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Jeff erson Abington Hospital Opens
Bikkur Cholim Kosher Pantry
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
“H 8
Miriam Dachs (center) and Jeff erson Abington Hospital’s staff at the Sept. 22 ribbon cutting ceremony
According to Bikkur Cholim’s Susie Wohlgelernter, the
purpose of the pantry goes beyond just providing
“a cup of coff ee and a danish” to those who visit it.

kosher food in the staff refrigerators.

When her baby needed emergency
brain surgery less than a year aft er
his birth — right around Passover
— Dachs stayed with him at the
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
which already had a Bikkur Cholim
kosher pantry well-stocked with kosher
for Passover food options. She realized
the impact a pantry could have at
Jeff erson Abington.

“Th ey were lovely. Th ey really were,”
Dachs said of the hospital staff ’s accom-
modations. “But I kept on thinking:
What is everyone else doing? What are
all the other patients or the visitors that
are staying with the patients who can’t
go home on the Shabbos or the holidays
NOVEMBER 24, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
doing? In the back of my mind, I said,
‘We need a kosher pantry.’”
During her long visits and stays at
Jeff erson Abington, Dachs encountered
many Jewish families who had similar
needs for religious accommodations.

Located in the northern suburbs of
Philadelphia, the hospital provides care
for an area heavily populated with
Jewish families.

Th ree years aft er Raphael’s birth,
Dachs began the process of organizing
a kosher pantry at Jeff erson Abington.

She reached out to Bikkur Cholim,
which, before opening Jefferson
Abington’s kosher pantry, had estab-
lished six other pantries at local hos-
pitals, including the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania and CHOP.

Bikkur Cholim, which translates to
“visiting the sick” also has two apart-
ments in University City that are accessi-
ble to Jewish hospital visitors looking to
walk to and from hospitals on Shabbat.

While the pantry’s timeline was hin-
dered by COVID, Dachs reached out
to hospital administration and cleared
her idea for the pantry. Since its open-
ing two months ago, the pantry has
regularly been in use. Dachs still visits
weekly to stock the fridge and check on
patients. According to Bikkur Cholim’s Susie
Wohlgelernter, the purpose of the pan-
try goes beyond just providing “a cup
of coff ee and a danish” to those who
Courtesy of Ashley Jeff erson
ospital” and “hospitality”
derive from the same Latin
root “hospes,” meaning
“stranger” or “guest,” so it’s no wonder
that the two go hand in hand.

On Sept. 22, Jeff erson Abington
Hospital prioritized hospitality with the
opening of the Bikkur Cholim kosher
food pantry, a resource for Jewish hos-
pital guests abiding by kosher laws or
keeping shomer Shabbos.

In addition to providing kosher food
options in a stocked fridge, the pantry
contains two kosher sinks and micro-
waves for meat and dairy goods, a man-
ual washing station, chair and recliner,
and ritual items such as Siddurim,
Shabbat candles and kiddush cups.

“At Jeff erson Abington, we always
want to do the right thing, and this felt
like the right thing for the community,”
said Kristine Medley Farmer, director
of development for the Abington Health
Foundation, the nonprofi t that provides
fi nancial support for Jeff erson Abington.

“Th at really speaks to the vision for the
community that we have and for who we
want to be for the community.”
Th e kosher pantry was created by the
Bikkur Cholim in Philadelphia, an orga-
nization devoted to providing accom-
modations to observant Jews. Jeff erson
Abington contributed $150,000 toward
building and sustaining the pantry and
raised $20,000 in community support,
and Elkins Park resident Miriam Dachs
and her family contributed additional
funds and led community fundraising
eff orts for the pantry.

For the Dachs family, support for
this project was personal. Seven and
a half years ago, Dachs gave birth to
Raphael, a micro-premature baby at 23
weeks at Jeff erson Abington. Because
of the baby’s medical complications,
Dachs, an Orthodox Jew, needed to
remain at the hospital nearly all hours
of the day.

Th e hospital staff willingly accom-
modated Dachs’ needs: Th ey provided
a private room for her to stay overnight
during Shabbat and allowed her to store



visit it. Th e Bikkur Cholim recently
received a call from someone in Israel
whose elderly mother, a Philadelphia
resident, had fallen and was staying at
Jeff erson Abington. She had no other
family living in the area.

“Within a half hour, maybe an hour,
I put out the word and somebody went
over, went to visit her mother and was
able to report back to her in Israel,”
Wohlgolernter said. "And it was just,
you know, the peace of mind.”
Th ough the Bikkur Cholim of
Philadelphia has been around since
1999, it’s been only recently that local
hospitals have been more receptive to
providing culturally competent accom-
modations to observant Jewish com-
munities, Wohlgolernter said.

“It was interesting that it took 20
years for us to push and then, all of
a sudden, it’s pretty open,” she said.

“And I think it’s just the climate in the
country that is more accommodating
for cultural diversity and willing and
wanting to help all types of people.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Miriam Dachs (left) at the Sept. 22 ribbon cutting of the Bikkur Cholim kosher pantry at Jeff erson Abington Hospital
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