COMMUNITY NEWS
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia mobilizes
financial and volunteer resources to address the
communities’ most critical priorities locally, in Israel and
around the world.

I Art Exhibit Features Work of IDF
Soldier Killed by Hamas
n August 2014, 23-year-old Israel Defense Forces Lt.

Hadar Goldin was kidnapped and killed in Gaza by
Hamas terrorists, just two hours aft er a cease-fi re
was declared aft er Operation Protective Edge.

Nearly eight years later, Goldin’s parents, Leah and
Simcha Goldin, still wait in agony for the return of his
body for burial in Israel.

Goldin’s story is shedding new light in Greater
Philadelphia as part of a traveling exhibit that show-
cases the late soldier’s prolifi c artistic talent.

Funded by the Jewish Federation in partnership with
Kaiserman JCC, the Consulate General of Israel in
New York and the Hadar Goldin Foundation, “Hadar
Goldin: Th e Final Peace” is open to the public through
June 17 at the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood.

Following the recent uptick in terror attacks in
Israel, this exhibit comes at a much-needed time to not
only celebrate Goldin’s artwork but also raise aware-
ness about Hamas’ control of the Gaza Strip and the
Israelis who have been held captive by them.

“I hope that people who visit this exhibit will join
in the eff ort to bring Hadar home from Gaza aft er
eight years and help bring peace to Hadar, peace to
his family and peace to the world,” said Leah Goldin,
who, along with her husband and children, continue to
hope, advocate and fi ght for the return of her son and
fellow slain soldier Oron Shaul.

Th e exhibit’s opening on June 1 included a private
briefi ng and conversation with local legislators about
Israel’s challenges in dealing with Hamas in Gaza.

Reut Baror, a Kaiserman JCC board member; Alan
Scher, the Kaiserman CEO; and Danielle Weiss, the
Jewish Community Relations Council chair, welcomed
guests during the program and discussed the impor-
tance of bringing this opportunity to the community.

Th e reception featured remarks by Ambassador Asaf
Zamir, Consul General of Israel in New York; Maya
Karkai, the exhibit curator; Leah Goldin, founder of
the Hadar Goldin Foundation; and William Daroff ,
CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish
Organizations. “We were honored to host the Goldin family and an
exhibit of Hadar’s artwork in Philadelphia,” said Jason
Holtzman, director of the Jewish Federation’s JCRC.

“Th e situation that the Goldin family has been dealing
with since 2014 is truly heartbreaking.”
Goldin’s story is of special importance to
the Jewish Federation, as the incident took place
in the Sagaiya neighborhood of the organization’s
Partnership2Gether region in Netivot and Sdot Negev,
12 JUNE 9, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
From left: Alan Scher, the Kaiserman JCC CEO;
Leah and Simcha Goldin of the Goldin Family
Foundation; Maya Karkai, the exhibit curator;
and Israel Nitzan, deputy consul general at the
Consulate General of Israel in New York
Courtesy Consulate General of Israel in New York
just miles from the Gaza Strip. Th e region’s com-
munities have rallied behind the family’s eff orts to
advocate for Goldin’s return, including members of
Kibbutz Alumim. Located directly across from where
the horrifi c capture took place, the kibbutz named a
playground in his memory.

“We think raising awareness of the fact that Hamas
has been holding Hadar’s body, as well as the body of
Oron Shaul and two other Israeli civilians, is greatly
important for people to understand,” Holtzman con-
tinued. “We want to see Hadar and the others returned
home immediately.”
Experience “Hadar Goldin: The Final Peace”
Th e traveling exhibit has been presented to the
United Nations, featured around the world and is
now on display for the Greater Philadelphia com-
munity. In addition to general touring hours, the
Jewish Federation and JCC are hosting two special
programs as part of the exhibit, off ering even more
thought-provoking experiences:
Israel and Jewish Life on Campus: The Latest
Trends with Dr. Noam Weissman and Gabe
Greenberg Tuesday, June 14 | 7-8:30 p.m.

Noam Weissman, executive vice president of
OpenDor Media, and Gabe Greenberg, executive
director of Penn Hillel, are leading a discussion about
The exhibit opened June 1 and will run through
June 17 at the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood.

Courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
the latest trends regarding Israel and Jewish life on
campus. Th is workshop will give students tips on how
to create engaged and meaningful dialogue about
Israel and being Jewish on campus, inside and outside
classes long before they get there. It will also introduce
parents to the challenges students face today.

Theatre Ariel Presents “Songbirds and
Pomegranates” Wednesday, June 15 | 7-8:30 p.m.

Enjoy actors from Th eatre Ariel performing
“Songbirds and Pomegranates.” With texts and music
curated by Deborah Baer Mozes and Jesse Bernstein,
the show refl ects on the life, artwork and legacy of
Goldin through a dynamic reading of poetry, theater
and contemporary Israeli folk and pop music.

