HAKOL - February 2022

The Voice of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community

www.jewishlehighvalley.org

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Issue No. 451

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February 2022

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Sh’vat/Adar l 5782

AWARD-WINNING PUBLICATION EST. 1977

See how local kids celebrated Tu B’Shevat p6

Get the latest on the upcoming summer camp season & more in our Family Matters special section p14-19

FROM THE DESK OF JERI ZIMMERMAN p2 WOMEN’S PHILANTHROPY p4 LVJF TRIBUTES p8 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE p13 JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER p20-21 JEWISH DAY SCHOOL p22-23 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p27

In the wake of Texas terrorist attack, Lehigh Valley prioritizes pride and planning

On Saturday, Jan. 17, Jews across the world waited with bated breath as the horror of a terrorist holding a rabbi and three of his congregants hostage at a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue unfolded on the news. All four hostages were eventually released, but the attack has shaken American Jewry in its aftermath. The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley responded quickly to the incident, letting community members know that they are not alone.

“As always, we are doing all we can to keep our community, our synagogues and agencies, as safe and secure as possible,” said JFLV Director of Campaign and Security Planning Aaron Gorodzinsky.

In honor of the bravery of Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker

and the other Jewish congregants taken hostage, Federation launched an emergency security planning fund and a social media campaign to stand in solidarity.

“We are standing against antisemitism and all hate,” Federation said in their Facebook post. “The Jewish Federation encourages everyone to donate $18 or more towards future security planning that will ensure a safe environment for all our community members.”

Members of the community are also invited to post a picture of themselves with a Jewish symbol to show their pride on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtags #HereForGood #LVJewishPride and #IAmJewish.

Links are also provided on the Federation website to activism campaigns encouraging Congress to double the funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and to confirm Deborah Lipstadt as head of The State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

“We will not remain silent in the face of antisemitism in our country,” said Jeri Zimmerman, executive director of the Jewish Federation. “We are not helpless, and we will make our voices heard.”

According to The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, CytronWalker said he wants Jews to know that despite what happened to him, he would stress to Jews everywhere that “it’s safe to go to shul” — and that synagogues should continue to

make themselves sanctuaries for all.

Cytron-Walker’s 11-hour ordeal, which ended with him throwing a chair at the hostage-taker to allow himself and two congregants to escape safely, drew international attention to his congregation, as well as to himself. The rabbi said that it’s been “incredibly overwhelming to see the level of support that we have received from our local community, our national community and the global community. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and the congregation,” according to JTA. The JTA also reported that top U.S. security officials told Jewish Americans on a pre-Shabbat webinar on Jan. 21 with at least 5,000 viewers that the attack in Colleyville, was a “terrorist attack on the Jewish community” and that authorities are continuing to investigate how the British Muslim hostage-taker got into the country.

“While there are still a lot of unknown details, we are committed to thoroughly investigating Saturday’s attack,” said Jill Sanborn, the executive assistant director of the national security branch of the FBI. “Let me be clear: The FBI is and has been treating Saturday’s events as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community.”

Visit jewishlehighvalley.org/security to donate to the fund and learn more about the petitions to Congress.

60 Day Challenge is a chance to re-engage and support Jewish community The 60 Day Challenge is back and off to a great start! The two months of activities are aimed to re-engage, re-connect, and re-imagine with the Lehigh Valley Jewish community. Several events already took place in January, and more are slated for this month and next. Join us on Feb. 8 with the Women’s Philanthropy

10xChai’s Planting the Seeds of Connection program. Or cook up some fun with the Celebrity Chef series on Feb. 16, Feb. 23 and March 2. Lehigh Valley Native turned D.C. pundit Ari Mittleman will share his book “Paths of Righteousness: Stories of Heroism, Humanity and Hope” at an event on Feb. 24. All of this

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leads up to March 13 for the community’s Super FunDay, full of mitzvah opportunites, food and surprises in partnership with the Jewish Community Center Purim Carnival.

It’s been a tough two years, but now is the time to re-envision what we can achieve together.

Why join us now?

Here are some reflections from leaders of the Lehigh Valley Jewish community about what it means to be involved with Federation and the Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs: “It is a little strange to me when we refer to ‘the Federation’ as a thing, as a noun, rather than a verb. Our Federation is the permanent, organized pursuit - by a group of individual community members - of the common objective of ensuring a safe, rich and diverse Jewish living experience for Jews living here in the Lehigh Valley, living in Israel and living elsewhere.

There is no element of being Jewish in

the Lehigh Valley that our Federation organization doesn’t directly or indirectly support. How could I not contribute time and money to the extent of my capability?” – Gary Fromer, Federation President “When times were the toughest at the beginning of the pandemic, and at every step along the way, Federation stood by the JCC's side to ensure we had the resources we needed to keep our programs operating. Being involved in Federation means engaging with the entire community and being part of the amazing fabric of Jewish life that we have in the Lehigh Valley.” – Eric Lightman, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley “Today JDS; tomorrow the world itself. Thanks to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley's support the JDS will continue to prepare students for the exciting world they will inherit. Together we meet the everchanging needs of the current times,

as we partner to navigate a pandemic life. Through scholarship support, COVID relief, mentorship and guidance, the JDS thanks the Federation for helping our students, the next generation of leaders.” – Amy Golding, Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley Head of School “The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley provides JFS crucial financial support and a vital partnership that inspires our agency to help persons who are facing challenging life transitions and need our help.” – Debbie Zoller, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley

Camp is part of our community As the month of February begins, despite the cold weather, it’s time to think about summer plans. (Hard to believe it’s that time already!) Our focus is on the summer camp experience and encouraging others to consider this as a summer option for your children or grandchildren.

Jewish summer camps, particularly overnight camps, are the bond that connects Jewish identity to the next generation. Whether your kids are into sports or social justice, there’s a Jewish summer camp for them, and we know that community engagement now continues well into adulthood.

Studies consistently show that attending a Jewish summer overnight camp, such as Harlam, Pinemere and Ramah among many others, is one of the strongest predictors of

developing a strong Jewish identity in adulthood.

Jewish summer camp options continue to reflect the diversity of lifestyles and identities within the broader American Jewish community, aiming to meet the evolving needs of Jewish children.

There are overnight camps, day camps and specialty camp options, some of which are reflected in our own community.

More broadly, summer camp is an opportunity for growth and development for both children and counselors alike.

The camp experience affords participants the chance to build new relationships, foster independence and resilience, develop new skills or practice favorite ones and, most importantly, contribute to the camp’s own community and culture.

By attending one of our lo-

cal community camps through the JCC, both campers and counselors begin to learn and experience the things that we, as the Lehigh Valley Jewish community, value. This includes developing and enhancing specialty skills alongside friends; bonding with the Israeli teens from Yoav, our partnership region; and celebrating Shabbat together as a community on Fridays.

Our local camp options are a chance for us to introduce the youngest in our community to the richness and vibrancy that our Jewish community has to offer them, allowing them to experience those things and see for themselves how loved, welcomed and valued they are as the future of our community.

In addition to thinking about summer camp, I am

pleased to remind you that we are currently in the midst of our Federation’s 60 Day Challenge. The 60 Day Challenge is a chance for the Lehigh Valley Jewish community to reenvision what we can achieve together. It is an opportunity for you to show your support and enhance the vibrancy of our community by making your generous donation to our 2022 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs.

As we continue our 60-day challenge to re-connect, reengage and re-imagine, there are multiple events and opportunities to focus on our Jewish community and to enjoy the benefits of the social support that comes from a strengthened community. Our annual Super FunDay phone-a-thon, this year in March, is one such opportunity to donate finan-

cially and will include an afternoon of mitzvah activities to benefit those around us. Please accept my sincere gratitude for your strong support and your continuing involvement in our Jewish community. On behalf of our Jewish community, I look forward to connecting, engaging, and imagining with you!

Needs-based Camp scholarships and teen experience grants are available through the Federation.

Visit our website www.jewishlehighvalley.org/scholarships to apply before March 25, 2022.

HAKOL STAFF STEPHANIE GOODLING Editor/Marketing Associate

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

ALLISON MEYERS Marketing Project Manager & Senior Graphic Designer DIANE MCKEE Account Representative TEL: 610-515-1391 hakolads@jflv.org BAYLEY CARL Marketing & Engagement Associate

JFLV EXECUTIVE STAFF JERI ZIMMERMAN Executive Director AARON GORODZINSKY Director of Campaign & Security Planning DENISE AHNER Director of Finance & Administration AMY ZYLBERMAN Director of Community Development JULIA UMANSKY Director of Gift Planning & EITC WENDY EDWARDS Office Manager GARY FROMER JFLV President

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:

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 MEMORY MAUREEN HEUSINGER (Mother of Manja Fields and Kara Heusinger) Nancy Bergstein

HOWARD ISRAEL (Husband of Susan Israel) Abby and Mark Trachtman RANDI POTACK (Wife of Michael Potack, mother of Robert & Julie Potack and David & Samantha Potack) Beth and Scott Delin

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

2 FEBRUARY 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

• 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

Celebrity Chefs series brings a new flavor during the 60 Day Challenge

By Amy Zylberman JFLV Director of Community Development The Jewish Federation is cooking up something exciting for the 60 Day Challenge, so make a plan to meet us weekly in the kitchen during our Celebrity Chefs series launching Wednesday, Feb. 16 and ending Wednesday, March 2. All classes are at 8 p.m. EST. Attendees can cook along or take notes to plan a future, delicious meal. Before each individual session, registered attendees will receive an ingredients list and preparation requirements.

Paula Shoyer, known as “The Kosher Baker,” will lead the first session of the series. Shoyer is the author of five cookbooks: "The Kosher Baker," "The Holiday Kosher Baker," "The New Passover Menu," "The Healthy Jewish Kitchen," and "The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook." She has taught classes worldwide and hundreds of classes online.

She has competed on the Food Network and has made dozens of television appearances, and can be found on Instagram @ko-

sherbaker. Her menu during the class will be a dry rub salmon, mango coleslaw and babka.

On Wednesday, Feb. 23, Idan Chabasov, known as “The Challah Prince,” will help you get your dough to go the extra mile - he’ll be baking a Jerusalem bagel, pita with za’atar and an eleven-braid challah. Idan was born and raised in Tel Aviv and made his way back to Israel after seven years in Berlin. He has a background in professional dancing, video production and PR, but has made it his mission to bring art into the challah baking world. The “Challah Prince” started as a small Instagram account but became an ever-growing account of art and creativity. He is well on his way to spreading delicious challah masterpieces to every corner of the world.

Finally, on Wednesday, March 2, chef and food host Dini Klein, founder of the Prep + Rally meal prep service and author of fall’s upcoming Prep + Rally cookbook, will be sharing a simplified dinner solution that has helped thousands of

busy families get through hectic weeks with ease. She shares cooking tips, recipes and authentic family moments on Instagram @prepandrally. Dini will be making red lentil, squash and tomato soup with rosemary and lemon, one-pan sesame noodles with chicken and vegetables, with a tofu alternative for vegetarians.

We hope you take the opportunity to log on from your own kitchens and learn new skills and recipes that may beautify your Shabbat tables, simplify busy schedules, and reimagine your menus.

We are fortunate to partner with many Jewish Federations across the country to be able to cook alongside diverse and exciting chefs. Registration can be found at jewishlehighvalley.org/cooking.

Federation welcomes new Director of Finance and Administration In December, the Jewish Federation welcomed Denise Ahner to the staff team as the new Director of Finance and Administration. Ahner took over from Temple Coldren, who retired after serving faithfully in the position for over 20 years.

