Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 7-17-20

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Candlelighting 8:30 p.m. | Havdalah 9:35p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 29 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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July 17, 2020 | 25 Tamuz 5780

Candlelighting 8:30 p.m. | Havdalah 9:35p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 29 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Baseball devotees share mixed emotions on abridged season

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Political divide

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F

Roteman is already scheduling his summer around the sport.

“I probably will not miss a single game on TV,” he said. “And as soon as they open up the ballpark to fans, if they do, I’ll certainly be there.”

Dr. Nathan Bahary also plans to watch the games on TV. “It won’t be as exciting — I’m gonna be honest with you — but I’m a baseball junkie and I have to get my fix,” said the Squirrel Hill resident.

Bahary, 58, roots for the wrong team — the “DACUBS” license plate on his car reveals his allegiance. “But I’ll root for the Pirates when they’re not playing the Cubs,” he said.

For the past 50 years, Bahary has seen at least one game at Wrigley Field during baseball season. This year will end his streak.

or Debbie Leuchter Stueber, the story of how her parents survived the Holocaust unfolded over time and in snippets of memory.

Her father, Kurt, born in Vienna, trekking from Austria to Italy to Belgium, then turned over to a Jewish aid agency in the south of France as his parents were sent to Auschwitz to perish. He later fought in the French underground and traveled to the U.S. Her mother, Edith, born in Bruchsal, Germany, witness to a synagogue burning on Kristallnacht, then also turned over to an aid agency, raised in France — a French Girl Scout, no less — and emigrating to New York City after the war.

Then, there is what Stueber knows from living in and around it. Her parents, now in their 90s and rounding out their 70th wedding anniversary, live today in Florida. They met in a European orphanage as teens through the Œuvre de secours aux enfants (the OSE, a French Jewish children’s aid society) and bumped into each other after the war on the street outside the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. The rest, as they say, is history.

To this day, even after years of reciting the war stories for local school children, Stueber has difficulty imagining what it was like for her grandparents to say goodbye to their children, en route to what became a horrible fate.

“It’s very emotional to repeat the story,” said Stueber, who was raised on Long Island and moved to Pittsburgh nearly 30 years ago. “It is my responsibility and it is my passion in life to tell my parents’ story — to educate people about the Holocaust, to teach tolerance and to ensure it will never happen again.”

Please see Baseball, page 12

Please see Holocaust, page 12

Meet the Weisses Page 4

LOCAL Octogenarian athletes Keeping up with the Goldmans Page 5

LOCAL

Elan Sokol and his son, Zishe, at PNC Park in 2017

Photo courtesy of Elan Sokol

Portrait of an artist

By Kayla Steinberg | Staff Writer

T Painter finds inspiration in Squirrel Hill Page 15

he way Mike Roteman sees it, baseball has divine influence.

“God worked for six innings,” he said. “In the seventh inning, he stretched.

And that’s why we have the seventh inning stretch!”

Roteman has made baseball his lifestyle.

The Florida snowbird serves as president of the Pirates Bradenton Booster Club, works at the Pirates Fantasy Camp each spring and even wrote three fiction books centered around a character who plays for the Pirates.

So the pause on baseball this year hit him hard. He tried to make up for it with quarantine-friendly activities, but it hasn’t been easy.

“Only so many books and only so much television one can watch,” he said.

But now that baseball is returning in an abridged, 60-game season beginning July 23,

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle LOCAL

Bringing Nazis to justice

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Israel, virtually

Headlines Despite political differences, Jewish values unite Squirrel Hill couple — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

S

quirrel Hill natives Lou and Amy Weiss might be the example needed in today’s charged political environment.

“I’m a bleeding heart conservative,” Lou offered. His wife Amy describes herself as a “very moderate liberal Democrat.”

Despite their political differences, the pair, who recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, exhibit all the hallmarks of a successful marriage: They each enjoy the other’s company, are quick to laugh while poking fun at one another, have four adult children and — rather than complete one another’s sentences — interrupt to make a point or clarify an opinion.

Although the ideological differences might have ruined other relationships, Lou made it clear that Amy’s political beliefs had very little sway over how he saw her.

“She is so good looking that she could have been Pol Pot’s daughter and I would have asked her to marry me,” he said with a laugh.

Amy recommends one piece of advice each time they’re about to go out with friends: “I give him a pep talk,” she said. “Just don’t be yourself.”

The two met as students at Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill.

“I was in 10th grade,” said Amy, “and was best friends with Lou’s sister. I used to hang around their house. I have to admit, I had a crush on him.”

“She finally wore me down,” Lou said, interrupting Amy’s story.

Lou credits a college class for helping to shape his political ideology.

p Lou and Amy Weiss have different political views but recently celebrated their 40th Photo provided by Lou Weiss wedding anniversary.

“I went to Kenyon College and sat next to Danny Frankel [now a state representative for Pennsylvania’s 23rd District] in Political Science 101,” Lou recalled. “He went in a liberal and came out a liberal. I went in a liberal and came out a conservative.”

It was during the 1980 presidential campaign that Lou and Amy learned they had different political leanings.

“That’s probably when we realized, because I didn’t vote for Reagan,” said Amy. Lou has voted Republican in each

subsequent presidential election with two notable exceptions.

“I voted for Bill Clinton once because I thought he would be good for Israel,” Lou said. “He turned out to be disappointing in many ways.”

In the most recent election, Lou wrote in his wife’s name rather than pull the lever for Donald Trump. The reason? “She threatened to go on a sex strike,” said Lou. Amy broke into that oft repeated anecdote, asking her husband: “Now that he’s been in

there for three years, aren’t you proud stating you didn’t vote for him?”

After replying “Yes,” Lou was quick to qualify his opinion.

“I think Trump has done some real good,” he said. “He’s been absolutely terrific on Israel and the economy, before COVID, he was great. Black and Hispanic unemployment was at an all-time low and I happen to like some of his judicial nominees.”

“So, he moved the embassy [in Israel], big deal,” Amy argued, rolling her eyes.

The Weiss patriarch said that for the upcoming election he will most likely “vote for the candidate I’ve been sleeping with for the last 40 years.”

Whatever divide might exist between the two, the couple find harmony in their belief that a politician’s views on Israel matter.

“Personally, I’m a conservative but I’ve chosen to support those candidates that are good on the issue [of Israel],” Lou said. “That is my litmus test.”

“I agree, Israel is one of my most important issues,” said Amy, “but we have a different perspective. I feel the people I’ve voted for have been very pro-Israel. Barack Obama was a bit of a disappointment because of the Iran deal,” she conceded, “but his platform was definitely pro-Israel.”

Another point the pair appear to agree on is the use of face masks in public spaces.

“That’s not a political issue,” Amy offered, “although, I think it’s been politicized by the right and that’s disgusting.”

“It’s been completely politicized by the left,” Lou countered.

“No, it’s the right,” Amy replied.

And though they may be reflected through Please see Couple, page 13

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Headlines Clear the way for the Goldmans because they’re not slowing down — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

J

immy and Susie Goldman make it easy to social distance. Whether they’re in the pool or on the road, the octogenarians and competitive athletes are tough to keep pace with.

Despite the heatwave, they recently completed a 7-mile bike ride in Oakland, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill. It was a nice ride, said Jimmy, 83, but due to the heat “I haven’t biked outdoors I guess for three or four days.”

Lest one think that rising temperatures are cause to cool down, Jimmy has been using a stationary bike inside his and Susie’s Oakland residence.

“Yesterday, I did 6.8 miles in the 30-minute ride, so that’s like averaging over 13 miles an hour and that’s pretty good,” he said.

With both a penchant for competition and a prowess for athletics, Jimmy has collected a heap of medals throughout the years. Two years ago, he won his age class in a cycling event at the City of Pittsburgh’s Senior Games; in 2013, Jimmy took gold in the 1650 yard freestyle event at the 2013 National YMCA Masters Swimming Championship; and 10 years earlier, he won four gold medals at the 1993 Maccabiah Games in the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle events.

Yet, as fast as Jimmy is, the only person he may be trailing is his wife Susie, who at 81 is still able to run, though she wouldn’t necessarily describe it as such.

“The running became harder because I had a hip problem and once that happened

I sort of moved to a walk/jog,” said Susie, whose numerous Great Race entries have resulted in multiple top age group finishes.

Unlike her husband, who swam for Taylor Allderdice High School and then for Carnegie Tech, Susie took up competitive athletics later in life.

“I started getting active when I gave up smoking, and that was when I was 40,” she said. “Before that, I was never really much into any of that.”

Susie may have been a bit late to the starting line, but like her husband of 62 years, she has competed, and placed, in her fair share of athletic events. At the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel, she won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke, silver in the 50-meter breaststroke, silver in the 50- 100and 400- meter freestyle, and gold in relay events including the 200-meter medley, the 200-meter mixed medley and the 200-meter mixed free. She also took bronze in the triathlon event. Nearly a decade later, in qualifying for the 2005 National Senior Games - The Senior Olympics, Susie placed second in her age group for the triathlon.

Medaling in Israel was particularly memorable. “It was wonderful,” she said, “because I was never athletic. I was usually the last one picked in gym class.”

Because of COVID-19-related event cancellations, athletes worldwide have sought alternative ways to compete. But while Jimmy has been keeping his eye out for smaller local opportunities, Susie isn’t too keen on racing any time soon.

“Now I’m just sort of doing it at my own pace,” she said.

Please see Goldmans, page 13

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© 2020 Envisage Life | 7.20 p Jimmy Goldman, left, with grandchildren Mya and Jack

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Headlines After hunting Nazis for 40 years, Efraim Zuroff remains committed to bringing them to justice — LOCAL —

By Kayla Steinberg | Staff Writer

E

fraim Zuroff remembers the moment it hit him. He was sitting in his living room in Brooklyn examining a map in The New York Times on the Sunday before the Six Day War broke out. The side of the map representing the Arab countries had a tall stack of soldiers, tanks and planes while the other side — Israel — had just a few.

