Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 4-17-20 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

April 17, 2020 | 23 Nisan 5780

Candlelighting 7:44 p.m. | Havdalah 8:46 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 16 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Chaplains adapt Comforting the sick during COVID-19 Page 2

LOCAL Zeders

$1.50

Howard Reisner, first Jewish PandemicSquirrel Hill COVID-19 related casualty, was community fixture anxiety can be compounded by memories of massacre, say local professionals By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

J Virtual seders — thanks to Zoom Page 3

LOCAL Aiding the jobless

JFCS offers support to unemployed Page 5

blocking off quarter-mile sections of road, that Reisner decided to get his driver’s license. “That kicked off a long list of things he did to live life,” Shalom said. “My dad was a liver of life who actively pursued his dreams.” Those dreams included proposing to his then-girlfriend, Leah. But first, he had to raise some money. So Reisner ditched the open road for the pool hall. “He did it with a friend almost professionally to raise enough money to buy my mother her engagement ring,” said Shalom. The pair married and settled in Morristown, New Jersey, raising a family that would grow to include six children. To support his brood, Reisner began designing office furniture, working first for the Brenner Desk Company before starting his own business. Throughout the 1970s, Reisner, then a secular Jew, began to explore Chasidic Judaism, taking classes at the largest Lubavitch yeshiva in the world, the Rabbinical College of America. Despite the growing interest of their patriarch, it was several years before his family

ust 18 months removed from the massacre of Oct. 27, 2018, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community finds itself grappling with another inconceivable trauma — a deadly pandemic that has confined most everyone to their homes. Nearly a month into self-quarantining, memories of past everyday routines — like gym attendance, careless ambling through grocery stores or brushes past strangers on sidewalks — are becoming more distant. People are adjusting to spending more time at home and indoors. Professional and familial demands, along with the general state of uncertainty presented by COVID-19, can add to the stress while prompting thoughts and feelings related to the shooting at the Tree of Life building, say local mental health professionals. “We’re a year and a half out from the shooting and a lot of people have made a tremendous amount of progress in that time just in terms of finding a ‘new normal,’ as some people put it,” said Angelica Joy Miskanin, a trauma and art therapist at Jewish Family and Community Services. “And so now here we are again with this kind of situation. In some ways I think there’s a strange level of preparedness for some, and for others it’s sort of a return, or a reemergence of a feeling or feelings that were experienced early on after the shooting,” Given the current state of affairs, it’s not surprising that people are having increased anxiety or “more feelings of worry, feelings of

Please see Reisner, page 14

Please see Anxiety, page 14

 Howard Reisner is the first casualty of COVID-19 in the Squirrel Hill Jewish community. Photo provided by Shalom Reisner. By David Rullo | Staff Writer

oward (Chaim) Reisner, a man passionate “about making the world a better place through acts of goodness and kindness,” died Monday, April 6 from COVID-19, according to his son, Shalom. The 78-year-old was the first member of the Squirrel Hill Jewish community to succumb to the virus. Reisner was focused and driven, partially because he lost his father at a young age, Shalom said. “He rose to do things on his own and learn. If he did something, he was going to do it every day and he was going to do it to the nth degree. That was one of the biggest takeaways of his life, to actively live. Do what you love and enjoy it. Oh, and by the way, help other people so they enjoy their lives, too.” Reisner’s passion for life and drive to control his own destiny was evident at an early age. In 1959, the then-16-year-old started a car club that began attracting members from Roselle, New Jersey, where he grew up. Eventually, Reisner bought a 1931 Model A Ford. It was only when he and other members of the club began traveling around New Jersey,

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HISTORY

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Census poses dilemma

Headlines Chaplaincy efforts altered due to COVID-19 — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

abbi Doris Dyen has a very particular set of skills that she acquired over a long career of caring for those around her. But these days Dyen is at home and unable to render aid in the way she’s used to. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the septuagenarian and Reconstructionist rabbi who serves as a chaplain at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital is like many spiritual care workers whose hospital presence has been limited. Dyen keeps in touch with colleagues from across the country. “It’s very interesting to hear the similarity of stories where people are saying, ‘I was told to be at home, just to stay at home, not to come in, it’s only direct medical personnel who are really being allowed to be at the hospital,’” Dyen said. Such instructions are certainly understandable given the close proximity to others typically required of her work, she acknowledged, but it’s also somewhat confusing. “It’s a very sort of disorienting experience to have what I feel are very useful skills for exactly this situation and not be able to use them because of the situation that we’re in,” Dyen said. In recent weeks, Dyen, who regularly works with the hospital’s palliative care team, has explored the possibility of FaceTiming or hosting Zoom meetings with patients or their family members, but because of hospital policies and the HIPAA Privacy Rule — aimed at keeping patients’ health information confidential — she has encountered difficulties. How to connect inpatients with family members “who are not being allowed to come into the hospital now” and doing so

p Rabbi Doris Dyen

Photo provided by Doris Dyen

through an off-site chaplain while maintaining necessary confidentiality is “the riddle in all of this,” said Dyen. As of April 8, “for the safety of patients and staff, and to lower their likelihood of exposure to any illness including COVID-19, UPMC is temporarily restricting visitors,” reported the hospital. “While our current visitation guidelines do not apply to facility access of essential health providers and vendors necessary to be on-site for direct patient care or hospital operations, we are recommending they be limited as much as possible, if non-essential.” Apart from navigating federal policies and hospital guidelines, Dyen has dealt with her own mixed feelings on this issue. There’s a certain ambivalence, she said, “because I feel that my hands are tied in a

p Rabbi Jonathan Perlman

way; I can’t be of very much help. I also have to say that given the age that I am that I feel somewhat relieved in a way that I am not on the frontlines, and at the same time I feel sort of bad about that because other people are on the frontlines. And so it’s really a mixed set of feelings because I basically want to be doing what I was trained to do.” Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, who serves as a chaplain at UPMC Shadyside Hospital, has been allowed to continue traveling to the hospital throughout this period, although certain restrictions have altered his work, he explained. “The senior chaplain here has advised me not to make cold calls on patients — I usually just go from room to room and visit Jews, non-Jews — but to wait until I get referrals or get requests from patients themselves,”

Perlman said, adding that not being able to freely connect with inpatients “is something I struggle with.” In light of workplace realities, the Conservative rabbi has tried other ways to be useful, such as sending prayer books to Jewish patients or disseminating inspiring quotes each day to hospital staff to provide “encouragement, faith and hope,” he said. It’s clear, though, that without regular volunteers, visitors and non-clinical personnel, things are different. “There’s a smaller number of people in the hospital,” and that “does feel strange.” Perlman praised the efforts of medical professionals and File photo community members who’ve exhibited best practices in combating COVID-19. As of April 14, Allegheny County has experienced 893 cases of COVID-19, resulting in 24 deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Perlman said he’s been told that if those numbers pick up, he may be reassigned to do something different. “I’m not really on the frontlines, as it were,” he noted. “Maybe that will change, I don’t know.” For now, Perlman said he will continue his chaplaincy efforts, as well as adhering to social distancing and other recommendations, and offered hope “that God who looks after people, who is benevolent, will be benevolent with us, and this scourge will be taken away from the world.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Jewish Pittsburgh embraces the ‘Zeder’ — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

aving five sisters scattered around the country, Lydia Blank is used to multitasking during the holidays. “It’s not unusual for us to have a computer at the seder table — in the past, we’d Skype to bring in my sister from California or one of my sisters from Virginia,” said Blank, who lives in Highland Park with her husband, Craig, and their three children. The role of the computer this year, though, was a little bit different. Blank took part in a Zoom seder — some are calling them “Zeders”— last week for Passover, alongside her mom and stepdad in the South Hills, 18 children, several sisters and her one brother-in-law’s family, a cousin in Shadyside and a neighbor, she said, “literally across the street.” They each followed different Haggadahs. It was Pesach for the coronavirus era. “We did the best we could,” said Blank, echoing Dayenu. “We interpreted what we had to say. And we were all focused on the computer and listening. It was a very focused experience.” Blank’s family wasn’t the only one using digital technology to share the Jewish story of escaping slavery in Egypt. Rabbis at several Pittsburgh congregations also invited people into their homes, virtually speaking, to mark the holiday. Take Rabbi Alex Greenbaum. The spiritual leader for the past 18 years at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills has been getting a lot of practice with Zoom video-conferencing software. “Seven days a week we’re on Zoom,” laughed the Conservative rabbi. Typically, the congregation gathers at the synagogue on the second night of Passover for a group seder. This year, Greenbaum’s dining room had to do. More than 75 families — nearly one in every four that

go to the congregation — took part in the Zeder last week. “We’re really going for community connection,” Greenbaum said. “You could probably find better entertainers somewhere else. But we’re not missing an opportunity for a community connection. A lot of people are tired the second night of Passover and I think we’re more tired than we used to be. But this was nice.” Rochelle Wynne, who moved from Seattle to Upper St. Clair in November, is no slouch when it comes to Zoom. “My grandson does it for work all the time and my daughter in England uses it regularly,” Wynne said. She was touched to “attend” the Beth El Zeder. On the first night, she had a Zeder with family from around the world — some 16 adults and six children in all. She joked the “30-minute Haggadah” each of the family members downloaded for the first night took them more than an hour and a half to complete. It was important for her to do the Zeder, she said, because of her 6-year-old great-granddaughter. “Kids feel isolated enough,” Wynne said. “I felt it was important for her to see a lot of other people doing this at the same time.” Blank’s mother, Naomi Herman, echoed a similar sentiment about her family Zeder. She and her husband, Paul, emailed or called family beforehand to discuss their parts. They even did a “Where’s Waldo?”-style afikomen search, with each of the children set to receive a prize via U.S. mail after they email in their results to Herman. “We wanted to involve everyone — the age range [that night] spanned from 4 ½ into the 80s,” Herman said. “Some of the kids had to learn parts by rote. Some read and practiced their portion. We wanted to make it as inclusive as possible.” “I thought it went well,” she added. Paul Herman said it was even touching to

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HEINZ HALL

Please see Zeder, page 15

p Lydia and Craig Blank and their children, Abby, Landon and Nina. Photo provided by Lydia Blank

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APRIL 17, 2020 3

Headlines Aish Ignite Pittsburgh connects young Jews to their heritage “I wasn’t not religious when I was young because I made a choice not to be religious. I just wasn’t ever exposed to enough of a variety of Judaism in order to even be openminded about Judaism,” Cook recalled of his upbringing. He grew up in Marion, Ohio, attending a local Reform temple a couple of times a year, on holidays, “but other than that we didn’t really have a Jewish life,” he said. When he was 15, Cook’s mother decided “out of the blue” to send him to summer camp at the Reform movement’s Goldman Union Camp Institute in Zionsville, Indiana. That experience was “life-changing,” he said. “Suddenly, I met other Jewish kids for the first time in my life. I connected with them so quickly. After a month at summer camp, I had these friends that were closer to me than kids I’d grown up with my whole life.” The rabbi credits that summer with showing him that Judaism “was something special.” After attending camp for a few more years, Cook embarked on a NFTY trip to Israel. He remembers it as “another lifechanging” experience. “I had no connection to Israel. In fact, I didn’t like most people who went to Israel because they came back all Zionistic,” he recalled.

