -- no revitalization in evidence.

The two original synagogues were in or around the downtown, built after the great flood. They expanded into five and later consolidated into three, then two, and then one, Beth Sholom.

The center of the downtown was home to the Cambria Ironworks and then to a steel plant later owned by Bethlehem Steel.

As with The Steel in Bethlehem,

nights brought scenes of flames and billowing smoke. So much so that John Hesselbein, the writer of “Allegheny Mountain,” told of the night his uncle rode through with his army cohorts on the way to fight the Germans. The uncle asked that the shades be raised so that his brothers in arms could see his hometown of Johnstown.

“It was,” Hesselbein writes, “like a train ride through hell.”

Today the expansive roll-

ing mills are as rusty as Rabbi Brandwein implied.

THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN On our arrival that morning at the synagogue, a pair of school-aged brothers had just finished their Sunday morning studies.

Brandwein said that he also serves as “the cantor, the Hebrew School teacher and sometimes the custodian.” Services are held every Friday evening and Saturday morning in this congregation which has had to fuse its Reform, Conservative and Orthodox roots.

“We’re officially unaffiliated,” Brandwein said. “The affiliated come here, the atheists come here. They all come here because it’s the only game in town.”

For his part, Brandwein is active in the city’s clergy group, all Christian except for him. He recently opened the city’s Day of Prayer by blowing the shofar. The synagogue seder gets 120 people, but only because “it’s open to non-Jewish people, too; we have a lot of churches that are close to us, that love the Jewish people, that love the synagogue. It’s the same for Yom HaShoah and the birthday of the State of Israel,” said Brandwein, whose son is a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.

He feels the floods of the past were traumatic for the city and that they “humanized” people. The early Jewish settlers came as peddlers and showed unusually great generosity over the years and into the present for Israel, the Salvation Army and crises such as the Newtown shootings.

“After I got 25 calls asking me how to donate [to Newtown], I called the Federation in Pittsburgh and they referred me to the headquarters in New York,” Brandwein said.

Jewish Federations of North America has publicly acknowledged the high contributions of the Johnstown Jewish community for a city of its size. In a recent article, JFNA said that Johnstown has contributed “$8 million since 1964.”

Foremost among contributors was an early peddler by the name of Glosser who established himself and grew a fabulously

successful department store that became publicly traded in the 1960s. Today, the main area of growth in the town is the medical field. The directions the rabbi provided into town involved making a “hairpin turn” down a mountain road from which rises a trauma center.

IMPENDING DOOM In the downtown area that afternoon, along the now low river with its high flood walls, a Johnny Cash song, with its distinctive rolling electric guitar style, was playing in a baseball park: “I keep my eyes wide open all the time ...” With its additional references to turning the tide, this could almost have been a theme song for the city.

The stadium from which the music came had no more than a dozen people in the bleachers. High above them, from the top of a cliff, rose a huge five-pointed star, unlit, and, above that an American flag.

Down the street was the minimallylabeled Flood Museum. There, a Johnstown native working the front desk acknowledged that another flood is always a possibility: “Whenever it rains for several days,” she said, “I kinda keep an eye out.”

Speaking of living in the city and working in “the flood plain,” she explained,“people would worry if they paid attention.”

Several years ago, a graduate student named Ewa Morawska conducted a major study of the Johnstown Jewish community, for which she won a number of awards.

She published the results in a book that she called “Insecure Prosperity.”

One of the themes that comes across in a visit to the city and in Morawska’s study is that all could be lost at any moment.

This was not unrealistic; not only had it happened before in 1889, but it happened again, two more times, including to one of the synagogues.

Beth Sholom houses the archives of all of the synagogues that came before it in Johnstown. On display in one glass case is a Torah scroll damaged in the “St. Patrick’s Day flood of 1936.”

“It’s in an 18th-century Northern Italian

A view of part of the former Cambria Ironworks. script,” Brandwein said.

In the case of the Jewish community, however, there was something that could be done to shore up the assets: “The synagogue is very well-endowed,” as Brandwein said. Its wealth shows in the beautiful stained glass windows throughout the synagogue, including those in the social hall.

What Beth Sholom lacks is congregants and there is little hope in sight: “The last bar mitzvah has been calendared for May, 2014,” Brandwein said. The congregation has two high schoolers and “three confirmands.”

Asked whether anyone new ever arrives, Brandwein said, “It’s extremely rare.”

MORE THAN A PLACE, A STATE OF MIND Spending the day in Johnstown, there is a feeling that things are flowing less than optimally.

Despite several worthy museums, the city’s signage was completely inadequate for finding them. And, in addition to the challenges in finding the synagogue, this reporter had difficulty finding a way out of the city, even after asking people in several different locations, including an Auto Zone that might better have been called “The Twilight Zone.”

The streets and bridges are laid out in a loop and none of the six people asked at various places were able to provide effective instructions or in some cases even able to speak. Nasty tempers were in evidence as well.

It was as if the whole city was still trapped in the swirling waters of the flood that devastated the downtown, keeping them forever churning around the bridge against which so many lost their lives.

Then and now as “The Johnstown Flood” documentary movie says, “the bridge still holds.”

David Cook October 24 | 8 pm VIP event at 5:30 pm | $72 $32 | $28 | $22

Olympus InVision Photo Festival 2012 Photograph by Vicki DaSilva

Upcoming Shows Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze sponsored by Klunk & Millan Advertising

October 13 | 7:30 pm $25 | $20

The Hungry Hungry Games: A Parody October 15 & 16 | 8 pm $39 | $34 | $29

The Lehigh Valley Beatles Showcase III October 20 | 3-7 pm $30 | $24 Advance $35 | $29 At the Door

sponsored by The Pottstown Mercury, Klunk & Millan Advertising and WFMZ

October 27 | 8 pm $64 | $49

Marty Stuart and Roger McGuinn sponsored by Klunk & Millan Advertising

November 8 | 7:30 pm $54 | $42

An exciting weekend of exhibitions, workshops, presentations, Slideluck Lehigh Valley Party & more!

Artist in Residence:

Chef Robert Irvine LIVE

Eugene Richards

November 16 | 7:30 pm $49 | $39

Also featuring:

sponsored by The Express-Times

David Bromberg October 25 | 7:30 pm $49 | $39

November 1-3, 2013 Bethlehem, PA invisionphotofestival.org

Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx

Ben Bailey

November 22 | 8 pm $30 | $25

Musikfest Café™ at SteelStacks™ 101 Founders Way | Bethlehem, PA 18015

Tickets/Lineup: artsquest.org | 610-332-3378

Olivia Bee Drew Gurian John Isaac

Chase Jarvis Roxanne Lowit

Keron Psillas Richard Renaldi

Victor Rodriguez Stephen Wilkes

Tickets and all-access weekend passes available at: invisionphotofestival.org | 610-332-3378

The Rider Pool Foundation HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 13

Holocaust survivor receives books from family home

PHOTOS COURTESY OF YAD VASHEM

Above, Cynthia Wroclawski, manager of the of the Yad Vashem Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project and chair of the Yoav-Lehigh Valley Partnership2Gether committee in Israel, presents Moshe Hofstadter with his father’s books.

Right, Moshe Hofstadter and his family look at this father’s books at Yad Vashem.

By Richard Mann Courtesy of Yad Vashem and reprinted with permission During an emotional visit to Yad Vashem this July, Holocaust survivor Moshe Hofstadter of Ramat Gan, Israel, received four books that belonged to his father Avraham who was murdered in the Holocaust. The books were sent to Yad Vashem by Dr. Christoph Schlegel, an Austrian grandson of Nazi officer and Stadtkommissar Herbert Huller who in 1941 was stationed in Rzeszow, Poland. Huller most likely acquired the books from one of the warehouses which contained stolen Jewish possessions. Huller was sent to a prison camp for highranking Nazi officers in Wolfsberg for two years immediately

following the war. He died in 1978.

The books were discovered by his grandson in 2010, a few years after Huller’s widow -- Schlegel’s grandmother -- moved out of her house and into a nursing home in 2007.

Initially unaware of the name stamped on the inside cover of each of the four books, Schlegel eventually noticed the name “Abraham Hofstadter” printed on them and, in May 2013, began to research the person behind the name. Searching Yad Vashem’s online Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names he discovered that Abraham Hofstadter was a Jewish merchant from Rzeszow and that he was murdered in the Holocaust.

Commemorating his memory, Abraham’s son Moshe had completed a Page of Testimony

documenting his father’s murder, and as is customary left his contact information. When Schlegel searched the Internet for information on Abraham Hofstadter, he discovered the Page of Testimony and contacted Yad Vashem’s Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project for assistance in reaching out to any surviving family that Abraham Hofstadter may have had, in hopes of returning the books.

Thanks to the information on the Page of Testimony, Yad Vashem was able to put Moshe and Schlegel in touch and the two have been in correspondence ever since. Moshe, 88, is the son and sole survivor of his immediate

family. As a boy, he was imprisoned in the Lvov Ghetto and survived the Holocaust by working under a false identity; he immigrated to Israel after the war.

On July 10, Yad Vashem presented Moshe with his father’s books on behalf of Dr. Christoph Schlegel. “These are just a few books which I want in the right hands,” he wrote when he contacted Yad Vashem for assistance in finding members of Avraham Hofstadter’s family.

“I know the feeling of touching something a person you loved has touched and used.”

