Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 4-3-20

April 3, 2020 | 9 Nisan 5780

Candlelighting 7:29 p.m. | Havdalah 8:30 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 14 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY

HAPP Y

Passover

LOCAL Rick Jacobs URJ head virtually visits Pittsburgh.

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Snowbirds forgo flight home for Passover due to COVID-19

LOCAL Outreach

$1.50

Online instruction offers new learning opportunities for teachers as well as students

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

R Congregants keep in touch during COVID-19 crisis.

 In past years, Mike Roteman attended Pirates spring training in Bradenton, Florida.

Mike and his wife Ellen have extended their normal stay in the state due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Photo provided by Mike Roteman

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

Page 3

LOCAL Two decades of service Beth El’s longtime executive director, Steve Hecht, retires.

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O

n a typical spring day, baseball fan Mike Roteman might be doing one of the things he loves best: serving as the Pittsburgh Pirates Bradenton Booster Club president while staying at his Florida residence. The volunteer group provides ushers, greeters, security personnel and program salespeople during spring training, both at LECOM Park and at Pirate City.

But this isn’t a typical spring. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Major League Baseball has suspended all baseball operations, including spring training.

Roteman and his wife Ellen are like many other “snowbirds,” retirees who fly south, escaping the cold Pittsburgh winters for warmer locales. The pair normally leaves the Steel City in October for their winter home in Lakewood Ranch on the border of Sarasota and Manatee Counties, and fly home to Pittsburgh several times throughout their stay for events like Passover.

“We usually return just in time for the opening day of the baseball season

and Pesach. This year, obviously, that has changed,” said Roteman.

This year, the Rotemans will be staying put in their Florida condominium rather than traveling back to Pittsburgh for a seder that would only include themselves. Ellen’s mother, a resident of Weinberg Terrace, is following Jewish Assistance on Aging protocols and is not permitted to leave the premises because of concerns related to the spread of the coronavirus. The Rotemans’ children, a son in Israel, and a daughter in New Jersey, would not be able to join them for seder either because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Life in a subtropical paradise during a pandemic can prove challenging, especially to those attempting to keep kosher, and even more so for those attempting to keep kosher for Passover.

“The closest kosher butcher shop is 35 miles away in St. Petersburg. We didn’t want to drive all the way up there. We found a place called Kosher Caddy. They deliver kosher

abbi Zalmen Raskin, who teaches Judaics to first- and fourth-graders at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, has had to “change and adapt” a lot of his expectations these days.

As instruction has moved online due to the COVID-19 crisis, Raskin has placed an emphasis on his students’ social and emotional well-being along with their lessons on Jewish law and the Passover holiday.

“Tapping into how they’re experiencing and understanding this whole thing is really at the forefront at this point,” said Raskin.

Educators from Pittsburgh’s three Jewish day schools echoed Raskin’s sentiments.

“I teach middle school, and developmentally, they’re in a very social place in their lives. They’re very driven by interactions with their peers, and they don’t have that live interaction anymore; they’re home for the most part,” said Cara Shuckett, a seventhand eighth-grade language arts teacher and literacy coach at Community Day School.

In order to combat, or at least acknowledge, current realities, Shuckett has started each of her classes with “something to humanize our time together.”

For several minutes, the group reflects, and chats, about an assignment unrelated to the day’s regular materials. Projects have included phoning or FaceTiming a relative, listening to music from an unknown artist or drawing a picture while only using one’s feet.

“I feel like it’s really important to adapt some of our work to meet the reality of their social emotional needs,” said Shuckett.

Please see Snowbirds, page 14

Please see Teachers, page 14

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LOCAL Chevra Kadisha members regroup

LOCAL Loving online learning

WORLD A Beijing Haggadah

Headlines URJ President Rick Jacobs talks Rabbi Jamie Gibson, Pittsburgh and the Reform movement — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

R

abbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, was scheduled to be in Pittsburgh this week. The COVID-19 outbreak upended those plans.

Jacobs was slated to appear at Temple Sinai at a Shabbat service honoring Rabbi Jamie Gibson, who will retire June 30 after 32 years with the congregation. Instead, Jacobs will now appear virtually April 3.

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle spoke with Jacobs about Gibson’s retirement, the URJ’s response to COVID-19 and what Pittsburgh means to the Reform movement today. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

You were scheduled to appear at Temple Sinai in person but can’t due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Can you speak about how the URJ and its congregations have responded?

We as the Reform movement, the largest movement in North American Jewish life, have recognized the need to adapt and find our communities. We have worked to find a way to matter in this new environment. There are so many aspects of our work that have gone virtual, from worship to study to community to counseling to tutoring. I’m incredibly inspired by the ingenuity and how quickly and very effectively and lovingly congregations have adapted to a healthcare crisis. At a time when social distancing is required, we’re finding more ways to connect more completely.

You were scheduled to be here to honor Rabbi Jamie Gibson, who has

been at Temple Sinai for relationship with Rabbi 32 years. That’s a testaGibson, so they know what ment to both the man and it means to have a rabbi the congregation. of depth and courage and I really love this man and kindness. They are going to am inspired by his rabbinic look for a rabbi who, in his example and teaching. We or her own way, will have studied together at the their own depth and imagShalom Hartman Institute ination and courage. When in Jerusalem. That’s when I rabbis look for congregareally got to know him as a tions, they look for places fellow student of Torah and that know how to form that have come to appreciate his p kind of relationship. The key Rabbi Rick Jacobs Photo courtesy of in any transition is to apprerabbinic gifts. It goes back Union of Reform Judaism to his formative years and ciate the remarkable leader his time with (Jewish songthat Rabbi Gibson has been. writer) Debbie Friedman.

There are other leaders Debbie and Jamie were who will come, it’s a new close. His knowledge of day. This is important to Torah is deep and he has remember. It’s an exciting nourished his congregation proposition and it’s a little for the last 32 years. frightening, I’m sure, for I have to say that after congregational members the Tree of Life shooting, who feel so close to Rabbi I had been in Israel, and Gibson and don’t think I remember turning on they could ever feel close to the news and it was Jamie another rabbi. The truth is, speaking — so articu- t Rabbi Jamie Gibson there will always be a very File photo late, so on message and so special place at Temple Sinai reassuring from the depths of the Jewish for Rabbi Gibson. But I think it’s the kind of tradition, and that’s how he is live. Temple congregation that, after their interim rabbi, Sinai is a beautiful living expression of they will be ready to find, engage and relate Reform Judaism. deeply to a terrific new rabbi.

How does Temple Sinai replace someone who has meant so much to the congregation for so long? How does it, not fill Rabbi Gibson’s shoes, but instead, find a rabbi who can fill his or her own space and serve the congregation?

They’ve had 32 years of this exceptional

Can you speak about what Pittsburgh means to the Reform movement today?

I have to say, we are all aware of the remarkable resiliency of Pittsburgh. It’s become a symbol for the wider Jewish community and is quite inspiring.

Nobody was prepared for what happened

at the Tree of Life (building). What happened there changed much of American Jewish life.

In some ways it was a rude awakening, in other ways it was a call to our core mission and core values creating a Judaism of real commitment and daily experience to the Jewish values of caring for the other and love for the other.

Pittsburgh is home to Susan Friedberg Kalson, the chair of the Commission on Social Action for the Reform Movement, and Lynn Magid Lazar, a past president of the Women of Reform Judaism. We have a great history of rabbinic and lay leaders from this community and I think it’s something to be very proud of, and hopefully to build upon as you go forward.

Rabbi Gibson’s retirement marks the second long-term rabbi in Pittsburgh to retire in fewer than five years (Rabbi Mark Mahler retired in 2018 after serving Temple Emanuel of South Hills for 38 years). Is there a new slate of leaders beginning to emerge in the URJ? First of all, having a long rabbinic tenure is something that is quite wonderful and inspiring. People used to think that rabbis were in for a couple years at a congregation and then they were off to climb some proverbial ladder. I think that it’s a testament to rabbis when they’ve been able to establish meaningful, long term relations.

In terms of the next generation of rabbis, we see them all over. I love that some of them have very clear ideas that the walls of the synagogue are not in any way the walls that define our mission. I think that’s why Rabbi Gibson has spent so much time in the wider Please see Jacobs, page 15

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Headlines Isolated but not alone, thanks to volunteers from area congregations — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

C

ongregant-volunteers from several Pittsburgh synagogues took out their phones during the second week of the coronavirus shutdown to remind fellow Jews that, despite this time of self-isolation, they were not alone.

Jessica Hammer, a Congregation Beth Shalom member who teaches game design at Carnegie Mellon University, said there were three components that drove the dozens of calls she made last week: personal contact, volunteer leadership and researchbased programming.

Volunteers, she said, were focused “on meeting people’s mental, emotional and spiritual needs — we realized we had to step up what we were doing,” said Hammer, who lives with her husband, Chris Hall, and their 5-year-old daughter, Ada, in Squirrel Hill.

“Community is something Jews are very good at. Doing this is just an extension of what I’ve been trained to do my whole Jewish life. You bring people together to live together and study together. This is just an opportunity to respond Jewishly to a crisis situation.”

Hammer and Hall said 5% of the Beth Shalom community reached out by phone last week to some 1,200 congregants, asking if they needed help with groceries or just wanted to talk a bit because they were lonely or anxious. And they didn’t just reach out to those considered at highest risk for the coronavirus. They called everyone — and they keep spreadsheets about it.

“What we’re collecting data on is who needs help from our community, not on demographics,” Hammer said.

Marian Allen, a retired nurse and Point Breeze mother of three who has been a

member of Rodef Shalom Congregation for 33 years, saw the calls her fellow congregants made as a kind of tzedakah, a form of giving back, say, or a spontaneous act of goodwill. “[We’re there] for people who don’t have their immediate families here — there is a Pittsburgh diaspora and there are plenty of folks with kids who live out of town and grandchildren who live out of town, and, now, they can’t get to them,” Allen said.

“I’m starting to see a lot of people say, ‘Yeah, I need help setting up grocery delivery,’ or ‘Yeah, I need help learning how to FaceTime.’ We are asking them specific questions like that.”

Rodef Shalom Rabbi Aaron Bisno said there’s a lot of wisdom in those small gestures.

“We’re collecting information about their needs,” Bisno said. “But we’re offering our members the chance to make these calls, too. Because even the person who receives tzedakah is expected to share.”

To that end, Rodef Shalom has been asking those they call how they might be able to help others. Again, even in small ways, these questions have made a difference. Allen said she asked one older woman, a widow who lived alone, if she had information that would help others; the widow mentioned she was taking comfort in Jewish Broadcasting Service programming on Verizon FIOS channel 798. Allen spread the word — tzedakah paid forward.

Irwin Harris is familiar with reaching out to shaken members of his community.

The Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha vice president fielded those calls after the Oct. 27, 2018, shooting at his synagogue and is making the rounds again as the coronavirus sweeps the globe.

Harris said he has been sharing resources with congregants about classes with

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HEINZ HALL

Please see Volunteers, page 15

p Jessica Hammer and Chris Hall, and and their daughter Ada, are checking in on other members of Beth Shalom by phone during the COVID-19 crisis.

