By Carl Zebrowski
Editor

“The idea is for members to continue their commitment to the ideals of the Maimonides Society for the duration,” says Dr. Lawrence Levitt, a founder of the society and the founder of the Lehigh Valley Health Network neurology department. By “the duration,” he means in perpetuity. 

Levitt was describing the new Maimonides Society perpetuity fund, which he and Drs. Gene Ginsberg and Robert Kricun, also among the founders of the society, just signed onto as the initial participants. The annual proceeds from each member’s investment will be donated to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley’s Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs. Those donated funds count as dues to the society of healthcare professionals for the year, which effectively keeps participants on the society’s membership rolls in perpetuity, forever linked to the society and remembered for their philanthropy and contributions to the general health and wellness of the community. 

Aaron Gorodzinsky, director of development for the Federation, was proud to be part of setting up the new fund with the three doctors. “With this endowment gift,” he said, “our founding members are ensuring that their work in creating the vision of the Maimonides Society is able to continue and that it inspires other medical professionals in the area to join the division and continue honoring the principles on which the division was founded—providing quality health care and information to our Lehigh Valley Jewish community and beyond.”

Ginsberg, a retired adult medicine and geriatrics physician, decided that the perpetuity fund was the perfect donation vehicle for him. “I was going to give directly to Federation, and then when I saw that,” he said, “I thought I want to give it all through Maimonides, because that’s what I was most involved in and meant the most to me.”

Kricun, retired chair of the Department of Radiology of the Lehigh Valley Health Network, said that supporting the Jewish community and Israel has been an important part of his estate planning. “Contributing to the Jewish Federation and maintaining membership in the Maimonides Society in perpetuity is a perfect way to achieve these long-term goals,” he said.

The perpetuity fund is getting up and running as the society looks forward to its 40th anniversary in 2026 as the first Maimonides Society in North America. Members of the society named for the medieval Jewish philosopher, theologian, and physician continue, as they always have, to come together do volunteer work in the community, raise funds for Jewish Federation campaigns, and meet regularly for educational and social programs.

These days, dozens of Maimonides Societies operate as affiliate groups of Jewish Federations across the United States. The Lehigh Valley society has over 100 members.

All those years ago, the founding Maimonides doctors sat together in the basement of the Allentown home of Dr. Michael z”l and Eileen Ufberg discussing the society and what it should do when it was in its infancy. (“Eileen had famous cookies that she made for those events,” Levitt notes.) Soon they and others were meeting regularly in the homes of various early members. Then and ever since, the society has united the community’s doctors (and eventually other healthcare professionals along with them) in the cause of Jewish people here and everywhere and in support of the State of Israel. 

Back in the 1980s, when the crumbling Soviet Union finally caved to international pressure and allowed Jews to leave, many of them immigrated to the United States. The society helped out new arrivals to the Valley, most of whom didn’t know a lot about their new home and often weren’t especially fluent in English. “Maimonides doctors took care of them,” Levitt says. 

In recent years, the society has donated two ambucylces to United Hatzalah of Israel, a volunteer agency that responds to emergencies all over Israel. These motorcycle-ambulances are able to navigate gridlocked city streets faster than standard ambulances and reach destinations quicker. 

The latest Maimonides Society ambucycle was donated in memory of Dr. Ufberg, who was a close personal friend of Levitt’s. “The ambucycle has been saving lives daily,” Levitt says, “doing triple duty since October 7.” 

Levitt thinks back to when Ufberg was still around. “We used to take walks around the block and try to solve all the problems of the world,” he says. You may guess that they didn’t quite accomplish that. But thanks to them and to Drs. Ginsberg and Kricun and a long line of others over the 39 years, the Maimonides Society continues to do its part in making the world a better place.

For more information on the Maimonides Society perpetuity fund and on how you can participate with a minimum donation of $22,000, contact Aaron Gorodzinsky, director of development for the Jewish Federation, at aaron@jflv.org or 610-821-5500.