Moshe paused, filled with emotion, as the books brought back good memories of his

father from before the war, and proudly described him as an active Jewish and Zionist leader in the community. “My father had a very big library and spoke German, Polish and Yiddish,” he said.

“This is the only thing I have from my father; I have nothing else,” said Moshe upon being presented with the books at Yad Vashem by Manager of the Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project Cynthia Wroclawski during an emotional gathering with his family. “I’m very glad to have them.”

Pages of Testimony are specially-designed forms filled out in memory of Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project aims to memorialize each individual Jewish person murdered in the Holocaust by recording their names, biographical details and photographs in the online Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names. To date, 4.2 of the six million victims are documented in the Names Database. Efforts continue to try and recover the name and identity of each and every Jewish person murdered in the Holocaust.

For more information about the Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project, contact Shari Spark, Holocaust Resource Center Coordinator, at 610-821-5500.

14 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 15

Forty years in Reflections on

Hakol 4x4_Oct_HauntedIlusions_Layout 1 9/10/2013 9:59 AM Page 1

On Aug. 1, David locked a prediction in front of the theater that will be revealed LIVE onstage the night of his show, Oct. 27!

Sun., Oct. 27 $

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COURTESY OF THE GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE OF ISRAEL

Sponsored by The Morning Call and 69.1 WFMZ-TV

www.statetheatre.org

Interview by Jennifer Lader Editor, HAKOL

PHOTO BY YOSSI GREENBERG & COURTESY OF THE GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE OF ISRAEL

453 Northampton St., Easton, PA .1-800-999-STATE . .610-252-3132 .

Top: During the Yom Kippur War, soldiers take cover in their fox holes in the sands of Southern Sinai. Middle: young men called up for reserve duty wait for the army pick up on Yom Kippur. Bottom: former Chief-of-Staff Haim Bar-Lev (left) consults with Maj.-Gen. Ariel Sharon during the war.

16 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Q. What turned the tide i The tide in October 1973 two factors: the full depl Israel Defense Forces, fir Heights and then in the and second, the huge, un supply of weapons – wo lion -- by the United Stat first few years, the futur thought to be on the line analysts today believe th Sadat of Egypt had limit launching the attack.

PHOTO BY CHANANIA HERMAN & COURTESY OF THE GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE OF ISRAEL

CELEBRATING OUR FOURTH YEAR

dren to fill sandbags and Help us understand the m threat to Israel.

The 1973 war was percei est threat to Israel’s very mid-1948 when the Jewi the invasion of several A The Arab assault began middle of Yom Kippur, raeli reserve soldiers we all over the country. Mo was Yom Kippur and th surprised, the front lines Canal and on the Golan tively small Israeli forces ing Arab armies had a h Although the Israeli gov the conclusion that Israe attacked several hours b attack, it was under enor pressure -- applied by Se Henry Kissinger -- not to the Israeli military comm mended to Prime Minist

Ilan Peleg, who has been teaching on the Middle East for nearly 40 years and published numerous books and articles on the topic, speaks to us about the Yom Kippur War, Camp David Peace Talks and Oslo Peace Accord, the anniversaries of which fall at this time of year.

Q. What were the key precipitating events for the Yom Kippur War which started 40 years ago this month?

The Yom Kippur War of 1973 was the largest and costliest war in the history of Israel, other than the 1948 War of Independence. The war was, in effect, a continuation of the 1967 War in which Israel defeated three Arab armies within six days and took the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. This victory gave the Israelis a sense of security and even invincibility that caused an inability to correctly assess both the capabilities and even more the motivation of the Arabs to fight. So, on October 6, 1973, Israel was surprised by a combined Egyptian-Syrian assault on their lines.

Q. Photos of the home front seem to indicate the entire male population of military age reported for duty, leaving schoolchil-

Q. The Camp David Peac 35 years ago. How did Is go from war to having th hands at Camp David jus later?

The 1973 war opened th of agreements between I and between Israel and S the first time since early and Arabs talked to each This experience was inst facilitating later the nego led, first, to Sadat’s visit real breakthrough in the between Israel and its m neighbor -- and later to t peace conference, held in 1978. The famous hands Menachem Begin and A September 17, 1978, was moment in the rather tor raeli “diplomacy.” It wo possible without the 197

Q. What were the signific Camp David?

The Camp David Accord 1978 produced an agreem Egyptian relations, leadi a peace treaty which stil Egypt out of the Arab w demilitarized the Sinai P While Israel withdre the Sinai and dismantled ments there, the neutrali eliminated the Arab “wa changed dramatically th er in the Middle East, sa billions of dollars and de peace, while difficult and be achieved.

The agreement with ally to a similar peace de stabilizing Israel’s Easter

n the desert

the Israel-Egypt relationship

d deliver the mail. magnitude of the

ived as the greaty existence since ish state faced Arab armies. at 2 p.m. in the when many Isere in synagogues oreover, since it he Israelis were s along the Suez Heights had relas. So the invadhuge advantage. vernment reached el was about to be before the actual rmous American ecretary of State o preempt (which manders recomter Golda Meir).

in Israel’s favor?

3 turned due to loyment of the rst in the Golan Sinai Peninsula; nprecedented orth over $2 biltes. During the re of Israel was e, although most hat President ted objectives in

ce Talks were held srael and Egypt heir leaders shake st a few years

he door to a series Israel and Egypt Syria. This was 1949 that Israelis h other directly. trumental in otiations that to Jerusalem -- a e relationships most powerful the Camp David n September of shake between Anwar Sadat on s a remarkable rturous Arab-Isould not have been 73 war.

cant outcomes of

ds of September ment on Israeliing in 1979 to ll holds. It took war coalition and Peninsula. ew its forces from d all its settleization of Egypt ar option.” It he balance of powaved Israel many emonstrated that d uncertain, could

Egypt led eventueal with Jordan, rn front. The

Camp David agreement with Egypt also solidified the relationships between the U.S. and Egypt: The biggest country in the Arab world became, in effect, America’s ally. This alliance, although informal, still holds today. The second accord at Camp David dealt with the future of the West Bank. Its implementation proved more difficult.

Q. How did we then get to Oslo in 1993?

Briefly, what were the successes of those talks? The failings?

Philosophically, “Oslo” was a continuation of the process initiated at Camp David. It was an attempt, by the government led by Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister and former chief of staff, and Shimon Peres, Israel’s current president and then-foreign minister, to move the peace process forward and apply it to the West Bank.

The assumption of Oslo was that the only way of achieving peace is via an Israeli-Palestinian mutual recognition.

While a vast majority of both Israelis and Palestinians supported Oslo, the agreement proved to be more difficult to implement than the Camp David Accord.

Q. Viewing the current situation in the Middle East, what are the key issues?

Due to the relentless effort of Secretary of State John Kerry, the overall instability in the Middle East, the conclusion of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel must avoid bi-nationalism, and other factors, the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority decided to return to the negotiating table after a hiatus of three years. The issues are many and highly complex: the establishment of a Palestinian state, which most Israelis support; tight security arrangements, such as demilitarizing the Palestinian state, the IDF presence along the Jordan River, and so on; refugees, for there is strong consensus in Israel that Palestinians could be resettled in the future Palestinian state but not in Israel; the status of Jerusalem and the holy sites; and more. It remains to be seen whether a solution is in the cards.

Ilan Peleg is the Lafayette College Charles A. Dana Professor of Government and Law, previous president of the Association for Israel Studies, and founding editor-in-chief of Israel Studies Forum.

Chinese violin, Chineseand and violin , technology technology andand art.art.

Because Bright young minds deserve a feast of opportunities.

What’s in it for Egypt?

Forty years ago, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal, in effect starting what is known to Jews around the world as the Yom Kippur War. Egypt’s offensive maneuver was a way of continuing the 1967 war, in which Israel soundly defeated that and several other countries, and took control of the Sinai Desert and other territories.

Anwar Sadat came to power as president of Egypt after the previous president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, died in 1970.

That country had been firmly connected to the Soviet Union and firmly committed to opposing Israel.

By the time Sadat was in power, there was some concern that the Soviet Union had become less supportive. According to Mark Stein, associate professor of history at Muhlenberg College, for internal political reasons of his own, Sadat was intent on taking back the territory lost to Israel in the ‘67 war.

“Sadat had approached the U.S. and Israel and realized that Israel was not going to negotiate with him in peacetime,” Stein said. “[Through military action], he thought he might get the territory back or, if not, prompt discussion.”

Egypt therefore prepared for action against Israel. Sadat approached Syria, whose then-President Hafez al-Assad had his own goal of getting the Golan back.

The Egyptian president also sent the Soviets out of Egypt, because of his concern that they might try to stop him.

For Israelis, the sight, on October 6, 1973, of Egypt crossing the Suez Canal, photos of which played across the media, was extremely shocking. The Israel Defense Forces succeeded in defending Israel, but at great cost: Approximately 2,700 Israelis died in the war and it remains an extremely painful passage in Israeli history.

The Egyptians had failed in the offensive, “but ultimately they [did] negotiate the Sinai,” Stein said, and the talks held in 1978 led to the September 17, 1978, Camp David Accords, which still hold.

“I don’t think Egypt wants to abrogate the peace treaty [today],” Stein said.

“It’s benefitted them a great deal, financially and through the stability of not having a hostile neighbor. However, they do have an interest in seeing progress on the Israel-Palestine front, of Palestine achieving statehood.”

