The Voice of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community
www.jewishlehighvalley.org
| Issue No. 483 | February 2025 | Shevat/Adar 5785 AWARD-WINNING PUBLICATION EST. 1977
Educational programs, a mitzvah project, and all-day fundraising made for a jampacked Super Sunday. p4-6
Even as snow is sure to dust the ground soon, it’s time to start thinking about summer camp. p20-24
WOMEN’S PHILANTHROPY p2 FROM THE DESK OF JERI ZIMMERMAN p3 LVJF TRIBUTES p8 JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER p10-11 JEWISH DAY SCHOOL p12 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE p13 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p26-27
Maimonides kicks off Super Sunday with focus on men’s health
By Carl Zebrowski Editor
It was a serious subject that Dr. Frank Tamarkin addressed with a touch of humor in the Super Sunday edition of the Maimonides Society Brunch and Learn on January 26: “Men’s Health.” For the first Brunch and Learn presentation of 2025, Tamarkin, chief of urology for St. Luke’s University Health Network, recruited three panelists who work in medical specialties closely linked to men’s health: urology and cardiology. They were Dr. William Markson of St. Luke’s Cardiology Associates, Dr. Jeffrey Gevirtz of St. Luke’s Center for Urology, and Dr. Zach Goldsmith of St. Luke’s Center for Urology and St. Luke’s Specialty Pavilion. Goldsmith is the current president of the Mai-
Maimonides Society president Dr. Zach Goldsmith and Dr. Frank Tamarkin.
monides Society, and Tamarkin, Markson, and Gevirtz are past presidents. Tamarkin opened his talk to the audience of more
than 50 with the overriding question of the session: “How do we live a longer, happier life?” The answer is not entirely within the medical
realm. Two key contributors are social connections and curiosity. “These are worth fostering with your patients,” he told his listeners, most of them healthcare professionals. More obviously relating to the practice of medicine, Markson talked about the problem of plaque building up in the blood vessels, which can become a problem as men get older. Diet, exercise, and genetics are all involved. Family history can alert a provider to a patient’s potential vulnerability to certain conditions. “Mostly you can’t get away from who your parents are,” he said. He emphasized the importance of medical providers giving proper medical examinations to find potential problems. Check the pulse in the feet, groin, and neck. Also, do the time-honored
A Jewish Odyssey
standard abdomen exam. “You have to get up on your toes and press in a little bit,” he said. “There’s still a role for this in the world.” Food intake also figures into the prevention of agerelated health problems. With a knock on the overcomplicated nature of so many trendy diets, Markson quoted the key dictum of Michael Pollan’s book “Food Rules”: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” He recommended a plaque test that has become widely available only recently: the CT Coronary Calcium Score. The low-radiation imaging procedure measures the amount of calcium in the coronary arteries. The score represents the calcified plaque found—lowest is 0, while over 300 means significant Maimonides continues on page 6
Lehigh Valley and Yoav delegates to explore Sephardic Greece together By Connor Hayes Director of Community Programming In late March, the Lehigh Valley’s Partnership2Gether Committee will be embarking on a journey to Greece—only this odyssey won’t take 10 years, as the original did. Over the course of a week, the committee, along with delegates from Yoav, Israel, will visit classic Greek sites like the Acropolis and the Agora, while also exploring
an often unsung element of Greece’s history: its Jewish story. Arriving in antiquity, the first Greek Jews, or Romaniotes, gave rise to one of the oldest communities in Europe. With the Alhambra Decree and the Spanish expulsion, Jewish life in Greece was infused with the Sephardic diaspora, who made their new home in the northern Greek city of Salonika (now called Thessaloniki). For nearly 500 years, Jewish life in Non-Profit Organization
of the Lehigh Valley 702 North 22nd Street Allentown, PA 18104
of the Lehigh Valley
of the Lehigh Valley
of the Lehigh Valley
U.S. POSTAGE PAID Lehigh Valley, PA Permit No. 64
Salonika flourished, leading the city to become known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans. At its height, it was home to dozens of synagogues and one of the most powerful textiles trades in the Mediterranean, largely due to Sephardic trading dynasties. The Partnership2Gether travelers will get the chance to explore this legacy, visiting some of the last historic synagogues as well as the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. Delegates from the Lehigh Valley and Yoav will also meet with their Greek counterparts in Athens, a community that is still rebuilding from the Holocaust and from the financial crises that have affected their country in recent years. Through this trip, the delegations hope to build new bonds with another part of the Diaspora, while also refining and developing new programming for their home communities.
Monastir Synagogue, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Veria Synagogue, Veria, Greece.