As leaders of two Philadelphia schools for kids who struggle with poverty or foster care, Gabriel Kuriloff and Autumn Graves face extra obstacles as educators. Beyond academics, they aim to make a lasting impact on students who often have been impoverished, abused or neglected. To that end, the pair recently traveled to Israel to see how the Yemin Orde Youth...

"There's a feeling that this is the next Brooklyn," Saul Sudin said, gesturing to the South Philadelphia neighborhood right outside Congregation Shivtei Yeshuron Ezras Israel. Faced with the depressed urban scene surrounding the shul, one might be hard-pressed to share Sudin's enthusiasm. The synagogue, founded in 1876, sits deep in the neighborhood, sandwiched between row houses and across from empty...