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HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 17

18 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

6e0ars Y

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 19

Beneficiary Agency of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley

20 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Beneficiary Agency of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 21

Soldier dared to risk it all

By Becca Richman Special to HAKOL

Editor’s Note: In June of this year, Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley President Barry J. Halper opened HAKOL to Sami Meir-Levi’s monthly letter. To his surprise, the accompanying photo of Sami included his niece, Becca Richman, who is also a lone soldier and hails from Philadelphia.

IDF Lone Soldier Becca Richman hails from Philadelphia and has a connection to the Lehigh Valley. The experiences of another lone soldier inspired her to serve the State of Israel.

WHAT'S A LONE SOLDIER? A lone soldier is a person without immediate family in Israel who serves in the Israel Defense Forces.

They rely on friendships and surrogate family in Israel to help them develop a sense of belonging.

Sitting in a room full of crying girls with blotchy cheeks, runny noses, smeared mascara -- the works -- may seem like a man’s worst nightmare, but it can also be a lone soldier’s dream come true.

I am a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. A few months ago, my commanders took all 35 of us girls up north for a trip. During the day, we toured and learned and hiked, and I watched as the girls around me made the kind of friendships people talk about when remembering the army.

Whether it is the fact that the other girls thought I didn’t understand them or because of my inability to tell a joke in Hebrew without people thinking that I’m just highly confused, I once again found myself outside of the bonding, resigned that I probably would never be close to these girls, but so be it.

Then one night, my officer called all of us girls down into a large room, filled with chairs facing a screen, and asked us to sit. We obeyed, as good soldiers always do. Then, as familiar music swelled and familiar pictures filled the screen, I began to cry.

Forty-five minutes later, every single person in the room, be it officer or soldier, had tears streaming down her face. The soldier leading the program wiped her face and laughed nervously, then stood and asked for reactions to the movie, “A Hero in Heaven.”

“That was really beautiful,” one girl said.

“I never thought about how hard it must be to be a lone soldier,” said another, flashing me and the two other lone soldiers an empathetic glance.

“It makes me proud to serve Israel,” said a third.

Then my commander looked at me and asked me a question about the person who was the subject of the documentary we had just seen. “He was from Philadelphia, right?”

I nodded, somehow pulled myself together, and stood.

I spoke about how Michael Levin came from my city, participated in my region of USY and attended my summer camp. I spoke about how his

death is one of the few things I remember from the summer before seventh grade, that I had witnessed how it deeply wounded my community.

When my voice was breaking and I couldn’t speak anymore, I sat down. As I covered my face with my hands, I felt a hand rubbing my back.

From that moment on, everything changed. Girls who had been cliquey and exclusive approached me and asked me questions about my making aliyah, they made an effort to ignore my glaring grammatical errors and listen to what I had to say. I suddenly found myself a part of the friendships I had previously envied.

Seven years earlier, after a long day of kayaking on August 1, 2006, as part of a camp trip, I sat in a forest with others my age and listened as the head of the group explained what just happened: Michael Levin, a community member and a former Ramah camper, had been killed in Lebanon while fighting as a soldier in the IDF. The rest of the trip was -- in our selfish, middle-school minds -- tainted by the tragedy that had struck our community.

I had already fallen in love with Israel a little more than a year before and hearing about Michael and his story brought

an entirely new dimension to what had up until then only been a fantasy. I could actually move to Israel. I could even serve Israel. Hearing about his life – even after learning of his death -- was the first time I realized that becoming a lone soldier is something I could actually, literally do. Visiting Israel as a 10-year-old may have been the first step in the journey I’m on right now, but Michael’s story was the second and the biggest.

Seven years later, as I sat in my olive green uniform and cried with my friends over the death of an inspiringly beautiful person, Michael influenced me again and told my friends what I had been unable to tell them, that this is a hard journey and I’m going to need friends to make it through.

I’ve seen the flowers and pictures and Phillies memorabilia that overflow at his grave, I’ve heard the accounts of so many people who were touched by him.

I still see the metal bracelets with his name that so many of my friends wear, and the “baseball card” with a summarized version of his story that I keep in my wallet, and I can only hope that he knows his legacy.

If Michael’s dream was to serve Israel, then he did not stop fulfilling it in his death.

Whether it’s the Michael Levin Fund, from which I personally have benefitted, or a girl he’s never met who is on a Birthright trip and crying at his grave with a newfound love for Israel, or the pride that the Israeli girls in my course felt after watching the documentary, he is absolutely still serving the State of Israel.

In memory of Michael Levin, z”l, August 1, 2006. This story first appeared on the blog, “It’s Always Sunny in Beit She’an: The Becca Richman Diaries.”

Reprinted with permission.

22 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Responding to soldier’s shooting, Netanyahu orders resettlement of Hebron house Jewish Telegraphic Agency Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the resettlement of a Jewish house in Hebron in response to the fatal shooting of an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city by a Palestinian sniper.

The Machpelah house, near the Cave of the Patriarchs, was evacuated last year by the Israel Defense Forces. The shooting took place September 22 at a West Bank checkpoint near the Cave of the Patriarchs, a holy site also known as the Machpelah.

In a statement, Netanyahu said that “those who try to uproot us from the City of the Patriarchs will achieve the opposite. We will continue to fight terrorism and strike at terrorists on the one hand and strengthen

settlement with the other.”

A West Bank military court ruled in April that Jewish settlers had legally purchased the home.

The U.S. State Department condemned the Hebron shooting, as well as the killing of another Israeli soldier the week before, saying in a statement that “such violence and terror are unacceptable, and undermine efforts to establish the positive atmosphere the parties need to progress in peace negotiations.”

Israeli opposition leader Shelly Yachimovich, chairwoman of the Labor Party, wrote on Facebook that Netanyahu “should not capitulate to terror and should continue in the negotiations toward a diplomatic agreement” with the Palestinians.

On the day of the more

Lone Soldier writes home Editor’s note: Sami Meir-Levi graduated from high school in the Lehigh Valley in the spring of 2012, then headed for Israel.

She writes to us each month of her experiences as a lone soldier -- an Israeli soldier without family living in Israel.

recent shooting, government ministers Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Katz expressed fierce criticism of the plan to release a second round of terrorists as part of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.

“This lethal attack illustrates the complex security challenges the IDF faces on a daily basis in Judea and Samaria,” said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.

“The IDF will employ the necessary means, operational and intelligence, to apprehend those responsible for this deathly attack.”

As HAKOL went to press, the shooter remained at large.

Following the shooting, the army evacuated some 11,000 visitors from Hebron who were participating in tours and programming for the intermediate days of Sukkot, and worshipers were ejected from the Cave of the Patriarchs.

The soldier was hit in the neck by a bullet and rushed to a Jerusalem hospital, where he died. His name was not made public pending notification of his family.

Israeli troops and Palestinian residents of Hebron clashed following the shooting, according to the Times of Israel. Haaretz reported that the clashes began before the shooting.

Dear HAKOL Readers, It has been a long and hot summer and I’m still sweating, but it isn’t just the weather.

Let me explain: In June, I had an interview with the commander of my base. He said that I was one of less than a dozen people from the base who had been chosen for the Officers Course. This is a very rigorous course that lasts about eight months, my commander said, and involves another year in the army, so it would be my decision.

I felt excited about becoming an officer in the I.D.F. Besides, I find my unit, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), very interesting. I immediately looked forward to this challenge but knew I needed to develop my Hebrew from conversational to officer level.

For this reason, I am back in Ulpan (Hebrew studies).

Yet, I haven’t given my final decision and the process of making the decision has consumed a lot of my time these past few months. I’ve considered what the opportunity means, looked at the possibility of completing my army service and going to study, and talked with my family (they aren’t thrilled). In short, my list of pros and cons has left me

Sami at the Kotel with a friend, Becca Neufeld of Australia, who is also a lone soldier in Garin Tzabar.

undecided.

Today is the last day of Ulpan and I’ve been told I’ve passed to the next level. Next week, I meet with my commander and give my answer.

Still, my mind changes every day. Who knows, if we meet on a Monday, maybe I’ll say yes? Tuesday could be a no. I’ll let you know what I decide in my next letter to you HAKOL lovers.

Sami Meir-Levi The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley and other Federations in North America fund the Lone Soldier program.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 23

Wisnia to present jazz, pop, Jewish tunes at Hadassah concert

Cure Diva supports women fighting breast cancer

By Beth Orenstein Special to HAKOL

It started with the shocking news that she had breast cancer, said Efrat Roman. “After three days of crying, blaming and denying, I woke up and decided to live,” she later wrote of the experience.

A young Israeli woman 46 years of age, Roman had the vision and the drive to turn her worst nightmare into an amazing start-up that is being inaugurated this month -- October is breast cancer awareness month. It was also one of the five startups selected to be featured on an Israeli documentary series called “Silicon Vadi.”

Roman, a writer, was 40 at the time she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Recently divorced and the mother of two young children, the first thing she did was to have a talk with her daughter and son.

“I have breast cancer,” she said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I will overcome. There is no choice, we will have to win.” And win they did. Big time.

But first, Roman had a double mastectomy, restoration and chemotherapy.

Roman had the gift and luck to have many friends who all enlisted to help her through these difficult times. One of them arrived one day with four bags of shawls, hats, big shirts and many accessories. Roman looked at her and thought: “What does a woman without these kinds of friends do?”

