From left: Mort Prince, Bella Lewensohn Schafer and friend Sandrine
Erdely-Sayo sit beneath a rug made by Schafer’s mother, Fruma Lewensohn.

Photo courtesy of Deborah Schafer
Philadelphia where Stephen Schafer’s family lived.

Th en they headed out to Cincinnati, where her husband went
to rabbinical college. Th ere, she volunteered for the school’s
library and eventually became a librarian.

Stephen Schafer’s fi rst rabbinical appointment was in Toledo,
Ohio, where the family lived for the next seven years. Th en, they
moved to Allentown, where Bella Schafer spent the next decade,
until the two got divorced in the early ’70s.

She moved to Philadelphia and went back to school, where
she spent the next three years working toward her bachelor’s and
master’s in social work at Temple University.

“I worked very, very hard, and I worked,” Schafer said.

“I taught. I taught at Temple. I taught at the University of
Pennsylvania. I taught at Gratz College as soon as I came here.”
She taught Hebrew and Jewish history. Over the years, she has
also held positions as director of adult services at the Gershman
Y, and as a supervisor for the city. She also has run her own fam-
ily therapy practice.

She continued teaching until about 15 years ago when she met
her partner, Mort Prince. Th e two of them, she said, are “more
than married.”
With him, she has made trips to Israel every few months.

Traveling, in general, has been another thing she has enjoyed
during her life.

“I love to travel, and it’s a lot of fun,” Schafer said. “I have
found a lot of fun in traveling on my own, meeting people on my
own. I’m a gregarious type of a person.” ●
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
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MAY 9, 2019
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