Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 4-10-20

April 10, 2020 | 16 Nisan 5780

Candlelighting 7:37 p.m. | Havdalah 8:37 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 15 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Job loss, salary reductions pose new reality for local Jewish nonprofits

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Big challenges for small congregations

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Local rabbis offer inspiration to help weather COVID-19 crisis

Catching up with technology

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

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LOCAL Nine at a time

 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill.

By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

Kosher purveyors adapt.

Page 3

LOCAL A different kind of wedding

Family attends, but not in person.

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he Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh has furloughed about 50 of its 135 full-time employees and shifted another 50 to part-time employment, a fallout of the March 15 closure of both branches of the JCC due to COVID-19 mandates.

The JCC also announced that its 350 parttime employees will not be scheduled to work at all for the foreseeable future, and all senior staff members have taken salary cuts.

The decision to cut back on employees and salaries, which was delivered to staff on April 3 via a Zoom meeting, “was very, very, very hard,” said Brian Schreiber, the JCC’s president and CEO. “Our hope is that as we reopen, we can bring everybody back. That is our hope.”

Pittsburgh’s JCC is not alone in taking such dramatic measures in order to stay afloat during these financially uncertain times of massive unemployment and social distancing orders. Last week, more than 700 employees at four JCCs in Northern California were temporarily laid off. The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta also laid off or furloughed more than half of its staff last week, and the Kaiserman Jewish Community Center outside Philadelphia, which has been shuttered since March 13, laid off 176 out of its 178 employees.

“Pittsburgh is in very difficult but very

Photo by Adam Reinherz

ittsburgh area rabbis are facing a daunting task this spring, helping their congregants cope with the fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak, including social distancing, stay-at-home orders, virtual minyans and Passover seders as well feelings of isolation and estrangement.

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle asked several local rabbis to share their thoughts on both the spiritual and personal implications of the coronavirus outbreak.

good company in that some of the biggest and strongest communities on the continent are undertaking the kinds of layoffs that Brian announced on Friday,” said Doron Krakow, president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America. “It’s happening in most communities, and the question is when the trigger is going to get pulled in a number of different places.”

The JCCs’ business model, which depends upon monthly income collected from membership dues, program fees and childcare tuition, is particularly vulnerable to the economic impact caused by this pandemic.

When Pittsburgh’s JCCs closed its doors on March 15, all incoming fees were frozen, Schreiber explained. The organization was able to compensate its full staff for three weeks while waiting for the details of the federal stimulus bill to be released. Then, JCC leaders “got to the point where we had to start making some choices,” Schreiber said.

Those employees who have been moved to half time can apply for unemployment for the differential between their new salaries and their former salaries, he said, and all the full-time staff who receive health care benefits will continue to receive those benefits – including 85% of paid premiums – through June 30.

JCCs are among three groups of Jewish

Rabbi Amy Bardack, director of Jewish Life and Learning at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh I see the challenges falling into two related categories. There’s the challenge of life and death: “Am I or my loved ones going to get this virus?” Then, there’s the Rabbi Amy societal effects of this: What does isolation mean to our Bardack mental health, to economics, spiritual sustenance? It’s hard to hold on to all of that.

When we feel overwhelmed, we can trust that God isn’t overwhelmed. There is a place for prayer, in giving God the enormity, because it’s too hard for us to hold. There’s a place for study and a place for human connection, through whatever technology. What I have found is that when we run into somebody on a walk, we stay six feet away but wave and say hello. Joining my synagogue, Beth Shalom, online feels like I am in community.

I paid a shiva call 10 feet away from the person’s door. I really feel that there’s so much of our tradition that relies on the power of face-to-face contact, I didn’t want to just do

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Headlines Smaller congregations face bigger challenges during pandemic — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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n addition to reaching out to congregants on a near daily basis, Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer, spiritual leader of Congregation B’nai Abraham in Butler, Pennsylvania, has been serving as IT manager since the COVID-19 crisis shuttered her synagogue’s doors.

“I really have no one else to turn to,” she said. “We don’t have an executive director.”

While all congregations in Western Pennsylvania are feeling the effects of the social distancing and stay-at-home orders, those with smaller memberships are faced with additional challenges.

When B’nai Abraham — which serves about 60 families — offered its first service online last week, Gray-Schaffer orchestrated the feed. Moving ahead, the congregation will switch platforms, because as the synagogue staffer has learned, there are alternative methods for sharing content on such scale.

The fact that Gray-Schaffer is quickly discovering the difference between Skype and Zoom, or what exactly is necessary bandwidth, isn’t surprising to her: “That’s what happens to the spiritual leader of a small congregation. They do everything.”

Cantor Rena Shapiro, spiritual leader of Beth Samuel Jewish Center in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, described the recent period as “difficult,” “unprecedented” and “scary,” but maintained she’d been greatly aided by the congregation’s president, Bill Snider, and its director of programming and operation, Barbara Wilson.

“We are working together as a team, as we always have,” said Shapiro. “We are working very hard together to get us to the point

p Rabbi Leonard Sarko officiates a videoconferenced Friday night service. Participants attended online.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Leonard Sarko

where we can feel as though we’re up with the mainstream.”

What being “up with the mainstream” looks like, in many cases, is having near total communication and offerings online. The difficulty, however, is that “a smaller congregation does not have the technical equipment in place already, or as quickly, or have the funds to purchase it as quickly, as other larger places.

And so it’s been a process for us,” said Shapiro.

While striving to address technical needs, Beth Samuel staff and lay leaders have continued focusing on connecting with congregants. But that too has been difficult.

“We’re trying to reach out right now by email to our membership, but we even have members that don’t have email,” said Wilson.

The congregation set up phone trees, and what’s come from those regular conversations is the realization that it may be a different

type of Passover this year, she explained: “One of the things our congregants said is ‘Here in the far northwest suburbs, it’s a little bit harder to come by Passover food to begin with, let alone not being able to travel into the city or get together and prepare food.’”

To help, Wilson recently procured a case of matzah and has been calling congregants to see who has a need. She then asks volunteers to deliver the unleavened bread via “door drops.”

The same has been largely true for prayer books and haggadahs.

“We did a no contact prayer book pickup on Monday where I put a chair outside of my office, people would call when they pulled up to the synagogue, I would put prayer books on the chair, and then they would come up to the door and pick their prayer books up,” said Wilson. As for haggadahs, Wilson prepared a PDF that could be emailed, printed and

made available for pickup, mailed to congregants or offered via “no contact drop-off.”

Finding ways for congregants to follow along on Shabbat, or during the second night of Passover’s live audio podcast of the seder, are among several services being offered by Beth Samuel. Other services include delivery of grocery orders and pharmacy items.

“We’re trying to fill in anything people need so they can keep healthy and away from crowds,” said Wilson.

Rabbi Leonard Sarko, of Congregation Emanu-El Israel in Greensburg, described the recent period as “challenging.”

“Most of what we do tends to be in close proximity of others, and to be able to be distant and still do the jobs we’re supposed to be doing is certainly challenging. On the other hand we have made great strides in doing some adjustments to keep at least the religious aspects of what we are doing here in Greensburg alive,” he said.

Unlike many smaller congregations, Emanu-El, with about 75 member families, had the prescience to order high quality video equipment well before shuttering.

“We didn’t do it because of the virus, we did it for other reasons, but it was there and certainly has been a boon because we could still offer services where people can stay at home, and still provide certain religious needs as best we can,” said Sarko.

The congregation’s order included computers, pan-tilt-zoom cameras and audio equipment, and collectively cost approximately $10,000.

“The reason we did what we did is most of the synagogues outside of Allegheny County in the surrounding areas have folded except for us. So the question is, ‘If you live in Indiana County, you’re not going to be able to come to Greensburg or to Pittsburgh Please see Congregations, page 15

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Headlines Local kosher food purveyors adapt in the wake of COVID-19 — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

C

all it a new COVID-19 springtime custom. Amy Schuler waited in line in Squirrel Hill recently to be one of the nine people at a time allowed inside Murray Avenue Kosher. Once inside, she said “it was an overall surreal experience.”

“It felt like a much larger place,” said Schuler, whose children go to Yeshiva Schools in Pittsburgh. “Even with the expansion there, it’s still small for our community.

I did feel like I was well-spaced, compared to Giant Eagle, where I was on top of people.”

Murray Avenue Kosher wasn’t the only kosher business adapting to survive — or thrive — around Passover in the time of the novel coronavirus. Jewish-owned businesses in Pittsburgh whose owners spoke with the Chronicle said they were trying to think outside the box to best serve Pittsburgh’s kosher community.

Milky Way took orders over the phone, adapted their menu to slim down on produce, and worked to keep everything cashless, delivering food to take-out customers outside the Murray Avenue establishment.

Hamsah, a Mediterranean restaurant that opened last summer, also switched into heavy takeout mode.

“We’re trying to survive,” Hamsah owner Nissim Assouline said. “We’ll see what’s going to happen.”

Kosher cooks also tried to be inventive while still preparing meals for Passover.

Judah Cowen said his business, Elegant Edge Catering Company, is used to preparing catered meals for seders with up to 400 people. That’s not so in 2020, in the age of social distancing.

“There are lots of small seders this year so we’re pivoting to à la carte ordering,” Cowen said. “After Passover, we’re planning to do multiple take-out nights per week.”

“We’re trying to make things exciting in a big way,” he added.

The caterer, who prepares meals in Congregation Beth Shalom’s kitchen, also is doing curbside delivery outside of the Squirrel Hill synagogue, he said. No customers are allowed inside his business under any circumstances.

“Stay safe and healthy, knowing that we are going beyond your expectations to continue to present outstanding food and service,” Cowen wrote on the company’s Facebook page. “We look forward to warm weather, easy days, good health and seeing you soon!”

Moshe Barber of the local Kosher business VegOut Cuisine — which has always been modeled on delivery service — is hoping to seize on the public’s growing interest in health.

“Of course, the healing of chronic degenerative diseases helps the immune system,” said Barber, a Squirrel Hill resident who cooks downtown at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol — Beth Jacob Congregation. Plant-based whole foods can aid healing, he said.

To illustrate, he points to a menu full of bold flavors such as pumpkin potato soup, mock chopped liver and an organic blueberry tart sweetened with house-made date paste.

The Kosher shop Pigeon Bagels, located in Squirrel Hill, on the other hand, closed recently in the shadow of COVID-19.

“Pigeon is closed and no longer taking orders,” the company announced on its website. “Stay tuned for some special bulk sales TBD. If you would like to support the Pigeon staff while we are closed you can donate to our virtual tip jar.”

Eighteen, the café at Pinsker’s, encouraged patrons to call about take-out and hours before stopping by. Its owners also encouraged diners to purchase a COVID-19themed “Flatten the Curve” T-shirt to support businesses affected by the pandemic. PJC

AT

HEINZ HALL

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p Shoppers wait in line, six feet apart, to enter Murray Avenue Kosher.

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Photo by Jim Busis

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APRIL 10, 2020 3

Headlines Businesses reliant on international travel now in holding pattern — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

M

alori Asman runs the South Hillsbased travel business Amazing Journeys, specializing in trips for Jewish singles, and spends more than a third of each year on the road in exotic locales.

Jennifer Murtazashvili, the director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets, is a central Asia expert who is often sought for speeches and policy guidance internationally.

Both Pittsburghers have been thwarted by the novel coronavirus, their normal business routines abruptly brought to a halt.

Asman, who lives in Mt. Lebanon, hasn’t seen the travel business shut down like this in her 35-plus years in the industry. The vast majority of her customers are Jewish singles, and she was flying high in February, hosting trips in Thailand, Argentina and even Antarctica.

“And they all got back just ahead of the world turning upside-down,” Asman said.

She canceled two trips to Croatia in April and put off all tours through May 15. Next on the agenda? A trip to Israel in June, which may or may not happen.

“People ask me what I do for a living now,” Asman laughed. “I say, ‘I’m in the trip cancellation business.’”

Asman, who estimates she travels about 125 days a year, had big plans for 2020.

“This year, being it was our 20th anniversary year, we were going to be on all seven continents,” she said. “But our clients weren’t ready to go anywhere.”

For her part, Asman has made do, scheduling virtual happy hours and interactive sessions with her clientele, many of whom live in New York City and its surroundings.

“We’re really trying to keep our clients from not being bored, from not being lonely,” Asman said. “It was travel that brought us together and, one day, we’ll get to travel together again.”

Murtazashvili, a member of Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill, was traveling in Afghanistan in February, working with local government leaders as they brokered peaceful relations with the Taliban. When she arrived in the Asian nation, officials took her temperature as she deplaned at the airport to check for symptoms of COVID-19.

“I don’t even think people were talking about Italy yet,” she said. “They were going on information from previous epidemics, like Ebola.”

Murtazashvili, a mother of four who also

p Amazing Journeys recently traveled to Antarctica with a group of Jewish singles.

The South Hills-based travel company is grounded for now. Photo provided by Amazing Journeys

is an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, planned to return to Afghanistan for a conference this summer with her family. COVID-19 has “totally postponed it,” she said.

She said the approach to COVID-19 has been fairly routine in countries like Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and nations that border China, where the pandemic began late last year.

“It’s fairly straightforward,” she said.

“Shut it down.”

She’s curious, but hesitant to embrace, what COVID-19 means from a policy perspective.

“As we see here, crises really affect people at the local level,” Murtazashvili said.

“I’m optimistic things will get better,” she added. “Of course, it’s a scary thing.

