Home Care In Elkins Park, PA

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Frank Lloyd Wright is America’s most celebrated architect, and he created wondrous works throughout the country. However, he only designed one synagogue: Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

Beth Sholom Synagogue sits in a residential area about nine miles north of Center City Philadelphia in the Montgomery County suburb of Elkins Park. The Beth Sholom Congregation that it serves was established in the city in 1919 but moved out to the suburbs in the 1950s to support the Jewish community in that area.

Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen, who led the congregation, had a dream of creating a grand American synagogue and felt that only Frank Lloyd Wright could help him achieve his vision. And, despite Wright having turned down many similar projects in the past, he was impressed by Cohen’s words and vision and decided to design this impressive structure.

Over the course of six years, Wright worked with Cohen to create a building that was both profoundly a Wright design, as well as profoundly in line with Cohen’s vision and filled with Jewish symbolism. Despite budget and building issues, the structure was completed in September 1959, shortly after the death of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Today, the Beth Sholom Synagogue is one of Wright’s finest works and the only intact example of his work in the Philadelphia area.

Visitors wanting to explore this still active synagogue can take the public tours that are offered every Sunday throughout the year. Unlike many of the other Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in PA, photos are allowed on the tour and children are welcome (though they might find the tour a little boring).

Tours of Beth Sholom Synagogue are approximately one hour long and take you through a portion of the building including a small museum, the main sanctuary, and a smaller chapel.

After a brief introduction to the building, tours begin with a quick stop in the museum and a viewing of a 20-minute film about the building of the structure. This film is very well done and really provides great insight into Cohen’s vision and Wright’s design.

As you walk through the synagogue, docents do an excellent job pointing out some of the smaller and larger details in the construction that make this building incredibly unique and unquestionably Jewish in design. It’s really amazing how much thought Wright put into creating a unique American synagogue.

One of my favorite details during my visit was the little lights in the foyer that cast light in the shape of the Star of David. I also really enjoyed all of the symbolism in the altar at the front of the large sanctuary.

As someone who isn’t Jewish and has only been in synagogues a handful of times, I found it very interesting to learn about these little touches, and also about the parts of Jewish that they relate to. I can imagine for those that are Jewish, these touches will be even more meaningful.

The most impressive spot within Beth Sholom Synagogue is the main sanctuary.

This space is awe-inspiring thanks to the towering pyramid of glass that stretches 110 feet over the 1,020 seats within the sanctuary. Lit up at night, this pyramid is designed to evoke the image of Mount Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments.

Above the seats, there is a large and colorful chandelier that is strikingly beautiful to gaze upon and is filled with symbolism that is quite fascinating to learn about.

Sadly, needed repairs to the deteriorating plexiglass panels mean that portions of the space are often covered with tarps and buckets line the pathways. Still, this space is truly beautiful and an amazing work of art by both Wright and Cohen.

The tour ends in the small chapel where the congregation typically meets for their weekly services. While not as grand as the main sanctuary, this is still a beautiful space that is interesting to see and features a lot of design touches that are reminiscent of many other Wright designs.

After the tour is finished, visitors are allowed to reenter the museum to spend time looking over some of the preserved artifacts and signage, as well as visit the gift shop.

Once back outside the synagogue, make sure to take the time to walk around to the front of the building to see this incredible place from outside.

Views from afar will give you a sense of the grandeur of the building while closer inspection will let you see some of the exterior details including the beautiful entry doors and the spot where Wright “signed” the structure.

Having toured several of Wright’s works in the past, including Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob, both in southwestern PA, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Beth Sholom Synagogue near Philadelphia. I found it especially interesting to contrast the homes I had previously visited with Wright’s work on a more public project, as well as learning about the symbolic details that were designed into the structure.

If you are a fan of Wright’s work, architecture, or simply love history, consider Beth Sholom Synagogue a must-visit spot in the Philly suburbs.

Looking for more places to visit nearby? Check out the Ryerss Museum, Wissahickon Gorge, and the Stoogeum.

Beth Sholom Synagogue

See map for other area attractions.

ELKINS PARK, Pa. (CBS) -- After sitting vacant for decades, an Elkins Park mansion from the Gilded Age is undergoing a long-awaited restoration.

Tucked away on Spring Avenue is one of the largest private residential homes in the entire country. But for the better part of the last 30 years, not many people have seen behind these walls.

"Lynnewood Hall is a house that has long been forgotten about, unfortunately," Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation executive director Edward Thome said, "and that is what we're here to change."