Photo provided by Chris Hall

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APRIL 3, 2020 3

Headlines Separation, temporary. The exit interview: Commemoration, forever. Steve Hecht

Apart from individual life cycle events, what are some of the memories you cherish from your time at the congregation?

The burning of our mortgage in 2015;

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer the inscribing of the “Inclusion” Torah — a lightweight Torah that allows fter two decades of for our b’nai mitzvah students congregational service, and our senior members to Steve Hecht is stepping participate in the mitzvah of away from the office, the social carrying a Torah; the renohall and the many spaces he vation of our Sufrin Chapel, helped oversee as executive which was reconfigured and director at Beth El Congregation replaced the raised bimah of the South Hills. which had not been special Hecht’s tenure, which began in needs friendly and placed the September 1999, officially ended reading table (shulchan) in the last week, and while his future middle so all could feel the plans include exercise, education closeness of communal prayer; and self-betterment, Hecht also p Steve Hecht Photo courtesy of Steve Hecht the celebration of our 100-year was happy to reflect on the past. anniversary; obtaining the He shared those memories, Stern Family Grant, which as well as future hopes with allowed us to dream and implement those the Chronicle in an interview that has been dreams; the congregational vote to welcome edited due to length and clarity. the interfaith partner into our membership; the addition of the interfaith section All right, Steve, let’s start at the beginning. to our cemetery; witnessing our special What initially interested you in needs members becoming b’nai mitzvah; the position?

I had spent eight-plus years in leadership starting streaming services for those who at Beth Shalom on the volunteer side and had are unable to attend; the hiring of Rabbi Alex many years in retail management. I also had Greenbaum; the initiation of the Grinspoon been the operations director for the Jewish Life and Legacy Endowment Initiative for Community Center, and I was always a “shul the Pittsburgh Jewish community; and kid.” So my love for shuls and combined Beth El co-chairing the national strategic business and operations background plan for the North American Association of seemed to make a good fit. Besides that, my Synagogue Executives. brother-in-law called me and said Beth El What do you think will be hardest was looking for an executive director. about leaving?

If you ask my wife, Lynn, she might say You obviously had some familiarity having me home after 42 years of marriage with the work involved, but for people and without a paycheck. But for me it’s who don’t know, what does a synagogue always been about the membership, staff executive director do? and the community.

Watching kids become I was directly responsible for facility and teenagers, go off to college and then marry, administration oversight, catering/food I’ll miss those interactions.

And of course, service supervision, security, maintenance/ the friends and colleagues you interact housekeeping, endowment and certain operwith along the way. ational fundraising, budgeting, grant writing and purchasing. I was also involved in leadership and vision planning, programming/ Do you have any future plans?

Not to work. I’ve been doing so for the communications and membership intake. last 49 years, since age 16. I want to work on myself. I know it sounds selfish, but after That sounds exhausting.

Many people through the years have said, an entire career of working six days a week, “I don’t know how you do it. I could never and a contract that often calls for 24/7 availdo your job.” While that’s probably true, it’s ability, I’m ready to do something I’ve heard not a job. If it’s perceived as a job then the that others have tried: I think it’s called exerexecutive director is probably doing some- cise. I’m sure I won’t like it from what I’ve thing wrong. This is a profession that is done read, but at least I need to try. I also signed by people who believe they can truly make up for Osher courses. a difference in people’s lives. How many careers are there where you interact directly Anything else you’d like people to know?

The Jewish community of Pittsburgh must with the people who are creating the most find more ways to collaborate and create a memorable events in their lives? think tank to help ensure its shuls’ survival and sustainability. It’s going to be a bumpy What’s a tougher job: synagogue executive ride ahead, and we have to figure out how to director or pulpit rabbi?

Depends on if you’re asking the rabbi or plan for the future together as a community. the executive director. We have a common I’d also like people to know that retirement respect for each other’s positions and realize isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning. We all as senior staff that we are only better as a work hard and deserve the right to enjoy team working together along with lay lead- and take a break and get to know ourselves ership. All I can tell you is that both positions Please see Hecht, page 15 are very difficult at times.

— LOCAL —

‘‘...and you s hould

A

t ell i t

t o your chi ldr en.’’

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

We take comfort in our stories, song, food.

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

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

That’s Aging. Purposely.

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

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4 APRIL 3, 2020

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Headlines Tradition and safety require painful balance for Pittsburgh’s Jewish burial societies details then shared by the Centers for Disease Control, members of the chevra kadisha questioned the safety of traveling to funeral homes

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer given social distancing recommendations, and whether it was even responsible to use onathan Schachter’s Jewish identity is personal protective equipment when “healthlargely tied to his involvement in the care workers need those items,” added Frank.

New Community Chevra Kadisha, one “I can’t speak for others in the chevra but of Pittsburgh’s two Jewish burial societies. that’s when I decided,” said Schachter. “There When the COVID-19 pandemic upended the are four people that I’m concerned with, and societies’ practices, Schachter was at a loss. that’s my immediate family, so I decided to step Performing those rites “is a significant part of back from this for the time being until we can my Judaism. It’s a very integral, very important, be sure that there is a significant degree of safety very special, meaningful part of my Yiddishkite, for me, and also for the members of my chevra. and it hurts to have to be faced with this, but And I feel horrible about it. I feel like I’m letting I have to be certain that there will not be any the community down. I feel like I’m letting the adverse medical reactions that I’m going to family of the maitim (deceased) down. I feel like I’m letting my fellow chevra down but have or that I might unintentionally spread.”

Three weeks ago, Schachter, president of the we’re in completely uncharted waters.”

In the days that followed, members of Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association of NCCK, as well as those from Gesher Hachaim Greater Pittsburgh, joined members of NCCK, including medical professionals and public health Jewish Burial Society, Pittsburgh’s Orthodox experts, on Zoom to discuss handling rituals chevra kadisha, tracked updates regarding concerning the dead in light of COVID-19.

COVID-19 and continued discussing At that time, some participants expressed possible options for local practices. a willingness to continue the practice of “We are in daily contact with experts in taharah (ritual purification), while other the field, both in terms of chevra kadisha members respectfully wished to refrain work and public health,” said Rabbi Daniel from further activity, explained Malke Frank, Wasserman, Gesher Hachaim’s president and co-founder of NCCK. rabbi of Shaare Torah Congregation. “We are JCDuring ReSound FIN_Eartique 11/12/18 9:42 AM Page 1 what we have to do with theRechargeable conversation, in response to continuing to do

— LOCAL —

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adjusting our procedures as necessary and that’s all I can say.”

Leaders of NCCK expressed a similar sentiment.

“We have been doing our best to both figure out how to honor what we consider the important and sacred traditions surrounding Jewish death rituals but also keeping in mind the importance of public health, and that has been very, shall I say, anxiety provoking to figure out,” said Patricia Cluss, co-founder of NCCK. Shrouded in anonymity but cloaked in holiness, the chevra kadisha traces its origins to the Babylonian Talmud where it is recorded that nearly 1700 years ago Rav Hamnuna arrived at a place called Darumata. While there, Hamnuna heard the public blasting of a shofar signaling a resident’s death. Despite the mournful pronouncement, the townspeople continued working. Surprised by their seeming disregard, the rabbi called out against them only to discover that his chastisement was erroneous. In Darumuta, designated groups tended to the dead, and the deceased for whom the shofar was blown was already being cared for by another body, a sacred society that served as an early model for groups today.

The history of the chevra kadisha “has been around for a couple thousand years, but the Prague chevra really structured

the way of doing it,” said Cluss. The Prague chevra kadisha was founded in 1564. Along with their contributions, elements of today’s Jewish burial rites are described in “Ma’abar Yabbot” an early 17th century Italian work by Aaron Berechiah ben Moses ben Nehemiah of Modena, explained Schachter.

Included within the Kabbalistic text are suggested prayers and directives pertaining to post-mortem moments. As instructive as the writing is, as well as what’s found in more recent rabbinic materials, finding historical guidance on how to address matters like COVID-19 has been challenging, according to Schachter.

“Certainly, when HIV was new, and we didn’t know much about that, there was a lot of conversation about how to continue the tradition while being safe, but nothing on this scale,” said Cluss.

In light of the pandemic, both of Pittsburgh’s chevra kadisha groups sought guidance from national organizations. NCCK participated in a webinar and follow-up conversations with representatives from Kavod v’Nichum, an organization that provides information and training to bereavement committees. Gesher Hachaim members shared information from The National Association of Chevra Kadisha (NASCK), an organization whose mission is to assist Jewish burial societies with “defining, Please see Burial, page 8

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APRIL 3, 2020 5

THIS PASSOVER, HELP ENSURE THAT EVERYONE’S CUP IS FULL. Many in Jewish Pittsburgh now face hardship because of COVID-19.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh can help.

If you need assistance, find Jewish community resources at jewishpgh.org If your cup is full, please help others: Give to the Jewish Federation’s Community Campaign; visit jewishpgh.org/donate-now or call 412.681.8000

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Headlines Day school students embrace online learning

Join us for these virtual Passover programs p Lily Karoll logs on for some online learning with Hillel Academy.

Photo courtesy of Shoshi Butler

— LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

T

wo weeks ago, as some students shut out of classrooms by COVID-19 slept in, Hillel Academy second-grader Lily Karoll sat down at her dining room table, pulled out a gray Lenovo laptop and tuned into her day’s tasks.

Lily davened Shacharis, the morning tefillah, alongside her grandfather, then had a live lesson in Judaics with Morah Tovi Admon. Later that day, Lily’s brother, Mikey, met online with his fifth-grade science fair partner to work on their STEM project about acid rain.

“We’re trying to take advantage of them being home,” said Rabbi Sam Weinberg, Hillel’s principal. “Being in a classroom has its limitations. Let’s look at the benefits of online learning.”

“I would argue it’s even more tailored to them than live school,” said Shoshi Butler of Squirrel Hill, the children’s mother. “That’s really awesome, that they’re still able to participate as if they were at school.”

Parents in Pittsburgh last week gave rave reviews to online learning launched by the three Jewish day schools — Hillel, Yeshiva Schools and Community Day School — in light of COVID-19 arriving in Allegheny County, shutting down life as we know it.

Though some admitted technical problems with Wi-Fi or Google log-ins, the overwhelming sentiment was one of support.

Officials from the three schools said the impetus for the virtual classrooms came even before Gov. Tom Wolf ordered Pennsylvania schools to close for two weeks.

School leaders met privately March 12 in an effort to make contingency plans for when the new coronavirus inevitably shuttered the academic world.

“As Shabbat was approaching (on March 13), we collaborated by phone and shared Google Docs on a communication announcing our plans to close on Monday/ Tuesday to allow for professional development,” Community Day School head Avi Munro said. “Each school customized their communication, but we felt there was a Jewish value to be expressed in making a statement together.”

Mark Davidson, whose sons Aviv and

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Cobi go to CDS, beamed with enthusiasm about the move.

“My wife and I are collectively blown away by what our sons’ school was able to do in such a short time,” said Davidson, who lives in Squirrel Hill within walking distance of CDS. “The fact that they’re learning, that they have structure? The school didn’t miss a beat.”

There were similar educational threads among all three schools, including a mix of synchronous learning, where a group of students are taking lessons at the same time, and asynchronous learning. In many cases, older elementary students at the three schools had several hours of “live” lessons each day, while younger students worked with a combination of “live” instruction and recorded modules.