But I see people working together. You see people of all different stripes trying to figure this out.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Headlines Unable to attend in person, parents had virtual seat at daughter’s wedding — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

W

ith the gravity of the coronavirus beginning to hit the media hard in late February and early March, Monroeville native Gayle Levine still had her eye on heading to Key West, Florida, with her husband, Alan, for the wedding of their daughter, Becky, on March 21.

“I kept saying to her, ‘We will come wherever it is,’” recounted Levine. News of the virus, however, “just got worse and worse and we thought, ‘If we got there, would they cancel our flights?’ We didn’t know if we would be able to get a car to drive home.”

Eventually, Levine and her husband had to come to the painful decision to not attend the wedding of their child.

“It breaks my heart to tell you this, I can’t even get the words out of mouth to say, ‘We’re not coming,’” Levine ultimately had to tell her daughter. Becky and her fiancé, Alex Damian, did get married on March 21 surrounded by friends, but the journey was far more circuitous than they ever intended.

Dreams of a beach wedding were initially nixed because of Becky’s grandmother’s

mobility issues. Her grandmother, who lives just four hours away, would not be able to traverse the sandy terrain in her wheelchair.

So instead they “found a wonderful restaurant that was able to accommodate us on their porch,” Becky explained.

Ever ything was falling into place.

“We found the restaurant; it was beautiful and had a view of the ocean,” she said. “We found a photographer and a nice place to stay. Everyone said p Becky and Alex weren’t able to have their family they were coming. It was attend their wedding, but they did find Clorox Wipes!

Photos by Mark Hruban very exciting.”

Travel and health concerns due to COVID-19, though, began work afterward,” Becky said. Soon after, to alter the couple’s plans. “everything fell through.”

Becky’s parents and her aunt eventually First, Becky’s grandmother, who lives in an assisted living facility, was restricted from told her they were unable to make the trip leaving her residence. to Florida. Since her aunt had planned to “And then my sister, who works in a dial- officiate the wedding, the pair had to find ysis center, said she was leery about coming someone else to marry them. A friend and eventually said she wasn’t going to come stepped up to the task.

With none of the out-of-state guests because she wouldn’t be able to go back to

able to attend, the couple thought about returning to their original plan of having a beach wedding.

But the mandate to self-distance made that plan impossible as well.

“They had closed most of the beaches and there was just this little spot,” Becky said. “It was so crowded. And we’re not supposed to be clustering together. It’s supposed to be less than 10 people. So I said, ‘OK, we can’t do this here.’”

Her fiancé had one last idea. He had a friend with a backyard large enough to accommodate the wedding and their small group of friends attending. There was just one problem.

“It was a boy’s backyard,” Becky said with a laugh. “There were all these tires and weights. It was a total boy’s yard.”

The day of the wedding, Alex and his friends transformed the less than ideal venue into an acceptable spot, complete with strings of lights.

Despite not having her loved ones physically in attendance, Becky found ways to use technology to close the physical distance between family and friends.

“I feel like they were there every step of the Please see Wedding, page 15

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Hillel JUC students and staff strengthen relationships during pandemic — LOCAL —

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ith the pandemic forcing college students indoors and off-campus while still craving Jewish connection among their peers, a team of social media influencers calling themselves the MazelRazzis are among those to the rescue.

The MazelRazzis, and other Hillel JUC students, circulated a three-minute video last week to Hillel JUC students sheltering at home titled, “MazelRazzi Home Decor.”

The production mirrored “MTV Cribs,” a television show that provides viewers access to celebrities’ homes, by providing tours of students’ houses along with specific mention of objects including hamsahs, menorahs, a ketubah and seder plate.

“People love home tours and (with this video) you’re getting an inside look at people’s houses and what they’re doing during this time,” said Samantha Walter, a MazelRazzi intern and University of Pittsburgh senior studying psychology and religious studies.

The video was also a helpful mechanism for encouraging students to find the Jewish “within the comfort of their own home,” said Ariel Walovitch, Hillel JUC’s director of engagement.

Short videos designed for TikTok, Instagram or Facebook sharing have facilitated connection during this period of social distancing, such as one in which Hillel JUC students and staff filmed themselves pulling various Jewish items, such as a kiddush cup, a piece of artwork and a shofar, out of their refrigerators while Israeli music played in the background.

“We’re just trying to spread the positive as much as we can on social media,” said Walovitch. “That’s what’s so great about social media is that a lot of what I’ve always been doing is connecting with students online so the pandemic doesn’t stop us from doing that.”

Prior to the pandemic upending campus life, Hillel JUC functioned as a home base.

With its ability to house regular programming, education and social connectivity, the Forbes Avenue building was a center for students to enjoy a Jewish college experience.

Although many of Hillel’s staff and students are now hundreds of miles from the brick and glass paneled structure in Oakland, now temporarily shuttered due to COVID-19, they nonetheless are continuing to meet, study and engage in meaningful Jewish life through video and messaging.

“Believe it or not, building community online was already a pretty big part of what we were doing — just because of the way young people interact and the way they make meaning and connections,” said Danielle Kranjec, Hillel JUC’s senior Jewish educator. “So in terms of having an apparatus to communicate with people, we already had everything in place. Basically what we’ve done is just taken everything and dialed it up.”

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p Hillel JUC students gathered online to practice reading a student written Passover play; above, Melanie Silver and Marni Cantor Photos courtesy of Ryan Covitt

“What we’re seeing is that students are able to connect and learn through these social media and Zoom platforms, and that these are a lifeline. The relationships that students and staff have with one to another are critical,” said Dan Marcus, Hillel JUC’s executive director and CEO. Kranjec has brought Torah and Jewish thought to Pittsburgh’s college students for years. These days, she’s doing so online, and between sessions dedicated to Glückel of Hameln (a late 17th-century/ early 18thcentury Yiddish diarist) and Pauline Wengeroff (a 19th-century Jewish Russian memoirist), Kranjec is meeting increased demands.

“The students need me in a different way than they did before,” she said. “When students were having access points to various kinds of community, their Jewish community was just one part of a constellation of how they created meaning in their lives, but I think in times of distress students really look to their heritage for a lot of strength.”

Please see Hillel, page 15

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Headlines J-Serve and youth programming go digital but professionals remain committed as ever — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

I

n years past, J-Serve Pittsburgh has enabled hundreds of teenagers to give back to their communities while enjoying social engagement. This year, like so many other educational and communal endeavors, the March 29 scheduled event was moved online due to COVID-19 concerns.

“Obviously, for community health reasons, we’ve had to do a little bit of revamping,” said Hannah Kalson, director of teen engagement and experience at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. As opposed to gathering participants in the Squirrel Hill JCC gymnasium, presenting the teenagers with matching t-shirts and sending the young people to sites across the city, teenagers were encouraged to participate in “service projects that are easy to do from home.”

Examples included gathering canned goods for donation, writing letters to shuttered seniors and undertaking digital learning sessions with Holocaust survivors.

The wide variety of offerings facilitated

by BBYO, which also included a virtual rally with an at-home DJ, was intended “for teens all around the world, just like J-Serve is every

year here,” said Kalson.

On April 5, Young Judea also took advantage of technology to host an educational and fundraising event. The Zionist youth movement partnered with Repair the World and Amplifier Giving for a Zoom conversation about food insecurity and philanthropy.

It was a first attempt at bringing together Pittsburgh youth in such a fashion, explained Chaim Steinberg, Young Judaea’s city coordinator.

“We’re all trying to figure out the best ways to adapt our models and adapt our goals to this rapidly shifting environment that we’re all in,” Steinberg said.

In light of COVID-19, national youth organizations and local groups are struggling to determine the best course of action when it comes to keeping teenagers engaged, continued Steinberg. There are multiple options and right now youth group leaders are debating whether the emphasis should be on providing purely social experiences where kids can go online and “get in a room together with their friends and hangout,” or whether the goal should be to “create standalone content that kids can access later,” or to host an educationally rich Zoom call with 10 participants, or to post an Instagram video that garners 50 views.

“Kids are looking for stuff to do and they’re

p Families at Rodef Shalom Congregation competed in a Passover LEGO challenge.

The theme was Egypt.

Photos courtesy of Yael Eads

looking for ways to engage with one another,” said Yael Eads, youth director at Rodef Shalom Congregation. “The kids definitely miss each other. They like spending time with each other, and mostly what they’re looking for is that face to face socialization. Texting is easy, of course, going on Snapchat, Instagram, all that is great, but they’re really looking for that immediate kind of conversation that they could have while they’re looking at their friends.”

To help, Eads has created virtual challenges

for Rodef Shalom’s teens, such as at-home scavenger hunts and other Zoom hosted events where “everyone sees each other.”

The programs are geared more toward facilitating social connections than necessarily promoting Jewish content, however, a recent offering for younger participants opted for the latter, she explained. Titled “Passover Lego Challenge,” the program Please see J-Serve, page 15

To the members of the Pittsburgh Jewish Community: Thank you for welcoming us Thank you for including us Thank you for making Pittsburgh home to us We are sorry to leave and will miss you all.

You have a unique community.

Cherish it and each other.

In this time of uncertainty, stay safe and stay healthy.

Colorado isn’t that far, come visit!!

Amy & Ed Platt and Family PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

APRIL 10, 2020 7

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 Please check with the sponsoring event or venue for up-to-date information regarding cancellations and postponements. q FRIDAY APRIL 10 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, with Vitalant (formerly Central Blood Bank), is hosting drives for desperately needed blood donations in its Squirrel Hill and South Hills facilities in controlled and safe environments following CDC and Allegheny County guidelines. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Appointments strongly encouraged. Visit vitalant.org and click on the “Make an Appointment” button and search w/group code C189 (Squirrel Hill location) or C438 (South Hills location).

Join Temple Sinai for a very special Tot Shabbat: Passover Virtual Story Time beginning at 10:30 a.m. Young Adult Engagement Director Rebekah Malkin will read the story of Passover.

You can join virtually via Zoom by clicking zoom.us/j/687855663. q SUNDAYS, APRIL 12, 19, 26; MAY 3, 10, 17 Do you find prayer meaningless and opaque, or significant and powerful? Rabbi Danny Schiff’s course Jewish Prayer will explore the challenging nature of prayer. It will delve into the fundamental features of how and why we pray. Schiff, Foundation

Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will describe the origins and the structure of Jewish services and will engage in a close study of a number of central prayers within the liturgy. This webinar course is designed to give fresh insights into Jewish prayer with the goal of opening new doors of understanding. 10:30 a.m. jewishpgh.org/event/jewish-prayer/2020-03-29 q MONDAYS, APRIL 13, 20, 27 Jews have a huge array of texts and making sense of them is often a difficult struggle. In the four-part webinar course, The Text Puzzle, Rabbi Danny Schiff, Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will put the pieces of the “text puzzle” into one coherent picture, so that the place of Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, Responsa, Kabbalah, as well as many other sources, can be easily understood. Rabbi Schiff will place these texts into an historical context in order to explain their significance to Judaism. 10 a.m. jewishpgh.org/ event/the-text-puzzle/2020-04-06 q TUESDAY, APRIL 14 Are you a teen who just needs to complain, vent, moan with people who understand what you’re feeling? Do you have a problem and need a place to tackle some issues and get some outside perspective? Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and JFCS for a Virtual Teen Drop In Session via Zoom at 3 p.m. Open for teens to drop in, connect with people, get support, ask questions and more! To sign up, visit jfcspgh.org/virtualgroup.

An email will be sent to you 30 minutes prior to the event with instructions on how to join.

q TUESDAYS, APRIL 14, 21, 28; MAY 5, 12, 19 The classic Jewish text, Pirkei Avot, is regularly studied in the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot.

In Pirkei Avot — The Wisdom Verses of the Mishnah, Rabbi Danny Schiff will teach Pirkei Avot utilizing Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz’s book “Pirkei Avot — A Social Justice Commentary.” You will need the book (available online), but no prior knowledge is required. 7 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/pirkei-avot-thewisdom-verses-of-the-mishnahvirtual/2020-04-13 q SUNDAY, APRIL 19 Classrooms Without Borders presents an online lecture and film screening with Eric Bednarski, director of “Warsaw: A City Divided” at 2 p.m. RSVP to receive a link to the film. classroomswithoutborders.org/april-19-2020community-lecture-film-screening-eric-bednarskidirector-warsaw-city-divided q THURSDAY, APRIL 23 Caregiving can be stressful. The Caregivers Support Group will be meeting virtually over Zoom beginning at 1:30 p.m. Share tips, resources and feelings; get support from people who understand.

Open to anyone giving care to an older adult. Free.

Before you attend your first meeting and to register, please email Director of Senior Services Stefanie Small at ssmall@jfcspgh.org. q THURSDAYS, APRIL 23, 30; MAY 7, 14, 21 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Foundation Scholar, Rabbi Danny Schiff, presents The Human Body in Judaism. The seven-session course will explore the reaction of Judaism to the

way in which we treat our bodies, ranging from tattooing to cosmetic surgery, to hair cutting.

10:30 a.m. jewishpgh.org/event/the-human-body-injudaismvirtual/2020-03-26 q THURSDAY, APRIL 30 All women are welcome to join the Lions of Judah for a thought-provoking discussion on the Changing Faces of Judaism, presented by Danielle Kranjec, senior Jewish educator at the Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center. This is a Zoom conference. You will receive a link to participate with your registration email. Presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

To register, visit jewishpgh.org/event/ lion-of-judah-learn. q THURSDAY, MAY 14 Classrooms Without Borders is honored to bring David G. Marwell, author of the new book “Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death,’” to Pittsburgh. “Mengele” is a gripping biography of the infamous Nazi doctor, from a former Justice Department official tasked with uncovering his fate.

