A janitorial worker for Philadelphia’s mass transit system is suing the agency for firing him after he refused to work on Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat. Romel McAlpin, who belongs to the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ, which preserves some Jewish holidays, said he informed the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, of his…
An independent Jewish organization at the University of Pennsylvania has stopped offering students a stipend to participate in its Maimonides program, after parents objected to the practice. Since 2004, Meor has offered a $400 stipend for students to participate in its Maimonides Leaders Fellowship program. This year, Meor will no longer offer the stipend after…
A kosher butcher shop in Philadelphia was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti. Crude swastikas were painted on the butcher shop, Simon’s Glatt Kosher meats, between the evening of Sept. 10 and the next morning, the Jewish Exponent reported. The butcher store has been at its location for 20 years. A nearby synagogue was similarly vandalized in…
A $6 million pledge from Raymond Perelman is breathing new life into plans for a new Center for Jewish Life at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Drexel initiated the project in 2011 under the direction of its president, John Fry, but until this week’s announcement only a small portion of the funds had been raised, the…
An assortment of pro-Israel groups has issued a joint statement deploring the attack on a Jewish student at Temple University. It also criticized a pro-Palestinian campus organization, and urged universities to monitor it and other likeminded groups. In a statement released today, 12 organizations, including StandWithUs, the Zionist Organization of America and the Committee for…
A Philadelphia man who served as his synagogue’s informal historian was found beaten to death in his home. The body of Lee Stanley, 65, a longtime member of Congregation Rodeph Shalom, was found on Friday, CBS Philly reported. Homicide detectives are investigating. Rabbi Jill Maderer of Rodeph Shalom told the radio station that Stanley’s father,…
A former Nazi concentration camp guard awaiting extradition to Germany was granted bail on Monday, set at $100,000, after his serious medical condition worsened while in jail, according to court documents. The decision comes days before a federal judge was to decide whether Johann Breyer, 89, would be extradited to Germany. Lawyers for Breyer, who…
An 89-year-old man wanted in Germany for working as a concentration camp guard during World War Two said in court filings on Friday that he should not be deported because his service in the Waffen SS was involuntary. “What can be said with certainty is that Mr. Breyer is not a war criminal,” lawyers for…
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