H eadlines
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Simchas and daily ritual life
faced obstacles too. The eruv
maintenance teams that cover
massive tracts of Philadelphia
rearranged their organization,
while weddings, britot milah,
b’nai mitzvah, funerals and
other occasions were made
difficult, if not impossible.

Stories about funerals viewed
via livestream abounded.

Weddings took place in
backyards, and britot milah
were done as quickly as ritual
allowed. The High Holidays in
2020 left synagogues with
few choices, none of them
particularly attractive; some,
like B’nai Abraham Chabad,
chose a radically scaled-
down version of in-person
services, while others, like
Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-
El, filmed or livestreamed their
services. B y t h e t i m e C h a nu k a h
rol led around, outdoor
com mu na l ac t iv it y wa s
frequently restricted to cars.

The unstoppable menorah
car parade came down the
Benjamin Franklin Parkway,
and “drive-through” events, to
be repeated by many during
Purim 2021, were everywhere.

16 MARCH 11, 2021
Social Services
The strain put on Jewish
social services in Philadelphia
was unlike anything faced in
recent memory.

It’s not simply that groups
like Jewish Family and
Children’s Service of Greater
Philadelphia or Jewish Relief
Agency have more people
vying for their services. It’s
that those services need
to be provided virtually so
they don’t pose a risk to the
provider. Similar dynamics
developed for Federation
Housing, the Hebrew Free
Loan Society, HIAS PA, JEVS,
the Mitzvah Food Program
and ot her socia l ser v ice
organizations. Prior to the pandemic, JRA
counted on about 1,000 volun-
teers to deliver a little more
than 3,000 boxes of food to
clients each month. As of July
2020, 74 food banks ceased
operations entirely and many
of them directed their clients
to JRA. Now, fewer than 10%
of the typical volunteer base is
permitted inside JRA’s facilities
at any given time. As recently
as October, those who were
permitted inside were tasked
with getting nearly 3,900 boxes
of food, household goods and
PPE to masked drivers waiting
outside the building.

Gan students at the Stern Center with teacher Marlee Glustoff
Courtesy of Perelman Jewish Day School
This is a very different way in which we are releasing funds into the
community.” ABBEY FRANK, IN 2020
“It’s been very challenging,”
said Julie Roat, JRA’s chief
of operations in April 2020.

Demand has spiked since then.

At JFCS, staff scrambled
to move their work online as
JEWISH EXPONENT
they brought their clients up
to digital speed. Now, the team
deals with the typical concerns
of their clients — finance,
mental health, disability
services, eldercare and more
— along with a wide variety
of COVID-specific issues.

Webinars have become a key
feature of their work.

Many organizations
received outside help, whether
in the form of federal
Paycheck Protection Program
loans or assistance from the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia. Last summer,
rabbis were gifted an undis-
closed amount of cash,
prorated to the size of their
congregation, to discreetly
disburse to their congregants,
as needed.

“This is a very different way
in which we are releasing funds
into the community,” Abbey
Frank, director of program
operations at the Jewish
Federation, said in June.

School and Education
The first articles about
education during the pandemic
focused on the novelty. Teachers
and students alike found that
they had adapted quickly,
and social life was re-cre-
ated, to some extent, through
class get-togethers. Students
were sleeping in, spared of a
commute; teachers like Toby
Miller of Kellman Brown
Academy were discovering
what a mute button could do for
a room full of second-graders.

But the novelty wore off
and the debate over in-person
instruction got heated.

Over the summer, parents,
children, administrators
and teachers dealt with a
complex web of priorities and
competing narratives about the
safety of returning to in-person
education. Some dropped the
idea altogether, opting for
pod education. As Jewish day
schools announced their inten-
tion to use the hybrid model, or
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