T orah P ortion
Preparing to Share Chanukah’s Light
BY RABBI DR. SHMULY YANKLOWITZ
Parshah Vayishlach
THE CANDLES. THE OIL.

The darkness. The Light. For
the Jewish people, the symbols
of Chanukah remind us that
when times seem the bleakest,
there is always an escape.

To celebrate Chanukah is
to recognize the metaphysical
potential of miracles, the forces
beyond the rational mind and
the special times in history
when the weak triumph over
the powerful.

But, as we also know, the
modern celebration of Chanukah
in a modern context also means
the submission to commer-
cialism and easy gratification.

No longer is the triumph of the
Maccabees about the recogni-
tion of determinative religious
expression. Rather, Chanukah
has become part of the simpli-
fied vernacular of the “Happy
30 Day
Continued from Page 6
to focus on supporting child
care centers — specifically
women and minority-owned
child care centers — after
learning about changes to state
funding policies that would
have a significant impact on
these businesses. They reached
out to Donna Cooper, execu-
tive director of Public Citizens
for Children and Youth, for
help in identifying child care
centers with the greatest need.

“From March to Sept. 1, the
state continued to pay child
care centers as if kids were
still enrolling at the full scale.

And then as of Sept. 1, the state
shifted it’s policy and started to
only pay for the actual number
of children attending, and
once that happened, child care
providers saw their revenues
drop by 40 to 50%. And that
24 DECEMBER 3, 2020
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Dec. 4
Dec. 11
4:18 p.m.

4:18 p.m.

Holidays” mantra: days where
the material world takes prece-
dence over the spiritual world.

It is time to reclaim the
ethical reality of Chanukah for
these challenging times. For
too long, moral philosophy
has been consumed about
dilemmas that mysteriously
land on our doorstep. It is time
to come off the doorstep, to stop
philosophizing over abstract
cases, and to go chase moral
opportunities. In a climate
that seems to favor passive
sympathy, what we need more
than ever is proactive empathy.

In his commentary on
Leviticus 25:35, Rashi writes:
“You will strengthen him:
Do not wait until he has gone
down and fallen, because it will
be difficult to raise him up.

Instead, strengthen him at the
time where his hand is slipping.

What is this like? To a load
upon a donkey. When it is still
on the donkey, one can support
it and make it stand. Once it
falls to the ground, even five
cannot make it stand.”
What do Rashi’s words mean
for us in a practical sense? What
do we do to move the enter-
prise of moral justice forward?
What if instead of waiting for
the possibility of a call from
a suicidal friend/colleague/
family member, we go above
and beyond to support those
struggling with mental illness?
What if instead of waiting for a
fundraiser to call us with a pitch,
we chase after the causes that
we know we need to support?
What if instead of waiting for
someone to crawl begging to
us, we proactively reach out
to prevent them from falling?
What if instead of waiting for
an estranged friend to apolo-
gize, we reach out to reconcile?
To be a Jew in this world is to
be responsible. To be a person
of conscience means to find
comfort in the uncomfortable.

To be responsible means to
strategize about the moral arc
of life and pursue moral oppor-
tunities. A spiritual-child waits
to be called while a spiritu-
al-adult stands up and goes
forth. Instead of waiting for
others to beg us for help, we
should be first in line to give
back. That is precisely what we
witness in the first verse of our
Torah portion this week. “Jacob
sends angels ahead of him,”
(Genesis 32:4). He doesn’t wait
for his brother Esau to arrive.

He proactively reaches out. He
proactively creates a plan for
this intense family encounter.

He thinks ahead morally and
prepares himself spiritually.

For me, this sentiment is
what Chanukah is about. While
the presents, food and the
symbols are great to celebrate
with family, the essence of
what the holiday means goes
beyond the mundane. The
spiritual dimension is what we
should strive for.

We don’t passively attend
synagogue to listen to sermons
and songs. We don’t only show
up to classes and listen to others
speak. But, during Chanukah,
we bring the light from our
homes and spread it so that it
becomes a greater light into
the world. On an even deeper
level, we are invited to become
the light; our souls are the wick
and the world is the flame.

