H eadlines
Jewish Feminists Divided on Women’s March
L O CAL
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
“LORD, GIVE ME the
strength to bend the arc of the
universe towards justice.”
More than 20 women and
a handful of men sang that
and other verses together at a
Jewish gathering before one of
Philadelphia’s two iterations of
this year’s Women’s March on
Jan. 19.

At “Before the March: A
Jewish Gathering to Fortify Your
Heart & Stomach,” the group
met at an apartment near the
Art Museum, where they min-
gled and sang songs, including
one that drew on Martin Luther
King Jr.’s famous words.

Of the two marches in
Philadelphia, the Jewish gath-
ering’s attendees went to the
one held on the steps of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art by
Philly Women Rally, the local
group that organized the march
the last two years. The other
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march, held at Love Park, was
organized by Women’s March
Pennsylvania, a chapter of the
national Women’s March Inc.,
an organization that has come
under fire for anti-Semitism
and mismanagement.

In its third year, controversy
has embroiled Women’s March
Inc. and its leaders. One in par-
ticular, Tamika Mallory, has
refused to condemn the words
of Louis Farrakhan, the Nation
of Islam leader who has called
Jews termites among other
comments, after appearing at
one of his events.

As a result, many women
in the Jewish community who
support the march’s mission
had mixed thoughts on attend-
ing this year.

In the end, the women at
the Art Museum gathering
had decided to show their
support, at least for the Philly
Women Rally march. Women
at the gathering expressed that
the answer to dealing with
anti-Semitism is not to sit out
of the conversation.

“I’m there. It matters to me,”
said Molly Wernick, assistant
director of community engage-
ment at Camp Galil, who orga-
nized the gathering. “I want to
organize with sisters and allies
and people from varying identities
other than my own, as well as sup-
port my own community. I’m not
going to wait for permission, for
someone to tell me that I belong
there or not, because I know that
I do. I’m not going to remove
myself from that table. I want to
be at that table, and I don’t need to
agree with everybody at that table
about everything.”
Wernick and Miriam
Steinberg-Egeth, director of the
Center City Kehillah, welcomed
attendees, who then joined a
discussion on anti-Semitism
led by Jen Anolik of Moving
Traditions, created Tu B’Shevat-
themed trail mix or learned
about a variety of different
organizations that were tabling.

Steinberg-Egeth said she
had no qualms about attending
JEWISH EXPONENT
From left: Rachel and Rose Zuppo are a daughter and mother who
attended the Philly Women Rally march to “be respected and give love to
the community, regardless of faith. We can’t be divided,” Rose Zuppo said.

Photos by Selah Maya Zighelboim
Rabbi Annie Lewis speaks on the stage set up at the bottom of the
Philadelphia Museum of Art stairs.

the locally organized march,
especially since it was run
independently of the national
Women’s March
group. (She added that were she in
Washington, she would have
been on the fence about attend-
ing that march.)
Steinberg-Egeth pointed
to Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh’s confirmation as one
of the incidents over the past year
that motivated her to show up.

“I know a lot of people who
have participated in Women’s
Marches in the past who are not
participating this year because
of a variety of issues, but we
can’t stop,” Steinberg-Egeth said.

“We can’t stop because things
are hard. We can’t stop because
things are complicated.”
At 10 a.m., the group left for
the museum, where they joined
a stream of others. Beyoncé’s
“Who Run the World (Girls)”
thrummed as the crowd marched
toward the museum’s steps.

As others joined, the crowd
bounced to the rhythm and
occasionally sang along as a
medley of other pop ballads,
such as “Raise Your Glass” and
“I’m a Survivor,” played out.

The speakers at the Philly
Women Rally march spoke
about gun violence, immigrant
rights and women’s issues,
among other subjects. Speakers
included Attorney General Josh
Shapiro, Philly Women Rally
Founding Board Member Beth
Finn and Rabbi Annie Lewis,
director of rabbinic forma-
tion at the Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College.