— LOCAL — By David Rullo | Staff Writer

abbi Seth Cook’s path to leading Aish Ignite Pittsburgh with his wife Lisa wasn’t a straight line. Rather, the circuitous route took him from Ohio to Israel; from Reform Judaism to becoming an Orthodox rabbi. As leaders of Aish Ignite, the Cooks are charged with working to empower young Jewish Pittsburghers to end assimilation and fulfill their destiny of tikkun olam or repairing the world. The core principles and values of the organization include the belief that Judaism is a journey, that every Jew is worthy of “profound respect” and that all Jews are responsible for one another, according to its website. The Cooks engage young professionals and local college students in learning opportunities and trips. While in years past, Aish leaders recruited on various campuses, those days are long gone, said the rabbi. Instead, students come to Aish through word of mouth and posts on the organization’s social media pages. Individual and group classes are taught at the pair’s Squirrel Hill home or locations convenient for the students, including local Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.

p Lisa and Seth Cook, co-directors of Aish Ignite Pittsburgh

Photo by Shaindy Cook

Please see Aish, page 15

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Headlines As unemployment skyrockets, JFCS provides key resources — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci |Special to the Chronicle

s COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on Pittsburgh and the world, workers at Jewish Family and Community Services can be counted along with hospital nurses and grocery store clerks as potential lifesavers. The 22 staffers at the JFCS Career Development Center have been very busy — though working entirely remotely — since mid-March, fielding inquiries from some of the 1 million-plus Pennsylvanians who have filed for unemployment benefits since COVID-19 hit the Keystone State. “We’re helping lots of people with unemployment compensation,” said Sarah Welch, director of the career center. “I think a lot of people have been furloughed and are likely expecting those jobs to come back. There are still a lot of companies hiring — and not just for warehousing or in industries applicable to the pandemic.” “I just hope people are not paralyzed by this,” she added, “and do take it as a call to action.” Across the U.S., more than one in every 10 workers were fired or furloughed from their jobs in the past four weeks, according to

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federal figures. More than 8 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits nationwide and some are calling Pennsylvania the epicenter of the job losses. Welch questions that dubious distinction, stressing that Pennsylvania’s ability to process claims more efficiently just might give the impression of heightened job contraction. But Welch is quick to stress the situation is dire. The Squirrel Hill-based career center typically gets about a 60% open rate on the resource emails it sends to those seeking work. In recent weeks, Welch said that p Jewish Family and Community Services Photo provided by Jewish Family and Community Services. open rate has spiked to 200%, meaning people are not only checking out the resources, but checking them more than once. them now have lost their ‘bridge job,’ their Robin Farabee-Siers, a JFCS career coun- temporary job, that thing meant to get them selor for the past six years, said she hasn’t from point A to B.” seen a dramatic increase in people seeking She said there is reason for hope. work. But some of those seeking it are in “Companies are still hiring,” she said last increasingly difficult situations. “I’ve had week. “I’ve had clients who’ve interviewed clients placed in ‘bridge jobs’ who are still with BNY Mellon, with PPG. A client I job searching,” Farabee-Siers said. “Many of spoke to today had an interview with the

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University of Pittsburgh. And there are lot of offers coming through, though (they’re saying), ‘We want you. We just don’t have a starting date yet for you.’” Both Welch and Farabee-Siers stressed the current shutdown at many workplaces could be an opportunity for many. “If you haven’t updated your resume in X years, now’s a good time to do it,” FarabeeSiers said. “It’s a really good time to talk to people, to do networking and reconnecting … Keep cultivating your network even if you’re not certain about what your next steps are.” JFCS also partnered with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and United Way 2-1-1 to launch a Community COVID-19 Hotline. The service, available at 412-422-0400, helps connect workers, job seekers and those impacted in some way by the pandemic with critical resources and support. Calls will be returned within 24 hours. The group, which serves both Jews and non-Jews, also is offering virtual events such as “Open Space Support Groups” and “Mindfulness & Meditation for Stress Management.” For more information, visit jfcspgh.org. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Calendar >>Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon q FRIDAYS, APRIL 17, 24; WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 The JCC 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. (Wednesday date is at the Squirrel Hill JCC only.) Appointments strongly encouraged. Visit vitalant.org and click on the “Make an Appointment” button and search with group code C189 (Squirrel Hill location) or C438 (South Hills location). 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 SUNDAYS, APRIL 19, 26; MAY 3, 10, 17

q TUESDAYS, APRIL 21, 28; MAY 5, 12, 19

q THURSDAYS, APRIL 23, 30; MAY 7, 14, 21

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 structure of Jewish services and will engage in a close study of a number of central prayers within the liturgy. This webinar is designed to give fresh insights into Jewish prayer with the goal of opening new doors of understanding. 10:30 a.m.

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-the-wisdom-verses-of-themishnahvirtual/2020-04-13

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 23

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/lionof-judah-learn.

q MONDAYS, APRIL 20, 27 In the four-part webinar 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. 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 21 Join Classrooms Without Borders at 2 p.m. for a free webinar. Dr. Rachel Korazim presents “Echoes of the Holocaust in Modern Israeli Literature.” classroomswithoutborders.org/april-21-2020webinar-dr.-rachel-korazim-echoes-holocaustmodern-israeli-literature

Caregiving can be stressful. The Caregivers Support Group will meet 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. In commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day and Genocide Awareness Month, Classrooms Without Borders is honored to bring Armenian genocide scholar Sara Cohan, via Zoom, at 4 p.m. Free. classroomswithoutborders. org/sara-cohan-armenian-genocide

q THURSDAY, APRIL 30

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 allnight 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

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Headlines A casualty of the last pandemic — HISTORY — By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

nytime I glance over a grave marker or a yahrzeit plaque, I always pause if I spot 1918 as the date of death. People die every year, for many reasons, but a lot of the Americans who died that year died from one of two causes: World War I or the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In Elrod Cemetery, in Versailles, Pennsylvania, is one such grave marker. It reads: Esther Yochelson 1895-1918 A Daughter of Democracy A Mother of Mercy Died in the Service of Humanity in the Great War Nov. 12, 1918

Yochelson was born in Pittsburgh, just a few years after her family emigrated from Russia. She enrolled in a five-year nursing program at McKeesport Hospital when she was 16 or 17 and became the first Jewish graduate of the program in January 1917. World War I had been underway for several years, but the United States was only an observer. We officially entered the war in

early April 1917. Yochelson enlisted in May 1918, just as reports of a flu-like illness were beginning to emerge out of neutral Spain. She was sent to Camp Gordon, Georgia, where she spent the summer attending to soldiers-in-training. While stationed at the camp she wrote letters to friends and relatives throughout Western Pennsylvania. In a letter to Esther Margolis of Munhall, she enclosed an original poem titled “The Same Old Things.” After her death, the Criterion reprinted it. Here is the final stanza: Goin off duty at 7 o’clock, Tired, discouraged, just ready to drop, But called back on special at 7:15, With woe in her heart, but it must not be seen; Morning and evening, noon and night, When we lay down our caps and cross the bar, O Lord! Will you give us just one little star To wear in our crown, with the uniform new, In the City Above, where the head nurse is You As a top Army nurse, Yochelson was sent overseas to tend to soldiers on the Western Front. She mobilized in late August, barely missing a major outbreak at Camp Gordon. Accounts of her trip conflict, but she seems to have left for France in mid-September to join Group A of the American Expeditionary Forces. She contracted influenza on the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and was sent to U. S. Army Base Hospital No. 33 in

Portsmouth, England, where she died of “The Montefiore meningitis on the morning of Nov. 12, 1918. Hospital, its force Under war department regulations, badly crippled Yochelson was interred overseas until burial by illness among accommodations could be arranged stateside. its staff of physiHer first funeral occurred at Morn Hill, a large cians and nurses, military camp near Winchester, England. It has worked night took 19 months before her body was returned and day fighting to McKeesport. Her second funeral was on the disease,” the Criterion wrote in May 28, 1920, at Elrod Cemetery. According to the Criterion, it was among November 1918. the largest funerals in McKeesport history. It But the Criterion lasted much of the day and included full mili- fol lowe d t he tary honors. The mayor, the superintendent of Yochelson story for schools, and other civic leaders all delivered years. Her death remarks. In a eulogy, Rabbi Murray Alstet provided an opporof the relatively new Temple B’nai Israel of tunity to make p The Jewish Criterion published McKeesport said, “I come here not so much meaning out of the this photograph of as a Jew, as a rabbi, to eulogize a daughter of pandemic, whereas Esther Yochelson in Zion, but as an American, to join with you in so many of the other her military uniform honoring a daughter of democracy who died impacts must have on Jan. 3, 1919, that democracy may live.” induced the same about six weeks after her death. The A lot of people have recently been turning to fear, guilt, anger photograph also the 1918 flu for insights into our current crisis. and frustration we appears on a small There was surprisingly little written about the are experiencing porcelain portrait set into her grave marker pandemic in the local Jewish press, especially today. PJC at Elrod Cemetery. compared to issues like the rebirth of Zionism Photo courtesy of the Rauh Jewish History Program or the relief campaign for European Jews, both Eric Lidji is & Archives at the Heinz of which appeared in issue after issue. Aside the director of History Center from incidental references in obituaries and the Rauh Jewish other notices, I found only a few short articles History Program & Archives at the Heinz addressing the pandemic directly, and even History Center. He can be reached at eslidji@ JC Symphony 3/19/19 vagaries. 1:17 AM Page 1 those mostly 2019_Eartique contain distressing heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406.

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oth of Britain’s leading national-circulation Jewish newspapers, The Jewish Chronicle and The Jewish News, are being liquidated. The staff of both papers will be laid off because their parent company, the Kessler Foundation, has run out of money due to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reported April 8. England’s Jewish Chronicle was established in 1841 and is Britain’s oldest-running Jewish newspaper. It is p Screenshot of The Jewish Chronicle website listed on LinkedIn as having about 50 employees. The Jewish News has six people listed as its journalists. the financial future of Jewish media in the “With great sadness, the Board of the United Kingdom. Jewish Chronicle has taken the decision Jewish media have been struggling for to seek a creditors voluntary liquidation years in the United Kingdom and beyond, of Jewish Chronicle Newspapers Ltd.,” the but the coronavirus crisis caused a collapse newspaper announced on its website. in print sales and advertising revenue, the Despite “the heroic efforts of the editorial Guardian wrote. and production team at the newspaper, it has On April 14, there was a glimmer of hope become clear that the (newspaper) will not the papers might be saved as the Kessler be able to survive the impact of the current Foundation submitted an offer to the liquicoronavirus epidemic in its current form.” dators for the assets of both papers. PJC In February, England’s Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News agreed to merge to secure — JTA

Federation continues to distribute emergency funds

he Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh made addit iona l emergenc y funding distributions last week to its beneficiary agencies and overs eas par tners totaling $297,300. Funds were also distributed the prior week. The total for the two weeks is now $547,300. The emergency funds are intended to help allay costs and losses associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The most recent distributions included additional money for the Jewish Assistance Fund and Hebrew Free Loan for emergency cash grants and loans, respectively, to meet sharp increases in demand. The distributions also include funding for personnel protective equipment and sanitizing facilities as well as case workers and technology to facilitate communications and assistance to service recipients. Along with the JAF and HFL, agencies funded in this new block of distributions include the Jewish Association on Aging, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Family and Community Services, Jewish Residential Services and Yeshiva Schools. Additional funding

will be available for C o m mu n i t y D ay School and Hillel Academy once they determine emergency needs, according to Ad am He r t z m an , the F e d e r a t i o n’s director of marketing. Additional funds will be directed to the Federation’s overseas partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Total funding for the two weeks of distributions falls into the following categories: seniors ($143,200); vulnerable populations ($60,200); food insecurity, emergency funding and career assistance ($321,400); supporting children, teens and their families ($20,000). “We are continuing to assess the needs for coronavirus relief as they come up and the board is trying to get money to where it is needed most and as quickly as possible,” said Hertzman. “Because of the money from the Community Campaign and other efforts, there are still hundreds of thousands of dollars available.” PJC — Toby Tabachnick

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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Britain’s leading Jewish newspapers to shutter as consequence of coronavirus

Headlines In some European Jewish communities, getting the coronavirus carries a stigma — WORLD — By Cnaan Liphshiz | JTA

he coronavirus has spread rapidly among members of the Jewish community of Antwerp, which has a large Orthodox population. At least five have died and another 10 are hospitalized in serious condition. But the virus is hardly ever mentioned there by name. “People call it ‘the disease’ or they say they have ‘fallen ill,’ but there’s a taboo, a stigma on it and a sense of shame around it,” said Martin Rosenblum, a doctor in the Belgian city who sees patients from its predominantly haredi Orthodox population. “It means that some people with the virus wait until they’re in really bad shape before they try to go to hospital or get help.” Although synagogues have closed down in Antwerp, some Orthodox Jews continue to pray together there. Those affected by the virus are hoping that their peers and fellow community members won’t ever know they contracted it. They aren’t alone in Western Europe — Jews and even Jewish leaders in places like

p Haredi Orthodox Jews walk in Antwerp, Belgium, March 16, 2016.

Milan and London show a trend of avoiding conversation around the virus in communities that could potentially be very hard hit by COVID-19. And it’s not only a trend among the haredi Orthodox, who are particularly at risk because of their highly social lifestyle

Photo by Cnaan Liphshiz

and lack of access to scientific information due to rabbinical bans on smartphones and television. In Milan, where thousands have died from the virus, the head of the local Jewish community group said he is encountering — and fighting against — a widespread

reluctance to speak about the disease across denominations. That, Milo Hasbani said, is not unique or especially common among Jews but is shared by many Italians. “I don’t understand the stigma, but I’ve encountered it in the community,” he said. “Why would people be ashamed? It’s not a sexually transmitted disease. You can get it from standing too close to someone, from wiping your grandchild’s nose. So why are people hiding it?” Hasbani believes the answer lies in fear of the disease and reluctance to admit the virus’ acute danger. He said this sense of secrecy in the early stages of COVID-19 “was disastrous because it prevented people who came into contact with coronavirus carriers from being warned to self-isolate.” “So they went about their business as usual, and the ones who had it spread it to others,” Hasbani said. On the Facebook group of the Jewish Community of Milan, the organization heading Jewish activities there, Hasbani urged community members who are displaying symptoms or believe they’ve been infected to say so publicly for the good Please see Europe, page 15

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Headlines A census question poses a dilemma for American Jews — are you white, and if so, what are your ‘origins’? — NATIONAL — By Ron Kampeas | JTA

t’s the ninth question on the census, and for many Jewish respondents, it’s a surprising — and sometimes unwelcome — invitation to consider who exactly they are. For the first time, the U.S. Census question on race is asking white and AfricanAmerican respondents to dig deeper and fill in more detailed origins. “Mark one or more boxes AND print origins,” the printed form says. For white, it adds, “Print, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc.” The request for “origins” has existed for decades for Native American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander respondents. But whites and blacks were previously asked to simply check a box. The question has launched countless Jewish conversations: “What did you list?” “What should I?” The answers reveal a community grappling with what it means to announce one’s Jewishness in the 21st century, and to consider the myriad paths that have brought American Jews to the present day.

