H eadlines
Mann Continued from Page 1
president, adopted an unprece-
dented statement warning that
Israel’s failure to divest itself of
the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip would eventually force
it to choose between being a
Jewish state and a democracy.

Siegel said Mann, who
lost numerous relatives to
the Holocaust, thought it was
worth giving up land to save
Jewish lives.

“He really did care about
every Jew,” Siegel said, adding
that Mann pushed for others
to be involved with the Jewish
community. “Nobody wanted
to say ‘no’ to Ted Mann.”
The Washington Post,
among other publications,
published obituaries of Mann,
who was almost better known
outside of Philadelphia than
within it. The Post quoted Rabbi
David Saperstein, director
emeritus of the Religious
Action Center of Reform
Judaism, talking about Mann’s
inf luence: “When others
were challenging the right of
American Jews holding dovish
views on Israel-Palestinian
issues to speak out publicly
in criticism of Israeli policy,”
Saperstein said, “Ted helped
lead the argument asserting
12 DECEMBER 24, 2020
not only the moral right but
moral obligation of critics to
speak out.”
As chairman of the
Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish
Organizations, Mann flew with
then-Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin to Egypt to
celebrate the signing of a peace
treaty with the country, later
falling asleep during a belly
dance show.

Mann also chaired the
Israel Policy Forum, launched
Project Nishma to support
the Israeli-Palestinian peace
process, was a trustee at the
New Israel Fund, was involved
with the Jewish Council for
Public Affairs and the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry,
and was the founding chairman
of Mazon: A Jewish Response
to Hunger in 1985. In 2012, he
published a memoir entitled “If
I Am Only for Myself.”
“He was at the forefront of
social justice in the country
generally, and certainly in the
Jewish community,” Abby J.

Leibman, Mazon’s president
and CEO, told the Post. “You
felt that from the moment you
were in his presence. There
was a force of both passion
and compassion that emanated
from him in everything he said
or expressed.”
Legal lion Theodore “Ted” Mann died of COVID-19 last week.
Born in Czechoslovakia in
1928, Mann came to the U.S.

as a baby. He served in the
U.S. Army and later earned
a law degree from Temple
University. He argued several
religious freedom cases before
the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mann was one of the
founding partners of Mann,
Ungar, Spector & Labovitz,
which focused on complex
commercial litigation, though
he also collaborated on friend
of the court briefs regarding
First Amendment cases,
former partner Marc J. Zucker
wrote in an email.

Those cases included the
early portions of Abington
School District v. Schempp,
a 1963 case where the court
ruled 8-1 that it was unconsti-
tutional for a school to sponsor
Bible readings.

“It was an honor to practice
law with Ted, trying cases
together and formulating
strategy. He was a brilliant
litigator, a forceful advocate
and a true mentor to me,”
Zucker wrote. “He had an
intuitive understanding of
human nature, a keen business
acumen and was a terrific
storyteller — all great assets as
a commercial litigator.”
“He was a fabulous lawyer,”
fellow law partner Barry Ungar
said, adding that in 31 years of
JEWISH EXPONENT
their partnership, they never
had a major disagreement. “I
learned my craft from him.”
Ungar said Mann demon-
strated unwavering integrity.

When Mann was asked to serve
a two-year term to lead the
Conference of Presidents, he
made sure to clear it first with
Ungar, his sole partner then,
because he was worried about
the potential revenue loss from
having to split his time.

Mann also was witness to
numerous historical events,
which he related in Jewish
Exponent articles.

Mann recounted in a 2013
article how he was present
during Dr. Martin Luther
King’s iconic “I Have a Dream”
speech in Washington, D.C.,
in August 1963, but didn’t
hear a word. He was near the
stage by the Lincoln Memorial
listening to Rabbi Joachim
Prinz who spoke right before
King. But Mann fainted from
the heat.

“Somehow, the people that
ran the enormous event got
a stretcher into this phenom-
enal crowd,” he said. “I was
really pissed off. King’s speech
turned out to be everything. It
was a great occasion.”
The following year, upon
the death of Ariel Sharon,
Mann detailed his 1979 inter-
action with the former Israeli
Photo via JTA
prime minister. At the time,
Sharon was Israel’s agriculture
minister, while Mann chaired
the Conference of Presidents
of Major Jewish Organizations
— and opposed Jewish settle-
ments in the West Bank and
Gaza. Sharon wanted him to
change his viewpoint.

“He never took no for an
answer,” Mann said of Sharon.

“He flew us around in his
helicopter to the various settle-
ments he wanted us to see.”
One of Mann’s daughters,
Julie, said that her father was
modest about his accom-
plishments and allowed his
children to pursue their own
interests. Mann was inquisitive
in conversation, and loved to
laugh. “As somebody said in the
shiva, he led several different
lives,” Julie Mann said. “And
he really gave his full self to all
of them.

Mann is survived by daugh-
ters Julie Mann (Ernie Cohen)
of Wyncote and Rachel Mann
of Philadelphia, son Marcus
Mann of Philadelphia, two
grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren. Additional reporting by Ben
Harris for JTA l
agotlieb@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0797
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



F TAY-SACHS
R F R E E E E
H eadlines
& & TAY-SACHS
CANAVAN CANAVAN
SCREENING SCREENING
Vaccine Continued from Page 1
Moishe House Philly, is eligible
to receive the vaccine because
she works at the newly devel-
oped citywide clinics providing
vaccinations to health care
workers who are unaffiliated
with hospital systems.

