C ommunity
COMMUNITYBRIEFS ADL Honors Dr. Rachel Levine
THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE honored
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine
on Dec. 6 with its new Courage Award.

ADL Regional Director Shira Goodman told KYW
Newsradio that Levine’s status as an openly trans-
gender official and the way she has handled the
pandemic inspired the organization to honor her.

“She has been attacked, she has been misgendered.

She is Jewish and she has been called horrific things.

She has been called a Nazi for the restrictions she has
tried to put in place under the Wolf administration to
protect Pennsylvanians during the pandemic. She has
had threats from extremists,” Goodman said.

“She has just been steadfast in working for the
people of Pennsylvania, standing up, not being afraid
to be in public, to be in front of people and tell us
what we need to know to give us the facts to help get
us through this tough time.”
Temple Sholom in Broomall Adds Menorah
Temple Sholom in Broomall on Dec. 11 lit for the first
time a new Chanukah menorah created by congre-
gants Rick and Sue Shandler and their children Bram
and Eli.

A scene from the Ohev Shalom of Bucks County Chanukah
celebration Courtesy of Barbara Glickman
The new chanukkiah at Temple Sholom in Broomall
Photo by Abbey Krain
Clockwise from top left: Anti-Defamation League Cleveland
Regional Director James Pasch, Pennsylvania Secretary of
Health Dr. Rachel Levine, ADL Philadelphia Regional Director
Shira Goodman and KYW Newsradio’s Cherrie Gregg appear at
a Dec. 6 virtual event honoring Levine.

Courtesy of Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia
Gratz Partners With Carleton University
Gratz College and Carleton University of Ottawa,
Canada, signed a memorandum of understanding on
Dec. 8 that “forges a collaboration between the two
schools, with a focus on Holocaust studies and interna-
tional engagement,” according to a Gratz news release.

Possibilities include exchanging faculty and
staff, student exchange programs and joint research
projects. “We are honored and excited to develop a partner-
ship with one of the great universities in Canada,”
Finkelman said. “The collaboration will make Gratz
and Carleton stronger institutions by complimenting
each other’s programs and strengthening interna-
tional cooperation in higher education.”
Under the agreement, Gratz will work directly
with the Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish
Studies at Carleton, with students and faculty having
access to Carleton’s libraries and archives. There also
will be opportunities to join the center as research
affiliates. In exchange, Carleton faculty and students can
access Gratz’s Holocaust Oral History Archive, which
houses one of the largest collections of audiotaped
testimony in the U.S.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Executive Director Abbey Krain said the menorah
— which is made of copper, glass and other materials
— is both a piece of art and a functional menorah. It
uses propane tanks to light.

“When the ‘candles’ are lit, the display is absolutely
magnificent,” Krain said. “The Shandlers designed
and created this piece and it was truly a labor of love.

They thought of everything, and the back
of the chanukkiah is even outfitted with a
fire extinguisher ... just in case.

“We enjoyed lighting the chanukkiah in
our parking lot, with all proper pandemic
protocols for social distancing, on several
night of the holiday,” she said.

About 200 Participate in Car Menorah Parade
Lubavitch of Greater Philadelphia reported that its
annual car menorah parade on Dec. 12 was its largest
ever locally, with about 200 cars bedecked with electronic
menorahs gathering on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Because of the pandemic, however, the event was a
bit different than usual.

As usual, the parade wound its way through
Center City, stopping for Rabbi Abraham Shemtov,
the regional director of Lubavitch of Philadelphia, to
kindle the giant menorah opposite the Liberty Bell.

Shemtov explained that Philadelphia was the site of
the world’s first public menorah.

But this year, the parade continued to its final desti-
nation outside Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia.

Once there, cars parked and participants were
entertained with a concert by the band 8th Day, which
was projected on a large screen. Yeshiva students
dressed up as huge dreidels distributed presents and
individually wrapped nosh to those in their cars, as a
fire juggler ended the show. l
Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
Ohev Shalom of Bucks County Hosts
Drive-Through Chanukah Event
On Dec. 6, Ohev Shalom of Bucks County
hosted a Chanukah drive-through event,
according to Barbara Glickman, the
synagogue’s educational director.

The multigenerational interactive
event included a social action compo-
nent (donations for a food drive) and
various Chanukah-themed activity
stations, including Count the Dreidels,
Flip the Latke, Sufganiyot Toss and
Judah’s Jeopardy, as well as candle
blessings with the synagogue’s religious
staff. JEWISH EXPONENT
DECEMBER 17, 2020
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