1 TALKING SEA CHANGE TURKEY Downsized Thanksgiving meals offer the opportunity for experimentation. NOVEMBER 12, 2020 / 25 CHESHVAN 5781 PAGE 19 JEWISHEXPONENT.COM WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH IN PHILADELPHIA $1.00 OF NOTE Palliative LOCAL Care Takes Havurah Marks 50th Anniversary on Added Strong friendships formed over the decades. Importance Page 4 During OBITUARY Len Barry Pandemic Dies at 78 The Dovells singer JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF had solo hits, too. DR. MARI SIEGEL FEELS fortunate to Page 6 be in palliative care, the eld of medicine BOOKS and health care dedicated to the mitiga- Joe Biden supporters celebrate outside of City Hall on Nov. 7. Photo by Gordon Cohen tion of su ering for patients with serious Complicated Life illnesses. It makes her feel like she’s invited of Max Jacob into a holy space — a space that’s usually Explored only shared with a rabbi. Biden Supporters Detail Also reviewed: “People trust me with their secrets, with world of white their feelings, with their loved one’s care,” Roles in Election Triumph supremacists. said Siegel, a palliative care physician at Temple University Hospital, and a member Page 21 of Adath Israel of the Main Line. “It really JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF president-elect and gave a victory speech does give me balance and ll my soul.” that night in Wilmington, Delaware. In the last few months, Siegel’s work AFTER ELECTION DAY, Jewish Pennsylvania has more than 430,000 Volume 133 has taken on a new element. Because the Philadelphians who worked on behalf of Joe Jewish residents, and many people played a Number 31 COVID-19 pandemic has put dangerously Biden’s campaign marched and danced, but role in getting that vote out. Five residents Published Weekly Since 1887 ill patients in isolation for months at a most of all the they waited. And waited. — and one non-resident, whose work this time, their families unable to enter the On the morning of Nov. 7, their election cycle focused heavily on the state’s hospital, doctors like Siegel are nding patience was rewarded: Biden became the Jewish voters — spoke about what they See Palliative, Page 14 See Election, Page 15 2 TOC THIS WEEK IN THIS ISSUE 4 HEADLINES Local Israel National Global 16 OPINION Columns Kvetch ’n’ Kvell Jewish “intellectual giant” Local theater mainstay Dolly Author relates lessons learned 18 LIFESTYLE Jonathan Sacks dies at 72. Beechman Schnall dies at 96. volunteering in Israel. & CULTURE Food 8 9 22 Arts JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 24 TORAH COMMENTARY Miriam’s Advice Well Philacatessen 25 COMMUNITY HOW CAN I CELEBRATE SAFELY? LINGCOD WITH SUNDRIED TOMATOOLIVE SAUCE Jewish Federation The thrill seems to be gone when it comes Lingcod may come with a confusing name (it’s not a type of cod) Deaths to celebrating, according to one reader, and actually has a taste and texture similar to halibut, but costs Mazel Tovs who can’t bear another Zoom gathering. less. That perked up the ears of food columnist Keri White, who What’s a would-be celebrator to do? Miriam used the fish in a Mediterranean-style dish smothered in sun- 28 CLASSIFIEDS notes that while options may seem limited, dried tomatoes and olives. Sound promising? Read Philacatessen, looking for variations upon a theme from her online blog, for the recipe. And check Philacatessen regularly prior quarantine-era celebrations might prove fruitful. For details, for content not normally found in the printed edition, including read Miriam’s Advice Well online. From dating to parenting, Miriam other recipes, gift ideas, restaurant reviews and food news from welcomes all questions. Email yours to [email protected] around the Delaware Valley. CANDLE LIGHTING and put “Advice Well Question” in the subject line jewishexponent.com/2020/11/09/lingcod-with-sun-dried- Nov. 13 4:28 p.m. jewishexponent.com/2020/11/09/dear-miriam-how-can-i- tomato-olive-sauce/ Nov. 20 4:23 p.m. celebrate-safely/ FOREST HILLS / SHALOM MEMORIAL PARK Do You Have a Plan for the Future? Why Pre-Plan Today ? • Make sure your family knows your fi nal