Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 10-30-20

October 30, 2020 | 12 Cheshvan 5781

Candlelighting 6:00 p.m. | Havdalah 6:59 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 44 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Pittsburgh’s Jewish burial societies persevere amid pandemic

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL College during COVID

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

F

Freshmen speak out

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein opened the webinar by naming the 11 individuals murdered during the Oct. 27, 2018, attack.

During the program’s first segment, Finkelstein, Myers and Weiss were joined

by Brad Orsini, former community security director of Pittsburgh’s Federation, now senior national security advisor of the Secure Community Network.

Myers, spiritual leader of Tree of Life, recalled the training Orsini provided the Jewish community before Oct. 27, 2018. When recounting Orsini’s advice to carry a cellphone, even on Shabbat, Myers said, “I am alive today partially because of Brad Orsini.”

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of the Tree of Life,” said Orsini, who stressed the importance of security training for the Jewish community. Camerota pointed out that

or nearly seven months, members of Pittsburgh’s two Jewish burial societies have grappled with competing interests: Jewish tradition dictates both the responsibility of respecting the dead and the prioritization of human life. When the pandemic necessitated altering rituals in order to ensure its members’ health, chevra kadisha members were pained.

“If you’re on the chevra kadisha, you do it because you believe in it and because of love of the mitzvah, you don’t do it without conviction,” said Stefanie Small, a 19-year member of Pittsburgh’s Orthodox Jewish burial society.

“The chevra kadisha does things with all of their heart and soul, and it hurts us when we can’t do things properly.”

When the pandemic began, and less was known about COVID-19 transmission, the Orthodox group increased reliance on PPE and the use of bleach during the ritual, and included fewer participants during preparation of the deceased for burial.

Initially, the biggest questions were whether the virus could be contracted from the deceased, and whether the close gathering of attendants posed a risk, said Rabbi Elisar Admon, a member of Pittsburgh’s Orthodox chevra kadisha.

Consultation with Rabbi Elchonon Zohn from the National Association of Chevra Kadisha provided insight. Through digital meetings and conversations, members of the Pittsburgh group learned how Zohn and the Queens, New York-based organization worked with the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, infectious disease specialists and authorities in Jewish law to determine best practices.

The outcome for the chevra kadisha, which has performed fewer than 100 in-person

Please see Security, page 16

Please see Burial, page 16

Page 2

LOCAL Holidays, virtually

 A makeshift memorial to the 11 victims murdered during the massacre at the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018 Photo by James Busis

The good, the bad and the strange Page 3

LOCAL

Assessing community security in a post-Oct. 27 world

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

Hill history

T

Reflections on the past Page 6

he state of Jewish community security — with a focus on the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting of 2018 — was examined during an Oct. 22 webinar hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and moderated by the host of CNN’s “New Day,” Alisyn Camerota.

The program, “Two Years Since the Attack on Pittsburgh: The Evolution & Future of Securing the Jewish Community,” was co-sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the Secure Community Network and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. It featured national security experts as well as survivors of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers and Stephen Weiss.

The program came less than a week before the two-year commemoration of the massacre at the Tree of Life building.

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle LOCAL

A pandemic rabbinate

LOCAL

JFilm set to start

LOCAL

Debating kugel

Headlines College during COVID: Local freshmen share insights

p Jorie Meil stands in front of a Chatham cougar statue during an orientation scavenger hunt.

Photo courtesy of Jorie Meil

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

I

ra Scheer was preparing for Sukkot when the phone rang. As he reached to answer the Friday afternoon call, Scheer, a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, had almost finished getting dressed. It was Oct. 2 and the festival of Sukkot was beginning shortly.

Scheer was set to start the holiday with dinner at the home of Chabad on Campus co-directors Rabbi Shmuel and Sara Weinstein, but after answering his phone, his plans changed.

On the other end of line were campus officials who explained that Scheer and nearly

60 other students, spread across three floors in Litchfield Tower B, an Oakland high-rise, had to quarantine due to a potential spread of COVID-19.

“When I got the call from contact tracing I never saw it coming,” said Scheer. “Everything can change so quickly.”

With hours until sundown, Scheer, who is Shabbat-observant, readjusted to the reality that he’d be spending days in isolation. He canceled dinner with the Weinsteins, arranged for dorm room delivery of kosher meals and texted his Philadelphia-based parents, letting them know that he was going into quarantine and might have the virus, and then wished them a nice holiday.

“My mom was panicking like any Jewish mom would,” said Scheer. “They were

p Ariel Bernhard takes a break in Oakland.

sort of riding the roller coaster to make sure I was OK.” Scheer is just one of thousands of freshmen across the country experiencing the challenges of college during a pandemic.

“I’ve been in my dorm a lot,” said Elena Schwimer. “There haven’t been community gatherings, or places to really meet other people.”

Schwimer is a freshman at Indiana University Bloomington. The Upper Saint Clair native was eager to attend the school due to its sizable Jewish presence — almost 4,000 students — but the pandemic halted typical ways of making friends. Restaurants and stores remain open in town, but gatherings of more than 15 people are prohibited.

“You can still meet people, but it’s difficult to meet people and create relationships of

Photo by Tahlia Altgold

substance,” said Schwimer, who is studying fashion design and media.

Before heading off to school in August, Schwimer understood that the pandemic might create unexpected challenges. She’s adjusted to the pressure of managing asynchronous digital instruction, and even the hardship of contracting COVID-19, relocating to an isolation dorm, eventually coming home to Upper Saint Clair and then returning back to Bloomington, all during her first semester.

“I knew it was going to be difficult,” she said. “What I realized is that I needed to change my attitude and try my best to reach out to meet new people.”

College has long been considered a bastion Please see Freshmen, page 17

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Headlines Pittsburghers reflect on the experience of virtual services — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

L

ike many in the Jewish community, Daniel Mosse typically would have spent much of the last few weeks in a synagogue. The Congregation Dor Hadash member would have marked the High Holidays among friends with festive meals, somber reflection and religious services.

“I would go to shul for all of the services,” said Mosse. “During Yom Kippur, I would have been in shul all morning, gone for a walk with some friends and then come back for afternoon services. I would have shared meals with a bunch of people, probably 15 or more.”

This, though, is anything but a typical year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform congregations to stream their services on a variety of platforms — sometimes utilizing more than one at the same time — including Facebook Live, YouTube and Zoom.

Mosse spent both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur watching services on Zoom while trying to find ways to make the holidays special.

“I had a few people over to my house for pre-Rosh Hashanah dinner,” he said. “We were on the back porch at two different tables, speaking very loudly, on one hand,

so we could hear one another, but not very loudly, on the other hand, because we didn’t have an issue hearing each other over the 20 other people not there.”

Without having to be in Pittsburgh to attend in-person services and no prospect of bumping elbows at a table full of guests sharing kugel or brisket, Mosse was able to take a New Year’s road trip and view Dor Hadash’s live services from his daughter’s house in Detroit, Michigan. Viewing the services on Zoom together allowed the pair to add some normalcy to an abnormal experience.

“That was nice because we were able to talk through services, making little comments like we normally do, but we didn’t have to whisper,” said Mosse.

He also was able to participate as the cameraman at the congregation’s Yizkor service, which he viewed as a special honor.

And yet, despite the accommodations Mosse made, the Brazilian-born immigrant still found this year difficult, especially on Yom Kippur when he typically would have helped set up break-fast for his congregation.

“It’s really significant for me to be in shul with like-minded people that are fasting and praying,” he said. “I did not have that.”

Like Mosse, Deborah A. Baron usually shares the High Holidays with her community. In addition to attending services at Congregation Beth Shalom, she normally would have been a guest at a friend’s house

p Congregation Beth Shalom at the start of the shutdown

to break the fast.

Instead, Baron’s daughter and fiancé spent the High Holidays at her home, where they shared a virtual dinner with Baron’s mother in Florida.

Unlike Mosse, Baron actually attended more of the services offered than in pandemic-free years.

Photo by Jim Busis

“We had services on in our family room all day,” Baron said, “which was kind of cool, because usually, we don’t spend the entire day in services. It gave us the opportunity to be there all day, but in a more relaxed way.”

Despite the convenience of being able to Please see Virtual, page 17

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Headlines ‘It’s just a whole other level’: Rabbi starts career during pandemic — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

S

easoned spiritual guides have had to retool their rabbinate during the past seven months. The once common practices of hand-holding in hospitals or kibbitzing during a kiddush have been replaced by strategic tactics for reaching congregants from afar. Whether it’s delivering compelling content virtually from inside an empty sanctuary or managing the quirks of video conferencing, rabbis’ routines have shifted.

Rabbi Natalie Louise Shribman, though, has not had to reconfigure her rabbinate.

Having received ordination in May 2020, serving during a pandemic is all Shribman has ever known.

During her five years at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Shribman studied Bible, midrash, Talmud and a score of Jewish texts and liturgy. She enjoyed clinical training and refined interpersonal skills. But there wasn’t a course on donning PPE in a coronavirus hotspot or ingraining yourself in community when access is through a screen.

“I’m not trying to complain, it’s just a whole other level that we weren’t taught in school,” said Shribman, 28. “How can you teach this?”

Shribman, a former Pittsburgh resident and current Wisconsinite, is a chaplain resident

for the Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and the spiritual guide of Temple Beth El in Dubuque, Iowa.

As someone tasked with patient support in a COVID-19 hotspot, Shribman has seen the virus’ effect on hospital stays.

“Connecting with people is really hard,” said Shribman. “We misinterpret so much because of the masks. I feel like you can’t see people’s expressions.”

Difficulties communicating with patients who are hard of hearing or have dementia are common, and there are other challenges compounded by COVID-19.

After a recent car accident, two people were brought to the hospital. Testing revealed that the first patient had a concussion. Shribman called the patient’s family to explain the results and that, due to COVID-19 restrictions, visitation was limited. The family was both relieved about their loved one’s condition and bothered by the inability to be on-site. The second patient died as a result of the accident. In that case, Shribman met with the deceased’s parents for hours.

“I can’t even really tell you what I did, exactly,” she said. “I just sat there with them and talked to them and tried to learn a little bit about their son’s life. These experiences really stay with you.”

Chaplaincy requires sensitivity, but so too does being a pulpit rabbi. Shribman accepted the Temple Beth El post nearly six

months ago and has striven to create meaningful connections despite living 200 miles away. She has driven to Dubuque in her Subaru Crosstrek to meet with congregants and record High Holiday services, but otherwise connects with members through monthly Shabbat services or regular phone chats.

“I think everyone understands that this is the most we can do for people, is just give them a call,” said Shribman. “You just have to be available to people.”

It’s a lesson Shribman learned well before the pandemic.

Almost 16 years ago, Shribman moved to Pittsburgh with her parents from Washington, D.C., after Shribman’s father, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist David Shribman, accepted the position of p Rabbi Natalie Louise Shribman Photo courtesy of Rabbi Natalie Louise Shribman executive editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The relocation was pivotal for the I met a lot of different rabbis.” adolescent.

One of them was Rabbi Jamie Gibson of “My mother is Catholic and my dad is Temple Sinai, who, along with congregation Jewish, and before I moved to Pittsburgh members, supported the Shribman family there wasn’t a lot of religious observance in when David Shribman’s father died in 2004. my house,” she said. “There was the occa“We had just moved, and they helped us sional holiday celebration, but it wasn’t really religious. And then I moved to Pittsburgh and Please see Shribman, page 17

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Headlines A Syrian Jewish family from Mexico finds connection in Pittsburgh — LOCAL —

By Kayla Steinberg | Digital Content Manager

O

ne month into a new job, Yafa Schùadower was called into her boss’ office. He wanted to know the Jews’ secret to having money. Yafa replied that Jews like to save; there was no big secret. A lengthy back-and-forth ensued, and the next day, he fired her.

Some people assume all Jews in Mexico are wealthy, and kidnap or rob them because of it, said Yafa, who knows not to show her jewelry or cellphone on certain streets. And some people, she said, still believe Jews have horns.

When Yafa, 38, her husband Eduardo, 37, and her daughter Liora, 5, moved to Pittsburgh four years ago, they thought they had escaped the troubles of Mexico City. p The SchĂąadowers at Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Purim celebration in 2018 So when she learned of the Oct. 27 syna- Photo courtesy of Yafa SchĂąadower gogue shooting, Yafa was shocked. “I felt as if someone was stealing a candy from a child, that they were robbing all that innocence from the police are told who is coming, and building, when security in synagogues was these people,â€? she said. “I know Jewish people congregants need to show ID. increased, “it was very sad for me,â€? Yafa said. that have been kidnapped in Mexico, and it’s “When we arrived here, it was very nice “Like why, why in this magical and amazing terrible and we pray for them. But here, I said, to see that there was no extra security in the place is this happening to all of us?â€? ‘These poor people were not expecting this.’â€? synagogues, that everyone could enter just The SchĂąadowers haven’t just Every synagogue in Mexico City has lots like that,â€? said Yafa. seen anti-Semitism here; they’ve also faced Symphony 3/19/19 1:17 AM PageBut 1 after the massacre at the Tree of Life ofJCsecurity, she2019_Eartique explained. Even on Shabbat, Hispanophobia. One time, Eduardo was at the

supermarket when a woman, who heard him speaking English in an unfamiliar accent, asked him where he was from. “Mexico,� he replied.

She then asked him if he did cement work and was surprised to learn that Eduardo is earning his doctorate in information systems and management at Carnegie Mellon University.

And when Yafa brought her 2-year-old son Daniel to a Torah class, a woman asked her who she worked for. After Yafa said she was confused, the lady realized that she wasn’t the nanny. Yafa is earning her master’s in interdisciplinary design at Chatham University.

Yafa’s and Eduardo’s families came to Mexico fleeing anti-Semitism. Her great-grandmother came from Damascus, her grandfather from Aleppo. His great-grandparents came from Aleppo, his grandmother from Poland and his grandfather from Ukraine, arriving in Mexico alone at 13 only to receive a letter informing him that his entire family was murdered in a forest by anti-Semitic socialists. (His story is documented in the film “Un Beso a Esta Tierra,� or “A Kiss to this Land.�)

Mexico’s centuries-old Jewish community is centered in Mexico City, where there are four main segments: Sephardim from Aleppo, Sephardim from Damascus, Sephardim from Turkey and Ashkenazim, Yafa explained.

Please see Family, page 20

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Headlines Jewish and Black historic Hill District ties explored in Rodef Shalom program — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

F

rom his perch at his family’s drugstore, amateur historian Rich Brean watched the Hill District’s ethnography shift as Jewish and Black Americans lived and worked side by side in the middle of the 20th century. The story of the Hill, in fact, was how the two groups interacted in the city slums and, for at least a generation, became more than neighbors.

