BYE EAGLES BYE
PIE IN
THE SKY
Ben Berman creates a buzz by selling
pizzas from his apartment window.

JANUARY 7, 2021 / 23 TEVET 5781
PAGE 21
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM — WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH IN PHILADELPHIA —
$1.00 OF NOTE
LOCAL Not All Anarchists
Threw Bombs
Jewish anarchists in
the 19th century
provided health care.

Page 4
LOCAL Reporter Traces
Her Roots
Story assignment
rekindles interest in
genealogy. Page 8
CAMPS See the First of
Our Guides to
Summer Camp
Options available
despite pandemic.

Page 16
Volume 133
Number 39
Published Weekly Since 1887
Educators Refl ect on
Dealing with
the Pandemic
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
ONE EDUCATOR SAID it was like
trying to put the wheels on a moving car.

Another said it was more akin to building a
plane midfl ight. Both of them were talking
about teaching during a pandemic, and
other educators at local Jewish educational
institutions gave fairly similar accounts of
what the last 10 months have been like.

Aft er a hectic spring, when some
schools were better prepared than others
for the new reality of pandemic education,
the summer provided an opportunity to
survey students, meet with other teachers
and develop a solid game plan for the fall.

Some schools chose to meet in person,
and others remained online. All were
forced to try new things, even as they tried
to preserve as much of their pre-pandemic
practices as they could.

Now, as many schools kick off their
second full semester in the pandemic,
educators talked to the Exponent about
adjusting to unprecedented conditions.

Leslie Kornsgold, associate principal
See Educators, Page 12
Clockwise from top left: Drexel Hillel’s Israel Engagement interns Rachel Sasson, Gabrielle Boiskin,
Danielle Katsev and Alexa Gamburg lead a Zoom cooking class.

Courtesy of Leah Thomas
New Round of Grants
Supports Israel Engagement
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
HOW DO YOU HELP people connect with
a country across the world when travel and
gatherings are diffi cult, if not impossible?
Th at was the question the 2020-21 batch
of Israel Engagement Grant recipients
considered when they applied for Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s assis-
tance in bringing Israeli culture to their
communities. Twenty-four grants were
awarded to 18 organizations for the available
funds of approximately $45,000, and each
local synagogue, school, camp and commu-
nity center came up with its own answer.

For some organizations, modifying Israel
engagement programming means moving
classes and events to a virtual format.

David Weiss, executive director of
Habonim Dror Camp Galil, said the camp
plans to off er online Hebrew classes for
young adults as well as virtual programs
See Engagement, Page 13
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