“Oh my God, there’s gonna be another Holocaust,” Zuroff recalled saying to himself.

He recounted the memory to more than 230 participants during a July 9 Classrooms Without Borders post-film discussion of the movie “The Accountant of Auschwitz” over Zoom. CWB and South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh made the film available to participants before the video call.

The movie — which depicts the 2015 trial of the “Accountant of Auschwitz,” Oskar Gröning, charged as an accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews — directly relates to Zuroff ’s work. Zuroff serves as the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s chief Nazi hunter and director of Eastern European affairs.

He has dedicated decades to facilitating the prosecution of Nazi war criminals and

educating others about the Holocaust. He has written more than 450 articles and four books on the subject and was nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

The CWB event p Efraim Zuroff Photo courtesy centered around a of Efraim Zuroff conversation between its scholar-in-residence, Avi Ben-Hur, and Zuroff.

At one point, Ben-Hur asked Zuroff what he saw as the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals and collaborators to court.

“Justice,” Zuroff replied. “Western society depends on justice, and it’s basically a covenant between the governments and the population that they will protect people. If there are those who commit criminal acts, they will not be allowed to go unpunished.”

But in the case of Nazi war criminals, justice is elusive. Even Gröning, who was ultimately found guilty, never went to prison — he died in 2018 after appealing his verdict.

“One of the things that comes to the floor very, very clearly in the film is that justice is really not done, that many, many of the perpetrators are going to get away completely free,” said Ben-Hur. The movie connects lenient sentences for

Nazi war criminals to the people administering the trials — after WWII, the German Ministry of Justice was filled with former Nazis.

Moreover, “the scope of the crime was absolutely enormous,” said Zuroff, noting that Nazis enlisted locals to support their work.

“Conventional justice cannot deal effectively with horrors like the Holocaust,” he said.

But despite struggles with achieving justice in court, Zuroff sees trials as worthwhile.

“The educational dimension of trials is huge,” he said. “Trials are far more effective than history textbooks.”

Zuroff opposes a statute of limitations, which would set an end date to initiating legal proceedings against Nazi war criminals, and thinks that perpetrators healthy enough — even if they appear frail — should be put on trial.

“This is what I call the ‘misplaced sympathy syndrome,’” said Zuroff. “People are sympathetic toward old people. What they don’t know is first of all, these are people who had absolutely no sympathy for their victims.”

“In all my history of 40 years of hunting Nazis, in all the cases that I dealt with… not one said, ‘I’m sorry. I’ve made a mistake,’” he added.

Still, the late Eva Kor, a Holocaust survivor used in SS physician Josef Mengele’s twin

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experiments, said in the film that she forgave the Nazis and is shown hugging Gröning.

“This, you’ll excuse me, is a pure PR stunt — 99.9% of the survivors … totally rejected her gesture,” said Zuroff. “They were disgusted by it. And for good reason. This is absolutely out of line.”

Zuroff anticipates more trials in Germany and awaits a verdict — expected this month — in the case of Bruno Dey, a 93-year-old former SS private charged with accessory to murder.

Classrooms Without Borders plans to bring Zuroff to Pittsburgh for a future event, according to CWB Founder and Executive Director Tsipy Gur. “Both the film and our guest speaker really speak to Classrooms Without Borders’ mission statement to use the terrible events of the Holocaust to educate toward tolerance,” said Gur. “In him, we see a shining example of an educator who has not sat in an ivory tower but rather has devoted his life to proactively pursue perpetrators of the Holocaust and to bring them to justice. And in a real way, you are a role model for the kind of educators we need to inspire.” PJC Kayla Steinberg can be reached at ksteinberg@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines JFCS virtual events help to match employers with job seekers — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

T

his summer, for the first time in more than 30 years, Ron Andrekanic is polishing off his resume and looking for work.

The White Oak resident boasts decades of experience in polymer sciences, analytical chemistry and, in his words, “anything related to plastics and the plastics engineering field.” Since being downsized from a Pittsburgh research facility a few months ago, he’s been keeping busy working for the U.S. Postal Service and attending online seminars by the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, where he’s a member.

Among others who also are seeking work during this unprecedented pandemic, he turned to Jewish Family and Community Services for help and “attended” a virtual employer meet-and-greet session through the organization in late June. More virtual programming is in the pipeline.

“At first, I thought [being virtual] was going to be very challenging but they have a really good system in place,” said Andrekanic, 58.

“I do miss the personal interaction — I’m kind of old-school,” he added. “But [the event] was a great dialogue where you could

interact with people in HR directly — and it allows for good follow-up.”

As unemployment in Allegheny County climbed above 15% in June, JFCS brought nearly 50 job seekers and companies ranging from Duquesne Light to Dollar Bank to the City of Pittsburgh for the online forum, which was conducted via video conferencing.

“It was just a really great way for our clients to have interaction, basically one-on-one conversations, with someone who could have been across the table,” said Tamara Abney, JFCS employer relations specialist.

“With this event, people logged in at specific times for different industries, so people were viewing jobs they are specifically interested in. And employers connected with people they know will be interested.”

Abney said many of the jobs focused on technical and engineering skills but JFCS also brought in companies from the manufacturing, real estate and higher education sectors, like The Buncher Company and the University of Pittsburgh.

“Nothing can take the place of meeting someone in person,” noted Dollar Bank’s Carol Moon, but added she was excited to take part in the June 23 event and hopes to attend more sessions like it in the future.

“As a company, we are always interested in contributing to community outreach,” said Moon, the assistant vice president of talent acquisition for Dollar Bank.

“ T h e re’s m ore one-on-one,” Germino said. “You can chat with individuals.

Where, at a conference or fair, you have a line of individuals to meet. The virtual format is great.”

Germino said he has followed up with about six to 10 applicants from the JFCS event.

“My two favorite things are helping people and promoting Pittsburgh,” he said.

Plans are in the works for more employer sessions, according to Abney.

“We were happy we p Jewish Family and Community Services Photo provided by Jewish Family and Community Services were able to adapt and make something work,” To Samuel Germino, the session she said. “It definitely benefitted the client.” wasn’t all that new.

Andrekanic still is looking for work, but Germino, who started in February in the remains optimistic — and realistic.

City of Pittsburgh’s newly anointed talent “It’s a whole new experience for me,” acquisition coordinator position, said he was he told the Chronicle. “I hope JFCS attending two to three “job fair”-style events continues them.” PJC each week before COVID-19 broke out.

Since then, he’s been conducting business Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer virtually — and there are benefits, he stressed. living in Pittsburgh.

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Calendar >>Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon.

work that they do. Panelists include Tatiana Lee, Hollywood inclusion associate at RespectAbility and Sharon Rosenblatt from Accessibility Partners.

1:30 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/how-to-ensure-awelcoming-lexicon-accessible-websites-and-socialmedia-and-inclusive-photos

q SATURDAY, JULY 18

During Jewish Residential Service’s free Zoom webinar, “Managing Self Directed Services and Using Supports Brokers: A Primer for Intellectual Disability Waiver Families,” you will learn what to expect from a supports broker and how they can help individuals with ID waivers. Two families with self-directed services will share their experiences.

4 p.m. In order to be eligible for this service, the individual needs to have an ODP ID waiver (Office of Developmental Programs Intellectual Disability). jrspgh.org/event/free-webinar-managing-selfdirected-services-and-using-supports-brokers

Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma is holding a virtual 5K race to raise funds to support sarcoma research.

10 a.m. Join them on Facebook Live. For more information, visit pghcuresarcoma.org. q SUNDAY, JULY 19 Moishe House’s Moses’s birthday party picnic will admit only 10 people. For pandemic safety reasons, this is a bring-your-own-meal picnic, although some individually wrapped snacks and beverages to supplement your food will be provided. Bring a picnic blanket if you have one to allow for social distancing. 12 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/events/326693568332162. q SUNDAYS, JULY 19, 26; AUG. 2, 9 Join a lay-led Online Parashah Study Group to discuss the week’s Torah portion. No Hebrew knowledge is needed. The goal is to build community while deepening understanding of the text. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/online-parashah. q MONDAY, JULY 20 Join Congregation Beth Shalom’s Quarantined Book Club online via Zoom as they read “A Pigeon and a Boy” by Meir Shalev.

4 p.m. For more information and to register, visit bethshalompgh.org/07-20-20-cc-quarantined-bookclub-a-pigeon-and-a-boy-by-meir-shalev. q MONDAYS, JULY 20, 27; AUG. 3 Join Rabbi Jeremy Markiz in learning Masechet Rosh Hashanah, a tractate of the Talmud about the many new years that fill out the Jewish calendar at Monday Talmud Study. 9:15 a.m.

For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/ mondaytalmud. q MONDAYS, JULY 20, 27; AUG. 3, 10 WEDNESDAYS, JULY 23, 30 Classrooms Without Borders is offering “Becoming Blended: A Practical Course for Remote Pedagogy,” a six-part, fully subsidized teacher training to all classroom educators. The free course is led by Israel’s Ministry of Education and the Kibbutzim College of Education’s Amos Raban.

3 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/teachertraining-with-amos Classrooms Without Borders presents a weekly discussion with Shirel Horovitz, “Behind the scenes of Israeli art and artists: Five personal points of view on the relation between art and daily reality in Israel.” Each talk in the series will be dedicated to one artist and a specific medium. 11 a.m. Educators attending this program are eligible to receive Pennsylvania Act 48 continuing education credits. classroomswithoutborders.org/art-club q TUESDAY, JULY 21 Classrooms Without Borders invites all interested rising fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders to join them for Middle School Weekly Summer Book Club: “Refugee” by Alan Gratz, featuring discussions and activities facilitated by award-winning middle school educator Kate Lukaszewicz. 10 a.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/refugee-alan-gratzsummer-reading-book-club-kids Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for “How to Ensure a Welcoming Lexicon, Accessible Websites and Social Media and Inclusive Photos.”

