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.

WHEN COVID-19 HIT, mental and behavioral health
service providers like Jewish Family & Children’s Services
faced an immediate challenge: They needed to figure out a
way to shift to a pandemic-friendly service model, fast.

“We closed our offices on a Friday knowing that, on
Monday, services needed to continue without interruption,”
said Courtney Owen, director of Individual and Family
Services at JFCS. “And we were able to do it.”
By rapidly scaling up their telehealth operations —
such as HIPPA-compliant Zoom rooms — JFCS was able
to continue offering all of their services, such as mental
health counseling and care management. But that victory
was followed by the realization that many of the vulnerable
people they work with, such as low income seniors, were
suddenly facing immediate threats to basic needs like food
and shelter.

“Help from the Jewish Federation’s Emergency Fund
made a big difference in meeting those basic needs,” said
Owen. “In general, the Federation has been really great and
flexible in allowing us to make the transitions we needed to
continue services.”
Our Emergency Fund is our COVID-response initiative to
help our partner agencies meet community needs during the pandemic. So far, we
have raised and allocated over $2 million to organizations in the Philadelphia area.

In addition to basic needs grants, our Emergency Fund also helped to fund
an additional therapist, which Owen said was sorely needed, as the number of
people seeking counseling has rapidly increased.

“Every population and age range is experiencing increased stress, albeit in
different ways,” said Owen. “Parents are having to make decisions about their
kids’ risk factors. Older adults aren’t able to see their families. Younger people
are at an increased risk of suicide and depression.”
Alessandro Biascioli Getty images
Meeting Mental Health Needs During COVID
To address this, JFCS has introduced special programming to help people
deal with issues around COVID. This includes a bereavement group for those
who have lost loved ones to the disease, financial empowerment groups that
support those who have lost a job, and informational sessions about benefits
which are streamed online.

Still, JFCS says their work isn’t done.

“Even though the need has increased, we know from looking at the data that
it’s only going to go up,” said Owen. “We know we need to be prepared to meet
it as it comes.”
Sigd Celebrations: The Ethiopian Jewish
Community and Philly’s Special Connection to It
AT SUNDOWN ON NOV. 15, exactly 50 days after Yom Kippur, one of the
Jewish world’s most important — but less well-known — holidays began: Sigd.

Celebrated by the Ethiopian Jewish community (also known as Beta
Israel), Sigd commemorates the day when G-d revealed himself to Moses. On
this holiday, Ethiopian Jews fast, read scripture, and pray for the restoration
of the Temple. The holiday culminates with dancing and a special meal to
break the fast.

In Israel, Sigd is an official state holiday and is used as a way to celebrate
the Ethiopian community. While Ethiopian Jews make up some of the oldest
Jewish communities in the world, they are relatively recent immigrants to
Israel. Banned by the Ethiopian government from making aliyah, Beta Israel
Jews risked everything to come to Israel through a series of daring airlift
missions that began in the 1980s.

Today, there are 120,00 Jews of Ethiopian descent living in Israel. While
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM they still face discrimination and barriers to assimilation, Ethiopian Jews have
become an integral part of the fabric of Israeli life, rising to high positions in
pop culture, industry and government.

Here in Philadelphia, we are lucky to have a connection to the Beta Israel
community through our partnership region of Netivot and Sdot Negev.

Located in Israel’s southern tip, our partnership region is a vibrant and diverse
area filled with recent olim (immigrants), including a significant Ethiopian
population. We are proud to fund initiatives that directly impact Ethiopian-Israelis,
including an Ethiopian Community Garden, which provides green space and
helps Ethiopians maintain their agricultural traditions. We also support the
Kaiserman Ethiopian Center, named for the Philadelphia philanthropist who
was an early Western advocate for Ethiopian Jewish aliyah.

So, to all our friends who celebrated, we hope you had a happy Sigd!
JEWISH EXPONENT
NOVEMBER 19, 2020
21