BEYOND
HEBREW WINTER BLAHS
Webinar explores Jewish languages around
the world — and how they came to be.

JANUARY 28, 2021 / 15 SHEVAT 5781
PAGE 21
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM — WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH IN PHILADELPHIA —
$1.00 OF NOTE
LOCAL Rabbi Sandra
Lawson Takes
New Position
Reconstructing Judaism rabbi talks
diversity, inclusion.

Page 4
OBITUARY Labor Leader Ted
Kirsch Dies at 81
He led Philadelphia
Federation of
Teachers for 17 years.

Page 6
FINANCE Stay Healthy,
Wealthy & Wise
Taxes, personal
finance spotlighted.

Page 16
Volume 133
Number 42
Published Weekly Since 1887
PPP Loans a
Lifesaver for
Many Jewish
Organizations JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
THE SMALL BUSINESS Administration
began accepting applications for the
second round of Paycheck Protection
Program loans on Jan. 11, as $284 billion
in additional funds were made available
to businesses and other organizations —
with fi rst dibs for those that did not
receive money last spring.

Th e initial $349 billion was allocated
within two weeks of the program’s launch
last April, and organizations that received
funds last spring were able to apply
beginning Jan 13.

For local Jewish nonprofi ts that success-
fully applied for loans during the program’s
fi rst iteration, the new round is a strange
blessing. Th ough the loans allowed many
Jewish nonprofi ts to make payroll and keep
people employed at a time when such a feat
seemed out of reach, the fact that such loans
need to be made available a second time
signify that the economic consequences of
the pandemic aren’t going away soon.

“If we hadn’t had a PPP loan ... we would
have probably ended up depleting our entire
Then-Vice President Joe Biden visits Israel in March 2016.

Photo by US Embassy Jerusalem is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Jewish Groups Respond
to Early Biden Agenda
SOPHIE PANZER AND GABE FRIEDMAN
AMONG THE FLURRY of actions
President Joe Biden took during his fi rst
week as president were several with special
resonance for some Jewish voters.

Biden issued several executive orders
and multiple legislative proposals shortly
aft er his Jan. 20 inauguration. Th ese
See PPP, Page 12
Name: Joseph Levine & Sons
included enacting new measures aimed
at combating the coronavirus pandemic
(including a mask mandate in federal
government buildings) and extending
pandemic limits on evictions, foreclosures
and student loan payment requirements.

He unveiled a detailed agenda
for immigration, an issue that many
American Jewish groups and Jewish
See Biden, Page 13