arts & culture
W JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
hen it commences its 32nd
season in October, Th eatre
Ariel will carry on the leg-
acy of its founding artistic director,
Deborah Baer Mozes, who retired aft er
the 2021-’22 season.

And so, when deciding on a theme for
the Jewish salon theater’s four shows for
2022-’23, new director Jesse Bernstein
did not have to brainstorm for long.

Th e theme will be legacy, as an email
from the theater revealed.

“What do we inherit? What do we
leave behind? What do we pass on to the
next generation,” it further explained.

But, as Bernstein elaborated, the sub-
ject is not just about the Main Line
24 organization continuing the legacy of
its founder. It is also a topic that is rel-
evant to Judaism — and specifi cally to
Judaism today.

“What we inherit from the genera-
tions before,” he said. “And also, as I
was reading scripts, that theme started
to emerge.”
Th eatre Ariel’s fi rst show of 2022-
’23, “We All Fall Down” by Lila Rose
Kaplan, is about whether a family’s revi-
talization of an age-old Jewish tradi-
tion, the Passover seder, can bring them
closer together. Its next play, “Ancient
History” by David Ives, features a couple
that eschews labels ... until the woman
realizes that her Jewish background
does mean something to her.

Both of those will premiere for the the-
AUGUST 25, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
ater’s intimate crowds in 2022, with two
more to follow in the fi rst half of 2023.

In 2022-’23, the theater will continue
its legacy of in-person performance.

It ended the 2019-’20 season online
because of the outbreak of COVID-
19. Th e 2020-’21 schedule played out
entirely on Zoom due to the ongoing
pandemic and last year’s shows were in
person for the fi rst two performances
and virtual for the next two.

Th is year’s plays will all be in per-
son with locations to be determined,
Bernstein said. Th e director, who served
as associate director under Baer Mozes,
said the theater still had 58 members
and an average crowd of between 40 and
60 people for its 2021-’22 performances.

Both of those numbers were in line with
pre-COVID standards.

“We are very much about the con-
versation around the show, as well as
the reading. We’re looking to create
community and dialogue,” Bernstein
said. “Th ere is a hunger for that. You
can still engage with your Judaism and
be entertained.”
Judaism is about continuity, he
explained. But in the Jewish community
of 5782, that continuity feels uncertain.

Synagogue membership is declining.

Many shuls in the Philadelphia area see
small crowds for Shabbat services.

Millennials are oft en unsure about
the degree to which they want to affi l-
iate. It’s become a common refrain for
local Jews of all ages to say something
along the lines of, “I’m not religious, but
I do appreciate my Jewish identity.”
But what, exactly, is that identity today?
It’s a question that, like so many in
Jewish life, really only leads to many
more questions.

“In terms of where we are right now
in American Jewry, one of the things
that is a question is how do you involve
more people? What are the important
things we want to pass on? And what are
we inheriting that we need to adapt?”
Bernstein asked.

And then, he asked some more.

“What are the things that are being
forgotten that we want to make sure
Jesse Bernstein
are not forgotten? What is the value of
Jewish culture and ideas and spiritual-
ity? How do we cling to that? How do
we communicate that? How do we pass
that on? Th at includes both the trauma
and the celebratory parts.”
Th ose are questions that Bernstein
is asking not just about modern Jewry
but about Th eatre Ariel. Th e director
wants to carry on Baer Mozes’ legacy
because he believes that Jewish art is a
valuable inheritance worth continuing
— and ultimately passing on to another
generation. At the same time, much like the aver-
age synagogue congregation in 5782,
Th eatre Ariel’s audience is older. And
fi nding younger members is an ongo-
ing challenge. Bernstein, who is 44,
is not sure where they are and how to
fi nd them.

Th e director and the theater’s co-pres-
idents, Marci Wilf and Judy Guzman,
are looking into collaborating with ven-
ues that are more accessible to younger
people, expanding the theater’s social
media presence and bringing younger
people into the organization and its
productions. “It’s going to be a process,” Bernstein
said. But one well worth undertaking.

