local
First-Ever Jewish
Legislative Caucus Forms
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
P ennsylvania Jewish legislators
and their allies are coming
together to fi ght antisemitism
and other forms of hate.

State Rep. Dan Frankel and state
Sen. Judy Schwank announced on
March 21 the creation of the common-
wealth’s fi rst-ever Jewish Legislative
Caucus to address the concerns of
Jewish communities. Fourteen of the
22 caucus members, all Democrats,
represent Philadelphia’s fi ve-county
region, including Reps. Jared Solomon
and Ben Waxman of Philadelphia.

“There’s an added sense of urgency
today to do something on an organized
basis with my colleagues,” said Frankel,
who represents Allegheny County.

“We continue as a neighborhood and
community to experience incidents
of antisemitism, physical attacks on
people who you can easily identify
as being Jewish, particularly in the
Orthodox community,” he added.

Frankel represents the Squirrel
Hill neighborhood where the Tree of
Life synagogue shooting occurred
almost fi ve years ago but cited the
Anti-Defamation League’s Audit on
6 APRIL 6, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
Rep. Tarik Khan
Antisemitism 2022 as the need for
growing vigilance to address anti-Jew-
ish hate. The ADL’s audit found 3,697
cases of antisemitism last year, includ-
ing 114 in Pennsylvania.

To address growing antisemitism,
Frankel plans to introduce a series
of bills to “modernize laws relating to
hate crimes and ethnic intimidation in
Pennsylvania,” according to a press
release. These bills include an expan-
sion of the Ethnic Intimidation Statute;
providing law enforcement training on
identifying, investigating and address-
ing ethnic intimidation; and expanding
programs for reporting discrimination
in schools, among others.

On April 24, the caucus will host a rally
and press conference in Harrisburg to
introduce the four pieces of legislation.

Intentionally, each bill not only
addresses antisemitism but hate crimes
and discrimination more broadly.

“We’re very concerned about the
increase in hate crimes against the
Jewish community but as well as other
communities in the commonwealth
too,” Schwank said. “That leads to
the work on looking at hate-based
violence against all groups, not just
against Jewish communities.”
The caucus’ broad agenda is
Sen. Judy Schwank
refl ected in its makeup. A handful of
non-Jewish legislators have joined
the caucus, including Rep. Tarik Khan,
whose Philadelphia district includes
Mishkan Shalom, a synagogue he calls
“one of the pillars” of the district.

A member of Circle of Friends, the
Philadelphia chapter of the Muslim-
Jewish Advisory Council, Khan grew
up with a Muslim father and Catholic
mother in a largely Jewish neighbor-
hood. He has seen fi rsthand how
diff erent faith communities can come
together to support each other.

“We have to stand together, and it
can’t just be when your own group is
aff ected,” he said. “You have to stand
with your community.”
While caucuses provide symbolic
shows of solidarity, they are also useful
in gaining legislative support. Khan
uses an example of a bill he intro-
duced to increase the accessibility of
playgrounds. He turned to the common-
wealth’s Disability Caucus and Autism
and Intellectual Disabilities Caucus to
fi nd support for the bill. Similarly, if
other legislators were pushing legis-
lation to address discrimination, they
could know where to fi nd co-sponsors.

The caucus also will educate legis-
lators on Jewish issues, Schwank said.

Rep. Ben Waxman
For the group’s fi rst meeting in April,
ADL Philadelphia will share informa-
tion about the Audit on Antisemitism
2022. She identifi ed another goal of
the caucus — to educate the general
public about what the legislator is
doing to address hate, such as the
passage and growth of the Nonprofi t
Security Grant Program; Schwank
introduced an earlier draft of it.

Waxman, who represents Center
City Philadelphia, sees the caucus as
an opportunity to educate other legis-
lators on Jewish culture.

“It’s good for people to be exposed
to Jewish culture, and it’s good to have
it coming from legislators,” he said.

In addition to pushing legislation,
the caucus can host cultural events,
such as a Chanukah party, to educate
non-Jewish legislators on Jewish
issues beyond antisemitism.