Ahner has been working as an accounting/ finance executive and brings 30 years of handson experience in the areas of financial management, accounting procedures, controls and policies, internal and external audits, trial balance and general ledger reconciliations, financial statement reporting and analysis, inter-company consolidated financials, bank reconciliations, budgeting forecasts, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll and payroll taxes.

Her most recent employment was with Johnston Construction in Dover, Pennsylvania, and she has also worked with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, Paycommerce Inc., and North Star Construction

Management Co. over her career. Ahner has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an associate’s degree in accounting and business administration. She is also a Notary Public in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Ahner is excited to join the non-profit world.

“I’m learning a lot, and I’m obviously looking forward to being part of the community,” she said. “Getting to be part of an organization rooted in community and activism is a real plus.”

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 3

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

Planting the seeds of connection with 10xChai

By Amy Zylberman JFLV Director of Community Development A new level of giving is creating opportunities to help the Federation bloom.

Join Women’s Philanthropy’s 10xChai’s first event, “Planting the Seeds of Connection,” on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. over Zoom. Attendees will have the chance to come together with friends old and new to learn more about the interconnectedness of gardening, pollinators like birds and bees, and Judaism — and what can be done to connect with both the earth and the Lehigh Valley Jewish community.

Event chairs Tracy Sussman and Kimberly Valuntas will be joined by Janna Siller, who serves as the Farm Director and Advocacy Coordinator at Adamah Farm, part of Hazon, an organization leading a transformative movement weaving sustainability into the fabric of Jewish life in order to create a healthier, more sustainable and more equitable world for all. Siller will share how to garden and plant to benefit pollinators, like birds, bees, beetles and more: nature’s helpers who

are responsible for one out of every three bites of food.

Attendees will be invited to visit the Washington Street Parking Lot at the Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Feb. 6 from 10 to 11 a.m. to receive a gardening gift from Women’s Philanthropy.

For those who cannot drive by on Sunday, gift bags will be at the JCC front desk.

Valuntas is looking forward to reaching out to more in the community, saying, “We hope this program is just one of the ways we will reach and engage many to come together to ‘plant seeds of connection’ and form or further relationships that will empower themselves to continue their individual journeys of growth as well as recognize and continue the impact they are already making in the Jewish community as a whole.”

We hope you take this moment to contribute and to connect by joining us in planting the seeds of connection during the 60 Day Challenge!

Register at jewishlehighvalley. regfox.com/10xchai. A minimum individual gift of $180 to the 2022 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs required to attend.

Women's Philanthropy supports The Perfect Fit

Women's Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley would like to thank Ilene Ringold, Miriam Zager, Erica Stein, Sandi Fine, Fay Kun, Sara-Jane Bub, Micki Wechsler, Beth Kushnick, Julia Umansky and Bayley Carl for sorting, and to countless others across the Lehigh Valley for their dona-

tions that went to The Perfect Fit in Allentown. The Perfect Fit helps hundreds of women find the clothing and confidence necessary to start a job and grow a career.

The Women's Philanthropy Mitzvah Committee connected with The Perfect Fit, and the clothing collection became the

ultimate Covid-friendly mitzvah opportunity to help clear out closets, benefit our neighbors and come together. We deeply appreciate all of the donations dropped off at Congregation Brith Sholom, Congregation B'nai Shalom, and the Jewish Day School as well as the Jewish Community Center.

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spiritual Tsfat, dynamic Tel Aviv, Masada’s desert magic, Shabbat in Jerusalem, and many more unique experiences.

with yourself, your family, and your community.

For more information, please contact: Amy Zylberman | amy@jflv.org | (860) 810-3597 Jeri Zimmerman | jeri@jflv.org | (610) 821-5500 ext 332

Trips will be designed with Covid modifications.

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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

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Ministry of Diaspora Affairs

Creating a common Jewish future

* Momentum Trips are free for participants excluding airfare. Additional costs for participants include $100 for tips and a "Year of Growth" book, a $99 acceptance fee, and some meals. Participants pay a $500 deposit, which is fully refundable upon returning from the trip. This journey is designed for women with children 18 and under. The Momentum Year-Long Journey continues with monthly gatherings and Jewish learning.

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All payments are made payable to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley 4 FEBRUARY 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

A momentous reunion for women in the Lehigh Valley

International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorated in a virtual ‘living room’

By Stephanie Goodling HAKOL Editor

Attendees of the Momentum Reunion 2022

By Amy Zylberman JFLV Director of Community Development One of the nicest aspects of Zoom as a means of communication is that you are able to safely connect with anyone, anywhere, so there could not have been a better medium to transport women from the Lehigh Valley back to Israel, if only for an hour.

Alumni of Momentum, formerly known as the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, were invited to come together on Jan. 18, to reminisce and re-engage with much of the joy and Jewish pride felt over the course of their eight-day trip and the community learning afterwards.

Momentum is an organization that partners with the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, and countless other Jewish Federations and nonprofits, to provide an immersive experience in Israel, and, beyond that, empowers women to change the world through Jewish values that transform themselves, their families and their communities.

Women’s Philanthropy President Beth Kushnick opened by expressing gratitude for all in the room, and how she was impassioned to bring Momentum to the Lehigh Valley, where her inaugural cohort

inspired others to go in years that followed. Cindy Smukler, a Philadelphia-based Momentum leader and the Kaiserman JCC President, joined as a guest who spoke with attendees about the magic of not only the trip itself, but also all that it gave after the plane landed.

“You are all so blessed to be given this gift by the Federation, and to receive the bigger gift of community. The other women in this room? They’re your sisters,” Smukler shared.

She expressed that her “passion is making sure the next generation does not opt out of being Jewish,” which was shared amongst this group of mothers.

Participants shared fond memories and experiences on the trip. Fay Kun remembered that she ran into Jeanette Eichenwald on the trip at the Kotel, and told Eichenwald she was happy to see her because she was starting to feel homesick.

Kun said, “Jeanette told me I was home, and then I realized just how much that meant.”

The next Momentum trip for the Lehigh Valley is departing July 9 and returning July 18, 2022. If you are a mom raising children under 18 in the Lehigh Valley and interested in going, apply today by visiting www.MomentumUnlimited.org, or calling the Federation offices to get started.

On Jan. 23, the Holocaust Resource Center of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley and our Partnership2Gether committee in Yoav hosted a Zoom event in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Zikaron BaSalon – Holocaust Remembrance ‘in the Living Room’ – is a way for community members to gather together in an intimate setting and hear the stories of Holocaust survivors.

Amit Zehavi, chair of the Partnership2Gether committee, introduced the program before handing it over to Nurit Grossman, who is part of the council in Yoav. Grossman gave a brief introduction about Holocaust survivor Cipora Hurwitz, z”l, the mother of Shlomit Hurwitz, who was the first main speaker.

Cipora was born in Poland in 1933, and eventually she and her one brother, Nathan, were the only survivors from their family after the way. She was the author of the book “Forbidden Strawberries,” which has been featured at past programs. On her gravestone, it is inscribed how Hitler tried to kill her as a little girl, but she won by going on to have a full life.

Grossman did a Q&A with Shlomit, who was named after Cipora’s other brother, Shalom, who did not survive. Shlomit shared how it was difficult for her to connect to being a second generation survivor at first.

“When I was young, I think other things worried me, but now I’m at the point where I’m much older, my kids are much older, and I would like to leave a peaceful world to them.

I would like my children not to go through what my mother went through,” she said.

Following Hurwitz’s story, Shari Spark, coordinator of the HRC, introduced Tama Tamarkin, a Lehigh Valley resident and thirdgeneration survivor, who shared her bubby Judith’s story of heroism and survival. Also born in Poland, she managed to survive through the ghetto and escape to become a partisan soldier and eventually come to America.

“In terms of Holocaust education and sharing the stories, I think for me I do feel like it is an obligation. Most of the students I talk to are non-Jewish, maybe have never even met a Jew let alone heard anything about the Holocaust,” shared Tamarkin, emphasizing that since most

Cipora Hurwitz, z”l Holocaust survivors have passed on, she feels it is the important responsibility of the next generation to bear witness to their stories.

“Even the last time I saw her [Bubby] in July, we were in the hospital, and she kept telling the stories and telling the stories….

Even in her last few months, that was the most important thing to her, was that we knew, that we could pass that on. So I intended to continue to do that the best as I can. It’s not fun. It’s not an easy thing to talk about it. But it’s important,” added Tamarkin.

A meaningful discussion focusing on the future of Holocaust education through testimony and legacy was had with the speakers and members of the Zoom audience, including other second-generation survivors. All agreed that in the face of rising fascism and antisemitism around the world, it is important to continue telling the stories and passing on the legacy of survivors.

“Learning about the Holocaust as a Jewish person carries with it a much heavier obligation because we’re the ones who are taking that story forward with us as part of our stories. All of the generations stood at Sinai together. That idea has sort of contextualized Jewish history for all of us. Just because you weren’t there doesn’t mean it’s not part of you.

The lessons we take from it become personal, and that’s a commonality we share in our two geographical locations,” said Spark.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 5

Local kids celebrate Tu B'Shevat

Kol B’Seder performs for a virtual JDS Tu B’Shevat seder.

A child paints a tree at Chabad of the Lehigh Valley.

Kids asssemble fruit skewers at Chabad.

Above left,a JDS student poses while painting a tree.

Above right, a child pauses from his painting at Chabad.

A Chabad student adds to her artwork

A goody bag for the JDS Zoom seder.

JDS students prepare to deliver plants and a painting to Country Meadows Allentown.

6 FEBRUARY 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

JFS aims to reach local disability community with JDAIM town hall

By JFS Staff Are you Jewish and do you have a disability?

Are you a parent of a person with a disability?

JDAIM 2022 is for you!

Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley (JFSLV) and Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley (JFLV) recognize the need to improve our understanding of ways to create a more inclusive community. We need to understand your perspective to create a better future.

JDAIM 2022 Inclusion Survey You are invited to complete a brief survey sharing your experience in the Jewish community as a person with a disability or as a loved one of a person with a disability.

This 5-minute survey will be used to understand issues, challenges and opportunities for change. Based on the results, thematic topics will be created for the Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) Town Hall meeting to start the conversation.

If you have accessibility issues filling out the survey, contact Amanda

Thomas at amthomas@jfslv.org.

The links to surveys for both those with a disability and those who are caregivers to individuals with a disability can be found at jfslv.org/jdaim.

Virtual Town Hall: Disability & Inclusion in our Jewish Community Join JFSLV, JFLV and RespectAbility for a FREE 90-minute virtual town hall forum on disability and inclusion in our Jewish community on Sunday, Feb. 20, at 1:00 p.m.

JFS Disability Liaison Amanda Thomas, Ph.D., will join moderators from RespectAbility to lead the webinar.

ASL interpretation and Communication Access Real-Time Translation will be provided. Please contact Amanda Thomas amthomas@jfslv. org by February 1st, if you need any additional accommodations.

Please visit fslv.org/jdaim to register and to learn more about JDAIM. We look forward to having this conversation with you.

Dvora Hacohen, Joshua Cohen, Dara Horn win big at the 2021 National Jewish Book Awards

N O I S S

"The Netanyahus," "A Play for the End of the World," "People Love Dead Jews" and Dvora Hacohen’s biography of Hadassah founder Henriette Szold are among the winners of the 2021 National Jewish Book Awards. (National Jewish Book Awards)

By Andrew Lapin Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Dvora Hacohen’s biography of Hadassah founder Henriette Szold won two honors, including Jewish Book of the Year, from the Jewish Book Council in their annual awards list.