Jewish organizations, leaders and activists are invited to a free online training series so they can learn how to welcome, respect and include people with disabilities from all backgrounds in the important

8 JULY 17, 2020

Hear Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a Holocaust survivor, psychologist and author of the international bestselling book “The Choice.” This Zoom event is sponsored by Chabad of Squirrel Hill, Chabad of the South Hills, Chabad of Monroeville, Chabad of CMU, Chabad of Pitt, Chabad Young Professionals, The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, Aleph Institute and Friendship Circle. 7 p.m. chabadpgh.com/choice q TUESDAYS, JULY 21, 28; AUG. 4 The ethical use of money is one of the most important areas of Jewish conduct. The tradition says that when you die, it is the first question you will be asked: How did you behave monetarily? In “Your Money: What Jewish Ethics Has to Say,” Jewish Community Federation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will explore the Jewish principles, and the requisite practices, around the appropriate use of money, as understood by Jewish tradition. 10 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/your-money-what-jewishethics-has-to-say q WEDNESDAYS, JULY 22 Classrooms Without Borders invites all interested high school students to join them for a weekly art camp with Israeli artists Shirel Horovitz and Tali Kayam. 11 a.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/ weekly-art-camp q WEDNESDAYS, JULY 22, 29 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh presents a series of webinars, “The Middle East Unmasked with Neil Lazarus.” Lazarus is an internationally acclaimed expert in the fields of Middle East politics, public diplomacy and effective communication training. You must register online to receive the Zoom link via email prior to the webinar.

12 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/lazarus-unmasked.

What does it mean to be a citizen? Classroom Without Borders’ weekly high school book discussion of “Citizen: An American Lyric” will examine how each of us is a citizen in many different ways. With CWB Resident Teaching Artist Susan Stein. Part prose poem, part journal entry, part photographs, we will consider the way each text we encounter can be both window and mirror.

4 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/susan-steinstudent-book-discussion Join Classrooms Without Borders for a weekly book discussion on James Whitman’s book “Hitler’s American Model,” facilitated by Dr. Joshua Andy.

Whitman’s premise is that American race law provided a blueprint for Nazi Germany. This book club is geared toward educators and open to all.

Educators attending this program are eligible to receive Pennsylvania Act 48 continuing education credits. 4 pm. classroomswithoutborders.org/ weekly-book-discussion-hitlers-american-model q WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 If you like drawing, painting, journaling, writing, playing instruments, singing, knitting and/or eating with friends, sign up for Moishe House’s

Artsy Picnic at Frick Park. Bring the supplies for whatever activity you want to participate in and, if you would like, a meal. Individually wrapped snacks and beverages will be provided.

Bring your own picnic blanket to allow for more comfortable social distancing. 6 p.m. facebook.com/ events/2617877971863231 q THURSDAY, JULY 23

Resistance (ratzonpgh.org) and Rabbi Ron Symons from the JCC’s Center for Loving Kindness for Queer Tisha B’Av to learn about this fast day. While this event is primarily designed by/for Pittsburgh’s queer Jewish community, all are welcome to attend. 6 p.m. facebook.com/events/578104236476920 q THURSDAY, JULY 30

Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh, is excited to offer the opportunity to watch the film “King Bibi” and engage in a post-film discussion with the film director, Dan Shadur. CWB scholar Avi Ben-Hur will open the discussion. RSVP to receive a link to the film.

The post-film discussion will be offered on Zoom.

4:30 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/king-bibi

Sometimes known as the “Black Fast,” there is no day more laden with sorrow and memory than the Fast of Tisha B’Av. Sign up to participate in “A Seminar for Tisha B’Av” on Zoom with Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff on the significance of the day, its power through the long sweep of Jewish history, and its contemporary meaning for us in 2020. 3 p.m. foundation. jewishpgh.org/event/a-seminar-for-tisha-bav

q SATURDAY, JULY 25

q WEDNESDAYS, AUG. 5, 12, 19, 26

Reflect on the past week and set intentions for the coming one at Moishe House’s Havdalah at Mellon Park beginning at 8:30 p.m. Shabbat ends at 9:28. Attendance will be capped at 10, so RSVP at facebook.com/events/584621282483220.

Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will explore the current state of Jewish love and marriage, and where it all might be headed in “21st Century Love & Marriage in Judaism.”

10 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/twenty-firstcentury-love-marriage-in-judaism

q MONDAY, JULY 27 Learn how to make seasoning salts, vinegars, oils or simple syrups with common kitchen herbs (we can adapt to use whatever you have at home) at Moishe House’s Zoom DIY Herbal Preps. Gather some fresh herbs first if possible. 7 p.m. facebook.com/ events/311992599800158 q WEDNESDAY, JULY 29 Why is Tisha B’Av the saddest day in the Jewish calendar? What are we mourning in the present day? How do we experience and support each other through grief as a Jewish community? Join Moishe House Pittsburgh, Ratzon: Center for Healing and

q THURSDAY, AUG. 13 Join Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the Jewish Women’s Foundation for a one-hour interactive Zoom session led by acclaimed physician-author, Dr. Vivien Brown.

Brown will discuss her book, “A Woman’s Guide to Healthy Aging.” 12 p.m. The first 50 women to register will receive a free copy of the book. This is a free event open to all women donors who give to the Pittsburgh Federation’s Community Campaign.

12 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/a-womans-guide-tohealthy-aging PJC

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

July 17, 1888 — S.Y. Agnon born

Shmuel Yosef “Shai” Agnon, Israel’s first Nobel laureate when he wins the literature prize in 1966, is born in Buczacz, Galicia, now part of Ukraine. His work commemorates the lost shtetl life of Eastern Europe.

July 18, 1290 — England expels Jews

King Edward I expels the approximately 4,000 Jews living in England, which had few Jews before the 11th century.

Most go to France or Germany. England does not allow Jews to return until 1656.

July 19, 1940 — Max Bodenheimer dies

Zionist leader Max Bodenheimer dies five years after immigrating to Jerusalem. After writing his first Zionist article in 1891, he attended the First Zionist Congress.

He was the first Jewish National Fund chairman.

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July 20, 1949 — Syria, Israel sign armistice

Israel signs an armistice with Syria, the last holdout among bordering nations after Israel’s War of Independence. Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan signed armistices before talks with Syria began April 5.

July 21, 1948 — U.S. opposes stationing troops in Israel

Philip Jessup, the acting U.S. representative to the United Nations, writes a memo declaring that the United States should refuse a U.N. request to station U.S. Marines in Jerusalem as peacekeepers.

July 22, 1946 — King David Hotel bombed

The Irgun bombs Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, the British administrative headquarters in Palestine. Despite warning calls to the hotel and the Palestine Post, the King David is not evacuated, and 91 people are killed.

July 23, 1984 — Israel elects 11th Knesset

The Labor Alignment, led by Shimon Peres, wins 44 seats in the election for the 11th Knesset, while the ruling Likud, under Yitzhak Shamir, receives 41.

They form a national unity government in September. PJC

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Headlines — NATIONAL — Squirrel Hill native Bari Weiss leaves The New York Times The New York Times op-ed staff editor and writer Bari Weiss announced on Tuesday, July 14, that she was leaving the paper.

In her resignation letter, Weiss alleged that “Twitter has become the ultimate editor� of The Times and that stories are chosen and written in a way to “satisfy the narrowest of audiences.�

She cited what she termed as “constant bullying� and name-calling by Times colleagues and staff. “Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery,� she wrote.

The current climate of suppressing opinions that deviate from a progressive ideology does not bode well for the future of independent young writers and editors, who seemingly must follow three rules if they wish to succeed in journalism, Weiss wrote: “Rule One: Speak your mind at your own peril. Rule Two: Never risk commissioning a story that goes against the narrative. Rule Three: Never believe an editor or publisher who urges you to go against the grain.�

The Squirrel Hill native and daughter of Amy and Lou Weiss has been at the center of an ongoing controversy since the paper published an op-ed June 3 by

Sen. Tom Cotton. The column, titled “Send In the Troops,� called for the military to be deployed in the nation’s cities to quell riots following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

After the publication of Cotton’s op-ed, Weiss wrote on her Twitter feed that the paper was in the midst of “a civil war between the (mostly young) wokes� and “the (mostly 40+) liberals,� saying it was the same battle “raging inside other publications and companies across the country.�

Weiss was hired by The Times following the 2016 election of Donald Trump. In her resignation letter she said the paper had realized “it didn’t have a firm grip on the country it covers� and that the new priority of the opinion section “was to help redress that critical shortcoming.�

In a statement printed in numerous news sources, acting Times editorial page editor Kathleen Kingsbury said: “We appreciate the many contributions that Bari made to Times opinion. I’m personally committed to ensuring that The Times continues to publish voices, experiences and viewpoints from across the political spectrum ‌ We see every day how impactful and important that approach is, especially through the outsized influence The Time’s opinion journalism has on the national conversation.â€? — David Rullo

Canasta for Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced Players – In Person or via Zoom ♼ Instruction also available for using the Online Canasta Junction App ♼ Call or email for details and appointments Dodi Walker Gross Canasta League of America Certified Instructor

From JTA reports

Aaron Keyak, longtime political operative, to head Biden’s Jewish outreach

With four months to Election Day, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign now boasts a staffer dedicated to mobilizing Jewish voters.

Aaron Keyak is filling the role, first advertised late last month, as Jewish Insider first reported.

Keyak is a longtime Democratic political strategist whose work has included leading a Jewish outreach effort for Barack Obama’s successful 2012 reelection bid; co-founding Bluelight Strategies, a consulting group; and briefly heading the National Jewish Democratic Council, the lobbying group that essentially folded because of lawsuits from political adversaries.

