Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 2-7-20

February 7, 2020 | 12 Shevat 5780

Candlelighting 5:27 p.m. | Havdalah 6:28 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 6 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Holocaust survivors on film

New documentary highlights Pittsburgh residents.

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$1.50

Locals voice skepticism, Public ties condemnation in response to between Trump’s Middle East peace plan Federation and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary remain severed

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

F

LOCAL

and exert their will in the area — as Friedman described it, “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” Another provision of the plan — allowing Palestinians to move freely between the West Bank and Gaza — would be a major change from the status quo. Palestinians currently cannot move between the two areas without Israeli approval. Family members and others would no longer be separated as they are now.

The proposed Palestinian state would consist of most of the West Bank (about 80%, according to estimates), and Gaza, the strip of land in the middle of Israel’s western coast.

The plan also leaves the possibility of later adding the so-called “Triangle” — a collection of Arab towns adjacent to the West Bank but part of Israel proper — to a Palestinian state, if both parties agree.

Under the plan, controversial parts of the West Bank would become officially recognized Israeli territory, including all of the Israeli “communities” — or settlements — that are dotted throughout the potential future Palestinian state, as well as the Jordan

or at least the fourth consecutive year, speakers supporting the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement against Israel were featured prominently at the Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit, held at the Presbyterian-run Pittsburgh Theological Seminary on Jan. 25, despite the urging of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

This year’s theme was “1492-2020: Decolonize Our Histories to Reclaim Our Humanity,” and several speakers used it as a platform to condemn Israel in its relationship with the Palestinian people.

In contrast to years past, the 2020 summit attracted fewer than 10 members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community because “of the overtly public anti-Semitism displayed at last year’s gathering,” according to Josh Sayles, director of the Community Relations Council for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Even many progressive and secular Jews who typically attend each year, Sayles said, “elected not to go because they feel it is no longer a safe space for members of our community.”

Of the four speakers presenting at the 2020 summit’s opening panel, two were advocates of the BDS movement: Rabbi Brant Rosen, a Reconstructionist rabbi and the co-founder of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council and the Jewish Fast for Gaza; and Tarek Abuta, the executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America.

FOSNA appears on an Anti-Defamation League list of the top-ten anti-Israel groups

Please see Peace, page 14

Please see Summit, page 14

Unforgettable trip

 President Donald Trump talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu near the Oval Office at the White House, Jan 27, 2020.

Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images/via JTA

Holocaust Center head goes to Geneva for locally connected exhibit.

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LOCAL An intimate network

Honeymoon Israel cohort returns to continue the conversation.

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By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer and Gabe Friedman | JTA

I

s the Trump administration’s newly unveiled plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians a good faith effort toward a workable two-state solution, or is it just a one-sided gift to the Jewish state?

Well, it depends on whom you ask.

In the most basic sense, the plan is a two-state solution. But statements from President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the announcement of the plan last week, along with the text of the plan, have already triggered a wave of speculation and more than a little confusion.

At its core, the plan proposes a two-state solution, envisioning an autonomous Palestinian state. However, as U.S. Ambassador David Friedman stressed in a phone call with reporters following the news conference, Israel would retain security control over all the land that would include a Palestinian state. So even though the Palestinians would have their own system of government throughout their state, Israeli forces would still be allowed to patrol

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle

LOCAL Project examines effect of Oct. 27

LOCAL Planting trees, planting seeds

BOOKS History gets graphic

Headlines Pittsburgh survivors featured in Holocaust documentary — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

O

ne of the most meaningful moments for director Ashton Gleckman in his filming of the Holocaust documentary “We Shall Not Die Now” occurred off camera, and in Pittsburgh.

Gleckman, a 19-year-old musician and filmmaker from Carmel, Indiana, came to Pittsburgh last spring to interview Holocaust survivors Cantor Moshe Taube and Sam Gottesman for his first feature film, now streaming on Amazon Prime.

“I went to Cantor Taube’s house, and we sat down at his piano, and we had a conversation for a few hours,” recalled Gleckman, who is also an accomplished musician. “And he just took me through his whole entire life story and told me about his time with Oskar Schindler.”

Taube was one of nearly 1,200 Jews saved from extermination during the Holocaust by Schindler, a German industrialist.

“One of the most incredible things in my life, honestly, is after we were done with the interview, him being a Schindler’s survivor, he asked me to actually play something on the piano,” Gleckman continued. “And he said, ‘Do you know the ‘Schindler’s List’ theme?’ And I said, ‘Of course,’ and I played the ‘Schindler’s List’ theme for a survivor from Schindler’s list. It was a bit of a surreal moment. It was one of the most memorable experiences of making the film.”

Taube is featured prominently in the documentary, along with about two dozen other survivors, liberators and Holocaust scholars in both current and archival footage.

While in Pittsburgh, Gleckman also

p Cantor Moshe Taube

interviewed Gottesman for extensive background research. Gottesman, however, died in June, 2019, before Gleckman had collected video footage of the interviews to incorporate in the film. But Gottesman, who survived numerous concentration camps, is acknowledged in still shots and in a short written tribute at the film’s conclusion.

“Sam Gottesman was an incredible, valuable resource in terms of asking questions for the research very early on in production,” said Gleckman. “His contribution was remarkable. And I remember when he passed away — it just continues to validate the importance of capturing these stories.”

Gleckman, who dropped out of high school after his sophomore year to pursue music and filmmaking, recognizes that his educational path is “untraditional.” He is not contemplating college. Instead, he seeks out training at workshops at various universities in the United States and abroad and studies filmmaking techniques on instructional videos.

Still from “We Shall Not Die Now”

In 2018, famed film composer Hans Zimmer discovered Gleckman’s music online, and tapped the teenager to work for Zimmer’s companies, Remote Control Productions and Bleeding Fingers Music.

Although filmmaking has become his main focus, Gleckman has continued to work on music as well, and scored “We Shall Not Die Now,” whose theme was composed by Grammy-nominated composer Benjamin Wallfisch (“Blade Runner 2049,” “Hidden Figures”).

Gleckman spent five months conducting interviews for his documentary, and raised funds to travel to Poland where he filmed at the sites of several concentration camps.

Although he had produced some shorter films, Gleckman took on the Holocaust as the subject of his first full-length feature because it is a period of history that has captured his interest since he was a child.

“In Indianapolis, we have the Indianapolis Children’s Museum and one of the exhibits

p Ashton Gleckman

Photo by Ariana Gleckman

there is about Anne Frank,” he said. “And so that was the first thing I heard about the Holocaust, and when I was like six years old, I started to research the Holocaust and read books and see movies. I would go to survivors’ speaking events. And I just became fascinated with the subject.”

Gleckman is not Jewish, although his father’s family is, he said, and he had a great uncle who was one of the liberators of the Buchenwald concentration camp. After his great-uncle passed away, “I realized, really we’re only going to get this opportunity now.

You can’t make a film about survivors in 20 years or 30 years, because there won’t be any survivors to speak to. So we’re in this very delicate period of time.”

So, Gleckman just set off with his camera, “not a lot of money in my pocket, and went out there and filmed all the interviews.”

The aim of the film, he said, “was to bring the Please see Documentary, page 15

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Headlines Holocaust Center director travels to Geneva for exhibit opening — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

I

t will be a while before Lauren Bairnsfather, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s director, forgets her time in Geneva.

Bairnsfather’s “once in a lifetime” experience in Switzerland’s second most populous city largely revolved around photographer and filmmaker Luigi Toscano’s exhibit “Lest We Forget,” a project under the patronage of the German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas.

Toscano’s work, which included approximately 100 photographs of Holocaust survivors, including 17 Pittsburgh-based survivors, was displayed at the United Nations Office at the Palais Des Nations in Geneva between Jan. 24 and Jan 31.

“Seeing the Pittsburgh survivors at the U.N. was unbelievable,” said Bainsfather, who, along with members of her family, attended the Geneva exhibition’s opening after receiving an invitation from Toscano.

Apart from the photo exhibit, several events honored the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, including a series of speeches from Toscano, international leaders and a Holocaust survivor, as well as a somber evening candlelight walk through the United Nations’ grounds.

“We walked right by all of the countries’ flags. It was really gorgeous, and at the end of the walk we had a place to put our candles,” said Bairnsfather. “The real takeaway is the commitment among all of these leaders in Europe to counter anti-Semitism and to tell historical truths.”

During a public address, Christopher Heusgen, Germany’s permanent representative

to the United Nations, recalled those lost during the Holocaust as well as the strength exhibited by survivors.

Similar thoughts were offered at the exhibition’s opening by Israeli Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter: “Today, I stand here to speak for the 6 million of our people, for whom the gates of hell were broken into too late. The men and women, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, entire families including 1.5 million children that were brutally murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators just because they were Jewish,” she said. “Today, I am their voice and follow their command: ‫( לזכור ולא לשכוח‬lizkor v’lo lishcoah) — remember us. Never forget.”

Throughout the week, Bairnsfather connected with international leaders and engaged in “substantial” conversations.

Doing so afforded an alternative view of Holocaust remembrance, she explained: “Commemorating the Holocaust in Europe just feels different. It happened there. It’s a different experience than we had here.”

Being able to partake in this type of dialogue, and doing so in Europe, “where the Holocaust happened, and to have these leaders commit to fight against anti-Semitism was really a significant experience.”

Prior to its Geneva showing, “Lest We Forget” was displayed last October on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus. At the time, Toscano explained the purpose of his efforts to the Chronicle: “I remember a woman said to me, ‘If we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it.’ I think it is necessary to stand against hate. I hope my work is a powerful and emotional tool engaging people to do that.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

p Michael Freiherr von Ungern-Sternberg, German ambassador to the United Nations, stands with Lauren Bairnsfather, Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh director, at the opening of the ‘Lest We Forget’ exhibit.

Photo by Christopher Bairnsfather

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Headlines

The Jewish Women’s Foundation is pleased to announce its 2019 Jewish and general community grants

JEWISH COMMUNITY

The Jewish Women’s Foundation

Hillel Academy $7,000

supports organizations that improve

Jewish Healthcare Foundation $17,162 National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section/Center for Women $10,000 Tzohar Seminary $5,000

the lives of women and girls. Through collaborative philanthropy, JWF Trustees have been funding grants

Yeshiva Girls School $10,000

that promote social change since 2003, investing over $1.2M in the community.

GENERAL COMMUNITY Allegheny Health Network $5,400 Angels’ Place $10,000 HEARTH $5,000 Pittsburgh Action Against Rape $6,800 Three Rivers Rowing $5,000 Women’s Center & Shelter $10,000

For more information or for inquiries about becoming a member, contact Judy Greenwald Cohen at jcohen@jwfpgh.org or 412-727-1108.

Or visit JWF’s website at www.jwfpgh.org

Headlines

Second cohort of Honeymoon Israel excited by new connections — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

C

ouples seeking greater connection within the Jewish community recently returned from an immersive 10-day trip to Israel. The Pittsburgh contingent, which served as the Steel City’s second cohort with Honeymoon Israel, enjoyed several days of sightseeing as well as multiple opportunities to discuss and reflect on relationships with Judaism.

Rabbi Seth Adelson, of Congregation Beth Shalom, led the Jan. 16-26 trip and said the “program seeks to create micro-communities of Jewish and Jewish-adjacent folks who are connected to each other through the sense of Jewish peoplehood, and who are also connected to the wider Jewish community.