“To Repair a Broken World: The Life of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah,” which includes a forward by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also was named best biography. The 2021 National Jewish Book Awards were announced on Jan. 20 by the JBC. “Hacohen portrays the relentless passion of Szold, who devoted her life to creating opportunities both for Jewish women and the disadvantaged, as she sought to not only empower women, but also to foster a spirit of social cohesion and equality,” the council said in a news release.

Other prominent winners included Joshua Cohen, Dara Horn, Jai Chakrabarti, Judy Batalion and Esther David.

Cohen’s “The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family,” a satirical chronicle of the future Israeli prime minister’s family’s time in America, won the council’s fiction award. Cohen told JTA sister site Alma last year that he “wanted to explore what it meant to be left out of history, in a strange way.”

Chakrabarti won the council’s debut fiction prize for his novel “A Play for the End of the World,” a fictionalized exploration of real-life Warsaw Ghetto educator and humanitarian Janusz Korczak and the children at the orphanage he ran.

Horn’s essay collection “People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted

Present,” an exploration of antisemitism and vanished Jewish communities, won in the “Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice” category, while David’s cookbook “Bene Appétit: The Cuisine of Indian Jews” won the council’s award for food writing. A member of the tiny Bene Indian Jewish community, David uses her book to explore the culinary practices of India’s 5,000-member Jewish population.

The council’s top children’s book of 2021 was “Dear Mr. Dickens,” an historical account of a young Jewish girl who confronts Charles Dickens over antisemitic stereotypes in his books, by Nancy Chumin and illustrator Bethany Stancliffe. Its top book for young adults was “Rebel Daughter,” a novel by Lori Banov Kaufmann set during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The top book of poetry was “The Book of Anna” by Joy Ladin, a professor at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women who is the school’s first openly transgender professor.

Several history books also took home prizes. Batalion won a “Women’s Studies” prize for “The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos,” which has been optioned for a film adaptation by Steven Spielberg. James McAuley, the Paris correspondent for the Washington Post, won the council’s history prize for “The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France,” a history of French Jewish art collectors between 1870 and the end of World War II that also doubles as a history of French antisemitism.

The council will honor its award winners during a virtual ceremony on April 6.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 7

IN HONOR LENNY ABRAMS AND CATHY SACHER In honor of Ryan’s engagement Vicki Wax SHEILA BERG In honor of being named a Girl Scouts of Eastern PA’s 2022 Take the Lead Lehigh Valley honoree Wendy and Ross Born SHERYL AND RANCE BLOCK In honor of the birth of your granddaughter, Mia Emily Block Wendy and Ross Born Beth and Howard Kushnick Suzanne Lapiduss and Family CAROL AND STEWART FURMANSKY In honor of the birth of your granddaughter, Lielle Rita and Mike Bloom AMY GOLDING In honor of being chosen as the first cohort of the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership’s Educational Leadership Program Carol and Gary Fromer EVA LEVITT Happy Special Birthday!

Vicki Wax JUDY AND CARL OLESH In honor of the birth of your grandson, Jesse Vicki Wax LOTA POST

8 FEBRUARY 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

In honor of a complete and speedy recovery Aaron Gorodzinsky and Jennie Schechner RANDI AND DONALD SENDEROWITZ In honor of your daughter Rissa’s engagement to Evan Ntonados Wendy and Ross Born Carol and Gary Fromer LESLIE AND MICHAEL SHEFTEL In honor of the birth or your grandson Randi and Donald Senderowitz EILEEN UFBERG In honor of the birth of your granddaughter, Mickie Briggin Ufberg Chelsea and Elliot Busch Aaron Gorodzinsky and Jennie Schechner Beth and Wes Kozinn EILEEN UFBERG In honor of receiving the Kipnis-Wilson/ Friedland Award Sybil and Barry Baiman Wendy and Ross Born Carol and Gary Fromer Beth and Wes Kozinn BEVERLY AND RON WASSERMAN In honor of your grandson Max’s Bar Mitzvah Beth and Wes Kozinn Elaine and Leon Papir JERI AND LEN ZIMMERMAN In honor of your son Zach’s engagement Vicki Wax

IN MEMORY AUNT (Aunt of Lisa Shedroff) Elaine and Leon Papir SISTER, BETTY (Sister of Donna and Bruce Silverberg) Penny and Adam Roth ALAN BARINGOLDZ (Son of Jewel Baringoldz, brother of Randi Senderowitz) Carol and Gary Fromer Suzanne Lapiduss and Family Hank Narrow Elaine and Leon Papir Penny and Adam Roth HOWARD ISRAEL (Husband of Susan Israel) Judy Alperin Molly and Noah Diamondstein MILDRED (MILLIE) SEGAL (Grandmother of Amy Fels) Carol and Gary Fromer Beth and Wes Kozinn MICKEY UFBERG MEMORIAL AMBUCYCLE FUND Sybil and Barry Baiman Sylvia and Sam Bub The Chaitt Family Carol and Gary Fromer IN HONOR EDEN CITRON In honor of your Bat Mitzvah Beth Schonberger HELEN AND SOL KRAWITZ HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND IN HONOR LAURA AND BOB BLACK In honor of the birth of your grandson Lynda and Richard Somach CAROL AND STEWART FURMANSKY In honor of the birth of your grand-

daughter Lynda and Richard Somach KARLA AND ROB KEVITCH In honor of the birth of your grandchild Lynda and Richard Somach RANDI AND DONALD SENDEROWITZ In honor of your daughter Rissa’s engagement to Evan Ntonados Lynda and Richard Somach ARLENE AND RICHARD STEIN In honor of your 60th Wedding Anniversary Lynda and Richard Somach IN MEMORY ALAN BARINGOLDZ (Brother of Randi Senderowitz) Joan Lesavoy and Family Lynda and Richard Somach SANFORD (SANDY) BELDON (Husband of Patricia Beldon) Lynda and Richard Somach ELOISE ENGELSON (Mother of Susan Engelson Friefeld) Brenda Aisenberg Patricia Caspar Leah DeVine Barbara Gersh Brenda Kurlansik and Edward Walker Laurie and Robert Levine Elizabeth and David Lischner Arlene and Richard Stein Sue Zales RHODA GLAZIER (Wife of Lenny Glazier) Lynda and Richard Somach 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.

PARTNERSHIP2GETHER UPDATE FROM YOAV

Yoav gets ready to reflect on Holocaust

By Nurit Galon Partnership2Gether Good morning Lehigh Valley!

As I write this, the temperature in Yoav is 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit) and - a real blessing, it is raining hard! As Yoav is an agricultural region, the rains over the next three months decide what sort of yield we will have from the fields and trees, and most of us begin our day with an anxious check of how much rain fell during the night. That and, of course, our ever-present cause for concern - Corona in all its various forms.

The Yoav communities are well organized with daily bulletins from the Yoav Regional Council, but, as the situation changes daily if not hourly, it is not easy to follow instructions — with clinics all over the country for checking if we are perhaps infected, often long queues and waits, concerns about our schoolchildren — to study in school or back to Zoom at home, every day new instructions so that even those who truly wish to obey them, are often confused! As for cultural activities, study programs, etc., organizers must surely be tearing their hair out!

Yet with all this, life goes on, and with it a determination to make every effort to look after the population whilst also guarding the quality of life.

On Jan. 23, our Partnership2Gether Communities, Lehigh Valley and Yoav, will meet on Zoom to commemorate International Holocaust Day, and what began as interviews with second and third generations of Holocaust survivors has become an understanding that in a very short time, our Holocaust survivors will no longer be with us. This raises serious demands not only from Yoav and Lehigh Valley, but of World Jewry, and the world in general — how do we ensure the continuation of Holocaust education, and what do we mean by that? Can we really promise not to forget? And is it time to forgive? Can we convince the Jewish world that

the lessons of the Holocaust are that we should always be aware that yes, this could happen again? And are we ready for it?

Over the past 70 years, we have been witness to terrible ethnic slaughters around the world, unlike the terrors of the concentration camps during the Second World War which were not really well known to the world at large at the time. Somehow after the War, we convinced ourselves that surely, had the world known what was happening, "they" would have stopped it? Yet we watched what was happening in Rwanda, in Croatia, on our televisions in our living rooms!

Today, Jews go shopping in Poland because it is cheap.

If we see no difference between shopping in Poland, the graveyard of so many Jews, and shopping in the markets in Israel and around the world, have we failed in our Holocaust education?

So many questions, so many dilemmas — some of which we hope to bring to the Zoom discussions on Jan. 23.

The Golden Age — for many years we have grown up surrounded by slogans and (to be fair) also actions that try to convince us that to grow old is to enter a magic state of health, wisdom, freedom to do what we like, passing out the wisdom we have learned during our lifetimes to following generations who can't wait to learn from us! Hmm! A lovely picture, with quite a lot of wishful thinking! In truth, golden agers often find themselves with health problems caused at least partly by — let's face it — age. Loneliness also needs adjusting to, mobility, how to fill those empty hours and more.

Yet all around us here in Yoav, and not only, there is a genuine concern by the leaders of the community to make the lives of their senior citizens as healthy as possible by appropriate physical activities, trips to museums, exhibitions, plays and concerts, all highly subsidized and available to those physically limited. Yoav has a very busy

and active community center, with activities of every kind available to our seniors. Most of our kibbutzim and moshavim have their own senior centers, and recently the Yoav Municipality established an across the board seniors committee, charged with finding out what the seniors want, and how to achieve it. The message is clear: "Seniors, you are not alone!" It's a comforting thought!

To all of our friends and partners in Lehigh Valley, we send you fervent wishes for good health and the strength and patience to wait for better days, which surely will arrive in the not too distant future.

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 9

PHOTO BY ALENA BYCHENKO/COURTESY OF ISRAEL ICE SKATING FEDERATION

Israeli figure skating duo chase ‘impossible dream’ to Beijing

Hailey Kops and Evgeni Krasnopolski.

By Abigail Klein Leichman ISRAEL21c A lot of hopes are riding on the skates of Hailey Kops and Evgeni Krasnopolski.

The figure-skating pair are among six athletes expected to represent Israel at the Beijing Olympics, February 4–20.

And Israel has never medaled at the Winter Games.

“Yes, there’s a little pressure — but in the best way possible,” Kops told IS-

RAEL21c.

This will be the first Olympics for Kops, 19, and the third for Krasnopolski, 33.

They’ve already accomplished an astonishing feat by securing one of just 19 slots allotted to figure-skating pairs at Beijing.

They began skating together only last June, and yet in September beat out top contenders from countries including China, Britain and Ukraine at a qualifying tour-

10 FEBRUARY 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

nament in Germany.

“It was insane that they had a little more than three months to try and qualify for the Olympics,” said Hailey’s father, Steven Kops.

“Most teams have been skating for years together to get the timing and connection needed for pairs. They had three months. The music they skated to was ‘The Impossible Dream’ and it truly was impossible.”

Even more so, because Kops had taken a two-year break from competitive skating at age 17 to finish high school and study at a Jerusalem seminary for the 2020-21 academic year.

Kops grew up in northern New Jersey and took on Israeli citizenship upon joining Team Israel in middle school. Krasnopolski has resided in northern New Jersey for 13 years — Team Israel ice skaters often train there, under head coach Galit Chait Moracci, due to the shortage of rinks in Israel.

Krasnopolski and Kops fell out of touch after Kops went to Israel in the fall of 2020. He assumed her skating days were over. That’s why he didn’t think of her the following spring when he was seeking a new partner for his third Olympic bid.

Chait Moracci’s parents — Israel Ice Skating Federa-

tion President Boris Chait and Team Leader Irene Chait – did think of Kops but first pursued other options. Finally, on June 8, they phoned her father.

