H eadlines
Longtime Central High School President
Sheldon Pavel Dies at 74
OB ITUARY
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
SHELDON PAVEL, who
presided over Central High
School for nearly three decades,
died Feb. 7 at his Elkins Park
home. He was 74.

Pavel was the longest-
serving president — that term
is used at Central instead of the
more common principal — in
the school’s 185-year history,
serving from 1984 until his
retirement in 2012. He was the
first president to lead Central
after it became co-ed.

“He was a man who loved
his students and school and
family,” his wife, Paula, said,
Pavel’s love for the school
was deep-seated within him,
daughter Shani Bardach said.

“He read every kid’s appli-
cation. All he wore was Central
gear,” she said, adding that the
family once ran into a Central
graduate at the Great Wall of
China. “That was his entire
world.” Pavel ’s deat h prompted
Sheldon Pavel and the Phillie Phanatic after Pavel threw out the first pitch
at a game
Courtesy of the Pavel family
an outpouring of recognition
from the school’s community.

“Dr. Pavel’s contributions
to Central are countless — he
was a consistent positive voice
of support for our commu-
nity,” the Associated Alumni of
Central High School wrote. “He
was an advocate for inclusivity,
maintaining that all students
and faculty — including women
who attended and taught at our
beloved school — were respected.

He was devoted to making a
difference at Central and cared
deeply for each student — and
he made every encounter feel
uniquely personal.”
A native of Wynnefield,
the Akiba Hebrew Academy
(now Jack M. Barrack Hebrew
Academy) graduate earned an
undergraduate degree at Temple
University and a doctorate in
education administration at
the University of Pennsylvania.

From left: David Bardach, Rocky Bardach, Shani Bardach, Yoshi Bardach,
Paula Pavel and Sheldon Pavel visit Israel in 2019.

He taught English and math
and later served as an assistant
principal at several Philadelphia
high schools before being
elected by an alumni committee
to head Central.

In a 2012 Jewish Exponent
article marking his retirement,
Pavel credited Akiba with
shaping him as an educator
and a human being.

“How to treat people is what
is important, how to look at
issues and make decisions from
See Pavel, Page 27
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JEWISH EXPONENT
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H eadlines
NEWSBRIEFS Arizona Jewish Post Closes
THE ARIZONA JEWISH POST, a 75-year-old publication
covering Tucson and southern Arizona, announced it would
cease operations effective March 1, JTA reported.

The Jewish Community Federation of Southern Arizona, which
owns and operates the Post, cited declines in ad revenue and reader-
ship, loss of philanthropic support and the COVID-19 pandemic as
factors contributing to an “unsustainable position.” It noted that “our
community’s communications,” including “local stories, lifecycle
events, and obituaries,” would “be delivered via alternative vehicles.”
The paper’s records will be preserved in an archive.

The paper had only one remaining editorial staffer, Executive
Editor Phyllis Braun.

The closure is the latest in a growing number of local Jewish news
outlets that have shuttered or drastically scaled back operations since
the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those include the Jewish
Advocate in Boston and Canadian Jewish News (CJN relaunched as
an online-only publication). The New York Jewish Week closed its
print edition in 2020, and was acquired by 70 Faces Media.

Law Banning Boycott Israel Movement to Be Challenged
A federal appeals court struck a blow to the legality of an Arkansas
law that aims to penalize the boycott Israel movement, JTA reported.

Arkansas passed a law in 2017 that financially penalizes compa-
nies that don’t renounce the boycott Israel movement. A challenge
to the law was dismissed by a federal Arkansas judge in 2019.

But a federal appeals court revived the challenge on Feb. 12,
ordering the district court in Little Rock to reconsider the case.

The plaintiff in the case is the alternative monthly newspaper the
Arkansas Times. The Times holds no position on Israel boycotts; it
filed the suit because it objected to having to sign an agreement not
to boycott Israel as part of a University of Arkansas advertising deal.

Steven Spielberg Wins Genesis Prize
Director Steven Spielberg won the 2021 Genesis Prize, which is
nicknamed the “Jewish Nobel,” JTA reported.

The award, which was announced Feb. 10, “honors extraordi-
nary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement,
contribution to humanity, and commitment to Jewish values.”
“Key Jewish themes are often woven into his narratives: impor-
tance of identity and belonging, maintaining humanity in a ruthless
world, caring for the other, and honoring the moral obligation to
do the right thing,” the Genesis Prize Foundation wrote about the
Oscar winner in a statement, citing Spielberg’s work to preserve the
memory of the Holocaust and to prevent future genocides.

The honor comes with a $1 million prize. Past recipients, who
include Michael Douglas, Michael Bloomberg, Natalie Portman
and Natan Sharansky, donated the money to philanthropic causes.

Diego Schwartzman Upset at Australian Open
Eighth-seeded Argentine Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman
was upset by Russian Aslan Karatsev in the third round of the
Australian Open, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Schwartzman, 28, who entered the top 10 for the first time in
his career this past fall and played in last year’s ATP Finals, lost
in the fourth round of last year’s tournament to eventual winner
Novak Djokovic.

In Schwartzman’s last Grand Slam appearance, he was a semifinalist
in the French Open, becoming the shortest man to reach a Grand Slam
semis since Jewish tennis player Harold Solomon in 1980. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM CONNECT
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