Then and there, the idea for an organization to help women fighting breast cancer was born. The name itself came to her after she refused to wear

PHOTO BY RACHEL DOBKINS

Singer-songwriter Avi Wisnia, 30, of Philadelphia is the featured performer at this year’s Bethlehem-Easton Hadassah concert.

Wisnia will perform his signature Brazilian influenced jazz and pop as well as a mix of traditional Jewish tunes at the concert, which will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the Banana Factory in South Bethlehem.

“I will be performing them in a traditional way that people will recognize,” Wisnia said. “But I also will be fusing my music with the Brazilian and contemporary influence that I use. It should be something new and something interesting.”

He will be accompanied by Toru Takiguchi on guitar and Chris Heinz on drums.

Wisnia is the grandson of a cantor and son of a rabbi and grew up steeped in Judaism and music. “I always connected to Judaism through music, through folk tunes and Israeli songs,” he said.

A reception with sweets and savories prepared by the women of Hadassah will follow the concert.

Two tickets are available for a minimum donation of $60. Other donation levels are available ranging from $75 to $1,000.

For tickets, send your donation to concert co-chair Marna Simon, 2241 Montgomery St., Bethlehem, PA 18017.

Special to HAKOL from the Bethlehem-Easton Chapter of Hadassah

For ticket information, call Roberta Diamond at 610-865-3357.

Free parking is available on site and across the street.

Support helps to continue the work of the Hadassah Medical Organization, which is known world-wide for its advanced treatment and research facilities.

Hadassah in Israel helped set up the Boston disaster team that saved so many victims after the horrific attack at the Boston Marathon in April.

wigs and instead used huge hats and sunglasses to protect her from the Israeli harsh sun, along with big earrings – a diva look, she thought. Hence, the name Cure Diva.

The road from vision to reality was long and filled with hurdles. Many investors shrunk back when they heard her idea. Some said, “I don’t want to make money out of women’s illnesses.”

Then Roman found Toby Ringler, a breast cancer survivor who became a friend and partner and who brought to Cure Diva more partners who saw the potential and shared the dream.

Cure Diva, found at www.curediva. com, is a very special online mall.

“Cure Diva wishes to become your favorite mall,” the website reads, “where you can easily navigate through the different phases of treatment, have a good supportive conversation with a friend and shop from the widest selection of items designed for your specific needs.”

But it is more than a mall: Besides talks, blogs, tips and lists there are “Guardian Divas” who help other women with advice and support. The site is overflowing with compassion.

Whether a woman has just been diagnosed, or is a long term survivor, one of the most immediate and direct impacts is the way cancer affects feelings about femininity and visibility, and self-perception and esteem.

When asked what she would do if the cure for cancer was found Roman said: “I will be happy to go bankrupt.”

For more information, visit Cure Diva at www.curediva.com.

The Dr. and Mrs. Max Littner Memorial Lecture Series for Bereavement and St. Luke’s University Health Network present a community event…

LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS: An Evening with Rabbi Harold S. Kushner Bestselling Author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People Wednesday, October 9 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm Central Moravian Church West Church & Main Streets Bethlehem, PA Presented by Friends of Hospice

General Admission Tickets: $15/person For more information or to purchase tickets: 1-866-STLUKES (785-8537) or www.sluhn.org/kushner

Premier Sponsor

Wendy Littner Thomson Counseling Services, LLC

24 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

Tickets are also available for purchase at Moravian Book Shop.

Rabbi Kushner’s book, Living a Life That Matters, is available for purchase at Moravian Book Shop (purchase in advance of the lecture and receive a 20% discount on the book) and at Central Moravian Church the evening of the lecture.

GIVE A MITZVAH, DO A MITZVAH

Love of reading leads to mitzvah project

Alexander Garber became a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth El in Allentown on Saturday, August 17. The seventh grade Springhouse Middle School student has always enjoyed playing on the computer and reading. When planning his mitzvah project, Alexander thought about collecting and donating used computers, but he and his mom, Laura Garber, thought that might be too much for Alexander to do himself. They turned to his other great love, reading. “We have so many books. It’s hard to believe some kids have none,” Alexander said.

“He loves to read and he wants to help kids that don’t have any books,” said Laura.

Alexander read an article in The Morning Call about a 12-year-old girl who had collected a phenomenal amount of books at her school.

She donated the books to the Cops ‘n’ Kids Children’s Literacy Program in Allentown. “I thought, ‘Alexander loves to read and would love this as a mitzvah project.’ I asked him and he said, ‘Cool.’” Laura added.

Cops ‘n’ Kids is a national initiative founded

by Julia Burney Witherspoon, a police officer from Racine, Wis. In 2003, the program was formally adopted by Quota International of Bethlehem, establishing the Quota International of Bethlehem Charitable Trust Cops ‘n’

Kids Children’s Literacy Program. Cops ‘n’ Kids ensures that every child has access in his or her home to books and thus to the knowledge, inspiration and hope that such access can provide. It encourages positive relationships between children and police. It inspires creative learning for children and families by providing meaningful literacy-based experiences.

Alexander met with Beverly Bradley, president of the local arm, which is known as Cops ‘n’ Kids Lehigh Valley, to talk about doing a book drive. He needed to take a number of steps to complete this project. He made flyers for the neighborhood book drive and the collection boxes. For the neighborhood book drive, he went door-to-door with his siblings and explained his mitzvah project.

“We had a wonderful response,” Laura said. A week later, Alexander collected all the books, sorted them by age and genre, and counted and boxed them.

Alexander also placed collection boxes at Temple Beth El, Congregation Sons of Israel, and outside the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley office. Gently used books for ages 0 to 18 may be placed in any of the donation boxes. Books will go to disadvantaged children who can’t afford them.

So far, Alexander has collected around 800 books, with a goal of 2,000. He dropped off his books at the end of August to Cops ‘n’ Kids. The organization was so thankful for the books. In organizing his mitzvah project, Alexander learned that some kids do not have any books and it is important to help them obtain books.

Laura concluded, “We are so proud of Alexander’s dedication to disadvantaged children and his willingness to help the Cops ‘n’ Kids Children’s Literacy Program. This project made Alexander’s bar mitzvah so much more meaningful.”

In addition to his mitzvah project, Alexander has made his first adult gift of tzedakah to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs.

For help developing your mitzvah project, contact Abby Trachtman, program coordinator, at abbyt@ jflv.org or 610-821-5500.

PJ LIBRARY Family of the Month: THE BOVES

We love to read in our family, and PJ Library puts a special smile on the kids’ faces. Whenever the envelope comes in the mail with their name on it, they know tonight we are up to a new adventure. As parents, we love that the books express our Jewish values in such a fun, expressive way. Our son Daniel, who graduated from the program, found a new way to enjoy the books - he reads them to his little sister Shelly, who in return, memorizes them and reads back to us.

- GLENN & RAVIT BOVE

To learn more about PJ Library and register to receive free Jewish-themed books for children from 6 months through 8 years, visit www.pjlibrary.org.

The Shabbat Experience Join PJ Library for a traditional Shabbat dinner experience led by Rabbi Melody Davis, who will teach us about Shabbat traditions through stories and songs. There will be dinner, crafts, blessings and, of course, a PJ Library story.

DATE: Sunday, October 27, 2013 TIME: 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.

LOCATION: JCC of Allentown $14 per adult, $8 per child, or $40 for families of 4 Pre-registration is required by Monday October 21, 2013, by visiting the JCC Welcome Desk or calling 610-435-3571.

Contact Brenda Finberg at bfinberg@lvjcc.org.

JCC OF ALLENTOWN 702 N. 22nd St. | Allentown, PA Hosted by the Allen Family and the Silver Family.

PJ Library is brought to you by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, the Jewish Community Center of Allentown and the Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley, in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 25

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New semester, new options at the Nosh

By Ethan Weg Special to HAKOL There are those who say that Muhlenberg College’s kosher cuisine is better than even the best dish their Bubbe makes.

Accurate or not, Muhlenberg’s kosher duo of Noshery South, which serves meat, and Noshery North, which serves dairy, are great options for everyone.

The Noshery, in its fourth year of operation, is known by students as “The Nosh” and is a Muhlenberg campus favorite.

Star-D and Star-K certified, the Nosh is under the supervision of Muhlenberg’s two wonderful mashgichim (kosher supervisors), Geoff Rosenberg and Jonathan Powers.

Recently, the Nosh staff put their updated menu on display for the community of Allentown.

During this kosher showcase, locals got the opportunity to taste Nosh classics and even test out some of the Nosh’s upcoming dishes for the new school year.

The Nosh also presented a new catering menu, which features kosher pizza and even the ability to order food for Shabbat when there isn’t enough time to cook.

This semester, the Nosh is unveiling a variety of new options. Thus far, Nosh South has offered brand new dishes including barbeque flanken, London broil, chicken cacciatore and several Yemenite and Indian dishes. In addition to these new options, the Nosh has

brought back fan favorites like the barbeque and Buffalo wings.

Freshman Josh Ull rendered his verdict: “The wings are amazing!”

Another Nosh South favorite has been the shawarma, which “rivals [that] found in Israel,” said senior Adina Jiji.

The Nosh North has also served some of their classics, including their teriyaki salmon, which is, according to sophomore Edward Bavaria “to die for.”