“On this Sabbath morn-
ing, Jewish people around the
See March, Page 22
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
Local Lions of Judah Roar at Florida Conference
L O CAL
JED WEISBERGER | JE STAFF
FIFTY-ONE JEWISH philan-
thropists from the Philadelphia
area attended the 2019
International Lion of Judah
Conference, held earlier this
month in Hollywood, Fla.

Those 51, the region’s largest
delegation in recent memory,
are among 17,000 women from
around the world who raised
more than $35.9 million in con-
tributions for Jewish causes.

At this year’s conference, the
leader of the Greater Philadelphia
delegation was Lyn Neff, the
latest winner of the Kipnis-
Wilson/Friedland Award, which
recognizes women who have
set a high standard for philan-
thropy and volunteerism in
their communities.

In addition, the award
embodies the spirit and vision
of the Lions of Judah through
a commitment to tzedakah and
tikkun olam. She was cited for
philanthropic and volunteer
commitments that made a sig-
nificant impact on her commu-
nity, not to mention setting a
standard for others in commu-
nity motivation and leadership.

Neff has been involved with
the Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia for more than 30
years. The Villanova resident
helped form the Committee
for the Jewish Poor and, with
her husband, Roy, created the
Mitzvah Food Pantry Choice
Food Program, an innovative
means of addressing food insecu-
rity using touch-screen interfaces
and nutrition-based pricing.

She also is a Jewish Federation
trustee, serves on the board of
Women’s Philanthropy, been
part of several missions and
chaired many other Jewish
Federation committees.

“I certainly felt honored,
but I also felt humbled,” Neff
said. “You are in the trenches,
doing all the work you do, and
awards are not what you think
of. I look at the list of the
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM From left: Women’s Philanthropy
chair Jodi Miller, Kipnis-Wilson/
Friedland Award Winner Lyn Neff,
and Philadelphia’s ILOJC co-chairs
Joy Wilf Keiser and Tami Astorino
Photos provided
previous seven Philadelphia
awardees and I am so humbled
that I am in their company.”
Neff joins Phyllis Finkelstein
(2016), Connie Smukler (2014),
Ann Spain (2012), Lana
Dishier (2010), Beth Reisbord
(2008), Cis Golder (2006)
and Anabelle Fishman (2004)
as past Philadelphia Lions of
Judah honorees.

“Those women have all been
role models for all the rest of
us,” Neff said.

She centers her regional
efforts around trying to allevi-
ate hunger in the Jewish com-
munity and elsewhere.

“The level of Jewish poverty
in our community is not recog-
nized as it needs to be,” Neff said.

“Say a person has only a limited
amount for food, heat and med-
icine. That person will either go
hungry, or not have his medicine
and freeze. If we can help with
the food, the money available
can got to other necessities. And
we end up not just feeding Jews,
using what money is available as
efficiently as possible.”
And she is proud to be a
Lion of Judah.

“I enjoy being in the com-
pany of other Lions,” Neff said.

“The conference in Florida
was amazing. You see so many
ideas and learn so many dif-
ferent ways to help. All of us
think more of others before
From left: Award winner Lyn Neff
and Ellyn Golder Saft
ourselves. You are at the con-
ference with 1,400 other amaz-
ing people who impress you,
and we all come back home so
energized. This is the future of
our community, with a lot of
younger women, in their 40s,
wanting to become involved
and help. Every Lion, in my
opinion, deserves an award.”
Neff and her husband also
look to help with their family’s
Auldridge Fund, a charitable
foundation. Marni Davis, in her eighth
year as the Women’s Philanthropy
director, explained what the Lions
of Judah are about and why their
work is important.

“This organization is open
to all women who contribute
$5,000 annually, in each com-
munity,” Davis said.

“We know how important
it is to be philanthropists and
we care about what we do,”
she said. l
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