Documentary Filmmaker, Social Worker Joan H. Sadoff Dies at 81
Documentary filmmaker and social worker Joan Handleman Sadoff died Aug. 10 at her home in Huntingdon Valley following a 10-year battle with cancer, according to her family. She was 81.
Sadoff was a clinical social worker at the Northwestern Institute of Psychiatry in Fort Washington from 1980 to 1992, but developed another interest in 1991 after watching a PBS special on civil rights during the Kennedy administration.
Sadoff and her husband, Robert L. Sadoff, traveled to Mississippi and, after hearing many interesting stories, decided they wanted to make a documentary film.
The resulting documentary, Philadelphia, Mississippi, explored the impact on the town and its residents more than a generation after three civil rights workers were abducted and murdered in June 1964.
A second documentary, Standing on My Sisters’ Shoulders profiled women such as Unita Blackwell, Constance Slaughter Harvey, Fannie Lou Hamer and Mae Bertha Carter. In 2011, Sadoff reproduced those stories in a book she edited: Pieces From the Past: Voices of Heroic Women in Civil Rights.
Among the honors Sadoff received were the Social Worker of the Year Award in 2005 by the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the Gallery of Success Award in 2004 from Temple University and the Heart of Gold Award in 2007 from La Salle University.
CTeen U Course Offers College Credit for Jewish High School Students
A CTeen U Course being offered at Chabad of the Main Line in Merion Station will give Jewish high school students the chance to earn two college credits while exploring Judaism’s tenets.
The course, which is a collaboration between Yeshiva University and CTeen International, will be available to 10th, 11th and 12th graders. Classes will be held once a week on Sundays at 7:45 p.m. starting on Sept. 15.
Rabbi Mendy Cohen will be the instructor. The class will cover ideas such as how do we ascertain that the Torah is true, the Jewish view on happiness and what does it mean to believe in God, and will include a brief summary of the following laws: Kashrut, holidays, Shabbat, prayers and blessings.
The class costs $999, with scholarships available. For more information, call 610-348-2852. Limited spots are available.
Philadelphia Maccabi Team Wins Numerous Medals
Members of the Philadelphia team at the Maccabi Games held recently in Atlanta and Detroit took home numerous medals, according to Kaiserman JCC CEO Amy Krulik.
Three teams won medals, including the Boys 16U soccer team, which won a gold, the silver-winning Boys 14U basketball team and the Boys 16U hockey team, which won a bronze.
Swimmers dominated during the games.
Ben Gendron won 10 medals — five golds, two silvers and three bronzes — while Ilene Stark won nine — four golds, two silvers and three bronzes.
Alex Zoldan won three golds, four silvers and a bronze. Heather Stark won a gold, two silvers and three bronzes. And Teddy Devaney won a gold medal.
In track events, Pearl Victor won two golds, a silver and a bronze.
In tennis, David Lubell won a gold medal, and Josh Finkle won a silver medal.
In dance, Livia Smollen won both gold and bronze medals.
High-End Watch Retailer Opens in Rittenhouse Square
High-end watch retailer Authentick — which sells watches costing up to $2 million — has opened at 1737 Chestnut St.
Peter Havkin, who was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County — and whose grandmothers were Russian prisoners in World War II in Leningrad — opened the store after eight years with an online luxury watch and jewelry business.
Gratz Offers Midcareer Fellowships for Professionals in Jewish Community
Gratz College has put out a call for applicants for the Midcareer Fellowship, a scholarship program open to professionals working in the Jewish community and interested in earning an advanced degree at Gratz.
The fellowship is designed to support greater job competency, increased marketability and more diversified skills for Jewish professionals. Its goal is to allow Jewish professionals with experience in their fields to earn advanced degrees
Fellows receive a 25% tuition scholarship, with additional 20% scholarships available in some programs. The fellowship is open to qualified students in the following programs: master’s in education (with a concentration in Jewish instructional education), the master’s in nonprofit management, the master’s in camp administration and leadership, and the master’s in Jewish communal service.
Fellowships are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to qualified students who are admitted to Gratz. For more information, contact admissions@gratz.edu or 215-635-7300, ext. 140.