In his new role, Keyak “will build and manage a national outreach program to support the political objectives of the campaign,� according to the job posting.

St. Louis couple who threatened protesters had run-ins with a local synagogue

Footage of the St. Louis couple brandishing guns at Black Lives Matters protesters passing in front of their mansion on a private street quickly became a symbol of white resistance to calls for racial equity.

Now, an extensive report about Patricia

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Interim Congregational Manager (ICM) This position is for an interim Congregational Manager for Congregation Dor Hadash available immediately until mid-January 2021 while we are undergoing a process to assess our long term needs.

The position will be 20 hours per week. The essential duties of the position include: 1. Handling email communications 2. Keeping the website up to date including the calendar 3. Keeping the directory data base up to date 4. Handling routine correspondence 5. Handling billing, posting payments, deposits using QuickBooks Additional duties may include: 1. Doodle Polls 2. Provide basic Zoom support 3. Dues invoices and Tax letters using QuickBooks 4. Monthly financial reports

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This position is based on the following principles: 1. This is not a clerical position 2. The ICM would not function as a secretary to members of the congregation 3. The ICM would function as a valued member of the management team expected to have opinions and to be comfortable voicing them

Please email Donna Coufal: dcoufal@dorhadash.net or Bruce Herschlag: bmhersch@aol.com Please put ICM in subject line

and Mark McCloskey’s previous clashes reveals that among their many targets has been the Reform synagogue next door.

Jeremy Kohler reported in the St. Louis Post Dispatch: “Mark McCloskey has run off trustees trying to make repairs to the wall surrounding his property, insisting that he and his wife own it. In 2013, he destroyed beehives placed just outside of the mansion’s northern wall by the neighboring Jewish Central Reform Congregation and left a note saying he did it, and if the mess wasn’t cleaned up quickly he would seek a restraining order and attorneys’ fees. The congregation had planned to harvest the honey and pick apples from trees on its property for Rosh Hashanah.�

The story quoted Rabbi Susan Talve, who said, “The children were crying in school,�

Rabbi Susan Talve said. “It was part of our curriculum.�

McCloskey has previously sued his employer, his neighbors and his siblings, according to the story.

Central Reform Congregation has played a role in previous protests over racial injustice. In 2014, the synagogue offered itself as a sanctuary for people protesting the police killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black 18-year-old, in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.

The extended protests in Ferguson represented a breakout moment for the Black Lives Matter movement. When protests erupted after an officer was acquitted of murder charges in a different case in 2017, the synagogue again offered refuge to protesters.  PJC

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JULY 17, 2020 9

Opinion Van Hollen’s gambit — EDITORIAL —

J

uly 1 has come and gone. That was the date Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set for moving ahead with Israel’s annexation of 30% of the West Bank.

Perhaps it was a ploy to rally his base. Or maybe it was perceived as an opportunity to execute on a lifelong dream, which was sidetracked by tepid support from the Trump administration. Or maybe it was something else.

But widespread concern about annexation was clear from cautionary warnings from many European governments and other friends of Israel. And, closer to home, many members of Congress expressed concern about a unilateral annexation move, and clear opposition to it. The argument is simplistic: A unilateral move of such magnitude would create a significant impediment to a negotiated resolution of the vexing Israeli-Palestinian dispute and the possible creation of a Palestinian state.

The most explosive of the responses came

We have no objection to Van Hollen and others voicing concern over policy issues.

It is the punitive aspect of the proposal that is troubling. from a group of 13 Democratic senators led by Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. The group offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would bar Israel from using U.S. military aid in “territories in the West Bank unilaterally annexed by Israel.”

The amendment, which no one expects to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, was immediately criticized by AIPAC and other centrist and right-wing Jewish organizations as going “far beyond current law in

ways that jeopardize Israel’s security.” Eight progressive pro-Israel groups supported the proposed amendment.

The amendment would not cut aid to Israel, now at $3.8 billion annually, by a single penny. Further, conditions on aid are not unusual. They are written into many U.S. aid agreements, including the existing agreement with Israel.

We agree that annexation is problematic, but we believe the Van Hollen amendment was ill-conceived. The move does not appear

to be the way friends treat one another, even when they disagree. And it seems to place the proponents in the same category as the vocal minority of congressional Democrats who seek cuts in U.S. aid to Israel. It’s also not the way seasoned politicians conduct international diplomacy.

We have no objection to Van Hollen and others voicing concern over policy issues. It is the punitive aspect of the proposal that is troubling. And these senators — including Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — crossed the line when they moved from disagreement to proposed punishment. And since the senators knew that the amendment has no chance of passing, it begs the question of why they pursued what looks like nothing more than a political stunt.

Annexation may or may not occur. We hope it doesn’t at the moment. And we welcome continuing political and policy debate on the issue. But we see no reason for Van Hollen and friends to take the issue in this new, troubling direction. PJC

In 30 years, the ADA has brought welcome changes, but there is still work to be done Guest Columnist Gerri L. Sperling

E

ver since my daughter was born on July 26, 1993, that day has had great significance for my family. We have remarked on how many in our social and family circle share that birth date. And those attending our daughter’s bat mitzvah may recall the multiple references to the Rolling Stones songs in my husband’s welcome speech at the party, since she was born on Mick Jagger’s 50th birthday.

But I did not realize until recently that a law that has had great impact on her life and mine became law exactly three years prior to the day she was born.

President George H.W. Bush signed the federal Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990. As we near the 30th anniversary of this landmark piece of bipartisan legislation, it is fitting to reflect on its accomplishments.

The ADA is a comprehensive federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in employment based upon disability and guarantees access to public accommodations to individuals with disabilities. This statute literally opened doors that had been closed for far too long.

As an attorney practicing employment law, I have seen firsthand ADA’s impact in the workplace. The ADA prohibits discrimination in employment based upon disability, which is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Clients who initially conclude that they cannot accommodate an employee with a disability have engaged in what is called the 10 JULY 17, 2020

We need to adhere to the mission and purpose of the ADA as a community and open more doors to inclusion in educational and employment opportunities and social interaction. “interactive process” with the employee to come up with what the law requires; that is, a reasonable accommodation.

An employer has the burden of showing that the proposed accommodation causes an undue hardship. I have repeatedly seen firsthand that making a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability creates a win-win situation — the employer hires or retains a willing employee, the employee has meaningful employment and the workplace is enriched by inclusion.

The ADA’s public accommodations provisions may have had an even greater societal impact than its workplace provisions. Sections II and III of the ADA require public services and private businesses and other entities to make design and construction alterations to their physical structures or other operations so that their facilities are accessible to those with disabilities. These requirements have enabled individuals with disabilities to partake in basic everyday activities that those of us without disabilities take for granted — riding a bus, going to school, banking, shopping, attending movies and arts and sporting events, and so much more.

On the whole, the Western Pennsylvania Jewish community has embraced the ADA’s mandate. Congregations have worked to ensure that their synagogues and temples are accessible. Many congregations also have implemented measures to make religious services accessible to those with hearing or visual impairments. Bar and bat mitzvah services have been adapted so that children with developmental and cognitive disabilities can experience this meaningful rite of passage.

Our Jewish community has developed organizations and programs to promote inclusion and remove stigma. Children with disabilities can attend the Jewish Community Center’s various camps. Our religious schools have generally welcomed children with disabilities. The Friendship Circle provides wonderful programming for children of all abilities in a completely inclusive environment and employs young adults with disabilities to assist with its programs. Jewish Family and Community Services offers programs that support adults with disabilities in a myriad of ways. Jewish Residential Services, the organization for which I serve

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

as president, exists to assist adults with mental health, developmental and intellectual disabilities live independently with supports through its Supportive Living and Families In Transition programs, as well as to provide vocational rehabilitation services to individuals with certain mental health disabilities through JRS’s Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse. JRS also has partnered with RespectAbility for disability and inclusion online training. And the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is currently researching disability inclusion needs and strategies for serving individuals with disabilities.

But we cannot be complacent. There is still so much work to be done. Although the ADA has accomplished so much to prohibit discrimination and promote inclusion, its mission is not fully accomplished. My daughter and I know firsthand — she has a disability that causes anxiety, sensory issues, and difficulties with social interactions. Her strengths are amazing — she is smart, funny, creative and kind. But certain doors have remained closed to her and her peers in our Jewish community and the world at large.

We need to adhere to the mission and purpose of the ADA as a community and open more doors to inclusion in educational and employment opportunities and social interaction. We need to show Mick Jagger, my daughter’s birthday buddy, that if we try, we can get what we want: a truly inclusive world where individuals are valued for their strengths and not defined by their disabilities. PJC Gerri L. Sperling practices law with the Pittsburgh firm of Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky. She is the past president of the Pace School and currently serves as president of Jewish Residential Services.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Opinion Peter Beinart to attend the Zionist Congress? I hope so.

Guest Columnist-

David Breakstone

W

hat everyone in the know now knows is that Peter Beinart, the wayward guardian of his particular strain of Zionism, has publicly renounced his support for a Jewish state.

Less known is that he was recently elected as a representative to the 38th Zionist Congress, scheduled to convene this October. Given his recent op-ed in The New York Times (“I no longer believe in a Jewish State,” July 8, 2020) advocating the undoing of Israel in order to allow for the founding of a country in which there would be “equal rights for Jews and Palestinians,” there are those calling for him to resign his seat, or to be banned from attending if he doesn’t. Personally, I look forward to his showing up.

Not that there aren’t grounds for hollering for his exclusion. Beinart secured his place as an alternate delegate running on the ticket of the Hatikvah party, a conglomeration of several progressive Zionist groups. To do so, he had to affirm his acceptance of The Jerusalem Program, as did every candidate appearing on any of the 15 slates competing in the election run by the American Zionist Movement. This, the official platform of the World Zionist Organization “views a Jewish, Zionist, democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people.” It is easily arguable that forsaking that responsibility, as Beinart has done, would oblige him – morally if not legally – to relinquish his claim to represent those who elected him.

