local
A Year in Review:
2022 Stories to Remember
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
A s Jews, we’re lucky enough to
have at least two New Years.

While we marked the begin-
ning of Tishrei in September with
apples and honey, hoping for sweetness
and renewed spirituality, celebrating
the secular New Year feels diff erent:
Joined by folks from around the world,
we celebrate Jan. 1 with a midnight
toast and perhaps a collective sigh of
exhaustion or relief that we survived
another year.

2022 has had no shortage of head-
lines, for better or for worse. For our last
issue of the year, the Jewish Exponent
is refl ecting on some of the biggest
moments from the past 12 months.

Female Rabbis at 50:
Challenges Remain
January marked the 50-year anniver-
sary of the ordination of Rabbi Sally
Priesand, the fi rst publicly ordained
woman rabbi in the United States. Fift y
years later, Philadelphia-area women
rabbis refl ect on the progress that’s
been made in accepting and celebrat-
ing women in the rabbinate.

While these rabbis have made a name
for themselves in their communities
and seen other women become rabbis,
they still sometimes receive misogynis-
tic comments from congregants.

“We’ve come so far, and we still have
so far to go,” said Rabbi Alanna Sklover
of Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist
Congregation in Fort Washington.

Leaders Ask ‘What Makes
Community Secure?’
Th ough the hostage crisis in Colleyville,
Texas, took place in January, conversa-
tions around security in Jewish spaces
continued for months.

In response, Jewish leaders took
advantage of the two Nonprofi t Security
Grant Program rounds in the com-
monwealth, a program created in 2019
following the Tree of Life Shooting the
year before to provide nonprofi ts, reli-
gious or not, with funds for increased
security measures.

For Temple Brith Achim in King of
Prussia, which received grants twice
6 Garrett Stubbs joined the Phillies
before the 2022 season.

Courtesy of The Phillies/Miles Kennedy
this year, increased security measures
have led to increased feelings of safety
among congregants, according to syn-
agogue President Steven Kantrowitz.

“Clearly, we’re safer now than we
were when we started doing this about
three-and-a-half years ago,” he said.

“But it’s constant vigilance.”
Area Jews Champion Eff orts to
Help Fleeing Ukrainians
When Russia invaded the Ukraine in
February, the war displaced millions of
Ukrainians, including many Jews, both
young orphans and ailing Holocaust sur-
vivors. Among the many Jewish organiza-
tions in the area to respond with sup-
port was KleinLife, an organization that
already served a large population of
Russian and Ukrainian Jews in Northeast
Philadelphia. In addition to raising money to sup-
port the Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia’s aid eff orts, KleinLife
continued their social work and cre-
ated a summer camp, which served 50
Ukrainian refugee children.

As summer turned to fall, KleinLife
continued to provide care for these chil-
dren in an aft erschool program. Many of
the mothers of these children take advan-
tage of KleinLife’s English as a Second
Language courses, which can help
non-native English speakers fi nd a job.

“It’s a community of support,” said
DECEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Children from the Mishpacha
Children’s Orphanage fl ee from
Odessa across the Moldovian border.

Courtesy of Moussia Goldstein
KleinLife Executive Director Andre
Krug. Krug hopes to expand KleinLife’s ESL
program and summer camp in the com-
ing year.

Phillies Catcher Refl ects on Bar
Mitzvah’s Role in Career, Life
Th ough he didn’t play in the World
Series, Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs
still helped the Phightin’s make it back
to the top.

In a May interview, several months
before Red October, Stubbs spoke
about his Jewish upbringing and the
infl uence his bar mitzvah had on
how he plays baseball. Between rush-
ing between Hebrew school for bar
mitzvah prep and numerous baseball
games, Stubbs learned the importance
of strictness and routine.

“Just that discipline of doing some-
thing every single week and then get-
ting to accomplish that was defi nitely a
stepping stone,” he said.

A Post-COVID Day at Golden
Slipper Camp in the Poconos
COVID was quiet in the headlines this
year, with most acclimating to a new
normal and learning to live with the
pandemic. Golden Slipper Camp is one of many
Jewish institutions doing so. Over the
summer, camp appeared mostly back to
how it was pre-pandemic, though with
Josh Shapiro talks to supporters at
a canvass kickoff in Swarthmore on
Oct. 8.

Photo by Jarrad Saff ren
about 100 fewer campers than previous
years and a pre-camp testing policy.

In the fi rst session of the camp, a
COVID outbreak among campers
caused camp staff to pivot, keeping the
groups in their smaller bunk cohorts
to limit spread. When they enacted a
similar policy for the camp’s second
session, there were no COVID cases.

Camp Director Justin Guida antic-
ipates an even more normal summer
in 2023, with attendance back up and
with no COVID restrictions.

