ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, begins Friday night.
“We should all have a happy, sweet new year,” said Rabbi Moshe Kurtz, with the Congregation Sons of Israel.
Kurtz said every year, Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with special traditions.
“The shofar is a ram’s horn,” said Kurtz. “We bring that very same ram’s horn every single year into the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah.”
With a goal to keep the traditions going and protected, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds and Easton Mayor Sal Panto have teamed up to create a Jewish New Year Proclamation, to reaffirm the Jewish community amid rising concerns about antisemitism.
Tuerk visited the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley on Thursday, to address anxiety and fear that many Jewish Americans are feeling.
“You’re very much part of this community, and we have that strong commitment to partnership,” said Tuerk.
Tuerk said the proclamation highlights three of the cities’ commitments to the Jewish community: safety, faith and partnership.
Aspects that Aaron Gorodzinsky, director of development for the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, said are very important in the region and beyond.
“From the most religious to the least religious members of the Jewish community, we’re so thankful for elected officials and for law enforcement that they do everything every day to make sure that we, as a community, feel welcome and safe,” said Gorodzinsky. “Just wishing everybody a happy and a healthy new year.”