H eadlines
Tree Continued from Page 1
were still very much present.

Specifically, Friedman often
heard the story of Leo Frank,
the Jewish businessman in early
20th-century Georgia who was
hanged after being wrongfully
convicted of killing a 13-year-
old female employee. His tragic
story helped spark the creation
of the Anti-Defamation
League, the Jewish nongovern-
mental organization known for
tracking antisemitic incidents.

But for Friedman and other
young Jews of the postwar era,
the story was a warning from a
distant time. It was something
that still had to be prevented,
but it was also something that
used to happen.

“Even when we had security
fears, like there’s a war in
Israel, it was always tangen-
tial,” he said.

During that same period,
Ken Jacobson, the deputy
national director of the ADL
and a 50-year employee, used
to get a recurring question
from fellow Jews.

“Why are you spending
your time on antisemitism?”
they would ask.

For decades, Jacobson gave
the same answer.

“Things have gotten better,
Rabbi Abe Friedman of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel in Philadelphia
Rabbi Eliott Perlstein of Ohev Shalom of Bucks County
Courtesy of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel
and we should be happy about
that, but don’t get complacent,”
he said.

“Then Pittsburgh happened,”
he added.

According to the ADL,
antisemitic incidents have
surged in recent years, with
2019 setting a record of 2,107
in the U.S. The ADL began
tracking incidents in 1979.

While those numbers are
jarring, they are still just numbers.

A shooting at a synagogue is
different, Jacobson said.

“It’s a tremendously traumatic
event,” he said. “It’s something
that American Jews have really
never experienced.”
Earlier this month, the
Jewish Federations of North
America announced a $54
million security initiative to
help protect synagogues and
other Jewish institutions.

But local synagogues had
already started looking after
themselves. Friedman’s BZBI went from
using a security guard most of
the time to using one anytime
the building was open. The
synagogue added a door with
a locked barrier between its
preschool/Hebrew school and
the rest of the building.

At Congregation
Beth Solomon, an Orthodox synagogue
in Northeast Philadelphia,
members must enter the building
Courtesy of Rabbi Eliott Perlstein
code before coming in. A security
guard now mans the door outside
Shabbat services. And Rabbi
Solomon Isaacson encourages
congregants to get licenses to
carry guns.

“We have to be aware,”
Isaacson said.

The morning after Pittsburgh,
Rabbi Eliott Perlstein of
Conservative temple Ohev
Shalom of Bucks County called
a meeting with synagogue
leaders. They made what Perlstein
described as a consensus decision.

“At every Shabbat service,
there needed to be a security
guard,” he said. “And at every
day of Hebrew school, there
needed to be a security guard.”
Don’t Schlep It, Ship It! Free Pick Up Available!
No matter whether it’s golf clubs, good china,
priceless art, oversized luggage –
if you can point to it, we can ship it!
Inspired Hearts Home Care Services offer Care That Comes To You.

Now you can feel better in the comfort of your own home with
Experienced Vaccinated Caregivers you can trust.

Whether it’s Companionship, Elderly Care Support, Cancer Patient Care or
more, Inspired Hearts provides one-on-one attention and care.

Stay in your home • Let’s work together • Become part of our family!
Inspired Hearts Home Care Services
Contact Lisette Santiago @ 267-734-9064
lsantiago@inspiredheartshcs.com Visit our website @ inspiredheartshcs.com
14 OCTOBER 28, 2021
If it’s valuable to you, it’s valuable to us. The
US Mailroom picks up, packs, and ships items
of all shapes and sizes, getting your packages
from where they are to where they need to be.

We cater especially to “snowbirds” as the cold
weather approaches.

Call us today at 610-668-4182
or visit our store in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

For more information,
email info@usmailroom.com
or go to www.usmailroom.com
Est.1988 JEWISH EXPONENT
Then, they asked congre-
gants to pay more in dues to
share in the costs of keeping
everyone safe. Ohev Shalom had
never added a fee in the middle
of a year before, Perlstein said.

Yet no one objected.

“They knew we needed it.

They knew the kids needed it,”
Perlstein said. “That’s where
the spiritual and the practical
meet.” According to Isaacson, in
this new normal, his congre-
gants walk around paying
closer attention to the neigh-
borhood than they did before.

If they hear a noise outside the
synagogue, they look out the
windows. “They are ready to call the
police at a second’s notice,” he
said. “And it was never like this
before.” But several other local
rabbis said that, as the years
continue to pass, the enhanced
security, as well as the feeling
of it, becomes more of a
background feature.

The U.S. is still a welcoming
place for Jews. Synagogues are
still safe. Rabbis still tell their
congregants not to be afraid.

But they do remind them to
be aware.

“That’s the biggest change,”
Friedman said. “‘Oh, it could
happen here. It still probably
won’t, but it could.’” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



F TAY-SACHS
R F R E E E E
H eadlines
& & TAY-SACHS
CANAVAN CANAVAN
SCREENING SCREENING
Supply Continued from Page 1
mezuzah or tefillin to arrive in
Philadelphia has quadrupled,
from a few weeks to up to four
months. “Before COVID ... generally I
would say a month [wait] would
be fine. Now I tell people I can’t
guarantee anything,” Gross said.

