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FEES! on-site physician services and wellness programs.

Lim Contact us for more information
or to schedule an in-person tour at
1-877-859-9444 PaulsRun.org/Save
ited Time
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9896 Bustleton Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19115
H eadlines
NEWSBRIEFS NJ Condo Settles With Residents Who Sued About
Shabbat Elevator Discontinuation
ELEVATORS AT THE COLONY condominiums in Fort Lee,
New Jersey once again will stop on every floor on Shabbat as part
of a settlement with Orthodox Jewish residents who sued over
the service being canceled, JTA reported.

Residents filed suit in June alleging that the condo discrim-
inated against them by turning off the Shabbat setting in the
elevators and preventing staff from pushing the elevator buttons.

They contended that they were thus trapped in their apartments
during Shabbat.

In a letter to condo shareholders, it was announced that the
elevators will stop on every floor for 9½ hours each Saturday and
on major Jewish holidays. The lawsuit sought damages, but no
payments are required per the settlement.

First Bar Mitzvah Celebrated in Bahrain in 16 Years
Bahrain’s Jewish community recently celebrated its first bar
mitzvah since 2005, JTA reported.

The Association of Gulf Jewish Communities said the
ceremony took place in Bahrain’s only operational synagogue,
the House of Ten Commandments in Manama.

The unnamed bar mitzvah boy read from a Torah scroll
donated by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and senior adviser to
former President Donald Trump.

There are about 50 Jews living in Bahrain, which signed a normal-
ization accord with Israel in 2020 that Kushner helped to broker.

“It is a very exciting time for Jewish life in the [Gulf Cooperation
Council] as more families celebrate Jewish milestones more
publicly,” AGJC Rabbi Elie Abadie said. “This is an affirmation of
the continued growth of Jewish life in the region.”
Spanish University Cancels Seminar Comparing
Holocaust, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
A Spanish university canceled a course titled “Auschwitz/Gaza: A
Testing Ground for Comparative Literature” after being criticized by
several Holocaust scholars and Jewish organizations, JTA reported.

Jewish groups contended that the University of Santiago de
Compostela in Galicia trivialized the Holocaust by comparing it
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“This very title and expected content is not an issue of
‘freedom of expression,’ but a banalization of the Holocaust,
which can incite to hatred and violence against Jews of today,”
wrote Shimon Samuels, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s director
for international relations, in a letter sent to Spain’s minister of
universities, Manuel Castells Oliván.

Ukrainian Café Says SS Logo a ‘Font Gone Wrong’
Owners of a Ukrainian cafe housed in a former synagogue said
a logo featuring two lightning bolts that resembled the Nazi SS
insignia “is a case of a font gone wrong,” JTA reported.

The owners of Café Escobar in Chernivtsi said on Facebook that
they worked two lightning bolts into the logo to advertise their coffee’s
reenergizing qualities. They apologized and said they will drop the logo.

“We didn’t make any Nazi references, we assure you! And
sorry if this caused negative emotions,” they wrote. “We apolo-
gize to anyone whose feelings may have been hurt.”
The cafe has kept some of the Hebrew text on the walls from when
the building was the Great Synagogue of Chernivtsi. The building
dates from 1853 and combines baroque and classicist elements. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
6 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
Federation Housing Helps Survivor Move to Canada
is subsidized by the federal
Department of Housing and
Urban Development, manages
1,500 residents across 11
properties, according to Alyssa
Moss, the Federation Housing
social services manager.

“We like to listen to
residents and respond to their
needs,” Moss said.

With Gidaly, organization
employees didn’t just listen.

They went above and beyond.

“I am extremely grateful
for Federation’s assistance
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
PAUL GIDALY IS 96 and a
Holocaust survivor.

And he only wants one
thing in his remaining years:
to live in Canada near his
daughter, son-in-law and two
grandchildren. On Aug. 26, Federation
Housing, a Philadelphia-based
nonprofit, made Gidaly’s wish
its command.

The organization orches-
trated the survivor’s move to
Calgary, near Canada’s west
coast. The next day, Michele
Naftulin, the
property manager with Federation
Housing, called Canyon
Meadows, Gidaly’s new apart-
ment complex.

“They said he’s already
whizzing around on a scooter,”
she said.

Gidaly is happy to be there,
but it’s not exactly heaven
— he is still estranged from
his daughter. And while his
hope is to reconcile, there’s no
guarantee that will happen.

But trying is better than
staying in his lonely, isolated
situation in Philadelphia.

When the pandemic hit,
Gidaly was living alone in a
Federation Housing-managed
apartment building, Center
Park III, on Red Lion Road.

He had lived there since 2005,
and, in recent years, many of
his original friends either died
or moved out.

Gidaly told Naftulin he had
a hole in his heart. He also told
Federation Housing about his
Calgary wish.

The widower knew about
Canyon Meadows from a trip
to Canada two years ago. After
Canada lifted its COVID travel
restrictions in July, Federation
Housing worked with Gidaly
to buy a plane ticket, sign a
lease and ship 18 UPS boxes
containing all his possessions.

Gidaly, who was already vacci-
nated, was able to travel after
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM throughout the entire process,”
Gidaly said.

“Including planning, organizing and
financing my final wish.”
The survivor has lived in six
countries: Hungary, Canada,
Israel, the U.S., Austria
and England. He is also an
active traveler who knows six
languages: German, English,
Hebrew, French, Italian and
Latin. But he wanted to settle
down in Calgary as early as
the spring of 2020. Gidaly even
tried to get a flight out, but
then COVID hit.

And once he was finally able
to book a flight, the accoun-
tant by trade was organized
and ready; his passport and
identification cards were all
current. “He was on the ball,”
Naftulin said. “I admired his
determination to get out there,
and he made it.” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
Montefi ore Cemetery Company
Paul Gidaly, sitting, waits at
Philadelphia International Airport
on Aug. 26 before his flight to
Canada. He is surrounded by
Jewish Federation employees who
helped make his trip happen.

Photo by Alyssa Moss
taking a COVID test.

Even though Federation
Housing will no longer watch
over Gidaly in Canada, he will
receive $500 a month toward
rent from the Franklin B. Haaz
Holocaust Rental Assistance
Program. “I look forward to being
near family. I am excited to
make new friendships,” Gidaly
said. “The pandemic made me
feel so isolated.”
He hopes the move is the
end of a long journey.

Gidaly was born in
Budapest, Hungary, in 1925.

After losing his father in the
Holocaust, Gidaly immigrated
to Canada with his mother and
sister. He married during his
initial stay there, and the
couple had a daughter. Later
they divorced, and Gidaly met
his second wife, Eva, in Israel.

Eventually, they relocated
to Philadelphia, where they
lived out the rest of their years
together. After Eva died, Gidaly
moved into Center Park III, an
affordable housing community
for seniors.

Federation Housing, which
From our family to yours,
we wish you a very
Happy & Healthy
New Year!
L’Shanah Tovah
Let Montefi ore Cemetery help you protect your loved ones
from overwhelming decisions and expenses.

And, as always, 0% Interest on all pre-arrangements.

ONTEFIORE C EMETERY C OMPANY
Serving the Jewish Community…Preserving Our Tradition
600 Church Road • Jenkintown, PA 19046 • 215-663-1250
www.montefi ore.us
JEWISH EXPONENT
SEPTEMBER 2, 2021
7