Step inside the front doors, and its grandeur is immediately clear.

"This is the great hall," Thome said. "It's the largest room in the building. Lynnewood is, quite truly, the last American Versailles."

Certainly, fit for a king.

"This is one of the largest residential ballrooms in the eastern seaboard," Thome said. "And that's 18th-century Italian, which came out of a palace in Italy."

The nonprofit Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation bought the 110,000-square-foot property in June, largely through the help of an angel donor, with the intent of restoring the home and opening it to the public.

"This is arguably the most important preservation project in America right now," facility site manager Tyler Schumacher said. "The opulence, the incredible history, the architecture of this building. Losing a building like this is something you can never get back."

Losing it was a real concern.

After changing hands several times, the home sat empty for decades. The foundation feared the property and its 35 acres would land in the hands of a developer, or fall victim to neglect.

"Thirty years of abandonment, usually in most buildings, leads to collapsing floors and caving-in roofs, and as you walk through this building, you're not going to see a lot of that," Schumacher said.

Lynnewood Hall was built to last. It's an entirely brick building, with a steel I-beam cage and a foot of concrete between each floor.

Dating back to 1897, the Gilded Age mansion was originally built as the private home of Peter A.B. Widener. His purpose was family and art.

"The Widener family had 14 Rembrandt's in their collection," Thome said.

Today, it's the massive art galleries that are in some of the worst shape.

"Our first steps must be asbestos remediation and also stabilization," chief operating officer Angie Van Scyoc said. "You cannot begin restoration until you no longer have water coming in the building."

The foundation is now raising money to fund the work. The goal is a slow, phased opening over time.

"Because we want to have the ability to have master craftsmen come in with universities and students from all around the country," Thome said.

And craftsmen from around the world.

First up, opening the grounds next year and eventually hosting public tours, turning Lynnewood Hall into a cultural center for education, architecture and art.

The foundation raised $9.5 million that went toward the purchase of Lynnwood Hall. It's estimated they now need $100 million more for the restoration project.

Jan Carabeo

Jan Carabeo joined CBS3 Eyewitness News as a reporter in March 2014 and was named weekend morning anchor in January 2017.

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Dispensary workers in Elkins Park, an unincorporated community just north of Philadelphia, told their bosses they wanted to unionize on the biggest marijuana holiday of the year — April 20.

After that, the vibe at work changed for 26-year-old Robert Franco, who commutes from Kensington to the Restore Integrative Wellness Center, a medical marijuana dispensary on Old York Road.

“Everybody was always anxious,” Franco said. “It was like walking on eggshells the entire time.”

The company was “extremely adverse to the idea of their workers unionizing,” said Wendell Young, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union president for Local 1776.

Union organizers said that over the past few months, Restore Integrative Wellness Center hired anti-union educators to hold meetings with workers before the vote. Workers also said that even the company’s top management sent an email to employees one day before the vote, pleading with them not to unionize, saying it would destroy the relationship between the employees and the company.

The union currently represents more than 1,000 cannabis workers across 20 dispensaries in Pennsylvania.

“[Restore] utilized a lot of the typical scare tactics and intimidation,” Young said. “They created a hostile work environment.”

But on June 1, nearly 69 percent of workers voted to unionize the Elkins Park store, according to results on file with the National Labor Relations Board. Out of 16 ballots cast, 11 were in favor of the union and five voted against it. There were 24 employees eligible to vote, records show.

Restore did not respond to repeated requests for an interview with WHYY News.

This was not the first cannabis dispensary across the region to unionize, and union leaders say it won’t be the last either — especially as the industry is poised to grow in the coming year.

If recreational marijuana is legalized in Pennsylvania, there may be an even bigger push to unionize those stores, both industry experts and union officials say.

Restore’s Elkins Park location opened about five years ago, but since there is a high turnover of retail workers, Robert Franco, with only two years of service, is one of the most senior employees.

Franco began working part-time at $15 an hour, and is now earning $18.50 an hour as a full-time employee. He’s offered health insurance, but it’s a limited plan with few doctors in the region. It’s from the for-profit giant United Healthcare.

Cannabis industry insiders say it’s the only health insurance company willing to underwrite group policies for a business that’s still illegal on the federal level. That same reality means 401K retirement plans are off the table for cannabis business employees too.

UFCW Local 1776 union president Wendell Young said that total compensation for unionized cannabis workers is typically about 30 percent higher than non-unionized workers when healthcare benefits and retirement plans are factored in.