When Steven Kops answered the phone, Boris Chait said, “I have two words: Hailey Evgeni.”

“You won’t believe this,” replied Kops. “Hailey just returned this morning from seminary.”

She quickly accepted the opportunity to be Krasnopolski’s partner. “I have a huge amount of respect for him as a two-time Olympian,” she said.

Krosnopolski told ISRAEL21c, “I knew nothing about it until Galit called me and said, ‘Tomorrow Hailey will be at the rink.’”

He was pleased to find that they had good chemistry and were both committed to the Olympic goal.

“Hailey was just crazy enough to believe that if we focused and put a year’s worth of work into three months, we could do it,” he told ISRAEL21c.

A connection to Israel Evgeni Krasnopolski moved to Israel from Ukraine with his family at age three. He started skating at seven, and as a preteen began representing Israel internationally.

Having won many doubles competitions, he qualified for the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.

He was drafted, like his peers, at 18, but his Outstanding Athlete status allowed him to continue training and competing. Relocating to New Jersey for intensive training, he returned to Israel every three months to put in his required time on base over the next five years.

Hailey Kops first ventured onto the rink at three years

old under the tutelage of her mother, Lisa, a United States Figure Skating Association gold medalist. Within a few years she was winning trophies as a singles skater.

When Chait Moracci invited her to join Team Israel at 13, “I didn’t think twice about becoming a citizen of Israel,” she said. “Just being Jewish and growing up modern Orthodox, I always had a connection to Israel even if I do live in the U.S. So to become a citizen was really cool to me.”

Kops and her first skating partner, Artem Tsoglin, finished seventh at the Junior World championships in 2019.

“When I started doing pairs, I realized I loved it more,” she said. “I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so I love the throws and twists.”

Gliding to the top After just two months of training, Kops and Krasnopolski finished last at the Cranberry Cup in Boston.

“We both needed to adjust some skating issues to make the best of our partnership,” said Krasnopolski. “Because of corona we had only two competitions before the qualifier in September. So for the second competition, in New York, we just knew we had to be confident and do it.”

And indeed they glided to the top against all odds.

“It’s an honor to be one of the six athletes competing for Israel,” said Kops.

“Not many people get the opportunity to quality for the Olympics and going there under the Israeli flag means so much to me. We’re not the only skaters who have to train outside the country they represent. But I feel a connection because I’m skating under the Israeli figure skating Continues on page 11

Exploring Israel, Jewish Diversity at Kol Ami Jewish Agency for Israel

Israeli figure skating Continues on page 11 Israeli flag.”

She and Krasnopolski practice Sunday through Friday rather than the more usual Monday through Saturday, as Kops is Sabbath observant.

She said the partners will “focus on nothing else until we leave for Beijing. We still have a lot to work on.”

They are to be joined in China by at least four other Israeli athletes: Two-time Olympic figure skater Alexei Bychenko in men’s singles; Vladislav Bykanov in short-

COURTESY OF NADIE

Born and raised in the tightknit Jewish community in Oslo, Norway, Nadine grew up in a family that wasn’t very religious but who upheld Jewish traditions and celebrated holidays with her whole extended family.

She went to a Jewish kindergarten but attended normal Norwegian schools for most of her education since Norway didn’t have Jewish day schools.

“The Jewish community in Norway is very small, with only about 1,500 Jews in total.

So I became very close friends and developed a special connection with my Jewish peers at Sunday school since there weren’t so many of us,” said Nadine, 19. “I also went to Scandinavian Jewish summer camps where I got to know Swedish, Danish and Finish Jews.”

Those experiences made Nadine passionate about exploring Jewish diversity, which led to her being part of the unique Shvilim (paths) program, funded by the Jewish community in Oslo. As part of the 10-month program, Nadine studied Judaism and Jewish culture at Oslo Metropolitan University for a month before coming to Israel to participate in The Jewish Agency’s Mechinat Kol Ami at Kibbutz Bachan in Emek Hefer for six months.

“I was excited for the Kol Ami part of the program because it would let me develop a stronger connection to Israel and explore my Jewish identity,” Nadine shared. “Getting to explore the amazing diversity and cultures in our Jewish state personally means I can knowledgeably talk to others back home about the realities of Israel. And I’m learning more about how I and oth-

ers can be connected to Israel even if we’re not so religious and living far away.”

The Kol Ami – Jewish Peoplehood Leadership Academy brings together young Jews from Israel and abroad from all different backgrounds, forging lasting connections amongst the next generation of Jews. During the program, participants learn about each other and the concept of Jewish Peoplehood while exploring Israel, volunteering and living together as a community.

After their time at Kol Ami, Nadine and the three other Scandinavians in the Shvilim program will travel around Israel for two months and then spend one month in the U.S. participating in an Anti-Defamation League seminar about antisemitism.

Upon returning home, she’ll take two exams and then become a Norwegian Jewish Bridge Builder, a role that entails traveling to local Christian high schools and creating an open dialogue that dismantles prejudice by spreading knowledge as a representative of Norwegian Jewry.

“Antisemitism in Norway is really caused by a lack of knowledge since many Norwegians have never met a Jew,” explained Nadine.

“There are a lot of assumptions made stemming from

ignorance, but it becomes dangerous when they start to think of Jews as ‘the other’ rather than accepting that we are Norwegian AND Jewish, and thus part of society.”

Understanding the challenges that lay ahead, Nadine knows her job as a Jewish Bridge Builder will ultimately be incredibly meaningful.

“I came to Israel because I have an important mission and responsibility to my Norwegian community to keep our small Jewish community alive and fight prejudice,” Nadine said. “I love Norway and they really need me back home. And once I’ve completed the different parts of the Shvilim program, including my time at Kol Ami, I know I can have an even bigger impact there.”

Editor’s note: The Jewish Agency for Israel is an overseas partner of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley.

track speed skating; and sister-and-brother Alpine skiers Noa and Benjamin Szollos.

(More may qualify closer to the Games.)

Israel’s largest-ever Winter Games delegation was only 10 athletes, in 2018.

In contrast, Israel sent a record 89 athletes to the Tokyo Olympics last summer and brought home two gold and two bronze medals.

In Beijing, said Boris Chait, “Our goal is to be in the finals, and it would be amazing if we end up in the top 10. Easy? No. But as one very wise commentator once said, every athlete that made it to the Olympics is a winner, and every Olympic athlete has a story to tell.”

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 11

We will not give up KI presents

STUDENT RABBI ARMIN LANGER Congregation Am Haskalah On Jan. 15, a day of Shabbat, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and three other people were held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. The standoff lasted more than 11 hours. That Shabbat day, Jews around the world were reading the weekly portion of Beshalach, which tells us the story of the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt.

And indeed, the four Jewish hostages in Colleyville were liberated.

The hostages’ captor believed that a Jewish conspiracy ruled the United States and that, if he took Jewish hostages, he could compel American political leaders

to release an alleged al-Qaeda operator. The Colleyville hostage crisis has once again shown us the threat and reality of antisemitic hatred in the United States: According to a 2021 survey by the American Jewish Committee, 24 percent of American Jews reported that an institution they were affiliated with had been targeted by antisemitism in the past five years.

Antisemitism will continue to pose a challenge to Jewish life in the United States. As we offer support to the freed hostages, we also have to ensure that our own houses of community, study and prayer are as secure as possible.

Members of the Colleyville community had taken courses through the Anti-Defamation League and Secure Community Network in order to prepare for the possibility of an attack.

Rabbi Cytron-Walker credited these courses with saving the hostages’ lives. At the same time, we should not forget to keep our doors open to everyone coming in peace. Beth Israel’s rabbi can serve us as an inspiration, too, who is known for his interfaith work and has led efforts in building a just peace.

The Jewish people have seen antisemitism for generations. We have outlived all the attempts to eliminate us – and we have outlived the terrorist who took

the four congregants of Beth Israel hostage. A week after the Colleyville hostage crisis, synagogues around the United States celebrated Jewish life. At Congregation Am Haskalah in the Lehigh Valley, we prayed for the comfort and consolation of the hostages freed from Congregation Beth Israel. We prayed for blessings on the first responders who came to their rescue. We prayed for peace, also with our non-Jewish siblings in mind, many of whom expressed solidarity with the hostages, their congregation, and the broader Jewish community during the crisis.

But we did not only pray for the healing of the hostages. We also sang songs for the day of Shabbat, davened the ancient prayers, chanted the Torah reading, and got together to learn about the weekly portion.

We will not give up on Judaism and its values because of antisemitism. On the contrary, we will continue to gather and celebrate our rich civilization.

By being in our communities, whether in person or virtually, we will continue demonstrating that Judaism offers us comfort and meaning even, no matter how difficult times might be.

I wish all of us that we may stay safe and find comfort in our Jewish communities!

discussion on implicit bias

By Ann Fridenheim and Audrey Nolte Congregation Keneseth Israel “Before every person there walks an angel announcing, ‘Behold, the Image of God’” - Jewish Proverb Have you considered that despite your involvement in social justice, no one is exempt from implicit bias? The term “implicit bias” describes attitudes we have or associated stereotypes toward people without our conscious knowledge. They influence how we treat people, decision-making and choices in many aspects of our lives.

Although these biases are unintentional and may not align with our conscious and declared beliefs about people, they are still powerful.

Throughout history and even currently, Jews have experienced other people’s implicit bias. It is critical that we also understand the implicit biases we may hold.

Because they occur at an unconscious level, the first step to address these biases is through introspection and self-awareness. Mr. Scott Blair, M.Ed., is a respected, experienced educator and leader in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion. His presentation to Congregation Keneseth Israel will provide us with the opportunity for education about implicit bias as well as the invitation to examine our own implicit biases and understand how they operate in our lives.

Join us on Sunday, March 27 at 10 a.m. to explore “thoughts about people you didn’t know you had.”

Sponsored by The Women of KI, Brit Olam and Lifelong Learning. Contact Congregation Keneseth Israel at kilv. org or 610-435-9074.

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HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 13

Dreaming of trips to camp—or Israel? Federation can help!

Jewish overnight summer camp can have a profoundly positive impact on a youth’s confidence and identity, including their Jewish identity.

The same goes for trips to Israel. Because of the importance of these experiences in nurturing young minds and spirits, Federation offers grants and scholarships to help make them possible for all.

Need-based scholarships for camp for students from the Lehigh Valley who are enrolling in Jewish resident camps such as Ramah, Pinemere, Harlam, Galil, Young Judea and Moshava are available. Applications for the 2022 Summer season are being accepted through March 25.

When it comes to Israel, many opportunities await people of all ages. Teen Experience Grants are awarded to individuals for Jewish teen education experiences that will enrich the recipients, enhance the community, and increase the likelihood of future engagement with Jewish life. Teens from the Lehigh Valley in 9th through 12th grades may apply for scholarships for Jewish sum-

mer camps, Jewish youth group summer programs, conventions, and certain trips to Israel. These applications are also due March 25.

The VISIT Israel pro-

gram is another way Federation helps make trips for youth more affordable.

Enrollees have the opportunity to save up to $2,400 toward an approved group trip to Israel over eight years.

The families contribute $300 each year, and the Federation adds $200, for a total of up to $4,000 plus accrued interest.

Participants may use their funds from the summer after 9th grade until they are 25 years old. The VISIT program is designed to fund Israel programs that emphasize Jewish learning or living experiences

What’s new at your favorite sleepaway camps?

We got the latest updates from all our local Jewish resident camps. You heard it here first!

Camps Airy & Louise are celebrating 100 years of super summers in 2022!