Dr. Steven Sivak, president of
Einstein Physicians Philadelphia
at Einstein Healthcare Network,
leads the network’s COVID-19
task force and is responsible for
its vaccine rollout. In the face
of limited doses, that means
deciding who will get access first.

“We decided a couple of
months ago that we were going
to try to develop the most
ethical approach possible. And
what we did was we took into
account professional risk and
personal risk,” said Sivak, who
is Jewish.

Professional risk is based on
a recipient’s job. Workers in the
emergency room, the intensive
care unit or the anesthesiology
department have the highest
professional risk because they
treat patients in an environment
where respiratory droplets and
aerosols can spread the virus.

Personal risk is based on age
and health. If a staff member is
over 65 or has an underlying
condition, such as diabetes
or heart disease, they are
also considered high risk and
eligible to get the vaccine early.

Dr. Richard Fine, who is also
Jewish, faces both professional
risk as network chair of the
department of anesthesiology
at Einstein and personal risk
as a survivor of leukemia and
melanoma. On the morning of
Dec. 16, he got the shot.

“I truly feel privileged to have
received it early on,” he said.

Albert Gutmaker, a senior
respiratory therapist who has
worked at Einstein for more
than 47 years, faces personal
and professional risk as a front-
line worker over 65. He also
was vaccinated on Dec. 16.

He said it added new
meaning to his Chanukah
celebrations this year.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM CALL (215) 887-0877
FOR DETAILS
e-mail: ntsad@aol.com;
visit: www.tay-sachs.org
■ Screening for other
Jewish Genetic Diseases
also available.

This message is sponsored by a friend of
Nat’l Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases
Association of Delaware Valley
Dr. Steven Sivak, right, speaks with Dr. Eric Sachinwalla at Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia.

Photo by Wesley HIlton
We decided a couple of months ago that we were going to try to
develop the most ethical approach possible. And what we did was we
took into account professional risk and personal risk.”
DR. STEVEN SIVAK
“One day of an injection will
lead to many years of life. We
can call the Chanukah festival
a Festival of Life,” he said.

Sivak said administering
Pfizer’s vaccine is a complex
process. Unlike a typical flu shot,
the COVID-19 vaccine must be
chilled at -94 degrees Fahrenheit
and thawed before it is recon-
stituted. Once thawed, health
care workers have six hours to
administer the vaccine before it
goes bad at room temperature.

At Einstein, recipients
have to sit for a few minutes
after getting the shot so they
can be monitored for allergic
reactions. They leave the vacci-
nation site with instructions
for how to monitor and report
side effects.

Fine said staff were notified
of the possibility of a low-grade
fever, fatigue, aches and chills.

If those symptoms did not
resolve within the first two
days, they would be evaluated
in the emergency room.

“We’ve worked hard to
differentiate the symptoms of
a significant COVID exposure
versus a side effect of the vaccine
itself. And that’s hugely important
because we certainly want to
optimize our health care force to
return to work,” Fine said.

All staff members who are
vaccinated must have their
vaccine information entered in
an electronic medical record
and receive a second dose 21
days later.

Despite these complicated
steps, Sivak said the first vaccine
session on Dec. 16 went so
smoothly the task force decided
to add a fifth vaccinator and
reduce appointment times from
every 15 minutes to every 12
minutes. They will also start
vaccinating people six days a
week rather than every other day.

Sivak said Einstein hopes
to administer the rest of its
first doses by Dec. 30, and will
receive 1,950 more vaccines to
provide second doses. This will
be enough to vaccinate almost
half of Einstein’s workforce.

Although Fine feels fortu-
nate to be an early recipient of
JEWISH EXPONENT
months. His staff face partic-
ularly high risk because they
are responsible for intubating
COVID patients.

“I have a member of my
staff that intubated someone to
put them on a ventilator that
was unfortunately an Einstein
employee. The last thing he
said to my colleague was, ‘I
hope you’re not the last human
being that I ever see,’” he said.

Gutmaker, who has lost
several friends to coronavirus,
said it was important for people
to remember that other safety
measures have to be taken in
addition to the vaccine to stop
the spread. Scientists do not yet
know whether the vaccine can
prevent people from passing
the virus on to others, even
while the recipients avoid the
worst of its effects, so masks
and social distancing must
continue until more people
have immunity.

“The Army, the Navy, the
Air Force, Marines, they all
work together in a war to win.

Well, you have Pfizer, Moderna,
two other vaccine developers.

You’ve got masks. You’ve got
disinfecting agents and all that.

They’re all the military forces we
have available to beat this thing.

And we can do it, but it’s a matter
of cooperation, coordination
and caring, more than anything
else, caring about other people
and yourself,” he said. l
the vaccine, he acknowledged
that he felt a bit apprehensive.

“On a personal note, I’m
certainly not cavalier about my
own health care. And I took the
time to email my own oncol-
ogist and say, ‘What do you
think about this, based upon
my medical history?’” he said.

“And in capitals, he said, ‘Get
the vaccine. The risk of COVID
far outweighs the issues with
regard to your medical history.’”
Gutmaker felt
some soreness at his injection site,
but it only lasted for a couple
of hours. Leeman experi-
enced some achiness that also
passed quickly. Fine feels as
though he has gotten any other
vaccine. He is, however, antic-
ipating more side effects once
he receives his second dose on
Jan. 5 based on the studies he
has seen.

He looks forward to the
relief that day will bring, and
the relief more doses will bring
to his colleagues, who have
been fighting on the front lines spanzer@jewishexponent.com;
of the pandemic for nine long 215-832-0729
DECEMBER 24, 2020
13