Temple Dental Names Student Center to Honor David A. Bresler
The Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry dedicated the David A. Bresler Student Life Center on Sept. 17.
The center honors Bresler, a 1979 graduate who founded Doc Bresler’s Cavity Busters, a multi-location pediatric dental practice. Bresler, who also served as a member of Temple’s faculty, died in 2015.
Bresler’s three children are also Temple dental graduates — Joshua Bresler, Jason Bresler and Rachel Bresler. They maintain the Cavity Busters practice.
The center serves as a social and educational hub for students at the dental school.
In recent years, the dental school has received a combined total of $5 million in major gifts. Those donors were also honored at the dedication ceremony.
Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El Seventh Graders Pay Tribute to First Responders
In recognition of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, more than a dozen seventh-grade students from Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood, visited multiple fire stations and police departments in Lower Merion Township and Haverford Township on Sept. 12 to thank first responders for their ongoing service.
The children and their families shared remarks of gratitude and presented police officers and firefighters with plaques gifted by Jewish National Fund-USA featuring a photo of JNF-USA and KKL-JNF’s 9/11 Living Memorial in Jerusalem.
The text on the Jewish National Fund-USA plaques reads, in part: “The JNF-KKL 9/11 Memorial, in the foothills of Jerusalem, expresses the deep connection and shared values between the people of Israel and the United States. It is the only memorial outside of the United States that honors each victim. The memorial is an American flag waving and transforming into a flame.
“A piece of melted metal from the ruins of the Twin Towers forms the base of the monument. This memorial serves as the site of an official ceremony held with the United States every year, as Israel honors the memory of the heroes who fell and recognizes the heroes who walk among us. Thank you for your commitment and sacrifice.”
Philadelphia Museum of Art to Return Czech Shield Confiscated by Nazis
The Philadelphia Museum of Art announced Sept. 13 that it was returning to the Czech Republic a ceremonial pageant shield confiscated by the Nazis when Czechoslovakia was annexed during World War II, The New York Times reported.
The shield, which was once part of a collection owned by Archduke Ferdinand, was created during the Renaissance by Italian artist Girolamo di Tommaso da Treviso in about 1535. The shield is 24 inches in diameter, is made of wood, linen, gesso, gold and pigment, and depicts the storming of New Carthage by Roman soldiers.
The local museum acquired the shield as part of a bequest and it has been on display in the Galleries of Arms and Armor since 1976.
The museum said it has worked with Czech Republic historians since 2016 to determine the shield’s provenance and history.
“A work that had been lost during the turmoil of World War II is being happily restituted, and out of this has come an exceptional scholarly partnership,” said Timothy Rub, the museum’s director and chief executive.
In recent years, museums around the world have returned art stolen by the Nazis to heirs of the original owners, many of whom are Jewish families. Some of the efforts to retrieve the art have resulted in lawsuits.
