C ommunity / mazel tovs
ENGAGEMENT B I RT H S
VERBIT-TENENBAUM LEVI REESE MILLER
Raymond and Teena Verbit
of Wynnewood and Evelyn
Portnaya and
Roman Tenenbaum of Blauvelt, New
York, announce the engage-
ment of their children,
Daniel Verbit and Irene Tenenbaum.

Daniel is a graduate of York College of Pennsylvania and
received his MLIS from The University of Alabama. He is a schol-
arly communications and digital initiatives librarian at Jefferson
University. Irene is a graduate of Barnard College and received
her MBA from Cornell University. She is an associate director
working on payer market access at Merck.

The couple met at a Shabbat dinner at the Old City Jewish Art
Center in 2019. They reside in Philadelphia and are planning a
spring wedding.

Sharing in the couple’s happiness are Irene’s sister Anna,
brother-in-law Alex and nephews Isaac and Theo, Daniel’s sister
Linda, brother-in-law Jeremy, nephew Nathan and niece Aviva.

Max and Randi Miller of Havertown announce the birth of their
son, Levi Reese, on Oct. 20, 2020.

Levi is the grandson of Susan and Elliot Miller of Elkins Park
and Amy and Ben Levitt of Crownsville, Maryland. Sharing in
the happiness are uncles Scott and Adam Levitt, and great-grand-
parents Marge and Clive Pinsker.

Levi Reese is named in loving memory of his maternal
great-grandparents, Sue and Milt Levitt, and paternal great-grand-
father, Maurice Berry.

Photo by Kris Kelley
Photo by Lori Eve Lovitz
Photo by Randi Miller
CORA BRYNN LOVITZ
Dr. Lori Eve Lovitz announces the birth of her daughter, Cora
Brynn, on Dec. 10, 2020, in Chicago.

Sharing in her joy are grandparents Arnold and Florence Lovitz;
aunts and uncles Dara and Josh VanNaarden, HopeAllyson and
Jeremy Dwiggins and Shannen and Jordan Lovitz; and cousins
Kovey, Annie, Becca, Noah, Joey, Eden and Tal.

COMMUNITYBRIEFS JFCS Introduces Virtual Cooking Series
JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICE of
Greater Philadelphia has introduced Nourishing
Community, a once-a-month virtual cooking series
featuring top area chefs, home cooks and cookbook
authors sharing recipes and kitchen tips, while raising
money to support JFCS food relief programs.

The program debuted Feb. 2 with Frank Olivieri of
Pat’s King of Steaks sharing recipes.

Upcoming sessions include Sara May, tasting room
manager and head chef at South Hill Cider in Ithaca,
New York, preparing a chocolate strawberry pie on
March 16; Amelia Meath, songwriter, musician and
home cook preparing borscht on April 27; Michael
Solomonov, James Beard Foundation Award-winner
and co-owner of CookNSolo Restaurants, and
Olivieri preparing lamb shoulder shwarma on May
11; and Tamar Adler, contributing editor at Vogue
and cookbook author, preparing scones on June 8.

Registration is required at jfcsphilly.org/events/
nourishing-community. Gratz first created an online master of arts program
in the field in 2012 and added a Ph.D. program in
2017. About 100 students have graduated with a
master’s degree or graduate certificate and about 120
students are now enrolled in the two programs.

The seven board members are Chair Antony
Polonsky, emeritus professor of Holocaust studies
at Brandeis University; Omer Bartov, the John P.

Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European
History at Brown University; David Engel, the
Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies
at New York University; Laura Jockusch, the Albert
Abramson Associate Professor of Holocaust Studies at
Brandeis University; Steven Luckert, senior program
curator for the Levine Institute for Holocaust
Education at the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Washington, D.C.; Robert Melson,
emeritus professor of political science and a member
of the Jewish Studies Program at Purdue University;
and Stephen D. Smith, Finci-Viterbi endowed execu-
tive director of the USC Shoah Foundation.

Gratz College Announces Holocaust and
Genocide Studies Advisory Board
Gratz College announced the formation of an
advisory board for its Holocaust and Genocides
Studies Program.

The board will meet once a year to discuss trends
in Holocaust and genocide studies and to advise
Program Director Monika Rice on curriculum direc-
tion, research gaps and emerging subspecialties.

NMAJH to Screen Documentary About the
Late Ladino Singer Flory Jagoda on Feb. 10
The National Museum of American Jewish History
will screen online the 2014 documentary “Flory’s
Flame” about National Heritage Fellowship Award
winner and legendary Ladino (Judeo-Spanish)
singer-songwriter Flory Jagoda at 1 p.m. on Feb. 10.

The screening will be followed by a short panel
discussion and Q&A with Jon Lohman, a longtime
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
friend of Jagoda, who is director emeritus of the
Virginia Folklife Program and founder of the Center
for Cultural Vibrancy; and musician Susan Gaeta, who
apprenticed and toured with Jagoda for two decades.

Flory, who died Jan. 31 at 97, fled the Nazi invasion
of Bosnia as a young woman, leaving with only the
clothes on her back, her instrument and her songs.

She spent decades in the United States and performed
all over the world. She was awarded the National
Heritage Fellowship in 2002.

Visit nmajh.org/virtual-museum for details.

Mayor Kenney Joins AJC’s Mayors United
Against Antisemitism Initiative
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed on to the
American Jewish Committee’s Mayors United
Against Antisemitism joint initiative with The U.S.

Conference of Mayors.

“We, the undersigned Mayors, express our deep
conviction that antisemitism is not only an attack
on Jews but an assault on the core values of any
democratic and pluralistic society,” the statement
reads. “In a world of global communications, where
antisemitic ideas spread rapidly, a concerted and
principled response is required to raise awareness, to
educate, and to ensure decency prevails.”
The initiative statement affirms a core set of princi-
ples, including the condemnation of anti-Jewish
hatred in all forms, and pledges to advance the values
of respectful coexistence. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
FEBRUARY 4, 2021
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