While the backdrop of the trip is Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Galilee, the true mission of Honeymoon Israel is building community and strengthening the bonds that hold us together, and this is exactly what rabbis and communal leaders should be investing in right now.”

Though this was Pittsburgh’s second formal involvement, Honeymoon Israel has provided more than 100 trips since its 2015 inception. On each trip, the group is led by a local partner, senior educator or community professional. Adelson served the role by PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Honeymoon Israel participants visit Jaffa, Tel Aviv.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

providing spiritual guidance through leading Shabbat services, offering textual instruction and delivering commentary during the trip, which was supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

“Through Honeymoon Israel, the Jewish Federation provides a vital link to Jewish life for a growing population of young couples who would otherwise have little or no such

link,” said Adam Hertzman, Federation’s director of marketing.

The inclusive program welcomes Jewish, interfaith and LGBTQ couples in their first five years of marriage or lifelong, committed relationships that have at least one Jewish partner and one partner between the ages of 25 and 40. The heavily subsidized trip cost the couples $2,500 to participate.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Will Kass, of Shaler, was among nearly 40 people in the Pittsburgh contingent.

Kass, who as a child received Catholic education, said he joined the cohort because he wanted “to get a better perspective of the Jewish religion from first-hand sources” and further appreciate his wife’s upbringing.

The trip was “nothing short of amazing,” remarked Kass. “It gave me a different perspective of Israel the country, the culture, outside of what I see on CNN and in the media. I kind of came with that predetermined mindset and viewpoint going into that country, and boy was I wrong, and I’m glad I experienced it. It opened my eyes to a lot of culture and beautiful landscapes, amazing people, awesome food.”

Jenn Batterton, of Squirrel Hill, enjoyed sightseeing but found the chance to connect with like-minded individuals most beneficial.

“It was a great opportunity to meet other Pittsburgh couples who have either recently started families or are thinking about starting families, and who have a less traditional approach to incorporating Judaism in their lives,” said Batterton. “I was raised Jewish and my husband wasn’t, and it was just nice to have a trip where that was sort of out there as a baseline. We did some typical tourism and exploring — we had an amazing tour Please see Honeymoon, page 15

FEBRUARY 7, 2020 5

Headlines New oral history project focuses on reaction to Oct. 27 — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

I

mmediately following Oct. 27, 2018, the story of the terrorist attack at the Tree of Life building began to be told.

Recounted by survivors and family members of victims, first responders, city officials and clergy, the memories were harrowing and heart-wrenching, but they hardly told the whole story.

The effect of the attack was felt not just by this intimate group but by the entire city — Jews and non-Jews alike. Its broad impact on a diverse community is what Aliza Becker and Noah Schoen are trying to preserve with The Meanings of October 27, an oral history project that explores Pittsburghers’ reflections on the shooting.

Becker, a Chicago native, spent Oct. 27 talking to Jewish friends who reached out to her to express their concern. But it was a non-Jewish friend asking how she could help that created a viral moment for Becker on social media. Becker responded by saying, “All of your Jewish friends are struggling today.

Reach out to them and let them know you care.”

Because of her response, Becker was asked to speak at a vigil in her neighborhood and deliver a d’var Torah at her synagogue during a service that included a eulogy by

p Aliza Becker interviews Rabbi Daniel Yolkut for The Meanings of October 27 project.

Photo by Noah Schoen

Ori Fienberg for his Aunt Joyce, who was murdered in the shooting.

It was during this service that Becker realized she had no idea how Pittsburgh was reacting to the shooting.

“I didn’t know what they were thinking, what they were feeling,” she said. “What was it like to be in the place where this thing happened and it’s not OK to go back to work tomorrow?”

Becker, an associate fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities

at Bard College, was already working on an oral history project and thought one might be needed in Pittsburgh to capture the stories of the tragedy.

She reached out to Schoen, asking if he would like to work with her on the project.

Schoen had recently completed a stint as a community organizer in Boston as a fellow for JOIN for Justice, a national organization that trains, supports and connects Jewish organizers and communities. He agreed.

The pair spent time planning the project

and worked to ensure what they were doing was sensitive to the trauma from the event.

Between February and July 2019, they met with more than 50 Pittsburghers. Although they didn’t record the initial interviews, the talks helped frame the project. One piece of advice they heard repeatedly was, “Take it slow.”

After the initial listening sessions, Becker and Schoen assembled a group of community leaders to shape the project. The group includes Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh director Lauren Bairnsfather, Community Day School Head of School Avi Baran Munro, Jewish Assistance Fund Executive Director Cindy Goodman-Leib, Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives director Eric Lidji and other community leaders.

The interviews are between one-and-a-half to three hours in length and are a collaboration between narrator and interviewee, according to Schoen. And each interview is unique.

“I ask open-ended questions and leave space after they finish speaking,” Schoen said. “It opens this fresh space where they are not just recounting stories but thinking and developing fresh ideas in the moment together. It helps people to feel ‘I’m in charge of my own story.’”

Each session begins by exploring the individual’s life history because, as Schoen Please see History, page 15

Supported by PAPERNICK FAMILY FOUNDATION and JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH

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Headlines Parkway Jewish Center celebrates Tu B’Shevat with ‘Souper’ Shabbat Plus Lecture series — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

B

p Columbiana County Parks commissioner Mike West demonstrates how to plant a tree to a young volunteer.

Photograph by Lisa Butch, Watershed director for the Little Beaver Creek Land Foundation

OF

FOLK SHABBAT

ACAD EL

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3RD ANNUAL

Tu B’Shevat, is not a coincidence. Sounding like a character from Dr. Seuss’ book “The Lorax,” he explained with a laugh, “It’s the tree holiday — why not celebrate that? I’m here for the trees.”

PI

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Ohio takes place a few days after the holiday ends on Feb. 10.

While he acknowledges not being the most observant Jew, Shapiro said that the topic of his lecture, following so closely after

HILL

en Shapiro has an ambitious goal.

The sustainable gardening and landscaping teacher, community activist, gardener and chef wants to plant 1,000 trees this spring.

Each year, Shapiro plants as many trees as possible and eyes Tu B’Shevat as the unofficial start of his annual campaign. This year, he acknowledged, is the most aggressive goal he’s set for himself.

Tu B’Shevat is the “New Year of trees” and is celebrated on the 15th of Shevat. In the U.S., the holiday usually occurs in January or February when many cities are still in the throes of winter, but the holiday is based on what is taking place in Israel. Because the rainy season has just ended in the country and the ground is saturated with water, sap begins to rise in the trees, meaning fruit can begin to bud.

Tu B’Shevat has begun to take on a larger significance for Jews in the United States concerned with the environment and how they see their relationship to the Earth.

Shapiro will speak at Parkway Jewish Center on Feb. 14. His talk about sustainability and the ecology of Pennsylvania and

T T SBUR

The Isadore Joshowitz Early Childhood Center

The environmentalist is the nephew of Cantor Henry Shapiro, the spiritual leader of Parkway Jewish Center, who was inspired to include his nephew as part of the “Souper Shabbat Plus Lecture Series.”

“We’re surrounded by a lot of acreage, a lot of woods,” Henry Shapiro explained. “I actually booked him three or four years ago, but we got snowed out. Hopefully, this time the weather will cooperate.”

The younger Shapiro believes its not simply planting trees that is important.

The area and needs of the people must to be considered, as well: “We have a land mass that desperately needs an edible forest cover. Why can’t there be acres and acres of pawpaws and chestnuts and hickories and hazelnuts and pecans and on and on?”

These new seedlings would begin the process, according to Shapiro, of reclaiming forests made barren by our industrial past.

“We cut down so many forests, to do what — to mine clay, to mine steel, to plant corn?

When we were done, the diverse food forest didn’t come back.”

It’s because of this past, Shapiro explained, that we have a societal obligation to reverse course where possible and maintain pockets of ecological diversity where possible.

Please see Parkway, 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 as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q SUNDAY, FEB. 9 New findings from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos” will be the topic of a presentation by Dr. Andrew Kloes at the Rodef Shalom Brotherhood’s Herzog Breakfast Discussion (4905 Fifth Ave.) at 10 a.m. Kloes, a Penn Hills native, is an applied researcher in the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the USHMM. Light breakfast served. Free. rodefshalom.org Celebrate Tu B’Shevat with PJ Library and Repair the World at 10 a.m. Enjoy a birthday party for the trees with fun tree-themed crafts, games and stories; plus, the usual birthday party fun. Attendees will also fill bags for Beverly’s Birthdays. The event is free, but you can sponsor a Birthday Bag with a suggested donation of $10. JCC Squirrel Hill. To register, visit jewishpgh.org/event/yad-tu-bshevat-2020.

Temple Emanuel of South Hills presents Bagel Bites, a monthly brunch and speaker program. This month’s guest speaker is Susan Friedberg Kalson, chair of the URJ’s Commission on Social Action.

10:30 a.m. Free. 1250 Bower Hill Road. For more information, visit templeemanuelpgh.org.

Join Beth Shalom Men’s Club for a Sports Luncheon. Enjoy a hamburger and hot dog lunch at noon at the Beth Shalom Samuel & Minnie Hyman Ballroom (5915 Beacon St.). Local sports celebrities will attend. Autographs and surprises, gifts for all.

All are welcome, no charge. RSVP to Ira Frank at natfabira@juno.com. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/events-upcoming.

The original exhibit “For You Were Strangers” at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh dives into the history of Jewish immigrants in Pittsburgh, noting the upheavals that drove Jewish immigration, changing U.S. policies in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the local attitudes and institutions that were implemented as these immigrants and refugees came to form the basis of our society today. Exhibit opening at 11 a.m. 826 Hazelwood Ave. Free. To register, visit hcofpgh.org/events.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Young Adult Division’s Fitness Club is kicking off with a class at Orange Theory, 5841 Penn Ave. The class is limited to 39 participants. 2:15-4 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/ yad-fitness-orange-theory Meet the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Young Adult Division at 4:30 p.m. at the Boyce Park Four Season Lodge for winter fun. This is a pay-yourown-way event, either $13 (if there is a group of 15+) or $17. Arrive on time to sign required waivers. 901 Centerview Drive, Plum, 15239. jewishpgh.org/event/ young-adult-explorin-pittsburgh-club-at-boyce-park Join Moishe House at 6 p.m. for When Folksongs Bring Freedom, a special concert by Hilliard Greene at the Alphabet City bookstore, 40 W. North Ave., in honor of Black History Month. Reserve tickets in advance at alphabetcity.org/events/milestone-negro-spiritualswhen-folksongs-bring-freedom. q MONDAY, FEB. 10 Celebrate the Jewish birthday of the trees with a special Tu B’Shevat Seder at Moishe House featuring

fruit, wine, kabbalistic wisdom, a discussion about environmental justice and more. 7 p.m. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22–32.

Message a resident or the page for the address. facebook.com/events/610619576394700

Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, Cat Stevens and more. The menu will feature dishes from the Torah (Israeli/Mediterranean food). Cost: $18 (ages 13+)/$10 kids (ages 4-12)/free (ages 0-3). 5505 Forbes Ave. templesinaipgh.org/event/folk-shabbat-dinner.html

q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12

Enjoy soup and a speaker at Parkway Jewish Center’s “Souper Shabbat Plus Lecture Series.”

Ben Shapiro will present “Sustainable Gardening & Landscaping” and discuss the ecology of the Pennsylvania/Ohio region. The service begins at 6 p.m., soup and speaker at 7 p.m. 300 Princeton Drive. For directions and more, visit parkwayjewishcenter.org.