So why would I, vehemently rejecting his position, welcome him at the Zionist Congress? Because Beinart’s arguments — as faulty, naïve, and unviable as they may be — highlight issues that are nonetheless real, serious and worrisome, and far too often disregarded. His appearance — perhaps even the specter of his presence — might

just succeed in compelling the rest of us to delve deeply into weighty matters we might otherwise be more comfortable skirting.

The essence of his contention is that his long-preferred two-state solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is no longer practical given both the demographics and the mindset of Israeli and American policy makers, bringing him to the conclusion that “the goal of equality is now more realistic than the goal of separation.” The alternative, he fears — and which he asserts Israel has all but already decided upon — is “one country that includes millions of Palestinians who lack basic rights.”

That is an eventuality he can’t reconcile himself to, nor can he accept as the Palestinian state “an archipelago of Palestinian towns, scattered across as little as 70% of the West Bank,” which, he believes, is the best that can be expected to emerge from the execution of Trump’s peace plan. Thus, he writes, “It’s time to imagine a Jewish home that is not a Jewish state.”

I’m not going to take issue here with Beinart’s declaration point by point. That’s already been done more than sufficiently by others. (See, for example, @DanielBShapiro.)

Suffice it to say that that I fervently disagree with his deduction. But that does not mean I am blind to the conundrum he has explicated, nor that I am oblivious to the consequences of what he is suggesting is already happening and what the future portends. Moreover, I humbly submit that all who do believe in Israel as a Jewish and democratic state had best take note of his concerns.

There is a field of research known as “weak signal analysis” in which those involved in predicting forthcoming trends engage. They look for signs which may be indicators of future developments that will have a significant impact on society and thus identify threats and opportunities moving forward. Signs that are generally overlooked altogether or dismissed as inconsequential, long before they become mainstream.

I believe that Beinart’s piece is one of many such signals warning us that the Zionist dream is in trouble. Who and what one blames for that is obviously critical to shaping

— LETTERS — Comparison of MLK to Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael ‘outrageous’ I am writing in response to Nathaniel Myers’ letter, “We must continue to demand justice for all,” which appeared in the June 19 issue of the Chronicle.

I was dismayed by the content of the letter. Mr. Myers aligns the peaceful protests of Martin Luther King, one of the great heroes of our nation, with the protests and philosophies of Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael — an outrageous comparison.

Malcolm X was a leader of the Nation of Islam, an organization that has been accurately accused of being anti-white, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT. Today’s leader of the Nation of Islam is Louis Farrakhan, a renowned anti-Semite who has called Jews “termites” and declared any comparisons between himself and Hitler a compliment because “Hitler was a great man.”

Stokely Carmichael, who founded SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) in the 1960s, soon tired of nonviolence and aligned himself with the Black Panthers, a violent movement that advocated murdering the police and even members of its own group who did not fully embrace its orthodoxy.

These are the men and movements Mr. Myers praises, stating Dr. King’s eloquence wouldn’t have achieved civil rights legislation without the protests and civil unrest these two men championed.

He then moves on to support for Black Lives Matter, an organization whose leaders have

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I believe that Beinart’s piece is one of many such signals warning us that the Zionist dream is in trouble. a strategy for extricating ourselves from the predicament in which we find ourselves. It is, however, irrelevant to coming to terms with the fact that the current situation in which Israel rules in one way or another over nearly 4,000,000 Arabs who do not have the right to vote for those who control much of their lives, never mind the right to self-determination, runs counter to the Zionist ethos.

And it doesn’t matter whether one swears by Herzl, Borochov, Jabotinsky or Ben Gurion.

His is also a signal that the traditional support for Israel we have long assumed to be sacred is no longer to be taken for granted. “A New Wave of Democrats Tests the Party’s Blanket Support for Israel,” read a headline in The New York Times a few months back, one of innumerable articles attesting to a fissure in the bipartisan support for the Jewish state that was once rock-solid. Intersectionality is another such signal some may have overlooked. So is the ever-growing support for a binational state and the Palestinian cause among America’s general population of young adults.

And closer to home are the several studies over the past decade that point conclusively to an alarming distancing from Israel on the part of the next generation of Jewish Americans, manifested in the phenomena

of IfNotNow and JStreet U. In case anyone missed them, Sarah Farb, an undergraduate at McGill University, shouted out the message for all to hear in an article in the Forward a few weeks ago, titled “Israel will lose my entire generation if it goes ahead with annexation,” arguing that applying Israeli sovereignty in the disputed territories “will effectively render the two-state solution impossible, meaning the lynchpin of liberal Zionism, the policy proposal that has preserved the compatibility between progressivism and support for Israel for Jews across the world, will be dislodged.”

It was, of course, Beinart who warned us exactly 10 years ago that this is where we were headed. “For several decades,” he wrote, “the Jewish establishment has asked American Jews to check their liberalism at Zionism’s door, and now, to their horror, they are finding that many young Jews have checked their Zionism instead” (from “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment,” in The New York Review of Books). He spotted back then what were “weak signals” at the time and which have since been broadcast loud and clear. Now he has become an example of what has come to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. We can ill afford to dismiss him again.

Instead, let us convene the Zionist Congress with our eyes wide open. With foresight, let us strive to read the “weak signals” all around us and engage in original thinking in pursuit of innovative policy and creative solutions. Ideally, such deliberation would influence the course of the conflict; minimally it should result in the formulation of an honest narrative that liberal Jews and supporters of Israel around the world can believe in. We will only be able to do this if we are prepared to wander outside our comfort zone. Peter Beinart has arguably left us no alternative but to do that. PJC Dr. David Breakstone is a long-standing member of the executive of the World Zionist Organization and the conceptual architect and founding director of the Herzl Museum and Educational Center in Jerusalem.

publicly said their goal is to topple our capitalist system and institute Marxism. Leaders who claim they will get their way, peacefully or if they have to burn down the country to succeed.

They are an organization that doesn’t tolerate discussion of dissent. Dare to say, “All Lives Matter,” and be shunned or worse.

This organization is cleverly hiding behind racial equality but they are as racist as the Black Panthers and as anti-Semitic as the Nation of Islam. I wish that people would accept the peaceful and unifying words and deeds of Dr. Martin Luther King and reject the intolerant and violence of Black Lives Matter. We are all important and everyone’s life matters.

Georgia Atkin O’Hara Township

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Headlines Baseball: Continued from page 3

While the physician is disappointed he won’t be able to go to Wrigley Field or PNC Park this summer, he wouldn’t want to do otherwise.

“I love baseball, but it’s still, in the end, a game,” he wrote to the Chronicle. “So much else is far more important, and how much more obvious is that in these days of COVID … I am 100% behind no fans and whatever else is needed to keep us healthy.”

Elan Sokol, also of Squirrel Hill, wonders whether the teams will even be able to make it through the season.

“On the one hand, I do miss baseball,” said Sokol, 41. “On the other hand, I feel like baseball coming back the way it is, there’s a lot of uncertainty. Is it going to survive the 60 games?

“If you would’ve hit me up a year ago before the season started, there definitely would be a lot more excitement in my voice,” he added.

“I anticipate that I’m gonna be watching a lot

better for the fans, then I’m all for it.”

The Pirates resumed training at PNC Park in advance of the team’s first game: July 24 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

With such a short season, this could be the Pirates’ moment.

“It’s like the home stretch of the regular season,” p Mike Roteman (center) with former Pirates said Roteman. “We’re still pitchers Vernon Law and Grant Jackson.

Photo courtesy of Mike Roteman in contention with two months of the season to go.”

While Sokol doesn’t know designated hitter in the National League, a runner starting on how much he’ll watch this summer, he sees second base in extra innings the return of America’s pastime as a positive.

“The world right now is a crazy place, our and a three-batter minimum for p The Bahary family at PNC park, collectively sporting a mix of Pirates and Cubs apparel. L to R: pitchers, among other changes. country is extremely polarized — maybe we Janice, Ayelet, Sigalle and Nathan.

“It’s not true baseball, but need baseball,” he said. “I hope that baseball

Photo courtesy of Nathan Bahary can somehow unite us.” PJC we’ll see,” said Roteman.

Sokol said he feels indifferent toward the rule changes, though he added, less baseball than I normally do.”

Kayla Steinberg can be reached at ksteinberg@ Baseball will look different this season: A “If they feel that it’s going to make baseball pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Holocaust: Continued from page 3

Stueber shared her family’s Holocaust narratives last month to kick off the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s summer programming. This time, the setting was not a classroom in Stueber’s Fox Chapel Area School District but video teleconferencing.

Has the repetition of the story helped ground Stueber, or made her come to terms with the gravity of the narrative?

“I don’t think ‘come to terms’ is the right term,” she said. “They have a responsibility to tell the stories until they can’t anymore.

Then, it’s my turn.”

Stueber’s is only the first of what will be several sessions hosted by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh dedicated to Holocaust survival narratives, dubbed the Generations Series. Chana Brody, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, is set to speak at 3 p.m. on July 30. Linda Hurwitz, the former director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, will speak at 3 p.m. on Aug. 13.

Providing a vehicle for these stories is only part of the Holocaust Center’s mission in summer programming in the age of COVID-19.

p Holocaust survivors Kurt Leuchter and Edith Loeb Photo provided by Debbie Stueber

“For a while now, we have known that hate groups find success with spreading their rhetoric via sophisticated use of the internet,” said Lauren Bairnsfather, the director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. “By using a digital platform of our own, we are able to directly combat hatred by making use of the same technology.

