Deborah Minkoff, Susan Adler, Todd Pitock Aaron Glatter, Ben Kessler, Shir Ami, GJC, LiveConnections, Perelman Jewish Day School and Israel Bonds.
Deborah Melamut Minkoff, vice chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Global Insurance Department, is one of 26 women appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf to serve on the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. Minkoff litigates cases involving disputes under claims-made liability coverage, medical professional liability coverage, employers’ liability coverage, professional liability coverage, retention and allocation issues, and sexual misconduct claims under both professional liability coverage and commercial general liability coverage. She has been recognized as a “Best Lawyer in America” in the area of Insurance Law, and as a “Super Lawyer” annually from 2008 through 2016. In December 2012, Business Insurance recognized Minkoff as one of its 25 “Women to Watch.” Minkoff is also an adjunct professor at the Drexel University School of Law.
Susan Adler, Ph.D., of Wyncote, is the new president of REAP, Retired Executives and Professionals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to stimulating lifelong learning, that meets weekly in Jenkintown. Adler is Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Missouri- Kansas City, and taught at the National Institute of Education in Singapore as a visiting professor. She is an expert on politics and culture of Singapore.
The title of Travel Journalist of the Year and a cash prize of $1,500 went to Todd Pitock, a freelance writer in Philadelphia, in the 2015 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, overseen by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. Pitock was honored for his wide range of reports, from Botswana to Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House, the U.S. Whiskey Trail and Denver’s breweries. He also won a bronze award in the Foreign Travel Article category for “The Rebirth of Awe” in National Geographic Traveler.
[[{“fid”:”40676″,”view_mode”:”teaser”,”fields”:{“format”:”teaser”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/TP_0.jpg?itok=gJUZpkwe”,”attributes”:{“height”:220,”width”:157,”class”:”media-element file-teaser”}}]]
Todd Pitock
Local teens Aaron Glatter, left, 16, from Fort Washington, and Ben Kessler, right, 17, from Blue Bell, are the new co-presidents of the Junior Branch (JB) of the local chapter of CISV, the international youth peace program and volunteer-based non-profit. Both Kessler, a member of Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, and Glatter, a member of Temple Sinai in Dresher, participated in their first programs at age 11, where they lived with peers, adult leaders and staff from around the globe in camp-like settings called Villages and have participated in numerous other CISV programs since.
[[{“fid”:”40677″,”view_mode”:”teaser”,”fields”:{“format”:”teaser”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/AGBK.jpg?itok=BDrX4qxk”,”attributes”:{“height”:178,”width”:220,”class”:”media-element file-teaser”}}]]
Aaron Glatter and Ben Kessler
Shir Ami welcomed the fall holidays with celebrations for Sukkot and Simchat Torah, including their annual Sukkah Palooza.
[[{“fid”:”40682″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/Shir1_3.jpg”,”attributes”:{“height”:212,”width”:387,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
Rabbi Joel Simon (far right) unwinds the Torah at Simchat Torah service on Oct. 4, 2015 at Shir Ami Newtown.
[[{“fid”:”40683″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/Shir2.jpg”,”attributes”:{“height”:212,”width”:294,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
Photo from Sukkah Palooza pictured from left, David Elkin, Emily Elkin, Melody Rosenberg, Joshua McCoy.
The second annual Jewish Arts and Movement program got the youngest members of Germantown Jewish Centre moving and shaking to welcome in the New Year this past Rosh Hashanah. JAM, which is steeped in Jewish values and centered on Jewish holidays, aims to attract young families to synagogues.
[[{“fid”:”40684″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/GJC.jpg”,”attributes”:{“height”:270,”width”:430,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
Kids used music and dance to welcome Rosh Hashanah at the second annual JAM at the Germantown Jewish Centre.
Music nonprofit LiveConnections honored noted philanthropist Kal Rudman and his wife, Lucille, at its third annual fundraising gala for the couple’s generous last-minute gift, boosting the organization’s ability to sustain music education programs reaching 6,000 Philadelphia public school students this year, as well as youths and adults with disabilities. The pivotal gift was finalized within hours of the event, the Big Hurrah, held at World Café Live. The Rudmans received special thanks from “Kal’s Kids,” the students directly affected by the Kal & Lucille Rudman Foundation donation, many of whom performed on the World Café Live main stage. Kal Rudman is a music and show business pioneer, and the founder and publisher of the Friday Morning Quarterback, the nation’s longtime leading radio and music industry publication.
[[{“fid”:”40685″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/LiveConnections.jpg”,”attributes”:{“height”:202,”width”:356,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
Noted philanthropists Kal and Lucille Rudman are surrounded by “Kal’s Kids,” some of the Philadelphia public school students benefitting from the Rudman’s generous last-minute gift to Live-Connections, upon arrival at the music education nonprofit’s annual fundraiser held at World Café Live in Philadelphia.
Rabbi Chaim Galfand brought fifth-graders from the Perelman Jewish Day School in Melrose Park to KleinLife: Northeast Philadelphia for a special intergenerational celebration observing the holiday of Simchat Torah. The students offered Torah readings, prayers and songs to some 100 senior members of KleinLife to mark the holiday that celebrates the conclusion of the holiday that celebrates the annual cycle of Torah readings.
[[{“fid”:”40686″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/PJDS.jpg”,”attributes”:{“height”:226,”width”:329,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
Rabbi Chaim Galfand (back row center), KleinLife Director of Adult Services Shelley Geltzer (in front of Rabbi Galfand), senior members Doris Elfman and Belle Magerman and (back row right) Art Feldman and Orly Benshosham (right) Perelman fifth-grade teacher, are shown here with Perelman Jewish Day School fifth-graders.
The Pennsylvania Region Israel Bonds Women’s Division welcomed Israel’s new deputy consul general, Moran Birman, to Philadelphia at their recent council meeting.
[[{“fid”:”40687″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_image_caption[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”tagName”:”IMG”,”src”:”https://www.jewishexponent.com/sites/default/files/IBWD.jpg”,”attributes”:{“height”:182,”width”:257,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
Pictured from left are: Moran Birman, meeting host Daryl Segal and Women’s Division chairs Joy Novick and Anna Green.
