Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 12/1/2017 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

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December 1, 2017 | 13 Kislev 5778

Candlelighting 4:36 p.m. | Havdalah 5:38 p.m. | Vol. 60, No. 48 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Biblical stories, Greek imagery Jewish, Muslim decorate brilliant mosaic floors women of ancient Israeli synagogue seek greater understanding By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

Nine years after being introduced, Pittsburgh and Israeli students keep penpalling. Page 3 LOCAL Making a point For women’s group, needlepoint is all the rage. Page 5

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 The mosaic Zodiac sign of Capricorn was one of the many discoveries at the fifth-century synagogue in Huqoq. Photo by Jim Haberman, courtesy of Jodi Magness.

Cake (and cookies)

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

S Kosher cake decorators take their craft seriously. Page 12

cenes from the life of Samson, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel and the parting of the Red Sea may not seem like extraordinary subjects for ancient synagogue mosaics. But what about that Hebrew inscription about mitzvot, surrounded by theater masks and naked winged boys? Or that three-tiered mosaic depicting the meeting of two important men — one who may be Alexander the Great and who is accompanied by battle elephants? That one, archaeologist Jodi Magness told an audience gathered at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning Monday night, is the first non-biblical story ever discovered decorating an ancient synagogue. Stunning and strange may be an apt way to describe the findings of Magness and her team, who for the last seven summers have been excavating the remains of a fifth-century synagogue from the ancient village

of Huqoq in the hills northwest of the Sea of Galilee. That the scientists and historians have uncovered intricate mosaic floors decorating the late Roman building was surprising enough, Magness told the crowd at Pitt, who had gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Cathedral’s Israel Heritage Room. But the subjects and details of those mosaics may turn on their head long-held assumptions about Jewish communities in the land of Israel following the rise of Christianity. Magness holds a senior endowed chair in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the president of the Archaeological Institute of America. She and her team, which includes biblical scholars and art historians, is working to figure out what could have been going on in the Jewish community of Huqoq during a time when Christianity had

ince last winter, a cohort of Jewish and Muslim women have met in each other’s homes to better understand one another. From the discussions generated, the women have discovered not only obvious differences in religious practices and beliefs, but also surprising similarities in mindsets regarding family, tradition and often politics. The 12 women — six of whom are Jewish, the other half Muslim — have met every four to six weeks, said Malke Frank, a co-founder of the Pittsburgh group that affiliates with Sisterhood Of Salaam Shalom, a national organization committed to building “strong relationships between Muslim and Jewish women based on developing trust and respect and ending antiMuslim and anti-Jewish sentiment.” Each meeting is co-hosted by one Jewish woman and one Muslim woman who collectively create the outline for what will be discussed, explained Frank. The insights derived from the meet-ups have been beneficial for all parties involved, said Julie Webb, co-founder of the Pittsburgh affiliate. “With each meeting, the women have felt more comfortable coming together,” said Frank. “Knowing your Muslim and Jewish neighbors is the first step toward understanding and respecting them,” added Webb. Since forming, the group has held several programs and potlucks. The varied formats present new opportunities to share and learn from one another, said the organizers. “Just the environment when you meet these people you learn something new, not just in terms of religion, but these are wonderful women who are making a difference,” said Abeera Batool, a group member. Last month, Batool was one of 600 Muslim and Jewish women who gathered together for the SOSS annual leadership conference, which was held at Drew University

Please see Huqoq, page 16

Please see Salaam, page 16

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Ladies Who Lunch look at refugees.

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Art explores forbidden love.

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The Mooch enjoys Israeli love.

Headlines Refugee crisis to be explored by Ladies Who Lunch — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

ne day, during Peyton Klein’s freshman year at Taylor Allderdice High School, she realized that although for months she had been sitting in front of the same girl — a Syrian refugee — she didn’t even know her name. Klein had assumed that just because her classmate wore a hijab, she did not speak English, and Klein had not bothered to get to know her. When the two girls finally became friends, the experience changed not only Klein’s life, but ultimately the lives of hundreds of other high school students throughout North America. Klein, who is now a high school sophomore, is the founder of Global Minds Initiative, an after-school tutoring program between native English speakers and those for whom English is a second language. Begun at Pittsburgh Allderdice last year, Global Minds is now offered in 11 schools in six states, with another offshoot in Canada. Klein, along with Israa Abdulmuttaleb, one of the student participants in Global Minds, will speak at the Ladies Who Lunch program on Dec. 5 at the Center for Women on Murray Avenue. The program, entitled “Making Pittsburgh Home: Two Organizations Work to Solve the Refugee Crisis,” will also feature Jordan Golin, president and CEO of Jewish Family and Community Services, and Jamie Englert, director of immigration legal services for JFCS. The program is being sponsored by Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Women’s Foundation. Global Minds got “incredible media atten-

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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 DECEMBER 1, 2017

p Past and current co-chairs of the Jewish Women’s Foundation: front row: Judy Roscow, Lori Guttman, Suzanne Wagner, Abby Grinberg; second row: Marsha Marcus, Carolyn Hess Abraham, Fern Schwartz; missing: Kathy DiBiase, Pat Siger and Hilary Tyson Photo courtesy of Judy Greenwald Cohen

tion” last year, Klein said, which included articles in Teen Vogue and The New York Times and an appearance on the “Today” show. The exposure led teachers from all over the world to reach out to Pittsburgh’s Klein, now 16, to bring Global Minds to their own schools. Global Minds soon developed a curriculum to share with other schools across the country, aiming to achieve the same positive outcomes in other locales that were already in place at Pittsburgh Allderdice. The outcomes may seem small, but they are large in impact, according to Klein. They include making sure that students who are immigrants are not sitting alone at lunch, or just waving hello in the hallway to a student

new to this country. “These are small things, but they are steps in the right direction,” said Klein. The work being done by Global Minds is precisely the type of project supported by the JWF, a collaboration of 154 local women philanthropists who provide grants “through a gender lens,” said Judy Greenwald Cohen, executive director of JWF of Greater Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s chapter of JWF was founded in 2000 and since that time has bestowed funding for a variety of initiatives, including an anti-bullying program at Community Day School, a Healthy Teen program at the Squirrel Hill Health Center and STEM education at Yeshiva Girls’ School. Other

grants have gone to the Jewish Association on Aging, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and the Homeless Children’s Education Fund. Grants go to both Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, said Cohen, which allows JWF to “bring Jewish values to the general community and to bring the work of the general community to us.” At least 50 percent of the grants are awarded to Jewish groups, she said. The JWF investors, through annual contributions of $2,000 each, have built an endowment of $1.5 million and have invested more than $940,000 into the community, according to Cohen. “We are a tiny foundation, but we have leveraged our women’s energy, capacity and grant-making and have been making these amazing investments,” she said. The foundation’s investments are often made with an eye toward identifying a need that may not be obvious, but if addressed, will have an enormous impact — like a new grant to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation that will train immigrants to become doulas and a $5,000 grant to Global Minds to support a group of immigrant/refugee girls and native English-speaking girls to participate together in a program at the Pittsburgh Musical Theater, in partnership with ARYSE (Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education), called “Music the Universal Language.” “The immigrant and refugee youth will work with the PMT Transitions students to help produce a showcase surrounding welcoming, inclusivity and kindness, bridging diverse youth through the arts,” said Klein, who acknowledged JWF’s support. JWF favors collaboration and often partners Please see Ladies, page 20

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Headlines At long last, pen pals meet after almost nine years of writing — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

riendship, like technology, develops. Propelled by a pen-pal pairing nearly nine years ago, the amity between Rosa Myers and Dana Federman has traversed adolescence, linguistic barriers and communicative advances. Rosa, 16, and Dana, 18, were initially linked by Tsipy Gur, founder and executive director of Classrooms Without Borders. Connecting the girls would be “empowering,” said Gur, who was introduced to Rosa and her mother, Melissanne (Melissa) Myers, by Michelle Bisno. Michelle and Tsipy thought that it would be a good project for some of the families at Rodef Shalom Congregation, said Melissa. It was a chance for local kids to partner with Israeli youth at the Carmiel Children’s Village, added Gur. Located in northern Israel, CCV is home to Dana and approximately 1,000 Israelis between the ages of 4 and 18. Many of the at-risk children are orphans or those unable to live with their families. “The idea of the village sounded so wonderful, and we are a small family: we are just a family of two,” Melissa said. “The idea that we could have someone special who we are connected to hope-

p Israel’s Dana Federman, center, and Pittsburgh’s Rosa Myers, right, have been pen pals since they were children. At left is Rosa’s mother, Melissa.

Photo courtesy of Rosa Myers

fully forever, that was just wonderful.” So with ink and paper in hand, Rosa, then 7, composed a letter to Dana. A few months later, the 9-year-old replied. Correspondence evolved, and with adult aid, the girls began emailing one another. As years passed, Rosa and Dana took to Facebook to converse. These days, they message each other weekly through WhatsApp. Although it began as an almost burdensome task, communicating eased, said Dana. “Right now, I can talk English and can understand more English and not have to translate every sentence that is said to me,” said the Israeli. Rosa agreed: “Even when we were using Facebook, I would send her a message and

Facebook would translate it. It wouldn’t be the best translation, but it would still be translated so we didn’t have to go through that process. Now that we have WhatsApp and can talk in English. It’s much easier to communicate.” Like their mechanisms for expression, the girls also evolved, said Melissa. “They had a lot in common when they were little — some simple things. They both loved animals, their favorite color was blue, they really liked to draw, things like that. And as they got older, they both grew not in the same way, but in ways that complemented each other.” “We still have the same habits, our child habits, but we just grow,” echoed Dana. Although the two share certain interests,

such as basketball and drinking tea, a wrinkle in their friendship formed last March. After seven years of sharing somewhat abstract anecdotes through written, typed or swiped communication, the girls finally met. With Gur’s assistance, Rosa traveled to Israel for a volunteering mission at CCV. “It was amazing and awkward at the same time,” said Rosa. The girls explained that in a nod to contemporary deportment, their quasi-introduction was interrupted by a group member who yelled, “We didn’t get it on camera; we need to do it again.” So as phones were raised and set to video, the friends recreated their initial meeting. Rosa and Dana laugh about the episode now, but the surrounding experience was strange, explained the Quaker Valley student. “It was really weird because this is an actual person who has been my rock for so long in so many situations. But when you actually get to hug someone who you’ve been talking with for so long, it is oddly comforting and weird at the same time.” Over the course of 10 days in Israel, Rosa got to know Dana and the other children in Dana’s mishpachton (residential unit). The difficulty for Melissa was that she felt like she missed out, as for years she had “nurtured” the relationship to keep it going. Please see Pen pals, page 21

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Headlines Needlepointing is a stitch in time, past and present — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

his story may have more loose ends than most. But though a tapestry not yet complete, the Pittsburgh needlepointing tale is beautiful even in design. In 1951, Barbara Trellis, a self-described creative type, graduated from the previously known Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University. “When the needlepoint craze started, I jumped on the bandwagon and took all sorts of courses,” said the octogenarian. As Trellis’ mastery increased, she began teaching the millennia-old art form to students. First hired by Bell Telephone to provide instruction on sewing and millinery to interested employees, Trellis eventually ventured out as a freelancer. At one point, in the early 1970s, “I was teaching classes at three shops in the city,” she said. Around 1982, Renée Ramo entered a Squirrel Hill store where Trellis was employed. “I just decided to take a class, and I loved it,” Ramo said. Several lessons later, the Squirrel Hill resident was hooked. She joined the Embroiderers Guild (now called the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh) and began teaching needlepointing in her home and at McKeesport

p A close-up of the atarah from a tallit Photos by Renée Ramo

p An example of Bargello needlepoint embroidery

High School through an evening continuing educational program. Even during a residential hiatus in Chicago, Ramo tacked together an instructional stint. “It’s a wonderful way to relax and a wonderful

way to keep your hands moving,” she said. Like her initial instructor, whom Ramo called “probably the best guru for Judaic needlepoint,” the septuagenarian devoted multiple hours to religious adornment. So too

did Joan Weinberger. During the “late 1980s,” the Upper St Clair resident served as Sisterhood president of Beth El Congregation. As a project, the women’s group needlepointed covers for the suburban synagogue’s Torah scrolls. “Then a year later, we did a chupah (wedding canopy),” said Weinberger. The Beth El undertakings were similar to Trellis’ Shadyside doings. Please see Needlepoint, page 7