7 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. classroomswithoutborders.org/david-marwell q WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 The Jewish holiday of Shavuot celebrates the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Tikkun Leil Shavuot traditionally brings the entire Pittsburgh Jewish community together for all-night Jewish learning. The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will host an online version the night before Shavuot so all can participate.

More information to come. PJC

SPONSORED CONTENT

ELDER LAW IN THE AGE OF PANDEMIC, AND CORONAVIRUS RELIEF BENEFITS This is one in a series of articles about Elder Law by Michael H. Marks., Esq. Michael H. Marks is an elder law attorney with offices in Squirrel Hill and Monroeville.

Send questions to michael@marks-law.com or visit www.marks-law.com.

In this time of uncertainty and fear about the COVID 19 crisis, it’s more important than ever to take care of your personal and family estate and elder law planning needs. Especially now, to protect your family and your own future, it’s crucial to have adequate legal plans and arrangements in place to safeguard your interests against the risks posed by illness, incapacity or death.

ESTATE PLANNING Make sure that you have valid, up-to-date legal planning documents in place, that accurately say what you want to have happen, and who you want to help you or carry out your intentions for you if necessary. At a minimum, a Financial and Business Power Of Attorney, Health Care Power Of Attorney with Living Will, and Last Will and Testament - often with Trust Provisions, and/or a separate Revocable or Irrevocable Trust - are necessary.

ELDER LAW PLANNING It’s never too late or too early to plan against the catastrophic cost of disability and long-term care.

Most Americans of a certain age will need long-term care at some point in their future. Call me to examine what you can be and should be doing to protect your assets and ensure that you will get what you need, when you need it.

CORONAVIRUS BENEFITS NOW New financial benefits and changes to retirement plan rules are also available now under the new Federal legislation, “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act” to help people make it

8 APRIL 10, 2020

through the crisis.

Here is a summary of some benefits, payments, loans and credits that may be available as of this writing.

Many of the specifics of these new benefits and rule changes have yet to be determined and/or are changing frequently, so uncertainty abounds. This brief and general summary omits many details, but I hope it will help.

STIMULUS PAYMENTS FOR FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS As you probably have heard, a $2 trillion economic relief plan has become law, providing for cash stimulus payments to families, expanded unemployment benefits, student loan rules changes and more.

Cash payments to most individuals are in the works.

You don’t have to apply; if you filed a tax return or receive Social Security, you’ll automatically be included. The basic amount for each adult is $1,200, though benefits will be reduced for higher earners depending on your adjusted gross income, and over the limit amount, no benefit. Payments are allocated based on income as reported for 2019, or if you have not yet filed for last year, then based on 2018 tax filings.

related to coronavirus, you can pay it back over three years to avoid tax, or choose to pay the tax over three years. Coronavirus related reasons will be if you or a spouse or dependent is diagnosed with COVID 19 or if you experience negative financial impact or lost income from COVID 19 related quarantine, furlough, reduced hours, etc.

Also, the 10% penalty for taking early distributions during 2020 is waived, for withdrawals up to $100,000.

This legislation temporarily expands access to up to 12 weeks of family employment leave, for employers with less than 500 employees, for workers onboard for at least 30 calendar days. Expanded family and medical leave – either paid or unpaid - is available only to parents who need to care for a child because of a school closure.

INCREASED UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

EMERGENCY PAID SICK LEAVE ACT

Unemployment compensation varies from state to state but generally the Act funds up to an extra $600 per week, and for a broader range of unemployed persons than was previously eligible, now including self-employed people, independent contractors and others. The program applies to those who are unemployed or have reduced pay for a broad range of reasons related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Whether for yourself or a family member be aware that increased help is available.

Emergency paid sick leave is available for employees who are unable to work because they are subject to legal quarantine, or exhibit coronavirus symptoms and are seeking medical diagnosis, or are needed to care for a parent or someone else with COVID 19.

At Marks Elder Law, we help people every day with issues like these. I invite your questions and feedback. Please let me know how I can help you and your family.

helping you plan for what matters the most

The IRS has promised to set up a website with answers and information about this program. Note that the law also temporarily suspends most tax refund garnishments to repay debts to the IRS

CHANGES TO RETIREMENT PLAN RULES These changes apply to most retirement plans such as IRAs, inherited IRAs, 401(k) s, etc. First, required minimum distributions (“RMD’s”) are suspended for 2020. That means if you’re over age 72 or for any other reason would have been required to take out a minimum required distribution this year, now you don’t have to. This protects people from having to sell securities that are down in value, in order to make required distributions.

EMERGENCY FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE EXPANSION ACT

www.marks-law.com

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

If you do take money out in 2020 for a reason

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

With the increasing costs of long-term care, having the help of a legal professional when planning for your family’s future can help you make better decisions that can result in keeping more of your money.

We help families understand the strategies, the benefits, and risks involved with elder law, disability and estate planning.

Michael H. Marks, Esq. Linda L. Carroll, Esq. michael@marks-law.com member, national academy of elder law attorneys

linda@marks-law.com

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Local Jewish organizations brace for uncertain financial future — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

W

ith the COVID-19 outbreak forcing all non-essential businesses to shutter their doors and lay off thousands, the local Jewish nonprofit world has begun planning for the financial implications it surely will face as well.

“There are so many unknowns as we move forward,” said Congregation Beth Shalom’s president, Debby Firestone. “When will our preschool reopen? When will we be back to normal business? When will we reopen our sanctuary? Will our tenants still be there?”

To help confront the enormity of the situation, Beth Shalom has been working with self-imposed deadlines.

“The first is making sure that all of our employees are paid through April 19. And then, we’re focusing on day-to-day things because things change daily,” Firestone said.

Temple David in Monroeville is also in the early stages of construing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and what it will mean to the Reform congregation.

“We have a small staff and a paid rabbi,” explained Reena Goldberg, Temple David’s president. “A lot of our activities are run by volunteers, so maybe compared to a bigger synagogue, we don’t have as many people here that we are trying to figure things out for.”

Beth Samuel Jewish Center has not had to furlough any employees, but the congregation’s president, Bill Snider, noted that the Ambridge synagogue has begun to feel the financial impact in other ways.

“The biggest impact we’ve faced so far is the effect on our endowment fund, which is invested in the market,” said Snider. “Like anyone else that has a 401K in the market, it’s been hit quite hard. We use that fund for major projects, major renovations to our building. If something were to happen, if we would need a new roof, we would definitely be hampered by that.”

Loss of revenue for congregations is also tied to fundraising.

“We’ve seen a decrease in income,” offered Warren Sufrin, president of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills. “In our case

it’s because of bingo.” The weekly community event, now canceled indefinitely, attracts a large number of players from the South Hills and has served as a vital fundraiser for the congregation for decades.

Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill relies on voluntary pledges from its members, rather than traditional dues.

“The crisis hit at a point where most people had finished paying for their commitments this year,” according to the congregation’s president, Saul Straussman. But Temple Sinai is trying to determine how the financial impact will affect next year’s budget.

“And that,” said Straussman, “is anybody’s wild guess.”

Leaders from congregations Poale Zedeck and Shaare Torah said they have not yet felt an impact related to dues but are aware that their members may be feeling the financial blow.

“We’ll have to deal with that as it comes,” said Poale Zedeck’s president Dr. Louis Felder.

Recognizing that people are out of work, Shaare Torah’s president Jonathan Young acknowledged “it will affect us in some way” although he does not expect the congregation to feel the repercussions of that reality for a couple months.

Like many other congregations in the area, Adat Shalom Synagogue in Cheswick has “no intention of letting any staff go,” said the congregation’s president, Amy Himmel.

“We are going to do everything in our power to retain everyone.”

To accomplish that goal, many congregations, as well as other Jewish nonprofits, are applying for the federal small business loans made available as part of the CARES Act, through which Congress has allocated $349 billion in funding to help keep workers employed amid the pandemic and economic downturn. The initiative provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to small business and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees. The loan would be forgiven if businesses substantially retain employees pursuant to a preset formula.

Community Day School Head of School Avi Baran Munro is working to not only keep Please see Organizations, page 20

Separation, temporary.

Commemoration, forever. ‘‘...and you s hould t ell i t

t o your chi ldr en.’’

We shall endure this crisis and tell our children, “We will get through it.”

We take comfort in our stories, song, food.

We recite the Haggadah, acknowledging that we are a free people.

And while we may feel we are now held captive, we are comforted by each other and the traditions that liberate us.

Graphic by scaliger/iStockphoto.com

That’s Aging. Purposely.

jaapgh.org | 412-420-4000 200 JHF Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15217

p Community organizations are anticipating difficult times ahead as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

JAA317_PJC_Passover-FINAL.indd 1

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

3/27/20 2:42 PM

APRIL 10, 2020 9

Headlines Journalist fires up new initiative to feed those on the virus front lines — NATIONAL —

By Shiryn Ghermezian | JNS

A

new project that launched last week focuses on providing kosher meals to Jewish health care workers on the front lines fighting the coronavirus pandemic at hospitals around the United States while also helping Jewish restaurants stay afloat during the current government-mandated lockdowns.

Kosher19, a play on the name of the virus, COVID-19, organizes food to be delivered to kosher-observant health care workers who are busy around the clock with coronavirus patients. The project is funded through donations and depends on medical professionals to fill out a “food request form” on the initiative’s website. The form asks health care workers to specify which hospital they are affiliated with, how many people need kosher food at their medical center and the best time to do a delivery.

Kosher19 organizers then place an order with one of the 20 different kosher restaurants they partnered with, and the restaurants deliver the meals to the hospitals. Kosher19 has arranged food drop-offs at urgent care

p Health care professionals at New York-Presbyterian Hospital enjoy kosher pizza delivered by Kosher19.

Photo via JNS.org

and rehabilitation centers as well.

The initiative was started by Washington, D.C.-based Jewish journalist Bethany Mandel, 33, and it has already raised around $50,000 through Venmo and its GoFundMe page, she told JNS. In fact, during the time

she was speaking to a JNS reporter, someone sent $3,600 to the project.

Through Kosher19, food has been delivered to medical centers in Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Georgia, among other states highly affected

by the coronavirus. As of April 1, 3,942 medical workers had been served kosher food, and 89 medical centers had received it.

In one case, 45 kosher pizzas were delivered to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Equal numbers were dropped off at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Lincoln Medical Center in Bronx, New York.

Mandel estimates that through Kosher19, a whopping 6,000 slices of kosher pizza have already been delivered to hospitals.

“We did this for two reasons,” said Mandel, a columnist for The Forward and an editor of the website Ricochet. “One is to obviously feed health care workers, but equally important is keeping our kosher businesses in business. We sort of had some challenges finding places that are still open. Because every day, it’s like ‘Oh, here’s another one that closed.’ So, we’re also just trying to make sure these businesses have enough business to keep their doors open, especially right before Passover, when they have to close.”

Mandel was collecting donations to supply kosher food to Jewish health care workers even before officially launching Kosher19.

She told JNS that she previously raised Please see Kosher19, page 11

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

‫ישועת ה׳‬ ‫כהרף עין‬ The salvation of God is like the blink of an eye.

Lee and Lisa Oleinick 10 APRIL 10, 2020

April 10, 2002 — Suicide bomber kills eight on Haifa bus

Eight commuters on a Haifa bus are killed in a suicide bombing on the eve of a visit

by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. The attack is part of a surge in Second Intifada violence since March 31.

April 11, 2002 — Powell visits to negotiate cease-fire

B efore leaving Madrid to meet with King Abdullah II in Jordan, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians.

April 12, 1971 — Singer Eyal Golan is born

Eyal Golan, one of Israel’s most successful Mizrahi singers, is born in Rehovot. He is a professional soccer player when he releases his first album, “Whisper in the Night,” in 1995.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

April 13, 2004 — Hapoel Jerusalem wins basketball EuroCup

Hapoel Jerusalem defeats Real Madrid, 83-72, to win Europe’s second-biggest club basketball championship, the EuroCup. Hapoel beats teams from Poland, Lithuania and Serbia to reach the final.

April 14, 1961 — All-Time Miss Israel is born

Illana Shoshan, who wins the 1980 Miss Israel title and in 2010 is voted the Miss Israel of All Time, is born in Kfar Saba. She becomes a fashion model, actress, film producer and activist on women’s issues.

April 15, 1945 — Bergen-Belsen is liberated

The British 11th Armored Division liberates the Nazis’ Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where an estimated 50,000 Jews and others, including Anne Frank, die in the final two years of World War II.

April 16, 1983 — Watches, art stolen from Islamic Museum

In what may be the costliest heist since modern Israel’s founding, watches, clocks and paintings worth tens of millions of dollars are stolen overnight from the Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem. PJC

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines After 60 years, Canada’s leading Jewish newspaper to close amid coronavirus crisis

C

anada’s flagship national Jewish newspaper of record, the Canadian Jewish News, became a coronavirus casualty after it announced that its April 9 issue would be its last after 60 years.

“Unfortunately, we too have become a victim of Covid-19,” president Elizabeth Wolfe said in an official statement Thursday on the CJN website. “Already struggling,

we are not able to sustain the enterprise in an environment of almost complete economic shutdown.”

“There is no other paper. This was it,” Bernie Farber, the former CEO of the Canandian Jewish Congress, told the National Post. “So, along with everything else that’s going on tight now, this just adds another layer of sadness.”

There will be no print or internet edition.

The weekly, launched Jan. 1, 1960 under the editorship of Myer Nurenberger, fell victim to the economic devastation of Covid-19 after struggling to stay afloat since coming to the brink of closure once before, in 2013. It revived after a groundswell of community support.