“The COVID era has brought great difficulties for so many while presenting unexpected opportunities to grow our

p CHUTZ-POW! illustration of Noor Inayat Khan

12 JULY 17, 2020

Script by Yona Harvey, artwork by Yang Zhen Lee

p Masgelier, OSE home for hidden Jewish children

programs’ impact through technology,” Bairnsfather added. “Our reach has never been larger. One example is our annual Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. When we hold a program in person, we normally see 400 attendees. This year’s digital program has been watched about 10,000 times by viewers from across the world, and that number is still going up.”

One event sure to draw a crowd online comes in the Conversations Series, which features everything from lay leaders to religious figures to educators. On July 20 at noon, artist and Holocaust Center staffer Marcel Walker will talk about the center’s CHUTZ-POW! comic book series.

The fourth volume in the CHUTZ-POW! series, whose theme is women’s stories, currently is being wrapped up and features 10 creative artists — the most employed ever for a single edition of CHUTZ-POW!, according to Walker.

“We’re always told women’s stories but we want to really focus this time,” Walker said. “And we wanted to make sure, both in

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Photo courtesy of Debbie Stueber

the subjects being worked on as well as the artists, we were as inclusive as possible.”

Walker stressed that no two sessions on CHUTZ-POW! have been the same — there’s a lot into which presenters and attendees can delve.

“Sometimes, you can learn a history of a person or people and get a comics lesson,” Walker explained. “CHUTZ-POW! serves as a nice introduction to these kinds of things — to biographies, to the Holocaust as a subject, and to history.”

CHUTZ-POW! is also very intentional in how it educates, something that a Holocaust narrative like “The Diary of Anne Frank” or Art Spiegelman’s “MAUS” can’t necessarily claim.

“None of those works were created with scholastic intent,” Walker said. “CHUTZ-POW! is designed to be read by middle and high schools kids and up, generally speaking 12-year-olds and up — that’s important to note.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Couple: Continued from page 4

different political prisms, Lou pointed out that “our shared values, in terms of living our lives and raising our children are spot on.”

“Spot on,” Amy agreed.

The pair’s divergent opinions don’t travel far outside of the political arena, although Amy is quick to state that Lou is “a little conservative” with his clothing choices.

“He wears a lot of Brooks Brothers button down Oxford shirts,” she noted. “That’s a sign of something I should have seen early on.”

“I take pride in being clothed by the same company that made the inaugural coat for Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president,” Lou explained.

The couple has four daughters: former New York Times op-ed staff editor and

writer, Bari; Casey, a teacher at Colfax Elementary and Middle School; Molly, who works with Amy in the family’s carpet business, Weisslines; and Suzy, a reporter at the New York Post. Amy pointed out that Molly “was recently married in a COVID wedding in our backyard with 13 guests.”

Judaism provided a baseline for the family, both in politics and their personal life, even if they see it through different perspectives.

“It really affects my views,” Lou stated. “The policies many liberal Jews acquiesce to for the general

p Lou wrote in his wife’s name rather than vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election.

Photo provided by Lou Weiss

public are things they would never abide by in their own homes.”

As an example, he cites Maimonides’s ladder of Tzedakah. “The number one highest thing you can do for someone is give them a job. So, Trump might not be so great, but the economy is growing.

He’s giving people jobs.

That’s the number one form of charity. That’s more important to me than increasing welfare benefits.”

Amy cites Jewish beliefs including “that which is hateful to you, do not do to another,” as foundational.

“I hear a lot of Republicans

talking loudly about what’s wrong, but I don’t see them coming up with solutions that are doable.”

“I remember calling my mother and telling her, ‘Thank you for raising me in an incredibly Jewish household, even if it was never identified as such,’” Lou said. “We never had Shabbat dinner, went to shul a few times a year, but we were taught to judge people generously, a Jewish idea; to take people as they come, a Jewish idea; love for the stranger, mentioned in the Torah 36 times.

All these things we were both raised with even though they weren’t identified as Jewish ideas, but they absolutely are. Our country and our founding documents are suffused with Jewish ideas. It’s a very Jewish country whether people know it or not.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

p Jimmy Goldman, right, and Sherree Hall, second to right, at the 1994 JCC Indoor Triathlon Photo courtesy of Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives

p Susie Goldman

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Goldman

Goldmans: Continued from page 5

What she’s discovered is that as difficult as it’s been to train with no formal events in sight, motivation has appeared in the most unlikely places.

“There’s a family who lives on Tennyson Avenue, and once the quarantine started they had bears and would put them out in different costumes every day. That got me out. I would go walk to Tennyson and see the bears, then take a picture, send it to our grandchildren, and then I’d walk into Schenley Park down by the pond. That was pleasant,” said Susie.

Between getting on her feet for bear

sightings, hopping onto a seat to bike with her husband and dipping into the recently reopened pool at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, Susie is almost back to her regular routine.

“The only thing I’m missing is lifting weights. I just can’t motivate myself to do that alone,” she said.

Jimmy hasn’t yet returned to the JCC, but speaks fondly of the venue and its staff.

As an architect and sports facility consultant, Jimmy has spent decades designing and constructing recreation and wellness centers for public and private use, including Pittsburgh’s JCC. Having worked with high schools, universities, townships and private centers, each client is different, he explained: “Even

though they might seem like they’d be the same, I don’t have any clients that are identical. They all want to run and swim and bike, lift weights, do all that stuff, but the venues are all totally different.”

Ranging in size and location, some spaces have indoor running tracks, others have climbing walls, diving boards or swimming areas with zero-depth entries.

Jimmy said that his own interest in competitive athletics has aided his career, as he understands what users desire from a facility.

With that in mind, he added, certain venues stick out, such as the competitive swimming pool at Carnegie Mellon University, the Scott Township Pool and Pittsburgh’s JCC, all of which he helped design.

Jimmy’s contributions to the JCC extend beyond pen and paper, explained Sherree Hall, the center’s senior director of facilities and wellness.

Years ago, Jimmy founded the JCC Indoor Triathlon, a one-day event, where depending on age, participants complete a 250-500 yard swim, 2-4 mile bike ride and a 1-2 mile run.

“Jimmy was the driving force behind it,” said Hall. “He has always been a partner, recruiter, participant and award presenter.”

In fact, at last year’s event, he and Susie were award recipients, as each Goldman won their age group.

Jimmy said he looks forward to returning to the JCC soon, and until then will continue cycling and performing at-home workouts, like climbing eight flights of stairs three times a day inside his and Susie’s Oakland apartment building.

For her part, Susie is headed out to the pool. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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JULY 17, 2020 13

Life & Culture Zoom tours to Israel transport visitors from the comfort of home is its suite of topics, its leader, Blackman, and its intention — it specifically targets people preparing to go to Israel in the next couple of years, including P i t t s b u r g h’s Momentum particp Jonty Blackman Photo courtesy ipants and those of Jonty Blackman planning to join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Mega Mission slated for June 2022.

Each month for the next 10 months, Blackman will give a presentation centered around a theme and a location or multiple locations. The first session, held on July 13, focused on the Six Day War and liberating Jerusalem.

Blackman, who serves as a freelance educator for CWB, brings the Jewish knowledge he gained in the process of becoming a rabbi to his tours, teaching the Jewish story with his own experiences and learning in mind.

But while he folds his personal memories and photos into the narrative, Blackman aims to tell Israel’s story from a broader perspective and give participants a sense of the history and geography.

“What I try to do with history is bring

— TRAVEL —

By Kayla Steinberg | Staff Writer

R

abbi Jonty Blackman hopes people will leave his tours with an understanding that the Jewish people’s return to its homeland is not a simple story.

He has been doing this work for a while: The full-time tour guide led some of the first Birthright trips, Classrooms Without Borders’ tours to Poland and Momentum trips to Israel, among others. But now, as Blackman put it, “tourism is dead.”

The Pittsburgh-area Momentum trip, organized by Classrooms Without Borders and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, has been rescheduled from October 2020 to October 2021. Tailored for mothers with at least one child younger than 18 who is being raised Jewish, the Momentum trip is one of many tours to Israel postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For the foreseeable future, Israel is refusing entry to non-citizens or non-residents. As a response, organizations around the world, including Classrooms Without Borders, are offering virtual tours to deepen people’s connections with the Jewish state despite present geographic hurdles.

But what sets CWB’s virtual tours apart

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history alive and allow people to try to understand what was happening on the human drama level,” said Blackman.

“I believe I know how to tell a story, and so I lead my groups on a journey of time and space, step by step, joining the dots as I go, so that they can enjoy the thrill of discovery,” he wrote to the Chronicle.

Sometimes, during his tours — including those on Zoom — he’ll pause to give participants a moment to think and discover for themselves.

The virtual tours aren’t a perfect substitute for a trip to Israel. Physically being in Israel facilitates connection in a different way from Zoom. And participants cannot ask questions or talk to each other in intimate conversations — on the Zoom calls, the Q&A is a collective effort.

The virtual tours aren’t intended to replace a trip to Israel, but rather to complement future visits. “[It’s] an opportunity to bring the country to their living rooms and teach them the history, the space, the stories,” said CWB Founder and Executive Director Tsipy Gur. “So when they get there, it will be familiar — they’ll connect with the land and the people.

God willing, when the corona is over, they will go, but they will be more prepared.”

Blackman sees added benefits with virtual tours. “You’re not bound by geography

anymore,” he said. “So you’re able to weave a theme together that doesn’t necessarily have to be going from place to place the way you can drive within a half an hour or an hour.”

The virtual tours can lift participants out of their present realities and into another, even if just for an hour or two.

“Many of us are lost and hurting and trying to deal with our situation,” said Blackman.

“And being able to focus on something that is bigger than just the story of what the here and now is, is a big deal. Being able to use technology for something positive is very meaningful.

“The same [way] that TV shows and movies and videos are able to connect us to something bigger than ourselves and reading books is able to transport us to a different world even though we’re not moving, I think that that’s what the virtual tours can do,” he added. “It can transport us to a different time and space without us leaving our chairs, without us leaving our screens. And if it’s done well, it can so transport us emotionally to be connected to the place that we’re talking about.”

