Local

An 'Unorthodox' Calling for Two Teens

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The alarm sounded in the middle of the night. And like all members of the Union Fire Association in Bala Cynwyd, volunteer firefighter Yossi Colman, all of 18, got an emergency call on his radio. Even though the incident happened on Shabbat, the teen recalled leaping out of bed, heading for the firehouse and arriving at the smoky scene within...

Local

Closing of Senior Center Marks End of an Era

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

With the Stiffel Senior Center in South Philadelphia slated to close -- possibly as early as June 30 -- Jewish communal officials are working to ensure that the needs of a frail, low-income population will continue to be met. The center currently services approximately 450 individuals who depend on the facility for a wide range of services, including a place...

Local

A Holocaust Center From the Ground Up

By:

Melissa Jacobs, Jewish Exponent Feature

Michael Berenbaum, the renowned Holocaust scholar and consultant, has been hired to guide the development of a Holocaust education center in Philadelphia. The center's exact content -- or even what it will be called -- has yet to be determined. "The bricks we must first lay," Berenbaum said in a phone interview from his home in Los Angeles, "are decisions...

Local

Hoping to Show That Jews Come in All Hues

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Jared Jackson discovered what it felt like to be an outcast caught between two worlds at the age of 7. At the Sunday School he briefly attended near Willingboro, N.J., "people would come up and shout out the 'N word' to me and my sisters, saying, 'Leave here, we don't want you here, you're not really Jewish,' " remembered Jackson,...

Local

Homeless Youth Put 'Hand2Paw' and Find Some Kindred Spirits

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Rachel Cohen keeps her University of Pennsylvania dorm room well-stocked -- with doggie treats. The 20-year-old junior doesn't have any pets on campus; that would violate the rules she upholds as a resident assistant. Rather, Cohen buys the canine confections for weekly visits to two local animal shelters, where she coordinates a group of homeless young adults to volunteer through...