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would like to highlight. One major milestone was our first Summit to Combat Antisemitism, held at Muhlenberg College with guest speakers from major national Jewish organizations, law enforcement, homeland security and elected officials. Another major milestone was our coming together as a community to celebrate Israel@75 with a torchlighting ceremony. It was a momentous occasion shared across agencies and including our synagogues. We also celebrated Jewish American Heritage Month with a flag raising at Allentown City Hall attended by elected officials and featuring our Jewish Day School students singing the national anthems. It was gratifying this year to see our synagogues’ religious schools joining forces to celebrate Purim together at the JCC with a Super Funday
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Jewish life is rich with many different milestones as communities gather to celebrate in times of joy and to comfort one another in times of sorrow. There are life-cycle events such as births, b’nai mitzvah, confirmation, graduation, marriage, death and mourning, and, of course, Jewish holidays. All these events provide opportunities to come together to honor our connections to one another and to acknowledge a “whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.” And then there are times when the community itself has a milestone to mark. It might acquire a new Torah scroll, elect new board members or reach a significant anniversary. As we wind down the 2023 Jewish Federation program year and celebrate our community with an annual meeting, there are a number of milestones that I
carnival, once again demonstrating that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We welcome opportunities like these in the future when we can come together to celebrate Jewish holidays. This year, we convened a new task force on older adults to implement programs that will help them to age in place. In partnership with Jewish Family Service, we will be launching a new initiative. Please stay tuned to learn more about this important initiative and the positive impact it will have on our community. Coming to fruition will be another collaborative effort employing a regional security advisor to serve across our Jewish community. This enhanced community security program is designed to significantly increase safety and security for all our agencies, synagogues, JDS, JFS, JCC and other centers of
Jewish life in and around the Lehigh Valley. And finally, we look forward to celebrating another productive year at our Community Celebration and Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 8, at 6 p.m. at the JCC. We hope you will join us to acknowledge and pay tribute to our award winners and to celebrate our community! Our community has been blessed to complete another program year working with our beneficiary agencies. On June 30, we will wrap up our 2023 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs. Your generous support of our campaign enables us to ensure the strength and vibrancy of our Jewish communal agencies through the allocations we make to our JCC, JDS and JFS. Your generosity allows us to support Jewish Family Life Education at our synagogues, Hebrew Family League funding, program-
MAKING A DIFFERENCE 2021-2022 TOTAL DISTRIBUTIONS: $2,530,616
Local Distributions: $1,287,338 (see boxes below)
Overseas Distributions: $391,200
Fundraising Expenses: $313,578
Local Distributions Designated Gifts: $265,500
LOCAL DISTRIBUTIONS: $1,287,338 Jewish Community Center: $342,000 Jewish Day School: $322,000 Jewish Federation Community Building: $216,956
HAKOL STAFF CARL ZEBROWSKI Editor CHARLENE RIEGGER Director of Marketing 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
Overseas Distributions Designated Gifts: $273,000
Jewish Family Service & Jewish Fund for Human Needs: $113,800 Jewish Education Services & Jewish Continuity Grants: $31,500
Bethlehem & Easton Community Grants: $29,000 Other (Institute for
Religious & Cultural Understanding, LVKC, Orphan Cemeteries: etc.): $21,250
Federation Admin: $197,832 University Hillels: $13,000 Designated Gifts $265,500
(not included in local total)
The Lehigh Valley-Yoav Partnership Park in Blessed Memory of Mark L. Goldstein
We gratefully acknowledge those individuals who have offered expressions of friendship by requesting that trees be planted in the Mark L. Goldstein Friendship Park, a Yoav-Lehigh Valley Partnership Forest.
IN HONOR CAROL AND BOB WILSON SHERYL BLOCK In honor of Ben’s graduation from Thank you for your 35 years of the University of Pittsburgh service Eileen and Roberto Fischmann Temple Beth El IN MEMORY PAULA LINN HOWARD SOKOL Thank you for your service and (Husband of Midge Sokol) leadership Chahaine Marvi Temple Beth El TO ORDER TREES, call the JFLV at 610-821-5500 or visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org.
ming for college students at our Hillels, camp and Israeltravel scholarships, and our collective participation with 145 other Jewish Federations supporting regional and national initiatives as well as Israel and overseas projects. Each of you makes an important difference. If you haven’t made your gift yet, we hope you will do so by June 30 so we can continue to provide robust and meaningful Jewish programming in our Lehigh Valley. Many thanks for your generosity — we are Here for Good because of you! Warm regards to each of you for a relaxing and peaceful summer!
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. Quotes may be edited for grammar and clarity. 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
DIANE McKEE Account Representative TEL: 610-515-1391 hakolads@jflv.org
JFLV EXECUTIVE STAFF JERI ZIMMERMAN Executive Director AARON GORODZINSKY Director of Campaign & Security Planning DENISE AHNER Director of Finance & Administration JULIA UMANSKY Director of Gift Planning & EITC LEE SOLOMON Associate Director of Development ROBBY WAX JFLV President WENDY EDWARDS Office Manager GINGER HORSFORD Donor Services Associate
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.
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
HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | JUNE 2023 3
