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ABRAMS Marvin and Toby Abrams of Huntingdon Valley
celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on
March 11.

Sharing in their celebration are their
children, grandchildren, extended family and
many friends.

Photo by Kayla and Nancy Rowland
J E W I S H E X P O N E N T . C O M /
S U B M I T - M A Z E L - T O V
COMMUNITYBRIEFS VFI Hires Local Resident as Campus Director
VOLUNTEERS FOR ISRAEL announced March 4
that it hired Philadelphia resident Mallory Kovit as
the director of its campus program.

The program brings Birthright Israel alumni from
colleges across the United States back to Israel to
volunteer on Israel Defense Forces bases. Founded
in 1982, VFI partners with the Israeli organization
Sar-El to recruit, process and prepare American
volunteer. During the pandemic, IDF bases have been closed
to foreign volunteers, but VFI has allowed students to
apply without signing up for specific dates.

Kovit is the program director at Greater Philly
Hillel’s Jewish Graduate Student Network and was
previously Hillels of Westchester’s program and
engagement director. She earned her master’s in
nonprofit management from Gratz College and holds
a bachelor’s from Stony Brook University.

“I love learning through experiences, especially
when it comes to Israel,” Kovit said. “I love VFI’s
mission and their commitment to bringing people
to Israel to volunteer, especially young people. It
is important to have these meaningful personal
experiences with Israeli soldiers and to build
relationships.” Genealogy Conference Slated for August
Opens Registration
The International Association of Jewish Genealogical
Societies’ 41st annual International Conference on
Jewish Genealogy, which is slated for Aug. 2-5 in
Philadelphia, announced that event registration is
now open.

The conference will feature more than 100
speakers, with more than 250 sessions covering virtu-
ally every aspect of Jewish genealogy. There will be a
virtual component to the event as well.

The keynote speaker will be Michael Hoberman,
professor of American literature at Fitchburg State
University and author of “New Israel/New England:
Jews and Puritans in Early America” and “A Hundred
Acres of America: The Geography of Jewish American
Literature.” Due to social distancing restrictions, conference
attendance will be limited, so a waitlist will be
created. Registration and conference program details
are posted on the conference website at iajgs2021.org.

“From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New
York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History”
(Wayne State University Press, 2020).

The book is a biography of Dawidowicz (1915–
1990), a pioneer historian in the field now known as
Holocaust studies, and it chronicles Dawidowicz’s
story as a window into 20th-century Jewish life. The
book was named a Natan Notable Book by the Natan
Fund and Jewish Book Council in fall 2020.

Sinkoff is a professor of Jewish studies and history
and the academic director of the Allen and Joan
Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers
University. Sinkoff’s research interests include early
Rutgers Professor Nancy Sinkoff Wins
modern and modern Jewish history with a focus
National Jewish Book Award
on East European Jewish intellectual history, the
Nancy Sinkoff won a 2020 National Jewish Book Enlightenment, politics and gender. l
Award in the category of biography for her book
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
Chai. 30
MARCH 11, 2021
Nancy Sinkoff
Courtesy of Rutgers University
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