The next virtual tour, held August 10 at 7 p.m. EST, will explore the history of the Golan Heights. PJC Kayla Steinberg can be reached at ksteinberg@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Life & Culture A portrait of the artist: Raphael Eisenberg — ART —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff writer

W

hile walking to synagogue for morning services one day, Raphael Eisenberg observed a striking woman waiting for the bus. The following morning, again en route to prayer, Eisenberg saw her again standing on the corner of Phillips and Shady avenues. “She has a very interesting characterization,� said Eisenberg, an artist and Squirrel Hill resident.

In the days that followed, Eisenberg continued to notice her on his way to shul.

Eventually, he asked the woman, whose name was Alani, if she would pose for a portrait. “She found it interesting enough to get back to me,� he said.

After several sittings, Eisenberg rendered his subject’s dark eyes, pronounced brows and emotive features on a 24�x 30� canvas.

The 2019 oil painting, titled “Alani,� followed a process Eisenberg, 75, has utilized for decades: observe, request and produce. “I’m always on the lookout for interesting subjects,� he said.

Eisenberg has painted store clerks, bank tellers, subway riders, even fellow eaters at J Cafe, the kosher senior lunch program at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

p “Self-portrait,� oil on canvas

p “Alani,� oil on canvas

Photos courtesy of Raphael Eisenberg

“I try not to be shy because if so, you just don’t get the people that you need,� he said.

Eisenberg was drawn to portrait making as a child. He grew up in the Bronx, New York, and at the age of 6, he completed a profile of his father with pencil. The artist later returned to the subject and drew his

father’s image with charcoal. Eventually, Eisenberg completed a clay, and ultimately bronze, full-size bust of his father’s head.

As a teenager, Eisenberg spent evenings and summers at the venerated Art Students League of New York, learning from legendary instructor Frank J. Reilly, before

completing the BFA program at Cooper Union.

Tutelage and time generated an evolution in style. At first, Eisenberg painted “very literally,� he said. “The way that I was trained was an academic approach. Since then, I have looked and searched and found that there are other things that I want to put into my paintings — things that are not just a literal interpretation, but the sense of the person.� People carry with them more than their physical features — “a whole embodiment of spirit,� he said. “Nowadays, I like to try and capture that.�

While he is hesitant to describe his work as evolving from realism to expressionism, he is confident that he has made artistic advancement in one particular subject to which he frequently returns: himself.

Having painted numerous self-portraits during the last 40 years, Eisenberg said he “can follow the aging process. I painted myself in my 20s and I look a lot different now. You look at yourself and you see an old man.�

Please see Eisenberg, page 20

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JULY 17, 2020 17

Torah Time to pause, reflect and move forward

CS R

Rabbi Chuck Diamond Parshat Matot-Masei Numbers 30:2-36:13

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he last few months have provided us with an opportunity to pause and to reflect on our life’s journey. The pandemic has given some of us more time to spend with our families and some of us less time. Simple things we have all taken for granted have been taken from us, other things that we have neglected have been added back to our daily routine.

camp, the purpose was always to reach a fresh goal. Each journey was a progress toward a goal. As Twerski says, “A person who has a purpose and goal in life will pause every now and then to assess how much they have accomplished toward reaching their objective.”

I have been blessed that my journey at Camp Ramah which started in the summer of 1975 has been so enriching and fulfilling.

As I pause this summer and realize how much I miss it, I think back to 45 summers of memories. I can close my eyes and feel the sunshine and the cool breeze off the lake.

“A person who has a purpose and goal in life will pause every now and then to assess how much they have accomplished toward reaching their objective.”

Parshat Matot-Masei are summer parshiot.

If it were not for the pandemic, I would be at Camp Ramah in Canada enjoying my 46th straight experience there. What a long and rewarding journey it has been.

Parshat Masei recounts the journeys of the children of Israel. Rabbi Abraham Twerski teaches us that “enumeration of the journeys and encampments was to review all that had transpired during the 40 years in the desert.” The Midrash imagines God telling Moses: “Write down all the places through which Israel journeyed that they may recall the miracles I wrought for them.” Forty-two stops, one after the other after the other.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch teaches us that when God made the Israelites break

Most importantly, I recall and appreciate how wonderful it is to be immersed in an observant Jewish community surrounded by the energy of young people, their idealism, their ruach.

Soon to be 65, I can also ponder my future, my goals and objectives for the future. Those of us who have a purpose and a goal in life will use this time as a gift to pause — to remind ourselves that which makes us special, and if we need, to rekindle our purpose and our place for our future journeys.

Stay safe, be strong.

And Shabbat Shalom. PJC Rabbi Chuck Diamond is rabbi of Kehillah La La.

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Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Annual Meeting The 2020 annual meeting of the JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH will occur Thursday, Aug. 27, 5–5:45 p.m. The meeting will be a free webinar. For information, call 412-992-5251. Link to the meeting supplied following registration.

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Obituaries FAKIRO: Herzel Fakiro, on April 29, 2020, in Jerusalem, Israel. Husband of the late Betty J. Fakiro; father of Michele (Rob) Rosenberg; proud Saba of Samantha; son of the late Moshe Zadok and Marcel Fakiro; brother of Tikva Natan, Uri, Gavriel and Itzik Fakiro, Rachel Leff and the late Yaacov Fakiro. All arrangements took place in Jerusalem.

GREEN: Marjorie Green, 93, of Washington, wife of the late Lewis Green, passed away Saturday, July 11, 2020. She was the daughter of Samuel A. and Lillian Weiner Meyer. She was a graduate of East Washington High School and went on to study at Stevens College and UCLA. She was a former substitute teacher at Trinity High School, Washington High School and McGuffey High School. She was on the board of the Citizens Library of Washington, and active in the League of Women Voters, University Women and several book clubs. She was a pilot and flew single engine airplanes. She was also active in the Beth Israel Congregation, Hadassah and the Wellness Center.

Surviving are two sons, Dr. Tom Green, DMD, of Washington and Jeffrey Green, JD, of Arlington, Virginia. All services will be private and have been entrusted to Piatt and Barnhill Funeral Directors, Inc. Memorial

contributions may be directed to the charity of choice. Piatt and Barnhill Funeral Directors, Inc., Charles R. Piatt, owner/ supervisor, Dr. Lawrence K. Donovan, director, and Andrew C. Piatt, director.

POEL: Dr. Elissa Wolfe Poel sadly passed away on June 18, 2020, after a lengthy battle with cancer. She grew up in Pittsburgh, the daughter of Carolyn and Dr. Joseph Wolfe. Elissa embraced every day of her beautiful life, making everyone she touched feel like they were the most special person in the world.

She leaves behind many cherished family members and friends, including her husband, Marty, two sons, Kevin and Matt, their wives and five beautiful grandchildren who were “her life.” She was the big sister to Diane Wolfe Kukic (Jim) and Eric Wolfe of Pittsburgh.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, was her home for the last 45 years. She had her doctorate in special education and taught at New Mexico State University until her retirement just a few years ago. She loved to travel and be a good Jewish mom and friend to many.

She was incredibly creative and organized and will be sadly missed. Donations may be made to NMCancerctr.org. PJC

Steelers Zach Banner and Cameron Heyward speak out against anti-Semitism in wake of DeSean Jackson controversy

W

hile many other NFL players have remained silent following the recent anti-Semitic comments of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, DeSean Jackson, Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Zach Banner spoke out on July 8 in support of the Jewish community. Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward did the same on July 9.

Banner posted a video on Instagram in which he said he hoped would help educate others — like Jackson — who might have misconceptions about Jews.

Banner acknowledged “a common misbelief that among Black and brown people — and I know this from growing up and I’ve heard it and I’ve listened to it — that Jewish people are just like any other white race. You mix them up with the rest of the majority and you don’t understand that they are a minority as well.”

In recalling the 2018 massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue building, Banner got visibly choked up.

“We need to understand that Jewish people deal with the same amount of hate and similar hardships and hard times,” Banner said. “I want to preach to the Black and brown community that we need to uplift them and put our arms around them just as much when we talk about Black Lives Matter and talk about elevating ourselves.

“We can’t do that while stepping on the backs of other people to elevate ourselves.”

In a pair of July 9 tweets, Heyward wrote: “Black lives matter and there is growth that needs to take place. As we strive to break PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

these injustices let’s not put down other religions, cultures, and races along the way.

The way I see it Desean was wrong. There are many people from Jewish community that I care about.

“The tree of life shooting was a reminder of the ignorance and injustice,” Heyward wrote in a second tweet. “All we can ask for is an apology and actions behind the change.

Time for growth.”

Jackson has apologized for posting anti-Semitic comments on social media attributed to Adolf Hitler, including that Jews “will blackmail America.” His comments were condemned by the Eagles. Team owner Jeffrey Lurie and General Manager Howie Roseman are Jewish.

Jackson has since accepted an invitation to visit Auschwitz together with Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg, 94, from New Jersey.

