H eadlines
Jefferson Hospital Opens Shabbat Pantry
L O CAL
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
THOMAS JEFFERSON
University Hospital on March
4 cut the ribbon on a new
Shabbat pantry.

The pantry will allow Jewish
patients and their families to
use the facilities during Shabbat
to store and prepare kosher
foods, while also having a ded-
icated space for prayer and rest.

The nonprofit organization
Bikkur Cholim from Lower
Merion will stock the pan-
try, which is in the Foerder
Pavilion Building at 122 S. 11th
St. in Philadelphia.

The pantry includes new
kitchen appliances, furniture,
a sign in Hebrew and donated
artwork from Bikkur Cholim.

Hospital President Rich
Webster said the ribbon cutting
was the culmination of a process
that began two to three years ago
when former physician resident
Steven Gordon approached him
and asked for a meeting. Gordon
explained how he was providing
support for Jewish patients —
many of them Orthodox Jews
from Lakewood, N.J. — that
included food and places for
family to rest and relax. Gordon
asked if the hospital administra-
tion could offer support.

“Through those discus-
sions, I came to appreciate the
challenge these patients and,
frankly, their families had,”
Webster said.

A plan was developed to
create the pantry, and Webster
said it was satisfying to be able
to execute the plan, commit
funding and get the work done.

The hospital invested about
Bikkur Cholim members inside the Shabbat pantry
Photos courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital 
$75,000 to renovate the pantry
space, which originally was a
conference room. Aside from
electrical and plumbing work,
other costs included furni-
ture, refrigerators, microwave
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From left, Steve Gordon, Sabrina Harris and
Jack Ludmir at the Shabbat pantry
JEWISH EXPONENT
ovens and furniture.

Now that the pantry is oper-
ational, Webster said the hospi-
tal is committed to making the
staff aware of its existence and
culturally competent in terms
of understanding the uses for it.

Rabbi Hirshi Sputz of Chabad
of Fairmount, who led the bless-
ing of the pantry, has volunteered
at Jefferson the past four years,
visiting Jewish patients, many of
whom are Orthodox, but also
include others who keep kosher.

“It’s a great thing,” he said.

“Until now, it’s been a chal-
lenge at Jefferson. [The new
pantry] is an area that makes
the stay much more comfort-
able for family members, both
in body and soul.”
The pantry made a differ-
ence on its first full day, accord-
ing to Malkie Schwartz, who
runs Bikkur Cholim with
Susie Wohlgelernter. Schwartz
received a phone call from a
woman whose mother was hav-
ing brain surgery; the woman
inquired about kosher facilities.

“She called me back, cry-
ing,” Schwartz said. “She
couldn’t believe it.”
Orthodox patients don’t
make up a significant percent-
age of Jefferson’s patients, but
courting them is good from a
business perspective, consider-
ing the competition hospitals
face locally, Webster said.

“It’s almost a niche market
to us to some extent,” he said.

“Lakewood sends a lot of
their patients here,” Schwartz
said. “We get people from Israel.

We get people from all over.”
A kosher pantry opened
up Dec. 6 at the Hospital of
the University of Pennsylvania
(HUP). Bikkur Cholim stocks
that pantry as well.

Children’s Hospital
of Philadelphia (CHOP) has had a
pantry for many years, Sputz said.

The Einstein Healthcare
Network also is working on a
pantry, Schwartz said.

And Lankenau Hospital
in Wynnewood may have the
most comprehensive facilities
for Orthodox patients and their
families in the area, according to
a 2015 Jewish Exponent article.

That year, the hospital
opened a Shabbat Suite geared
to help observant Jews abide by
Shabbat regulations while vis-
iting family and friends there.

The suite includes two sleeping
rooms with private bathrooms
for those unable to drive in
observance of the Shabbat.

Also offered are a kosher pan-
try and kitchen.

Webster said a similar
facility is under future consid-
eration at Jefferson. l
agotlieb@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0797
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
New Documentary Follows Team Israel’s 2020
Attempt at Olympics After 2017 Success
IS RA EL
VICTORIA BROWN | JE FEATURE
BASEBALL MIGHT NOT be
the fi rst thing that comes to
mind when you think of Israel,
yet a new documentary sets
out to change that, profi ling a
number of skilled ballplayers.

Team Israel’s surprising run
to the semifi nals in the 2017
World Baseball Classic, where
the team beat top-ranked
squads from the Netherlands,
South Korea and Taiwan, was
the subject of the August 2018
documentary Heading Home:
Th e Tale of Team Israel.

Now, as Team Israel gears
up to qualify for the 2020
Olympics, a forthcoming doc-
umentary, Heading Home 2:
Th e Return of the Mensch,
follows both new and old
faces as 10 American-Jewish
baseball players become dual
American-Israeli citizens in
order to compete.

While the World Baseball
Classic only requires that play-
ers be eligible for citizenship
in the country for which they
play, Olympic rules require
that athletes be citizens of the
country they are representing.

Pitcher Alex Katz grew up
in Long Island, N.Y., but is
now a dual citizen. Katz previ-
ously played for the Baltimore
Orioles’ minor league teams.

He’s ecstatic about his new
dual citizenship and doesn’t
feel there are any downsides.

See Documentary, Page 21
Members of Team Israel, which made the 2017 World Baseball Classic semifi nals
Photo courtesy of Team Israel
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MARCH 7, 2019
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