What’s in a question “I didn’t see a box for ‘stateabout race? less people being abused and kicked out of one Eastern Race has been a factor in the European region after another,’ U.S. census since the first one, so this seemingly straightin 1790, but for the nation’s forward question turned out first century and a half, the to be quite a head-scratcher,” answers were used as a means said Jonathan Kopp, a commuto codify rather than crush nications strategist who discrimination. The first census lives in Brooklyn. counted “free white males, free Kopp, 53, abandoned white females,” “all other free the form for a while before persons” and “slaves.” returning and checking Now it is a means of redressing “white.” He entered “Eastern discriminatory practices. Jewish immigrants arrive at Ellis Island in New York, circa 1910. European Ashkenazi Jew” in p “This data helps federal agenPhto by Apic/Getty Images/via JTA the origins box. cies monitor compliance with Jeff Weintraub, 72, an anti-discrimination provisions, academic who lives in the Philadelphia area, the page won’t change. The blank field will such as those in the Voting Rights Act said he thought the race/ethnicity/nation- be highlighted, urging the user to fill it. Click and the Civil Rights Act,” it says on the al-origin questions on the census form “were one more time, however, and you’re able to census website. move to the 10th question without filling it a little bizarre.” For decades, the race category has had “I checked ‘white’ and then, for elabora- in. That’s not explained on the census form. four broad categories: white, black, Native That hurdle led some to believe American and Asian, with “some other tion, wrote something along the following lines in the box: ‘Jewish — grandparents that the “origins” question required race” as the fifth option. Whether one is of from the former Russian Empire and the typing in an answer. Hispanic origin is a separate question. “Ashkenazi, just because,” said Debra former Austro-Hungarian Empire,’” he said. This year’s extension of the “origins” One complicating factor: The online Rubin, an editor in the Washington, D.C., option to whites and blacks was a result in census form makes it appear as if the area. “It didn’t allow me to skip, and I don’t part of lobbying by groups of Middle Eastern “origins” question is not optional — but it is. understand why the question is there. I guess Leave the space empty, click continue and I could have put American.” Please see Census, page 11

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

April 17, 1954 — Nasser named Egypt’s Premier

Gamal Abdel Nasser, who leads wars against Israel in 1956 and 1967, is appointed Egypt’s prime minister at age 36. Nasser becomes president under a new constitution in 1956.

April 18, 1996 — 106 Lebanese civilians killed at Qana

of Individual plan should contact me @ 412-901-5433. For plans purchased on the federal exchange

An Israeli artillery barrage kills 106 civilians taking shelter in a U.N. compound in the village of Qana in southern Lebanon during an anti-Hezbollah offensive named Operation Grapes of Wrath.

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April 19, 1956 — Writer Gadi Taub is born

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Gadi Taub, a leading academic interpreter of modern Zionism, is born in Jerusalem. A Hebrew University instructor, author and newspaper columnist, he also writes novels and works on films and TV series.

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April 20, 1965 — Shrine of the Book opens

The Shrine of the Book, built to house the Dead Sea Scrolls, opens as a wing of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Its white domed roof is inspired by the lids of the jars that held the scrolls in Qumran.

April 21, 1947 — 2 Jewish militants kill themselves before hanging

Moshe Barazani, 20, of Lehi (the Stern Gang) and Meir Feinstein, 19, of the Irgun kill themselves with a grenade smuggled into their prison in Jerusalem to prevent the British from hanging them the next morning.

April 22, 1948 — Haganah seizes Haifa

The Haganah executes a three-prong attack to secure control of all of Haifa except for the port, which the British hold. The city’s Arab population declines from 65,000 to about 4,000 amid the communal violence.

April 23, 2014 — Palestinian Authority, Hamas reconcile

Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization announce an agreement to end their violent seven-year rift. The reconciliation pact ends U.S.-facilitated peace negotiations. PJC

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Headlines Census: Continued from page 10

and North African origin who said their constituents were uncomfortable checking “white” and thought the “some other race” option was overly broad. For a period leading into the 2020 census, U.S. Census bureaucrats considered making “MENA” a separate category.

Austro-Hungarian what?

Many of those replying to a query from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency said they were not sure how to respond because their ancestors’ countries of origin no longer exist or have shifted borders, or because their ancestors were not precisely from a single place — born in one country to parents from another. For many, “Askenazi” or “Sephardic” became a default because it expressed an ethnicity in a simple way. “The vast majority of my family’s ancestral origins are Russian/Ukrainian Jews, but putting either of those didn’t seem quite accurate,” said Alex Dropkin, 29, a Chicagoarea brewer who answered “Ashkenazi.” “The whole national origin for Eastern European Jews is complicated and not at all translatable to [one] modern country.” Considering that history was also difficult emotionally, Dropkin said. “Family records for Russian Jews rarely exist and it’s hard to know very much more about our ancestors because of all the pogroms,” he said. Felicia Grossman checked “white” and entered “American” for “origins” after discussing it with her husband. “We all came early enough that we were never considered full ‘citizens’ of any other country, and half the places don’t exist anymore as it is (i.e. ‘Bavaria,’ ‘AustriaHungary’ and the Ottoman Empire — not to mention places that didn’t exist and now do i.e., Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine), so there’s an argument that it’s the most accurate answer,” said Grossman, 37, an author of historical romances who lives in the Cleveland suburbs. Lloyd Wolf, an Arlington, Virginia, photographer, packed as much as he knew into his answer. “I put in something like ‘Jewish of German, Austrian and Polish origin’ because that’s what my background is, at least the past several generations,” he said on Facebook.

Same country, different peoples

Morris Lewis, a health care consultant in Caldwell, New Jersey, said his neighbors growing up in Mississippi and Georgia were likelier to identify his family as Jewish than with the non-Jewish neighbors whose ancestors had arrived from the same countries. “We may have shared space with Poles, Germans, etc., but we have a completely separate ethnicity and culture,” said Lewis, 59, who entered “Ashkenazi Jewish.” Susan Turnbull, who lives in Washington’s Maryland suburbs and has held leadership positions in national Jewish organizations and the Democratic Party, took her cue from the categories made popular by the recent proliferation of DNA testing. “Ashkenazi Jewish — 100% of my DNA PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

description,” she said. Suellen Shapiro Kadis, a lawyer who lives in the Cleveland area and is a board member of JTA’s parent organization, 70 Faces Media, said she entered “Russian” but was not happy with it. “My dad was born in England on the way over. His immigration papers say ‘Hebrew,’ which I always thought was a way to discriminate, but maybe it’s more accurate than my answer,” she said. Rafaella Gunz, a 26-year-old writer from New York, checked off “white” and entered “Jewish.” “I did this to document that though I am white in certain contexts, especially in the U.S., I’m actually ethnically distinct and come from a group of people with our own unique history,” Gunz said.

(Jewish) Pride and (anti-Jewish) prejudice

Some respondents welcomed the opportunity to celebrate their origins. “I simply don’t identify as anything else other than Jewish,” said a Hasidic respondent who asked not to be named. Judith Marks said she was proud to answer “Askenazi Jewish.” “Being Jewish is a huge part of my identity, it’s my primary identity,” the program manager at a nonprofit in Boston said. Marks, 31, said she thought the question could help shatter the sense of privilege among other whites. “It’s important for me to identify as white because I benefit from white privilege and am perceived as white,” Marks said. “When you are forced to dig deeper, to go beyond the just ‘I’m white,’ you’re put in the same boat as other people.” Others welcomed the opportunity to express in the census the otherness that they feel separates them from being simply white in America. Rebecca Einstein Schorr, a rabbi at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, checked “some other race” and entered “Ashkenazic (Jewish).” “My experience moving through society differs from those who are white,” she said. “The constant sense of being othered. The sense of anti-Semitism.” Some respondents were wary of the question. “I can’t think of anything good the census bureau would be using the ethnicity origin data for,” said Frederick Winter, 72, a retired federal employee living in Arlington. “I understand that by law census data is not shared with other agencies, but I have my doubts.” He checked “white” and entered “USA” for origins. For one couple, sensitivities about being Jewish in a non-Jewish society broke in opposite directions. Gabriel Botnick, a Los Angeles-area rabbi, was set to enter the fifth option, “some other race,” and add “Jewish” because he does not identify as “white” — he said “I have been made to feel” not white in the past. His wife, also a rabbi and originally from Britain, asked him to check “white” and skip the origins. “She said this current climate makes her uneasy with being listed as Jewish somewhere,” Botnick said. PJC

JOIN A WORLDWIDE CELEBRATION OF ISRAEL’S 72ND BIRTHDAY! Join us LIVE, with Jewish Federations of North America, to celebrate Israel with music, celebrity performances, interactive activities and more! WHEN Wednesday, April 29, 2 p.m. EST WHERE Online via Zoom More information coming soon at jewishpgh.org/event/yhc Questions? Contact Kim at ksalzman@jfedpgh.org

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APRIL 17, 2020 11

Opinion In the midst of the pandemic lies the reassuring voice of God Guest Columnist Rabbi Danny Schiff

s every day passes, the suffering mounts. Around the globe, tens of thousands of innocent lives have already been lost. Hundreds of thousands have endured the fear of life-threatening illness. Millions have lost jobs and businesses. Billions have been confined to their homes for weeks as their finances have eroded. Everybody has had plans and events disrupted. The global pain caused by the current pandemic is profound. It will not ease any time soon. So the question cannot be evaded: Where is God? Many reasonably regard affliction of this magnitude as a challenge to the notion of a powerful and good God. Indeed, some find a pandemic of this type harder to comprehend than Auschwitz. Human evil, after all, can be understood as God allowing humans to exercise free will. According to this view, evil is initiated by humans who flout the laws of civilization, and we have the capacity to bring it under control. God will not do this work for us. But what of a pandemic? Our current catastrophe does not seem to have been unleashed by deliberate human malevolence. Does that mean that God is responsible for it? If not, how should we understand the role of God in all that is happening? These are not new questions. But the global scale of our present calamity gives

these inquiries fresh urgency. Nor are the answers new, but they are as important today as they ever were. Here is one: Long ago, there was a virtuous man named Job. God allowed Job to be stripped of everything that was precious to him — loved ones, possessions, and health. How could a good God permit such a thing? In the Book of Job, the response is complex but the point that emerges is clear: God’s goodness offers no guarantee that God will shield individuals from suffering. In fact, the opposite is true: God created a world in which every human being, no matter what our behavior, will inevitably suffer; the only question is, how much? Each of us will lose loved ones, will be confronted with trials and reversals, and will ultimately be subject to sorrow and death. It is sad but true that in the coronavirus outbreak each individual who dies, becomes sick, or loses everything, is no different from those who die, become sick or lose everything at other times. What makes our contemporary case troubling is its sheer magnitude — we are experiencing a misery that extends to every country on the planet. In actuality, though, the question of why a good God constructed a world in which humans endure indiscriminate desolation is no more problematic when billions are affected than when it impacts thousands, or hundreds, or even one. Job, then, represents all who suffer from pitiless, unspeakable tragedy. And Job asks God why it is that he, a blameless individual, should be tormented while an all-powerful God does nothing to stop it. God replies with a series of questions: “Where were you

when I laid the Earth’s foundations? Speak if you have understanding. Do you know who fixed its dimensions or who measured it with a line?” The message is plain: You are not God, and so you cannot understand God’s design — at least not in this lifetime. Search though you may for the reasons behind such suffering, it will be fruitless; credible explanation will defy you. Frustration. This is about as unsatisfying an answer as one could imagine. Except for two features that are often overlooked: First, it is helpful to know that there is order, structure, and coherence behind the human experience, even if it is hidden from our finite comprehension. Such an insight, though, does little to help us now, when distress is all around us and meaning is seemingly out of reach. Far more important, then, is this: God speaks to Job. God is there when Job cries out. It could, of course, have been otherwise: Job could have posed his tortured questions, only to be met with silence. The fact that God speaks, the fact that God is there, the fact that God cares about the human person is significant. “Great,” the skeptic might shrug, “how does that aid those who are bereft, stricken, or shattered?” In the following way: God is often likened to a loving, devoted parent. When we suffer, no matter the age, it is comforting to be able to cry on the shoulder of a loving parent; it is cathartic to be able to rail with anger at our parent about the unfairness of it all, while the parent absorbs our despair. Those who have lost loving parents know that confronting life’s trials is harder without them.

