H EADLINES
Komen Continued from Page 12
Temple University, University
of Pennsylvania, Drexel
University and Franklin and
Marshall College, to off er
educational programs about
breast cancer screenings and
family history to thousands of
Jewish students.

Ashkenazi Jewish women
have an increased risk of breast
cancer due to the high preva-
lence of BRCA, or breast cancer
gene, in Jewish populations of
Eastern European descent.

Th e regional affi liate also
conducted outreach events for
the Asian American, African
American and Hispanic
communities, with informa-
tion translated into a variety of
languages for immigrants who
did not speak English.

This year,
Komen Philadelphia’s More Th an Pink
Walk fundraiser had to transi-
tion to a virtual format due to
the pandemic. Grobman said it
still raised $500,000.

Tuff nell emphasized that
Komen will still off er support
in the Philadelphia area. Th e
Komen Treatment Assistance
Program, which provides fi nan-
cial aid to those struggling to
pay copays, transportation and
child care costs, will continue.

“We fi nd in particular during
this global pandemic where
people are losing their jobs,
losing their insurance, that the
Treatment Assistance Program
is incredibly important and
valuable, and so we’re doubling
down on what those needs are,”
Tuff nell said.

He said Komen is launching
a national patient navigation
program to ensure patients
have access to health care
professionals who can help
them navigate their screening
and treatment options.

The closing of the
Philadelphia affi liate marks
the end of Grobman’s time
with Komen, but she intends
to continue her activism.

“When the announcement
went out, I received over 100
emails from people who told
me, ‘You came to my house
with a basket of food,’ ‘you
held my mother’s hand and
she’s recovered,’ ‘you gave us
the passion and the under-
standing and the courage to
move forward.’ And there are
hundreds of emails like that.

So I am feeling very proud that
my staff and I have touched so
many lives,” she said. ●
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
Israel Briefs
Continued from Page 15
the Orit.

“Th ese cultural treasures are facing extinction,” Rom-
Shiloni said.

Th e Orit is the Ethiopian variant of the Hebrew Bible, she
said, noting that prior to the compilation of the text known today
as the Hebrew Bible, Jewish communities off ered similar “but
certainly not identical” versions.

When Ethiopian Jews began immigrating the Israel in the
1980s, they brought the Orit with them. Th e Orit is written in
a Semitic language called Ge’ez, which was used by Ethiopian
clergy. An unwritten liturgy evolved around the Orit over the
centuries that includes songs, rabbinical interpretations and
stories in Amharic and Tigrinya. ●
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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