Dispensary workers at Restore are expected to cross train as janitors, security officers, inventory specialists, and retail sales cashiers for a starting wage of $17 an hour, but are often denied overtime and holiday pay, employees say. There are no sales bonuses either.

Lindsay Alston is 31 years old and has a college degree, and says she can’t afford to give the company more of her time.

“They keep you at a wage where they can say that it’s the highest of the industry,” she said. “But like I had told management — industry standard doesn’t mean that it’s a livable wage.”

In May 2018, Restore along Frankford Avenue in Fishtown was the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in Philadelphia. In March 2022, Restore ran into issues when it sought to open a sixth location, this time in Delaware County, when the Yeadon zoning board reversed its decision to allow the dispensary.

While cannabis companies acknowledge that dealing with unions is part of the equation, it can be difficult to turn a big profit with the tax structure that doesn’t allow businesses to use common tax deductions such as overhead expenses like advertising, salaries and travel expenses.

“It is expensive to operate a cannabis business, particularly because of the lack of access to traditional banking,” said Meredith Buettner, executive director of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition. “The effective tax rate of a cannabis business hovers somewhere around 70 percent, whereas a normal legal business operates with a tax burden of somewhere around 30 percent.”

Philadelphia attorney Justin Moriconi of Moriconi Flowers Ltd. has worked with many cannabis businesses in the licensing process. Moriconi said some clients are eager to offer employee compensation packages to attract talent, but it’s not always feasible at first.

“I’ve had clients who wanted to do profit-sharing plans, incentive bonus plans and that’s all good,” Moriconi said. “But you have to have the money there to do it. I think that will change, but we’re not really there yet.”

There were more than 425,300 patients across Pennsylvania who purchased $7.3 billion in medical cannabis products across 173 dispensaries as of March 2023, according to a presentation to the state Medical Marijuana Advisory Board in April.

According to state data, monthly dispensary sales of medical marijuana regularly hit about $140 million each month statewide, and have grown steadily since 2020. Not all dispensaries share individual revenue data or final profits after expenses.

“Cannabis companies always struggle to be profitable,” Moriconi said. “The reason for that isn’t necessarily the pricing, although certainly that can affect it. But it’s taxes.”

Since the medical marijuana business was legalized in 2016, the market has significantly consolidated as smaller operations sold licenses to larger corporations, he said.

If Pennsylvania lawmakers approve recreational cannabis sales for adults like Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland ,and New York have already done, unions are likely to play a leading role in that industry too, according to Meredith Buettner, of the Cannabis Coalition.

“We’ve seen pieces of legislation filed in both the House and the Senate here in Pennsylvania that have pointed to the state liquor store system as a possible avenue for adult-use cannabis,” she said. “That signals that labor is a really important part of this conversation as the workforce of those stores is unionized. I think the industry acknowledges that and is prepared to have productive conversations with labor partners as we develop a comprehensive adult-use plan.”

In New Jersey, regulators already require labor peace agreements where unions are allowed to pitch the idea to cannabis workers.

“It takes a lot of the friction away between business owner and employee and union having that labor peace agreement in place,” Moriconi said. “So every new business in New Jersey has to have a labor peace agreement in place. Doesn’t mean they’re all going to be unionized, but they have to have this procedure.”

“Safety is a huge issue within these grow facilities,” UFCW Local 1776 union president Wendell Young said. “There’s a lot of potential exposure with the products that are used to help cultivate and protect plants that aren’t necessarily good to humans. We do a lot of work around trying to understand the best practices for ventilation and the kind of safety gear that should be worn.”

In the coming year, UFCW Local 1776 expects to represent another 800 workers as contracts are still being hashed out.

“We expect to continue to organize at a fairly rapid rate,” Young said.

The Saint Mary’s Ukrainian Cemetery sits at 438 Cedar Road in Elkins Park. Like at most area cemeteries, you can drive in on a narrow road, park your car on the pavement or a patch of grass and walk up to almost any stone.

But there is one monument near the back, to the left and standing in front of trees that has a “Please Keep Off” sign dangling from the chain surrounding it. And that stone commemorates Ukrainian soldiers who fought with the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) during World War II.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the ADL’s Philadelphia office and the American Jewish Committee Philadelphia/Southern NJ were among those calling for its removal.

And the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia is listening: It met with the AJC on Sept. 8 and announced on Sept. 12 that it would temporarily cover the monument.