Chabad of the South Hills presents An Evening with Holocaust Survivor Sammi Steigman beginning at 7 p.m. at Chabad of the South Hills (1701 McFarland Road). Steigman will share his story of life in a Nazi labor camp and being subjected to horrific medical experiments as well as the lessons he’s learned. $10 in advance/$15 at the door. chabadsh.com Join Moishe House at the White Whale Bookstore, 4754 Liberty Ave., at 7 p.m. and attend the book party for “Let’s Be Weird Together,” by Brooke Barker and Boaz Frankel. Enjoy live animal drawings, a presentation on weird couples throughout history and a revamped Newlywed Game. Q&A and book signing. facebook.com/events/131677054563200 q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 12 – OCT. 28 Join Temple Sinai for “Planning to Canning: Gardening on the Cheap” with Rachel Kudrick, horticulturist. Have you ever wanted to start a garden? Expand your existing garden? Classes take place at either 9 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. $20 per class. templesinaipgh.org/event/planning-tocanning-class.html q FRIDAY, FEB. 14

q SUNDAY, FEB. 16 Author Julie Orringer discusses her book “The Flight Portfolio” beginning at 10 a.m. as part of the Derekh Speaker Series 2020 at Congregation Beth Shalom (5915 Beacon St.) A book signing will follow this event. Free. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/events-upcoming.

Fighting the Februarys: A Toolkit for Combating a Depressed Mood, featuring Eleanor ShimkinSorock, M.D., MPH, retired psychiatrist and Gary S. Sorock, Ph.D., RN, retired epidemiologist and psychiatric nurse. 10 a.m. Light refreshments Rodef Shalom, 4905 Fifth Ave. RSVP: caringcommittee@ rodefshalom.org Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Young Adult Division for a tour of Eleventh Hour Brewing, 3711 Charlotte St. 2 p.m. Pay your own way upon arrival. jewishpgh.org/event/young-adultbrewery-club-at-11th-hour-brewing

Join Temple Sinai at 5:45 p.m. for the 3rd Annual Folk Shabbat Dinner and Evening Service with prayers woven with songs including music by Peter, JC Opn S Making 6/11/19 2:02 AM Page 1 Paul & Mary, Leonardwaves_Eartique Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan,

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Calendar Calendar: Continued from page 8 q SUNDAYS, FEB. 16, 23; MARCH 8, 15, 22, 29 From vaudeville and Yiddish theater to Broadway and improv, the Jewish people kvell at comedy. Improv Class at Rodef Shalom is your chance to take the stage, have fun with friends and laugh along the way. Sign up for this free lighthearted improv class today for anyone 21 and over. No previous experience necessary. 1 p.m. Rodef Shalom, 4905 Fifth Ave. RSVP: Emily Harris, emilyharris.storymaker@gmail.com q TUESDAY, FEB. 18 Join the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh for The Decline in Global Freedom, a luncheon discussion with Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, a nonpartisan voice dedicated to promoting democracy. Abramowitz will describe the current state of democracy, explain why we face an erosion of faith in free institutions and discuss Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in moving beyond the current crisis of faith. Noon. Omni William Penn Hotel. To register, visit eventbrite.com/e/ the-decline-in-global-freedom-tickets-89065395997. q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19 Chabad of the South Hills presents its monthly senior lunch at noon. Enjoy a delicious lunch and the presentation â&#x20AC;&#x153;7 Steps to a Healthier Heart.â&#x20AC;?

Wheelchair accessible. $5 suggested donation. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com The Squirrel Hill AARP chapter will hold its monthly meeting at 1 p.m. at Rodef Shalom, 4905 Fifth Ave. The guest speaker will be Michael Dunn, director of

social services at Lifespan. Please note, should the Pittsburgh public schools be closed due to weather conditions, the AARP meeting will be canceled. For more information, contact Marsha at 412-731-3338. q FRIDAY, FEB. 21 & SATURDAY, FEB. 22 Sing A New Light presents Yale Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Magavet at Congregation Beth Shalom (5915 Beacon St.) during Shabbat services, Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, 9:45 a.m. For more information, visit singanewlight.org/events. q SATURDAY, FEB. 22 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for Clues & Schmooze, a fun trivia event including a raffle, open bar and snacks. Trivia will be in teams of three to six players. Bring your own team or be matched up at the door. $25/person by Feb. 20, $30 at the door.

Registration: 7:45 p.m., trivia: 8:15 p.m. 5915 Beacon St. bethshalompgh.org/events-upcoming q SUNDAY, FEB. 23 New Light Congregation presents Sing a New Light featuring Yale Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a capella group Magevet. The concert begins at 1 p.m. at the Squirrel Hill JCC. $10 suggested donation. To RSVP, visit eventbrite/e/88441877035. q TUESDAY, FEB. 25 Join Moishe House for a happy hour at Marioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, 5442 Walnut St., beginning at 5 p.m. Appetizers are on them. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C;32.

q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26

q THROUGH FEB. 29

Join Classrooms Without Borders and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for an Open House for the Momentum Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Trip to Israel at 7 p.m. The trip will take place Oct. 19-26. Open to mothers with at least one child under 18. Held at a private residence. For more information, email Emily Richman at ERichman@jfedpgh.org or Chani Altein at caltein@chabadpgh.com.

The Zionist Organization of America: Pittsburgh Israel Scholarship Program is accepting applications through Feb. 29, 2020. The program is designed to encourage student participation on approved educational trips to Israel. Up to three ZOA Scholarships, $1,000 each, are available to students who will be visiting Israel on a structured study program this summer and entering their junior or senior year of high school in the fall of 2020. Applicants must be Jewish and permanent residents of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, or Westmoreland counties.

All applicants must be participating in an approved program and submit a qualified application to ZOA. Priority may be given to those who have never visited Israel or have not received a ZOA scholarship in the past. For complete details about the scholarships, contact ZOA Executive Director, Stuart Pavilack, at 412-665-4630 or pittsburgh@zoa.org.

q THURSDAY, FEB. 27 Make sushi at Moishe House. Vegetarian options will be available. Email a resident for the address.

7 p.m. facebook.com/events/177412890275656 q FRIDAY, FEB. 28 Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Young Adult Division, Chabad Young Professionals, JGrads CMU and JGrads Pittsburgh for Shabbat Across America at Chabad of Squirrel Hill. Open to grad students and young professionals over 21.

6 p.m. $10 per person. jewishpittsburgh.wufoo.com/ forms/q1bzf5031b65vxl q FRIDAY, FEB. 28 & SATURDAY, FEB. 29 Temple Emanuel of South Hills welcomes Rabbi Menachem Creditor for the annual Sajowitz Weekend. Rabbi Creditor will deliver a dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;var Torah on Friday followed by an after-service dinner lecture about the uses and abuses of power in the Jewish community. On Saturday he will discuss gun violence and the Jewish community and LGBTQ+ issues in the Jewish community. Free. 1250 Bower Hill Road. For more information and to register, visit templeemanuelpgh.org/event/sef2020.

q SUNDAY, MARCH 1 Celebrate Purim as a family and bake some delicious hamantashen at the Kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mega Hamantash Event. Bring your kids for an afternoon of fun, giving and hamantash making. Open to all kids 3-11. $10 per child. 1 p.m. Chabad of Squirrel Hill, 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com/megapurim q TUESDAY, MARCH 3 Join Chabad of the South Hills at noon for their Purim Seniorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lunch with hamantashen and a special chair exercise class presented by Club Pilates. Wheelchair accessible. RSVP to 412-278-2658. $5 suggested donation. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.comâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;PJC

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Headlines nationals or other travelers who have visited China within the last two weeks. Israelis who arrive from China must isolate themselves in their homes for two weeks.

On Feb. 2, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened government officials to discuss preparations against coronavirus.

— WORLD — From JTA reports

China’s embassy apologizes for coronavirus-Holocaust comparison A Chinese diplomat invoked the Holocaust in urging Israel to not close its doors to Chinese people seeking refuge from the deadly coronavirus.

“This is reminiscent of World War II, the Holocaust, the darkest days of human history.

Millions of Jews were murdered and many were banned from entering countries. Some countries opened their gates, one of them was China,” Dai Yuming said during a news conference at the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv. “Even in dark times in history, we did not close our gates to the Jewish people and we hope that Israel won’t close its gates to the Chinese.”

The Chinese embassy later apologized for the remarks, the Jerusalem Post reported, clarifying that “there was no intention whatsoever to compare the dark days of the Holocaust with the current situation and the efforts taken by the Israeli government to protect its citizens.”

As of Feb. 2, about 14,000 people in China had contracted the virus and some 300 have died. Cases of the virus have been found in 24 countries. It has not yet been discovered in Israel.

Israel began prohibiting the entry of flights from China and the entry of Chinese

Tom Stoppard explores Jewish heritage for first time

Tom Stoppard, the winner of multiple Tony Awards and an Oscar, and the author of plays such as “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and “Travesties,” is often described as one of the best living playwrights. He’s not often described as Jewish, in part because he has never explored Jewish themes in his work.

That could change after his latest play, “Leopoldstadt,” debuts at Wyndham’s Theater in London on Feb. 12.

The story involves multiple generations of a wealthy intermarried family in Vienna’s old Jewish quarter in the early part of the 20th century. The (London) Jewish Chronicle reports it involves a seder, a “hilarious” bris and discussions of assimilation.

Leopoldstadt was the name of Vienna’s Jewish ghetto during World War II, and it’s symbolic of how far the Jewish family involved in the plot has come.

Stoppard told the paper that the story is not autobiographical, but he feels close to the theme of not feeling connected to one’s Jewishness.

Stoppard, born Tomas Straussler, didn’t know he was Jewish until a relative told him

in the 1990s. His family fled their native Czechoslovakia during World War II to Singapore, and then left to India after Japan began attacking there. Stoppard’s father was killed by a Japanese bomb. Stoppard’s mother married an English man and gave her children his surname.

Stoppard’s son Ed, an actor, plays a part in “Leopoldstadt.”

“I’ve never felt more connected to my heritage,” Ed Stoppard told the Guardian.

Paris metro passengers stop Arab men from harassing Jew

Passengers aboard a metro train in Paris stopped four Arab men from pursuing a Jewish man they were harassing over his faith, the victim said.

The incident unfolded as the train approached the Jaures station in northeast Paris, the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA, reported.

The four men asked a Jewish man wearing a yarmulke for a cigarette, said the report based on the man’s testimony. When he said he didn’t have one, one of the men told him: “You Jews have enough money to buy some.”

The Arab men then cornered the man against the wall of the train car, but he escaped. The men pursued him but were blocked by other passengers.

Jews make up less than 1% of the French population, where they were targets of most of the documented racist hate crimes 2019.

The French Interior Ministry published the data last month in a report that counted 687

anti-Semitic incidents last year out of a total of 1,142 racist hate crimes.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has ‘become more religious’

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told a live audience at a tech conference that he has “become more religious” in recent years.

Zuckerberg was interviewed at the recent Silicon Slopes Tech Summit.

“The last few years have been really humbling for me,” Zuckerberg said. “I’ve become more religious.”

He attributed his religious evolution to the issues his company has faced over the last few years and the birth of his two daughters, now ages 4 and 2, Deseret News reported.

“We all need to feel like we’re parts of things that are bigger than ourselves. I try to put my girls to bed every night … I don’t always get to do that but that’s important to me,” Zuckerberg said. “Work is important … but at the end of the day we’re all people, and you need your family and friends and communities around you.”

“You have to believe in things that are bigger than yourself,” he added.

