HAPPY CHANUKAH!
Philadelphia
JEWISH LINK
Linking Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey
CANDLE LIGHTING December 13, 2019 15 Kislev, 5780 Parshat Vayishlach Candle Lighting: 4:18 pm
Issue #7 Published Biweekly December 12, 2019 14 Kislev, 5780
JRA: Helping Those Who Need it Most /,*+7 83 7+( +286(
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By Nachi Troodler
in the summer of 2000 to rent a U-Haul truck and deliver food to 19 Russian-speaking families who needed help, little did they know that their efforts would beget what has since become the Jewish Relief Agency (JRA). A lot has happened over the past 19 years. They have gone from helping 19 families to delivering to 3,246 households last month, they have outgrown two warehouses, and their volunteer base has swelled to approximately 1,000 per month. In short, the JRA has become an indispensable part of the
A
s we get caught up in our daily lives, it can be very easy to forget that there are people in our local Jewish community who may be less fortunate than we are and in dire need of our help. Fortunately, there is an organization in our midst that spends its time serving as a lifeline for thousands of individuals and families throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. When Merion Station resident Marc Erlbaum worked with Rabbi Menachem Schmidt
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Over 30 Years and Counting for the Rothenberg Mincha Minyan in Center City
The Fourth Annual Great Latke Cook-Off By Rabbi Akiva Pollack
I
By Nachi Troodler
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F
or some people, davening with a minyan during the week can be taxing. For working professionals, getting to Shacharit often means waking up at the crack of dawn to get to shul for an early minyan before heading to work. Mincha poses its own challenges, with many working folks scrambling to find a local minyan in the middle of the day and trying to
Rabbi Dovid Max and Allen Rothenberg carve out time from their workday to get there, especially
t was a Sunday afternoon in the beginning of Kislev, but the smell of latkes was already wafting through the air. The date was Sunday, December 8, Chanukah was still a few weeks away, but 17 Jewish men and women were already peeling potatoes, chopping onions, and turning potato patties into latkes. The fourth annual Great Latke Cook-Off hosted by RAJE Philly (Russian American Jewish Experience) and sponsored by the Rothenberg Law
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Firm was well on its way. Five teams (it was supposed to be eight, but three teams “peeled” away) made up of three or four people each fiercely fried to make the best latke! The five teams were RAJE Philly (the Russian American Jewish Experience), Olami (The Global Outreach Foundation), NCSY (Jewish Youth Group), CBS (Congregation Beth Solomon Men’s Club) and Northeast Philly (comprised of the Yermish family). At 2:00 p.m., the CBS Community Center, the venue
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