MAY 5, 2022 | 4 IYAR 5782 CANDLELIGHTING 7:42 P.M. THE GOOD LIFE INSIDE Israeli American Council Regional Director Adi Ozery WORKS TO BRING AMERICAN JEWS CLOSER TO ISRAEL Page 13 SPRING A N N U A L WWW.FLOORSUSA.COM 555 S. 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Why Pre-Plan Today ? • Make sure your family knows your fi nal wishes • Relieve your loved ones from having to make tough decisions and from any unexpected fi nancial burdens • Give real peace of mind for you and your family NEW MASADA V MAUSOLEUM Call us today to speak with a Family Service Professional and receive your FREE Personal Planning Guide. Forest Hills Cemetery/Shalom Memorial Park 25 Byberry Road Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 215-673-5800 NEW COLUMBARIUM & PRIVATE ESTATES 2 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Samuel Domsky General Manager Brent Lanzi Family Service Manager THIS WEEK Local 6 Philadelphia SPHAs, Eddie Gottlieb Left Basketball Legacy 8 ADL Report Reveals Nature of Antisemitism in Area 10 West Chester University Students Respond to On-Campus Antisemitism Opinion 14 Editorials 15 Letters 15 Opinions Feature Story 20 613 or 420? Ethics of Cannabis Use Split Among Jewish Thinkers Community 26 Obituaries 28 Synagogue Spotlight 30 Calendar In every issue 4 Seen 12 Jewish Federation 13 You Should Know 22 Food & Dining 24 Arts & Culture 29 D’var Torah 32 Last Word 33 Classifieds Cover Adi Ozery works to bring American Jews closer to her native Israel. 6 P hiladelphia’s Jewish basketball legacy gets national recognition. 8 A DL reports that area antisemitism declined in 2021, bucking the national trend. 20 C annabis legalization creates ethics split among Jewish thinkers. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 3 the seen HBO Max is producing a new com- edy series based on the life of former gang member-turned-Chasidic-rap- per Nissim Black.  Black, who lives in Israel, announced the upcoming show on Twitter, writing that he hopes “this series brings Joy, and dispells [sic] a lot of the misinformation going on out there.” He will co-produce the show with comedian and veteran TV writer Moshe Kasher, who frequently ref- erences his Jewish identity in his work. It’s unclear if Black will star as himself in the show, according to a Deadline report. “Motherland Bounce,” the name of the series and the name of one of Black’s recently released singles, tells the story of how he went from selling drugs in Seattle by age 12 to finding a spiritual home in Orthodox Judaism and moving to Jerusalem. In the song, he grapples with his many different identities. “There’s always these questions,” he told Hey Alma in 2020. “Like, ‘Well, are you still Black? How Black are you? How does that work? But you’re also Jewish? Jews are white?’ No they’re not!” Deadline reported that the series will be directed by Salli Richardson- Whitfield, an actress who has most recently directed episodes of the fantasy epic “The Wheel of Time” and the period drama “The Gilded Age.” — Caleb Guedes-Reed Esther Wayne/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images via JTA HBO to Produce Comedy Series About Chasidic Rapper Nissim Black Jewish hip-hop singer Nissim Black seen performing during the Chanukah festival in Pittsburgh on April 12, 2018. Pete Davidson to Star in Autobiographical Comedy Series with a Yiddish Name nothing.” The “Saturday Night Live” star and current Kim Kardashian squeeze has already made a feature-length comedy film based on his life, “The King of Staten Island,” with Jewish director Judd Apatow. Davidson’s character in that film, like in real life, lost his firefighter father in the Sept. 11 attacks. Davidson’s other upcoming proj- ects including providing the voice of Marmaduke in a new animated film about the large dog, and co-starring in this summer’s dark murder-mystery comedy “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” with “Shiva Baby” star Rachel Sennott. — Andrew Lapin Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images via JTA Bupkis — meaning nothing, abso- lutely zilch — is one of those few Yiddish words that have become part of the American lexicon. It’s also the name of Pete Davidson’s new show. The series, which will air on NBC’s Peacock streaming service, Deadline reported, is a “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-style R-rated comedy that “will combine grounded story- telling with absurd elements,” and reflect Davidson’s self-deprecating sense of humor. The title certainly makes it seem like Davidson, who found out his father was Jewish later in life, will be mining some Jewish humor for his work — or at least aping the famous “Seinfeld” tagline: “The show about Pete Davidson arrives for the 2021 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, on Sept. 13, 2021. 4 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM ONTEFIORE C EMETERY C OMPANY Family-Owned and Operated for 112 years Our Promise To You... Our staff of dedicated professionals will treat you with warmth, compassion, understanding and sensitivity. Whether you want to talk with someone about pre- arrangements or just need help fi nding a loved one, we at Montefi ore are here to help. Montefi ore Cemetery is proud of upholding Jewish traditions. The cemetery offers Jewish families a beautiful resting place with character and a wide variety of options. Protect Your Family Through Pre-Planning ONTEFIORE HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY C from our management team Serving the Jewish Community... Preserving Our Tradition 600 Church Road • Jenkintown, PA 19046 215-663-1250 www.montefi ore.us JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 5 local P HILADELPHIA S PEAKERS S ERIES ® Seven Thought-Provoking Evenings of Diverse Opinions a nd World Perspectives 2 022 –2 02 3 S ea s o n at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts LORETTA LYNCH SCOTT KELLY September 19, 2022 March 6, 2023 Former U.S. Attorney General NASA Astronaut JOHN BRENNAN TOM FRIEDMAN October 24, 2022 March 27, 2023 New York Times Columnist CIA Director 2013–2017 MARIA RESSA ANTHONY RAY HINTON November 7, 2022 April 10, 2023 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Winner ERIK LARSON Death Row Exoneree SPONSORED BY Award-winning Author January 30, 2023 Seating is limited — Order now! Series sold by subscription only. Subscriptions available starting at $355 Call (215) 893-1955 www.PhiladelphiaSpeakers.org 2022–2023 SEASON Scan code to order tickets online! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! IN PERSON OR LIVESTREAM 6 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Philadelphia SPHAs, Eddie Gottlieb Left Basketball Legacy JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER T here is only one Jewish player in the National Basketball Association today, Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija. But if it wasn’t for his Jewish predecessors in professional basketball, the Israeli and his non-Jewish contemporaries might not even have a league. In the 1920s, ’30s and early ’40s — the decades predating the launch of the NBA — Jewish players abounded in leagues like the American Basketball League, helping to establish pro basket- ball in America. One all-Jewish team, though, still stands as the pinnacle of Jewish success on the hardwood. The Philadelphia SPHAs, who grew from the city’s Jewish neighborhoods to the pro circuit, won seven championships in 11 years in the ABL and Eastern Basketball League. The team was named after the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, an early sponsor. Now, the team that history keeps forgetting is cemented in it ... at least in Jewish circles. On May 1 at Temple Israel in Lawrence, New York, the Philadelphia team and its Jewish coach/owner, Eddie Gottlieb, one of the fathers of the NBA, too, were inducted into the Jewish Sports Heritage Association’s Hall of Fame. The Jewish Sports Heritage Association is a national nonprofit that educates Jews about their own history in sport. Director Alan Freedman vis- its synagogues and Jewish community centers, among other locations, to talk about Jewish sports legends and teams to religious school students, men’s club members and other groups. Freedman has a memorabilia col- lection, too, and while his hall of fame does not have an official location, it is official. Sportswriters vote on the inductees, and family members of hon- orees attend the annual ceremony. Eddie Gottlieb Gottlieb and the SPHAs joined other Jewish luminaries, like former New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, in this year’s class. “These guys had love of the game,” Freedman said of the SPHAs. “They weren’t doing it for any great amount of money.” That statement was especially true of Gottlieb, who served as the team’s coach, manager and promoter, accord- ing to author Douglas Stark, who wrote “The SPHAS,” a book about the team. Gottlieb’s nickname was “the mogul” long before Jay-Z made the concept cool, and he is known as one of the key figures behind the early NBA, even writing the league’s schedules by hand. But decades before the NBA even started, Gottlieb was driving his SPHAs around the Midwest to play games. Players would ask the mogul why they were doing that, Stark said. He would answer that they were trying to grow professional basketball. “He understood the sport’s potential as a business and as entertainment,” Stark added. Later, before Red Auerbach and Bill Russell brought the fast break to the NBA with the Boston Celtics, Gottlieb pioneered it with his Jewish players. “They would run,” the author said. The SPHAs would get a rebound and pass the ball up court before the oppo- Courtesy of the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame P R E S E N T S Jewish Sports Heritage Association Director Alan Freedman, center, with former NFL players Mitchell and Geoff Schwartz Photo by Gene Lesserson The Philadelphia SPHAs  nent could get back. They would often score without the ball touching the court. Moe Goldman was the athletic cen- ter that started the break. Red Wolfe and Louis “Inky” Lautman would help Goldman control the paint. Shikey Gotthofer, Gil Fitch and Harry Litwack (the future Temple University coach) would handle the ball and score. And Cy Kaselman and Red Rosan used their old-school two-handed set shots to keep opponents honest from the outside. “They were very talented,” Stark said. Courtesy of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame But as talented and successful as they were, the SPHAs did not reap the kinds of benefits you would expect for profes- sional athletes. Jay Rosan, a Philadelphia resident and Red Rosan’s son, said his father made $25 or $50 a game. He was a tile contractor when he wasn’t playing. Later, Jay wanted to put up a basket- ball net at their house, and his father wouldn’t let him. He felt that basket- ball didn’t leave him with much; so he didn’t want his son to fall in love with it. “He wanted me to have a profession,” Jay Rosan said. The SPHAs are not mentioned among the great teams in basketball history, but history hasn’t forgotten them: They have a photo exhibit in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, and are the subject of Stark’s book. But it has not fully appreciated them, either. That’s why both Rosan and Stephen Goldman, Moe Goldman’s son, attended this latest hall of fame cer- emony via Zoom. Both sons feel it’s important to help the SPHAs live on. “Most people aren’t aware of it, and I think it’s important to keep alive,” Goldman said. “When my friends say ‘What did your dad do? And I say, ‘He was this great professional bas- ketball player,’ at first they think I’m kidding.” JE jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 7 local Exclusive Women’s Apparel Boutique Made in USA Custom designs, color options and free alterations available Evening Gowns Suits/Separates Cocktail Dresses 61 Buck Road Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 www.elanaboutique.com (215)953-8820 Make an appointment to consult with the designer Monday-Friday 10am-3pm W e are delighted to announce the third cohort of PRESIDE the only nationwide Jewish leadership and governance program designed specifically for non-profit board leaders in partnership with their CEOs. This unique, transformative program will prepare them to lead through a Jewish lens, and build a sustainable culture of effective governance and intentional leadership. The organizations whose leaders have been selected to participate in the 2022-2023 cohort are: 8 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM ADL Report Reveals Nature of Antisemitism in Area JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER A ntisemitic incidents declined in Pennsylvania and South Jersey in 2021, according to the Anti-Defamation League. On April 26, the ADL released its annual report on antisemitic incidents in the United States. Th e national num- bers were grim, with 2,717 off enses, the highest total since the ADL started keeping track in 1979. It was also a 34% increase from 2020. But the local numbers were less grim. Pennsylvania saw 69 incidents in 2021 compared to 101 the year before. South Jersey, despite a statewide increase in New Jersey, experienced 26 off enses last year versus 34 in 2020. (Th e ADL defi ned South Jersey as any county from Burlington south.) A drop is good, said ADL Philadelphia Director Andrew Goretsky, but 65 and 26 instances of antisemitism, respec- tively, are still more than zero. “I oft en think about medicine, when they say the risk factor, 98% of people have no problems, but 2% of people die,” he added. In the Keystone State, Goretsky was most concerned about two fi ndings. Assaults, the most serious cate- gory tracked by the ADL, increased from two in 2020 to four in 2021. And in May of 2021 during the confl ict between Israel and Hamas, the number of overall off enses doubled, from four to eight, from the same period the pre- vious year. Th e director couldn’t say why assaults increased. But he could identify a rea- son for the May jump. “Th e May confl ict was a reminder that Jews are routinely blamed for Israel’s actions,” Goretsky said. In addition to assaults, Pennsylvania experienced 49 incidents of harass- ment, defi ned by the ADL as cases ADL Philadelphia Director Andrew Goretsky Photo by Lafayette Hill Studios when Jews “were harassed with antise- mitic slurs, stereotypes or conspiracy theories.” It also witnessed 16 vandal- ism off enses, or “cases where property was damaged along with evidence of antisemitic intent.” South Jersey saw four vandalism acts and 17 harassment off enses. Some of the more high-profi le inci- dents in Pennsylvania and South Jersey occurred in the Philadelphia area. Pennsbury School District board members received a series of antise- mitic emails and threats while working on policies relating to the pandemic, like masking for students. Th e ADL mentioned that case specifi cally in its Pennsylvania report. And in December, a South Jersey syn- agogue, Congregation Adath Emanu-El in Mount Laurel, and school, Marlton Middle, saw antisemitic messages dis- played in the parking lot and bath- room, respectively. Both had swastikas and chilling statements like “Hitler was right” and “We are everywhere.” Th ose incidents and others revealed not just the prevalence of antisemitism today but the multifaceted nature of it, according to Goretsky. Attacks on Jewish property are an issue, as evidenced by the rise of secu- Marlton Middle School in Burlington County, New Jersey, experienced an antisemitic incident in December 2021. Courtesy of Evesham Township School District Superintendent Justin Smith rity as a priority for Jewish federations and synagogues across the country. But it’s also an issue with a clear and pretty reliable response strategy, as evidenced by the rise of security as a priority. Virtual attacks like Zoom bombs and threatening emails are prevalent today but present a diff erent issue. How do you combat an anonymous emailer or Zoom bomber other than with defensive methods in the moment, like blocking the address or restarting the chat? It’s a question with no easy answer. But according to Linda Palsky, one of the Pennsbury board members who received threatening messages, the ADL report is at least a place to start. “It’s our only weapon to bring light to it,” she said. “To try and make people aware that it’s not acceptable behavior and language.” Th e multifaceted nature of antisem- itism today underscores a scary reality for modern Jews: Th ere might not be any safe spaces anymore. According to Goretsky, the ADL’s national study showed that attacks increased by 106% at K-12 schools, 61% at synagogues and 21% on campuses. To a large degree, too, those incidents did not come from white supremacists on the far right or Israel despisers on the far left . Only 14% came from far- right individuals or groups, and only 12% came from the far left , while 65% emerged from people in the middle. Rabbi Benjamin David of Adath Emanu-El believes that Jews today need to be prepared for antisemitism from all angles. “You can be attacked while sitting in the comfort of your own home staring at your laptop,” he said. Even in this increasingly compli- cated environment, though, the post- World War II ethos should not change for Jews, David explained. Jews can’t take these off enses lying down. “If those who hate are going to be loud, then we simply have to be louder,” David said. “To be a Jew in the real world today means to be an advocate for peace, an ally of other people, to be a defender of religion itself, its expression,” he concluded. “Th e game has changed.” JE jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com Live fully in a vibrant community The Quadrangle is an inspired and highly engaged community for older adults. Here, you will join residents who are as creative, active, and intellectual as