“I first started working at the store at the candy counter in 1958 as a fourth-grader at John Minadeo School,” Brean said during a recent virtual presentation hosted by Rodef Shalom Congregation. “The store was a fully integrated enterprise with the workforce consisting solely of African Americans and members of our family. Apart from my father, Blacks held all positions of authority. Both pharmacists were African American, Bob Williams and English Webb, as were the two fountain managers, Lucille Brown and Viola Lewis.”

When his father started working at the store in 1938, most of the customers and employees were Jewish, but by the time Brean arrived, in 1958, all the employees were Black as were most of the customers, he said.

“One employee, our porter, Al White, a retired Black steelworker, bridged the two cultures in the store by dint of his ability to speak basic Yiddish,” Brean said, “albeit with a pronounced Galitzianer accent, which he had picked up as a teenager working in a summer job loading seltzer trucks on Bedford Avenue when he worked with an old Jew and had to learn Yiddish because the old man’s English was so bad.”

Brean spoke recently as part of Rodef Shalom’s new series, “The Jewish Pittsburgh History Sessions,” offered the third Tuesday of each month, through May 2021. The monthly presentations will highlight neighborhoods, rabbis, architecture and social action that has shaped Jewish life and Pittsburgh culture in the last 200 years.

Future speakers include Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center; Rodef Shalom’s archivist, Martha Berg; and Matthew Falcone of Preservation Pittsburgh, among others.

Though Jay Drug Company at 1801 Centre Ave. in the Middle Hill was, in Brean’s words, “a mostly Black world” by the 1950s, Jews continued to be a presence in the Hill for about another decade or so, though not in the numbers they were generations earlier.

“The Jewish Hill District” was born in the 1870s and died in 1960, a few years short of

p Jay Drug Co. in 1943

its 90th birthday, Brean said.

“The Middle Hill was heavily Jewish by 1915 and slowly became a majority Black by 1930, with the two groups living side by side. My mother, from the time her family immigrated to Pittsburgh in 1920 until the time she married my father and moved to Oakland in 1938, lived every day of her life

Photo provided by Rich Brean

in a building in which she had both Jews and African Americans as neighbors.”

But the two groups were more than neighbors.

“Hill District Jews rated the various ethnic groups they encountered by the degree of Please see HIll, page 24

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Headlines JFilm guest stars in Film Pittsburgh’s 28th season — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

K

athryn Spitz Cohan has done something new for her 20th season as executive director of what is now Film Pittsburgh: She has programmed a virtual film festival.

“When I look at the past 20 years, if this had been a normal year it would have been a lot of work because of the sheer number of events and films that are showing,” she said.

“However, because it’s virtual, it’s a completely new production. The learning curve for every single person on this team has been steep.”

Rather than attend local theaters to screen independent films, movie enthusiasts will be able to watch 56 offerings from the comfort of their homes. And, since films aren’t being shown in a theater with ticketed times, festival attendees can decide when they want to watch the offerings.

“Once you start a film, you get 24 hours to watch it,” Spitz Cohan explained. “There is one film that you only get four hours to watch and it’s on a specific date. Ninety-five percent of the films are available every day after opening night. Once you buy a film and put it in your content library, it’s there. Once you press play you have 24 hours to watch it.”

The films featured in this year’s festival are divided into four different themes: Fall Festival 2020, which include independent films and shorts; Asian Sidebar; Reelabilities Track, showcasing stories intended to promote appreciation of those living with different abilities; and JFilm.

Three of the four films presented as part of the JFilm track are titles that would have been screened at the 27th Pittsburgh JFilm Festival, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

p “The Crossing”

Movie still courtesy of JFilm

q Kathryn Spitz Cohan

Photo by Nathan J. Shaulis, Porter Loves

“The ones that we selected, there’s a wide range — meaning, there’s a reason we selected them for the Fall Festival,” said Spitz Cohen.

“They’re sort of like the cream of the crop.”

“Those Who Remained” was nominated as the Hungarian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

The film depicts the relationship between a 42-year-old concentration camp survivor and a 16-year-old girl in post-World War II Europe.

Spitz Cohan called it “stunning and sophisticated” and “incredibly brilliant.”

“Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz,” a Canadian film, was nominated for the Canadian Screen Award for Best History Documentary Program or Series. The documentary is a profile of Ben Ferencz, the last surviving lead prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials.

“The Crossing,” said Spitz Cohan, is a family film for all ages about young people in the Holocaust. In it, Gerda is charged with

helping two children cross from Norway into Sweden after her parents are arrested.

The fourth selection included as part of the JFilm track, “Asia,” was not originally intended for this year’s JFilm Festival. The Israeli film was nominated for 13 Israeli Academy Awards, including best film. It tells of the relationship between a young mother, Asia, and her ailing daughter. Its star, Shira Haas, has been seen by American audiences on television in both “Shtisel” and “Unorthodox.”

“How exciting is that?” asked Spitz Cohan.

One film not included in the JFilm track, “On Broadway,” was directed by Oren Jacoby, who is Jewish. The film wasn’t included with the other JFilms because of its lack of Jewish content — although Spitz Cohan noted, “a lot of people on Broadway are Jewish.”

Jewish films offer a wide variety of themes and can’t be defined by one idea or style, Spitz Cohan said. “Each film needs

to be taken individually. Some are very specifically Jewish and perhaps meant for a Jewish audience. Many are Israeli films that are Jewish because they are shot in Israel and they’re speaking Hebrew but there’s not any commentary in the film making them specifically Jewish.

“Part of the beauty, in my opinion, of what we do at JFilm is show a range of films for a variety of people,” she continued. “There are a variety of Jews on the planet, whether you’re Reform or Conservative or nothing. There are many different ways to enter Judaism, as there are many ways to enter JFilm. Film is art and culture, so there are many ways to enter it.”

Film Pittsburgh’s Fall Festival 2020 takes place Nov. 11-22. To see the complete lineup and purchase tickets, visit filmpittsburgh.org. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

New downtown co-working concept planned

by Ohio Jewish developer — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

A

Jewish developer from the Cleveland area is planning a multimillion-dollar rehab of the former Frank & Seder department store in downtown Pittsburgh.

Stark Enterprises is partnering with Launch Workplaces, a co-working concept company, to create new working spaces in the now vacant building on Smithfield Street. The developer also is concurrently pursuing other projects in Pittsburgh; Westlake, Ohio; and Woodmere, Ohio, with each of the spaces slated to open in 2021, the firm said.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette estimates the project could cost some $64 million to bring to fruition. The downtown building has sat empty since Stark paid more than $10 million to buy it in 2017. Two years ago, Stark obtained approval from city planners PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

to rehab the site into three floors of offices, 25,000 square feet of retail and two floors of apartments, the Post-Gazette reported.

“Flexible office space will be the perfect addition to Pittsburgh’s newest downtown district, where mixed-use development continues to grow,” said Stacie Schmidt, the firm’s vice president of marking and communications. “The concept is truly looking ahead into the future and realizing what professionals and small businesses need to be successful.”

The proposed site — which Stark is dubbing “Smith & Fifth” — sits across the street from the former Kaufmann building, where mixeduse development, including the construction of a Target retail store, is taking place. Launch Workplaces is set to occupy about 25,000 square feet of co-working space inside the Smith & Fifth project, firm officials said.

Stark Enterprises officials say the company is proud to identify as Jewish. Stark Enterprises’ owner, Bob Stark, is Jewish and has a strong faith that carries to his son, Ezra, said spokesperson Danielle Gross, in a prepared statement.

Both men have been heavily involved with their congregation in Cleveland, and helped build Fuchs Mizrachi School, a pre-K-through12th-grade private modern Orthodox coeducational college prep day school in Beachwood, Ohio, Gross said. The Stark family remains “heavily involved” with the school, the board and its community-wide initiatives and fundraisers.

“The company was built on strong values and roots of faith and family, which is instilled throughout the entire workforce the company currently employs,” Gross told the Chronicle.

“Mutual respect, team work and dedication are values that the company is rooted on, and has been able to grow because of.”

Launch Workplaces, Stark’s partner, was founded in Maryland with the goal of providing productive spaces for professionals of all types — from growing entrepreneurs and small businesses to satellite teams. Offering everything from private offices and cubicles to large meeting rooms and collaborative lounges, Launch gives local communities

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

“the tools and space to flourish,” officials said.

Launch Workplaces says it operates on four core pillars — hospitality, community, flexibility and integrity — and the Cleveland firm stressed these “go hand in hand with the mission of Stark Enterprises and the properties they create for communities.”

“Launch Workplaces is a co-working space that will provide local businesses, entrepreneurs, and satellite or remote employees a space in which to work and be productive,” according to Gross. “Whether that be with a team or alone, Launch creates functional and modern spaces to meet the needs of the current, on-the-go professional. Launch attracts businesses, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and the new way of conducting business, so this along with the progression of the commerce district in downtown Pittsburgh will surely help attract new business and ideas resurging the city.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

OCTOBER 30, 2020 7

Headlines The Great Kugel Debate: CMU students hash out potato, noodle, apple and no kugel — LOCAL —

By Kayla Steinberg | Digital Content Manager

W

ith the election looming, there’s much to debate, but for Jewish students at Carnegie Mellon University, one topic took precedence Saturday night: kugel. Four students hashed out which kugel — potato, noodle, apple or no kugel — is the best in an online, shtick-filled evening that elicited smiles, laughs and a lively comments section.

The CMU Hillel executive board offered students a little levity with the lighthearted debate à la the University of Chicago’s over 70-yearold annual Latke–Hamantash Debate. Thus began a new contest: The Great Kugel Debate.

“The election is coming up and also the anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting is coming up as well, and we just wanted a reason to come together to do something really silly and fun,” said Tahlia Altgold, vice president of the CMU Hillel’s executive board.

“We’re trying to go really ham with it.”

That meant creating teams with promo videos, hashtags and profile frames — like a burnt orange #TeamNoodle banner — and entering the participants in a raffle for Hillel merchandise.

telling the four debaters that if they didn’t exercise restraint, she’d exercise the mute button, and the debate began.

First to speak: Team Noodle, represented by Sophie Paul. “It’s the only one that has cheese in it, and cheese is the best objective food that exists out there,” she claimed.

Team Apple, p Hillel JUC’s Shabbat2Go sample with three kugels and pashtida

Photo by Zoe Hertz represented by Daniel Glazer, The event opened with havdalah led followed up with a two-minute case.

by Dan Marcus, executive director and “The apple kugel is evolution at its finest, CEO of Hillel Jewish University Center of taking the best aspects of the kugel and Pittsburgh, a promotional video for the the apple, and bringing them together to debate and a rhyming introduction from create culinary excellence,” argued Glazer. two alumna. Meanwhile, about 28 partici- “The apple kugel excels at it all: rich from pants filed into Zoom, many changing their the noodles and egg but light from the fresh Zoom backgrounds to pictures of the kugel chunks of apple, sweet and savory from the (or no kugel) of their choice. Then, mod- eternal combination of apple and cinnamon… erator Nickia Muraskin laid out the rules, This fusion of American ingenuity and bubbie

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Filing Date: 10/1/2020.

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8 OCTOBER 30, 2020

magic deserves a spot at every Shabbos table.”

Yael Canaan, for Team No Kugel, argued that other dishes are superior to kugel while Jonah Dubin for Team Potato insisted that while he considers himself a “kugel pluralist,” potato is indeed the best.

Following the opening statements, Muraskin and audience members posed questions like “What’s the main selling point of your dish?” and “How is your kugel symbolic of the Jewish experience?”

To the question “Given the decision between kugel or other classic dishes like matzah ball soup, brisket, mashed potatoes or a bagel with lox, where do you stand?”

No Kugel replied that anything is better than kugel. Noodle’s riposte: Choosing not to have something does not make it an inferior dish.

A robust discussion erupted in response to a question about storing kugel. Apple and Noodle argued there’s no problem refrigerating their dishes. Potato suggested that potato kugel is more refrigeratable than the other kugels and smeared them as lasagnas.

And No Kugel advocated for pita, maintaining that it is delicious even when frozen and reheated. A student wrote in the comments section: “Can someone identify the difference between plasticky kugel and Legos by Please see Kugel, page 20

This week in Israeli history — WORLD — Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Oct. 30, 1957 — Violinist Shlomo Mintz is born

Shlomo Mintz, a violinist and conductor of such orchestras as the Israel Chamber O rc h e s t r a an d Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, is born in Moscow. He moves to Israel at age 2 and is touring Europe to play with prominent conductors by age 18.

Oct. 31, 1924 — Rabbi Yehuda Amital is born

Yehuda Amital, the founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, is born in Oradea, Romania. The school he establishes in Gush Etzion is meant to be less doctrinaire than many yeshivas.

Nov. 1, 1945 — Jewish resistance blows up rails across Palestine

The newly unified Jewish Resistance Movement sets off explosions at more than 150 railway sites and blows up three British gunboats in the Jaffa and Haifa harbors in what is known as the Night of the Trains.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Nov. 2, 1955 — Ben-Gurion regains premiership

Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, replaces his successor, Moshe Sharett, after returning to the government as the defense minister in February. Sharett soon resigned, sparking an election.

Nov. 3, 1840 — Acre is bombarded

A coalition of Austrian, British and Ottoman forces bombards the port city of Acre and drives out the Egyptian garrison, killing more than 1,100 men, during the Second Egyptian-Ottoman War.

Nov. 4, 1995 — Rabin is assassinated

Yigal Amir, a Jewish West Bank settler and a law student opposed to the Oslo peace process, fatally shoots Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

Nov. 5, 1990 — Meir Kahane assassinated

Rabbi Meir Kahane, 58, a former Knesset member as the founder of the anti-Arab Kach party, is shot dead by Egyptian-American El Sayyid Nosair in a Manhattan hotel while addressing a crowd of mostly Orthodox Jews. PJC PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Calendar begin at 10:30 a.m.; Wednesday classes start at 8 p.m. Classes are presented on Zoom. For more information and to register, visit chabadsh.com.

Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions also will 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 SUNDAYS, NOV. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Join a lay-led Online Parashah Study Group to discuss the week’s Torah portion. No Hebrew knowledge is needed. The goal is to build community while deepening understanding of the text. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

q FRIDAY, OCT. 30 Put on your warmest costume and come to the Moishe House backyard for a socially distanced spooky Shabbat dinner. The candles will be lit promptly at 6 p.m., but you are welcome to come as early as 5:30 p.m. A vegetarian meal will be provided. Attendance will be capped at six guests.