“It’s important that our stories are
handed down,” Guzman said. JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of Jesse Bernstein
Theatre Ariel’s New Season to
Explore Old, Contemporary
Jewish Theme



obituaries
Professor, Activist,
Playwright Mark Sacharoff
Dies at 92
GALL SIGLER | SPECIAL TO THE JE
M ark Sacharoff, a Temple University
professor, anti-Vietnam War
activist and playwright died on Aug 7.

He was 92.

Sacharoff may not be a household
name like Allen Ginsburg and Jack
Kerouac — with whom he hung out —
but his activism and academic contri-
butions may have changed the course of
U.S. history.

Sacharoff was a vehement opponent
of the Vietnam War. One of his contri-
butions to the anti-war struggle was an
extensive bibliography of works on the
Vietnam War, which was featured in The
New York Times.

That bibliography was reviewed by jour-
nalist Neil Sheehan, and it was that review,
Sacharoff was told later by activist Daniel
Ellsberg’s lawyer, that convinced Ellsberg
to share the Pentagon Papers with Sheehan.

Sacharoff was born in Waterbury,
Connecticut in 1929 to Russian Jewish
immigrants. Growing up in a cold-water
BERGER ELAINE (nee Tucker) - August 13,
2022; predeceased by the love
of her life, Henry A. Berger and
mother of her other love, Aldon M.

Berger. A woman of grand style
and great humor who loved bridge,
entertaining and cooking. An avid
volunteer with a passion for helping
people with disabilities. She will be
forever missed by her adoring niec-
es and nephews whom she loved
as if they were her own.

JOSEPH LEVINE & SONS
www.levinefuneral.com Courtesy of the Sacharoff family
FINKLE LANGHORNE, PA - Linda Silver
Finkle, age 79, died on Friday, Au-
gust 12, 2022. Born in New York
City on October 15, 1942 to the late
Kate R. and Jules N. Silver, she
was a resident of beautiful Bucks
County for most of her life. Meet-
ing her future husband, Arthur, at
age 13, Linda and Arthur dated
through high school and college,
marrying in 1964. Linda’s family
was the most important thing to
flat, Sacharoff was eager to move to college.

However, despite being a top student,
Sacharoff’s Jewish working-class back-
ground threatened his academic career.

“He was waitlisted at Wesleyan
[University] despite his incredible cre-
dentials because, he believed, they had a
quota of Jews at the time,” said his son,
Laurent Sacharoff.

Even though Sacharoff later matricu-
lated at Wesleyan on a full scholarship,
his class background contrasted with
that of his peers.

“Wesleyan was a fancy school, and
he was, a little, a fish out of the water,”
Laurent Sacharoff said.

After graduating in 1950, Sacharoff
gravitated toward the era’s literary soci-
eties and moved to Greenwich Village
in New York City. There he befriended
poets and writers such as Ginsburg,
Kerouac and Dylan Thomas.

“It was such a special time for him,”
said his daughter, Ariadne Green. “He
was just engaged with a large group of
people that were talking about ideas … It
her. She cherished her two sons,
and when she was later blessed
with grandchildren, they became
the light of her life. Linda graduat-
ed from Pennsbury High School,
Class of 1960, Temple University
with a B.S. in Education, and re-
ceived a M.A. in Guidance and
Counseling from Rider University.

Loving the environment of learn-
ing, she later enrolled at the Col-
lege of New Jersey and became
certified as a school administra-
tor. Linda started her career as
a teacher in the Trenton Public
School System. After her children
were in school, Linda worked at
Ring Nursery School. Returning
to work full time in 1979, she was
a teacher and administrator at
Chapin School and the Assistant
Director of Admissions at The
Hun School of Princeton. An ed-
ucator for more than forty years,
serving as a teacher, guidance
counselor, mentor, principal, and
educational consultant, Linda
cherished the relationships she
built with students and their fam-
ilies, often hearing from them to
this day. Following her retirement,
was really about living in that time.”
A decade later, Sacharoff resumed
his academic career and completed his
Ph.D. at Hunter College. He pursued
his passion of plays in a provocative dis-
sertation on “Troilus and Cressida” by
Shakespeare, where he suggested that the
famous play was misunderstood by some
conventional scholarly works.

