Ocotober 18, 2019 | 19 Tishrei 5780
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Holocaust survivors speak out
Candlelighting 6:18 p.m. | Havdalah 7:15 p.m. | Vol. 62, No. 42 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Israeli teachers arrive for educational seminar
Local film screening will benefit three synagogues attacked on Oct. 27, 2018.
F
Classrooms Without Borders, and Israel’s Ministry of Education, and together they created the Israel-Pittsburgh Joint Teachers Seminar, with the goal of getting teachers out of their usual environments. “Sometimes they don’t get to observe other classrooms, even the ones next to them,” said Inbar. The Israel-Pittsburgh Joint Teachers Seminar is an opportunity to not only watch other teachers, Inbar explained, but to work with them. The current group of Israeli teachers have already spent months communicating online. Now, spending time in the physical presence of American teachers and students should “give a different perspective,” said Gur. The seminar will place the eight teachers with American counterparts in four local high schools — Pittsburgh Allderdice, Shaler Area, Avonworth and Winchester Thurston — where they’ll co-teach classes on racism, the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. The engagement will afford greater opportunity for “real life experience,” said Inbar. Whether it means Israeli teachers will better
or close to three decades, Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel has worked to support Jews in local, state and federal prisons throughout the Northeast. Vogel is the executive director of the Aleph Institute’s North East Region, ”stretching north from Virginia and East from Ohio.” According to Vogel, Pittsburgh has more federal prisons in a four-hour radius than anywhere else in the country. The Aleph Institute provides for Jewish inmates’ spiritual, educational, religious and advocacy needs, regardless of belief or denomination. Vogel recalls that when he began his tenure as executive director, he used to put up to 60,000 miles on his car each year, traveling from prison to prison throughout the region. Now, the Aleph Institute relies on a team of volunteers, including nine rabbis who have a goal of seeing each Jewish inmate at least once a week. Allegheny County has five to 10 Jews in prison at any given time. “With approximately 50,000 arrests in Allegheny County a year, and a jail that hold 3,000 inmates, turnover is very high,” Vogel said. “The average stay is three months. Because of the fast turnover, we’ve got to have people there at least once a week. With volunteers, we’re covering that. People come, people go, some people stay a little longer. We’re able to provide for them.” Providing for prisoners’ needs doesn’t simply mean arranging for a robust Torah study program or basic religious supplies like tefillin or matzah for Passover. It’s also about education. “One of the things we realized we needed from day one was a library,” he said. “The inmates have a lot of time. They want to
Please see Seminar, page 14
Please see Aleph, page 14
LOCAL Fighting for gender equality Israeli expert Dana Myrtenbaum visits Pittsburgh Ran Inbar, right, greets the Israeli teachers upon their arrival to Pittsburgh. Photo courtesy of Ran Inbar
By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
E
WORLD Jewish community growth
New study shows population has increased by 10% in last seven years. Page 9
Aleph Institute provides for more than prisoners’ spiritual needs By David Rullo | Staff Writer
Page 2
Page 4
$1.50
ight Israeli teachers have come to Pittsburgh for pedagogical instruction. The hope is that they leave with a renewed purpose. Between Oct. 11 and Oct. 20, the Israeli delegation will partner with local educators to explore best practices in teaching about racism, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. Ran Inbar, of Classrooms Without Borders, was spurred to organize the visit following the shooting at the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018, which came just two months after he’d arrived in Pittsburgh with his wife, who is completing a postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University. “The first thought was, ‘Let’s go home, there is no anti-Semitism there. There are many other problems, but no anti-Semitism.’ Then the second thought was, ‘No, let’s do something here that can make a difference,’” said Inbar, who’d been a history and civics teacher and vice principal of a school near Tel Aviv. “I thought about how can we make a difference. And the one place where you can really make a difference is education.” Inbar reached out to Tsipy Gur, of
Chabad House on Campus will honor University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher on October 26 during Homecoming Weekend. See ad on page 4.
Headlines Film featuring Holocaust survivor testimonies to benefit Pittsburgh massacre victims — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer
F
or filmmaker Harvey Bravman, who spent more than 2,000 hours listening to the recorded testimonies of Holocaust survivors, the key significance of his film “Soul Witness, The Brookline Holocaust Witness Project” lies not in the fact of survival itself. “I think the moral of the film is not that these people survived, but for you to experience their beauty and to understand that people just as beautiful as them did not,” said Bravman, who will be in Pittsburgh on Nov. 3 for a special screening of “Soul Witness” at the Regent Square Theater. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to support the three Pittsburgh synagogues attacked on Oct. 27 in an anti-Semitic massacre that left 11 Jews dead and two seriously injured. The evening will include an address by Lauren Apter Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and a Q&A with Bravman. The documentary features a collection of 31 interviews of Holocaust survivors which were conducted in the early 1990s, then locked away in a storage file for three decades. The interviews are deeply personal and gripping, with witnesses describing their lives before and during the war, and the lifelong effects of their experiences — surviving death camps, or hiding, or fighting in resistance movements. Several of the witnesses saved the lives of other Jews. The 65-minute film, Bravman’s first fulllength feature, derived from more than 80 hours
p “Soul Witness” will be shown at the Regent Square Theater on Nov. 3. Proceeds will benefit the victims and survivors of last October’s massacre. Photo provided by Harvey Bravman
of interview footage of Holocaust survivors in Brookline, Massachusetts. The interviews were conducted by Lawrence L. Langer, a Holocaust scholar and professor of English emeritus at Simmons College in Boston. “They went through so much pain to give these testimonies,” explained Bravman. “They had kept everything bottled up for the last 45 years before that. They were in so much pain and testimonies were new.” In recent years, it has become more
common for Holocaust survivors to share their testimonies, both privately and publicly. In the decades after the war, though, survivors were not speaking about their experiences so openly, according to Bravman. “People were not listening to survivors and the Jewish community wasn’t either,” he said. “I think there is this feeling that it was a lack of empathy, but I don’t think it has anything to do with that. It’s hard to listen to a friend tell something that’s not pleasant. You could
imagine, it’s the late 1940s, early 1950s, and all people knew were the images of the camps they had at liberation and knowing people were exterminated. And knowing what that was like, people, I think, were just afraid to hear the details.” Bravman said he was also afraid to hear the details, and, after receiving the tapes, more than two weeks passed before he could Please see Film, page 15
5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Main phone number: 412-687-1000
Subscriptions: 410-902-2308 SUBSCRIPTIONS subscriptions@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 410-902-2308
Jim Busis, CEO and Publisher 412-228-4690 jbusis@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
TO ADVERTISE Display: advertising@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 412-721-5931
EDITORIAL Liz Spikol, Acting Editor-in-Chief 215-832-0747 lspikol@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Email: newsdesk@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org BOARD OF TRUSTEES Evan Indianer, Chairman Gayle R. Kraut, Secretary Jonathan Bernstein, Treasurer David Ainsman, Immediate Past Chairman Gail Childs, Elizabeth F. Collura, Milton Eisner, Malke Steinfeld Frank, Tracy Gross, Richard J. Kitay, Cátia Kossovsky, Andi Perelman, David Rush, Charles Saul GENERAL COUNSEL Stuart R. Kaplan, Esq.
2 OCTOBER 18, 2019
Toby Tabachnick, Senior Staff Writer 412-228-4577 ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Adam Reinherz, Staff Writer 412-687-1000 areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org David Rullo, Staff Writer 412-687-1047 drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org ADVERTISING Kelly Schwimer, Sales Director 412-721-5931 kschwimer@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Phil Durler, Senior Sales Associate 724-713-8874 pdurler@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
PRODUCTION Jennifer Perkins-Frantz, Director Rachel S. Levitan Art/Production Coordinator BUSINESS Bill Sims, Director of Circulation 410-902-2315 Devorah Neuman, Circulation subscriptions@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 410-902-2308 Published every Friday by the Pittsburgh Jewish Publication and Education Foundation 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Phone: 412-687-1000 FAX: 412-521-0154 POSTMASTER: Send address change to PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE, 5915 BEACON ST., 5TH FLOOR PITTSBURGH, PA 15217 (PERIODICAL RATE POSTAGE PAID AT PITTSBURGH, PA AND AT ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES) USPS 582-740
Manuscripts, letters, documents and photographs sent to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle become the property of this publication, which is not responsible for the return or loss of such items. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle does not endorse the goods or services advertised or covered in its pages and makes no representation to the kashrut of food products and services in said advertising or articles. The publisher is not liable for damages if, for any reason whatsoever, he fails to publish an advertisement or for any error in an advertisement. Acceptance of advertisers and of ad copy is subject to the publisher’s approval. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle is not responsible if ads violate applicable laws and the advertiser will indemnify, hold harmless and defend the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle from all claims made by governmental agencies and consumers for any reason based on ads appearing in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.
DEVELOPMENT Barry Rudel, Development Officer 412-215-9157 brudel@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Headlines Special resolution designates Oct. 27 a day to remember and repair in perpetuity — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
L
ocal politicians, survivors and family members of those murdered during last October’s attack at the Tree of Life building gathered at the City County Building last week to declare Oct. 27 a day to remember and repair in perpetuity. The Oct. 8 event was marked by comments from Mayor Bill Peduto and Councilperson Erika Strassburger, who both praised local responses following the massacre. “In the darkest time of our city there were little shimmers of light, light that shined through evil, light that was a part of connecting all of us,” said Peduto. “It was an incredibly powerful show of respect, reverence and neighborly love,” said Strassburger. A special resolution designating Oct. 27 as “Remember Repair Together Day” in the City of Pittsburgh was shared. Along with specific mention of Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Please see Resolution, page 15
p Mayor Peduto speaks during the Oct. 8 event.
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
Photo courtesy of the Office of the Mayor
OCTOBER 18, 2019 3
Headlines Israeli gender equality advocate to visit Pittsburgh — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer
D
ana Myrtenbaum has made a career out of working toward gender equality in Israel. She will be in Pittsburgh next week to learn strategies and tactics to take back to the Jewish state. Myrtenbaum, an Israeli public interest lawyer and social innovator, is the founder and director of the City for All Program at Itach-Ma’aki Women Lawyers for Social Justice where she promotes gender mainstreaming and gender equality action plans within local governments in Israel. Since 2017, she has implemented City for All in Rishon LeZion, Taybe, Akko and Haifa. In each city, a multi-level process is underway toward creating and executing a gender equality action program. “City for All,” explained Myrtenbaum, speaking by phone from Israel prior to her Pittsburgh visit, actually translates from Hebrew and Arabic more accurately as “city for women,” because of the gendered nuances in the languages. “We enter into cities and we work with their administration and with groups of women leading women,” she said. “We work with the city in a big consultation and public participation process, and we crystalize a gender equality plan that suits the city in various areas. In each city it’s different.” For the last two decades, Myrtenbaum has introduced programming to address the needs of marginalized citizens. She has helped to give voice to Jewish and Arab women leaders, advancing more inclusive policies for gender equality and the alleviation of poverty. While in Pittsburgh, Myrtenbaum will be meeting with Pittsburgh’s Gender Equity Commission, a two-year old initiative that has already accomplished a lot, she said, and which she admires. Although while in the States she will also have meetings in New York and in Boston, Pittsburgh, she said, “will be the highlight of my visit because I really wanted to meet the Pittsburgh committee.” “I want to learn from Pittsburgh,” she said. “I want to see the magic of this committee that did so much work since 2018. They have lots of data they collected, they meet every month, they have men on the board of the committee. They work with the full support of the city.” While in Israel every city is required to have a mayor’s adviser on gender issues, “many times they are not nominated and when they are nominated it’s just like to check the box, because many of those advisors don’t get a salary,” Myrtenbaum explained. “Here it seems like something is working so I want to learn about the mechanism, and understand the small details of how they do it.” Myrtenbaum will also be meeting with the Women and Girls Foundation of
4 OCTOBER 18, 2019
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
p Dana Myrtenbaum Photo courtesy of Dana Myrtenbaum
Southwestern Pennsylvania while in town, and will be addressing a group of interested women at a private event hosted by local Jewish historian Barbara Burstin as part of the ongoing effort of the Rayah Fund to bring bright Israeli female speakers to Pittsburgh. “Dana Myrtenbaum is one of the dynamic women in Israel who is bringing about real change in Israeli civil society,” said Burstin. “She is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer and powerful advocate for gender equality. And she is part of our effort to strengthen the link between Israeli and American Jews, particularly between Israeli and American women.” Myrtenbaum is particularly proud of her work in Akko, where she has helped to implement an action plan that includes improving employment and security, and factors in data analytics regarding gender policies in the city. The city initiated a municipal women’s council that has been operating for the last six months, and it also launched a committee for gender equality, “mapping all that happens in the issues of gender in the city,” she said. “We think we are pioneering what’s going to be part of what each city will do by itself sooner or later,” she said. “It’s an interesting field because the local policies are affecting our lives as women,” more than are federal governmental policies. “Local governance is very important to the lives of people — and the lives of women and children especially — and because it’s more day to day things, like how transportation affects our lives, how sports affects our lives, how the budgets are allocated to men, women, other genders, girls and boys. Welfare. So the fact of local governance is more immediate.” She considers her visit to the U.S. as a “study trip,” hoping to be inspired by what she learns here, and taking that back to Israel. “I think the challenges of governance and women and women’s issues and gender perspective, it’s something that is pretty universal,” she said. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
OCTOBER 27, 2019 Honoring the lives lost and the people affected by the attack of October 27, 2018
A commemorative day of service, study and community
REMEMBER. REPAIR. TOGETHER. Join the Pittsburgh Jewish community as we commemorate one year since the anti-Semitic attack on October 27, 2018. Volunteer activities, Torah study, and a community gathering will be available to the public.