God, then, does not cause pandemics, or single out individuals for illness, or loss, or destruction. Could God prevent such suffering? Theoretically, yes. But God’s plan appears to presuppose a world governed by set laws of ethics and nature where God does not intervene in order to save us from anguish and harm. While God will not prevent our pain, God is nevertheless always there, the omnipresent “shoulder” to cry on, the one to whom we call out in our resentment and our grief, the universal parent. Judaism teaches that we are not alone in a random cosmos; though our lives are fleeting and punctuated by sorrow, we are part of an organized and beautiful universe where light prevails over darkness. Can a God that does not prevent pandemics really be termed “good”? Can a God that fashioned human existence so that all will experience affliction, really be considered “benevolent”? Perhaps we should think about it this way: Those who ever contemplated becoming parents were aware that their child would be born into a world where suffering and eventual death could not be avoided. Yet they still went ahead and had a child. And nobody would argue with the goodness or the benevolence of that decision. Why? Because, despite the vast ocean of tears, there is something in us that urges that life, and the world, and the future are, in the end, all truly worth it. Within that internal whisper can be found the still, small, reassuring voice of God. PJC Rabbi Danny Schiff is the Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Holocaust remembrance goes virtual Guest Columnist Lauren Apter Bairnsfather

he Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh has built its reputation on intelligent and provocative programs attended by multitudes of people, often confined to the tight space of 826 Hazelwood Avenue. As the spread of the coronavirus threatens all of us, our work is more important than ever. Alarmingly, it is in times like these that the global network of racist hate groups dig in, growing the seeds of hate and gaining strength. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, people in self-quarantine are more likely to be exposed to violent white nationalist movements online. Already we see an increased threat to Asian Americans who have been scapegoated for the spread of the virus, and recently the FBI has warned of rhetoric blaming Jews and the LGBTQ population for the coronavirus. For nearly a year, the Holocaust Center had planned to convene the community during the month of April — Genocide

12 APRIL 17, 2020

Awareness Month — to build solidarity to counter racism, mass atrocities and identity-based violence. Weeks before we were all sent home to work remotely, the Holocaust Center planned to move April programs to an online platform. I have had moments of despair considering the fact that white supremacists are so advanced in the use of social networks to build structures of hate. Now the Holocaust Center confronted a choice: stop in our tracks in our educational efforts or reach even larger audiences by learning a new skill set. Our early acceptance of the new reality gave us a head start to figure out the technology, to acquire tools that would allow us to build community from the required social distance. Faced with the indiscriminate enemy of COVID-19, we pivoted to build connections to an even larger audience through several strategic national partnerships. We have joined the national nonprofit Together We Remember in its mission to turn memory into action; together, we convened a coalition of Holocaust museums across the country, including major museums in Dallas, Los Angeles, Skokie (Chicago) and Terre Haute, Indiana, to coordinate April programs. The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh took the lead in mastering Zoom

technology to offer professionally produced online events with protections in place to avoid malicious users and the widely reported threat of Zoom bombing. On April 5 we hosted “Together We Remember: What Does Never Again Mean You?” The National Vigil began with a video from former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who shared her experience as a girl in Pittsburgh and continued to encourage action in the face of injustice. Students from across the country read names of victims of genocide; a panel of experts in atrocity prevention discussed the meaning of “never again” and at the end of the program participants pledged to remember. More than 150 people took part in the virtual program, and the video of the event on Facebook and YouTube has reached nearly 3,600 viewers. (Videos from all April programs are available via the Holocaust Center’s Facebook page.) In mid-March I invited the 300-plus members of the Association of Holocaust Organizations to support each other through the most difficult question each of our organizations faces — how would we commemorate Yom HaShoah when we cannot gather together with Holocaust

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survivors and their families? In 2020 we mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi camps all over Europe. Over the past few years we have connected with liberators and their children. This year’s Yom HaShoah at Soldiers and Sailors would have been inclusive of all Pittsburghers at a level that we had not yet accomplished. Were we brave enough to attempt to create a similar experience online? I am grateful to our advisory board, Yom HaShoah subcommittee, and generations group, for their members’ willingness to support moving this program to an online platform. Our virtual program Yom HaShoah: 75 Years Since Liberation, will take place on Tuesday, April 21, at noon. By holding the program mid-day, we are able to invite teachers and students, our main stakeholders, to participate as part of the school day. The day will include stories of liberation, candle lightings for the approximately six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and for Liberators, Veterans, and Righteous Among the Nations. By offering the program online, we are also able to offer the experience to small communities that Please see Remembrance, page 20

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Opinion Did the Torah warn us about COVID-19? Guest Columnist Jeffrey Spitz Cohan

few people saw it coming, this COVID-19 pandemic. There were epidemiologists and immunologists who sounded alarms about the coronavirus within days or weeks of its first appearance. Going back quite a bit further, there was journalist and author David Quammen, who, in his highly-respected book “Spillover,” expressed concern in 2012 that the next major epidemic would emerge from an animal market in China. But it’s not a stretch at all to say we were warned about this possibility 3,000 years ago, in the Torah. There is a story in the Bible that most rabbis, pastors, priests and ministers usually ignore or gloss over — much to the detriment of their congregations, and of

humanity as a whole. In the story, found in Numbers 11, a large subset of the Moses-led Israelites dies in a gruesome plague — after they have eaten meat. The new coronavirus appears to have first entered the human population at a liveslaughter meat market in Wuhan, China. The parallels are rather obvious. As the Biblical story goes, the Israelites, after escaping from Egypt, found themselves in a vast desert, without available food sources. This opened the door for God to reinstitute the original Divine directive, found in Genesis 1:29, to eat plants and only plants. God fed the Israelites a single, health-sustaining food: manna. In the Torah, manna is compared to coriander seed. What happened next is no different than what would happen today: People began complaining about the absence of meat. The whiners were just a subset of the Israelites, but there were enough of them to provoke Moses to turn to God for help. Moses: “Excuse me, God, they’re asking for meat. What am I supposed to do?” God: “No worries, Moshe. I got this. If

— LETTERS — JCC is far more than a fitness center We commend Toby Tabachnick for her thoughtfully reported article, “Job Loss, Salary Reductions Pose New Reality For Local Jewish Non-Profits,” which highlights how the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, JCCs, and other Jewish nonprofits are being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we take strong issue with comments by Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, which inaccurately describe the role JCCs play in North American Jewish life. Contrary to Sarna’s outdated characterization, JCCs are far more than a fitness center, pool, or basketball court. In fact, until the pandemic hit, 164 JCCs across North America, the Pittsburgh JCC among the largest and proudest of them, provided: Torah study and Jewish early childhood education, overnight summer camp and youth tennis, meal delivery for seniors and film festivals, and so much more. More than 1.5 million people, including 500,000 friends and neighbors from beyond the Jewish community come to our JCCs each and every week and are served and supported by 38,000 staff members. Together, they are a $1.6-billion Jewish community engine. From infancy to old age, from ultra-Orthodox to thoroughly secular, from every corner of the political spectrum, and every letter of the identity alphabet, people visit JCCs week after week after week. While levels of participation in many sectors of our community have seen precipitous declines, Jewish engagement through our JCCs has never been higher. Because the JCC business model relies heavily on fee-for-service revenue, that income stream nearly dried up when JCCs closed for health concerns and state-mandated stay-athome orders amid the pandemic. To insure that they and other fee-for-service institutions that serve our community will be there for us for in years to come, we are working to raise a $1-billion fund to provide low or no-cost credit for The Day After, to help them and other Jewish institutions severely impacted financially by the pandemic re-open and build anew.

they want meat, I’ll give them meat until it’s coming out of their nostrils.” A strong wind began to blow, and something began to fall from the sky. But it wasn’t rain. It was quail. The meat-craving Israelites happily gorged themselves. It would be their last meal. They died in a sudden plague. And if the message that God didn’t want people to eat meat wasn’t clear enough, there is this: the meat-eaters who ate quail and died in a plague were buried in “Kibrot Ha-Ta’aveh,” the Graves of Gluttony. There are at least two ways to view the Torah. If you view it as the literal word of God, then the message of Numbers 11 is crystal clear. God was absolutely furious that people were clamoring for animal flesh. After all, we’re told in Genesis 1 to consume an animal-free diet, and we’re told in Genesis 2 that God created animals to be Adam’s companions, not his food source. If you instead view the Torah as a metaphysical interpretation of historical events,

then the story really gets interesting. Viewed this way, a group of Israelites diverged from the communal diet and hunted quail. The quail-eaters caught a virus from the quail and died rather quickly. This interpretation is not so far-fetched. Quail have been identified as a major source of the deadly avian influenzas that have circulated through parts of Asia over the past dozen years. For some versions of those influenzas, the fatality rate for humans has exceeded 50 percent. Whichever interpretation you prefer, we have to concede we were warned that the consumption of animals would lead to deadly plagues — warned 3,000 years ago. To be clear, the COVID-19 pandemic should never be viewed as Divine punishment. Rather, the pandemic can be viewed as something we were warned would happen if humanity continues to confine, kill and consume animals. Will we finally heed the warning? PJC Jeffrey Spitz Cohan is the executive director of the nonprofit organization Jewish Veg.

There was a link to your article in the I. J. & Jeanné Wagner Jewish Community Center email. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where I am an active member of the Calgary JCC. When I visit my son and his family in Salt Lake City, thanks to reciprocal arrangements, it is possible to go to the JCC in Salt Lake. JCCs in North America are wonderful places to visit and feel like family. I continue to get emails and updates from the SLC JCC. I am delighted for this because today I got to read your heartwarming article. It prompted a feeling connection, seeing myself reflected in the stories of others. Thank you. One note that makes virtual connection somewhat easier in my case is that Calgary is due north of Salt Lake, and while miles away, both are in the same Mountain time zone. Susan Podlog Calgary Alberta

Point Park must be held accountable

The president of Point Park University is doing too little too late. BDS and anti-Semitism on college campuses has fomented for decades, often while faculty and administrators turned a blind eye and brushed it off as free speech and intellectual thought. In many universities this type of speech is not only tolerated, but in many cases, encouraged by faculty. Colleges are no longer places of diverse thought and ideas that are to be discussed and debated. Rather they have become places of one dimensional thinking. I challenge Paul Hennigan to demonstrate how many faculty and students he has sanctioned for anti-Semitic speech and BDS activities. In addition, Mr. Hennigan has to show what the university’s investigation of the discrimination charges from Channa Newman have produced. Surely if there was religious or racial discrimination the university should have proceeded with an internal investigation. Did they and what did they find? Finally, I believe that Mr. Hennigan should be transparent and show the Jewish community what steps Point Park University will take to end BDS and anti-Semitism. After all, his university takes our tax dollars and should be held accountable. Andrew Neft Upper St. Clair

Doron Krakow President and CEO, JCC Association of North America Brian Schreiber CEO, JCC of Greater Pittsburgh

Virtually connecting in Canada

A note of gratitude for your article March 25 in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle (“Fewer at the table but everyone at the seder”). In the article, you refer to Barbara Weiss and her family plans for a virtual seder given COVID-19 and the challenges of offspring living in two different countries and two different time zones. The marvels of technology and the fact that I have two sons and family living in both Canada and the U.S. connected me to your article. One son and his family live in Calgary, close by, and one in Salt Lake City. I smiled as I read the article. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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APRIL 17, 2020 13

Headlines Continued from page 1

joined him in embracing the Chasidic lifestyle and religion. “When he first started, he would be walking on Saturdays and holidays, and my mom would drive past him with the kids in the car going grocery shopping,” Shalom recalled. By 1979, though, the family was ingrained in the Chabad community as well. “He and my mom were one of the first couples that became Orthodox through Chabad,” Shalom said. “They were basically one of the founding pillars of the community.” Reisner’s love of both art and religion coalesced when was offered the chance to design several pieces of furniture for the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. One piece, the green felt table that Schneerson used to distribute dollars, became so associated with the Rebbe that when he died it was taken apart and used in the construction of his coffin. When Reisner and his wife decided to move from their New Jersey home, they sought the advice of the Rebbe. His response was, “My blessing to you is that you will make the right choice at the right time.” Not content with the answer, Reisner reached out again and got the same response. The couple had a family friend living in Pittsburgh and, in 1994, decided to settle in Squirrel Hill. Reisner opened a furniture restoration business on Murray Avenue that became a popular destination for people in the community.