In 1967, Sacharoff joined Temple
University’s faculty as an English professor.

“He really enjoyed teaching; he was
really great with students,” Green said.

Initially, Sacharoff immersed himself
in academic research.

“Early on, he was publishing like
mad in academic journals,” Green said.

Gradually, he became more invested in
activism and his writing projects.

Following the end of the war, Sacharoff
became involved in anti-nuclear prolifera-
tion activism and worked with the National
Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy.

Sacharoff headquartered his activism
work from home, which enabled him to
be central in his children’s upbringing.

Linda served in various capacities
as a volunteer “extraordinaire.” A
member of Har Sinai Temple for
more than 60 years, Linda and
Arthur became members of Con-
gregation Kol Emet in 2010. She
served on the Board as liaison to
the Religious School. Linda held
various positions as a member of
the Board of The Villas at Shady
Brook for more than 12 years.

She supported the work and ac-
tivities of Greenwood House, the
Abramson Center for Jewish Life,
and HomeFront. Linda is survived
by her loving husband of 58 years,
Arthur L. Finkle, her devoted sons,
Andrew E. (Heather) and Daniel
S. Finkle (Tim), adored grandchil-
dren, Julia Hannah and Joshua
Nathan Finkle. Linda’s cherished
brother, Stuart Roth Silver (Linda)
of Hilton Head, SC and his fami-
ly, niece Elise (Chip) and nephew
Joel (Katie), great niece Brooke,
great nephew Garrett, and great
niece Samantha, also survive. In
addition, Linda’s life was blessed
with caring and dedicated friends
who added to the fullness of her
life. In fact, though not legally,
“He spent a lot of time with us as chil-
dren when we were growing up. He was a
very present dad,” Laurent Sacharoff said.

Although not religious, Judaism was
significant in Sacharoff’s life.

“He was very interested in the history
of Judaism and the Bible as a work of lit-
erature,” Laurent Sacharoff said.

“Culturally, he definitely, completely
identified as Jewish … that was some-
thing that was deep for him and import-
ant for him,” Green said.

Together with the Playwright Workshop,
Sacharoff produced his own play, “The
Front Door,” which demonstrates his
humor and attraction to the avant-garde.

“It was a dark comedy … it was defi-
nitely influenced by his time in the Village,
by artists who are also dreamers and can
also get stuck,” Laurent Sacharoff said.

In addition to his son and daughter,
Sacharoff is survived by his wife Joan and
his son-in-law Jon Green. JE
Gall Sigler is an intern for the Jewish
Exponent. they, too were her family. The
family respectfully requests that
contributions in Linda’s memory
be to Greenwood House, 53 Wal-
ter Street, Ewing Township, NJ
08628, HomeFront, 1880 Prince-
ton Avenue, Lawrenceville, New
Jersey 08648, or The Trenton
Jewish Cemetery Project, PO Box
5315, Princeton NJ 08543.

ORLAND’S EWING
MEMORIAL CHAPEL
OrlandsMemorialChapel.com GAIER
GERALD ALEXANDER - Jerry
passed away peacefully on August
16, 2022 at 89 years old. He was
the beloved husband of Linda Pen-
ny Gaier (nee Lewisohn) for over
62 years. A loving father to Michael
(Jennifer) Gaier and David (Randi)
Gaier, adoring Poppy to Kelsey,
Andrew, Mason, and Samantha.

Contributions in his memory may
be made to the Alzheimer’s Asso-
ciation or a charity of the donor’s
choice. HOFFNER
LEONARD B. - On August 11, 2022.

Beloved husband of the late Reba
(nee Yasno). Devoted father of
Jamie Komemi and the late Jeffrey
Hoffner. Loving grandfather of Da-
vid Komemi (Ashley Burdge) and
Michal Komemi (Dan Faby). Dear
great grandfather of Hunter and
Riley. Mr. Hoffner was a longtime
member of William Penn Lodge-
B’nai Brith. Contributions in his
memory may be made to B’nai Brith
International www.bnaibrith.org.

GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S
RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 25