“I was worried there’d be glitches, but there hasn’t been,” said Nicole Valinsky, a CDS grad whose daughter, Shayna, is now a seventh-grader at her mother’s alma mater. Valinsky said she “would not have expected everything to come together so quickly and so well.”

She reserved slightly different views of Pittsburgh Public Schools; her son Eric is a junior at Taylor Allderdice High School. Eric kept busy with optional work but had no online curriculum.

“How are they going to be able to do his senior year?” asked Valinsky, who worried what the closure would mean for Eric as he applies to colleges this fall. “I’m very concerned (with Eric) there will be an issue and, with Shayna, I’m not concerned at all.”

“Due to issues of equity and access, Pittsburgh Public Schools cannot currently provide online learning,” spokeswoman Ebony Pugh told the Chronicle. “The district is required to provide Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to all students.

Since all district students do not have access to technology, internet in the home, or transportation to a ‘grab-and-go’ site, new instruction may not be provided and the completion of any supplemental learning is optional. Students will not receive any grades on any activities completed between March 16 to April 14.”

PPS recently launched a home technology survey, with results due in mid-April, and teachers are exploring online instruction, Pugh added.

Passover Through Art, Jewish Values and Loving Kindness Join Rabbi Ron Symons and Melissa Hiller from the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh’s Center for Loving Kindness in a dynamic exploration of Passover art, Jewish values and loving kindness. We will meet on Zoom.

Friday, April 3 t 11-11:20 Ã How Many Doors Can We Open for Elijah?

Based on the installation Elijah’s Chair by Melissa Shiff In an era of social distancing, how are we opening our doors and hearts in new ways?

Monday, April 6 t 11-11:20 Ã Where Are We Leaving? Where Are We Going?

Based on Gabriel Cohen’s Exodus

How does the perennial story of the Exodus remind us of ancient and modern-day forms of hatred…and our responsibility to end it?

Wednesday, April 8 t 11-11:20 Ã The Story of One Family’s Box of Matzah

Based on Josh Rolston’s Horowitz Margareten Matzoh With a name like ‘Horowitz Margareten’ it’s got to be good! How a label on a box tells the story of one family and inspires us to ask—how is their story our story?

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Virtual Seders Join Rabbi Ron Symons for a brief virtual Passover Seder.

Explore the meaning of the symbols on the Seder table in light of Jewish values and our 2020 realities.

Friday, April 10 Sunday, April 12 Monday, April 13 5-5:30 ÖÃ

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Please see Online, page 15

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APRIL 3, 2020 7

8 WORLD

Calendar >>Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon Please check with the sponsoring event or venue for up-to-date information regarding cancellations and postponements. q FRIDAYS APRIL 3, 10; WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, with Vitalant (formerly Central Blood Bank), is hosting drives for desperately needed blood donations in its Squirrel Hill and South Hills facilities in controlled and safe environments following CDC and Allegheny County guidelines. (April 8 event is at the Squirrel Hill location only.) 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Appointments strongly encouraged. Visit vitalant.org and click on the “Make an Appointment” button and search w/group code C189 (Squirrel Hill location) or C438 (South Hills location). q SATURDAY, APRIL 4 Join Temple Sinai for Young Family Virtual Passover Crafting Time, a very special virtual crafting activity to get ready for Passover.

Participants will make their very own paper seder plates. All you need is a paper plate, construction paper, colored pencils (or markers) and a glue stick. 10:30 a.m. templesinaipgh.org/event/ virtualpassovercraftingtime

q SUNDAY, APRIL 5 Join the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for “Together We Remember: What Does ‘Never Again’ Mean to You?” Featured speakers include 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 Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Emmai Alaquiva. 5:30 p.m. You can take part in the Zoom webinar by registering at: zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ 0knyZxXsT--6odxb2iIgkg. q SUNDAYS, APRIL 5, 12, 19, 26; MAY 3, 10, 17 Do you find prayer meaningless and opaque, or significant and powerful? Rabbi Danny Schiff’s course Jewish Prayer will explore the challenging nature of prayer. It will delve into the fundamental features of how and why we pray. Schiff, Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will describe the origins and the structure of Jewish services and will engage in a close study of a number of central prayers within the liturgy. This webinar course is designed to give fresh insights into Jewish prayer with the goal of opening new doors of understanding. 10:30 a.m. jewishpgh. org/event/jewish-prayer/2020-03-29 q MONDAY, APRIL 6 Classrooms Without Borders will bring internationally recognized Rwandan genocide survivor and human rights activist Jacqueline Murekatete to its community of learners in

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Pittsburgh and across the country over Zoom. 3 p.m.

RSVP to receive link. classroomswithoutborders.org/ rwandan-genocide-speaker-jacqueline-murekatete q MONDAYS, APRIL 6, 13, 20, 27 Jews have a huge array of texts and making sense of them is often a difficult struggle. In the four-part webinar course, The Text Puzzle, Rabbi Danny Schiff, Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will put the pieces of the “text puzzle” into one coherent picture, so that the place of Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, Responsa, Kabbalah, as well as many other sources, can be easily understood. Rabbi Schiff will place these texts into an historical context in order to explain their significance to Judaism. 10 a.m. jewishpgh.org/ event/the-text-puzzle/2020-04-06 q TUESDAYS, APRIL 14, 21, 28; MAY 5, 12, 19 The classic Jewish text, Pirkei Avot, is regularly studied in the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot. In Pirkei Avot—The Wisdom Verses of the Mishnah, Rabbi Danny Schiff will teach Pirkei Avot utilizing Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz’s book “Pirkei Avot — A Social Justice Commentary.”

You will need the book (available online), but no prior knowledge is required. 7 p.m. jewishpgh. org/event/pirkei-avot-the-wisdom-verses-of-themishnahvirtual/2020-04-13 q SUNDAY, APRIL 19 Classrooms Without Borders presents an online lecture and film screening with Eric Bednarski, director of “Warsaw: A City Divided”

Burial: Continued from page 5

establishing and achieving the highest degree of respect for the dead as described in Jewish law.”

Last week, both national groups disseminated updated guidelines and recommendations.

On March 24, Kavod V’Nichum issued notice that “our panel of experts now strongly recommends that during these periods of widespread transmission of COVID-19, and especially when communities are told to limit personal exposure, chevrah kadisha groups should not do any form of taharot (ritual purification).”

On March 25, NASCK shared a series of guidelines, including precautions recommended by the CDC and OSHA, to decrease possible exposure from the deceased and “to protect from potential transmission between chevra members.”

“On a personal note, I must mention that these guidelines are very difficult for me to recommend and distribute. In so many ways, they contradict what I have taught for many years. However, the underlying basis of all we do is Toras Emes and Minhag Yisroel. Torah requires that we react to special times with special rules,” wrote Rabbi Elchonon Zohn, founder and president of NASCK and director of the chevra kadisha of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens. “I believe it is appropriate to feel pained that we are abbreviating procedures that give kavod (honor) to the meis (deceased), even though it has become necessary to do so.”

“This is a very serious and a very sad situation,” echoed Rabbi Elisar Admon, of Pittsburgh’s Gesher Hachaim. “We’re still doing taharot, but each case is being judged differently.”

As the preceding weeks have demonstrated, new information generates new

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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 THURSDAYS, APRIL 23, 30; MAY 7, 14, 21 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Foundation Scholar, Rabbi Danny Schiff, presents “The Human Body in Judaism.” The seven-session course will explore the reaction of Judaism to the way in which we treat our bodies, ranging from tattooing to cosmetic surgery, to hair cutting.

10:30 a.m. jewishpgh.org/event/the-human-body-injudaismvirtual/2020-03-26 q THURSDAY, MAY 14 Classrooms Without Borders is honored to bring David G. Marwell, author of the new book “Mengele: Unmasking the ‘Angel of Death,’” to Pittsburgh. “Mengele” is a gripping biography of the infamous Nazi doctor, from a former Justice Department official tasked with uncovering his fate.

7 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. classroomswithoutborders.org/david-marwell q WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 Tikkun Leil Online Edition. May 27 The Jewish holiday of Shavuot celebrates the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Tikkun Leil Shavuot traditionally brings the entire Pittsburgh Jewish community together for all-night Jewish learning.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will host an online version the night before Shavuot so all can participate. More information to come. PJC

realities but moving forward the plan is to perform “spiritual taharot,” explained Frank.

Such a process would require that after the deceased’s body is wrapped within a bag and placed within a casket, staff from local funeral homes would offer aid through a “layover,” while members of NCCK observe via Zoom.

“They’ll unfold each piece of tachrich (simple white burial shroud) and put it on top of the body bag” and chevra kadisha members will read relevant and occasionally substituted liturgy, said Frank. “I think it’s important for people to understand that we’re trying to fulfill the mitzvah of taharah in the best way that we can considering the limitations we have, and we’re doing it with kavana (intention), and with love, and with words of comfort for the deceased.”

“We’re in a time where people who want to get washed for purification cannot. People can’t sit shiva, or say kaddish, as we normally would, and for us as Jews it feels as though God has sent us away from his territory,” said Admon.

“This is extremely difficult,” agreed Schachter.

“I’m very devoted to the goals of the chevra, which are to provide end of life Jewish traditions for people and families who desire to have that, so the thought that we would not be able to do that, or to do that in the all-in way that we usually do, has been sad,” said Cluss. Also troublesome is that “we’re also people, and people in families, in the community, and how do we balance?

What’s the right balance of safety and following tradition? That’s all added up to a whole lot of thinking over the last two weeks, and particularly the last week. That has not been easy to do, but it has felt crucially important to do so.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Faced with a solo seder, Pittsburgher creates virtual Hagaddah for communal connection issued by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf but wanted to find some way to lessen the impact of those guidelines on her Passover celebration.

By David Rullo | Staff Writer “I was trying to figure out what would happen this year aced with having a seder with seder,” Nemoy told the alone this year due to Chronicle.

“I’m a single person COVID-19 social distancing and have never had a seder guidelines, Basya Nemoy, an Orthodox Jew who does not use by myself. I’ve been alone for technology on the holiday, came up Shabbat, but Passover is somewith her own way to create a virtual thing else. I couldn’t fathom it.” communal seder experience.

Nemoy even turned down “This upcoming Pesach is an invitation to share the very difficult for me,” Nemoy holiday with her daughter, posted on the Facebook group knowing the importance of Jewish Pittsburgh on March 24.  Cover of the remaining in isolation to curb “Living alone, I will be making a community the spread of the virus. solo seder. Not because of a lack Haggadah With the prospect of Photo courtesy of of invitations, but because of the snappygoat.com being alone being “very, very external circumstances that don’t distressing,” Nemoy decided allow for those invitations. And, as much as to find a way to build community anyway. we can understand, and rationalize what’s “It popped into my head that if I couldn’t going on, the bottom line is, no amount of have people physically at the seder with me, rationalization will make it any less lonely if I had their thoughts with me, I could feel when it comes time to make kiddush … ” their spirit,” she said.

A challenge for Nemoy was that she The prospect of a seder alone left her couldn’t stream a seder with others through feeling sad and isolated, she said.