Anxiety: Continued from page 1

grieving, feelings of loss, feelings of being really unsure about what to do,” Miskanin explained. For some people, those feelings will serve as “reminders of that period of time following the shooting,” and yet there will also be people who will “not necessarily make that connection for themselves, because it just might not be there for them.” For many individuals, getting through the first year after the massacre was a major accomplishment. After that, the feeling was “this is going to be a new year and hopefully new and better things will come,” said Lulu Orr, care navigator at JFCS. “Now it’s a whole different crisis. And I do know that there are some people that are feeling that grief more intensely now because they do have so much alone time.” Although reactions to COVID-19 may resemble feelings experienced after the shooting, certain differences exist, explained Cindy Snyder, clinical director at 10.27 Healing Partnership. While the language of “grief ” may be relevant to the 2018 shooting, the current situation is better framed by “loss,” she said. “It’s a loss of physical connection. It’s a loss of routine. It’s a loss of spontaneity. It’s a loss of ease, almost.” For someone whose loved one has died or for someone whose loved one “is really sick and they can’t be with them, I think that’s also grief, but I think for the 14 APRIL 17, 2020

Reisner often invited people to his home for Shabbat meals. Shalom remembered his father walking around the synagogue looking for faces he didn’t recognize. When he encountered a stranger, Reisner would invite them back to his home to eat. Reisner “just had a way of helping people,” Shalom said. That concern for people extended outside of the Jewish community. With encouragement from the Rebbe, Reisner founded the website asknoah.org. The site has information about the Seven Noahide Laws, which were given not only to Jews but the entire human race after the flood. Reisner believed the p Howard Reisner sits in his popular furniture restoration website helped to “create store on Murray Avenue. Photo provided by Shalom Reisner lasting world peace through spiritual enlight“His business was fixing chairs,” recalled enment and the belief that random acts of Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld, executive director kindness and goodness will bring everyone of Yeshiva Schools and of Chabad of Western together,” said Shalom. Pennsylvania, “but he spent all day talking The Reisner family would often take trips to people. They ended up walking out a to Lake Erie. Reisner would walk the beach different person, the way he affected them, there, dictating ideas for the website and their look on the world about caring and its associated books into a tape recorder, sharing with one another.” Shalom recalled.

rest of us, who don’t yet have that same direct impact, it’s more about managing loss and hoping it doesn’t get to grief.” There are other differences, too, according to Orr. When a loved one dies, especially through violence or trauma, survivors sometimes see a contrast with other people who seem to be “going along normally.” The pandemic, though, creates “sort of the opposite,” she said. “Everything is closed down and nobody can do normal, so I think that’s a big difference.” Layered on top of all that is “this hyper-vigilance, which is called for in terms of what we’re being told,” along with a “mix of all the conflicting information that we’re getting,” said Snyder. Despite the complexity of feelings, there are approaches to easing the situation, explained Stefanie Small, director of clinical services at JFCS. Whether it’s having a block party with people standing on their own lawns or partaking in Illumination Ovation — when people stood outside their homes for a few minutes, shone a light and clapped for essential workers — “you kind of have to look towards your smaller communities” along with the wider community, for support. “As always, you need to reach out to others,” said Orr. “Everybody knows a couple of people who live alone. Call them. It’ll make you feel better and will certainly make the other person feel better.” The same goes for caregivers who prior to the pandemic might have been able to “get an hour outside of the

house, away from whoever they’re caring for, and (now) they can’t. Reach out to them or go on a walk and leave them flowers or a cake that you baked. That will make you feel better and it will make them feel better as well.” “One of the primary awarenesses that we need to hold is that after October 27, 2018 the neighborhood, the city, the county, the state, the nation, the world, really reached out and encouraged connection among people,” said Snyder. Whether it was gathering for conversation or prayer, or simply standing and crying together, mechanisms were put into place “to manage the horror of what happened” both on Oct. 27 and during subsequent acts of anti-Semitism and mass

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One of the passions Reisner cultivated later in life was cooking. He authored several kosher cookbooks including “Happy Kosher.” In November, 2019, Reisner’s wife, Leah, passed away. On March 26, 2020, Reisner was told that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Despite having a host of medical conditions, including diabetes, issues with his heart and a history of smoking, Shalom said his father reacted to the news with the same optimism he had throughout his life. “He was a fighter, perhaps the strongest fighter I knew,” Shalom said. “None of us thought he was going to lose this battle.” The Friday before his death, Shalom spoke with his father by phone and was concerned when he heard heavy, labored breathing at the other end. Saturday, paramedics were summoned, but they had to convince Reisner through a video call with a doctor to leave his home for the hospital. Reisner died April 6. A small group attended his funeral in their cars. Mourners were allowed to leave their vehicles only when Shalom recited Kaddish and could only stand a distance from the grave. Reisner’s religious life was about “being the best person he could be so that he could do what God wanted him to do, make the world a better place,” Shalom said. “In his interpersonal life, friendships and families, he always tried to do the right thing. He tried to be the best husband because that’s what he loved to do. He loved to make other people happy.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

casualty. “The thing with COVID-19 is that all the ways in which we were supporting people to begin moving through the trauma have been taken off the board.” It’s true that “we do not have the ability to literally stand shoulder to shoulder or put our heads on each other or hold hands. We cannot do that right now, but we can figuratively do so and it shouldn’t be dismissed as a poor replacement. It’s in addition to,” said Small. “We have a great opportunity to be creative and to find different ways of engagement and being mindful and practicing self-care that we haven’t necessarily needed to access in the past,” said Snyder. Between observing citywide undertakings and engaging in conversations with neighbors and colleagues, Small is optimistic. “After the 10/27 shooting one thing that we saw very strongly was that the community came together, and it was a very uplifting moment in time to know that in our darkest time there was a surrounding of love around us,” she said. “This time, with this crisis, which is not unique to any one population in Pittsburgh, it reminds us again what a strong community we are.” PJC For more information about JFCS Counseling Services, go to jfcspgh.org or call 412-521-3800. For more on the 10.27 Healing Partnership, go to 1027healingpartnership.org or call 412-697-3534. Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Photo by ChesiireCat/iStockphoto.com

Reisner:

Headlines Zeder: Continued from page 3

make light of the circumstances. “When you’re looking at 30, 32, 34 people, it’s challenging in an apartment,” he said. “Instead of saying, ‘Next year in Jerusalem,’ we said, ‘Next year in the clubhouse room!’”

Aish: Continued from page 4

Nevertheless, Cook found himself “sobbing at the Kotel. It put me on this journey to understand what I was connecting with,” he said. After attending summer programs at the Hebrew Union College, Cook decided to become a Reform rabbi. Then, while attending college at Indiana University, Cook came in contact with Jewish students from other movements. “I started going to Conservative services and hanging out with all of the Conservative people and decided maybe I’ll become a Conservative rabbi instead,” he said. After being accepted into the graduate program at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, Cook decided he should learn about Orthodox Judaism, so he rescinded his application and traveled to Israel to attend a yeshiva.

Europe: Continued from page 9

of the community. But no one answered his call, even in a community with multiple carriers that has seen several deaths, including one of its former leaders, Michele Sciama. Not all Jews on the continent are afraid of broadcasting their infection. In France, for example, Joel Mergui, a physician and the head of the Consistoire, the communal organization providing religious services, told his community on March 24 that he had the virus. Alain Azria, a French-Jewish photographer who often covers communal events, followed suit. On March 27, Azria wrote on Facebook that he just learned that he had probably contracted the virus around March 17, and that anyone who came into contact with him since then should selfisolate and be tested. The larger British Jewish community, represented by the Board of Deputies umbrella, is probably the most transparent in Europe in terms of cataloging Jewish deaths. It’s the only national representative

Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill also livestreamed a Zeder for the second night of Passover 5780. The spiritual leader there, Rabbi Seth Adelson, said guidance on using Zoom for the Conservative movement came from the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. “I feel promoting a sense of community

in this time of isolation (worked with) the halachic principles,” Adelson said. Adelson joked that, as he led congregants through the evening, he empathized a little bit with late-night talk show hosts. “The late-night hosts do a lot better up in front of an audience,” he laughed. “(Without that), it’s not the same. You don’t get the live feedback. It’s the same with a Zoom seder.”

Adelson, however, was pleased with Beth Shalom’s second-night Zeder. “The idea of community right now is essential,” he said. “We’re grasping at ways to connect. I think we did well using the tools we have.” PJC

“I did not have a good time at that yeshiva at all,” Cook remembered. But after going to the Kotel to pray, he found his way to the Aish HaTorah yeshiva where, as luck would have it, he met someone he knew from a Phish concert in Cincinnati. Cook was so happy with what he saw at the yeshiva that he stayed seven years, receiving his rabbinic ordination and meeting Lisa, his future wife, a native of Melbourne, Australia. The couple eventually came to the States, where Cook took a job at his alma mater in Bloomington, Indiana, before moving to Pittsburgh years later to engage young Jews. “We’re not trying to make people believe anything,” Cook said. “We’re trying to provide an educational experience, a positive Jewish experience that will give people the tools to make their own decisions about their own Judaism. We have some students that learn from us and go on to lead Orthodox lives and many who don’t. We’re still close with all of them.”

In addition to their one-on-one and group classes, the pair hosts weekly Shabbat dinners during the school year and Lisa leads an annual trip to Poland. Aish Ignite Pittsburgh partners with Olami, a global community of organizations working to inspire young adults. Through that and other partnerships, “we have access to probably 25 different Israel trips and programs that we’re able to get scholarships to send our students,” Lisa said. Believing that Jews should view themselves “as part of the larger human family,” Cook also thinks there is “something special and unique about being Jewish.” “The Jewish people have a unique mission in the world,” he said. While he remembers feeling ashamed of being Jewish growing up in a small Ohio town, he is working to ensure his students “know they are Jewish and are proud of being Jewish.” As the city practices social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cooks

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

group of any Jewish community that keeps and publishes a list of members who died of the virus. The board declined to comment on why it was publishing the data, but a former community consultant, Rabbi Alexander Goldberg, said he believed it was to help community members assess their risk and exposure. Around the world, the more commonly discussed stigma attached to the virus has been related to the violence and rhetoric directed at Chinese and other Asian peoples by those who blame China, where the virus originated, for spreading it. “The current COVID-19 outbreak has provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviors against people of certain ethnic backgrounds as well as anyone perceived to have been in contact with the virus,” the World Heath Organization wrote in a report it co-authored with UNICEF and the International Red Cross and published on Feb. 24. This “might contribute to a situation where the virus is more, not less, likely to spread,” the report said, resulting in “more severe health problems and difficulties controlling a disease outbreak.”

But the stigmas building in the Jewish community aren’t all about the sources of spread. In Belgium, Rosenblum said that Jews there see contracting the virus as a sign of frowned-upon contact with the outside world. “(The coronavirus) was seen as something like AIDS, happening in the outside world and afflicting the decadence out there,” Rosenblum told Radio Judaica, a BelgianJewish station, last week. There’s a bit of historical-religious precedent, too. One pamphlet circulating in haredi communities in Israel through WhatsApp, even though many haredi Jews avoid using smartphones, is headlined “Saying corona is forbidden” and promises that censoring the virus is “the way to weakening corona.” It quotes Johanan bar Nappaha, a thirdcentury rabbi, who ruled against mentioning diseases publicly. “When you say ‘corona,’ you’re making the disease grow,” the pamphlet reads. There’s also the fear that one could be seen as a contaminated threat to a specific community. On March 14, the Jewish Telegraphic

Agency reached out to Yoni Golker, a Modern Orthodox rabbi at the St. John’s Wood Synagogue in London, to confirm reports that he became ill with the virus shortly after visiting the Jewish community in Casablanca, Morocco — it’s been badly hit by the virus. “This is a private medical matter and you have no right to publish any of it,” he said abruptly. Six days later Golker, who said he had a mild case of the virus, posted on YouTube a message to his congregants thanking them for their support, stating he was fully recovered. Asked again last week whether he’d agree to an interview, he again declined, saying only that “I’m trying to keep my name out of the media now.” One member of the Milan community, Karen Cole, compared the coronavirus stigma to what happens when there’s an outbreak of head lice at the Italian city’s Jewish school. “Moms are ashamed to say their child had them, they don’t warn other mothers, they don’t check their children, and within two days the whole school has them,” she wrote. But, Cole added, “Lice can’t kill you like the coronavirus does.” PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh. have moved their classes online. The rabbi is offering several different learning opportunities, some in partnership with the Kollel Jewish Learning Center. Lisa recently offered an online cooking video teaching how to prepare some of the couple’s favorite Shabbat foods. Aish Ignite Pittsburgh encourages young professionals and students to learn and engage with Judaism at their own speed and at their own level, Cook stressed. “We all want to be open-minded; we all want to learn. For some of us that means learning about the intricacies of veganism or Buddhism. For some of us it’s deepening our knowledge of Judaism. We want to make sure people aren’t burning bridges and growing in a bad way,” Cook said. “Everyone should be comfortable learning about Judaism.” PJC

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APRIL 17, 2020 15

Life & Culture Squirrel Hill bookstore delivers free books thanks to anonymous donor — BOOKS — By David Rullo | Staff Writer

ric Ackland wasn’t intending to create an opportunity for a donor to step in and help the community. The owner of Amazing Books and Records was simply doing what many small business owners were doing: trying to find a way to stay open and move some product. On Sunday, March 15, as concerns over the spread of COVID-19 were beginning to rise, Ackland made the difficult decision to close his two stores in Squirrel Hill and downtown. He envisioned keeping all five of his employees on staff throughout the closure. “Initially, my goal was to keep everyone and just cut everyone’s hours by half,” said Ackland. “I said, ‘Look, if we can ramp up online sales, I’ll bring everyone back.’ Then I looked at my bank account. It was getting ugly and I realized I’d have to lay people off.” The bookstore owner was originally taking orders placed online and through email. He was also giving away free books to members of the community who couldn’t afford to shop while being out of work because of the pandemic. Eventually, Ackland had to stop giving

p Amazing Books and Records was able to donate 20 sets of books to customers thanks to an anonymous donor.