“In 2021, it was great to be back in our summer home. We all needed camp… time with new and old friends, time outside, time away from home, and time away from screens,” said Jaci Steinhart, assistant director of Camp Louise.

for a period of at least four weeks in Israel.

For those who have aged out of VISIT or programs like Birthright, the Les z”l & Elaine Lerner Israel Program Scholarship Fund was created. If you are a young adult aged 27-40 who is interested in an Israel experience, apply

by April 29 for this year’s scholarship.

To learn more and find applications, visit jewishlehighvalley. org/scholarships or contact Jeri Zimmerman at 610-821-5500 or jeri@jflv.org.

Habonim Dror Camp Galil is thrilled to announce that it has received a transformational gift to establish a scholarship fund for Camp Galil campers to attend Habonim Dror’s Israel programs. The gift, from an anonymous long-time Galil family, establishes the Shahar Israel Program Scholarship Fund. Shahar, meaning sunrise in Hebrew, holds personal significance to the donor family. In an agreement with the family, the gift will remain invested, and

proceeds will go to support ongoing annual need-based scholarship support for Camp Galil campers to attend two Habonim Dror North America’s (HDNA) Israel programs. This fund enables Camp Galil to support the Galil community through the entire arc of their journey as Jewish youth.

“Summer 2021 was a very successful and COVID-safe summer. With investments in our cabins and an outdoor dining hall, we were able to operate safely and provide the campers with an extraordinary in-person experience. We look forward to returning even stronger in Summer 2022 with the addition of a new Climbing Tower,” added David Weiss, executive director for Camp Galil.

Pinemere Camp is ready for 2022 as they reflect on what made 2021 special: “Summer 2021 was like What’s new at camp?

Continues on page 18

START HAVING YOUR BEST SUMMER, EVERY SUMMER! NEW CAMPERS SAVE $1000 WWW.PINEMERE.COM 14 FEBRUARY 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY

This year’s Camp JCC summer shlicha is a familiar face

By Stephanie Goodling HAKOL Editor Five years ago, Shani Kalmanovich spent the summer in the Lehigh Valley as one of the four Israel teen counselors who traditionally help “bring Israel” to Camp JCC each year. Now, she is newly graduated from the army and teaching and studying while looking forward to returning to the Lehigh Valley for another summer of fun at camp.

Her first time in the Valley was also her first time “so long time out of my country without my parents,” but she felt “like I was at home; it was amazing.”

“This experience I had in the Lehigh Valley exposed me to this world of the Jewish community in the diaspora, the connection between them and Jewish community in Israel. And because of the visit in Allentown, I continued and

did a gap year before the army in Baltimore [in the ShinShinim program]. It was the most amazing experience in my life. I came to find myself as a people person. I connect with people,” she added.

Kalmanovich has been back to visit the families who hosted her in the Lehigh Valley before, and she is excited to return to our community again.

“I think this is something really important, to continue this connection, and I just love this area and all the people,” she said.

It is not yet certain if the teens from Yoav will be able to join her at camp this year, but either way, Kalmanovich is prepared to bring Israeli culture to the campers. She is looking forward to the opportunity to guide and teach the children, as teaching is what she did in the army and what she wants to do in the future.

Discovering that camp means family

By Gavriel Siman-Tov Community shaliach Growing up in Israel, I never had the opportunity to go to camp. I didn’t even know it was a thing back then, and neither did my parents. It’s not like there was nothing for kids or teens to do over the summer, but it was more like a day camp but not even close. It was kind of like school but with more fun. I didn’t really like it, and growing up, my parents wanted me to try and see if I liked any of them. But, me being me, I just didn’t connect to any.

When I was 16 years old, I went on a delegation from the youth center I was part of to New York City. This was my first time in the U.S. and my first time experiencing Jewish life outside of Israel. We went each day of the first week to different Jewish camps around the area and volunteered there for a couple of hours. This was my glimpse into the camp world, and I knew it was something different.

A few years passed, and I was in my last year of service in the IDF when I decided I wanted to go and be a counselor in a summer camp in North America, and so I did. I finished my service in May 2019, and in June, I was on a plane to Malibu, California, to be a

counselor in a Jewish summer camp.

At first, it was a bit hard to realize that at this amazing place, summer camp, I had just become part of a new family. I fell in love with the idea of camp and with every day that passed, I just loved it even more. I was there for three months and came back to Israel knowing how amazing camp is for kids and teens.

A year passed, and I started my shlichut and moved here. By the end of the first year when summer came, summer camp came

along with it. Once again, I had the amazing feeling of walking into a new family, a different world, and I was just smiling nonstop.

I could never describe the feeling of joy and safety of being yourself when I walk into Jewish summer camp.

I can’t describe how happy I am that those kids have a place like this, a place for them to be themselves with no fear. It’s like being home with your family, but this family you only see once a year over the summer.

I can’t wait for camp this year!

See SHALOM Lehigh Valley pages 34 & 35 for more about camps; for other youth content, see pages 17 & 29.

Go to www.jewishlehighvalley.org/ shalom for the online magazine.

FOLLOW US @shalomlehighvalley

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 15

JDS Head of School chosen for Mandel Institute leadership program Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley Head of School Amy Golding is thrilled to have been chosen as the only head of school for the first cohort of the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership’s Educational Leadership Program. The program empowers Jewish educational leaders from a range of settings to generate new visions of Jewish education, and to build relationships beyond their organizations as they bring their visions to life. The 20 fellows of Cohort I were selected from a large pool of applicants. As a group, they include leaders from a range of educational settings: day schools, supplemental schools, Hillels, Federations, start-up ventures, and convening organizations. Led by Rabbi Jethro Berkman, they will embark on an 18-month long program, consisting of three seminars in Boston, a study tour in Israel, and learning opportunities in between seminars.

Golding noted, “As the Head of School of Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley, a community PreK to 8th grade program, I am taking on the challenge of securing our future. The breathtaking pace of change over the last two years has generated extraordinary excitement and possibilities. As such, the opportunity to participate in the Mandel Educational Leadership Program that joins leaders together from across settings to explore and plan for the future of Jewish education while enhancing our leadership, is an incredible opportunity. The program will push me to continue to grow so that I can help our Jewish future evolve, adjust and plan for a meaningful ever-broadening American Jewish community.”

New JDS playground offers opportunities for imagination and learning

By JDS Staff The Jewish Day School recently completed construction of its new outdoor playground for younger students, so we asked Amy Golding, JDS Head of School, to share with us a little bit about why this investment is important and what outdoor play can offer children.

Albert Einstein famously said, “Play is the highest form of research.” Adding outside play? This adage rings even truer.

The playground, you could say, is the epicenter of

research in a child’s world.

To a child, a playground is not just wood and nails and pieces of plastic. It’s a spaceship. It’s a castle. It’s a doctor’s office. It is anything and everything a child wants it to be. As adults, we all look back fondly on our playground days when we climbed the monkey bars and skinned our knees, when we slid down the metal slide and burned our legs. Looking back, these experiences - in many ways - shaped who we became. The playground was not just a playground, it was a space where formative, significant experiences happened.

Science has made it clear in recent decades that outdoor play - in addition to encouraging imagination and creative play - is beneficial in so many other ways. Here’s how: It improves gross motor skills Outdoor play on structures requires balance, coordination and spatial awareness, all vital physical skills for growth and development.

It encourages social-emotional learning With outdoor play, children are encouraged to practice skills like turn-taking, compromise, problem-solving and self-control. Because outdoor play is unstructured, it creates the perfect environment for children to take risks, work together and develop other crucial behaviors like empathy and kindness.

It benefits physical health Outdoor play has innumerable health benefits. From encouraging physical activity that improves cardiovascular, muscle endurance and strength to offering fresh, clean air to breathe. Further, regularly playing outdoors

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helps instill a love of physical activity that will last a lifetime.

It inspires an appreciation and understanding of the outdoors One of the best ways to learn is to do. Talking with children about butterflies and the change of seasons is one way to teach, but actually showing and exploring butterflies and autumn leaves falling? This takes children’s understanding to a new level. At the Jewish Day School, our playground sits next to our butterfly and community garden beds.

Our children are learning the power of making the world a better, greener and more sustainable place. Enhancing this with the opportunity for children to run with abandon, manipulate, experiment, and discover the outdoors provides for our students to actively engage with nature and one another.

Our new playground takes on a holistic approach to outdoor play. We have installed a beautiful play structure from CedarWorks and will be adding: a gazebo for outdoor instruction and dramatic play, outdoor art easels, a mud kitchen, tables and benches and riding toys.

All of these pieces will combine to create a space where children can play, grow, and make memories that will last a lifetime and make a positive impact on their futures.

The Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley is now open for enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year for pre-k (3 year olds) through 8th grade. For more information, visit www. jdslv.org, call 610-437-0721, or email sschonbach@jdslv.org.

Enroll by Wednesday, March 2 for $1,000 off tuition.

Book Review: ‘Camp Girls’

By Sean Boyle Special to HAKOL New York Times bestselling author Iris Krasnow’s seventh book, “Camp Girls: Fireside Lessons on Friendship, Courage, and Loyalty,” is a memoir of her sleepaway camp experiences as a camper, teenage camp counselor, and her return as a camp counselor after a 40-year break.

Although there are plenty of camp anecdotes and reflection on camp experiences, there is also a direct linkage to character traits and skillsets that were honed at camp and have lasted through Krasnow’s and the people she’s interviewed lives.

Although her main summer camp, Camp Agawak, is not a Jewish camp, all of the campers, when she was there, were Jewish, and she highlights the role Jewish camps have played in the lives of Jewish campers over the last 100 years.

Each chapter highlights a distinctive value or character trait that Krasnow tells from several points of reference. From the viewpoint of a camper, from her experiences as a counselor, and then how it helped shape her adult life. She also weaves in perspectives and experiences from fellow camp alumni, other famous

former campers, and from people she’s met and talked with in daily interactions.

Krasnow spends a majority of the book staying very generalized about activities at camps and attempts to demonstrate the legacy of girls camping in the 1930s sharing the same experiences as girls from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and today. Highlighting the living in cabins, being in nature, singing songs and competing in color wars. One difference she does highlight is how modern camp is more of an escape from technology and the ultra-packed schedules of sports, schools and other activities that today’s children are participating in and constantly being driven between. Free-time for her and her peers was spent packing in activities, today’s youth instead sit and connect with each other that is otherwise impossible back in their daily lives.

Although Krasnow concentrates on eight-week long sleepover camps for girls, she does address how other types of camps also share in many of the same developmental aspects and provides many similar experiences. So it is a great reminder of the importance of camp in not only childrens’ development but also on the lasting positive impacts it holds through the rest of their lives.

Highly recommended for ages 12-120, especially for anyone who went to a sleepaway camp.

Local student honored in Holocaust essay contest

Editor’s Note: Jackson Golding, son of Jewish Day School Head of School Amy Golding and grandson of community leaders Jeanette and Eduardo Eichenwald, received an honorable mention for his essay in this year’s Violins of Hope contest.

His essay is reprinted here with permission. To learn more about Violins of Hope, visit violins-of-hope.com.

By Jackson Golding Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley The Violins of Hope have inspired me to think about my Great-Grandfather. Here are things about him. My Great-Grandfather Walter Knie was a Holocaust survivor. He was born in 1908 and died in 2005. Despite his hard life, he lived 97 years! My family called him Opi. His parents were Hermann and Hida Jagendorf. He only had one child, and her name was Jeanette Eichenwald. She is my

Grandma.

