The Voice of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Community
www.jewishlehighvalley.org
| Issue No. 490 | October 2025 | Tishrei/Cheshvan 5786 AWARD-WINNING PUBLICATION EST. 1977
Community members pack into Jewish Day School to celebrate the opening of the new Levitt Learning Center. p5
A night of music featuring violins from the Holocaust and Hiroshima highlights the high price paid on both sides of war. p4
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 p23
‘Humans of October 7th’
Photojournalist to exhibit images and lead dialogue at 2nd annual commemoration By Carl Zebrowski Editor The October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel brought a new focus to the work of Tel Aviv photojournalist Erez Kaganovitz. In the aftermath of this deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, he launched the project he calls “Humans of October 7th.” Our Lehigh Valley Jewish community will unite at the JCC with Kaganovitz on October 16 to remember
October 7 and the devastation that has followed. Community members will get to view Kagaznovitz’s “Humans of October 7th” photography exhibit and join him in an open dialogue reflecting on the hope and resilience we’ve all witnessed in Israel and in global Jewish communities and pondering the postwar future of Israeli society rebuilt. “I feel a deep responsibility to honor the stories of hope, resilience, bravery, and heroism shown by countless Israelis who stood up against terror on and after October 7,” Kaganovitz says. “In my experience, highlighting these human stories offers a powerful and moving reflection of what Israeli society truly represents.”
That and more are what he hopes for the “Humans of October 7th” event here. “I believe this exhibition can serve as a profound tribute to commemorate the second remembrance day of the October 7 attack,” he explains, “a space to honor the victims and celebrate the enduring strength of a nation that refuses to be broken.” The TEDx speaker and creator of the “Humans of Israel” and “Humans of the Holocaust” projects is ideally suited for this event featuring a collection of moving photographs of post-10/7 Israel as well as an informative, constructive discussion. He says his work and efforts have always helped bridge cultural gaps in society both within and outside of Israel. He aims to encourage understanding,
emotional connection, and a feeling of unity to people around the world. “‘Humans of October 7th’ brings to light the human stories of the unique Israelis who decided to rebuild Israel stronger and better than before,” he says. “It shows the incredible spirit, resilience, and endless optimism of the Israeli people who decided to take faith into their own hands and rebuild themselves, their communities, and the country as a whole. “It’s about civilian valor, mutual responsibility, and tikkun olam (repairing the world), offering a space to both honor the victims and celebrate the enduring strength of Israeli society.” The October 16 commemoration event, presented by the Jewish Federation of
Erez Kaganovitz
the Lehigh Valley’s NextGen and co-chaired by NextGen’s Chelsea Busch, Gia Jones, Bill Miner, and Lyell Scherline, begins with a gallery reception in the JCC at 6 p.m. Kaganovitz’s presentation and dialogue with the audience begins at 7. Registration is required at jewishlehighvalley.regfox. com/october-7-commemoration. Bring a photo ID to the event for security purposes.
Ex-Columbia prof updates community on state of US campuses
By Carl Zebrowski Editor
The Lehigh Valley Jewish community showed its eagerness to kick off the new year of communitywide gatherings when they filled Temple Beth El on September 11 to hear what the Jewish former Columbia University professor who became the national face of standing up to college protests had to say about the current state of affairs on campuses.
The evening began with Shai Davidai, in his first public appearance since resigning from the Columbia faculty earlier this year due to incompatibility with the administration, joining the Jewish Federation’s major donors for dinner and conversation. For the first time, Women’s Philanthropy members who donate at the Lion of Judah and Pomegranate levels joined this special event under the leadership of Lauren Rabin. When the event tranNon-Profit Organization
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sitioned into its second phase, a community-wide presentation and Q&A with Davidai (as well as a dessert reception featuring a sprawling spread of baked sweets), Bill Markson, president of the Jewish Federation, welcomed the crowd. “It’s a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by so much generosity and so much interest in this topic,” he said. Israel Zighelboim, cochair of the Federation’s 2026 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs along with his wife, Valeska, and Eileen Ufberg, set the stage for Davidai. “Motivated by the inaction of his university’s administration,” he said, “he spoke out with passion and moral clarity.” Davidai had planned for this anniversary of 9/11 to draw connections between the current situation that Jewish Americans have been forced to face and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the NYC
Twin Towers and elsewhere. Instead, it was impossible to ignore the murder a few days earlier of right-wing media personality Charlie Kirk during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University. “Despite our many, many disagreements, what I saw in him was a young man, a father of two, who strongly believes in something, uses logic and reason to convey his message, and fights for his beliefs not with violence but in conversation,” Davidai said of the political commentator known for his young following. “His assassination proves the point he was trying to make all along: We have created a society where it’s dangerous to speak up for beliefs, where people try to shut you up or shoot you
down, where everything we thought about colleges may be completely wrong.” Davidai lamented that the views of today’s college students have become “very homogenous.” He went on to emphasize that the general views of faculty memUS campuses continues on page 2