JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
I n pandemic-era Philadelphia,
gun violence is a catastrophic and
ongoing problem.

Two years ago, the city suffered
through 499 homicides, outpacing the
number from any 12-month period in
the 2010s. Last year, the city endured
562 homicides, breaking the record
of 503 set in 1990. And in 2022,
Philadelphia is on pace to surpass that
ignominious mark once again.

A serious Philadelphia County issue
impacts all city residents, regardless of
demographic group, so this one affects
Jewish Philadelphians as well.

A 2019 population survey conducted
by the Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia found that Jews live in
significant numbers in almost every
6 section of the city. More than 10,000
Jews reside in Northeast Philadelphia,
Northwest Philadelphia, North
Philadelphia and West Philadelphia,
while more than 30,000 Jews live
in Center City. South/Southwest
Philadelphia is the only region with
fewer than 10,000 Jewish residents,
counting just over 4,000.

The City of Philadelphia tracks homi-
cide victims by race, age and sex, but
not religion. And the Jewish Federation
focuses its population study on regions,
not neighborhoods. Both factors make
it hard to find out how many local Jews
were victimized by gun violence.

But it is possible to examine whether
shootings and homicides are happen-
ing in Jewish-populated regions. All
Philadelphia Police Department num-
bers include the last two years.

Luckily for the Jewish community,
MARCH 24, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
gun violence is having the least impact
in Center City, where the most Jews
live. Philadelphia’s hub experienced 13
shootings and two homicides between
2020 and ’21, according to police data.

“What we know about Jewish house-
holds in Center City is that they tend
to be younger families that I’m sure are
vigilant in deciding where they’re going
to raise young children,” said Lindsay
Weicher, the Jewish Federation’s data
strategist. “I wouldn’t be surprised if
these households were to say, we’re
choosing to live in Center City because
it’s safer.”
And it is much safer than other
regions in the city.

Northeast Philadelphia, the sec-
ond-most populous Jewish area with
more than 19,000 residents, experi-
enced 85 shootings and 30 homicides
over the past two years.

Northwest Philadelphia, the third-
most populated Jewish region with
more than 13,000 people, suffered
through 199 shootings and 40 homi-
cides in 2020 and ’21. West and North
Philadelphia, both with more than
12,000 Jewish residents, endured more
violence than the other regions; West
Philadelphia experienced 229 shoot-
ings and 50 homicides and North
Philadelphia suffered through 915 and
223, respectively.

South/Southwest Philadelphia also
saw violence, with 84 combined shoot-
ings and 22 combined homicides over
the past two years.

“We know there are Jewish households
in all neighborhoods,” Weicher said. “So
any kind of issues affecting a particu-
lar community or neighborhood, Jewish
communities will not be excluded from
dealing with those issues.”
jirkaejc / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Gun Violence in City
Impacts Jewish Areas
jirkaejc / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia via Getty Images
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Weicher and Jewish Federation
Senior Director of Security Frank Riehl
don’t think this issue should dissuade
Jews from living in the city. But they
did say that Jews who choose to live in
Philadelphia should stay alert.

Riehl advised Jewish residents to
avoid looking down at their phones
“I’m sure it’s one of many factors that
goes into deciding where to raise young
families,” Weicher said of gun violence.

But while young families may trend
toward the suburbs at a certain age,
they also may live anywhere within
city limits, alongside other Jews. Jewish
Federation realized that when it com-
“I wouldn’t be surprised if these
households were to say, we’re
choosing to live in Center City
because it’s safer.”
LINDSAY WEICHER
while walking through the city.

Weicher said to “remain vigilant to
mitigate the impact it may have on your
household or your community or your
circle of contacts.”
She mentioned that households with
older children, roughly 12 and up, tend to
move out to the suburban counties, though
that was already a trend before 2020.

pleted its last population study, which
shows that Jews live throughout the
city. Instead of just cold-calling house-
holds, it mailed surveys to addresses.

And instead of just asking people if
they were Jewish, it asked if they were
Jewish by religion, ethnicity, culture
and/or heritage.

The new methodology helped Jewish
Federation reach people who didn’t use
landlines and count the types of Jews it
never counted in the past.

“It’s not just, ‘Are you Jewish and
affiliated by denomination?’” Weicher
said. “That would exclude households.”
In broadening the definition of the
Jewish population, Jewish Federation
figured out that Jews live in all regions
of the city. The old “all Jews live in
Center City or the Northeast” stereo-
type simply does not apply. Therefore,
any city issue is necessarily a Jewish
issue. “It was an opportunity to reevaluate
our perception of what the community
looks like,” Weicher concluded. JE
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