you. Plus, you’ll get to know our in-house chef who crafts fresh, seasonal dishes made with your tastes in mind. Join us for lunch to meet our welcoming residents and sample our cuisine for yourself. Get in touch by calling 610-484-4328 or visiting TheQuadrangleCCRC.com/Exponent. ©2022 Sunrise Senior Living JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 9 local West Chester University Students Respond to On-Campus Antisemitism SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER I ncidents of antisemitism and anti-Zionism on West Chester University’s campus prompted Jewish students to speak out and request a greater response from the WCU administration when anti-Jewish incidents occur on campus. On April 15, a man with signs read- ing “Jews Caused 9/11 by Provoking Palestine” and “Jews Reject Jesus Christ, You Know What You Did” walked around WCU’s campus and neighboring streets. He has been doing so for several days. On April 29, the school’s Department of English journalism program and Peace and Confl ict Studies program hosted Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, who has previously tweeted anti-Israel statements such as, “Across the country Zionists are beating, gas- sing, shooting, lynching Palestinians. ... State-settler collusion emboldening an unquenchable thirst for Palestinian blood & land. Terrorist, genocidal nation.” Th e Anti-Defamation League page on El-Kurd describes him as hav- ing a “ troubling pattern of rhetoric and slander that ranges far beyond reasoned criticism of Israel.” Th e WCU Offi ce for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion issued an email response on April 24 suggesting students avoid the demonstrator on campus but did not specifi cally mention the antisemitic nature of his signs. “We heard from a signifi cant number of students that the demonstrator on the quad made them feel uncomfort- able and the university’s response even more so,” said Rabbi Jeremy Winaker, executive director at Greater Philly Hillel Network, which oversees WCU’s Hillel. “And then we had a range of responses to the upcoming speaker, all of which expressed concern again, for their safety on campus.” Th e events on WCU’s campus hap- Tom and Linda Platt Trunk Show Day into Evening Thursday to Saturday May 12 - 14 11-5 pm 19th & Sansom Streets 215-567-4662 Discounted Parking Platt TS Ad 2205 (6.9x5.5).indd 1 10 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 4/25/22 1:40 PM pened at the same time as the discovery of at least a dozen antisemitic fl yers found on Ardmore lawns. Th e fl yers, fi rst spotted on Rock Glen Road and Saint Georges Road on April 22, con- tained a link to an antisemitic website. An investigation of who distributed the fl yers is ongoing, and the Lower Merion Police Department have made no arrests. WCU Hillel, in light of the recent antisemitic demonstrator and before El-Kurd’s speaking engagement, posted a statement on its Instagram asking the school administration to “call out antisemitic activity as antisemitic or, at least, hate speech when it happens on campus.” WCU President Chris Fiorentino released another email statement on April 26 that addressed the demon- strator and antisemitism explicitly, but admitted that little action could be taken, as the demonstrator was not breaking a law. “We can’t stop the gentleman from coming to our campus because we’re a public university,” Chief Diversity and Inclusion Offi cer Tracey Robinson said. “So we’ve talked about our eff orts to try to not give hate an audience. Th at’s why we send out our message to let people know that there’s an uninvited guest in the quad and, if they can, to avoid that area or not engage. We also provide them with strategies for using their voice in ways that counter the message that’s being sent.” WCU students also met with Leah Tobin, vice president of religious aff airs; Zebulun Davenport, vice president of student aff airs; and Robinson about the El-Kurd event, bringing up concerns about that his anti-Israel rhetoric. “We weren’t there to discuss neces- sarily the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict,” WCU Hillel student President Madelyn Chartock said. “We were more there to address the fact that he makes com- ments about Zionism, Israeli Jews and Jews in general.” Th e school’s English department On April 15, a demonstrator with antisemitic signs walks around West Chester University’s campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Courtesy of Ryan Levinson decided to continue to host the event, reiterating, “It is important to hear about Mohammed El-Kurd’s human rights journalism in its full context,” Ben Kuebrich, associate professor of English, said of the event. Ryan Levinson, a Jewish junior not affi liated with Hillel, handed out fl yers before the event to express his concerns and disappointment in the administra- tion for not condemning the event. On April 29, WCU Hillel hosted an alternative event to Mohammad El-Kurd’s speaking engagement, where students called for unity and painted a banner. Courtesy of Madelyn Chartock “Instead of being vague, like they have in the past, just saying ‘antisem- itism,’ [the school] needs to call out the speaker and warn students because ... this isn’t a controversial, radical speaker,” Levinson said. “Th is is some- one that’s spewing lies.” Hillel, along with the Student Leadership and Involvement offi ce, hosted a unity event at the same time as El-Kurd’s presentation. Th e students painted a ban- ner that said, “We choose unity.” El-Kurd’s event, however, didn’t necessarily warrant the overwhelming student response, according to Hillel member Matt Honig, who attended the event along with 40-50 other students. “A majority of the students, myself included, completely blew the speaker ‘s intentions out of proportion,” Honig said. El-Kurd, who Honig described as a “soft -spoken, well-mannered guy,” shied away from anti-Israel sentiments, Honig said, and instead read from his poetry book “Rifqa” and spoke about his family’s own experiences living in East Jerusalem. Th e debate over the speaker is part of a greater conversation within the WCU Jewish community about how to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict. Th e fi rst step, according to Winaker, is to ensure Jewish students feel seen and heard by school leadership, so they feel comfortable exploring their Jewish identities and relationship with Israel. “College is a unique time and life when [students] can engage with diffi - cult ideas, and they should,” Winaker said. “But they need to feel safe in order to do so meaningfully.” JE srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Philadelphia Jewish Exponent ad (9.25w x 5.5h) The Mideast Crisis: Can Israel Survive? May 8 May 8 May 15 May 15 May 22 May 22 10:00 AM 10:00 AM 10:00 AM 10:00 AM 10:00 AM 10:00 AM WPHL 17/I WPSG 57/CW WPHL 57/I WPSG 57/CW WPHL 57/I WPSG 57/CW Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Brand-new from Jack Van Impe Ministries Dr. Rexella Van Impe Find the full broadcast schedule at www.jvim.com/the-mideast-crisis-can-israel-survive/ God has a plan for His chosen people … discover Israel’s place in Bible prophecy! We know the Lord will never abandon the Holy Land or the Jewish people. But how can Israel stand in today’s world? The Mideast Crisis: Can Israel Survive? broadcast special explains it all. Don’t miss it! Jack Van Impe Ministries International® JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 11 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. H How to Celebrate Israel’s 74th Birthday appy birthday Israel! Beginning in the evening of Wednesday, May 4 through Th ursday, May 5, Yom Ha’atzmaut, or Israel Independence Day, is a day to celebrate the country’s history, beauty and resilience. In honor of the 74th anniversary of the Jewish state’s founding, get ready for festivities galore of Israeli-themed music, food, dance and so much more. See the full lineup of events, including registration details, at jewishphilly. org/Israel74. Federation of Greater Philadelphia is partnering with Th e Chevra and 15 other organizations for a single night of three epic-themed parties in honor of Yom Ha’atzmaut and Lag B’omer. Come for the Israel happy hour, urban campfi re and concert. Israel’s Independence Day Celebration Sunday, May 8 | 5-8 p.m. Location: Kaiserman JCC Looking for a way to go all out for Israel’s big 7-4? Celebrate Israel’s Independence Day with the Israeli American Council, also known as IAC! Supported by the Jewish Federation through an Israel Engagement Grant, get excited for this evening of Israeli dancing, music and activities for the whole family. Remember to bring your own blanket and chair for the event. Bucks County Jewish Festival 2022 Sunday, May 15 | Noon-3 p.m. Location: Bucks County Community College, Newtown You can still show your love for Israel, even aft er Yom Ha’atzmaut! Bring the whole family to appreciate Israeli culture while enjoying this free Jewish com- munity festival. Among an array of activities, there will also be Israeli-themed food, craft vendors, music and more. Mesiba: Israel Independence & Lag B’Omer Fest Wednesday, May 18 | 7-11 p.m. Location: Fabrika, Philadelphia Why celebrate one Jewish holiday, when you can celebrate two?! Th e Jewish The Jewish Greater Philadelphia community has a lineup of exciting festivities to celebrate Israel Independence Day. Getty Images Bucks County Jewish Festival 2022 Bring your whole family, friends and neighbors for a day of fun featuring food, music, kids activities, crafts, raffles and much more. Sunday, May 15 th | 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown, PA 18940 Learn more at jewishphilly.org/bucksfestival 12 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM YOU SHOULD KNOW ... Adi Ozery Photo by Heather M. Ross JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER R ight after Adi Ozery and her husband Boaz moved to the United States in 2020, the pandemic broke out. With their family and friends back in Israel, the couple and their three children were alone in their house in an unfamiliar country. Boaz Ozery still had his work with the Wayne-based education nonprofit Friends of Ofanim, which works to bring STEM opportu- nities to Israelis — and which prompted the move to the U.S. in the first place. But for Adi Ozery, her mission to find her own place would have to wait. Except it didn’t. Isolated in her Wynnewood house, Adi Ozery found a way to start on her new mission anyway. During Passover in 2020, she orga- nized activities for her kids that reminded them of the homeland. They were still young and she did not want them to forget. Then, the mother started inviting some other people into her home for holidays and coordinating similar activities for all of the kids. After a while, friends started telling her she should bring this work into the wider, Philadelphia-area Jewish community. And so she did. Ozery landed a job teaching Hebrew at the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr. She had never taught before, though she had worked for education organizations in Israel. But she ended up loving the work, as it helped her reach American Jewish stu- dents. It also expanded her local world beyond her house and neighborhood. “Barrack was a big opportunity to learn,” Ozery said. It was a huge step. But the neophyte teacher did not end up wanting to make a career out of it, either. Instead, she wanted to return to her professional roots from back in Israel: community work. In the Jewish state, Ozery supervised and guided pro- grams for families and young people at risk. Before that, she was a field coor- dinator for children living in poverty, sheltering them throughout the day. The Israeli has “a big passion for community work,” she said. So she set out to find some in America. And it didn’t take long. In August of 2021, after a year at Barrack, Ozery got a job with the Israeli-American Council, which serves the Israeli-American community with programs and initiatives for “every age group,” according to its website. For Ozery, the IAC combines her experience as a manager with her pas- sion for community work. She collabo- rates with organizations like the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia to organize programs for young people and adults. Many are events that are open to American Jews, too. In January, she hosted a day celebrat- ing trees for Tu BiShvat. On April 24 to mark Yom Hashoah, Ozery planned and led a “6 Million Steps” walk to the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza in Center City. About 100 people turned out and participated. A little over a week later, Ozery held a gathering for Israeli Independence Day. There’s a large Israeli-American community in the Philly area, Ozery said. And she wants them to have opportunities to feel the connection to their homeland and remember it. “The connection to Israel is very important to them,” she said. But she also wants American Jews to feel a similar connection to the home- land. She called passing Israeli culture and Jewish history onto the next gener- ation a necessity. “This is our job to pass over to our kids and their kids,” Ozery said. “It’s our responsibility.” As much as she’s doing all this for people outside her home, though, Ozery is doing it for her kids. Her daughter Roni, son Itay and daughter Maayan are 9, 6 and 3, respectively. The mother sees her children quickly growing into young Americans who speak English. So in and around the house, she speaks Hebrew to ensure they maintain their connection to their Israeli heri- tage. At the same time, the family only planned to spend a few years in the U.S. Boaz Ozery lived in Miami for three years as a child, and it opened his mind to the Jewish diaspora. The parents wanted their kids to have a similar experience. Yet now, with both Adi Ozery and Boaz Ozery happy in their jobs and fulfilled by their mission, they might just stay. Adi Ozery called this “the great ques- tion” that they are dealing with every day. Their families and their hearts are in Israel, but their work is in America. “It’s important for us to have a strong community and support here and in Israel,” Boaz Ozery said. So as of now, they are going to stay. “We don’t have any intentions to go back at this point,” Adi Ozery con- cluded. JE jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 13 editorials Elon Musk’s Twitter N o, Elon Musk is not a Jew. And while his eye-popping $44 billion purchase of Twitter may turn out to be good for him, there are concerns that it won’t be good for the Jews — or for women, LGBTQ people, Muslims or other targeted and vilified minorities. Musk has said that he wants to strengthen Twitter’s position on “free speech;” that he wants Twitter to serve as the “de facto public town square;” and that he wants Twitter to promote global democracy. But Musk’s plans for how he will go about doing each of those things and administer the social media plat- form are unknown. That is causing mounting concern that Twitter could become a platform for runaway antisemitism and other expressions of hate. Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist.” He advo- cates for freedom of expression with as few restrictions as possible. If, as a result, he loosens or removes Twitter’s current rules about what may or may not be said on the plat- form, that could spell trouble for marginalized and vulnerable popu- lations. There is good cause for concern. Twitter’s status as the “influencer of influencers” and its expansive reach means that hate speech, con- spiracy theories and targeted pro- paganda that first appear as tweets Most of us think of free speech as an inalienable American right, guar- anteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But that “free speech” right restricts the power of government to limit the speech of its citizens. It is an entirely differ- ent concept in the world of social Twitter could become a platform for runaway antisemitism and other expressions of hate. could be picked up, disseminated, adapted and taken as truth by mil- lions of users at the drop of a simple hashtag. Much of the uncertainty regard- ing Musk and Twitter relates to the meaning of the words “free speech.” media – where it relates to “platform moderation,” or the rules the social media platform uses to monitor and regulate what and how users may say things on the platform. On social media sites where there are no rules or where there is lax enforcement of prohibitions against things like “doxxing” (giving out per- sonal information for the purpose of harassment) and posting false or hateful information, some pretty ter- rible things have followed. And on those sites where anything goes — no matter how hateful, violent or menda- cious — the most prolific users tend to be people who want no filters on their speech, whose postings quickly degenerate into a combination of hate speech and wholly inappropri- ate communication. No one wants Twitter to go there. Musk has attracted the world’s attention with his purchase of Twitter and his plan to run it privately. We hope that as he rolls out his plan, he chooses to improve modera- tion standards in order to attract more users rather than default to free speech absolutism, which will encourage hate and abuse and will likely alienate most people. For now, we hope for the best. And we join an anxious world that waits to see how things play out in Elon Musk’s latest adventure. JE Spotlight on Infertility A cross the globe, developed countries are experiencing decreasing fertility rates and aging populations. People marry later than in earlier decades, delay childbearing until later in life and have fewer children. One result is an aging population with fewer younger people to support the cost of elder-related government services and fewer workers to care for the elderly. In the United States, fertility rate numbers have been in