Bryan Schwartzman
Specter, Sestak woo Jewish voters in Pa.
ELKINS PARK, Pa. – With polls showing a tight race in the final weeks of Pennsylvania’s Democratic senatorial primary, incumbent Arlen Specter and challenger Joe Sestak are pressing for Jewish support.
In the case of Specter, the five-term Republican-turned-Democratic senator, that has meant taking the rare step of rebuking President Obama — over public criticism of Israel.
Both candidates spoke at a recent local event for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and a candidates’ forum at the state’s largest synagogue, Reform Cong. Keneseth Israel, in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park.
Phylactery phobia: Tefillin incident grounds airplane
If there’s any upshot to the misunderstanding that grounded a small aircraft last week in Philadelphia — and scared the wits out of two Jewish teenagers — it’s that the general public might now know a bit more about tefillin.
A 17-year-old Orthodox Jew donned his prayer phylacteries to recite morning prayers during a Jan. 21 flight from New York’s LaGuardia Airport bound for Louisville, Ky. Unfamiliar with the prayer boxes — and fearful they could be a wired bomb — the captain decided to notify federal authorities of a disruptive passenger and land the plane in Philadelphia, according to FBI Special Agent J.J. Klaver, a local field officer.
