H EADLINES
Federal Energy Grants Available to Synagogues
14 years, and his building’s
light bulbs and heaters have
not been updated in that time,
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
perhaps longer.

At the top of the rabbi’s wish
SY NAGOGUES
WITH list
is LED lighting to replace
energy effi ciency needs are
the congregation’s fl uorescent
considering applying to a new
bulbs. Th e fl uorescent lights
federal grant program for
are “burning
constantly,” nonprofi t buildings, according
Leizerowski said,
and are a
to area rabbis.

drain on
resources. The Nonprofit Energy
LED lights would last longer
Effi ciency Act will allocate
and help the synagogue save
$50 million to the Department
money. of Energy to distribute to
Leizerowski also wants
religious and other organi-
LED lights for his building’s
zations around the country.

outdoor space. He said outdoor
It is part of the Bipartisan
lights decrease
the possibility
Infrastructure Bill passed by
B’nai Abraham Chabad in Center City could use some energy effi ciency
upgrades, according to Rabbi Yochonon Goldman.

of security
threats. Congress in early November
Courtesy of B’nai Abraham Chabad
Th e only problem is —
and signed by President Joe
with no hired grant writer or
Biden on Nov. 15.

volunteers from the congre-
Synagogues and other
gation with such experience — Leizerowski will have to 100 years old and has similar
nonprofi ts can apply for grants
write the application himself.

needs, like better exterior
“I’m not the greatest grant lighting and better-insulated
writer. I don’t know how to put windows, according to Rabbi
it together,” he said. “I would Yochonon Goldman.

try to put it together to the best
Filling both would satisfy
5HYHUVH0RUWJDJH of
my ability.”
three different synagogue
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Bais Medrash is located priorities: energy effi ciency,
in a 60-year-old building, security
and historical
0LFKDHO)ULHGPDQ Leizerowski
said. B’nai
preservation. nmls 
Abraham Chabad, in Center
“We definitely need to
$)LQDQFLDO3ODQQLQJ7RRO Overwhelmed with the
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is in
a structure
that’s over
always think about how
thought of moving?
6HQLRUV2OGHU$GXOWV to restore certain things,”
 
THINKING OF A
Goldman said.

LEGAL LQIR#UHYHUVLQJPWJFRP
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY?
Goldman called grant
ZZZUHYHUVLQJPWJFRP Can I afford it?
DIRECTORY opportunities a “regular
What if I need care?
meeting topic” for B’nai
What will I do with all of my stuff?
Abraham leaders.

The ELDER LAW
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call 610-828-7060
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215-870-7362 (c)
Congregation Mikveh Israel in
of up to $200,000, according
to the Jewish Federations of
North America.

In a Nov. 8 JTA article about
the program, Elana Broitman,
the JFNA’s senior vice presi-
dent for public aff airs, called
many nonprofit buildings
“outdated.” Several local rabbis agreed
with her about their own build-
ings and said they planned to
look into applying for grants.

“We would defi nitely love
to be part of that,” said Rabbi
Yitzchok Leizerowski of the
Orthodox congregation Bais
Medrash Harav B’nai Jacob in
Northeast Philadelphia.

Th e rabbi added that his
synagogue community is small
and “not very well-funded.”
He has led the synagogue for
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H eadlines
B’nai Abraham Chabad is in a
Center City building that’s more
than 100 years old.

Courtesy of B’nai Abraham Chabad
Old City is in a similar situation
as Leizerowski and Goldman.

His building is not quite as old,
having opened in 1976, but it
does need new air conditioners,
heaters and light bulbs.

The heating and air condi-
tioning have not been updated
Vaccine Continued from Page 9
people to show proof of full
vaccination before mid-Jan-
uary, February.”
Both religious schools have
varied rules on vaccination:
BZBI mandated that all staff
are fully vaccinated; at GJC,
only fully-vaccinated members
could enter the building,
except for the early childhood
program, which meant many
religious schools and some
family programs were held
outside. However, colder weather
has forced programs to make
changes anyway.

On Nov. 7, GJC held its
first religious school classes
inside its building’s audito-
rium. Makom Community
will make a similar decision.

They have also been holding
outdoor programming and
only allowing children to eat
snacks outside.

Beverly Socher-Lerner,
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM since the building opened, and
the light bulbs are not yet LED.

But as Gabbai explained,
synagogue leaders are focusing
their grant-writing efforts on
security. They are looking into
both federal and state grants
to update the security system,
which was installed after 9/11.

Despite the security focus,
Gabbai is considering applying
for Energy Efficiency Act
money. To do so, he would
need to figure out measures
that could address both safety
and energy efficiency.

“There are ways they could
go hand-in-hand,” he said.

Some synagogues outside
the city don’t have the same
basic energy efficiency needs,
according to their rabbis.

But in the case of
Congregation Brothers of
Israel in Newtown, there
are still needs, Rabbi Aaron
Gaber said. They are just more
aspirational, like adding solar
panels to the roof, instead of
something like installing LED
lights, which the synagogue
has already done.

“It’s an area we’re going to
start to look at,” Gaber said of
solar panels.

If a building is covered in
that area, though, it probably
doesn’t need to apply for a
federal grant.

The Shirat Hayam Con-
gregation in Ventnor, New
Jersey, has added solar panels
and LED lights in recent years,
and it has no other major needs,
Rabbi Jonathan Kremer said.

“Those two things, which
are major, are done,” Kremer
said. “Nothing else is jumping
to the fore.” l
Makom’s founding director,
admits that staying outdoors as
winter approaches isn’t ideal.

“[Being outside] works, but
it’s also hard,” she said. “There’s
no noise barrier; there’s all the
distractions of being outdoors;
it’s busy.”
When Makom students are
vaccinated, indoor snack time
will resume.

Though programs all intend
on relaxing precautions at
some point, all are waiting on
additional CDC recommen-
dations to follow. And while
religious and after-school
programs wait on more data,
parents are the ones making
decisions about their children’s
program attendance.

“A small number of families
who were nervous about
sending their kids to school
have expressed interest in
sending their kids back this
semester or after winter break,”
Nissen said.

Though eager to vaccinate
their children, parents are still
wary about a premature return
to pre-pandemic learning.

Marcus and her wife —
both nurses — are remaining
cautious as well. They pulled
Maggie from indoor program-
ming at GJC, just until she is
fully vaccinated.

Maggie attends an in-person
second-grade classroom, which
was already a big step for the
family. “We just felt like adding
an additional indoor cohort
was more risky than we were
willing to take on,” Marcus
said. Marcus believes the wait
will be worth it for Maggie.

“She has a whole list of
things that she wants to do,
like have a slumber party, go
to the grocery store, go back to
swimming — all of these things
that she wants to do,” Marcus
said. “When she got that first
dose, it really made her actually
feel a lot of what has happened
in the past two years.” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
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