H eadlines
THINKING ABOUT –
Moving? Moving to Independent
Senior Living?
Selling your home?
S 3 Living
THINK ABOUT –
Strategic Senior Solutions
S 3 Living
or Life Plan Community (CRRC).

S 3 Living represents YOU , not the communities. We will
recommend the best solution to meet your individual needs.

Call the DelawareValley’s leading expert on
Independent Senior Living
David Reibstein, President
215-259-5225 (o) 215-870-7362 (c)
Call today for a free consultation
S3Living.com Exclusive Women’s Apparel Boutique
Made in USA
Custom designs, color options and
free alterations available
Evening Gowns
Suits/Separates Cocktail Dresses
61 Buck Road
Huntingdon Valley,
PA 19006
www.elanaboutique.com (215)953-8820
Make an appointment today!
Consult with the designer to
explore your style options.

4 JANUARY 27, 2022
Disability Inclusion Becomes
a Year-Round Endeavor
LO C AL
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
IN THE EARLY DAYS of the
pandemic, Jewish Learning
Venture Chief Program Officer
and Whole Community
Inclusion Director Gabrielle
Kaplan-Mayer noticed a lot of
complaints from people unable
to eat in restaurants.

Having an autistic child
with a sensory disability,
Kaplan-Mayer and her family
had adapted to getting take
out and eating at home long
before COVID-19 began. But
her observation struck a chord
nonetheless. “For a moment, many nondis-
abled people had an opportunity
to see what it’s like to be isolated
in their homes,” Kaplan-Mayer
said. COVID has changed the way
people think about disability
and accessibility, Kaplan-Mayer
said. People without disabil-
ities are taking advantage of
access tools, such as Zoom, that
disabled people have been using
for a long time.

The right to work from
home is something disabled
people fought for decades
before COVID, Kaplan-Mayer
said. Now that so many people
are working from home, work
flexibility and access tools have
become commonplace, and
advocates for disability justice
and accessibility are experi-
encing their work come to
fruition. On this year’s Jewish
Disability Awareness,
Acceptance and Inclusion
Month during February —
a national effort since 2009
for Jews to coalesce around
disability justice — disability
inclusion and justice advocates
are hoping that a greater focus
on accessibility in the age of
COVID sticks, even after the
pandemic is over.

JEWISH EXPONENT
Participants at a Whole Community Inclusion family program prior to
COVID Courtesy of Jewish Learning Venture
“This moment is really
important, so we don’t just stop
and be like, ‘When it’s safe,
everyone go back,’” Kaplan-
Mayer said. “Because we’ve
learned how technology can
support access in so many
different ways.”
By highlighting the work of
disability inclusion and aware-
ness in February, there’s a greater
chance that those not thinking
about accessibility from March
through January will think
about it more deeply year-round.

“It’s not just a month,” Philly
Friendship Circle co-founder
and Executive Director Rabbi
Zev Baram said. “Take whatever
the focus is on this idea of inclu-
sion — take it beyond just the
weekend you hear about it, or the
month that we’re recognizing it,
and be able to interact with that
concept throughout the year.”
Philly Friendship Circle,
a nonprofit working to build
friendships between disabled
and nondisabled young adults
and children, is part of Whole
Community Inclusion, a part of
Jewish Learning Venture which
hosts jkidaccess, a program
focused on disability inclusion.

On JDAIM, jkidaccess brings
together many area Jewish
organizations and leaders to
hold events; synagogues are
encouraged to host a Shabbat
during the month centered on
the topic of disability inclusion
or accessibility.

Philly Friendship Circle is
co-sponsoring a dialogue with
Central Jersey-based synagogue
educator Lisa Friedman on
See Disability, Page 24
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
Virtual Dementia
Support Groups
Holocaust Refugee,
Psychologist Jacques Lipetz
Dies at 89
OB ITUARY
The 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the Month
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
PSYCHOLOGIST, BIOLOGIST
and Holocaust refugee Jacques
Lipetz died on Jan. 11. He was 89.

To escape Nazi rule, Lipetz
and his family fl ed in 1941
from Belgium to Manila,
Philippines, where they stayed
through the Japanese occupa-
tion until the United States’
liberation of the country in
1945. Following the family’s
escape to New York that
year, Lipetz attended Brown
University for his bachelor’s
and master’s degrees and Yale
University for his doctorate.

He studied biology and later
psychology, serving as a clinical
psychologist for more than 40
years in the Philadelphia area,
meeting with patients weeks
before his death.

His career as a psycholo-
gist was his commitment to
helping others aft er he and his
family were helped to escape
the Holocaust, according to his
wife, Inez Friedman-Lipetz.

“He felt he was a survivor
for a reason,” she said.

Specially Designed for Families and
Caregivers on Zoom
February 2 and February 16, 2021
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Joining is easy!
Call 215.321.6166 or e-mail Yardley@arden-courts.com
to register and receive the link to join the support
group. Jacques Lipetz and wife Inez
Friedman-Lipetz Born in Antwerp, Belgium
in 1932, Lipetz was the oldest
of three boys. He served as
a protector of his siblings,
brother Eric Lipetz said.

During Nazi bombings in
Belgium in the late 1930s, Eric
Lipetz would crawl into bed
with his brother.

“He said, ‘Don’t worry, don’t
worry,’ but I think he really
was just as scared as I was,”
Eric Lipetz said.

See Lipetz, Page 27
You do not need to download the Zoom application
to join the event.

Memory Care Community
If you are caring for someone with dementia,
who is caring for you?
You are not alone. This virtual informational, supportive
group will help you to learn more about the disease as well
as understand their feelings about the changes dementia has
made on their daily lives. Support groups can also help you:
• •
• •
Learn practical caregiving information
Get mutual support
Learn about your local community resources
Find solutions to challenging behaviors
arden-courts.org Jacques Lipetz (left) with his family in the 1950s
Courtesy of Trina Weingarten
13899_Yardley_Feb_5.5x11.indd 1
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
12/18/20 12:04 PM
JANUARY 27, 2022
5