Bavaria also made his feelings about Nosh food clear when he said, “I have never gotten anything that I didn’t like from the Nosh.”

The Nosh has made some operational changes, including the hours and days of operation.

New for fall 2013, the Nosh will be open during lunch and dinner on Saturdays. During Nosh hours of operation, the cost to enter the dining hall is $10.60 for lunch and $16.95 for dinner per person for all-you-can-eat style dining.

With options that range from hamburgers to matzo ball soup, from grilled cheese to a plate of pita and hummus, it’s hard to go wrong. Whether you are a Muhlenberg student or a member of Allentown’s vibrant Jewish community, the Nosh is a great place to grab a meal.

Veal Scallopine

BY SANDI TEPLITZ INGREDIENTS:

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut finely 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil, preferably Italian 2 lb. extra thin veal cutlets, pounded flour to coat 8 oz. mixed varieties of fresh mushrooms, parboiled and dried fresh parsley, cut finely 1/4 c. vermouth 7 heirloom tomatoes, ripe, boiled, skinned, chopped and put through a sieve oregano, salt and pepper to taste

TECHNIQUE:

Sauté garlic in oil until lightly browned.

Coat veal with flour, salt and pepper, then brown slightly. Add all other ingredients and cook slowly over low heat for 25 minutes.

Serve with natural tri-colored linguine and a tossed salad with Italian dressing.

BUON APPETITO!

Open seven days a week at 11 a.m. in the Wood Dining Commons at Seegers Union on the Muhlenberg College campus. Information about the Noshery and Noshery catering is available at www.muhlenberg.edu/ dining or by calling 484-664-3046.

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HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 27

‘Beth El’s got talent!’

Am Haskalah welcomes Temple opens show to community Student Rabbi Tamara Cohen

By Scott Berman, M.D. President, Congregation Am Haskalah Tamara Cohen began serving the Jewish community long before she started her rabbinical training. Rabbi Tamara, the new student Rabbi of Congregation Am Haskalah, started working as the program director for Ma ‘yan: The Jewish Women’s Project after graduating from Barnard College with a degree in English and women’s studies. During her 10 years of leadership at Ma ‘yan, she created educational materials for Women’s History Month, edited “The Journey Continues: The Ma ‘yan Passover Haggadah,” taught and designed courses and rituals for Jewish women around holidays and lifecycle events, and conducted research on the experiences of Jewish women in their communities.

From 1997 to 2008, Rabbi Tamara served as the spiritual leader for the Greater Washington Coalition for Jewish Life in Washington, Conn., building and leading a diverse community

of previously unaffiliated Jews, reaching out to the unaffiliated, to the previously alienated, and to interfaith families.

Rabbi Tamara believes that key factors in outreach in the Lehigh Valley are “that we reach out to Jews and their non-Jewish family members where they are and let them know that they are welcome as they are. We want to honor the multiple identities that people have and let them know that they don’t have to check any part of themselves at the door.

Even as busy and technologically connected as people are, there is still a yearning for genuine community and meaning -- that’s what we’ve got and need to keep sharing.”

She has a wealth of experience in education, a high priority at Am Haskalah. She has served as associate dean of students at Gratz College, assistant dean of students and director of diversity and multicultural affairs at the University of Florida, as well as lecturer in the department of religion at the University of Florida. She has led educational seminars for Jewish

28 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

women in Russia and the Ukraine through Project Kesher. She looks forward to creating programming at Am Haskalah around issues that people care about -- like nutrition and food justice, money, sexuality, conflict resolution and social change -- and to bringing Jewish voices from the past and present to deepen our conversations about these issues.

Since beginning her studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2011, she has been a social justice intern, working on immigration issues for The Greater Philadelphia Jewish Coalition, an intern at the Jewish Hospice Network and a Walking the Walk program leader, facilitating interfaith study and service with 10th grade Catholic and Jewish girls.

Congregation Am Haskalah is looking forward to a wonderful 5774 with our new rabbi. We already have community and adult education planned around social justice and hunger, Jewish views on sexuality, Spiritual Writing, and lay service leading. For those who want to learn more about Rabbi Tamara and Am Haskalah, feel free to contact her at amhaskalahrabbi@gmail.com or call 484-245-4148. Details about the coming year are available at www.amhaskalah.org.

Above, Lisa Stein (center) with some of the 2012 talent: From left, pianist Ethan, violinist Julian; violinist Rafi, and karate green belt William. In addition to producing, directing and emceeing the talent show, Lisa sang in last year’s show.

Right, Dr. Marc Berson, also known as “The Amazing Marookie,” performs a magic act with a member of the audience, Monica Lemelman, in 2012’s Beth El’s Got Talent!

By Lisa Stein Special to Hakol Temple Beth El invites you to come kvell with the congregants at a talent show to be held Sunday, October 20, at 2 p.m. Door prizes and delicious noshes donated by Boscov’s Ala Carte Catering and Sweet Street Desserts are among the afternoon’s offerings.

Beth El’s Got Talent! began last year as part of my bat mitzvah project. I produced and directed the talent show, and it turned out to be so successful that the Cultural Arts Committee of Temple Beth El decided to make it an annual event, with a different organization to be chosen each year as the recipient of the funds raised.

I am blessed to be able to produce, direct and emcee the talent show again this year and am excited to report that we have a full slate of performers getting ready to entertain you.

These include adults, children

and teen members of Temple Beth El. The performances include individual singers and instrumentalists, adult and youth choirs, a comedian and some special surprises.

This show is open to the community, so please buy your tickets or become a sponsor today, and be sure to bring all of your friends and family to the show.

The organization for which we are raising money this year is the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. Opus 118 transforms the lives of students and their families who live in Harlem, N.Y., by giving them access to quality music education through in-school and after-school programs, while fostering teacher development and introducing performance to new audiences.

Contact the temple office at 610-435-3521 for ticket prices and sponsorship opportunities. Discounts for advance purchase and a family package are available.

Weaving a tallit: Worth the time

Eva Level helps her mom complete a tallit at Congregation Sons of Israel.

By Alice Level Special to HAKOL I first heard about the tallitweaving offered by Congregation Sons of Israel from my son Ruben.

He was in the third grade at the Jewish Day School at the time and, on a field trip to the synagogue, was told of a “mom and kid” program that Sons of Israel was offering; Ruben begged me to go with him.

I was intrigued, first because I didn’t even know at the time that tallit could be woven and, second, because Ruben usually never begged me to do anything with him.

So I went, and after a short presentation by volunteer Elaine Atlas, we all had a chance to try weaving on the loom located right there at Sons of Israel.

Weaving was much more fun and much less difficult than I thought it would be and by the end of the field trip I had promised Ruben I would weave a tallit for Ruben by his bar mitzvah…

A few years later, Ruben still hadn’t forgotten about the tallit promise although I nearly had. As the date of his bar mitzvah drew closer, he kept reminding me to call Elaine -- he even managed to get her phone number, which he casually gave me one day. I finally made an appointment to start a tallit, and found myself a few days later in the room reserved for tallit-weaving, talking patterns with Elaine.

I was intimidated at first because I am not a very “crafty” person and thus had no idea of what kind of colors or patterns I wanted. Elaine very kindly and patiently held my hand during the whole process. She showed me the colors available, and pictures with different tallitot -- ours was to be pattern number 788.

Once the pattern was decided, we got started. I was slow at first and Elaine sat next to me to make sure

I made no mistakes, but once I got accustomed to the machine, I grew more confident and we started talking.

My first question was, of course, “How did this weaving program start in the first place?”

“It all started in 1975,”Elaine said, “when the synagogue sent seven women to Wilkes-Barre -- where there existed a similar program -- to learn to set up the loom, organize the whole project and weave. I was part of the original seven, but as of today, only Helen Besen and myself are still involved in the project.

“We stayed in WilkesBarre for a week to learn, and after that week we really thought we had mastered the art of weaving. Boy, were we wrong!”Elaine recalled, smiling. “Once we got the approval from the Sisterhood to start the project, that’s when we realized we knew nothing at all!

The synagogue ordered the loom from Quebec. It cost $1,000, which Elaine said was a huge amount at the time. The loom arrived unassembled, Elaine said, and the weavers had no idea how to assemble it! “Fortunately, Mr. Eduardo Eichenwald [from Sons of Israel] was able to help put the loom together using an instruction book,” she said.

“Once the loom was set up, it was up to us to make it work, and to make sure the tallitot were woven according to Jewish law. It took us a lot of trials and errors to learn how to use to loom properly and to be able to fix any broken yarn, knots, mistakes or anything else that might have happened while weaving.”

Weaving the tallit can take anywhere from eight to 20 hours, and either Elaine or Helen must be present while any weaving is being done.

“We then have to show how to tie the fringes into a knot,” Elaine said, “and make sure it is done well. We do not have to supervise the [additional] sewing [that must be done], but once the tallit is done, we make sure that everything has been done according to Jewish law.”

The process takes time, but Elaine said she doesn’t mind.

“First of all, it is a great fundraiser for the Sisterhood,” she said. “But mainly, we love to see the pleasure in people’s eye when they are doing this for someone they love.”

What Elaine said was true: The time and effort I put into weaving Ruben’s tallit was very much worth it when I saw Ruben’s eyes light up when he saw his tallit for the first time. True, the tallit I wove may not be as perfect as one I might have bought from a store, but I put a lot of love into it, and I’m sure that is what Ruben will consider every time he wears it.