In 2016, Zuckerberg posted on Facebook in response to a question about his religious beliefs: “I was raised Jewish and then I went through a period where I questioned things, but now I believe religion is very important.”

He has since posted a photo of his daughter using a family heirloom kiddush cup, and photos of homemade challah and hamentaschen. PJC

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

Feb. 7, 1974 — Gush Emunim established

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Followers of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook launch Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful), a settler movement closely tied to the National Religious Party and determined to establish a permanent presence in the lands captured in June 1967.

Feb. 8, 2005 — Second Intifada declared over

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II close a summit by declaring the end of the Second Intifada.

Feb. 9, 1953 — Soviet Embassy bombed

The Soviet Union’s embassy in Tel Aviv is bombed, injuring three people, in an attack blamed on the Kingdom of Israel terrorist group. Despite Israeli apologies, the Soviets respond by breaking off diplomatic relations.

Feb. 10, 2009 — Netanyahu wins by finishing second

Although Kadima finishes first in the election for the 18th Knesset with 28 seats, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud is the effective winner with 27 seats because it is better positioned to form a governing coalition.

Feb. 11, 1986 — Sharansky reaches Israel

After eight years in a Siberian labor camp, Jewish refusenik Anatoly Shcharansky is released by the Soviet Union and flies to Israel, where he arrives under his Hebrew name, Natan Sharansky.

Feb. 12, 1994 — Israel’s first Winter Olympian

The Winter Olympics open with an Israeli team for the first time, consisting entirely of figure skater Michael “Misha” Shmerkin, 24, a Soviet native who finishes 16th in Lillehammer, Norway.

Feb. 13, 1955 — Israel announces purchase of Dead Sea Scrolls

Prime Minister Moshe Sharett announces at a news conference that Israel has acquired four of the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls found in Qumran through a $250,000 purchase facilitated by two Hebrew University faculty members. PJC

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UPMC Transplant Services congratulates the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE), which was named a 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner. This presidential-level honor recognizes CORE for excellence and innovation in the face of complex challenges. UPMC is proud to partner with CORE to fulfill its mission of saving and healing lives through organ donation.

To learn more about the services that CORE provides, visit CORE.org.

Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside is ranked among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

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FEBRUARY 1/16/20 7, 2020 11 11:37 AM

Opinion The art of no deal: Who’s subverting Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan?

Guest Columnist David Horovitz

A

week after the big reveal, something has gone terribly wrong with the Trump administration’s self-styled “vision to improve the lives of the Palestinian and Israeli people.”

The document published by the White House on Jan. 28 broke ground in taking seriously many Israeli concerns that were marginalized, if not ignored, in previous peace efforts. Critically, it was predicated on the imperative that the rise of a Palestinian state in no way undermine or threaten Israel’s security, and that the U.S. would only ask Israel to consider compromises that would make the country and its people “more secure in the short and long term.” It also included innumerable elements guaranteed to infuriate the Palestinians — radically constraining their future sovereign rights, denying them significant status in Jerusalem, refusing their demand for a “right of return” for refugees, and plenty more.

But the document was also declaredly only a starting point — “designed for the benefit of Palestinians, Israelis and the region as a whole,” as a recommended basis for direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiation on a “realistic two-state solution.”

As it stated early on, “The role of the United States as facilitator in this process has been to collect ideas from around the world, compile them, and propose a detailed set of recommendations that can realistically and appropriately solve the conflict.

The role of the United States is also to work together with other well-meaning countries and organizations to assist the parties in reaching a resolution to the conflict. But only the Israelis and Palestinians themselves can make the decision to forge a lasting peace together,” it stressed (my italics). “The final, specific details of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement, must be worked out directly between the parties.”

And yet no sooner had the participants in the East Room ceremony dispersed than Trump’s ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, one of the key architects of the plan, was telling reporters that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could go ahead, right away, and annex the 30% of West Bank territory that the plan allocates to Israel — largely comprising the Jordan Valley and all the settlements — with the further assurance that once Israel had applied its law to those areas, the U.S. would recognize the move.

Nowhere in the painstakingly compiled document is a promise made or even implied of any such immediate Israeli annexation.

Why would there be? It makes no sense.

Why would you unveil a plan, worked on for three years, designed to lead to an agreed-upon deal, carefully calibrated to both reassure Israel and avoid alienating

12 FEBRUARY 7, 2020

key Arab allies, and then brutally contradict those goals by promising one side all of its spoils right away?

In U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks at the ceremony, he did refer to the process by which Israel would gain control of its allocated territory, and did use the word “immediately”: “We will form a joint committee with Israel to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering, so that recognition can be immediately achieved,” he said. The sentence was a curious one; how can you “immediately” achieve recognition if you first have to establish a joint America-Israeli committee to turn the broadly drawn maps that accompany the proposal into workable documents?

One might be forgiven for thinking, indeed, that this strange formulation was shoehorned into Trump’s speech at the last moment, especially as three sentences later, Trump made the very same promise of recognition without saying anything about the timing: “And the United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory that my vision provides to be part of the State of Israel. Very important.”

Jared Kushner has since firmly slapped down the notion of immediate, or even imminent, Israeli annexation. Asked on Wednesday whether the Trump administration would support an immediate decision

by Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements, the president’s peace envoy and son-in-law answered with a firm “No” and elaborated: “We would need an Israeli government in place” before moving forward.

Killing off Arab support

Why does this argument over the timing of annexation matter? Because it goes to the very heart of what the Trump administration is actually seeking to achieve with this plan, this so-long-awaited “deal of the century.”

Is it truly intended to form the basis of “a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security,” as the president stated in the East Room last Tuesday? Or is it all just a ruse, calibrated to please Trump’s Greater Land of Israel supporters, ensure Palestinian rejection, and enable Israel’s unilateral annexation of all of the settlements, as soon as possible, to politically benefit Netanyahu?

The document itself, and the thrust of the president’s remarks on Jan. 28, strongly point to the former. Friedman’s subsequent briefing, and Netanyahu’s rush to announce that he would indeed be starting the annexation process within days — before Kushner nixed the idea — suggest the latter.

Kushner, the man who said no to Annexation Now, has developed a network of relationships with Arab and Gulf players.

Three ambassadors — from the UAE, Oman and Bahrain — were in the East Room for the festive launch, lending explicit Arab legitimacy to the Trump plan. One can only imagine the backlash Kushner has since received from these and other Arab leaders as the prime minister — endorsed

by the envoy whom Trump described in his speech as “your ambassador David Friedman” — rushed to try to turn the U.S. vision into a reality of rapidly expanded Israeli sovereignty.

On the way to Jan. 28, Kushner doubtless had assured his Arab interlocutors that the proposal the administration was about to present provided for a two-state solution with a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

Reading the details of the plan, and hearing the Palestinians’ bitter objections to it, might have been enough to guarantee the unanimous Arab League rejection. But the Netanyahu-Friedman dash for immediate annexation likely killed off any lingering vestiges of support or even tolerance for the U.S. initiative.

A battle royal must now be playing out over unilateral annexation, pitting members of the Trump team against their own colleagues and Netanyahu. The prime minister is reportedly desperate for even a miniannexation — something, anything, to placate critics on the right to whom immediate annexation was promised and for whom the plan’s very mention of a Palestinian state, however circumscribed, conditional and remote, is anathema. Kushner, who is also the U.S. president’s campaign chief, seems to have the upper hand, for now. (A reporter for Israel’s right-wing Channel 20 tweeted Sunday that Netanyahu’s aides were accusing Kushner of stabbing the prime minister in the back — a report the PM’s office swiftly denied.)

You might think the president’s evangelical supporters would be urging him to approve the speedy realization of expanded Israeli sovereignty into the West Bank, the better to guarantee, as Trump put it last Tuesday, that “our majestic biblical heritage will be able to live, breathe, and flourish in modern times.” But one of the most prominent of those supporters, Mike Evans, who was in attendance that day, is notably counseling patience.

“I would not encourage them (the Israeli right) to pressure the president on annexation,” said Evans in an Israel Radio interview on Monday. “You have an opportunity now that you never had before. You don’t want to undermine your strength in the Gulf Sunni states. Israel never had Arab leaders supporting a peace initiative like this. This is historic. Everyone needs to be grateful and just relax.” Quick, unilateral annexation “is not something that they need to do immediately, because there is nothing to worry about with Donald Trump,” Evans elaborated. “All the anxiety I’m hearing from Israel concerning the people who are upset about the plan — they need to relax and be patient.”

Good for Bibi, bad for Israel

Apart from boosting Netanyahu’s shortterm political prospects ahead of the March 2 elections, it is hard to see what Israel has to gain by a rush to annexation, as opposed to the negotiated approach that the deal itself advocates. And if evangelical leaders

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

like Evans see no hurry, and thus are not opposing Trump domestically on this, it is hard to see what the Trump administration has to gain either.

And there is a great deal to lose.

Annexing now, in the absence of a negotiated agreement, Israel, with U.S. backing, would be creating a reality in which two peoples are living side by side with formalized unequal rights — a situation that would be hugely damaging to Israel’s international status and reputation. (I cannot bring myself to type the A word.)

The move would likely put the Jordan peace treaty at risk, fuel West Bank chaos and violence, and boost the BDS movement.

It might well prompt a rush of European nations to recognize Palestine. It might even prompt Democratic presidential candidates to recognize Palestine.

The Netanyahu government has already burned almost all of its bridges with the Democrats. It was striking, if unsurprising, that there were apparently no Democratic lawmakers in the East Room last Tuesday, and that Netanyahu is not known to even have met with any Democratic lawmakers in the course of his visit.

Israel had always recognized the imperative of maintaining bipartisan support across the U.S. political mainstream; Netanyahu’s commitment to that imperative has, in recent years, descended to mere lip service. Administration-backed unilateral annexation would truly turn Israel, under its current leadership, into an issue of bitter partisan conflict.  Then there’s the not insignificant matter of Israel’s relationship with American Jewry, whose very survival is founded on the notions of respect for minorities, equal rights, coexistence — ideals Israel would be seen to be repudiating with an annexation power move.

Why risk so much long-term damage and punishment for such potentially shortterm reward? U.S. recognition for unilateral Israeli annexation, after all, could simply be reversed by a new administration in a year or five.

Diplomatic-security achievements that truly advance Israel’s interests are those that stand the test of time, not those, as would be the case here, that do not survive the pendulum swings of U.S. politics.

Deal or no deal?

The Obama administration approach to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking was fatally misconceived. Focused on dragging the intransigent Palestinians to a deal, the Obama team thoroughly underestimated Israel’s security needs, even though the horrors of the Second Intifada were still fresh. The Trump administration has made no such mistake.

Much of the plan unveiled last week is laudable in its stated intent — from an Israeli and a Palestinian perspective. “It is time to help the Palestinians achieve a hopeful and prosperous future and enable them to join

Please see Deal, page 13

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Opinion A peace plan that’s not about peace Guest Columnist Dennis Jett

T

he reactions to the Jan. 28 announcement of the “deal of the century” — the plan of the Trump administration to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians — were, perhaps predictably, all over the map. On the Palestinian side, outrage and rejection were widespread. By contrast, many Israelis, and some American supporters of Israel, greeted it with great enthusiasm.

Both the agony and the ecstasy are unwarranted. That’s because the peace plan was never really designed to bring about peace. The plan will make no contribution toward reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians because there is another motive behind it.

