Local

Interviewing Survivors: 'It Becomes Part of You'

By:

Sally Friedman

Marianna Salz was just out of college when she began training as an interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. "The work changed my life; I gained a perspective about my Judaism that I hadn't had before," said Salz, a Russian native who came to the United States when she was 7 years old and eager to get involved. "I felt...

Local

Geologist Uses Nazi Analogy

A geologist for the state of Pennsylvania compared a film critical of the natural-gas industry to Nazi propaganda. Last week, the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era reported on comments made by Teddy Borawski, chief oil and gas geologist for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation. Referring to the film "Gasland," which raises issues about the environmental impact of fracking to extract marcellus...

Local

Grant Goes to Torah Academy

Torah Academy has received a $2.5 million grant from the Kohelet Foundation that will go toward building upgrades, teacher training, the continuation of two specialist positions and other educational programs. The grant, announced at the school's annual scholarship dinner on Feb. 27, extends a smaller 2009 Kohelet gift that was used to hire a special-education teacher, and gifted-and-talented enrichment specialist,...

Local

Helping Those Who May Not Be Able to Help Themselves

By:

Deborah Hirsch

Purchasing plots and headstones is the next thing Lisa Toll plans to do once money allows. But not for herself -- for her 29-year-old twins, both of whom have Asperger's syndrome, coupled with other mental disabilities. She's already paying for multiple life-insurance policies so they'll have something to live on once she's gone. It's not that Toll is preparing to...

Local

Israeli Sephardim Regroup at Rebuilt Shul

By:

Bryan Schwartzman

As he prayed in a packed Northeast Philadelphia congregation, with the clear morning light filtering through the windows, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar's long white beard appeared to become one with the tallis that was enshrouding his head. At a traditional break in the service, the Moroccan-born Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel -- on a rare visit to Philadelphia -- began...