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Headlines Putting faces to the crisis of violence against the LGBT community — LOCAL — By Lauren Rosenblatt | Staff Writer

ecalling meeting his future finance David on a beach in Mombasa, Kenya, B called it “first-sight love.” The picture-perfect story shatters when David and B were attacked by a homophobic mob at a party before their wedding. David was stabbed in the chest. B fled the country. B’s story is one of several that photographer Robin Hammond has captured as he travels the world taking photographs of members of the LGBT community to illustrate and verbalize the discrimination, oppression, abuse and violence they endure because of their sexual or gender identity. B’s photograph was on display at the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh Monday night as part of an exhibit of Hammond’s work at an annual meeting for Crisis Center North, a counseling and advocacy program working to help victims of domestic violence in Northern and Western Allegheny County. The organization brought together Hammond’s work and a lecture by Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine about the ongoing research into struggles members of the LGBT community face as part of their event “Stories Coming Together.” They hoped to bring a

special focus and awareness to the LGBT community in Pittsburgh and inspire more action, according to Crisis Center North executive director Grace Coleman. Coleman said she stumbled upon Hammond’s project as she was looking for inspiration following a particularly difficult year of domestic violence cases. “I just couldn’t look away. I thought I really need to bring this to Pittsburgh,” Coleman said. “I want them [the attendees] to recognize any form of violence is a human rights issue. Everyone is unique, and when one person is harmed, everyone is harmed.” The theater was filled with stories from around the world. One photograph told the story of a transgender woman who was imprisoned in Malaysia in an “attempt to correct her behavior.” Another told of a gay man from Russia who had been pushed under a passing car and beaten with a baseball bat. Still another tells how a transgender woman in Lebanon was nearly killed several times by her father and brother for her sexual and gender identity. “The point of these stories is to challenge the narrative that these people live with, that who they are is unholy or unnatural or immoral,” Hammond said in a video explaining his project, titled “Where Love is Illegal,” at the Monday night event. For each image, Hammond had the subject choose how they would pose, what they would

p Left: D&O were holding hands on their way home from a concert when they were attacked by two men. Right: Buje is a young gay man from northern Nigeria. He was taken from his home, arrested, held in prison for 40 days and sentenced to 15 lashes with a horse whip. Photos by Robin Hammond / Witness Change

wear and what story would accompany the photograph. The photos were taken as Polaroids, Hammond explained, so each subject would have the option to destroy the image if they felt it could endanger them. He wanted to “give them the agency, for many of them for the first time, the ability to have control over how they were seen and they were heard.” Levine, a Jewish transgender woman, was unable to make it to the event because of a personal emergency, but provided a video presentation that highlighted the academic side of the discussion.

She proposed a recent hypothesis that a person’s gender identity, or their self-perception of the gender they identify with, is a reflection of the brain rather than their upbringing. Men and women have somewhat different brains, she said, and some studies indicate a transgender woman’s brain looks more female than male, and a transgender man’s brain looks more male than female. “In other words, it’s basically just who you are,” she said. Please see Faces, page 16

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

Dec. 1, 1973 Ben-Gurion dies

Dec. 3, 1995 Matityahu Shmulevitz dies Matti Shmulevitz, a member of the underground Lehi and an adviser to Menachem Begin, dies at the age of 75 one day after collapsing during a chess match in Tel Aviv.

Dec. 5, 1897 Gershom Scholem is born

Gershom (Gerhard) Scholem, pre-eminent scholar of Jewish mysticism, is born in Berlin. Scholem immigrates to the Land of Israel in 1923.

David Ben-Gurion (born David Gruen), Israel’s first prime minister, dies at the Tel Hashomer-Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Aviv at the age of 87.

Dec. 2, 2010 Carmel forest fire

The deadliest forest fire in Israel’s history broke out on the Carmel Mountain Range near the city of Haifa.

6 DECEMBER 1, 2017

Dec. 6, 1867 Leo Motzkin is born

Raised in a traditional Jewish household, early Zionist activist Leo Motzkin is born in present-day Brovary, Ukraine.

Dec. 7, 1921 First nurses graduate in the Land of Israel

Twenty-two women graduate from the Nurses’ Training Institute at Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem. They are the first to receive nursing degrees in the Land of Israel. PJC

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Headlines Wilderness therapy for Jewish youth set to launch at Ramah in the Rockies — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

hen Jory Hanselman was 15 years old, she knew she needed help. Her brother was struggling with addiction and mental health issues, and two of her friends had recently died, one by suicide and the other from a drug overdose. “I was in a really bad place,” recalled Hanselman, now 27. “I told my parents I needed a change.” The trajectory of Hanselman’s life was redirected through a wilderness therapy program in Utah, where she learned to light a fire without matches and slept in the rain and snow and through which she gained the self-confidence and self-awareness necessary to successfully face life’s obstacles. Now, Hanselman is primed to lead a wilderness therapy program tailored to at-risk Jewish youth, set to launch in January at Ramah in the Rockies, about 90 minutes from Denver. Hanselman, who has spent more than 400 days leading wilderness trips, is the director of BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy, a kosher, Shabbat-observant program for

Needlepoint: Continued from page 5

Beginning in 1980, the artisan forged a relationship with Rodef Shalom Congregation. Assisted by members of the Sisterhood, the partnership produced Torah mantles in 1982, four high-backed alter chairs in 1984 and Ten Commandments panels (each comprised of 10 panels measuring 50 inches wide by 12½ feet tall) in 1987, according to Martha Berg, the congregation’s archivist. But of all of her makings — including a 6-foot tall and 8-foot wide menorah that took a year to complete — the banners in Levy Hall are among Trellis’ favorites. “They are so big, and they fill the whole back of the wall,” said Trellis, who went on to receive commissions from other area congregations. “For those, I have received such accolades because of their size. But when people get up close, they see there’s so much more to it.” Now 87, it has been three years since Trellis last stitched. “I can’t. Unfortunately, arthritis has taken over my fingers,” she said. Apart from the fact that needlepointing provided a creative and professional outlet, the craft is “very relaxing,” said Trellis. Atara Kentor agrees. “You can sit down and spend time with yourself, think of what you want to do and what needs to be done,” said the Squirrel Hill resident. Forty years after first learning from “some people in the dorm,” Kentor has produced talis and tefillin bags, challah covers and pillows for her many family members. She even taught her grandsons, 9 and 7, how to take up the task.

p The program hopes to attract eight to 12 participants for its launch.

Photo provided by Jory Hanselman

Jewish emerging adults, ages 18-26, who are struggling with a range of issues including substance abuse and failure to launch. The program will run in the fall, winter and spring, when camp is not in session. “Using wilderness and adventure-based

There is an interest among younger people in needlepointing, said Loraine Kambic, an employee at Needle Point Breeze. Although some customers will venture into the Reynolds Street store “bringing in things to have them cleaned and redone,” there are also “people of all ages, including men,” who practice the craft, she said. That is pleasing news to practitioners who have watched knitting and crocheting sometimes surpass needlepointing during cycles of popularity. But what those teetering on tatting or some other skilled embroidery should realize is that needlepointing has much to offer, said its proponents. “It gives me enjoyment making these projects for myself and others,” said Weinberger, who apart from Judaica has created pocket books, purses and even area rugs for her house. “Needlepointing becomes a social mechanism,” said Ramo. “People are face to face, talking to each other, and we’ve gotten so far away from that.” But even when exercised solitarily, “on long car trips, it keeps me from backseat driving,” added Weinberger. “I was a happy homemaker raising children, and when I started with the needlepointing, it started a career,” said Trellis, a past president of the Fiberarts Guild who said that when Rodef Shalom first approached her in 1980, she was “an unknown entity.” In aiding all of the different people and projects throughout the congregations, “I enjoyed working on something that would outlive me.” She added, “It would be my legacy.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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experiences as a vehicle,” Hanselman said, participants will work with trained therapists to build the tools they need to build trust and the strength “to address challenges.” Research has shown that wilderness therapy programs can be effective in treating

young adults dealing with a variety of problems. While they are expensive — typically costing from $20,000 to $30,000 for about eight weeks of treatment — a study published in the Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs in 2010 showed that the participants’ moods and behavior improved during the treatment and that those outcomes continued long after the program was completed. Rabbi Eliav Bock, executive director of Ramah in the Rockies, conceived of using the Conservative-affiliated camp as a hub for therapy for Jewish kids a few years ago after having hired several staff members who had themselves been through wilderness therapy. “I heard time and again, ‘I wish I could have had that experience in a Jewish setting,’” Bock said. That there was a need for a wilderness training program tailored for Jewish youth was confirmed for Bock when Cliff Stockton, a specialist who had been providing wilderness first-responder training to Camp Ramah kids and a 20-year provider of wilderness therapy, asked the rabbi, “Do you have any idea how many Jewish kids I have in wilderness therapy?” Please see Wilderness, page 20

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Calendar >>>Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Mitzvah Day, a long-standing tradition in Pittsburgh in which the Jewish community comes together to provide services to different organizations throughout the entire community, takes place over two days, with projects on Sunday, Dec. 24 and Monday, Dec. 25. This will be the 17th annual Mitzvah Day, named for the Hebrew word for “good deeds” or “acts of loving kindness.” The event is coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Volunteer Center, which provides a network of meaningful opportunities to connect volunteers with organizations and people in need. Visit jfedvolunteer.org/about-mitzvah-day/ for more information and to register. q SATURDAY, DEC. 2 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh offers a free holiday camp from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Carnegie Science Center Planetarium for families with children ages 5 and up. Learn about light as it relates to the Jewish Festival of Lights: Chanukah. Following the planetarium show, “Stars Over Pittsburgh,” take-home Chanukah projects will be created.

q SUNDAY, DEC. 3 Super Sunday, the community fundraising event/phone-a-thon for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s annual campaign, takes place at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. Volunteers at Super Sunday come out to make calls for donations that will help strengthen the community at home, in Israel and wherever Jews are in need. Giving is a mitzvah, and so is asking others to give. In addition to the Super Sunday phoning, there will be a blood drive. Be sure to sign up on the Central Blood Bank website, tinyurl. com/ycjtojxw, to choose a time slot ahead of time. Use Group Code C616 when making your appointment at the bottom of the page. Participants also can join the Gift of Life bone marrow registry with a quick, painless cheek swab across from the registration table. Sessions are 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.; and 3 to 5 p.m. A kosher breakfast, lunch and snacks will be served. Contact Sally Stein at sstein@jfedpgh. org or 412.992.5243 or visit jfedpgh.org/ SuperSunday for more information and to register. Poale Zedeck Chanukah Boutique and Bake Sale from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Contact shifrapoznanski@gmail.com for more information. Classrooms Without Borders welcomes educator Moisés Hassán-Amsélem, a Sevillan native of Moroccan and Algerian Jewish descent, to Pittsburgh for the lecture “Jews and Judaism in Spain” from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Philip Chosky Performing Arts Program Presents the JCC Middle School Musical 2017

at Rodef Shalom Congregation Hassán-Amsélem is a Jewish history autodidact and lectures on Holocaust studies and anti-Semitism at Pablo de Olavide University in Seville. Visit classroomswithoutborders.org/events/show. php?162 for more information. The program is free and open to the public. Moishe House will go to the Lawrenceville Cookie Crawl from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Walk through the stores and meet the business owners handing out sweet treats, a Lawrenceville tradition perfect for the beginning of winter. Come to the house at 1 p.m. to bus over together, or meet at the corner of 44th and Penn to begin the adventure. Visit https://tinyurl.com/y84gyc2s for more information. q TUESDAY, DEC. 5 The Squirrel Hill Historical Society will hold its next free meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Ave. Barbara Burstin, SHHS member and faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and Michael Ehrmann, SHHS president, will speak on “Refugees and Resettlement in Pittsburgh.” Contact historysqhill@hotmail.com, 412417-3707 or visit squirrelhillhistory.org for more information. q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 6

for Pittsburgh women. Classes will be held at Bnai Emunoh Chabad, 4315 Murray Ave. Tzohar Seminary for Chassidus and the Arts will guide the five-part series and will be led by its founder and artistic director, Amy Guterson, a seasoned actress and member of Pittsburgh Playback Theatre. Classes are appropriate for beginners. At the outset of the first and last sessions, a 15-minute segment will highlight the concepts of “teamwork” and “acceptance” within Jewish mysticism. Visit tinyurl.com/y7yj9y3v for more information and to register. Israel: the Next 70 Years is set for 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill with Avi Weiss, executive director of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, who will discuss socioeconomic issues including poverty and demographic trends facing Israel at 70. Visit jfedpgh.org/Israel for more information and to register. The Menorah Case, a re-enactment of the arguments before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark First Amendment case of County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 492 U.S. 573 (1989), concerning the display of a menorah at Pittsburgh’s City-County Building, will be held at 1 p.m. at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, One Oxford Center, 20th floor. Chabad of Pittsburgh is organizing the event. Visit Chabadpgh.com/menorah for more information and to register. There is a $20 charge.