And the timing of its grand announcement

Deal: Continued from page 12

the community of nations,” it states. Who can argue with that?

Other sections sit less well, and prompt questions as to why they are included. Is the clause contemplating the remarcation of Arab towns and villages near the pre-1967 lines in northern Israel, so that they become part of a future Palestine, truly considered a potential element in a negotiated deal? Or was it

demonstrates it is all just political theater.

It does not take nearly three decades of experience in diplomacy, as I have, to understand why. In international negotiations, there is often a need for a mediator to help the parties communicate and to convince them to be flexible enough to find a path to peace. That role is challenging because the mediator usually has no power to force the parties to resolve their differences. The task is much harder when the dispute is not between two people, but between two groups with a long history of violent conflict.

When the mediator is the United States, it can obviously use more than gentle persuasion. Its power provides considerable leverage that can be used to move the parties toward agreement. But that power has to be used evenhandedly. A mediator, even a very powerful one, does not start off by giving one side everything it asks for while repeatedly kicking the other side in the teeth. Not if the mediator really expects to achieve peace.

But that is exactly what the Trump

administration has been doing. The plan asks nothing of Israel except an acknowledgement that the creation of a Palestinian state might someday be possible. The shakiness of even that flimsy commitment was clearly indicated by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who would only allow that the plan is a starting point for negotiations. That starting point appears to give Israel everything it would like to obtain by the end of the process. On the other hand, the plan provides the Palestinians nothing beyond a vague promise of statehood, rosy and unrealistic visions of economic growth and what they see as the opportunity to sell their identity in return for $50 billion.

In addition to the failure to reflect any serious attempt at mediation, the timing of the release of the plan points toward its real purpose. It doesn’t take three years to write up a lopsided scheme that comes in at under 40 pages without the annexes. It was released last week to distract from the impeachment proceedings against Trump and the

included at the prime minister’s instigation as an attempt to appease Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, who has long advocated such a policy, and whose support in the last two elections would have given Netanyahu a majority? Why risk igniting Muslim fears with a nod toward possible Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount? Was the provision for a strip of Palestine in what is today’s southern Israel, extending from Gaza far, far south along the Israeli-Egyptian border, thoroughly discussed with the Israeli and Egyptian forces that would need to secure it?

But these and all the other issues of contention could potentially be debated in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation that the document itself seeks to facilitate. It is the question of whether the U.S. is going to allow one side and one side only, Israel, to quickly implement its intended benefits under the proposed deal that overshadows all other aspects of the deal’s credibility.

In short, is Trump genuinely seeking to broker the Deal of the Century, or are we, rather, witnessing the Art of No Deal?

For what it’s worth, I happen to

— LETTERS — Urban flight

As a member of the Jewish community who spent the first 45 years of his life living in the city of Pittsburgh and the past 18 years in three suburban homes, I read with particular interest the Jan. 31 article “Thinking Suburbs: Jewish communities with distinct identities.”

The story notes the increasing number of Jews who have taken up residence outside of the city for fine schools and affordable housing, to which I say, “Bingo!”

I respect the decision made by many who choose to enjoy the conveniences of city living and who feel that it is worth the cost, but my wife, my 10-year-old stepson and I feel that we have hit the jackpot in our current Peters Township community. We have a fine home with more than triple the lot size that I had in my last Squirrel Hill residence. We are off the beaten track, but reside well under a mile from favorite stores and restaurants to which walking is possible. We live in a community with one of the area’s top school districts. We pay a 1% wage tax versus 3% in Pittsburgh, and our real estate taxes are relatively low. The distance to my synagogue, city cultural events and our beloved PNC Park is not prohibitive. For us, the best decision all around was to find suburban joy.

Firearms policy

Oren Spiegler Peters Township

I find fault with the fact that the Chronicle felt the need to list congregations and their firearms policy (“Gun policies vary widely among Pittsburgh congregations,” Jan. 31). The mere mentioning of which congregations allow or do not allow firearms was wrong.

indictment of Netanyahu and to enhance their reelection prospects.

If a truly great deal were negotiated it would provide for Israel’s security by helping Palestinian leaders realize they should become the Costa Rica of the Middle East — a country without an army, navy or air force because it faces no external threats. To do that, a plan would have to be balanced and give the Palestinians more than a real estate development brochure with a map that looks like a slice of Swiss cheese.

Neither side is capable of coming to that point on its own because both lack the required leadership. The world’s only superpower won’t provide that leadership either.

It has squandered its leverage because its government cares more about domestic politics than international peace. PJC Ambassador Dennis Jett (Ret.), Ph.D. is a professor of international affairs at the School of International Affairs at Pennsylvania State University.

believe the former.

If so, the U.S. president and those who support that admirable goal should be asking: Who is working to subvert it? PJC David Horovitz is the founding editor of The Times of Israel, where this article first appeared. He is the author of “Still Life with Bombers” and “A Little Too Close to God” and co-author of “Shalom Friend: The Life and Legacy of Yitzhak Rabin.” He previously edited The Jerusalem Post and The Jerusalem Report.

The criminal will go where they feel the least chance of resistance or they have a perceived advantage. Many schools, malls and government buildings are no-gun zones and thus a favorite target for the shooters. By mentioning which shuls don’t allow firearms is an open invitation for a criminal to act.

By the same token, writing which congregations allow firearms places them in danger as they have lost the element of surprise. In Poway, California, confronting the shooter saved lives.

In the Texas church, good guys with a gun stopped the mass killing that could have occurred.

There are statistics bearing out the fact that an armed citizen shooting back will save lives.

By writing about which shuls do and do not allow firearms, we are putting all of those congregations at higher risk. Someone scanning the internet can easily find a target to act upon based on this article. The best policy is “Don’t ask don’t tell”! Our congregations need a tactical advantage at all times.

Andrew Neft Upper St. Clair

Rodef Shalom gun policy

I am so pleased to see in your article that Rodef Shalom has adopted the policy that no one other than trained security personnel is permitted to bring a weapon onto the premises.

I suggest that they wear regular clothes not uniforms. One policeman at the door could wear his uniform.

Shirley Shratter Pittsburgh

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

FEBRUARY 7, 2020 13

Headlines Peace: Continued from page 1

Valley, which Israel has largely controlled since the Six-Day War. The plan gives the Israelis and Palestinians four years to accept these borders, and during that time, Israel will freeze any new settlement construction that would encroach on the Palestinian state outlined in the plan.

Another key part of the plan involves the dismantling of the terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas currently governs Gaza with an iron fist, so removing it would significantly change the coastal strip.

Palestinian officials also would have to agree to stop its policy of paying the families of terrorists who attack Israelis.

Trump said adoption of the plan by both sides would trigger $50 billion in international investment in a newly created state of Palestine that could result in job creation, economic development and dramatically improved living conditions for Palestinians.

Also under the plan, Jerusalem would be Israel’s capital, with a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem in neighborhoods beyond the barrier.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the plan before it was released.

Local reaction in Pittsburgh ranged from skepticism to condemnation.

“I think there are a lot of good things in the proposal of the peace plan that was developed by the administration. However, there still isn’t a peace partner,” stressed Stuart Pavilack, executive director of the Zionist Organization of America: Pittsburgh.

“Nothing has changed there, and I can’t get excited about this without a peace partner.”

While the plan could greatly improve the lives of the Palestinian people, he said, Palestinian “leadership will never buy into anything like that. Their leadership looks at all of Israel as an occupation and they won’t

do anything that reduces their chance of getting everything that they want.”

Pavilack praised the plan’s provisions requiring the cessation of incitement and the rewarding of Palestinian violence, but was not optimistic that could be successfully implemented, particularly because of the influence of Hamas and other terrorist groups.

“I’ve said for a number of years, if the Palestinians were to quit teaching hatred, violence, incitement, all those things, that maybe in four or five generations there could be a chance for peace,” he said. “But the lack of that, and with the other players that are in those areas that the Palestinian Authority does not control, I just can’t see anything different happening.”

Anat Talmy, a software engineer in Pittsburgh who was born and raised in Israel, predicted that the plan could “turn out to be a very significant milestone in the future.”

“For the first time, the peace plan states that if the Palestinians really want a state they need to fulfill a few basic conditions,” Talmy explained. “They need to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, they need to end the Hamas terrorist regime, the Palestinians need to be disarmed. They need to end ‘pay for slay,’ paying Palestinian terrorists after they murder Jews. And they need to end incitement and the propagation of hate by education.”

For the first time in a proposed plan, she said, “there are consequences for the Palestinians’ refusal to get into the peace process. So, if they do not agree, Israel can proceed to secure its interests without them.

This is a very big step.”

Previous negotiations, she said, “hinged upon the assumption that Israel has no right to the land captured in the Six Day War, and therefore, Israel needs to make inevitable concessions. And this new plan first puts an end to this assumption after originally the U.S. made clear it does not regard the Jewish settlements as illegal. And it makes sure the

future of the Jewish community in Judea and Samaria is not held hostage indefinitely due to the Palestinian standstill.”

Still, she was not optimistic that the plan would bring peace.

“The Palestinians are not seeking statehood,” she said. “Many groups in the modern era are looking for it. However, the Palestinians are perhaps the only nationally independent movement that has ever rejected, time after time, an offer of internationally recognized statehood. And to reject such an offer for statehood, plus $50 billion…I think what their true goal is, is not independence.”

For Nancy Bernstein, co-chair of J Street Pittsburgh, and part of the progressive Hatikvah slate for the World Zionist Congress, the proposal is “not an honest good faith effort and a peace plan.”

“I think that when you look at the substance, it exacerbates and entrenches conflict rather than resolves it,” she said.

“And it kind of ensures Palestinian rejection.

The several years that Trump’s been in office, he’s basically moved to alienate and bring the Palestinians to their knees.”

While she acknowledged the plan “uses very nice words of compassion and respect for Palestinians and their plight,” its substance contradicts that message.

“It pretty much tramples on every sensitive issue related to the conflict and resolution of the major issues,” said Bernstein. “It’s kind of like double-speak, it’s saying one thing that sounds really nice and on the other hand, doing the opposite.”

The Trump administration’s actions in the Middle East prior to the unveiling of the proposal has “alienated and inflamed” the relationship with the Palestinians, according to Bernstein.

“They moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, they shut down the PLO representative office in D.C., and they cut off all humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and the PA, and then openly speak to legitimize

Summit: Continued from page 1

in the United States.

“Sabeel hides behind a language of peace, but in reality uses theologically loaded rhetoric that when examined more closely, rejects Israel as a Jewish state,” Sayles said.

“The organization speaks of the formation of Israel as the ‘original sin,’ where Israel is cast as a colonizer that was only formed as a result of European intervention after the Holocaust. There is virtually no mention of a continued Jewish presence in the land for 2,000 years, and the Palestinian refugee issue is described as ‘ethnic cleansing.’”

In 2018, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh ceased publicly partnering with the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary when it hosted Rev. Naim Ateek, founder of FOSNA’s parent organization, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. The Federation had expressed concerns to the PTS about the anti-Semitic rhetoric commonly used by Ateek and the one-sided, anti-Israel philosophy embedded within the theology he advocates, but those concerns were unheeded.

“PTS’ decision to host Rev. Ateek in May 14 FEBRUARY 7, 2020

p From left: Rabbi Brant Rosen, Tarek Abuta, Carl Redwood and Sister IAsia Thomas

of 2018 was the final straw for us in severing public ties with the seminary,” Sayles said.