Opi was sent to two concentration camps, Dachau and Buchenwald. Because of the torture in the camps, he was left blind. He also lost a lot of family members during the Holocaust. The youngest he lost was only three years old.

Even though I never met him, his life still leaves an impact on me. Seeing the Violins of Hope exhibit at school reminded me that the victims of the Holocaust are not just a number — they each, like my Grandpa, have a story. There was the family that didn’t survive but the violin did because they gave it to his neighbor. Or the man who brought with him to the ghetto a winter coat, a pot and his violin because music was so important to him. There was a third violin that had a Jewish star on it for pride, yet was the same symbol the Jews had to wear on their clothes to identify themselves as Jews.

Each one of these violins tells a story, a story like my Grandpa, and each one reminds us of the horror our people felt and the role we play as Jews to make sure we hear the stories, remember them, and live a life as proud Jews.

The speaker told us why

the exhibit was called the Violins of Hope. Hope is such a powerful word — a word that reminds me I can make a difference and I will.

What I can do to make unity in my school is I will serve as a big brother to help the younger students throughout the day (when they enter school, when they cry and when I see them by giving them high fives). I will use my role as a Student Council representative to build community, making sure all students have a voice. For example, during ADHD Awareness Month, I will help coordinate a guest speaker so students with special needs are represented. Another thing I can do as Student Council is make a big deal about Kindness Week by encouraging students and teachers to do big and small acts to make our school family connect.

Making sure all students are welcomed, no one is teased, and no one is judged by the way they look, sound or act.

I will make good decisions as a student, as a grandson, a son, and as a brother. I will use my voice to bring hope to others. I will learn the stories of the past so that I can make the world better in my school and in my community.

Sean Boyle is Congregation Keneseth Israel’s librarian and is also serving as President of the Schools, Synagogues, Centers, and Public Libraries Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

Camp Girls: Fireside Lessons on Friendship, Courage, and Loyalty. (Krasnow, Iris, New York, Grand Central Publishing, 2020, 232p.)

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What’s new at camp?

Continues on page 18

A Camp Galil crew go wild with foam.

A camper enjoys the zipline at Camp Airy.

Camp Harlam campers singing ‘Sim Shalom’ and feeling the Shabbat spirit in our scenic Chapel in the Woods.

Kids at Camp Galil get silly.

©JENNIFERLEEPHOTOGRAPHY

Camp Ramah in the Poconos reports its cabins are looking to be already quite full for this summer! They are excited about a robust 2022 season.

Shabbat Shalom at TieDye Friday at Pinemere Camp.

©JENNIFERLEEPHOTOGRAPHY

no other! It was an ‘all hands on deck mentality.’ There were so many challenges, and we worked as a team to overcome them and be stronger in the end. There was such an overall sense of appreciation after not having a camp season for two years that the enthusiasm and love for camp grew each day! We were successful in remaining COVID-free. We owe that to lots of preparation in COVID Policies, remaining diligent in our protocols, and just dumb luck! Summer 2021 will always be a special summer that was more rewarding than I've ever experienced before,” shared Linz Haft, Pinemere director of camper care and communications.

A Camp Harlam camper enjoys the perfect s’more on an idyllic night at Slip’s Pit, Harlam’s newest campfire site.

Campers enjoy learning archery at Camp Louise.

Havdalah led by our Pinemere Camp Executive Director, Eytan!

©JENNIFERLEEPHOTOGRAPHY

©JENNIFERLEEPHOTOGRAPHY

An emotional moment at Camp Galil.

A Camp Harlam camper cools off with a spin around the lake in a Corcl.

Immersed in an environment of love and understanding, our students answer the questions:

Who am I and who can I become?

Preschool to Grade 12 moravianacademy.org

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Turkey Roast - a Pinemere Camp Tradition!

Camp Louise campers get up close and personal at the farmyard.

Teens are drowning in social media. Jewish parents can help.

By Rinny Yourman Kveller

son and I watched a live science webinar for middle schoolers and the anonymous chat box quickly filled with a kid version of racist and misogynistic comments. And while it isn’t social media, I keep reminding my kids about avoiding YouTube’s deliberately designed time suck from the video recommendations that its algorithms have selected for them. I find so much of this to be soul-depleting, and I’m the adult around here.

While the news has been focused on teens lately, the reality is that preteens and younger kids are on Instagram and social media, too (yes, often without our awareness), potentially getting exposed to the same problematic content, only far less developmentally able to process it all.

Social media done right has the potential to bring teens together in healthy and creative ways, so it’s demoralizing to see how defects in the platforms can impact their wellbeing and, I argue, create a virtual world that is in direct conflict with important Jewish values.

Judaism promotes kindness, not negativity or meanness. Judaism teaches that doing the right thing takes primacy over doing the popular thing. Judaism instructs that we are enriched by appreciation for what we have (and, by extension, what we give away), not by the relentless drive to accumulate possessions. Judaism elevates quiet time each day for prayer, deep reflection and expressions of

THE GOOD BRIGADE/GETTY IMAGES

When it comes to kids, Instagram has been in the news quite a bit lately — and not in a good way.

Its parent company, Facebook (recently renamed Meta), hid its own research from the public revealing that Instagram can contribute to depression and anxiety in teens (and took little action to alleviate the problem) while, at the very same time, it was developing Instagram Kids, a version of the social media app for an even younger audience.

As a parent, I’m furious at Meta for failing to act on and suppressing important research on teen wellbeing while simultaneously going forward with a new app designed to normalize the idea that social media is appropriate for young children (who, in reality, are not developmentally ready for it). But I’ve got a further beef with them: As a Jewish parent, I suspect that the same design flaws in social platforms like Instagram that can impair teens’ wellbeing might also have an adverse impact on Jewish teens’ spiritual development.

For better or worse, Instagram invites teens to create a virtual life built on visual images they curate and edit, often in a race for popularity stoked by the like-driven platform. The desire for likes, combined with the platform’s negative content prioritization, promotes the inverted logic that negativity

and unkindness have their upsides.

Teens are exposed to images of impossibly beautifully people dressed in glamorous clothes promoting consumerist lifestyles.

Social media platforms popular with teens can spread meanspirited challenges and encourage cyberbullying through anonymous posts, artificially divorcing cause and effect and insulating users from seeing the hurt they inflict on others. FOMO (fear of missing out) impels increasing online engagement at the expense of downtime spent offline.

Some of this would be arguably tolerable if teens spent mere minutes on social media sites each day, but it’s not that simple.

Social media platforms are built on a business model designed to increase profits by maximizing user engagement (time spent on them). They track what our teens do online, using algorithms based on the collected data to target them with surveillance advertising and personalized content predicted to keep them glued to their platforms for as long as possible.

My kids don’t have social accounts yet, but they occasionally share with me what their friends forward to them. Not all of it is good. I’ve had to debrief them on everything from COVID misinformation to the artifice behind seemingly perfect lives to the message that beauty really comes from deep within. A discussion about online kindness was prompted after my

gratitude, in direct conflict with social media’s goal of constant connectivity. And with so much of Judaism that is spiritual, experiential or ineffable — and definitely not distillable into photographic images — I worry that some young people may decide that a mitzvah (good deed) or act of chesed (kindness) that isn’t Instagrammable simply isn’t worth performing.

These challenges affect teens at all levels of Jewish observance; for example, one yeshiva high school student started an initiative, 25hrs.

Cool, after discovering how his observant peers struggled to log off from their phones on Shabbat.

While this is deflating, there is some hope: A recent poll of teens found that nearly half indicated that it was very or fairly important

to them to live a religious life. Maybe it’s a backlash to the shallower world of social media. Whatever the reason, I see opportunities for Jewish families and the greater Jewish community to help teens and younger kids grow as Jews despite the roadblocks to spirituality that social media may impose.

If social platforms like Facebook thrive financially by driving user engagement, we as parents, caregivers and grandparents should designate times for radical family-based, soul-restoring user dis-engagement. We can’t grow spiritually if moments of quiet reflection are relinquished to hours spent scrolling through social Social Media Continues on page 25

St. Luke’s has been named an IBM Watson Health® 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital... for the 7th time!

“On behalf of St. Luke’s, I am proud to say this is affirmation of our commitment to excellence.

Our attention to clinical outcomes, patient experience and cost efficiencies have made us the heart and vascular care leader in the region.”

– Raymond Durkin, MD, Chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine

Raymond Durkin, MD Stephen Olenchock, DO Timothy Oskin, MD

Watson Health awards are based entirely on an independent, scientific review of objective data.

Hospitals do not apply for selection and winners do not pay to market this honor.

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Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla awarded Genesis Prize for work developing coronavirus vaccine

SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

By Shira Hanau Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla delivers a speech during the inauguration ceremony of the companys new center for Digital Innovation and Business Operations and Services, in Thessaloniki, Oct. 12, 2021.

Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, was named the winner of the 2022 Genesis Prize, the award sometimes called the “Jewish Nobel,” and pledged his winnings to “projects aimed at preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.”

The award, which “honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values,” was announced on Jan. 19. It will be presented by Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a ceremony in Jerusalem June 29.

The announcement noted Bourla’s work at Pfizer, which developed one of the first vaccines to protect against COVID-19. Bourla’s win was determined by an online vote in which 200,000 people participated, according to the announcement.

“I accept it humbly and on behalf of all my Pfizer colleagues who answered the urgent call of history these past two years and together bent the arc of our common destiny,”

Bourla said in a statement. “I was brought up in a Jewish family who believed that each of us is only as strong as the bonds of our community; and that we are all called upon

by God to repair the world. I look forward to being in Jerusalem to accept this honor in person, which symbolizes the triumph of science and a great hope for our future.”

The Genesis Prize comes with $1 million, and past recipients, including Steven Spielberg, Michael Douglas, Michael Bloomberg, Natalie Portman and Natan Sharansky, have donated the winnings to philanthropic causes.

Bourla is set to donate his prize money to Holocaust memorial initiatives “with a particular emphasis on the tragedy suffered by the Greek Jewish community.” Bourla’s parents, both from Greece, were both Holocaust survivors.

Launched in 2013 by a group of RussianJewish philanthropists that includes current foundation chairman Stan Polovets, the prize is financed through a permanent endowment of $100 million established by The Genesis Prize Foundation.

Bucatini with Olive Oil

BY SANDI TEPLITZ A delicious and satisfying dish, this will warm you up on a cold February evening.

INGREDIENTS: 16 oz. Bucatini, or any thick pasta 4 oz. extra virgin olive oil 6 cloves minced garlic 3 oz. minced parsley 3 oz. freshly ground kosher parmesan salt and freshly ground pepper Sauvignon Blanc from Binah Winery Crusty Italian bread Optional vegetable: broccolini TECHNIQUE: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bucatini and cook to desired doneness. Drain without rinsing, reserving 2 oz. of water. In a small sauté pan, place the oil and minced garlic and heat gently till lightly colored, about ten minutes. In the original large pot, mix pasta, oil mixture, parsley, reserved water, salt and pepper. Place on a heated plate and place Parmesan on top. Toss well. Serve with chilled wine and a crusty loaf of bread. Roasted broccolini is a tasty accompaniment to this dish.

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PHOTO BY TM CREATIONS VIA SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Scientists develop method to harvest electricity from seaweed

The humble sea lettuce seaweed can become a significant carbon-neutral energy solution.

By Naama Barak ISRAEL21c Ancient Greek inventor Archimedes may have had his Eureka moment in the bath, but modern-day Israeli student Yaniv Shlosberg recently had his own moment of clarity during a swim in the sea.

Inspired by the sight of seaweed on a rock, he wondered whether the algae could be used to create green, carbon-negative energy. A bit of research and one publication later, the answer became a resounding yes.

