The abrupt layoff of all editorial staffers at Philadelphia’s Jewish Exponent, the second-oldest Jewish newspaper in America, has highlighted the dire situation of local Jewish publications struggling to stay afloat. Fifteen journalists and production staffers were laid off on June 3 as part of a new experiment in the world of Jewish media: outsourcing editorial…
The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent has laid off its entire newsroom staff after handing editorial operations over to a media group that publishes Jewish papers in Baltimore and Washington D.C. Fifteen journalists and production staffers were let go at the nation’s second-oldest continuously published paper, according to a statement on its web site The paper’s editorial…
A suburban Philadelphia Jewish day school that closed down its teachers union has offered early retirement packages to more than half its faculty members. The Perelman Jewish Day School, a K-5 school affiliated with the Conservative movement’s Schechter Network, offered buyouts to 27 of its approximately 50 teachers, the Jewish Exponent reported. Thirteen teachers accepted…
The Amtrak train that hurtled off the tracks in Philadelphia left a trail of broken bodies and dreams. Among the dead are at least two Jews, both with inspiring stories. Justin Zemser, 20, was a midshipman at the Naval Academy heading back to his home in Queens, New York. Rachel Jacobs was a 39-year-old mom…
Justin Zemser, a 20-year-old Jewish midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, was one of at least seven passengers killed in a deadly Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia. “He was the most wonderful kid,” Zemser’s mother, Susan Zemser, told reporters, according to the Daily News. Zemser, who grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York, was…
Against the backdrop of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, the National Museum of American Jewish History describes the Jewish immigrant experience: the lure of freedom and economic opportunity, struggles against poverty and prejudice, the balancing act between tradition and assimilation. Here are men and women who took risks, made discoveries, survived hardships and pioneered…
An event at the University of Pennsylvania Hillel co-sponsored by a group that backs boycotting Israel took place recently with no interference despite its challenge to the plain language of Hillel International’s guidelines. The April 26 event featured Avraham Burg, who is a former speaker of the Knesset and served as chairman of the Jewish…
1) 293,240 Jews live in Pennsylvania. 2) One of the most prominent early Jewish residents of Pennsylvania was Isaac Miranda, who emigrated From France in 1712 and became Lancaster’s first Jewish resident. A businessman and Indian trader, he had a large collection of Jewish books. 3) Pennsylvania’s oldest synagogue is Congregation Mikveh Israel, founded in…
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