In addition to providing a platform this year for Rosen and Abuta, the 2020 summit also included a screening of the film “The Roadmap To Apartheid,” which seeks to compare Israel’s relationship to the Palestinian people with apartheid South Africa. The film concludes with a call to dismantle the Jewish state and to accomplish that through BDS.

The film is riddled with inaccurate portrayals of the Israel/Palestinian conflict, according to Stand With Us, a non-profit international education pro-Israel organization.

“Like most anti-Israel propaganda, the film omits crucial historical context,” Stand With Us states in a “rebuttal” to the film published on its website. “The film omits the fact that Jews are indigenous to Israel and have maintained a documented,

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

settlement expansion and annexation,” she said. “So, if you just step back and think about that as a way of preparing your partner to try to make peace or try to create trust and some sense of cooperation and respect, they failed on that even before this plan was created.”

She also condemned the plan because “it endorses unilateral annexation of Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley and paves the way for permanent occupation of the West Bank. There is already occupation of the West Bank. In some ways it’s a de facto annexation already, but now they want to make it official. And that’s not something, I think, when you are talking about a Palestinian state, the Palestinians would ever accept.”

Jonathan Mayo, who is also on the Hatikvah slate, agrees Trump’s “deal of the century” is not “a viable peace plan.”

“I wouldn’t call it a peace plan at all,” he said. “It’s a decision made by two leaders trying to make themselves look better when both are in trouble politically.”

It is problematic, Mayo noted, to introduce a plan devised without “all parties involved at the table. You can’t negotiate a peace plan with only one side involved and that’s what’s happened here.”

Annexation, he added, “is not a peace plan. It’s a continued, expanded occupation.

It’s not a path forward in any way, shape or form in my view.”

While Mayo acknowledged the proposed plan is a two-state solution of sorts, it is unfair, he said, comparing it to the treatment of Native Americans in the United States.

“It’s like telling Native Americans you can have self-determination but you need to stay on this small piece of land on a reservation,” he said. “That’s not for me a true state. Any plan that involves annexation and permanent taking over where the settlements are is not a plan I’m interested in.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. continuous presence there for over 3,000 years. It won’t tell you that Palestinian Arab violence against Jews began in the 1920s, long before refugees and occupation. It neglects to mention the war Palestinian and Arab leaders launched in 1947 in an attempt to kill or ethnically cleanse Israeli Jews. It glosses over the second Intifada of 20002005, in which Palestinian terrorists brutally murdered over 1,000 Christian, Muslim and Jewish Israelis. It completely ignores the thousands of rockets Gaza terrorists have fired at Israeli civilians since 2005.”

Also included at this year’s summit was a workshop titled “Combatting Housing Discrimination from Pittsburgh to Palestine,” described in the program’s written materials as drawing similarities between “the housing discrimination practices and policies” against African Americans in Pittsburgh to Arab citizens in Israel.

Demonizing and denying the legitimacy of Israel falls within the definition of anti-Semitism according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Association.

But for Dani Klein, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, but speaking on his own Please see Summit, page 20

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Headlines Documentary: Continued from page 2

audience along on this journey, because really the movie was me learning about the Holocaust.

And I wanted to do that with the audience. So hopefully that’s what comes across with it.”

Honeymoon: Continued from page 5

guide — but we also had the opportunity to have some really important conversations as a group and as couples about what’s hard about incorporating Judaism into our lives, what we look forward to doing differently with our new friends and as a family, and it was really valuable.”

Space for conversation was among the trip’s highlights, agreed Abbey Farkas.

“There’s lots of time built into the schedule that allowed us space to think about what we had just experienced, and that happened in a lot of different ways,” they said. “You’re with people and you’re experiencing the same things and you end up discussing the thing that you saw at Yad Vashem or in the Old City, and those things turned into discussions about the place of Judaism in our lives, the place of political activism in our lives, and how you can continue that through the partnership of a marriage.”

Honeymoon Israel is specifically designed to prompt such exchanges, explained Rabbi Amy Bardack, Federation’s director of Jewish Life and Learning. “The Jewish Federation just completed a study of interfaith couples which showed that many would like to get

History: Continued from page 6

pointed out, “their lives didn’t begin on Oct. 27.”

“We realized there were certain areas people were thinking about: anti-Semitism, safety, the importance of relationships with non-Jews, so we ask about those things,” Schoen said, “but each interview follows its own path.”

When complete, each person gets a copy of

Gleckman began filming in March of 2019, and the documentary premiered in October 2019.

“So it was pretty much from beginning to end actually only six or seven months,” he said. “I worked every single day like 15 hours.”

In addition to Amazon Prime, the film can be seen on the YouTube channel Timeline,

which posted the film for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. “The YouTube channel has given us a whole new opportunity to get it in front of as many eyes as possible,” Gleckman said.

“Despite not making a lot of financial return — that’s not our goal. Our goal is to continue the discussion about the Holocaust, especially

at this point, given the 75th anniversary.

“I think it’s just really, really important that while we have the opportunity to capture the stories we do so, so that the future generations can refer back to them,” he said. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

“I’m already hearing from couples involved in Jewish life but don’t know who came back from the recent trip how to begin,” she said. “Honeymoon and are getting together for Shabbat Israel builds into the itinerary deep, dinner, which many of them did not reflective conversations about the do before this trip.” place of Judaism in emerging family Batterton said she and her husband life, helping give couples the language invited newly made friends to to have continued conversations, and Kesher Pittsburgh for Shabbat and gives them a new friend group of likeplan on doing so again with other minded peers who are also exploring.” members of the cohort.

For those in interfaith marriages, “In our final day in Israel, we did the trip enabled partners to “meet brainstorming around how as a group we other people in the Pittsburgh area want to continue to do things together,” who are feeling a similar draw to said Batterton. Apart from one idea of a Judaism, but also the similar conflicts book group, “we started a sort of email with Judaism,” said Farkas. “We met so chain about congregation hopping, many people that we really vibed with because there are a lot of people who are and want to keep spending time with not affiliated with congregations, and ... people that we can talk to about relisome want to explore and some don’t. gious things or non-religious things But I think the people who do want that will get where we’re coming from to explore would feel more comfortand will understand the tension — I able doing that with a couple who are mean, not everybody was in an interalready familiar with a congregation, so faith marriage — but understand what there’s been a lot of messaging back and that tension can be and also how it can p Honeymoon Israel participants visit a forth about who wants to go to Temple be really wonderful at the same time.” synagogue in Tzfat.

Brian Kaufman, of Upper St. Clair, Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Sinai in the end of February and who wants to go to Kesher this week. I think similarly praised Honeymoon Israel’s social component. but the more important thing was being so through those kinds of things, hopefully the “The trip wasn’t as important as the people far away, and getting these interrelationships momentum will stay alive.” PJC that we met,” said Kaufman. “Don’t get me that my wife and I can already tell will last.” wrong, seeing these historical sites with Evidence of budding friendships Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ people going over it made a huge difference, appeared last Friday night, said Hertzman: pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. their interview, and the relationship doesn’t end once the recording is over. Becker and Schoen are hosting several gatherings where interested interviewees can meet in a social setting and share their reflections and experiences.

Such get-togethers are part of the vision of the project: “When we listen to the interviews, we start talking to each other in a different way. Something really special and intimate starts happening.”

The interviewees, said Becker, have “an

amazing experience and want to keep having these connections. That’s the purpose.”

The pair plan to interview 100 people for The Meanings of October 27; they’re fundraising for the project now. (Anyone interested in donating can do so at bit.ly/ meaningsofoctober27.)

Once completed, both audio recordings and transcripts of the interviews will be stored at the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center.

But the interviews will be relevant beyond Pittsburgh, as well.

“Yes, it’s about Pittsburgh but it’s also about using the Pittsburgh experience in our lives,” Becker said. “These are key issues.

There’s something here that, because of the depth of what people went through, is so powerful for everyone.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Former Federation staffer Brad Orsini testifies before House — LOCAL —

B

rad Orsini, senior national security advisor of the Secure Community Network and former director of community security at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform during a Jan. 29 hearing entitled, “75 Years After the Holocaust: The Ongoing Battle Against Hate.”

Orsini’s remarks related to the 2018 attack at the Tree of Life building, as well as the continuing threat of anti-Semitism.

“On Monday, we commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitzBirkenau and International Holocaust PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Remembrance Day. As we paused to honor those killed in the name of bigotry and hate, we are acutely aware that those horrors do not only live in the annals of history. AntiSemitism is alive and thriving. The nature of the threat facing the Jewish community is complex, varied and increasingly deadly,” said Orsini. “As we continue to see a rise in hate speech and physical assaults targeted at the Jewish community, it is vital for Jews across the country to be committed partners with law enforcement and to report any signs of hate.”

In Pittsburgh, a three pronged model — assess buildings and organizations; provide trainings and drills; track anti-Semitism threats and liason with local law enforcement — was instituted in January 2017 by

the Federation. However, prior to Oct. 27, 2018, such tactics were not fully adopted by the community, noted Orsini: “After the shooting, that all changed. It not only changed in Pittsburgh, but in Jewish communities across the country.”

Moving forward, “clear steps” needed to be taken, such as increasing Holocaust education and awareness of other anti-Semitic acts, bolstering the process of reporting hate crimes, addressing domestic terrorism through greater funding and increasing support for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, said Orsini.

“I will never forget walking through that horrific crime scene on Oct. 27, 2018, and witnessing the destruction that one man caused because of hateful anti-Semitism,”

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

he recalled. “I am certain that those who were in the building that day, to include our community members as well as first responders, will never forget the images they witnessed that day. In almost three decades of law enforcement, that particular crime scene is hard to describe. People were murdered simply because they were Jews gathered to pray. For a countless number of people, that image will never be erased.

It cannot, nor will it ever be forgotten. We need to take any lesson learned from that day and teach the entire community to help safeguard from an anti-Semitic act with the potential to turn violent.” PJC — Adam Reinherz FEBRUARY 7, 2020 15

Headlines New ‘Chutz-Pow!’ volume puts women front and center — BOOKS —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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uilding upon previous literary and artistic efforts, “Chutz-Pow! Volume Four” seeks to remind readers that Holocaust “superheroes” didn’t necessarily mask their powers with capes and costumes but exhibited unimaginable strength through grit, intelligence and resolve.

Later this month, the comic book’s newest installment will be released, and “in my unbiased opinion, they keep getting better,” said Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, which publishes the graphic series.

Whereas the first volume served as an introduction, volume two focused mostly on heroes of the resistance and volume three addressed children’s roles, “with volume four the intention was to focus on women’s stories,” said Marcel Walker, “Chutz-Pow!” project coordinator and lead project artist.

Subjects include Frieda Belifante, a Dutch musician and a member of the Dutch resistance; Margaret Bergmann, a German-Jewish athlete prevented from participating in the 1936 Olympics; Audrey Hepburn, a Europeanborn actress and humanitarian; Noor Inayat Khan, the first female British radio operator sent to occupied France; Hedwig “Hedy” Strnad, a Prague-based independent dressmaker and shop owner; and Simone Veil, a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who later served as France’s minister of health and a member of the Constitutional Council of France.

Between Belifante’s sexuality, Khan’s Muslim heritage and Hepburn’s lesser known childhood, “we chose a spectrum of stories and took our time to make sure our subtext with volume four was as broad as possible,” said Walker. “There was so much subject matter to cover and we wanted it to reflect the breath of women’s stories beneath this larger umbrella of Holocaust stories.”

Couple a desire to create a “scholarly and sound” work with an increased sensitivity to the narratives shared, and this volume took considerable time to produce, noted Bairnsfather.