Photo by Eric Ackland

away books because he “couldn’t triage the number of free books and had to concentrate on paid orders,” he said. That’s when he had an interesting idea: a book delivery service. Interested patrons would pay $20, plus a $7 delivery fee, and receive three books. The price represented

a 30-40% discount for a typical purchase of that number of titles. Since customers were unable to browse books on the shelves, they provided some general guidelines — the types of books or authors they normally read, preferred genres or a little bit about themselves, allowing Ackland and his remaining staff to make educated guesses on the types of books they should deliver. “Some people said they like Jewish authors or literary fiction. If you tell me you like philosophy, I’ll send you a philosophy book but if you say 20th-century philosophy or existentialism, I can be more precise,” Ackland explained. It was then that a customer Ackland “didn’t know personally” reached out. He had bought $100 worth of books for his family and now wanted to help the community and the store. The patron said he wanted to purchase another 10 packages of books and make them available to the community. The only catch was he wanted to remain anonymous. Ackland used the Facebook group Jewish Pittsburgh to get the word out to the community. The response was immediate. “People responded very favorably and excitedly,” Ackland recalled. Some of those responding had recently purchased books

Isolation does not have to mean ISOLATED

and he wanted to ensure the donated books would go to “people that wouldn’t have otherwise been able to afford books. So I skipped those people,” he said. Once the 10 slots were filled, Ackland created a second post saying, “I’m sorry guys, but the cutoff is done.” It was then that the donor wrote him again saying, “I’d like to purchase another 10 sets of books.” Dorit Sasson is a Squirrel Hill resident who received books thanks to the anonymous donor. She called the gift a “beautiful surprise and a genuine act of goodness and chesed.” Sasson requested books for her children. One of the titles, “The Keeping Quilt” by Patricia Polacco, was a big hit with her daughter. “She keeps asking me to read it again and again,” Sasson said. Ackland is a firm believer in community bookstores. When he moved to Squirrel Hill, he felt the absence of a bookstore was “a serious deficit. A neighborhood without a bookstore is not a neighborhood,” he said. He is confident that despite the challenging environment he will be able to remain open, thanks to the online orders he receives, the support of the neighborhood and people like the anonymous donor. Please see Bookstore, page 21

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Life & Culture HBO’s ‘The Plot Against America’ timely, chilling — BOOKS — By Matt Silver | Special to the Chronicle

BO debuted a new six-part miniseries beginning March 16 that’s sure to resonate with older Jewish readers, as well as those occupied and preoccupied with the current state of U.S. politics. Adapted from Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of alternative history, “The Plot Against America” was written for the screen by David Simon (“The Wire,” “Show Me a Hero,” “Treme”) and his frequent co-collaborator Edward Burns (“The Wire,” “The Corner”). The story begins in the summer of 1940, in Weequahic, New Jersey, a Jewish working class section of Newark. That’s where young Philip Levin lives with his older brother Sandy, whom he idolizes, his parents, Herman and Bess, and his orphaned cousin, Alvin. Roth’s Weequahic was grittier, more colorful, more distinctly working class. The Weequahic in Simon and Burns’ iteration feels suburban and looks more like Brookline than Newark. The adaptation as a standalone piece of historical fiction, as a chronicling of that era’s political climate, is compelling, nostalgic, frightening and redemptive. But, given the arena for this review, one must ask as Jackie Mason might have: Was it Jewish enough?

p John Turturro plays Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf

Roth’s novels were so beloved because he dissected everything the wartime and post-war American Jew had anxieties about. What made “The Plot Against America” great as a novel was that he mixed his gift for perceptively and elegantly understanding the existential anxiety of American Jews with his signature style of Jewish fatalism — one that tells the reader: “We had thought that we were Americans; turns out we were just Jews.”

Photo by Michele K. Short-HBO

If you’re not Philip Roth, this is a nearly impossible tone to nail. That era was not Simon and Burns’ “lived experience.” That’s what Roth drew from, and it’s what these guys lack. That’s why Weequahic feels and looks like Brookline or Wynnewood rather than a lower-middle class urban Jewish neighborhood circa 1940. Let that not dissuade you from consuming a production that is worthwhile

as history, as historical fiction and as contemporary allegory. If there’s one thing Simon is good with, it’s history, and he captures the pertinent era well. War is raging in Europe and FDR’s up for reelection. The Jews listen nightly to Walter Winchell report on the Nazis’ blitzkrieg through France and their bombing of Britain. Winchell, a Jew, also reports on the terrible fate befalling European Jews and implores the government to intervene. Winchell is the Jews’ champion; they revere him. They also believe that Roosevelt is fundamentally a decent man who will do the right thing in the end. There’s the German American Bund — a group of German Americans sympathetic to Hitler and the Third Reich. They harass Jews in the streets and fill arenas to proselytize. There’s Father Charles Coughlin. There’s Henry Ford. They’re all looking for a man like them, a man to run against FDR and cozy up to Hitler. They soon find their hero. After making the first solo, nonstop, transatlantic flight from New York to Paris aboard “The Spirit of St. Louis,” Charles Lindbergh was a bona fide hero to all Americans, especially young American boys like Philip and Sandy Levin. Please see HBO, page 21

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APRIL 17, 2020 17

Celebrations

Torah

Engagement

Making tough decisions

GARVIN: Ellen and Bob Garvin are pleased to announce the engagement of their son, Michael Loren, to Dr. Leslie Dana Klein, daughter of Monte Klein and the late Linda Klein, of Albany, New York. Michael is the grandson of Audrey and Ralph Silverman of Pittsburgh, and the late Ruth and Norman Garvin. Leslie is the granddaughter of Lawrence and the late Rosalind Klein of Boynton Beach, Florida, and the late Ira and Sylvia Sacks of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Michael graduated from Penn State University’s John Curley Center for Sports Journalism with a bachelor’s degree in communications. He is a senior producer at SiriusXM in Washington, D.C. Leslie graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She received her master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology at The George Washington University. She is the director of counseling at the National Cathedral School, in Washington, D.C. Michael and Leslie are planning a May 2021 wedding in New Jersey.

Birth

KROSS: Gil and Casey Kross are thrilled to announce the birth of Henry Meyer Kross on March 22, 2020. Henry Meyer is named in loving memory of his maternal great-great-grandfather Henry Sherlock of Monaghan, Ireland, and paternal great-grandfathers Morris Kross and Michael Friedberg. Henry is the grandson of Matthew and Barbara Wertheim of River Vale, New Jersey, and Dean Kross and Sue Friedberg of Pittsburgh.

Bar Mitzvah

SCHWARTZ: Asher Rhys Schwartz was born in Chicago, Illinois, during the Passover seder in 2007. He’s been an even-tempered fellow since day one. Asher has two sisters: Hannah (15) and Mira (9) who are really invested in helping him grow into a patient and understanding guy. Asher loves to play basketball, baseball and some soccer, too. He’s a bit reserved when you first meet, but his friends know that he’s really funny once you get to know him, and just watch him bust a move on the dance floor — it’s something! Asher will become a bar mitzvah at Congregation Beth Shalom on April 25, 2020. PJC

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Rabbi Larry Freedman Parashat Shmini | Leviticus 9:1-11:47

hat do you do when you don’t have time for the niceties, for the honors and rites you believe should be offered? You have to make tough decisions. Moses and Aaron and all the Cohanim and Levites were just about to begin the operation of the mishkan, offering korbanot before the ohel moed as we enter the Torah portion, Shmini (beginning at Leviticus 9:1). We have concluded the set-up, the preparation, the ordination of the right people to do the right job. The mission is set, it is time to engage. And so they engage and no sooner does it begin that Nadav and Avihu rush in and try to offer their own korbanot in, clearly, not the fashion as laid out in the regulations. They were punished by death for such a breech. What did they do? It’s not clear. Commentators over the years have offered ideas: hubris, improperly kindled fire, whatever. The point is that they didn’t do it correctly. Aaron, their father, when faced with this awful moment famously remains silent. Silent because he doesn’t care? Maybe not. Perhaps he was silent prefiguring modern day shiva tradition where the mourners are allowed to be silent in grief with no obligation to make chit-chat. But Aaron is admonished. There is work to be done to get the offerings in the mishkan up and running. I’m writing this as I sit in Manhattan as part of the National Guard’s response to help overwhelmed civilian agencies. I am working in cooperation with the city medical examiner. We are not necessarily interacting with those who are COVID-19 positive but the virus has caused the system to be swamped. I’m here as a chaplain, mobilized out of my unit in Newburgh, New York (I’m working on my transfer to Pittsburgh). My primary task is to be a pastoral presence to the troops who are under high stress. They need to talk. I’m also here to provide religious services so I put together a socially distant seder (no crowding at the table) and I bought Easter candy while also arranging for a pastor to video in an Easter Sunday (short) sermon.

There’s a first time for everything. Back to Shmini. You can argue if you disagree that the operation of the mishkan is more important than time for Aaron to grieve but within the context of Shmini, the mission of the mishkan was primary and the proper rituals and rites would have to wait. Nadav and Avihu were hauled out by their tunics, Moses tells Aaron that now is not the time to sit in silence and the mission goes on. This is a terrible situation with hardly a “best” solution but remember this. The operation of the mishkan was for the benefit of the people, all of the people. It was designed to have the Israelites and God connected and thus protected. Proper functioning was for the benefit of all. One man’s grieving can hardly equate to the safety of the entire population. I don’t say that cavalierly. I say that as an objective reality. Our work here is not easy but it is holy work. If we were to slow down or even pause this mission so that full and proper rites could be offered, other people would be neglected. I am impressed with the professionalism of the civilians and military members I meet who do their best to bring dignity to a process most of us don’t want to think about. Still and all, there is a certain tempo that must be maintained. It isn’t rushed but it isn’t slow either. The streets and highways are all but deserted. We think nothing of running up to the Bronx and back. The farthest of Far Rockaway is 40 minutes. So our troops head out and do their holy work, finish a 12-hour shift, eat dinner, fall into bed. We are the first step in a process that must be done. There will be rituals and rites that others will offer in days or weeks to come. Families will take care of that. There is a proper conclusion to our work. We will never see it. My condolences upon the death of Nadav and Avihu, Aaron. I truly mean it. But there is a whole thing going on as the mishkan and ohel moed mission is spinning up and there are so many other people to take care of. Baruch dayan ha-emet. My team is ready to head out. I gotta go. PJC Rabbi Larry Freedman is the director of the Joint Jewish Education Program. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinic Association.