wishes • Relieve your loved ones from having to make tough decisions and from any unexpected fi nancial burdens • Give real peace of mind for you and your family NEW MASADA V MAUSOLEUM Call us today to speak with a Family Service Professional and receive your FREE Personal Planning Guide. Forest Hills Cemetery/Shalom Memorial Park 25 Byberry Road Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 215-673-5800 Samuel Domsky Brent Lanzi NEW COLUMBARIUM & PRIVATE ESTATES General Manager Family Service Manager 2 NOVEMBER 12, 2020 JEWISH EXPONENT JEWISHEXPONENT.COM MAST 3 Name: West Laurel Hill Width: 4.5006 in Depth: 7.375 in Color: Black plus one Comment: Jewish Exponent 2100 Arch Street, 4th. Floor, Ad Number: 00092243 Philadelphia, Pa. 19103 2018 MAIN PHONE NUMBER: 215-832-0700 JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA David Adelman and Gail Norry,Co-Chairs Steven Rosenberg, Chief Operating Officer JEWISH PUBLISHING GROUP Andrew L. 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Its overall religious aliation is somewhere WHAT KEEPS A group of in the middle of the spectrum, friends together for 50 years? between Reform and Orthodox, For Philadelphia’s with a Reconstructionist inu- Unstructured Synagogue ence. Meetings take place two or Havurah, the answer is simple. three times a month and consist “e one word that it can of services and discussions. be boiled to is acceptance. We e venture started with 24 accept one another. For all the individuals in six core families. mishegas that individuals have, ey met in each other’s houses we accept each other,” said Rabbi to pray, study and socialize, Steve Stroiman, the group’s going on camping trips and facilitator. holding holiday services On Nov. 4, 10 members together. ey took walking convened on Zoom to tours of Jewish Philadelphia commemorate the group’s 50th and visited Jewish sites in New anniversary and reect on the York and Washington, D.C. role it has played in their lives. “We are not a davening group, Members of the Unstructured Synagogue Havurah meet for their 50th anniversary. Photo by Sophie Panzer e group, which has no per se. Yes, we do have services, dues, no building, no ocers but they are part of the whole picture, and the whole picture more personal level, talking about is year, activities have consists of study, worship and our own life experiences, thinking ranged from personal reec- Name: Elana Collection celebration,” said Stroiman, who about what the years have been, tions during the High Holidays Width: 3.625 in Depth: 5.5 in joined when he was a young remembering people on Yom to a talk from the Jewish Color: Black plus one rabbinical student two months Kippur who have died,” she said. Genealogical and Archival Comment: JE - Frequent Flyer aer the initial founding. Member Marian Cohen Society of Greater Philadelphia Ad Number: 00091792 e unstructured nature joined the chavurah ve years to a presentation about the of the gatherings appealed to aer it was founded. She appre- Mussar movement. those who wanted an alterna- ciated the group’s creative Stroiman said the group tive to congregational Judaism approach to Judaism. kept its size deliberately small and those who wanted to “We had the freedom to in order to comfortably t in supplement their traditional express ourselves in individual people’s living rooms. Over the synagogue experiences. ways,” she said. “Sometimes we years, moves and deaths have “I don’t ourish in congre- agreed with each other, sometimes chipped away at the original gational Judaism for a couple of we didn’t, but overall it was a number, and the group now dierent reasons,” said member positive learning experience and has about 14 members. Marvin Kreithen, who joined we became sort of a family.” During the coronavirus the group with his wife Leslie Cohen and her children pandemic, Zoom has allowed Kreithen 10 years ago. “First of especially loved the chavurah’s members’ homes to continue to all, synagogue is a monologue. holiday celebrations, which be the main site of the chavu- e rabbi gets up there and oen involved art projects, skits, rah’s activities, albeit virtually.