Issuu

The Voice of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community

www.jewishlehighvalley.org

| Issue No. 485 | April 2025 | Nissan/Iyar 5785 AWARD-WINNING PUBLICATION EST. 1977

Community members from the Lehigh Valley and Yoav, Israel, meet for a week to explore Jewish Greece together. p5

Though the early-spring weather is still iffy here and in Israel, Passover is just around the corner. See what’s happening. Pullout section

PJ LIBRARY ACTIVITIES 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 p22-23

Israeli ‘Idol’ winner tells 10/7 survival story at Beth El By Carl Zebrowski Editor

Hagit Yaso woke up early on October 7, 2023, in her home in Sderot, Israel, near the Gaza border. The weather was perfect and she headed out for a run. It was Shabbat and, as a Jew who keeps Shabbat, she didn’t take her phone. Yaso, a daughter of Ethiopian Jews who were evacuated by airlift out of Sudan to Israel 40 years ago and a former winner of the Israeli version of “American Idol,” happened to be performing in Washington, D.C., in February. It came up there that her next stop was Allentown, Pennsylvania, to visit relatives. Word of that spread to the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. It was fate, and the efforts of the Federation and Temple Beth El, that brought Yaso to TBE to tell her survival story

to the Lehigh Valley community. And it was the desire to hear that story (and her singing!) that brought over 100 people to TBE’s sanctuary on Thursday night, February 27, on short notice. Not long into Yaso’s morning run on October 7, air raid sirens started screaming. There were gunshots, explosions. Yaso headed for the nearest bomb shelter. “I turned to God,” she said, “Why did you put me in this situation?” Missile launches from Gaza were not unusual in Sderot, even as the current situation was proving much worse. Yaso knew well the frequent routine of hearing sirens and running to safety. She and her siblings were raised in Sderot, born to parents who’d met for the first time on their wedding day in Ethiopia and endured a difficult aliyah via mass air evacuation. They lived for a

while outside Sderot and then moved into the city. As Yaso fled from Hamas to the bomb shelter, she saw two friends passing on bikes. “Wait for me!” she yelled. She heard gunfire. “I have to go,” one friend responded and took off. More shooting. Yaso changed course. “Something inside me said take a left and go to another bomb shelter,” she said. Hearing terrorists coming closer, she ducked into some bushes to hide. They shot and killed her one friend on the bike. They didn’t see Yaso. She made it to the shelter and entered. The doors were bolted behind her. The terrorists were not far behind. “All the time there,” she recalled, “terrorists are coming and waiting.” Eventually the terrorists left and Yaso fled. Out on the street, she found a man run-

ning, “in shock,” who invited her to follow him. They reached a gas station where 11 Israelis were hiding and joined them inside. Before long: “There are terrorists outside,” she said. “I pray and I cry and I say God will save us.” She and the other Israelis remained hidden there for seven hours before security arrived and took them to safety. She was able to talk with a psychologist about the traumatic experience. As the situation remained unpredictable, Yaso went to stay temporarily in a Jerusalem hotel. “During that time, I was focused on my mourning

for friends and others killed,” she said. She met a woman and some others who had been through similar ordeals on October 7. “We ran together to help deal with the trauma.” Yaso Continues on page 4

Lauren Rabin to become Women’s Philanthropy president By Carl Zebrowski Editor Lauren Rabin understands what it’s like to be a young mom with young kids and still want to volunteer in the community. Fifteen years ago she moved to the Lehigh Valley with her husband, Doron, and two young children. With no local family to help out with the kids, she discovered fast that there’s not much time left for volunteering. Yet she also knows that there’s a place for philanthropy-minded Non-Profit Organization

of the Lehigh Valley 702 North 22nd Street Allentown, PA 18104

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community members with responsibilities at home and elsewhere to get involved at a level of commitment they can handle. Lauren will soon be bringing this personal experience to her new role as president of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley Women’s Philanthropy. She says a particular focus of hers will be to bring in young women and mothers who may not currently have a lot of time to devote to community work but who can get started now and grow into roles as dedicated volunteers and leaders. “I hope that other women will see my path and want to do the same,” she says. “But it took time, and that’s OK. You can get more involved as your family evolves.” A grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Lauren grew up in Toronto and lived there with her husband, Dr. Doron Rabin, also a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, and two young kids in the 2000s. Doron, a neurosurgeon raised in Ottawa, got recruited by

St. Luke’s Hospital. He and Laruen came here for a visit to see how the Lehigh Valley Jewish community compared to the strong communities they had known all their lives. The hosts for their visit were Robby and Laurie Wax, president of the Jewish Federation board and outgoing president of Women’s Philanthropy, respectively. “We got a beautiful tour by Laurie and Robby,” Lauren says. They saw the JCC, the Jewish Day School, and other important places and were impressed. “It made our decision easier.” The decision was for Doron to accept the St. Luke’s position. The family moved here in 2010 and right away got involved in the Jewish community, to the extent that they were able at that time. Lauren has become very involved since those days. She has volunteered at the JCC and the Jewish Day School. She and Doron soon became philanthropists at the “major donor” level to the Federation’s Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs. Next, Lauren

got her Pomegranate pin, a Women’s Philanthropy recognition for philanthropic work and giving $1,800 or more to the campaign. After that came her Lion of Judah pin (gifts of $5,000 and above). Her and Doron’s kids, Aron and Golda, are involved too. They had their bar and bat mitzvahs at Chabad of the Lehigh Valley. They both attend Parkland High School and remain involved in things Jewish in and out of school. “They have very strong connection to their religion in their community,” Lauren says. As Lauren prepares to take over as Women’s Philanthropy president, she says she’s going into the job with the goal of continuing to expand the group as her recent predecessors—Laurie Wax, Beth Kushnick, Carol Bub Fromer, and Iris Epstein—have done. “My ideal would be for every woman in the Lehigh Valley who’s Jewish to be part of Rabin Continues on page 7