Community Service
Resiliency Center Drop-In
Torah Study
Community Commemoration
11AM – 1PM
11AM – 4PM
2PM - 4PM
5PM - 6PM
Various Sites
10.27 Healing Partnership
Rodef Shalom Congregation
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
pittsburghoct27.org/event/ community-service
5738 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15217
pittsburghoct27.org/event/ torah-study
4141 Fifth Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15213
PLANNING COMMITTEE Congregation Dor Hadash New Light Congregation Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation 10.27 Healing Partnership Center for Victims City of Pittsburgh – Department of Public Safety
Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Family and Community Services Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Victims’ Families and Other Advisors
PITTSBURGHOCT27.ORG PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 5
Calendar screening questionnaire and consent form at rodefshalom.org/rsvp and bring the form to the clinic to expedite the process. Covered by most major health insurance. In the event that you do not have health insurance, the cost for the vaccine is $39.99. Questions? Contact Kristin Karsh at karsh@rodefshalom.org. q MONDAY, OCT. 21
q SATURDAY, NOV. 23 Congregation Beth Shalom’s Samuel and Minnie Hyman Ballroom (5915 Beacon St.) will be transformed into the hottest comedy club in town for Come Together: Comedy Night, the congregation’s annual fundraiser. The comedy night stars Modi, called “the next Jackie Mason” by The New York Times. The laughs begin at 7 p.m. Tickets: bethshalompgh.org/cometogether >>Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q SATURDAY, OCT. 19 Join other Pittsburgh Jewish young adults and enjoy an evening in the Beth Shalom Sukkah from 8-9:30 p.m. at Young Adult Wine & Wisdom in the Sukkah. Sip wine and share some words. Non-alcoholic beverages and nosh will be available. Visit jewishpgh. org/event/young-adult-wine-wisdom to register for this free event.
q SUNDAY, OCT. 20 Donate Blood. Save Lives. Schedule an appointment to give blood at Temple Emanuel of South Hills between 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Walk-ins welcome. To make an appointment, visit vitalant.org, click on the Donate button and search with group code G0020018. q SUNDAY, OCT. 20 & TUESDAY, OCT. 22 Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave, is partnering with Rite Aid Pharmacy to offer two flu shot clinics from 9:30 a.m.noon that are open to the public. Please RSVP so the pharmacist can bring an adequate supply of vaccines. Complete the
Celebrate one of Judaism’s most joyful holidays with Moishe House at the Simchat Torah Afterparty and Bonfire. The celebration begins at an area synagogue (tentatively Congregation Beth Shalom or Temple Sinai) where the community will unroll the Torah for a new year. The celebration will continue at Moishe House with music, snacks and a bonfire! For more information, visit facebook. com/events/619918425201800. Moishe House activities are intended for young adults aged 22-32.
q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 23, 30; NOV. 6, 13 Jewish Family and Community Services presents Trauma Resiliency Group: An Integrative Approach to Healing, a free weekly gathering for anyone suffering the aftermath of the trauma of Oct. 27. Offered by Amy Lohr, LCSW, integrative psychotherapist, at JFCS, Room A/B, second fl., 5743 Bartlett St., Squirrel Hill at 4 p.m. “Heal, Grow and Live with Hope. ” Nar-Anon and NA meetings every Wednesday evening at Beth El Congregation, 1900 Cochran Road, 15220 at 7:30 p.m. Come to the office/school entrance at the end of the building to be buzzed in. Call Karen at 412-563-3395 and leave a message for more information. q THURSDAY, OCT. 24
q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 23 Join the Lions of Judah for a thoughtprovoking discussion on the Changing Faces of Judaism, presented at 6 p.m. by Rabbi Jeremy Markiz, director of Derekh & Youth Tefillah at Congregation Beth Shalom. Free to attend. At the home of Diane Samuels (address provided upon RSVP). Dinner will be served. Dietary laws observed. Contact Rachel Lipkin Gleitman at rgleitman@ jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5227 for more details.
Rabbi Ron Symons presents “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.” Rabbi Symons will explore the 21st-century relevance of this longstanding value as part of the sevensession “South Hills Healthy Living” series presented by South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh at the South Hills JCC at 7 p.m. Free and open to the community. southhillsjewishpittsburgh. org/healthyliving q FRIDAY, OCT. 25 Join other young adults beginning at 6 p.m. at Together at the Table: A Community Building Shabbat Dinner. Reflect on the past year and look forward to the future of Jewish Please see Calendar, page 7
HOW WE DEBATE While adopting the roles of government officials and environmentalists, our Middle School students hold a town hall meeting to discuss the merits and consequences of proposed energy initiatives to local communities. How will you empower your child to debate the issues that shape their world?
BECAUSE “HOW” MATTERS PK-12 • Four Campuses
SHADYSIDEACADEMY.ORG/VISIT
6 OCTOBER 18, 2019
OPEN HOUSES OCT. 19 – NOV. 9
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Calendar q MONDAY, OCT. 28
Calendar: Continued from page 6 Pittsburgh. Visit shalompittsburgh.org/event/ young-adult-commemorative-shabbat-dinner to learn more. With the USC Shoah Foundation No-Cost Professional Development Opportunity, ITeach Seminar, educators will learn to use testimony to address challenging social climate issues such as contemporary antiSemitism and the rise in hate crime, learn how IWitness provides students a unique primary source that connects learners with contextualized first-person views of history through multimedia activities, and learn effective strategies to teach with IWitness, an educational website that offers students over 3,000 full life testimonies of survivors and witnesses to genocides. Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh (826 Hazelwood Ave.), 11 a.m. Free. To register, visit trainingreport. formstack.com/forms/pa_registration_form. q SATURDAY, OCT. 26 Temple David (4415 Northern Pike, 15146) will conduct a special program, “Remembering October 27, 2018: From Darkness to LightFrom Embrace to Hope.” A family program will begin at 6:15 p.m. including a visit by a therapy dog, an original mosaic art project and a take-home project. At 7 p.m. “From Darkness to Light” a simple ceremony separating the Sabbath from the new week, called “Havdalah.” Families with young children may choose to leave afterward. At 7:30 p.m. “Embrace to Hope” begins. A comfort program through words and the songs of an interfaith choir that will honor first responders and features Brandi Gurcak, clinical coordinator for the Center for Victims, presenting “Creating Space for Hope.” A reception will conclude the evening. Open to the public. templedavid.org Celebrate with Chabad House on Campus at their 31st Anniversary Event dessert reception honoring University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher at the William Pitt Union, Tansky Lower Lounge (3959 Fifth Ave.) beginning at 8:30 p.m. Couvert: $54/ person; $100 per couple; $1,800/VIP reserved seating for 10 guests. q SUNDAY, OCT. 27 Remember. Repair. Together. Join the Pittsburgh Jewish community for the one-year commemoration of the Oct. 27 massacre. Take part in community service opportunities (11 a.m.-1 p.m.), Torah Study (2 p.m.-4 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation) and a community gathering at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall beginning at 5 p.m. Registration is now open. Visit PittsburghOct27.org to learn more. Donate Blood. Save Lives. Schedule an appointment to give blood at the South Hills JCC, noon-4 p.m. Walk-ins welcome. To make an appointment visit vitalant.org and use code C438.
Music at Rodef Shalom presents: Theater Songs…The Music of Douglas Levine. Pianist, composer and music director Douglas Levine presents an evening of original musical theater compositions from the last 20 years. Performers include six outstanding local singers backed by an instrumental combo with Levine at the piano. The event is free, 7:30-9:30 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. q TUESDAY, OCT. 29 Chabad of the South Hills presents Love & Knaidels Kosher Cooking for a Cause -Sweet Beginnings Ruglelach Bake. Bake two pans of rugelach-one to take home, one to share. Enjoy a buffet of appetizers while you bake. 1701 McFarland Road, 6 p.m. Free. Register online at chabadsh.com or batya@ chabadsh.com. q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 30 Celebrate with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh at the CHUTZ-POW! Volume IV: Women’s Stories Launch Party beginning at 6 p.m. at Chatham University’s Boardroom (Woodland Road, 15232). Hear from the creators about the process of putting the book together. Light hors d’oeuvres served. Learn more at hcofpgh.org/cp4kickoff. Feeling lonely and looking for some friendly faces? Come to Moishe House on October 30 at 7 p.m. for Pumpkin Carving at MoHo and you can carve all the friendly faces you want on some pumpkins! If you prefer human faces, you’re in luck, there will be friendly humans present as well. Anyone who comes in costume and says “trick-or-treat” will be provided free snacks (as will everyone else)! For more information visit facebook. com/events/ 2669878686410076. Moishe House activities are intended for young adults aged 22-32. q SATURDAYS, NOV. 2; DEC. 7 Join Lauri Lang, RDN LDN Concierge Wellness LLC for a four-part (once a month Sept.-Dec.) Holistic Nutrition and Wellness Series which will contain the following elements under four umbrella themes: interactive lecture with Q&A; featured item for sampling and discussion; guided meditation and/or breathwork (pranayama). The three umbrella themes are: Oct. 5, 2019: Chronic Disease and Cancer Prevention; Nov. 2, 2019: Women’s Health Across the Lifespan; Dec. 7, 2019: Enhancing Immune Function, Vitality and Graceful Aging. Each workshop is 75 minutes in length. $59 for one workshop/$99 for all four. Visit sthielpilates. com for more information and to register. q SUNDAY, NOV. 3 Join the Jewish Federation Young Adult Division, PJ Library and Community Day School for some Noah’s Ark themed fun beginning at 1 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Spend the afternoon at 2x2 at the Zoo with PJ Library learning about and getting up close and personal with some animals and participate in fun activities and crafts. Visit jewishpgh.org/event/2-x-2-at-the-zoo for more information.
Enjoy a night with friends, popcorn and fun when Rodef Shalom Sisterhood Movie Night Presents: ‘Hester Street,’ starring Carol Kane. A charming story about a young Russian bride and her son who arrive to live in America with her husband in the 1890s. She discovers a very different world in New York City, and a very indifferent husband. Directed by popular director Joan Micklin Silver and starring actress Carol Kane, who garnered an Academy Award nomination for best actress in 1975 for this film. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments are provided. No RSVP required. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave., rodefshalom.org. q MONDAY, NOV. 4 Jack Mostow presents “RoboTutor: $1 Million Finalist in the Global Learning XPRIZE competition” at First Mondays with Rabbi Alex Greenbaum. All First Monday events begin with lunch at 11:30 a.m., $6. To RSVP, call 412-561-1168. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6 David Finegold joins Rodef Shalom Congregation to discuss “The Changing Higher Education Landscape: The Next Chapter in Chatham’s 150-Year Journey,” a conversation about the University’s efforts to create a larger and more attractive community for Jewish students. Finegold has more than 30 years of experience in higher education. In March 2016, he was appointed the 19th president of Chatham University. Free and open to the public, 7:30-9:30 p.m. Seating is limited. Please RSVP by calling 412621-6566 or at rodefshalom.org/rsvp. q THURSDAY, NOV. 7 The Mediation Council of Western PA presents Conflict Resolution Day on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Levinson Hall (5738 Forbes Ave). The event will honor the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh and Brian Schreiber, 2019 Conflict Resolution Day joint recipients, for their actions of healing and reconciliation following the Oct. 27 shootings. www.mediationcouncilpa.org/ conflict-resolution-day q SATURDAY, NOV. 9 The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents “Etty,” the one-woman play based on the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum and adapted and performed by Susan Stein. The play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall (4400 Forbes Ave.), commemorating the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht. The play will be followed by a discussion with the audience. For more information visit hcofpgh.org/kristallnacht19. q SUNDAY, NOV. 10 & MONDAY, NOV. 11 In commemoration of the shooting at the Tree of Life building, Classrooms Without Borders is organizing a conference titled Anti-Semitism, Hate and Social Responsibility, to take place at Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave., from 1-5 p.m. on Nov. 10-11. The conference will feature lectures by renowned scholars
and workshops that will equip teachers to educate and inspire their students to identify and combat hate, anti-Semitism and racism. This conference is geared toward academia, educators, spiritual leaders, students and members of the community. Please contact daniel@classroomswithoutborders. org for more information or visit classroomswithoutborders.org/events/ show.php?229. q TUESDAY, NOV. 12 The Jewish Pro-Life Foundation invites you to attend Judaism: The Original Pro-Life Religion, an uplifting educational program exploring Judaism’s traditional principles regarding unborn life. A short slideshow will be presented followed by Q&A. Bring your curiosity and conversation, but please leave any politics and polemics at the door. The program is free of charge. Light refreshments will be served. Carnegie Library Squirrel Hill Branch, Meeting Room B, 1 p.m. q TUESDAYS, NOV. 12-DEC. 17; SUNDAYS, NOV. 17- DEC. 22 Mined from the teachings of the Torah and contemporary psychology, Worrier to Warrior: Jewish secrets to feeling good however you feel, a six-week Rohr Jewish Learning Institute course, takes a fresh approach to the battle against bad feelings, providing realistic spiritual mechanisms for remaining upbeat no matter what life brings. Offered Tuesday evenings starting Nov. 12 from 7:30-9 p.m.at the South Hills JCC, 345 Kane Blvd. or Sunday mornings starting Nov. 17, 10:15-11:30 a.m. at Chabad of the South Hills, Mt. 1701 McFarland Road. For more information, call 412-344-2424 or rabbi@ chabadsh.com q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 13 Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to kick off the 2020 Community Campaign. This Is Us will celebrate the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Featuring an interview with chef Kevin Sousa (Superior Motors) and chef Michael Solomonov (Zahav) about all things Israeli food and Jewish Pittsburgh. This Is Us takes place from 5:30-8 p.m. at Rivers Casino. To learn more, visit jewishpgh.org/event/this-is-us-2. q TUESDAY, NOV. 19 Celebrate with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh at the CHUTZ-POW! Volume IV: Women’s Stories South Hills Launch Party beginning at 7 p.m. at the South Hills JCC (345 Kane Blvd., 15243). Hear from the creators about the process of putting the book together. Light hors d’oeuvres served. Learn more at hcofpgh.org/cp4kickoff. q SUNDAY, DEC. 8 Volunteer at Super Sunday, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s annual mega-phone-a-thon, at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Three time slots available. For more information, visit jewishpgh.org/event/super-Sunday-2. PJC
www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 7
Headlines How Pittsburgh changed the way American Jews think about security worse, has served as a wake-up call for Jewish Americans. Here’s what’s changed in the last year as the attack’s Oct. 27 one-year mark approaches.