Th e camp will also celebrate its
75th anniversary next summer, with
additional programming to mark the
occasion. Josh Shapiro Versus
Doug Mastriano. Will the
Jewish Democrat Become
Pennsylvania’s Next Governor?
One of the most contentious races of
the 2022 election season took place in
our own backyard, with gubernato-
rial candidates Josh Shapiro, a Jewish
Democrat and local day-school gradu-
ate, facing off against Doug Mastriano,
a Republican who has been linked to
antisemites. With the election going Shapiro’s
way, 2023 will mark the inauguration
of the commonwealth’s fi rst Jewish
governor since Milton Shapp in 1971. JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com



local
Machers Share Their
Resolutions for 2023
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
W hat’s in a New Year’s resolution?
Th e cliché is that it’s a shallow
promise to better yourself — like by
going to the gym more. A promise
that you will inevitably break within
a month or two. But this cliché can be
an exaggeration. Th ose who do think
hard about New Year’s resolutions oft en
go deeper than resolving to make their
bodies look better.

Jewish Philadelphia machers, or peo-
ple who are infl uential and get things
done, certainly go deeper when they
think about ways to better themselves
in the new year. And if Yom Kippur is a
time to refl ect on your sins, New Year’s
is a less guilt-ridden fresh start.

Th e machers are thinking of it that
way. Here is what they’re telling them-
selves going into 2023.

Rabbi Sandra Berliner,
Congregations of Shaare Shamayim
in Northeast Philadelphia:
“I think my personal resolution will
be to listen more.”
Rabbi Shelly Barnathan, Or Zarua
on the Main Line:
“Th e fi rst one that comes to mind is
for each of us to go inside of ourselves
and fi nd the best parts of us that we can
lift up and bring to one another and the
world.” Rabbi Nathan Weiner, Congregation
Beth Tikvah in Marlton, New Jersey:
“Sometimes, as a Jewish professional
Rabbi David Cantor
Courtesy of Rabbi David Cantor
your Judaism becomes a professional
experience. It needs to be a personal
experience. I want it to be that for me
as well.”
Rabbi David Cantor, Congregation
Beth El in Yardley:
“I’d say it would be to remember to
be curious in every moment. Whenever
something is like, ‘Why on Earth,’
be curious, not furious. If something
makes no sense, it’s possible there’s
something you don’t know.”
Rabbi Geri Newburge, Main Line
Reform Temple-Beth Elohim in
Wynnewood: “Read more; I want to get back into
a better routine with my running; and
to try not to get too stressed by starting
the college search process with my son.”
Jeff Brown, Philadelphia mayoral
candidate: “As I look forward to the new year
and refl ect on the challenges we face
as a city, I’m reminded of our belief
in tikkun olam — repair the world.

Philadelphia is in desperate need of
‘repair,’ and it will take all of us.”
Rebecca Rhynhart, Philadelphia
mayoral candidate:
“In 2023, I will work to help peo-
ple, lift families up, create opportu-
nity so our city thrives, stand up for
what’s right and continue to lead with
courage.” Ben Waxman, state rep-elect from
the 182nd district (Center City):
Rebecca Rhynhart
Courtesy of Rebecca Rhynhart For Mayor
“I think I want to try to contribute
to the comeback that Center City
and Philadelphia are starting to have.

Making Philadelphia feel like a safe
place to live and work and play.”
Rue Landau, Philadelphia City
Council candidate (at-large):
“My New Year’s resolution is to work
very hard using the value of tikkun
olam to help heal Philadelphia. We have
so many challenges in Philadelphia
today — from a gun-violence epidemic
to homelessness to poverty — that we
all need to work hard to help reverse
our status quo.”
Rabbi Ira Budow, director of the
Abrams Hebrew Academy
in Yardley:
“We’ve been in the process of build-
ing a fi eld for our students. We’re hop-
ing that we will get this thing done.

It will give the message to the com-
munity what type of school we are.

Everything’s important to us.”
Rachel Zivic, head of school at
the Kellman Brown Academy in
Voorhees, New Jersey:
“Th e holidays focus on bringing
light. I think we do that by being there
for one another, by supporting our
students and teachers and families. By
celebrating successes big and small.”
Eytan Graubart, executive
director of the Pinemere Camp
in Stroudsburg:
“One of the fi rst activities we do (at
camp) is based around goal-setting. I
Rabbi Geri Newburge
Yael Pachino Photography
F TAY-SACHS
REE & CANAVAN
SCREENING 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
thought about leading that activity for
20 years. I have oft en shared the same
goal. Th rough our work, we’re going
to make the world a better place. And
I don’t think my resolution should be
any diff erent.”
Jared Jackson, founder and executive
director of Jews in ALL Hues:
“Working on more self-awareness,
self-care and time with my family. If I
don’t have those, I can’t be present fully
in my work.”
Randi Boyette, senior associate
regional director, education,
ADL Philadelphia:
“I will look for the people who are
actively challenging hate instead of
focusing on those that foment it, and I
will remind myself that each of us can
make a positive diff erence.”
Alan Scher, CEO of the Kaiserman
JCC in Wynnewood:
“Th e JCC has accomplished a lot over
the last year, and much of the credit
goes to our tireless, committed and
passionate staff . I resolve to practice
gratitude, model appreciation and seek
every opportunity to thank this most
special asset.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 7