The negative effects of fossil fuel usage have long led researchers to look for cleaner, planet-friendlier ways to provide the world with power.

One such path of research involves using living organisms as the source of electrical currents in microbial fuel cells, but the problem with this is that the bacteria need to be constantly fed and in some cases are pathogenic.

Another option is a technology called Bio-PhotoElectrochemical Cells (BPEC), where the source of electrons can be derived from photosynthetic bacteria, especially cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae.

The only problem here is

that it is less commercially attractive, since the amount of current that can be produced is smaller than that of other sources such as solar cell technologies.

“I had the idea one day when I went to the beach,” explained Shlosberg. “At the time, I was studying the cyanobacterial BPEC, when I noticed seaweed on a rock that looked like electrical cords.

I said to myself – since they also perform photosynthesis, maybe we can use them to produce currents.”

Shlosberg and a team of researchers from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute began exploring the use of Ulva, or sea lettuce, which grows plentifully both naturally and for research purposes on Israel’s Mediterranean shores.

After developing new methods to connect between the Ulva and the BPEC, currents 1,000 times greater than those from cyanobacteria were obtained – currents that are on the level of those obtained from standard solar cells.

The results were recently published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

Currents in the dark The researchers note that the increased currents produced

by Ulva are due to the high rate of seaweed photosynthesis and the ability to use the seaweed in their natural seawater as the BPEC electrolyte – the solution that promotes electron transfer in the BPEC. In addition, the seaweed can also provide currents in the dark thanks to a process of respiration whereby sugars produced in the photosynthetic process are used as an internal source of nutrients.

Not only is this new method carbon neutral, but is in fact “carbon negative,” with the seaweed absorbing carbon from the atmosphere during the day while growing and releasing oxygen.

No carbon is released during the harvesting of the current during daytime, and the seaweed releases the normal amount of carbon during respiration at night.

The researchers have so far built a prototype device that collects the current directly in the Ulva growth vat and believe that it can be further improved and developed as a future green energy solution.

“It is a wonder where scientific ideas come from,” Shlosberg concluded.

Social Media Continues from page 19

media accounts. Teens and kids need quiet space and time to meditate, question and struggle.

It’s up to us, as loving adults, to help them carve out quiet time off from digital media and make it a family habit. Which means that we have to occasionally log off, too.

In my home, we’ve celebrated a Technology Shabbat/ Screen-Free Saturday since our kids were born. For those new to the concept, Tiffany Shlain’s book “24/6” can provide inspiration and practical ideas. If need be, start small with screen-free Shabbat meals (and then expand to other family meals or screenfree zones in the home) in order to insert quieter space into their lives. In this way they may learn to seek solace in spirituality, rather than reflexively turning to social media. We can benefit from this as well.

For those with younger kids, our best bet is to delay. Follow tech leaders’ habits and postpone giving kids their own smartphones for as long as possible (basic phones OK as needed).

Smartphones are powerful adult tools, not kids’ toys, and can be an entry point to early and frequent social media use. The longer we can delay, the more time we allow our kids to be kids, while also giving them the breathing space to internalize important life lessons, including

Jewish ones.

Jewish day schools, Hebrew schools, youth groups and camps can have an impact, too.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt urges parents, caregivers and schools to collaborate to “establish a norm: delay entry to Instagram and other social platforms until high school.” Since younger kids do have phones, it’s important to implement Away for the Day phone-free policies (phones stashed out of sight) at schools and camps. We can promote events and activities on WhatsApp or group texts instead of social. We can invite teen and young adult digital wellness leaders to engage Jewish teens about how to live with social media while creating space to groom their spiritual selves.

We are a people unafraid of advocacy. We can sign online petitions asking Meta to scrap Instagram Kids. We can ask members of Congress to support legislation requiring safer online experiences for teens and kids.

We can, as a concerned Jewish community, demand that social media companies add safety features for our kids’ sake. We need to speak out that it is immoral to make it our job to deal with the fallout from tech companies’ corporate irresponsibility.

Our children’s health, safety and wellbeing — including their spiritual development — should never be shortchanged as collateral damage for Big Tech’s relentless drive for profit.

March 13 - 7 PM - $85/$75/$65 Sponsored by N. Pugliese, Inc. and 790 WAEB

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

.

KI presents ‘Safe Journeys through Cyberspace’ What is fake news? For their next Lifelong Learning Sunday on Feb. 16 at 10 a.m. via Zoom, Congregation Keneseth Israel Librarian Sean Boyle will provide an informative session on evaluating resources and strategies to provide cyber security on personal computers.

Retired librarian Audrey Nolte will facilitate the session and participants will have access to handouts that will give you the tools for safe travels on the information highway.

To learn more and sign up, please visit kilv.org.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 25

Israeli STEM program empowers girls in Ghana Frances Etornam Goba is 10 years old and lives with her father in Elmina, Ghana. Hoping to be a physician when she grows up, Frances is eager to learn all the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) she possibly can.

So when she saw a notice on her school bulletin board about an optional STEM class, and heard more about it from her science teacher, she ran to sign up.

The class was sponsored

by Jewish values-driven global education network World ORT through its World ORT Kadima Mada science and technology education program in Israel.

Kadima Mada (loosely translated as “Science Journey”) creates and implements cuttingedge curriculums in formal and informal settings for disadvantaged populations in Israel and in more than 30 other countries.

The Ghana program, first piloted in one school in 2020, teaches young girls coding, game design and animation using Scratch coding software for kids and Arduino hardware kits.

Frances, a member of the second cohort, said the course increased her confidence and now she wants to code all the time.

“If I continue to learn STEM and coding, I will be able to

develop my own animation programs in the future,” she said.

Moshe Leiba, World ORT Kadima Mada’s chief pedagogical and R&D officer, tells ISRAEL21c that the main goal is empowering girls. As such, the initiative has only female students mentored by female instructors.

“As a Jewish and Israeli organization, this is part of our tikkun olam [repairing the world] to assist those who are behind to reach their potential. In Ghana, we know that women need a huge boost to achieve educational and workplace equity.”

Answering a UN call Leiba, who also heads the Digital Learning Project at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, said UNESCO put out a call a few years ago for assistance in STEM education in Ghana.

He brainstormed with Celeste Angus at World ORT’s international cooperation office in New York.

“We started talking about what we could contribute. In Israel we have a program where women in the tech industry mentor female students at local universities, and they in turn mentor teenage girls in STEM. We proposed to UNESCO that we start a similar program in Ghana.”

UNESCO provided a mod-

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est grant of about $12,000, with which ORT’s project partner in Elmina, Coconut Grove Beach Resort, purchased some computers, a digital projector and Arduino kits containing sensors and electronics. These were installed in the Elmina public library.

Leiba began recruiting female university students in Elmina studying technology-oriented fields. This proved challenging.

“We wanted instructors who would be inspiring role models. But there aren’t that many women studying in these fields in Ghana. Eventually we chose eight instructors for the pilot.”

Each received a stipend from WORLD ORT Kadima Mada and Coconut Grove.

A cultural hiccup The women gathered in the Elmina library for three full days of professional development led by two Israeli instructors on Zoom.

Leiba got a lesson in local culture when he introduced the program on the first day.

“When I finished my short talk in English, I asked for questions, but nobody said anything. I felt a bit awkward.”

Leiba later approached Victor Opoku Minta, general manager of Coconut Grove, to inquire whether he had erred in speaking in English. Perhaps the women didn’t understand him?

PHOTO COURTESY OF WORLD ORT

By Abigail Klein Leichman ISRAEL21c

Frances Etornam Goba, 10, learning coding with instructor Josephine Eshun.

Minta assured Leiba that English is indeed an official language in Ghana. The problem is that Ghanian women are trained not to speak up.

“So I had a meeting with Celeste about how to give these students presentation skills and not only technical skills,” says Leiba. “Our local partner organized a workshop on this on our behalf.”

Four months of classes After the initial training, Kadima Mada continued providing support to the instructors as they started to work with girls who’d signed up for the course at the library.

“Each instructor worked with several groups of four to six girls once or twice a week for an hour and a half, for about four months.”

The first cohort was treated to a big graduation ceremony where they received certificates. Leiba, joining via Zoom, saw that the ceremony was broadcast on local TV. A Christian minister offered

a blessing.

This shows how much the local community respects and appreciates the program, Leiba says.

“The pilot went much better than I thought it would. There were so many variables, and I wasn’t sure how it would go when we couldn’t support them face to face and the instructors are not technology experts,” he explained.

“But we followed the students to see how they were doing, and we saw the kids were very happy and interested and participated with great dedication. It was amazing.”

World ORT and Coconut Grove decided to continue and expand the program using their own funds. The course now boasts more than 100 graduates from several schools. An educational entity in Uganda has inquired about setting it up there as well.

This January, a new group of Ghanian university students is undergoing training.

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.

TUESDAYS, FEBRUARY 1, MARCH 1, APRIL 5 & THURSDAY, MAY 5

Monthly Mindfulness with Women’s Philanthropy

7:00 - 7:45 p.m., Jewish Federation via Zoom. Relax with Women’s Philanthropy and Holly Hebron Moyer over Zoom, where you’ll learn mindfulness and meditation exercises. All levels of experience are welcome. Open to all women in the community. Register at jewishlehighvalley.regfox.com/monthly-mindfulness.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4

First Friday: Daily Talmud Study with Rabbi Seth Phillips

12:30 p.m., Muhlenberg College, Moyer Hall, Miller Forum. Join us as we continue to learn about the diversity of religious traditions in the Lehigh Valley through conversations with community members about their beliefs and practices. We welcome you to engage with guests as we continue the Institute’s focus on understanding religious diversity in the local community. Unable to attend in person? The event will be livestreamed! Visit www.religionandculture.com for more information and to join the livestream. Sponsored by Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding of Muhlenberg College.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23

Celebrity Chefs Series: Idan Chabasov “The Challah Prince”

8 p.m., Jewish Federation Virtual Event. Idan Chabasov AKA “Challah Prince”, was born and raised in Tel Aviv and he is back in Israel after spending 7 years in Berlin. With a background in professional dancing, video production and PR, it is now Idan’s mission to bring art into the Challah baking world. One evening, in January 2020, following a meditation session, Chabasov spontaneously created the “Challah Prince”.

What started out as a small Instagram account soon became an evergrowing community of art and creativity. The Challah Prince is well on his way to spread these delicious masterpieces to every corner of the world. Menu: Three different delicious types of bread from one batch of dough, it’s almost like having the chance for three wishes from a genie in a bottle! The Challah Prince’s Royal 11 braid challah, the delectable Jerusalem bagel, and Pita with Za’atar. Register at www.jewishlehighvalley.org/cooking.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Women’s Philanthropy’s 10xChai’s Planting the Seeds of Connection

7 p.m., Jewish Federation via Zoom. Come together with friends old and new and learn more about the interconnectedness of gardening, pollinators, and Judaism, and what you can do to connect with the earth and with your Lehigh Valley Jewish community. Event chairs Tracy Sussman and Kimberly Valuntas will be joined by Janna Siller, Farm Director and Advocacy Coordinator at Adamah, for an inspiring evening.

Those attending this event are invited to drive-by and say hi to Women’s Philanthropy President Beth Kushnick and event chairs Tracy Sussman and Kimberly Valuntas on Sunday, February 6 from 10-11 a.m. in the Washington Street parking lot of the JCC. You will receive a gift for your garden! Can’t make it on Sunday? Your gift will be waiting for you at the JCC front desk through Tuesday before our program. A minimum individual gift of $180 to the 2022 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs required to attend. Register at https://jewishlehighvalley.regfox. com/10xchai.

