C ommunity
Larry & Brenda Glassman
7043 Ayrshire Lane
Boca Raton, FL 33496
COMMUNITYBRIEFS Jim Gardner to Retire at the End of 2022
LONGTIME 6ABC/WPIV-TV anchor Jim
Gardner — born as Jim Goldman — will scale
back his schedule with “Action News” and plans
to retire at the end of 2022.

Gardner, 73, who is Jewish, joined the station
as a reporter and anchor at noon on June 1, 1976,
and has anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news
since May 11, 1977. In early January, Gardner
will stop anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast,
although he will continue anchoring at 6 p.m.

In a 2016 Jewish Exponent article, Gardner
explained why he changed his name.

“I was really uncom-
fortable with the name
change,” he
said. “Basically, I’d been trying
to get a job on TV for a
long time with no success.

I had this opportunity
and was asked to do that
— and said ‘yes.’ But my
family are Goldmans,
and when I sign checks,
I’m definitely Goldman.

Jim Gardner
Courtesy of 6abc/WPVI
And when I go to back-to-
school night with my
Goldman child, I’m a Goldman parent.”
Gardner also discussed his Jewish heritage in
the Exponent interview.

“I have strong feelings of my Jewish identity,”
he said. “I’ve been to Israel three times, once
as a tourist and twice working for the station.

In 1993, when Arafat and Rabin were at the
White House shaking hands, I felt we needed
to be in Israel getting that story from the
Palestinians. It was an utterly fascinating trip —
probably the last time the moderate community
of Palestinians had their moment in the sun ...

“I don’t wear a tallit on the air, but I’ve gone
through four Bar and Bat Mitzvahs as a parent.

I remember my Bar Mitzvah. The cantor who
taught us, people were scared to death of him,
but for some reason I liked him and he liked me.

He said, ‘One day Jimmy Goldman, the cantilla-
tions will click.’”
Gardner received his bachelor’s degree from
Columbia University in 1970, then worked briefly
at the all-news WINS Radio in New York and
later WFAS Radio in White Plains, New York. His
television broadcast career began at WKBW-TV
in Buffalo before he joined WPVI.

Israel’s ALYN Hospital, Philadelphia
International Medicine Announce Pediat-
ric Medicine Partnership
Israel’s ALYN Hospital, Pediatric & Adolescent
Rehabilitation Center and Philadelphia
International Medicine announced on Nov. 8 a
collaboration on delivering medical education,
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM joint research and patient care, among other things,
to benefit the international medical community.

ALYN Hospital is a pediatric rehabilitation
center, while PIM provides specialized services
and education that connects 10 Philadelphia-
area medical centers internationally.

The initiative is PIM’s first collaboration
with an Israeli hospital. Within PIM’s network,
the partnership will initially focus on Nemours
Children’s Hospital.

“Medical education, research and innovation
are ongoing activities at ALYN, and enhancing
knowledge is always to our patients’ benefit,”
said Dr. Maurit Beeri, director general of ALYN
Hospital. “By partnering with PIM, we can
build a valuable health gateway together.”
Through knowledge-sharing, the Initiative
will advance education, assist in the sharing
and developing of new techniques and technol-
ogies for treating pediatric patients and improve
patient care worldwide.

“Connecting Israel with Philadelphia opens
many doors for both organizations to collab-
orate to improve the future of medicine,” said
Edgar Vesga, CEO and president of PIM.

Makom Community to Open a
Second Location
Jewish childhood enrichment center Makom
Community will open its new second location
to families on Nov. 29. The new center is at 1317
S. Juniper St. in Philadelphia.

Makom Community previously shared space
with the South Philadelphia Shtiebel at 1505
S. 13th St. since launching the South Philly
Makom in August.

“Given the really warm response we had to
Makom Community coming to South Philly,
we wanted to really put our roots down and say,
‘we’re staying here. We believe in this commu-
nity. We believe in building with these families.

We plan to be here for the long term,’” Founding
Director Beverly Socher-Lerner said.

The new 3,000-square-foot space can accom-
modate up to 65 children and will hold the same
summer camp and five-day-a-week after-school
programming as its Center City counterpart
at 2013 Sansom St. More than 15 students
are enrolled at the South Philly Makom, and
Makom recently hired two new educators to
address growing interest in the center.

Makom Community provides after-school
programs, b’nai mitzvah training and summer
camps to children from pre-kindergarten
through seventh grade through a pedagogy
that emphasizes the application of Jewish texts
to how children move through their lives and
interact with others. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
and Sasha Rogelberg
JEWISH EXPONENT
Larry & Brenda Glassman:
50 th Wedding Celebration
Larry and Brenda Glassman celebrated their 50 th wedding
anniversary on Nov. 14. Originally from Philadelphia, the
couple married at Park City West on Nov. 14, 1971, and
moved to Boca Raton in 1973. Larry is a retired real estate
developer who developed and built thousands of homes in
South Florida. Brenda has been a homemaker their entire
married life. Their children are Alyson and Brad Yellin,
Kimberly and Kerry Hoffman and Ashley and Justin
Wayne. The couple has seven grandchildren (Mikayla,
Hailey and Brianna Hoffman, Brandon and Mason Yellin
and Myles and Leilana Wayne). Joining in the celebration
is Larry’s mother, Mickey Glassman.

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NOVEMBER 18, 2021
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