The visit has yet to be scheduled as there is currently a travel ban preventing Americans from entering Europe because of COVID-19. Jackson also has been invited to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Julian Edelman, the Jewish New England Patriots receiver who frequently speaks out against anti-Semitism. Edelman said he would also accompany Jackson to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Both Washington, D.C., museums are currently closed because of the pandemic. PJC

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

In memory of …

Anonymous .................................................................. Albert Levine Anonymous ...................................................................... Jean Serbin Annette Alper .................................................................Sam Weiner Reggie Bardin .................................................................Lillian Wells Ellen Blum ...................................................................Patty Danovitz Thelma Cohn....................................................................Eva Ulanoff Thelma Cohn.................................................Joan Elise Ratowsky Sylvia and Norman Elias...............................Alvin J. Moldovan Sylvia and Norman Elias.............................................. Annie Brill Anonymous ................................................................. Pearl Berdyck Edward M. Goldston .............................................. Max Goldston Irwin Goldston ..................................................Dorothy Goldstein Gloria Greenfield ...................................... David Lee Greenfield Ruth Haber ..................................................................... Simon Miller Amy R. Kamin ............................................................Samuel Honig Elaine & Carl Krasik............................................... Samuel Krasik Elaine Levine ............................................................Eva Ruth Emas

A gift from …

In memory of …

Ida Jean McCormley .............................................. Jennie Herron Susan Melnick ..................................................Samuel Natterson Sanford Middleman.......................................Morris Middleman Janet & Don Moritz ......................................... Maurice L. Moritz Toby Perilman ..................................................Gertrude Stalinsky Mr. & Mrs. Joel Platt.....................................................Robert Platt Harvey L. Rice ..................................................................Rhea Mark Harvey L. Rice ..............................................................Hannah Rice Marc and Eileen Rice.................................Hannah Lillian Rice Marc and Eileen Rice....................................................Rhea Mark Judy & Joel Safier..................................................... Alice D. Safier Yetta Speiser.......................................................................Clara Blatt Mrs. Edris Weis ............................................................ Dora Shaffer Mrs. Edris Weis .........................................Mildred Tannenbaum Mrs. Brenda Winsberg ......................................Harry Winsberg Ruth Zytnick .............................................................Frances Rosen

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday July 19: Ella Amper, Marian S. Beck, Samuel H. Bigler, Tillie Dentel, Harry Louis Diamond, Sidney Elinow, Celia M. Elovitz, Meyer Feldman, Theresa Fried, Fannie Gross, Jacob M. Hepner, Helene Rose Hyman, Harry Latterman, Samuel Lederman, Benjamin Love, L. J. Marks, Tillie Michaelson, Philip Recht, Samuel Sanford Rosen, Celia Schlesinger, Louis Shapira, Nathan Sniderman, Rose Stern, Frank Sussman, Frank Sussman Monday July 20: Yetta Burke, Anna Goldberg Cody, David M. Fineman, Sigmund Fleisher, Sylvia Goldstein, Edith Lena Kaplan, Joseph Konigsberg, Helen N. Lehman, Harold Levy, Rose Liberman, Sylvia Weiner Markovitz, Theodore Marks, Samuel Recht, Sam Rosen, Sarah Rosenthal, Abraham Saffran, Mollie Slutsky, Isadore Sobel, Freda Tauberg, Bertha Harris Wolf Tuesday July 21: Dr. Nathan Ashinsky, Sarah L. Blumenthal, Samuel J. Cramer, Rae R. Granowitz, Leon Robert Greenberg, Tiby M. Grinberg, Louis Kitman, Milton Myer, Fannie Dvinsky Pollock, Jacob Stein, Alexander Udman, Joseph H. Wells, Rebecca Siegel Wilner, Mildred Marlin Wolovitz Wednesday July 22: Leonard Barmak, Yolana Berger, Saul Cazen, Ben W. Closky, Celia Cohen, Rose Freed, Mildred Mitzie Gold”, Max Goldston, Jacob Herring, Max Levenson, Jacob Liberman, Harry Louik, Abram Morgan, Essie Rogalsky Rosenfield, Samuel Ruben, Hannah Rubenson, Sidney Schwartz, Ben Shapiro, Sarah Shapiro, Wilma Shlakman, Ida Shoag, Frances Siegman, Eva Simon, Abraham B. Slesnick, Edward Irving Stein, Jack Wolf Thursday July 23: Louis Gerson, Ruth Wein Gordon Herskovitz, Samuel Honig, Samuel Kamin, Benjamin Lebby, Fay Levin, Charles Gershen Lisowitz, Florence B. Perilman, Margaret Racusin, Sarah Rosenberg, Manuel Siniakin, Samuel Nathan Unger, Marcus D. Wedner, Louis M. Witkin, Meyer Zarkin Friday July 24: Frank Burnstein, Matel Cooper, Rae Danovitz, Charles Goldberg, Louis Harris, Mollie Lappin, Anna Levenson, Harry Levine, Nathan Lewis, Harry W. Liebman, Sol Rosenblum, Ruth Rebecca Sherman, Elizabeth Young Saturday July 24: Samuel Fargotstein, Hilda Goldstein, David Lee Greenfield, Martin M. Kramer, Jessie W. Levenson, Ruth Grinberg Lincoff, Dorothy S. Pollock, William S. Winer

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JULY 17, 2020 19

Headlines Eisenberg: Continued from page 15

Eisenberg aims to create art that is “dynamic,” he said. “Since I was a student in school, I wanted my picture, if it was in a room, to be the only thing that grabs you.”

For that reason, Eisenberg often uses heavy brushwork and boldly colored backgrounds. It’s a means of demonstrating feeling, he explained: “When you encounter someone there are a lot of emotions, and it’s hard to get all of those emotions activated.”

Utilizing vibrant colors in dress or scenery, or depicting an unrelenting stare from a subject’s eyes, call to mind the ideas of late American painter Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847-1917), according to Eisenberg.

Said Ryder: “What avails a storm cloud accurate in form and color if the storm is not therein?”

Ryder’s point, Eisenberg said, was “what good is it if you get the clouds just right and you miss the thunder. You want to get some of the power of what it is to be alive and looking and seeing things.” Even though you cannot “put thunder in your painting, you have to put so much power into it that you

can almost hear the thunder.”

Following that philosophy, Eisenberg is rarely worried that his subjects won’t appreciate their likeness. And, more often than not, “they are not commissioning the portrait. I paint it exactly the way I want it. It’s not their painting. They don’t have to pay for it. I do it the way that I want it to come out.”

After all, a portrait’s success isn’t judged by liquidity, he continued. “What guides my work is not what will sell. I’ve always been guided by what inspires and what will help me create a meaningful work of art.”

Having painted for nearly 60 years, Eisenberg said he’s had his share of success.

In 1977, his Brooklyn Museum curated exhibition, “Chassidic Artists in Brooklyn,” attracted nearly 10,000 people. Yet Eisenberg has not felt as welcome by the Pittsburgh artistic community. After moving here four years ago to be closer to his son and grandchildren, the artist still hasn’t found space in the local scene.

“The art world seems very contracted compared to New York,” he said. “There are very few opportunities to exhibit here. The few things that are here you have to be part of the in-crowd and have personal connections. I’ve found it very difficult.”

 “Rebbe,” a portrait of the Ziderchover Rebbe, oil on canvas Photo courtesy of Raphael Eisenberg

Eisenberg noted he’s shown several paintings at the Carnegie Library, but hasn’t attracted the interest of local gallerists. He has been told his work would fail to attract potential collectors because “people don’t buy portraits of other people,” Eisenberg noted.

But “go to any museum,” he said. “Most of what you see is portraits. That’s what artists

have been painting for millennia. Look at Rembrandt. Most of his work is portraits.

El Greco, Goya, even Warhol, he had a whole series of portraits.”

The situation is frustrating, but not paralyzing, so Eisenberg continues his process of observation, request and production.

“There’s an excitement of encountering somebody,” he said, “and there are things, concepts — it’s very hard to put in words what it is that I find interesting — people who exude a certain spirituality or sense of self.

They don’t have to be pretty or handsome or attractive people,” but they must agree to a live sitting. “I only paint directly from the subject. I only paint from observation.”

A single session may take up to six hours, but most are divided into three 90-minute periods.

“I like to paint and to keep my focus on actually seeing things,” because by doing so “if you create something that comes from deep within you, if it’s successful, it will communicate and other people can relate to it and empathize with it, and it will touch them in some meaningful way.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Community A tov mask

What’s new at the JAA t Barb Feige, executive director of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, wears a face mask with the Hebrew words “pikuach nefesh,” which means “saving a life.”

Photo by Sandy Riemer

Summer fun at J&R Campers at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s James & Rachel Levinson Day Camp continued a summer filled with fun. t Giving a thumbs up for Israel

p Betty gets a graduation visit from grandson Stephen.

p Physical therapist Alena Esposito, foreground, works with a client.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Association on Aging

p Making paper cut-outs Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Upstanding together

Dialogue to make a difference

p The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh continued its summer conversation series on July 6 with, clockwise from top left, Holocaust Center Director Lauren Bairnsfather; Jessie Ramey, founding director of the Women’s Institute at Chatham University and associate professor of women’s and gender studies; and Amanda Neatrour, interim director of the Women’s Leadership and Mentorship Program at Robert Morris University.

Photo courtesy of Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Volunteers of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Center for Loving Kindness participated in an UPstander Opportunity at East End Cooperative Ministry on July 8. The program, which is part of CLK’s Connecting Communities initiative, enabled volunteers to box food orders, organize the food pantry storage room, prepare food, garden and weed.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

JULY 17, 2020 21

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AUGUST 27

THURSDAY 5–5:45 P.M.

CO M M U N I T Y S T R E N G T H I N A T I M E O F C R I S I S

JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER PITTSBURGH 2020 ANNUAL MEETING A FREE WEBINAR TO REPORT: The Federation’s activities 2019–20, including pandemic response How the pandemic contributes to growing concerns about community safety GUEST SPEAKER

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2020 RECIPIENTS OF OUR COMMUNITY’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS: MERYL KIRSHNER AINSMAN

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Emanuel Spector Memorial Award

Doris & Leonard H. Rudolph Jewish Communal Professional Award

Full inclusion of all abilities is a core value of the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Call 412-992-5251 to discuss needs.

Audio hotline of upcoming events: 412-930-0590.

The annual meeting is underwritten by a grant from the Lillian & Dr. Henry J. Goldstein Annual Meeting Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation.

DETAILS & REGISTRATION: jewishpgh.org/annual-meeting or call 412-992-5251 Thank You to Our Diamond-Level Corporate Sponsor:

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JULY 17, 2020 23

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