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Calendar Calendar: Continued from page 8 q THURSDAY, DEC. 7 The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, in partnership with the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh, will host scholar Debórah Dwork, who will present “Raising Their Voices: Children’s Resistance through Diary Writing and Song” at 7 p.m. at the University of Pittsburgh in the Frick Fine Arts Building, 650 Schenley Drive. The lecture will focus on the theme of children’s voices and creativity during the Holocaust as a form of resistance. Dwork is the professor of Holocaust history at Clark University, and currently serves as scholar-in-residence at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She envisioned and grew the Strassler Center at Clark University into an institution for doctoral training in Holocaust history and genocide studies. She is considered a leading authority in the field of Holocaust education. Tickets are available to attend a private reception with Dwork at 6 p.m., also in the Frick Fine Arts Building. Tickets for the reception and lecture are $36; general admission tickets for the lecture only are $18, and free for students with valid student ID and Holocaust survivors. Tickets can be purchased at jfedpgh.org/dwork-reception. Earlier in the day, Dwork will also be leading a teacher-training program at the Holocaust Center at 826 Hazelwood Ave. on hidden children of the Holocaust. Act 48 credit is available for educators who participate in this training. Visit hcofpgh.org/ teacher-training/ for more information and registration. The East End Cooperative Ministry holds a Let Peace Shine event from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for an interfaith candlelight vigil. The Pittsburgh community of all faiths is invited to meet outside EECM at 6410 Station St. Visit tinyurl.com/y85ruoav for more information. q FRIDAY, DEC. 8 Chabad of the South Hills Shabbat around the World with a Mexican-style dinner starts at 6 p.m. at 1701 McFarland Road. Event cost is $18/individual, and $54/family maximum. Contact barb@chabadsh.com or visit chabadsh.com for more information. q SATURDAY, DEC. 9 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh offers a free holiday camp from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Snapology, 1699 Washington Road in Bethel Park for families with children ages 5 and up to make take-home chanukiot with Legos. RSVP to Lewis Sohinki at 412.697.3537 or lsohinki@jccpgh.org. Congregation Emanu-El Israel’s Festival of the Jewish Arts Committee announces that violinist Monique Mead and pianist Tom Roberts will present an evening of character pieces and legendary tales of great Jewish musicians at the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg Campus in Campana Chapel at 7 p.m. This program will highlight the musicians who enriched and defined American culture through their music. The program will feature favorite works by George Gershwin, Jascha Heifetz, Aaron Copland, Erich Korngold and Ernest Bloch, among others. The event,

co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, is free and open to the public. A passionate ambassador of classical music, Mead enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, educator and innovator. Inspired and mentored by Leonard Bernstein, Mead has devoted her performing career to nurturing new audiences and deepening the musical experience for seasoned concertgoers. Her programs with major orchestras and festivals in the United Stated and Europe have drawn international acclaim for their popular appeal and innovative approach. Roberts is one of the leading exponents of early jazz piano in the world today. He has performed on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, “The Statler Brothers Show” on TNN and “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor. Roberts arranged and performed the music for the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s film “The Aviator,” as well as several titles for the film “De-Lovely.” Call 724-834-0560 for more information. q SUNDAY, DEC. 10 Camp Young Judaea Midwest and Pittsburgh Young Judaea holds its free Chanukah Party and Open House at Congregation Beth Shalom. Kids grades 2 to 12 are invited to experience a day at Camp Young Judaea Midwest, plus Chanukah games and Chanukah treats from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Parents of interested and returning campers are invited to join in the fun from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. to meet Lauren Sandoval, assistant director CYJ Midwest, and learn about the experiences Camp Young Judaea Midwest has to offer, including a focus on Israeli culture, outdoor activities and being a part of a camp community. Contact pghyj@youngjudaea. org for more information about the event and info@cyjmid.org for information about the camp. Scholarships are available. Visit cyjmid. org for more information. Dor Hadash will hold a program to celebrate the publication of author Sydelle Pearl’s new book, “Wordwings,” at 10 a.m. The story is told in the words of 12-year old Rivke, who kept a diary of events and people hiding in the Warsaw Ghetto. Their stories, poems and pictures were hidden in a milk can and buried. In addition to Pearl’s talk, Ruth Drescher and Sarah Angrist will share their family stories about World War II and the tragic destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis. Copies of “Wordwings” will be available for purchase for $20. A book signing will follow the presentation. Friends and family are invited.Refreshments will be served. The program will be held at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha at 5898 at Wilkins Ave. at Shady Avenue. RSVP is required at admin@dorhadash.net or 412-422-5158. Community Day School and PJ Library Pittsburgh will host the S.T.E.A.M. Festival of Light from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Hundreds of children and their families from across the Jewish community will participate in an illuminating afternoon of science, technology, engineering, art and math (S.T.E.A.M.) in celebration of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. This free public event will take place at Community Day School, 6424 Forward Ave. in Squirrel Hill. At the various activity stations, children will build modular robots using Cubelets, explore light through prisms, build Lego/K’NEX dreidels, see a menorah being created using a 3D printer, and design light-generating

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circuits using the Arduino electronics platform. Families will then come together in a candlelight-building competition, where they will be challenged to design a 4-foot-tall candle that ignites using simple circuitry and recycled materials. S.T.E.A.M. Festival of Light is funded by a grant from the SteelTree Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation. To RSVP, visit comday.org/light or contact CDS Admission Director Sarah DeWitt at sdewitt@comday.org or 412-5211100, ext. 2114. Parkway Jewish Center will hold a Sisterhood pre-Chanukah dinner at 5 p.m. The cost is $12 for adults and $6 for kids 12 and under. RSVP to Diane Bloomfield at 412-373-9340 or dithejsh@msn.com. Classrooms Without Borders presents an original exhibit for the 2017 Poland Personally Study Seminar, highlighting the experiences of educators and students and illuminating the personal impact of time abroad. Meet or re-unite with Howard Chandler, a Holocaust survivor who travels with CWB to Poland and provides first-hand testimony of the atrocities he endured in the places where they happened. The program is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Visit classroomswithoutborders.org/events/show. php?163 for more information and to register. q MONDAY, DEC. 11 The Ira and Nanette Gordon Professional Achievement Award Reception is set for 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. in the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Levinson Hall. The award was established to inspire communal service on behalf of the community by recognizing an outstanding community professional in the early career stages. This year’s recipient is Matthew Bolton, director of JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry and SOS Pittsburgh. The program will include Carly Zimmerman, CEO of Challah for Hunger, on “Baking a Difference.” The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh program is being conducted in partnership with the local Pittsburgh JPRO Chapter. RSVP to Tracy Grandelis at tgrandelis@jfedpgh.org. Cooking with Susie Fishbein, a hands-on experience with best selling author and chef at 6:30 p.m. at Congregation Poale Zedeck. Fishbein will demonstrate her expertise while cooking a three-course meal for all participants. Enjoy this interactive experience, learn new techniques and cultivate new recipes. Fishbein’s cookbooks will be sold. Contact Shifra Poznanski at shifrapoznanski@gmail.com or 412-5865436 for reservations. The event cost is $40 for Sisterhood members and $80 for nonmembers. q TUESDAY, DEC. 12 Chabad of Western Pennsylvania and Bnai Emunoh Chabad of Squirrel Hill are partnering with The Waterfront Shopping Center to celebrate the Festival of Chanukah from 5 to 9 p.m. under the Homestead Grays Bridge at The Waterfront. The festival will include a heated tent with food vendors, games and activities for the kids and grand menorah lighting. The event will be preceded by the annual Menorah Parade beginning at Rodef Shalom Congregation, featuring nearly 100 vehicles adorned with menorahs.

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The festival’s headliner from 2016, 8th Day (a popular Jewish-Chassidic rock band), is back again this year to rock the celebration after the lighting, performing some of its greatest hits for festival-goers. This event is free and open to the public. q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13 Celebrate Chanukah with the South Hills Community at the fifth annual South Hills Lights, the communitywide Chanukah event at 6 p.m. at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon, on the upper level near the fountain. Grand menorah lighting, live music by Chillent, latkes with all the trimmings, Chanukah woodcraft with the Home Depot, giant chocolate menorah and raffle prizes. Chabad of the South Hills and South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh sponsor the family-fun event. Admission is free. RSVP appreciated but not required. Those who preregister will receive a free entry into the Grand Chanukah Raffle. Visit chabadsh.com/lights or contact 412-344-2424 or mussie@chabadsh.com for more information. q THURSDAY, DEC. 14 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s American Jewish Museum and the Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement present Phat Man Dee and Liz Berlin, who will perform at the Shine the Light with Social Justice Disco at the JCC’s Katz Theater, 5738 Darlington Ave. at 7 p.m. There will be a cash bar and a private meet and greet with the artists at 6:30 p.m. Event is for ages 13-plus. Purchase tickets at bit.ly/ socialjusticedisco. q FRIDAY, DEC. 15 A Chanukah family dinner is set for 5:30 p.m. and a Shabbat service for 6:30 p.m. at Temple Emanuel of South Hills. Everyone is invited to bring menorahs and candles to light together for the fourth night of Chanukah. Visit templeemanuelpgh.org/ event/chanukah2017 to RSVP. The event cost is $5/person, $20 family maximum. q SATURDAY, DEC. 16 Shalom Pittsburgh presents the 12th annual Vodka Latke Pajama Party with a Purpose from 8 to 12 p.m. at The Waterfront Town Center. Visit shalompittsburgh.org/events/ vodka-latke for more information and to register. q TUESDAY, DEC. 19 Chabad of the South Hills and the South Hills Jewish Community Center hold their annual Chanukah lunch and program for seniors at noon, which will include a kosher lunch with hot latkes (potato pancakes) and holiday music. Lunch will be held at the South Hills JCC, 345 Kane Blvd. The building is wheelchair accessible. Preregistration is strongly suggested. $5 suggested donation. Contact barb@chabadsh.com or visit chabadsh.com for more information. q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 AARP Squirrel Hill Chapter 3354, which now meets at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha on the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues, holds its holiday party at 1 p.m. In addition to food, there will be a grab bag; bring a $3 to $5 gift in to participate. Meetings are open to nonmembers. Contact Ilene Portnoy at 412683-7985 for more information. PJC

DECEMBER 1, 2017 9

Headlines ‘The Mooch’ gets surprisingly Jewish to stump for Trump in Israel — WORLD — By Andrew Tobin | JTA

ERUSALEM — Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived White House communications director, is not a member of the tribe. But he came close to declaring himself one during a recent visit to Israel. “A few more days here and I’d probably convert to Judaism,” Scaramucci joked last week. “They already did the circumcision back in ’64. There just wasn’t a mohel present.” When he was not touting his Jewish ties on the trip, Scaramucci talked up the pro-Israel bona fides of his former boss, President Donald Trump. He revealed that he hopes to work for him again — and in fact never really stopped. Scaramucci, 53, had come to Israel two days earlier as a guest of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, a U.S.-based group that promotes business opportunities and aims to influence public policy. A former Wall Street financier and accomplished entrepreneur known as “The Mooch,” he has scoped out investment opportunities in Israel’s renowned high-tech industry. While that work has been done in private, Scaramucci repeatedly spoke out about his fond feelings for the Jewish people. At a news conference at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, he described Judaism’s culture as “unbelievable” and “beautiful,” and credited the mother of his Jewish high school friend with putting him on the path to success. “His mom forced us to study before we could eat, before we could play sports, before anything else,” he recalled. “I can tell you I grew up in a neighborhood where none of the Italian kids were studying, and without her help, I don’t think I ever could have gotten to Tufts University.” At Tufts, Scaramucci said, he took a course

p Anthony Scaramucci, center, answers a reporter’s question alongside officials of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce at a news conference at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.