“Both parties acknowledged concerns about the monument and agreed that we need unity, support of each other and to have an ‘open, scholarly and compassionate dialogue.’ To this end, the AJC was invited to and plans to attend such a dialogue, which the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy proposed in its statement of September 8. Both parties also understand that the Archeparchy will temporarily cover the monument, per a statement that it is publishing on its social media and on its website,” according to a statement from both organizations.

“Both communities agreed that the bridge that was built is strong enough to bear the weight of any issue and will not divide us. We reiterate: no genocide should be forgotten; no genocide should be allowed. Never again. We sincerely hope that the friendship and support that the Jewish and Ukrainian peoples have established since Ukraine regained its independence will only flourish and be stronger,” the statement continued.

The Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy is the association for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the eastern United States. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, based in Philadelphia, is a member of the archeparchy and the owner of the cemetery site.

Taking down the monument is important for two reasons, according to Jason Holtzman, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council within the Jewish Federation.

“No. 1, it will be one less Nazi memorial in the world,” Holtzman said. “No. 2, it will show that the archeparchy doesn’t stand with this SS unit.”

“1943-1945,” the stone reads in the middle. “In Memory of Ukrainian Soldiers,” it says at the bottom. In between the years is a shield with a lion and crowns inside. It’s the symbol for the Ukrainian unit, SS Galichina, in the SS. It’s also a sign of hate, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The same symbol is engraved into the stones of many veterans of the unit who are buried behind the memorial.

The monument was erected in 1993, according to Moss Robeson, who reports on Ukrainian nationalist groups. It stood unnoticed until Robeson tweeted a picture of a Ukrainian far-right leader posing alongside it in May. Then in August, The Forward added the stone to its global list of Nazi monuments. In September, The Philadelphia Inquirer spread the story to a local audience.

Veterans’ groups built the stone to “celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the unit,” according to the Inquirer article. They did not need approval or supervision from the archeparchy, according to an association spokeswoman. “Volunteers and conscripts from Nazi-occupied Ukraine” were part of the unit. Many came from a region called Galicia, now part of modern-day Poland and western Ukraine.

Since the soldiers decided to fight Adolf Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union, some saw Nazi collaboration “as a means toward establishing an independent Ukrainian state.” And after the war, “8,000 soldiers from the division were allowed to emigrate.” Many ended up in Philadelphia.

The argument that these soldiers were freedom fighters does not stand, according to Holtzman and Andrew Goretsky, the regional director of ADL Philadelphia.

“It was an SS unit,” Holtzman said.

“Any monument dedicated to a Nazi or Nazi-adjacent group needs to be removed and replaced,” Goretsky added.

The coaches on "The Voice" were swept away by a talented young singer from Montgomery County on Tuesday night's episode.

NariYella, 20, of Elkins Park, drew rave reviews for her performance of "One Night Only," the hit song from the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls." The singer is an undergraduate student at the University of the Arts, where she's pursuing a degree in music business entrepreneurship and vocal performance.

The 23rd season of "The Voice" debuted in early March and is still in the blind audition stage, when the coaches pair up with singers to round out their respective teams. The coaches this season are Kelly Clarkson, Chance the Rapper, Blake Shelton and Niall Horan.

During blind auditions, the coaches sit facing away from the performers. If they like what they hear, they turn their chairs.

NariYella's performance got all four coaches to turn their chairs and vie for her to join them the rest of the way.

Chance the Rapper opened the conversation by asking NariYella about herself, but she was still overcome by the reception she received.

"Hold up, let me get my life together, Chance, please," NariYella said. "I've been singing since I could talk. I've been taking it seriously for the majority of my life, the past decade."

Host Carson Daly predicted a fight among the coaches to bring NariYella onto their teams — and he was right.

"Your voice is actually shocking to me how powerful you are," said Shelton, who's coaching his final season on the NBC show. "Anybody that can be that open and connected to the moment, those are the artists that make it all the way. I would be honored to have you on my last team that I am ever going to put together on 'The Voice.'"

"You have a personality that is just so incredibly captivating," Clarkson said, inviting NariYella to join her team. Horan did the same.

NariYella ultimately chose to go with Chance The Rapper, who gloated about getting her on board.

"It feels good to beat the other coaches," Chance said. "To beat all of them at one time is crazy."

NariYella's website says her musical interests are in R&B, neosoul and hip-hop. Below is a video of "What You Like," a single she released last year.

NariYella tweeted Tuesday that she's still blown away by the reception she got on "The Voice."

Viewers can expect to hear a lot more of NariYella in the weeks to come.

Michael Tanenbaum PhillyVoice Staff

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