“It was important in this volume to address, as much as anything else, the spectrum of orientations, the spectrum of gender identities and how the shadow of the Holocaust fell over all of this,” said Walker. “These stories are part of a larger tapestry of narratives.”

Similarly, “this dedication to inclusion wasn’t just with the subjects but with the creators who were chosen to work on the volume,” continued Walker. “It’s been a long defining trait of the project: We cast our net fairly broadly, and try to stay in Pittsburgh, but we’ll go a bit beyond to make sure we have the most appropriate talent working on these volumes as possible.”

Volume four has more creators involved than previous installments, explained Walker: “It was a juggling act, but it was worth it.

There are five men, three women and two nonbinary folks working on it, and that was super important.”

It’s not as though the previous volumes 16 FEBRUARY 7, 2020

p Anne Frank and Audrey Hepburn

Art by Marcel Walker and Wayne Wise

p Margaret Bergmann

Art by Ann Uland

p The cover of Volume Four Art by Marcel Walker

p Simone Veil

Art by Mark Zingarelli

p Hedy Strnad

Art by Vince Dorse

p The project logo

avoided women, but “women’s stories tend to get erased, or not talked about, or written down, and we thought it was time to focus on that,” said Wayne Wise, “Chutz-Pow!” lead writer.

“History hasn’t been fair to women,” echoed Walker. “Unfortunately, women do not have their histories recorded the same way that men do.”

Jessie B. Ramey, director of Chatham University’s Women’s Institute and associate professor of women’s and gender studies, wrote the forward to this volume.

“We know that media shapes our culture and understanding of history as much as it reflects it,” she wrote. “This edition of ‘Chutz-Pow!’ gives us a more complete and richer account of the Holocaust, and therefore more ways to connect that history to the

p Frieda Belifante

Art by Erica Chan

present and to appreciate why it matters.”

“Representation of women matters, especially a diverse representation of women from many backgrounds,” added Ramey.

“Perhaps most importantly for young audiences, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see.’ Girls and young women need to see themselves as active agents in their own stories, making a crucial difference in the world.”

Volume four of “Chutz-Pow!” delivers a heightened focus on women’s experiences, but those familiar with the series will find a similar message across the

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

p Noor Inayat Khan

Art by Yang Zhen Lee

volumes, explained Bairnsfather: “These are stories of real people — not exaggerated, no super powers — ordinary people who did heroic things. We should all be inspired by them.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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Tree of Life Congregation seeks backstories for memorial objects left at the corner of Wilkins and Shady in the days following the attack of October 27, 2018.

To share the story of an object left among the flowers, please go to www.treeoflifepgh.org/stories We are interested in learning more about memorial items left as a tribute such as: marathon medal, nurse’s cross, guitar, gold sneakers, camp chairs, Wallenberg leaves, artwork, sports items, more.

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Torah Our daily bread Rabbi Daniel Wasserman Parshat Beshalach | Exodus 13:17-17:16

E

very mitzvah in the Torah is more than just a commandment and a directive. Certainly one must follow and fulfill every commandment of God. But beyond the specific performance of the mitzvah, every mitzvah contains and teaches us an attitude, a philosophy, a perspective to apply to our lives and through which we should see the world.

In the same way, every event in the Torah is more than just a story. The interactions between us and God, the interactions between each of the human players, the lessons taught and words used are more than a record of events that actually occurred.

Each event holds the potential to teach us an attitude, a philosophy, a perspective to apply to our lives and through which we should see the world.

There are so many lessons from the description of the man, the daily bread that God provided for the Jewish people throughout the 40 years in the desert, its delivery and the procedure for its collection and storage. Each verse deserves study on a surface level and then a deep dive into its nuances and implications. One idea, though, jumps out. Sunday through Thursday everyone went out and no matter how much time was spent collecting, everyone ended up with an Omer measure of Man for each member of the household and that was it. And on Erev Shabbat the amount was double. It did not matter how fast one collected or how strong one was. No matter how much effort was put in, everyone got

exactly what was needed. The Talmud tells us that the same is true in our lives. On Rosh Hashana it is decreed for each person how much money he or she will make during the coming year and nothing a person does will change that. Work harder, work more, somehow in the end the bottom line will remain the same as decreed.

This is an attitude that we stay focused on what we do and where our blessing comes from.

This is not a statement that suggests that one should not work hard and do a good job.

This is an attitude that we stay focused on what we do and where our blessing comes from. If we go out into the workplace with an understanding that our paycheck is actually signed by God and the amount is already determined and guaranteed, then we can spend our efforts in the workplace acting honestly and with integrity. We can appreciate the workplace as a place to exhibit good character and to sanctify God’s name, bringing honor to our family, our teachers, our people and to ourselves. In so doing, we will continue to receive the daily blessing of “bread in the morning with which to be sated” directly from God’s own hand. PJC Rabbi Daniel Wasserman is the rabbi of Shaare Torah Congregation and the president of Gesher HaChaim Jewish Burial Society. This column is a service of the Vaad HaRabbanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries GOLDSTEIN: Linda Renee Goldstein (Lasser), age 66, of Squirrel Hill, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Treasured wife of 41 years of Bob Goldstein, mother of Beth (Jeremy Goldman) and Michael (Maggie Cann), grandmother of Hannah Skye Goldman and Lila Gwendolyn Goldstein.

After attending Taylor Allderdice High School, Linda went on to earn her B.A. in psychology from the University of Michigan, graduating as part of the Mortar Board Honor Society. Linda was a devoted wife and mother and very proud new grandmother. Linda is also survived by her beloved aunt, Ilene (Jacobson) Weil, mother, Bernice Lasser, and brother, Jay Lasser. She is proceeded in death by her grandmother, Sophie (Fireman Danovitz) Hersh, father, Harold Lasser, and brother, Mark Lasser.

Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at Tree of Life Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Children’s Institute (amazingkids.org) or Humane Animal Rescue (humaneanimalrescue.org). schuguar.com KALLA: Stanford Kalla, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. Beloved husband of the late Syrietta “Skippy” Kalla. Beloved father of Jeffrey (Judy) Kalla, Lynn (Jimm) Donovan, David (Barbara) Kalla and Rabbi Jack (Stacey) Kalla. Brother of Dr. Richard (Alice) Kalla, the late Joseph Kalla, late Irene (late Isadore) Goldberg, late Esther Goldberg, late Irwin (late Phyllis) and late Milton Kalla.

Also survived by 10 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Graveside services and interment were held at Shaare Torah Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Libby’s Place Senior Day Program, Avenue U, Galveston, TX 77551. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com ROSE: Gail Davidson Rose, on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. beloved wife of Wayne M. Rose, loving mother of Kristen (Stuart) Noell and Mark Rose; cherished sister of Susan Davidson (John) Studeny; proud grandma of Katherine and Zachary Noell; also survived by adoring nieces Sarah (Jordan) Blask, Joanna (Conan) Mastrangelo and their children Hunter, Sylvie, Dolly and June. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at B’nai Israel Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. schugar.com SCHWARTZ: Arnold “Arnie” Schwartz, on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. Devoted and loving son of the late Goldie (Mallinger) Schwartz and Myles Schwartz. Brother of the late Reva (late Morton) Robins. Uncle of Louis Robins and Janet (Gordon) Cohen. Great-uncle of Gabriel Cohen. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at Adath Jeshurun Cemetery. schugar.com SOLOMON: Robert Myron Solomon, beloved husband of the late Lois Solomon, beloved father of Edward Solomon and the late Lee Solomon, grandfather to the late Jeffrey Solomon, father-in-law to Cathy Weiss and Andrea Solomon-Eller (“son-in-law” PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Andrew Eller) and uncle to Faye Potts, Adele Sales, Beth Kurson, Lawrence Orinstein, Ronna Solomon, Eric Solomon and Louis Solomon, passed away on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Florida. Bob was married to Lois for 63 years, but they started dating eight years before that in 1942 when they were both students at Taylor Allderdice High School.

An excellent athlete in basketball (captain), tennis (city champion) and swimming, Bob left in 1944 to serve in the Merchant Marines and Navy in Europe and Asia. Upon return, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated in 1949. He liked to talk about the more than 25 jobs he had, from being a hypnotist for a dentist to working as an usher at Forbes Field the day Babe Ruth hit his last home run. All of this culminated in him starting Tile City, a retail floor covering business. Being both an entrepreneur and innovator, Bob grew the business to 23 stores in Western PA, Ohio and Massachusetts.

Both Bob and Lois became avid golfers and they belonged to Westmoreland Country Club where Bob served as board chairman.

They also became involved in numerous charitable causes including the United Jewish Federation, American Cancer Society, Temple Sinai, Allegheny Health Network, State of Israel Bonds and others. Bob and Lois loved to travel, played a competitive game of bridge and had numerous wonderful friends.

Family was always top priority and Bob was the patriarch. Unfortunately, Lee was lost to a brain tumor in 1995 and Jeffrey passed away in 2006. Bob and Lois moved permanently to Florida in the 1990s where they enjoyed the warm weather, daily golf, dancing and the “retired life” but they kept in close touch with friends and family in Pittsburgh and throughout the country. In his retired years, Bob developed a proclivity for creating art from found objects including wrenches and bolts to classic automobile grills. He also became an enthusiastic and accomplished fisherman. He was always an avid student of and excellent investor in the stock market and no floor covering escaped his evaluation.

Being sedentary was not in his plans and he was quite active through his 93rd birthday.

Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at B’nai Israel Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to the Lee Solomon Fund for Brain Tumor Research, Allegheny Health Network, 4818 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224. schugar.com TANOWITZ: Ian S. Tanowitz, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. Beloved father of Robin (Charles) Herbol and Michael Tanowitz. Brother of Karen (Thomas) Bernstein. “Grandpa Ian” to Sydney, Kyle and Deanna Herbol. Uncle of Michael, Todd and the late Marci Bernstein, David Schindler and Amy Jackson. Great uncle of Max, Sammy, AJ and Charley. Former spouse of Louise Segal and also survived by his beloved four-legged companion, Goldie.

Mr. Tanowitz was an avid fencer and in his youth, he competed in Olympic weightlifting.

Graveside services and interment were held at Beth Shalom. Contributions may be made to the Animal Lifeline Pittsburgh (animal lifelinepgh.org). Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com. PJC

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

In memory of...

Anonymous .............................................................Milton Abes

A gift from ...

In memory of...