Ari Mittleman’s “Paths of the Righteous: Stories of Heroism, Humanity and Hope” Book Event

7 p.m., Jewish Federation via Zoom. Ari Mittleman will return to his hometown virtually to debut his brand-new book, “Paths of the Righteous: Stories of Heroism, Humanity and Hope.” Ari’s book profiles eight largely unheralded non-Jews who have recently gone above and beyond for Israel and the Jewish community. Join two of them - Aston Bright and Gloria Garces. Aston Bright is a firefighter in Plantation, Florida.

He has been on the frontlines combatting wildfires in Israel set by terrorists. Glorida Garces is a Guatemalan-American pro-Israel activist.

She has galvanized Spanish speaking congregations and faith leaders across the United States and Latin America. Ari Mittleman attended the Jewish Day School from Kindergarten through 8th Grade. He is the author of “Paths of the Righteous: Stories of Heroism, Humanity and Hope” published in November by Gefen Publishing House in Jerusalem.

Register at https://jewishlehighvalley.regfox.com/ari-mittleman.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13

Celebrity Chefs Series: Dini Klein “Prep & Rally”

Safe Journeys Through Cyberspace

10 a.m., Congregation Keneseth Israel via Zoom. Presented by KI Librarian Sean Boyle. This event is ZOOM only. Register at kilv.org for your zoom link. Sponsored by The Lifelong Learning Committee.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Celebrity Chefs Series: Paula Shoyer “The Kosher Baker”

8 p.m., Jewish Federation Virtual Event. Paula Shoyer, known as “The Kosher Baker” is the author of 5 cookbooks, The Kosher Baker, The Holiday Kosher Baker, The New Passover Menu, The Healthy Jewish Kitchen and her latest, The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook. Paula has taught cooking classes around the world and nearly 200 virtual classes. She is a freelance writer and food ambassador. Paula has competed on Food Network and appeared on over 47 other TV shows as an expert on kosher baking and healthy meals. You can find Paula on instagram @kosherbaker. Menu: “How to Eat so you Always Have Room for Dessert” – Dry Rub Salmon, Mango Coleslaw, and Signature Babka. Register at www.jewishlehighvalley.org/cooking.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20

JDAIM Virtual Town Hall: Disability & Inclusion in our Jewish Community

1 p.m., Jewish Family Service Virtual Event. Join JFSLV, JFLV and RespectAbility for a FREE 90-minute virtual town hall forum on disability and inclusion in our Jewish community on Sunday, February 20, at 1 p.m. JFS Disability Liaison Amanda Thomas, Ph.D., will join moderators from RespectAbility to lead the webinar. ASL interpretation and Communication Access Real-Time Translation will be provided. Please contact Amanda Thomas amthomas@jfslv.org by February 1st, if you need any additional accommodations. Please visit jfslv.org/jdaim to register and to learn more about JDAIM. We look forward to having this conversation with you.

JDAIM 2022 Inclusion Survey Are you Jewish and do you have a disability? Are you a parent of a person with a disability? JDAIM 2022 is for you! Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley (JFSLV) and Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley (JFLV) recognize the need to improve our understanding of ways to create a more inclusive community. We need to understand your perspective to create a better future. You are invited to complete a brief survey sharing your experience in the Jewish community as a person with a disability or as a loved one of a person with a disability. This 5-minute survey will be used to understand issues, challenges and opportunities for change. Based on the results, thematic topics will be created for the Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) Town Hall meeting to start the conversation. If you have accessibility issues filling out the survey, contact Amanda Thomas at amthomas@

Celebrate the beauty of Shabbat Shabbat & Yom Tov Candlelighting Times

Friday, Feb. 4 Friday, Feb. 11 Friday, Feb. 18

jfslv.org. The links to surveys for both those with a disability and those who are caregivers to individuals with a disability can be found at jfslv. org/jdaim.

5:06 pm 5:14 pm 5:23 pm

Friday, Feb. 25 Friday, Mar. 4 Friday, Mar. 11

5:31 pm 5:39 pm 5:47 pm

8 p.m., Jewish Federation Virtual Event. Dini Klein is a food host, founder of the Prep + Rally meal prep service, and author of the Prep + Rally cookbook available Fall ‘22. Dini created a simplified dinner solution that helps thousands of busy families get through the hectic week with ease. You can catch her sharing cooking tips, recipes and authentic family moments on instagram @prepandrally. Menu: Red Lentil, Squash, and Tomato Soup with Rosemary and Lemon Sesame noodles with chicken and veggies all in one pan - alternative with grilled tofu for vegetarians. Register at www.jewishlehighvalley.org/cooking.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4

ONGOING EVENTS MONDAYS Yiddish Club

2 to 3:30 p.m., JCC of the Lehigh Valley via Zoom. Experience the joys of Yiddish via Zoom as part of “Adults at the J.” The group meets weekly to discuss topics like cooking, humor, music and all kinds of entertainment in the Yiddish language. All are welcome to join this lively, weekly discussion. There is something for everyone no matter if you know a few words, or are a fluent speaker. Enjoy fun, fellowship, stories and more. Participants Zoom in from 5 states. No cost. Contact Janis Mikofsky at the JCC of the Lehigh Valley, 610-435-3571 ext. 501.

PA Small Jewish Communities Learning Initiative

7:30 p.m., via Zoom. Our Tri-Community class new Topic is “Speaking to G-d: Twenty Weeks to Understanding the Shemoneh Esrei.” Join Rabbis Nisan Andrews, Dovid Kaplan, Elisha Friedman, Alex Hecht, and various guest teachers for this virtual learning. This class is sponsored by Congregation Sons of Israel, Congregation Ohav Zedek of Wilkes-Barre, Congregation Degel Israel of Lancaster, Kesher Israel of Harrisburg, and the Orthodox Union. Go to https://us02web.zoom. us/j/5014709078 to join.

MONDAYS & THURSDAYS Online Jewish Yoga Studio

Mondays 11 to 11:45 a.m., Thursdays 4 to 4:45 p.m., Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Mindful body practices help us find shelter right where we are, in our bodies in this very moment. Join yoga teachers and IJS faculty members Rabbi Myriam Klotz or Cantor Lizzie Shammash as they guide you in an all-levels yoga and movement session informed by Jewish spiritual teachings and designed to relieve stress as we increase awareness of breath and grounding through our bodies. Open to all, no experience needed. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/7mtxyjz5.

TUESDAYS Weekly Torah Study

11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Rabbi Jonathan Slater will lead a weekly program: “Torah Study to Sustain The Soul,” aimed at addressing an aspect of spiritual life that will help us navigate this time of uncertainty and isolation. Open to all, no previous knowledge needed. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/rbs3dctj.

Torah Tuesdays with Bnai Shalom

12:30 p.m., At the home of Cindy Danies. Interactive Torah study group. Contact office@bnaishalomeaston.org for more information.

Our Prayers: History and Meaning with Bnai Shalom

8:15 p.m., Bnai Shalom via Zoom. Register in advance for this meeting at https://tinyurl.com/3ru3amrw.

WEDNESDAYS Judaism for Our Time with Bnai Shalom

11 a.m., Bnai Shalom via Zoom. Register in advance for this meeting at https://tinyurl.com/jmx2zmw9.

First Friday: Sunni Islam with Sh Mohammad Elshinawy

4 p.m., Muhlenberg College, Moyer Hall, Miller Forum. Note the later time this month! Join us as we continue to learn about the diversity of religious traditions in the Lehigh Valley through conversations with community members about their beliefs and practices. We welcome you to engage with guests as we continue the Institute’s focus on understanding religious diversity in the local community. Unable to attend in person? The event will be livestreamed! Visit www.religionandculture.com for more information and to join the livestream. Sponsored by Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding of Muhlenberg College.

MONDAY, MARCH 7

Zentangle Art Class

6:30 p.m., JCC of the Lehigh Valley via Zoom. J University presents Artist Mindy Shapiro, a certified Zentangle teacher, for a relaxing, creative and meditative fun workshop. No experience needed. You will learn 4-6 patterns. Sponsored by the Chestnut Ridge at Rodale. Price is $25 for JCC members and $30 for Non-Members. Supplies included. Pick up at the JCC or shipped for a $4 fee. Contact Beth Kushnick at bkushnick@ lvjcc.org with questions. Register at lvjcc.org/onlineregistration.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12

Shabbat Out of the Box: Art with Susan Hardy

10 a.m., Congregation Keneseth Israel. Last year, art teacher Susan Hardy led our virtual Mandala creations workshop and several of the attendees’ beautiful creations were then featured in KI’s Super Seder Sacks. Join Susan in person this year as she leads us through our next artistic adventure! No art experience necessary; supplies will be provided. Register on kilv.org or call 60-435-9074 by March 9 to get location.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13

Super FunDay

12 - 4 p.m., JCC of the Lehigh Valley. Super FunDay is our opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate the end of the 60 day challenge. In partnership with the JCC Purim Carnival. MITZVAH OPPORTUNITIES | FOOD | SURPRISES! Go to www.jewishlehighvalley.org/ superfunday for more information. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley.

with Cantor Wartell FRIDAYS 8:30-9:30 AM WMUH 91.7

muhlenberg.edu/wmuh | 484.664.3456

Virtual Coffee Klatch

1 p.m., Bnai Shalom via Zoom. Register in advance for this meeting at https://tinyurl.com/cx42z49j.

Yoga with Miriam Sandler: Chair Supported Yoga

1 to 2 p.m., Congregation Brith Sholom in person and via Zoom. Be seated in a comfortable chair, preferably armless (folding works well).

Some standing poses holding onto chair offered, though students may choose to remain seated. Modifications given. Open to the public in person and live stream available to all via zoom. *$10 Drop-In fee payable to Congregation Brith Shalom. For more information, email: mbserow@ gmail.com. Join Zoom Meeting at https://tinyurl.com/3pf88d8d.

Torah Studies: A Weekly Journey into the Soul of Torah

7 p.m., Chabad of the Lehigh Valley via Zoom and in person. Torah Studies by JLI presents Season Two, a 12-part series. Cost is $36 for the course including textbook. For more information, contact (610) 3516511 or rabbi@chabadlehighvalley.com.

EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY Hadassah Study Group

1:25 p.m., Via Zoom. We discuss short stories from an anthology. Contact Marilyn Claire at mjclaire@gmail.com or 620-972-7054 to sign up.

THURSDAYS Basic Yiddish Class

8 to 9:30 p.m., JCC of the Lehigh Valley via Zoom. Learn to read, write, speak and comprehend Yiddish. Textbooks from Yiddish Book Center available for purchase. Contact: Janis Mikofsky 610-435-3571, ext. 501.

SUNDAY through FRIDAY Daf Yomi

Weekdays at 7:45 a.m., Sunday at 7:30 a.m., Congregation Sons of Israel via Zoom. 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 -- and right now via Zoom -- 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. To access the daily Zoom conference, go to https:// zoom.us/j/5598767191.

MONDAY through FRIDAY Daily Online Meditation

12:30 p.m., Institute for Jewish Spirituality. One of their master teachers will lead a live daily guided meditation. Join with people from around the world to share 30 minutes of Jewish mindfulness. Open to all, no experience needed. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/rbs3dctj.

HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | FEBRUARY 2022 27

Shailendra Singh, MD Cardiology

Nearly 25,000 people in the U.S. die from heart valve disease each year.

That’s why it’s so important to get your heart checked.

Turn to the most trusted heart care partner, Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, for all matters of the heart.

Request an appointment today at lvhn.org/heartandvascular