MISSION
POSSIBLE NFC LEAST
“Ayalon” documentary delves into a secret
mission to help secure Israel’s independence.

OCTOBER 22, 2020 / 4 CHESHVAN 5781
PAGE 23
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM — WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH IN PHILADELPHIA —
$1.00 OF NOTE
LOCAL The Show Must
Go On
Pandemic or not,
people are planning
2021 events.

Page 4
OBITUARY Ione Apfelbaum
Strauss Dies at 87
Philanthropist also worked in
journalism. Page 5
NATIONAL Tree of Life
Congregations Reflect
Healing continues
two years after
hate crime.

Page 6
Volume 133
Number 28
Published Weekly Since 1887
Two Years
Later, Tree of
Life Shoot-
ing Victims
Stay Strong
TOBY TABACHNICK | JE FEATURE
IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS since an
anti-Semite wielding an assault rifl e
stormed the Tree of Life building in
the heart of Squirrel Hill, murdering 11
worshippers at the three congregations
housed there: Dor Hadash, New Light and
Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha.

Not a day goes by that Andrea Wedner
doesn’t think of her mother, Rose
Mallinger, who, at the age of 97, was
killed that day. Th e two were seated in
the sanctuary, as they were most Saturday
mornings, and before they could run, the
gunman opened fi re.

“I think of her every day, multiple times
a day,” said Wedner. “And it still hurts.

It hurts the most that she’s not here to
enjoy the family and be with us. And what
bothers me a lot, too, is the way she died.”
Of the 13 worshipers shot that day,
Wedner, a member of Tree of Life, and
Dan Leger, a member of Dor Hadash, were
JRA volunteers pack food and toiletries.

Photo by Elvera Gurevich
Agencies See Increased
Need for Food, Mental
Health Services
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
LIFE IS NOT GOING back to normal
anytime soon, and local Jewish organi-
zations are preparing to help clients
struggling with pandemic-induced
See Victims, Page 16
Name: Joseph Levine & Sons
unemployment, food insecurity, housing
access and mental health challenges
through the fall and winter months.

Jodi Roth-Saks, executive director of
Jewish Relief Agency, said the organi-
zation’s food distribution program has
See Agencies, Page 17