Local

Temple U. Sees Uptick in All Things Jewish

By:

Aaron Passman, JE Staff

On a dreary Friday evening, new roommates Juliana Teibel and Erica Hochman were looking for some place to go. Hailing from Buffalo, N.Y., and Mountainside, N.J., respectively, the pair were new to Philadelphia and Temple University. The 18-year-olds admitted that they hadn't met many people yet -- besides each other -- and with countless student groups vying for their attention,...

Local

A Group for Women, by Women

Finally, a place where some can feel religious -- and understood

By:

Gail Shister, JE Feature

So what are nice Jewish girls doing in a group like Nice Jewish Girls? They're expanding their knowledge of Judaism, for one thing. And they're meeting other Jewish women from the area like themselves -- single, over 50 and lesbian. Brenda Goodis, who founded Philadelphia's NJG in November 2007, describes the organization as a lesbian chavurah. There are monthly potlucks,...

Local

Teacher Bears Witness, Then Brings Her Students the Apt Message

By:

Jennifer Kugler

FIRST PERSON When I was a Catholic high school student, I remember viewing a Holocaust documentary. I can still see the piles of nameless bodies, the faces haunted by vacant stares. It was an exceptionally powerful experience, and helped ignite in me a passion for social justice. And yet, what strikes me now is that the film dehumanized the victims...

Local

Numbers Speak for Themselves

When it comes to enrollment and finances, day schools face an ongoing battle

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

Over the past year, six day schools across the country were forced to close their doors, battered by the economic downturn that overtook the country beginning last September. But as the new academic year gets under way, enrollment in the Philadelphia area's six Jewish day schools has remained virtually unchanged from last year, with an expected total of 1,769 students...

Synagogue Life

Synagogue Arrivals 5770

He's Big on Journeys, but Now He's All Set on Settling Down Jeremy Gerber's parents thought it might be fun to move to Sweden for a few years during the 1970s. They went there on a lark, but something clearly stuck, since Gerber's father has been the cantor at the Great Synagogue of Stockholm for more than three decades now...