For more information on weaving a tallit or to schedule an appointment, contact Elaine Atlas 610-435-7252 or Helen Besen at 610-433-1318.

Journey into

discovery

“an exploration of a

universal childhood joy” – The New York Times

On the 5 th Floor

The SNOWY DAY and the Art of EZRA JACK KEATS Through October 20 Closes October 20!

The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats is organized by The Jewish Museum, New York, from the collection of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, The University The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats is organized by The Jewish Museum, New York, from the collection of the Southern Mississippi.

The exhibition was funded at The Museum through a generous grant from the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Additional support was provided by the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, The University ofJewish Southern Mississippi.

The exhibition was funded at The Jewish Museum through a generous grant from the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Additional Joseph Alexander Foundation, the Alfred J. Grunebaum Memorial Fund, and the Winnick Family Foundation. Image: Detail from Ezra Jack Keats, “Crunch, crunch, crunch, his feet sank support was provided by the Joseph Alexander Foundation, the Alfred J. Grunebaum Memorial Fund, and the into theFamily snow.”Foundation.

Final illustration for The Snowy Day, 1962. Collage and paint on board. Ezra Jack Keats Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The Winnick University of Southern Mississippi. Copyright Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

Image: Detail from Ezra Jack Keats, “Crunch, crunch, crunch, his feet sank into the snow.” Final illustration for The

Corner of 5th & Market Streets

215.923.3811 • NMAJH.org

Snowy Day, 1962. Collage and paint on board. Ezra Jack Keats Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi. Copyright Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | OCTOBER 2013 29

Community Calendar To list an event in the Community Calendar, submit your information on our website, www.jewishlehighvalley.org, under the “Upcoming Events” menu.

All events listed in the Community Calendar are open to the public and free of charge, unless otherwise noted. Programs listed in HAKOL are provided as a service to the community. They do not necessarily reflect the endorsement of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. The JFLV reserves the right to accept, reject or modify listings.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3 Gallery at the J Opening Reception

6:30 to 8 p.m., JCC of Allentown. Highlighting young emerging artists from the Kutztown University fine arts program. Various media will be on display including paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings. The show will run through November 7.

Contact the JCC at 610-435-3571 for hours.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3 j nights: Jazz at the J with Ron Sunshine & Trio

7:30 to 9:30 p.m., JCC of Allentown. Enjoy the smooth sounds of internationally known jazz musician Ron Sunshine for an evening of jazz, blues and R&B. The evening of jazz includes two drink tickets. Soft drinks and light snacks included. Advance purchase: $24 per person, $18 JCC members. At the door: $29 per person, $23 JCC members.

Limited spaces available. This event is open to all adults 21 years and older. Stop by or call the JCC Welcome Desk at 610-435-3571. Questions? Contact Amy Sams, JCC adult programs coordinator, at asams@lvjcc.org.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4 IJCU First Friday Luncheon Discussion: People Without Homes

12 to 1 p.m., Muhlenberg College, Seegers Union, Rooms 111 & 112. With the Rev. Dr. Christine, Nelson, director of advancement, Moravian College/Seminary. Free and open to the public. Bring lunch or buy at Seegers Union. Leave ample time for on-street parking.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6 Temple Beth El Blood Drive

9:30 a.m., Temple Beth El. Makes you feel good to give!

Blood donors reported feeling a sense of great satisfaction after making their donation. Why? Because helping others in need just feels good. For information, please contact the temple office at 610-435-3521.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6 Jewish Federation Major Donor Reception

6:30 p.m., Muhlenberg College Hillel. Families that have pledged a minimum of $5,000 to the 2014 Campaign for Jewish Needs are invited to a private reception featuring Miri Eisin, a retired colonel in the Israeli Army and geopolitics expert, and Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America. Adult children of major donors are encouraged to attend. Visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org to learn more or contact Judy Diamondstein at 610-8215500 or judy@jflv.org.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6 Am Haskalah: Jewish Perspectives on Sexuality, Gender and Justice

7 p.m., Congregation Brith Sholom, 1190 W. Macada Road, Bethlehem. Adrian Shanker, president of Equality Pennsylvania, will speak on Jewish moral issues regarding sexual and gender diversity. Cost: $10 adults, $5 students. Contact Yevette Hendler, am.haskalah.office@gmail.com or 610435-3775, to learn more.

SUNDAY - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6 - 8 Stagemakers at the J Auditions for “Oliver”

JCC of Allentown. Stagemakers at the J will be holding auditions for children for the musical Oliver. Auditions will be held Sunday, October 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. and Monday, October 7, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. A possible callback audition may be held Tuesday, October 8, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Children 7 and over will be eligible to audition for leads and chorus roles.

Contact Brenda Finberg 610-435-3571 or bfinberg@lvjcc. org for more information.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 7 Everything You Wanted to Know about Leading Worship Services ... But Were Afraid to Ask!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9 SCREENING OF ‘LE CHAT DU RABBIN’

7 p.m., Lafayette College, Oechsle 224 Auditorium. A screening of the animated film, “The Rabbi’s Cat.” Based on co-director Joann Sfar’s popular comic-book series of the same name, The Rabbi’s Cat features a remarkable, if hairless and giant-eared feline at its center. This wryly philosophical, beautifully drawn, meticulously detailed animated film takes place during the 1920s and 30s in Algiers, where the kitty of the title is preparing for his bar mitzvah. To learn more, contact Mary Toulouse, 610-330-5265.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13 SATORI: Annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Concert

2 p.m., Temple Beth El. Enjoy the sounds of SATORI, a professional chamber music ensemble in the Lehigh Valley, at the annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Concert in the Hammel Family Chapel. Daniel, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in 2002. Pearl was a violinist as well as a journalist, and recognized the ability of music to bridge differences among people. To learn more, contact Temple Beth El at 610-435-3521.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15 Hans Moller Retrospect - Art Talk & Taste

5:30 to 7 p.m., Hans Moller Studio, 2207 Allen Street, Allentown. A private tour of the Hans Moller art collection, managed by art director and curator Larry Miley. This special “j adults to go” experience includes wine and cheese and insightful discussion about the art of Hans Moller. Open to all adults in the community. Limited spaces available. Cost: $9 per person; $6 JCC members. Advance registration required. Stop by or call the JCC Welcome Desk at 610-4353571. Questions? Contact: Amy Sams, JCC adult programs coordinator, asams@lvjcc.org.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 TCP’s Shabbat Unplugged

7:30 p.m., Temple Covenant of Peace. Rock Out Shabbat concert with Rabbi David Paskin, famously known as Rock ‘n’ Roll Rabbi, who will be in residence at TCP from Oct. 18-20.

Havdalah, coffee and dessert. Adults $15, seniors/students $10, children $5, under 5 free. All welcome. Contact Temple Covenant of Peace, 610-253-2031.

best foreign film, based on the true story of two sewer workers who hid several Jews in the sewers under Lvov, Poland, during the war. One of the survivors was Helena Wind Preston whose son, David Lee Preston, is a former CNN editor and current journalist in Philadelphia. He will be introducing the movie and speaking about it afterward. This film is rated R. $12 adults, $8 JCC members. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the JCC Welcome Desk or at the door.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 Breast Cancer Awareness Month Event: ‘Susan’s Undoing’ performance and panel discussion

10:15 a.m., JCC of Allentown. In this autobiographical tourde-force, actress/dancer Susan Chase explores her cancer journey with stunning, startling words and images that move and inspire. “Susan’s Undoing” provides an intimate, behindthe-scenes portrait of a singular woman, a ballerina-turnedactress who battled breast cancer by turning the battle into a dance/theater piece that blends tragedy with comedy.

Susan’s performance will be followed by a panel discussion featuring physicians, experts and survivors. Light refreshments will be served. Free and open to the community. To preregister, call 610-435-3571 or visit the JCC Welcome Desk.

Sponsored by the Jewish Community Center of Allentown, the Maimonides Society and Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley and the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 Bethlehem-Easton Hadassah Concert

3 p.m., Banana Factory, 25 W. Third St, Bethlehem. Singersongwriter Avi Wisnia with Toru Takiguchi, guitar, and Chris Heinz, drums, will perform jazz, folk, classical Brazilian bossa nova, pop and old Jewish melodies. Minimum $60 for two tickets. Contact Roberta Diamond, 610-865-3357.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 PJ Library: The Shabbat Experience

With Rabbi Professor Naftali Rothenberg. See ad on Page 23 for more details.

4:30 to 6 p.m., JCC of Allentown. Join PJ Library for a traditional Shabbat dinner experience led by Rabbi Melody Davis, who will teach us about Shabbat traditions through stories and songs. There will be dinner, crafts, blessings and, of course, a PJ Library story. $14 per adult, $8 per child or $40 for families of four. Pre-registration is required by Monday October 21, by visiting the JCC Welcome Desk or calling 610-435-3571. Contact Brenda Finberg at bfinberg@lvjcc. org. Hosted by the Allen Family and the Silver Family.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 Jewish Family Service Gala

MONDAY, OCTOBER 28 The Idan Raichel Project

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 Beth El’s Got Talent

MONDAY, OCTOBER 28 Bashar al-Asad and the Disintegration of Syria

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 Congregation Sons of Israel Scholar-in-Residence

8 p.m., JCC of Allentown. Libby Skala, grandaughter of television and stage actress Lilia Skala, will perform her one-woman show - a tribute to her grandmother - at a gala event to benefit Jewish Family Service. Tickets for the event are $180 and include dinner and show. For information and reservations, contact Jewish Family Service at 610-821-8722.