Photo courtesy of Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce

on Yiddish literature. “And I can tell you, I am one of the few goys out there that knows the difference between a sheigetz and a shiksa,” he said, using three derogatory Yiddish terms for non-Jews. He later reeled off works from the course list, from the short stories of Sholem Aleichem to the Philip Roth classic “Portnoy’s Complaint.” At the news conference, Scaramucci went on to call Israel a gift from “Hashem himself ” and the Jew’s promised land. Despite not being Jewish, he said, this is his third trip to the country, which he supports on principle. “So I know that this is God’s land for God’s Chosen People. I know that the State of Israel will exist today and forever in the future, and it’s important for anybody who believes in the concept of liberty and anybody in the West who believes in the individual spirit to protect the State of Israel,” he said. A longtime defender of Trump, Scaramucci on several occasions pitched the president as a godsend for the Jewish state, telling the

crowd at the King David that Trump’s election marked a “new era” in U.S.-Israel relations. “He’s a great friend of Israel, and he will be a great friend of Israel,” Scaramucci said to applause from Israeli government ministers. “And I think that all of the political parties here, regardless of what your political philosophy is, if you’re an Israeli, you’re happy that Donald Trump is in the White House.” Scaramucci wrapped up the news conference with a rendition of the Hebrew Shehecheyanu prayer for special occasions, which he said he had rehearsed for “about half an hour with all my Jewish friends before I got up there.” A day earlier, Scaramucci visited the nearby Yad Vashem, where he donned a kippah and vowed to do his part to make sure a Jewish genocide never happens again. “Never can there be this kind of atrocity, this injustice to humanity, this lack of proactivity to prevent something like this,” he told Arutz Sheva, an Orthodox Israeli news outlet. “I have five children, varying ages, I hope to

bring them all here so they can see this as well.” Speaking about how the Holocaust is viewed today, Scaramucci warned of the spread of misinformation about the tragedy — something both he and Trump have been accused of. Scaramucci, a native Long Islander, joined Trump’s team in July after a career in capital management. He quickly drew attention — and ridicule — for his brash rhetoric and threats to crack down on White House leakers. His term ended before he could be officially installed after he gave a foul-mouthed, on-the-record interview to the New Yorker in which he maligned White House strategist Steve Bannon and other staffers. Although Scaramucci was fired from his White House job after just 11 days, he said he remains friends with many members of the administration — including U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, an Orthodox Jew — and keeps in touch with them. He said he does not consider himself a representative of Trump, just a supporter. “It wouldn’t be fair to say I’m a shadow member of the Cabinet,” he said. “But as a private citizen, I’m happy to share my opinions on the administration, and when I’m asked for my opinion from within the administration, I offer it.” Elaborating on comments he made to The Associated Press, Scaramucci said he plans to return to politics next year by helping Trump with his re-election campaign. He said he does not expect that work to lead to a role in the administration, but he dismisses the suggestion that he should put his rhetorical skills to work for a political career of his own. “I don’t know, I would never rule anything out,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I’m not running, and I end up running, and you say he’s one of those BS politicians. I don’t see it now, but that doesn’t mean a decade from now I wouldn’t considering doing something if I thought it could help, and provide some level of public service.” PJC

The Jewish Association on Aging has announced two new hires — LOCAL —

insy Labrie will assume the position of marketing and public relations director. Labrie joins the JAA with more than 35 years of experience marketing Pittsburgh brands and was hired to market, brand, advertise and publicize JAA’s initiatives. She will work to maximize awareness of its many programs and enhance community perception of JAA as a leader in the field of aging services. Labrie was vice president of marketing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping the hockey team gain national attention during its early success as Stanley Cup contenders. She ran the marketing and sales department for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra before joining VisitPITTSBURGH, Allegheny County’s official tourism promotion agency, where she spent 17 years marketing Pittsburgh as a tourism destination. Labrie has a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School 10 DECEMBER 1, 2017

of Public Communications, having earned her bachelor’s degree in English and journalism from Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa. Labrie serves on several nonprofit boards: as transp Tinsy Labrie Photo ourtesy of JAA plantation auxiliary chair for the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation; as fundraising chair for both the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the Theatre Historical Society of America; and as an ad hoc committee member of Pittsburgh International’s Art in the Airport initiative, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the JazzLive International Festival and the Heinz History Center. Labrie begins her tenure at JAA on Dec. 4. The JAA will also welcome Jay Sukernek as its new chief financial officer. Sukernek

comes to the JAA after serving as vice president and chief financial officer of Riverlife, a Pittsburgh nonprofit that has a mission to reclaim, restore and promote Pittsburgh’s riverfronts as the p Jay Sukernek Photo by John Schiller environmental, recrePhotography ational, cultural and economic hub for the people of Pittsburgh. At Riverlife, Sukernek was responsible for coordinating all facets of business operations and administration, including financial budgeting and reporting, and day-to-day management of various capital projects representing more than $50 million of investment. He was also responsible for managing and coordinating relationships with private sector stakeholders and staff and elected officials in the public sector at the local, state and federal level to facilitate funding and

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policy matters, which involved identifying funding opportunities, synching public policy initiatives with Riverlife’s mission and leading efforts to lobby elected officials. Prior to joining Riverlife, Sukernek was a senior audit manager at Schneider Downs & Co., Inc., where he was a member of both the nonprofit and construction industry groups and his responsibilities included the execution of audit, review and compilation engagements for a broad base of local and national clients. He also gained experience performing special projects for clients including internal control and operational reviews, litigation support and cash flow projections. In 2016, Jay was recognized as 2016 Chief Financial Officer of the year by the Pittsburgh Business Times and was also appointed to the City of Pittsburgh Bicentennial Commission by Mayor William Peduto. A native of Pittsburgh, Sukernek received his Bachelor of Science in business administration from the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond. PJC

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Headlines — WORLD — From JTA report

John Conyers to step down from Judiciary Committee, making Jerrold Nadler ranking Democrat With Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) announcing he will step down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will assume the powerful post. Conyers announced his decision Sunday amid a congressional investigation of sexual harassment and workplace abuse allegations against him by his former staffers. He has denied the allegations. Nadler said in a statement that he would continue Conyers’ “critical work.” “Even under these unfortunate circumstances, the important work of the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee must move forward,” Nadler, who is Jewish, said in the statement. “I will do everything in my power to continue to press on the important issues facing our committee, including criminal justice reform, workplace equality, and holding the Trump Administration accountable. Ranking Member Conyers has a 50-year legacy of advancing the cause of justice, and my job moving forward is to continue that critical work.” Conyers, who has been a member of the House since 1965, said in his announcement earlier Sunday that he expected to disprove

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the allegations against him. “After careful consideration and in light of the attention drawn by recent allegations made against me, I have notified the Democratic Leader of my request to step aside as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee during the investigation of these matters,” he said in a statement. “I deny these allegations, many of which were raised by documents reportedly paid for by a partisan alt-right blogger. I very much look forward to vindicating myself and my family before the House Committee on Ethics.” Buzzfeed reported last week that Conyers in 2015 settled a wrongful dismissal complaint with an ex-employee who said she was sexually harassed. The woman alleged that she had been fired because she rebuffed Conyers’ sexual advances. French-speaking Belgian Jews sue to overturn ban on ritual slaughter The umbrella group representing Frenchspeaking Jewish communities in Belgium filed an appeal with a federal court against a regional ban on the production of kosher and halal meat. The Belgian Federation of Jewish Organizations, or CCOJB, filed the motion with the Constitutional Court of Belgium earlier this week, seeking an injunction against the ban passed in May by the parliament of Belgium’s Wallonia region — one of the binational kingdom’s three autonomous regions, CCOJB president, Yohan Benizri, said Tuesday.

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Both that region and Belgium’s largest, the Flemish Region, earlier this year passed laws that outlaw as of 2019 any slaughter that is not preceded by stunning. Both halacha, the Jewish religious Orthodox law, and Muslim religious laws forbid the consumption of animals who were not fully conscious when their necks are cut. If the animals were stunned at the time of the slaughter, the meat is not considered kosher by Jewish standards or halal by Muslim standards. In recent years, ritual slaughter has come under attack from anti-Muslim activists and animal welfare lobbyists who view it as cruel or foreign to European culture. “If the legislation is not annulled prior to coming into force in 2019 it would undermine the ability of minority faith communities to practice central tenets of their religions in Belgium,” CCOJB said of their lawsuit, which is being supported by The Lawfare Project, a legal think tank combating what it regards as anti-Jewish discrimination. The bans in Belgium “violate harmonized EU law on this issue, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Belgian Constitution itself, all of which guarantee freedom of religion,” CCOJB added. Benizri said that: “Irrespective of its justification, a ban on kosher meat production sends a message to Belgian Jews that they can choose between living in Belgium and practicing their religion, but they cannot do both.” CCOJB has said it may challenge the ban Vol.1 Issue No. 4

in the Flemish region as well. Pinchas Kornfeld, a senior communal leader in Antwerp, which is the capital of the Flemish Region, said Monday that his community’s Jewish communal organizations also are contemplating a lawsuit. The Dutch lower house banned ritual slaughter in 2010, but the upper house overturned the ban in 2012. And in Poland, a constitutional court also overturned a lower court’s ban on kosher slaughter in 2013. Israel to extend historic trail into Jerusalem, West Bank Israel’s Cabinet voted to extend the Israel National Trail to Jerusalem and the West Bank. The $2.8 million project approved Sunday will construct a second trail to include historic sites there. “The path will expose tourists to Israel’s landscapes and sites and will bring hikers to all parts of the country, including the periphery, thereby making significant economic contributions to these areas,” Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said in a statement, which did not pinpoint exactly how the trail will run. An interministerial team was appointed to develop a strategic plan for the trail, which will include developing ways to bring international tourists to the site. The government is poised to start marketing the entire trail as an international tourist site. The marked trail, which runs for 680 miles throughout the country, is 22 years old. PJC Whether you’re making the call... Hi, I’m a volunteer calling for Super Sunday...

school, and who have been residents of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington, or Westmoreland County for two years or more, can apply for multiple community scholarships with just one online application.

www.centralscholarship.org • Applications for the 2018‐2019 school year are due by February 12, 2018. • First‐time applicants must be interviewed by CSLRS staff. • Students whose applications are received by December 8, 2017 may be interviewed during winter vacation.

Dec. 3, 2017

jfedpgh.org/supersunday Or taking the call... Hi, I’ve been expecting your call, and I’m ready to make my contribution.

Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service (CSLRS) is a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh administered by Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS).

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Let’s all do our part on Super Sunday!