steady decline. In 1960, our country’s fertil- ity rate was 3.65 births per woman; in 1970 it was 2.57. And now, the U.S. fertility rate has fallen to 1.71 births per woman. (The U.S. is not the lowest — that “honor” goes to South Korea, which has a fertility rate of 0.9 children per woman.) The distressing U.S. numbers don’t account separately for the problem 14 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM of infertility — an issue of concern to Ashkenazi Jews and other minorities which experience a lower fertility rate than the general population. That explains why this past week a long list of national Jewish organizations endorsed a bipartisan congressional resolution declaring that “the United States Government has a responsi- bility to help examine, create, and implement solutions to address and alleviate the problems associated with the disease [of infertility].” By defining infertility as a dis- ease, Congressional sponsors and their supporters hope to open the door for federally funded research, which could be a game changer for those trying to cope with infertil- ity. Government supported medical research could also lead to programs which will alleviate the backbreaking cost families must now pay for fertil- ity treatment. The nonbinding House resolu- tion (H. Res. 338) was sponsored by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish Democrat from Florida, and Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican. Wasserman Schultz has been treated for infertility, making her one of the 12% of women (one in eight) who have received infertility services in their lifetime. It is heartening to see that organizations representing all streams of Judaism have endorsed the resolution, as did Jewish wom- en’s groups, including Hadassah, which has been lobbying for years to classify infertility as a disease and to raise awareness. While the number of signatories on the resolution is impressive, too many local members of Congress have not signed on. We urge them to do so. And we encourage our read- ers to share their interest in the issue with their elected representatives. Such efforts could make a difference in whether government research and assistance will be made available to help address infertility issues expe- rienced by members of our commu- nity and beyond. As pointed out in H. Res. 338, “regulatory disparities and lack of access to health care specialists cause inequities in the financial burden carried by people who seek diagnostic testing and treatment for infertility, presenting a barrier to health care and better health outcomes.” We strongly support the bipartisan effort to ensure the availability of infertility-related medical research and the provision of services to those who need it, and hope that Congress will help get it done. It’s the right thing to do. JE opinion Should Everyone Be Afraid of Elon Musk Buying Twitter? BY JONATHAN S. TOBIN I n February, the Anti-Defamation League announced that it had developed what it called an “online hate index” to monitor antisemitism on social-media platforms. The eff ort was conceived as a way to adequately measure the amount of hate speech being posted on sites like Twitter and Reddit, which the group thinks are not vigilant enough about detecting and removing such off ensive material. ADL CEO and national director Jonathan Greenblatt conceded that Twitter had “made substantial strides” towards shutting down those posting vile content; still, he believed they had a lot more to do in order to address a growing problem of online hate. The index was intended to assist the social-media giants in policing their users. It was just the latest evidence of the ADL’s support for more online censorship. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen caused a stir with a 2019 tweet and a subsequent speech at an ADL event where he was honored, in which he torched Facebook for allowing its users to post antisemitic context. The internet and social media had helped heretofore isolated extremists to amplify their voices. And a time when antisemitism is on the rise — largely fueled by hatred for Israel on the left as well as traditional tropes of Jew-hatred on the far-right — most Jews agreed that something ought to be done to crack down on those who spread it. In the years since then, ADL has been increas- ingly vocal about the issue and sought to pressure Big Tech companies to engage in more content moderation that would silence bad actors. It has also devoted more of its resources to techno- logical fi xes that would create partnerships with Internet giants that would, at least in theory, guide them towards creating a less friendly environment for neo-Nazis. So the news last week that the richest man in the world is trying to buy Twitter in order to reverse the company’s embrace of censorship would seem to be bad for the ADL. To date, ADL has kept quiet about Musk’s bid, but the group has become a pillar of the left/ liberal consensus about the need to squelch free speech on the internet. As part of its general shift from a Jewish defense agency to a highly partisan liberal advocacy group, the ADL’s traditional stand in favor of curbing hate has been weaponized in order to support Silicon Valley censorship. Were the targets of this eff ort solely neo-Nazis, far-right extremists or their counterparts on the far-left, along with Black nationalists and Islamists who also spread hate and antisemitism, the ADL’s stance in favor of restricting online speech might be more defensible, though such power could just as easily be deployed against pro-Israel Jews. But as some of us predicted only a few years ago, legitimizing censoring of speech never stops with just the most egregious speakers. The slippery slope from censoring Nazis to shutting down any political speech or reporting that powerful people dislike was always apparent. And the trip down the slope was faster than many of us thought. While conservatives are the main targets, it’s clear that no one can be considered safe from the same treatment if their views fall out of fashion. That’s where Musk comes in. The 51-year-old native of South Africa has successes at PayPal, Space X and Tesla that have given him an esti- mated wealth of $270 billion. Musk is far from a doctrinaire conservative. His mostly libertarian beliefs are hard to pigeonhole, and at various times, he has shown as much sympathy for the Democrats and the left as Republicans and the right. But he does seem fairly consistent in his belief in free speech. While it’s diffi cult for most people to muster much interest in a battle of bil- lionaires, there is more at stake here than just the considerable egos of those involved. For the fi rst time in American history or that of the world, almost the entire means of mass com- munication are now under the control of only a few people. While early 20th-century media bar- ons like William Randolph Hearst were immensely powerful, their stranglehold on communications seems paltry when compared with the owners of Twitter and Facebook. And given the political/cul- tural bias they have demonstrated, the question is now not so much whether, as the ADL claims, they are allowing outlier extremists to vent their spleen but the threat posed to democracy by the ability of these oligarchs to shut down political speech they don’t like. We can’t know whether Musk would keep his word to make Twitter a free-speech-friendly forum. But the fact that supporters of censorship who claim that defending democracy requires its destruction — such as The Washington Post’s Max Boot or a George Soros-funded leftist website like Free Press — are so frightened by his eff ort makes it diffi cult not to root for him. Whatever we may think of Musk, his bid for Twitter highlights both the dangerously untram- meled power of Big Tech and the need to ensure that they are not controlled by anti-democratic forces determined to shut down public debate in order to advance a specifi c political agenda. It was already obvious that ADL’s partisanship and dangerous advocacy of censorship had little or nothing to do with the best interests of Jews. It’s equally clear that their stand is harmful to democ- racy unless you defi ne that as the ability of leftist idealogues to control public discourse. As much as we may view the ability of antisemites to post hate on Twitter with dismay, the survival of free speech is far more important to defending both democracy and Jewish security. It’s a shame that we must currently depend on a single wealthy individual to try to protect those values. But in 2022, Elon Musk may be all we’ve got. JE Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS. letters New Format a Winner Congratulations on your new format. The Exponent has transitioned into a serious publica- tion that addresses the issues of the day. There is something in every issue worth reading. Keep up the great work. Even though I have not lived in Philadelphia for more than 60 years, I am delighted that I still get the Jewish Exponent. I’m so glad the print edition survives. Stanton C. Selbst, White Plains, New York Response Merits a Response In response to Solomon Stevens’ April 7 op-ed (“The Holocaust is Not a Metaphor”), Henry Steinberger wrote a response on April 21 that declares that “The Left Hijacks the Holocaust.” The left is no more homogeneous that the right. Just because someone on “the left” called someone a Nazi doesn’t mean that all in that grouping would use that term. No more so that just because a politician on “the right” calls every- one who disagrees with him a socialist or commu- nist doesn’t mean everyone on “the right” should be tarred with that broad brush either. Peter Whitman, Glen Mills Letters should be related to articles that have run in the print or online editions of the JE, and may be edited for space and clarity prior to publication. Please include your first and last name, as well your town/neighborhood of residence. Send letters to letters@jewishexponent.com. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 15 opinion An Open Letter to the Editorial Board of ‘The Harvard Crimson’ BY RICHARD L. CRAVATTS I n a breathtaking display of tendentiousness and a misreading of history and fact, you published an editorial on April 29 in The Harvard Crimson titled, “In Support of Boycott, Divest, Sanction and a Free Palestine,” an outrageous column replete with slanders against the Jewish state that called for the Harvard community to commit itself to the corrosive BDS campaign against Israel. You suggested that the editorial was inspired by the April demonstrations and programming of the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee which, as part of Israeli Apartheid Week, “installed a colorful, multi-panel ‘Wall of Resistance’ in favor of Palestinian freedom and sovereignty.” Even more importantly, you contended, falla- ciously: “The admittedly controversial panels dare the viewer to contend with well-established, if rarely stated, facts.” What are examples of those “facts” you alluded to? One panel announced in capital letters, for example, that “Zionism is: Racism‒ Settler Colonialism‒White Supremacy‒Apartheid,” mendacious slurs that echo the notorious 1975 Resolution 3379 issued by the United Nations that proclaimed that Zionism is racism. Framing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a mat- ter of race, as this foolish display did, and accusing Israel of maintaining a system of apartheid is some- thing that Israel-haters are fond of doing, even when the charge is patently false. And the puerile accusation of white supremacy against Israel is as grotesque and unhinged as is the oft-repeated claim that Israelis are the new Nazis, committing genocide against the Palestinians. Both are not only counter-factual but also forms of antise- mitic expression described in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working defi- nition of antisemitism. Of course, your claim that the “facts” on the HCPSC mock wall are “well-established” is only true inasmuch as these are facts that live in the minds of progressives and antisemites who care- lessly throw around words without attention to their actual meaning and import. Your other preposterous contention that these attitudes toward Israel — these supposed facts — are “rarely stated” is so naive that only college students who have just begun to counter anti-ac- tivism could possibly believe them since the cam- paign to slander, libel and destroy the Jewish state has been in high gear for some two decades, and this counter-factual language and the allegations 16 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM within it have been and continues to be ubiquitous on campuses worldwide. It requires no bravery at all to be an enemy of Israel on university cam- puses seeped in such activism, as much as you try to impute bravery on the part of those who promote Palestinianism. In justifying your position in this debate, you remarked: “It is our categorical imperative to side with and empower the vulnerable and oppressed.” Really? Does that include Jewish civilians who are being stabbed, rammed with cars, blown up and showered with rockets in their sleep by the genocidal terrorist organization of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and lone-wolf Palestinian terrorists? Or it is only the Palestinians you care about, who have rejected statehood when offered to them on multiple occasions, preferring instead to mount an endless resistance against a sovereign state they cannot and will not abide simply because its residents are Jews? You feel very comfortable, sitting in the safety of your Harvard Square offices, hectoring Israel to tear down its security wall. Calling for a BDS campaign to be unleashed against Israel demands that, among the many and various calamitous examples of human strife and suffering occurring around the world, Harvard should focus on and commit to denouncing only one: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And more than that — just as the Third Reich and Arab League before them — you wish to target Jewish busi- nesses, organizations and educational institutions, and expel them from the world community. You yearn for the “liberation of Palestine,” but what do you assume such an event would result in? When you refer to a liberated Palestine, are you talking about the West Bank and Gaza, areas that would comprise a new Palestinian state? Or are you really describing and eagerly imagining a liberated Palestine that BDS supporters and their fellow travelers in the Arab world and in the West actually seek — one that includes, and subsumes, present-day Israel? Israel knows this because of its experience after cleansing Gaza of all of its Jews, that instead of working on the creation of the beginnings of a state for themselves in the Strip, the Palestinians allowed Hamas to transform Gaza into a terror enclave from which to continually assault Israel. And that is something Israelis understandably imagine could happen again were the West Bank to be totally controlled by the Palestinian Authority, Fatah or in another scenario, Hamas. Conspicuously absent from your editorial is any questioning or critique of Palestinian agency, responsibility, behavior, political decisions or even the nature of their culture and society. You feel very comfortable, sitting in the safety of your Harvard Square offices, hectoring Israel to tear down its security wall, welcoming millions of Jew- hating Arabs into its country as citizens, abandon- ing territory it rightfully owns or won in defensive wars, and otherwise making any concession you and other critics of the Jewish state demand of Israel, even to its own detriment and physical safety — consequences you apparently could care less about in your relentless quest for social justice for the long-aggrieved Palestinians. You make a careless reference to Israel’s killing of Palestinians, including children, without any context, failing to mention, of course, the incon- venient fact that since the 1920s, Arabs have resisted, through violence and attacks, any Jewish presence in the Holy Land, including to the current day. Like other enemies of Israel, you are quick to count Arab bodies when they are killed by Jews, but carelessly and immorally ignore the deaths of innocent Jews in Israel at the hands of psycho- pathic murderers who randomly attack civilians without provocation, including the 15 innocent people murdered randomly in the streets in the past month as part of an uninterrupted campaign of terror that you and your fellow travelers help justify when you euphemistically excuse “resis- tance” on the part of Palestinians. The plea in your editorial to employ the corro- sive BDS campaign as a part of the cognitive war against the Jewish state again reveals that you are either ignorant of or indifferent to the actual stated intention of that movement — namely, extirpating Israel completely, thereby “liberating” Palestine and removing any annoying “racist” Jews from what is now modern-day Israel. JE Richard L. Cravatts, a Freedom Center Journalism Fellow in Academic Free Speech and president emeritus of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, is the author of “Dispatches From the Campus War Against Israel and Jews.” opinion Embracing a Data-Driven Approach to Engaging Jewish Young Adults BY DAN ELBAUM COURTNEYK / E+ M ark Twain once wrote, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” For decades, many mainstream Jewish com- munal organizations have struggled with a sim- ilar issue: Why don’t younger Jews see Israel in the same way we do? Will their views change with age, or do we face a fundamental, indeed existential challenge to the relationship between American Jews and Israel? The challenge of con- nectiveness is no less real in Israel, where Israelis who are fascinated by American culture evince little interest in the American Jewish