Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 8-21-20 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

August 21, 2020 | 1 Elul 5780

Candlelighting 7:50 p.m. | Havdalah 8:49 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 34 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Changes at Yeshiva Schools include new CEO, Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Religious schools adapt

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Experts: Mental health issues may be a concern for teens as they head back to school

Jewish education in the age of COVID-19 Page 2

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

LOCAL

Stanley Savage, downtown rabbi

principal of the Yeshiva Boys School for 25 years, and was educational director and head of Yeshiva Schools for the past five years. “My passion and my experience is education — Jewish education, general education. I think it’s going to be helpful moving forward to have an educator telling our story,” Rosenblum told the Chronicle. “I see myself as sharing our school’s story. I think that’s one thing parents can look forward to.” “Right now, I am focused on doing what I can and making a difference,” he added. In addition to Rosenblum’s role as CEO, Yeshiva Schools announced new roles and expanded responsibilities for other team members. They include: Dr. Chaim Oster, who previously served as a member of the board of directors and has accepted the role as president of the board of directors; and

he uncertainty of a new school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic — combined with more typical worries like peer pressure and parental expectations — pose an increased risk for stress and depression among teens, according to local mental health experts. “What is causing teens to experience added stress is what they’re hearing from their parents, what they’re hearing from their friends,” explained Dr. Bruce S. Rabin, an expert on the effects of stress on the human body. “What’s causing stress is the unknown.” Confusion over whether they will be physically attending school or if classes will be virtual, hearing their parents voice fear and concern about how their own lives have changed during the pandemic, and being bombarded by the media with bad news are all stressors through which teens are navigating, Rabin said. Parents are receiving conflicting information from newspapers and other sources, noted Rabin, an emeritus professor at the University of Pittsburgh. “So, what can they tell their children?” A parent’s reaction to information can contribute or alleviate stress felt by teens, he added. “There are teenagers who were raised in home conditions where the parents had great coping skills and always communicated with kids, and there are homes where the parents had a lot of anger and told the kids, ‘Don’t trust anybody.’” Parents should be consistent in how they interact with their kids, Rabin advised. “They must be kind; they must explain

Please see Yeshiva, page 14

Please see Teens, page 14

Living alone in Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Page 3

COMEDY ‘Sing a New Light’

 Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Y Comedian Ophira Eisenberg Zooms into Pittsburgh Page 16

eshiva Schools of Pittsburgh is about to get a new leader. The school’s board voted unanimously to appoint Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum as the school’s new CEO, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld, who has led Yeshiva Schools for more than 40 years and will continue to serve the Chabad community as the head shaliach of western Pennsylvania and the rabbi of the Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh. Rosenblum, 55, of Squirrel Hill, grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Yeshiva Schools before becoming part of the staff some 32 years ago. His work includes professional development with teachers, student engagement and training within and outside Chabad, including at more than 50 Jewish day schools nationwide. He served as

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Headlines Supplemental religious schools adapt to meet challenges of pandemic — LOCAL — By David Rullo | Staff Writer

ittsburgh-area religious schools and b’nai mitzvah tutoring services are going to look different this year as area educators make accommodations to safely navigate the coronavirus crisis. “We’re doing our best to make sure it’s accessible in a healthy way,” explained Rabbi Larry Freedman, director of the Joint Jewish Education Program, a partnership between Congregation Beth Shalom and Rodef Shalom Congregation for students in kindergarten through seventh grade. Due to the pandemic, J-JEP plans to begin this school year virtually with an eye to reenter physical classrooms Oct. 25, according to Freedman. J-JEP offers after-school Hebrew lessons and Judaic instruction as well as Sunday school. In preparation for the new school year, J-JEP switched to a new curriculum, Shalom Learning, used by 100 schools in the country. The curriculum is designed to be used in the classroom and online, Freedman said, and allows J-JEP to “pivot back and forth more nimbly.” Beth El Congregation of the South Hills also has invested in a new online curriculum, according to its director of education, Rabbi Amy Greenbaum. The DVASH Hebrew system the school uses also is being transitioned into its online offerings. The Conservative congregation’s religious school launched its virtual education program last spring, when the pandemic first forced quarantine. “It went very well,” Greenbaum

p Supplemental religious school will look different this year. Here, fourth-graders learn the basics of havruta learning at J-JEP in 2017. Photo courtesy of J-JEP

said, “but we’re going to make it even better.” Beth El’s instruction will include both Judaics and Hebrew and will feature one-on-one sessions with teachers who will meet virtually with students for between 20 to 30 minutes. Greenbaum also plans to have madrichim — high school students trained to help teach — meet with students for an additional session of 15 to 20 minutes. Temple Emanuel of South Hills also will incorporate madrichim into its online courses this year. “They’ll help with teaching, they’ll help in the breakout rooms,” explained Rabbi Jessica Locketz, Temple Emanuel’s director of education. “We’re also considering having madrichim be our techies and help run a