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Obituaries BURKE: Aileen Lois Kaufman Burke, on April 9, 2020, peacefully at home; beloved wife of the late Sylvan Burke; loving mother of Deborah “Debbi” Pace, Mitchell (Penny) Burke of Jupiter, Fla., and Lisa (Jill Busny) Burke of Newton, Mass. Sister of the late Lewis (late Judith Reicher) Kaufman.Cherished grandmother, known as Neenee, of Sam Farkas (fiancé, Danielle Dickerman), Devon Marie Edkins, Amanda “Mandy” Farkas (Brad Wilson), Zack Burke, Max Burke. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Aileen enjoyed life fully. She loved the opera, playing bridge with her friends, loved reading, both books and the daily newspaper. She retired twice, returning to advertising, her first love, to write. Service and interment private. Contributions may be made to Humane Animal Rescue, Pittsburgh. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com COHEN: Doris Cohen, 97, on Wednesday April 8, 2020, beloved wife of the late Bill (“Velvel”) Cohen and special companion of the late Boris Kentor. A vibrant, generous, strong and fiercely loyal matriarch of her family. “Gigi” enjoyed cooking and baking but derived the most pleasure from her family. Gigi is survived by her loving daughter, Harriet Waters (William Waters) of Baton Rouge, La., her doting grandsons, Matthew Cohen (Leslie Cohen) of Hollywood, Fla. Howard Cohen (Nancy Cohen) of Weston, Fla., Richard Cohen of Hollywood, Fla. (former spouse, Jeanne Cohen of Batavia, N.Y.), Phillip Cohen (Jennifer Cohen) of Manlius, N.Y. and Jason Waters (Adria Waters) of Columbia, Mo. and her devoted granddaughter, Janice Shapiro (Steven Shapiro) of Pittsburgh, and dear granddaughter Jocelyn Whitesides (Kevin Whitesides) of Columbia, Mo. Gigi is also survived by the true joys of her life, her many great-grandchildren: Spencer Cohen, Brett Cohen, Samantha Cohen, Elizabeth Cohen, Hannah Shapiro, Tyler Shapiro, Alexis Cohen, Paul Cohen, Elise Cohen, Iliana Cohen, Finn Cohen, Devin Whitesides, Andrew Whitesides, Anthony Whitesides and Nathan Waters. Gigi was proudly a career woman most of her adult life, working into her late 70s. She additionally took much pride in the time she and her husband spent in Baltimore working for the war effort during World War II. Gigi spent the last 12 years in Pittsburgh, enjoying her surrounding Jewish community. A special thank you to Weinberg Terrace for the 12 wonderful years they provided to her. An even greater thank you to her past personal caregivers, LaShawn Wilkerson and Vernetta Howard. A final very special thank you to Cartazhia Perry (and her mother, Linda and sister, Cadazhia) and Linda Rutherford, whose efforts, love and attention made Gigi’s last few years incredibly special and meaningful. Due to the COVID-19 virus, services and interment were private. Donations can be made to AHRC New York City (Association for the Help of Retarded Children). Over 70 years ago, Doris took it upon herself to place our intellectually disabled cousin, Gilda Lindenblatt, PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

under her care and assumed full responsibility for obtaining the necessary resources to allow Gilda to flourish in a semi-independent environment by researching and contacting AHRC. AHRC has since housed Gilda, assisted with employment for Gilda and has provided both physical and emotional support to Gilda for decades, at no cost. Through the years, Doris ensured Gilda’s wellbeing with continued visits, donations and direct contact with Gilda’s social worker. Doris’ daughter and grandchildren continue to ensure Gilda’s wellbeing under the care of AHRC. Donations can be made atahrcnycfoundation.org/donate/. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com FELDMAN: Dr. Eugene W. Feldman, 101, of Lewistown, passed away Thursday, March 26, 2020, at his home. Born Oct. 31, 1918, in Monessen, he was the son of the late Emanuel and Sadie (Windt) Feldman. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by: his wife, Jean (Barker) Feldman, whom he married in 1954; brothers, Arthur and Frederic Feldman; and a sister, Irene (Feldman) Weiss. He is survived by: a niece, Paula (Weiss) Callis, of Boca Raton, Fla.; and close friends, Steven Yeater and wife, Jill, and Robert H. Raymond Jr. and wife, Carol, of Lewistown. In 1942, Dr. Feldman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a doctorate from the School of Dental Medicine. He later studied orthodontics from 1952 to 1954 and received his M.S. Degree. During World War II, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps from 1942 to 1946. He was active during the Battle of the Bulge and was one of the first units to encounter a concentration camp in Germany. While in Europe, he was awarded the Bronze Star. After the death of his wife in 1955, Dr. Feldman moved to Lewistown and began his practice as an orthodontist, which lasted 28 years until his retirement. Dr. Feldman was a co-founder of the Mifflin County Human Relations Committee in 1962, along with Rev. Daniel Bowers and Robert Thomas. From 1970 to 1983, he served on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was a member of the Lewistown Hospital Board of Trustees from 1974 to 1983, serving one term as vice president, and served for many years on the hospital staff. Dr. Feldman was a member of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council from 1987 to 1988. From 1983 to 1989, he served on the Friends of Pennsylvania State University Board of Directors for the Palmer Museum of Art. Over the years as a writer, Dr. Feldman had more than 45 articles published in national and international professional journals, with an emphasis on dentistry in literature. At Dr. Feldman’s request, his remains will be cremated, and there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Mifflin County Library, 123 N. Wayne St., Lewistown, PA 17044; University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, Attn: Orthodontics Program, 3501 Terrace St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213; or, to the American Jewish Committee, New York City Headquarters, 165 East 56th St., New York, NY 10022. Arrangements are under the care of Heller-Hoenstine Funeral Homes, Woodlawn, Lewistown.

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

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Anonymous ..................................................................................... Helen Wolk

Mary B. Marks ..................................................................... Florence Cohen

Anonymous .....................................................................................Albert Wolk

Maurice Bourd..............................................................................Anna Bourd

Anchel Siegman ................................................................... Harry Siegman

Mena Shapiro ...................................................................Melvin S. Shapiro

Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Landay ..................Morris and Bessie Landay

Mr. & Mrs. Arthur J. Pollock & Family........................Lena Davidson

Edwin Azen .......................................................................... Maurice D. Azen Esther Wachs .......................................................................Abraham Saville Frank Smizik ......................................................................Beatrice P. Smizik Harvey L. Rice .................................................................................... Max Rice Howard & Rhea Troffkin ....................................................Freida Troffkin Irwin Lederstein.............................................................Hyman Lederstein Joni L. Weaver...........................................................................Evelyn Jacobs Lessa Finegold ..........................................................................Abe Finegold

Rachel Richman ................................................................Hyman Richman Rob & Patti Americus ...................................................Pauline Americus Rob & Patti Americus ................................................. Norman Americus Rob & Patti Americus ......................................................... Calvin Morgan Rob & Patti Americus ........................................................Franae Morgan Rob & Patti Americus ...................................................... Bruce Americus Ron & Larraine Bates ....................................................Dorothy L. Fisher

Mark & Jane Mendlow .................................................Samuel Mendlow

Ronna & Jeff Robinson ............................................................Paul Leipzig

Mary B. Marks ................................................................................Alter Baker

Ronna & Jeff Robinson ....................................................... Esther Leipzig

Mary B. Marks ..............................................................................Nellie Baker

Ruth Kramer ...........................................................................Solomon Balfer

Mary B. Marks ............................................................................... Karl Zlotnik

Sharon Greenfield ............................................................. Celia Greenfield

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday April 19: Isadore Ash, Jennie Breakstone, Sam Dizenfeld, Robert F. Glick, Zelda Glick, Sarah Harris, Celia Jacobson, Margaret Green Kotovsky, Sam Labovitz, Mildred Levine, Ethel Mallinger, Beatrice Blumenfeld Nathan, Morris Perelstine, Louis Rubin, William Sacks, Bess H. Strauss, Bertha Swartz Monday April 20: Sara Altman, Zachary Caplan, Julius H. Cohen, Lester Wolf Cohen, Philip M. Colker, Isabel Glantz, Adel Horwitz, Maier Krochmal, Hyman Lederstein, Ben Levick, Nathan Levy, Isadore Mendelson, Rae Pariser, Leah Simon, Earl Roy Surloff, Isidor Weiss Tuesday April 21: Shirley Bernstein, Fannie Caplan, Irene Elenbaum, Pearl Rebekah Friedman, Julia R. Goldsmith, Betty Shermer, Beatrice P. Smizik, Frieda Troffkin, Lawrence Martin Wallie, Jacob Young Wednesday April 22: Israel Blinn, Morris D. Canter, Clara Esther Choder, Bennie Chotiner, Mollie S. Davis, Rebecca Fineberg, Lillian Forman, Rachel Hodes, Max Kalser, Albert Katzman, Sarah Kramer, Julian H. Rozner, Ida Schmidt, Albert Silverberg, Henry Singer, Benjamin William Steerman, Irving M. Stolzenberg, Sylvan B. Sunstein, Belle Treelisky, Sara H. Udman, Morris S. Unger, David Whitman, Leroy L. Williams Thursday April 23: Joseph Abraham Abady, Jacob Ash, Joseph A. Block, Selma Winograd Cohen, Max Felder, Mollie Fiman, Abraham Friedman, Jacob Goldman, Harry Hertz, Bella Hostein, Pearl Janowitz, Fae Greenstein Klein, Rose Lebowitz, Jacob Levinson, Morton (Bud) Litowich, Bessie Mallinger, Anna M. Oppenheim, Morris Pearlman, Evelyn M. Perlmutter, Meyer Schlessinger, Alvin Silverman Friday April 24: Shirley Bilder, Ruth Fleser Coplon, Blanche Epstein, Alfred Gordon, Harry Greenberg, Fannie Horowitz, Tillie G. Kubrin, Joseph Lederer, William Lewis, Edward Mermelstein, Hanna W. Pink, Marcus P. Rose, Annabelle M. Topp, Florence P. Wedner, Louis Zacks Saturday April 25: S. Abel Alterman, Louis Berman, Florence Cohen, Lillian Finn, Bertha Goodman, Harry M. Greenberger, Sidney Greenberger, Albert Lawrence Jacobs, Sadie Klein, Frederick Knina, Stanley Slifkin, Karl Zlotnik

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APRIL 17, 2020 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

LEVITT: Lillian Levitt: In her 100th year, passed away peacefully at home on Monday, April 6, 2020. Beloved wife of the late Harry Levitt. Mother of Elaine Levitt, Linda Levitt and Arthur Levitt (Carol Vogeley). Sister of the late Norma Berger. Aunt of Janet Levitt. Graveside services and interment were 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 SCHUGAR: Schugar, Sheila; On Thursday, April 9, 2020, of Shadyside, passed away peacefully at Shadyside Hospital with her brother Phil by her side. Beloved daughter of the late Abe and Rose Schugar; sister of Phil Schugar (late Isabelle), Ira Schugar of Cary, N.C. and special friend to Bari Benjamin and her daughter Larissa. Sheila is also survived by numerous other friends and cousins. Sheila was a reading teacher and loved her students and profession. Services and interment private. Contributions in her memory may be made to the organization of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com SLOMBERG: Slomberg, Stanley C., passed suddenly, at home, on Saturday, April 4, 2020, age 72. Beloved husband of Patricia (Kubish) Slomberg. Son of the late Leah (Raizman) and Carl Slomberg. Brother of Martin (Adrienne), Marilyn (late Bradley) Hersch. Uncle of Jessica Slomberg, Max (Alison) and Steven (Xinlei) Hersch. Stanley worked in the family business, Chartiers Wallpaper Co. in McKees Rocks, Pa. Private services and internment were at Ahavath Achim Cemetery in Kennedy Township on Monday, April 6. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 412-621-8282. schugar.com SMITH: Lt. Col. William Smith, U.S. Army (Ret.), 96, entered into eternal rest on April 9, 2020. All services will be private. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr Inc., West Ashley Chapel. Born June 27,1923 in Altoona, Pa. to Louis H. Smith and Juliet Poser Smith. He was preceded in death by his sister, Ryzella Ratowsky, brother, Alan C. Smith, and wife, Annabelle Sachs Smith. Died March 1992. William (Bill) received a

Remembrance: Continued from page 12

lack the resources to move their own Yom HaShoah commemorations online. This commemoration will also offer a chance to remember and honor the Holocaust Center’s first director, Dr. Isaiah Kuperstein, who passed away of COVID-19 20 APRIL 17, 2020

presidential appointment in 1944 to United Stated Military Academy, West Point. Proud graduate of the class of 1947. Obtained his Master of Science Degree — Electrical Engineering in 1954 at Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind. He also attended the prestigious Command and General Staff College, U.S. Army in Leavenworth, Kan. During his service in the Army he received: Army Commendation Medal, (2) Army Campaign Medal National Defense Services Medal, Army Occupational Medal (Germany). Bill was the originator and first program manager of the Chaparral Missile System, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. He supervised all phases of the development and production of this new forward area air defense system. He also did major work on development and production of the Nike Zeus AntiBallistic Missile. A man of great humor he delighted when someone would say “It isn’t rocket science.” He would reply “but I am a rocket scientist.” He spent 28 years living abroad, both as a civilian and in the military, including time in Germany; Korea; Marshall Islands (Kwajelein); Tehran, Iran; Paris, France; and Brussels, Belgium. Following 25 years in the U.S. Army he entered the private sector marketing and manufacturing high tech electronic and weapon systems equipment for NATO countries. In retirement he moved to Pittsburgh where he met and married Elaine Friedlander. He was delighted to add her children and grandchildren to his family and embraced them all. He spent 20 wonderful years there and enjoyed his retirement. He was a member of Rodef Shalom Congregation and volunteered with the Executive Service Corp helping nonprofit organizations. Bill was a loving, caring father to his daughter SueEllen Hanan and his son in law Morris V. Hanan. He enjoyed a very special relationship with his granddaughter Dina R. Collins (Hanan). His great-grandson Gavin William Collins has given him much joy in recent years. He is also survived by his stepson, William Z. Friedlander of Pittsburgh; stepdaughter, Jody Keating of Greensburg, Pa.; stepson, Henry (Duffy) Friedlander of Greensburg, Pa; grandchild, Michael Patrick Keating of Washington, D.C., grandchild, Stacey Friedlander Keating of Chattanooga, Tenn. Bill’s smile, optimism, and joy of life was contagious. He loved travel, reading history, world issues and politics, good food and most of all a stimulating discussion about issues of the day. Duty, honor, country and family were the cornerstones of his life. Memorial donations may be made to West Point Association of Graduates, 698 Mills Rd. West Point, NY 10996.

