Community News

Visiting Yoav Like Coming Home

By Aaron Gorodzinsky
Director of Outreach and Community Relations
 
I have had the opportunity to volunteer in and visit Israel several times over the years, but a few weeks ago, I was finally able to visit home. Right after I landed at Ben Gurion, I knew this was going to be a very spec…

Allentown United Event Brings Community Together for Justice

Michelle Cohen
HAKOL Editor

On the evening of Monday, July 11, the city of Allentown came together as part of a top-down effort organized by the city to show solidarity and support for the people affected by recent tragedies across the country.

Aaron Gorodzinsky, director of outreach and c…

Bar Mitzvah Shares Day, Project with Grandfather

By Abby Trachtman
​JFLV Project Coordinator

Richard Holtzman never celebrated his bar mitzvah as a boy. So in honor of his own bar mitzvah this past May, his grandson Andrew Holtzman-Marga invited his grandfather to share in his celebration and become a Bar Mitzvah right alongside him.

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Middle Schoolers Apply Lessons from Holocaust

By Stephanie Smartschan
Director of Marketing

NORTHAMPTON – More than 400 8th graders at Northampton Area Middle School participated in a day-long workshop on May 27 to learn more about the Holocaust and how those lessons translate into their own lives.

The “Learn, Listen and Lead” e…

Weight Lost, Community Found for One JCC Volunteer

By Stephanie Bolmer

“My goal was just to get to the top of the steps from the locker room without losing my breath.” Luella Shoemaker, 74, had no idea how far she would surpass that goal when her daughter-in-law first gifted her a JCC membership.

Now, six years and over 100 pounds lost…