For more information and to register, visit facebook. com/moishehouse.pittsburgh.

q S UNDAYS, NOV. 1, 8, 15, 22; DEC. 6; JAN. 31; FEB. 7, 14, 21, 28; MARCH 7, 14 What does Jewish tradition have to say about God, Torah, mitzvot, suffering, messiah, Israel? In this special course, Pittsburgh Rabbis on Jewish Belief, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will host 14 Pittsburgh rabbis, each teaching a session on fundamental aspects of Jewish belief. Fourteen sessions for $70. 10 a.m. For more information and to register, visit foundation. jewishpgh.org.

q SUNDAY, NOV. 1 The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents a discussion of the film “Soul Witness.” Completed in 2018, the documentary includes testimony with Boston-area Holocaust survivors. The discussion will include producer R. Harvey Bravman and three descendants of survivors featured in the film. The discussion is free. The movie can be bought or rented at soulwitness.org/hcpgh. Thirty percent of the proceeds will go to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. 3 p.m. For more information, go to hcfpgh.org/events.

q MONDAYS, NOV. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Join Rabbi Jeremy Markiz in learning Masechet Rosh Hashanah, a tractate of the Talmud about the many new years that fill out the Jewish calendar at Monday Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

q S UNDAYS, NOV. 1-DEC. 6; WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 4-DEC. 9

q M ONDAYS, NOV. 2, 9, 16, 30; DEC. 7; FEB. 1, 8, 15, 22; MARCH 1, 8, 15

Chabad of the South Hills presents Secrets of the Bible, a new six-week course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Study iconic stories, mystical meanings and their lessons for life. Sunday classes

Most people associate the term “Haftarah” with opaque prophetic reading on Shabbat morning.

This course, Haftarah, will attempt to make the opaque sparkle. Choosing selectively from the most

interesting Haftarah portions, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will seek to imbue meaning in these powerful prophetic passages. Fourteen sessions for $70. 9:30 a.m. For more information and to register, visit foundation. jewishpgh.org. q TUESDAYS, NOV. 3-DEC. 22 Jewish Family and Community Services hosts Mindfulness and Meditation for Stress Management, offering the opportunity to cultivate greater awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings and actions. Increasing awareness and integrating mindfulness and meditation into one’s routine strengthens one’s ability to act with intention rather than reactively and decrease feelings of being overwhelmed. 11 a.m. To register, visit jfcspgh.org.

Join Classrooms Without Borders scholar Avi Ben-Hur on a fascinating look at Jewish heritage in six different countries across Europe and North Africa. Ben-Hur will dedicate two weekly sessions to each country in this 12-week series.

This series is co-sponsored by Rodef Shalom Congregation. 2 p.m. For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.org/jewishheritage-around-the-world.

Join Jewish Family and Community Services for Art and Contemplation - Teen Edition, an art-based support group just for teens. The sessions will explore how making art can help regulate the nervous system, promote playfulness, imagination, help develop insight, and connect us more deeply to our bodies, emotions, and thoughts. For the first session, blank paper and drawing materials that have some variety of color will be needed. Free. 3 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jfcspgh.org.

q TUESDAYS, NOV. 3-JUNE 1 What is the point of Jewish living? What ideas, beliefs and practices are involved? Melton Course 1: Rhythms & Purposes of Jewish Living examines a variety of Jewish sources to discover the deeper meanings of Jewish holidays, lifecycle observances and Jewish practice. Cost: $300 per person, per year (25 sessions), includes all books and materials. For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 4 Join Drew and Jan Barkley for Temple Sinai’s Cook Along via Zoom as they walk us through making one of their favorite recipes. You will be sent the ingredient list ahead of time and you can cook alongside them, asking your questions as you go along. On the menu this time is lox, cream cheese and bagels. Free and open to the public. Registration required. 6:30 p.m. For more information, go to templesinaipgh.org.

No matter what happens on Nov. 3, you may feel the need to de-stress and decompress with community.

Come to Moishe House for Election Recovery Night and enjoy hot chocolate, tea, pizza and a space to process the election results (or lack thereof).

6:30 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/ moishehouse.pittsburgh.

Please see Calendar, page 10

We Remember Them At the rising sun and at its going down; We remember them.

At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; We remember them.

At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring; We remember them.

At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; We remember them.

At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn; We remember them.

At the beginning of the year and when it ends; We remember them.

As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as We remember them.

When we are weary and in need of strength; We remember them.

When we are lost and sick at heart; We remember them.

When we have decisions that are difficult to make; We remember them.

When we have joy we crave to share; We remember them.

When we have achievements that are based on theirs; We remember them.

For as long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as, We remember them.

Lee and Lisa Oleinick

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OCTOBER 30, 2020 9

Calendar Calendar:

q TUESDAY, NOV. 10 Continued from page 9

q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 4; THURSDAY, NOV. 5 Join the Pittsburgh Jewish community for the 10.27 2nd Year Commemoration: Remember, Reflect, In Spirit and Action. This year’s commemoration will be largely virtual. Study Torah with scholars.

For complete information and to register, visit jewishpgh.org/events. q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 4, 11 The 21st century is 20 years old. In that time, the Reform movement has produced more responsa than any other non-Orthodox movement. What have these pieces taught us about 21st-century Judaism?

In 21 C Reform Responsa, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will examine two decades of responsa for their statements about contemporary Judaism. Six sessions for $30. 11 a.m.

To register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. q THURSDAY, NOV. 5 Hear from four writers featured in the new anthology “Bound in the Bond of Life,” at Community Day School’s “Bound in the Bond of Life: A Conversation with Writers.” Writers include Beth Kissileff (anthology co-editor), Molly Pascal, Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg and Linda Hurwitz. 7:30 p.m.

RSVP for the Zoom link. comday.org/bondoflife q FRIDAY, NOV. 6 The weather is starting to get cold, so Moishe House will be serving hot soups and beverages at Soupy Sabbath, our final in-person Shabbat dinner of the year. Dress warm and enjoy a cozy Shabbat meal with us as we reflect on what may have been an emotionally taxing election week.

6:30 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/ moishehouse.pittsburgh. q SUNDAY, NOV. 8 Classrooms Without Borders is honored to present David G. Marwell, author of “Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death.’” “Mengele” is a gripping biography of the infamous Nazi doctor, from a former Justice Department official tasked with uncovering his fate. 7 p.m. For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.org. q MONDAYS, NOV. 9; DEC. 14 Join Classrooms Without Borders in Israel — virtually. Monthly tours with guide and scholar Rabbi Jonty Blackman via Zoom.

7 p.m. For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.org.

The University of Pittsburgh’s Jewish Studies Program welcomes via Zoom Natan Meir, Lorry I. Lokey Professor of Judaic Studies at Portland State University. Meir will present “Epidemic and the Marginalized of Society: A View from the Jewish Past.” 6 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jewishstudies.pitt.edu.

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for a virtual tour of Kibbutz Eshbal, Israel’s first educator’s kibbutz. Eshbal is located in Pittsburgh’s Partnership2Gether region of Karmiel and Misgav and is working on revolutionizing education as well as creating a strong and equal Israeli society.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is a longtime supporter of its important work with at-risk youth. For more information, visit jewishpgh.org.

In commemoration of the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh is partnering with Film Pittsburgh to present “An Irrepressible Woman: A Discussion of the Holocaust in France (Kristallnacht Commemoration 2020)” featuring a panel discussion about the film and the Holocaust in France. 7 p.m. For more information, including a link to view the film and information on the speakers, visit hcofpgh.org/events. q T UESDAYS, NOV. 10, 17; DEC. 1, 8, 15; FEB 9, 16, 23; MARCH 2, 9 Treating Jewish jokes as text, From Sinai to Seinfeld invites students to analyze and interpret the evolving concerns, styles, rhythms, preoccupations and values of the Jewish people that lie buried deep in words that make us laugh as Jews, and that bond us as a people. $50 per person, (10 sessions), includes all books and materials. For more information and to register, visit foundation. jewishpgh.org. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 11

412-421-8944 4231 Murray Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Join Moishe House for How to Take a Break: A Pre-Shabbat Discussion. Reflect on what it means to take a day off from striving once a week and also make plans on how YOU will take a break this weekend. Regardless of whether you’re Jewish or Sabbath-observant or if these concepts are totally new, we would love to have you.

7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/ moishehouse.pittsburgh. q SUNDAY, NOV. 15 Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for “At Home in Warsaw.” Take a virtual tour of the vibrant city and hear from three Warsawans as they share the joys and complexities of living in this contemporary city. 1 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jewishpgh.org.

q THURSDAY NOV. 12 New Light Congregation, Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, Congregation Dor Hadash and the 10.27 Healing Partnership present “An Evening with Beth

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.

q TUESDAY, DEC. 1; THURSDAY, DEC. 3 The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents the latest installment of its Generation Speakers Series featuring Susan Robinson Hawkins and Peter Robinson. Together, sister and brother tell the story of their parents’ loss and survival through concentration camps, hiding and emigration. The prerecorded Holocaust Center documentary will air in two-parts at 3 p.m. on both days. For more information and to register, visit hcofpgh.org/events. q T HURSDAYS, DEC. 3; FEB. 18; MARCH 18; MAY 6; JUNE 17

q TUESDAY, NOV. 17

q MONDAY, NOV. 23

As we enter the month of Kislev join Moishe House for Rosh Chodesh Kislev Intention Setting. Take a moment to set intentions for the month ahead in the second installment of their Rosh Chodesh Intention Setting series. 7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/moishehouse.pittsburgh.

Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with the American Association of Teachers of German, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York City and Germany Close Up, is honored to convene a lecture with Dr. Felix Klein, Germany’s Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Anti-Semitism. RSVP to receive the Zoom link. The link will be sent out 24 hours before the program.

12 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org

The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents the latest installment in the Generations Speaker Series: Alison Brown Karabin. Alison will share the story of her grandmother, Elizabeth Brown (z”l), a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Volary death march.

3 p.m. Free. For more information and to register, visit hcofpgh.org/events.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh presents “The Month that Was: Behind the Headlines in Israel — Part 1.” Join Neil Lazarus for an in-depth analysis of the latest news and views from Israel and the Middle East in the last month.

12 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jewishpgh.org.

Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with Liberation75, Rodef Shalom Congregation and Film Pittsburgh, is excited to present “Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz” and post-film discussion with director, Barry Avrich; former U.S. Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues, David Scheffer; Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, Stephen Smith; former

Michael H. Marks, Esq. Linda L. Carroll, Esq. member, national academy of elder law attorneys

Time for a throwback to an old Moishe House staple, Jackbox Game Night, their first game night since March. Play Jackbox games together from the safety of your home. 7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/moishehouse.pittsburgh.

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Cardozo Society and Women’s Philanthropy for a virtual tour of the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s exhibit “Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” 5 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jewishpgh.org/event/notorious-rbg.

q MONDAY, NOV. 16

We help families understand the strategies, the benefits, and risks involved with elder law, disability and estate planning. michael@marks-law.com

Senior Historian at Facing History and Ourselves, Mary Johnson; and Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum. 4 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org

In this year’s Continuing Legal Education Series, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will dive into a range of “tense topics” — difficult and troubling issues that are both powerfully emotional subjects and have substantive legal ramifications at the same time. Get up to 12 CLE ethics credits. With CLE/CEU credit: $30/session or $180 all sessions; without CLE/CEU credit: $25/session or $150 all sessions. 8:30 a.m. For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org.

q THURSDAY, NOV. 19

Join Moishe House for Incarceration & Judaism: An Evening with the Aleph Institute. Executive Director Rabbi Moishe Vogel will answer questions including: What do Jewish texts and traditions say about incarceration? How do Jewish inmates experience Pennsylvania’s jails and prisons? How can we, as a Jewish community, support people who are currently incarcerated and advocate for a criminal justice system that aligns with our values?

7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/ moishehouse.pittsburgh.

helping you plan for what matters the most

www.marks-law.com

Kissileff and Eric Lidji,” editors of the new book “Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy,” moderated

by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle CEO and Publisher Jim Busis. 7 p.m. For more information on this free Zoom event and to register, visit the event page at newlightcongregation.org.

linda@marks-law.com

q TUESDAY, NOV. 24 Moishe House Pittsburgh and other Moishe Houses around the country welcome Beth Kissileff and Eric Lidji for Pittsburgh Writers on the Tree of Life Tragedy, a discussion of their new book, “Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy,” a series of essays from community members about the 10/27 tragedy.

7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/ moishehouse.pittsburgh. q THURSDAY, DEC. 3 Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with Rodef Shalom Congregation, is excited to offer the opportunity to watch the film “Menachem Begin: Peace and War” and engage in a postfilm discussion with director Levi Zini, and CWB scholar Avi Ben Hur. RSVP to receive the link to the film ahead of the Zoom discussion. 3 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org PJC

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Leading legislative efforts to address health disaparities resulting from systemic racism

Endorsed by Planned Parenthood, for two decades of work protecting reproductive health One of only three

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Geriatricians are physicians who specialize in the unique care of older adults, providing state-of-the-art assessment and treatment for problems such as dementia, falls and difficulty walking, incontinence, and complicated medication lists. Learn how your parent can maintain or improve their independence at UPMC.com/Geriatrics.

co-chair of the PA SAFE Caucus

Paid for by the Dan Frankel for the 23rd District Committee.

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Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Jewish students at U Illinois ‘faced unrelenting campaign of anti-Semitic harassment,’ complaint says

A complaint filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleges that Jewish students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign “faced an unrelenting campaign of anti-Semitic harassment.”

A statement announcing the complaint said that Jewish and pro-Israel students in the past five years “have been subjected to an alarming increase in anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism” and that the university did not take adequate action.

The complaint was prepared by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP on behalf of Jewish students at the university.

It was done in consultation with the Jewish United Fund, and Hillel International.

A summary of the complaint, originally filed in March, detailed a number of incidents where swastikas were found on campus and Jewish buildings and ritual items were vandalized. It also included events that displayed virulent anti-Israel rhetoric, which it said made campus inhospitable for Jewish and pro-Israel students.

“We gave UIUC seven months since the complaint was filed to address the ongoing harassment. In the face of continuous stall

tactics and almost no action from the university, we decided to publicize our efforts,” Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin said in the statement.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler told the Chicago Sun-Times that its accrediting organization had found in March that the allegations “do not indicate substantive noncompliance with their requirements and that no further review would be conducted.”

Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that made the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to Jewish college students. The order meant that students could now file complaints, such as the one at the University of Illinois, alleging discrimination against them on campus. The executive order was controversial because it was seen as opening up the possibility for the Department of Education to withhold funding from schools seen as fostering an anti-Israel environment, which critics said was antithetical to free speech.

Albania adopts International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism

Albania has joined 43 other nations that have officially endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism.

The Kuvendi, Albania’s parliament, on Thursday passed a resolution on adopting the definition that the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, presented

in 2016. Albania is the second Muslimmajority country to do so, following Kosovo’s lead earlier this year.

The vote is “an expression by the Albanian Parliament of the world-renowned feelings and attitudes of the Albanian people for the protection of the Jews as well as a contribution to making Albania a regional leader of the united front in the fight against anti-Semitism,” a statement on the parliament’s website said.

The IHRA working definition describes various forms of anti-Semitism, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial and, sometimes controversially, expressions of criticism of Israel.

Albania, where many residents saved Jews during the Holocaust, is scheduled to host next week an online conference attended by top diplomats from across the Balkans and State Secretary Mike Pompeo.

The definition includes classical forms of “hatred toward Jews,” and its examples section also mentions Israel eight times, listing as examples behaviors such as “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “applying double standards by requiring of it [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”

Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany is also listed, along with “accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.”

IHRA adopted the definition after the European Union in 2012 dropped a

similar text that some pro-Palestinian activists protested, citing alleged free speech issues.

Lithuania mints first euro coin with Hebrew letters

The Bank of Lithuania minted the first euro piece of currency containing Hebrew letters.

The 10-euro coin was minted on Tuesday and is a limited-edition commemorative collector’s item celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Vilna Gaon, the 18th-century rabbinical luminary Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who lived and died in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

The heads side of the coin features the Hebrew letter shin, whose value according to the gematria alphanumeric code is 300, followed by the acronym in Hebrew of Gaon Rabbi Elijah. The tails’ rim reads in Hebrew: “The year of the Vilna Gaon and the history of the Jews of Lithuania.”

The commemoration of individual people is very rare on bank notes and coins of the European Union, partly because of the political sensitivity in a political union made up of former foes.

Earlier this month, a mural of the late Israeli poet Leah Goldberg, who grew up in Kaunas, was unveiled there along with other notable individuals connected to the city ahead of its crowning as Cultural Capital of Europe in 2022.

Separately, a monument for Holocaust victims that was smashed and knocked over in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas was restored on Oct. 9, the news site Jewish.ru reported. PJC

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OCTOBER 30, 2020 13

Opinion Not moving on, but moving forward Editor’s Desk Toby Tabachnick

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wo years after the massacre at the Tree of Life building, here is something that has changed: Now, when I meet new people — which, admittedly, is rare these days because of the pandemic — and I say I am from Pittsburgh, the response is no longer guaranteed to be a sad pause followed by a heartfelt, “How is your community doing?”

I don’t think this means that the significance and trauma of the Oct. 27, 2018, attack is diminished in the minds of those who do not live in Pittsburgh, or that they don’t care.

It’s just no longer necessarily the first thing that comes to mind.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. As part of Jewish Pittsburgh, the attack is something that I think about constantly. Every time I hear of another act of violent anti-Semitism, which is often, I am reminded of Oct. 27.

Every time I pass by the Tree of life building I am reminded of Oct. 27. Every time I hear the name of one of the victims, or a family member of one of the victims, or one of the three congregations that were targeted, I am reminded of Oct. 27.

I have no reason to believe that will change for me anytime soon, or ever.

And I know I am not alone.

But what does it mean that others outside our community are beginning to identify us again apart from what happened here two years ago? Has the world “moved on,” whatever that means?

There has been too much pain for many of us in Jewish Pittsburgh to ever fully get past

the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. But Jewish mourning practices do set a timeline for our grief. The most intense period of mourning is the first week of shiva, then a gradual resumption of participation in life’s normal activities that first month of sheloshim. After a year, we are encouraged and expected to resume life fully while setting apart a yearly remembrance, yahrzeit, for those we have lost.

As I write this, the date is Oct. 27, 2020. As the Chronicle goes to press today, I vividly remember the days and weeks immediately following the massacre and the stories that we covered then. I specifically recall writing that first surreal headline: “Eleven dead, six injured in anti-Semitic attack at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha.”

Those first stories our paper ran were necessarily tragic, horrific and inconceivable.

In the year that followed, while so many of the stories were of hope, resilience and love,

our paper was dominated by coverage of the aftermath of the shooting. It is, and will be, an event that continues to define our community, if not to the world at large, certainly to ourselves.

Two years later the Chronicle is still running stories about the events of Oct. 27, 2018, albeit less frequently. While we have not “moved on,” we are, as a community, moving forward.

Here is what hasn’t changed since our community was turned inside out two years ago: Jewish Pittsburgh remains strong and perseveres, even in the face of continuing challenges.

These days, those times when I am again asked, “How is your community doing?” I can honestly respond, “We are doing OK.” May we go from strength to strength. PJC

year out, lights a candle in memory of those who are gone. Why do we do it? Simple. It’s symbolic of the most abiding constant of Judaism throughout the ages: Where there is darkness, Jews introduce light. It is not by accident that at the focal point of our sanctuaries there is an eternal light, that the Torah is called a “light to our path,” and that we are supposed to conduct ourselves as a “light to the nations.”

When Jews light a yahrzeit candle, we are essentially rekindling the light of the life that we are remembering in our homes. More than that, we are making a profound statement: that even in sadness, the darkness around us will never defeat us — the lives of our beloved dead inspire us to dispel that darkness with light as we move forward.

And let’s remember this: For months we have felt cut off and separated from others.

But this hour reminds us that those who belong to a community — those who are part

of an ancient people, with a clear memory of what brought us to today, and a determined vision for where we are headed tomorrow — are never really parted. This night is a metaphor for who we are at all times: a network of points of light, determined to keep the memory of goodness alive, and duty-bound to illuminate the night.

We will not be defeated by the darkness of anti-Semitism. We will not be defeated by the darkness of injustice. We will not be defeated by the darkness of isolation.

Just as God responded to the darkness of the world’s first day with light, so will we — in memory of the devotion of those we lost, and with dedication to the future that they would have us create. PJC

Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Commemorating a massacre Guest Columnist Rabbi Danny Schiff

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ight falls. In the gathering darkness, a match is lit. It kindles a singular wick.

Yahrzeit. The lighting of one candle all by itself. The simplest act of all. And perhaps the loneliest. Only you, and maybe a family member or two, alone in a darkened home with a tiny, flickering flame and a multitude of memories.

In most cases, death arrives individually. A person dies in a particular place on a given day. As a result, the anguished yearning of yahrzeit is usually experienced in private solitude. A household and its candle; nobody else.

Except on this night. This night is different.

On this night, as you stand there in your darkness, somewhere across town in another home, another candle is being lit. And then, a couple of streets away, another. Almost immediately, a few blocks further on, another… and then another, and another, and …

They died together. At the same hour. On the same Shabbat. In the same synagogue building. They died as part of a community, in a place of communal gathering, with the hallowed words of a majestic tradition on their lips.

So, on this night, there will not be just one candle lit in an unnoticed room. Across Pittsburgh and beyond, there will be multiple points of light in a series of locations — each one lit alone, but not in any way alone. Some will light for a lost loved one, some for a friend, some for a community member, some because they need to recall the events of that day.

There is no other people that, year in and

Rabbi Danny Schiff is the Jewish Community Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Finding ways to heal while confronting challenges Guest Columnist Jordan Golin

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he shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, impacted me in ways that I never expected. The feelings of shock, grief, and vulnerability left a mark on me that I still feel today, and I’ve spoken to enough people about their own feelings to know that I am not alone in this.

As I approached the 10/27 commemoration last year, I held out hope that 2020 would provide a significant step forward on the journey of healing. Instead we were stunned by the pandemic, economic collapse and racial divide. Where one crisis ended, the next began.

As I watched the headlines over the past 14 OCTOBER 30, 2020

few months reflect growing instances of death, depression and despair, I’ve recognized that this will not be a year of healing. This will be, and has already become, a year of new challenges for all of us. And while the adversity that we successfully managed in the past can, in some ways, help us to deal with new difficulties, it doesn’t always feel that way.

The second commemoration of the shooting feels different than last year’s commemoration. Last year, I was comforted by a sense of solidarity, community, and support along with the sadness and grief. This year, I feel a more urgent need to reconsider my entire healing journey — especially in light of the crises and hardships of the past year. Increasingly, I believe that my personal need for healing cannot be separated from my community’s need for healing. And my community isn’t only struggling with the aftermath of the synagogue shooting.

We are stretched too thin with tragedy and hardship. We should be doing everything in our power to stem more pain and suffering so that the future holds hope and healing.

There was so much hatred in the violence on Oct. 27, 2018. Hatred toward Jews and hatred toward refugees and immigrants. But this hatred didn’t come out of nowhere, and it didn’t go away on Oct. 28. Our world has seen increasing hostility and contention.

People disagreeing over politics, race, public health and more has split families and ended friendships.

These schisms in our society are quickly moving from verbal disagreements to aggressive posturing, criminal conspiracies and acts of violence.

Enough is enough.

We desperately need healing. There is so much in the world that I do not control and cannot change. However,

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there are still meaningful things that I can do to make a difference.

I can broaden my mind by learning about other people’s perspectives.

I can listen better to my neighbors so there is less strife between people.

I can advocate for communities that have experienced hate-filled trauma.

I can welcome collaborative spaces for people to share their ideas and inspiration.

I can help others who aren’t as fortunate as me.

I can reject the notion that there is an “us” and a “them.” There’s just a “we.”

At this two-year mark of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, I invite you to join me in finding ways to make our world a healthier place to heal, for all of us. As we have said so many times, we are stronger together. PJC Jordan Golin is president and CEO of JFCS. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Opinion Why these observant women support Biden Guest Columnists Gail Butler Bendheim Yonina Bendheim Jacobson Deborah Shapira

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s women in the observant Jewish community who support Joe Biden’s candidacy, we find ourselves deeply troubled by the false choice being presented in the upcoming election. Many in our community would have us believe that Donald Trump is the obvious — and only — choice if you are an observant Jew who supports the State of Israel. We find that position to be totally inconsistent with our religious, cultural and ethical beliefs, and are frankly puzzled by its self-contradictory premise.

As women of faith, we are looking for a candidate who brings dignity, tolerance, open-mindedness and compassion to

the sacred task of leading this precious country. Character matters to us, and it matters fundamentally. Joe Biden is a principled, deeply empathic human being with a gravitas borne of many life experiences — some very difficult — over the course of his long and distinguished career. He has an intrinsic sense of how to create collaborative relationships, and he builds upon these relationships to create consensus for the benefit of every American.

Our religion stands on the pillars of justice, mercy and lovingkindness; and these principles shape our point of view and our expectations from our leaders. Voting for someone as devoid of ethics, judgment and empathy as Trump goes directly against the precepts of our religion. A person who reduces our civic discourse to the most base and primitive level of language and impulse is precisely the opposite of what we stand for. As women, we feel horror at children being ripped from their mothers at the border, and terror at our president’s cavalier dismissal of the dangers of COVID-19, a crisis our families are fighting daily. We are ongoingly shocked that

he continually promotes an atmosphere of hate and divisiveness in our country, while we are struggling to provide our children with models of tolerance and empathy.

Our love for Israel is unconditional, and it carries great weight in every aspect of our lives. But it is precisely because of that love that we view Trump’s erratic and impulsive decision-making with distrust. Biden is, and always has been, a dependable friend of Israel; and he understands its challenges and needs. In keeping with this genuine affinity, he has been there for the long term, applying rational decision-making to his policies. He does not subscribe to the flash-in-the-pan, opportunistic, transactional “friendship” that Trump continues to demonstrate.

Israel’s new relations with the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan are positive. However, invoking these achievements to prove Trump’s commitment or shared purpose simply does not recognize the cynical expediency he brings to every situation, and the absence of vision behind his individual actions.

There is nothing that strings together his

disparate attainments but his self-serving quest for more votes. He will not get ours, and he should not get yours.

The Torah teaches us that we are created in the image of God, and that we are to walk in His ways. It should matter to us deeply — in assessing both a leader’s way of being in the world and the concrete results of his actions — that he “walk” through this terrain with the dignity and respect that will reflect the divine in all of us. Donald Trump debases us all. Joe Biden — in his humility, humanity, and collaborative spirit — lifts us up. To us, the choice is clear. PJC Gail Butler Bendheim grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Hillel Academy. She is a psychologist in private practice in New York. Yonina Bendheim Jacobson grew up in New York and moved with her family to the Philadelphia area 20 years ago. She is a practicing attorney. Deborah Shapira, originally from Pittsburgh, is an educator and facilitator living in New York. She is an active volunteer for Jewish organizations in both Israel and the U.S.

Why I am voting for Donald Trump Guest Columnist Charles Saul

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e’s rude and crude; petulant; obnoxious; thin-skinned; viciously attacks those who criticize him; and narcissistic. Not the ideal traits for the leader of our country. And yet I support him over Joe Biden.

First, Israel is my top priority, especially as it faces existential threats from Iran and Hezbollah. I trust Trump to come to the aid of Israel if the need should arise.

He has been by far the best friend of Israel of any president since Truman. He has moved the U.S. embassy to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem; recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights; cut off aid to the terror-supporting Palestinian Authority; recognized that the Palestinians were the true stumbling block to peace; fully supported Israel at the United Nations, including appointing superstar Nikki Haley; pulled us out of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal; and orchestrated the impossible: the monumental agreements of the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan to establish relations with Israel. There is a reason that a good majority of Israelis favor Trump over Biden.

Contrast that with the Obama-Biden record on Israel: betraying Israel by helping to draft and refusing to veto an anti-Israel U.N. resolution; supporting the rabidly anti-Israel Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Qatar; failing to realize that the Palestinians were not true peace partners; and, worst of all, entering into the Iran nuclear deal, the worst agreement since Chamberlain’s “peace in our time” deal with Hitler, sending over $100 billion (including a plane full of cash) to Iran in return for promises by Iranian mullahs to stop nuclear development for a mere 10 years.

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Iran has used the $100 billion to support terrorism and develop long-range missiles, while (surprise!) surreptitiously continuing development of nuclear capability. A Biden administration is also likely to return to the John Kerry-Martin Indyk strategy of pressuring Israel to make concessions harmful to its security in return for idle promises from the Palestinian Authority.

As to the U.S., I support Trump’s strategy on immigration. Any immigrant, regardless of race, religion or color should be welcomed with open arms and supported by all our social agencies. But the U.S. cannot afford to take in tens of thousands of people who have grown up with a profound hatred of Israel and Jews. If, for instance, the U.S. followed Europe’s example and permitted 100,000 refugees from Syria to enter the U.S., and only 1% were Islamists, we would have 1,000 Islamists residing among us. We also will have more Ilhan Omars in Congress spewing anti-Semitism and supporting cuts in aid to Israel. Sorry, I do not want beheadings in the streets of Pittsburgh, more honor killings, and newspaper employees killed for an offensive cartoon. Rather, let’s generously try to aid the refugees in their own lands where possible, and embrace them all, like the Muslims in the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and elsewhere, who share our intense desire for peace and friendship.

Likewise, we cannot absorb all of Central and South America. Legal immigration should continue; but simply opening our border for anyone to come in hurts our low-wage earners and brings in callous criminals along with those who we would otherwise welcome as legal immigrants.

As to those who come to escape poverty, while many could be admitted legally, the better course would be to assist them economically and in other ways in their home

countries — something that was not possible to accomplish with our ancestors who came over in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and with those refugees escaping the Nazis. It’s simply not the same.

Is Trump a racist? A white supremacist?

If I thought so, I would not support him.

Although one would not know it from reading the New York Times or watching CNN, he has repeatedly condemned white supremacists. The Charlottesville myth, perpetuated to this day by leftists claiming he was praising white supremacists and Nazis, is pure fiction.

Listen to the whole tape. Significantly, Trump signed the First Step Act, which reformed the criminal justice system, resulting in the release of thousands from prison (90% of whom were Black); recently signed an executive order on police reform; promoted opportunity zones for investments in Black communities; significantly increased federal funding for Black colleges; and declared the KKK a terrorist group. The white supremacist monsters who killed my friends at the Tree of Life building and at the Chabad of Poway had anti-Trump screeds on their postings.

Anti-Semite? Great supporter and friend of Israel: Jewish daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren; Jewish appointees to prominent positions in his administration; important executive order to protect Jewish students under Title VI. No. He’s not an anti-Semite.

On the economy, prior to COVID-19, Trump policies helped the U.S. to a booming economy, lowering unemployment rates for all segments of our population, including Blacks and Hispanics. I trust him on a post-COVID economic recovery over Biden’s increased taxes, increased regulations, and other adverse growth policies.

On COVID, Trump early on banned travel from China, thereby saving what some believe to be over 2 million lives, while Biden blasted

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the move, calling Trump xenophobic. This is a worldwide plague where no one had all the answers, including Israel, which recently returned to quarantine. However, Trump was able to mobilize the country for rapid production of ventilators, increased hospital capacity, and the development of soon-to-be deployed vaccines in record time.

On character, I note that Biden is a well-documented plagiarizer; a blatant liar on his educational and other background information; a politician who tells his audience whatever he believes they want to hear (e.g., fracking no; fracking yes); fails to denounce and disavow the support of Ilhan Omar and her cronies; and is politically owing to the far-left extremists who are in the process of taking over the Democratic party I used to support. And, when all the evidence comes out regarding Burisma, China, Russia, and Hunter, I believe that we will find out that Biden is one of the most crooked politicians that we have ever had. He has a nice smile, but a bad smell.

Of course, if I believed the lies of the New York Times, CNN, and other mass media, who have lost all objectivity, I could never vote for Trump. But I don’t. I view them critically and objectively, just as I do the few media outlets on the right. Just as these outlets are biased and fail to report the truth about Israel, they are biased and fail to tell the truth about Trump — and even more so.

Do I agree with all of Trump’s policies? No. Am I a fan of his character? No. But when it comes to Israel, immigration, our economy, national defense, the selection of non-activist judges, and opposition to the extreme leftists who have taken over our universities, mass media, and cultural institutions, I’m for Trump. PJC Charles Saul is an attorney in Pittsburgh.

OCTOBER 30, 2020 15

Headlines Security: Continued from page 1

during the two years before the attack at the Tree of Life building, Orsini had completed 45 security assessments at various Pittsburgh Jewish facilities and trained more than 6,000 people in 145 training sessions.

Weiss, a Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha member who attended services at the congregation on Oct. 27, 2018, recounted his first-hand observations of the attack. He recalled hearing “four or five shots” fired and watching “brass shell casings bounce across the floor in front of me.”

The Squirrel Hill native explained how he escaped the building and watched as the first responders arrived. He remembered the bravery of one police officer who, despite being shot in the hand, made sure Weiss and other bystanders were moved a safe distance from the shooting as it transpired.

Like Myers, Weiss recalled the training he received from Orsini, saying it helped him know how to react. “I do credit Brad with that training and with saving my life,” Weiss said.

Vigilance and training are the best tools the Jewish community has right now to protect itself from future attacks, said Orsini.

“That’s really the best we can do, have people report everything, to be trained on how to react,” he said. “We don’t have a crystal ball; the internet is vast. We know there are so many people self-radicalizing that want to attack our community but it’s so important for our entire community to be aware, not just how to respond to an active shooter but to report any signs of suspicious behavior.”

Weiss concluded the segment saying he hasn’t allowed fear to control his life since the shooting.

“This was something not planned by any

Chevra Kadisha: Continued from page 1

ritual purifications since the start of the pandemic, said Admon, is that proper utilization of PPE is strictly enforced, adequate distance is maintained during the ritual and participants now travel in separate cars — but as more is learned about the virus, the group is slowly returning to its former practices.

Malke Frank, a longtime member of Pittsburgh’s New Community Chevra Kadisha, stressed the importance of upholding Jewish tradition, but said that she and members of the organization are still deciding on an appropriate time to resume in-person ritual.

As members of the group — many of whom possess medical backgrounds — determine procedures for recommencing in-person practices, the New Community Chevra Kadisha is conducting “spiritual taharot,” a ritual that enables the chevra kadisha to honor the deceased and “midwife its soul” with digital aids.

Given the inability of members to physically accompany the deceased on this final stage of the Jewish journey, spiritual taharot have taken on increased meaning, said Patricia Cluss, a founding member of the

p CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota hosted a portion of the security webinar presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on Oct. 22.

Screenshot by David Rullo

of us, but we need to move forward,” Weiss said. “Partially, it’s my faith that gives me that strength to move forward.”

Pivoting from the local narrative, the webinar next featured John Cohen, senior expert on global threats for Argonne National Laboratory and former acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis and counterterrorism coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security; Kerry Sleeper, former FBI assistant director; and former Squirrel Hill resident Jessica Reaves, editorial director of the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism. The trio discussed the evolving threat to the American Jewish community.

Virtually all threats are now online and on social media, explained Sleeper, noting that it is a challenge to legally monitor these platforms. Law enforcement is experiencing a loss of funding and staffing, he said, so it is important for the Jewish community to maintain organic security like the Federation’s Community Security office.

Right-wing extremists online present the most deadly threat in the country, said Reaves. She pointed out that in 2019, harassment, vandalism and assaults against the Jewish community all increased, with 2,107 anti-Semitic attacks reported that year.

Cohen urged the Jewish community to “be alert, take advantage of training, understand suspicious activities that may be associated with threats, and make sure there are good lines of communication between the faith community and local authorities.”

The final segment of the program included Michael Masters, director and CEO of the Secure Community Network, and Alejandro Mayorkas, former deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, who discussed the security challenges to the Jewish community post-Oct. 27.

The Jewish community has moved beyond the denial phase of “it can’t happen here,” said Masters, adding that it’s

New Community Chevra Kadisha.

For families who’ve suffered losses during this period, there’s been an inability to access regular comforts, including joining loved ones during the dying process or gathering with family or friends for burial or shiva.

“It just makes the death of a loved one so much more awful for people,” said Cluss.

Spiritual taharot — which often include four people joining a Zoom meeting and recalling the deceased’s life as well as reciting the person’s name both in English and Hebrew, or Yiddish; lighting a candle on behalf of the deceased’s soul; reciting traditional liturgy; performing ritual hand washing; visualizing the purification process; and observing the placement of shrouds above the deceased — are not a meaningless substitute for in-person practices, said Frank.

“This is not a normal time, and we can’t do things as we normally do, and that doesn’t diminish our compassion, intention or sincerity in what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re still doing this mitzvah that we believe is so relevant, meaningful and important.”

Since the pandemic began, the New Community Chevra Kadisha has performed 79 spiritual taharot. Allen Baum, a 15-year member of the group, estimates that he’s participated in four or five since March 2020.

When notice arrives that a tahara is to be performed, Baum, who maintains regular communication with area funeral homes and members of the New Community Chevra Kadisha, works to ensure that the practice is observed in a timely fashion. And, like members of both Pittsburgh Jewish burial societies, Baum isn’t keen on accepting praise.

“I do it because it’s supporting the community, it’s maintaining the tradition, it’s providing continuity and it’s a mitzvah,” he said.

“Being Jewish, there’s a sense of obligation to help out and perform specific deeds that assist others, and I think that this is just one more aspect of that,” said David Zimmer, an eight-year member of the New Community Chevra Kadisha.

Years ago, Zimmer was introduced to the concept and practices of the chevra kadisha during a trip to Israel with Temple David in Monroeville. After returning home, Zimmer joined the Jewish burial society. With a background in nursing, he easily connected with fellow members and medical practitioners Dan Leger, a nurse, and Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz.

Both men were shot during the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre on Oct. 27, 2018. Leger survived his injuries, but Rabinowitz was killed.

“Jerry was very influential in how

important to implement standardized best practices nationally.

While Pittsburgh and other large cities have training and security services, Masters noted, 90% of Jewish communities need additional resources.

Mayorkas stressed the importance of training for synagogues and other Jewish institutions and noted that a robust security strategy includes the need for cameras.

Low-cost steps, such as locking the doors to buildings and ongoing training, are also paramount for protection, he said.

Asked by Masters what keeps him up at night, Mayorkas pointed to “the space with which hate has room to breathe is something that, in this country, I have not seen before this time. And it is extremely troubling. And it keeps me up.”

Conversely, Mayorkas said he finds hope in “conversations like this following horrific attacks on people tending to their faith.

What gives me hope is seeing the response of those people under the leadership of their of their rabbi’s strength and with one another.”

Most Pittsburgh Jewish organizations, with the Federation’s assistance, have invested in upgrading security, and some target hardening also has been done, Shawn Brokos, the current director of Community Security, told the Chronicle. The Federation is being proactive in helping Jewish institutions secure funding for increased upgrades where needed, she said.

“When I train and work with people, I try and get them where they are mindful but empowered — to make sure we live our daily lives and not let anxiety rule our decision-making,” Brokos said.

The webinar can be viewed online at https://rb.gy/jigjep. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

I approach it,” said Zimmer.

As much as the process of Jewish burial is about respecting the dead, there’s also a critical need to support the deceased’s family and friends. That responsibility remains ever present, especially during a pandemic, said Zimmer, who has seen that the New Community Chevra Kadisha’s activities during the past seven months have been valued. Zimmer is anxious to resume in-person practices but understands that the group will only proceed at an appropriate time.

Having been denied the ability to do in-person taharot, Zimmer said that his appreciation for the ritual and those who uphold its practice has only grown.

“There’s a tremendous communal effect: Friendships have been made from within this group that perhaps may not have occurred, people from different aspects of the religious community have gotten together,” said Zimmer.

Beyond that, “I don’t think there’s a way to be able to partake in this spiritually without coming out with a religious sense and feeling about it,” added Zimmer. “It just is there.

It’s all present around you.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 16 OCTOBER 30, 2020

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Headlines Freshmen: Continued from page 2

of higher learning, but the university experience also enriches students through social engagement.

A 30-year longitudinal study in the journal Psychology and Aging demonstrated that frequent social interactions at the age of 20 directly benefited social and psychological outcomes 30 years later. “It’s often around this age that we meet people from diverse backgrounds, with opinions and values that are different from our own, and we learn how to best manage those differences,” said lead author Cheryl Carmichael in a University of Rochester news release.

As eager as Raleigh, North Carolina, native Sarah Keller was to begin studying business and marketing at the University of Pittsburgh, the freshman also wanted to have friends.

Through numerous Chabad on Campus events, Keller has met new people as well as participated in reduced-attendance Shabbat or holiday meals and coffee dates.

“I’m not a big group person, and I didn’t fully know what to expect with corona, but this is definitely not a bad experience,” said Keller.

Virtual: Continued from page 3

view services from the comfort of home, Baron, a life coach, missed the sense of community. “Loneliness isn’t the right word,” she said, “but there was more a sense of aloneness to them.”

Holiday communal activities extend beyond religious services for Baron and her husband. The pair don’t construct their own sukkah, preferring to visit with friends to observe Sukkot. However, the possibility of confronting an airborne illness in a tight sukkah worried Baron. Friends accommodated her anxiety, allowing her to sit in the sukkah while they sat outside.

The Squirrel Hill resident said that, for her, the virtual High Holiday experience both subtracted from and added to her holiday observance.

“It took away the sense of community, the social aspect,” Baron said. “It took away the festiveness. Even though Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are somewhat solemn, there’s something festive about getting dressed up. We didn’t have that. And yet there was something just very relaxing about it and that allowed it to touch the soul in a different way.”

Beth El Congregation of the South Hills

Shribman: Continued from page 4

with shiva and with just being there for us,” Shribman said. “That really inspired me and I felt like I could become more Jewish.”

Through the years, Gibson, Temple Sinai and the greater Pittsburgh Jewish community fortified Shribman’s religious identity.

“Pittsburgh kind of helped me become a PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

She has not yet taken an in-person course — classes are offered synchronously on Zoom — but that hasn’t been much of a detriment, explained Keller: “You get to make your college experience what you want it to be. Even with corona, I decided it would be a good year, and so it has been.”

In the two months since Carnegie Mellon University’s fall semester began, freshman Ariel Bernhard, a native of Rochester, New York, has been on campus for only two weeks.

Before coming to campus for in-person instruction, she quarantined for two weeks at a family friend’s apartment in Pittsburgh, completed regular health assessments and took a COVID-19 test.

Bernhard wasn’t supposed to be on campus this semester — in order to ensure limited capacity and fairness, the Oakland-based university offered most students a chance to enjoy on-campus housing either during the fall 2020 semester or the spring 2021 semester. But when she wanted to better understand lighting design and use of the university’s tension grid, she worked with the School of Drama to create a safe way to learn in person for a limited period.

Now back in Rochester and taking classes on Zoom, Bernhard praised CMU for allowing her to briefly learn in person, and for the university’s treatment of students during the pandemic.

“CMU is doing everything possible to give us an equitable education,” said Bernhard.

Even so, there are inherent difficulties with intensive online study.

“I got blue-light glasses to avoid the headaches, but those are still a thing,” she said.

Creating social connections is also challenging. There’s an oddness to limited digital engagement, so during her two-week stint on campus Bernhard met up with different members of Hillel JUC. “That community is important to me and I wanted to develop those connections,” she said.

Bernhard hopes the physically distanced get-togethers with Hillel JUC board members lead to future friendships.

“I know it’s not the same, but at least it’s something,” she said.

Coming from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Jorie Meil had certain ideas of what freshman year at Chatham University would look like.

For starters, there would be opportunities to engage with more than a handful of Jewish students — Meil said there were only two Jewish students in her high school.

What Meil has discovered is that college is not like anything she’d imagined.

Because of Chatham’s small student population, Meil attends in-person classes as well as those online. Given the setup, Meil

has to remind herself which aspect of the hybrid learning format she’s engaging with that day. Generally, though, the experience has been valuable as it has brought students together, albeit at a safe distance, she said.

“It’s definitely a challenging situation and not quite something we were all necessarily looking forward to — at times it can be a little disastrous — but overall, it’s something we’re all going through together and will make us stronger,” said Meil.

As part of a communications course, Meil interviewed fellow freshmen about the challenges of transitioning to college life, and later wrote a story on the attitudes and experiences of first-year students during a pandemic.

“I found that most people were optimistic, and that they were just doing their best one day at a time figuring things out,” she said.

As for her own sense of freshman college life, Meil said her feelings are pretty consistent with her findings.

“This has given us a sense of responsibility,” she said. “I check my email more than I used to, and I’m learning how to form online relationships not only with friends but with faculty and advisors. It’s definitely given me a new perspective on things.” PJC

streamed its services live but also offered them recorded on YouTube, offering an asynchronistic option.

Dr. Myles Zuckerman typically attends the Conservative congregation’s High Holiday services. This year’s digital programs allowed him to appreciate Marshall McLuhan’s axiom, “the medium is the message,” from the comfort of his home.

The South Hills resident said he took full advantage of the technology. For instance, he went back and forth between gallery and speaker view on Zoom, allowing him to create a sense of community, and watched alternate parts of the service offered concurrently to the traditional service, creating a more personal, if less social holiday experience.

Because Zuckerman is so comfortable with technology, he didn’t feel that having to attend services virtually impeded his holiday observances.

“I did not feel isolated,” he said. “I may not be the typical person, but I’ve taken to Zoom in a big way. I’ve taken to that way of connecting to people. I know it’s not the same, but I don’t feel cut off. I really feel that it does connect us in a different but meaningful way.”

A few miles down the road from Beth El, Penny and David Abrams attend Temple Emanuel of the South Hills. The Reform congregation’s High Holiday offerings

included a combination of prerecorded and live segments.

To maintain a sense of tradition, the Abrams got dressed up and hosted their daughter and her family for Yom Kippur. “We tried to make it feel like the holidays and had some family connections,” said Penny.

For David, the couple’s High Holiday experience is summed up by one word: “distant.”

“It’s the difference between watching a concert on TV or being there,” he said. “Most people would want to be at the concert but it’s the best we can do given the circumstances.”

Temple Sinai member Jen Silver used the virtual experience as an opportunity to create community that would not have otherwise been possible.

“You can’t really replace being in person, but I thought they did a really good job of executing it,” she said. “It was professional. I thought it was cool, because we were able to travel to different locations and watch with some friends who aren’t Jewish.”

She appreciated that the virtual services allowed the opportunity for her and her wife to take care of a few housekeeping issues while at home.

“We actually did a haircut during the service, which was interesting,” Silver said.

“Some people say you should do it beforehand, but we did it during, which was cool.”

Silver attended a Sukkot event in person at Temple Sinai’s Rabbi Keren Gorban’s home, but the socially distancing required by COVID-19 created an unusual situation.

“We were hanging with our friends, but it wasn’t normal in the sense that we were really far away from each other,” she said.

For Simchat Torah, congregations got creative. Temple Emanuel created a video showing a Torah being passed between members. Careful editing meant that families who weren’t in the same room appeared to “pass” the Torah from person to person.

Beth Shalom took its observance outside, according to Rabbi Seth Adelson, singing and dancing while following social distancing precautions.

David Abrams believes that the Pittsburgh congregations did “the best they could” with a unique situation.

“That’s all you can do, right?” he said. “If you were in the military, and you were stationed in some country and you were Jewish, you would try and do the best you could. And, you know, there might not be a rabbi or a synagogue, but you would try and do the best you could do. I think, given the circumstances, that’s what they tried to do this year.” PJC

Jewish person because it was so easy to find Judaism,” she said. “It was just so welcoming to be there.”

That communal quality is something Shribman appreciates even more now. During the week, Shribman lives in Eau Claire. Each Friday, however, she drives 100 miles east to spend Shabbat and the weekend with her fiancé, Rabbi Benjamin Altshuler, who serves as rabbi of Mt. Sinai Congregation in Wausau, Wisconsin.

“My fiancé and his community have to work so hard to explain to people what it is to be Jewish,” said Shribman. “To represent the Jewish world in this tiny little town of Wisconsin, I think it’s hard for them. It’s hard for me. I know sometimes it feels like we’re the only Jewish people.”

Whether as a chaplain resident at a hospital or as a digital spiritual guide, Shribman has considerable responsibility for a young professional while navigating a path different

from the one she initially imagined, when she hoped to work on a college campus.

For now, however, the former Squirrel Hill resident appreciates the opportunities she’s been given.

“I can’t think of anything else that I want to be doing,” she said. “It’s quite a privilege to be working, to be doing what I’m doing.” PJC

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

OCTOBER 30, 2020 17

18 color

Life & Culture Golems, dybbuks and rabbis: A look at scary movies with Jewish roots — FILM —

By Sophie Panzer | Special to the Chronicle

I

t’s a horror film buff ’s favorite time of year: The nights are getting longer, the air is getting colder and the fallen leaves are making those eerie skittering sounds that seem to follow you down the street.

If you’re seeking some Jewish representation in your scary viewing lineup, read on: The following movies and TV series draw on Jewish legends to generate some serious screams.

‘The Golem’ (2018)

Brothers Doron and Yoav Paz directed this historical horror film starring Hani Furstenberg as Hannah, a Jewish woman

from a 17th-century shtetl. She creates a golem, a humanoid figure with supernatural strength made from clay, for protection when a group of violent noblemen from a neighboring village accuse the Jews of cursing them with a plague. She develops an attachment to her creation, even as it turns its dark powers of destruction from her enemies to her community.

Dan Ben-Amos, professor of folklore in

the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department at University of Pennsylvania, said stories about golems often draw from the biblical story of God creating Adam from the earth. They also may stem from Jews’ fear of violence and persecution.

“Pogroms were a regular historic event in Jewish life,” he said. “They could not protect Please see Movies, page 19

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The JCC’s Center for Loving Kindness strengthens the fabric of the community by amplifying the long-held values of Love your neighbor as yourself and Do not stand idle while your neighbor bleeds, as we redefine neighbor from a geographic term to a moral concept.

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19

Life & Culture Movies:

kosher law forbids it? Yes, but only if it comes from an animal and not a human.

Continued from page 18

‘Corpse Bride’ (2005)

themselves, at that time, by themselves. They needed some stories from God that would protect them.”

Filmmakers have been inspired by golems for at least 100 years. Paul Wegener’s 1920 silent horror film “The Golem: How He Came Into the World” reimagines the legend of the golem of Prague, who was created to protect Jews from a pogrom but quickly goes rogue.

‘The Possession’ (2012)

This terrifying film was directed by Ole Bornedal and stars Natasha Calis as Emily, a young girl who brings home a mysterious box engraved with Hebrew letters from a garage sale, and then starts behaving strangely.

Her family consults experts in Jewish mysticism and discovers she has been possessed by a dybbuk, an evil spirit that possesses and ultimately destroys its human host. Similar to the devil in “The Exorcist,” the dybbuk must be forced out of the host’s body with a ritual.

Ben-Amos said the dybbuk legend emerged during the 16th century, though the idea of demonic possession was widespread.

“Very often, when people got some sort of a disease and began to behave in an insane or unnatural way — and sometimes people claim that they have voices that are not their own — it is considered a possession by another spirit, and the magicians, the ba’ale shem, would be called to cure the

p “Skull” by Benedict Francis

Licensed under CC BY 2.0

individual,” he said.

‘Juda’ (2017)

Judaism and vampire stories have a fraught history due to the role of blood in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Ben-Amos said the blood libel, which alleged that Jews mixed the blood of Christian children into matzah, was widespread during the Middle Ages.

Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and F. W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu” were both widely acknowledged as anti-Semitic caricatures, from their large noses and Eastern European origins to their association with vermin.

So is it possible to portray a Jewish

vampire sympathetically? “Juda” director Meni Yaish and writer and star Tzion Baruch think so.

The Israeli series, which is available on Hulu, follows Baruch’s Juda, an Israeli gambler who is bitten by a Romanian vampire, Anastasia Fein’s Tanja, after a poker game. As Juda begins his transformation, Tanja realizes she has broken the rules of her clan by accidentally biting a Jew, which threatens her own immortality.

Juda, meanwhile, consults with a rabbi about various aspects of vampiric existence and Jewish law: Can he enter a room with a mezuzah? Nope. Can he drink blood even though

Director Tim Burton’s stop-motion film isn’t technically a horror flick, but it has enough animated corpses and skeletons to land solidly in the creepy camp. It tells the story of Johnny Depp’s Victor, a groom who accidentally puts a wedding ring on the finger of Helena Bonham Carter’s Emily, a murdered woman. She proclaims Victor her husband and takes him to the underworld, where he struggles to escape back to his real fiancée.

The story is based on an old Jewish folktale about a young man who accidentally weds a corpse by placing a ring on her finger and jokingly reciting vows. He and his friends are horrified when the body rises from the earth and cries, “My husband!”

Jewish folklorist Howard Schwartz retells the tale in his 1987 book “Lilith’s Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural,” in a story titled “The Finger.” His source was the 17th-century volume “Shivhei ha-Ari,” which collected earlier stories about Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed, a city located in what is now northern Israel. In the legend, the rabbi rules that the marriage between the terrified groom and the corpse is invalid because the dead have no claim on the living. PJC Sophie Panzer writes for the Jewish Exponent, a Jewish Chronicle-affiliated publication where this article first appeared.

May Their Memories be for a Blessing Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, Irving Younger October 27, 2018 - 18 Heshvan 5779

As we remember them, we also recall those who came to help: City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety

Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and Fire

Pittsburgh Emergency Medical Services

and All of the other Helpers Forever Grateful for Your Service,

Dan & Ellen Leger Marty Gaynor & Ellen Vegh

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OCTOBER 30, 2020 19

20

Headlines Family: Continued from page 5

Growing up, she went to an Ashkenazi Orthodox school that taught Yiddish and an Ashkenazi synagogue, even though she’s Sephardic, because her family had friends in that community.

After high school, she traveled to Israel with the secular youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, which she described as a Zionist version of the Boy Scouts. The following year, Eduardo went to Israel with the youth movement Hanoar Hatzioni and was on the same kibbutz as Yafa’s younger brother. The two met when Yafa visited her brother in Israel, started dating back in Mexico and, in 2012, married.

Eduardo wasn’t happy with his job at a Mexican retail chain, and Yafa thought he should have the opportunity to get a doctorate. He needed more financial aid than Mexican universities could give him, and the Schñadowers

Kugel: Continued from page 8

touch alone? I don’t think it is possible.”

Perhaps the most contentious part of the evening came in response to a question about the origins of kugel. Potato argued that it was the “primal kugel” while Apple noted that the original kugel was a bread-based dish and that potato, apple and noodle kugels are offshoots.

The “bread” description proved contentious: Potato accused Apple and No Kugel of wrongly seeing kugel as bread while Apple and No Kugel replied that he misinterpreted their arguments.

saw the U.S. as a place with more order and less crime than Mexico. Eduardo applied to CMU (Yafa’s dad is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan) and was accepted. They made the big move.

Eduardo came first. He connected with the Federation’s Mauricio Feldman, who put him in touch with Chabad of Squirrel Hill. There, Gila Dlinn’s son invited him to her Shabbat dinner and, knowing the Schñadowers were coming with almost nothing from Mexico, Dlinn coordinated a furniture donation for them.

When Yafa arrived with Liora, she found a well-stocked apartment. “I will never forget how they filled our apartment with free furniture and free food when we arrived,” she said.

Pittsburgh didn’t immediately feel like home.

“I missed my home and everything, and I went to the synagogue,” said Yafa. “I opened the siddur that has the same exact Hebrew words like the siddurim we have in Mexico.

I said, ‘Oh, I am home.’”

The language barrier was tough for Yafa

even though she had learned some English in Israel and at her school in Mexico.

“I wished the rabbis could have subtitles all the time because it was hard for me to understand,” she said. “But right now, as long as people don’t have another different accent than the one that I am used to, I understand a lot of things about what they say.”

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh was the first place she really improved her English. At Chabad, Yafa spoke Spanish with two other women and leaned on Eduardo for help with English. But at the JCC, without a Spanish speaker by her side, she was left to talk in English.

“We are crazy about the JCC,” she said.

“They always receive us with a smile.”

In Mexico City, the JCC is known as “La casa de todos,” or “The house of everyone,” a name emblematic of the way Yafa feels when she’s there. Mexico City’s JCC hosts events like a weeklong pre-Passover dance festival that brings Ashkenazim and Sephardim

together each year. Naturally, Yafa and her kids frequented Pittsburgh’s JCC pre-pandemic.

Liora is on the autism spectrum. She talks, just not to her parents. “I never know what to do because she doesn’t speak to communicate with us,” said Yafa. Jewish programs help: Liora loves the crafts, snacks, swimming and songs at Chabad, the PJ Library and the JCC. Their current plan is to return to Mexico after they graduate, Yafa in 2021 and Eduardo in 2022, though they feel connected to Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.

Yafa sings in the JCC Choral Group along with Barry Werber, a member of New Light Congregation who survived the Oct. 27 shooting. When the choral group next met after the attack, Yafa hugged him, not knowing what to say. The group sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” Werber started to cry, and they all cried with him. PJC

No Kugel defended the Israeli dish memulaim “stuffed ones” in another answer, describing the vegetables and dried fruits filled with grains and meats. Her arguments countered an otherwise Ashkenazi-centered debate.

Zoe Hertz, CMU Hillel’s Springboard Innovation Fellow, recognized it was important for Hillel to address that kugel is an Ashkenazi dish and to offer students Sephardic and Mizrahi alternatives. So the food sampler served as part of the weekly Shabbat2Go dinners included the three kugels debated as well as pashtida, kugel’s savory counterpart in Israel.

In their closing statements, No Kugel quipped “kugel is bad, and you should all

invest in a cookbook.” Potato reiterated his disgust with the bread comments and dispiritedly ceded the rest of his time. Apple asserted that apple kugel “brings a lot of sweetness, love and deliciousness where others fall flat.”

And Noodle stressed that cheese is yummy.

It was all in good fun: Even when the winner was announced at the end following a quick Zoom poll (spoiler: Team No Kugel won), the participants stayed all smiles.

The event, after all, wasn’t really to definitively determine which kugel is the best — its success was in its inconsequence, a break from all that is serious and stressful with a night dedicated to debating kugel.

Some students have struggled to muster excitement about a semester altered heavily by the pandemic, explained Hertz, but the debate and its leadup offered a welcome respite, with posts about kugel flooding her Facebook feed all week.

“They’re so full of warmth and happiness; it really has made me happy to see,” said Hertz.

Altgold agreed. “I can’t remember when the last time I laughed that much was,” she wrote in an email. “I think we all really needed that right now.” PJC

Kayla Steinberg can be reached at ksteinberg@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Kayla Steinberg can be reached at ksteinberg@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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OCTOBER 30, 2020 21

18 CELEBRATIONS/TORAH

Celebrations

Torah

Birth

Let us all be ‘fanatics,’ like Abraham

Adora and Steve Holstein are kvelling at the arrival of their grandchild Amelie Jane Kery Holstein on Aug. 24. Her parents are Mary Beth Kery and Dr. Kenneth Holstein.

Baby naming

After being delayed for public safety, on Oct. 3, 2020, Sutton Brooke Siegel received her Hebrew name Shayna Basha during a Zoom Torah service from Temple Beth El in Durham, North Carolina. Sutton Brooke, born on Feb. 9, 2020, is the daughter of Michelle and Avram Siegel and was named in loving memory or her maternal greatzayde, Sam Steinberg, and maternal great-aunt, Beverly Lynn Reich. Ecstatic grandparents of Sutton are Diane and Harold Bloomfield of Oakmont and Ruth and Paul Siegel of Morgantown, West Virginia. May Shayna Basha be favored with many years of life’s best blessings.

Bar mitzvah

Benjamin Kogan is the son of Elinor Nathanson and Peter Kogan, and grandson of Esther and Harvey (z”l) Nathanson, and Galina and Boris Kogan. A seventh-grader at Community Day School, Benjamin has played baseball with 14th Ward since kindergarten. He loves acting, singing, performing in musicals, and playing with his dog-like cat, Jazz. Benjamin will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah at — or near! — Congregation Beth Shalom on Oct. 31, 2020.

Bat mitzvahs

Talia Dubowitz is the daughter of Jay Aronson and Tamara Dubowitz, and granddaughter of Leslie and Jean Dubowitz and Karen and Richard Heilman. She is going into seventh grade at Colfax K-8, where she runs cross-country. Outside of school, she plays soccer for Arsenal FC. Talia is a passionate advocate for social change. She wants to help create a world free of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and discrimination. She loves to travel and enjoys spending time with her friends. She has a younger sister, Maayan, an older brother, Ezra, and two dogs, Thabo and Khaya. Talia celebrated becoming a bat mitzvah at Beth Shalom on Oct. 17, 2020.

Zoe Blum, daughter of Elliott Blum and Michele ScottBlum, celebrated her bat mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, at Beth Shalom. She is the younger sister of Dylan Blum, granddaughter of Eric and Sheila Scott and the late Jeffrey and Margie Blum. Zoe is an eighth-grade student at CAPA, where she is a vocal major. She has been a dancer for nine years. She also enjoys crafting, making TikTok videos and hanging out with her friends. Her bat mitzvah project is part of her silver award for Girl Scouts, where she is making toys and collecting donations for animal shelters.

Engagement

Alisa Fall and Michael Caplan and Howard and Nicole Valinsky proudly announce the engagement of their children, Danni Leigh Caplan and Andrew Scott Valinsky. Danni’s grandparents are Fran and David Fall of Pittsburgh and Douglas Caplan and the late Barbara Caplan of Scottsdale, Arizona. Andrew’s grandparents are Toby Valinsky and the late Marvin Valinsky of Pittsburgh and Mira Cohen, and the late Sanford Cohen of Pittsburgh. Danni earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from Chatham University and is currently working as a research assistant there while working to become a board-certified behavioral analyst and earn her master’s and doctorate in psychology.

Andrew works for Valinsky Reality Inc. and is part owner of Third Generation Holdings. PJC

22 OCTOBER 30, 2020

The road to changing our country and world for the better doesn’t begin with shouting down a neighbor or accusing a friend or stranger of being radical and stupid. It begins with sharing a hello, having a meal together, and showing basic civility, love and care for another — even those we might totally disagree with.

On this foundation, long-term change happens for the good. When we get caught up in who’s perfect, right or wrong, we foment anger, divisiveness and a world devoid of values.

But it’s more than just being right.

Winners and losers don’t make the world more peaceful and perfect. Rather, the ability to have a multitude of people, with distinct

Rabbi Elchonon Friedman Parshat Lech Lecha Genesis 12:1 - 17:27

A

braham was a fanatic. He understood G-d to be different from the accepted worldview of his era. Contrary to the popular belief that G-d was a being of sticks and stones, stars and planets, Abraham believed that G-d was unlimited yet invisible, and beyond — yet comprising the essence of — the entire universe. Abraham the zealot was determined not only to have the rights to his own beliefs, but to also convert every person to his way of thinking.

Let’s increase in mitzvot and acts of goodness and kindness, and be fanatical about it.

So how did this fanatic go about his work transforming the world to his radical ideas?

He invested in a hotel. He offered delicacies, even fruits and desserts, in a desert oasis.

He fed and washed his guests and used the opportunity to speak to and convince his patrons of the One G-d.

The Torah tells us how, three days after his circumcision, while still in great pain, Abraham went to greet three guests in the scorching sun. He first gave them water to wash their feet from the dirt that they worshipped. In other words, these were people very different from, and quite oppositional to, Abraham’s ideals and beliefs. Yet Abraham went out of his way, greeted them with a smile and put all his remaining energy into preparing a feast of delicacies for his guests.

After the meal, Abraham didn’t just say goodbye, but rather escorted his guests along their way, showing his true care for their very well-being.

This week, we will mark two years since the sad day of Oct. 27, the 18th of Cheshvan, when senseless hatred shattered our world, and we will also vote to elect the president of the United States of America.

Let’s all remember that the most successful fanatic ever, the one whose vision is shared by billions of people the world over, didn’t fight or shout, demean or sow hatred.

He showed care to each and every human being, and made clear that he wasn’t fighting for his own biases but rather as part of his love for another.

voices and ideas that blend together to create the most beautiful music and harmony, is the true perfection we all strive for.

So the real quest and goal should be in applauding compromise and civility, and to show care and love even for those we disagree with. To be able to listen and have empathy — and ultimately, respect — even for individuals whom we don’t understand.

That should be our goal: a world of G-dliness recognized in each individual, where a vote is not a means but rather the very individual expression and voice of a G-dly creation that we respect and cherish.

Remember, a vote or person ignored or demeaned can bring, heaven forbid, the tragedies of the past. Greater respect, an attentive ear to distinct voices and reaching out to one another will bring the everlasting peace and goal we truly want.

The word “mitzvah” means to connect.

Our good deeds are conduits that connect us to G-d and our fellow man. Let’s increase in mitzvot and acts of goodness and kindness, and be fanatical about it. Then we will follow the greatest fanatic of all time to his true dream of a Messianic world, where peace, harmony and G-dly revelation will be the staple of existence.

Shabbat Shalom. PJC Rabbi Elchonon Friedman is the spiritual leader of Bnai Emunoh Chabad. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries BERKOWITZ: Nancy Gross Berkowitz.

Born on Oct. 24, 1933, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, friend and fighter, died on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, just a week before her 87th birthday. Beloved wife of Lester, loving mother of Ellen (Philadelphia) and David (Washington, D.C.), loving grandmother of Abigail. She was the younger daughter of Edward B. Gross and Elizabeth Minnette Levey, z”l, sister of Lee Gross Anthone, z”l (Sidney), and the beloved niece of Augusta Levey (z”l). She grew up in Buffalo, New York, where she attended the Buffalo Seminary.

After graduating from Smith College, where she majored in American Studies, she worked for Doubleday and other publishers, eventually working on Alfred A. Knopf ’s memoirs.

In 1958, she met her husband, Les, on a blind date in Manhattan that was so successful that two separate people claimed credit for it. After telling Les off for innocently offering the name of the composer of an opera they were discussing — we now call this mansplaining — she decided that she was going to marry him, which she did in February 1959, but only after he agreed to read Moby Dick. He was the love of her life, but she would not want us to write that because it is a cliché, and she would have cut it out, even though it was true.

Nancy and Les spent seven months living in Italy shortly after they married. In 1966, they moved from New York to Pittsburgh, with a two-year stint in London, and traveled all over the world. She made friends everywhere she went and kept them her entire life. When she took her children to Italy, she took them to ruins and cathedrals but more importantly to the green grocer, the butcher, their favorite neighborhood haunts and restaurants, and to meet her dear friends. She had multiple nieces, nephews and grandnieces and nephews, whom she adored. She loved her own family and often said how lucky she was to have such wonderful in-laws. She also loved her friends’ children and had an affinity for kids who weren’t naturally compliant, which was a good thing for her daughter and granddaughter. She worked as an editor her entire life and would have taken a green pen to this obituary. After moving to Pittsburgh, she edited for the Western Psychiatric Institute, the University of Pittsburgh, Westinghouse Research and Development, Rodef Shalom and Rabbi Walter Jacob. She loved words and read incessantly and widely — Melville, Eliot, Shakespeare, Thomas Mann, Thomas Hardy and various writers in French. Like her mother, sister and aunt, she was an accomplished cook and baker. She loved feeding people and making them feel welcome. We never had a store-bought cake.

She gardened and was a docent at the Biblical Garden at Rodef Shalom. Around 1990, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She immediately began taking exercise classes, making her body as strong as possible and learning everything she could about the disease. When she had a short hospitalization a while later, she realized the importance of people having advocates with them, and after she retired from her job as a writer and editor, became a volunteer ombudsman for patients through the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging. She also read to twin girls through Beginning with Books, a program established by friends, from the time they were little until well past when the program usually ended.

She had an innate sense of justice. She stuck up for kids who were mistreated, storming into the principal’s office with a handful of change when a teacher refused to provide a Weekly Reader to a child who hadn’t paid the 35 cents.

She welcomed our friends, especially quirky ones who didn’t quite fit in their own families. Although she was critical about hair and clothing, she was never critical about us, who we were as people. She was a devoted and loving grandmother and such a good friend.

Her commitment to justice was political.

She was on the board of the United Nations Association of Pittsburgh and was active in the ACLU. She was overjoyed and amazed and full of hope at the election of Barack Obama.

She mourned John Lewis. She believed passionately in our democracy. She made us read Civil Disobedience in middle school. She told us Lincoln was complicated in his views of slavery. She made us watch the Watergate hearings and told us the Constitution was magnificent and that the system worked. She was compassionate and kind, and the meanness and hatred of the past four years wore on her. She believed we were better than this.

But she didn’t demonize people she loved who felt differently and asked us not to. She did not get to vote. In her memory, please appreciate the gift of democracy. In the last years of her life, she struggled with her illness. She never complained. She persisted. She continued to be the same loving wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend she had always been. Graveside services and interment were held at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Donations to National MS Society, Rodef Shalom Congregation and the American Civil Liberties Union, Pittsburgh Chapter. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family-owned and -operated. schugar.com

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dr . Marshall Steinberg

Toby Perilman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bernard M . Bennett

Charlotte G . Bluestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Esther Bluestone Morrow

Toby Perilman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerrilyn Ruth Perilman

Phyllis Cohen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Estherita Cohen Phyllis Cohen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abe M . Cohen Bernard Dickter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Homer Klater

Toby Perilman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traci Michele Perilman Debra and Phillip Ritt and Lynne Gottesman . . . . . . . . . .Lewis Wesoky Debra and Phillip Ritt and Lynne Gottesman . . . . . . . . . . .Lena Wesoky

Sylvia & Norman Elias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dorothy M . Brill The Goldberg Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harold Roth Mrs . Goldstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Captain M . Allan Rudick Mrs . Shirley L . Hirsch .Max I . Levine, Raschel G . Levine, Edward J . Levine

Edith Schneider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Michael Oresick Howard & Rhea Troffkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sally Brenner Irwin & Georgetta Wedner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charles Wedner

Jocelyn D . Katz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pauline Daniels

Mrs . Weis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martha Weis

Jocelyn D . Katz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Louis Daniels

Carole Wolsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Estherita Cohen

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday November 1: William Darling, David Friedman, Miriam Magadof Glantz, Sadie Goldberg, Goldie Gross, Sam L. Herer, Louis Kaufman, Sarah Krimsky, Louis Max Labovick, Diana Z. Myer, Capt. Morris A. Rudick, Philip George Savage, Goldie Schwartz, Mary Smalley, Sara R. Solow, Dr. Marshall Steinberg Monday November 2: Belle Abramson, Vivian Cuff Boyd, Leroy E. Broder, Samuel Chaban, Bella Chotiner, Edward Goldstein, Isadore Goodman, Samuel Greene, Regina Labowitz, Sam Markowitz, Jennie Murstein, Minnie Protetch, Samuel Segal, Ben Smolar, Ben Vinocur, Florence H. Weiss Tuesday November 3: Freda S. Barbrow, Sadie Brand, Philip L. Escott, Lottie Haas Fried, Esther Green, Mollie Malt, Addie Mayer, Ida Stein Morgan, Dr. Irving Perlmutter, Louis Pollock, Rose Richmond, Anna Snyder, Dorothy J. Spolan, Max Stein, Selma Zober Wednesday November 4: Irving Clovsky, Bessie Cohen, Sarah Levine, Max Lipkind, Doris Lipner, Joseph Mandel, Herbert B. Marks, Grace Miller, Aron Reznick, Lena Schuster, Myra Fern Seder Thursday November 5: Dorothy Bender, Harold I. Freed, Elizabeth D. Gusky, David Lederman, David Jacob Lerner, Grace Levenson, Anna Roth Levitan, Eugene Marchbein, Benjamin Miller, Freda (Fritzi) Paul, Michael Pirchesky, Esther Portnoy, Rose Schultz Saltsburg, Isaac Serrins, Harry Tepper, Jessie S. Yorkin Friday November 6: Dorothy Bender, Harold I. Freed, Elizabeth D. Gusky, David Lederman, David Jacob Lerner, Grace Levenson, Anna Roth Levitan, Eugene Marchbein, Benjamin Miller, Freda (Fritzi) Paul, Michael Pirchesky, Esther Portnoy, Rose Schultz Saltsburg, Isaac Serrins, Harry Tepper, Jessie S. Yorkin Saturday November 7: Estherita Cohen, Emanuel Feldman, Solis L. Goldman, Helen Gottesman, Samuel E. Jacobson, Barbara Rom Krum, Abe M. Miller, Geoffrey Roberts

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Did You Know?

