Lehigh hosts first Jewish Festival

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a misspelled name and the name of a holiday.

Isabelle Waksman, ‘27, said there’s a Hebrew word that’s particularly special to her — hineni, which means “we are here.” 

Hineni was just what Lehigh’s first ever Jewish Festival meant to her, as the event showed that Jewish members of the community are here on campus. 

The Jewish Festival was proposed by Waksman, who aimed to foster joy and celebrate the Jewish community during a difficult time. Students, faculty and staff gathered for the event in Lamberton Hall on Thursday. 

The festival was cohosted by six Lehigh organizations — the Office of Jewish Student Life, Lehigh Friends of Israel, Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), Gift of Life, Hillel Society and Chabad at Lehigh.

Waksman said many recent gatherings of Jewish people have been somber, with hostages and the events of Oct. 7, 2023, on their mind. 

“So, I really wanted an opportunity for us all to get together and just be happy and be so proud to be who we are,” Waksman said. 

Rabbi Zalman Greenberg, co-director of Chabad at Lehigh, said the key to the events he helps organize is that they are student-run and driven by student ideas.

“A little part of the secret sauce methodology is student-ran everything,” Greenberg said. “We are there to support it, to help the funding, to help raise the money, whatever it is, but almost all of our events are grassroots.”

The event featured a shuk candy station, Israeli music, dairy Israeli food, a challah dough braiding station and pot painting for Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish birthday of the trees.

Waksman said many Jewish events emphasize philanthropy, including the festival, which featured a bone marrow matching station, organized by Gift of Life and run by members of AEPI.

“(Bone marrow genetic matching) is very near and dear to most people here, because it’s very hard for Jews to find matches if they have cancer,” Waksman said. “Most of the time only Jews match.” 

Richard Smith, ‘27, AEPi social chair, said this philanthropy is very important to his chapter.

“I think (philanthropy is) something that AEPi is very passionate about when it comes to helping those less fortunate or those in need, and this gives us a chance to contribute,” Smith said. 

The Jewish Festival was open to all members of the community, welcoming both those deeply involved in the sponsoring organizations and those who were not.  

Jordan Lickstein, ‘25, said he’s not very involved in the Jewish organizations on campus due to his busy schedule. However, he attended the Jewish festival and said it was an important event that helped people see Israel as a country. 

“It’s important to see (Israel) as more of a country and a place of its own culture, distinct music and food, and being able to explore that, especially as someone that spent some months out that way right before all the chaos of what’s been going on recently happened,” Lickstein said. 

Hannah Gordon, ‘25, president of Chabad, said there is a lot of negativity in the media about Israel. She said she hopes this event helps non-Jewish people better understand the Jewish community. 

“This is a fully happy event, just a celebration,” Gordon said. “It’s so welcoming. I feel like when you hear so much demonization of Israel on the news, there is a misunderstanding about what’s happening. Hopefully, people can come and see and not put us as others.”