2 p.m., Temple Beth El. Be entertained by Beth El congregants, win fantastic door prizes and enjoy delicious noshes donated by Boscov’s Ala Carte Catering and Sweet Street Desserts, all while doing tzedakah! This show is open to the community and benefits the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. Cost before October 18: $10 adults, $8 children 5-12, under 5 free. Maximum $36 per family. At the door: $12 per person, under 5 free.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23 Lehigh Valley Health Network : Art Collection Tour

10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Lehigh Valley Hospital; 1200 S. Cedar Crest Blvd., Allentown. This special “j to go” experience includes a guided tour and insight into how the LVHN built its impressive art collection. Open to all adults. Limited spaces.

Register early. FREE for JCC members, $8 for non-members.

Stop by or call the JCC Welcome Desk at 610-435-3571.

Questions? Contact Amy Sams, adult programs coordinator, at asams@lvjcc.org.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26 Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: “In Darkness”

7:30 p.m., JCC of Allentown. A screening of “In Darkness,” a film by Agnieszka Holland and a 2012 Oscar nominee for

7:30 p.m. Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University. The Israeliborn global music superstar and his band blend the music of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East in a spectacular show that transcends the limits of language binds multiple cultures and uplifts the audience. Tickets start at $20 and the show is family friendly. To purchase tickets or learn more, visit zoellner.cas2.lehigh.edu.

7:30 p.m., Colton Chapel, Lafayette College. The lecturer, Professor David Lesch, is a prominent expert on Syrian history and politics, who has interviewed Bashar al-Asad on several occasions and has written several books on contemporary Syrian politics. Reception will follow the lecture. Sponsored by Lafayette’s Class of 1961, as well as the College’s Government & Law and International Affairs departments. Contact Professor Ilan Peleg at pelegi@lafayette.edu.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29 SOI Sisterhood Women’s Kosher Cooking Class

7:15 p.m., Congregation Sons of Israel. Chef Steve Bonner from Boscov’s will return to Congregation Sons of Israel for a food preparation, demonstration and tasting. Cost: $10 (early bird discount) or $12 from Oct. 21-25. To learn more, contact Congregation Sons of Israel at 610-433-6089.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30 JFS Brunch & Learn: Organ transplants panel discussion

9:45 a.m., Congregation Brith Sholom. A panel will discuss donating and receiving transplanted organs. Cost: $3. Reservations needed by October 28. Call Jewish Family Service, 610-821-8722.

7:30 p.m., home of Audrey Nolte. Presented by Cantor Ellen Sussman, Marcia Berkow and Audrey Nolte. Each participant will receive a playbook of the service and tips for leading Shabbat worship. A CD of music can be provided. Free to the community. Sponsored by Temple Shirat Shalom. RSVP to Audrey Nolte, anolte@ptd.net or 610-391-1681.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8 The Other Peace Process: Interreligious Dialogue in the Service of Peace 4:10 p.m., Lehigh University, Maginnes Hall, Room 102. A special opportunity for engagement with Rabbi Dr. Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinatng Council in Israel and the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, and Kadi Iyad Zahalka, kadi of Jerusalem.

30 OCTOBER 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

FRIDAYS 8 - 9:30 AM WMUH 91.7 Featuring Cantor Wartell muhlenberg.edu/wmuh

Celebrate the beauty of Shabbat

Shabbat & Yom Tov Candlelighting Times Friday, Oct. 4

6:21 pm

Friday, Oct. 25

5:50 pm

Friday, Oct. 11

6:10 pm

Friday, Nov. 1

5:41 pm

Friday, Oct. 18

5:59 pm

Friday, Nov. 8

4:33 pm

Community Calendar Ongoing Events SUNDAY to FRIDAY DAF YOMI 7:30 a.m., Congregation Sons of Israel Are you intrigued by thought-provoking, stimulating and provocative religious discussion? Are you enamored by the depth and scope of the Jewish legal system? Are you curious about Judaism’s perspective on marriage, tort law, Jewish burial, holiday observance, prayer, blessings and, for that matter, nearly any Jewish topic? Then Sons of Israel’s daily “Daf Yomi” class is for you. Meeting all year long, this class covers the gamut of Talmudic law, studying one page of the talmud each day, and completing the talmud over the course of seven and a half years. Basic Jewish background is recommended.

SUNDAYS JEWISH WAR VETERANS POST 239 2nd Sunday of the month, 10 a.m., JCC of Allentown A brunch follows each meeting – bagels, cream cheese, lox, herring, pastry and coffee. The veteran and significant other are invited as the guest of the Ladies Auxiliary. Come and enjoy camaraderie and we will even listen to your “war story.”

Questions? Call David Weiner at 484-7647466 or 610-739-2755.

TEFILLIN CLUB & ADULT HEBREW SCHOOL 9:30 a.m. Tefillin; 10 to 11 a.m. Adult Hebrew, Chabad Tefillin is for Jewish men and boys over the age of Bar Mitzvah, to learn about, and gain appreciation for, the rich and enriching Jewish practice - the mitzvah - of donning Tefillin. Adult Hebrew is an opportunity for you to learn about your heritage and expand your Jewish knowledge so that you can keep up with your child. Contact 610-351-6511.

TSS HEBREW & ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES 10 a.m., JCC of Allentown Interested in learning Hebrew for the first time or brushing up your skills? Marcia Berkow teaches adult Hebrew beginning at 10 a.m., followed at 11 a.m. by David Vaida, who will you take you through the great moments across all 5,774 years of Jewish history. Free and open to all. RSVP at learnwithus@templeshiratshalom.org or 610-820-7666.

TALMUD CLASS FOR BEGINNERS! 10 to 11 a.m., Congregation Beth Avraham of Bethlehem-Easton For information,contact Rabbi Yitzchok I. Yagod at 207-217-1094.

MONDAYS FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., JCC of Allentown Friendship Circle is a place for people to meet, make new friends and enjoy each other’s company. We welcome all adults over 50. Friendship Circle meets weekly on Mondays at the JCC of Allentown from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lively and enjoyable programs and a delicious lunch. Annual dues - $25. Regular weekly meetings and lunch - $6. First visit - NO CHARGE. THE RHYTHM OF JEWISH LIVING 8 to 9 p.m., Temple Beth El Taught by: Rabbi Moshe Re’em. This course will examine the ideas, beliefs and practices that define and shape Jewish life through daily, weekly, annual and life-cycle observances. The course is designed as a year-long course for those wishing to learn more about the religious observances of Judaism, theology of the holidays and ritual practices. The course is organized around the Jewish calendar, but includes other daily Jewish rituals.

TUESDAYS YACHAD TORAH STUDY GROUP 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., JCC of Allentown It doesn’t matter how much you know, it matters how much you want to know.

Bring your curiosity to thet Yachad Torah study group and discover the wonders,

adventures and meaning of the Torah.

Each FREE session is taught by one of our dedicated clergy members or a respected Jewish educator. Held in the Teachers’ Learning Center/Holocaust Resource Room (lower level, JCC). Call 610-4353571 for information about individual sessions.

JFS-LV’S YIDDISH CLUB 1:30 p.m., Jewish Family Service Kibbitz in the mama loshen! You don’t need to be fluent — just come and enjoy!

Call 610-821-8722 for more information.

THE ESSENCE OF A GREAT JEWISH STORY Oct. 1 – Nov. 26, 7 to 7:50 p.m., Temple Beth El Taught by: Cantor Kevin Wartell. We will read and experience both ancient and more current Jewish stories and delve into their message and the sacred stories that they tell. A fun and spiritually uplifting way to spend an evening together! Contact Temple Beth El at 610-435-3521 to register and for exact dates of course.

THE DAVEN-CI CODE: UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF JEWISH PRAYER 8 p.m., Congregation Beth Avraham Weekly discussion group focusing on the structure, nuance and poetry of Jewish prayer. (Hebrew competence is not required.) Free and open to all.

LATTE & LEARN 8 to 9 p.m., Starbucks, Schoenersville Road, Bethlehem Come help us figure out the weekly Torah portion! Laid back, lots of fun, no Hebrew required. This event is sponsored by Congregation Beth Avraham. This event is free and open to the public. For information, Rabbi Yitzchok I. Yagod at 207-217-1094.

WEDNESDAYS THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY FROM JESUS TO CONSTANTINE Oct. 9 – Dec. 18, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Brith Sholom library A study of the birth of Christianity through a Jewish lens. Taught by Rabbi Jonathan Gerard To register, contact Rabbi Gerard at jgerard@rcn.com or 610-248-1588 or register at Brith Sholom. Tuition: $18.

HADASSAH STUDY GROUP Every other Wednesday, 1:30 p.m., Temple Beth El Allentown Hadassah presents a stimulating series of short story seminars. All are welcome to attend these free sessions in the Temple Beth El library. The group will be reading selections from anthologies available from Amazon.com. For dates and stories, e-mail Lolly Siegel at spscomm@ aol.com or call 610-439-1851.

