H eadlines
Barrack Continued from Page 1
Local 3505, met to discuss the
future of union representation
at the school,” the statement
said. “The Board communi-
cated to the Union’s representa-
tives that, as of the expiration of
the current contract in August
2019, it will withdraw recogni-
tion from the Union.
“The Board asked the Union
to join it in a collaborative tran-
sition. The Union is conferring
with its members to discuss
the Board’s request, and it is
anticipated that the parties will
sit down again, in the very near
future, to determine how to
move forward. Both sides want
to assure all members of the
Barrack community that they
are committed to seeing this
process through in a manner
that does not impair the qual-
ity of the educational experi-
ence for students.”
Gordon said the decision
will best position the school in
carrying out its mission.
The board, he noted,
informed the union of its deci-
sion months in advance in
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order to be transparent and
cooperative. “As reflected in the Joint
Statement, the Barrack Board
informed the Union that, as
of the expiration of the cur-
rent contract in August 2019, it
would be withdrawing recog-
nition of the Union,” Gordon
said in an email. “We believe
that this decision best posi-
tions the school to continue
our unique mission of incor-
porating deeply-rooted Jewish
values in a rigorous intellectual
environment. “Rather than waiting for the
current contract to expire to
inform the Union of its decision,
the Barrack Board informed
the Union in December 2018
so as to be transparent with
the hope that we will be able to
work together towards a mutu-
ally-agreeable transition.”
Stephen Richman, manag-
ing partner at Markowitz &
Richman — which specializes
in labor, employment, injury
and workers’ compensation law
— said that without a union
the school could reduce teach-
ers’ benefits or offer different
benefits to different teachers.
Unions give employees secu-
rity and protection and can
be helpful, Richman said, but
some people don’t like unions
or don’t want to have a partner
in deciding how to run things.
“Whatever benefits the
teachers have — I really don’t
know the details of it — they
didn’t grow on a tree,” Richman
said. “They were negotiated,
and the employees gave up
something to get something
else. That’s just the way negoti-
ations work.”
In lieu of its own state-
ment, the school pointed to
Gordon’s comment.
The presidents of the par-
ent-teacher organization also
referred to Gordon, as well as to
Alex Stroker, Barrack’s chief oper-
ating and development officer.
Ziskind said the teachers
want to keep the union. She
added that union members are
still in discussions following
the joint statement.
JEWISH EXPONENT
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy’s board plans to withdraw recognition
of the school’s teachers union in August.
Google Maps screenshot
“The teachers want to keep
the union for the good of the
students and the good of the
school, so we’re exploring
options,” she said.
But those options may not
be too bright, based on what
occurred when Perelman
Jewish Day School’s board
withdrew recognition of its
union five years ago, according
to Richman.
In 2014, AFT Pennsylvania,
an affiliate of the American
Federation of Teachers, filed
charges with the National
Labor Relations Board after
the Perelman board’s deci-
sion to withdraw recogni-
tion. Perelman argued that
the NLRB lacked jurisdiction
because it is a religious institu-
tion, and the agency dismissed
the charges.
“Jewish day school educa-
tion is essential for a strong
and vibrant Jewish com-
munity,” Perelman board
President Ruth Horowitz said
in an email. “Barrack Hebrew
Academy has outstanding
teachers and administrators.
We look forward to a posi-
tive outcome as we advance
our mission on behalf of
our students.”
While teachers unions in
public schools continue to
remain strong — and have
fallen under criticism for
putting teachers’ needs over
students — the NLRB does
not “assert jurisdiction over
employees of a religious orga-
nization who are involved in
effectuating the religious pur-
pose of the organization, such
as teachers in church-operated
schools,” according to its site.
Barbara Goodman, AFT
Pennsylvania communica-
tions director, said it is up to
the union to decide whether it
wants to file charges, but AFT
Pennsylvania will support that
decision either way.
“We believe that every
teacher, every school counselor,
every school employee has the
right to join a union and bar-
gain collectively,” Goodman
said. “Whether they are at a
public school, a private school,
a charter school, employees
should be able to choose.”
Unions have
become increasingly rare at Jewish
day schools over the years, the
Forward reported in an article
soon after the Perelman case.
“But with its strong union,”
the Forward wrote, “Barrack
is an outlier among American
Jewish day schools.”
That no longer seems to be
the case.
“Most religious organiza-
tions, whether it’s the Catholic
church or the Jewish organi-
zations, they’re all in favor of
supporting working people and
working people’s rights, except
when it’s in their own house,”
Richman said. “Then they don’t
like it so much anymore.” l
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
H EADLINES
Mikvah Continued from Page 1
for a conversation, and we’re
very open and hoping for the
broadest involvement in the
community.” A mikvah is so central to
Judaism, it traditionally should
be built before anything else
in a community, including a
synagogue, Schmidt said. Th is
mikvah will primarily be a
women’s mikvah, which helps
families observe the laws of
family purity, known as taharat
hamishpacha. More money is needed for
the mikvah, Schmidt said.
