
The choice to affiliate with a Jewish community will invariably shape the future of American Jewry. Can one live anonymously as a Jew without choosing to affiliate? Certainly, but at a cost. Jewish communal affiliation serves as an important vehicle for sharing in the joys of the Jewish holidays together with others of similar religious and ethnic backgrounds. Attaching oneself to community also helps in challenging times, when antisemitism rears its ugly head. To share with others is to identify openly with your greater “family” when you feel you need them most. October 7 made this even truer.
Fortunately, the Lehigh Valley Jewish community is small, tight-knit, and welcoming to newcomers. With a rich array of ways to affiliate Jewishly, the various synagogues and Chabad offer diverse ways to “do and be Jewish.” People often comment on how well our Jewish clergy in the Lehigh Valley work together. Clergy cooperation and collaboration are not just given lip service here.
The Lehigh Valley Jewish clergy meets regularly to share and discuss ways in which to constantly improve the quality of Jewish life in the Lehigh Valley. Conservative, Reform, Modern Orthodox, Reconstructionist, and Chabad—all support one another and work together in order to serve our community better.
As chair of the Lehigh Valley Clergy Group, I, on behalf of my colleagues, welcome you to the community and say, “Shalom to the Lehigh Valley!” May this be a year of peace, good health, and cooperation for all of us.
By Rabbi Moshe Re’em. Rabbi Moshe Re’em of Temple Beth El in Allentown is chair of the Lehigh Valley Jewish Clergy Group.