community if an act of antisemitism has not occurred. In contrast to the usual gloom-and-doom assess- ments, however, a newly released survey from the American Jewish Committee contains some encouraging news on both fronts, as well as an important call for the Jewish world to utilize a data- driven approach to young adult engagement. Let’s start with the good news. The survey found that 72% of American and 89% of Israeli Jewish millennials believe it is important for the American Jewish community and Israel to main- tain close ties. Overwhelming majorities of both American and Israeli millennials also feel that a strong state of Israel is necessary for the survival of the Jewish people and that a strong Jewish community outside of Israel is necessary as well. At the same time, the survey underscored the substantial challenges surrounding public opinion on Israel among younger demographics in the U.S., particularly on college campuses. Most alarmingly, more than one in four American Jewish millenni- als say that the anti-Israel climate on campus or elsewhere has damaged their relationships with friends, and the same number say that the anti-Is- rael climate on campus and elsewhere has made them rethink their own commitment to Israel. These findings reveal that the Jewish commu- nity has a golden opportunity to cultivate a young adult audience that could be far more receptive to our message than we originally thought, but that there is also a need to avoid breathing a collective sigh of relief and resting on our laurels. Despite an unprecedentedly partisan atmo- sphere in both Israel and the United States, and a relentless and well-funded effort by anti-Israel groups to drive a wedge between young American Jews and Israel, deep feelings of attachment are positively thriving. That’s precisely why Jewish leaders must use this data as a framework for fur- ther bolstering young Jews’ connection to Israel — and each other — on both sides of the Atlantic. The Jewish Agency for Israel carries out this mission through a number of initiatives. Yet at its most basic level, our strategy is simple — bring- ing more young Jews to Israel and more Israel to young Jews. This includes Masa Israel Journey, which since 2004 has brought more than 160,000 young adult participants from more than 60 coun- tries to Israel for an extended period of time; shli- chim (Israeli emissaries), who bring Israel-centric educational and social programming to Jewish communities in North America and worldwide; and Partnership2Gether, which connects global and Israeli communities in city-to-city and region- to-region partnerships in which participants forge meaningful connections through unique programs and one-on-one encounters. We must, of course, also meet our audience where they are. Our work to foster U.S.-Israel con- nections is increasingly incorporating an emphasis on Israel’s diversity — a message that power- fully resonates with today’s younger generations. Last year, the Jewish Agency appointed Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, the first female Druze member of Knesset, as the first Druze community member to serve as a senior shlichah. She supports engage- ment efforts regarding Israel on North American college campuses, working closely with Hillel International in Washington, D.C. We also hired Sigal Kanotopsky, a well-known Ethiopian-Israeli leader, as our U.S. Northeast regional director. Crucially, the stories of Gadeer and Sigal show- case the unique and diverse society of Israel. In the campus arena, our response to the highly concerning anti-Israel climate is the Jewish Agency Israel Fellows program, in which shlichim work at more than 100 colleges and universities across North America to not only combat antisem- itism and anti-Zionism, but to proactively cultivate Israel-positive connections on campus by orga- nizing educational programming on Israeli culture and building diverse coalitions of students who support the Jewish state. Finally, the Jewish Agency is investing in smaller Jewish communities that have been ignored for far too long. In 2022, we will have two new 18-year-old emissaries on the ground in nine smaller Jewish communities. Members of these communities have lacked a meaningful interaction with Israelis. Now, there will be an Israeli presence in their lives that has not been there before. The world is changing and our messaging needs to change with it. Months ago, speaking about Israel as a refuge for Jews in danger sounded to many millennials like a speech from their grand- father’s time. Today, with 11,000 new Ukrainian- Jewish citizens of the Jewish state having escaped a devastating war in their country, this idea takes on a new meaning. It is for us as Israel’s advocates and supporters to find the right words to make the case for Israel. The AJC survey exhibits how a younger audience may be prepared to hear that case with open hearts and minds. JE Dan Elbaum is head of North America at the Jewish Agency for Israel and the president and CEO of Jewish Agency International Development. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 17 opinion Why the ‘Libs of TikTok’ Founder’s Jewish Identity Was Fair Game BY ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL I n the autumn of 1965, a New York Times reporter met in a Queens luncheonette with Daniel Burros, a chief organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in New York state. The reporter, McCandlish Phillips, had a difficult subject to bring up with his racist and deeply antisemitic interviewee: He found out that Burros’ parents were married by a rabbi, and that Burros himself appeared to have been raised and bar mitzvahed in an Orthodox Jewish home in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of Queens. “Are you going to print that?” Burros asked. When Phillips said he would, Burros threatened to kill him. Burros did not carry out that threat, but the story ends in violence: After reading the article that ran on Oct. 31, “State Klan Leader Hides Secret of Jewish Origin,” Burros shot and killed himself. The story of the Orthodox Jew turned self-hat- ing Klansman is often brought up in journalism classes as a case study in disclosing what a subject would prefer to keep hidden. Burros had put himself out there as a public figure, and his biography – and his secret – were considered fair game. Neither of the top Times editors at the time — A.M. Rosenthal and Arthur Gelb, who co-wrote a book about Burros — expressed any qualms. “He was who he was, he did what he did, and I no more would feel guilty of saying that a certain person robbed a bank,” Rosenthal once told an interviewer. “Was I happy that he killed himself? Of course not. I did not feel that we had done anything but the appropriate thing. It was he who was misappropriating his life, both in what he was doing and how he chose to end it. There were other ways he could have ended it — he could have quit!” I thought about the Burros case last week, after The Washington Post ran an article about the far-right Twitter account “Libs of TikTok,” in which reporter Taylor Lorenz named the woman who had been running the account anonymously. Among other things, she noted that the woman, Chaya Raichik, is an Orthodox Jew. Lorenz gleaned the information from one of Raichik’s own previous Twitter bios, mentioned it once, and moved on. Critics of the article, mostly on the right, accused Lorenz of harassing and “doxxing” Raichik — that is, revealing personal information about some- one who appeared to prefer anonymity online. Lorenz’s defenders — mostly on the left — said the 18 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM reporter was just doing journalism, and noted that Raichik herself was in the business of posting vid- eos by obscure LGBTQ activists and gay-friendly teachers, who were then held up for ridicule and harassment in the right-wing ecosphere. Lorenz’s editor defended her reporting methods, saying they “comport entirely with the Washington Post’s professional standards.” Raichik, the state- ment added, “in her management of the Libs of TikTok Twitter account and in media interviews, has had significant impact on public discourse and her identity had become public knowledge on social media.” The Post’s statement itself comports with how most mainstream journalists would have handled the story: With her 700,000-plus followers and demonstrable impact on the right-wing media and even pending GOP legislation, Raichik’s identity and background were ripe for disclosure. Jewish Twitter had a separate beef with Lorenz, however, with many asking how Raichik’s Orthodox background was relevant to the story. “Why was it crucial for @TaylorLorenz to mention the creator of ‘Libs of TikTok’ was an Orthodox Jew?” the group Stop Antisemitism tweeted. “Violent antisemitic attacks, especially in NYC, are skyrocketing. This does nothing but give an already bias lunatic more ammo to attack Jews!” The Coalition for Jewish Values, an organization of right-wing Orthodox rabbis, said that “iden- tifying the Twitter user as an Orthodox Jewish woman placed her at heightened risk of physical harm.” But if identifying someone as Jewish subjects them to antisemitism, that seems to be a bigger and more insurmountable problem than any one journalist can address or avoid. It assumes, without evidence, that antisemitism has become so pervasive that living and identifying publicly as a Jew has become an existential risk. And it clashes with an ethos of Jewish pride and self-confidence that educators are trying to instill in Jewish schools and camps, and no doubt in the synagogues to which many of the Post’s critics belong. Jews are visible and assertive in public life, and in almost every occupation you can think of. Jews are overrepresented in activist spaces where the arguments are impassioned and some- times unhinged. They don’t live as marranos. It’s not clear why Raishik deserves special handling, especially when she has willingly placed herself at the white-hot center of our national argument. Of course, I work for a Jewish media company whose job it is to report on Jewish accomplish- ments, scandals and curiosities. It is no surprise that I always find the fact of someone’s Jewish background interesting and relevant. And I can understand why Lorenz thought so too: Religious beliefs are a major element driving politics these days, no more so than on the right, where faith and policy align when it comes to activism around abortion, LGBTQ issues and pandemic restric- tions. As the New York Times noted in a recent article about religious fervor within the pro-Trump right, “[M]any believers are importing their wor- ship of God, with all its intensity, emotion and ambitions, to their political life.” The Times was talking about charismatic Christianity, but other observers have been not- ing how Orthodox Jews, unlike the largely liberal, non-Orthodox Jewish majority, have increasingly embraced the Republican Party and Donald Trump in recent years. This is great news for groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition, and community leaders in Brooklyn and other Orthodox enclaves have hardly been shy about their turn to the right. The same trend also alarms some within and outside Orthodoxy. “The fact that Chaya Raichik is a orthodox Jewish woman is 100% relevant to the Libs Of Tiktok story,” said a writer who tweets as @EvelKneidel. “The rapid radicalization of orthodox communities in recent years is dark and twisted.” Welcome or dark, the Orthodox connection between faith and right-wing politics is a subject worth exploring. And that is exactly how my col- leagues at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency treated the information that “Libs of TikTok” was run by an activist who identified herself as Orthodox. In a thoughtful article, Ron Kampeas reported on pol- itics in the Orthodox community, and discussed whether Raichik is representative or an outlier. Putting Raichik’s religious background in that context gave me, and I hope the article’s readers, a window into how to understand the present political moment and the roles all sorts of Jews are playing. The fact that a right-wing Twitter activist is Jewish is hardly as juicy as the oxymoronic tale of the Jewish Klansman. Still, I see why Lorenz included the fact. And I only wish, instead of the brief mention, she had offered a fuller exploration of its relevance to the story at hand. JE Andrew Silow-Carroll is the editor-in-chief of The New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. nation / world z Bring this ad. Take 17% off any item. Certain restrictions apply. Offer ends june 2, 2022 Jewish Denominations Support Infertility Awareness All four major streams of Judaism are among an array of Jewish groups backing a bipartisan congressional resolution calling for the U.S. government to raise awareness about infertility, JTA reported. Organizations affiliated with Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements signed a letter spearheaded by Hadassah sent on April 27 to members of Congress asking them to back a bipartisan resolution sponsored by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Jewish Democrat from Florida, and Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican. The nonbinding resolution declares “that the United States Government has a responsibility to help examine, create, and implement solutions to address and alleviate the problems associated with the disease.” The resolution notes that Ashkenazi Jews and people of Middle Eastern ances- try are among groups that “suffer from disproportionately higher rates of certain diseases and gynecological, endocrine, and autoimmune disorders, that may contribute to higher rates of infertility among these populations.” Hadassah has been lobbying for years to classify infertility as a disease and to raise awareness. “For too long, infertility and the struggle toward parenthood have been topics of quiet suffering, particularly in the Jewish community,” Rhoda Smolow, Hadassah’s president, said in a release. All smiles this summer 17 % Russian Jewish Billionaire Pledges $100M for Ukrainian Refugee Relief Russian Jewish philanthropist Yuri Milner, who made billions in Silicon Valley with early Kremlin support, pledged $100 million to aid Ukrainian refugees. Unlike other billionaires whose wealth is linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Milner has avoided Western sanctions meant to punish Russia for waging war. The donation further distances him from the Kremlin. A dual Russian and Israeli citizen who lives in California, Milner, and his wife Julia, are known in the philanthropy world for establishing the Breakthrough Prize to recognize and promote scientific achievement. But they have also become significant donors to various causes in Israel. The new Ukrainian relief efforts, called Tech for Refugees, involve a partnership between the Milner’s Breakthrough Prize Foundation and private companies, including short-term housing from Airbnb, hospital beds and emergency medical equipment from Flexport and audio from music streaming service Spotify. The Sweater Mill 115 S. York Road, Hatboro 215.441.8966 Open Monday-Saturday 11-4 Is it time to consider additional support? Know the Signs Antisemitic Harassment Reported at Rutgers Jewish Fraternity AEPi fraternity at Rutgers University was the target of multiple cases of antise- mitic harassment in April, prompting the school to announce it would be increas- ing campus security, JTA reported. Authorities said AEPi was first targeted on April 22 when protesters exiting a rally for Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestinian university activist group, went to the house and shouted antisemitic rhetoric and spat at the brothers. Rutgers Hillel Interim Executive Director Rabbi Esther Reed said the group yelled phrases including “terrorist” and “baby killers.” The rally was called “Defend Al-Aqsa, Defend Palestine,” referring to the Muslim worship site in Jerusalem that has been the site of violent clashes between Israelis and Arabs in recent weeks. Another incident occurred on April 24, when unidentified assailants threw eggs at the frat house as the brothers were commemorating Yom Hashoah. A similar incident occurred during the 2021 name-reading event, Reed said. US Tourists Bring Unexploded Bomb Shell to Israeli Airport An American family set off a bomb scare at Ben-Gurion Airport on April 28 when they brought to security inspectors an unexploded shell found while visit- ing the Golan Heights, Reuters and The Jerusalem Post reported. Video circulated on social media showed panicked passengers scattering at the airport’s departure hall. A man was hospitalized with injuries sustained as he tried to flee over a baggage carousel, the Israel Airports Authority said. The authority said the family was allowed to board their flight after being interrogated by security staff. Israel clashed with Syria over the Golan Heights during the wars of 1967 and 1973, leading to speculation that the bombs were from that period. JE — Compiled by Andy Gotlieb Are your parents are safe — or happy — living at home? Attend our upcoming presentation and learn the signs for concern and what support options are available. Tuesday, May 17th, at 4 p.m. at Miller’s Ale House: 2300 Easton Rd., Willow Grove Dinner will be provided C ommonwealth SENIOR LIVING at WILLOW GROVE Welcome Home th S ERV IN G FA MIL IE S S IN C E 2 002 Seating is limited. RSVP today. 215-706-8376 Personal Care & Memory Care 1120 York Road, Willow Grove, PA 19090 www.Commonwealthsl.