— NATIONAL — By Ron Kampeas | JTA
H
ere’s the sad paradox of the shooting nearly one year ago at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life building: The killing of 11 worshippers, the worst attack on Jews in U.S. history, hit a community that was one of the best prepared to handle such an assault. In the year or so prior to the attack, Jewish community security officials had run dozens of training sessions that reached as many as 5,000 Pittsburgh Jewish residents. Many of the congregants in the Tree of Life building knew not to stay in place during an attack, where to find the exits and to have a cellphone on hand to call 911 — despite the compromise to traditional Shabbat observance that requires avoiding the use of electronic devices. “It was an incredible model that needs to be replicated,” Michael Masters, the CEO of the Secure Community Network, the security agency for the national Jewish community, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The loss of life would have been much more significant.” The horror that was the Pittsburgh attack, and the fact that it might have been much
Communities are paying more attention …
Masters told a Jewish Council for Public Affairs webcast recently that requests to SCN for assistance had quadrupled from 500 in the year before the attack to 2,000 since. Thirty-five federations had security directors a year ago; now 44 do. “We’re working much more closely with federations on their security programs,” Masters said. SCN, a program launched in 2004 by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, expanded in the months before Pittsburgh by hiring regional directors to target areas of the country where communities have less well-developed security operations. There are now five such directors, and more are in the works. Attitudes have changed, too. Masters said he no longer encounters communities that believe attacks on Jewish institutions only happen overseas, or that enhanced security attracts unwanted attention, as he
occasionally did before Pittsburgh. “There’s now a general consensus on the importance of security,” he said.
… but are not quick enough on the draw.
Federations may be hiring more security directors, Masters said, but some are slow in getting around to providing them with the support necessary to run training sessions and threat assessments. “We still have a lot to do to make people understand this is a collective responsibility,” he said. “Every organization should be training on key elements [of responding to attacks]: situational awareness, threat assessments, stopping the bleeding.” Standardization is key, Masters said. It doesn’t help a community if the Jewish day school has a better security system in place than the summer camp the same children attend.
The normalization of violent anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism appears more prevalent and knows no political home, said Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League CEO. He cited the recent proliferation of attacks on Orthodox Jews in the New York
area, especially in Brooklyn. “You can’t just plug this into a political lens,” Greenblatt said. “There are no white supremacists and [far-left] activists in Williamsburg.” The attacks are also happening everywhere. Masters noted the geographical breadth of a number of foiled mass attacks since Pittsburgh: Washington state, California, Ohio, Georgia. “We see the diversity of these plots and where they’re taking root,” he said.
Protectors are playing nicer
The ADL was the lead Jewish group on security issues prior to the establishment of SCN and never fully relinquished that role. Occasionally there were turf battles. No longer: SCN and ADL now work closely together. “We cannot go it alone anymore,” Masters said. The ADL and the Jewish Federations of North America, SCN’s parent group, have convened a joint security task force co-chaired by two former Homeland Security secretaries, Jeh Johnson and Michael Chertoff. The task force will release its findings at about the time of the Pittsburgh anniversary, Greenblatt told JTA. Please see Pittsburgh, page 20
helping you plan for what matters the most
ROAD RUNNER PLUMBING
With the increasing costs of long-term care, having the help of a legal professional when planning for your family’s future can help you make better decisions that can result in keeping more of your money.
P I T T S B U R G H , PA
(412) 292-5830 (412) 421-1538
M. Kerekgyarto
Mini Excavator Available
member, national academy of elder law attorneys
INSURED
Turning 65? You Have Limited Time to Make a Decision that Will Affect the Rest of Your Life.
Call Dan Askin Health Insurance for Individuals & Seniors Since 1984 askinsure@msn.com • askinsure.net
8 OCTOBER 18, 2019
Michael H. Marks, Esq. Linda L. Carroll, Esq. michael@marks-law.com
Helping You Get the Best Health Plan Coverage to Fit Your Needs and Your Budget!
412-901-5433
We help families understand the strategies, the benefits, and risks involved with elder law, disability and estate planning.
412-421-8944 4231 Murray Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Service Repair Expert M.P. 3342
www.marks-law.com
linda@marks-law.com
KNOW A YOUNG ADULT WITH INTELLECTUAL OR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES WHO IS READY TO ASSUME MORE INDEPENDENCE? Jewish Residential Services, in partnership with Verland, is creating a new group home in Squirrel Hill offering 24-hour support in a community living arrangement that celebrates Jewish culture. Find out more at this community meeting. RSVP to akarabin@jrspgh.org or 412-325-0039 by October 22nd.
COMMUNITY MEETING
SPONSORED BY:
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019 7:00pm - 8:30pm Community Day School 6424 Forward Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15217
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Headlines America’s 7.5 million Jews are older, whiter and more liberal than the country as a whole — NATIONAL — By Ben Sales | JTA
I
n the past seven years, the American Jewish population has grown 10%. It remains a population that is mostly liberal, college educated and overwhelmingly white. And it’s not getting any younger. This is all according to a new American Jewish population estimate of the 48 contiguous U.S. states put out by Brandeis University’s Steinhardt Social Research Institute. The center published similar studies in 2012 and 2015. “The cynicism about American Judaism, and this belief that we are a shrinking population, we are a vanishing population, is incorrect,” said Leonard Saxe, director of the Steinhardt Center. “The prophecy of the vanishing Jew has not come to fruition.” The study is based on data collected from approximately 150 independent surveys that sampled about 234,000 adults, including 5,300 Jews. Each estimate in the study comes with a range. For example, the study estimates the total Jewish population at 7.5 million, but it could be as low as 7.1 million Please see Jews, page 20
p Those aged 65 and older make up more than a quarter of the U.S. Jewish population. Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Getty Images via JTA
Renew Today!
3 YEARS FREE print edition
Complete the form and mail or call 410.902.2 410.902.2308 308
Renew my FREE 3 YEAR subscription to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.*
Address City
Name (Please print) Signature
Date
* Signature and date required to be valid by the US Postal Service. Restrictions apply. Residents eligible to receive the free three years subscription must live in the city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County or the five surrounding counties.
State
Zip
Phone Email
Mail to: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle | 5915 Beacon Street, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 9
Headlines Gunman kills 2 in attack near German synagogue and at kebab shop — WORLD — By Ron Kampeas and Toby Axelrod | JTA
T
wo people were killed by a gunman who opened fire near a synagogue during Yom Kippur services and at a kebab shop in Halle, a town in eastern Germany. The masked gunman reportedly was repelled by the synagogue’s doors, which were secured shut during the services on the most solemn day of the Jewish year. There were 51 worshippers in the synagogue during the attack, including 10 American youths, according to The New York Times. The gunman, who livestreamed the attack, then shot a woman dead near the entrance to the adjacent Jewish cemetery and subsequently killed a man at a kebab shop. Two people who sustained gunshot wounds went into surgery at Halle’s university hospital, a hospital spokesman told the BBC. The gunman fled in a car and later tried to hijack a taxi before being arrested. He posted his 35-minute video on the gaming platform Twitch before it was removed. He was dressed in combat gear with a helmet. “My name is Anon and I think the Holocaust never happened … feminism is the cause of declining birth rates in the West
p A bus with the inscription “evacuation” is escorted by police in Halle, Germany, where a gunman killed two people before being taken into custody by police last week. Photo by Sebastian Willnow/
dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
which acts as a scapegoat for mass immigration, and the root of all these problems are Jews,” he said in the livestream. Germany’s chief federal prosecutor said the alleged gunman was planning to carry out a “massacre” there. Peter Frank told reporters that the suspect, identified by the German media as a 27-year-old German citizen from a nearby town, had nearly nine
pounds of explosives in his car at the time of his capture, The Associated Press reported. A manifesto believed to be written by the gunman was posted online before the shooting and distributed by sympathizers on the messaging app Telegram. The manifesto said his objective was to “kill as many antiwhites as possible, Jews preferred.” The gunman is a resident of Saxony-Anhalt,
the German state that includes Halle, according to Der Spiegel, where he lives alone with his mother. His father told the German Bild newspaper that his son “wasn’t at peace with himself or the world,” the French news service AFP reported. He also said that “The boy was only ever online.” Security was increased at synagogues throughout Germany in the wake of the attack. “The perpetrator shot multiple times at the door and threw a couple of Molotov cocktails, fireworks or grenades at it. But the door stayed closed, God has protected us,” Max Privorotzki, the head of the Jewish community in Halle, told Spiegel online. The head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said the news of the attack and killings has “deeply distressed and frightened our community.” “The perpetrator tried to enter the synagogue, and the neighboring Jewish cemetery was also attacked, so that an anti-Semitic motive is presumed,” he said. “The brutality of the attack goes beyond anything that has happened in recent years and is a profound shock to all Jews in Germany.” He added that it was “scandalous that the synagogue in Halle was not protected by the police on a holiday like Yom Kippur.” Rebecca Blady, a visiting rabbi in Berlin for Base, a Hillel program in Germany, with Please see Attack, page 19
This week in Israeli history Oct. 21, 1949 — Netanyahu born
— WORLD — Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
Oct. 18, 1991 — Israel, Soviets resume relations
The Soviet Union and Israel resume full diplomatic relations for the first time since June 1967. The restoration is contingent on Israel’s agreement to participate in the 1991 Madrid peace conference.
Oct. 19, 1948 — Navy fights first major battle
Three Israeli ships, the Haganah, the Wedgewood and the Noga, attack an Egyptian vessel unloading troops near Ashkelon in the first major battle for the Israeli navy.
Oct. 20, 1952 — Speaker Itzik born
Benjamin Netanyahu is born in Tel Aviv. He serves as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, then again from 2009 until now.
Oct. 22, 1952 — First ambassador to Britain
Eliahu Elath, who was Israel’s first ambassador to the United States, presents his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II as he is elevated from minister (a position he has held since 1950) to become Israel’s first ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Oct. 23, 1868 — Philanthropist Mond born
Alfred Mond, a future member of Parliament and ardent British Zionist, is born in England. The son of wealthy Jews, Mond is not raised as a Jew but uses his wealth to support Jewish settlement in Palestine and helps found the Jewish Agency.
Oct. 24, 1915 — Husayn-McMahon correspondence starts
h THE BEST OF THE IN YOUR EMAIL INBOX ONCE A WEEK. Dalia Itzik, who in 2006 becomes the first woman to serve as the Knesset speaker, is born in Jerusalem to immigrants from Iraq. Sign up on the right hand side of our homepage.
Sir Henry McMahon, the British high commissioner in Cairo, and Husayn Ibn Ali, the sherif of Mecca, begin an exchange of letters in which the British government promises to back Husayn’s bid to lead a restored caliphate in exchange for support in the war against the Ottoman Empire. PJC
pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
10 OCTOBER 18, 2019
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Headlines — WORLD — From JTA briefs
Jewish leader in Germany: Police did not provide adequate protection A Jewish leader in Germany doubled down on his accusation that police did not adequately protect the synagogue in Eastern Germany targeted by a gunman on Yom Kippur. The gunman opened fire near the synagogue in eastern Germany during services Wednesday and at a Turkish kebab shop, killing two, in an attack that he livestreamed from a helmet camera. The assailant said that Jews are “the root of all problems.” “If police had been stationed outside the synagogue, then this man could have been disarmed before he could attack the others,” Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Deutschlandfunk public radio, Reuters reported. The German media identified the gunman as Stephan Balliet, a 27-year-old German. Schuster had said Wednesday evening in a statement that it was “scandalous that the synagogue in Halle was not protected by the police on a holiday like Yom Kippur.” The gunman was prevented from entering the synagogue by its secure metal doors. The head of Germany’s police union responded that the police could not provide
such protection, according to Reuters. “We’d have to guard every synagogue, every church, every mosque, every holy place in Germany around the clock, so I don’t know if this was a mistake or if this really couldn’t have been foreseen,” Oliver Malchow reportedly told public television in an interview.
