H EADLINES
Jewish Philadelphians Are Over COVID
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
IN THE ERA of omicron
within the age of COVID,
Jewish Philadelphians, like
many Americans, are sick and
tired of the whole thing.

But they are not just over the
virus itself. Th ey also are sick of
its attendant political climate,
its endless cycle of restrictions
and new restrictions and of how
it has isolated so many of us.

“I’m so done with all this,”
said Brett Goldman of Center
City. Almost two years into
the pandemic, even though
society is, for the most part,
with momentary exceptions,
back open from lockdown,
that pre-COVID fl ow has not
returned. Jewish Philadelphians, like
many Americans, now think
twice about seeing family
members and friends, about
going to work outside the home
and about going out to eat or see
a movie.

Sometimes, even when they
decide to do those things, they
run into restrictions that either
inconvenience them or outright
ruin their plans.

On Jan. 5, Grant Schmidt
of Ardmore got a call from
his buddy asking him if he
wanted to see the new “Matrix”
movie. Th ey drove to the Regal
UA Main Street Th eatre in
Manayunk. But they couldn’t walk
into the mostly empty theater
because Schmidt
wasn’t vaccinated.

Th e guy checking tickets
told Schmidt that he was “just
following orders.” Th e Ardmore
resident looked back and saw no
one in the parking lot. He asked
the guy one last time if he could
get in.

“He said, ‘I’m trying to keep
my job,’” Schmidt recalled.

Jed Margolis of Dresher
retired from a career with
Jewish Community Centers a
few years before the pandemic.

During COVID, he has still
enjoyed retirement. Margolis
and his wife tend their garden
and watch their granddaughter,
who puts on dance recitals for
them. But they have not been able
to see their son and 4-year-
old grandson, who live in
California, oft en. Th e Margolis’
have only seen them once in
two years, last summer before
the delta variant started
spreading rapidly.

“In the best of times, we’d
be out there in California with
him,” Margolis said. “But we’ve
hunkered down.”
You nger
Je w i s h
Philadelphians also were forced
to hunker down.

Steffany Moonaz,
of Doylestown, has watched her
13-year-old daughter Soleil
“come of age during COVID,”
she said.

Soleil was always creative,
the mother added. But over
the last two years, she has
blossomed into an artist.

She draws, paints and makes
murals out of buttons. Recently,
Soleil used objects from around
the house to build a model
telephone for her American
Girl doll.

“She’s carving out a place
for herself,” Moonaz said. “How
she shows up in the world.”
Except during COVID,
Soleil can’t really show up in
the world.

Most art programs were
closed, went virtual or
continued in a limited capacity.

Last year, the girl started
middle school online and then
did hybrid schooling. Now she
has to wear a mask all day.

“It’s hard to fi nd your
people,” Moonaz said.

Randy Leib and her
33-year-old daughter, both of
Elkins Park, have the opposite
problem. They know who
Jed Margolis and his wife enjoy time with their
granddaughter. They have spent a lot of time with
her during the pandemic.

Photo by Carley Margolis Taylor
T Photo by Carol Ross
ONLINE LECTUR ES
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katz.sas.upenn.edu See COVID, Page 23
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Steff any Moonaz, of Doylestown, with her family.

Moonaz’s daughter Soleil front left, has “come of age
during COVID,” the mom said.

JEWISH EXPONENT
JANUARY 13, 2022
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