Th ey’ve raised most of what is
needed — about $600,000 so
far — but they need another
$200,000. When the renovations are
done, 509 Pine St. — the row-
house that is now solely the
location of the historic Vilna
Congregation — will also
house three new mikvahs. On
the ground fl oor, the main part
of the building will house the
women’s mikvah, which will
have three preparation rooms.
A second mikvah on the
ground fl oor will be used to
immerse vessels.
In the basement, there will be
a men’s mikvah with a shower.
Upstairs, a fl ex space will
serve as a space for Vilna’s
services, a library and other
community activities, such as
lectures and meetings.
“My fi rst choice was not
to convert the shul,” Schmidt
said. “I love the shul. Th is was
a very, very important thing for
the community.”
Schmidt said the fi rst loca-
tion he considered for the mik-
vah was B’nai Abraham Chabad,
but there wasn’t enough room.
He also looked into having it
in Vilna’s basement, but that
option would have cost at least
an additional $200,000.
“Th is was the most econom-
ical plan that made the most
sense,” Schmidt said.
In the next few weeks,
Schmidt will form a committee
to decide on decorations for the
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM mikvah. Anyone is welcome to
share their input, Schmidt said.
Until the mikvah is com-
plete, Center City residents
who observe taharat hamish-
pacha have had to make
do with mikvahs that have
cropped up in other parts of
the Philadelphia area.
Th at was what motivated
Yah-el Har-el, an assistant pro-
fessor at Temple University, to
get involved with the project
about four years ago.
Har-el, who lives in South
Philadelphia, usually goes
to the Congregation Sons of
Israel’s Mikvah Ohel Leah in
Cherry Hill, N.J. It’s a drive
that takes her about 25 min-
utes, on top of the toll. Th e fact
that she has to drive there pro-
hibits her from going during
Shabbat and holidays.
“[Th is mikvah] will make
things a lot easier,” Har-el said.
“I’ll be able to travel less to get
there, so it’ll be a less frustrat-
ing experience. Th ere’s not as
much traffi c to get to Fift h and
Pine, that’s the address. A lot
easier to get there. It’ll take less
time, so I don’t always have to
worry about a babysitter.”
Over the years, Har-el has
coordinated meeting contractors
and reviewed diff erent architec-
tural and engineering plans.
“It’s been very much been a
community eff ort to bring it to
fruition,” she said.
Th e distance is especially
an issue in Center City, where
many don’t have cars.
Shevy Sputz, the co-director
at Chabad of Fairmount, drives
one hour and pays the toll to
get to Chabad of Cherry Hill’s
Mikvah Mei Shifrah.
She said that more women
would perhaps be motivated to
go if it was easier to get there.
Sometimes she has allowed
other women to borrow her
family’s car to get to a mikvah.
“Mikvah is the heartbeat of
a Jewish marriage,” Sputz said.
“It is so important. To not have
a mikvah of our own in the
city that we can get to on times
where there are snowstorms
and Shabbat and holidays …
Artist rendering of the
changing room
Artist rendering of the
waiting room
is very diffi cult and it
should not be that way.”
Reut Cohen, a student
at Drexel University’s
Thomas R. Kline School
of Law who is origi-
nally from Israel, used
to borrow Sputz’s car
to go to the mikvah
when she first moved to
Philadelphia. Now, she
has her own car, but said she
can’t wait to have a mikvah in
the city.
Th e distance isn’t just an incon-
venience; it also prevents her from
having a mikvah community.
“In Cherry Hill, they do a
lot of women’s events and stuff
about taharat hamishpacha,
about that mitzvah,” Cohen
said. “Since it’s not my com-
munity and I’m coming there
only for the mikvah itself, it’s
also hard to connect that com-
munity. Th is is what we also
hope, that a mikvah in the
city will also give us an oppor-
tunity to have that women’s
community, a mikvah com-
munity in the city so we’re
going to be familiar and meet
other women.”
Schmidt said he plans to
JEWISH EXPONENT
have educational program-
ming at Mai Shalva.
Yoella Epstein, a lawyer who
lives in Center City, currently
goes to Temple Beth Hillel-Beth
El’s mikvah in Wynnewood.
Th e whole trip takes her about
two hours, including the time
it takes her to fi nd a parking
spot in Center City when she
gets home — that alone can
take 45 minutes.
With four kids and a full-
time job, going to the mikvah
is burdensome. Having a mik-
vah within walking distance
would be “a huge enhance-
ment” to her life.
“I’m excited to bring my lit-
tle girls to see it, too,” Epstein
added. ●
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
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