Germany ‘must protect Jewish life,’ its president says
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany said the state “must protect Jewish life” in the aftermath of the shooting attack near a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Steinmeier visited the site of the rightwing extremist’s attack and met with Jewish leaders at the synagogue in Halle. “It must be clear that the state takes responsibility for Jewish life, for the security of Jewish life in Germany,” he told them, according to reports. Local officials, and Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, also visited the site with the president. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also condemned the attack. “The representatives of the constitutional state must use all means available against hate, violence and misanthropy. There is zero tolerance,” she said. On Wednesday, Oct. 9, Merkel joined a solidarity vigil at a historic synagogue in central Berlin, where she also condemned the attack and asserted that Germany would
INVITATION TO OUR READERS
protect the Jewish community, AFP reported. “My aim, and that of all politicians, is to do everything to ensure you can live safely,” the chancellor said. “And this day shows that it hasn’t been enough, that we have to do more.”
Stickers and posters described as anti-Semitic found at suburban NY Holocaust memorial
Stickers and posters described as hateful and anti-Semitic were discovered at a Holocaust memorial in suburban New York on the eve of Yom Kippur. The material was found Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Holocaust Garden of Remembrance in White Plains, in Westchester County. Writing described as anti-Semitic also was found on a sign outside the garden and inside the park as well, WABC-TV reported. The Garden of Remembrance, created by the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, was dedicated in 1992. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a statement said that he has directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to offer assistance to local authorities in investigating what he called a “heinous act.” “On this day of atonement, I join with New York’s Jewish community in remembrance of the lives lost and I pray for love, peace and understanding. Hate has no place in this state,” he said in a statement. County Executive George Latimer said in a statement on Facebook that County Police
are “actively investigating and reviewing video of the area.” “We are enraged by this act and heartbroken that individuals would target members of our community on the most solemn day in their tradition,” Latimer said in the statement. “We as a County, people of all faiths, stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters today and always.” The county stepped up police patrols in the wake of the incident. The materials and graffiti were quickly cleaned up.
Canadian synagogue targeted with swastikas and anti-Jewish symbols
Drawings of swastikas and other symbols were drawn in chalk on the grounds of a Canadian synagogue in Ontario. The drawings, which were found in four spots at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Hamilton, were discovered Saturday morning when the rabbi arrived for Torah study before Shabbat services, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The graffiti also included the word Jews with a line drawn through it. Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraeli told Canada’s Global News that surveillance camera footage showed four teenagers drawing the graffiti. The Hamilton Police hate crimes unit is investigating. Lavery-Yisraeli said the synagogue hired a security guard after last October’s attack at the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh killed 11. PJC
JC ReSound WomenLookingHillsREV18_Eartique 9/28/18 9:50 AM Page 1
Enjoy life in surround sound
A
s we approach the one-year mark since the massacre at the Tree of Life building, the Chronicle would like to offer members and friends of the Pittsburgh Jewish community an opportunity to share their
thoughts in a special section in a commemorative issue of the paper which will be published on November 1, 2019. If you would like to join others in expressing your sentiments in a personal ad, please contact Kelly Schwimer for details. Deadline is 3 p.m., October 25, 2019.
A new dimension in hearing care
Kelly Schwimer: kschwimer@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org or 412-721-5931
STRONGER THAN HATE
ReSound LiNX 3D™ With vibrant and crystal clear sound, these hearing aids work together, continuously exchanging data about your sound environment for optimized performance.
Debra L. Greenberger, M.S., CCC-A Serving the Pittsburgh area for over 25 years
The last stop you’ll make in successful hearing aid use
Call to schedule a demonstration today!
Squirrel Hill ~ 2703 Murray Ave ~ 412.422.8006 ~ eartique.com PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 11
Opinion This is why I don’t dance on Simchat Torah Guest Columnist Toby Tabachnick
T
he last time I danced — really danced — on Simchat Torah was the evening of Oct. 8, 1993. I remember the date specifically because my father died the next morning. I was living in Los Angeles at the time. I had two very young children, and one on the way. My father was in Indianapolis, where he had lived for his entire life, and where I grew up. He was battling cancer and had just been admitted to the hospital for what would be the final time. It was Shemini Atzeret, the afternoon prior to Simchat Torah, that I got the phone call from my brother-in-law, telling me that my father had taken a turn for the worse and that I needed to come home right away. I called the airline immediately and booked the red eye to Indy. But before I headed to LAX to catch the midnight flight, I went to our shul, Kehillat Ma’arav in Santa Monica, to celebrate Simchat Torah. I still vividly remember how surreal that night was, singing and dancing with the Torahs, knowing that in just a
few hours I would be on my way to say good-bye to my father. I arrived at the hospital the following morning. My father passed away two hours later. He had been born on Rosh Hashana, at
in my formative years. Although a difficult childhood during the Depression had given him a pretty tough veneer, he was the most generous person I have ever known. He was larger than life, brilliant and wise and funny
Over the years, there were one or two times that I tried to join with the rest of the congregation in the dancing and the singing and the jubilancy of the day. But that just didn’t work for me. the commencement of the Jewish fall holiday cycle, and I always saw a certain poetry to his leaving this world at its end. Here is where I want to say how close I was to my dad. My mother died of cancer when I was 6 years old. My father remarried six months later. His second wife died when I was 7. The following year, he remarried again, and I was blessed with the kindest of all stepmothers for the next four decades. But it was my dad who was the constant
and always my biggest champion. Celebrating his yahrzeit on Simchat Torah — arguably the most festive of Jewish holidays — eventually became a gift despite its sad irony. It has given me the opportunity to always mark the day of his passing with ample community and to drink toasts to his memory, which he would have loved. Over the years, there were one or two times that I tried to join with the rest of the congregation in the dancing and the singing
and the jubilancy of the day. But that just didn’t work for me. It felt not just fake, but almost like a betrayal of the mourning that I still feel for the loss of my father. Instead, I stand on the sidelines and I watch, letting others celebrate, on my behalf, the beginning of a new cycle of the reading of our Torah. As the holiday of Simchat Torah approaches this year, I am thinking a lot about the three congregations that lost dear members last Oct. 27. I think about their Simchat Torah celebrations, coming less than a week before the one-year mark of the anti-Semitic massacre at Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha. They will be remembering their Simchat Torah celebrations of 5779, and who was there, and who cannot be there this year. I am imagining they also will be wrestling with the contradictions of a joyous holiday tied inextricably with despair. There surely are those who admirably will carry the Torahs and sing loudly and dance in the aisles of the synagogue. In doing so, they will be honoring the memories of the martyrs who are not there to dance themselves, and they are, in my mind, heroic. But not everyone may be able to dance. For some, it may be impossible. And that’s OK. Being there may just be enough. PJC Toby Tabachnick is the Chronicle’s senior staff writer.
Germany has allowed anti-Semitism to flourish once again Guest Columnist Fiamma Nirenstein
A
s I write these lines in Jerusalem, Yom Kippur has just come to an end. The news has just reached us here that during the holiday, a synagogue was attacked in the German city of Halle, and that two people have been killed. According to the media reports, the assailant, a neo-Nazi, attempted to force his way into a synagogue to massacre those inside. At the time of writing, no further details are known. But while much about the attack remains unclear, one thing is certain: this crime occurred in the country with the greatest obligation of any in the world to eradicate anti-Semitism. Germany, the country that did its best to exterminate the Jewish people, promised in the 1950s to devote its energies to healing this terrible wound — a promise reaffirmed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And yet in recent years it has stood by as hatred against Jews and Israel has risen once again. In the first months of this year alone, there were 400 anti-Semitic incidents in Germany. Germany’s fatal rendezvous on Wednesday was made possible by the 77% of Germans that think it’s appropriate to forget the country’s crimes. That forgetfulness is what has
12 OCTOBER 18, 2019
The rising tide of hate is driving the German ship of state toward a fatal meeting with the past. allowed supremacist Nazi ideology to be resurrected. It is also what has made possible the importation into the country, along with a vast multitude of Islamic immigrants, of well-organized, but willfully ignored, Jew-hatred. Ironically, Germany has done this to demonstrate its spirit of generosity, tolerance and brotherhood. See how a paradox determines the destiny of a nation that believes itself to be the mother of philosophical logic. Felix Klein, the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, published an article this past May stating that he was “extremely alarmed by the rise of anti-Jewish hatred in Germany.” Yet his government votes — always, no exceptions — against Israel, both at the United Nations and European Union. In addition, Germany suspends diplomatic relations with Israel whenever Israel’s policies towards “the territories” are not in line with Germany’s wishes. This last happened in 2017, with Germany asserting the right to judge Israel’s security policy
and publicly condemning the Jewish state, harshly criticizing its supposed moral shortcomings and making continuous references to “proportionality.” Worse still, it has allowed public displays of homicidal hatred, such as a demonstration on the streets of Berlin (inconceivable!) organized by the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization Hezbollah where “Death to Israel!” and “Death to the Jews!” were shouted. Klein has said that “sometimes hatred of Jews is based on a radical right-wing vision and at other [times] it emanates from Muslim hatred,” and also that it “often originates in left-wing ideology characterized by an apparent global humanism. But each time the image of the enemy that comes out is the same: the Jew.” Fifty percent of immigrants to Germany, according to a study conducted in Bavaria, think Jews have too much influence in the world — and so do between 15% and 25% of Germans. This in the country responsible
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
for the Shoah, in which two million Jewish children were murdered. Germany has allowed anti-Semitism to flourish everywhere: in its cities, schools, throughout its mass media, in politics, in its streets and institutions, as well as in the suburbs where immigrants live. This shameful, ancient hatred is being nourished by ideologies Germany should have to be the first to identify and fight. The German Bundestag took a very positive step in condemning the BDS movement as anti-Semitic, yet it has not done nearly enough. The rising tide of hate is driving the German ship of state toward a fatal meeting with the past. It will take hard work, attentiveness and a great deal more honesty, as well as less rhetoric, to seriously address the issue. And not only in Germany. As this Yom Kippur ends and Jews in Israel and abroad return home from their respective synagogues, the world has a duty to protect them — in deed and not just in word — as their nation-state, the collective Jew, is cruelly besieged, attacked and accused of made-up crimes. PJC Fiamma Nirenstein was a member of the Italian Parliament, served in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and established and chaired the Committee for the Inquiry Into Anti-Semitism. A founding member of the international Friends of Israel Initiative, she is currently a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. This piece originally appeared on JNS.org.
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Opinion A time of healing Guest Columnist Jordan Golin
A
s we emerge from the period of High Holidays and approach the one-year commemoration of the Oct. 27th shooting, many of us are feeling tired. Tired of feeling sad. Tired of feeling anxious. Tired of feeling guilty for feeling sad and anxious. And while we are tired of these feelings, part of us also recognizes that avoiding our feelings won’t make them go away. And yet. How many of us harbor a desperate desire to turn back time and go back to Oct. 26th, 2018? To delete from our memories and our collective experience the death and devastation that occurred that Shabbat morning? To embrace the 11 beautiful souls that were taken from us? To return to a time of joy and innocence? Of course, we know that we cannot turn back time. And we also know that prior to the attacks, we were not living in a time of innocence. By Oct. 26th, our country had already experienced murderous attacks in communities whose names we already knew from the news as mass casualty shooting sites: Parkland, Charleston, Aurora, Orlando and so many others. But the pain and anguish that has followed us since that terrible Shabbat morning can sometimes feel so relentless that time traveling can seem like a pretty appealing solution. For many of us, this was our first experience
with the confusing and devastating phenomenon of trauma. And the process of healing from trauma can seem almost as unfathomable as the traumatic event itself: When will my sleep go back to normal? When will my worries subside? Why do I feel better on some days and worse on others? When will I finally go back to being my old self? Why am I so upset about the death of people who I didn’t even know? Or: Why does this feel so different from my grief at losing other loved ones? The farther we get from that terrible Shabbat, the more frustrating it feels to many of us that we are still struggling with these questions. And the truth is, there are no simple answers to these questions. The process of healing from trauma is not like the healing of a scraped knee. We all heal in very different ways, at different paces and with different supports. We express our pain differently, and we hide our pain differently. Successful healing involves slowly integrating this terrible experience into our identities — not being defined by the trauma but also not denying it. One thing we know for sure is that we heal better when we have the support of others — relatives, friends, neighbors and professionals. This past year has been dark and difficult in many, many ways. But the new year can be a year of healing, renewal, connection and acceptance: that others need our help, that we need their help and that the journey forward will take time and patience. Shana tova. PJC Jordan Golin, Psy.D., is president and CEO of Jewish Family and Community Services.