At the time, the newspaper let go of about 50 staffers in Montreal and Toronto and relaunched with new editorial leadership, a

Kosher19:

but as the donations quickly flooded in, she brought on three other people to help organize the funds and food, as well as a volunteer coordinator.

Dani Klein, 37, a New York food blogger and social media marketing strategist for the media agency MediaCom, is one of the initiative’s organizers, and his wife, Arielle, is involved in some of the kosher food purchasing and distribution.

Klein has a website called YeahThatsKosher. com, which publishes kosher food related content and news.

“There’s little I can do to save lives in the current situation, but I can support those who are saving lives,” he said. “The most common request from frontline medical workers has been food, and with a large amount of kosher observant doctors, nurses and other essential medical staff, we wanted to make sure they could eat as well. Additionally, we have the added benefit of financially supporting small kosher businesses during a difficult economic time.” PJC

Judge denies Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s motions to avoid death penalty

Continued from page 10

$4,000 she then added to house accounts for workers of the Hatzalah emergency service at four different kosher restaurants in Brooklyn.

“I think it sends a message to all these health care workers that the Jewish community stands behind them, and we do not care if they’re Jewish or not, we want to feed you … and it’s a message that I want them to receive: that the Jewish community has been really, really hit by this epidemic … and it doesn’t matter who’s treating us, we appreciate them. Whether they’re Jewish or not. I wanted to feed every doctor because all these doctors are caring for Jewish patients, especially in the New York area.”

‘Support those who are saving lives’

Mandel started Kosher19 by herself,

J

udge Donetta W. Ambrose, United States Senior District Judge, entered several memorandum orders on April 6 rejecting attempts by the shooter at the Tree of Life building to avoid the death penalty if convicted of the murder of 11 Jews on Oct. 27, 2018.

In the first of three opinions, Ambrose rejected the defendant’s attempts to strike the Federal Death Penalty Act based upon the contention that the “Use” and “Implementation” execution provisions violate the anticommandeering provision of the 10th Amendment and the non-delegation doctrine of the Constitution. However, she wrote, “if the defendant is convicted on a capital count, and if the jury decides to impose the death penalty, this motion may be renewed at that time.”

In her opinion on a second motion, Ambrose denied the defendant’s request to

fresh look and layout, and a trendier variety of content. But losses continued to mount and the paper succumbed to the economic woes brought on by the pandemic, said Wolfe. (Wolfe is a member of the board of 70 Faces Media, JTA’s parent company.)

Its circulation at its demise was about 32,000. PJC — JTA

strike the death penalty as a sentence option on the ground that it is unconstitutional as administered under the Federal Death Penalty Act and cited the defense’s failure to meet the burden of establishing that the federal death penalty as a sentencing option is an unconstitutional punishment as administered under the Federal Death Penalty Act. In a third opinion, Ambrose rejected the defendant’s move to strike the death penalty “on the grounds that the Federal Death Penalty Act is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s decision in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002) and the Fifth and Eighth Amendments.”

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty following the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life building in which 11 people were murdered and several others injured. PJC — Adam Reinherz

The Officers, Board of Directors and Staff

Wish you and your family a Happy Passover We welcome your support through referrals and donations as we provide grants during this difficult time.

412.521.3237 • P.O. Box 8197, Pittsburgh, PA 15217

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Wishing everyone a Chag Pesach Sameach.

Let’s support each other until we can celebrate together once again.

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Green Light Wireless is powered by Frank and Stein Associates.

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APRIL 10, 2020 11

Opinion Diary of a shinshin in the days of COVID-19 Guest Columnist Itamar Medina

I

tamar Medina, a 19-year-old volunteer ambassador (shinshin) from Karmiel/Misgav, Israel — Pittsburgh’s Partnership2Gether region — returned to Pittsburgh March 3 with three other teens to finish their year’s work of connecting local Jewish youth to Israel. The shinshinim program is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Medina had been in Israel in February and stayed there until March 3 so he could vote in the Israeli elections. Once back in Pittsburgh, he developed a medical condition (he was not tested for the coronavirus) that prevented him from returning to Israel together with the rest of the shinshinim when the coronavirus crisis began to spread in the United States. There was a lot of uncertainty about when, or if, he would be able to get on a flight back to the Jewish state. He kept a record of his feelings and fears during the month of March, until he could safely travel back to Israel.

Tuesday, March 3: We were finally back! It was so good to be back in my second home, Pittsburgh, and in a very exciting time to start the third trimester with my new classes that I get to work with, fifth and fourth grades. I was so happy to get back to work and see the kids again.

But as the days from Israel pass, I remember what my dad said, that he has a strange feeling about us going to the U.S.A. He feels that we will fly back to Israel sooner

than we would have wished for.

Thursday, March 5: That day I was having really intense pains around midday that led to me having to go through medical care for that day and half of the next day (Friday).

It was assumed that the problem was caused due to the air pressure in the plane that has taken us to the U.S.A. Monday, March 9: The first week of meeting my new students (at Community Day School), I was so excited to see new faces and a new class! Since I had worked with only third- and second-graders throughout the year, it was definitely a refreshing experience to have. Meeting and learning who the students are was great, and I was so happy to finally get back to normal.

Thursday, March 12: Finally, Thursday, which is activity day, had come and I was so excited to finally get to work with the kids, but sour news came in early in that morning as Sivan (another shinshin) was being sent back to Israel as soon as possible.

It was a very strange day as Sivan left as soon as the afternoon, and I was so sad to see such a good friend walk without her chance to give a proper goodbye to where she was so happy to return, leaving Pittsburgh so early.

Friday, March 13: Fridays are great, we all get to sit down in the Federation, talk and work, but this Friday was different, as everything felt different to me without Sivan being there, without having a quarter of the team.

That day, (remaining shinshinim) Guy and Tamar, and Ravid (shinshinim coordinator) and I sat down before heading for the Federation when Ravid gave us the sad news that the Jewish Agency made the

decision that the shinshinim from all over the world will be sent back to Israel no matter what. But then there was a different problem, as I was not allowed to go on a plane due to my medical condition that changed on Thursday, just a week before the announcement was made.

Later that weekend it was announced that most if not all of the workplaces that we were working in will stop all activities.

Sunday, March 15: It is a strange Sunday if you don’t have a synagogue to go to in the morning, so It was an even stranger Sunday as Guy and Tamar left that day.

It felt somewhat alone to be the last shinshin in Pittsburgh, quite alarming actually.

Though I never was alone in Pittsburgh, thanks to the strong community sense that I felt as soon as I came to Pittsburgh.

Monday, March 16: I was back in Squirrel Hill that morning, but it was weird to wake up at 9:30 a.m. since usually at that time I’m at CDS. But that was not the case that morning as the school was closed and moved to online studies. The days from that Monday and forward were quite dull as there was not much to do and we rarely got out of the house.

Wednesday, March 18: That morning was the most interesting morning, as I was called for a follow-up check that day, and the only thing the doctor would tell me is what will be my fate when I return to Israel.

I will share with you that a big part of me did not want to go back to Israel, as Pittsburgh has become my home, and you never want to leave earlier than when you thought you were going to leave. And you just want to stay longer, you just can’t get

enough of the year.

The doctor that day told me that the safest for me would be to stay for another couple of weeks, as it is the safest to fly a month after the initial injury.

The days that followed were filled with good family time thanks to the Rosenbergs (his hosts) and heartwarming texts from people in the community asking for my wellbeing once they understood that I stayed in Pittsburgh. You really can’t get enough of the Jewish community of Pittsburgh.

Wednesday, April 1: This was a very mixed day. That day is the day I flew back to Israel.

I think the best way to compile the feelings of that day is by the words of Tal Perel whom I had a conversation with many times.

She has said to me that once you connect to a community that is not in your reality in Israel, you become torn between the two.

You miss everyone at home in Israel and if you will move back to Israel you will miss everyone in Pittsburgh.

That is exactly how I felt that day, how I feel today, and how I will always feel. Torn between Pittsburgh and Israel.

I do not know if we will be sent back to Pittsburgh, and if so when, but all I know is that I will be back in Pittsburgh, as a piece of my heart will always remain there.

Thank you, the people of Pittsburgh for giving a home far from the known home and opening your hearts to anyone who might come.

I love you all, and I will be back. PJC Itamar Medina lives on Kibbutz Tuval, near Karmiel, Israel.

Anti-Semitism in all forms, including BDS, has no place at Point Park Guest Columnist Paul Hennigan

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s we all have been focused on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has upended our lives, I wish everyone in our community good health and safety. Also, I want to ask for your attention on another very important matter, which is anti-Semitism and groups such as the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

I have listened to several conversations over the last few weeks that have highlighted concerns from the Jewish community in Pittsburgh regarding Point Park University, anti-Semitism and the BDS movement.

As the president of Point Park University, I want to assure the Jewish community that at every level of the university and across the university campus it is understood that any form of discrimination or hatred is not tolerated. All forms of anti-Semitism, which includes support for the BDS movement, generally defined as Palestinian-led campaign promoting various forms of

12 APRIL 10, 2020

boycott against Israel, has no place at Point Park University.

Recently, I was able to have meaningful discussions and an exchange of ideas with Jeff Finkelstein and Josh Sayles from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jim Busis, CEO and publisher of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, as well as other prominent members of the Jewish community. Point Park is continuing these outreach efforts with representatives of the local and national Jewish community, as well as with Chabad and Hillel Jewish University Center in Pittsburgh.

In discussions with Jeff and Josh, I understand that my decision to postpone Point Park’s production of the important work “Parade” needs to be more publicly addressed.

As many of your readers know, “Parade” is the award-winning musical about the trials and lynching of a wrongly accused Jewish man, Leo Frank, in Georgia in 1915. It was to be directed by Tony- and Emmy-winning director choreographer Rob Ashford.

I made the difficult decision to postpone “Parade” because, in my judgment, proper educational and university community resources were not in place to support this important piece of work. In no way did I intend to signal to the community that the production was canceled or that the

Jewish story could not be told at Point Park.

Point Park is fully committed to presenting “Parade” and fully supports its importance to social awareness and societal change. This experience has provided us a broader opportunity to take a holistic approach at how each conservatory program can be a teachable moment and opportunity for engagement and understanding around social and civic issues expressed through art.

In a similar vein, it has come to our attention that some members of the Jewish community are aware that Dr. Channa Newman — a professor of French and cultural studies and chair of the department of humanities and social sciences — recently filed a lawsuit against Point Park in which it is claimed, among other allegations, that she has been discriminated against and harassed as a result of her age, national origin, race, religion, and sex. Dr. Newman also claims that she has been retaliated against. Because the matter is now in litigation and out of respect for Dr. Newman’s continuing relationship with the university, Point Park must limit any public comment.

This being stated, the University disagrees with the allegations of unlawful conduct raised by Dr. Newman and her attorneys — including their description of how the

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

university and some of its faculty treated Dr. Newman and responded to her concerns.

In the administration of its educational programs, activities and employment practices, Point Park is firmly committed to the concept and practice of equal employment opportunity and the pursuit of diversity.

As part of this commitment, the university embraces, supports and actively pursues a policy of inclusiveness that recognizes, values and reflects the diversity of the community it serves and the world in which we live.

Going forward, Point Park intends to defend itself against Dr. Newman’s claims. At the same time, she remains, as mentioned, a member of the Point Park community who will be afforded the respect and dignity afforded to all students, faculty, and staff.

In times of crisis, particularly in the aftermath of the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre at the Tree of Life synagogues, Point Park University joined with the Jewish community, WQED and others to foster a dialogue of sensitivity and understanding. It is Point Park University’s continued mission to shine light on challenges, bring understanding to the table and open doors for all. PJC Paul Hennigan is president of Point Park University.

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Opinion Jewish Life in South Italy as we cope with the coronavirus Guest Columnist Rabbi Barbara Aiello

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he bell at the synagogue gate had enough insistence in its tone to indicate a sense of urgency — a sentiment that most of us southern Italians have experienced regularly, ever since the entire country has been on lockdown, thanks to the coronavirus. And this day was no different. As rabbi of Sinagoga Ner Tamid del Sud, the first active synagogue in Calabria in 500 years — since Inquisition times — I knew that whoever was outside was not someone looking for a Jewish service, especially since all public gatherings had been suspended for at least eight weeks.

As I approached the gate and peered through the wrought iron cut-out of the Magen David that graced it, I noticed two men in uniform and recognized them both. They were carabinieri, Italy’s version of state police, who had come to speak with me. “Signora Rabbina,” they began. “We ask that you affix a sign to the synagogue gate, to say that services and tours have been suspended. We have asked the parish church to do the very same.”

Of course I complied, but while I taped the sign to the gate it became starkly apparent that Jewish life in our little village had changed profoundly.

It began in early March when an ill-timed announcement from the Italian government created chaos here in the South. The epidemic had already taken hold in the northern Italian regions, with Lombardia (where Milan is

located) hit hardest. The government gave advance warning that northern Italy was about to be locked down which unleashed a mass exodus from north to south. Realizing their error, the government corrected its mistake by quickly locking down the entire country — to the great relief of those of us who live in the relative natural isolation of the mountains, the Reventino of southern Italy.

For us Italian Jews, a tiny minority within the minority that is worldwide Jewry, the lockdown has been a physical, economic and spiritual challenge. For our Calabrian synagogue that serves a vast b’nei anusim community — one that welcomes and guides Calabrians and Sicilians who are in the process of discovering and embracing their Jewish roots — the personal warmth that our synagogue provides came to an abrupt halt.