BETH AVRAHAM TORAH STUDY 7 p.m., Congregation Beth Avraham Torah: It is the common heritage that binds all Jews together. Explore the ancient healing wisdom of Torah together. All are welcome. Who knows? It might even be fun! RSVP: Rabbi Yitzchok I. Yagod, 207217-1094, rabbiyagod@yahoo.com.

IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 7 p.m., Sons of Israel On Wednesday nights at Congregation Sons of Israel Judy Slyper teaches an in-depth study of the book of Joshua. We are currently learning the book of Joshua with commentaries and other resources to give us a feel of the time, the people and the lessons in the story. We are a friendly group who have been studying different books of the Prophets almost every Wednesday night for four years, but we’d love you to join and add your thoughts and knowledge to the discussions.

TORAH STUDIES: A WEEKLY JOURNEY INTO THE SOUL OF TORAH 7:30 p.m., Chabad Torah Studies by JLI presents: Season Four: An 11-part series. Cost is $36 for the complete 11-week series (textbook included).

For more information contact 610-3516511 or Rabbi@chabadlehighvalley.com.

THURSDAYS MOMMY & ME 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., Chabad Led by Morah Devorah Halperin and Mrs.

Alli Lipson, Mommy & Me is an innovative program for babies and toddlers to experience Jewish traditions in a stimulating, fun and creative atmosphere. Cost is $10 per class, $40 for full session. For information and to register, morahdevorah@ chabadlehighvalley.com.

PSALMS & SERENITY 10:30 a.m., Congregation Keneseth Israel Join Rabbi Seth and a friendly group of seekers who are exploring the Book of Psalms to discover its ancient wisdom and modern sensibilities. Newcomers always welcome. Knowledge of Hebrew not required. Come with an open heart!

TORAH ON TILGHMAN 12:15 p.m., Allentown Wegmans Cantor Ellen Sussman of Temple Shirat Shalom leads a lunch and learn on the Torah. Shopping is optional. RSVP to contactus@templeshiratshalom.com or 610-820-7666.

ENGAGING ISRAEL: FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEW RELATIONSHIP Oct. 3 – Dec. 19, 7 to 9 p.m., Temple Beth El A new and exciting course straight from the Hartman Institute. Taught by Rabbi Moshe Re’em. Why is the State of Israel important for my Jewish identity? The goal of “i ENGAGE” is to respond to growing feelings of disenchantment and disinterest toward Israel among an ever-increasing number of Jews. Through video lectures

by Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman and his dialogues with other top scholars and experts, text study and lively group discussions led

by Rabbi Re’em, we will elevate conversation about Israel by rooting it in Jewish values and ideas rather than in response to a crisis. Cost: $36. Contact Temple Beth El at 610-435-3521 to register and for exact dates of course.

IJCU MINICOURSE: RUTH IN DIALOGUE Oct. 10-31, 7 to 9 p.m., Muhlenberg College, Seegers Union, Room 111 The Book of Ruth is probably best known for Ruth’s dialogue with Naomi: “Where you go, I will go …” Ruth invites us into dialogue as well, exploring the different placement of the book in Jewish and Christian bibles and the tension of otherness and relationship. In this course, presented by the Institute for JewishChristian Understanding, participants will look at Ruth in dialogue with other parts of scripture, Jewish and Christian theology and contemporary social issues. To learn more and register, visit www.muhlenberg. edu/cultural/ijcu.

FRIDAYS TCP TOT SHABBAT SERVICE 4th Friday of the month, 5 p.m., Temple Covenant of Peace This wonderful program introduces children to Shabbat ritual and songs with activities designed especially for our youngest congregants and their families.

Arts and crafts, stories and prayer round out the children’s activities.

SHABBAT INTRODUCTION TO TALMUD 8:15 a.m., Sons of Israel On Shabbat mornings, come to an Introduction to Talmud class with Dr. Henry Grossbard. This class is free and open to the public.

CHAVURAT TORAH STUDY Each Shabbat following kiddush lunch, Temple Beth El No sign-up needed for this class. Taught

by Shari Spark. Enrich your Shabbat experience by studying the parashat hashavua, the weekly Torah portion, with other congregants, each Shabbat in the library at approximately 12:45 p.m. No previous knowledge or long-term commitments are required to participate as we discuss Torah together. This is an ongoing class.

BNEI AKIVA 5:45 p.m., Congregation Sons of Israel On Shabbat afternoons, SOI holds Bnei Akiva, an Israel-centered fun program for kids ages eight to 14. This program is free and open to the public. For information and to RSVP, call 610-433-6089.

Congregations BNAI ABRAHAM SYNAGOGUE

1545 Bushkill St., Easton – 610.258.5343 Rabbi Daniel Stein, Conservative MORNING MINYAN services are Thursday mornings at 7:25 a.m., SHABBAT EVENING services are Fridays at 8 p.m., SHABBAT MORNING services are Saturdays at 9:30 a.m., RELIGIOUS SCHOOL classes are Wednesdays at 4:15 p.m. and Sundays at 9:30 a.m..

CHABAD OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY

4457 Crackersport Rd., Allentown – 610.336.6603 Rabbi Yaacov Halperin, Chabad Lubavitch SHABBAT EVENING services are held once a month seasonally, SHABBAT MORNING services are held Saturdays at 10 a.m., RELIGIOUS SCHOOL classes are held Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m.

CONGREGATION AM HASKALAH

1190 W. Macada Rd., Bethlehem – 610.435.3775 Student Rabbi Tamara Cohen, Reconstructionist Weekly Shabbat services and a monthly family service with potluck dinner. Religious school meets Sunday mornings. Email am.haskalah.office@gmail.com to learn more.

CONGREGATION BETH AVRAHAM

439 South Nulton Ave., Palmer Township – 610.905.2166 | Rabbi Yitzchok Yagod, Orthodox SHABBAT EVENING starts half an hour after candle lighting. SHABBAT MORNING starts at 9:30 a.m., followed by a hot kiddish.

CONGREGATION BRITH SHOLOM

1190 W. Macada Rd., Bethlehem – 610.866.8009 Rabbi Allen Juda, Conservative MINYAN is at 7:45 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. on Saturdays and holidays. RELIGIOUS SCHOOL classes every Tuesday/Thursday at 4:15 p.m.

CONGREGATION KENESETH ISRAEL

2227 Chew St., Allentown – 610.435.9074 Rabbi Seth D. Phillips | Cantor Jennifer Duretz Peled, Reform Services begin at 7:30 p.m. every Friday night.

The first Friday of the month is a FAMILY SERVICE and celebration of birthdays and anniversaries.

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL classes are held Wednesdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

CONGREGATION SONS OF ISRAEL

2715 Tilghman St., Allentown – 610.433.6089 Rabbi David Wilensky, Orthodox SHACHARIT: Sundays at 8:30 a.m., Mondays and Thursdays at 6:30 a.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:45 a.m. For MINCHA, MAARIV.

TEMPLE BETH EL

1305 Springhouse Rd., Allentown – 610.435.3521 Rabbi Moshe Re’em | Cantor Kevin Wartell Conservative Weekday morning minyan services at 7:45 a.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m. Shabbat evening services at 7:30 p.m. with the last Friday evening of the month featuring our Shira Chadasha Service .

Shabbat morning services at 9 a.m. followed by Kiddush. Religious school classes every Tuesday/ Thursday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m. Midrasha school classes Monday at 7 p.m. Shalshelet — Temple Beth El’s new innovative high school program — meets bi-monthly on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. Shalshelet (the chain) is open to ALL 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students in the Lehigh Valley. For more information contact Alicia Zahn, religlious school director, at school at bethelallentown.org.

TEMPLE COVENANT OF PEACE

1451 Northampton St., Easton – 610.253.2031 Tcp@rcn.com; tcopeace.org Rabbi Melody Davis | Cantor Jill Pakman Reform TCP holds Shabbat evening services every Friday night at 7:30 p.m., and a Renewal Shabbat morning service on the 4th Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. A Family Shabbat Service is held on the second Friday night of each month. Our services reflect a diverse culture of traditional, innovative and musical experiences with a Reform Jewish context. Religious School meets on Sunday mornings from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. We have family potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Friday of the month. For more information about our temple and activities, see our website at www. tcopeace.org or look us up on Facebook.

TEMPLE SHIRAT SHALOM

Cantor Ellen Sussman Friday night SHABBAT WORSHIP SERVICES held at 7 p.m. at The Swain School, 1100 South 24th St., Allentown. For more information, Contact Us at templeshiratshalom.org or 610-820-7666.

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RABBI BOB ALPER The world's only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy... intentionally

2014 CAMPAIGN FOR JEWISH NEEDS

Tickets $10 | Minimum $18 pledge required 610.821.5500 | www.jewishlehighvalley.org

FROM THE HOLLYWOOD IMPROV TO LONDON THEATRES, WITH APPEARANCES ON COMEDY CENTRAL, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, SHOWTIME AND EXTRA

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY

celebrating friendship and community and honoring the memory of our friend Jay Scherline, Esq. Proudly presents a dinner theatre featuring

LILIA!

By Libby Skala

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Allentown

The life of Lilia Skala, Oscar-nominee for “Lilies of the Field,” as seen through the eyes of her granddaughter. www.LiliaThePlay.com Marvelous! A granddaughter’s education ... deliciously poignant.

- THE NEW YORK TIMES Proceeds benefit Jewish Family Service.

For reservations and information, call 610-821-8722.