SPATZ: Phyllis Spatz: On April 5th, 2020, two days shy of her 94th birthday, beloved wife of the late Dr. Sidney Spatz. An accomplished vocalist and actress; a skillful and formidable bridge and tennis competitor; an avid reader and lifelong student; a fabulous cook and entertainer, Phyllis also served as matriarch of her family. With Sidney, her husband of 50 years, she ensured that their daughters had every opportunity to flourish. Phyllis is survived by her daughters: Sandy Spatz (Tracy Hultgren) of Chicago, Ill., Pamela Spatz (David Bogen) of S. Dartmouth, Mass. and Hilary Spatz (Max Levine) who were shaped in many ways by her incredible spirit, impeccable taste, and generous nature. Her seven grandchildren: Alison Spatz Levine (Daniel Carmeli), Deborah Levine (Chris Timmerman), Randall Levine (Tia Scagliarini), Geir Spatz Bogen (Caroline Watson,) Hannah Spatz Bogen (Jamie Hayes), Emma Spatz Hultgren and Seth Spatz Hultgren each in their own way connected with their “Nana” and enriched her life as she did theirs. From what she referred to as “the center of the universe,” her home on the corner of Forbes and Murray, Phyllis generously shared her love of literature, music and politics: inevitably a visit with Nana included a shopping spree at Littles. Known as “Super Nana” to her five great-grandchildren, Ezra, Samuel, Noa, Eden and Miri, each will be blessed with memories of her long and well-shared life. Phyllis was the daughter of Abe Cohen and Minnie (Bernstein) Cohen and sister to the late Sanford (Sonny) Cohen. Phyllis’ musical career began in her teens as she served as vocalist to Tree of Life Synagogue on Craft Avenue. At Schenley High School and during her years at Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham University, she studied opera, regularly performing in many productions as a member of the Pittsburgh City Opera, under the direction of Richard Karp. Phyllis relished the opportunity to perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under William Steinberg. With roles in productions as varied as “Carmen” and “Oklahoma” (which she also performed in Hawaii during Sidney’s army service) she rounded out her career with a bawdy nightclub revue co-starring Esther Lapidus and Joe Negri in “400 Miles off Broadway.” Phyllis incorporated her love for music with her deep roots in Judaism. Performing as Phyllis Cohen, Phyllis Owen, and Phyllis Sidney (incorporating her most supportive fan’s name as part of her own,) she enjoyed being the entertainment in JNF, Hadassah,

a couple of weeks ago. The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh will be celebrating its 40th anniversary later this year, a milestone that would not have been possible without Dr. Kuperstein’s vision and energy. Indeed, none of this would have been possible without past and present support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the dedication of the members of the Holocaust Center staff. This

last month has demonstrated the strength of our small but mighty team, making an indelible mark on this month of genocide awareness and Holocaust remembrance. Our work is even more important in the face of the pandemic and the antisemitism that plagues have bred throughout history. While we must stay apart physically, let us be united together in remembrance for Yom HaShoah 2020.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

NCJW and Federation fund raising events and celebrations. Her dramatic or lyric soprano voice was well known and wellloved throughout the community. For almost two decades Phyllis sang as part of Temple Sinai’s choir for regular services and b’nai mitzvah and wedding ceremonies. She was also often called on to fill in as a soloist or choir member at area church services. Whether at Oakland’s Greek Orthodox or Presbyterian churches, she had the ability to fill in at a moment’s notice, bringing her beautiful voice and generous spirit to a range of gatherings. Her daughters remember being awestruck during Temple Sinai High Holiday services held at Carnegie Music Hall. As Phyllis stood in the alcove balcony filling the hall with “Ashamnu” and “Avinu Malkeinu,” they knew that their mother was not only their superstar but a community gem. Across seven states and three time zones her family joined in a virtual service Sunday evening led by Rabbi Weiss of Chicago’s Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation. A memorial service and celebration will be held when the prohibitions and safeguards required by the COVID-19 pandemic permit and the family can be together. Thank you to Silver Lining Senior Care who provided uncompromising care. Phyllis supported the Jewish National Fund and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and if you would like to make a contribution in her memory, these institutions would be a wonderful remembrance. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com TOMBOSKY: Beatrice L. Tombosky, of Squirrel Hill, on Sunday, April 12, 2020, at the age of 100. Beloved wife of the late Joseph Tombosky; daughter of the late Solomon and Esther Lehman; sister of the late Lillian Lipsitz, Jane Feld and Arnold Lehman; mother of the late Alan (surviving Joyce) Tombosky, Jack Tombosky, and Judith (the late Alan) Leff; grandmother of Sally (PJ) Ostrowski, Robert (Chava) Tombosky, Moshe (Rochel) Tombosky, Valerie (William) O’Keefe and Aaron (Jessica) Leff. Also survived by 16 great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Service and interment private. Beatrice’s final years were made so much better by her friends Debbie Miller and Patty Henning, and granddaughter, Sally, whose compassion, humor and companionship meant the world to Beatrice and permitted her to enjoy her home until the very end. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 412-621-8282. schugar.com PJC

Join us on Tuesday, April 21, online, from 12:00 to 1:00, or contact the Holocaust Center at 412-939-7289 to learn how to participate by using a toll-free number to dial in to the program. The link to register for the program is https://hcofpgh.org/ yom-hashoah-2020. PJC Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather is director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Bookstore: Continued from page 16

“I’m very grateful to him,” said Ackland. “I would love to be able to share more with

HBO: Continued from page 17

Conflict and family tension arises in the Levin household as Lindbergh becomes the darling of the isolationist, anti-Semitic right and the Republican nominee for president. He’ll defeat the man they derisively call Franklin Delano Rosenberg, a man they believe to be a puppet to powerful Jewish names like Baruch, Frankfurter and Morgenthau. Lindbergh says little on the campaign trail, except that he pledges to keep America out of the war. Played by Ben Cole, he is more discussed than actually seen, mirroring the way Roth treated the character in the novel. As his campaign goes on, Lindbergh’s overtly anti-Jewish rhetoric lessens, and he adopts an even more insidious strategy: He starts to recruit them to his cause. A prominent local rabbi, Lionel

people, but he made it possible to provide books for 20 people that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. I’m really grateful for what he’s done for me and the community.” Sasson believes that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought out “the worst in

people but it’s also bringing out the best. I think this is something we can all learn from. I’m inspired. I’m even thinking, what if I were to go to Eric and say, ‘I want to sponsor someone anonymously, one package. Not just for your business but to give it to someone.’

Bengelsdorf, who is played by John Turturro, truly one of the great actors of our time, is curiously recruited as a Lindbergh surrogate. Weequahic’s Jews are perplexed but cousin Alvin reconciles the paradox astutely and hauntingly: “He’s there to kosherize Lindbergh for the Jews.” The kosherizing process never quite takes and the Jews generally look at Bengelsdorf as a kapo. But Bess’s sister Evelyn, Philip and Sandy’s aunt played by Winona Ryder, soon falls into a serious romantic relationship with Bengelsdorf, throwing the stridently anti-Lindbergh, anti-Bengelsdorf Levin family into disarray. Things are made worse when it’s discovered that older brother Sandy, a talented artist, has never forsaken his hero worship of Lindbergh and that he’s been secreting a cache of pencil-drawn Lindbergh portraits under his bed. Aunt Evelyn recruits Sandy to be part of newly created group of youth scouts, eerily reminiscent of Hitler Youth,

in support of the newly elected President Lindberg and his policies to put America first and keep it there. With the urging of Bengelsdorf and his aunt Evelyn, Sandy is sent to live on a family farm in rural Kentucky as a part of Lindbergh’s hilariously named “Just Folks” program, which aims to deurbanize Jews, to make them more white-bread American. Terrifyingly, Sandy takes to it. He returns home to Newark from Kentucky and calls his parents backward “Ghetto Jews.” Lindbergh’s plan is working … but whose plan is it really? And how far behind the scenes are Hitler and the Nazi apparatus lurking behind this new isolationist, bizarrely nationalist American government? You’ll have to watch to find out. I’ll say this: The book ends without it being clear to what extent Hitler had been pulling the strings the entire time. Whether Simon and Burns take any artistic license with this could make for compelling chatter on HBO’s

I think it’s beautiful to give the feeling that you matter as a person and your business matters.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. accompanying podcast. Here are a couple things that can be said more confidently. Turturro is fantastic as always as the turncoat rabbi, Lionel Bengelsdorf; Ryder is absolutely pitch perfect in her portrayal of Evelyn — she’s exactly what I saw and heard in my mind when I originally read Roth’s novel. Zoe Kazan is adorable in nearly all she does, but adorable isn’t the right look or tone for Bess, the matriarch of the Levin household. There’s a disconnect between the girlish Kazan and the war-era mother of adolescents she’s supposed to be playing. I want to buy it, but I can’t. Morgan Spector, as the father, Herman Levin, is mostly perfect, though just a tad over the top at times, while Anthony Boyle as cousin Alvin is a flawed, principled character you’ll find yourself rooting for. PJC Matt Silver is a staff writer for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

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APRIL 17, 2020 21

Community Thank you

JHF addresses COVID-19 t Temple Sinai’s Next DOR student Leo Hattenbach, son of Tina Goldstein and Brian Hattenbach, displays his Random Act of Torah artwork — a thank you note to his mail carrier.

Photo by Tina Goldstein courtesy of Temple Sinai

Memorable presentation p Jewish Healthcare Foundation staff work from home as JHF’s initiatives and programs adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

p The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and Together We Remember hosted “#TogetherWeRemember: What Does ‘Never Again’ Mean to You?” on April 5. The program was introduced by Samantha Power, former US ambassador to the UN, and featured Dr. Nichole Argo Ben-Itzhak from Project Over Zero, Susan Bro from the Heather Heyer Foundation, Dr. David Frey from the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at West Point, Dr. Heval Kelli, a Kurdish-Syrian refugee, and Emmai Alaquiva, a locally based Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. Photo courtesy of Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

Fashionably safe and spiritual t Rosanne Levine models a homemade kippah mask. Photo courtesy of Rosanne Levine p Catherine Mutunga, administrative assistant at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, sews masks for local health care workers, including 60 masks for the Jewish Photos courtesy of Jewish Healthcare Foundation Association on Aging.

Save me a piece

Shabbat Shalom

p CMU student Zachary Leventhal welcomed the Hillel Jewish University Center community to join his family for a virtual pre-Shabbat candle lighting and kiddush. Photo courtesy of Hillel Jewish University Center

22 APRIL 17, 2020

p Abby Blank and younger sister Nina made the most of their time indoors by baking homemade matzah. Photo courtesy of Lydia Blank

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Community Having fun at home

Keeping busy

p The Pitt Hillel Board discussed virtual programming for students over Zoom.

p Community Day School pre-K student Zev Newman and his sister, Maya Newman, take advantage of the spring weather and recess time to make “mud soup” outside.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Covitt

Well wishes from afar Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, joined Temple Sinai clergy for services on April 3 to offer the d’var Torah and wish Rabbi Jamie Gibson well on his upcoming retirement.

p CDS pre-K student Micah Shropshire listened to “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds read via video by his teacher Liz Wolfe and then used art materials sent home to create a dot painting together with her online.

p Clockwise from top left: Rabbi Keren Gorban, Rabbi Jamie Gibson, Cantor Laura Berman and Rabbi Rick Jacobs Photo courtesy of Temple Sinai

Now that’s a minyan

t Community Day School Early Childhood student Fiona Brazile dances along with a creative movement lesson from her teacher Jacqueline Tardanico.

p Community members gathered for morning prayers via Zoom. Photo by Rabbi Jeremy Markiz courtesy of Congregation Beth Shalom

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

APRIL 17, 2020 23

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