Closed until further notice is the unique experience of our Friday night “Shabbat at the Table” program where those who are tiptoeing back to Judaism learn how to prepare and lead a family Shabbat. And dozens of U.S., Canadian and British families, who prepared for a year or more, bring their children to become bar and bat mitzvah at our Torah teaching services have had to cancel. As one Italian colleague lamented, “All the rabbis and all the priests are quarantined in their synagogues and churches!”

— a reality brought front and center by the video of Pope Francis praying in St. Peter’s Square, all alone.

But if we Jews are anything, we are resilient, and it took just one empty Shabbat for rabbis and congregants to spring into action.

Online services, discussions and lectures abound, and although we Calabrians are

still using DSL, an antique internet connection, we are embracing technology to keep the spirit alive.

Our synagogue hosts an ambitious conversion program, designed specifically for those whose Jewish roots trace back to the Inquisition when Jews were expelled from Spain and/or forced to accept Christian conversion. The majority of my teaching now occurs online, and for Pesach we have expanded the program to include a specific lesson on Italian Pesach customs and a Facebook Live Sephardi seder.

Absent the personal touch, the challenges are great. In our village of Serrastretta, the edicola, the newsstand where I get my morning paper, is open, but the coffee bars, the social life blood of the village, are closed.

For me the social cost is a greater loss than not having my morning espresso. Not for nothing does the world call us Italians the warmest, most friendly people on the planet.

We hug, we kiss on both cheeks, and we take 20 minutes to say goodbye. We pat each other on the shoulder and take each other’s hands.

Standing six feet apart as we are required to do is entirely uncharacteristic for us, and I suspect that in the long run there will be an emotional toll for keeping our distance. But for now we’re coping.

Although ours is the poorest region in all of Italy, with our synagogue designated as an isolated and emerging Jewish community by the international Jewish support organization, Kulanu, we Calabresi are the most self-sufficient of all of our Italian paesini.

Last year we canned dozens of jars of tomato sauce and prepared mountains of marmalade. We preserved olives and made olive oil

and as coronavirus cases and unemployment soar, we open our pantries and share with our congregants and residents who are in need.

We Calabresi Jews may have lost our freedom to gather but we haven’t lost our determination or our pride. And even with the changes brought on by the coronavirus, there’s a lot to be proud of.

If you are Italian American, you have an 80% chance that your relatives came from Calabria — a region that was 50% Jewish prior to the forced conversions of Inquisition times. You share our Calabresi soul every night at 6 p.m. That’s when we open our balcony doors and lean out of our windows and with hearts filled with pride we sing the Italian national anthem, internalizing its words: “Because we were divided … one hope gathers us all. The hour has come for us to join together.”

And join together we do, for after the singing of the Italian anthem, Christian and Jewish residents raise their voices to sing “Volare,” and then “Heivenu Shalom Aleichem.” After all it was the Kabbalists, the Jewish mystics, many of whom lived and worked right here in the Mediterranean area, who taught that music gives movement to the soul. Music is the soul’s way to literally lift our spirits. So, in the face of the coronavirus crisis, I’m sure of one thing: No matter how long, how difficult or how challenging, we Italians will keep singing. PJC Rabbi Barbara Aiello is a native Pittsburgher and Italy’s first female rabbi and first non-Orthodox rabbi. She serves a “b’nei anusim” congregation in Serrastretta, Italy, in the “toe” of the Italian “boot.”

Our readers share their stories

the psychiatric hospital and at my office (which now is called “Zoom”).

There’s fear, loss and there’s resilience. We’re all in this together.

Besides having more time to be with my wife and my children who are home, I have been posting daily two-minute snippets that are in sync with the Torah aliyah for that day.

If you wish, check it out at Facebook or YouTube under “The Singing Psychiatrist.”

W

hat are you doing to boost your spirits, and those of others, during the coronavirus crisis? The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle wants to share your ideas and suggestions.

Send a paragraph or two, along with a photo of you or your family, to Toby Tabachnick, editor, at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Be sure to include your name and neighborhood.

Let’s stay connected. We are stronger together.

Sharing Torah through song online As the saying goes, “casinos and psych wards never close.” And now, alas, the casino wisely succumbs. …

So my schedule has not changed too much and for that I feel challenged and blessed. As a result, human emotions during these perilous and amazing times lay bare to me, both at

— LETTERS — Injustice against professor epitomizes insidiousness of BDS A terrible wrong has been done against Prof. Channa Newman, who, for 55 years, has taught at local Park Point University.

Apparently, solely due to her being Israeli and concerned about an anti-Israel atmosphere at the school, she was the victim of a false Title IX sexual harassment charge instigated by a

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

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p Dr. John Yaakov Guterson Photo provided by Dr. Johon Yaakov Guterson

Dr. John Yaakov Guterson Squirrel Hill

BDS-supporting fellow department member. Her plight was ignored by the administration, she was barred from campus and even disconnected from internal campus email. Since fully exonerated, she has faced a hostile campus, her reputation in tatters.

Beyond this individual injustice, this incident epitomizes the insidiousness of the BDS movement and the massive societal destructiveness it leaves in its wake.

Richard D. Wilkins Syracuse, NY

Letters to the editor via email: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Fax 412-521-0154

Website address: pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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APRIL 10, 2020 13

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organizations facing an existential threat posed by the COVID-19 crisis, according to Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University. The other two groups are Jewish museums and Jewish start-ups that have not established endowments.

Many JCCs “have been at-risk for some time,” Sarna said. “This is a case of a group of institutions that have been weak before, meaning lots of people have begun going to regular gyms and so on, and no longer feel the need to belong to the JCC the way they once did. And the question is, ‘Is this going to push them over the line?’ A lot of Jewish institutions have been on the edge and now we are going to find out, as we did 10 years ago (during the 2009 financial crisis), which they are.

“I think, when we are honest, we have known for some time that the idea that we should swim with other Jews, play basketball with other Jews, exercise with other Jews, has kind of declined and people prefer now to go to gyms that are very nearby,” Sarna continued. “So these kinds of facilities

Inspiration: Continued from page 1

that by the phone. In my own family, we’re feeling grateful for having a place to live, for having each other, for finding ways to keep occupied and safe. Gratitude is another thing I’m hearing from people, that they’re feeling grateful for what they have despite all the fears and the suffering around us.

Rabbi Levi Langer, dean of Torah Studies at the Kollel Jewish Learning Center At this time of COVID-19, many of us are staying at home with spouses and children, interacting with them more frequently than we often do.

It’s possible for us to become Rabbi Levi impatient or become angry.

Langer Our challenge right now is to be extra caring and considerate and deepen our relationship with others.

Passover is a time when, originally in Egypt, it was very dark. The Almighty took us out and gave us a positivity and national experience. Jews have always celebrated Passover, even in the most difficult conditions. They’ve used the Passover experience as an opportunity to think of a more positive future. That’s what we ought to be doing right now. God is always with us, and he offers us hope for a better future.

Personally, I try to make phone calls to people who are alone at home and people who may be going through difficult times.

We should use the gift of technology to offer comfort and to connect with others. I’m doing some classes both on the phone and Zoom. I have Talmud class every morning with senior citizens. Some of them are not fully comfortable with Zoom, so we stay connected as best we can, even if we can’t interact.

Rabbi Yaier Lehrer, Adat Shalom Synagogue As someone who observed shiva during 14 APRIL 10, 2020

are, at least in some communities, at very significant risk and hard decisions will have to be made and I don’t know how they are going to end up. I think each community is its own story.”

The JCC is not the only local institution that is taking a serious financial hit due to the fallout of the pandemic. The Pittsburgh section of the National Council of Jewish Women also has laid off employees, although NCJW president Teddi Horvitz declined to discuss details. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, like other media, has faced a loss of revenue from a sudden decline in advertising. The paper’s employees had their salaries slashed by 20% while the nonprofit awaits potential relief through grants, donations and a small business loan now available through the CARES Act, which designated $349 billion to help keep workers employed during the economic downturn. The initiative provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to small business and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees, with the loan forgiven if businesses substantially retain employees based on a preset formula.

Many local Jewish organizations, including the JCC, have applied for the SBA loans and are also looking to other sources

for financial assistance.

One source may be the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which will be providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to its beneficiary organizations to help relieve some of the financial strain. Last week, the Federation’s board of directors passed the recommendations of its planning and funding committee to reallocate $250,000 of money previously designated for other purposes for the 2019-2020 budget year, according to Adam Hertzman, the Federation’s director of marketing.

The $250,000 in emergency grants is “just the first of what will be several allocations,” Hertzman said. “They wanted to get immediate money out based on the immediate needs but the planning and funding committee plans to distribute additional funds as we understand where the most important needs are. And that will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Federation funds previously designated for specific JCC programs — which are now canceled — have been converted to an unrestricted JCC grant, Hertzman added.

The first package of Federation emergency allocations includes funding for the Jewish Family and Community Services-run Squirrel

Hill Food Pantry and SOS Pittsburgh, which gives small emergency grants to people who have an immediate need.

“These kinds of crises are why JFCS exists,” said Jordan Golin, president and CEO of JFCS. “On a good day we are helping people struggling with different kinds of life crises. When the entire community has a crisis, like after the synagogue shooting and like now, where everyone everywhere is in crisis, this is what we do.”

JFCS is financially stable for now, Golin said, thanks in part to diverse funding streams, and, at least for the time being, is not contemplating layoffs.

The Federation’s first wave of emergency funding also includes a distribution to the Jewish Association on Aging for medical supplies, personal protective equipment and disposable paper products, as the senior living facilities are no longer using dishes in order to avoid contamination.

Other Federation funds will go to Jewish Residential Services, the Jewish Agency for Israel and to the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to help assuage the needs of Jews overseas, including in the former Soviet Union.

this period of isolation, I can tell you how valuable and how meaningful It was for people to be in contact, with letters, notes, emails, cards and FaceTime. The fact Rabbi Yaier that I was not able to have a Lehrer traditional shiva made every personal contact more heightened. If this experience teaches us anything, it is how important contact can be, even if it’s not in the traditional fashion.

If we take anything out of this experience, it is how much human contact is something to be valued. I hope that people realize how important that is even after the pandemic has abated.

I have learned to be creative in the way I reach out to people. Sometimes it is through a posting, sometimes it’s through sharing services on Zoom. The one thing you can’t do is give up. The one thing you can’t do as a spiritual leader is not to try and do things which you’ve always done. From what I can see, the spiritual leaders in this community have all done their best to reach out to those in our community who need that contact.

In Judaism, we like things the way we’ve always done them. And what this experience has taught us is sometimes you have to find new ways to do these things.

opportunities for study, for prayer, for socialization? Knowing that we’re all home, how to make appropriate and good use of that time to offer the things that a synagogue should and must continue to offer for the religious, cultural and social needs of our members.

So, our mission hasn’t changed. All that’s changed, and it’s temporary, is our delivery system. The Torah is still there, it didn’t go away. Shabbat didn’t go away. So now we just adapt some of what we’ve done to respond to the challenges that we have. I think there’s still plenty of positive out there, people getting to know each other again or getting to know each other better, for example.

Even though there is this virus, it hasn’t changed things. Time still marches on and there’s still things to do.

Practicing social distancing and safety measures, we’ve been delivering matzah to people’s doorstops using gloves and masks so that people who need items have them.

We’re working with a small volunteer group of younger people to go out and shop for seniors in our communities. It’s been pretty hectic. Very different.

Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers, Tree of Life Synagogue Having experienced displacement from our own synagogue over the past 18 months, to now experience displacement from our temporary home in Rodef Shalom Congregation Rabbi can be very upsetting to Hazzan congregants. There’s nothing Jeffrey that could have prepared us Myers for what we’re going through now, as there was nothing to prepare us for what happened in October 2018.

I look for the opportunities we can have.

When can we be together? When can we find

Rabbi Mendy Schapiro, Chabad of Monroeville From a spiritual standpoint, it’s much more difficult to put things in perspective while you’re experiencing a challenge.

At the same time, it’s important to push ourselves to look for that Rabbi perspective because that can Mendy give us some freedom and some Schapiro help with how to cope with it.

I’ve been telling my congregants that we should say ‘thank God that we have God to thank.’ What I mean by that is, thank God we already have a belief system, and a feeling that everything is in God’s hands. Knowing that it’s in God’s hands and that God is good, we know that everything will work out for the best. If it were really up to us, we’d feel stuck with ‘what now? The world’s going a little crazy and this virus is taking the world by storm; people by storm, etc., etc.’ We would feel lost. If everything is in God’s hands, is gives us a feeling of ease.

Personally, we have family in New York that have been affected by the virus, at this point they are on the mend. That’s one perspective. My kids, thank God, are well.

We’re busy teaching several online classes.

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Please see Nonprofits, page 21

Rabbi Ron Symons, senior director of Jewish life at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Who knew that you can be so connected to people from your own home? I’m finding great sustenance and conversations with colleagues across the region and country, across all Rabbi Ron faith denominations and the Symons hope that they have of how we can make our way through all of this. For example, I spent a lot of time with the 2 for Seder people online, helping them help people make virtual seders. It was absolutely inspiring to see how many people want to celebrate Passover, even if it’s in a new way that they haven’t done it in the past.

I’ve spent lots of time in conversation with our local interfaith spiritual leaders, drawing strength and hope and optimism from their faith traditions, where we find the shared humanity that underlies all faith traditions.

We brought our three adult kids home.

