Post-October 7: How to start the mental healing?

Lehigh Valley community loses one of its pillars, Bobby Hammel

By Carl Zebrowski
Editor

The Lehigh Valley Jewish community suffered a heartrending loss when Bobby Hammel died at age 71 on December 13 after a seven-year battle with brain cancer. 

For a hint of what he meant to the community, look no further than the name of the Allentown JCC property:…

Israeli EMS chief tells 10/7 stories and urges extra support for Israel

By Carl Zebrowski
Editor

October 7 was a devastating day in Israel. But there was hope. Emergency medical services, tested beyond their limit, answered hundreds and hundreds of urgent calls for help. The first responders of United Hatzalah, volunteers who even pay to gas up their own emerge…

Empathy and anger grip JFS staffers at session to admonish UN

By Rebecca Axelrod-Cooper and Chelsea Karp
Jewish Family Service

We were among the 700 people at the December 4 special session of the United Nations organized by the National Council of Jewish Women to call out the UN and women’s organizations for not speaking out against the horrific cr…

Brother tells Lehigh Valley audience story of twins' kidnapping

By Billy Thompson
Digital Marketing Associate

The Jewish community of the Lehigh Valley came together on the evening of December 3 to hear a story from Liran Berman, whose twin brothers, Ziv and Gali Berman, were taken hostage by Hamas during the terrorist attacks on October 7.

On the morn…