Zoom or Facebook. She had read varying Nemoy is a nurse at a local nursing home. She understands that need for social halachic interpretations of what was or wasn’t distancing and the shelter at home order allowed based on how liberal or conservative

— LOCAL —

F

the rabbi issuing the ruling was, but rather than unintentionally err, she decided to do what some Jews have done for centuries: build a fence around the Torah and not introduce technology to her seder.

Instead, the digital scrapbooker came up with the idea of creating an online, community Haggadah. The document, designed in Google Docs, allows people to add their own traditions and thoughts.

“People could add their thoughts ahead of time,” Nemoy explained. “I could print it out and have it prepared for the seder and mitigate some of the loneliness and stress of doing a seder by myself. My intention is to try and feel this connection even within our isolation.”

Nemoy said that she has numerous Haggadahs collected over the years and they all have inspirational verses that she could use for guidance and strength. That, however, wasn’t what she was seeking.

“I’m looking for a personal connection,” she said. “I want people to share something that’s important to them.”

People began responding to Nemoy’s emotional post almost immediately.

“I’ve had some people add to the document. I’m hoping the further out it goes, the more people might respond,” she said.

Nemoy is a member of Congregation

Poale Zedeck and pointed out that one of the contributors was the congregation’s rabbi, Daniel Yolkut.

While Nemoy is interested in continuing the project beyond this year and possibly creating a PDF that could be shared, she is focused on Passover 2020 and the special circumstances caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

“A seder alone is a very lonely thing. This is a way to create connections,” she said, adding that she would like to extend those connections outside of her immediate community.

“I’m Orthodox, a lot of my religious community is Orthodox. I would really like to have non-Orthodox people share their experiences. I have a friend who is nonpracticing and she sent me her memories from when she was a little girl. I’m going to add those into the Haggadah,” said Nemoy.

Despite the requirement to self-distance and forgo the communal traditions celebrated for generations, Nemoy is hopeful that her Haggadah, and perhaps the experiences others create, might outlast the outbreak.

“This virus is pulling us apart in many ways but it’s creating new opportunities,” she said.

To add to the Hagaddah, email Nemoy at b.1406@yahoo.com for a link. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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

April 3, 1994 — 2nd Air Force commander dies

Maj. Gen. Aharon Remez dies in Jerusalem at 74. A fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force in World War II, he served as the second commander in chief of Israel’s air force from July 1948 to December 1950.

April 4, 1920 — Riots break out in Old City

The Nebi Musa festival, a pilgrimage to the site Muslims believe to be Moses’ grave near Jericho, breaks into rioting in Jerusalem’s Old City, killing five Jews and four Arabs over three days.

April 5, 1977 — Tennis star Erlich born

Tennis player Jonathan Erlich, known as Yoni, is born in Buenos Aires. His family makes aliyah when he is 1. He teams with fellow Israeli Andy Ram to win the Australian Open in January 2008.

April 6, 1923 — Justice Netanyahu born

Happy Passover

Shoshana Netanyahu, who in 1981 becomes the second female Israeli Supreme Court justice, is born in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). Her family makes aliyah when she’s 1.

April 7, 1977 — Maccabi Tel Aviv wins European title

Maccabi Tel Aviv wins its first European basketball championship by defeating the two-time defending champions, Mobilgirgi Varese of Italy, after upsetting the Soviet team CSKA Moscow in the semifinals.

April 8, 1929 — Palestine exhibition opens

from your friends at

The fourth Palestine and Near East Exhibition opens in Tel Aviv, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, to showcase the commercial and industrial activity of the Jewish area of settlement.

April 9, 1921 — Politician-author Navon born

Yitzhak Navon, elected Israel’s fifth president in 1978, is born in Jerusalem to a family that has lived there for three centuries. He fights with the Irgun and Haganah and serves in the Knesset. He dies in 2015. PJC

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Headlines He wanted to encapsulate Beijing’s Jewish community in a Passover Haggadah.

The coronavirus complicated that.

— WORLD —

FINDING THE

By Alan Grabinsky | JTA

U

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nlike Shanghai or Hong Kong, which received Jews fleeing from World War II, Beijing does not have a robust Jewish history.

In the words of Joshua Kurtzig, former president of the Reform congregation there, the massive Chinese capital is a “very transient city,” especially for Jews — meaning that many pass through without putting down generations of roots.

Some 1,000 Jews now live in Beijing among its 20 million residents, and the congregation, Kehillat Beijing, has no permanent clergy.

“There are no Jewish tours here,” said Leon Fenster, 33, a London-born artist who is active in the Beijing Jewish community.

In an attempt to give the community some defining character — and intertwine it with the city’s millennia of rich history — Fenster has illustrated a Beijing-themed Haggadah in which the Exodus story takes place in the modern-day capital. The images are lush and full of meaning in both the Chinese and Jewish cultural contexts.

Fenster planned to inaugurate the Haggadah by using it to lead a massive seder in Beijing, but the rapid spread of the coronavirus, which is keeping all of China

p Leon Fenster dedicated the Haggadah to his late friend, Michael H.K. Cohen.

Photos courtesy of Leon Fenster via JTA.org

under a draconian lockdown, has complicated the effort.

After the outbreak picked up steam, Fenster traveled to Taiwan, which is seen as a safer territory because of its effectiveness so far in containing COVID-19. The Beijing community, according to Fenster, will not celebrate a physical seder this year and is holding virtual Shabbat services.

Fenster has been interested in illustrating the essence of the Jewish Diaspora since

Please see Beijing, page 11

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p Artist Leon Fenster says this page of his Beijing-themed Haggadah aims to capture the traditional Haggadah’s “curiously non-chronological form of storytelling.”

10 APRIL 3, 2020

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Headlines Beijing: Continued from page 10

he was in college. Trained as an architect at University College London, he won a Presidential Medal Award given by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2014 for his drawings on how synagogues should reflect the Jewish diasporic condition. In 2015 he moved to Beijing as a scholar in residence at Tsinghua University, where he drew his first non-architectural drawing: a Haggadah concept.

He laid this idea aside and continued painting hypertextual drawings depicting life in the city, eventually exhibiting works in galleries in Beijing, the United Kingdom and Israel. But the idea for a Beijing Haggadah returned as he came to experience the transient nature of the Beijing community firsthand.

“There is a Diaspora of Beijing Jews who moved out of the city and think of China as a place where they found their Judaism,” he said.

Kurtzig, now the president of Kehillat Shanghai, echoed that feeling.

“You feel like a minority because you’re not Chinese, and then feel like a minority because you’re Jewish,” he said.

The 180-page Haggadah is written in Hebrew, English and Chinese. According to Fenster, he needed to be careful not to incorporate too much Chinese because the government could see the project as

this will have an emotional meaning for you,” he said.

With 40 to 50 core members, Ke h i l l at Beijing’s Reform community (Chabad only opened a branch in the city in 2001) is made up of expatriates from the United States, England, Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom.

Members lead the prayer services. Passover is one of the biggest events, Fenster said, drawing more than 80 participants to seder and taking place in the congregation’s main venue, a ballroom of a social club.

Kehillat Beijing p In this image from his Haggadah, Fenster depicts the was established by an Israelites as children dressed in Beijing school uniforms.

American business“They are accompanied by the trains and ships that have woman, Roberta Lipson, carried Jews to safety in China, escaping European antiwho came to Beijing in Semitism,” he said.

1979 with an MBA from proselytizing, which it does not permit.

Columbia University. She would go on to The book situates landmarks and cultural found the Chinese hospital company United markers of the city in the myth of the Family Healthcare and become its CEO. Exodus. Jews walking through the parted She’s now married to Ted Plakfer, the Beijing Red Sea are dressed like Beijing school- bureau chief for The Economist. children. The Four Children wear different One of the group’s first communal events Beijing opera masks — an ancient custom was a Passover seder, Lipson has written, at born in the city — that designate certain the city’s Foreign Service International Club. character types.

Members had to teach the club’s kitchen staff “The more you know Beijing, the more how to make gefilte fish.

Over the years, Lipson has established a warm relationship with the more Orthodox Chabad community that has moved into the city.

“I appreciate that people now have a choice of how they want to approach Jewish observance and prayer. Kehillat Beijing exists for those who come from a liberal, conservative, reform, reconstructionist approach and for the many ‘mixed families,’” she wrote for the website of the Jerusalem Unity Prize. “On the other hand, there are now many people who live in or frequently visit our city who are more comfortable at Chabad services. We all celebrate the diversity we share and find it fulfilling that there are options.”

The Haggadah project was sponsored by Stephen M.L. Cohen and Carol Fishman Cohen in memory of their son, Michael H.K. Cohen, who was involved with Kehillat Beijing and the Beijing Moishe House but died of suicide upon his return to the United States. The news sent shockwaves across Beijing’s Jewish community, said Fenster.

In one of the Haggadah images, Fenster drew Michael seated with Roberta and other local leaders at a seder table.

Fenster originally wanted to print 600 copies of the book in Beijing. But now he will lead a seder in Taiwan and inaugurate the Haggadah in an online forum. He’ll wait for the seder next year to do a real celebratory launch in Beijing.

“This will be a soft inauguration,” he said.

“I’m excited about the idea. It will be nice for people, wherever they are in the world.” PJC

Happy Passover For You, Lord, are good and do good to all, and we thank You for the land and for the fruit of the vine.

Michael H. Marks, Esq. pittsburghjewishchronicle.org PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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APRIL 3, 2020 11

Opinion Preserving community, however we can Editor’s Desk Toby Tabachnick

A

s I was viewing the photos submitted by members of our Pittsburgh Jewish community for this week’s paper, my eyes teared up.

Instead of pictures of our friends and neighbors and family members at fundraising galas or volunteering at food banks, or our children grouping together in song or prayer at our day schools, the photos showed individuals working alone at home, or screens of several people gathering on an online platform for meetings or learning, each face contained within its own square, like a real-life and uncomedic take on the opening credits of “The Brady Bunch.”

I am sad a lot these days. I know this is a temporary condition, this social distancing, and I know how essential it is to keep us all safe and healthy. I am all in on that. But still, I confess here that I am grieving what we are missing, for now.

One of my favorite courses as an undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis,

back in the twentieth century, was “The History of Art and Architecture” taught by a scholar named Norris K. Smith. Norris K. (that’s what we called him amongst ourselves) had a soothing yet serious demeanor not unlike John Houseman in his portrayal of Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. in the movie “The Paper Chase.”

Norris K. valued above all else the idea of community, and he illustrated its merit over individualism by showing us the masterpieces of our civilization in slides projected on a huge screen in a massive auditorium.

Norris K. would juxtapose slides of intricately detailed Renaissance paintings with modern art to prove his point. Think Jan van Eyck’s “Arnolfini Wedding” side by side with Mark Rothko’s “Orange, Red, Yellow.”

Goodness resided in those works that depicted universal truths, faith in God, love and loyalty, he said. Works whose meaning vacillated and depended upon the individual viewer were absurd.

The word “idiot,” he constantly pointed out, originated from the Greek root idiotes, which means “individual,” or one who is not part of the community.

It was 1980, and the Sony Walkman had just become a thing. Around campus, you could see scores of students, headphones

on, everyone listening to their own cassette tapes. This was abhorrent to Norris K. Music, like art, like theater, was meant to be shared and experienced as part of a group.

