Young Israelis remembered through a Taste of Memories on Yom Hazikaron

By Stephanie Bolmer
HAKOL Editor

An intimate group gathered in the auxiliary auditorium of the Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley on the evening of May 6. Community shlicha Rotem Bar had prepared a special evening for them to commemorate the lives of two young men from Israel. One…

JDS students lobby for scholarships and school security in Harrisburg

By Stephanie Bolmer
HAKOL Editor

On May 7, Rabbi Seth Phillips sent off a bus full of Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley fifth- through eighth-graders, along with educators and community members, with a blessing and a charge to remember that they represented both “Jewish and American …

IJCU director says goodbye after 20 years

By Stephanie Bolmer
HAKOL Editor

After 20 years of building bridges between the Jewish and Christian – and more recently, Muslim – communities in the Lehigh Valley, the Rev. Dr. Peter Pettit has departed from his role as director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute for Jewish-Christian …

Federation Board names Jeri Zimmerman new Executive Director

The Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley has unanimously voted to appoint Jeri Zimmerman as the Federation’s new executive director.

Zimmerman joined the Federation staff in 2016, serving as assistant executive director and managing the Annual Campaign. She has…

Branches of Love Initiative to receive Schiff Award

By Stephanie Smartschan
JFLV Director of Marketing

In the aftermath of the shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue in October, 18 local women sprang into action. 

They wanted to do something to promote tolerance and understanding among people of different faiths, a way for Jews and non-Jews to…