July 24, 2020 | 3 Av 5780
Candlelighting 8:24 p.m. | Havdalah 9:28 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 30 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Studying Community: ‘Immersed’ in Jewish life
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Jewish day schools make plans for reopening By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
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Preparing to rebuild Page 2
LOCAL Steelers’ Zach Banner speaks out
The Dvorin family — (clockwise from top left) David, Sam, Lisa, Zoe and Ian — would be characterized as “immersed” by the Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study based on their engagement. Photo by Dmitriy Babichenko
Teaming up against hate
at Brandeis University. Those Jews who fall into the study’s “immersed” category are isa Dvorin’s son, Sam, began wearing highly engaged in all aspects of Jewish life, a kippah full time in January 2017. including family holiday celebrations, ritual practices, personal activities and For the South Hills teen, communal activities. the physical act of wearing the headpiece helps him feel more While the study does not This is the eighth engaged with his Jewish identity define precisely what “engagein a 10-part series, exploring the and serves as a visual represenment” means, it does categorize data of the 2017 tation of his belief system. Pittsburgh’s Jewish community into Greater Pittsburgh “It was in large part because five overarching patterns of Jewish Jewish Community of the growing hate crimes, hate behavior based on responses Study through the rhetoric and anti-Semitism,” to a broad range of questions. people it represents. explained Lisa Dvorin. “He had Those categories are: “immersed”, an epiphany and realized, ‘I’m “connected,” “involved,” “holiday” a minority that no one would and “minimally involved.” realize is a minority,’ so he started wearing it Raimy Rubin, the Federation’s manager of full time. In the South Hills, I can’t remember impact measurement, likes to use these terms seeing anyone wear a kippah outside of a when discussing Jewish engagement because synagogue setting, but he does.” they are “based on behaviors and attitudes” The Dvorins are among the 16% of Jewish rather than beliefs or self-identification. Using Pittsburghers who are “immersed” in Jewish these terms allows the discussion of engagelife, as defined by the 2017 Pittsburgh ment to include “a lot more detail than we had Jewish Community Study, commissioned in the past,” Rubin explained. by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and conducted by researchers Please see Study, page 14
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
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LOCAL ‘The Conflict over the Conflict’
An interview with Ken Stern Page 8
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eaders from the area’s three Jewish day schools are gearing up for the start of a new year, but if the past four months have offered any lesson, it’s that the unpredictable should largely be expected. Community Day School is scheduled to begin Aug. 25. The intention, according to Head of School Avi Baran Munro, is to be on campus from day one with a full virtual option for families who elect it. In order to bring students and staff safely back, task forces dedicated to campus reopening, as well as academic continuity, social and emotional well-being and financial and business strategies, have met weekly by video conference since early June. Smaller working groups also have met “on a daily basis as projects demand, largely through online meetings or on campus as needed while maintaining social distancing and wearing face coverings,” said Munro. Members of the task forces and working groups have partnered with medical, governmental and educational experts, including the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to determine best practices and to help shape Community Day School’s reopening plan. That plan, a 23-page document titled “Kadima” (Hebrew for “forward” or “let’s go”), covers response trees, staff training, hygiene, masks and face coverings, meals, sports, arrival and dismissal as well as other aspects of school life. The plan was shared with parents on July 15. One challenge in developing a comprehensive plan is that “no one knows with certainty what the fall will bring in terms of this pandemic,” noted Munro. “We continue to monitor local conditions carefully and plan for different scenarios.” While the state and CDC guidelines “for K-12 schools have been largely consistent Please see Schools, page 20
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