— LETTERS — A call for civility My first reaction to Dan Resnick’s op-ed (“Fantasy politics,” Sept. 20) was rage at his not-so-subtle attacks on the president, Prime Minister Netanyahu, evangelical Christians and, by association, anyone who agrees with their politics. But then I attended Yom Kippur services and was reminded of my own failures, particularly not seeing the bad traits in myself that I see in others. That made me think of why it was possible for the professor to believe such terrible things about all those he has accused. So, I came to see my guilt in not condemning the over-the-top rhetoric coming from this president and many of his followers. As a result, I have written a strongly worded letter imploring President Trump to tone down his rhetoric. Having done that, I challenge the professor to do the same. The rhetoric coming from his side of the political divide is no less divisive and pretending that it isn’t is also a failing. Both my failing and Professor Resnick’s could easily be corrected. We are not enemies. I am sure that Professor Resnick and I agree on far more things than we disagree. I am Jewish. I do not condone anti-Semitism. But yes, there are anti-Semites who support the same people I do. I do not believe that Professor Resnick condones BDS or any group that advocates Israel’s destruction. But yes, there are anti-Semites who support the same people Professor Resnick does. Neither of us has responsibility for the opinions of others. Let us begin to talk about our differences with the civility that such important issues demand and let’s stop thinking the worst of each other. Robert Ennis Pittsburgh We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned. Mail, fax or email letters to:
Letters to the editor via email:
Website address:
letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Fax 412-521-0154
An unforgettable Yom Kippur — in prison Guest Columnist Aaron Bernstein
B
ernie Madoff is certainly the most infamous of the residents at North Carolina’s Butner Federal Correctional Facility, but, scanning the congregation at the outset of the Kol Nidre service, we realized that he likely wouldn’t be making it to minyan this year. This elicits an audible sigh of disappointment from Rafi, our de facto chazan for the holiday. He’s only half-joking. Each year, the University of Maryland Hillel, in collaboration with the Aleph Institute (a Lubavitch-adjacent nonprofit focused on those Jews who find themselves cut off from their community), sends students to federal and state correctional facilities to lead Yom Kippur services and facilitate discussions for Jewish inmates. This year, I had the honor of joining them. We arrived at Butner about an hour before sundown in our rented RV (our home for the evening), which would be parked just a few dozen feet from the massive barbed-wire fences ringing the complex. Without them, the facility might’ve been indistinguishable from a community college campus. But of course, the fences are definitely there, and you can always see them, no matter where you go. Upon arrival, we were welcomed by a portly-looking Texan who introduced himself as Chaplain May. Over the course of the holiday, he was warm, accommodating and, upon request, more than willing to tell us about Bernie Madoff ’s incarceration at Butner’s medium-security facility. He was also genuinely curious about why anyone would choose to take precious time out of their college years to fast in a prison. It was certainly a valid question. I could tell he wasn’t fully satisfied with our answers. It’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly our group of four was expecting as we walked into the prison chapel, where the congregation was already assembled. As we began to greet the gathered inmates, whatever abstract ideas of empathy and justice we had previously considered dissolved immediately. When you’re looking another human being in the eyes, shaking their hand, and exchanging hearty “Shana Tovas,” it’s hardly that complicated. It becomes easy to forget the ID number on their chest is there at all. Throughout our entire time at Butner, we were astounded by the openness and warmth of the men we met. They were intelligent — David, a congenial Atlantan, passionately urged us to read
Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Peter, an older gentleman with a defiant sense of class, spoke confidently on a wide range of philosophical topics, and offered a few quality Jewish jokes to match. And they were curious — Trevor, an elderly Jamaican who had not grown up Jewish, told us of the fulfillment he had found through his newfound faith, and politely asked questions whenever he could get them in. Henry, the youngest of the group, had also found his religion during his incarceration, and was a constant presence during our discussions. And these men cared for each other. One man became visibly emotional as he told us the story of his first day at Butner, when Howard, another Jewish inmate whom he had met that day, literally gave him the shoes off his feet, since the commissary was already closed for the day. He found it difficult to put into words the power that such a gesture held for him. Many of the men spoke of their community in similarly powerful terms. Howard, being the most well-educated on Jewish topics out of the group, was half-jokingly referred to as the Rebbe. Despite rapidly losing his eyesight, Howard spent his days preparing and delivering lessons on Jewish topics for those inmates who felt compelled to attend. As the holiday ended and our program came to a close, we sat in a circle and shared our wishes for the New Year. Many shared their hopes of returning to their families, maintaining good health and growing in their Judaism. When it got to Howard, he was already on the verge of tears. He told us about the incredible strength that he drew from this group of men, and he shared with us his wishes to spend the next Yom Kippur with his grandchildren, to sit with them and teach them the prayers as his father and grandfather did with him. To the enthusiastic agreement of the entire group, he expressed his deep appreciation for our being there. The appreciation was all ours. We had come to Butner to provide a service for the inmates; they wanted a traditional Jewish experience, and we had given them that. But it was we who were inspired. We were inspired by a small Jewish community holding onto hope even through the nightmare of incarceration. We were inspired by men who refused to give up on life, and whose Judaism gave them muchneeded meaning, and more so, had tied them together in bonds of brotherhood, lifting each other up. As we hugged them goodbye, we understood that just for a day, we had had the opportunity to feel the strength of that unique brotherhood. We will never forget it. PJC Aaron Bernstein, a Pennsylvania native, studies government and politics at the University of Maryland.
www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 13
Headlines Aleph: Continued from page 1
learn. Unfortunately, the government took out education from the prison system. So, not only is it warehousing those prisoners that simply want to be, it’s also warehousing everyone else. They aren’t allowing any education.” That library is more important than ever before, as the fentanyl addiction of the last several years has created a unique problem. Visiting rabbis used to be able to bring books to prisoners. Unfortunately, fentanyl was being smeared on paper products and passed through letters and books to inmates who were then ingesting the paper. As a result, the prison system has banned almost all paper from going into prisons. Because of this, visitors can no longer bring books for prisoners to read. The Aleph Institute has bypassed that challenge by being included as part of the Pennsylvania Interlibrary Exchange. This system allows anyone to check out books from any library affiliated with the program. When a prisoner requests a book in the Aleph Institute’s library, it is sent to them via media mail. The inmate reads the book and returns it when finished. Navigating the ban has provided other opportunities for Vogel to get creative. Because prisoners have limited space, and bringing newspapers and magazines to prisoners is difficult, the Aleph Institute creates a weekly, one-page newsletter that includes the weekly Torah portion. While the Aleph Institute creates the newsletter, it is printed at the various prisons, bypassing the ban on outside paper. The Aleph Institute’s library is housed at its Squirrel Hill location and has about 5,000 books. The titles in the collection have been donated; the library accepts gifts of Jewish books. “I’m not going to say, ‘This book is kosher and this book isn’t.’ That isn’t my job. Our job is to help the inmates use their time wisely. The criteria is that it’s a Jewish book, that’s it. No one is going to say a book by Alan Dershowitz is religious, but it is Jewish related.” Prayerbooks and Torahs aren’t accepted as donations, as prisoners are meant to keep those books and have them with them. The
Seminar: Continued from page 1
understand diversity, or American educators and students will reap a greater appreciation for Israel, the opportunities are vast, he noted. “At the end, each can be an ambassador to his or her own classroom.” There will be other opportunities for the Israeli and American educators to connect as well, such as during visits to local educational institutions like Community Day School and Carnegie Mellon University. And each school can take advantage of the Israeli teachers’ presence with the creation of their own projects. At Pittsburgh Allderdice, for exampe, the Israeli and American educators will “teach both African American and Jewish students together about racism in American society in the 1930s and in 14 OCTOBER 18, 2019
p Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel stands in front of books shelved in The Aleph Institute’s library.
Aleph Institute has developed its own book that includes basic blessings and serves as a crash course in Judaism. In addition to book donations, the Aleph Institute is always in need of volunteers to assist with visiting prisoners. “It’s very challenging,” Vogel said. “I wish
Germany,” said Inbar. Hopefully, after hearing students describe their lives here, the Israeli educators will be able to take knowledge about “segregation, racism and hate” and apply it when discussing “current American life and politics.” A project in Avonworth will allow participating teachers to create an exhibit about the Warsaw Ghetto to educate students about bystanders and upstanders, thereby demonstrating that history should not repeat itself, he explained. Program participants will also have the travel together.
Photo by David Rullo
we had more people who wanted to go in. I’m lucky if I have five volunteers. We need people to go visit.” To Vogel, such volunteers are serving a unique purpose. “The Talmud tells us the biggest mitzvah we can do is taking care of someone that has passed away because they
can do nothing in return. The same thing is true with inmates. They can’t repay us, but they need the help. They’re our brothers and sisters. Never are we disposable as human beings.” PJC
Two days after the Israelis arrive, all of the participating educators will head to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to take part in an Oct. 13 workshop on teaching together and using primary sources in the classroom. On Oct. 19, the group will travel to Washington, D.C., and visit both the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Visits p Ran Inbar of Classrooms Without Borders to these museums should Photo courtesy of Ran Inbar compliment the educational goals of the seminar, opportunity to explained Inbar, as “they can understand what diversity really means. ... When we see
others, we can understand better.” Since conceiving the seminar idea nearly a year ago, Inbar has gotten his own education in Pittsburgh. “As an Israeli, speaking for myself, I almost never really engaged in deep conversation with people from different cultures or countries,” he said. “From coordinating this seminar, I know much more about this city and multiculturalism.” Inbar said there have even been talks about having the American teachers make a reciprocal visit to Israel in March. Educators teaching together, learning from students and one another — it all has value beyond the classroom, Gur said. “If we are going to fight anti-Semitism, then we’ll do it by educating teachers and students.” PJC
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Headlines Film:
“ After you hear their stories,
Continued from page 2
muster the courage to play them. The most heart-wrenching testimonies, he said, reflect the pain of loss the survivors felt after their relatives were murdered. “I think people go into the film thinking that some awful thing that happened at Auschwitz is going to be the hardest thing for them to hear,” Bravman said. “And I think they are unprepared sometimes for how they will feel to hear someone tell them how they lost their family and how much they loved their family. Because what’s more important?” The film, he said, reveals in haunting detail “what it feels like to lose people that you loved, and to be alone afterward. Almost all of them were orphans when it was over. And I think that is more anguishing than what you think that you would be anguished about.” Bravman included in the film “what was most important to the people who gave their testimony,” he said. “And what was most important to most of them were stories about their family.” “Soul Witness,” he said, is also meant to highlight the imperative of listening. “These are people who, when the war
Resolution: Continued from page 3
Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger, the 11 murdered on Oct. 27, the resolution recorded the names of Daniel Leger and Andrea Wedner, who each received gunshot wounds, and first responding officers Anthony Burke, Timothy Matson,
you are glad that you did, and I think you become stronger.
”
It made me a better person.
— HARVEY BRAVMAN
Bravman reached out to several theaters to inquire about screening his film in Pittsburgh, and Regent Square Theater, a nonprofit operated by Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media, agreed to host. “We are honored to screen this important film to support our Pittsburgh neighbors who endured this horrific tragedy and to remember the community members we lost,” said PCA&M Cinema Program Director Joseph Morrison in a prepared statement. “The Regent Square Theater is an important hub for community gatherings, and we’re happy to do our part.” Bravman hopes that the testimonies in this film “will help the healing in a way.” “Everything that helps can only help in small degrees,” he acknowledged. “We come there very humbled to try to do just this little bit, knowing there is no way to reverse time.” The film is intended for a general audience with an advisory for children under 13. Tickets to the benefit screening are available online or at the Regent Square Theatre or at the box office. More information on the film can be found at soulwitness.org. PJC
was over, they had nothing,” said Bravman. “They had no country, no family, no trust. And they went their lives with these memories that were bottled up and they had to deal with it in their own way. There were a few brave people who listened to them. I think because of that, these treasures exist. “After you hear their stories, you are glad that you did, and I think you become stronger,” Bravman added. “It made me a better person.” The film was completed in October 2018, and the first time it screened as a finished product was Nov. 1 at the Bedford Playhouse
in New York, just a few days after the massacre at the Tree of Life building. Since then, Bravman said, he has been motivated to find a way to do something to help the three congregations that were attacked in Pittsburgh. “We had sold out really early and so we had a full house,” Bravman recalled. “Then, what happened on October 27 put the screening on a whole new perspective and had an effect on me, and had an effect on the audience that night. We spoke about the shooting before the film. We had to, right? It was in all of our minds. And I think that stuck with me. Somehow I wanted to use the film to help.”