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 19 613 or 420? feature story O n April 21, the sixth night of Passover, more than just Jews were celebrating a holiday revolving around a burning bush. Th e day marked the beginning of the legal sale of recreational marijuana to adults in the Garden State, with lines wrapping around the buildings of the roughly dozen dispensaries with grand openings. While droves commemorated the occasion with food trucks and reggaeton music, the legalization was not unanimously celebrated. Rabbi Hershel Schachter of the Orthodox Union released a statement on March 11, before the New Jersey law went into eff ect, fortifying acclaimed Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s ruling on the sub- ject 49 years prior. Schachter wrote that substance use inhibits human’s free thought, drawing from a Pirkei Avot chapter which states that “sleeping through the morning and drinking wine in the aft ernoon are among things that removes man from the world”. He adds to Feinstein’s point that mental impairment prevents an individual from fulfi lling the responsibilities of studying Torah. Of course, not all Jews have abided by the rab- bis’ interpretation of Jewish law, or at least, a $400 menorah bong from online cannabis glassware store GRAV would indicate otherwise. Th e presence of weed in Jewish popular culture suggests a generational divide in how marijuana use in the community is perceived. Th e Instagram account @tokin.jew wishes its more than 9,000 fol- lowers a “Shabbong Shalom” almost weekly, posting pictures of Jewish celebrities such as “Broad City”’s Ilana Glazer and Seth Rogan posing with their par- aphernalia. Th e two confl icting viewpoints make one thing clear: When it comes to weed, like most Jewish issues, its history and use in Jewish spaces is complicated. Despite Feinstein’s ruling a half-century ago deem- ing recreational marijuana use Jewishly unethical, the Jewish relationship with the drug far predates the mod- ern day. Eddy Portnoy, director of exhibitions at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York, explores 20 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Gabrielle Schwartz is a 2021 Tribe 12 fellow and advocate for medicinal marijuana use. this connection in his exhibit “Am Yisrael High: Th e Story of Jews and Cannabis.” Rabbinic mention of cannabis dates to 13th-cen- tury rabbi Nachmanides, who argued that kaneh bosem, which may be cannabis, was one of the com- ponents of the incense blend in the temple, which had properties that allowed the smoke to rise directly upward, Portnoy said. Th e Cairo Geniza, a collection of 11th-14th century Jewish manuscripts, mentions the use of hashish, a potent cannabis. Th ese claims from antiquity were recently bol- stered by a discovery by Israeli archaeologists two years ago: Two altars in a synagogue near the Dead Sea had residue of burned cannabis. “What becomes evident is that the ancient Israelites did burn cannabis as part of their religious ritual,” Portnoy said. Even throughout the middle ages, Jews connection to cannabis was apparent and laid the groundwork for some Jews’ continued support of cannabis use through the 20th century. “In the medieval period in Europe, Jews were not allowed to own land,” Portnoy said. “Th ey were restricted to certain occupations; they weren’t per- mitted to join professional guilds. Because of this, Jews had to scramble to make a living.” Jews turned to the black market to make money, which created an “ingrained sensibility among Jews that risk taking in the business world was useful,” Portnoy argued. Th is intrinsic divergent thinking persisted across centuries and continents and translated to a large Jewish presence in underground and burgeoning arts spaces, such as the comic book and fi lm industries in the mid-1900s. It could have been the same sensibility that led Jewish beatnik Allen Ginsberg to participate in the fi rst marijuana legalization rally in 1964 and join the U.S.’s fi rst legalization organization Lemar, which stands for “legalize marijuana”. Th ree years later, fi ve Jewish New Yorkers founded the Yippies, a political movement whose central plank was the legalization of marijuana. But while some Jews thrived during the coun- terculture revolution that popularized recreational marijuana use, Orthodox Jewish leaders, such as Feinstein, eschewed marijuana use. “For many years, marijuana with associated with criminal behavior and antisocial behavior, counter- cultural behavior associated with a whole cultural zeitgeist, which was very much opposed to traditional religion,” said Rabbi Yitzhak Grossman, senior lec- turer at Greater Washington Community Kollel in Silver Springs, Maryland. In the 1970s, Orthodox Jewish leaders opposed recreational marijuana use with “remarkable una- nimity,” Grossman said. One of the central spiritual arguments against recre- Courtesy of Gabrielle Schwartz SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER Background Photo: Gleti / iStock / Getty Images Plus Jewish Thinkers Split Among Ethics of Cannabis Use ational marijuana use is found in this week’s Torah por- tion Kedoshim, which opens with “You shall be holy.” According to Rabbi Yonah Gross, Keystone K kashrus administrator and rabbi at Wynnewood syn- agogue Congregation Beth Hamedrosh, recreational marijuana as a form of escapism prevents awareness to fulfi ll mitzvot. “One of those principles that the Torah gives us is to make sure that you live a life of holiness, and one then has to ask themselves, does this activity then cor- respond with living that life of holiness?” Gross said. Even without the spiritual implications of substance use, rabbis considered the physical ones: Because the Torah commands the preservation of life, the potentially dangerous practice of recreational substance use is for- bidden. (On the contrary, medicinal marijuana use is permissible because it would allow physical relief from pain and therefore make one more physically and spiritually capable of fulfi lling commandments.) But the argument dismissing mari- juana use because it is a mind-altering substance is a slippery one, rabbis admit. In Jewish spaces, alcohol use is oft en not only acceptable but encour- aged. On Passover, many Jews drink four cups of wine at their seder; on Purim, some fulfi ll the tradition of drinking until they cannot discern between Haman and Mordechai, yet rabbis do not unanimously condemn drinking. While Gross, who does not condone excessive drink- ing on holidays or otherwise, argues that some drink- ing can be sanctioned, as it is usually done in a social setting and diff erentiates between the chemical eff ects alcohol versus marijuana has on the brain, Grossman believes that the role of alcohol is more acceptable, partially because it is more deeply entrenched and traditional in Jewish spaces. Th e acceptability of marijuana among Jews appears to have a generational and denominational divide, 2021 Tribe12 fellow and medicinal marijuana advo- cate Gabrielle Schwartz believes. Schwartz, who does content marketing for a can- nabis-related television network, grew up in a Reform community; she fi rst used marijuana as a young teen- ager under the supervision of her mother, which wasn’t uncommon among her family’s group of friends. “Nobody that I knew really had this negative con- notation towards it, so I never really had a negative connotation towards it,” Schwartz said. more of what we want to do. We’re not really neces- sarily following tradition down to a ‘T’”, Schwartz said. “We’re just following certain traditions that make us feel comfortable, and then we just take it from there.” For larger Jewish authorities, Schwartz said, chang- ing minds on marijuana use will be much slower, but Grossman maintains that the Orthodox stance on recreational marijuana could very well change, though likely not anytime soon. One hundred years ago, Orthodox rabbis con- doned tobacco use, only putting restrictions on its use during holidays, when lighting a fi re is not permissible; rabbis only began to change their tune on smoking in the 1970s, when more information was released on the harms of the behavior. Th e allowance of greater educational opportunities for women emerged in Orthodox spaces as the broader soci- ety prioritized women’s rights. “It’s not necessarily that the word of God is not permanent,” Grossman said. “It’s that the word of God has to be applied diff erently in changing circumstances.” But recreational marijuana is slightly diff erent than these issues, Grossman said, because the same urgency to make changes isn’t there. Th ough marijuana has taken cen- ter stage on a national level in recent years, rabbis just don’t believe the issue is large enough in the Jewish community to alter their stance. “It’s very diffi cult to know whether this is going to be one of those things that we’ll look back on in 50 years and try to understand why we were so adamant that this was going to be a hill that we choose to die on,” Grossman said. JE Courtesy of Alliance Israelite Universelle via YIVO Library Though marijuana has taken center stage on a national level in recent years, rabbis just don’t believe the issue is large enough in the Jewish community to alter their stance. Schwartz’s Reform peers share her beliefs, and among other denominations, opinions on recre- ational marijuana use diff er, just as opinions on Jews getting piercings and tattoos may diff er. For Schwartz, the growing acceptability of recre- ational marijuana use among younger Jews is refl ec- tive of a growing pattern of adapting the religion to one’s own personal and political values, as well to as the changing social climate. “As our generation is getting older, we’re doing Altars from a c. third century BCE synagogue in Tel Arad contain burned cannabis and frankincense residue. YIVO’s “Am Yisrael High” exhibit poster by Steve Marcus A seder plate from Tokin Jew A fragment from Cairo Geniza (c. 1200-1300) requesting the purchase of hashish JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 21 food & dining Beef Stroganoff Reinvisioned KERI WHITE | SPECIAL TO THE JE T Plateresca / iStock / Getty Images Plus raditional versions of beef stroganoff mix meat and dairy, so it would not be suitable for kosher diners. However, I came across a recipe that contained butter and sour cream in small amounts. Many recipes call for a cup or more of sour cream, to round out the sauce, but this recipe goes heavy on beef stock and tomato paste. The fact that this version only calls for 2 tablespoons suggested to me that a nondairy sour cream or coconut cream would work well here, and the recipe would not be impacted. Most stew-type dishes require long braises on the stove or in the oven, which make them less appealing as spring arrives. But this one spends little time on the stove, so it seems a bit more seasonal to me. In addition, it includes leeks, parsley and chives, all of which I associate with spring. I wouldn’t serve this on a day that shoots up to 80 degrees, but on a cool or rainy spring evening, this simple comfort meal delivers. FREE ESTIMATES PERSONALIZED SERVICE SENIOR DOWNSIZING DECLUTTER / HOARDING CLEAN OUTS ALL ITEMS SOLD, DONATED, OR REPURPOSED RESPECTFUL OF HOMES WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 30+ YEARS JOLIE OMINSKY OWNER SERVING PA, DE, NJ JOCSERNICA@YAHOO.COM 610-551-3105 22 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM It is with great pride and joy that the Mason family announces the bat mitzvah of their daughter and granddaughter, Lyla Hailey, on May 7, 2022. Lyla shares the honor of being called to the Torah with her maternal grandmother, Bobbi Mason. A gala celebration will take place at the Rittenhouse Hotel on Saturday, May 14, 2022. Beef Stroganoff Serves 4 1½ tablespoons olive oil, divided ¾ pound top sirloin, cut into strips 1-inch wide and 2-inches long Salt and pepper, to taste 1½ tablespoons margarine 2 leeks, white and light green portions, cleaned and finely chopped ½ pound mushrooms, sliced 2 teaspoons tomato paste 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1¼ cups beef stock 2-3 tablespoons nondairy sour cream or coconut cream 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1-pound package egg noodles, cooked according to package directions, for serving 2 tablespoons each fresh parsley and chives, finely chopped, for garnish Pat the beef strips dry with paper towels and season them with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat half of the olive oil. In batches, sauté the beef strips in a sin- gle layer for 1 minute per side. Do not overcrowd the pan. At this point, the meat should not be cooked through. Transfer it to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining oil and meat and set it aside. In the same pan over medium heat, melt the margarine. Add the leeks and sauté them until lightly browned and tender, about 5 min- utes. Add the mushrooms and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes more. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. Add more margarine if the mixture is burning or seems dry. Stir in the tomato paste, and cook until well-blended, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the vegeta- bles and stir to incorporate. Increase the heat to high, add the stock and bring it to a boil, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the pan. Boil it for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to medium. Return the meat to the pan along with any accumulated juices and cook just until the beef is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the nondairy sour cream or coconut cream, mustard and lemon juice and heat it until the sauce is warm. Remove it from the heat, serve it over egg noodles and garnish it with fresh parsley and chives. Spring Peas with Fresh Mint Serves 4 These ingredients scream spring to me, so putting them together to round out this meal was a seasonally delicious move. Fresh spring peas are here for a short time, so if you can get them, do, but frozen peas are a perfectly good substitute. 2 scallions, white and green parts, sliced 1 tablespoon oil 1 pound fresh or frozen peas Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint Heat the oil in a medium skillet with the scallions, salt and pepper. Saute until soft and fragrant. Add the peas and just enough water to cover. Simmer them for 5 minutes until cooked but not mushy. Drain. (Cook’s tip: Reserve this liq- uid for another use such as soup or sauce!) Add the mint, toss and serve. JE Jewish Exponent PHILADELPHIA Print | Digital | Reach an affl uent audience of 50,000 engaged readers with our print & digital magazine. Upcoming Special Sections Dining & Food May 12 Let our readers know that you are open for business. Share you best deals on carryout, dining, groceries and spirits with a hungry audience. Home Services May 19 Help readers find the best deals on indoor and outdoor home improvement projects. Windows, doors, gutters, painting, roofs, general contractors, plumbers, electricians and more! Wonderful Weddings May 26 Yasonya / iStock / Getty Images Plus From venues to dress boutiques, jewelers to caterers, everything a couple needs to make their special day perfect. Showcase your services to help couples planning their in-person nuptials. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Contact your sales consultant to schedule your advertising at 215-832-0700 ext. 2, advertising@jewishexponent.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 23 arts & culture InLiquid Exhibit Puts Family Histories in Dialogue SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER F or every thing artists Cheryl Harper and rod jones ii have in common, they seem to have a difference. Harper is a white Jewish woman and descendant of Holocaust survivors married to a French man from the American South with a family history of racism and enslavement. jones is a queer Black man who can’t trace back his family history farther than his great-grandparents. Both have a background in printmaking and a keen interest in exploring family histories, and both were brought together for InLiquid’s spring exhibit “What Are We Claiming?” The exhibit shows until June 11. Together, Harper and jones’ respective stories weave narratives of recorded pasts and imagined ones. Harper’s pieces of intricate dresses with American flags and yellow Stars of David sewn into the fabric hover over humble Shabbat candles and ornate silver pieces, a representation of the relationship between the different components of her family’s complex lineage. jones, conversely, works with large, abstract forms with colorful beadwork, his own dreamed-up symbols of his and his family’s past. Harper was born within 10 years of the Holocaust and grew up in a Jewish environment where adults were still grappling with the trauma of the war. “That was really very difficult for children grow- ing up in that era because they weren’t telling us anything, but everybody was just really, really sad,” Harper said. Looking for a way to address her family’s inter- generational trauma, Harper turned to themes of the Holocaust and Jewish identity, tackling the dynamic of predator and prey in her pieces since the 1990s. “I was always an artist that wanted to make a state- ment. I wanted to work with ideas, so that’s really what I did,” Harper said. But Harper’s family history became even more tan- JOIN US FOR TWO SPECIAL EVENTS May 5–7 Paula Varsatona Eveningwear May 12–14 Fouy/Chov Special Occasion Appointments Required Discounts at all of our Trunk Shows Our latest Spring-Summer Sportswear Has Arrived 357 Route 9 • Towne Pointe Center • Manalapan, NJ 07726 732-972-2795 www.rhonasboutique.com Store Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 10:30-4:30 • Closed Sunday, Monday & Tuesday 24 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM BUSINESS DIRECTORY nmls 215-901-6521 • 561-631-1701 LEGAL DIRECTORY “What Are We Claiming?” puts Cheryl Harper’s family heirlooms from the Holocaust and American slavery in conversation with rod jones ii’s imagined family past, which draws on mediums and Courtesy of InLiquid concepts from his own life. gled aft er her mother-in-law died. She went up to her in-laws’ attic and dis- covered a collection of Georgian silver — a result of family wealth acquired by enslaving Black people on their fami- ly’s plantations. Combining the processing of her family’s strife during the Holocaust with her extended family’s complicity in the American disgrace of slavery, Harper thought up “What Are We Claiming?” as a way to place these con- fl icting histories in conversation with one another, but she understood that the narrative of the exhibit, which orig- inally debuted in Lynchburg, Virginia, wasn’t complete. She wanted to introduce a Black art- ist into the space whose work would complement hers and highlight a dif- ferent American history. jones, a Gary, Indiana-born artist who lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, was a good match, according to InLiquid Executive Director Rachel Zimmerman. “He is a deep thinker ... he was open to the challenge and was able to sort of stance his ground in a very thoughtful, positive way,” Zimmerman said. In addition to the challenge of work- ing with an artist with whom he had never collaborated, jones was tasked with creating family heirlooms with- out the tactile inspiration Harper had from her family. “A lot of the images and pieces, the fi gures that I was making were com- ing from this world that I hadn’t defi ned,” jones said. “I didn’t know what it was, but it was refl ective of a lot of conversations I was having with my friends and family, stories I’ve heard, things that I had experienced.” jones created the foundation of many of his pieces with papier-mache but molded the skeletons of his pieces with chicken wire. His mother had told him that his grandfather, whom he had never met, used wire sculpting in his works. Inspired by childhood scenes of play- ing with children with Technicolor beads in their braided hair, jones opted to adorn the visible wires in his pieces with hand-strewn beadwork. He drew on his interests as an adult, such as his zodiac signs, to inform the shapes of his pieces. He also considers his iden- tity and the history he creates as he lives his life. “I oft en think about the many ways society has failed me personally, as a Black man, a Black queer man, and moments in life where I didn’t feel like was full or like I didn’t show up enough,” jones said. Th e unspoken dialogue between Harper’s and jones’ pieces is one of the many reckonings taking place today, Zimmerman said. “A lot of us live in this world of not knowing,” she said. With greater access to academic texts, social media and ancestry sites and resources, people can discover more about their past. While having more answers can provide comfort to some families, it can also complicate truths families once believed about their pasts. “It’s important to sort of humanize some of these aspects of real people who are really aff ected by these things,” Zimmerman said. “And there’s beauty in it, and there’s pain in it.” JE srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com www.jewishexponent.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 25 obituaries Philanthropist Rosalie Gerson Dies at 95 HEATHER M. ROSS | STAFF WRITER L ongtime area philanthropist Rosalie Gerson died on April 26 at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne. She was 95. “She was devoted to music, to Israel, to the synagogue and to Jewish- American causes,” granddaughter Leah Popowich said. She served on several boards of Jewish organizations, including the board of trustees for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the national board of the American Association of Ben Gurion University, American Friends of Hebrew University and Adath Israel 26 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM on the Main Line. She also was presi- dent of Adath Israel and was involved with Gratz College, Central Agency for Jewish Education, HIAS, Jewish Community Centers of Philadelphia and the American Jewish Committee. Her devotion to the arts included the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts, among others. While her philanthropy was a signifi - cant time commitment, she always tried to do it while her children were at school so she could be there for every piano recital and play, family members said. She took her children to museums and orchestras as oft en as she could. Gerson also taught Rosalie Gerson and past Jewish Exponent articles featuring her Photo collage by Heather M. Ross her children and grandchildren about the importance of community. “We would collect donations for Allied Jewish Appeal door to door. We’ve come a long way since that. I would go down to Federation with her and listen in on meetings and understand the importance of supporting our local Jewish commu- nity and also a strong love of Israel and understanding that importance as well,” daughter Deena Gerson said. Deena Gerson said philanthropy and community involvement were always a part of the family. Rosalie Gerson would take her grandchildren to meetings, to phonathons and to award dinners. “My grandmother’s mom, whom I was named aft er, was also very involved in the community. My grandmother grew up with it. [It’s] passed down from generation to generation. It’s just what you did. It’s how you live your life,” Popowich said. Rosalie Gerson, who was bat mitzva- hed at Adath Israel in her 60s, devoted much of her time to making sure her children and grandchildren had the foundation to have Jewish households themselves. Th at included taking all three of her daughter’s children to Israel individually. Her love for the community showed itself in other ways, too, with Shabbat dinners that included many guests — dinners her family says many still remember. “In the condolences I’m getting from people, it’s like she was Philadelphia roy- alty,” Deena Gerson said. While her love for the community was notable, so was her love for her husband, Irv Gerson. Aft er just three dates, he proposed marriage. Th ey were married for more than 60 years before his death in 2012. Th e couple was inseparable, even in death. “It’s hard to talk about Eemy without talking about Papa, but I’ll try. It’s hard not to think of them as a unit, but they were individuals and we had individual relationships with each of them, which was extraordinary,” Popowich said. Born June 9, 1926, Gerson grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, and moved to Philadelphia with her family as a teen- ager. Later, she lived in Elkins Park, where she began her lifelong journey with gardening. With her daughter, Deena Gerson, Rosalie worked on her rock garden every spring and summer. Th e two would search for beautiful or interesting rocks to use for the garden. Th ey also weeded the garden and meticulously cared for the periwinkle fl owers and mountain pink. “A rock garden is built into a lit- tle slope. Diff erent colors [of fl owers] bloom at diff erent times. Th e rocks and their shapes become a big part of it; you wouldn’t do it on a fl at surface. Th e rocks hold the plants and soil in place,” Deena Gerson said. Rosalie Gerson taught her family about her love for trees with the knowl- edge she learned from studying hor- ticulture at the Barnes Foundation in Merion. She took pride in being able to identify trees even in winter, just by looking at the bark and branches. Rosalie Gerson is survived by her fi ve children, Ben (Leslye), David (Debra), Deena, Jesse (Eloise) and Esther Sharon; eight grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. JE BRAVERMAN Annette (nee Forman), April 21, 2022, of Warwick, PA. Beloved wife of the late Milton Braverman; loving mother of Bobby (Susan) Braverman and Mark Braverman; cherished grandmother of Made- line. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Annette’s memory may be made to Annette Braverman Technology Fund at Temple Beth Am (oyrtbeth- am.org) or American Cancer Soci- ety Bike-a-Thon (acsbike.org). JOSEPH LEVINE AND SONS www.levinefuneral.com FANSHEL Seymour, age 86, passed away April 23, 2022. Beloved husband of Sandra Fanshel (nee Presser) Loving father of Bill Fanshel. Dear brother of Sheila Fanshel. Con- tributions in his memory may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com GERSON Rosalie Klein Gerson was born June 9, 1926 in the Hunts Point Hospital in the Bronx and grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, with par- ents Daniel and Anna Klein and sister Ruth (Colten). She excelled at the piano and spent summers as camp counselor at Blue Mountain Camp in the Catskills. At the young age of 16, Rosalie, being a gifted student, was accepted to and be- gan as a student at the University of Pennsylvania as a music ma- jor. There she met her soon-to-be husband, Irv, who had graduated from medical school and was do- ing graduate work at Penn. They were engaged three weeks later. Rosalie had a passion for opera, the orchestra and Jewish organiza- tions. She served on the Board of Trustees for the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia; the National Board, American Association of Ben Gu- rion University; American Friends of Hebrew University; the Board of Temple Adath Israel; President of Temple Adath Israel; and was involved with Gratz College, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Central Agency for Jewish Education, HIAS (Hebrew Immigration Society), Jewish Community Centers of Phil- adelphia, American Jewish Com- mittee, Hebrew Sunday School Society, American-Israel Cultural Society, Opera Company of Phil- adelphia, Curtis Institute of Music, Academy of Vocal Arts, a member of the Cosmopolitan Club of Phila- delphia, the Union League, APAC Foreign Policy Research Institute. Rosalie was Chairperson of Phil- adelphia Women’s Division Allied Jewish Appeal, Chairwoman Wom- en’s Division State of Israel Bonds, Phila., and then National Chair- person Women’s Division State of Israel Bonds, National Board Allied Jewish Appeal, Chairperson Ameri- can Associates Ben Gurion Univer- sity. As well, she was Woman of the year, Hebrew University; Woman of Valor, State of Israel Bonds; Wom- an of the Year Ben Gurion Universi- ty; Jerusalem Award National State of Israel Bonds; Keter Shem Tov, Adath Israel; Tribes of Israel award State of Israel Bonds; Woman of the Year American Jewish Con- gress; Woman of the Year Crohns and Colitis Foundation. Rosalie studied horticulture at the Barnes Foundation in Merion with Mrs. Barnes and had a most spectacu- lar rock garden in Elkins Park. She could identify every tree she saw by its leaves, and even in the winter by its bark. Rosalie even managed to be Cub Scout Den Mother and then Brownie Scout Leader and uniformed Girl Scout Leader for her children. She accomplished all of this while being a ‘stay at home mom,’ grandmother, great grand- mother and loving partner to Irv for 60 years! Rosalie is survived by her five children Ben (Leslye), David (Debra), Deena, Jesse (Eloise), Esther Sharon, eight grandchildren, and 12 Great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rosalie’s honor to the Waverly Heights Foundation, 1400 Waverly Road, Gladwyne, PA 19035. KRASSEN Richard Krassen, age 81, passed away April 27, 2022. Beloved hus- band of Carole Cohn. Loving fa- ther of Josh Krassen (Teri), Adam Krassen (Susan Gaines), and Paul Krassen (Nicolle) and loving stepfa- ther of Alexander Cohn (Elizabeth Snodgrass), Deborah Cohn (Glenn Kubota), and Sharon Cohn (John Bansemer). Dear brother of Ellen Rosen (Howard). Adoring grand- father of Blair, Sydney, Eli, Miles, Erin, and Charlie. Contributions in his memory may be made to Shoot for the Stars Institute https://shoot- forthestarslegends.org/donations/ or the Greenberg Pancreatic Can- cer Institute at Fox Chase Cancer Center www.foxchase.org GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com RAAB DAVID on April 17, 2022. Beloved son of the late Enid and Jay Raab; Loving brother of Leah (Candy) Bergman and Robert Raab; He was a graduate of Cheltenham HS and Montco JR College. He was a past Fire Chief and life member of the Elkins Park Fire Co. as well as developer of Jade Thumb Designs landscaping co responsible for im- plementation of new construction landscape designs for many major shopping centers, hospitals and homes around the Phila area. Con- tributions in his memory may be made to American Technion Soci- ety, www.ats.org. GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com SCHWALB Lois Susan Schwalb, age 78 of Delray Beach, Florida and native Philadelphian passed away on April 20, 2022. Beloved wife of Neil, lov- ing mother of Marc Schwalb (Amy Schwalb) and Wendy Cotey (Chris Cotey). Cherished grandmother of Madison Cotey. She was the loving daughter of Frank and Matilda Bell. Lois extended her nurturing ways by becoming a kindergarten teach- er. She graduated from Temple University, where she met Neil. She then went on to get a Master’s de- gree in Education with a specialty in Mathematics at Arcadia University. She was an avid tennis and bridge player and she and Neil enjoyed traveling the world and dancing to- gether. Donations can be made to the Pap Corps. SMITH, ESQ Janice (nee Diamond) April 26, 2022 of Philadelphia, PA. Beloved wife of the late Ric Smith and the late Leon Entenberg; lov- ing mother of Becky (Gary) Kessel and Aaron (Michele) Smith; adoring grandmother of Benjamin (Lauren), Jordyn, Robb, Aaron, Nicholas, and Izabella; cherished great-grand- mother of Otto. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Uncle Neil’s Home (un- cleneilshome.org/janice). JOSEPH LEVINE AND SONS www.levinefuneral.com SOLOMON Beverly Nan Solomon (nee Hor- witz) on April 25, 2022. Beloved wife of Steve, devoted mother of Eric Solomon and Ami (Brian) Goodman, sister of Janice (Mel) Greiff, cherished Mom Mom of Ty- ler, Taylor and Kyle. GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com STERN Marlene Alper Stern, beloved wife, mother and friend to many, passed away on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Maryland at the age of 89. She was surrounded by her loving family. Nicknamed “Mickey”, she resided in Ocean Pines, MD before health complications overcame her. Her life was a collection of wonderful experiences and joyous memories. She was a graduate of South Phila- delphia High School, married Ray- mond Stern and together raised 2 boys, Glenn and Michael. Marlene taught night school interior design and served as an administrator for many years at Cheltenham High School. Marlene (“Mickey”) is also survived by Glenn’s wife, Lisa and Mike’s wife, Colleen who were to- gether as a family with her in her final hours. The surviving family includes two grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. She is prede- ceased by husband Ray, mother Miriam, father Andrew, and sister Marcia. WEINBERG Esther Weinberg passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, April 10, 2022, at 7:40 pm in Proc- torville, Ohio at the Wyngate Assist- ed Living Facility. She was 94 years old and is survived by her son, Chuck Weinberg, her daughter, Diane Johnson, her grandchildren Aaron Weinberg, Jacob Weinberg, Kimberly Amy, Ashley Johnson and her great grandchildren Gwen- dolyn Amy and Parker McGlaun. Born in Philadelphia, she was the youngest daughter of Maurice and Minnie Merion’s eight children. As Ukrainian immigrants, her parents set up shop in a furniture store in West Philadelphia. Esther played softball at Overbrook High School, which was unusual for women in the 1940’s. She was a dedicated Phillies fan and followed the team so closely, she was able to pre- dict when they would start winning again, like when Jimmy Rollins came off the DL! Esther also en- joyed folk dancing and traveled to the Art Museum from Levittown for years to join with others who shared her passion. Another interest of Es- ther’s was getting involved political- ly. She was an active member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and marched in support of Civil Rights, the Nu- clear Test Ban Treaty, and against the War in Vietnam. Donations can be made in her memory at: https:// www.wilpf.org WOLF LOIS B. (nee Blum)-Passed away on April 23, 2022. Wife of the late Edward Wolf. Mother of Gary (Vic- ki) Wolf, Robin (Gary) Risler and Terri (Carl) Weiner. Sister of Sandy Levin. Grandmother of Sam (Me- lissa) Wolf, Sean (Lynsey) Wolf, Jeremy (Melissa) Wolf, Joelle (Ari) Risler Kleinman, Zachary (Lori) Risler, Scott (Caroline) Weiner, Michael Weiner and the late Court- ney Risler. Also survived by 13 great-grandchildren. Contributions in her memory may be made to HIS Breast Cancer Awareness, 1 S. Iroquois Ave., Margate City, NJ 08402, www.hisbreastcancer.org/ donate. GOLDSTEINS’ ROSENBERG’S RAPHAEL-SACKS www.goldsteinsfuneral.com Family owned and Operated since 1883 JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 27 synagogue spotlight What’s happening at ... Congregation Beit Harambam Beit Harambam United in Times of Adversity SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER C ongregation Beit Harambam has never had any trou- ble gathering a minyan for prayers three times a day. Whenever congregant Moshe Asiag has attended shul — six days a week, three times a day — he’s been joined by 30-40 other men, far exceeding the minimum 10 needed to pray. Congregants’ loyalty to Beit Harambam and each other is unwavering. When an arson burned down the Verree Road synagogue in 2000, upon finding their building destroyed early Saturday morning, Beit Harambam members opted to daven outside, completing their Shabbat service after rescuing their sefer Torah and prayer books. Beit Harambam president Yaacov Avraham insists that there is nothing unique about his synagogue commu- nity, but the demographics tell a dif- ferent story. One of few area Sephardic syna- gogues, Beit Harambam is primarily home to Israeli expatriates. While Hebrew is often heard in American synagogues during prayer, it’s not often the common tongue during post-Shab- bat schmoozing. At Beit Harambam, it’s