Visit jewishphilly.org/hadarexhibit for more infor-
mation about exhibit hours, as well as tickets for
special programming.




YOU SHOULD KNOW ...

Adam Lovitz
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
Photo by Aaron Richter
A dam Lovitz, 36, has spent a majority of his life painting. So,
like any true artist, he has a couple of favorite works.

“Milk Moon Residue” is a lavender, creamy display.

Lovitz said it gives him a sweet and tender feeling, like a quiet breath,
a moment of purity, a moment of honesty.

“Lunch Break” is the opposite. Lovitz described it as a regurgita-
tion of “a lot of stuff” like veggies, fruit and even what appears to be a
lightning bolt. “Lunch Break” represents chaotic busyness, according
to the painter.

Together, the paintings show the duality of everyday life, the artist
explains. “A very quiet, distilled moment and a bubbly, oozy, kind of every-
thing moment,” he said.

One might say that Lovitz’s art is imitating life. It’s an effect that the
Jewish painter and Media resident aims for every day in his home studio.

“There’s a duality in us all,” Lovitz
said. In the artist’s own life, his studio
time is Milk Moon Residue — that
moment when he can slow down and
appreciate the beauty around him.

But everything else is Lunch Break. A
sort of chaotic, busy “everything-ness,”
as he describes it.

Like most artists, Lovitz makes time
for his studio work every day. But also
like most artists, he cannot make a liv-
ing on his paintings alone.

In addition to shows at Philadelphia
galleries like Fleisher/Ollman and
Commonweal, the artist works as an
adjunct professor at Temple University
and Rowan University. Soon, he will
start a full-time role as an art teacher at
the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
in Bryn Mawr.

Lovitz is married to his high school
sweetheart, Emily Lovitz, and they
have two sons under 5, Isaiah and Levi.

While his wife works as a teacher, Lovitz
needs to support their family, too.

But he pledges to never give up his
painting, either.

“It’s all out of a sense of love. I’m
going to find a way to make this work,”
Lovitz said.

Lovitz’s mother, Sandi Lovitz, was also
a painter, but she had more of an entre-
preneurial spirit, according to the son.

She would paint on the canvas, but she
would also paint furniture or jewelry.

“I’ll put my creativity anywhere,”
Lovitz said, explaining his mother’s
philosophy. The son is different. He prefers the
canvas. He became confident on it
in high school, and then decided to
make it his focus at the University of
Delaware. After college, Lovitz, who grew
up and became a bar mitzvah in
Havertown, returned to the area to
earn his master’s at the Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts. Then he
lived in South Philadelphia for 10 years
and worked at restaurants and bars to
make ends meet.

The artist was a night owl, and while he
wanted to paint in his studio until 4 a.m.,
he was often bartending instead. He said
his shift to teaching and fatherhood put
him on a more normal schedule, which
he prefers. He vows to never go back to
the serving and bartending life.

Lovitz does sell paintings. But he
does not sell enough to live on it as his
income for the year.

“Since I’m a dad, I’m a daytime
painter. It’s nice to work in the sun-
light,” he said. “It’s constantly adapting
to new rhythms of life.”
The artist thanks his wife for bal-
ancing his chaotic and multi-faceted
income with a stable one of her own.

But since they are high school sweet-
hearts, Emily Lovitz was always aware
of what she was getting into, according
to Lovitz. He has warned her that he
will never just go sell insurance.

Emily Lovitz, for her part, said her
husband’s artistic path never really fac-
tored into her decision to be with him.

“He’s my partner. He’s my best
friend. So I don’t necessarily think a
career will make or break a relation-
ship,” she added.

And their dynamic has clearly
worked. Just this year, the couple
moved out of the city and into their
suburban home. It’s an ideal place for a
young family to grow up.

Lovitz didn’t belong to a specific
synagogue as a kid, though he cele-
brated holidays with his family. But
the painter and his wife, who grew up
Methodist, are starting to look into
synagogues so their young sons can
attend Hebrew school.

Emily Lovitz thinks the relationship
works because, just like their respec-
tive careers, her personality is more
grounded and Adam’s is more spon-
taneous. “I think it’s always just been a good
balance,” she said.

The artist is happy with this life.

He understands that most of his artist
friends can’t make a full-time living
with their art, either. So if they want to
keep doing it, they have to work other
jobs and then make time.

They have to embrace the chaotic
busyness. But it’s worth it, Lovitz said.

It’s the art, after all, that brings him
back to his Milk Moon Residue.

“It’s just something that I always
found a sense of, ‘I’m interested in this
and I’m going to keep doing it natu-
rally,’” he said. JE
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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