The Voice of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community
www.jewishlehighvalley.org
| Issue No. 463 | March 2023 | Adar/Nissan 5783 AWARD-WINNING PUBLICATION EST. 1977
A legacy continues as the Mickey Ufberg Memorial Ambucycle saves lives daily in Israel p4
We’re Celebrating Women with special articles for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month p17-21 and elsewhere
FROM THE DESK OF JERI ZIMMERMAN p3 LVJF TRIBUTES p8 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE p13 JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER p14-15 JEWISH DAY SCHOOL p16 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p22
Burnout: 3 doctors to give Maimonides their views By Carl Zebrowski Editor
When Dr. Zach Goldsmith took over as president of the Jewish Federation’s Maimonides Society, he said he wanted to expand the membership of the organization of healthcare professionals. “It is my personal mission to increase Federation engagement among younger healthcare workers, especially women,” Goldsmith said. The society’s Brunch and Learn scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday, March 19, is a step in that direction. Three women healthcare professionals will make presentations that day, on the general topic of “Burnout in Healthcare”: Drs. Chelsea Busch, Lynn Wilson and Kristine Schultz.
“We are lucky to be working together for this lecture, as we each have unique perspectives ranging from acute care medicine to primary care and mental health specialties,” Schultz said. Busch is a clinical psychologist with a primary focus in pediatrics. She gained experience developing resilience/ wellness programs for healthcare workers during her doctorate training at Nemours Children’s Hospital. “The American Medical Association recently referred to physician burnout as ‘an epidemic in the U.S. healthcare system,’ with a majority of physicians endorsing symptoms of burnout,” Busch said. “So I am hoping this will be a timely presentation.”
Wilson is a geriatrician in the Lehigh Valley Health Network Department of Family Practice. She is program director for the geriatrics fellowship and has served as section chief of geriatrics. Geriatrics has experienced greater burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic than many healthcare fields. Schultz is an emergency medical physician in the Lehigh Valley Health Network. She has an active role in resident education and focuses especially on ultrasound technology in emergency room evaluation. Emergency medicine has been another area of high burnout during the pandemic. The presentations will focus on three questions
Left to right: Drs. Chelsea Busch, Kristine Schultz and Lynn Wilson.
that fall under the general theme: What is burnout and how do you identify it? What can you do about it personally? How can you advocate for organizational change? Goldsmith expects the subject matter and the presenters to be popular with the intended audience. “I really believe that the efforts of these three doctors and this particular topic will help garner more interest in Maimonides,” he
said. Goldsmith is working to set up a roundtable discussion for women in healthcare in May. Details on that will follow when they’re available. For information on joining Maimonides, contact Aaron Gorodzinsky, the Federation’s director of campaign and security planning, at aaron@jflv. org or visit the Maimonides web page at jewishlehighvalley.org/maimonides.
MODI Live coming to the Lehigh Valley Federation’s Main Event is a night of comedy By Carl Zebrowski Editor
Modi has done his standup routine on the Big Three TV networks, HBO and Comedy Central and across the United States and the globe. But the comedian the New York Times called “the next Jackie Mason” still likes playing to Jewish audiences. “I’m so blessed to be able to go to all these different Jewish communities and connect with my people,” the Israel-born transplant to New York City tells Hakol. He’ll have his chance to connect with the
Lehigh Valley community on May 4, when the Jewish Federation brings him here for its 2023 Main Event. “I always look forward to Federation events,” he says. “They’re fun. I love how they’re a cross section of the community.” He mentioned a recent show in Florida where Latinos were a majority of the crowd: Cubans, Puerto Ricans, South Americans, Mexicans. “They can be very cliquey on their own,” he says, “but they all came together.” Most of Modi’s live events are to Jewish audiences. That Non-Profit Organization
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doesn’t mean everyone in attendance is active in a Jewish Federation, however, which is part of the reason some communities bring him in these days. “Instead of doing a fundraiser,” he explains, “they call it a ‘friend raiser.’” As for his comedy itself, of course there’s the “Jewish voice.” That’s where the tie to Jackie Mason comes in. “Being compared to Jackie Mason is amazing,” Modi says of the comic who died in 2021 at age 93. “But the Jewish voice has developed since he was performing.” More recently, a long-time comedy club owner compared
Modi to the comedy legends Robin Williams and Richard Pryor. “I was thrilled with that,” he says of the published comments. “He said he never saw an audience laugh that hard.” Modi believes the comparison makes sense. “It’s high energy,” he explains, like he himself is on stage. “They’re both really smart and think on their feet.” Tickets for the Night of Comedy of Modi will become available to those who made their pledge to the 2023
Campaign for Jewish Needs starting at Super FunDay on March 5. For more information visit jewishlehighvalley.org/ calendar/modi.
The Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley recognizes and appreciates the many local women leaders professionals, business owners, managers, and more. Thank you to those who support HAKOL as regular advertisers. Please patronize them and say thank you for their support of our nonprofit. In this issue:
ART GALLERY & FRAME SHOP Cheryl Baran BOUTIQUE TO GO Elena Pascal CHILDREN’S HEALTHCARE Katelyn Dane, MMSPAS, PA-C & Brandi Burns, MMSPAS, PA-C
COLD NOSE LODGE Rayne Reitnauer COMFORCARE HOME CARE Kris Murphy CREATIVE CLOSETS, LTD. Ellyn Elstein HAKIM HEALTH PARTNERS Melissa Hakim, MD
JANE RONCORONI FINE CLOTHING Jane Roncoroni LEHIGH VALLEY CENTER FOR SIGHT Irena Cherfas, MD LISA BAAS HEALING ARTS Lisa Baas