of Temple University’s Department of
History in the College of Liberal Arts.

Gratz College*
CAMPS & EDUCATION
Mandell Education Campus
7605 Old York Road
Melrose Park, PA 19027
215-635-7300 Fax: 215-635-7399
admissions@gratz.edu gratz.edu
Provides a pluralistic education for students
online and on campus. Gratz offers
doctoral, graduate and undergraduate
degree and certificate programs, as well
as learning opportunities for adults and
teens. Gratz College has two doctoral
programs: Doctor of Holocaust and
Genocide Studies (Ph.D.) and Doctor
of Education in Leadership (Ed.D.), and
graduate degrees in Education (MAEd),
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Interfaith
Leadership, Jewish Professional Studies,
Jewish Communal Service, Jewish Studies,
and Nonprofit Management, and a new
master’s degree in Camp Administration
and Leadership. Graduate certificates
are offered in all graduate majors.

Undergraduate certificates/degrees are
offered in Jewish Education, Jewish Studies,
and Jewish Professional Studies. Gratz
offers adult Jewish learning programs and
lectures as well as credit and noncredit
courses in Hebrew and Yiddish. Gratz
College offers CLE courses for attorneys
on campus. The Tuttleman library contains
extensive holdings such as a music library
and Holocaust Oral History Archive.

Jewish Studies Program at
University of Pennsylvania
711 Williams Hall
255 S. 36th St.

Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-898-6654 Fax: 215-573-6026
jsp-info@sas.upenn.edu ccat.sas.

upenn.edu/jwst A program reflective of the full range of
the Jewish experience as well as different
approaches to studying Jewish life and
culture. Students of all backgrounds are
welcome to take courses and participate
in the programs. Courses may be taken
as electives, or students can develop a
major or minor course of study in any one
of four different Jewish Studies tracks.

94 Philadelphia Guide to Jewish Life 2022-2023
The program also offers opportunities
for outside the classroom learning
experiences. Bensalem Jewish Kollel and
Outreach Center
Kehillas B’nai Shalom
2446 Bristol Road
Bensalem, PA 19020
215-752-5032 Fax: 215-752-2340
Moshe@bensalemoutreach.org bensalemoutreach.org
Educational center for Jewish studies
for Jews of all backgrounds. Programs of
special interest to women are also offered.

Bucks County Hebrew School
A Family Partnership Program in which
parents can study in a simultaneous class as
their children. Parents who take advantage
of this opportunity can receive almost
complete scholarships to cover the cost of
their children’s Hebrew school education.

No synagogue membership required.

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
1299 Church Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
215-576-0800 Fax: 215-576-6143
info@rrc.edu rrc.edu
Offers high-level courses in Jewish history,
thought, text and practice for rabbinical
students, Jewish professionals and
interested lay people.

Community Torah Center
of Bucks County
944 Second St. Pike, Front Building
Richboro, PA 18954
215-485-5755 Fax: 267-284-1267
rabbi@jewishbucks.org JewishBucks.org
An organization created to give Jews
from all backgrounds and affiliations
the opportunity to learn and experience
Jewish life. Offers programs for every
age group, from young children and
adolescents through adults.

Congregation Beth Solomon —
CBS Community Center
198 Tomlinson Road
Philadelphia, PA 19116
215-671-1981 Fax: 215-671-8007
cbscommunitycenter.com Educational opportunities for all ages,
camps and a kollel for adult education.

Also fosters outreach to the Russian
immigrant community.

Chelkeinu Initiative
chelkeinu@chelkeinu.org chelkeinu.org
Runs programming in Northeast
Philadelphia and along the Old York
Road corridor.

Gratz College Adult
Jewish Learning
7605 Old York Road
Melrose Park, PA 19027
215-635-7300, ext. 182
Fax: 215-635-7399
lcohen@gratz.edu gratz.edu
Offers courses for adults in the
community who enjoy learning with
instructors who are experts in their fields.

Subjects include history: literature;
theology, ethics, Torah and ancient texts
Israel and the Middle E.; Jewish music, art
and film and more. Also offers Hebrew
and Yiddish language classes for all levels.

Classes are located in Melrose Park and
Center City. Distinguished Scholar
Lectures are open to the community
(including the Shusterman and Stern
community lectures), continuing legal
education, as well as trips, films and
programs. Monthly “Lunch and Learns”
round out the offerings. Also:
One Book, One Jewish Community
(OBOJC) — Connecting people one
book at a time. Community-wide Jewish
literacy program. Each year, Gratz
College develops resource materials
about the selected book, and partners
with synagogues and agencies that adopt
OBOJC as a vehicle for discussing, and
studying and celebrating the book, as well
as the values and issues raised in it.

Herbert D. Katz Center for
Advanced Judaic Studies at
the University of Pennsylvania
420 Walnut St.

Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-746-1290 Fax: 215-238-1540
sas-katzcenter@sas.upenn.edu katz.sas.upenn.edu
*Denotes Paid Advertiser



experiential learning as student’s serve as
classroom and community paid assistants.

The Folkshul offers community holiday
and life cycle events. There is an Adult
Community that hosts Sunday morning
lectures, holiday celebrations, social justice
actions and events, as well as a Restaurant
Club and other off-site activities.

Institute for Jewish Ethics
Jewish Learning Venture
215-782-8878 IJE@IJEthics.org
IJEthics.org The Pavilion
261 Old York Road, Suite 720
Jenkintown, PA 19046
215-320-0360 info@jewishlearningventure.org
jewishlearningventure.org Offers classes, seminars and guidance on
Jewish ethics and an outlook for living.

Open to people of all backgrounds. PA
accredited provider of Continuing Legal
Education. OpenDor Media
888-515-5292 opendormedia.org
Creates and distributes innovative feature
films and film-based educational programs
with the goal of making young Jews feel
proud of being Jewish and connected
to Israel.

Jewish Children’s Folkshul
and Adult Community
P.O. Box 17
Wyncote, PA 19095
215-248-1550 Meets at Springside Chestnut Hill
Academy 8000 Cherokee St.

Philadelphia,PA 19118
folkshul@folkshul.org folkshul.org
An inclusive, secular, humanistic, life-long
engaged learning community that invites
all who identify as Jewish and/or who
choose to learn and participate in its
range of Jewish inspired programs. The
curriculum includes topics such as: Jewish
holidays, social action/justice, life cycles,
ethics, history, music, dance, and literature
for all ages. Offers weekly Sunday morning
classroom programs for kindergarten
through ninth grade students and
monthly Sunday Fundays programs for
preschoolers and their families. Offers
a personalized student-driven Bar/
Bat Mitzvah program that features an
approach to coming of age with an
emphasis on Jewish identity. A Leadership
Program for 10th through 12th grade
high school students, continues with
JKIDPHILLY connects families with
infants and young children up to age
12 to the people, happenings, resources
and voices of our Jewish community
through programs, and relationship-
building activities. The website includes
a community calendar of events and
programs, holiday resources and a
searchable directory for schools and early-
childhood education programs. rcohen@
jewishlearningventure.org PJ LIBRARY AND PJ OUR WAY
supports families on their Jewish journey
by sending Jewish-content books and
music on a monthly basis to children ages
6 months to 12 years living in the Greater
Philadelphia area. The program is funded
by Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Jewish
Learning Venture, Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia and private donors.

Jewish Relationships Initiative
484-679-6402 RabbiDavidLevin@gmail.com
JewishRelationshipsInitiative.com Dedicated to outreach and engagement.

Connecting, teaching and carrying out
Jewish life-cycle events.

LifeLong Learning Program
KleinLife 10100 Jamison Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19116
215-698-7300 kleinlife.org
and: KleinLife: Montgomery County
7763 Old York Road
Elkins Park, PA
215-635-5244 kleinlifemc.org
Offers adult-education classes on diverse
subjects, trips, cultural and educational
programming, and other activities of
interest to adults and senior adults.

Lubavitch/Chabad Centers
Open to all Jews. Provides Shabbat
and holiday programs, educational
programs, celebrations and other
religious observances geared to children,
adults and families. See other Chabad/
Lubavitch organizations in the chapter on
Religious Life.

Mekom Torah
P.O. Box 178
Swarthmore, PA 19081
610-368-4065 mekomtorah.org
Rabbi Helen Plotkin
info@mekomtorah.org Jewish learning for adults, families and
teens. Online and in-person study groups
for people who are ready to deepen their
knowledge of Judaism, engage in vibrant
discussion, or learn Hebrew for American
Jewish life. Learning for life cycles events.

CAMPS & EDUCATION
Post-doctoral research center whose
studies concentrate on Jewish civilization
in all its historical and cultural
manifestations. The Center’s fellows,
who are visiting scholars from around the
globe, address local congregations and
schools with talks and lectures about their
areas of expertise.

Moving Traditions
8380 Old York Road, Suite 4300
Elkins Park, PA 19027
215-887-4511 info@movingtraditions.org
movingtraditions.org Creates experiences that inspire Jewish
teens to explore fundamental questions of
identity and society. The programs help
teens reach their potential by connecting
relevant content with enduring Jewish
values, and by fostering positive peer-to-
peer relationships through trained
mentors. Programs include: Rosh Hodesh,
Shevet Achim, transgender/nonbinary
online group, b’nai mitzvah group and
@13 podcasts.

The New Shul
215-385-0778 info@ newshulofamerica.org
facebook.com/groups/ TheNewShulPhilly
An emerging community, from all streams
of Jewish life, dedicated to building
something new with the study of the
Jewish story as its guide.

Philadelphia Community Kollel
364 Montgomery Ave.

Merion Station, PA 19066
610-668-9557 2022-2023 Philadelphia Guide to Jewish Life
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