Amy R. Kamin........................................................Helen Honig

Anonymous ....................................................... Louis Fishman

Mrs. David Lieberman ...................................Joseph Zinner

Anonymous .......................................Pearl Rush Rosenberg

Mrs. David Lieberman ...............................Charlotte Rubin

Anonymous ............................................... Harry L. Steinberg

Mrs. David Lieberman ............................ Sara Lea Zinner

Dava Berkman ...........................................Bernard Berkman

Mrs. Barbara C. Linder ...........................Richard L. Linder

Dava Berkman .............................................. Esther Berkman

Sandra W. Loevner ............................................Max Loevner

Dana L. Gelman .................................................. Phillip Harris

Ida Jean McCormley ...............................Miriam Silberman

Ms. Glick.....................................................................Cliff Ruben

Anne D. Rosenberg ............................... Minnie Rosenberg

Ms. Glick...................................................................... Bea Ruben

Albert Roth .......................................................Alexander Roth

Edward M. Goldston ...................... Frumie Fraidel Brown

Cheryl Sober ..........................Rachel Sheffler Shuklansky

Ilene Iskoe ............................................ Martha Trachtenberg

Jules Spokane .......................................................Louis Cohen

Mary Jatlow ...................................................Jane Margowsky

Richard Toker ......................................................Samuel Toker

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday February 9: Irving Glicken, Morris Goodman, Mollie Greenfield, Harry Gruskin, Clara Ida Harris, Esther Mankovitz, Martha Rogal, Edgar Schaffel, Harry D. Wald Monday February 10: Esther Berkman, Harry A. Cohan, James H. Darling, Ida S. Goldberg, Jacob J. Gordon, Sidney Hyde, Walter E. Katz, Carl Labovitz, Nathan Labe Land, Ludwig Landman, Mike Leebov, Sheldon G. Lindner, Philip Rosenthal, Harry Shapiro, Jennie Shrager, David Silverblatt, Minnie Rhea Silverblatt, Jennie Sobel, Dorothy Spolan, Sidney Stark, Annie Stearns, Julius Wolf Tuesday February 11: Jacob Adler, Ida Alpert, Simon Bostocky, Froomie Brown, Eva Cohen, Mollie Hilsenrath, Michael Hoffrichter, Helen Honig, Daniel Levinson, Rebecca Luick, Dorothy Pollock, Leon Prinz, Mollie Ryave, Max Schoenberger, Benjamin W. Steiner Wednesday February 12: Hyman Browarsky, Ethel Golanty, Morris D. Herwitt, Hyman Klahr, David Lundy, Isadore Lupovitz, Joseph Markovitz, Lew J. Miller, Isadore Pachtman, Milton Ripp, Eunice Roth, Lena G. Skirble, A. Leonard Winer, Ivan Lee Wolinsky Thursday February 13: JMyer Borovetz, Saul Frank, Marcus Gropper, Max Halle, Irving Hochhauser, Lillian Y. Horwitz, Samuel M. Krause, Ernest Metzger, Mildred Pechersky, Jennie Pink, Elsie L. Plesset, Freda Z. Rosen, Rose Rosenfeld, Irving Ross, Alexander Roth, Mark J. Serbin, Philip Solomon, Leon Stein, Mabel Z. Swartz Friday February 14: Bertha Ackerman, William Barnett, Newman Cohen, Esther Goodman, Ethel Greenberg, Myer Grossman, Selma B. Katz, Sally Marcovsky, Rose Schlessinger Saturday February 15: Fannye P. Balkman, Edith Cohen, Reuben A. Cohen, Hattie Debroff, Hannah R. Eliashof, Rose Fireman, Celia Glantz, Herman Glass, Robert Kane, Rose Klein, Haim Lazarus, Dr. William B. Lieberman, Mathilda Marcus, William D. Orr, Rena Pollock, William Racusin, Sara Rubenstein, Philip Schmeiser, Joseph Stein, Geraldine Tyson, Ruth Weinberger, Arthur Weiner

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Headlines Parkway: Continued from page 7

The Oberlin College graduate said his talk at the synagogue will address some of those issues as well as answer the questions, “Where do you get trees in abundance that are affordable?” and “Where can you find places to plant them?”

These questions are important, he added, because public resources like the Ohio Forest Nursery have closed, meaning there is less access to plants and seeds.

“The resources are still there but the channels to get them are very unclear for

Summit: Continued from page 14

behalf, it is relevant to hear Jewish and Palestinian voices at the Racial Justice Summit because it is “always important to pursue racial justice across the globe, and in particular to address systems of injustice over which we have influence, such as those created and maintained by the U.S and Israel,” he wrote in an email after attending the summit. “The so-called ‘special relationship’ between these two countries is a toxic source of racialized hatred against people of color and indigenous peoples reaching beyond the imperial borders of the states themselves.”

The Racial Justice Summit has included anti-Israel presentations since 2017. At last year’s summit, during a panel presentation dubbed “Rewriting the Narrative: Reimagining the Future,” Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American novelist, explained the launch of Zionism as “a political movement that was conceived by wealthy Jewish businessmen in Eastern Europe” and shouted down Jewish people in the audience attempting to refute her allegations.

While this year’s program lacked “overt anti-Semitic rants” like last year’s, Sayles said, “the values espoused by some of the speakers at the Racial Justice Summit were unquestionably anti-Semitic,” with conference organizers ignoring the mainstream Jewish

someone like me obsessed by trees,” he said.

“That means they are almost invisible to someone that would just like to plant more trees or see their neighborhood provide food and shelter and habitat and just be a lovely place to live.”

While Shapiro’s project has regional and global ramifications, it also echoes the bumper sticker seen on so many VW buses: “Think Global. Act Local.”

As he explained, trees can help rehabilitate brownfields and former industrial sites, prevalent throughout Pittsburgh.

“Imagine that it takes 10 or 20 years for a hazelnut tree to bear fruit. During that time, the tree is building itself, taking carbon from

“ It is my sincere hope that we can someday change the status quo and be in a public relationship with the seminary, but not

”

at the expense of our community.

— JOSH SAYLES, DIRECTOR OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL FOR THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH community’s “red line.” While the Jewish community welcomes “difficult conversations with diverging viewpoints on Israel, minimizing the Jewish people’s connection to the land of Israel and/or denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state crosses the line into anti-Semitism.”

Over the last several years, Sayles and other Jewish communal leaders have reached out “with serious concerns” to organizers of the summit about anti-Semitism as well as to PTS leadership about anti-Semitism on the seminary’s campus.

“While anti-Semitism at either is highly problematic, and the summit is the flagship anti-racism program in our region, it only occurs once a year,” he noted. “The seminary on

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

president and professor of cross-cultural theological education at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, in an email. “Indeed, we aspire to be a location at which difficult — even painful — conversations can take place. Working with our brothers and sisters of other faith traditions, we uphold the values that bind us together — respect for and welcoming of all God’s children.”

The “conversation” at the PTS about Israel and the Palestinians at the summit, though, did not include speakers supporting the Jewish state.

For now, the Federation will continue its moratorium on publicly partnering with the PTS. The PTS is willing to “get proximate with diverse communities to fight racism in all its forms with one exception: the Jewish community,” said Sayles.

“It is my sincere hope that we can someday change the status quo and be in a public relationship with the seminary, but not at the expense of our community,” Sayles added.

“Until then, we will continue our difficult work throughout the region — both publicly and behind the scenes — to combat anti-Semitism by creating greater understanding of the Jewish culture and people.

We recognize that sometimes the work is painful and frustrating, and there will always be those who are not willing to acknowledge our pain or even our identity.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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the other hand is the largest Christian seminary in Southwestern Pennsylvania and by its own admission has a daily responsibility to make our region stronger by building community for all. The Jewish Federation holds them to a high standard to fight racism and anti-Semitism in all forms because, as the seminary’s leadership would openly admit: with greater power comes greater responsibility.”

Although PTS leadership has at times “sat down with us to learn more about our concerns, no concrete steps have been taken to effectively remove anti-Semitic activities from their campus,” Sayles added.

The PTS intentionally welcomes onto its campus “organizations with many diverging viewpoints,” explained David Esterline,

all of the male date palm trees in Judea.

Because of that, the females, which look like the date palm trees we picture in our mind when we think of palm trees, couldn’t flower and the species went extinct in the land.”

While Tu B’Shevat is a holiday celebrated more readily in Israel, the cantor pointed out that there are reasons for the Pittsburgh Jewish community to embrace the holiday.

“We might be two countries, but we have one large environment, and as we’re finding out more and more, what’s good for one is good for all.” PJC

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the air, energy from the sun, while the tree’s system pulls up water and nutrients from the soil, being pulled into its bark, trunk and branches. It’s also pulling out all kind of toxins and binding them to the wood. The tree acts like a filter, taking the toxins but not putting them into its fruit. You then have soil that is healthier and safe to crop or plant.”

Of course, Shapiro pointed out, there is a more Jewish reason to think about trees, plants and the environment in general: “tikkun olam.”

Henry Shapiro recounted a story that illustrates why it’s so important to be stewards of the Earth: “During the first century, in the time of the rebellions, the Romans cut down

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FEBRUARY 7, 2020 21

Community Music and memory at JAA

p Emily Harris, a storyteller who helps coordinate creative programs for the Jewish Association on Aging, engages residents at AHAVA Memory Care Center of Excellence with doo-wop.

p Emily Harris and Suzanne do the jitterbug.

Photos courtesy of JAA

Student leaders meet at Hillel JUC

p Pittsburgh’s student leaders gathered at Hillel JUC on Jan. 23 to meet members of the Jewish Federation’s Community Relations Council. Resources for advocacy and fighting anti-Semitism on campus were discussed.

p From left: Daya Sharon, Evan Ressel, Melanie Silver and Jonah Lerman

‘Chutz-Pow!’ Release On Thursday, Jan. 16, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, in partnership with Chatham’s Women’s Institute, hosted the opening of “CHUTZ-POW! The Art of Resistance” and the launch of “CHUTZ-POW! Volume IV: Women’s Stories.” The event was held at the Chatham University Art Gallery, and the exhibit was sponsored by Chatham University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “CHUTZ-POW!” is the Center’s ongoing comic book series that tells true stories of heroism during the Holocaust.

Photos courtesy of Hillel JUC

Mr. Samet went to Washingon

p Some of the creators of ‘CHUTZ-POW! Volume IV: Women’s Stories,’ holding the advance edition of the volume.

Photo by Melanie Friend for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

p Last year, Judah Samet, left, was invited by the White House to attend the 2019 State of the Union. While there, Samet’s birthday was marked in song by Congress.

Photo courtesy of Judah Samet

22 FEBRUARY 7, 2020

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Community Remembering at CDS

Field trip to Israel

p Carnegie Mellon University campus leaders traveled to Israel with the CMU-Hillel Perspectives trip. The learning experience brings Jewish and non-Jewish student leaders with positional influence to Israel for a no-fee 10 day trip.

p Good times at the Western Wall.

Photos courtesy of Hillel JUC

Fun in the sun

p Community Day School eighth graders Katelynn Lieber, Noam Pishoto and Akiva Weinkle observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day outside the Gary and Nancy Tuckfelt Keeping Tabs: A Holocaust Sculpture. Photo courtesy of Community Day School

Playing in the dirt

p Federation’s Young Adult Division Director Sara Spanjer (standing, in white) attended the Next Gen Jewish Federation seminar in San Diego. The seminar was part of a 20-month program to give Jewish professionals the tools and training to create meaningful experiences that connect young adults with Jewish community. The Next Gen fellowship is available through the support of the Jim Joseph Foundation and is offered by The Jewish Federations of North America.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

Machers and Shakers

p Federation’s Young Adult Division hosted a Ladies Night Out at Workshop PGH on Jan. 8. Participants learned about kokedama, the Japanese art of growing plants in a moss-covered ball of soil wrapped with string.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

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Pittsburgh Business Times released its Power 100, a list of the region’s 100 most influential business leaders. Included on the list were members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community: Laura Karet, CEO Giant Eagle Inc.; Stefani Pashman, CEO Allegheny Conference on Community Development; Gregg Perelman CEO and founding partner Walnut Capital; Todd Reidbord, principal and president Walnut Capital; Jeffrey Romoff, president and CEO UPMC; Audrey Russo, president and CEO Pittsburgh Technology Council; Dr. Steven Shapiro, EVP, chief medical scientific officer, president of Health Services Division UPMC; and Karen Wolk Feinstein, president and CEO Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

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FEBRUARY 7, 2020 23

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