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DECEMBER 1, 2017 11

Life & Culture For these kosher cake decorators, it’s all about putting in the hours — FOOD — By Lauren Rosenblatt | Staff Writer

ith Thanksgiving behind us and Chanukah quickly approaching, the season for dessert decorations is here. In Pittsburgh, kosher cake offerings are rare to come by, but those who do offer them have an array of options, from cookies to cake pops, with endless designs on hand. For these three kosher cake decorators in Pittsburgh, the skill was often self taught and derived from hours of practice, patience and precision. In addition to running their businesses, these ladies have bustling lives outside of the kitchen as they raise children, practice other artistic endeavors or pursue academic classes. All three — Nechama Epstein Huber, 32, Yamit Presman, 38, and Ella Rittri, 26, all from Squirrel Hill — keep kosher and make sure their designs are up to kosher standards but are not under the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh because of time and money constraints. To be under the Vaad, they would have to cook somewhere other than their home

p An Upshernish cake by Yamit Presman

kitchen, which they say would make it nearly impossible to keep up with the flow of orders and odd hours they must use to finish their baking. “It hasn’t stopped me from selling to the public. Most people who know me know I’m ultra-Orthodox and keep the highest standards,” said Huber, who specializes in cake pops. “I’ve lost a couple orders [but] for the

Photo courtesy of Yamit Presman

most part it hasn’t made a difference.” To make the pops, which are all nondairy, Huber first makes a cake and then mixes it with just the right amount of frosting. From there, she shapes the pops, places them on a stick, dips them in chocolate and adds decorations and designs with chocolate pieces, sprinkles, frosting and anything else she thinks could work.

She began making cake pops three years ago when her friend asked her to design dessert for a Frozen-themed Shabbaton. She used two cake pops to form the body of the friendly snowman Olaf and decorated each one with a candy face and pretzels for the arms. When she dropped off the snowmen, she knew she was going to make this a business. “I enjoy it so much, I get energy from it,” she said. “I think every time I produce, every time I’m done with my work for the night, I’m like this is my new favorite. “Sometimes I look at my work and just think I cannot believe I put that together.” Huber said she has done tons of parties, bar and bat mitzvahs and gifts for holidays such as Purim, but she also offers designs for other religious holidays that she does not celebrate. For people who don’t keep kosher, it doesn’t seem to make a difference if the product is certified kosher or not, she said, and for those who do, it doesn’t deter them that she also caters to other religions. It is necessary, she said, to expand beyond the kosher Jewish community in Pittsburgh to make the business sustainable. Presman, who began decorating cakes in Please see Cake, page 13

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Life & Culture Cake: Continued from page 12

Seattle seven years ago before she moved to Pittsburgh, said it seems to her that “people who care about the cake being kosher may not be interested in paying that much for a professionally decorated cake.” In Seattle, Presman had a connection with a local shul to use their kitchen when people held events there. Even with this, which provided her with gigs at least once or twice a month, she said the investment it would have cost to get kosher certified would not have paid off with the amount of money she was making. Since moving back to Pittsburgh two years ago, Presman said she has only made one cake, partly because she spends more time focusing on another art form called quilling and partly because she thinks there was more interest in Seattle. To keep kosher certified, Presman said she can’t use any gelatin ingredients, which are sometimes used inside the cake batter, for frosting or for homemade fondants, a type of icing. She also has to watch that the food coloring, frosting and butter is kosher. To make her frosting, she uses a vegetarian shortening that is “a yucky substance but is good enough,” she said. “I do not see it as a hindrance to my cake decorating,” Presman said of the ingredients she can’t use. “Rather, people are always looking for kosher cakes. If it’s certified, it’d give me a lot more value, but then again it

She said she doesn’t feel as if she is missing out on anything since “everything is pretty adaptable” but she would like to be able to use gelatin to make certain pastries and glazes for cookies. Rittri started decorating about five years ago when she noticed a lack of kosher cookie options in the area. One of her biggest requests, she said, is for the celebration that accompanies a boy’s first haircut when he turns 3 years old, which marks the time he begins wearing a kippah and tzitzit. For Chanukah last year, she offered a paint-your-own menorah kit, which included a cookie with a stenciled on menorah, four airbrush colors and a paintbrush. p Chanukah pops by Nechama Huber Photo courtesy of Nechama Huber This year, she is offering a has to be made and decorated in a certified menorah cookie that comes with candles kitchen which means it’s a shul kitchen.” and edible glue. Rittri, who specializes in cookies, makes “I feel like each set I make becomes my everything from scratch to avoid any nonko- new favorite,” Rittri said of her cookies. “The sher ingredients and buys all her materials more I do it, the more experienced I become from Murray Avenue Kosher. so the more techniques I get to use and the Although it adds time to the process — better they look.” it takes her up to three days to complete The weather can become the biggest an order — she said she feels making the obstacle, said Rittri. She usually lets the product from scratch is important. icing on the cookies dry overnight but since

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the icing can be “finicky,” the weather can change how and if it dries properly. The other hardest part: keeping her young daughters from getting into the cookie batch, something that Presman said she also struggles with. “I had to have this block of time without anybody running into me or having anybody run into the cake with their fingers or [saying], ‘Mommy, mommy, can I do that too,’” Presman said. “With cakes you can’t stop in the middle.” Cake decorating, she said, is a good skill to have because “you never know when it can come in handy.” “It’s always a nice way to explore,” she said. “You don’t need much to start. You never know, maybe you have very good hand-eye coordination and an eye for color, and there you go.” For all three leading ladies, the craft was something they learned as they went, usually through online tutorials and trial-and-error. The process made for countless stressful nights, but they all agreed that after decorating the desserts, the happy reactions they got from their customers is worth the stress. “We had a lot of confidence,” Huber said of her and her husband as they started out on the cake pop endeavor. “We always believed we could do anything. “Once we got it, once we learned, we got really good at it,” she said. “I never lose a cake pop now.” PJC Lauren Rosenblatt can be reached at lrosenblatt@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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DECEMBER 1, 2017 13

Opinion The widening Syrian War — EDITORIAL —

lthough the overall threat of the Islamic State is diminishing, Syria remains a mess. For the United States, Israel and the Kurds, the defeat of the Islamic State merely turns the page to a new and possibly even more dangerous chapter. In the run up to a new round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva this week, both the United States and Syria accepted the deployment of Iranian forces and Iranian-controlled proxies, such as Hezbollah, on the Syrian Golan Heights facing Israel. President Trump on Nov. 24 reportedly told Turkish President Erdogan that the United States will stop supplying weapons to Syrian Kurdish forces, “and that this nonsense should have ended a long time ago,” according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. That followed Iraqi Kurds’ recent setbacks when the Iraqi army pushed their forces out of disputed areas the Kurds had occupied. Neither bringing Iran right up to Israel’s door nor sidelining the Kurds bodes well. And the U.S. commitment to keep its forces in northern Syria indefinitely, while preventing a power vacuum in land once

p IDF soldiers at the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights.

Photo by Basel Awidat/Flash90

held by the Islamic State, could bring the United States into conflict with Syria, Iran and even their sponsor, Russia. These moves — and their possible consequences — don’t even tell the whole story. The shelling of civilians by Syrian and Russian forces is ongoing. On Nov. 26, Al

Jazeera reported that 80 people, most of them civilians, were killed in attacks in a 24-hour period. And there is no indication that the bloodshed will abate. The Syrian war — it’s no longer a civil war — has led to up to 475,000 deaths and pushed out more than 5 million people.

Countless refugees have died trying to escape by sea, while European countries have been rocked by the number of refugees moving through the continent. Jordan risks destabilization. And this is all happening as the Trump administration continues to roll up America’s welcome mat. We understand that the United States cannot solve Syria’s problems. But that doesn’t mean that America can’t show better leadership. And the American Jewish community and other supporters of Israel can help by pressing Congress and the administration to force the removal of Iranian forces and proxies from their threatening positions at Israel’s northern border. Last week, Udi Dekel and Zvi Magen of the Institute of National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University observed that “unlike Russia and Iran, the United States under Trump has no clear strategy on the current situation in Syria and the future of the country. ... It seems that the time is coming when Israel, if it wants to stop Iran’s influence and consolidation in Syria, will have to become actively engaged in the Syrian quagmire.” Such a widening of the Syrian conflict will only cause more death and misery. International leaders need to do something to end it once and for all. PJC

How Jews on the left and the right are empowering BDS Guest Columnist Seffi Kogen

he BDS debacle at the University of Michigan proved once again that Jews can be their own worst enemies. Since 2002, the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government (CSG) has, on 10 occasions, rejected resolutions to support the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction the State of Israel. This month, however, for the first time, the resolution passed — to much hand-wringing in the Jewish community. The students who fought the resolution — sacrificing sleep, schoolwork and social lives — did absolutely everything they could, and are to be commended. And, after the resolution passed, the university’s administration immediately announced that, despite the vote, Michigan would not become the first school in the country to divest from Israel. Just why did the resolution pass this time? Contributing factors included strong bonds forged between various “progressive” coalitions and anti-Israel students; a stacked CSG (the vice president and several other members were staunch supporters of divestment); and a pervasive know-nothingness that saw the anti-Israel crowd raucously cheer the decision to prevent Professor Victor Lieberman — a recognized expert in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — from speaking at the debate on divestment from Israel.

14 DECEMBER 1, 2017

Is all lost for the pro-Israel community on campus? Have we entered an era when these two oddest of Jewish bedfellows open the floodgates to widespread divestment? But what sealed the deal in favor of BDS were Jews — in two different flavors of radicalism. Sadly, Jewish Voice for Peace has become an integral part of nearly every campusbased attack on Israel, and Michigan was no exception. Jarring, though unsurprising, was the op-ed from the University of Michigan chapter of JVP, published the day before the divestment vote, entitled “To fight white supremacy, support divestment.” This, of course, is a blatant lie: The creation of the State of Israel was itself a historic triumph over a white supremacist regime that sought to destroy a people it considered racially inferior. What is JVP’s evidence that Israel represents white supremacy? First, they charge that Jewish organizations (including my own, the American Jewish Committee) issued congratulations to President Trump after his November 2016 victory — which, as nonpartisan entities, they surely were right to do, whatever they thought of the new president. Next, they cite the odious

Richard Spencer, the disreputable doyen of the alt-right, who, true to his trollish nature, heaps praise upon Israel despite his well-known disregard for Jews. Finally, they offer a litany of disputed racial incidents in Israeli history, as if Israel must be perfect to deserve to exist. This rhetoric isn’t limited to Michigan. At schools across the country, and off-campus as well, JVP’s outspoken anti-Zionism gives cover to non-Jewish Israel-bashers and renders them immune to the charge of anti-Semitism, no matter how deserving of the label they might be. The second type of radical Jew that helped ensure the BDS victory is the far-right group behind the McCarthyite blacklist at Canary Mission. The website, launched in early 2015, announced itself with a video featuring the tagline “It is your duty to make sure that today’s radicals are NOT tomorrow’s employees.” The site has documented the names, affiliations and activities of a number of young anti-Israel activists at campuses across the country, holding

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them accountable, in perpetuity, for the ill-advised tweets from their youth, their membership in political organizations and their campus activism. Some of those exposed by the site are undoubtedly Israel-haters. But by creating the specter of a blacklist, Canary Mission handed powerful ammunition to the anti-Israel crowd at Michigan. Using Canary Mission as a bogeyman, BDS proponents so scared the members of the CSG that they would end up on a shadowy website intended to make them unemployable that they took the extraordinary measure of voting by secret ballot. As the Washington Post’s memorable slogan puts it, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” This deeply undemocratic decision to vote in secret left the members of CSG completely unaccountable to the voters who had elected them. Thus unburdened, they voted, narrowly, to divest. Now Canary Mission, in a preposterous partnership with its ideological opposites at JVP, has forced the Jewish and pro-Israel community at the University of Michigan to deal with the fallout of a successful BDS resolution. Is all lost for the pro-Israel community on campus? Have we entered an era when these two oddest of Jewish bedfellows open the floodgates to widespread divestment? Hardly. The very next night, with no Jewish Voice for Peace op-ed and an open, roll-call vote, the University of Maryland student government heartily rejected BDS. PJC Seffi Kogen is the American Jewish Committee’s director of campus affairs.