There’s a joy in having all the kids home for an extended amount of time that we never thought we would have. We are fortunate enough to enjoy good family time around the dinner table. That’s a joyous byproduct of this, finding joy in each other. I hope that everyone reading these words has someone in their life, whether it’s someone in their house, or that they can reach out to by phone, or some kind of video way, that allows them to find joy in relationship. That’s what this is about now, it’s about the people in our lives. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Nonprofits:

Headlines First director of Pittsburgh’s Holocaust Center dies of COVID-19

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saiah Kuperstein, the first director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, and the first director of education for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, died from COVID-19 on April 4.

He was 70.

“His leadership in this field was groundbreaking and laid the foundation for all that we are able to do today,” read

an emailed notice from the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.

Kuperstein was born in Haifa, Israel to Holocaust survivors. After his family later emigrated to the United States, he earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University.

While at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial

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every week, so how do you reach these people and service their needs?’ And we said streaming is not going to do it,” said Sarko.

When there’s a Torah class at the synagogue, “I need to have back and forth between myself and the students.”

To date, Emanu-El has largely employed video conferencing to facilitate an interactive experience, explained the rabbi: “Friday night, people are coming in and they’re not only seeing me, they’re doing the prayer for the candles, they’re doing the prayer for the Torah.”

Allowing congregants to electronically engage has been critical, he continued: “Honestly, if the equipment wasn’t there, we would have literally been out of business. There would have been no way for us to do the role that we needed, that we are supposed to be supplying to our community.

That would have been devastating.”

Whereas the majority of Sarko’s congregants live in Greensburg, there are members who reside around Westmoreland County.

Likewise, B’nai Abraham in Butler draws members from as far as 90 minutes away.

The considerable distance between congregants has exacerbated feelings of isolation.

“It’s not like they have lots of emails from organizations like I do that are connecting them to the Jewish community,” said Gray-Schaffer. As a result, B’nai Abraham, is “even more of a connecting hub than it was before.”

“People are social distancing and we’re seeing that they’re really craving some social interaction, and we are trying to figure out how to give them some sense of community without giving anybody any health risk,” said Wilson of Beth Samuel.

While COVID-19 is having an effect on congregational life, some of the changes simply have been necessitated because of “what’s happening socially for us as Jews,” said Sarko.

The truth is that “everyone needs to be creative, large and small,” said Shapiro.

“Everyone comes to the situation from a different standpoint and everyone’s going through it and toward it in a different way.

But we’re all finding out the ways that are going to be best for us.” PJC

way,” Becky said. “I talked with my parents daily and FaceTimed them right after I put my dress on and we had a video going the whole time. I called them right after and introduced them to everyone.”

While Becky is grateful that she was able to use Facebook Live to stream the wedding, she admitted it felt odd.

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

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Hillel: Continued from page 6

“Hillel has a way of engaging students that other organizations that they’re a part of can’t,” noted Walovitch. “We can do something for them that their club sport or Greek organization maybe can’t, and that’s just spiritual support,” The videos and classes may represent Hillel JUC’s commitment to providing at-home college students a plethora of content, but the beauty of what’s being offered is the ability to contribute, explained Eli Sigman, Pitt Hillel president: Students are creating their own Jewish spaces online “so even though we’re physically distant from each other, students can feel like they’re back at home, back at Pitt, back in their Jewish

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pitted families against one another in a weekly creative building competition. After entrants completed their designs, photos were sent to Eads, who posted the images on Rodef Shalom’s Facebook page for viewers to vote on whose project best matched the specific Passover related theme.

Similar challenges have been available to Congregation Beth Shalom’s teens.

The focus “right now is about getting online and having fun,” said Marissa Tait, Beth Shalom’s youth group director.

Since youth activities have become primarily digital, Tait has discovered that “small groups” where participants are “able to connect and talk to each other” have been most beneficial.

“That’s what’s bringing them together,” she said.

While the focus has been fun, quality has not been compromised.

Museum, Kuperstein was the curator of “Remember the Children: Daniel’s Story,” an exhibition geared to explaining the Holocaust to young children. That exhibit is still featured today.

He eventually moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he owned the Indianapolisbased Double 8 Foods grocery chain.

In 2017, he donated a collection of oral

interviews with Holocaust survivors to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.

He is survived by Elena, his wife of 43 years; sons Adam and Daniel; sister, Leah; mother, Rachel Markowitz; and five grandchildren. PJC

“It was a little weird, sharing this really personal moment with everyone on the internet,” she said.

For Levine and her husband, the day was bittersweet.

“We were both going to walk her down the aisle,” Levine said. “It’s terrible, she walked herself.”

Still, the mother was grateful to witness her daughter being wed, albeit virtually.

“I was very upset when she walked in, but then I saw that she was smiling, and he

was smiling, and they were smiling at each other,” said Levine.

The family plans to celebrate Becky and Alex’s wedding once travel restrictions and health concerns have passed.

“I kept telling myself we can celebrate later with the family,” Becky said. “It’s going to be less stressful. It’s just going to be a party and a celebration.” PJC

community at Hillel JUC.” For example, a student-written Passover play allowed multiple interested parties to perform various roles online. The April 6 event was showcased via Zoom and brought students together from across the country, explained Ryan Covitt, a University of Pittsburgh sophomore studying communications.

Covitt, whose responsibility to the organization’s student board is overseeing social media, is currently in Cleveland, Ohio. Sigman is in Wilmington, Delaware, and Walter is in Pittsburgh. The students have been in regular contact with Walovitch, who is in Framingham, Massachusetts, Kranjec, who is in Pittsburgh, and other Hillel JUC staff.

Those interactions are not uncommon.

During this recent period, Marcus has heard of “hundreds of conversations” between

students and staff. They’re checking in on each other and “ensuring there’s a support network,” he said.

Although they haven’t finalized their numbers, Walovitch and Walter both noted that Hillel JUC has experienced increased engagement during the pandemic.

Such desire for Jewish connection bodes well for days to come, explained Marcus: “When the pandemic is God willingly over, and when we as a society have moved on to the next phase, what we’re doing with this platform, with these relationships, will ensure there is Jewish leadership and a future because when we’re back together physically in person these connections won’t be lost.

They’ll be strengthened.” PJC

“The formula seems to be high quality intentional small group programming, and it has to be thoughtful. You can’t just throw something together,” said Tait. With so much time on their hands, and so many options of things to do, “it feels like teens are entering online programs when they need it.”

During this period, Tait carefully selects the programs and games she offers teens.

It is important to remember, she said, that “this is the second year of them having major disruption in their lives. It’s also important to remember that we shouldn’t project our own feelings onto the kids.”

“From an educator perspective we’re there to support the teens, and the most important thing right now is just that they’re feeling healthy, and stable and that their mental health is in check,” noted Kalson.

Many adults are “feeling lonely or feeling separated,” and there are resources and options available. “We want to make sure that the teens are given the same opportunity, and the same with the younger kids, to feel like they’re still connected to the

community that they were prior to all of this happening,” echoed Eads.

Recent weeks have prompted much thought about the goals of youth programming, explained the city’s professionals.

“For people all around the world this is a really trying time,” but as an educator, and someone who works with the area’s youth, it’s been helpful “remembering that what we do is important, and it matters and it’s a valuable community resource,” said Kalson. “We want to make sure that these teens who have already been through a lot in the last year and a half know that we’re there for them.”

Also important to know is that when the pandemic ends, and people begin congregating again, there are boxes of iconic free t-shirts waiting for teens.

“We’ll find a way to get them the J-Serve T-shirt,” said Kalson. People need them “otherwise, who’s going to know you did anything?” PJC

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

— Toby Tabachnick

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

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

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

APRIL 10, 2020 15

Life & Culture Unforced errors trip ‘Jewish Enquirer’ — TELEVISION —

By Sophie Panzer | Special to the Chronicle

R

eviewing a sitcom about a Jewish newspaper presents a challenge for those who work at Jewish newspapers.

These critics must question whether they are laughing because a joke is funny or because it is simply too relatable.

“The Jewish Enquirer,” released on March 20 by Amazon Prime in the United States, provides both experiences in spades.

The British show follows the adventures of Paul Green (Tim Downie), a journalist at The Jewish Enquirer whose job consists mostly of doing taste tests of fruit from different supermarkets, reviewing electric cars and being harangued by an editor who demands the “Jangle” — Jewish angle — to every story.

His sister Naomi (Lucy Montgomery) is constantly asking him to babysit, and his friend Simon (Josh Howie) tags along to his interviews in the hopes of meeting women.

The show is most enjoyable when it playfully skewers Judaism and anti-Semitism.

Whether it’s a dentist slash mohel (Dana Haqjoo) saying, “No, I do not collect pictures of baby boys’ penises,” when Paul and Simon ask for reference pictures or a Tory MP (Ajay Chhabra) asking Paul to pass on his thanks “to all Jews for their contributions to British

Simon (Josh Howie) tries to flirt with Ruth (Rachel Gaffin) as Paul (Tim Downie) observes.

Courtesy of Amazon Studios

society,” showrunner Gary Sinyor has his finger on the pulse of everything bizarre about Jewish life in Britain.

Each episode ends with a view of The Jewish Enquirer’s website and treats viewers to headlines like “Daniel Craig is Not Jewish — Exclusive,” “Adam Sandler Lookalike Looks Like Adam Sandler — Non-exclusive” and “Hamas in Running for Nobel Peace Prize.”

However, it seems the creators expect audiences to tolerate Paul because he is too ambitious to work for “the 4th largest Jewish publisher in the U.K.” As a character, he doesn’t have many redeeming or even interesting qualities besides being so neurotic he leaves multiple fake addresses for a key cutter who offers to drop off his new key.

The show’s treatment of women is also icky. Naomi is a flat character who exists

solely to nag her brother and a young vapid YouTube vlogger (Annabel Baldwin) is successful only because she films in her underwear. Paul and Simon spend much of the first episode discussing the disadvantages of sex with women who have given birth.

When Paul and Simon visit the home of Simon’s sister Amanda (Katie AlexanderThom) to help her prepare for her son’s bris, her husband Liam (Joe da Costa) argues with Paul about sexualizing women’s bodies while talking about his wife in the third person as if she’s not even in the room.

Maybe ask for her opinion, guys?

Liam, an Irish Catholic, is on edge for a reason.

He only agreed to the circumcision because of a compromise he made with Amanda involving them getting married in a church.

“My son is gonna look like a Jew,” he groans.

“He is one!” Amanda reminds him.

“Half!” he protests.

The show’s chief weakness is its insistence on speeding past perfectly solid jokes to crash land in nastier territory for no valid reason. When Paul visits a nursing home to interview Louis (Freddie Davies), a Jewish senior who claims to be GLBTQ (that’s a term used largely by older Brits instead of LGBTQ), Louis says he is “questioning” whether he is a Japanese person in a Jewish man’s body because he prefers sushi to the food they serve at his Jewish nursing home.

“Louis, ‘questioning’ in GLBTQ relates to

gender, not food,” explains Paul.

The bit could have ended here and left audiences laughing at the ridiculousness of a man thinking he is LGBTQ because of his food preferences.

Unfortunately, in a moment of irritation Paul threatens to tell everyone in Louis’ nursing home that he is non-binary, “which is going to ruin your chance for a snog, never mind sex, for as long as you’re in here or on this planet.”

This lazy low blow about gender non-conforming people lacking sex appeal has already been run into the ground by characters like Julia Sweeney’s Pat on “Saturday Night Live.”

The season concludes with a conversation between Paul and his father Ronnie (Geoff McGivern), who tells him that everyone is secretly prejudiced but is pretending not to be. This is meant to be a form of anti-PC absolution for Paul after he spends the day being called out for offending people.

The scene is supposed to be heartwarming, but it’s hard to be satisfied by two rude men validating each other.

It was disappointing for the show to end on one of its worst aspects — an unappealing man whining about why he can’t do and say whatever he wants all the time — rather than one of its genuinely funny observational jokes about Jewish culture. PJC Sophie Panzer writes for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

U

nfortunately, once again a major community crisis, this time the coronavirus pandemic, is underlining the necessity of a local Jewish newspaper and website that keeps you informed about — and in touch with — the Pittsburgh Jewish community.

We’re responding to this crisis with all hands on deck (even if it’s from our homes) to bring you what you need to know and want to know about our community: organizations, events live or virtual, plans canceled or postponed, hardships and help, friends and neighbors.

But even as we deploy more resources we are being hit by the same ƮǞȲƵ ƵƧȌȁȌǿǞƧ ǏȌȲƧƵȺ ƊȺ ƊȲƵ ȌɈǘƵȲ ȺǿƊǶǶ ȁȌȁٌȯȲȌ˛ɈȺ ƊȁƮ ƦɐȺǞȁƵȺȺƵȺ‫ خ‬ We depend heavily on advertising. If organizations cancel events, they don’t advertise them. When businesses close and their ƧɐȺɈȌǿƵȲȺ ǶȌȺƵ ƧȌȁ˛ƮƵȁƧƵ‫ ة‬ɈǘƵɯ ƧɐɈ ƊƮɨƵȲɈǞȺǞȁǐ‫ خ‬yȌ ȌȁƵ DzȁȌɩȺ ǘȌɩ long the upset of normalcy will last.

That’s why we need you, our readers and supporters, now more than ever. Please help us continue our mission of bringing you the Pittsburgh Jewish news you rely on and now need more than ever.

Help us tell the story of our community in crisis, and how once again we will show amazing resilience to continue to thrive into the future. Your emergency gift today helps make this possible and helps connect increasingly isolated people in our community, ǞȁƧǶɐƮǞȁǐ ɈǘƵ ƵǶƮƵȲǶɯ ƊȁƮ Ǟȁ˛Ȳǿ‫ خ‬ Thank you.

