Hannah Lavon
HEATHER M. ROSS | STAFF WRITER
H annah Lavon is changing the world through socks.

Since she started her business Pals Socks, her brightly
covered wares have grown to be available at more than
800 retailers online through Amazon and via the company’s website,
palssocks.com. At first, Pals Socks were just for kids, but as the business (corporate
name: Hooray Hoopla LLC) grew and evolved, Lavon expanded the
socks to fit adults, too.

Lavon, 38, didn’t start out making socks, but said she’s always been
hands-on in the creative process. After studying design at Syracuse University
12 APRIL 28, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
in New York she began with a series of mit-
tens that were sets of predator and prey.

However, Lavon knew she wanted to
do more with her creativity.

“Being female, being a Jew, being in
the LGBT community, I believe that
we need more humans who are open-
minded and accepting,” Lavon said.

The idea behind Pals Socks, Lavon
said, is that even though we’re all dif-
ferent and we don’t all look alike, we
can still be friends and complement
each other.

Lavon wants to teach kids that it’s
OK not to match. Every pair of Pals
Socks has two socks that don’t look
alike but are designed in a way that
makes it clear they go together.

Although Lavon designed all of the
original Pals Socks herself, she now occa-
sionally collaborates with artists like Paul
Frank, Jason Naylor and Nate Bear.

Pals Socks also sells see-through
boots, so customers can show off their
socks everywhere they go.

“The more Pals you have the more
vibrant your life will be,” she said.

Lavon said she doesn’t just aspire to
create social change through her designs:
She uses her business to give back and
participates in fundraisers with a variety
of local organizations dedicated to mak-
ing life a more inclusive and welcoming
place for people of all kinds.

When Lavon started her journey
as a businesswoman she knew she
wanted to give back to the commu-
nity and began working with charities
focused on schools and special educa-
tion groups.

Since the program launched, Lavon
said that more than $250,000 —
$70,000 of which came this year —
was donated to organizations like the
Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network
and Gigi’s Playhouse.

Local charitable causes that have
participated in fundraising using
Pals Socks include the Schoolhouse
in Flourtown, Zipporah S. Abramson
Center at Beth Or, Never Surrender
Hope (Declan’s Sock Drive), Bucks
County Down Syndrome Interest
Group, Montgomery County Down
Syndrome Interest Group and the Fort
Washington Elementary School PTA.

Pals Socks uses the hashtag
#WeDontMatch to group the photos
of people enjoying their Pals on social
media, but Lavon hopes to develop the
hashtag into a larger campaign.

Lavon juggles this all while parent-
ing her 1½-year-old daughter, Cleo,
who just had her first matzah pizza.

Since becoming a mother Lavon feels
she has gained a better understanding
of the importance of teaching the next
generation about Jewish heritage and
traditions. JE
hross@midatlanticmedia.com Photos courtesy of Hannah Lavon
YOU SHOULD KNOW ...




nation / world
Ukrainian Refugees to Join March of Living at Auschwitz
Refugees from Ukraine are slated to join the March of the Living commemora-
tion event at Auschwitz, JTA reported.

The refugees are among 2,500 people from 25 countries who signed up for the
mission to the former death camp, the first since March of the Living suspended
such activities due to COVID-19, the
educational group said in a statement.

The march brings young people from
around the world to Poland and Israel
to study the history of the Holocaust.

The April 28 event culminates in the
traditional 2-mile march between the
Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau
Participants of the March of the Living
camps near Krakow in memory of the vic- exit a gate in the former Nazi camp
tims of the Holocaust, the statement said. Auschwitz in Poland on May 2, 2019.

American University Muslim Student Group Withdraws from
Seder Over Israel Support
The Muslim Student Association at American University in Washington, D.C.,
canceled its participation in an interfaith seder and Iftar event with the campus
Hillel chapter, citing Hillel’s support of Israel amid renewed violent clashes at
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, JTA reported.

The group had been a co-sponsor of the event to commemorate Passover and
Ramadan. “Hillel’s continued support for the state of Israel after this attack contradicts
our values of human rights and justice and we are unable to participate in a
co-sponsored campus event at this time,” the group posted to social media.

AU Hillel Executive Director Jason Benkendorf said the event went on anyway
with other campus partners.

“We are disappointed that the MSA chose not to participate and are hurt by
their decision to express their disagreement with Israel’s actions by boycotting
our campus Jewish community,” Benkendorf said. “We don’t believe this is in
keeping with the values of our campus.”
Courtesy of the International March of the Living via JTA.org
Supreme Court Rules Jewish Art Dealer Heirs Can Use Courts to
Recover Painting Nazis Stole
The Supreme Court ruled that heirs to a German Jewish art dealer could use the U.S.

court system to reclaim a valuable painting the family used as a bargaining chip with
the Nazis — even though the painting is now owned by Spain, JTA reported.

In a unanimous ruling on April 21, the justices found that the property-law dis-
pute could be debated in California, where the descendants of Lilly Cassirer live
today. Justice Elena Kagan, the court’s only Jewish member, wrote the opinion.

“Our ruling is as simple as the conflict over [the painting’s] rightful owner has
been vexed,” Kagan wrote in the case of Cassirer Et Al. v. Thyssen-Bornemisza
Collection Foundation.

In 1939, Cassirer surrendered the French painting “Rue Saint-Honoré in the
Afternoon, Effect of Rain,” by 19th-century Impressionist Camille Pissarro to the
Nazis in exchange for an exit visa so she could leave the country.

Two decades later, Cassirer’s descendants accepted compensation from the
German government — only to later discover that the painting had under-
gone a journey of its own, from an art gallery in St. Louis to a private home in
Switzerland to an art foundation owned by the Spanish government.

Report: Israel the Eighth-largest Nuclear Power
Israel has 90 nuclear warheads, making it the eighth-largest nuclear power,
according to a report by the American Federation of Scientists, Globes reported.

There are about 13,000 nuclear warheads worldwide, led by Russia (5,977), the
United States (5,428), China (350), France (290) and the United Kingdom (225).

The other countries with nuclear weapons are Pakistan (165), India (160), Israel
and North Korea (20). JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
ANTIQUE &
VINTAGE MARKET
AT KENESETH ISRAEL (KI)
Outdoors Sunday, May 1st
8339 Old York Rd, Elkins Park
8AM - 5PM
Free Admission & Free Parking!
Vendor Reservations:
215-625-3532 Proceeds Benefit
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Evening Gowns
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61 Buck Road
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www.elanaboutique.com (215)953-8820
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