I never did buy a Walkman.

In the last 40 years, the individualization of society obviously has mushroomed, thanks to more and more advanced technology. Most everyone now is plugged in most all the time, everyone streaming their own music or movies or television shows, alone. We have even lost the group experience of, say, everyone watching the finale of “M*A*S*H” on the same night.

I often have wondered where this eventually would lead us, all this technology that has made it so easy to forego communal experiences, and would it turn us all into idiotes?

Then the COVID-19 crisis happened.

With the stay-at-home orders in place all over the world, and a ton of various types of content at everyone’s own fingertips, Jewish Pittsburgh nevertheless has made it a point to stay connected. Before the first case of the coronavirus had hit Allegheny County, Jewish organizations and congregations announced online classes and meetups via video technology to keep our community together. Online options for Shabbat services and daily minyans were

offered almost immediately by several congregations so that some could still pray together and our mourners could have the required community to say Kaddish.

Instructions were provided on how to host Zoom seders so those who are comfortable using technology on the holiday could be with others. Groups of friends scheduled Zoom happy hours.

After last year’s massacre at the Tree of Life building, we affirmed how strong Jewish Pittsburgh is, how generous, and how dedicated it is to remain cohesive. We are seeing that now too. Physical isolation has not led to communal dissolution, not despite of technology but because of it.

With an infinite choice of individualized content, we are still choosing to be a people, even online. And despite all that we are missing now in terms of live interaction, it is so heartening to see our community remaining a community, using whatever means it can.

I eagerly look forward to the day we can gather again in person.

Until then, let’s continue to keep in touch. PJC Toby Tabachnick is editor of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.

COVID-19: Rights, numbers and hopes for the future Guest Columnist

Don Krieger

I

worked for 18 years on the front line as an on-call staff clinical neurophysiologist in high-risk surgeries. I care deeply about those of us who are getting sick and dying from COVID-19. I am horrified by the incessant march of death by illness, war, murder, suicide, auto accidents and other causes and by our inability/unwillingness to both uphold high-quality life more effectively and to provide support for each other when stricken.

I also am frightened by the silent and passive acceptance by almost everyone of the unprecedented overnight loss of freedom worldwide. I write in hopes that my knowledge may help others understand what the numbers mean so we can face what we must, learn from it and find the will and resources for real solutions. My ideas are not about elections or beliefs; they are about facts, what they mean, and what good may come out of this unprecedented worldwide disaster.

On March 23, 2020, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for Allegheny County and six others. While there is no question that the COVID-19 outbreak poses a significant threat to public health and the order likely conforms with Pennsylvania law(s), the order violates the constitutionally guaranteed right of peaceful assembly. I have filed a complaint asking the

12 APRIL 3, 2020

Pennsylvania ACLU a) to provide an opinion regarding the governor’s encroachment on the First Amendment right to peaceful assembly, b) to ask the proper court to set the order aside and c) to identify and take legal action to overturn the state emergency law(s) that empowered the governor’s order.

Most of us are willing to take recommended safety measures including staying at home when we are sick or at risk. That said, surely there are those who inadvertently or even willfully expose themselves and others to infection, e.g., the Solid Rock Congregation of Lebanon, Ohio, or the innumerable minyanim that continue daily worldwide. However well-justified, well-meant and potentially tragic these incremental flaws in quarantine may be, that is a price of the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

I am concerned that the governor’s constitutional overreach may be repeated with our next seasonal flu outbreak. The CDC’s current weekly situation report shows 38 million flu cases nationwide and 23,000 deaths. By comparison WHO’s daily COVID-19 situation report #66 (March 26) shows 63,570 U.S. cases and 884 deaths, a tiny fraction of the flu numbers. One of the good things that may come out of our reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak is a more forceful response to each year’s seasonal flu.

Many people are alarmed, as am I, by reports that the proportion of those infected who get sick or die is high. But death rates reported to date may reliably be understood as upper bounds for the following reason.

COVID-19 tests are preferentially administered to those at highest risk for infection,

When it’s all over, as we all hope it soon will be, we will still face the extraordinary problems that limited our responses and cost so much life and freedom. i.e., those who have been exposed and those who are symptomatic and/or hospitalized.

That reasonable but biased sampling strategy misses the vast majority of cases that are not symptomatic or otherwise not tested. Since the proportion is the number of deaths divided by the number of confirmed cases and the cases are artifactually undercounted, the proportion is correspondingly inflated.

Others are panicked by reports that the number of cases is doubling every few days.

But since large-scale testing began only recently due to testing supply shortages, the alarming rapidity with which the case counts are rising is artifactually amplified by daily increases in testing rather than increases in the number of new infections.

The problem that U.S. hospitals may be, or already are, unable to care for the flood of sick patients is longstanding. Hospitals are built, stocked and staffed to handle a steady case load. That business model optimizes their finances — no business can efficiently

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staff and stock itself to handle peak loads.

That is why hospitals are often overloaded by large accidents and mass killings. A national insurance system, even a single-payer one like Medicare for All, still has financial efficiency as its primary priority and therefore will not result in a system competent to handle peak loading.

When it’s all over, as we all hope it soon will be, we will still face the extraordinary problems which limited our responses and cost so much life and freedom. I look to what good might come out of it and what we can solve for next time, for there surely will be a next time.

The justified concern of health officials and the public with inadequate hospital resources provides a powerful impetus for a publicly funded national health care system and a national vaccine development initiative. That impetus, the compelling importance of serving the health needs of the population, and the out-of-control financial picture we see with for-profit health care, all pull in the same direction. Hopefully they will generate the political will we need to abandon our barbaric “you’re on your own” system and join much of the rest of the world with a national health care system worthy of our wealth and power. Hopefully too, the success of the current global mobilization to curb this deadly outbreak may galvanize the full force of America’s wealth and power to solve the global warming crisis. PJC Don Krieger is a research scientist and clinical neurophysiologist living in Squirrel Hill.

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Opinion Lessons learned: Caring for a Tell us your stories family member with COVID-19 Guest Columnist Lisa Lurie

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n March 17, my 20-year-old daughter Gillian tested positive for the coronavirus. We immediately quarantined her in our home. My husband Brian and I went into isolation as we struggled with the urgent problem of how to care for Gillian while continuing to keep ourselves well. We were up to date regarding the spread of the coronavirus and its symptoms but now we found ourselves struggling to find practical advice about how to take care of someone who became ill.

Together Brian and I devised a game plan that we hoped would limit our exposure while providing our daughter with much needed symptom relief, nutrition, love and care. These are our personal tips — they have not been medically approved or come with a “you won’t get sick too” guarantee.

These are simply our lessons learned, shared in the hope of helping the countless other people mired and overwhelmed in a situation like ours.

The first thing that we did was to quarantine Gillian in her bedroom and give her exclusive use of a bathroom nearby.

Preparing for 14 days of quarantine and isolation (at a minimum), we knew that we had to put some safe caregiving practices in place. Here’s what we did.

Communicating and connecting: It is emotionally and physically difficult to care for someone you love from a distance. We relied on our cell phones and computers to bridge the gap. As tele-caregivers and tele-parents, we resorted to FaceTime calls to comfort Gilly, assess her condition, respond to her needs and most importantly, to stay connected. The phone and the computer became our lifeline, literally.

Symptom tracking: From the very start we knew that it was important to stay on top of Gillian’s illness as it progressed. We had multiple conversations with her doctor who often needed to know the length and severity of her symptoms. We kept a daily digital diary on our cellphones with input from Gilly. In addition, we noted her temperature and when she took over-the-counter medications for symptom relief. These details are important, whether you track them electronically or opt for the low-tech solution, pen and paper.

Quarantine central: To keep Gillian isolated yet with some degree of independence, we stockpiled her room with self-care items. Supplies included boxes of tissues, a roll of paper towels, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, disposable gloves and masks, a large pitcher for water (hydration is a must) and garbage bags. In addition, we gave her a small hand bell that we had in the house. If she was too tired to call us or coughing very hard, we wanted her to be able to quickly let us know that she needed us.

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Room service: To avoid having to go into Gillian’s room to serve her, we set up a small end table in front of her door. We placed her meals on the table and went downstairs. Gilly opened the door when we weren’t nearby.

She brought the food into her room and closed the door. Wearing a mask and gloves, Brian or I would wipe down the table and the doorknob to her room with disinfectant following each meal.

To further minimize potential viral exposure from Gillian’s dishes, we served her on disposable paper plates, with paper cups and plastic utensils. After she was done eating, Gilly could throw them away in the trash bag

W

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

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

Let’s stay connected. We are stronger together.

Taking charge of finances, nurturing creativity

Staying proactive and applying for programs that help and jobs that are in high demand; printed all my bank statements and took a highlighter to highlight all unnecessary expenses to reduce fear and anxiety.

Increasing mental health: taking walks, joining groups to see a human face to stay connected, admitting that I need help, lowering ALL expectations in every possible way (easier said than done), writing “morning pages” first thing in the morning to open creativity and writing channels.

Dorit Sasson Squirrel Hill

Dancing with others around the world

From the very start we knew that it was important to stay on top of Gillian’s illness as it progressed. in her room. When the bag was full, she would tightly close it and place it outside her door.

Gloved and masked, we would grab it and carry it outside immediately to our trash bin.

Staying healthy: Most people already know that hand washing is a key defense against the coronavirus. Brian and I took this recommendation to heart and you should, too. To be effective, the CDC Guidelines say to wash hands with clean water, apply soap, create a lather, then scrub them together for at least 20 seconds before rinsing. Don’t forget to clean between your fingers and under your nails.

While it is tempting to be lazy at times and skip doing it, please don’t. Brian and I keep each other honest, constantly asking, “Did you wash your hands?” We credit diligent hand washing for helping us to stay healthy.

This week we reached the 14th-day milestone. Thankfully, Gillian is much better!

We knew that she had turned the corner when we heard loud music coming from her room and she started ignoring our texts.

What sweet relief!

Our doctor suggested that we extend Gillian’s quarantine for three additional days from the time that she became symptom-free.

We can’t wait to spring Gilly from her room — or “house arrest,” as we jokingly call it.

We knew that we were a strong and resilient family, but the coronavirus challenged us to be problem solvers and caregivers in the face of great stress and uncertainty. We hope not to repeat this experience — this is one lesson we never want to relearn. PJC Lisa Lurie is the co-founder of Cancer Be Glammed, a lifestyle company that educates and empowers women recovering from cancer.

She lives in Squirrel Hill.

There have been almost daily virtual Israeli dance sessions. They’re being led by teachers around the world. So far I’ve danced with markidim (dance leaders) in Haifa, Chicago, Delray Beach, and Washington, D.C. And I’ve “seen” and “danced with” friends from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Rochester, Orlando and heaven knows where else. Good exercise, too.

Also doing some decluttering, preparing for Pesach and keeping up with kids in Israel.

Lynn Berman Squirrel Hill

Appreciating the simple life

For me, an older retiree, there has been a good side to being at home, self-quarantined, for the past two weeks. My husband and I are finding the pleasures in a slower, simpler life. We’ve Please see Stories, page 19

— LETTERS — Good news

In your March 20 issue, I was so pleased to read about Robert Levin and Paul Caplan especially with so many negative things happening — disease, guns, a rise in anti-Semitism, a divided Congress, a climate problem.