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Opinion Shining light on France’s forgotten Shoah history: Amiens, 2017 Guest Columnist David L. Rosenberg

his year, there were two notable developments in my project to concretize the historical reality of the Shoah in a part of France where efforts to memorialize the fate of the Jews had previously been scant. In July, at the Documentation Center of the Memorial of the Shoah in Paris, I discovered a roll of microfilm containing thumbnail portraits of 42 Jews from Amiens and the department of the Somme. The photos were taken in 1942 and affixed to government identification cards.

a development project. The synagogue was the product of a growing community, many of whose participants came to Amiens from other parts of France or other countries. The synagogue had been despoiled during the Occupation, though services were restored in the fall of 1944 following the liberation of the city by British and American troops. Mayor Brigitte Fouré and the city of Amiens had agreed to unveil the plaque on the same day, Oct. 22, 2017, as a new synagogue, the third in the series, was being inaugurated at another location. Having been instrumental in proposing the plaque for the synagogue and researching its history, I wanted to be present at the unveiling. Friends at the local historical society — the Society of Antiquaries of Picardy — decided to orga-

We hoped that a plaque marking the emplacement of the synagogue, in the center of the city, would recall and inspire interest in the history of the building and the fate of the people for whom it was a focus of life and learning. I had been researching these individuals for five years but had never encountered an image of many of them. For the first time I saw the face of Leon Louria, founder and president of the synagogue association, who had been sentenced to two years imprisonment for failing to wear his yellow star in the prescribed fashion. I saw the visages of the Polish-born Jews Sara Lewenberg and her husband Abraham, a barber. He had been arrested and deported in July 1942. At the time, a merciful doctor certified Sara Lewenberg’s need for medical care, but the authorities waited for her release from the hospital in Amiens, and she was taken to Drancy by train under armed police escort in October. I discovered a picture of the young Ginette Schulhof, 19 at the time of the photo, about the moment she had braved retribution by publicly sketching the façade of the Amiens synagogue. On Jan. 4, 1944, when her family was decimated, she was fortunate to escape with her younger sister and brother over the rooftops of Amiens. I first met her in 2012 and was privileged to know her for the few years before her death in 2015. A second development of significance occurred this summer. I learned from Dr. Guy Zarka, current head of the Amiens Jewish community, that the city of Amiens had agreed to our proposal that a commemorative plaque be erected at the site of the World War II synagogue. This building at 12 Rue du Cloître de la Barge had served the Jewish community of Amiens beginning in 1935, but had been razed in 1969 as part of

nize a symposium on religious buildings in Amiens in the 20th century, and invited me to give a presentation on the history of the war-era synagogue the day before the unveiling. This seemed an excellent opportunity to contextualize the event. The Courrier Picard, the regional newspaper, published a prominent article, which called attention to the upcoming symposium and explained its connection to the unveiling of the plaque. On Sunday, Oct. 22, I stood alongside the mayor, the prefect of the Somme and Mme. Sophie-Laure Zana, a colleague who had proposed the language for the plaque, to offer remarks at the unveiling. In my comments, I explained how the existence and location of the old synagogue had come as a surprise to me and other researchers when we learned about it in 2011. We hoped that a plaque marking the emplacement of the synagogue, in the center of the city, would recall and inspire interest in the history of the building and the fate of the people for whom it was a focus of life and learning. The plaque, in bronze raised letters at the end of a newly painted section of wall, reads, under a Star of David: “At number 12 of rue Cloître de la Barge stood the first synagogue of Amiens, inaugurated in 1935 by Jean Moulin, despoiled and desecrated between 1940 and 1944. To the memory of the Jews of France, rounded up and deported between 1942 and 1944, assassinated at Auschwitz because they were born Jews. “Let us never forget them.” PJC David L. Rosenberg is a historian and former archivist living in Mt. Lebanon.

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DECEMBER 1, 2017 15

Headlines Huqoq: Continued from page 1

become the official and legal religion of the region, setting out to see whether “Jewish communities continued to flourish, or did they decline,” she told her audience. Her findings seem to prove that at least the Jewish community of Huqoq — located in a spot only a few miles from the home of Mary Magdalene as well as Capernaum, a synagogue in which Jesus taught — was thriving. “Jews and Jewish communities continued to flourish, even under Byzantine Christian rule,” Magness said. As more of it is exposed every year, “the fifth-century synagogue mosaic at Huqoq is proving to be one of the most important discoveries of ancient Jewish art ever found,” said Ben Gordon, assistant professor and Rosenberg-Perlow Fellow in Classical Judaism at the University of Pittsburgh, who was instrumental in bringing Magness to Pittsburgh. “The Jewish community who worshiped in this synagogue in antiquity prayed over venerable scenes from the Bible — Noah’s ark, the splitting of the Red Sea and the feats of Samson, among others.” “This was a community for whom the Hebrew Bible played an important spiritual role,” Gordon added. “Not only were biblical stories incorporated into prayers and liturgical poetry, but they were also portrayed visually in mosaic art. The results are stunning.” This past summer, the Huqoq excavations focused on the southern part of the synagogue’s nave, or main hall and exposed three panels. The northern panel depicts a medallion at its center, with the Greco-Roman

p Jodi Magness Photo courtesy of Ben Gordon

sun god Helios in a chariot surrounded by incarnations of the months and the zodiac symbols, and human-like characterizations of the four seasons. The second panel depicts an unusual representation of the story of Jonah, with Jonah’s legs hanging out of the mouth of a fish that is being swallowed by another fish, which in turn is being swallowed by a third fish. This is the first discovery of a depiction of the story of Jonah on a mosaic floor of an ancient synagogue in Israel, according to Magness. The third panel intricately depicts the construction of the Tower of Babel, complete with an ancient pulley system. Images of many of the mosaics have not

yet been published, so photographing the slides presented by Magness was prohibited. Magness expects her excavations to continue for the next four or five summers. She acknowledged that some of the mosaics were most definitely unusual for a synagogue and that she did not yet have answers to what all the images meant, or what they were doing there, but hopes her wide-ranging team of scholars will be able to learn more about the Jewish community of Huqoq as their work continues. She is “optimistic” that the site, which is backfilled at the end of each season to keep it protected, eventually will be developed by Israeli government agencies for tourism. Following Magness’ slideshow, the audience was invited to tour the Israel Heritage Room, one of 33 nationality rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, according to Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, the chair of the Israel Heritage Room Committee. Magness’ lecture was a fitting way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Israel room, Perlman said, because the décor of that room itself “feels like an ancient Galilean classroom.” Perlman noted that the Israel Heritage Room Committee raises funds for and provides scholarships allowing students to travel abroad to study “in places of Jewish interest,” including Israel. The Israel Heritage Room Annual Lecture, which is sponsored by the Jewish Studies program at Pitt, “was made possible by the Giant Eagle Foundation Endowment for Community Outreach,” according to Adam Shear, director of Pitt’s Jewish Studies program. PJC

Faces:

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Lauren Rosenblatt can be reached at lrosenblatt@pittsburghjewishtimes.org.

Continued from page 6

In the future, Levine said, society should focus on creating better training programs for medical professionals, new ways to preserve fertility for individuals who are transgender and more guidelines for non-binary individuals — people who do not identify as male or female. Jason Dauer, 22, from North Hills, said he was interested to hear that LGBT youth show a high amount of resilience to life changes. As a member of the LGBT community, he can see that happening in his own life — particularly when he is at work and a bad customer grates on other employees’ nerves but rarely bothers him. “You go through so many bigger things when you’re an LGBT youth, the smaller things are minor compared to everything else,” he said. For Kelly Stefano Cole, a board member at Crisis Center North and a former University of Pittsburgh professor, the event made her realize how “completely unaware” she was of targeted acts of violence toward members of the LGBT community. Hammond’s photos, she said, were “so real and so raw. You can see how much these people were willing to bear.” The photos made her realize both how sheltered America can be and how universal the issue of domestic violence still is. She had been in a violent situation, she said, and was unable to admit this to herself for a long time. “When you start to look at these images, it isn’t the American people so much,” she said. “It’s the people from all over the world. But then those people are really no different than me.” PJC

Salaam: Continued from page 1

in Madison, N.J., and welcomed noted speakers including novelist Anita Diamant, comedian Dean Obdelliah and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker. Having so many women gather together for a united cause was important for the senator to see, said Batool. “If there were only one or two women [Booker may not have come], but 600 people getting together in a platform like this, it’s so much louder than one or two voices.” Apart from listening to keynote addresses, participants at the fourth annual gathering chose from 25 workshops dedicated to interfaith dialogue and engagement. The connections forged through the conference were “uplifting and gave hope,” said Batool. “You talk to people you have never met and find an instant connection.” Sara Stock Mayo agreed. “I have kept in touch with women from other chapters around the country whom I met, and find their work to be amazing,” said the conference attendee. As difficult as dialogue may sometimes be, the exercise yields great results, explained Webb. “Just talking to each other actually helps, and once you make that personal connection you can talk about different things,” echoed Batool.

16 DECEMBER 1, 2017

p New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker addresses the group.

p Abeera Batool, left, is joined by Rabbi Doris Dyen, center, and Sara Stock Mayo at last month’s annual conference in New Jersey.

Such as fear of the other, explained the organizers. When they get together in Pittsburgh “it is a very safe space to talk about anything, misconceptions, things we hear in the media,” said Batool. And while “Judaism in the past and Islam now have gone through so many misconceptions, there are so many things that are similar, and it’s amazing,” she added. “It’s difficult to go outside of one’s spir-

Photo courtesy of Sara Stock Mayo.

itual comfort zone to find our interconnectedness, especially when we sometimes have opposing opinions on other parts of the world,” said Webb. “But the way I see it, and it all comes down to this, as Pittsburghers, we are, in fact, all members of the same tribe.” “We all need to get out of our comfort zones and do what we can,” agreed Batool. That starts by abandoning generalizations and developing more interpersonal relation-

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ships, said members of SOSS. “Interfaith is tough, it doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people, and you need people to be bridge builders,” said Webb. Batool agreed. “The person-to-person connection is very important, and that’s what the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom Chapter here and the conference are for.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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DECEMBER 1, 2017 17

Celebrations

Torah

Birth

Staying connected!

HARRIS: It is with great joy that Seth and Mo Harris announce the birth of their son, Benjamin Elon, on Oct. 4, 2017. He is the grandson of Harold and Debbie Goldberg of Mt. Lebanon and the great-grandson of Ruben Goldberg of Shadyside. Benji is also the grandson of the late Dr. Richard Harris and Ronna and Dan Askin. He is named in memory of his paternal great-grandparents, Edith and Ben Casar. PJC

Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld Parshat Vayishlach Genesis 32:4-36:43

“A

nd Jacob dispatched Angels ahead of him to his brother Esau.” In the Torah portion of this week we read about a grand reunion of brothers. Having spent 20 years in Charan living with his uncle Lavan, Yaakov now left with his family to return back to the land of Israel. Recalling the event of 20 years ago when he left his parents home, Yaakov knew that Esav his brother was not on the best of terms with him. Furthermore, the news arrived that Esav was on his way to greet Yaakov with an entourage of 400 armed men. Yaakov did not waste time and sent a group of Angels as an overture to Esav to try to influence him to change his evil ways.

they are forever connected by their essence to Yaakov. Through keeping their spiritual side bound to Yaakov, in essence, they were staying connected to their spiritual “power line,” which enabled them to successfully influence their unholy subject, without any hindrances. So, in reality by leaving their essence with Yaacov they gave themselves the ability to accomplish their mission. Our sages tell us that G-d created this world and placed us upon it to make a dwelling place for Him upon it. By doing acts of mitzvot we chase the evils of this world, and transform all that surrounds us into a world that G-d would be proud to call His home. How are we expected to enter a world with so many choices in front of us, good and evil, and choose only the good? We must always remain attached to our spiritual “power line.” We cannot forget that every Jew has a soul that is one essence with

When we remain grounded to our roots and connected to our spiritual source, realizing that a part of us has

