12 minute read
LVJF TRIBUTES
IN HONOR JOAN AND RICH BASS In honor of the birth of your great-niece, Melody Marilyn Claire LAURA AND BOB BLACK In honor of the birth of your grandson, Asher Noah
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald ROSS BORN In honor of your Retirement
Joan Brody
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald WENDY AND ROSS BORN In honor of your grandson Jacob’s Bar Mitzvah
Joan Brody
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald ILENE COHEN In honor of a speedy and complete recovery
Community Relations Council ANN AND GENE GINSBERG In honor of your grandson’s Bar Mitzvah
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald BETH AND WESLEY KOZINN In honor of your grandson Jack’s Bar Mitzvah
Marilyn Claire
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald SHELAH MUETH Wishing you a speedy and complete recovery
Aaron Gorodzinsky and Jennie Schechner SARA AND BERNIE SCHONBACH In honor of your grandson Jude’s Bar Mitzvah
Wendy and Ross Born
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald RANDI AND DONALD SENDEROWITZ In honor of your daughter Rissa’s engagement to Evan Ntonados
Carol and Stewart Furmansky
Roberta and Alan Penn DONNA AND BRUCE SILVERBERG In honor of your granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald AMY AND JACK SILVERMAN In honor of your daughter Jessica’s marriage
Suzanne Lapiduss MARYANN AND ALAN SNYDER In honor of the marriage of your son
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald ART SOSIS Happy 80th Birthday!
Laura and Bob Black AMY ZYLBERMAN Thank you for being a mentor
Seth Browner IN MEMORY DEBRA HIRSCH BATT (Sister of Stephanie Kricun)
Roberta and Alan Penn SANFORD (SANDY) BELDON (Husband of Pat Beldon)
Wendy and Ross Born JUDITH GINSBURG (Grandmother of Tama Tamarkin)
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald
Sara and Karl Glassman WALTER GOLDFARB (Bother of Harold Goldfarb)
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald
Sara and Karl Glassman
Audrey and Art Sosis
Arlene and Richard Stein SELMA JACOWITZ (Mother of Amy Optiz)
Deb and Barry Opitz GILFRID LEVY (Husband of Michele Levy)
Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald
MICKEY UFBERG MEMORIAL AMBUCYCLE FUND
Mary Anne and Douglas Johnson
Barb and Rick Reisner
Susan and Joel Weiner
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.
COVID-19 vaccines for kids are here. These rabbis (and their children) wrote prayers for the occasion.
By Shira Hanau Jewish Telegraphic Agency
When Rabbi Lisa Gelber heard that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5-11, she couldn’t wait for the moment that her daughter would get the shot.
But she also knew her daughter was scared of needles. So she sat down with her daughter, 11-year-old Zahara, and together they composed a kavanah, Hebrew for intention, to reflect the gravity and gratitude with which they viewed this milestone and process the feelings her daughter had about the shot.
“Holy One of life and love, wrap me in a warm embrace as I prepare to receive my COVID-19 vaccine,” the prayer begins. “I give thanks to the doctors and scientists who are creators like you, for the wise people who approved the vaccine, and for everyone who made sure this was available to kids.”
Gelber, the spiritual leader of Congregation Habonim in New York City, shared the full prayer on Facebook, where her friends and colleagues were circulating it in anticipation of the vaccine’s availability for children.
“This feels like a miraculous moment in time. What a gift that this next expansive cohort will have access to a vaccine,” Gelber told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
When COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States began in December 2020, there was much discussion of which blessing or Jewish prayer to recite when receiving the shot. Several new prayers were even written specifically for that occasion, with many offering thanks to the scientists who created the vaccines.
Now, children ages 5-11 are eligible to receive the COVID vaccine in the United States, potentially bringing to an end a period when parents have worried about the risks of activities as basic as sending a child to school or going to the playground. And the moment is being marked by a new set of Jewish prayers, with at least one, as in the case of Gelber and her daughter, even written by a child.
Gelber said her daughter wanted to thank the people who created the vaccine while
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The Jewish Agency for Israel
It took just eight months for Javier, 32, and his wife, Dafne, to file their paperwork, pack up their lives, and land in Israel after they decided to make Aliyah from Tucumán, Argentina. Upon their arrival in Israel in August 2021, they spent a week in quarantine in Tel Aviv and then settled into The Jewish Agency’s Absorption Center in Raanana.
“I came to Israel looking for a brighter future, and there’s no better way to be the best version of yourself than by being true to your essence and connecting with your roots,” Javier explained. “Every stone in this country has a story, and we have spent generations speaking about and remembering each of them. America may be the land of opportunities, Europe may be the land of art and culture, but Israel is more than that: Israel is home.”
Located throughout the country, Jewish Agency Absorption Centers are temporary living quarters that provide a soft landing and supportive framework for new olim (immigrants) as they acclimate to Israel.
“Living at The Jewish Agency’s Raanana Absorption Center has been tremendously helpful, from the weekly Hebrew lessons on Zoom to the webinars they provided with different professionals,” shared Javier. “For every step we took along the way, The Jewish Agency was there to provide information and support.”
From the moment they decided to make Aliyah, Javier had set his mind on enforcing a “no English-speaking” rule so that he’d practice Hebrew more often; still, there’s more to learn.
“The one thing I’d tell other people thinking about making Aliyah would be to learn as much Hebrew as possible before you come as it’ll make everything so much easier,” advised Javier.
At the Absorption Center, beyond learning Hebrew and accessing various resources to ease their transition, the couple is enjoying getting to meet fellow olim from around the world, developing relationships that make them feel like they are truly building a community.
“Our experience here has been incredible, and we’ve met so many people from so many different countries; every day has been an opportunity to meet new friends, and so far it has been a blast,” said Javier. “The people are definitely the best thing about the Raanana Absorption Center, though the location is hard to beat, too!”