Robert Levin, a retired millionaire, wanted to go back in business to help people get jobs.

Paul Caplan, a doctor who cared so much about his patients that he wanted to know about their personal lives, especially if they were in World War II. Thank you so much.

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

Mail, fax or email letters to:

Letters to the editor via email:

Website address:

letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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

Fax 412-521-0154

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APRIL 3, 2020 13

Headlines Snowbirds: Continued from page 1

meat for the holiday, but they don’t have the produce that we need,” Roteman explained.

He pointed out that he could go to the grocery store but is trying to limit trips out while practicing social distancing.

Roteman admitted feeling isolated, unable to be at home or near family in Pittsburgh, and apart from friends in Florida because of social distancing. The pair was going to travel to Israel in May for their son’s wedding but that has been postponed indefinitely.

One thing that has helped is online learning through the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

“It gives us a chance to stay at least a little bit in touch,” Roteman said. “One of the people taking the course has a mother in Weinberg Terrace and two of the people live in the Atrium, which is where our condo (in Pittsburgh) is.”

Like the Rotemans, Adele Sales and her husband, Edgar Snyder, travel to Florida in October each year, returning to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving and Passover. The two also frequently fly back to the city so

Teachers: Continued from page 1

“They’re at home and they need other things to do, and I think that they need a little support.”

Relying on Zoom, Google Meet and other digital technologies, Pittsburgh’s three Jewish day schools are definitely up and running during the COVID-19 pandemic, although their physical buildings are locked. Learning has continued across curricula, but classrooms are now definitionally different. Out of sight are the inspirational wall posters in the schools’ halls with adages such as “You can soar to new heights by reading books,” or “Mistakes are proof that you are trying.”

Instead, students and teachers are signing on to online sessions from bedroom desks, kitchen tables or basement offices — largely in the company of siblings or parents who are similarly seeking productivity from home.

Even in the best imaginable settings, teachers are navigating newfound challenges.

Lisa Naveh, a second-grade teacher at CDS, has met digitally with her students daily since the Squirrel Hill-based institution transitioned to online learning. Seeing the students on a regular basis was important to Naveh and her team of colleagues. Between whole class meetups and one-on-one sessions with the students, “we’re keeping that connection,” she explained.

A daily get together between Naveh, her fellow educators and 26 second-graders allows the group to mimic the morning meetings they formerly held in school.

Additionally, as someone responsible for basic core subjects, such as language arts, math, writers’ workshop and social studies, Naveh is able to continue serving as a “home base” for her students.

While the brief daily meetup allows the parties to see one another and retain some element of familiar school life, separate 14 APRIL 3, 2020

Snyder can film the familiar commercials for his law firm.

“We come back for Passover, then we come back down and are usually here until mid-May. This year though, there’s a question mark after every single thing,” Sales said.

“We don’t know how long we’re staying; we’re definitely not coming home for Passover.”

Sales said she uses technology to keep in touch with friends and family while in Florida.

“We’ve been FaceTiming a lot with our kids,” she said. “It helps.”

Sales has also started to use Zoom to stay in touch with loved ones.

“We celebrated a birthday party on Zoom last weekend with a friend of ours. He’s also here in Sarasota and was planning a big party but that didn’t happen, so we used Zoom.”

For Passover, Sales is planning to connect with six different households virtually, using the teleconferencing program.

The couple communicates with Pittsburgh contacts often, which helps them to not feel isolated or alone.

“We’re in touch with people,” Sales said.

“I speak to my sister, if not every day, every other day. We’ve been in touch with (Temple Sinai Rabbi) Jamie Gibson, doctors, friends who are back after returning from Florida.

We’re still really connected.”

Those connections extend well beyond simple check-ins.

“We’re having Shabbat dinner with another couple over Zoom,” Sayles said. “We’re going to light candles, have dinner, have dessert and we’re going to kibbitz the whole time.

Thank goodness for technology. In these extremely trying times to be connected like this is wonderful. It’s a lifeline we need to keep our sanity these days.”

Bernice Meyers and her husband Jack have been in Florida since January.

“We usually go in December but because of health problems, we went in January,” she said.

The Meyers typically remain in the Sunshine State for Passover, returning home in early May. “This year,” Meyers said, the couple decided to “do something different. We decided we would go home for a wonderful family seder and then return here for another couple of weeks.”

Since the pair’s Passover plans have fallen apart, Meyers said they plan to have a seder in their home. “Our family plans to Zoom their seder. We haven’t gotten the whole word yet but hopefully we will be part of a niece’s and nephew’s larger seder.”

The Meyers’ stay may be extended much longer than other snowbirds. Jack has a long history of medical problems and was told in the beginning of March to self-quarantine for three months by his doctor.

“Some of his medical problems make him very vulnerable to coronavirus,” his wife explained.

After some probing, Jack’s doctor relented slightly and said they will evaluate the conditions on a month-by-month basis.

The Meyers do what they can to pass the time.

“We go for walks every day and it’s sunny and beautiful, but we don’t see other people on the trails. I go grocery shopping, that’s about it. We aren’t big television people, so we read, we talk on the phone and connect with friends and family.”

The pair has signed up for online courses offered by the Federation and feel the support of the Pittsburgh community.

“We’ve gotten calls from our synagogue, Beth Shalom, in Pittsburgh and from the Federation. We definitely do not feel alone,” Meyers said. PJC

trying to teach 10 ot h e r stu d e nt s , isn’t disorienting enough, Berelowitz’s husband, Shlomie, a rabbi who teaches Judaics to sixth- and seventh-graders as well as high school students at Hillel Academy, described a scenario reiterated by several Jewish day school teachers.

There is a “space issue” in most people’s houses, and it can happen that “you’re p Prior to school moving online, Community Day School secondhaving your child, grade teacher Lisa Naveh observes her students reading stories who’s in a different they wrote and illustrated to pre-K children.

Photo courtesy of Community Day School class, sitting right next to you while weekly individual 15-minute scheduled you’re teaching your class,” he said. sessions permit teachers and students “time For teachers with offspring at home, finding to personally connect,” said Naveh. “It’s been a balance between delivering regular classreally nice because it’s been either a student room instruction, aiding one’s own children and me, or a student, parent and me, and with technological issues and seemingly simulwe’ve been able to discuss how they’re doing taneously serving a constant stream of snacks or how they’re feeling. For others, we just talk and meals is an understandably complicated about their lives right now.” task. Compound that labyrinthine exercise Engaging with students and families in with the inclusion of small children, and the this way has provided a larger window into challenge grows exponentially. each other’s lives, too.

“Our baby sits on my lap during half of my “They’re getting an up-close personal look classes,” said Chaya Berelowitz. “You’re trying at my house, my husband, my daughters. It’s to balance those things, like if someone kind of almost more personal in a way than needs a drink or someone needs this in the teaching in the classroom,” Naveh said. middle of a class, and sometimes you just Chaya Berelowitz, a Hillel Academy of have to say, ‘So and so, read this page,’ or, ‘I’ll Pittsburgh fourth grade general studies be right back.’ It happens. You can only do teacher can relate. what you can do.”

“I actually have my own son in my class,” Apart from sending an electronic deluge Berelowitz said. “So, I’ll hear him, I’ll go of emails regarding homewowrk and related downstairs and he’ll be in the kitchen, and concerns, parents and students have been I’ll hear him answering me from upstairs.” largely sympathetic to teachers’ current If hearing one’s child reply both digi- demands, agreed educators from the three tally and in person, while simultaneously Jewish day schools.

“There’s definitely been a learning curve but it’s been helpful just knowing that we’re all learning together, that everybody is together just supporting each other,” said Naveh.

In fact, there have even been unexpected educational benefits from the recent digital enterprise.

For instance, because of the ability to section off students online, it’s easier to establish breakout rooms where several students can review a lesson, while others meet with the teacher.

“This was something that’s harder to do in the classroom,” said Rabbi Berelowitz.

“It’s not like students can be sent out into the hallway to work in groups while you’re learning with the other ones.”

Likewise, because classroom time is now shorter than in the past, there’s a greater desire to maximize each moment.

“I’m just being really careful about what I include and what I’m not including,” said Shuckett. “If I have 30 minutes, I’m really thinking about whether this is key, or if this is not important for right now, or if it’s sort of extra.”

An unanticipated benefit may actually be lessons in how to handle technology itself, according to Raskin.

Whereas some families previously may have been skittish to employ digital resources at home, now they’re almost “forced” to, and, as a byproduct parents are becoming “more in tune with using technology to advance students’ academics,” he said. “Parents are asking a lot of questions they never asked before” about safe internet practices and recommended amounts of screen time each day. Students are similarly learning “how to navigate and interact with each other” in this sphere. For many individuals, “it’s just a whole new fascinating experience.” PJC

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

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

Headlines Jacobs: Continued from page 2

community building relations.

A lot of our younger colleagues have grown up in a time when you have to work to establish the relevance of Judaism and a temple community. We’re living in a time where people are not necessarily coming to synagogue. In the old days, people came to the congregation. America was a place where

Volunteer: Continued from page 3

rabbis, and fact-checking information on COVID-19 and virtual tours of area museums. He has also shared links to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the United Way and the 10/27 Healing Partnership. Members also have discussed financial assistance from organizations such as the Hebrew Free Loan Association, which is providing no-interest loans to those financially impacted by the pandemic.

“We are reaching out to every single member of the congregation,” Harris said.

“The overall response has been very good. I don’t think anybody has said, ‘What are you

Hecht: Continued from page 4

and families again. We’ve earned it, so, with that said, l’hitraot. Goodbye for now. See you again soon.

Online: Continued from page 7

The Jewish schools also got creative with instruction. At CDS, Shayna Valinsky took part in a history class in which students were asked to beam themselves into the future and answer questions about the 2020 pandemic “history” they’re living. Hillel posted webpages packed with video content and even a “family fun center,” complete with a virtual trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. At Yeshiva Schools, they examined Passover through the lens of COVID-19.

“Our sanity and our ability to express and deal is about structure,” said Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, educational director of Yeshiva Boys School. And teaching Jewish values “is a very big part of what we’re doing.”

The new model of instruction at Yeshiva Schools resonated for Shaina Altein, a fifthgrader who’s been going to the school as long as she can remember.

“Sometimes in school we go online but this is the first time we’ve been all online,” the 10-year-old said. “I like it better because it’s easier to concentrate.”

For her computer class, Shaina was

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most people connected to their religious communities. We’re now living in a time when people are using all different types of places for more connection, more community, more wisdom and more spiritual grounding. So, I think our younger rabbis are much more tuned to the new marketplace of spirituality and they take that as an opportunity, not as a limitation. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

calling me for?!’ They appreciate that their synagogue is doing this.”

Hall, an IT consultant who’s been working from home since he and Hammer moved from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania six years ago, typically takes his daughter to Shabbat services every Saturday at Beth Shalom. The coronavirus temporarily has put a stop to that ritual, which Hall initially found a little disconcerting. But he said he is taking comfort in his peers.