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
Daniel Mead, Tyler Pashel, John Persin and Michael Smidga. The resolution additionally cited “the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, the broader Muslim community and so many diverse communities throughout the region [that] reached out with compassion and support, showing the world that acts of violence will only serve to further unite faithful people across religions and traditions,” as well as members of the Jewish community, including
rabbis and volunteers from the two chevra kadisha and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh. “At the families’ request, we marked this solemn occasion with a resolution from both City Council and the Mayor, ensuring that Oct. 27 is remembered not just this year, but every year in perpetuity,” said Strassburger, who along with Councilperson Corey
O’Connor represents Squirrel Hill. “Recognizing this is a painful and traumatic mark. We worked hard to be as sensitive as possible to those most affected,” continued Strassburger. “This terrible event was history-making for the worst of reasons and was one of the darkest days in Pittsburgh. However, the action from first responders and from leaders of other faith communities is also part of this remembrance and in a way is also history-making.” PJC
Jewish Family and Community Services and the Center for Victims who wish to meet with community members on-site, noted Feinstein. Online services will also be available, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Apart from hosting individual meetings, the space will be utilized for programming. On Oct. 17, professionals from the 10.27 Healing Partnership will facilitate conversation on parenting in light of last year’s attack and other acts of global violence. Ten days later, on Oct. 27, the space will be open for
drop-in hours during the day for those interested in talking, reflecting or occupying a quieter space. Mental health professionals and spiritual care providers will be available on Oct. 27. The 10.27 Healing Partnership is supported by a grant from the Anti-terrorism and Emergency Assistance Program. Money from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh provided startup funds. PJC
10.27 Healing Partnership opens
T
he 10.27 Healing Partnership, Pittsburgh’s Resiliency Center, has opened inside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. The federally funded resiliency center offers a dedicated space for healing and support and is open to the community at large regardless of JCC membership status. Maggie Feinstein, the 10.27 Healing Partnership’s director, previously told the Chronicle that the center is “a safety net that is supposed to be able to provide services
GET THE
Maggie Feinstein
Photo courtesy of Maggie Feinstein
and activities that are not already provided in the community.” Along with a greeter, the 10.27 Healing Partnership will employ a full-time mental health professional. The “community owned space” will be utilized by other mental health professionals from
— Adam Reinherz
news. THEN GET THE FULL STORY. ❀ In the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. For home delivery, call 410.902.2308.
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 15
Life & Culture Israeli novel tackles lying and its costs — BOOKS — By Jesse Bernstein
The Liar Ayelet Gundar-Goshen (translated from Hebrew by Sondra Silverston) Little, Brown and Company
H
ere is a woefully incomplete list of the lies that are told in Ayelet GundarGoshen’s “The Liar”: A wife tells her husband that she is headed off to Pilates, when she is in fact headed to an extramarital affair. A silent, uncomfortable therapy session is described as “pretty good.” An octogenarian assumes the identity of a deceased Holocaust survivor, speaking to student groups and connecting with other survivors. A mother uses a fake name in conversation with a lawyer. A father lies about a traffic jam. The lies, Gundar-Goshen writes, come in all shapes and sizes — “small tall thick thin lovely ugly white lies, always white,” one character muses — but they are all dwarfed by the inciting lie of the novel. Nofar is 17 and distressingly average, by her own assessment. Each glimpse of her younger, more attractive sister, Maya, is a reminder that she is larger than she would like to be, doesn’t have the friends that she wants to have, doesn’t get the male attention that she craves and doesn’t have the clear skin that she desires. Swirling in those fairly typical anxieties
of teenager-dom, Nofar is working her shift at an ice cream shop when a fading musician, similarly afflicted by self-loathing, sets the big lie in motion. Frustrated with her slowness behind the counter, he unleashes a string of cruel insults at Nofar, each seeming to pierce her greatest vulnerabilities. She flees the shop in tears, he follows to apologize and grabs her by the hand. She screams, bringing passersby running towards the scene. Nofar, caught up in a rare moment of attention, decides to confirm what the crowd believes happened: an attempted rape. Nofar’s lie becomes headline news all over the country, as the musician, faded as he may be, once had enough of a following for a salacious accusation to hold public attention. The novel relies heavily on the overwhelming public support for Nofar, one of the only elements of the story that seems hollow; that the accuser of a once-loved musician would be summoned to the president’s residence to stand as a symbol of bravery, or that she would be feted by clothing companies begging her to wear their products in public, or that invitations to tell her story on television would be extended while the investigation is ongoing, seem off. Perhaps this is a cultural difference with Israel. That element aside, there is nothing false
about the feeling of having crafted a snowballing lie, one that implicates an innocent person and is figured out immediately by one enterprising onlooker (more on him later). To see Nofar’s lie grow unchallenged and unquestioned is to feel queasy. You, too, know that she is lying, and you, too, don’t particularly want to see her caught. In this way, “The Liar” is a reverse-detective story: I knew the truth, and found myself rooting for it to remain hidden. Besides an unwell homeless man, the sole witness to the truth is a classmate of Nofar’s, Lavi. Lavi exploits the situation to his benefit, blackmailing Nofar into mentioning that he is being considered for an elite combat unit during one of her TV interviews. This lie, for the benefit of his long-disappointed, Lieutenant-Colonel father, begins a sweet, bizarre relationship between Lavi and Nofar. As suspicions start to grow – from Nofar’s sister, from her mother, from the female detective assigned to her case – so does the self-deception. That, Gundar-Goshen seems to say, is the ever-present lie. We tell lies of all stripes to other people, but the ones that are most damaging (as well as most necessary) are the ones we tell ourselves. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Edward Albee famously said, “means who’s afraid of the big bad wolf
… who’s afraid of living life without false illusions.” Everyone, of course. The detective needs to believe that Nofar is a young woman wronged in a world that knows how to do little else. Nofar’s mother needs to believe that her daughter would never tell such a lie. And when Raymonde, the would-be Holocaust survivor, admits her lie to a genuine survivor of the camps, he summons up 90 years of wisdom to pretend that he did not hear her. “The Liar,” despite just about everything I’ve just said, can be very funny at points; the true survivor of German atrocity, upon finding a fellow prisoner from his youth, remarks that he’d “been a schmuck in Theresienstadt, and had only gotten worse since then.” Some of her tricks grow a little tiresome by the end. Every desk, every lasagna and every bench has a short history to be told before it is used. She also has a habit of pulling back to wide generalities, in order to then re-focus on something minute; “Some changes occur slowly,” and “some changes erupt all at once,” she writes, describing geological shifts and a flaming match before she gets to the point: Nofar had changed quickly. She uses this again three pages later. And though the story is contemporary, “The Liar” does often read like a parent’s reading of how a teen relates to social media. Here’s the secret, though: Those are just quibbles. PJC Jesse Bernstein is a staff writer for the Jewish Exponent, where this article first appeared.
Why a Christian Japanese-American artist painted a mural of Nazi fighter Hannah Senesh — ART — By Josefin Dolsten | JTA
H
annah Senesh may seem an unlikely motivation for Japanese-born artist Julie Robertson. But the 35-year-old Christian artist, who just spent four days painting a 30-by-40-foot mural of the late Jewish poet, learned about Senesh earlier this year and was struck by her bravery. A national hero in Israel, Senesh parachuted into Europe to help anti-Nazi forces in 1943. She was captured and killed at the age of 23, but despite being tortured, refused to reveal any details of her mission. “To be able to hear the story of such a young girl that had such conviction to do something so dangerous, and then she never gave up information when she was captured, that’s my hero,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in between finishing work on the mural. “So I really wanted to paint her.” Robertson, who goes by the name JUURI professionally, painted the mural in the East Village neighborhood of San Diego. She learned about Senesh earlier this year while on a trip to Israel organized by Philos Project, a Christian pro-Israel group. She had been to Israel two other times as part of delegations 16 OCTOBER 18, 2019
p Julie Robertson draws inspiration from Japanese art in her murals. Photos courtesy of Julie Robertson
p Robertson painted a mural of Hannah Senesh in downtown San Diego.
organized by Artists 4 Israel, a group that brings creatives to the Jewish state. The Oklahoma City-based artist says she had always wanted to go to the Jewish state because “[i]t’s the starting place of my faith.” “I’ve always heard about Israel my entire life, but you can’t really know what it is until you go there,” she said. As part of the Artists 4 Israel trips, Robertson painted murals throughout the country, including on a wall on the border with Lebanon, an experience she describes as “unique.” It took her seven days to complete the 13-by-30-foot mural, which shows a
woman’s face surrounded by horses looking at a dove holding an olive branch. “It was a little bit different because [of] the soldiers going back and forth all the time,” she said. Robertson, whose mother is Japanese and father is Japanese and American, lived in Japan until she was 6. She and her family moved when her father was serving in the U.S. Army and was transferred to Kansas. She draws on influences from her native country in her art, often combining Japanese floral patterns with images of female faces. In the Senesh mural, Robertson juxtaposed
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
flowers from a Japanese kimono on to the Jewish fighter’s uniform. The mural is part of Ladies Who Paint, a weeklong festival that brings 12 female artists to paint murals in San Diego. Robertson wasn’t sure if the organizers would be on board with her idea, since few of the other murals feature historical figures. “But I showed them the design and told them what it was and said, ‘This was the ultimate female empowerment, she was such a hero,’ and they thought it was really cool,” she said. There’s an added layer of meaning since the mural is only about a half-hour drive from the city of Poway, where a synagogue shooting in April left one dead and three injured. “I want to get a message of hope and beauty here and just encouragement that everyone is thinking about them,” Robertson said. Though the mural does not include Senesh’s name, the figure is wearing a uniform with a British paratrooper insignia. Robertson hopes that her art will inspire both those who get the reference and those who don’t. “I think it just shows goodwill to the city and for the Jewish community, and for everyone else it’s beautiful,” she said. “Even if they don’t know what it means, there’s something about humongous art that gives a big impact on people.” PJC
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
ON
Super sunday
the fate of the world is in your hands December 8, 2019 9am - 4pm JCC Squirrel Hill
We want
Sign up for one or more slots in our three phoning sessions:
9 am – 11 am
11:30 am – 1:30 pm 2 pm – 4 pm
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
to t o volunteer on
super sunday!!!
jewishpgh.org/event/ super-Sunday
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 17
Celebrations
Torah
B’nei Mitzvah
The sole of man Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel Parashat Sukkot Chol Hamoed Numbers 29:23-31 & 29:23-28
T Oren Gilboa is the son of Noam Gilboa and Debi Gilboa, and brother to Ari, Nadav and Gavri Gilboa. His grandparents are Arlyn and Nisan (z”l) Gilboa and Bernice Goldberg (z”l), Renee Ramo and Arthur Goldberg. Oren attends Community Day School, where he is in the seventh grade. He plays soccer and basketball and serves on Tefillah Council. Oren also participates in musicals both at CDS and the JCC, and is in Young Judaea. He has attended Camp Young Judea Midwest in Wisconsin every summer since 2014. For his mitzvah project, he spent a year training alongside his dog to become a handler/ therapy dog pair who bring healing through visits to sick or struggling kids and adults. Oren will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah at Congregation Beth Shalom on Oct. 19.
Haley Meira Levine, daughter of Dorian Skirboll Levine and David Levine and big sister to Thomas Levine, will become a bat mitzvah Saturday, Oct. 19. Haley’s love for musical theater, basketball, dance and animal welfare are evidenced by her participation on numerous teams and activities outside of school. As part of her bat mitzvah project, she has been volunteering at Petland assisting in the care and nurturing of shelter animals. Haley and her family are members of Tree of Life Congregation. Services will be held at Temple Sinai, where the entire Tree of Life Congregation is welcome. Loving grandparents are Ellie and Shelly Levine, Jackie Skirboll and the late Alan Skirboll.
he scene is set. The universe is 5.5 days old. The galaxies are churning. The heavenly bodies are twinkling. The earth is bedecked with verdant, luxuriant foliage. The sea waves at the sky and the sun smiles back. Insects, fish, birds and animals teem in their habitats, by the billions and billions. At the center of it all there sits a garden, breathtaking in its beauty, overpowering in its fragrances — the Garden of Eden. Lush and expansive, it is a wonderland of countless trees and bushes of every kind. And into this universe of infinite galaxies, trillions of stars, billions of living creatures and flora and fauna of immeasurable variety, the Creator introduces one person.
seriously because, come on, someone will take care of it. Thus, G-d creates one person. In the loudest way possibly, G-d singles out Man, creates only one, and informs him: You are the only one! This world is your responsibility, and yours alone. There is no one else to take care of things. By doing that, G-d decrees that “being the only one” is the destiny of Adam and every “Adam,” every human that will ever follow, forever. Even when there eventually 7 billion humans, each and every one is the only one — there is no one else to shift the responsibility to. It is up to you and you alone to guide your corner of the universe toward its fulfillment and beautification. The building blocks of a beautiful world are in your hands. Charity. Education. Kindness. Morality. Justice. Selflessness. These are yours to implement. Imagine a world where people thought and
Every single creation outside of Man is given the luxury of simply following its program and instinctive nature and enjoying its existence. Man has no such luxury.
Samuel James Ummer, son of Brad and Erinn Ummer, will become a bar mitzvah at Adat Shalom during Shabbat morning services on Saturday, Oct. 19. Grandparents are James Ummer and Janet Ummer and Michael and Joan Shapiro.
Aviva Faye Monaco-Polk, daughter of Valerie Monaco and Deborah Polk, will become a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Aviva is a seventh grader at Falk School. She enjoys playing sports and creating art.