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Mail to: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle | 5915 Beacon Street, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 16 APRIL 10, 2020

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Life & Culture Passover recipes to de-stress the chef

By Jamie Geller | JTA

P

Passover may be the mother of all kitchen yontifs, but stay cool and don’t stress. Here are some of my favorite recipes from last Passover that you will love this Passover and all year.

Last year, 99% of what I made for Passover weren’t actually Passover recipes. Of course they were kosher for Passover, but they didn’t require any major Passover ingredient tweaks. These recipes were developed with Passover in mind and have become staples in my year-round repertoire because they were super easy and got the most oohs and ahhs.

Salmon cakes with tropical fruit salsa Servings: 10 cakes

Croquettes are cute and elegant for your starter course. They’re also wonderfully light and refreshing. The tropical salsa is a combination of fresh pineapple, mango, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice — the perfect complement to the richness of the salmon. The balance of sweet and savory flavors instantly pleases the palate. This is a starter with zing!

Ingredients:

For cakes:

1 (2-pound) side of salmon, skin on

1/2 cup red onion, diced 2 tablespoons matzah meal 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons olive oil

Zucchini and red bell pepper sauté

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil 4 medium zucchini, sliced into ribbons using a vegetable peeler 4 cloves garlic, minced 4 roasted red bell peppers, thinly sliced 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For salsa: 1 cup diced pineapple 1/2 cup diced mango 1/2 cup diced red onion 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped Juice of 1 lime 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a large baking sheet. Bake salmon skin side down for 25 to 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Let cool completely.

Once salmon is cooled, gently flake away from the skin and break into large chunks.

Place in a large bowl and combine with eggs, red onion, matzah meal, salt and pepper. Stir to mix well. Scoop about 1/3-cup at a time into your hands and form into a round patty about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a sheet pan and repeat with remaining mixture until you have formed 10 cakes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine pineapple, mango, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice and salt. Mix well and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add zucchini ribbons and sauté 6 to 8 minutes or until slightly softened. Add garlic and sauté 3 minutes more. Add bell pepper and sauté 5 more minutes or until warmed. Stir in paprika; salt and toss to coat.

Pomegranate braised brisket Servings: 8

Ingredients: 1 1 /2 1 /2 4 3

medium high heat. Fry 5 cakes at a time for about 5 to 8 minutes per side or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towellined plate while frying remaining cakes.

To serve, top each cake with a few tablespoons of salsa.

6 2 2 3

four-pound first cut beef brisket teaspoon kosher salt teaspoon freshly ground black pepper tablespoons olive oil, divided medium onions, peeled and cut into eighths cloves garlic, smashed cups pomegranate juice cups chicken broth tablespoons honey

Please see Recipes, page 20

To Our Family and Friends, We wish we could be together for this Passover but we will to be together in the future!

Alan, Dana, Sammy and Benji

Thank you to our Jewish Community healthcare workers and first responders.

Y ou are our superheroes!

With deep gratitude, Michael, Marla, Kaylee, Ethan, Ella and Ben Werner

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APRIL 10, 2020 17

Photos courtesy Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller/via JTA

— FOOD —

Celebrations

Torah

Bat Mitzvah

Pesach 5780 FINKE: Julia Finke, daughter of Michael and Susanna Finke, became a bat mitzvah on April 4 at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Julia is in eighth grade at Winchester Thurston School. She loves playing field hockey and competing on her school’s Science Olympiad team. She is passionate about dance, which she has been studying at the JCC for 10 years. Julia’s bat mitzvah project involves volunteering with Rainbow Kitchen Community Services.

Julia is eagerly looking forward to starting high school this fall. PJC

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Rabbi Elchonon Friedman Parshat Pesach III Exodus 33:12-34:26

I

t was a dreadful night, an invisible plague of death lurked in the streets, blood could be seen on the doors and the cries of pain came from each Egyptian house.

It was the night of Passover, actually the original Passover, when our forefathers gathered in their homes on the eve of their redemption.

Each family sat alone quarantined in their homes, safe from the chaos going on around them, confident and trusting G-d that the redemption was near. They all made a seder that night eating matzah, maror and the sacrificial lamb.

The sacrificial lamb had been tied to their bed posts for four days, a most challenging and daunting task for these families. Moses, in the name of G-d, had asked the people to take this idol of Egypt, tie it in their homes and announce to all neighbors and friends that they would be slaughtering it as a sacrifice to G-d.

People mocked and laughed at them, ridiculing the idea that there is some divine purpose and meaning beyond the pleasures of life. They proclaimed that the Egyptian way of life, frivolity, power and reckless behaviors would endure forever, and that serving G-d was for the lame.

But that night the Jewish people traded in all the clothing, takeout food and coarse language for a different lifestyle that would endure forever. They started a life where children and parents ask each other questions about life, purpose, redemption and G-d. A life where parents answer such questions with the seriousness they deserve.

Where both speak with tenderness and love and experience the bonds of family and freedom. That night they traded food of luxury for bread of poverty, and in this act, they proclaimed that life without any additives is more alive than all the artificial flavorings that they had come to depend on.

They ate bitter herbs to feel connected with all who suffer, and to remember to always be thankful to G-d even when life is all well. And finally, they ate the Passover lamb, cementing their covenant with G-d that life will forever be about life itself and our essential bond with G-d above all else.

As the Jewish people left Egypt life got no better: Forty years of unemployment in a desert, and no economy or luxury to speak of. No new clothing, no beaches, no amusement parks and no restaurants with mouth-watering cuisine. Yet they not only

survived, they actually thrived. G-d provided them with all of their needs; bread from the heavens, water from a well, clothes that never needed washing and homes always shielded by clouds of glory.

The people came to love this simple yet enriching life, where everything is a blessing.

A life where small things mean so much and family, friends and a G-dly bond is all that is important. They saw this life as a utopia of sorts and subsequently didn’t want to leave the desert and re-enter the normal world in the land of Israel.

G-d had other plans. He wanted the people to enter the land, to toil, work hard and enjoy the artificial life. Yet He still wanted us to infuse the artificial with true meaning with a mission and purpose. He wanted the entire coarse and mundane world to feel, recognize and bond with the very essence of life, soul and G-d.

So, every year He gave us a special time to sit with our families, eating matzah and maror and celebrating the essentials of life.

The bond of family, people and G-d.

This year G-d wanted us to celebrate life in a manner never done before in the history of the world, where all countries and people have stopped their lives, pleasures and business, just so that a few shouldn’t die. After two world wars and endless politics and division, it’s refreshing to see our entire world showing a historical care for life, others and the weak.

So, this year we sit like we did 3,500 years ago, an invisible plague outside our homes, quarantined alone, and thanking G-d with our matzah and maror for the very life and health that is so much more important than the lavish breads and delicacies we don’t eat this night.

But just as then, redemption is at hand.

G-d will provide for all our needs, and He will send us back into the hectic daily grind of worldly pleasures. But let’s pray that this time it will be with the coming of Moshiach where the worldly and coarse will be truly united and infused with spirit and soul.

Let’s make sure that for now and forever more, our world will never be the same again.

A better world, where happiness will not be about artificial ingredients and personal grandeur but rather a world focused on matzah — the soul of life and candle of G-d infused and felt in all we do.

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

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Obituaries BERG: Willie Berg, age 93, of Pittsburgh, passed away peacefully in his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Monday, March 23. He was surrounded by his loving family. Beloved husband of 70 years to Steffi Goldberger Berg, father of Ilana (Michael) Braun, Judy (Jeffrey) Wolfson, Cindy (Andy) Vayonis.

Opi to his adoring grandchildren, Rachael (Evan) Starkman, Lexi Vayonis, Brad Vayonis, Jordan Wolfson, Natalie Vayonis and his great-grandchild Dylan Starkman. Willie, the only son of Regina and Max Berg, was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1927. He and his family fled war-torn Germany and sought refuge in Shanghai, China, for 12 years, where he met his future wife, Steffi Goldberger. After the war, they moved to Israel, and Willie proudly served in the Israeli army. Willie and Steffi were married and their first child was born in Israel. In 1954, the family immigrated to the United States and set down roots in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Determined to make a good life for his family, Willie worked days at Owens Illinois and attended Carnegie Tech in the evening receiving his degree in electrical engineering. He became an executive for Owens Illinois and Contraves Goerz Corporation. He also founded his own vending business, Willie Berg Vending. His life philosophy and goals were honest and simple — work hard and love your family. Contributions can be made to Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, 1922 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

DENMARK: Frances Stanton Denmark died suddenly on March 28 at the age of 95 in her home in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was the wife of beloved late husband, Morris. Loving and cherished mother of Caryl (Henry) Cohen, Susan Denmark (Marc Darling) and Stephen (Elizabeth) Denmark. Adoring Nana to Zoe Denmark, Adam Cohen, Jeffrey (Becky) Cohen, Jeremy (Natalie) Darling and Andrew Darling.

Great-grandmother to Madeleine, Jack, Amanda, Nick, Noah and Levi. Also survived by many special nieces and nephews.

Frances was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Pittsburgh, daughter of the late Charles and Leora Dugan Stanton and sister of the late Jean Stanton Weiss. When she married Morris in 1955, she moved to Steubenville, Ohio, where they spent many happy years raising their family. She and Morris were actively involved in the community there, especially Temple Beth El and the Jewish Community Council. After Morris’ retirement, they moved to Pittsburgh and spent their winters in West Palm Beach. Frances was an incredibly smart, generous, gracious, kind, loving and very funny lady. Despite many losses and health issues over the last decade, she remained active and positive and completely engaged in life. We will miss

her with all our hearts. Due to the current COVID-19 situation, there can be no service at this time. A memorial service will be held at a later date. If so desired, contributions may be made to a charity of one’s choice.

JUDD: Elmer Judd, 95, died March 29, 2020.

He was born June 25, 1924, in Pittsburgh, the son of Samuel and Sadie (Gallinger) Judd.

Elmer graduated from Wilkinsburg High School in 1942. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force in England during World War II. After the war, he met and married the love of his life, Edna (Herr) Judd. They met at a party where he promptly fell in love with her. They were married for over 73 years. They enjoyed going to the symphony, playing bridge and tennis, and spending happy times with a large circle of friends. He worked as the sales manager at Pennex Products, a private-label pharmaceutical company in Verona. He was president of B’nai B’rith Council, and was active at Temple Sinai. He is survived by his wife Edna, daughter Michele (Lou Mackey) and son Dr. Barry Judd (Fran Steger). He was a loving grandfather to Angie and his great-grandchildren Jackson and Emmett. He also greatly enjoyed the company of his step-grandchildren, Jesse Taylor (Alexa), and Zachary Taylor (Tess), and loved seeing his great-granddaughter Ellie. Contributions in his memory can be made to any charitable organization in need. Arrangements by Rose Funeral Home &Cremation Services.

KOVEL: Dr. Arthur J. Kovel, on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. For almost 25 years, Dr. Arthur J. Kovel, until recently of O’Hara Township, practiced pediatric and adolescent medicine with Bass Wolfson Community Pediatrics in Pittsburgh. In that role, Dr. Kovel cared for thousands of Pittsburgh children and their families. Dr. Kovel was a proud graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, State University of New York at Buffalo and Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. During his time with Bass Wolfson, Dr. Kovel was also a clinical assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the 2016 recipient of the Lee Bass Community Education Network Award for Outstanding Leadership in Pediatric Education. Beloved husband to Cynthia L. Smith MD, formerly of The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. Beloved father to Daniel H. Kovel (Chelsey Kovel), Joseph I. Kovel (Rachel I. Cohen), Samuel W. Kovel and the late Benjamin E. Kovel. Beloved Zayde to Nora M. Kovel and Dylan J. Kovel. Dr. Kovel’s life will be fondly cherished, remembered and celebrated by all those who he cared for as a pediatrician and person. Private graveside services and interment were held at Temple Sinai Memorial Park. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com Please see Obituaries, page 20

SPONSORED CONTENT

Tax Savvy Actions to Take Now in Response to COVID-19 “ In addition to your day-to-day life being totally disrupted by COVID-19, your portfolio took a major hit. What, if anything, should you do about it? ” — JIM LANGE 2200 Murray Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15217 412-521-2732 www.paytaxeslater.com

James Lange, CPA and Attorney

Frankly, we are not in the short-term stock market prediction business and don’t know what the market will do next week, next month or next year. That said, historically when the market takes a 20% hit in one week or less, it has come back—at least in the long run. If you accept that premise, there are a few actions you can take now that are relatively certain to cut taxes for you and your family in the long run.

The recent drop in the market gives many, if not most investors, short-term opportunities to cut their taxes.

IRA and retirement plan owners should strongly consider making a Roth IRA conversion while the market is low. For investors with money outside their IRA or retirement plan, now may be the time for tax-loss harvesting. If you have an IRA and money outside your IRA, you should consider utilizing both strategies.

Strategy 1: Roth IRA Conversions As virtually anyone familiar with my work knows, I have a reputation for being an advo-

cate of making Roth IRA conversions. I would prefer to think I am the owner of a firm that “runs the numbers” and presents objective recommendations for strategic financial planning and that it just so happens that, often, one of those recommendations is to make a series of Roth IRA conversions.

Obviously, the best time to make a Roth IRA conversion is when you are in a lower tax bracket and when the value of the IRA you want to convert, or at least partially convert into a Roth IRA, is low.

Since we aren’t market timers, we normally use the current and projected future income tax brackets of our clients and their heirs as one of the most important factors when determining whether, when and how much a client should convert.