“A volunteer made calls and said to me, ‘Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this mitzvah,’” Hall said. “You’re always looking for a blessing to say or a good deed to do. This is that opportunity.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

A retirement celebration for Hecht at Beth El, originally scheduled for May 17, has been postponed until Sept. 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

learning more about computer coding. The remote learning didn’t bother her a bit.

“I like it because it’s really challenging,” she said. “When you fully get through it, it’s a good feeling.”

Mika Loberant, a CDS sixth-grader, said she’s feeling a range of emotions as she goes online each morning to take part in classes.

“It took me a few days to adjust to online classes because it was a very new experience for me,” said Mika, 11, of Squirrel Hill.

“The experience is easier than I expected because it allowed me to space my time out better and be more independent with my time management.”

“I miss my classmates and my close group of friends since we’ve been together every day since kindergarten, but a little bit of time to myself is nice too,” she added. “I’m looking forward to getting back to school because it is easier to learn at school and interact with the teachers and students.”

For now, going virtual will have to suffice.

“If this goes on after Passover,” said Weinberg, the Hillel principal, “that will be the real test.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

Squirrel Hill Food Pantry continues full service to community

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he JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, which serves more than 1,500 families struggling with food insecurity, continues to operate at full force during the COVID-19 crisis.

To ensure the health and safety of its clients and staff, the pantry has modified its food pick-up procedures. Clients now receive pre-bagged produce, poultry, grains and other food curbside rather than entering the facility to choose their products, according to Rebecca Remson, director of development and communications at Jewish Family and Community Services Pittsburgh.

Clients are provided with enough food to cover meals for their families for four days with each pick-up. The pantry provides kosher food for those who require it.

The pantry has suspended its volunteer program, which accounts for 400 hours a month of labor, according to Matthew Bolton, director of the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry.

Staff is now running distribution, he said.

Clients can also tap the pantry for counseling.

“Our critical needs social workers are on call all day, speaking with worried community members and connecting them with available services and resources,” a need heightened during the COVID-19 crisis,

according to Remson. “The social workers on staff are talking to clients and making sure that people are on their feet and not falling through the cracks. People can call us if there are in trouble, not just with food, but if they are having trouble paying rent or other bills.

We can advise them about resources.”

With Passover on the horizon, the pantry “is ramping up to distribute an additional 5000 pounds of food to clients,” Remson noted. This is the typical increase in amount of food provided by the pantry for Passover.

Because the pantry is “expecting more people in food crisis” in the coming weeks due to the economic fallout of the coronavirus — including layoffs or people downshifting to part-time work — the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry has launched a fundraising campaign “to shore up any possible instability in our food supply chain so an increase in cost and a change in our purchasing power will not impact the clients we serve,” Remson said.

“We are definitely expecting an influx of people,” said Bolton. “Anyone who has a need can come to the pantry. We are serving everybody who’s coming. We are in triage, helping anyone with a need.” PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Federation moves Tikkun Leil Shavuot to online study space

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he Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh has announced that its annual community-wide Tikkun Leil Shavuot study event will take place virtually on Wednesday, May 27.

Federation leaders decided to move the all-night study sessions because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“If we could have Tikkun Leil Shavuot in person, we would have loved to,” explained Adam Hertzman, Federation’s director of marketing. “The reality is that seems unlikely at this point.”

Moving the event online will provide “continuity,” according to Hertzman. “We have this event every year and it’s something the community looks forward to. There are a lot of opportunities for people to do things online but not a ton of things with Jewish content.”

To ensure that content is available to as many people as possible, Federation will host

the event online the day before Shavuot, so everyone in the Pittsburgh Jewish community, including Orthodox Jews unable to use technology on the actual holiday the following evening, will be able to participate.

“On the one hand we are going to miss the scene of 500 people coming together and studying at the JCC,” said Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff.

“That really is unique to Pittsburgh and unable to be replicated.”

The new online experience curated by Federation will allow for the creation of “an enormous online learning experience that will be every bit the equivalent of what we would have done at the JCC,” according to Schiff.

Federation has not yet announced participating rabbis or topics to be studied. PJC — David Rullo

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APRIL 3, 2020 15

Please Help Sustain Our Important Work

During this time of uncertainty, may your Passover be filled with the spirit of togetherness, renewal, family, and friends.

The JCC is incurring substantial expenses while our buildings are closed due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Membership dues and program fees have been frozen since March 15.

In the past two weeks, the JCC: Íť ^Ğƚ ƾƉ Ďľ Ä?ůŽŽĚ ÄšĆŒĹ?ǀĞĆ? Ä‚Ćš Ĺ˝ĆľĆŒ ĨĂÄ?Ĺ?ĹŻĹ?ĆšĹ?ÄžĆ? Íť 'ĂǀĞ Žƾƚ ĹľĹ˝ĆŒÄž ƚŚĂŜ Ď­Í•ĎŹĎŹĎŹ DĞĂůĆ?ͲƚŽͲ'Ĺ˝ ƚŽ Ć?ĞŜĹ?Ĺ˝ĆŒĆ? Íť &Ä‚Ä?Ĺ?ĹŻĹ?ƚĂƚĞĚ ĹľĹ˝ĆŒÄž ƚŚĂŜ Ď­Í•ĎŽĎŹĎŹ Ç ÄžĹŻĹŻĹśÄžĆ?Ć? Ä?ŚĞÄ?ŏͲĹ?Ĺś ƉŚŽŜĞ calls to isolated seniors Íť WĆŒĹ˝Ç€Ĺ?ĚĞĚ Ä‚ ĆŒĹ˝Ä?ĆľĆ?Ćš Ć?Ä?ŚĞĚƾůĞ ŽĨ Ç€Ĺ?ĆŒĆšĆľÄ‚ĹŻ Ć‰ĆŒĹ˝Ĺ?ĆŒÄ‚ĹľĹľĹ?ĹśĹ? online We need increased community support to sustain our work through this public health crisis and to ensure the future of your JCC.

‍×?למל×? ×Š× ×¤×œ×Ş×™ ל×? קמתי‏ ‍×?למל×? ׊י׊בתי בחו׊ך ל×? ×”×™×” ×?ור ×œ×™â€Ź Had I not fallen, I would not have gotten up.

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APRIL 3, 2020 17

Photo by Anna Kuperberg

Celebrations

Torah

Wedding

The first plague

Elias Duncan and Orli Riter are happy to announce the marriage of their parents, Leslie M. Bauer and Rabbi Ted Riter, on Feb. 20, 2020, in San Francisco, California.

Leslie is the daughter of Eva and Bernard Bauer of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ted is the son of Eve and Dr. Stephen Riter, formerly of El Paso, Texas, now of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Leslie is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the San Francisco Art Institute. She has a thriving real estate business in San Francisco. Ted is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a leadership coach, with an expertise in transitions and building trust. The couple is making their home in Redwood City, California. Marci Glazer, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, officiated.

Birth Sufrin: Josh and Keila Sufrin are pleased to announce the birth of their first son, Jacob Aaron Sufrin, born on March 26 at 11:04 a.m.

He is the grandson of Debra and Michael Sufrin and Marisol and Eloy Estevez. He is also a loving nephew to Zach and Nina Sufrin and to Keren and Gabriel Espinoza.

Jacob has many loving cousins and relatives.

Rabbi Joe Hample Parshat Tzav | Leviticus 6:1-8:36

Of all the ancient slurs

V

isiting a Holocaust site in Kharkiv in 2005, I discovered a bilingual plaque in Hebrew and Ukrainian: “Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). The verse comes from the Cain and Abel saga. Blood is a metaphor of murder.

As a California prison chaplain in 2010’12, I steered non-Jewish inmates requesting the kosher diet to the halal or vegetarian diet instead. Those cheaper options also comply with the instruction to Noah: “You must not eat flesh with its lifeblood in it” (Genesis 9:4).

Blood is a metaphor of cruelty.

In the Holiness Code, coming to a synagogue near you on May 2, we read: “Do not stand idly over your neighbor’s blood” (Leviticus 19:16). One who witnesses suffering has to help if possible: common decency requires it. Blood is a metaphor of barbarism.

This week’s Torah portion offers a basically ceremonial constraint: “You must not ingest any blood … Anyone who eats blood shall be cut off from their kin” (Leviticus 7:2627). Is this warning related to the symbolism of blood in the other passages? Or is the Levitical prohibition strictly totem and taboo, tribal magic without moral significance?

against the Jewish people, the most appalling is the blood libel, the lie that Jews devour blood as a ritual act.

It could certainly be understood that way.

Blood (of species eligible for the sacrifice) is reserved for Divine consumption, in Biblical law. Though the sacrificial system is dormant since the destruction of the Temple, its boundaries still guide the traditional Jewish cook. Kosher meat is soaked and salted to remove all blood, or grilled so the blood drips out in cooking.

Ugly words like “bloodsucker” suggest that the horror of eating blood may be universal.

But it is not: The English black pudding, the German Blutwurst and assorted other delicacies around the world call for blood as a key component. Scientifically speaking, blood is a kind of liquid body part. It consists Please see Torah, page 20

Treasured Video and Photo Memories?

Bar Mitzvah Ronald and Annette Marks of Aventura, Florida, formerly of Pittsburgh, are pleased to announce that their grandson, Brian Alex Pine, became a bar mitzvah on Jan. 25, 2002, in Boca Raton, Florida. He is the son of Wendy and Robert Pine of Parkland, Florida. Brian is very interested and involved in many sports. He plays and travels in ice hockey tournaments around the country and also plays basketball. In February 2018, after the Parkland tragedy, Brian and three of his friends raised over $16,000 in just one week for all of the victims’ families. PJC

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Obituaries CAPLAN: Barbara Caplan, 81, died March 1, 2020. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Scottsdale, Arizona. Daughter of the late Ruth and Donald Klein, she is survived by her husband, Douglas Caplan of Scottsdale, Arizona and her son, Michael Jon Caplan of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She leaves behind three wonderful grandchildren, Danni,

Stories: Continued from page 13

Teddy and Ava. Barbara, born in Pittsburgh, had a successful business with her partner called Baskets of Joy making unique gift baskets for all different occasions. Later in life Barbara became a specialist for All Clad based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, for over 30 years. Donations in Barbara’s memory can be made to Rodef Shalom Hebrew and Sunday school. PJC now that a close friend, a relative and children of a friend have all tested positive.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I wake up in panic, but I am keeping it tamped down. What is happening across the country is terrifying, and we don’t know what the future holds, but for now, I am appreciating what I have, focusing on gratitude, and laughing more than I used to.

Simone Shapiro Squirrel Hill

Enjoying the comforts of home

p Simone and Shmuel Shapiro Photo provided by Simone Shapiro

been forced to step off the treadmill and go “inside.” We talk to each other more, every day we walk together in the park for an hour, being very careful about social distancing.

(There seem to be more birds singing and more wildlife than previous springs.) We have a glass of wine with dinner and go out and watch the sunset.

My housework routine provides a framework for the day along with reading the daily coronavirus briefings. Between washing, sanitizing (appropriately obsessively so), catching up with tasks I never had time to do and cleaning for Pesach, I am quite busy. I am planning to work on the garden, read a few books and organize my life. My husband keeps busy by channeling his inner handyman.

