H EADLINES
Mikvah Continued from Page 1
with the process. As a Chabad
rabbi, Schmidt was used to
interacting with University
of Pennsylvania students and
young professionals.

But as Schmidt has been a
rabbi at Vilna Congregation,
which was founded in 1922,
since 1988, he had nearly three
decades to warm up to the idea
of a mikvah. He eventually
came around, as community
interest in the mikvah reached
a critical mass in the past 10
years and because, as Schmidt
said, a mikvah is crucial to any
Jewish community.

“A mikvah is such an
important thing in the commu-
nity that you’re allowed to sell a
shul to build a mikvah,” Schmidt
said to illustrate his point.

For Jews, particularly Jewish
women who observe taharat
hamishpacha, the mikvah is an
affi rmation of the Jewish value
of family.

“Family truly is the center
of everything,” said Chava
Schmidt, Menachem Schmidt’s
wife and a Mikvah Mai
Shalva committee member.

“A synagogue is very holy, but
it’s not the same. It’s not as
important as a Jewish family.”
The ritual bath was
especially appreciated for Jews
living in Center City. Mikvahs
are oft en needed on Shabbat,
but the only mikvahs in the
area are solely accessible by car.

“ On Shabbos, you can’t
drive to and from the mikvah
on Friday night, so it needs
to be within walking distance,
and that has not been avail-
able,” Chava Schmidt said.

For Brenna Stein, a longtime
supporter of and donor to Mai
Shalva, the closest mikvah was
more than a 30-minute drive
from her home in Center City.

In addition to the mikvah’s
convenience for those already
in the area, Stein believes that
having a mikvah in Center City
will be a driving force in growing
the Jewish community there.

The generosity of the
community members showed
that they agreed, as they raised
more than $800,000 for the
mikvah’s construction.

Vilna Congregation closed
in early 2019 to accommodate
the ritual bath’s construction,
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14 AUGUST 19, 2021
Vilna Congregation began
construction of the mikvah in early
2019. Courtesy of Menachem Schmidt
and demolition began in May
2020 and was completed the
following month. Th at was the
easy part; the mikvah went
through multiple contractors
and architects over the past two
years, slowing the timeline.

“In Hebrew, it’s called a
bilbul — a whole, big confu-
sion,” Schmidt said.

“Construction delays for
COVID-19 further compli-
cated matters, as the city nonprofi t projects are part of
what you hope doesn’t happen,
delayed building inspections.

but always happen,” Schmidt said.

Finally, in March, the
building passed inspection and
the Mai Shalva Mikvah began
the months-long process of
collecting rainwater, as required
ELDER LAW
halachically — by Jewish law —
AND to fi ll a mikvah.

ESTATE PLANNING
Th e shul’s ark and Torahs were
displaced by the construction,
Wills Trusts
and now reside in the build-
ing’s new synagogue space on
Powers of Attorney
the second fl oor, which will also
Living Wills
serve as a fl ex space for educa-
Probate Estates
tional programs and services. In
Protect assets from
its place on the ground fl oor, the
nursing home
women’s mikvah and prepara-
tion rooms now reside.

LARRY SCOTT AUERBACH, ESQ.

Since its soft opening at
CERTIFIED ELDER LAW ATTORNEY
CPA-PFS, J.D., LL.M.,MBA
the beginning of August, the
1000 Easton Road
mikvah has hosted a steady
Abington, PA 19001
stream of women every day,
according to Chava Schmidt.

For consultation call
215-517-5566 or
Stein was one of the fi rst
1-877-987-8788 Toll Free
women to use the mikvah,
Website: www.Lsauerbach.com
following the birth of her child
LEGAL DIRECTORY
www.jewishexponent.com C
The Mai Shalva Center City
Community Mikvah is now open
to women.

JEWISH EXPONENT
in July. Having tried for years to
conceive, Stein would use her
time at a mikvah in the past to
say personal prayers. Now, at
the mikvah she invested in for
years, Stein said she was able
to take time to thank God for
her child.

“We tried for a very, very
long time to have our child,
and we’ve been waiting a very,
very long time to have the
mikvah,” Stein said. “So it feels
very appropriate.”
Additional information
about Mai Shalva, as well as
reservations for the women’s
mikvah, can be found at phila-
mikvah.org/. Th e Schmidts
intend to announce plans for
the men’s mikvah and mikvah
for the keilim, immersion of
vessels, as well as the date of
the grand opening and dedica-
tion of the mikvah, in the
coming days. ●
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
Religious Continued from Page 1
return to the familiar, schools
are still making changes,
trying to rebuild a feeling of
community that atrophied
over the past 18 months.