As for where they’ll live after their time in the Absorption Center, Javier said they’ve yet to make up their mind, but it will depend on where they find employment.
“I’m a public accountant, and my wife is a rheumatologist, so where we get jobs will influence where we live. Close to Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan or Givatayim sounds awesome, as that would put us close to the beach, and those cities are full of young people,” mused Javier. “But nothing has been decided yet since we’ve fallen in love with Raanana as well. We’re just excited to soon be putting down real roots here and making our home in the Jewish homeland.”
COVID-19 vaccines
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noting her fear of needles. “Most moving for me was her gratitude for the opportunity to say a blessing which would ‘make me stronger’ and take her mind off of pain,” she said.
Rabbi Karen Reiss Medwed, an assistant dean at the Graduate School of Education at Northeastern University, was first inspired to write a kavanah for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine several months ago when a nurse in her community spoke at their synagogue about the experience of being vaccinated. More recently, Medwed was inspired by her rabbi’s sermon to write a new kavanah specifically for parents to recite before their children receive the vaccine.
“He spoke not only as a rabbi, but as a father, expressing the long awaited relief, as well as the deep religious sense of obligation this next phase of vaccination would bring,” Medwed told JTA in an email, referring to Rabbi Joel Levenson of the Midway Jewish Center in Syosset, New York. “There was no question I had to compose something to recite, just as parents recite a short kavanah upon having the zchut [merit] to arrive with their child to their bnai mitzvah.”
Medwed’s prayer expresses gratitude to God and to those who developed the vaccines and, echoing the “shehecheyanu” prayer recited over a new experience, expresses the relief many parents feel at the opportunity to finally vaccinate their children.
“With this vaccination I let out the long held pause and breath I have been anxiously keeping inside for these long months, and passionately affirm, Blessed are you, Adonai, Ruler of this Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment, and let us all say, Amen,” the prayer reads. Editor’s Note: The Jewish Agency for Israel is an overseas partner of Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley.
RABBI MICHAEL SINGER Congregation Brith Sholom
Of all the candles in the Hanukkiah, the one that usually gets the least respect is the shamash. The original meaning of the word, shamash, is attendant, servant, janitor, caretaker or orderly. The shamash is the candle that kindles all of the other Hanukkah candles, but is not counted toward the eight days of Hanukkah. Yet, without the shamash none of the other candles could be lit, since each of these other candles, according to Jewish law, cannot be used for any purpose other than providing their Hanukkah light. So what can we learn from the “servant” candle? That no matter a person’s job, they should be treated with respect and dignity, since without their hard work most of the things we take for granted could not be fulfilled. Indeed, the Rabbis realizing this lesson required that the lowly shamash, be given a place of honor either higher than the other candles, or set to the side from the other candles.
Yet, all too often in our society the people in these roles become “invisible people.” People that while they are serving, helping, cleaning, working behind the scenes or literally right in front of us are simply looked past, and ignored. Throughout the pandemic we have often heard the term “essential workers” which includes cashiers, food service workers, teachers, truck drivers, nurses, maintenance people, childcare providers, eldercare providers, food production and warehouse workers to name only a few – without which our daily lives would grind to a halt. It is amazing to see the smile on a person’s face when they are simply thanked or wished a great day. For someone to acknowledge that the work they do is valued and appreciated. Yet even more so, they deserve a living wage so they and their families can live in dignity with food on their tables, a roof over their heads and access to healthcare and retirement benefits. Not only does our Jewish tradition command this of us, but historically the Jewish community has also been a leader in creating fair labor laws and in the development of workers’ unions.
On Hanukkah, as we light the shamash and kindle the candles which recall the great miracle of the Maccabees’ victory, we also need to remember the efforts of the many different people, big and small, throughout the year, whose hard work and efforts make our world and our lives better. In many ways, they are part of God’s creative miracles each and every day. Hanukkah Sameach! May the Festival of Lights fill your home with warmth, cheer and love, and may we all be blessed to share it with those around us.
Chag Urim Sameach!
BIG holds interfaith Thanksgiving service
By Stephanie Goodling HAKOL Editor
Opening with lovely organ music, the Bethlehem Interfaith Group (BIG)’s Service of Thanksgiving took place both in person at Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem and streamed live on YouTube on Nov. 14. A monetary offering was taken to benefit New Bethany Ministries, whose staff and volunteers work to bring hope and assistance to our neighbors experiencing poverty, hunger and homelessness. There was also a petition to be signed declaring that Bethlehem is “no home for hate.”
BIG President Rev. Beth Goudy welcomed the attendees.
“There is power in coming together in thanksgiving,” she said.
Rabbi Michael Singer of Congregation Brith Sholom read a prayer which gave thanks not only for the beauty and bounty of eastern Pennsylvania but also for the Lenni Lenape forebears who lived here before us.
Leaders of many local congregations of various faiths took turns leading the assembled congregation in prayers and songs of thanksgiving from different traditions.
Rev. Madelyn Campbell of the United Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley gave a short message, quoting from Exodus 15 and invoking Miriam, who gave thanks after going through a time of great trouble. She reminded the congregants that it is normal to be overwhelmed in extraordinary times such as a global pandemic.
“I give thanks for all of you, for my colleagues from many faith traditions here in Bethlehem and our ability to worship together today, whether in person or online. The psalmist has instructed us to give thanks to the Holy One and to do so joyously…. We come from many traditions, and we understand the Holy One in many different, ways but we are still filled with the same Holy Breath,” said Campbell.
The Bethlehem Interfaith Group was founded in 2017 by Rabbi Michael Singer and seeks to promote education, justice and friendship among people of faith in Bethlehem.
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