local
Local Jews Worry
About Gas Prices
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
I t’s April, which means Margate
and Ventnor season is almost here
for Jews in Greater Philadelphia.

But shore season is also driving
season, and with gas prices hovering
around record levels, local Jews are
thinking twice about driving long dis-
tances ... or driving at all.

Yet while they are thinking twice,
they are still choosing to fill up the
tank and take the drive in most cases,
they say.

“It’s not keeping me from driving,
but it is getting me to plan accordingly,
so I’m not driving unnecessarily,” said
Melinda Engel, a Jewish Center City
resident. her house after two years of COVID-
induced isolation.

“We spent so much time being stuck
inside and away from the people we
care about; I don’t think it’s healthy,”
Engel said. “It’s time to come back and
start living again.”
The last thing Engel mentioned was
that the gas situation had gotten her to
at least think about going electric. She
called the electric car option appealing
because it’s good for the environment,
too, though she has not yet considered
other factors that make an EV different
— like having to charge it back up on
a long trip.

Ellen and David Tilman of Elkins
Park (he is the cantor emeritus at Beth
Sholom Congregation), split the dif-
ference between gas and electric with
“It’s not keeping me
from driving,
but it is getting me
to plan accordingly,
so I’m not driving
unnecessarily.” MELINDA ENGEL
Engel’s kids attend school on the
Main Line, so she’s “constantly driv-
ing,” she added. Now, she explained,
if she can drive out to the Main Line
“once instead of twice,” she consoli-
dates her trips.

Engel has also gotten strategic about
finding the best gas prices. On a recent
drive through New Jersey to get to the
Pennsylvania Turnpike, she drove 2
miles out of her way to find a Costco.

“Because it has the best gas prices,”
she said.

At the same time, Engel explained,
the benefits of driving still outweigh
the costs. She can decide when she
comes and goes. She can also get out of
6 APRIL 14, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
their hybrid cars.

The couple gets about 50 miles to the
gallon, so they don’t have to fill up as
often. But they also don’t have to worry
about charging their car on long trips,
like to their home in the Poconos or to
their son’s house in New Jersey.

At this point, the Tilmans are not
forgoing any family trips to the Garden
State or to the mountains.

“Those things are important to us,”
Ellen Tilman said.

But they are combining errands and
gaining a better sense of the gas station
map. The couple fills up at their local
Giant store, where they get a discount
as grocery store members, and near