Engagement Ginsberg/Gray: Nancylee and Sam Ginsberg of Squirrel Hill are thrilled to announce the engagement of their son Daniel James Ginsberg to Alexandra (Allie) Gray, daughter of Bobbie and Russ Gray of Erie. Daniel’s grandparents are Miriam and the late Hyman Ginsberg of Pittsburgh and the late Margaret and James Hughes, formerly of Sheraden. Allie’s grandparents are Roberta and Richard White, formerly of Pittsburgh, and the late Shirley and Donald Gray, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio. Daniel is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and is currently employed by PNC as a senior strategy associate. Allie is a graduate of Duquesne University and is currently employed at Stash Invest as the financial planning and analysis manager. Daniel and Allie live in Brooklyn, New York, and work in Manhattan. A November 2020 wedding is being planned. PJC 18 OCTOBER 18, 2019
One, single, lone person, in the kingdom of the countless. Why? Why is Adam created alone? Why not create a couple? Better yet, in the same way all living things were created in the millions and billions, why not go ahead and create the human race? Why is it that from all life, the human being starts from one? The answer is responsibility. The human, unlike any other creation anywhere in the universe, spiritual or physical, is not just a part of the world; he is responsible for the world. More than any mineral, vegetable, animal or angel, it is Man who was given the responsibility to make sure the universe fulfills the purpose for which it was created in the first place. Every single creation outside of Man is given the luxury of simply following its program and instinctive nature and enjoying its existence. Man has no such luxury. But global responsibility is a tricky thing. When it comes to responsibility in general, people love to shift it around. There is a tendency to feel like if I don’t take the responsibility seriously, surely someone will. All the more so with a global, universal responsibility, shared by 7 billion people. It is difficult to imagine that any one of the 7 billion would take his or her responsibility
felt this way. Imagine a world where personal responsibility was the highest held value because it was the highest value. Imagine a world where people rose to occasion, every time, because they felt that particular sense of urgency that arises only from the awareness that the future rests solely in your hands. What a world. When Adam was alone, that’s exactly the reality that existed. And if we read the story of creation with sensitivity, we find that even as humanity multiplied, that reality was never meant to change. At Aleph Institute, this is more than a vision and a dream — it is a mission statement. Every day, we help guide and inspire men and women struggling with life’s many challenges to discover within themselves the master key to all life’s blessings: an authentic, urgent sense of personal responsibility. Ours is a call for a return to Eden and a return to a time when the human felt that there was no one to shift blame and responsibility to; the future of my world and the big, giant universe lies solely in my hands and in the wisdom and humility of my next decision. Shabbat Shalom! PJC Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel is the executive director of the Aleph Institute-North East Region. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.
www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Obituaries BROSTOFF: Pearl Kalb Brostoff, Ph.D., on Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. Beloved wife of the late Gerald Brostoff. Beloved mother of Janet (Lee) Beerman, Diane B. Goldman, George Brostoff (Connie Brown) and Myer Brostoff. Daughter of the late George and Minnie Kalb. Sister of Betty Shuman. Grandmother of Michael B. Beerman and Elizabeth (Michael) Carl. Great-grandmother of Atticus and Cecelia Carl. Pearl was a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School as well as the University of Pittsburgh where she earned her doctorate in psychology. As a clinical psychologist, she was in private practice and worked for various other organizations until her retirement in 2000. Since retiring, Pearl enjoyed participating in writing workshops, life-long learning groups, bridge games and gardening, in Pittsburgh and Naples. Services and Interment Private. Contributions may be made to Avow Hospice in Naples, FL. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com CAPLAN: Steven J. “Cappy” Caplan, on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019. Son of the late Victor and Celia Caplan. Beloved brother of Porky Caplan and the late Murray Caplan. Also survived by nieces, nephews and lifelong friends. The Caplan family would like to thank the staff at Kane Regional, Scott Township for all of his care. Mr. Caplan was a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School. He was a graduate of Duquesne University, School of Pharmacy. He worked many years as a pharmacist and then became a nuclear pharmacist at Purdue University. He was a great athlete in high school and played baseball. He traveled throughout the world and lived for forty years in Hawaii and several years in Thailand. Graveside Services and Interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com
Attack: Continued from page 10
her husband, Jeremy Borovitz, had been invited to spend Yom Kippur in Halle. She posted on Facebook about the attack. “It’s the end of Yom Kippur in Halle, Germany. We’ve made it out with our lives, in health, and amazing spirits — with gratitude to G-d — as today there was a large scale terrorist attack in Halle, and the terrorist began his day right outside the walls of the synagogue we were praying in,” she wrote. “For whatever reason, the man with the gun was stalled or prohibited from entering the synagogue. G-d counted us all there today, one by one, as deserving of life.” Following the shooting, the worshippers at the synagogue prayed the concluding Neilah service and blew the shofar at the hospital. International leaders condemned the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “the terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Halle, Germany, on Yom Kippur, the holiest
HARRIS: Geraldine (Blumenfeld) Manela Harris, peacefully, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. Geraldine (Gerry), age 90, was the daughter of Margaret and Henry Blumenfeld (deceased) of Braddock. Beloved wife of the late Morris Manela and Sidney Harris; dear sister of Merle Blumenfeld and the late Morton Blumenfeld; sister-in-law of Judy (Morton) and the late Estelle (Merle); stepmother of Allan Manela (Helene), Esther Neft (James), Elise Weitz (Steve) and Mark Harris (Faye); Grandmother of Michael Manela, Anna Weitz (Troy), Adam Neft (Emalie) and Joel Neft and spouse. Survived by many nephews, nieces, great-grandchildren and friends. Gerry attended Braddock High School, was an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, received a master’s degree in teaching in Oklahoma and taught for many years in Pittsburgh Public Schools. She was a devoted member of many women’s Jewish organizations, such as B’nai Brith, Hadassah and Na’amat. Gerry enjoyed gambling, mahjong, canasta and traveling as well as watching football and baseball. Graveside Services and Interment were at Agudath Achim Cemetery, Forest Hills. Donations in her memory may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 30 E. 33rd St., #3, New York, NY 10016. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com MILLER: Vivian Miller, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. beloved wife of the late Israel L. “Schlakie” Miller. Beloved mother of Marc Miller and Mimi Bell. Sister of Willy (late Betty) Rapport and the late Meyer Rapport. Grammy to Eric Bell and Nicole and Ryan Miller. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Graveside Services and Interment were held at Chofetz Chaim Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind, 1816 Locust Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 or Jewish Association on Aging, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 or Concordia Lutheran Ministries, 104 Marwood Road, Cabot, PA 16023. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com PJC day of our people, is additional testimony that anti-Semitism in Europe is increasing. On behalf of the people of Israel, I send condolences to the families of the victims and wishes for a quick recovery to the injured,” he said. “I call on the German authorities to continue taking determined action against anti-Semitism.” Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, also issued a statement: “I call on the leaders of Germany and the free world to bring the full force of law against anti-Semitism and its results,” he wrote. World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said in a statement: “It is appalling that on this day — the holiest in the Jewish calendar — when Jews are sitting in synagogues all around the world immersed in prayer, yet another attack against Jews has been perpetrated. We also need immediately to launch a unified front against neo-Nazi and other extremist groups, which threaten our well-being. “The fact that, 75 years after the Holocaust, such groups are gaining influence in Germany speaks volumes.” PJC
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from ...
In memory of...
Anonymous................................................... Alvin Meyers
A gift from ...
In memory of...
Dr. and Mrs. Harvey S. Karpo .................. Sylvia D. Karpo
Anonymous................................................... Belle Meyers
Clarice and Robert Katz ...........................Joseph Mandel
Anonymous..........................................Marshall Steinberg
Ruth Kramer................................................. Hyman Bales
Connie Axelson.......................................... Eugene Rosen
Linda Levine..................................................Arthur Levine
Abe Bretton.............................................. Elizabeth Rome
Leonard Mankin..........................................Esther Mankin
Paul & Margaret Clovsky ............................ Irving Clovsky
Leonard Mankin....................................... Sanford Mankin
Sherri Cohan & Family........................... Miriam M. Glantz
Larry Myer ................................................... Diana Z. Myer
Sylvia & Norman Elias .......................... Barney Moldovan
Barry Reznick................................................Aron Reznick
Sylvia & Norman Elias ..............................Dorothy M. Brill
Franklin Siegel ...............................................Freda Siegel
Sylvia Elias ..............................................Sadie Moldovan
Elaine & Leroy Supowitz................ Florence M. Supowitz
Edward M. Goldston .... Yitzchok Moshe Issac Goldstein
Carole Wolsh............................................Estherita Cohen
Irwin Goldston ..........................................Isaac Goldstein
Ruth Yahr ............................................. I. Leroy (LEE) Yahr
Shelly Hanlon ...........................................Raymond Lazier
Ruth Yahr .................................................... Sigmund Yahr
Falk Kantor.............................................. Sadye R. Kantor
Ruth Yahr ........................................................Miriam Yahr
THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday October 20: Ismor Davidson, Goldine Lapidus, Rebecca Lederman, Belle B. Maharam, Esther Mankin, Isadore Nadler, Esther Pomerantz Silverman, Anne S. Slesinger, Evelyn Ziff Monday October 21: Jeanette Berkman, Meyer Bernstein, Ben Cohen, Blanche S. Cohen, Leona Yorkin Dym, Warren G. Friedlander, Clara Goldstein, Meyer Haltman, Toba Markovitz, Edith Murstein, Fannie Scheinholtz, Yetta E. Segal, Moses Weinerman Tuesday October 22: Lucy Balter, Sara Jean Binakonsky, Harry Bricker, Beatrice Charapp, Tillie Cohen, Samuel Jacob Eliashof, Dr. Howard H. Freedman, Hyman Goldstein, Paul Harris, Hyman L. Leff, Samuel Minsky, Hazel Oswold, Rose M. Rabinovitz, Florence Ruben, Abraham Schrager, Rivka Silverman, Leopold Weiss Wednesday October 23: Simon J. Anathan, Jenny Braun, Abe Cazen, Samuel Evelovitz, Dora Friedman, Frances Fromme, Morris Gordon, Ethel Hornstein Josephs, Phyllis K. Kart, Abram Hirsh Levine, Anna Mandel, Lena Moskowitz, Dora Rosenzweig, Abraham J. Rothstein, Bessie Rubinoff, Joseph Shire, Florence M. Supowitz, Saul David Taylor, Rebecca Weinberg Thursday October 24: Isadore E. Binstock, Jack Citron, Mary Levinson Cohen, Sarah Silverblatt Epstein, Edward L. Klein, Esther Rogow Landau, Louise Comins Waxler, Dr. Alfred L. Weiss, Samuel J. Wise Friday October 25: E. Louis Braunstein, Harry Cooperman, Dorothy Harris, Barney Holtzman, Sidney H. Lefkowitz, Lazor Lewis, Ida Linder, David S. Palkovitz, Rachel Povartzik, Celia Rakusin, Florence Shrager, Rita Jo Skirble, Harry S. Smizik, Seymour Spiegel, William Stern Saturday October 26: Joseph Adler, Shirley Barr, Jean Singer Caplan, Sarah N. Cohen, Saul Eisner, Louis Friedman, Sam Goldberg, Yitzchok Moshe Issac Goldstein, Jack Greenberg, Sadye R. Kantor, Charles Leefer, Louis Levy, William S. Lichtenstul, Violet C. Miller, Alexander Reich, Flora May Shadden, Bertha Ethel Shamberg, Andrew H. Shapiro, Adolph Weinberger, Esther H. Winkler, Ada Marie Wolfe
PITTSBU RGH NEWEST ’S FUNERA L HOME
• Serving the Pittsburgh Jewish Community with Traditional Jewish funerals • Specially Developed Taharah Room with Mikva facilities for Chevra Kadisha • Accommodations for Shomer • Guaranteed advanced funeral planning LOCALLY OWNED and OPERATED
DEBORAH S. PRISE Licensed Jewish Funeral Director
1650 GREENTREE ROAD • PITTSBURGH, PA 15220 412.563.2800 • FAX 412.563.5347
SERVING Scott Twp., Greentree, Carnegie, Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park
pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 19
Headlines Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, and the shooting at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, other faith communities have become alert to the dangers. This summer, the FBI convened the first ideas exchange forum with security officials from Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities. Masters emphasized the benefits of information sharing with police, while Salam Al-Marayati, the president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said Muslims tended to still be wary of law enforcement because of perceptions that police profiled Muslims after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Pittsburgh: Continued from page 8
Recognizing white supremacists as the danger
Since 2017, when a group of white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, the ADL has emphasized that the majority of terrorist violence in the United States since 9/11 have come from the far right. The Trump administration for a time seemed reluctant to accept this assertion, with the president in March dismissing white nationalist violence as a major threat and calling white supremacists “a small group of people.” But that may have changed last month when the Department of Homeland Security released a new strategy document for confronting terrorism that acknowledged the threat. “There has been a concerning rise in attacks by individuals motivated by a variety of domestic terrorist ideologies, such as racially – and ethnically-motivated violent extremism, including white supremacist violent extremism, anti-government and anti-authority violent extremism, and other ideological strains that drive terrorist violence,” the document said. Masters welcomed the shift, saying in a statement that the document “rightly recognizes the growing threat of domestic terrorism, and specifically notes recent attacks on the Jewish community.” Last month, the ADL released a report warning of the internationalization of white
Jews: Continued from page 9
or as high as 7.8 million. The study also broke down the number of Jews by age, racial background, education level and geographic location, among other factors. Here are five key things to know in 2019 about the Jews of the United States
There are 7.5 million Jews in the United States
The study found that as of 2018, there are approximately 7.5 million Jews in the contiguous United States (and, to be honest, there likely aren’t a ton more in Alaska and Hawaii). That’s only about 2% of the U.S. population, but it’s enough to make the United States home to the largest Jewish community in the world. According to recent government statistics, Israel has 6.7 million Jews. People who say their religion is Jewish account for some 1.8% of all U.S. adults, or 4.4 million people, according to the study. There are an additional 1.5 million or so adults who “consider themselves Jewish by background and other criteria.” And there are 1.6 million children being raised Jewish in the U.S. Those numbers are up from the 2012 survey, which found 6.8 million total Jews in the United States. And the number of Jews who do not define themselves by religion soared — to about 1.5 million from approximately 1 million. Saxe said part of that
20 OCTOBER 18, 2019
Social media
p A security camera hangs across the street from the Park East Synagogue in New York City. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images via JTA
supremacy, with groups in the U.S., Europe and beyond forging ties and learning from one another. “We drew the links of what was happening in our country and around the world and co-wrote the report with European institutions,” Greenblatt said. Meanwhile, federal and state lawmakers are hastening to fund security for nonprofits. The federal program that disburses funds to protect nonprofits, most of them Jewish,
now budgets $60 million — more than double what it did in the years since its 2005 launch, when the average was $15 million to $25 million a year. Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania have also budgeted for nonprofit security grants.
major increase was the overall growth of all Americans of no religion. “It’s more acceptable now to say, if you’re not a religious Jew, that you’re a Jew of no religion,” Saxe said. “More people, especially young people who don’t engage in the religious practice their parents have, are of no religion, but that doesn’t mean they’re not involved or that they don’t become more involved as adults.”