the norm. “It’s like a big Israeli family,” Rabbi Moshe Arbiv said. Founded in 1978 by Moroccan-born Rabbi Amiram Gabay — now retired — Beit Harambam was originally a meeting space in Gabay’s basement in his Rhawnhurst home. The space was home to Sephardic and Mizrahi Orthodox Jews from Morocco, Iraq and Libya, as well as its large Israeli population. In the next decade, the synagogue expanded and moved to its humble space on Verree Road, a converted house that blends in with the residen- tial area there. The community multi- plied to 300 before the May 2000 fire. Though police investigations were never conclusive about the motives 28 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Moshe Asiag (left) at an outdoor Beit Harambam event behind the fire, synagogue leadership was certain that the action was a hate crime. “This is pure antisemitism,” Avraham said. Avraham, who has been synagogue president for the past 20 years and replaced the founding rabbi’s son Eli Gabay, was one of the congregants who arrived at the synagogue shortly after authorities put out the fire. “We stood outside. We were just in shock,” Avraham said. Firefighters were able to rescue the synagogue’s Torahs and salvage some prayer books, but other texts and more than 50 tallitot were destroyed. Asiag, who’s been a Beit Harambam member for seven years, sometimes uses a prayer book with burn marks or singed edges. Though the fire remains a dark spot in the synagogue’s history, it provided a way for the synagogue to expand to accom- modate its ballooning membership. With funding help from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Jewish Community Relations Council, Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia and American Jewish Congress, Beit Harambam was able to rebuild its orig- inal space, as well as create an expan- sion with a larger prayer space and social hall. The project was completed in 2011. An increasing number of young members has made Beit Harambam text study classes an opportunity to build friendships. Beit Harambam now offers Torah study classes for men, Tehillim study groups for women and an informal gemach — loan-free social service to members who may need financial help — as well as raucous holiday parties, according to Asiag. Before COVID, the shul held monthly food drives. Though many of the congregants range from ages 45-60, Asiag said, there are plenty of younger men attending minyans and text study groups as well. Asiag, 25, has two Israeli parents and speaks fluent Hebrew. He has a wife and three young children, two of whom began attending shul with him. Many members, like Asiag, have young families and work similar jobs. Going to shul, where there are 90 attendees for Shabbat services and 200- 300 attendees for holidays, sometimes provides the only social encounters outside of family that young members have during the week. “If you have a synagogue that’s all different kinds of people, you just don’t intervene with everybody,” Asiag said. “But here, we’re all Israeli; we’re all the same. If you’re all on the same page, everybody gets along together.” While close camaraderie among those with similar backgrounds is an asset of Beit Harambam for its con- gregants, its handful of Ashkenazi and Russian members prove that it’s a space that can be a spiritual home for anyone. “Everybody’s welcome to pray with us. We don’t judge people if they’re religious or not. It’s an open synagogue for everybody,” Avraham said. “We just hope that we will grow more and more. ... The more people we have, that’s going to be a blessing for the synagogue.” JE srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com d’var torah A Good Rebuke Brings Peace BY RABBI GREGORY MARX Parshat Kedoshim W ithout a doubt, Kedoshim, our Torah portion for this Shabbat, is so full of wis- dom and faith. It reminds us that we can be more than we already are. So many self-help gurus remind us that we are holy, that everything we do can be lift ed up and celebrated. Th is Torah portion, on the other hand, comes to teach us that we can be holy. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Holiness, in other words, is a goal, not a natural state of being. In that path to being holy, we fi nd a choice gem: Leviticus 19:17, “Reprove your neighbor, but incur no guilt because of him.” greatest opportunity for growth. According to our tradition, there are numerous don’ts to being this gentle critic which we can apply to our friendship: Don’t confront the other person pub- licly. A public confrontation tends to cause the other to defend their actions and to become locked into a public posture. Don’t talk to the other person when you are angry. Anger begets anger and results in heat and not light. Don’t use harsh words or personal ref- erences which would hurt or embarrass the other person. Don’t argue against the person; argue against the behavior. Ad hominem argu- ments not only hurt, they lengthen the debate and make people more intransigent. Don’t criticize another before looking within and seeing if we possess the same character fl aw we seek to criticize in others. taken. Do remember that constant nega- tivity will soon be ignored by the listener. Holiness does not come easily or cheaply. It means doing the hard stuff and sometimes that means gently and kindly opening our mouths and trying to correct a friend. Even the rabbis had a hard time with it. Th ey were very candid about the diffi culty of off ering a reproach. According to the Talmud, Rabbi Tarfon said, “I wonder if there is anyone in this generation who accepts rebuke, for if one says to him (Tarfon) Remove the mote (small substance/piece of material) from between your eyes, he would answer: Remove the beam from between your eyes! Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: I wonder if there is one in this generation who knows how to reprove! Rabbi Yochanan said, I call heaven and earth as my witness that because of me Akiva was punished, because I used to complain about him before Rabban Gamliel, and all the more so Akiva showered me with love.” I end with a related quote from Proverbs 9:8: “Reprove not a scorner, lest you be hated. Reprove a wise person, and you will be loved for it.” JE Rabbi Gregory S. Marx is the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen. Th e Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia is proud to provide diverse perspectives on Torah commentary for the Jewish Exponent. Th e opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not refl ect the view of the Board of Rabbis. A true friend, neighbor is one who feels an obligation to be helpful, not only in good times, but when things go astray. A true friend, neighbor is one who feels an obligation to be helpful, not only in good times, but when things go astray, when your neighbor gets into trouble or brings suff ering to others. In the mid- rash Bereshit Rabbah, we learn that true love means having the courage to say what is needed. Rabbi Yosi ben Chanina said, “Love without reproof is no love.” Elsewhere we learn from Resh Lakish, “Reproof leads to peace; a peace where there has been no reproof is no peace.” We are to act the part of the friendly critic, helping our friend to look at him/ herself, and see themselves through the eyes of others, so that our friend can cor- rect their own shortcomings and live up to their fullest potentials. A true friend does not fl atter, but is a gentle and friendly critic. Obsequious fl attery is cheap and safe. Criticism is risky, but it provides the Famously we learn from the Baal Shem Tov that if we see another person doing something ugly, we are to meditate on the presence of that same ugliness in ourselves. Maybe, the sight of a sin before our eyes came in order to remind us of that fault within, so as to bring us back in repentance. Don’t off er even the most loving criti- cism until you are ready to hear it. Here are a few Jewish dos: Be sure of your own motives, that you are doing it for the sake of the person or the cause which you believe in, and not to relieve your feelings or to unload your anger. Th en speak as calmly, as soft ly and as lovingly as possible. Th en focus on the deed not the doer. Point out what was wrong with the act or idea, but don’t impugn the character of the actor. Respect the person, even while you crit- icize the deed. Encourage positive steps JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 29 calendar MAY 7–MAY 12 SAT U R DAY, MAY 7 NOT-SO-SILENT AUCTION Mishkan Shalom’s virtual Not-So Silent-Auction bidding begins at 8 p.m. More than 50 items up for bid ... something for every taste and inter- est: vacation homes, culinary delights, art, Judaica, sports packages and more. Register now at: biddingfor- good.com/auction/auctionhome. action?auctionId=341699076. M O N DAY, M AY 9 GRATZ LECTURE United States Rep. Madeleine Dean, in conversation with Rabbi Lance J. Sussman, will address the importance of civic engagement and the shared responsibility for the future of democ- racy. Program is free and open to the public via Zoom or in person. Pre-reg- istration is required. For more infor- mation, contact mcohen@gratz.edu. 8339 Old York Road, Elkins Park. TUESDAY, MAY 10 AU T HO R TALK Drexel University Judaic Studies Program hosts Melissa Broder, the author of the novels “Milk Fed” and “The Pisces,” as well as five collections of poetry and a book of essays. A reading at 3:30 p.m. will be followed by a Q&A. Nomi Eve will moderate. This will be a Zoom event. To register, go to: bit.ly/DWFbroder. TU E S DAY, M AY 10 AJC LECTURE The community is invited to the Ameri- can Jewish Committee Murray Friedman Memorial Lecture: “Speaking out for the Voiceless” at noon. Our featured speaker is Imam Mohamed Magid. Limited seat- ing. $25 includes lunch. To register, visit: eventbrite.com/e/speaking-out-for-the- voiceless-tickets-304835239407. Pyramid Club, 1735 Market St., 52nd floor, Philadelphia. MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT Join KleinLife Rhawnhurst at Tabas Apartments for an afternoon of music, dancing and singing and snacks at 12:30 p.m., featuring JT Trinacria, noted for his sultry renditions of oldies and some newsies. Call 215-745-1201 for more information. 2101 Strahle St., Philadelphia. SISTERHOOD MEETING The Baby Shower Mitzvah Project hosted by Sisterhood of Congre- gations of Shaare Shamayim will be held at 7:30 p.m. Members can buy and donate gift cards from area stores where clients of Jewish Family and Children’s Services can shop. For further information, call the syna- gogue office at 215-677-1600. 9768 Verree Road, Philadelphia. 30 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM WEDNE SDAY, MAY 11 CIRCLE OF LIFE DISCUSSION AUTHOR TALK Led by Congregation M’Kor Shalom Rabbi Richard Address on three Wednesdays, May 4, 11 and 18 at 10:30 a.m., these sessions will examine sev- eral critical and current issues, such as life’s beginnings, birth control, preg- nancy termination, IVF and adoption, from the perspective of Jewish texts and tradition. Registration is required: mkorshalom.org/events/circleoflife. Drexel University Judaic Studies Pro- gram hosts Cara de Silva, the editor of “In Memory’s Kitchen,” a collection of recipes written from memory by the women of the Terezin concentra- tion camp, in-person and virtually at 2 p.m. To reserve a seat, email hpi22@drexel.edu. To register via Zoom, go to: bit.ly/DWFdesilva. 302 Hagerty Library, Drexel University, 3300 Market St., Philadelphia. INTERFAITH PROGRAM JFS SERIES Women of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel hosts the annual interfaith program, “Intolerance in America: Is History Repeating Itself? A Historical Perspective with Personal Reflections,” at 11 a.m., in-person and virtually at KenesethIsrael.org/Stream. RSVP by May 6: tinyurl.com/ wki511. Contact Diane Miller at 215-464-1381 for more information. 8339 Old York Road, Elkins Park. The Rothenberg Center for Fam- ily Life at Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County and the South Jersey Board of Rabbis and Cantors present a sharing and caring series: “The Rules We Live By.” What “command- ments” are relevant in 2022? Explore hidden lessons to guide us toward a greater sense of self and purpose. 7 p.m. 607 N. Jerome Ave., Margate, New Jersey. TH U RSDAY, M AY 1 2 BEND THE ARC MEETING Join Bend the Arc for an evening of focused movement-building in South Jersey. Learn more about the Moral Minyan, ideas for action and start thinking about your role in the move- ment. Our meetings are the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m.; register by the Tuesday before at bendthearc.us/southjersey_signup. COMEDY SHOW The Ohev Shalom Players present “Oy!”, a collection of short comedies. Each one illustrates the meaning of a Yiddish word. The first performance is at 7:30 p.m., with additional shows on May 14 at 9 p.m. and May 15 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. $18 for in-person tickets; $25 per streaming device. Contact 215-322-9595 or ohev@ohev.org for more information. 944 Second Street Pike, Richboro. JE Photo by Bernie Roseman Out & About 1 Courtesy of the Einstein Healthcare Network 2 Courtesy of Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El 3 6 4 Courtesy of the Center for Jewish History Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA Courtesy of Jewish Family Service of Atlantic & Cape May Counties around town 5 1 Belhaven Middle School students and National Junior Honor Society members collected more than four large boxes of food to donate to the Jewish Family Service of Atlantic & Cape May Counties. 2 On April 25, the Jewish Residents’ Council of Ann’s Choice hosted Phyllis Gotkin to speak on Jewish connections to art. 3 More than 300 people attended the Jewish National Fund-USA’s Tree of Life Award ceremony for AmerisourceBergen CEO Steven Collis on April 7 at the Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue. 4 The Center for Jewish History recently completed a three-year, $2.5 million endowment matching challenge with Arcadia University. 5 The Einstein Healthcare Network held a portrait unveiling for Barry Freedman, former Einstein president and CEO, and Larry Reichlin, former chairman of Einstein’s board of trustees. 6 Seventh-grader Noa Vetter spoke to a fourth-grade class at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood about a fundraising endeavor for Holocaust survivors. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 31 last word THE RACE CONTINUES FOR LA SALLE PROFESSOR Joshua Buch JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER 32 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Dan Nguyen/La Salle University Photography B lue Bell resident and La Salle University finance Professor Joshua Buch turned 85 on April 28. Then he ran in the Penn Relays at Franklin Field two days later. Buch completed the 100-meter dash in the 80-and-older group in 21.33 seconds, placing fourth. But the Jewish runner’s goal was not to finish first, he said. It was to run his race. “I just want to be there and finish,” Buch said before the event. The octogenarian didn’t start run- ning until his late 70s. While playing tennis one day, his opponent told him, “I never saw anyone run like you,” according to a post about Buch on La Salle’s website. The opponent also sug- gested that Buch sign up for a 75-and- older race at the Penn Relays. The professor started doing research and quickly signed up. The 2022 relays marked the Blue Bell resident’s “sixth appearance and his first since 2019,” said Chris Vito, La Salle’s senior direc- tor of communications, in that website post. (Both the 2020 and ’21 events were canceled due to the pandemic.) Buch, though, doesn’t consider him- self a runner. He says many runners are better than him. He is, however, a man who never stops running. Buch is finishing his 51st year as a finance professor at La Salle. Every morning, he reads The Wall Street Journal before his 8 a.m. class; he says he needs to keep up with what’s going on in the finance world. Then he makes sure to get his 10,000 steps in before lunchtime, taking most of them in his classroom while teaching. The professor walks all over the place, writes on the board, erases the board and writes some more. He also likes to call on different students and converse with them. A month ago, he presented an aca- demic paper at a conference. After that event, he reminded his students that he would be training for the Penn Relays the next day. Buch was not bragging; he was teach- ing a life lesson. “I just stay active physically and mentally,” Buch said. “You keep being active, and all will be good.” In his spare time, Buch also plays tennis, researches his family history and watches “some stupid damn TV,” he said. He has time for it all because he’s not wasting his days on his cell- phone or napping, he added. The professor does not want to become one of those old people who naps during the day and then can’t sleep at night. As he explains, human beings “can only sleep a certain num- ber of hours.” For Buch, this active approach to life starts with a mindset. “The glass is always half-full, maybe three-quarters full,” he said. The Israeli became indefatigable as a kid in the Jewish homeland. He remembers his father “getting up in the morning to work very hard.” When the father brought his son to help pick up oranges in his groves, the young boy picked up the same work ethic. He’s been like that ever since, accord- ing to his brother Udi Buch. “He never stops being worried about everything and everybody in every way,” the brother said. “He’s concerned about everything around him.” After earning his degree in agron- omy in Israel, Buch wanted to get an MBA, too. But at the time, Israel did not have a program. So, the 25-year-old got a visa and came to stay with family members in Philadelphia. Then he applied to Temple University, got in and earned his MBA. After that, he earned a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania for good measure. Finally, in 1971, Buch applied for a teaching job at La Salle and landed it. More than 50 years into his career, he still loves math, issues related to the exchange rate and various other finance topics. But more than the sub- ject itself, Buch enjoys his students. Year after year, this aging professor doesn’t age; and it’s probably because he keeps interacting with young peo- ple, he says. “It’s never the same. It can be quite challenging,” Buch added. “Students ask us questions sometimes and it’s really neat. You have to be on your toes. These kids are smart.” Deb Buch, the professor’s wife, also credits the students for keeping her hus- band young. By taking on new groups each year, the runner is embracing new challenges and experiences, too. And that’s just how he lives in gen- eral, according to Deb Buch. Much like running, the professor did not pick up tennis until he was a much older man. “He continues to do new things. He constantly is reinventing himself,” Deb Buch said. 