Jerusalem Israeli Gift
Shop in Philadelphia is facing
similar issues, with products
from Israel arriving up to six
weeks later than anticipated.

Owner Rachel Gabay usually
orders honey from kibbutzim
to sell to customers for Rosh
Hashanah. This year, the honey
didn’t arrive before the holiday.

“It’s very frustrating,”
Gabay said.

Gross said that Judaica
businesses in New York and
New Jersey that he works with
aren’t having better luck.

The shortages are due in
part to an increase in demand
for durable goods — items that
can be kept and used for over a
year, such as appliances, furni-
ture and mezuzahs — and a
decrease in the use of services,
such as dining in restaurants
and seeing movies in theaters.

According to Israeli-
American Temple University
economics Professor Joseph
Friedman, “Because people
are spending more on durable
goods than on services, there is
a very fast-increasing demand
and expectation to produce.”
Rabbi Betzalel Katkovsky,
co-owner of Tagim Sofer
Services in Northeastern
Philadelphia, which produces
and checks mezuzahs, has
noticed that more people
moved during the pandemic,
increasing the demand for
mezuzahs to be ordered and
installed. The Wall Street
Journal found in a May 2021
report that more than 7 million
American households moved
in 2020 — 500,000 more than
in 2019. One house may require
up to 15 mezuzahs.

However, not only are
manufacturers unable to keep
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM CALL (215) 887-0877
FOR DETAILS
e-mail: ntsad@aol.com;
visit: www.tay-sachs.org
Mezuzahs from Mezuzah and
More Rabbi Betzalel Katkovsky is one
of Pennsylvania’s only soferim
and is co-owner of Tagim Sofer
Services in Northeast Philadelphia.

Courtesy of Rabbi Betzalel Katkovsky
up with the demand for goods,
but distribution has slowed
significantly, Friedman said.

Labor shortages are mainly
to blame, with low-wage
workers quitting over poor
working conditions and
pay. Friedman said there are
20-30,000 fewer heavy truck
drivers on the road than before
the pandemic.

For Judaica stores in the
United States, labor shortage
problems are two-fold, as
ongoing labor disputes in
Israel, from where most of their
products are sourced, prevent
goods from being shipped
promptly. Longshoremen have
been in labor disputes with
management for the better part
of 30 years, Friedman said.

“There’s a huge backlog
of ships outside of the ports
needing to be loaded and
unloaded,” he said. “There’s
always a problem with who is
in charge of the port, whether
it’s labor unions or port
management.” Mezuzahs and other Judaica
that require the work of a sofer,
a scribe — such as sifrei Torah
and tefillin — have their own
specific complications.

All soferim are freelancers,
Gross said, and rely solely
on commissions for income.

Mezuzahs take a long time to
make, sometimes up to five or
six hours, and yield smaller
profits compared to larger
projects. Soferim are therefore
choosing to work on larger
projects, such as inscribing
Torah, which can pay $25,000,
though it takes nine months to
complete. These larger projects
are a more reliable source of
income. These labor trends are here
to stay, Friedman said.

“From what I can tell, it’s
nothing that can be solved any
time soon,” he said.

To combat the supply chain
obstacles, Friedman said that
businesses can have products
shipped by air, rather than sea.

Judaica is lighter than other
products and, while ordered in
bulk, still takes up less space
than is necessary to be trans-
ported by ship.

However, air freight is
much more expensive than
sea freight. Even with smaller
packages, businesses can feel
the cost.

Because of COVID, fewer
customers are coming through
Gabay’s store. Though they
remain loyal to her, they have
begun ordering products
online, and Gabay has had to
ship items across the region,
having to choose to increase
prices or pay extra for shipping.

Gabay has avoided raising
the prices of her products.

Because she, like many other
Judaica shop owners, buys in
bulk, she has avoided buying
products with inflated prices
and has kept her prices the
same. Wit h
C h a nu k a h
approaching, she’s waiting for
the other shoe to drop. The
next time she buys from her
distributor, she’ll likely have to
raise her prices.

Katkovsky has been proac-
tive in keeping his business
JEWISH EXPONENT
■ Tefillin from Mezuzah and More
afloat. With mezuzah shipping
delays impacting him, he’s
relied more on house visits to
inspect mezuzahs, a task that
takes much less time than his
role as a sofer.

Gross also has pivoted from
relying on mezuzahs to make
a profit. He began selling more
megillot around Purim this
year, which can sell for at least
$850. For now, the Judaica
businesses have survived not
only due to sustained demand,
but because they have loyal
Screening for other
Jewish Genetic Diseases
also available.

This message is sponsored by a friend of
Nat’l Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases
Association of Delaware Valley
customers. Customers know
about supply chain shortages
and are willing to be patient.

“They know we’re all in the
same boat together,” Gabay
said. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
Exclusive Women’s Apparel Boutique
Made in USA
Custom designs, color options and
free alterations available
Evening Gowns
Suits/Separates Cocktail Dresses
61 Buck Road
Huntingdon Valley,
PA 19006
www.elanaboutique.com (215)953-8820
Make an appointment today!
Consult with the designer to
explore your style options.

OCTOBER 28, 2021
15