Jewish Americans are disproportionately elderly
More than one in 10 Jews is not white
While the United States is growing more diverse, the Jewish community does not appear to be following suit. In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau found that 63% of the country was non-Hispanic white. By 2019, that number was hovering around 60%. And by 2045, whites are projected to be a minority in the country. Meanwhile, the numbers in the Jewish community have remained level. In 2019 and the previous two surveys, the percentage of Jewish Americans who are white has remained at approximately 89%, though the percentage is higher among younger Jews. Among Jews aged 18 to 24, the study found that 14% identified as nonwhite or Hispanic. Among the 11% of American Jews who are not white, 2% are black, 5% are Hispanic and 4% are another ethnicity. The area with the largest number of nonwhite Jews (as well as Jews in general) is New York City, which is home to nearly 140,000 Jews of color. Los Angeles County is home to nearly 100,000, while Miami’s 33,000 Jews of color account for half the Florida city’s Jewish population.
Broader interfaith cooperation
It’s not only the Jewish community that is recognizing the threat from white nationalists. With the attack on two mosques in
Younger Jews may be more diverse, but they still make up a smaller percentage of the overall Jewish population. In the United States, 20.6% of the population is 65 or older. Among Jews, the number is 26%. And while 45.8% of all Americans are aged 18 to 44, among Jews the figure is 41%. Within that group, 10.5% of Jews are 18 to 24. Among the states with large Jewish populations, Florida (perhaps unsurprisingly) had the largest share of seniors — one-third of its Jews are 65 and older. Conversely, the state with the highest share of 18 – to 24-year-olds is Utah, where 15% of Jews fell into that age cohort. Notably, the study found that even as the Jewish population has grown overall, the number of children being raised Jewish has held steady since 2012 at 1.6 million. Saxe said that determining the precise number of Jewish children is difficult because it’s hard to say what exactly counts as being raised Jewish.
Jews across the country are liberal and vote for Democrats
Ahead of 2020, politicians may do well to keep in mind that across America’s tapestry of red and blue states, Jews are reliably liberal and mostly support the Democratic Party. Nationwide, 51% of Jews identify as Democrats, compared to 34% of all Americans. And 17% of Jews are Republicans, compared to a quarter of Americans overall. There are more than twice as many Jewish
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
The ADL is working closely with social media giants to mitigate the organizational and recruiting capacity that they lend to extremists. Facebook placed restrictions on its Facebook Live video app after the Christchurch gunman used it during the massacre. YouTube reportedly is altering algorithms that have directed viewers to radical right-wing content. Greenblatt praised Facebook and YouTube for setting up mechanisms over the last year to quickly take down videos that glorify or promulgate violence, but said more needed to be done. He called on businesses ancillary to the social media giants to take action, saying that some companies now decline to provide extremist sites with security support. “The ancillary businesses can take affirmative decisions about whether to be part of these ecosystems,” he said. PJC liberals (42%) as Jewish conservatives (20%). Moderates comprise 37% of Jews. As a whole, 38% of Americans identify as conservative and 24% as liberal. There is no state where there are more Jewish Republicans than Jewish Democrats, though Mississippi comes closest. Some 33.4% of Mississippi Jews identify as Republican, while 35.8% identify as Democrat. Nearly 32% of Wyoming Jews also identify as Republican. Washington, D.C., has the highest percentage of Jewish Democrats (70%), followed by the states of Maryland (57%), California (55%) and Oregon (54%).
New York remains America’s Jewish capital. Wyoming, not so much
The state with the largest Jewish population, by far, remains New York, with 1.5 million — or one in five Jewish Americans. Wyoming has the fewest Jews among the states with 2,200. New York City also dominates Jewish population figures as a metropolitan area. Including the New Jersey suburbs, there are 1.8 million Jews in and around the Big Apple. Within New York City, Jews are concentrated in Brooklyn and Manhattan, which together have 678,000 Jews among a total population of 4.2 million — a proportion of 16%. Across the country, 91% of American Jews live in the largest 40 metropolitan areas. Behind New York, the areas with the largest Jewish populations are Los Angeles (570,000), Southeast Florida (500,000), Chicago (340,000) and Boston (265,000). PJC
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Real Estate FOR RENT
BUYING OR SELLING?
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
5125 Fifth Ave.
2 & 3 Bedrooms Corner of Fifth and Wilkins Spacious 1500-2250 square feet
SQUIRREL HILL • $399,000 • OPEN SUNDAY 1-3 PM • 6620 RIDGEVILLE ST.
”Finest in Shadyside”
412-661-4456
Contact me today to discuss all of your real estate needs!
www.kaminrealty.kamin.com
FIRST TIME OFFERED! Updated 3 bedroom 2.5 bath great home with central air, 1 car garage, lovely yard. Great home in a great location! Will not last! DOWNTOWN • $1,150,000
Gateway Towers. Primo Sensational double unit-over 3,000 square feet. 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. View of all three rivers. The best unobstructed space and views in Pittsburgh. This is a full service building and PET FRIENDLY.
FIND IT IN THE BUSINESS SERVICES
FOX CHAPEL • $765,000 FOR RENT
FOR RENT
Beacon Place Condo
FOR RENT • Squirrel Hill (BEECHWOOD BLVD)
In the Heart of Squirrel
Spacious 1 bedroom available after November 1st
Spacious unit, move-in condition. 2nd floor duplex. Newly decorated. New w/w carpet. New window treatment. E-I-K fully equipped. Central air. Screened-in balcony. Garage. Great location.
$1050 per month. Contact Claire 412-818-9503
Contact: 412-421-7774 | jimco2522@aol.com
$1,60000/month + gas/electric NO PETS
www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Business & Professional Directory AUTOS WANTED 7 2 4 - 2 8 7-7 7 7 1 B U Y I N G VEHICLE$ DENNY OFF$TEIN AUTO $ALE$ CAR$ SUV$ TRUCK$ VAN$
GARDEN & HOME MAINTENANCE
Spruce up your yard/house on a onetime or regular basis. Reliable, references. Call Scottie 412-310-3769.
ORGANIZE YOUR HOME & OFFICE
Are you drowning in paperwork, but don’t have the time or skill to tackle it? Is your home full of clutter and stuff that creates disharmony? I help overwhelmed families, people in transition, and busy professionals. I can make your home more livable and your office more efficient. CONTACT JODY at 412-759-0778 or allegheny organizing@gmail.com.
HOUSEKEEPER Lovely Housekeeper 412-354-1007
FIND IT IN THE BUSINESS SERVICES
HIRING
TUTOR
PA Connecting Communities is hiring staff to work on life and social skills out in the community with adults with disabilities. Call Glen at 412.621.6151 Ext 2005
C H E M I S T RY T U T O R Recent college graduate (Johns Hopkins University) offering help with Chem 1 and AP Chem coursework Qualifications:
Close in most sought after street. 4 bedroom 5 bath home with one bedroom off the kitchen. 2nd floor has a study that can be used as a 5th bedroom. Sunken living room and finished lower level. Tons of storage and a huge flat yard are just some of the many amenities. MURDOCH FARMS • $925,000 • REDUCED!
Exciting grand stone 7 bedroom, 3.5 bath home with all the amenities. Formal living spaces with hardwood floors. Leaded and stained glass throughout, gourmet kitchen, glass doors from dining room lead to a fabulous patio and two car garage. Bonus of a great third floor that could be used for teenager or nanny suites. Close to universities, hospitals and Schenley Park. In Colfax and Allderdice School District. NORTH OF FORBES • $749,000
6 bedroom, 3.5 bath. Lovely home on a most desirable street. GThe gourmet kitchen and House is fabulous inside and out. DIN N E P breakfast nook that have newer radiant heat leads to a huge fabulous covered porch and patio. Beautiful grounds. Close to Forbes and Murray and in the Colfax school district. Will not last! SHADYSIDE CONDOMINIUM • $739,000 • 5000 FIFTH AVENUE
Spacious two bedroom and den beautiful unit. Spectacular built-ins throughout and wonderful in-unit laundry. Pristine and inviting, 24/7 security, guest suite. Most sought after building. SQUIRREL HILL • $950,000
Wonderful 8 bedroom, 4.5 bath home with many amenities. Expansive new back porch with fabulous view and desired privacy. Enjoy a gourmet kitchen, formal living and dining rooms. Magnificent woodwork and leaded glass. Truly a home for one who likes character and charm as well as the amenities of today. WASHINGTON’S LANDING • $535,000 Stunning 3 story townhome on the water! Newer fabulous kitchen, baths and hardwood floors. Live here and feel like you are on vacation every day. Truly a move-in. Must See!
• STEM degree • 5/5 on AP Chemistry Test • 800/800 on Chemistry SAT Subject Test Rate: $40/hour Contact: chemtutoringpgh@gmail.com
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
JILL and MARK PORTLAND RE/MAX REALTY BROKERS 412.521.1000 EXT. 200 412.496.5600 JILL | 412.480.3110 MARK
OCTOBER 18, 2019 21
Community High Holidays at CDS
Ready Readers returns
Community Day School Early Childhood students experienced the taste and textures of apples and honey in the school’s Mirpeset (outdoor classroom) in preparation for Rosh Hashanah.
Pittsburgher Joanie Kamin brought her “Ready Readers” program back to Yeshiva Schools. The annual program enabled second grade students to choose one book to take home and one to keep in the classroom.
p Joanie Kamin with the Yeshiva Girls School second-grade class. p Shiri Naveh and Joshua Stowers
p Miriam Wexler with her new take-home book.
p Fruma Small with her new copy of “Frog and Toad.”
p CDS first-grader Olliver Glick tests his lung power with a shofar he brought to school for morning prayers during the Hebrew month of Elul.
p Yosef King, Nochum Marcus, Dovi Huber and Nachi Hoen choose books for their classroom.
p Atara Rosenthal with her new “Ling and Ting” book.
Photos courtesy of Yeshiva Schools
p Elihu Braasch, Zev Newman and Troy Barga
22 OCTOBER 18, 2019
Photos courtesy of Community Day School
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
p Shmulik Wilansky and Beryl Barrocas enjoy a “Frog and Toad” book.
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
Community Hooray, it’s a new year Chabad of the South Hills hosted a Kids Rosh Hashanah Farmers Market at the South Hills Jewish Community Center on Sept. 22. Children learned about the Jewish new year by making challah, apple mocktails, carrot cake pops and pop-up Rosh Hashanah cards. Participants also learned about the sounds of the shofar and were invited to blow the shofar themselves.
p Ilana Wolff and Susan Simons
p Maya and Ayvah Morrisey
p Henry Vestel
p Carter and Colton Lichtman are helped by volunteer Leora Goldberg.
p Eva and Louise Wolff
Photos courtesy of Chabad of the South Hills
Tashlich, take two Let’s go team
p Rabbi Chuck Diamond leads Kehillah La La at a Sunday morning Tashlich service for those who couldn’t make it on Rosh Hashanah.
Photo courtesy of Rabbi Chuck Diamond
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG
p Karen Wolk Feinstein, second from left, with Maryanne D’Arpino, Doris Grinspun and Gina De Souza at the Salzburg Global Forum’s “Moving Measurement into Action: Designing Global Principles for Measuring Patient Safety” seminar on Sept. 6. Photo courtesy of Herman Seidel
PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
OCTOBER 18, 2019 23
KOSHER MEATS
• All-natural, corn-fed beef — steaks, roasts, ground beef and more • Variety of deli meats and franks • All-natural poultry — whole chickens, breasts, wings and more Available at select Giant Eagle stores. Visit GiantEagle.com for location information.
Alle Kosher 80% Lean Fresh Ground Beef
6
99 lb.
Price effective Thursday, October 17 through Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Available at 24 OCTOBER 18, 2019
and PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE
PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG