Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle October 13, 2017

P I T TS B U R G H

October 13, 2017 | 23 Tishre 5778

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Candlelighting 6:25 p.m. | Havdalah 7:22 p.m. | Vol. 60, No. 41 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Libraries — still surviving and still an open book

Gad Elmaleh coming to Pittsburgh with Moroccan memories

$1.50

One family’s story of perseverance in fighting pediatric disorder

By Hilary Daninhirsch | Chronicle Correspondent

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School institutions remain as go-to places for youth learning to read.

1.4 million followers, boasts selfies with Jerry Seinfeld, Lorne Michaels and Kevin Hart.

Elmaleh’s North American tour, which includes five Steel City shows between Oct. 12 and Oct. 14 at the Pittsburgh Improv Comedy Club before next month’s Town Hall special in New York City for Netflix, has engendered an experience that has as much introduced the observational comedian to a culture as it has a new audience to the entertainer.

onnie Markowitz does not like Feb. 2.

Twice on that date, several years apart, it was as if her son had vanished, even though he was still right there, next to her.

The first time was on Feb. 2, 2007, when Brandon, then 5½, had a typical strep throat infection, which was treated with antibiotics.

But a day or two after he got sick, his personality seemed to shift overnight: Uncontrollable tantrums and extreme separation anxiety kicked in, which was completely at odds with the person he had been only days earlier.

Fortunately, Markowitz and her husband, Saul, were able to get a diagnosis almost immediately: their son had PANDAS. “Getting an immediate diagnosis is extremely rare. We were extremely fortunate to have had access to the right doctor at the right time,” said Markowitz.

The acronym stands for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infection.

Many children get strep throat infections in childhood, but some kids have an overreaction to strep, which triggers the neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with PANDAS. Common symptoms include obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality changes, anxiety, tantrums, tics and other behavioral issues.

The common thread is that onset is typically sudden, transforming a perfectly normal, healthy child today into an almost unrecognizable child the next day.

“One thing that most PANDAS families have in common is that they can pretty much tell you the date of the onset; it is that dramatic, that out of the blue, that acute,” said Markowitz.

Brandon’s physical symptoms abated soon after two courses of antibiotics, though it took his neuropsychiatric symptoms

Please see Comedian, page 17

Please see PANDAS, page 15

Page 2 LOCAL Laughter as good medicine

Comedy allows sufferers, survivors and family to laugh.

Page 4 LIFE & CULTURE ‘School of Rock’ Jewish bassist, all of 10, brings down the house at Benedum.

Page 14

 For Gad Elmaleh, the comedy is in being foreign

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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he world may be a giant stage of players, but Gad Elmaleh is among those taking up much of the stage. The Moroccan-born French Jewish comedian, who sold out stadiums in Europe for decades before heading west two years ago, is a late-night television darling and social media juggernaut. His appearances on “Conan,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” have fetched millions of viewers, while his Instagram account, with its

Photo courtesy of Personal Publicity

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Headlines Local day-school libraries survive in digital age, but it’s a different story — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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one forever are the days when students spent hours in the library, pulling encyclopedias from the shelves and poring over hard copies of science treatises, historical tomes and current magazines to research topics for assigned papers, or to just quench an intellectual thirst. Nowadays, it is the rare teenager that is not carrying the world’s knowledge in his pocket on his smartphone, or at the very least, has access to a computer at home.

As a reaction to this reality, school libraries across the country are being eliminated. For example, there are only eight certified school librarians that remain in the Philadelphia School District, down from almost 200 in the 1990s, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The libraries that remain have pivoted their purposes to remain relevant in the 21st century.

“We’re still alive and kicking,” said Whitney Philips, who has served as the full-time librarian of Community Day School since 2015. “There have been a few improvements; the information landscape has changed, and you have to keep up.”

One of Phillips’ primary responsibilities, for example, is to train students on how to “safely search the internet and how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable news.”

Students from the age of 3 through sixth grade come to the library about once a week as part of the school’s regular schedule, and Phillips collaborates with seventh- and

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES David Ainsman, Chairman Evan Indianer, Vice Chairman Gayle R. Kraut, Secretary Andrew Schaer, Treasurer Richard J. Kitay, Immediate Past Chairman Jonathan Bernstein, Gail Childs, Elizabeth F. Collura, Seth Dresbold, Milton Eisner, Malke Steinfeld Frank, Tracy Gross, Catia Kossovsky, Andi Perelman, Amy Platt, David Rush, Charles Saul GENERAL COUNSEL Stuart R. Kaplan, Esq.

2 OCTOBER 13, 2017

p Hillel Academy librarian Bonnie Morris reads to a class of young students.

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

eighth-grade teachers in their classrooms to teach internet skills.

The CDS library, she said, continues to play a vital role in the education of students.

“In some ways, we’re more important because of the way the information landscape has changed with more information accessible,” Phillips said. “It’s more important that every child we teach be capable of knowing who to trust. A teacher 30 years ago could see what students were reading, but if they are searching the Web, we need to know that they are being safe and smart.”

Hard copy books, however, are far from obsolete at CDS.

“We still have a beautiful traditional book collection,” Phillips said. “I don’t collect e-books for our library. I find that our students prefer the feel of a book with pages in their hands.”

While some of the younger students choose audio books, Phillips insists that they check out the corresponding hard copy books as well.

“But whatever format they are using, we’re teaching them to be responsible and how to distinguish between sources,” she said.

Keith Webster, dean of libraries at Carnegie Mellon University, has identified the central issues facing school libraries today. “[L]ibraries are straddling two worlds,

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Please see Libraries, page 5

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the ‘traditional’ print library and the library centered upon digital content,” Webster wrote in a blog post that examined findings by the Education Advisory Board. “Simply put, their perspective is that the former — often facing declining demand — represents the popular image of the library. The second, which has emerged over the past 20 years, is now the center of huge demand for digital tools, content and services, an environment which few of us are fully equipped to support.”

Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh is evolving its library services as the times dictate while maintaining the traditional roles of the librarian that are still relevant to its students.

While Hillel continues to maintain a fulltime library on staff, it’s physical library has been somewhat repurposed, according to Rabbi Sam Weinberg, the school’s principal and education director. The space is used often for club meetings, research and maker projects, he said, although the younger students still come to the library for story time.

“The older grades use it as a resource center,” Weinberg explained, noting that the library contains more than 30 laptops. It also is used as a makerspace, where a 3D printer and robotics components are employed.

“The library has evolved to function beyond books, but more broadly to learning and information,” he said. “The library has not necessarily taken on a different role — it is still a place to gather information — but as the world changes, the library means more things. Once you have the internet, there is essentially a library in every classroom.”

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Headlines Vietnam veteran maximizes life amid mortality

ATTENTION LAWYERS & LAW PROFESSIONALS

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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here is life, death and Dick Silk teetering in between. At 74, the Plum resident’s fluctuation with demise is a self-inflicted condition. As a regular volunteer at Sivitz Jewish Hospice, Silk spends much of his week with the terminally ill.

There is the half-a-day on Friday, when he sits, talks or reads books with patients, but there are also the unpredictable periods when Silk stays with the moribund during the darkest moments of time.

As a member of Sivitz’s No One Dies Alone program, Silk is “on-call” for death.

“They will send out an email to us saying so and so is actively dying, can you come and sit with them, and that’s what we do, whether it’s at night or in the morning,” he said.

Regardless of whether it means staying with a stranger at 3:30 a.m. on a Thursday or 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, Silk ensures that everyone is escorted out of life.

“Nobody should die alone,” he said. “There should always be someone there.”

For failing individuals, the comfort of close friends or family can be a boon, but circumstances do not always facilitate such cases.

“If there’s no family, then you make sure you’re there,” he said. “It could be a scary thing for them. It could be a lot of things, but you want to be there for them.”

Silk, a husband and grandfather who spent 25 years on the road selling clothing for the Lee company, has been with Sivitz for close to a decade. Approximately five years ago, he joined the No One Dies Alone program. The golden rule drove both decisions.

“I would want that for me if I was in that position. I tell my wife that it could be me sometime, and I would want someone there.”

While being a sentient septuagenarian may not be surprising, the context for such acuity is instructive.

Nearly five decades ago, the former Stanton Heights native was sent to Vietnam.

As part of a seven-man advisory team, Silk, the radio operator, worked alongside Vietnamese militias. Whatever support was needed — air, medical, artillery — Silk called it in.

Less laconic than terse, the Army veteran briefly described his military stint: “It was OK; well, we were in a little bit of combat, not much.

I hate to say that kind of stuff. I spent a year there, and I was glad to come home. I mean I’m proud of my service there, but now it’s over, and you move on from there.”

However, transitioning was not simple for the then 22-year-old whose introduction to mortality came via Vietnam.

“I would say the first couple of years it wasn’t so wonderful, but now, and I mean that, I lead a great life,” Silk said. “I’m happy for the way things are, and I’m there to help people if I can because I think that’s what we’re here for: to help each other.”

Such determination of purpose is evident from the catalog of causes supported.

p Dick Silk, a perpetual volunteer

Photo by Mary Lou Silk

On Mondays, Silk distributes coffee and doughnuts to fellow veterans. Depending on the season, the remaining days are dedicated to assisting the Federation of War Veterans Societies of Allegheny County, Disabled American Veterans, Sharing and Caring, Inc., an organization “dedicated to improving the lives of hospitalized veterans,” Vietnam Veterans Inc., the Jewish War Veterans, two American Legions and traveling with Rabbi Eli Seidman, director of pastoral care at the Jewish Association on Aging, to the Southwestern Veterans’ Center.

“Dick cares a lot about people,” Seidman said. “He will always go the extra mile to visit people. He really cares.”

But while “helping” or “visiting” represent Silk’s style, the fraternization that he supplies extends beyond the animate, as indicated by his frequenting the Homestead Hebrew Cemetery.

“I try to go there every Friday to check it out. I try to be there when there are funerals, stuff like that, or whatever the cemetery needs. The guy who does our grounds keeping, I stay in touch with him.”

To the casual observer of Silk’s undertakings, it may seem as though his manufactured mountain of morbidity is depressing, but it is actually a focus for living.

“You want to live life to the fullest as much as you can and try to do all you can for each other,” he said.

And despite the enormity of effort exhibited in every activity, Silk’s demeanor has enabled him to largely evade public praise.

“I just feel that there are a lot more people who do a lot more stuff than I do,” he said.

People should understand that Silk is “one of the exceptional few,” said Seidman.

“I have been at the JAA for 22 years, and I can say I have never met a volunteer like Dick Silk.” PJC This article is part of a new, ongoing series of profiles of the unsung heroes of the Jewish community.

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Headlines A ‘meet cute’ set in a cancer ward now showing at City Theatre — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

S

ince the beginning of theater, playwrights have sought unlikely subjects as fodder for their comedies, reaching back to Aristophanes’ 411 B.C.E. hit “Lysistrata,” which got laughs out of a woman’s mission to end the Peloponnesian War by withholding sex from men.

But cancer?

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City,” which opened at the City Theatre on Sept. 23 and runs through Oct. 15, is set in its entirety in a hospital room, where a young female stand-up comic sitting at her mother’s bedside, becomes romantically — or at least sexually — involved with the schlumpy older man visiting his mother on the other side of the curtain dividing the room.

The play, written by Halley Feiffer — daughter of Jewish syndicated cartoonist Jules Feiffer — is described as a “meet-cute for the modern era” in the show’s promotional materials.

p Joshua Kahan Brody

Photo provided

Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody, the show runs about 90 minutes with no intermission, going for laughs with bawdy jokes about rape and vibrators, and raping vibrators, then suddenly shifting tone for reflection on the pull and value of family.

“There is this thing in the play that is kind of subtle, but that means a lot to me,” Brody said. “The characters in the play are often cruel or angry, or hard on one another.

It’s not a soft play, and it’s not a soft place.

Hospitals are cold and sterile, and they’re hard. And part of the journey of the play is about the generosity that it takes to allow someone to help you.”

There is beauty in the play, Brody said, exposing the “generosity and the vulner-

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p The Jewish Healthcare Foundation, a supporter of City Theatre, sponsored a talkback following the show. From left: JHF’s Nancy Zionts, Dr. Yael Schenker, Dr. Sarah Taylor and cast members Kendra McLaughlin and Tim McGeever.

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

ability that comes from allowing yourself to accept help, especially in the most dire circumstances.”

“A Funny Thing Happened …” is not an easy play to do, he said, “because it’s a comedy, but it’s a comedy about cancer. I try really, really hard to do both in the play, to allow the funny to be funny, and in moments of grief there are often moments of laughter.”

Although no one in the cast is Jewish, Brody, who is Jewish, spent some time talking to them about the shiva process, he

said, and how that very serious ritual sometimes encompasses comedy as well.

“Sitting shiva is like this beautiful ritual and rite, and I find it an incredibly effective form of mourning,” he said. “But specifically, it’s also absurd. You’re sitting there for so long, and at some point, something really funny happens, and at some point, there’s your relative who comes in who is really just there for the cold cuts. And so, everyone Please see Play, page 5

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Headlines Libraries: Continued from page 2

The library maintains its traditional function, though, where Judaics are concerned, according to Weinberg.

“We still have a robust Judaics library,” he said. “Students have studied these texts for thousands of years. That’s not going away.”

Teachers also use the Hillel library in a traditional manner, to find books on a particular topic that they then use to instruct their classes, according to Bonnie Morris, who has served as Hillel’s full-time librarian since 1976.

Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh continues to maintain its libraries, although because “most research is done online today,” the libraries are no longer used primarily for general research, acknowledged Rabbi Yossi

Play:

“ Remember, the diagnosis not only

Continued from page 4

starts to talk about that, and everyone’s had a few too many glasses of wine, and then the rabbi comes to say prayers that night, but at that point, you’re not really sure what you’re doing there.

“Sitting shiva for my grandfather, I was incredibly sad, but there were all these amazing moments,” Brody continued. “I had these little cousins, and to them it was a family party. They didn’t know what was going on. And there is something beautiful about that. That child doesn’t need to be scolded; that child is just happy and is running around the house. I think all of that exists in the experience of death and the experience of grieving.”

The role of family dynamics in a palliative care setting was examined in a talkback panel following the Oct. 3 performance of

Rosenblum, principal of the boys’ school.

The exception, however, is research on Jewish topics, he said, adding that although so much in print has been digitalized, many of the Jewish texts are not online.

Although they are “not investing in them like we did in the past,” Yeshiva continues to purchase new books for its libraries, as “the students still pick out books to take home and read, especially Jewish books,” Rosenblum said.

affects the person who walks in the door with it, but has a tremendous

”

effect on the rest of the family.

— DR. SARAH TAYLOR the show. Arranged by the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, which is a financial supporter of the City Theatre, the panel included two cast members and two health care professionals: Dr. Yael Schenker, who specializes in palliative care and oncology at UPMC, and Dr. Sarah Taylor, who works in early clinical

trials for treatments of gynecologic cancer.

About 20 audience members stayed for the brief panel discussion, which was moderated by Nancy Zionts, COO and chief program officer of the JHF. Zionts began the discussion by inquiring of the experts how “family dynamics come into play” after a cancer diagnosis.

Yeshiva schools never employed fulltime librarians, according to Rosenblum.

Instead, administrative staff are charged with processing the checking out of books.

Because the libraries are used less frequently, they often are used as conference rooms, said Rosenblum. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

“Remember, the diagnosis not only affects the person who walks in the door with it, but has a tremendous effect on the rest of the family,” explained Taylor. “Everyone will have a different reaction to the word ‘cancer,’ and how terrifying that will be.”

When a family has gathered to cope with the potential loss of a loved one, they bring decades of emotional baggage with them, according to Schenker. There is no one blueprint to predict how the members of a family will react, or how they should react, when dealing with cancer and imminent death.

“I think there are normal families,” said Schenker. “We certainly don’t see them in palliative care.”

Despite the interfamilial relationships, what she “loves best” about her job, she said, “is figuring out who that person is in that bed — and the family helps with that.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Calendar q SATURDAY, OCT. 14 Congregation Emanu-El Israel Festival of the Jewish Arts will present the movie “Footnote” at 7 p.m. at 222 North Main St., Greensburg. Refreshments will be served and a discussion will follow the showing. The program is free and open to the community and is cosponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

The film is a 2011 Israeli drama written and directed by Joseph Cedar, starring Shlomo Bar’aba and Lior Ashkenazi. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a father and son who teach at the Talmud department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The film won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Contact Marilyn Davis at 412-889-6939 for more information.

Moishe House Goes to Maker Faire, Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. It’s the greatest Show & Tell on Earth. See the handiwork of Pittsburgh’s many artists, engineers and scientists at the Maker Faire at the Children’s Museum.

Come to the house at noon for rides or meet at the museum. Register at goo.gl/forms/ dsEfI5YZX3jXL99N2; to reserve a ticket, facebook.com/events/529649210713098/. q SUNDAY, OCT. 15 The Grand Rededication of the B’nai Abraham Sanctuary/Simchat Torah service will be at 7 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation’s Adult Choir, directed by Molly May, and pianist Don Megahan will be helping to celebrate. At 6 p.m. before the

service, there will be a dairy potluck dinner.

After the service there will be an oneg. Visit congbnaiabraham.org for more information.

Helen Wilson, teacher, editor and author of “Squirrel Hill: A Neighborhood History,” will speak about her new book at 1 p.m. at Rodef Shalom. Wilson is president of the Squirrel Hill Historical Society.

South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh presents the Jewish Family Fall Festival. Admission includes a kosher picnic lunch, a hayride, pumpkin picking, hay/corn mazes and a petting zoo. $10 per person; limited to the first 300 people. 12:30-3:30 p.m. at Simmons Farm, 170 Simmons Rd., McMurray. To register and for more information, call 412-697-6647 or visit southhillsjewishpittsburgh.org.

Screening of “Brundibar Revisited.” The film, which is available for students through Film Pittsburgh’s Teen Screen program, provides an engaging experience for adult audiences. Subjects include at-risk youth in Germany, immigration of Holocaust survivors to Israel, and the incredible children’s opera “Brundibar” that was written and performed in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp.

1 p.m. at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, 826 Hazelwood Ave. Register at is.gd/ayj9VN. Israel at 70: Looking Back, Looking Ahead with Consul General Dani Dayan, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill, 5738 Forbes Ave. Dayan, who is consul general of Israel in New York, will address issues including but not limited to: religious

pluralism in Israel and the diaspora, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other security threats to the State of Israel, and the prime minister’s most recent trips to Africa and Latin America.

Contact Eric Probola at eprobola@jfedpgh. org or 412-992-5247 for more information.

Admission is free for “Curtain Call!” the cabaret-themed benefit concert by the East Winds Symphonic Band at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Shadyside. Those attending are encouraged to bring donations of nonperishable food or cash as they enter the building’s Freehof Hall to hear the 70-member ensemble, taste light refreshments, and enjoy BYO wine. All donations received will be used to support the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry, which serves families and individuals in the 15217 ZIP code who meet specified income requirements.

For most of its 35-year history, the band, which is based in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs, has offered an annual concert at the Rodef Shalom. The late Aaron Silberman, a congregation member and patron of musical arts, initiated the series. Later, and until his death in 2013, those concerts were coordinated by Norman Kanel. Kanel’s longtime support for the Food Pantry will be honored at the concert, which officially carries the name of “The Norman Kanel Music With a Mission Concert.” The concert is being underwritten by the Stanley and Sandra Gurgon Spear Fund.

The “Curtain Call!” concert begins at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. Free parking is available in the lot immediately behind the building, which is located at 4905 Fifth Ave.

q MONDAY, OCT. 16 In partnership with Jewish Residential Services (JRS), Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) will host a community meeting to educate and discuss issues that affect people with disabilities as a result of changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid from 6 to 8 p.m., at JF&CS, 5743 Bartlett St., second floor, in Squirrel Hill.

Cassie Narkevic, a certified navigator from the Consumer Health Coalition, and Janice Meinert, a paralegal from the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, will speak on the subject and answer questions.

The community is invited to attend, particularly individuals with disabilities and their families, who could be profoundly affected by any or all of these changes.

The program is free, but reservations are requested. A light kosher meal will be served.

RSVP to Alison Karabin at akarabin@jrspgh. org or call 412-325-0039 by Oct. 11. q TUESDAY, OCT. 17 In support of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s Health Activist Network, an interactive discussion featuring Margo Wootan, Ph.D., vice president of nutrition for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Energy Innovation Center, 1435 Bedford Ave. Wootan and the CSPI played a leading role in empowering consumers with nutritional information on food labels and in restaurants, Please see Calendar, page 7

The Jewish Community Foundation 2017 Fall Event

News, Jews & Views October 22, 2017 10:00 am Rodef Shalom

Join us for a conversation between Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff and Bari Weiss, editor and writer for The New York Times Op-Ed Section RSVP by October 16, 2017 Please contact Patti Dziekan at 412.992.5221 or pdziekan@jfedpgh.org.

Brunch will be served Dietary laws observed.

This is a non-solicitation event.

Accommodations available to include differing abilities; please contact Patti Dziekan with needs.

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6 OCTOBER 13, 2017

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q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 18 – NOV. 15 Continued from page 6

giving kids greater access to healthy foods in schools, and curbing junk food advertising aimed at youngsters, among other accomplishments. Contact Golebiewski@ jhf.org or visit healthactivistnetwork.org for more information.

South Hills Nosh & Know with Rabbi Danny Schiff, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Foundation scholar, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Artsmiths of Pittsburgh, 1635 McFarland Road. Sessions in recognition of “Israel at 70.” Visit southhillsjewishpittsburgh. org or call 412-697-6647 for more information.

q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 18

q THURSDAY, OCT. 19

AARP Squirrel Hill Chapter 3354 has moved to Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, 5898 Wilkins Ave. Meetings are still at 1 p.m. October is Medicare renewal time, and Bill McKenzie of Apprise will discuss what is available for 2018 in Medicare plans and what to look out for. All, including nonmembers, are invited. Contact Ilene Portnoy at 412-683-7985 for more information.

The ninth annual Celebrating Senior Champions will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Omni William Penn Hotel. Rick Sebak is master of ceremonies. Honorees include Community Champion Karen Wolk Feinstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation; and Grand Champion Arthur S. Levine, M.D., University of Pittsburgh senior vice chancellor for the Health Sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean, School of Medicine. Make reservations by Oct. 5 at upmc.com/celebratingseniorchampions or by calling Lynn Orbin at 412-864-3521.

q WEDNESDAY OCT. 18 AND OCT. 27 Beth El Congregation of the South Hills invites the community for thought-provoking evenings on the political climate with Mt. Lebanon high school teacher and radio journalist George Savarese. Each evening begins with a wine and cheese reception at 7 p.m., followed by the talk from 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. and Q&A to conclude.

Beth El’s Adult Education Committee presents these evenings with no charge to the community. Visit bethelcong.org for more information and to RSVP in advance or call 412-561-1168. Beth El is located on 1900 Cochran Road.

Love & Knaidels: Cooking for a Cause. Join other women to prepare homemade food for Keren Racheim, a local organization that helps families with some of their basic needs including food for Shabbat, at 7 p.m. at Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road. Contact lydiablank@gmail.com for more information.

Jewish National Fund partner, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, will

6th Annual

Volunteer Mission to Israel

make a presentation during the University of Pittsburgh’s International Week from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 548 William Pitt Union. This educational session for students, open to community members, will inform participants about the cross-cultural community and environmental studies research at the Arava Institute, where Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and global students investigate and collaborate on solutions to environmental challenges. This event will feature two alumni of the Arava Institute — one from an Israeli background and one from an Arab background — who came together to study trans-boundary environmental issues at the Arava Institute.

Visit internationalweek.secure.pitt.edu/ crossing-borders-environmental-cooperationisrael-and-palestine for more information. q FRIDAY, OCT. 20 I-Volunteer is a partnership between the Jewish Federation Volunteer Center and the Friendship Circle. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 of all abilities combine entertainment with community service in a comfortable social setting. Each month, the Friendship Circle partners with a different young adult organization, including Repair the World, Shalom Pittsburgh, J’Burgh, Hillel JUC and Moishe House.

Together, they perform meaningful work within the Pittsburgh community. In collaboration with the partner organizations, this year’s I-Volunteer series will start with a Shabbat dinner at Friendship Circle, 1922 Murray Ave. Register at bit.ly/2gJMGlq. Include any dietary needs in the comments.

q SATURDAY, OCT. 21 Travel with Classrooms Without Borders to Gnadenhutten, Ohio, to see how genocide has taken place in our own backyard. Learn about the history of a town that was witness to a large massacre of Native Americans in 1782. For more information and to RSVP go to https://is.gd/bgkI6n. q SUNDAY, OCT. 22 News, Jews and Views, A Conversation with Bari Weiss at the Jewish Community Fall Foundation Event at 10 a.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. The program will feature a conversation between Rabbi Danny Schiff, Foundation scholar, and Bari Weiss, editor and writer for The New York Times op-ed section.

Brunch will be served; dietary laws observed.

This is a non-solicitation event. RSVP by Oct. 16 at jfedpgh.org/foundation-fall-event.

Contact Patti Dziekan at 412-992-5221 or pdziekan@jfedpgh.org for more information.

Children’s Village Open House. Join Classrooms Without Borders for an informative and engaging afternoon focused on its 2018 Children’s Village Seminar. During the open house, attendees can hear from a guest speaker, review an outline of the itinerary, gain an understanding of costs involved, and ask questions. 2-4 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. To learn more and to RSVP, go to is.gd/6jdBh7.

Please see Calendar, page 8

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Join us to see the beauty of Israel as we volunteer with hands-on projects in KARMIEL & MISGAV, Pittsburgh’s Partnership2Gether region in the Central Galilee.

Want to learn more? Visit jfedvolunteer.org/mission-to-israel or come to an information session THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 5:30-7:00PM Private ResidenceSquirrel Hill

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Questions? Want to RSVP? Contact Amy Cohen at acohen@jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5245.

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Calendar Calendar: Continued from page 7 Moishe House Gets Moving: Aerial Silks Party, 3:15 to 7 p.m. Learn aerial silks in a private class at Pittsburgh Aerial Silks just for MoHo. Come to the house at 3:15 for rides, or meet us at the Pittsburgh Aerial Silks & Pittsburgh Dance Center, 4517 Liberty Ave., at 4 p.m. Space is limited, so register at facebook.com/events/349646855459961/. q MONDAY, OCT. 23 Celebrating 70 Years of Israel. Ghaida Rinawi Zoabi on Israeli Arabs in the Jewish State and the screening of “77 Steps.” Visit jfedpgh. org or contact Eric Probola at 412-992-5247 or eprobola@jfedpgh.org to register and for more information. q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25 NA’AMAT USA Pittsburgh Council will hold its annual spiritual adoption scholarship dinner honoring Marcia J. Weiss at Congregation Beth Shalom. The 6:30 p.m. reception will be followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. Dietary laws observed. There is a charge.

Contact Jackie Braslawsce at 412-303-5769 or 412-521-5253 or naamatpgh@gmail.org for reservations and more information. q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25 -

SUNDAY, OCT. 29

Film Pittsburgh announced the full lineup for the first annual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival — five days celebrating the best contemporary short films from around the globe. This year’s lineup features 90 short films from 20 countries, including narratives, documentaries and animated films. The Festival takes place at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Tickets and schedule information are available at FilmPittsburgh.org. q THURSDAY, OCT. 26 Helen Faye Rosenbloom, writer, teacher and community reviewer, will review “Forest Dark” by Nicole Krauss at 10:30 a.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. The book is about Jewish identity and the relationships between generations. q FRIDAY, OCT. 27 Itzhak Brook, M.D., will speak at Shabbat services on at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Emanuel, 1250 Bower Hill Road in Mt. Lebanon. Brook will present “The Yom Kippur War – A Doctor’s Memories from the Battle Front.”

He is an adjunct professor of pediatrics and medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, specializing in infectious diseases.

All are welcome to the worship service, followed by an oneg.

Chabad of Pittsburgh invites the community to Keeping it Together, celebrating Shabbat with thousands of Jews around the globe beginning at 6 p.m. with candle lighting followed by Kabbalat Shabbat and a special children’s program. Shabbat dinner is at 6:30 p.m.; there is a charge. Visit chabadpgh. com or email info@chabadpgh.com for more information.

8 OCTOBER 13, 2017

Secular Purim: Moishe House Does Halloween, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sixth annual Halloween party. Costumes required for a night of candy, drinks and shenanigans.

Snacks and some drinks provided, but contributions are always appreciated. All are welcome, so feel free to bring friends, partners, personal heroes, etc. Message a resident or the page if you need the address. facebook.com/events/834161526742876/ q SUNDAY, OCT. 29 Kollel Jewish Learning Center presents Women’s Health Expo Heart And Soul from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Robinson Building. Enjoy a healthy breakfast and informative sessions with featured speakers.

There is a charge. Contact stacie@kollelpgh. org to make reservations or for more information.

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh will host the event “Family at Your Fingertips” from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Rauh Jewish Archives Detre Library, 6th floor Reading Room in the Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St. in the Strip District.

Admission free. Presenters will discuss current trends in genealogical research such as DNA testing, online resources for vital records, burials, naturalizations, and newspaper entries, and ways to share and collect information, all from one’s personal computer.

The mission of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh is to provide a means for members and the community at large to reconnect with their Jewish roots in Southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as in the countries and regions in which their families previously lived. Contact pghjgs@gmail.com for more information.

Immediately following this event at 1 p.m. will be a presentation by Rabbi Barbara Aiello on Italian Jews during World War II. As the Nazi Holocaust took the lives of 6 million Jews across Europe, a different story played out in Italy. According to most estimates, around 80 percent of Italy’s Jews survived the war. What accounts for the Jewish survival rate in Fascist Italy?

In her lecture, Rabbi Barbara Aiello will discuss the experience of Italian Jews during World War II, focusing on the southern region of Calabria, where she serves as rabbi of Congregation Ner Tamid del Sud. Calabria was home to Italy’s largest concentration camp, Ferramonti, where 4,000 Jews were interned. Extraordinarily, only four Jews perished in Ferramonti, killed in an Allied bombing raid. Aiello will share stories of the Calabrian villagers and other Italians who protected their Jewish neighbors at great personal risk on at 1 p.m. at the Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St. There is a charge. The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives is the event organizer. Visit heinzhistorycenter.org/events/italian-jewsworld-war-ii for more information.

The Beth El Sisterhood and Westminster Presbyterian Church will host the second interfaith program in the South Hills at 2 p.m. Eight women, representing Buddhism, Catholicism, Greek Orthodox, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism and Protestantism, will be part of the program, which will include a reading for peace, music, a question-answer period, and a

general prayer for peace, to be followed by a light dessert. The program will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair and is open to the community.

spring. RSVP and pay online at comday.org/ CDSIsrael. Contact Jenny Jones at jjones@comday.org or 412-521-1100, ext. 3207 for more information.

q MONDAY, OCT. 30

As part of Beth El Congregation’s First Mondays Series, Dan Kamin will discuss Charlie Chaplin’s Red Letter Days from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to noon.

Kamin is a mime artist and Chaplin expert who trained Robert Downey Jr. for his Oscarnominated performance in “Chaplin.” There is a $6 fee for this program. RSVP in advance at bethelcong.org or 412-651-1168 by Nov. 3.

The annual AIPAC Pittsburgh program and dessert will be at 7:30 p.m. at Embassy Suites Pittsburgh, 535 Smithfield St. with guest speaker Mike Rogers, a former member of Congress from Michigan. Reservations are required by Oct. 15. There is a charge; dietary rules observed. RSVP at 410-223-4190 or aipac.org/Pittsburgh. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1 Zionist Organization of America will honor Lou Weiss with its Lifetime Achievement Award during ZOA’s annual tribute dinner and will also present two other distinguished members of the community with awards.

Adrienne Indianer will receive the Israel Service Award for her love and support of the State of Israel. The Ivan and Natalie Novick Community Leadership Award will be presented to Ira Frank for his work with ZOA and other organizations emulating the Novicks, who were ardent Zionists. q THURSDAY, NOV. 2 Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania has published a collection of sermons, articles, and other writings by local preachers. “I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me: Southwest Pennsylvania Preaches on Refugees and Immigration” brings together the work of 13 local Christian and Jewish clergy who address immigration from a biblical perspective. It is available for free download at casp.org/sermons; paper copies will be available soon for a nominal fee.

The sermons will inspire conversation at an event co-sponsored by Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement, and All for All from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the JCC’s Robinson Building in Squirrel Hill. Preregistration for the free event is appreciated, though not required, by visiting casp.org/immigrantconversation. q THURSDAY – SUNDAY, NOV. 2-5 National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh Section will hold its 47th Designer Days fundraiser at Thriftique, 125 51st St., NCJW’s upscale, resale store conveniently located in Lawrenceville. Abundant free parking is available in the plaza lot.

Buy tickets at is.gd/LttIkc. q SUNDAY – MONDAY, NOV. 5-6 Going Beyond Memory, a conference on synagogue archiving, will be held at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Visit americanjewisharchives.org for more information and to register. q MONDAY, NOV. 6 Community Day School Class of 2018 families invite the community for Comedy & Cake featuring comedian Benji Lovitt from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 6424 Forward Ave. There will also be an auction and dessert. The program will help raise funds to send the CDS eighth-grade graduating class to Israel in the

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q THURSDAY, NOV. 9 Temple David will present a Kristallnacht Commemoration and Holocaust Memorial Dedication at 7 p.m. at 4415 Northern Pike, Monroeville. For additional information contact the Temple office at 412-362-1200.

The Art of Grieving: Exploring One of Life’s Inevitable Experiences at 7 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. Join Sheila K. Collins, Ph.D. as she shares her perspective on love, loss and healing.

Visit rodefshalom.org/collins for tickets.

The first 20 people to RSVP will receive a signed copy of Sheila’s award-winning book “Warrior Mother: Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss and the Rituals that Heal.” Books will also be available for purchase the evening of the event. Visit SheilaKCollins.com for more information about Collins. The event cost is $15/public and $10/Rodef Shalom members. q SUNDAY, NOV. 12 The third annual Jewish Comedy Adult Night Out will be at 7:30 p.m. at Hollywood Theater, 1449 Potomac Ave., featuring Avi Liberman, who has performed on the CBS “Late Late Show” with Craig Ferguson and the Comedy Central network. Drinks and appetizers will be available. For more information and registration contact chabadsh.com or mussie@chabadsh.com or 412-344-2424.

Event organizer is Chabad of the South Hills.

The cost is $18 if paid before Oct. 22 and $25 after Oct. 22. q TUESDAY, NOV. 14 Jewish National Fund Western Pennsylvania, Tree of Life Award Dinner.

6 p.m. cocktails, 7 p.m. dinner honoring Greta and Art Rooney II at Omni William Penn Hotel. Contact JNF at 412-521-3200 for more information. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 15 The Translation Fellowship Program is part of the Yiddish Book Center’s translation initiative to train and mentor a new generation of Yiddish translators and publish newly translated works. Up to 10 translation fellows will be selected to receive yearlong mentorship and training to complete booklength projects in Yiddish translation.

Each fellow will receive a grant of $5,000 and will attend three two-day workshops at the Center to workshop his or her writing in a rigorous collaborative environment led by seasoned literary translators and other experts in the field. Applications are due Nov. 15. Contact Sebastian Schulman at translationfellowship@yiddishbookcenter.org or visit yiddishbookcenter.org/translationfellowship for more information. PJC

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Headlines Charity provides top-shelf items to needy families — NATIONAL —

By Joshua Runyan | Editor-in-Chief

M

ordechai Roizman has a heart for those in need: After Hurricane Sandy wracked devastation across New York City and coastal New Jersey, he joined those helping residents who had lost everything, pitching in to help distribute food, clothing and dry goods.

But Roizman, a 48-year-old veteran of boardroom battles and executive strategy sessions knew that, in the Jewish community at least, there had to be a better way to deliver help to those who needed it most.

The experiences of the Monsey, N.Y.based Roizman in the post-Sandy cleanup gave birth to Olam Chesed, a nonprofit organization that aims to function much like the United Way and Red Cross, developing a network of businesses eager to donate written-off inventory and then distributing those goods to needy individuals and families.

And while for the past several years the enterprise has quietly been providing such top-shelf items as donated La-Z-Boys, overstocked Purim costumes and returned Toys “R” Us merchandise to poor families in Monsey, N.Y., it was again put to the disaster relief test when Hurricanes Harvey and Irma ravaged the Houston area and Florida.

“This is far beyond anything I’ve done,” said Roizman, a father of five who holds a business degree. “This is by far the most invested I’ve been in anything, in terms of my personal, emotional commitment, but also in terms of time and energy.”

Additionally, “in the Jewish community, there was a mass call for items. People were spending their bar mitzvah money [on goods]. But 80 to 90 percent of it was thrown away.”

From its base in Monsey, Olam Chesed, which is also known as the National Council of Jewish Charities, maintains loading docks and warehouse space necessary to accommodate corporations’ large donations. Its clients, who are pre-screened, promise to never return, sell or barter the items they receive. And when disaster strikes, Roizman leans on his network of trucking firms and logistics experience to set up convoys to stricken areas.

In Texas, Olam Chesed partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston to distribute such things as bottled water and cleaning supplies.

The federation “ran a distribution out of the JCC campus,” said Roizman. “Once that was over, it was spread throughout Houston to the areas most affected. … The various synagogues ran their own distributions, so we drop-shipped to them pallets of merchandise. Hertz Furniture generously made their warehouse available; we took a 26-foot box truck to fill individual locations’ orders. We also helped a church in a badly affected and poor community.”

He estimated Olam Chesed’s contribution to relief efforts last month to be in the neighborhood of “hundreds of thousands” of dollars.

Now, Roizman, who runs the organization along with his wife, Meechal, wants to see other cities adopt the Olam Chesed model to help the day-to-day needs of those struggling to get by in the Jewish community.

p Mordechai Roizman monitors the unloading of a truck in Houston as part of relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey.

Photo provided

He said his only expenses are on the operating side.

“For every dollar of operating expense, we’re able to distribute at least $10 of merchandise,” said Roizman, who encourages financial donations at goodfortheneedy. org/donate. “We can leverage every dollar by

many multiples. The more we grow the more that leverage will grow, because we’ll be able to negotiate better trucking rates, to take advantage of economies of scale.” PJC Joshua Runyan can be reached at jrunyan@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

In - Ho m e Care S e r v i ce s

“ We have a 25,000-square-foot warehouse that is chock full of

merchandise. And really, there is no limit. The only thing that’s

”

holding us back is funding.

— MORDECHAI ROIZMAN Roizman’s vision is a simple one, but according to his count, no other Jewish organization has yet come up with a model where large amounts of goods can be donated cost-free, warehoused and then distributed.

Corporations get rid of inventory all the time, determining that the opened, but unused, mixer returned to Bed, Bath & Beyond, for instance, the overstocked sofa, or the discontinued model is unsellable and better used as a tax write-off. Except that corporations deal in volume, as in multiple pallets at a time.

“I saw these trucks that were being delivered to the United Way, to the Red Cross,” Roizman said of the merchandise businesses donated after Sandy. “We were buying it wholesale. Millions and millions of dollars were being spent.”

Partnering with major corporations “is a resource which has not been tapped,” he explained. Other large charities have relationships with Fortune 500 companies. In the Jewish community, “it really needs to be developed.”

Roizman identified his biggest need as money. He relies on volunteers to manage the back-office functions and sort donated merchandise, but a staff could make things go a lot smoother.

“There’s such a wide range of items” that Olam Chesed deals in, “from car seats to toilet paper to diapers to recliners to irons to towels. … We have a 25,000-square-foot warehouse that is chock full of merchandise,” he said. “And really, there is no limit. We’re far from tapping the limit of the supplies. The only thing that’s holding us back is funding.”

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OCTOBER 13, 2017 9

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Rabbi Riskin to step down from liberal Orthodox network he founded Rabbi Shlomo Riskin will step down from running the network of liberal Orthodox schools and seminaries he founded.

The Israeli-American leader will retire in July 2018 as chancellor of Ohr Torah Stone, a network of educational institutions that has pushed the limits of traditional Jewish law to be more inclusive of women and converts. Rabbi Kenneth Brander, an administrator at Yeshiva University, will lead the organization as president and rosh yeshiva, or head of school, according to a statement issued last week.

Riskin, 77, received rabbinic ordination more than 50 years ago, and transformed Manhattan’s Lincoln Square Synagogue into a popular and growing hub of Modern Orthodoxy. In 1983, he moved to Israel with congregants and co-founded Efrat, a West Bank settlement and suburb of Jerusalem with a mixed religious-secular population that today has 8,000 residents.

Riskin serves as chief rabbi of Efrat, and will continue in that role after stepping down from Ohr Torah Stone.

Ohr Torah Stone runs modern Orthodox schools ranging from junior high to graduate programs. The network includes a five-

year program to train women as Jewish legal authorities on par with rabbis, the first school to train women as advocates in Israeli rabbinical courts, and Midreshet Lindenbaum, a women’s Jewish studies college that was one of the first to teach Talmud to women.

Riskin has also been an outspoken advocate of liberalizing Israel’s strict Orthodox conversion system, and has privately conducted his own Orthodox conversions for years. His activism has drawn the ire of the country’s haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate, which controls authorized Jewish conversion in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate threatened Riskin’s chief rabbi position in 2015 but retained him in the role.

Brander serves as Y.U.’s vice president for university and community life, and also teaches at the school’s rabbinical seminary.

Like Riskin, he has promoted Torah study for Orthodox women, formerly heading Y.U.’s Graduate Program of Advanced Talmudic Studies and Biblical Interpretation for Women.

Brander also founded Neal’s Fund, which provides micro-grants to students engaged in community service. Before joining Y.U., he served as rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue in Florida.

Mark Cuban considering run for president The Jewish owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association said he is “considering” a run for president.

Mark Cuban, 59, said in a podcast released

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last week that he is “Considering, yes. Ready to commit to it, no,” to a White House run for 2020. He appeared on the podcast of Bakari Sellers, an attorney and former South Carolina congressman, the Washington Post reported.

“If I can come up with solutions that I think people can get behind, and truly solve problems, then it makes perfect sense for me to run. If it comes down to, do I think I can win because I can convince more people to vote for me? Then no, I won’t run.”

Cuban, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., said on the podcast that he is an Independent when it comes to politics.

He said in a December 2015 email interview with CNBC that running for president was “a fun idea to toss around,” and that if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he “could beat both Trump and Clinton.” Cuban later clarified that he did not intend to enter the race.

A billionaire, Cuban regularly appears as an investor on the ABC reality series “Shark Tank.”

Greta Gerwig regrets signing an Israel boycott letter Indie film darling Greta Gerwig may have changed her mind on the issue of Israel boycotts.

In July, she signed a letter along with 60 other artists urging the Lincoln Center to cancel performances of “To The End Of The Land,” a play based on a novel of the same name by famed Israeli novelist David Grossman.

The signees, who all oppose Israel’s policies

This week in Israeli history Oct. 16, 1981 Moshe Dayan dies

— WORLD —

Moshe Dayan, Israel’s iconic military and political leader, passes away from a heart attack in a Tel Aviv hospital at the age of 66.

Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Oct. 13, 2011 Barenboim named musical director of La Scala Opera House Israeli composer Daniel Barenboim is named musical director of the prestigious La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy.

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toward the Palestinians, took issue with the fact that the play was funded by Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs in North America.

Gerwig told the New York Post that she was not knowledgeable enough on the issue to have taken a stand on it.

“This past summer, a close friend asked me to lend my name to a letter,” Gerwig said.

“I am generally careful about the causes I support, but in this case I was not. I was unfamiliar with the complexities of the letter and I did not take the time to study them.”

She added: “Instead, because the letter had already been signed by many other friends and collaborators I know to be thoughtful and honorable people, I agreed to add my name.

While I respect the passion and integrity of others who signed this letter, for me to put my name to something outside of my personal realm of knowledge or experience was a mistake — my mistake — and I am sorry for any confusion or hurt I may have caused.”

Earlier the Post reported — and Gerwig’s representative vigorously denied — that journalists at the recent Toronto and Telluride film festivals had been instructed not to ask Gerwig questions about the Israel letter, possibly because she is gearing up for a lobbying campaign for an Academy Award.

Her directorial debut — titled “Ladybird,” and starring Saiorse Ronan — has picked up Oscar buzz this festival season.

The 34-year-old actress has starred in several films directed by Jewish director Noah Baumbach, including “Greenberg” and “Frances Ha.” The pair have also been dating since 2011. PJC

Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time, Rabin is prime minister of Israel, and Peres is foreign minister.

Oct. 15, 1894 Prime Minister Moshe Sharett is born

Moshe Sharett is born as Moshe Shertok in Kherson, Ukraine. Sharett’s parents were early Zionists, having been involved in the BILU movement in the early 1880s.

3510 Route 10 Irwin, PA 15642

Oct. 17, 1880 Ze’ev Vladimir Jabotinsky is born

Ze’ev Vladimir Jabotinsky is born in Odessa, Ukraine. He is mostly known for his revisionist attitudes towards Zionism, which serve as the ideological foundation of Israel’s Likud political party.

Oct. 18, 1991 Israel, Soviet Union resume diplomatic relations

Relations between Israel and the USSR began to improve under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1987, the two countries established consular ties that coincided with the Soviet Union’s easing of restrictions on Jewish life and eventually opening the gates of immigration to Israel.

Oct. 19, 1948 Operation Yoav takes place

During the fourth day of Operation Yoav, the fledgling Israeli Navy engages in its first major battle off the coast of Ashkelon, Israel. PJC

(412) 681-2700 • www.wagneragency.com 10 OCTOBER 13, 2017

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Headlines With America’s blessing, Abbas signals reconciliation with Hamas — WORLD —

By Ron Kampeas | JTA

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ASHINGTON — The Trump administration is encouraging the Palestinian Authority to assume control of the Gaza Strip and leaving the door open for a role by Hamas in the subsequent Palestinian government.

But if such a move was once seen as a traditional predicate to a two-state solution, top Palestinian leaders are hedging their bets, saying they would not rule out a “one-state” solution in which Palestinians have the same one-person, one-vote rights as Israelis. Israeli leaders have long said that would mean the end of the Jewish state.

Palestinian Authority government officials returned last week to the Gaza Strip, the first en masse visit — by Cabinet and security officials along with top bureaucrats — since Hamas’ bloody ouster of P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement a decade ago.

It was a visit twice blessed by the Trump administration, first through a statement

last week by the Quartet, the grouping of the United States, Russia, the European Union and Russia that guides the peace process, and again Monday with a statement from Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s top international negotiator.

“The United States welcomes efforts to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in Gaza, as noted in the September 28 Quartet statement,” Greenblatt said in a statement he posted on Twitter.

The Quartet statement, while itself also abjuring mention of “two states,” made it clear that it foresaw a single Palestinian entity under P.A. rule. It urged “the parties” — the Palestinian Authority and Hamas — “to take concrete steps to reunite Gaza and the West Bank under the legitimate Palestinian Authority.”

The P.A. visit to Gaza, brokered by Egypt, a key ally to the United States and Israel, was only for several days, but Husam Zomlot, the PLO envoy to Washington and a top Abbas adviser, anticipated a consolidation of the Palestinian Authority presence there.

Please see Abbas, page 16

Puerto Rico’s Jews turn wwto helping neighbors ravaged by Hurricane Maria — NATIONAL —

By Ben Sales | JTA

A

fter he managed to bribe three van drivers to load their vehicles with aid supplies and drive him and his crew from the San Juan airport, Eli Rowe felt his humanitarian mission was off to a good start.

Gas was scarce in Puerto Rico, but now all the food, medicine and hygienic supplies he had flown over from the mainland was making it into the Caribbean island’s capital.

Then he laid eyes on the city. It was devastated.

“We saw sheer destruction everywhere,” said Rowe, the CEO of Jet911, a service that arranges emergency medical flights. “Roofs were off, buildings were destroyed, houses were destroyed, there was flooding in the middle of the street, stores were abandoned.”

Rowe’s crew of 12 paramedics and emergency medical technicians was one of a few Jewish aid missions trying to help Puerto Rico begin recovering from the impact of Hurricane Maria, which hit the island directly last week. The storm created what aid workers and residents describe as a post-apocalyptic scenario: Power is out for much of the island, cellphone service is hard

Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh cordially invites you to attend

to find, gas is even scarcer and food supplies are dwindling. Roads are crumbling. Hospitals are on the brink.

Last Thursday, President Donald Trump waived a law called the Jones Act, allowing international aid shipments to offload on the island. FEMA has more than 600 workers on the island, a U.S. territory with 3.4 million residents.

Puerto Rico’s Jewish community of 1,500, living mostly in San Juan, has largely been spared the worst of the damage, says Diego Mendelbaum, community director at the San Juan Jewish Community Center, which shares space with a Conservative synagogue.

The city is also home to a Reform synagogue and a Chabad.

The JCC’s fence and two of its gates were knocked down and its roof sustained damage, but it fared much better than synagogues in Houston, which were ruined by Harvey. Even so, the synagogue canceled services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, when the storm hit.

Mendelbaum said the Jews’ homes — like those of their San Juan neighbors — avoided destruction because their buildings are built with concrete and other reinforced materials.

But the community is still suffering, he said, from the same lack of power, fuel and infr-

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017 NOON - 2:00 PM GREEN OAKS COUNTRY CLUB 5741 3rd Street, Verona, PA 15147

Lion of Judah Event Chairs: Laura Dinkin, Deborah F. Graver, Bernice Meyers Featuring Guest Speaker

Rabbi Shira Stutman

Director of Jewish Programming at Washington DC’s innovative Sixth & I Historic Synagogue Topic: L’dor va dor: Learning from millennials about how to live a Jewish life that matters

To learn more or to register, visit www. jfedpgh.org/lion-luncheon Questions? Contact Mia Alcorn at 412.992.5222 or malcorn@jfedpgh.org.

Accommodations available to include differing abilities.

Please contact Mia Alcorn with needs.

This event is for women who are Lions of Judah or LOJE participants, or whose household commitment to the Jewish Federation’s Community Campaign is $10,000 or more.

The Hannah Kamin Annual Lion of Judah Event has been generously endowed by the Hannah & Marvin Kamin family in Hannah’s honor, and serves to remind us all of the power of women’s philanthropy.

Please see Puerto Rico, page 17

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OCTOBER 13, 2017 11

Opinion Needed: sensible firearm regulation — EDITORIAL —

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here was a time — about two weeks ago — when no one but a few had heard of bump stocks, the “accessory” that makes a semi-automatic weapon work like an automatic weapon. So when returning to the debate over the role of firearms in the United States following the murder of 58 people in Las Vegas, it would be wise not to focus on that specific issue.

But we wonder, why does the issue of gun violence only arise when a horrific crime is committed — the 26 children and teachers murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School; the 12 people gunned down in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.; the nine worshipers murdered in a Charleston, S.C., church; the 14 people shot to death at a Christmas party in San Bernardino, Calif. — and why does nothing ever change?

And then, are guns an issue in which the Jewish community should involve itself? We say yes. Firearm regulation is one of the most

We see the need to craft a sensible balance between the public’s right to bear arms and its right to be safe in its daily lives. vexing and deadly issues facing our country, and we need to confront it.

As a minority group, with a long history of subjugation at the hands of hostile governments, our community understands the intent of the framers of the Constitution to enable the people to have a final check on an oppressive government. But our community is also intimately knowledgeable about what happens when the wrong weaponry gets into the hands of the wrong people.

We don’t view the issue as forcing a choice

between the Second Amendment and no gun ownership. Rather, we see the need to craft a sensible balance between the public’s right to bear arms and its right to be safe in their daily lives. That communal protection is paramount — and the massacre in Las Vegas this month was a failure of our society’s promise to protect ordinary people doing ordinary things.

The number of mass shootings has grown since Congress failed to renew the assault weapons ban in 2004. And the Trump

administration has been quietly undoing Obama-era gun regulations, including the removal of the requirement that the Social Security Administration report mentally impaired recipients to a national background-check database.

Disturbingly common themes that run through instances of mass killings are stories of poverty, disaffection and mental illness.

These are societal ills that must be treated, even if not a single gun is removed from circulation. And that’s also why it is foolish to focus on bump stocks as the issue, and to fall for the fig leaf of cover the National Rifle Association sought to give its legislative supporters last week by supporting a ban of bump stocks.

We need more. While we are not calling for the government to take weapons out of the hands of civilians who have a legitimate purpose in owning them, we are urging the development of sensible regulation of highly lethal firearms. We know we need that, because what we have now is not working. PJC

The media and the missing Abu Jihad Guest Columnist Sean Durns

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n Feb. 15, a convicted terrorist whose nom de guerre is Abu Jihad (“Father of Jihad”) was appointed deputy to Palestinian Authority president and Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas.

Haven’t heard about Abu Jihad? It’s not your fault. There has been almost no coverage about him in major U.S. news outlets.

His actual name is Mahmoud al-Aloul. In his early years, he participated in numerous terrorist attacks as an operative for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was then a U.S.-designated terrorist group.

His mentor was the arch terrorist and Fatah founding father Khalil al-Wazir, who also went by the name Abu Jihad.

Among other atrocities, al-Wazir oversaw the assassination of U.S. diplomats in Khartoum, Sudan, in March 1973 and was also responsible for perpetrating numerous terrorist attacks against Israelis, including the 1978 Coastal Road massacre, in which 38 civilians, including 11 children, were murdered.

Israeli commandos killed al-Wazir on April 16, 1988 in Tunisia. Al-Aloul subsequently became his successor and, as a result of the 1990s Oslo process, entered politics, serving first as governor of the Nablus region and later joining the Palestinian Legislative Council and Fatah’s Central Committee.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, a nonprofit organization that monitors Arab media in eastern Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), al-Aloul continues to praise acts of antiJewish violence. Al-Aloul has referred to the establishment of Israel as the “greatest 12 OCTOBER 13, 2017

Mahmoud al-Aloul continues to praise acts of anti-Jewish violence. He has referred to the establishment of Israel as the “greatest crime” and called Palestinian terrorism a “legal right.” crime” and called Palestinian terrorism a “legal right.” He has met with the families of terrorists and called Dalal Mughrabi, a Fatah operative who participated in the Coastal Road massacre, a “legend that will not die.”

Despite serving as deputy to a man, Abbas, who is often described by media outlets as “moderate” and a “peace partner,” three months before his appointment, al-Aloul exhorted, “When we talk about our enemies we talk about the occupation and the United States.” As the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America has noted, the term “occupation” is frequently used to refer to the presence of the Jewish state of Israel on any land that was, at any point in history, ruled by Muslims.

Eight weeks before he was announced as Abbas’s deputy — the first such appointment in Fatah’s nearly 60-year history — al-Aloul declared on official P.A. TV that the Oslo accords had “died a long time ago.”

However, Oslo birthed the Palestinian Authority. And both the United States and European Union, among others, give copious aid to the authority based off Oslo’s promises, including then-PLO head Yasser Arafat’s claim to work for a “peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides” and “that all outstanding issues relating to

permanent status will be resolved by negotiation,” as he stated in a Sept. 9, 1993 letter to then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Al-Aloul’s superior, Abbas, is an ailing octogenarian autocrat who has suppressed rivals to power — sending some, like security chief Mohammad Dahlan, into exile, and forcing out others, like the one-time finance minister and prime minister, Salem Fayyad, who sought to tackle P.A. corruption. Abbas has refused to hold elections and is in Year 12 of a single elected four-year term.

Yet more than six months after the fact, Abbas’ decision to elevate al-Aloul as a possible successor has been widely ignored by major media outlets.

Indeed, despite numerous articles and op-eds on the future of the “peace process,” The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and others have failed to so much as offer a report on al-Aloul since he was appointed. During this time, the Post’s Jerusalem bureau has filed dispatches on Palestinian pigeon ownership, a Palestinian winning an “Arab Idol” song contest and the Palestinian used car market — along with numerous reports on Israeli political developments.

And it’s not as if the media is unaware of who Al-Aloul is.

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A March 15, 2011 Post dispatch (“Palestinians rally for unity in Gaza, West Bank”) described a gathering in which “Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior Fatah official, threw his arm around Hussein Abu Kweik, a Hamas leader, in a show of brotherhood.” An Aug. 23, 2013 report by then-Jerusalem bureau chief William Booth even uncritically quoted Abu Jihad’s claims that Israelis “do not want a peace process.” The paper, describing al-Aloul as “the former governor of Nablus district,” omitted his record as a convicted terrorist.

Similarly, The New York Times quoted al-Aloul in a Jan. 6, 2005 report entitled “As Abbas Runs, Skeptical Militants Wait and See.” Those “skeptical militants” — the term “terrorist” is more apt — are now rising in Palestinian politics.

As CAMERA detailed in a Sept. 5, 2017 report, al-Aloul is a member of the Tanzim faction of Fatah, a cadre of operatives that is a generation removed from the movements’ founders, with whom they hold a fractious history. During the Second Intifada, the Tanzim — at the behest of Palestinian leadership — played a key role in carrying out terrorist attacks.

Grant Rumley, an analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, noted in The American Interest that the three likeliest contenders to replace Abbas are “Marwan Barghouti, Jibril Rajoub and Mahmoud al-Aloul … all represent a significant shift of power back to the Palestinian street. And all three figures have connections to the Tanzim.”

In Palestinian politics, the ground is shifting to a newer caste of leadership. And much of the media is nowhere to be found. PJC Sean Durns is a senior research analyst for CAMERA, the 65,000-member Bostonbased Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.

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Opinion A vital foreign policy tool under threat Guest Columnist David A. Teutsch

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he Book of Genesis proclaims that every human being is created in the image of God, that every human life is infinitely precious. Every religious person and every humanist understands that we are all diminished by needless loss of life. My heart breaks when I hear about people dying of starvation, of AIDS and other controllable diseases, or of deaths in childbirth that could be easily prevented. I cannot be indifferent to such human tragedy — and neither should our government.

a significant threat to world stability.

5. It helps protect embattled minorities.

Foreign assistance plays a vital role in combating global poverty, the deadly effect of natural disasters and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also strengthens world health systems. The shortage of inexpensive medicines is a cause of death for hundreds of thousands every year.

Diplomacy, foreign assistance and military spending are the three pillars of American foreign policy. Weakening foreign assistance necessarily diminishes the American government’s effectiveness as a world power and increases the risk of war. China, Iran and Russia are three nations that have stepped up their presence through gifts, loans and military expansion, weakening the U.S. presence

Fortunately, the fate of the U.S. budget has yet to be finalized,

— LETTERS — Negative portrayal Ivan Frank’s Oct. 6 Chronicle column “A political journey” presents a very negative picture of the Jewish presence in Hebron. Hebron, a city with 215,452 Arab residents (as of 2016) seems to be a ghost town as Frank describes it. But Hebron is one of the largest Arab cities in the West Bank and the home of two universities — Hebron University and Palestine Polytechnic. There is also a small Jewish population there. One of Judaism’s most sacred sites, the Cave of the Patriarchs, is in Hebron. So even without the Jewish residents, the IDF would be needed to protect the site and allow Jewish access.

We all know how well Jews had access to the Kotel from 1948 to 1967. But readers of the column were not informed about the 1929 Hebron Massacre, where more than 60 Jews were murdered by marauding Arabs, homes were ransacked, and synagogues were burned. From 1936 to 1939, the British did not allow Jews to live in Hebron due to the Arab rebellion. One massacre does not justify another, but to leave it out of the narrative makes this a political agenda not a journey.

Rocky Wice Squirrel Hill We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned.

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and there is still time to preserve the critical foreign aid programs that embody the values so many of us hold dear — that all human life is precious.

The United States has the capacity to save lives around the world at a minimal cost to Americans — and yet, it is threatening to withdraw its help, despite the enormous good it can do.

When President Donald Trump released his proposal for the 2018 federal budget this May, his plan slashed the foreign assistance budget, which currently comprises only 1 percent of federal expenditures.

Foreign aid is just a drop in the bucket when compared to Social Security, Medicare and military spending.

Fortunately, the fate of the U.S. budget has yet to be finalized, and there is still time to preserve the critical foreign aid programs that embody the values so many of us hold dear — that all human life is precious. As Congress debates the budget this fall, I hope they will consider the value of opening our hands to people in need around the world.

Why is foreign assistance important? Here are five reasons: 1. It saves countless lives by providing food and health aid in the poorest countries in the world.

2. It is a major way of generating good will for the United States around the globe and for building relationships that are critical to U.S. diplomacy.

3. It strengthens the international commitment to democracy and equal rights.

4. It helps local populations reduce the economic causes of insurgencies, which are

in key strategic areas such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Africa.

Foreign assistance is a relatively inexpensive way to ensure a favorable balance of power in the world. It would require a huge increase in military spending to make up for the loss of influence that flows through foreign assistance. Also, increasing the effectiveness of the United Nations also requires an engaged U.S. presence.

Cutting foreign aid would also mean the reduction of our voice for democracy, freedom of worship and the rights of women and of LGBT people.

Wonderful not-for-profit organizations such as American Jewish World Service and CARE need to be able to count on partnership with the U.S. government if they are to have their full impact in South America, Africa and Asia. Ensuring that foreign assistance stays at least at current levels within the federal budget is an investment that will pay back handsomely in its impact on people’s lives, on world stabilization and on the influence of the U.S. around the globe.

Our senators and representatives need to hear from us that foreign assistance should be strengthened in the 2018 budget. Each of us can help save lives and build a more just and equitable world. PJC Rabbi David A. Teutsch is a professor emeritus of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he formerly served as president.

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OCTOBER 13, 2017 13

Life & Culture 10-year-old Jewish bassist ‘Rocks’ out at Benedum — THEATER —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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he young musicians in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s newest Broadway musical “School of Rock” are so good that Webber himself assures the audience in a recorded message before the curtain rises that, yes, the kids are really playing those instruments, and yes, they are playing them live.

The national touring company hits Pittsburgh next week at the Benedum Center, with shows running from Oct. 17 to Oct. 22.

The musical is based on the 2003 film “School of Rock,” a story focusing on Dewey Finn (played by Jack Black), a ne’er-do-well wannabe rock star posing as a substitute teacher at a prep school. The musical hones in more on the stifled lives of the children in Dewey’s class and the transformative power of music.

Mostly, though, the show is just a lot of fun and the talent on stage impressive.

Theodora Silverman, who is just 10 years old, plays “Katie,” a quiet, serious cellist who picks up the bass after encouragement from Dewey.

Silverman, who is from New York, said that Katie is her “dream role,” because she is “the only girl in the band, which is super cool.”

“I love Katie’s bass face,” Silverman wrote in an email; because of union rules and contract provisions, child actors can only participate in advance interviews conducted via email. “She is a serious musician and person but learns to ‘let herself go’ which are qualities we have in common. As much as I am playing the role of Katie I feel we are a lot alike — we are both reserved, kind and fierce!!!”

Silverman has been playing bass for two years and also plays ukulele, piano and flute.

She is currently learning electric guitar and drums from some of her “School of Rock” cast mates.

Because the show is so dependent on the musicianship of its young cast members, the audition and rehearsal process deviates from typical Broadway musicals, according to David Ruttura, the associate director of “School of Rock.”

“Because we need them to play instruments at a very high level, we generally end up casting musicians first, and the acting and the singing and the dancing are things we then build up over the course of the rehearsal process,” said Ruttura, speaking from Rochester, N.Y., last week, where he was preparing his cast for the opening night of the tour. “So, we have a really unique process with the kids that helps them become well-rounded performers, but primarily they are musicians.”

Theodora, he noted “is a little bit of an exception, because she has more of theater background.”

This is not her first national tour, having performed in “Once.” She has also appeared in ABC’s “What Would You Do?” “One of the things I love about her is she’s a total pro,” Ruttura said. “She shows up,

14 OCTOBER 13, 2017

p Theodora Silverman is thrilled to be playing her dream role of Katie in the National Tour of “School of Rock.”

Photo provided p Above, the original London cast of “School of Rock” rocks out.

Photo by Tristram Kenton.

she knows what she’s doing, she remembers where she’s supposed to go and she is fully committed, which makes it really exciting to work with her.”

Ruttura has been involved with Webber’s production since its first workshop in 2015, seeing it to Broadway, where it was a New York Times “Critics’ Pick.”

Webber, Ruttura said, continues to be “very involved” in the production.

“It’s very much a passion project of his,” Ruttura said. “It has been important to him over the course of his career to develop projects for kids or about kids, from the very beginning with ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ and ‘Starlight Express,’ and ‘Cats.’”

While Ruttura is a fan of the film, he appreciates the musical’s sharper focus on the kids and their stories.

“The movie is very much a vehicle for Jack Black,” he explained. “But when they were developing the musical, they really wanted to explore the kids’ stories, and the kids’

relationships with their parents, and the kids’ relationship with the school, and how Dewey comes in and allows them to be who they really are. And I think they were really successful in that. The audience goes home going, ‘Wow. Those kids were amazing.’

Where after the film, they go home saying, ‘Wow. Jack Black’s really talented.’”

It’s demanding, yet gratifying, he said, to work with a large cast of kids ranging in age from 9 to 12, who play 10-year-olds in a fifth-grade class.

“It’s both challenging and extremely rewarding working with this many kids,” he said. “One of the things is, because we don’t generally cast trained child actors, the process becomes a little more complicated. One of the most rewarding things is watching the kids come to understand how to talk, how to sing like their character and how to perform like their character.

“The kids are amazing,” he continued.

“They come from all over the country, they all have different backgrounds. But you put

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them in a room and they become a unit. And because they are part of a class — building a unit — and because kids don’t have egos yet, or expectations about what they need to get out of this, they become a tight family really quickly. They become kind of unstoppable, and you can feel that on stage.”

The touring company will travel throughout the country together for about a year.

Although she already is missing her best friends at home and her dog JoJo, Theodora said she loves “hanging out and performing eight shows a week with my cast. The School of Rock kids are the best!”

It’s hard for a 10-year-old to see too far into the future, but Theodora is already looking ahead to 7th grade, when she will celebrate her bar mitzvah at Temple Beth-El, her grandparents’ synagogue in Great Neck, Long Island. Beyond that, she said she “can definitely see myself performing for the rest of my life as it makes me so happy.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines PANDAS:

thus, no one truly knows if PANDAS can become a chronic condition into adulthood, because the disease is both misunderstood and under-researched.

In part because of parent advocates such as the Markowitzes, the disease gradually is becoming more and more recognized, with several PANDAS clinics cropping up in some major university hospitals.

And that is good news for Brandon and others like him.

“I would say that there’s been a good amount of research in the past couple of years in PANDAS clinics showing that most children with PANDAS will respond to things like antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicines. The ones who do not respond, there is solid evidence that they respond to IVIG,” said Spaar, noting that the research is still in a young phase.

In fact, Brandon underwent IVIG in 2013 in Pittsburgh, but what ensued was a

an active infection, so they had to work very hard to get the Lyme and its co-infecContinued from page 1 tions under control.

With the help of Spaar, the Markowabout six weeks to disappear. And so life itzes were able to get approval for his next returned to normal. three IVIG treatments within 36 hours of But two years later to the day, on Feb. 2, submitting pre-authorization forms to the 2009, the exact sequence of events occurred insurance company. again. This time, the neuropsychiatric “It was truly remarkable how quickly Dr. symptoms lasted a bit longer, perhaps eight Spaar was able to get the pre-authorization, weeks, until Brandon returned to about despite hurdles that the insurance company 85 to 90 percent baseline, with put her through,” said Markowitz. some lingering OCD. “It was like a national Then in early February 2011, holiday in our house,” said Brandon’s neuropsychiatric Markowitz, smiling. symptoms were exacerbated, Before finding Spaar, they with a physical illness to follow had gone through the insurance several days later, which was pre-authorization process with one in reverse order of how it had of one of Brandon’s out-of-town presented previously. doctors but he was unsuccessful in “With each case, the length of getting the necessary pre-authoriPANDAS symptoms got longer zation to allow Brandon to have and longer,” said Markowitz. Those IVIG. Markowitz said that this is symptoms included concentraunfortunately the case of so many tion and processing difficulties, PANDAS specialists, leaving so OCD, anxiety, irritability and many waiting months or years on rages, among others. Markowitz end to get treatment. would occasionally have to call “Dr. Spaar is unique in her Saul to come home from work to drive, passion, and expertise to help. And often, after an episode get the job done with this matter,” of one to two hours would pass, added Markowitz Brandon was not even aware of Brandon was able to undergo what had happened. the most recent IVIG treatment For several years thereafter, this past August, and they have Brandon suffered on and off bouts p Bonnie, Brandon and Saul Markowitz in February 2007, when Brandon received his first noticed marked improvements; of unexplained illness, which diagnosis of PANDAS a second treatment is schedPhoto by Stephen Gross-Photographic Communications propelled the family on a whirlwind uled for November. journey around the country to see specialist Today, the couple is not only vocal about after specialist. At last, in late 2013, doctors PANDAS/PANS, but they are tireless advodetermined he had Lyme disease as well as the cates in the fight to help their son and other co-infections babesia and mycoplasma. This families who are struggling and confused transformed his diagnosis from PANDAS to about resources or where to turn for help.

PANS — basically, the same thing as PANDAS They also educate themselves about the but without an underlying strep infection. latest research; Markowitz attends annual If you haven’t heard of PANDAS/PANS, medical PANDAS conferences, and she you’re not alone. Many doctors have not also co-leads a monthly support group either. In fact, it wasn’t until the late 1990s in Pittsburgh for over 20 families dealing that the disease was identified by Dr. with PANDAS/PANS. Susan Swedo, who is a medical pioneer And next week, a public informational and steadfast advocate in the PANDAS/ session called Pancakes for PANDAS will PANS community. be held to address the topic of PANDAS as Despite Swedo’s outspokenness, the a way to educate families as well as create — DR. ELIZABETH SPAAR, HEAD OF SPECTRUM FAMILY PRACTICE medical community has been slow to recogawareness of this little known but increasnize PANDAS as a legitimate disorder. Some ingly common condition. Spearheaded by are even outright skeptical of its existence.

“I do think that there is a shift occurring two-year fight with the insurance company the Markowitzes, the event is scheduled for “The medical community in general now. I am seeing increasing acceptance of to pay for the $100,000 treatment. The Thursday, Oct. 19. After an evening breakis conservative in accepting changes, in the diagnosis of PANDAS and an increase in Markowitzes, who had in the past been fast of pancakes and mimosas is served at that they want to be careful and wait for education about it,” said Spaar. quiet about Brandon’s diagnosis, took to Pamela’s at 5 p.m., the attendees are invited evidence-based medicine and wait for propTreatment for the underlying strep infec- social media, not only to shed light on their to the Jewish Community Center for a 7 erly designed studies to come out before tion is often a course of antibiotics, some- experiences, but to compel their insurance p.m. showing of a documentary, “My Kid is they jump on the bandwagon,” said Dr. times with the addition of steroids, but company to pay for Brandon’s IVIG, which Not Crazy,” followed by an hour-long panel Elizabeth Spaar, head of Spectrum Family the neuropsychiatric symptoms are often it denied again and again, as it viewed the discussion featuring the film’s director, Tim Practice in Grove City and the region’s only managed with medications and/or behav- treatment as experimental.

Sorel, and two PANDAS specialists, Dr. PANDAS specialist, as well as one of Bran- ioral therapies. Though the Markowitzes “When we realized the only way we were Allen Lewis of the Sancta Familia Center don’s physicians. have declined psychiatric medications, they able to fight the insurance company was for Integrative Medicine in Columbus, and According to the PANDAS Network, have enlisted the aid of therapists. going to be on social media, that drove the Brandon’s doctor, Dr. Elizabeth Spaar. which is the most comprehensive source What seems to help alleviate symptoms in decision,” said Markowitz.

The documentary, released last May, is of information on this disorder, PANDAS many children is IVIG: intravenous immuThe Markowitzes won. subtitled “A Search for Hope in the Face of affects as many as 1 in 200 children, though noglobulin, a pool of healthy donor plasma “You never start up with a PANDAS mom Misdiagnosis” and tracks a half-dozen famimisdiagnosis and under-diagnosis can skew administered intravenously that helps to because PANDAS moms are always looking lies from all over the country whose chilthose numbers. In fact, many specialists strengthen antibodies and the immune out for their kids. When a doctor says no, dren had PANDAS. think that the number is much higher. system overall. there is no such thing as ‘no’ to a PANDAS With this event, the Markowitzes hope to The age of onset ranges between about 3 to “This is the problem in kids with PANDAS mom,” said Markowitz. create awareness and reach the medical and puberty; following puberty, children some- and PANS — their antibodies aren’t normal, A second treatment in Pittsburgh actually educational community as well as families times outgrow the condition, though some aren’t typical, so rather than attacking the made him worse, which Brandon’s physi- dealing with the disease. milder symptoms can remain. However, the virus or infection, they attack the brain, cians believe was from a bad reaction to Through social media, they have been able disease is so newly identified that not much resulting in brain inflammation and causing steroids at the onset of treatment. long-term research and follow-up exists; all of these symptoms,” said Markowitz.

Also, a patient cannot undergo IVIG with Please see PANDAS, page 16

“ I do think that there is a shift

occurring now. I am seeing increasing acceptance of the diagnosis

of PANDAS and an increase

”

in education about it.

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OCTOBER 13, 2017 15

Headlines Abbas: Continued from page 11

Zomlot, speaking Monday to reporters here, noted that Hamas dissolved its governing body last week and said the Palestinian Authority expected this week that Hamas would formally hand over governance of the strip. The final stage, he said, would be elections.

“The return of the Palestinian Authority” to Gaza “is a milestone for the Palestinian Authority and of President Trump’s deal of the century,” Zomlot said, using a phrase Abbas used in a meeting with Trump on Sept. 20.

A signal of the White House’s seriousness is the likelihood that Hamas will continue to play a role in governing the strip. Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, heeding Israeli concerns, rejected any role for Hamas in Palestinian governance, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly it would be a deal breaker.

Now, however, careful phrasing by U.S. and Palestinian officials strongly suggests that Hamas will not fade into the night. Zomlot called the changes in Gaza “the return of the consensus government,” the joint Hamas-P.A. venture that existed uneasily in 2006-07 and infuriated the administration of George W. Bush.

Greenblatt in his statement nodded to concerns about Hamas, a State Department-designated terrorist group, but in language vague enough to accommodate a Hamas role.

“Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties, and peaceful negotiations,” Greenblatt said.

That elides over earlier Israeli demands that not just a Palestinian government,

PANDAS: Continued from page 15

to reach many folks touched by PANDAS. “I so desperately want to help them because we’ve been there and we know what it feels like when your child starts exhibiting the symptoms that are so uncharacteristic of the child, to guide them to the right specialist, and to help them help their children,” Bonnie Markowitz said.

Since 2011, Brandon’s illness became chronic; however, Markowitz said that he has since recovered from much of his symptoms, with some lingering OCD, anxiety and cognitive issues. She credits the IVIG with pulling him out of what she calls the deepest, darkest part of the illness.

“There are so many possible triggers; the complicated part is when your child starts to go into a flare, trying to pinpoint what exactly is the trigger, what is creating the flare, is mind-blowing; it could be anything,” said Markowitz.

Currently, Brandon’s triggers are the toxins in the environment, anything from dust in the air to new carpeting and exposure to germs and illness. In fact, 16 OCTOBER 13, 2017

p President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem in May Photo by Flash90

but all of its components, must renounce violence and recognize Israel.

Netanyahu, speaking Wednesday to a Likud party meeting in the West Bank, maintained — at least in part — a tough line on the terms of a reconciliation acceptable to Israel. He said Hamas must be disarmed, but did not count out explicitly keeping Hamas figures within the Palestinian Authority bureaucracy.

“We expect everyone who talks about a peace process to recognize the State of Israel and, of course, to recognize a Jewish state, and we are not prepared to accept bogus reconciliations in which the Palestinian side apparently reconciles at the expense of our existence,” Netanyahu said in Maale Adumim, a settlement of 40,000 located just east of Jerusalem.

“Whoever wants to make such a reconciliation, our understanding is very clear: Recognize the State of Israel, disband the Hamas military arm, sever the connection with Iran, which calls for our destruction, and so on and so forth. Even these very clear things must be clearly stated,” he said.

Without mentioning the two-state goal, Greenblatt’s statement nevertheless called

on the Palestinian government to abide by “previous agreements.” These would presumably include the 2003 “road map” that was to have culminated in Palestinian statehood.

Still, Zomlot said the Palestinians wanted more clarity from the Trump administration.

“We cannot travel a journey without knowing a final destination,” he said. Zomlot referred to Trump’s news conference with Netanyahu in February, when the president said, “I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like.”

From the launch of the Oslo process in 1993 until now, Palestinian Authority officials have spoken of a one-state outcome only in pessimistic terms, casting it as a dystopia engendered by a failed process. Last month, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Abbas in a first for a Palestinian leader said that if the two-state option collapses, Palestinians could embrace one state. It would not be a predominantly Jewish state covering Israel and most of the West Bank, an outcome popular among the Israeli right, but a binational state in which West Bank and Gaza Palestinians have full rights as citizens.

Abbas warned in his U.N. address that in the

Markowitz and husband Saul are currently remediating their Fox Chapel home to make it totally green, and therefore safe for Brandon.

In 2015, Brandon’s doctors helped the Markowitzes make the decision to remove him from the school environment primarily to limit his exposure to germs that were triggering symptoms. He is now in 10th grade and is achieving great success attending the cyber program through Fox Chapel Area School District.

Despite having lived with this disorder for the better part of a decade, Brandon, now 16, remains positive and upbeat as he approaches each new hurdle. “Self-advocacy is a true strength. He has also become an advocate not only for PANDAS, but for kids who struggle with other medical conditions and disabilities,” said Bonnie Markowitz. Brandon regularly visits a friend who spends a lot of time in the hospital struggling with another autoimmune disorder, giving him pep talks with each visit.

“Brandon also participates regularly on a social media app which is frequented by other kids his age. Since he started participating a little more than a year ago, he has

developed a following of more than 20,000 kids, with visits from hundreds on his daily broadcasts.

He has become the highlight of so many kids’ days, as many tune in for his positive words and a fun diversion from their current struggles such as bullying, family issues or their own illnesses or disabilities.

Several of his social media contacts have also become friends who he sees regularly,” said Markowitz.

She said that prior to having to be removed from the school environment, he used to love to perform in musicals and plays, both at school and at the Jewish Community Center. Other interests are travel, tennis, basketball and hanging out with his friends, with a future goal of pursuing a career in hospitality/ hotel management.

The Markowitzes credit each other, along with the help and support of family and others families in the same boat, in getting through the difficult times.

However, they’ve seen friends disappear, friends who couldn’t understand what was going on or why they would often have to cancel plans on a moment’s notice.

“It’s such a lonely place to be when there

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failure of a two-state solution, “neither you nor we will have any other choice but to continue the struggle and demand full, equal rights for all inhabitants of historic Palestine. This is not a threat, but a warning of the realities before us as a result of ongoing Israeli policies that are gravely undermining the two-state solution.”

Zomlot expanded on that possibility at his news briefing Monday.

“As long as we mean one man and one woman, one vote, we are fine with this,” he said, adding however that the two-state solution “remains absolutely the best option.”

Zomlot also addressed the Taylor Force Act, legislation named for an American stabbed to death last year by a Palestinian terrorist that would slash funding to the Palestinian Authority as long as it continued to subsidize the families of Palestinians jailed for or killed attacking Israelis.

Palestinians say the payments mostly go to the families of the wrongfully imprisoned.

Zomlot said the Palestinians proposed a tripartite commission, to include the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, that would consider whether to remove some families from the payrolls.

“We have engaged with the administration, we have a trilateral commission,” he said. “We would offer to the United States to be the sole arbitrator and we will accept [the decision]. Guess who rejected it? Israel.”

A senior Trump administration official suggested that Zomlot was overstating the offer.

“We only received a brief general outline about this proposal which did not answer key questions or present a viable solution to the real problem, which is the official policy of paying terrorists and their families,” the official said.

A senior Israeli official said that the offer missed the point — the Palestinians can stop the payments on their own.

“The Palestinians don’t need Israel, the U.S. or anyone else, they just need to do it,” the official said. “Unfortunately they won’t.” PJC

are people around you that don’t understand or believe you. What is so great about it now is we’re connecting with other people, so they don’t feel like they’re alone,” said Saul Markowitz.

But life has gone on. The couple is busy managing their business, Markowitz Communications, a public relations firm in the East Liberty.

“Everyone has their tsuris (worries),” said Saul Markowitz. “We all find a way to cope with it.”

He plays ice hockey once a week. And Bonnie Markowitz, a former kindergarten teacher, recently got her master’s degree in early childhood education after taking a hiatus to care for Brandon and advocate for PANDAS. Saul calls his wife “the ultimate PANDAS mom; Brandon is very fortunate to have her. She dropped her life for him. She’s kept this family together. I give her all the credit in the world.”

For additional information about PA N D A S / PA N S , visit pandas network.org. PJC Hilary Daninhirsch can be reached at hdaninhirsch@gmail.com.

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Headlines Comedian: Continued from page 1

“It’s been two years, the challenge has begun,” said Elmaleh.

With incessant performances in “clubs, on the road, in rooms and on talk shows,” Elmaleh has tapped a national vibe by mirroring his foreignness. His stand-up bits recount difficulties with learning English, a task he largely adopted upon arriving here, the supposed oddities of being French and the wholehearted ignorance of Americans toward anything European.

“What’s really good about observational comedy in America is the outsider part of it. Coming from me, this is my perspective,” he said.

That outlook is shared in a three-minute sketch that achieves both hilarity and genius, as Elmaleh mocks the national entry process by pitting himself as an immigrant against a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer.

At the beginning of the YouTube video, courtesy of “Funny Or Die,” after Elmaleh hands over his passport, he is asked why he was born in Morocco.

“I guess because my parents were both there at the same time,” he replies.

Following other absurd inquiries, the encounter escalates until Elmaleh finally announces, “I’m big, I’m tremendous, I make more money than all of you combined losers.”

The joke is that such bombastic behavior ultimately yields his admittance into the country, as Elmaleh is told by the officer, “Sir, you are being an ---hole right now, and there is nothing more American than that.”

Though Elmaleh, 46, achieved success in

France long ago, he still seeks to share similar perceptions that rendered him famous.

“I don’t change anything about who I am. … I like to make jokes about my Jewish mom, but I like to make jokes about that I’m from Morocco, which is an Arab country, and I like to make jokes about that I’m from Paris.”

He returns to such familiar themes because “being a comedian is being real,” he explained, and maintaining integrity is critically important.

Such is why Elmaleh was so touched by a recent gift after a charity show in Montreal.

To demonstrate its appreciation, the local Chabad presented him with a pair of tefillin.

“I was very moved because it’s my story.”

“When I was growing up in Casablanca, my grandfather would put on the tefillin every morning. I would watch him, I was a kid, and I was, like, what is he doing, and it was so strange for me to see that around his arm. I was amazed by that, and one day I understood.”

It was one of several experiences that elevated Elmaleh’s Jewish learning.

“My bar mitzvah in Morocco was wonderful. I have great memories of that. It was very traditional. I did the Torah, the whole thing, very serious.

You know, Morocco Jews are very well cultured, educated with the Torah and religious studies.”

Beyond noticing practices and studying Hebrew, his Casablanca childhood introduced him to the Talmud.

“I was at the yeshiva, not because I wanted to, but because the only school that would accept me was a yeshiva in Morocco because I was very bad at school; I did not do very well.”

Now, decades later, days are fused by those

Moroccan memories. “I am not religious. I perform on Shabbat no problem, but the thing is when I am in Paris, my mother is preparing Shabbat in the Moroccan way, and we have great food, we sing songs. [Often, there is] a lot of food on Friday night, and a lot of typical stuff [such as] thousands of salads and then the fish, then the meat, the meatballs and then the challah.”

Where cultural and ritual combine though are the High Holidays.

“My manager, who is not Jewish, knows that in my schedules Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there will never be a show — never, never, never. It’s more than the question of religion, it’s for my father. It’s to be together with my family and it’s OK; I have plenty of other days during the year.”

There is a particular reverence Elmaleh holds for his father, who instilled particular values that Elmaleh strives to transmit.

Respecting parents is “like what we learned in the naaseh v’nishma, just do it, you will understand it later.” The concept is difficult, he joked, because “Jewish people, they love to ask questions.”

In doing his part, Elmaleh recently honored his father at Moroccan-styled High Holiday services in Paris.

“Two days ago at Kippur, I bought a mitzvah for my father, and I gave a donation for petichat hahechal for Ne’ilah of Kippur, and they start to do the brachah for me and I gave the mitzvah to my father. ... I just gave a kiss on his forehead because Jews in Morocco, this is how they do, and chazak u’baruch, and he did it and he blessed all the family. It was a mitzvah, you know, and then we talked about it after at home, and it felt good. I felt good to do that.”

“I have two sons, [their mothers] are not

Jewish, but they got the bris, and one of them got the bar mitzvah,” he continued.

“For them, it is important to understand something that is also largely incomprehensible to many Jews, which is how close we were to the Muslim community in Morocco. A Muslim friend of mine knows exactly what Shabbat is because we grew up together and he smelled the meatballs that my mom used to do. ‘Oh, it’s Shabbat tomorrow,’ he would say. ‘I know you are going to the prayer.’ And when it was Ramadan, my father would tell us not to eat in front of neighbors: ‘They are Muslim and they don’t eat; they are fasting and you should respect that.’”

The problem is that nowadays “we are going through a crazy madness” where ignorance has generated fear and hate, said Elmaleh.

More opportunities, such as those given to Muslim and Jewish children in Morocco who study side-by-side in school, are needed, said Elmaleh. “Nobody talks about that; it exists now to this day. It’s in Casablanca — it’s a great symbol, it’s fantastic I love that.”

In discerning the world around him, the observational comedian is uncertain as to where this all will lead, but what he hopes is that although he generates many jokes, there is a realization that he and his show are not a charade.

“We have to continue. We have to talk about who we are,” he said. “We have to tell our story, and it’s not easy. But I continue even if my comedy is not political. I’m from Morocco, I’m Jewish, I do comedy, and I’m here.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Puerto Rico: Continued from page 11

structure as the entire island. Mendelbaum said it could take 14 hours to get gas and six hours waiting in “eternal lines” to buy food at one of the few functioning supermarkets.

“Everyone has difficult problems here,” he said. “There’s other people whose buildings don’t have a power generator, or they did have a generator but it broke. Other people have to go up and down stairs and can’t do it.

People are trying to leave the island.”

With the Jewish community’s buildings intact and population healthy, its members have turned to helping more vulnerable neighbors. The JCC had collected supplies to help the Virgin Islands recover from the impact of Hurricane Irma earlier this month, then took the surplus it had stored and distributed it among shelters in San Juan.

Jewish volunteers distributed clothing, canned food and 2,000 gallons of water from the JCC’s cistern. In one instance, Mendelbaum saw twin babies sleeping on the floor of a shelter and brought them cribs.

“That was a drop in the bucket,” he said. But for their mother, he added, “it was lifesaving.”

IsraAid, the Israeli disaster relief group, sent a team of five that is stationed in Haiti.

The team landed Tuesday in San Juan and is focused on providing physical and psycho-

p Eli Rowe’s team delivered supplies to the San Juan Chabad as well as to vulnerable areas throughout Puerto Rico’s capital.

logical first aid and distributing filters that can purify contaminated water.

The workers are also distributing food and training local social work students to provide post-trauma care. But the filters, said team leader Natalie Revesz, might make the biggest difference, as they have a capacity of 400 gallons a day and can make public canal water drinkable.

“They were shocked that I was drinking dirty water from their buckets,” Revesz said.

Rowe, who also volunteers in New York for the Jewish paramedic service Hatzalah,

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received a call for aid on Sunday. He’d already gone on missions to Houston and the Florida Keys following the recent natural disasters there. He and his team spent Sunday night gathering food and medical supplies, and obtained a large private plane, free of charge, from Ralph Nakash, a fashion mogul who also went on the aid mission with two of his sons.

The team dropped supplies at the San Juan Chabad, then drove around the city distributing to Sanjuaneros of all religions everything from pita bread to toothbrushes

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p Eli Rowe, second from left, with members of his volunteer aid team from New York, stand in front of the airplane that was donated to make the trip to San Juan.

Courtesy photos

to Tylenol. At one point, Rowe went door to door giving out food and cases of water.

Though he is proud of the work his volunteers have done, he could see that difficult days remain ahead.

“For us to bring a ray of light was really humbling and a beautiful experience,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re going back to our homes with a roof over our head, and these people could be for weeks or months without electricity or food.” PJC OCTOBER 13, 2017 17

Celebrations

Torah

Weddings

Words can hurt or bring about blessing and goodness

Spungen/Herbst: Jan and Cliff Spungen of Mt. Lebanon announce the marriage of their daughter, Dr. Leah Cara Spungen, to Dr. John Joseph Herbst, son of Dianne and Don Herbst of St. Louis, Mo. The wedding took place on Sunday, June 4 at the Omni William Penn. Rabbi Jessica Locketz officiated, and Rabbi Alex Greenbaum participated by delivering the wedding talk.

Leah is the granddaughter of Ruth Croop (and the late Martin Croop) of Mt. Lebanon and the late Edy and Eddie Spungen of Squirrel Hill. John is the grandson of Margaret Audrain (and the late William Audrain) and Mary Herbst (and the late George Herbst) of St. Louis.

Leah and John graduated from the University of Rochester in 2012 but did not meet each other until attending the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pa., from which they graduated in May 2017. They are first-year residents at Geisinger Medical Center, Leah specializing in internal medicine and John in neurology.

Leah and John reside in Danville, Pa. Wyner/Klitzner: Elizabeth Faye Wyner and Adam Jason Klitzner were married by Rabbi Malcolm Cohen at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on March 25. Elizabeth is the daughter of Roberta and Stanley Wyner of Amherst, N.Y., and the granddaughter of Rose Wyner of Pittsburgh. Adam is the son of Irene and Steven Klitzner, of North Miami Beach, Fla., and Bernice Klitzner, of Hollywood, Fla. Elizabeth and Adam live in Chicago.

Birth Vanessa and Dan Schmidt of Swisshelm Park are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter, Claire Behrend Schmidt on Aug. 26. Grandparents are Stefanie and Bernie Behrend of Pittsburgh, and Lois and Daniel Schmidt of North Huntingdon. Her great-grandparents are Mia Forscher, Bill Behrend and Jean Schmidt.

Rabbi Jason Bonder Parshat Bereishit Genesis 1:1 - 6:8

W

ords have power. Words can affect us, even physically. I was in fourth grade and just finished presenting in class. My friend leaned over and whispered, “Great job, but your fly is open.” I remember how I felt in that moment. My stomach churned and sweat beaded on my face. I looked down. My fly was zipped. My friend leaned back over. “Just messing with you.” In that moment, I felt the terror. I embodied the embarrassment. And finally, after I calmed down, I was able to have a good laugh as well.

I recognize that this is a lighthearted way to convey the power of words. So, imagine what it would be like if we escalated this situation.

What if my friend yelled out “Your fly is open” instead of whispering it? Imagine if it had not been my friend, but the teacher in the room who had done it — an authority figure poking fun instead of a friend. Now, imagine it wasn’t fourth grade, but rather high school, where the presence of girls in the room mattered much more to me than it did in fourth grade. With each situation, the words carry more weight.

All of these examples above are still at the very surface of a deep dark ocean of the power of words. Some of us have felt the words of verbally abusive parents or spouses. Some of us have been catcalled in the dark of night on our way home from a party. The power of words is no joking matter.

The 19th-century rabbi and teacher, Rabbi Israel Salanter, offers us the following teaching: “If you were to say of your rabbi, that he does not have a good voice, and of your cantor that he is not a scholar — you are a gossip. But if you were to say of your

rabbi that he is no scholar and of a cantor that he has no voice — you are a murderer.”

This may sound comical, or perhaps just very severe, but there is real wisdom in this. We carry extreme power in our words. Embarrassing another person — or damaging their reputation — especially in public — is no joking matter.

In his book, “A Guide to Jewish Practice, Volume 1 — Everyday Living,” my teacher, Rabbi David Teutsch, writes the following about this issue of halbanat panim — public embarrassment: “Judaism has traditionally regarded it as a serious offense. The blood brought to the cheeks by embarrassment is said to remind the embarrasser that causing embarrassment is tantamount to shedding blood (Talmud, Baba Metzia 58b). Certainly emotional injuries are as real as physical ones.”

If words have such immense power to make our stomachs churn with anxiety, make our bodies tense up in fear or make us cry, it must also mean that within our words exists the potential to inspire and uplift.

There must exist the potential for blessing.

The beginning scene of this week’s portion is referenced in our morning liturgy. Baruch sh’amar v’haya ha’olam, “Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came to be.”

Do I believe in the historicity of the story that these words from our morning liturgy reference? That God spoke and, abracadabra, the world came into existence? No. I don’t believe that literally. But I do believe in a central truth of that story. That words have the power to create our reality? Absolutely.

Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came to be. Blessed are we, created in the divine image, who have the ability to bring about blessing and goodness through speech. PJC Rabbi Jason Bonder is the assistant rabbi at Temple Emanuel of Tempe, Ariz.

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B’nai Mitzvah Alexandra Jill Solomon, daughter of Sheila and Brett Solomon, will become a bat mitzvah at Adat Shalom during the Shabbat morning service on Saturday, Oct. 14. Grandparents are Debbie and Dennis Roth, Maxine Solomon and the late Larry Solomon.

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The Original Noah Stein, son of Alan Stein and Tiffany Stein of Upper St. Clair, will become a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Temple Emanuel of South Hills. Noah is the grandson of Stewart and June Kopp of Boynton Beach, Fla., and Steven and Joann Stein of Sarasota, Fla., formerly of Pittsburgh. Noah is the great-grandson of Eleanor Rollinger and the late Harry and Judy (Levinson) Stein of Pittsburgh. PJC 18 OCTOBER 13, 2017

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Obituaries KALSTONE: Lawrence M. Kalstone, age 90, of New York, N.Y., formerly of McKeesport, died Wednesday, October 4, 2017. He was born June 28, 1927, in Duquesne, Pa., son of the late Bernard and Sophie Kalstone.

Bernard Kalstone was the owner of the Eagle Drug Store in Duquesne. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Larry served in the AAF Base Unit of the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged in December of 1946.

Larry was a true entrepreneur. He developed many products for the pet care industry under the brand names “Ring 5” (high end pet grooming products) and “Allerpet” innovative solutions for allergy-suffering owners of dogs, cats and small animals, all of which were distributed around the world. He had a deep passion for photography, opera, classical music, theater and art. He and his wife were seriously interested in purebred dog memorabilia, collecting rare books and art works illustrating the history of various breeds. Their unique collection of more than 100 antique dog-headed walking sticks now is part of The American Kennel Club in New York. Larry was highly respected in the dog world as an authority on canine conformation and gait, writing about and presenting seminars to dog breed and kennel clubs around the world. One of his illustrated articles, “Soundness in the Dog and How to Recognize It,” a serious study of canine gait came about through his interest in photography with the use of slow-motion pictures, won a Dog Writers Association of America special award. He also hosted a TV show about dogs in the 1960s on WQED in Pittsburgh, which led to the production of the disc “Training Your Dog in Record Time.”

Larry is survived by his loving wife, Shirley Comoroda Kalstone, niece Sally (Donald) Garson, two nephews Bernard (Cheryl) and Paul Feinman and multiple grandnieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister, Jeanne, and brother-in-law, Dr. Theodore Feinman. Graveside services were held at Temple Cemetery with Rabbi Paul Tuchman officiating. Arrangements by Strifflers of White Oak Cremation and Mortuary Services (412-678-6177). Condolences may be made at strifflerfuneralhomes.com LIPP: Oct. 17, 2017, will be the one-year anniversary of the passing of our beloved father and grandfather, Jay (Jacob) L. Lipp. On October 17, 2016 Jay (Jacob) L. Lipp joined his beloved wife, Harriett, and grandson, Jake. He passed away one month

after his 90th birthday. He was at home surrounded by his children, Sandee Lipp Neustein (Ron Neustein), Marsha Lipp Mendel (late Barry Mendel), and Steven Lipp (Robin Lipp). He is also survived by four grandchildren, Micah Neustein, Hallie Neustein, Samantha Lipp and Tyler Lipp. His spirit lives on in all whose lives he touched.

MARKS: Stanley Fredrick Marks, born May 17, 1940, died August 24, 2017, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Loving husband of Judith Marks of Scottsdale, AZ; devoted son of the late Anne and Theodore Marks; brother of Geraldine “Jerry” (Code) Gomberg of Stanton Heights, and the late Louis and Bernard Marks. In addition to his wife and sister, Stanley is survived by four children, 17 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, all of Arizona. Services and interment were held in Arizona. Donations may be made to the Stanley Marks Foundation; checks made payable to WFHSBBC (Williams Field HS Baseball Booster Club), c/o Chris and Karyn Marks, 3317 South Higley Road, Suite #114 Box #491, Gilbert, AZ 85297. A service of Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated.

MILLER: Leonard Miller, age 96, unexpectedly on October 3, 2017. Beloved husband of the late Irene Miller. Beloved father of Adrian (Thomas) Jacubec of Cleveland and Gayle (Thomas) Kravic of Pittsburgh. Brother of Isadore Miller of Pittsburgh and the late Florence Antin. Grandfather of Amanda (Scott) Seifert, Erin (Adam) Bernstein and Traci Kravic. Great-grandfather of Hailey Seifert and Samara Bernstein. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at Beth Shalom Cemetery.

ROSENBERG: Naomi Rosenberg, age 96, of Squirrel Hill passed away peacefully on Oct. 3, 2017. She is survived by many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews and great-great-nieces and great-greatnephews. She was the daughter of the late Louis and Anna Rosenberg; sister of the late Adele Rosenbloom, Harold Rosenberg and David Rosenberg. A private burial took place in Shaare Torah Cemetery. Professional services by D’Alessandro Funeral Home & Crematory Ltd., Lawrenceville.

Please see Obituaries, page 20

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

In memory of...

A gift from ...

In memory of...

Anonymous ...................................Sophia Korsunsky

Joyce Weinstein Levinson ....Dr. Larry Alan Levinson

Anonymous .....................................Meyer Rosenthal

Howard M. Louik....................... Katie Levine Marcus

Donald Berk ....................................Leo E. Berkowitz

Stanley Marks .....................................Herbert Marks

Stephanie Brown...................................Goldie Gross

Linda Rattner Nunn ................... Rose Cohen Rattner

Phyllis Cohen ........................... Judith Kochin Cohen Paula K. Cramer ................................. Gilbert Cramer Bernard Dickter ......................Homer Jay Paul Klater Richard Glick ........................................... Ruthe Glick Ruth K. Goldman & Family ............... Jeanette Gross

Evelyn K. Rebb.....................................Joseph Bilder Jeanne K. Schimmel .................Ruth Klein Fischman Rosalyn Sherman ..................................Goldie Gross Beatrice Taft .................... Shirley Watchman Loefsky

Marc & Beth (Stone) Greenstein .........Michael Stone

Mitchell & Elly Toig .................. Minnie Toig Pearlman

Sandy Hansell ................................ Abraham Hansell

Linda & Joel Walker ................................Anna Mazer

Marian Hoechstetter .....................Joseph Moskovitz

Ruth Yahr....................................... I. Leroy (Lee) Yahr

Dr. Sheila Lawrence ....Sylvia Sternberger Moskovitz

Ruth Yahr............................................. Sigmund Yahr

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday October 15: Isadore E. Binstock, Jack Citron, Mary Levinson Cohen, Sarah Silverblatt Epstein, Edward L. Klein, Esther Rogow Landau, Louise Comins Waxler, Dr. Alfred L. Weiss, Samuel J. Wise Monday October 16: E. Louis Braunstein, Harry Cooperman, Elinor Sarah Goldman, Dorothy Harris, Barney Holtzman, Sidney H. Lefkowitz, Ida Linder, Rachel Povartzik, Florence Shrager, Rita Jo Skirble, Harry S. Smizik, Seymour Spiegel, William Stern, Dora Sriglitz Wechsler Tuesday October 17: Joseph Adler, Shirley Barr, Jean Singer Caplan, Saul Eisner, Louis Friedman, Sam Goldberg, Jack Greenberg, Sadye R. Kantor, Charles Leefer, Violet C. Miller, Alexander Reich, Flora May Shadden, Bertha Ethel Shamberg, Andrew H. Shapiro, Adolph Weinberger, Esther H. Winkler, Ada Marie Wolfe Wednesday October 18: William Abrams, Mary Astrov, Peter Davidson, Edward A. Feinert, Abraham Hansell, Sylvia B. Karpo, Harry D. Linder, I. Edward Plesset, Jesse Rogers, Sara Sadie Sobel, Anna Sokol, Dr. Daniel Solomon, Fannie Stein, Mary Stoller, Harry Ulanoff, Donald Eli Witkin, Rose Zasloff Thursday October 19: Jack Caplan, Morris Chaimovitz, Isaiah Cooper, Laurel B. Devon, Rose K. Freed, Pauline J. Isaacs, Sarah Jacobson, Rose Bigman Kalmanowitz, Dr. Paul Kaplan, Anna Klee, Ethel I. Krauss, Ida Magdovitz Krouse, Jacob Joseph Kurtz, Allen Lebovitz, Milton Lehman, Dr. Leonard M. Monheim, Roger E. Resnick, Emanuel Rosenthal, Edith F. Simon, Joseph Weintraub, I. Leroy (Lee) Yahr Friday October 20: Emma G. Allen, Harry Barash, Bernard M. Bennett, Hannah Blaufeld, Ruth Mermelstein Cramer, Rhoda Fisher Jonas, Freda Leff, Charles Monheim, Traci Michele Perilman, Sadie Schnitzer Saturday October 21: Fagie Cohen, Oser Cohen, Edward Dobrushin, I. Louis Eckhouse, Pearl Fishkin, Morris Freeman, Israel Gershon, Dorothy Goldstone, Marlene Harris, Albert Hendel, Jacob Katz, David Miller, Eugene Moskovitz, Morris Pechersky, Peter Pink, Sarah Ruth Saul Rosenberg, Sarah Sable, Myer Skirboll, Louis Stern, Rose Wyatt, Bertha Cooper Young, Henry L. Zacks

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OCTOBER 13, 2017 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

STERNBERGER: Miriam Brody Sternberger, known as “Mimi,” was born in Monongahela, daughter of Herman Jacob Brody and Emma Friedberg Brody. She graduated from Monogahela High School, Business Training College, now known as Point Park University and attended the University of Pittsburgh. She was predeceased by her brother, Jerome and sister Theresa Brody Weiss; she was the youngest and last remaining member of her family.

She was married to Arthur Sternberger Jr., who also predeceases her, with whom she had three children: Ann, Joan and Arthur III. During World Wart II, in 1945, Mimi worked in Washington, D.C., at the Department of State and was personal assistant to

Adlai Stevenson when he was special assistant to Archibald Macleish who was an assistant secretary of state at that time. She was sent to London by the Department of State in 1945 to attend The Preparatory Commission, which was convened to set the United Nations organization at the end of the war.

As a going away gift before she left for London, Mr. Macleish gave her an inscribed and autographed book of his poetry, which she treasured. He had won a Pulitzer for “Conquistador,” which was included in this book. As a member of the first staff of the to be United Nations Secretariat, she joined a remarkable, and, in many ways, a glamorous group, international in character, in a job that provided a front-row seat to events shaping the post-war and cold war years. Always well groomed and stylishly dressed, she was considered a most attractive figure. Working for the United Nations in New York, she was

sent to conferences in London, Geneva and Havana, Cuba, setting up the International Organization on Tariffs and Trade. When she returned to Pittsburgh in the 1950s, wanting a change of pace, she took a job in the administrative offices of Saks Fifth Avenue, which had just been established in Pittsburgh. She enjoyed the fashion scene and dealing with customers, but with the change of manager, her job was eliminated.

She then worked for Dr. Paul Anderson, president of PA College for Women, now Chatham University, as his executive assistant. She also worked at the Jewish Home for the Aged, now know as Weinberg Village, in the directors office. Eventually, she went into real estate, becoming an associate in the east suburban part of the city. When Adlai Stevenson ran for president, she worked on his campaign. She was a voracious reader and loved learning. She was a

member of OSHA, the continuing education program at Carnegie Mellon University, loved music, attended Pittsburgh Symphony concerts, Pittsburgh Opera performances and was a member of Carnegie Museum of Art. These were her lifelong activities. She leaves her dearly loved three children: Dr. Ann Connaghan (Ron Skrocki), Joan (Jim) Jacobson, Arthur (Lisa) Sternberger, seven adored grandchildren; Tony (Angie), Joseph Connaghan, Sean (Janelle) Connaghan, Jamie and Andrew Wasserman, Jake and Leah Sternberger, one great-grandson Ronan Connaghan as well as two nieces and a nephew, who were all close to her: Shelly (Henry) Zegart, Janis (Harvey) Harrison, Jay (Ellen) Weiss. She was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend. Services and Interment were private. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Inc. PJC

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OCTOBER 13, 2017 21

Community Huge success!

The first year of Pittsburgh J-Fest on Darlington wrapped up at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1 as a complete success, registering more than 200 Jewish teens from the area while bringing in at least 500 visitors throughout the day, ranging from families to community leaders, to Squirrel Hill residents and others making their way around Forbes and Murray avenues.

Sponsored by BBYO, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh, J-Fest brought the community of Jewish teens together in a new way, to give teens the chance to have a party and celebrate themselves, with a varying range of optional programming that they could take part in during the afternoon.

p BBYO teens Brooke Singer and Abbe Cohen have a great time at the start of J-Fest.

BBYO 1

p BBYO teens Brooke Singer and Abbe Cohen have a great time at the start of J-Fest

p BBYO teens take a break for a quick pose.

p KMR BBYO vice president of membership Hannah Morton helps to set up. p Fox Chapel Chana Leah BBG teen chapter president Casey Lazear and her chapter adviser, Leah Cullen, enjoy some Kona Ice, courtesy of South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh.

p BBYO vice president of membership Hannah Morton helps to set up.

Photos by BBYO regional board member Abbe Cohen

p Keystone Mountain Region (KMR) BBYO vice president of programming Annie Hirsch puts some final touches on her J-Fest preparation.

22 OCTOBER 13, 2017

p Alpha Epsilon Pi brothers from the national office and the University of Pittsburgh join the Penguins’ mascot, Iceburgh, for a photo while volunteering at J-Fest.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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Community Decorating fun

B’nai Abraham’s religious school students and their teachers decorated the congregation’s sukkah on Oct. 1.

Getting ready for Sukkot at Temple David

p From left: Carol Gottlieb, Susan Bortz and Kay Liss put the finishing touches on the bimah.

p Parents and teachers join religious school students to help decorate. Back row, from left: Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer, David Hoffman, Sarah Csonka, Zach and Jonah Doerr and Roberta Gallagher; middle row, from left: Joshua Miller, Ethan Binus and John Perelman; and in front, Sonya Binus.

Photo by David Hoffman

Best friends!

p Nancy Gottlieb and Deniz Muftuoglu hang decorations.

Photos courtesy of Temple David

CCChampions, founded by Sidney Kushner, is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that helps kids with cancer through the developmental and social challenges of the disease. It matches each child with an inspirational role model who can be there every step of the way.

The organization held its third annual Night of Inspiration on Sept. 28, at which it presented Inspiration Awards to five child cancer patients.

p Isabella is a 7-year-old future ballerina. She was matched with Patsy, a local ballerina who gave Isabella her Inspiration Award.

p 16-year-old Sean wants to be a sports broadcaster when he grows up, so he was matched with Joe Block from the Pirates. Sean was the emcee for the evening. p All the kids and role models in CCChampions.

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

OCTOBER 13, 2017 23

• All-natural, corn-fed beef — steaks, roasts, ground beef and more • Variety of deli meats and franks • All-natural poultry — whole chickens, breasts, wings and more Available at select Giant Eagle stores.

Visit GiantEagle.com for location information.

Alle Kosher 80% Lean Fresh Ground Beef

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Available at 17AD31337_PJC_1012.indd 1

24 OCTOBER 13, 2017

and PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

10/9/17 12:20 PM

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