We are invited to become
personified chanukiot that
share our light with the rest
of the world. We don’t wait for
others to request light in a dark
world. We go out — proactively
and purposefully — and share
our light for all around us to be
illuminated. l
means they’re letting go of staff
and it also means they may need
to close because the margins are
too narrow to be able to support
that,” said Cooper, who is Jewish.

Child care providers already
faced several obstacles before
these policy changes.

Mark Ornstein, president
and CEO of Federation Early
Learning Services, said these
businesses are dealing with a
great deal of risk during the
pandemic. “Managing that risk while
also balancing the quality
of care that our families
expect from Federation Early
Learning Services is a difficult
yet necessary endeavor. Myself
and each member of FELS’ staff
understands the important role
we play in helping families,
particularly essential workers
battling the pandemic, to get
back to work by caring for their
young children,” he said in an
email statement.

The fund founders knew
that child care centers are
crucial to essential worker
parents, as well as parents
hoping to return to work when
the pandemic ends.

“There’s a vaccine on the
horizon, and people are going
to, at some point, get the
vaccine and want to go back to
work,” Brown said. “How are
they going to go back to work if
all the early childhood organi-
zations are not in business?”
Cooper said PCCY had
already partnered
with Reinvestment Fund to provide
financial advising and grants to
child care programs. The two
organizations had infrastructure
in place to identify high-quality
early childhood programs in
Philadelphia that needed tempo-
rary financial support.

The organization uses a
ratings system developed by the
commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
which assigns value to child care
centers based on the quality of
curriculum and staff, and PA 30
Day Fund used the information
when evaluating applications.

Allen said that the money
would help cover the costs of
increased safety precautions
and reduced enrollment.

“A lot of parents who are
not working no longer qualify
for subsidized child care. And
because they do not qualify,
those funds are no longer avail-
able for them. So our business
went from a fully enrolled
program to maybe 25% of its
enrollment,” she said.

The cost of providing masks
for children and parents, signs
to indicate social distancing
and safety precautions — as
well as personal protective
equipment like goggles, gloves
and hand sanitizers for staff —
adds up for small businesses
operating on reduced budgets.

Allen also reported that she
had seen a lot of price gouging
while buying supplies.

Bartos said he was amazed
at the resilience of child care
center owners in the face of
the challenges, and noted that
almost all of the loan recipients
were women.

“These women business
owners are just so full of joy
and hope and commitment to
what they do, and they pour
everything they have into their
work,” he said.

Cooper and her colleagues
hope that the state will find a
way to continue to compensate
for depressed demand.

“It’s taken us 20 years to
build up a robust supply of
early childhood programs, and
we can’t lose them,” she said. l
JEWISH EXPONENT
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the
president and dean of Valley Beit
Midrash in Phoenix and the author
of 19 books on Jewish ethics.

spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



COMMUNITY NEWS
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia mobilizes
financial and volunteer resources to address the
communities’ most critical priorities locally, in Israel and
around the world.

A Little Black Box That Fights Loneliness
WHILE THE PANDEMIC has brought it
into sharper focus, loneliness and social isola-
tion have long been major issues facing older
adults. The CDC estimates that one-quarter of
American seniors are socially isolated, putting
them at a higher risk of everything from
anxiety and depression to premature death.

At the Jewish Federation-supported Jewish
Family and Children’s Service, they’re all too
aware of the “loneliness epidemic” facing their
seniors and the barriers that keep people from
accessing social connections.

“We do a lot of programming for seniors
at the Brodsky Center in Bala Cynwyd,” said
Paul Groch, JFCS’ vice president of operations.

“But with an older population, not everyone
can travel easily. We were actually looking for a solution to help connect people
even before the pandemic started.”
For Groch’s team, the solution came from an Israeli startup called Uniper,
which uses technology to help seniors maintain an active social life from the
comfort of their homes.

