UPLIFTING
TALE FALL FOR IT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 / 24 TISHRI 5782
“Bordello” tells the story of a triumph over
human trafficking.

PAGE 22
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM — WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH IN PHILADELPHIA —
$1.00 OF NOTE
LOCAL Jewish Federation
Honors Three
Young Leaders
Honorees touted for
community impact.

Page 4
OBITUARY Former JCC
President Shirley
Conston Dies
Conston active in
local Jewish world
for years.

Page 5
THE LOOK
Take a Look at
The Look
Special section
reports on home,
fashion trends.

Page 15
Volume 134
Number 25
Published Weekly Since 1887
Are Margate/
Ventnor Now
Year-Round Towns?
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
AFTER ITS 2019 OPENING, the Water
Dog Smoke House became a popular spot
in Margate/Ventnor, with summer lines
out the door and outdoor tables full.

Now, though, it’s September down the
shore, so the lines aren’t as long, and the
tables aren’t as full.

At the same time, according to Water
Dog manager Alysa Sandler, there are still
lines and outdoor diners.

By most Septembers at this Jewish
capital of the Jersey shore, aft er Labor Day
Weekend ends the summer rush, “it gets
very quiet,” several rabbis and business
owners said. But this September is at least
a little diff erent, Sandler said.

Even beyond the Water Dog, there are
still people walking the sidewalks and
frequenting businesses; and there are still
some cars lining the neighborhoods.

Sandler attributes this year’s extended
season to warm and sunny September
weekends. “It’s not as crazy as the summer,”
Sandler said. “But it’s still really busy for
Natanya Gornstein-Talotti has seen double the students from Penn Alexander School come into
her nurse’s offi ce this year compared to last year.

Photo by Kyle Cassidy
Jewish School Nurses
Struggle As COVID Persists
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, Natanya
Gornstein-Talotti, the school nurse at Penn
Alexander School in West Philadelphia,
would see 20 students in her offi ce per day
at most. Now, she typically treats twice
that number.

Th e only medical professional in the
building, Gornstein-Talotti is tasked
See Margate, Page 11
with testing students with an array of
symptoms for COVID, in addition to
handling the ordinary scrapes, bonks and
bruises kids experience.

But with the fear of COVID still very
much on people’s minds, teachers are
much more sensitive to students’ ailments,
even those once deemed unremarkable.

“Now it’s one sniffl e, and they’re in my
offi ce,” Gornstein-Talotti said.

See Nurses, Page 10
LEARN TO DRIVE
IN A TESLA!