“The legislative perspective is really
important, the work that outside
advocates do, bringing people’s faiths
and cultures and concerns to the legis-
lature — but there’s something incred-
ibly valuable about it happening at
a peer-to-peer level, and a caucus
allows us to do that,” Waxman said. ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of the PA General Assembly
Rep. Dan Frankel



local
Gems to Find
New Home at
Kaiserman JCC
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
G Courtesy of Golden Slipper Gems
olden Slipper Gems Executive
Director Rabbi
Moriah SimonHazani calls the organi-
zation a “hidden gem” for older adult
programming, but she wants Gems to be
more than just a diamond in the rough.

To allow Gems to grow a new
audience and diversify its programming,
the organization is looking for a change.

Gems, now a subsidiary of Golden
Slipper Club & Charities, will have a new
home at the Kaiserman JCC, the latter’s
CEO, Alan Scher, announced in a March
31 newsletter. The partnership, pending
regulatory approval from the state, will
begin this spring.

“It will bring together two respected
brands in and amongst our community
that have long served older adults in the
Jewish community and beyond,” Scher
said. “And brought together, [they] will
serve that community in a way that, from
my perspective, is a multiplier.”
Gems will continue to off er classes
and events on culture, arts and history
but will have access to the JCC’s campus
and facilities, such as a kitchen and
vans. With the partnership, Gems will
add the JCC’s older adult fi tness and
wellness classes and is hoping to incor-
porate intergenerational programs with
the community center’s Robert J. Wilf
Preschool and Kindergarten. Classes at
Gems’ Main Line location at Shir Ami will
continue through the semester.

“We just want to develop, what I
call, a holistic place for older adults
in the Jewish community and serve
them culturally, intellectually, socially,”
SimonHazani said.

The JCC serves about 300 adults
over 65, Scher said, and Gems serves a
similar number. The older adult popula-
tion in Philadelphia is growing rapidly,
according to Scher, and it’s the job of
community centers and organizations
to best adapt to them. Strengthening
programming for older adults is also
part of the JCC board’s strategic plan
adopted last fall.

“Particularly here on the Main Line,
the amount of services, particularly
accessible services, for this population
is dragging behind the growing popula-
tion,” he said. “In other words, we see
more and more older adults in need of
services to keep them thriving in that
proverbial third chapter of their life.”
During the pandemic, attendance for
Gems events — which became virtual
— dropped off due to older adults not
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being interested in adapting to new
technologies, as well as people aging
and dying.

But compared to years ago, the
aging population is also living longer,
SimonHazani said, meaning that
programming for older adults has to
be diverse. A 65-year-old has diff erent
interests and needs than an 85-year-old.

With the JCC’s resources, as well as
their recent Bernard and Etta Weinberg
Family Funds Grant from the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia for
care and services for adults over 60,
Gems will be able to tailor its programs
Gems members participate in the class “The British Invasion,” taught by Steve Pollack, which focused on the
music in the ‘60s and the infl uence of British music on the United States.

to the changing demographic.

Gems provides classes such as
“Disney at 100: A Legacy of Magic”
with Drexel University Professor David
Greenberg and “Special Political Aff airs:
75 Years of Independent Government
and Politics and Israel” with Bar-Ilan
University Professor Zeev Khanin.

Three Golden Slipper Gems board
members, including immediate past
president and board chair Jill Caine, will
join the Kaiserman JCC board. Human
Needs and Services, a charity providing
funding for essentials and emergencies
to older adults, that is now part of Gems,
will remain part of Golden Slipper.

Gems began in 1995 as a “tradi-
tional senior center” in Wynnefi eld
Heights, according to its website, but
later expanded to off er a wider array of
services to older adults at eight locations
in the Philadelphia area. In 2018, the
organization became Golden Slipper
Gems. As the organization turns the page
and enters its new chapter, Caine can
only see the positives of the partnership.

“There’s no place to go but really
improving and expanding,” she said. ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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