There is some historic precedent for the market rebounding after a fast downturn like the one that has just occurred. Of course, there is never any certainty in market forecasting, but if that precedent holds this time around, it might be a great time to do a Roth IRA conversion.

Another idea is to do part of the conversion you were thinking about this year and perhaps if the market goes down even more, do more later.

One area of caution about making Roth IRA conversions is that I don’t want you using up too much of your after-tax savings that you may

need to maintain your lifestyle. Hopefully, you have some investments you will not have to sell at a loss to maintain your lifestyle. Ideally, you would have enough to cover spending needs and Roth conversions. If you do, there may be great opportunity.

Strategy 2: Tax-Loss Harvesting We are big fans of tax-loss harvesting, and I believe that all the money management firms that we work with have been extremely busy with tax-loss harvesting in the last two weeks.

A good practice is to do tax-loss harvesting throughout the year and particularly after a drop in the market.

Basically, to tax-loss harvest, you sell a stock or a fund that is currently at a lower share price than when you bought it. To properly execute this strategy, you can’t just select a stock that is down for the year and sell your shares; this is about selling a stock that is currently trading for less than the price you paid for your shares. Most clients with money outside their IRAs and retirement plans have significant appreciation in those investments. If some of those highly appreciated investments are now under water, at a breakeven point or at a price that would only incur a small capital gain, selling them while they are down may be a great strategy. Of course, this only works in a taxable account, not an IRA or retirement plan.

You can’t sell a stock, claim the loss, and buy it back the next day. The rule with a stock or fund sold for a tax-loss is that you must wait 30 days before you can buy back the same security in a taxable account. This is known as the wash rule.

But you can probably get around that rule by buying something similar to the security you just sold for a loss.

The potential short and long-term tax savings you could reap from employing these two strategies under current market conditions are significant. However, due to the unprecedented challenge facing our community and our world from the COVID-19 pandemic, we have cancelled all our upcoming public workshops.

In order to provide our readers, clients and business friends with even more information about these strategies and the possible benefit to you and your family, we will be holding a free webinar:

Tax Savvy Responses to COVID-19 Tuesday, April 14th • 1 p.m.

To reserve your spot, please go to

www.paytaxeslater.com/webinar

The foregoing content from Lange Financial Group, LLC is for informational purposes only, subject to change, and should not be construed as investment or tax advice. Those seeking personalized guidance should seek a qualified professional.

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APRIL 10, 2020 19

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

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Obituaries:

Anonymous .........................Abraham S. Marcovsky

Amy R. Kamin ......................................Hannah Kamin

Continued from page 19

Anonymous .......................................... Rose Marcovsk

Nessa Mines..................................................Max Green

NATHENSON: Odell (Bloom) Nathenson, In her 100th year on Saturday, April 4, 2020.

Beloved wife of the late Max Nathenson.

Loving mother of Richard (Carol) Nathenson and Karen Nathenson. Sister of the late Alfred (late Nan) Bloom and late Bernard (late Jean) Bloom. Grandmother of Dr. David and Randi Nathenson, Dr. Michael and Gabriel Steier Nathenson, Dr. Robert and Alison Nathenson, Steven Nathenson, Emily (Aaron) Marks and Dr. Andrea Goldblum Blau. Great-grandmother of Jesse, Zachary, Micah, Morrice, Fredrick, William, Ethan, Molly and Lexie. Graveside services and interment private. Contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

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

Anonymous .........................Rosalind M. Marcovsky Neila Bendas ................................................Ruth Hecht Lessa Finegold .............................A. Mitchell Caplan Edward M. Goldston ..................Richard W. Brown

Nessa Mines.......................... Samual C. Mines, MD Nessa Mines........................................... Martha Green Mr. George Pattak........................Beatrice P. Smizik

Edward M. Goldston ...........................Sam Labovitz

Esther Zapler Siniakin ............ Rose Celia Zaplerk

Jerrie Johnson .......................................... Sadie Mullen

Rae Solomon ............................................... Pearl Braun

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday April 12: Harry Ellanovitz, Jennie Friedman, Bertha Kaiser, Philip K. Landau, Dr. Edwin Sheldon Protas, Hannah R. Rubinoff, William Taper, Norman Weinberg, Helen Jaffe Wolk Monday April 13: Fannie Ackerman, Harry Birnbaum, Ben Fleischer, Anne M. Flitman, Lillian H. Goldfield, Edward L. Gordon, Rachel Haltman, Sidney Lawrence, Jack Lundy, Fannie Pollock, Herman Aaron Rosenblum, Jacob Rubenstein, Matilda S. Strauss, Ferd N. Taub, Rose Tick, Bessie Rebecca Traub Tuesday April 14: Isaac Abramovitz, Sarah Balkman, Merle N. Berger, David D. Bernstein, Helen Lorinczi Braunstein, Philip Golden, Harry Kornstein, Harry Melnick, Edna Gertrude Rothman Richman, Tillie Pechersky Serbin, Joseph Sherwin, Andrew H. Spitz, Saul Stein, Harry Stevenson, Pearl Wishnovitz, Albert Abraham Wolk Wednesday April 15: Nellie Baker, Solomon Balfer, Jennie Bergstein, Richard W. Brown, Joseph Cook, Sophie Glick, Philip Goldberg, Rev. Solomon Horwitz, Jennie Ruttenberg Joseph, Leona Kaminsky, Fanny Kaufman, Esther Kohn, Frank Leff, Alex G. Levison, Regina Margolis, Max Neiman, Ruth Paris, Diann Taxay, Mollie Wikes Thursday April 16: Sadie Gelb Braunstein, Max Fischman, A. Morris Ginsburg, Edith Glosser, Celia Greenberg, Abraham Horowitz, Hannah Kamin, Isador Klein, Samuel Klein, Abraham Jacob Kwall, Bernard David Levine, Mattie Goldie Levine, Michael Liff, Rose H. Lowy, David Myers, Max Pretter, Nettie Rosenthal, Dr. Zanvel Sigal, Myer Solomon, I. Weinbaum Friday April 17: Marvin Adams, Lillian Ethel Brown, Samuel Feldman, Anna Goldman, Sidney M Levine, Florence Rosenfeld Myers, Lillian Rogoff, Sylvia Rosenfeld, Jennie R. Rush, Jacob Sadwick, Solomon Stalinsky, Edith G. Steiner Saturday April 18: Sarah Alpern, Benjamin Americus, Alter L. Baker, Morris Benjamin, Morris Bergstein, Sherry Hilda Berkowitz, Sadye Burnkrant, Arthur R. Cohen, Robert M. Colnes, Edith Pichel Davis, Myer Farber, Louis Freedman, Abraham Goldberg, Ida Cohen Hahn, Pfc. Lee Robert Katz, Benjamin Paul Krause, Harry Levine, Fannie Mayer, Sadie Nadler, Sol Niderberg, Edward J. Pearlstein, Anita Closky Rothman, Ida K. Samuels, Dorothy Z. Sandson, Julius Schwartz, Freda Ferber Thorpe, Emma Winer

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SIMON: David A. Simon, died on March 28, 2020, after a long and heroic battle with cancer. Son of the late Miriam and Maurice

Organizations: Continued from page 9

the CDS staff employed through the current period of virtual instruction but is also “taking every opportunity to keep our school intact,” she said. “We are applying for the SBA loan made possible through the federal relief plan and informing our employees of their rights if they are unable to work.”

Munro is aware that there will be “long term impacts for the entire world,” acknowledging the likelihood of a recession. “The job of community leaders will be to think about the community they wish to see in five, 10 or 15 years and help now to ensure the continuity of what the community has built so far.”

Yeshiva Schools also has moved to online classes, and while the school anticipates collecting most of its regular tuition, its administration realizes that “unfortunately, there are some families suffering and we will work with them on a case-bycase basis,” said Rabbi Chezky Rosenfeld, director of development.

Temple Emanuel of South Hills Early Childhood Director Iris Harlan said that the preschool has not furloughed any teachers, even though the school is temporarily closed, and is paying them through April 15.

But Temple Emanuel’s ECDC is “grappling with the issue of tuition versus reimbursement,” Harlan explained. “Many of our families have offered to donate their

Recipes: Continued from page 17 3 bay leaves 1 small bunch fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 375. Season brisket with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large roasting pan over medium-high heat. Sear brisket about 4 minutes per side or until browned. Remove and set aside.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté onions and garlic for 5 minutes over PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Simon. Dear friend to many, including Howard Stern, Sandro Etcheverry, Karen Gerson and Eddie Lowy. Graveside service and internment were held at Homewood Cemetery.

David built and managed a highly successful business for nearly 35 years.

He loved to shop and travel and had visited 49 states and over 80 countries. Contributions in David’s memory may be made to the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated, 412-6218282. schugar.com.

SLOMBERG: Stanley C. Slomberg, on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Beloved husband of Patricia S. Slomberg. Brother of Martin (Adrienne) Slomberg and Marilyn (late Bradley) Hersch. Uncle of Jessica Slomberg, Max and Steven Hersch. Graveside services and interment were private.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com. PJC tuition. We’re asking that from families that are able. It’s going specifically toward teacher compensation.”

The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t only affecting synagogues and schools. Melissa Haviv, Classroom Without Borders’ assistant director, said the organization will “definitely have financial losses.”

Haviv explained that the cost of reimbursing for canceled trips and seminars will impact Classrooms Without Borders but she credits founder Dr. Zipora Gur with building a foundation that enables the organization to weather the storm.

“She’s a second-generation Holocaust survivor so she knows how to plan,” Haviv said. “We don’t have to worry about laying off staff or anything like that.”

Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh Director Lauren Bairnsfather said her organization will continue to offer virtual programs despite having to temporarily close its doors and noted that her full staff is working “as hard as they did before.” April, she said, is the Center’s busiest month, “with Yom HaShoah, and now a full slate of programs for Genocide Awareness month.”

Bairnsfather, like the heads of many other local Jewish institutions, is working closely with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for financial guidance and assistance. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. medium-low heat until soft. Return brisket to pan and add pomegranate juice, broth, honey, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Transfer to preheated oven and roast for 2 hours.

Flip brisket over and continue roasting for 1 to 11/2 more hours or until tender. Let brisket rest for 10 minutes before thinly slicing against the grain. Strain liquid and serve on the side as au jus. PJC Jamie Geller is the author of the bestselling “Quick & Kosher” cookbook series. This article was first published by JTA in 2012.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Organizations: Continued from page 14

Pittsburgh’s Federation has contributed to JAFI’s recently launched emergency fund for non-profits, a program that includes provisions for immediate loans, with a 3% interest rate.

Although the Federation, which shuttered its building on March 13, does not anticipate layoffs of its own staff, it has “slowed

down hiring for some of the open positions,” and some staff have been redeployed, said Hertzman.

As for Pittsburgh’s JCC, for now it operates in a limited capacity, providing meals to qualifying seniors, making wellness calls, opening facilities from time to time for blood drives, and broadcasting content online, including fitness classes and JLine programs.

Schreiber noted how quickly things have changed.

Just last month, he recalled, “we were exceptionally healthy. On March 2, we paid the last debt payment back from the Renaissance campaign that we had had for 23 years. We were debt-free on March 2 for the first time since I’ve been there. We celebrated that and it lasted two weeks.”

Schreiber does remain confident that the JCC “will reopen,” he said. “We will serve everybody that we can.” But because of all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic,

JCC leadership is planning for different possible scenarios, different timelines.

“We have to think about what it will mean to open with some degree of social distance and we will have to be mindful not only of our own economic condition, but what will be the financial circumstances of the people we are serving,” said Schreiber. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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APRIL 10, 2020 21

Community L’chaim

Good Jewish boy

p Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Young Adult Division’s virtual mixology class met April 1 and was led by Abbey Farkas.

p J-JEP’s Rabbi Larry Freedman is on State Active Duty in New York City as part of the COVID-19 response, but still finds time to visit his mother.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Larry Freedman

If you play it, maybe they’ll come Although the Pirates didn’t make it to opening day, Jewish Association on Aging residents did and showed some hometown spirit.

p Cheers to warranty spill clauses.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

Shabbat Shalom p Ninety-six-year-old Rose led residents in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

u Ann loves her Bucs Photos courtesy of Jewish Association on Aging

p Partnership2Gether representatives from Pittsburgh and Karmiel and Misgav wished each other Shabbat Shalom via Zoom.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

22 APRIL 10, 2020

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Community Yummy in my tummy

p Macaron Bar, owned by Michael Wagner and Kyle Oldfield, donated more than 4,000 macarons to various doctors’ offices, local hospitals and health care workers in Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis in recognition of their dedication and efforts in fighting COVID-19.

Learning changes perspective

p In Pittsburgh, macarons were donated to UPMC hospitals as well as West Penn Hospital.

Photos courtesy of Michael Wagner

p Hillel Goldberg took digital field trips through Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s virtual learning platform. Photo by Ari Goldberg

Meals and mission served

p Zev Camp demonstrated art class continues even from a distance.

Photo by Lauren Baldel

Ready to learn

p Community Day School pre-K student Ethan Kashtan prepared for Passover by using Play-Doh to build items on the seder plate. p AgeWell at the JCC Meals to Go program has provided more than 1,500 meals to seniors during the COVID-19 crisis.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

p From the comfort of her home classroom, CDS fourth-grader Summer Franco logged in to CDS@home to join a full-school Kabbalat Shabbat service led by music teacher Eileen Freedman.

Photos courtesy of Community Day School

APRIL 10, 2020 23

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