Please see Obituaries, page 24

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Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from …

Shaare Zedeck Cemetery-Carrick Shaare Zedeck Cemetery is in Carrick, next to Beth Abraham. In 1895, several Polish Jewish immigrants, living in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, organized the Shaare For more information about the JCBA, to inquire about Zedeck Congregation. Property was purchased at 14 plot purchases, to view full histories, to volunteer, and/or to make a contribution please visit our website Townsend Street where a new synagogue was built, at www.jcbapgh.org, email us at jcbapgh@gmail.com opening in 1907. Rabbi Aaron M. Ashinsky served as or call the JCBA at 412-553-6469. the congregation’s first rabbi, and Meyer Ross as the first president. The Ershte Warshawer Untershtitzung JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by Verein (First Warsaw Support Society), a benevolent a generous grant from the Jewish Federation society which aided Polish Jewish immigrants and their of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community families, was headquartered at the synagogue. By the close Foundation of World War II, many Jewish families had left the Hill District for Pittsburgh’s East End neighborhoods.

By 1948, Shaare Zedeck had moved to a building at 5831 Bartlett Street in Squirrel Hill. In 1974, it merged with the Young Israel Congregation. The cemetery came under JCBA management in 2010.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

OCTOBER 30, 2020 23

20

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 23

LEWIS: Eileen Ruth Lewis, May 17, 1934 - Oct. 24, 2020, of Brookline, Massachusetts, formerly of Pittsburgh. Eileen was born and raised in Pittsburgh and lived in the neighborhoods of the Hill District, Greenfield and Squirrel Hill until 2017, when she moved to Brookline, Massachusetts to be closer to her sons. Eileen was born in 1934 to Samuel Cohen (“Zadie”) and Ethel (Rubenstein) Cohen (“Bobo”), both of Pittsburgh. She remained an only child.

After attending Fifth Avenue High School, Eileen worked as a bookkeeper until she met her husband, Norman Lewis, at a dance at the YMWHA in Oakland. They were married in September 1953. Four years later, their son Mark was born. Allan was born eleven months later. Eileen was a devoted wife and mother. While her children were growing up, she was active in various organizations and enjoyed playing mahjong with friends. Eileen did not learn to drive a car until around age 40. After her two boys went to college, she began working again. She had a long career at Jewish Family and Community Services, which was like a second family to her. She kept working there into her early 60s.

Eileen also liked sports. In the 1960s and ’70s, she regularly watched Studio Wrestling and was a big fan of the professional teams, particularly the Steelers. She rooted for the Boston teams after moving there, especially the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics. Her loyalties were torn when the Steelers played the Patriots. Eileen watched golf on TV, despite having never played it. While living

Hill: Continued from page 6

their anti-Semitism or lack thereof,” Brean said. “African Americans ranked high in Jews’ esteem because they regarded Jews as ‘people of the Bible’ and had no history of ingrained anti-Semitism like that brought from Europe from many white Christians.”

The first Jews in the Hill were Lithuanians who arrived in the 1870s to the Lower Hill. In 1881, following the assassination of Alexander II, a wave of pogroms broke out and Jews arrived on the Hill from all parts of the Russian empire: Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. By 1907, the Jewish population of Pittsburgh, most of which lived in the Hill, was 25,000. By 1912, it expanded to 35,000; by 1917, 40,000; and, by 1920, 50,000.

In 1928, Miller School, Brean’s mother’s alma mater, still had the greatest number of Jews of any elementary school in the Pittsburgh Public Schools with 728 students, but Colfax Elementary in Squirrel Hill was a close second with 708.

The number of Jewish students in Hill

in Squirrel Hill, she walked many places and exercised at the JCC. Music was a big part of Eileen’s life. She played the violin some as a youngster. She loved classic Broadway musicals. She used to go on bus trips to New York City to see Broadway shows. After retiring, Eileen sang in a chorus that performed at senior residences. In her three-plus years in the Boston area, Eileen made friends with many at her wonderful apartment building run by Center Communities of Brookline.

Eileen was predeceased by her husband Norman Lewis, Norman’s many siblings and their spouses, her parents, her uncle and aunt, Joseph and Mildred Rubenstein, and many of her friends. She is survived by her sons Mark Lewis of Boston (and Stella Bondar) and Allan Lewis of Newton, Massachusetts (and Susan Weiner), her grandson Brian Lewis of Providence, Rhode Island (and Anne Lewis) and many cousins in Pittsburgh.

Graveside services and interment were held at Tree of Life Memorial Park. Donations in Eileen’s memory should be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of America, Hebrew SeniorLife of Boston or the charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family-owned and -operated. schugar.com

Gastfriend. Sally graduated from Aliquippa High School and the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. She taught elementary students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

She was a lifetime member of Na’Amat and Hadassah and an active member of the sisterhood of the former Congregation B’nai Israel in Pittsburgh and Congregation Beth Jacob in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Graveside services and interment were held at Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions in Sally’s name may be made to a charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to the Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family-owned and -operated. schugar.com

SANTMAN: On Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, Sally Gastfriend Santman, of Fox Chapel. Beloved wife of the late Sidney Santman; loving mother of Steven; loving aunt of Robert (Barbara) Gastfriend, Caron (David) Landay, Marjorie (Marc) Schermer and Stuart (Adele Friedman) Kisilinsky; great-aunt of Kara and Paige Landay, Benjamin and David Gastfriend, and Ayla Schermer; daughter of the late Celia and Simon Gastfriend; sister of Allan (Marlyn)

TANACK: Geraldine (Gerry) Katz Tanack.

Born Nov. 25, 1927 in Pittsburgh, peacefully passed away on Oct. 26, 2020 with her family by her side. Most beloved wife of the late Paul Katz and most recently Elliott Tanack. Devoted mother of Rochelle Katz (Steve Rudkin), the late Jeanne Katz and the late Stuart Katz (Donna). Adored grandmother of Jeremy Rudkin (Mallory Gold), Scott Rudkin (Ally Vogl), Jason Katz, Josh, Talia and Alana Rudkin, Sean Flynn, Lauren Weirauch (Dan) and Geoff Jones (Jamie).

Special great-grandmother of Levi Jacob Rudkin. She was the daughter of Gussie and Nathan Roth. Loving sister of Beatrice Port (Louis) and Rosella Camill (Max). Dear aunt to many nieces and nephews. Gerry worked for 30 years at the University of Pittsburgh as secretary for graduate students in the department of history. We all loved her more than she could ever know, and she will be forever in our hearts. We want to thank her seven angels Karmen, Shauna, Shauneea, Lorrie, Marissa, Ke’auna and Beverly who took care of Gerry

District schools dropped from 4,119 in 1924 to 2,796 in 1928. That same year, on Nov. 16, the Jewish Criterion — a predecessor paper to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle — published a story stating that “the Hill District, so far as Jews are concerned, is through.”

In 1940, 16 of Pittsburgh’s 33 synagogues were still on the Hill but by 1957, only one shul remained, with most having closed or relocated to Squirrel Hill and the East End. Brean’s second talk on the subject, which will focus on Jewish labor and Jewish naturalization, will take place Nov. 17. But Brean, who lives in Point Breeze, is far from nostalgic about the Jewish Hill District.

“My bottom line is that the overwhelming motivation for Jews to leave the Hill was that it was a horrible 19th-century slum with miserable housing and sanitary conditions, and that they left as soon as they had the financial ability to do so,” Brean told the Chronicle.

“The Jewish movement off the Hill was underway by 1910 before the major Black migration triggered by World War I had even begun, accelerated during the good times of the 1920s, slowed down in the bad times of the ’30s, and surged again during the

economic boom of World War II,” Brean said.

“The Black and Jewish communities lived side by side in the Hill for 30 years with a great deal more harmony than existed between African Americans and any other white immigrant group … The point of my talk is that proximity of Jews and Blacks created a mutual bond of shared victimhood between the two that created enormous sympathy for Black suffering among the majority Jews.”

The Jewish Hill District isn’t the only topic on the agenda during Rodef Shalom’s history series. Falcone, an art historian, plans to tackle the art and architecture of Rodef Shalom, with a special focus on how things like the building’s facades and stained glass are intrinsically illustrative of the Reform Judaism movement.

“The people that built [Rodef Shalom], it was really an expression of their radicalism — if you look at synagogue architecture in America, it’s pretty radical,” Falcone, a Rodef Shalom board member who lives on the North Side, told the Chronicle. “I’m happy to shine a light on that. Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s stodgy.”

Berg plans to focus on the life and work of

with love and kindness. Professional services by D’Alessandro Funeral Home and Crematory, Ltd. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society to honor her lost children Jeanne and Stu. Graveside service was held at Pliskover Cemetery on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020.

TUCKER: Shirley Tucker. On Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Daughter of the late Estyre Vinocur Tucker. Sister of the late Judith V. Tucker. Cousin of Ferne V. (Nathan) Rogow of Baltimore, Maryland. Services and interment private. Contributions may be made to the Judith V. Tucker Memorial Fund, School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family-owned and -operated. schugar.com WINKELSTEIN: Ann Janet Polak Winkelstein, beloved wife of Alan C. Winkelstein, died on Oct. 21, 2020, at 4:45 a.m.

She is survived by her two sons, Daniel R. Winkelstein and Bruce A. Winkelstein.

She also leaves behind her partner, Marwin Feldman, her four grandchildren, Aaron B. Winkelstein, Sasha N. Winkelstein, Erica A. Winkelstein and Naya C. Winkelstein, and her great-grandchild, Ian A. Winkelstein.

Ann was an avid patron of the arts. She enjoyed sailing, traveling and reading.

She spent her summers at the Chautauqua Institute. She lived life to the fullest and will be greatly missed. Graveside service and interment were held at Mount Lebanon Cemetery. At Ann’s suggestion, in lieu of flowers, a memorial can be made to the Mount Lebanon Library or the Chautauqua Institute.

Arrangements entrusted to the Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family-owned and -operated. schugar.com PJC

Rodef Shalom Rabbi J. Leonard Levy, who served the Oakland congregation from 1901 until his death, at age 51, in 1917.

“He was extremely active in social justice causes in the early 20th century — he was working on labor rights, women’s rights, clean water, sterilized milk; he really was everywhere,” Berg said.

Among other achievements, Levy, who became a pacificist after the SpanishAmerican War, launched the Pittsburgh Society for Universal Peace in 1904 and convinced industrialist Andrew Carnegie to serve as its chairman. He also visited Japan in 1905 at the tail end of Russo-Japanese War, in part to encourage Russia to treat Jews living in Siberia better.

“There were a lot of instances [in Levy’s time] where people’s lives were in danger because corporations were running rampant,” said Berg, drawing parallels to the current cultural moment. “It’s 100 years apart and it’s a time we have to stay connected to activism to ensure people are protected.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 24 OCTOBER 30, 2020

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Community Commemorative service bolsters community Days prior to the second commemoration of the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life building, Repair the World Pittsburgh and the 10.27 Healing Partnership collaborated on a series of commemorative service projects. t Volunteers met at the Squirrel Hill JCC’s Levinson Room on Oct. 25 to create dental hygiene kits for Foster Love Project. Social distancing, mask wearing and all CDC protocols were upheld.

u Participants painted stones with messages of love and hope on Oct. 25 before delivering the inspiring creations to various neighborhoods around the city.

Photos provided by Maggie Feinstein

p Volunteers traveled to Global Links to sort and pack medical supplies to help improve health initiatives in underresourced communities.

Photo by Maggie Feinstein

p From left: Charity Kheshgi, Ron Wedner, Michael Lowenstein and Brenna Rosen of Repair the World Pittsburgh led nearly 40 volunteers at the JCC in putting together over 500 dental hygiene kits for the Foster Love Project.

Photo by Julie Mallis

p Participants carefully paint stones for future delivery.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Photo by Rachel Libros, Repair the World

p Three cemetery cleanups took place on the Oct. 25th, 2020, Day of Service; including a morning session at Beth Abraham where 15 volunteers swept the walkways and picked up trash.

Photo by Becca Simon

p Two of the 23 volunteers who traveled to Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh to make more than a hundred cards for children facing chronic or life-threatening illnesses through Caitlin’s Smiles.

Photo by Shoshi Butler

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OCTOBER 30, 2020 25

Community Not-so-stationary sukkah

p University of Pittsburgh student Sarah Keller poses beside Chabad on Campus’ sukkahmobile.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Keller

p Seated inside the Chabad sukkahmobile, Casey Kross holds her baby Henry and a lulav and etrog.

p This truck delivers mitzvahs by the mile.

p Bunny Morris, left, and Bernice and Jack Meyers celebrate Sukkot during a Chabad sukkahmobile stop in Shadyside.

Photos courtesy of Chabad on Campus

Together at the virtual table

Commemorating 10/27

Pittsburgh’s young adult community, along with representatives from Chabad Young Professionals, OneTable, Moishe House, Repair the World and the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation, memorialized the lives lost on Oct. 27, 2018, celebrated diversity, equality and inclusion, and continued building a supportive young adult community through Shabbat preparations.

t A Shabbat kit bag, including candles, challah, grape juice, a printed Shabbat guide, fabric markers and challah cover.

Photo courtesy of Karen Podorefsky

26 OCTOBER 30, 2020

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Jeffrey Finkelstein addressed the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, on Oct. 27. Finkelstein spoke about the situation in Pittsburgh, rising anti-Semitism in the United States and the tense atmosphere surrounding the Nov. 3 election.

Finkelstein was among several speakers to mark Aliyah Day and commemorate the Oct. 27, 2018 attack at the Tree of Life building during a special session with the Knesset Committee on Immigration.

Screengrab courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

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