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On the words “Jacob dispatched angels” Rashi comments and says “actual angels.” The Maggid of Mezritch, the foremost disciple of the Baal Shem-Tov, and eventual successor, explains that Yaakov sent only the “actual” part of the angel. The angels embodied themselves into a physical form and went off to Esav. Their essence, the spiritual part of the angels, remained with Yaakov. Now, if Yaakov was trying to influence Esav to stray from his evil ways, wouldn’t one think that the angels should bring their entire “essence” with them on this mission? Why would they leave their most powerful weapon — their spiritual side — behind? The only way the angels were able to successfully accomplish this mission was by recognizing that while they were currently interacting with the evil Esav,

its Creator. When we remain grounded to our roots and connected to our spiritual source, realizing that a part of us has never left the spiritual realms, we will then have the courage to face any choices and make the proper decision. Today, we find ourselves in a world where daily we are confronted with challenges and evils. A day does not go by that we are not faced with a choice to cave to the evil inclination and stray from G-d’s ways. By remaining strongly grounded, and remembering that beyond our “actual” self, there is a spiritual soul connected firmly to its source — G-d — we will have the courage to only choose what is righteous and pure. PJC Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld is dean of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh. This column is a service of Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries COHEN: Sonia F. Cohen, 93, of Sunrise of Upper St. Clair, formerly of Chippewa Township, died Friday, November 24, 2017. Born October 19, 1924 in Baltimore, she was the daughter of the late Harry and Dorothy Levy Fisher. She was a homemaker and had been a member of the former Beaver Valley United Jewish Community and Hadassah. She had been an avid bridge player and loved to travel. While raising her three children she had been a Cub Scout den mother, a Girl Scout leader, and a member of the P.T.A. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by three brothers, Irwin, Melvin and Leonard Fisher. She is survived by her loving husband of 71 years, Morton H. Cohen, three children and their spouses, Larraine and Ron Bates, Hanford, Calif.; Dr. Howard and Luisa Cohen, Upper St. Clair; and Dr. Robert and Debbie Cohen, Boca Raton, Fla.; five grandchildren, David Cohen, Eden Cohen Brown and husband Drew Brown, Jamie Wasserman and husband Evan Wasserman, Dr. Michael Cohen and fiancée Emily Jacobs, Stephen Cohen; and two great-grandchildren, Hayley Wasserman and Sydney Wasserman. Services were held at the Hill & Kunselman Funeral Home in Beaver Falls, with Rabbi Howard Stein officiating. Interment at Agudath Achim Cemetery, Patterson Township. Memorial contributions may be made to Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. FEINGOLD: Margery Zinamon Feingold, 92, peacefully passed away November 14, 2017, at home with her loving husband at her side. She is survived by her husband, Yale Feingold with

whom she shared 70 beautiful years of marriage, and her daughters Wendy Feingold Diebold (husband Fred Diebold) and Cindy Feingold Miller (husband Leslie Miller) and two grandsons, Justin Miller (wife Nicole Melnick Miller) and Craig Miller. A private memorial service was held November 17, 2017. HEISLER: Sydney Heisler, age 87, of Squirrel Hill formerly of McKeesport, on Sunday, November 19, 2017. Beloved husband of the late Barbara Heisler. Loving father of Debbie (David) Bastacky of Columbia, Md., Judi Heisler of Denver and Ellen (Mark) Sachs of Chicago. Grandfather of Michael and Sarah Bastacky and Emma and Alexa Sachs. Brother of the late Sara Arrowood and Flora Herskowitz. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Sydney owned an accounting firm for many years. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at Beth Abraham Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Young Peoples’ Synagogue, 6404 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 or Parkinson’s Foundation, parkinson.org, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018. HOFFMAN: Beatrice M. Hoffman, on Tuesday, November 21, 2017. Beloved wife of the late Ralph Hoffman. Loving mother of Dr. Allen L. (Carolyn) Hoffman. Grandmother of Ryan and Alex Hoffman. Sister of the late Esther Cohen, Julius “Yiddle” Shapiro and Harry Shapiro. Also survived by nephews and nieces. Graveside service and interment at Beth Shalom Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc.

KANNER: Jeannette Kanner, 90, of Charleston, W.Va., passed away on Friday, November 24, 2017, at the Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Pittsburgh. Jeannette was born on July 13, 1927, and raised in Weirton, W.Va., the oldest daughter of the late Max and Miriam Knell. Jeannette married the love of her life, Harry Kanner, in 1948 and remained happily married until his sudden death in 1997. In the late 1950s, after having had her first three children, she began attending college on a part time basis. She proudly received her teaching degree from West Virginia State University in 1969, while having two additional children. She then began teaching as a reading specialist at Fruth Elementary School in Charleston. She later obtained a master’s degree and completed a long career in teaching at Piedmont Elementary School in the early 1990s. Throughout her life, she was a proud and active member of B’nai Jacob Synagogue. She frequently attended services there and was president of the Ladies Auxiliary, a member of the Chevra Kadisha and a Sunday school teacher. She was always in the kitchen helping others with cooking and her knowledge of the Jewish dietary laws. Jeannette was also a lifetime member of Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. While her children were growing up, she always found time to participate in the PTA and numerous school activities. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Harry; and her brother, Teddy Knell. She is survived by her children, Dr. Martin Z. Kanner of Baltimore; Ted and Shelley Kanner of Charleston; Henry and Ellen Kanner of Framingham, Mass.; Peggy and Joel Kundin

of Pittsburgh; and Sally and Todd Levenson of Pittsburgh; 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters, Rachel and Leonard Feinberg of Pittsburgh; and Toby Scherer of Palm Desert, Calif.; stepbrother Barry Berman (Carol) of Pittsburgh; and numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral service was held at Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home, Charleston, with Rabbi Victor Urecki officiating. Burial followed at B’nai Jacob Eternal Home, South Charleston, W.Va. The family suggests donations may be made in memory of Jeannette to B’nai Jacob Synagogue, 1599 Virginia St E, Charleston, WV 25311. Condolences may be sent to the family at barlowbonsall.com. Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home, Charleston, has been entrusted with the arrangements. KRONZEK: Sandi Michelle Kronzek, of Miami, formerly of Pittsburgh, suddenly on Tuesday November 21, 2017. Cherished daughter of Marcy and Harvey Kronzek. Beloved sister of Reid Kronzek. Beloved niece of Steven (Naomi) Kronzek, Sheldon (Andi) Kronzek, Richard Levine and Robin (Jeff) Lebovitz. Also survived by many loving cousins and friends. Sandi was a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School in 2002 and the University of Michigan in 2006. Graveside service and interment were held at B’nai Israel Cemetery, Penn Hills. Contributions may be made to Temple Sinai, 5505 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 or Humane Animal Rescue, 6926 Hamilton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15208. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. PJC

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DECEMBER 1, 2017 19

Headlines Ladies:

Wilderness: Continued from page 2

Continued from page 7

with other groups to run or fund projects. “We want to give money away, and we are always looking for meaningful projects to invest in,” Cohen said. To grow the future of women’s philanthropy in Pittsburgh, JWF last year launched its Young Women’s Giving Society. Aiming to “educate young women on the power of their philanthropy,” Cohen said, JWF was able to recruit 18 participants — women ranging in age from 25 to 40 — in its pilot year. The young women each contributed $300 to join the group, with JWF supplying up to $10,000 in matching funds. The grants made by the Young Women’s Giving Society focused on projects benefitting adolescent girls, said Cohen. JWF, in collaboration with CDS, NCJW, JFCS and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, will be hosting speaker Lisa Hinkelman, the founder and executive director of Ruling Our eXperiences — a program that focuses on wellness for adolescent girls — on Dec. 13. Hinkelman, who lives in Ohio but is originally from Pittsburgh, recently conducted a national study that surveyed more than 10,000 girls on their thoughts, behaviors and perceptions on issues including self-esteem, relationships, social media and school. PJC

“I was silent,” Bock said. “I was blown away.” Bock got busy looking into the industry and hired Stockton to help, along with “an amazing group of lay leaders” who were able to raise the money necessary to hire a staff of trained professionals to run the new Ramah program. The National Ramah Commission, as well as the directors of other Ramah camps have all been “incredibly supportive,” Bock said. BaMidbar (which translates to “in the desert”), hopes to attract eight to 12 participants for its launch next month. “We’re starting small,” Bock said, adding that the program will ultimately be able to accommodate about 20 participants at a time. With more than 30,000 campers, staff and alumni in the Ramah movement, “there are definitely more than 20 people in that network that can use our services,” Bock said. The program will run from January to May and then reopen in September, following the camp’s typical summer program. The cost is $485 per day, with a one-time admissions fee of $2,000. Up to $7,000 is available as financial aid. The program includes treatment planning, individual and group therapy and family education. It will serve those struggling with self-esteem, trauma, mild selfharm and dangerous or risky behaviors, in addition to substance abuse. The program is

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

p Bamidbar incorporates Jewish traditions and spirituality into its program. Photo provided by Jory Hanselman

not equipped to address anorexia or bulimia, psychosis or “someone who needs more psychiatric support,” Hanselman said. While the program does not provide a medical detox for substance abusers, it might be right for those who have already gone through detox, she added. Participants at BaMidbar need not have had any previous backpacking experience, Hanselman said. The program is “not a panacea,” Bock cautioned, adding that once a participant has completed his stay, he must “connect into a community and resources” to establish a lifelong connection of support. Ramah in the Rockies, which is rebuilding some of its facilities following an electrical

fire last August, is a 360-acre ranch. The BaMidbar program will offer backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, servicelearning and equine programs, incorporating Jewish values, traditions and spirituality. Through the integration of Jewish storytelling, participants will learn “what Judaism has to say about helping us live well,” Hanselman explained. The program is pluralistic, she said, and to be inclusive will adhere to the highest standards of kashrut. Daily prayer or meditation activities, however, will “be specific about meeting each person where they are.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Pen pals:

have been enough to send Rosa to Israel. But then I was jealous, I wanted to meet Dana.” Continued fromTHE page 3 JEWISH CHRONICLE JUNE 5, 2014 — 21 So the Myers put together a plan. FOR SALE “We are not an affluent family,” said Melissa, FOR SALE “There was a period when Rosa was so busy “We had to really prioritize. We had been with school and there was a period when she saving for a long time to do a special trip, and $ was justFOR shy, ” said Melissa. To counter those then we just thought about [how] it would be 210,000 ENT RENT $ READY TO DOWNSIZE? stretches, it was necessary to jump in as an much more special to bring Dana here.” 210,000 NT FOR RENT 5125 Fifth Ave. SPENDING YOUR READY TO DOWNSIZE? additional pen pal, the mother said. “It just This past week, their efforts were achieved as 2 & 3 Bedrooms WINTERS IN THE SOUTH? 5125 Corner Fifth of Ave. SPENDING YOUR seemed it would be sad if it was lost. ” Dana arrived for a two-week stay in Pittsburgh. 2Fifth & 3 like Bedrooms Come see this 2 BR, 2 Bath unit and Wilkins WINTERS IN THE SOUTH? Corner of with many of the updates already Spacious Dana welcomed Melissa’s activity, as it Th e uniquely commonplace experience Come see this 2 BR, 2 Bath unit Fifth and Wilkins bes Ave. done including neutral kitchen, 1500-2250 square feet with many of the updatescarpeting already Spacious both baths, windows, spurred a new friendship. has been tremendous, explained the Israeli, Living ”Finest in Shadyside” es Ave. done including neutral kitchen, 1500-2250 square feet and more!! Building amenities eart of Bunny Wolff arrival informed her hosts that baths,me, windows, carpeting “When people wouldbothinclude ask Iroom, would who upon 412-661-4456 ”Finest in Shadyside” exercise party tell lving Hill 412.782.3700 x238 or and more!! Building amenities www.kaminrealty.kamin.com art of room, pool, pretty Wolff 412-661-4456 BR them that I am chatting mypatio. pen pal Bunny she “wanted 412.855.9213 at to see what America is like.” includewith exercise room, party HillApts. 412.782.3700 x238 or www.kaminrealty.kamin.com pool,CALL prettyTODAY patio. for Berkshire R-7900 Apts. at went on errands,” said Melissa. who is a mother and aroom, daughter, not just a 412.855.9213 “SoHathaway we appointments to see! Home Services CALL TODAY for Berkshire Hathaway 7900 daughter,” Dana said. opposed to initially venturing to appointments to see! Home As Services FOR SALE was really nice for us was that I got to museums or the Incline, the group traveled ADLINE“What NOTICE FOR SALE DLINE to Costco, Lowe’s and the bank. connections eadline for make all NOTICE copy and art – too,” said Melissa, “so it was nd classified advertising, press very family. It –wasn’t just two kids off by them“It was so much fun for me to see what she adline for all copy and art ses, simcha advertising, announcements d classified press selves. I thought it would was – is noon FridayAnd I have to admit, ～～ es, simcha announcements in Bonita Springs,amazed Fl. at,” said Melissa. THE JEWISH CHRONICLE JUNE 5, 2014 — 21

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Among their enjoyment of certain national normalities, the group detoured to Frick Park, where they observed a bevy of trees and their leaves of changing colors. “I love autumn, but I forget what it looks like to outsiders,” said the mother. Much is on the agenda for Dana’s stay, said Rosa, as next week the trio will travel to New York for a short trip. Reflecting on the last few days, in light of the previous nine years of correspondence, the journey has been a welcomed adventure, said Dana. “I feel really comfortable with them; they’re like my family.” The Myers echoed the sentiment and said that much has been gained through pen palling. “I learned a lot about her perspective of Israel,” said Melissa. For Rosa, it was a realization that much is needed to maintain a long-distance friendship.