“It’s what our families
really seem to want and need,”
Congregation Rodeph Shalom
Director of Youth Education
Jennifer James said. “Because
as effective as we can be over
Zoom — and we were effective
— there is a limit.”
The Philadelphia-based
synagogue will resume Berkman
Mercaz Limud, its learning
center, Sept. 12, welcoming
back more than 200 students to
in-person classrooms.

Rodeph Shalom’s learning
center has been lucky; attendance
was strong during the pandemic
year. It was able to adapt its
in-person programming to an
online format quickly.

Hebrew school students
haven’t seemed to suffer in
terms of learning: GJC’s online
Wednesday Hebrew program
was so successful that it will
continue to be held weekly
over Zoom this year. However,
students’ experience of Hebrew
school was hurt the most by the
inability to connect in person
with their peers.

For Levi Rudick, 16, the
missing social component of
religious school at GJC drove
his decision not to attend
GJC’s online program last
year. Under non-pandemic
circumstances, religious school
offered a departure from the
strictness of secular school.

“At least at GJC, it’s not as
serious as school,” Rudick said.

“After a week of serious school,
it’s fun to play around.”
Sitting in front of a computer
Following the path of his two
older brothers, Rudick, now
fully vaccinated, will complete
confirmation with the rest of
his cohort, most of whom he’s
known since the first grade.

“I kind of missed the
company,” Rudick said. “We
had a lot of fun times.”
Rudick hopes that this year,
returning to an in-person
format will allow him and
his peers to engage with the
classroom material at religious
school. Rudick’s mother is grateful
the return of in-person
learning will afford her son
the opportunity to experience
confirmation in the same way
his older brothers did.

“His entire religious school
experience kind of culminates
in this 10th-grade program,”
Wolf said. “I would have been
build community over Zoom
last year: Rodeph Shalom
transferred its Panim el
Panim (face-to-face) commu-
nity-building activity to
Zoom; BZBI continued its
Rosh Chodesh and Shevet
teen groups online; GJC hired
outside organizations, such
as the Bible Players, to create
improv activities and skits with
students to make the Zoom
space more dynamic.

This year, the push continues
to re-engage students in the
classroom. And along the way, BZBI
will focus on supporting their
teachers and encouraging
them to focus on social-emo-
tional and spiritual learning in
the classroom, Nissen said.

“Rather than thinking of
yourself as being in a class-
room, students really feel like
they’re part of a micro-com-
munity that they have a sense
of ownership in,” he said.

Other religious school
programs are hoping to do
the same.

In previous years, GJC
hosted an annual Havdalah
and potluck from a student’s
home. This year, it hopes to
host three of these events.

The Bible Players will have an
in-person encore performance
at GJC as well.

The ambitious goals are
a sign of optimism for these
religious schools.

“Our regular school is
a place of a lot of energy,”
Weinberg said. “We just need
to come back together and
remind people of it.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
You are invited to
Our plan at the moment is never not a moving target. ... Our regular
school is a place of a lot of energy. We just need to come back together
and remind people of it.”
ABIGAIL WEINBERG
Rabbi Max Nissen, director
of youth and family educa-
tion at Temple Beth Zion-Beth
Israel, said they had a similar
experience at BZBI’s Neziner
Hebrew School.

“Our attendance was consis-
tent enough to be able to run a
strong program,” he said.

Nonetheless, Nissen
acknowledged the absence of
some students, and Weinberg
saw the same at GJC; she
noted the sizable difference
in her religious school classes
last year.

“That was painful, to not be
able to serve them and include
them,” Weinberg said.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM for religious school at the end
of a school day began to feel
like a continuation of school to
Rudick. According to Denise
Wolf, Rudick’s mother, even
Rudick’s wrestling practice was
virtual. Zoom fatigue after just
a few weeks of religious school
was too much for Rudick, and
he decided he needed a break
for the year.

“There was a lot of similar-
ities between bland, virtual
online school and [Hebrew
school],” he said.

With GJC revamping
in-person religious school
this year, Rudick will return
to the classroom on Sept. 12.

really disappointed if it was
virtual, and he couldn’t do it.”
Rudick isn’t the only student
at GJC returning after a year
away. According to Weinberg,
of the 36 students currently
enrolled, 11 are students who
did not participate last year.

With the return of students,
religious schools are making
a special effort to focus on
social-emotional learning this
year. “There’s a big push to think
intentionally about how we
come back together after a year
of being apart,” Nissen said.

Religious schools made
a concerted effort to try and
JEWISH EXPONENT
R Remembrance
Re e emem mbran
meme embr
mbr anc
an c ce e Day
M mor
Me m meme or ial i iorior al Service
Se rvi
Serv rv i ceicei
Memorial InInI In Mem
Memo Memory
o ryrryr y of o f All
A llllll l Loved
L o ve
vedd Ones
On Sunday, September 12th
at 12 Noon
Rabbi Isaac Leizerowski
Family, Friends and Public Welcome
Celebrating each life like no other.

ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL PARK
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