Uniper provides a small device — similar to a Roku or an Apple TV — that
connects to both on-demand programming (concerts, ballets, news, Russian-
language material) and live events like classes or social groups.

“It’s a simple box and a simple remote,” Groch said. “You can’t get lost. It’s a
simple solution for folks that aren’t used to using technology.”
JFCS’ Bala Cynwyd headquarters now has a broadcasting center where
it livecasts events to Uniper. Since the live events are with people in the
Philadelphia region, the seniors have the opportunity to see familiar faces. It’s
this type of casual interaction — a conversation with our barista, a chat with
coworkers — that we take for granted, but are
extremely meaningful for those in isolation.

“They can see each other and be seen
themselves. They take an active role in the
programming instead of passively receiving
the information,” Groch said.

When COVID-19 hit, Uniper access became
more critical. Since Uniper’s programming can
also be accessed from a web browser, Groch and
his team distributed Chromebooks to seniors,
along with detailed instructions about how to
set them up. Later, they also sent wireless mice
after realizing that many of the older adults
struggled with the laptops’ trackpads.

“Again, the emphasis has to be on simple,”
Groch said. “This is a population that is not
used to computers.”
Since introducing Uniper, JFCS has found significant improvements in partic-
ipants’ mental health. Seventy-five percent of Uniper participants improved or
maintained their anxiety score, and 92% improved or maintained their depres-
sion score. Most impressively, JFCS found that 75% of Uniper users showed
overall improvement across all the measured categories, compared to only 25%
of those who did not use Uniper.

While Groch says they have a long way to go — the number of Philadelphia
seniors who don’t have internet access at all “keeps him up at night” — he’s
proud of what JFCS has achieved.

“It’s really fortuitous that we already had so much of this in place,” he said. “It
made a big difference over the past few months.”
Gifts to the Jewish Federation support JFCS programs like this one. Donate
today at jewishphilly.org/donate and make the world a little less lonely!
Stefanamer/Getty Images
Pandemic Prompts Food Aid Revamp
EVERY FALL, the Women’s Philanthropy affinity group at the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia leads the sorting of canned and dry goods
donated through the High Holiday Food Drive.

Due to the pandemic, the sort was unable to take place, but Women’s
Philanthropy Chair Julie Savitch was still determined to support those in our
community who struggle with food insecurity.

“I’m always looking for what I can do to help others,” Savitch said. “Especially
now, when people really need it.”
At past food sorts, volunteers were encouraged to buy gift cards at local
supermarkets. But because people didn’t always remember to pick them up,
Savitch began buying them herself, allowing people who wished to donate the
cards to get them directly from her.

Building upon the idea during the pandemic, Savitch used her platform as
Women’s Philanthropy board chair to share the opportunity with more people
who wanted to help. Every Zoom meeting she’s been in — and there have been
many — she has used as an opportunity to advertise her service.

“It was a wonderful way for people to easily make a big impact,” she said. “I
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM would put the link in the Zoom chat, and people would Venmo me throughout
the meeting. The need for help purchasing groceries is greater than it ever has
been before, which spoke to many people.”
More than 50 people have bought grocery gift cards through Savitch, totaling
more than $3,000, with cards dispersed through the Jewish Federation’s
Mitzvah food program. Many of the cards assisted local community members
in buying food for the Thanksgiving holiday, and more will be sent to those
planning their December holiday celebrations.

Savitch attributes her drive to move this project forward to a constant desire
to be always doing something to help others.

“I’m a mitzvah person,” she said. “Leading up to my 50th birthday, I did
one mitzvah a week. It became something of a habit for me. It’s in my DNA to
always want to be doing something to help others.”
Savitch shares her work on her Instagram account: @Mitzvah_Monday. For
anyone who wishes to assist her project, you can email her at jksavitch@yahoo.com.

To make a donation to the Jewish Federation’s Mitzvah Food Program, visit
jewishphilly.org/resources/mitzvah-food-program. JEWISH EXPONENT
DECEMBER 3, 2020
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