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“It was awkward in the beginning, but I had a lot of support from my mom. Once you get past that first step, having a pen pal is something to look forward to,” she said. Working on the project together “was good for us too, for our connection,” added Melissa. For those interested in adopting a similar pen-pal endeavor, parents should “remember that children are children, and they can’t conceive of time. Sometimes writing will feel like a burden or confusing: it’s the grownups’ job to help nurture the early stages,” said Melissa. “Think of it as a whole family experience,” she added. “There will be bumps in the road, but the payout is so good. It’s very enriching.” PJC

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NOW PRESENTING HIGH IN THE SKY Penthouse Apartment in one of Pittsburgh’s finest condominiums. Wonderful windows. Extraordinary light. Must see! STAY TUNED FOR MORE CONDOS COMING ON THE MARKET!

5529 Dunmoyle: Spectacular 8 br, 4½ bath home. Formal living and dining rooms, first floor family room, wonderful

rear porch that is the expanse of this grand home. Beautiful architectural features — woodwork, windows, high FOX CHAPEL MEWS - $349,000 ceilings and much more. FOX CHAPEL MEWS - $349,000 EXQUISITE 3 bedroom condo-Completely renovated with magnificent built-ins. In EXQUISITE 3 bedroom condo-Completely renovatedhas with magnificent built-ins. In unit balcony,great room, in-unit laundry.Building many amenities -pool,guest METROPOLITAN CONDOMINIUM • $1,350,000 unit suites, balcony,great room,room in-unitand laundry.Building has many amenities -pool,guest library,party much more. High end unit ready for move-in. suites, library,party room and much more. High end unit ready for move-in.

NEW LISTING! Rare three bedroomFARMS custom-designed spacious penthouse in one of Pittsburgh’s most distinguished MURDOCH - $525,000 MURDOCH FARMS - $525,000 buildings. Floor to ceilingGreat windows bring2natural the large living and dining areas with access to a lovely FIRST TIME OFFERED! 4 bedroom bath andlight 2 1/2into baths home with integral FIRST TIME OFFERED! Great 4 bedroom 2 bath and 2 1/2 baths home garage on one oflarge Pittsburgh's finest streets. Magnificent living roomwith withintegral fireplace, outdoor The well-appointed exquisite eat-in gourmet garagedeck. on one of Pittsburgh's finest streets. Magnificent with kitchen fireplace, has a pass thru to the dining room. The first floor den and much more. This is theliving homeroom you want. first floor den and muchbath more. Thisaishuge the home you want. master suite includes a luxurious and dressing room closet. The amenities of the building include 2 SQUIRREL HILL -kitchen, SUMMERSET parking spaces, two guest suites, catering wine and storage lockers, library, conference/party room, a SQUIRREL HILL - SUMMERSET AT FRICK PARK $569,000 SOLD AT FRICK PARKexercise - $569,000 - SOLD resistance pool, and an extensive area. Outdoors, the serene grounds boasts a putting green, koi pond, FIRST TIME OFFERED! Spectacular 4 BR , 2 full Baths and 2- 1/2 bath town home. FIRST TIME OFFERED! Spectacular 4 BR , 2 full Baths and 2- 1/2 bath town home. waterfall andthought a gazebo. Owner of every detail. Beautiful amenities through out the entire home, Owner thought of every detail. Beautiful amenities through out the entire home,

SHADYSIDE Gracious family home. Rennovated 6 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. Fabulous kitchen. 2 car garage $895,000 Call Tamara or Cheryl for more details on these wonderful properties.

even the bonus of two washers and dryers. Enjoy resort living as the home is even the bonus of two washers and dryers. Enjoy resort living as the home is

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT CHERYL GERSON CHERYL.GERSON@PITTSBURGHMOVES.COM 412.401.4693 TAMARA SKIRBOLL • 412.401.1110

directly $1,985,000 across from the pool and the fitness center. DON'T MISS THIS! SHADYSIDE directly•across from the pool and the fitness center. DON'T MISS THIS! SHADYSIDE - 6$230,000 SHADYSIDE - $230,000 NEW LISTING! Spectacular Brandon Smith bedroom mini manse home on a most desirable street. The home has FIRST TIME OFFERED! 3 bedroom townhome on Maple Heights. Beautiful yard,

TIME OFFERED! 3 bedroom townhome on Maple Heights. Beautiful yard, beenFIRST meticulously restored. Enjoycentral magnifi cent wood and marble floors, detailed plaster moldings, a floating staircase, great builtins, central integral garage great builtins, air,air, integral garage . . antique brass fixtures throughout. Light pours in from the enormous windows and French doors. Lush, private garden SHADYSIDE CONDO $195,000 -more. SOLD SHADYSIDE CONDO - $195,000 - SOLD withFIRST a large terrace and fountains. A 3-car garage and much There is a possibility of purchasing an additional TIME OFFERED! Chic and cozy.2 central laundry room in unit,balcony FIRST TIME OFFERED! Chic and cozy.2 BR,BR, central air,air, laundry room in unit,balcony lot that is adjacent to this property. This is truly a fi nd. and garage. PET FRIENDLY! GREAT LOCATION! and garage. PET FRIENDLY! GREAT LOCATION!

Jill&and &Mark Mark Portland Jill Portland JILL MARK PORTLAND RE/MAX Realty Brokers RE/MAX Realty Brokers RE/MAX REALTY BROKERS (412) 521-1000 ext. 200200 (412) 521-1000 ext. 200 412.521.1000 EXT. (412) 496-5600 (412) 496-5600 JillJill 412.496.5600 JILL (412) 480-3110 Mark | 412.480.3110 MARK (412) 480-3110 Mark

Business & Professional Directory AUTOS WANTED

AUTOS WANTED

724-287-7771 BUYING V E H I C L E $ DENNY OFF$TEIN A U T O $ A L E $ GARDEN AND HO

GARDEN & ME MAINTENANCE HOME MAINTENANCE

Spruce up your yard on a one-time or regular basis; clean out house, basement, gutters, painting. Reliable service, with references. Call Scottie at 412-310-3769.



FIND IT IN THE BUSINESS SERVICES

FOR RENT

FOR SALE

5125 Fifth Ave.

OPEN SUNDAY • DECEMBER 3, 11-1PM 2273 BEECHWOOD BLVD. • $675,000

2 & 3 Bedrooms Corner of Fifth and Wilkins Spacious 1500-2250 square feet

”Finest in Shadyside”

412-661-4456

www.kaminrealty.kamin.com

Meticulous home with high end finishes throughout. Close to Frick Park, Colfax etc. Master en Suite along with 3 additional bedrooms.

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

DECEMBER 1, 2017 21

Community Giving back

‘Read’ all about it! On Friday, Nov. 17, Temple Sinai held the Grand “Read-Opening” of its Falk Library. After working for three years to update and automate the entire collection to make it easier to explore in person and online, the Falk Library Committee sponsored an oneg and had an open house in the library to celebrate the occasion. The library had been left dormant for many years and now is a useful venue for members and staff.

South Hills families joined together for an afternoon of making fleece hats for the South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM) as part of the Give Back South Hills Mitzvah program. C ommunity partners included PJ Library, Temple Emanuel and Beth El.

p Ben Wasserman, left, and Jackson Cohen participate in a mitzvah project as part of Give Back South Hills.

u Brayden and Stacy Beck make fleece hats for SHIM.

Photos courtesy of PJ Library

Kids for Kindness p From left: Barb Siegel, chairperson; Susan Cohen; and Cecilia Rothschild. Committee members not pictured are Esther Nathanson, Fran Caplan and Hanita Kossowsky.

History lesson

p From left: Eric Lidji, Lou Anstandig, Rosalie Anstandig and Lindi Kendal

Members of Temple B’nai Israel of White Oak are beginning to sort through its extensive collection of photos and records from its 105 years of history. Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives, and Matthew Strauss, chief archivist at the Senator John Heinz History Center, will be working with the congregation to archive information and history about McKeesport and White Oak that will be donated to the Generation to Generation small town project.

Camp Gan Israel of Fox Chapel started Kids for Kindness to provide opportunities for families to instill compassion and empathy in children through random acts of kindness and giving back to the community. Kids for Kindness began as a way for campers to pause during their busy summer camp day and do something kind for someone less fortunate. Seeing the need for organized family programs in which children can have hands-on involvement, Kids for Kindness has been opened to the broader community and programming has been extended throughout the year with quarterly events. Each project will benefit a different segment of the community. Children and families recently gathered to paint ceramic tiles with messages of hope and well wishes for patients at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Photo courtesy of Camp Gan Israel of Fox Chapel

u Matthew Strauss, left, chief archivist at Senator John Heinz History Center, and Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Project & Archives

Wheels of Love

Photos courtesy of Temple B’nai Israel

22 DECEMBER 1, 2017

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

t Keith Somers recently returned from Israel where he participated in the Wheels of Love Charity Bike Ride for the Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem. The Alyn Hospital is Israel’s world-class pediatric rehabilitation hospital in Ein Kerem. Somers, of Pittsburgh, joined a team from New York City, and the team will continue to raise money for Alyn through the end of the year. They hope to raise more than $3 million dollars for pediatric care. Photo courtesy of Keith Somers

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Community Tree of Life Award celebration On Nov. 21, Greta and Art Rooney II, owner of the Steelers, were awarded the Jewish National Fund’s 28th Tree of Life Award at a reception and dinner at the Omni William Penn Hotel. Said former Steeler great and longtime Rooney family friend Franco Harris: “Art and Greta are such wonderful, beautiful people and they do get involved, they do give back. That’s really been a trademark of the Rooney Family.”

p From Left: Becky Weinberg, Linda Safyan Holber, Franco Harris and Gayle Kraut

p Greta Rooney and past Tree of Life Award recipient Eva Tansky Blum

u JNF Western PA board member Debbie Resnick with Community Day School Head of School Avi Baran Munro

p From left: Jewish National Fund Midwest associate executive director Jason Rose with Art and Greta Rooney and JNF Western Pennsylvania board president Steven H. Schwartz

p Student leaders from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University at the JNF Tree of Life Award dinner. From left: Jodi Tandet, the Janet L. Swanson director of Jewish Studies Life at the University of Pittsburgh; Avigail Schneiman; Serena Mlawsky; Rayna Saltzman; Brian Burke; Brenna Rosen; Elina Lipov, Herman and Helen Lipsitz Israel Fellow; and Dan Marcus, Hillel Jewish University Center executive director.

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

t Yram Groff with Alexander Muss High School in Israel Pittsburgh Genesis Scholar Maya Groff and Merris Groff

Photos courtesy of Jewish National Fund

DECEMBER 1, 2017 23

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