We talk to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren more now, via phone, Skype, FaceTime or WhatsApp. We participate in some of the multitude of online Torah learning opportunities. Technology has been a lifeline during this isolation.

I’ve checked in on friends who are alone and reached out to family far away. I have a strong sense that our local Jewish community is there for us when we need them.

This was our second Shabbos without shul, family, guests or community. It was very relaxing and we appreciated the stepping away from the world very much. It was a mental and emotional relief to not be deep into coronavirus news for 25 hours!

We talked about what we really believed in and where we were still struggling with in relation to G-d and the religious life. We shared memories and past experiences. We told each other how much we appreciated and loved each other.

So far, thanks to family, community, and delivery services, we have food in the refrigerator, the freezer and the pantry, hand sanitizer and toilet paper. When I turn the spigot, water flows; the garbage gets picked up; the mail arrives; the internet runs and Amazon still delivers. Life is good!

Do I have fears? Very much so, especially

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At this unprecedented time of challenge, I retain my sanity through the love of my wife, stepson, three dogs and cat, vigorous daily aerobic exercise both indoors and out, receiving and reading from cover to cover three daily newspapers, and writing. I am thankful to enjoy the comforts of my home, food, electricity, natural gas, water and plenty of bath tissue!

A link to normalcy which is important to this “foodie” is the ability to enjoy take-out and delivery from many of our local favorites. As we enjoy the food to which we are accustomed, we are helping to sustain local establishments: to provide revenue for their owners and income for the workers they are able to retain on their staffs.

Oren Spiegler Peters Township

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

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Anonymous ..........................................Alex G. Levison

Wendy Lamfrom........................ Mervin B. Feldman

Anonymous ..................................................Jennie Rush

Donald & Lois Lewis.......................... William Lewis

Ms. Brown .................................................. Lillian Brown

Jack Linder ....................................................E.M. Linder

Jackie Friedman.................................... Freda Gordon

Jack Linder .............................................. Harriet Linder

Ruben Goldberg .............................. Louis Freedman

Rita Reese .............................................. Jacob Barniker

Ms. Lynne Gottesman ..............Esther Gottesman

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Ritt ...........Esther Gottesman

Alan Korobkin ..........................................Eva Korobkin

Ileen Stein ..........................................Harry Stevenson

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday April 5: Celia Apple, Annette L. Smith Bergsman, Helen Harris Berman, Louis Cohen, Eva Diamond, Mervin B. Feldman, Florence Glick, Gertrude N. Hoffman, Nathan H. Isaacs, Sophia E. Israel, Dora Jacobson, David Kalson, Louis Meyer, Marlene Pearl Rosen, Morris Schwartz, Nettie Silverberg Monday April 6: Steven Beck, Goldie R. Broida, Irving Cowen, Nathan A. Davis, Abraham Glanz, Ruben Heller, George Lurie, Jr., Ruth G. Martin, Hyman Miller, Roberta Morrison, Catherine Neiman, Louis Plesset, Jennie Volkin Tuesday April 7:Freda Berkovitz, Dr. Albert B. Berkowitz, Ida Cohen, Freda Gordon, Milton Kelsky, Rosa Klawansky, Esther Kramer, Rosalind Light Kraus, Isadore M. Pollock, Ruth Rosenstein, Julius A. Rudolph, Jacob Segal, Leonard Herbert Shiner, Mel Weinberg, Meyer Young, Helen Zeff Wednesday April 8: George Apple, Sam Astrov, Morris A. Berman, Gerda Bloch, Nathan Breakstone, Dorothy L. Fisher, Bennie Ginsburg, David Philip Gold, Morris H. Goldenson, Saul Katz, Louis K. Landau, Sara Gluck Lewinter, Abe Mallinger, Jan Steuer Mandell, Eva Perlow, William Wolf Shamberg, Ida R. Thompson Thursday April 9: Jacob Barniker, Gary Allen Braunstein, Rubin Dafner, Ida Dobkin, Esther Gottesman, Esther Gottesman, Sara R. Levy, Louis Nathan Morris, Rose Myers, Harry Saxen, Rebecca Schulman, Melvin Sherman Shapiro, Libby Sherman, George Simon, Freeda Solomon, Robert Charles Solomon Friday April 10: Rae E. Abady, J. Bernard Block, Cernie Caplan, Sol Fox, Philip Hanauer, Sr., Herbert E. Hirsh, E. Abe Keizler, Samuel L. Krauss, Edith Tanzer Levendorf, Luella Mattes, Louis N. Miller, Esther Unitan, Harry Weisberger, Aaron Weiss Saturday April 11: Betram I. Adler, Pearl Braun, Louis Cohen, Joseph Cooper, Samuel Davidson, Adolph Edlis, Erwin R. Glick, Bernard Gold, Saul Goldberg, Mildred Winer Grossman, Flora Klein, Jennie Peetler Kliman, Julius Lebovitz, Sophie Ida Meyers, Oscar Radin, Sadie Reznik, Ben Rothman, Jacob C. Tanur, Dora C. Weiss, Mollie Weiss, Mary Zoni

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p The Taub children are busy creating fun content for their grandparents.

Photo provided by Dena Taub.

Every year, Bubby and Zeidy Taub from Chicago, and Zeidy Korer from London, join us for seder night. This year, they will be completely alone for a long three-day Yom Tov. No shul. No phone calls. No company. We are preparing trivia for them — divrei Torah, jokes, riddles, pictures — and putting them into envelopes labeled “Karpas” or “Second Day Lunch” so they will have something fun to look forward to for those 72 hours.

Family Taub Squirrel Hill

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APRIL 3, 2020 19

20 color OBITS

Headlines Federation launches emergency funding distributions

T

he Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s board of directors has authorized a task force of volunteers to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in emergency funds to the Federation’s beneficiary agencies and overseas partners to help allay costs and losses associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

The emergency funds will be pulled from several sources, “including the Jewish Federation’s emergency funds, money from the 2019-2020 Community Campaign

previously designated for Federationsponsored community programs that have now been canceled, mini-grant pools and supplemental gifts,” according to a press release issued March 27.

“We must address the immediate needs and send help now,” said Meryl Ainsman, chair of the Federation’s board of directors.

“People can’t work. More families need food assistance. Caregivers need medical supplies.

Our children still need to learn. This money won’t stop the virus, but it will help provide

a little relief during our community’s greatest moment of need.”

The task force, made up of the Federation’s Planning and Funding Committee members, will work with Federation’s planning experts, agency representatives and a continually updated community needs assessment to determine where to distribute the emergency relief funds, subject to the Federation’s board’s approval.

“The Federation is working closely with government officials, private foundations and, of course, with our own experts and agency

professionals in order to help our community members,” said Jeffrey Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Federation. “We are convening the relevant parties to do everything we can to address both the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19.”

Distributions are expected to begin quickly to address the most urgent problems and will continue as the needs assessment develops. PJC

Torah:

Just the same, I am proud that the Torah excludes this ingredient from our cuisine.

Next week’s seder will remind us that the Jewish dinner table is a classroom, too.

Matzah, maror, charoset, saltwater represent elements of the liberation story. The fare we spurn also teaches us something. Not eating blood means not profiting from exploitation.

This week’s haftarah features another seder standard: the prophet Elijah. He’s coming back to reconcile families and prevent violence (Malachi 3:23-24). No, the text doesn’t mean your family specifically! But it is a reminder that gore is out of place in the dining room. Elijah may be the kindly uncle of Jewish folklore, but he is also the firebrand

who charges King Ahab with the murder of Naboth (I Kings 21:17-24). Innocent blood cannot be spilled with impunity.

My favorite part of the seder is flicking 10 drops of wine for the 10 plagues. Some of the plagues seem a little random, even comical: frogs? But the first plague, blood, feels dead serious. The river flowing with blood (Exodus 7:20) is inseparable from Pharaoh drowning the Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:22).

The Nile is Egypt’s stained conscience.

Of all the ancient slurs against the Jewish people, the most appalling is the blood libel, the lie that Jews devour blood as a ritual act.

Anyone who ever glanced at the Hebrew Bible knows otherwise. Some Jews draw a bitter kind

of comfort from the absurdity of this canard.

It shows the ignorance of anti-Semites. If they can believe that, they can believe anything.

Every culture has its alimentary hang-ups, but those of Judaism are surely the most complex ever documented. It is easy to poke fun at the technicalities. On the other hand, the path back to God may be as close as the kitchen.

Even if your chow isn’t meticulously kosher, there’s something edifying in a food-based religion. After all, you are what you eat. PJC

Continued from page 18

of plasma (water plus proteins, nutrients and hormones) and cells (erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets). Blood is pumped through the blood vessels by the heart; as it passes through the lungs, hemoglobin (an iron-rich protein) turns red when oxygenated. From this point of view, blood is not much different from any other animal tissue.

It is hard to make a secular case for keeping blood off the menu. I know of no evidence that blood is a particularly unhealthy food.

Isolation does not have to mean ISOLATED

— Toby Tabachnick

Rabbi Joseph Hample is the spiritual leader of Tree of Life Congregation in Morgantown, West Virginia. The column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinic Association.

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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.

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APRIL 3, 2020 21

Community The work continues

Office space

(2 photos)

p The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh convened a coalition of Holocaust museums and centers and worked with the organization Together We Remember during a Zoom meeting on March 25.

p Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Program Director Alex Speck worked from home alongside his new officemate, 2-year-old son, Dylan.

p The Holocaust Center’s education outreach committee met on March 26 to discuss teaching the Holocaust in the current climate. Photos courtesy of Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

p Tree of Life Executive Director Barb Feige shared home office space with her labradoodle, Libby.

Photos courtesy of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha

Is this thing on?

Virtual classroom

p Rabbi Aaron Meyer of Temple Emanuel of South Hills helped bat mitzvah student Abigail Zahalsky acclimate to the camera and teleprompter during rehearsal.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Aaron Meyer

22 APRIL 3, 2020

p Mrs. Faigy Chapley taught her third grade students about the correct use of ampersands.

Photo courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

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Community It’s a party

Have an ice day

p As visitor restrictions continued at the Jewish Association on Aging, Charles Morris activities staff demonstrated that a cool day can be a fun day.

p During the past few weeks, The Friendship Circle has hosted 48 virtual programs, and averaged two meet-ups per day, including this costume party.

Photo courtesy of The Friendship Circle

p A smile and a treat

School is in session

Photos courtesy of Jewish Association on Aging

p Teleprompter - Rabbi Aaron Meyer helped a bat mitzvah student acclimate to the camera and teleprompter during rehearsal.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Aaron Meyer

Story time at a click

p CDS fifth-grader Sylvie Bails logged in to video conference with her Hebrew teacher Yamit Levy through the CDS@home online learning program.

p Morah Dori Oshlag, Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh kindergarten teacher, records herself reading a book. Students have utilized both prerecorded and live instruction throughout the weeks of online school.

Photo courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

Lunchtime learning

p CDS Pre-K student Elihu Braasch participated in an online lesson with his teacher Liz Wolfe in the family basement that has been transformed into a classroom space.

Photos courtesy of Community Day School

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p JPro Pittsburgh, the local chapter of a national organization to support employees of Jewish communal organizations, hosted a virtual lunchroom with Eric Lidji of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives on March 18.

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Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

APRIL 3, 2020 23

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