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Available immediately just reduced $139,900 ESTATES Former model, 1st fl, 2BD/2BA, wood floors, modern kitchen, washer/dryer, large patio. $300,000 TOWER 1 BD, 1 BA, modern kitchen, wood floors, lots of closets, custom lighting, sunny bal- cony, gym, pool, 24 hr. doorman, includes utilities and cable, storage. $1400 TERRACES Top floor. All new renovation. Sunny 2 BD, 2 BA. Open kitchen features granite count- er tops, new appliances, custom lighting and closets. Main bedroom walk in closet. New floors, modern baths, washer/dryer. Sunny balcony. Pool, tennis, gym, heat included. $2150 OAK HILL ESTATES- TOWN HOME Spacious, renovated, 2 BD, 2 BA, modern kitchen, granite counter tops, built in appliances, living room w/fireplace, main bedroom with custom walk in closet, sep- arately controlled heating and a/c, sunny fenced patio, pool, gym, tennis included, parking by your door. Heat and health club included. Available immediately. $2300 MARGATE BREATHTAKING OCEAN VIEWS FROM THE LARGE BALCONY AT THE BEAUTIFUL BEACH FRONT 9600 CONDOMINIUM BUILDING!! SPACIOUS LIGHT & BRIGHT UNIT WITH OPEN LAYOUT! MAGNIFICENT KITCHEN WITH SS APPLIANCES, BEAUTIFUL BEDROOM AND 2nd SLEEPING AREA, 2 FULL BATHS, W/D, HEATED FRESH WATER POOL, GYM COMMUNITY ROOM AND 24 HR. SECURITY! WALKING DISTANCE TO EVERYTHING! NEW PRICE $549,000 VENTNOR LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!! BEAUTIFUL OCEAN VIEWS FROM THE LARGE TERRACE AT THE VERY POPULAR 5000 BOARDWALK!! THIS UNIT HAS 2 FULL BATHS, 1 MASTER BEDRM AND ADDITIONAL BEDRM WITH CLOSET & OCEAN VIEWS! WONDERFUL AMENITIES!! $539,000 SUMMER RENTAL MAGATE 610-667-9999 Realtor® Emeritus. 5 Star winner, Philly Mag Google Harvey Sklaroff oakhillcondominiums.com HBSHOME@AOL.COM CELL/TEXT: 610-613-7606 PA#RB041533-A NJ#8310118 MINT CONDITION 3 BEDRM, 2 BATH HOME WITH ALL NEW FURNITURE, 2 NEW SMART TV’S, C/A, BEAUTIFUL NEWER KITCHEN, OPEN PORCH, FENCED IN YARD, DRIVEWAY. 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ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL PARK 2 Plots, Sect. “O,” LOT #25, Graves 1 & 2. $6,000 OBO (priced at $11,000 through the cemetery) (954) 816-8138 ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES ANTIQUE LOVERS TAKE NOTE! BRIMFIELD IS HERE – ALL SHOWS! May 10-15, New shows open daily! BrimfieldAntiqueFleaMarket. com. 2022 Show Dates: May 10-15, July 12-17, September 6-11. ELDER CARE Caring & Reliable Experienced & Trained BONDED & LICENSED Available 24/7 20 Years Experience Very Affordable 215-477-1050 Also Vintage Modern, Mission & Nakashima Etc. HIGHEST PRICES PAID 215-663-1813 www.jewishexponent.com 34 MAY 5, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM SENIOR CAREGIVER AVAILABLE: Amazing, Trustworthy, Loyal, Multiple References. Ellen will truly be- come part of your family. Call Michael: 215-870-6163 EMPLOYMENT Caregiver/Companion over 10 yrs. 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Call 855-402-5341 REAL ESTATE HOUSE FOR SALE 12 S Martindale Ave Ventnor NJ Fantastic South side loca- tion less than two blocks from the beach 3 Bedroom two bath twin house close to shopping & restaurants. Private driveway (room for 3 cars), upgraded heating & electrical systems Hardwood floors. New siding & vinyl windows. New ap- pliances. Basement sauna. Wired for a hot tub in the garage. Price $729,000 Call Larry Lunsk (Owner) 267-320-7475 Franklin Morales (Realtor) 609-380-6297 TUTORING EDUCATION PLUS Private tutoring, all subjects, elemen.-college, SAT/ACT prep. 7 days/week. Expd. & motivated instructors. (215)576-1096 www.educationplusinc.com Legals ESTATE OF ANGELA BERRY, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to Patricia Gallo, Administratrix, c/o Catherine T. Duffy, Esquire, 300 W. State St., Ste. 300, Media, PA 19063, Or to her Attorney: CATHERINE T. DUFFY ECKELL, SPARKS, LEVY, AUERBACH, MONTE, SLOANE, MATTHEWS & AUSLANDER, P.C. 300 W. State St., Ste. 300 Media, PA 19063 ESTATE OF ANNA COHEN, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to HOWARD M. SOLOMAN, ADMINISTRATOR, 1760 Market St., Ste. 404, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: HOWARD M. SOLOMAN 1760 Market St., Ste. 404 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF BARBARA A. BEATTY, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to WILLIAM BEATTY, ADMINISTRATOR, 727 Lexington Dr., Bear, DE 19701, Or to his Attorney: HENRY A. JEFFERSON JEFFERSON LAW, LLC 1700 Market St., Ste. 1005 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF BARBARA JOHNSON, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or de- mands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to YVETTE D. JOHNSON, EXECUTRIX, c/o Jay E. Kivitz, Esq., 7901 Ogontz Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19150, Or to her Attorney: JAY E. KIVITZ KIVITZ & KIVITZ, P.C. 7901 Ogontz Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19150 ESTATE OF BENNIE M. BAILEY Bailey, Bennie M. late of Philadelphia, PA. Tonnetta Graham, c/o Thomas J. Hornak, Esq., Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC, 7716 Castor Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19152, Administratrix. Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC 7716 Castor Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19152 ESTATE OF BETSABE V. BRABHAM a/k/a BATSABE BRABHAM, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to ROBERTO BENJAMIN BRABHAM, JR., ADMINISTRATOR, c/o Adam S. Bernick, Esq., 2047 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: ADAM S. BERNICK LAW OFFICE OF FAYE RIVA COHEN, PC 2047 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF CARMEN IRIS RODRIGUEZ Rodriguez, Carmen Iris late of Philadelphia, PA. Francisco Rivera, 2012 Castor Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19134, Executor. Michael A. Hanamirian, Esq. The Hanamirian Firm, P.C. 1608 Walnut Street Suite 1703 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF CHARLOTTE B. LIEBERGOTT, DECEASED. Late of Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, PA LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or de- mands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to ARTHUR LAUGHTON, EXECUTOR, c/o Stephanie A. Henrick, Esq., 1001 Conshohocken State Rd., Ste. 1-625, West Conshohocken, PA 19428, Or to his Attorney: STEPHANIE A. HENRICK OBERMAYER REBMANN MAXWELL & HIPPEL LLP 1001 Conshohocken State Rd., Ste. 1-625 West Conshohocken, PA 19428 ESTATE OF CLARA S. RUSH Rush, Clara S. late of Philadelphia, PA. John Yoder, c/o Ned Hark, Esq., Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC, 7716 Castor Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19152, Administrator. Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC 7716 Castor Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19152 ESTATE OF COLLEEN T. MCPEAK-MULLINS aka COLLEEN T. MULLINS MCPEAK-MULLINS, COLLEEN T. aka MULLINS, COLLEEN T. Late of Philadelpha, PA. James F. Mullins, 2321 Fuller St., Philadelphia, PA 19152, Executor. Michael A. Hanamirian, Esq. The Hanamirian Firm, P.C. 1608 Walnut Street Suite 1703 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF DANIEL JOHN COPPOLELLA, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment with- out delay to DIANE LIMONGELLI, ADMINISTRATRIX, c/o Daniella A. Horn, Esq., 2202 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to her Attorney: DANIELLA A. HORN KLENK LAW, LLC 2202 Delancey Place Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF ELSIE IRENE HAMILTON a/k/a ELSIE I. HAMILTON, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to CATHERINE HAMILTON-THOMAS, EXECUTRIX, c/o Jay E. Kivitz, Esq., 7901 Ogontz Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19150, Or to her Attorney: JAY E. KIVITZ KIVITZ & KIVITZ, P.C. 7901 Ogontz Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19150 ESTATE OF ELWYN M. WARD a/k/a ELWYN MEYER WARD, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to DAVID EUGENE WARD, ADMINISTRATOR DBN, c/o Adam S. Bernick, Esq., 2047 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: ADAM S. BERNICK LAW OFFICE OF ADAM S. BERNICK 2047 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF FLORENCE REIVER, DECEASED. Late of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, PA LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to ANDREW REIVER, EXECUTOR, c/o Rebecca Rosenberger Smolen, Esq., 1 Bala Plaza, Ste. 623, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, Or to his Attorney: REBECCA ROSENBERGER SMOLEN BALA LAW GROUP, LLC 1 Bala Plaza, Ste. 623 Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 ESTATE OF FRIDA L. RODE a/k/a FRIDA LOUISA RODE, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or de- mands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to ANGELA D. GIAMPOLO, EXECUTRIX, 1221 Locust St., Ste. 202, Philadelphia, PA 19107; Angela D. Giampolo, Atty., Giampolo Law Group, LLC, 1221 Locust St., Ste. 202, Philadelphia, PA 19107 ESTATE OF GLADYS L. FOREMAN, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION CTA on the above Estate have been grant- ed to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to Adam S. Bernick, Administrator CTA, 2047 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: ADAM S. BERNICK LAW OFFICE OF ADAM S. BERNICK 2047 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF GLADYS SIMON, DECEASED Late of Philadelphia, PA. LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same, and all persons indebted to the dece- dent to make payment without delay, to Gayle Block and Michael Simon, Executors, c/o Gary A. Zlotnick, Esq., Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, PC, One Commerce Sq., 2005 Market St., 16th Fl., Philadelphia, PA 19103 or to their attorneys, Gary A. Zlotnick, Esq. Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, PC One Commerce Sq. 2005 Market St., 16th Fl. Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF JAMIE MARIE LLOYD Lloyd, Jamie Marie late of Philadelphia, PA. Erin Talbert, c/o Bart Benoff, Esq., Benoff Law Firm, 5 Neshaminy Interplex, Suite 205, Trevose, PA 19053, Administratrix. Benoff Law Firm 5 Neshaminy Interplex Suite 205 Trevose, PA 19053 ESTATE OF JOANN PATTEN, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to MELISSA SMITH ADMINISTRATRIX, c/o Marc Vogin, Esq., 1608 Walnut St., Ste. 1703, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to her Attorney: MARC VOGIN KLEIN, VOGIN & GOLD 1608 Walnut St., Ste. 1703 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF KATHLEEN M. DAVIS AKA KATHLEEN MARY DAVIS Davis, Kathleen M. aka Davis, Kathleen Mary late of Philadelphia, PA. Kimberly J. Davis, c/o Ned Hark, Esq., Goldsmith Hark & Hornak,PC, 7716 Castor Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19152, Administratrix. Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC 7716 Castor Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19152 ESTATE OF KATHLEEN V. CONWAY a/k/a KATHY CONWAY, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to RICHARD (HERB) CONWAY, EXECUTOR, c/o Martin J. Pezzner, Esq., 100 W. Sixth St., Ste. 204, Media, PA 19063, Or to his Attorney: MARTIN J. PEZZNER GIBSON & PERKINS, PC 100 W. Sixth St., Ste. 204 Media, PA 19063 ESTATE OF LEE RANDELL, JR. a/k/a LEE RANDELL, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to ALFONSO L. RANDELL, SR., ADMINISTRATOR, c/o Marc Vogin, Esq., 1608 Walnut St., Ste. 1703, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: MARC VOGIN KLEIN, VOGIN & GOLD 1608 Walnut St., Ste. 1703 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF PATRICIA G. PERRY, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to THOMAS PERRY, ADMINISTRATOR, c/o Marc Vogin, Esq., 1608 Walnut St., Ste. 1703, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: MARC VOGIN KLEIN, VOGIN & GOLD 1608 Walnut St., Ste. 1703 Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF PRESSNER PIERRE-CANEL, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS of ADMINISTRATION on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment with- out delay to ADAM S. BERNICK, ADMINISTRATOR, 2047 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to his Attorney: ADAM S. BERNICK LAW OFFICE OF FAYE RIVA COHEN, PC 2047 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 ESTATE OF ROSALEE B. TANKEL a/k/a ROSALEE TANKEL, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to PAUL N. TANKEL, EXECUTOR, c/o Kenneth F. Cohen, Esq., 1515 Market St., Ste. 1200, Philadelphia, PA 19102, Or to his Attorney: KENNETH F. COHEN 1515 Market St., Ste. 1200 Philadelphia, PA 19102 ESTATE OF ROSE FOSCHINI, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or de- mands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to NICOLE RUBENSTEIN, EXECUTRIX, c/o Bruce M. Dolfman, Esq., 901 N. Penn St., Ste. F2102, Philadelphia, PA 19123, Or to her Attorney: BRUCE M. DOLFMAN 901 N. Penn St., Ste. F2102 Philadelphia, PA 19123 ESTATE OF SANDRA D. FEUDA Feuda, Sandra D. late of Philadelphia, PA. William F. Feuda, 30 E. Oleander Dr., Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, Executor. Mark Feinman, Esquire 8171 Castor Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19152 ESTATE OF THEODORE ZAWATWICZ Zawatwicz, Theodore late of Philadelphia, PA. Kimberly Jo Galdi, c/o Ned Hark, Esq., Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC, 7716 Castor Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19152, Executrix. Goldsmith Hark & Hornak, PC 7716 Castor Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19152 PET SERVICES WE SCOOP DOG POOP 215-DOG-POOP www.poopiescoopersr-us.com Lyles Creative Inc has been incor- porated under the provisions of the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law of 1988. ESTATE OF THOMAS W. GEMEREK, DECEASED Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to SHARON SHAIN and KENNETH GEMEREK, EXECUTORS, c/o John J. O’Connor, Esq., 1600 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, Or to their Attorney: JOHN J. O’CONNOR 1600 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 Ordinal Worlds, Inc. has been in- corporated under the provisions of the PA Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988. Cheshire Law Group Clarkson-Watson House 5275 Germantown Ave. First Floor Philadelphia, PA 19144 skeletons etc Corp. has been in- corporated under the provisions of the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law of 1988. ESTATE OF WILLIAM DeMAY, DECEASED. Late of Philadelphia LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to CAROL DEMAY YOKOYAMA, EXECUTRIX, 92-1005 Lalahi St., #11-206, Kapolei, HI 96707, Or to her Attorney: HENRY A. JEFFERSON JEFFERSON LAW, LLC 1700 Market St., Ste. 1005 Philadelphia, PA 19103 South Liberty Triangle Condominium Association has been incorporat- ed under the provisions of the PA Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988. South Liberty Triangle Condominium Association has been incorporat- ed under the provisions of the PA Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988. Truthifi Inc. The address of its prin- cipal office under the laws of its ju- risdiction is 128 Moores Mill Mount Rose Rd. Hopewell, NJ 08525. The Commercial Registered Office ad- dress is in care of at 113 Knoll Drive Collegeville, PA 19426 in the county of Montgomery. The Corporation is filed in compliance with the require- ments of the applicable provision of 15 Pa. C.S. 412. ESTATE OF WILLIE BERNARD JENKINS AKA WILLIE B. JENKINS Jenkins, Willie Bernard aka Jenkins, Willie B. late of Philadelphia, PA. Joseph Avril, Jr., c/o Hope Bosniak, Esq., Dessen Moses & Rossitto, 600 Easton Rd., Willow Grove, PA 19090, Executor. Dessen, Moses & Rossitto 600 Easton Rd. Willow Grove, PA 19090 Vitale Law Group PC has been incorporated under the provisions of Chapter 29 of the Business Corporation law of 1988 as a Professional Corporation. Mark Vitale, Esquire 1500 JFK Blvd., Suite 102 Philadelphia, PA 19102 TRUST NOTICE - Eva Rosenstock Revocable Living Trust dtd. 3/4/1999, as amended. Eva Rosenstock, Deceased. Late of Philadelphia. This Trust is in existence and all persons having claims or demands against said Trust or decedent are requested to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to Eli M. Rosenstock and Renee Terebelo, Trustees, c/o E. Marc Miller, Esq., 100 Front St., Ste. 100, Conshohocken, PA 19428; E. Marc Miller, Atty., Flaster Greenberg, P.C., 100 Front St., Ste. 100, Conshohocken, PA 19428 4813 FRANKFORD INC. has been incorporated under the provisions of the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law of 1988. McCreesh, McCreesh, McCreesh & Cannon 7053 Terminal Square Upper Darby, PA 19082 B & B RENOVATIONS, INC. has been incorporated under the provi- sions of the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law of 1988. 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