Zoom classroom or help run some of the games like Kahoot! or Quizlet.” The Reform congregation does not yet know when it will return to in-person learning and, at least for now, will continue the type of programming it offered last spring. That includes “shorter class periods with more intentional planning to make sure we are not only offering content but we’re also providing opportunities for connection and creativity,” Locketz said. Temple Ohav Shalom plans to “do a oncea-month socially distanced program” in addition to meeting virtually, according to Rabbi Jeremy Weisblatt. The North Hills congregation uses Zoom and Ji Tap which, Weisblatt explained, allows

the temple to put its curriculum online and “interact with our children in closer and more interactive and engaging ways.” Ohav Shalom plans to offer more personalized learning opportunities, and will realign its traditional 90-minute Hebrew classes to include smaller groups with more individual instructions. Congregation Dor Hadash is expecting 25 to 30 students to enroll in its religious school this year, said principal Karen Morris. The school year will begin online. The Reconstructionist congregation, housed at Rodef Shalom, will offer Judaics and Hebrew, as well as instruction about holidays and prayers, through Zoom. While the pandemic has forced classes to move online, Morris said parents are clear “they do not want that vision for the future.” Unlike the Pittsburgh area Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist congregations, religious education will continue in person at the various Chabad centers. “As long as the Jewish day schools are open, then we’re going to meet in person, obviously with social distancing and masks,” explained Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Rabbi Yisroel Altein. “We know that children will do much better when they’re in person.” “We’re attempting to approach it the way we approach shul,” Chabad of the South Hills Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum said, “although even more careful.” Rosenblum’s program will offer limited, in-person experiences for students. “These are not easy times to prepare for,” he said. “We definitely have some parents who want some type of in-person — at least minimal — in-person participation. Many Please see Supplemental, page 15

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Headlines Downtown rabbi weathers pandemic with a little help from his friends — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

“F

ive people with split personalities came to shul this morning,” deadpanned Rabbi Stanley Savage. “Does that count as a whole minyan?” Savage, 71, has spent the past 35 years as the spiritual leader of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob, colloquially referred to as the “downtown shul.” At first blush, he is more Borsht Belt-style comedian than typical rabbi. He has a million one-liners and is happy to share, well, all of them. “That’s what happens when I don’t get my cholent,” he quipped. The rabbi, who is single — but “available,” he stressed — lives alone on the fourth floor of the massive Orthodox synagogue on Fifth Avenue that he stewards. He serves a dedicated if small group of regulars, as well as professionals who work downtown and need a convenient place to say Kaddish, or travelers staying in nearby hotels. Before the pandemic, 10 to 20 people normally would show up for morning services; the congregation also would get a minyan for its 5:30 p.m. service most days. But since March, when COVID-19 shuttered

p Rabbi Stanley Savage

synagogues all over America, including his own, Savage has spent a lot of time alone. “I am here to give solace to others and sometimes I need it myself,” the rabbi said in a fleeting moment of candor.

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

The synagogue is officially closed these days due to the coronavirus crisis, according to Ira Frank, president of the 145-year-old congregation. “No one is working in town anymore,”

Frank said. “Even if I opened it up, I wouldn’t have a minyan.” Now, when travelers occasionally call to inquire about services, Frank points them to one of the congregations in Squirrel Hill. Nonetheless, two or three men still show up most mornings at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob to pray with Savage — keeping a proper social distance — and to have breakfast. They stream the Zoom service of Congregation Beth Shalom, a Conservative congregation in Squirrel Hill, but daven using their own Orthodox prayer books. On some mornings, though, it’s just Savage and one other man, North Hills resident Scott Yanoff. The two have been friends for 24 years. Yanoff moved to Pittsburgh from Boston in the mid-’90s and had minimal ties with the Jewish community here. When his father died in 1996, he became depressed, he said, and wanted to say Kaddish as a way to heal. He found Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob in the Yellow Pages. “I knocked on the door, and Rabbi Savage answered,” Yanoff recalled. “I told him I lost my dad, and that I was depressed and needed to do Kaddish. He was the first rabbi here I Please see Downtown, page 15

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Headlines School supply lists look different this year as students head back to class — LOCAL — Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

arents still may be clipping coupons for glue sticks and construction paper this year, but the coronavirus crisis has caused school supply lists to change. To address the new realities posed by the pandemic, Pittsburgh’s three Jewish day schools have designed shopping strategies regarding everything from headset usage to types of folders to buy. Based upon Community Day School’s campus reopening plan, which calls for minimizing the sharing of high-touch items, its back-to-school supply lists are longer than in past years and include new items, such as staplers and scissors which can no longer be shared communally in classrooms, according to Jennifer Bails, Community Day School’s director of marketing and communications. While private school students are long accustomed to seeing each other in uniformed dress, there is now an additional item mandated throughout the state: masks. Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s July 1 order, all students over the age of 2 must wear face coverings in school, except those who have a medical or mental

health condition or disability that would preclude them from doing so. At CDS, every student will receive a branded school face covering at the start of the year, although wearing that specific mask is not required, according to Bails, who added that comfort and fit were paramount. Whether it’s on the back of the CDS mask, or inside other face coverings, parents are being asked to carefully label items this year. Doing so is one of several recommended measures intended to collectively mitigate viral spread. “We’ve also asked families to help us stock cleaning and hygiene supplies that are easier to acquire in smaller numbers than in bulk, as well as extra face masks to keep at school,” added Bails. CDS will provide Chromebooks to each student in second to fifth grade, as well as to its middle schoolers. Children in kindergarten and first grade will receive iPads. At Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, administrators also are working to minimize the sharing of supplies. “Each year the school ends up buying a ton of supplies, things like construction paper and glue sticks, for kids who don’t have and kids who need,” said Rabbi Sam Weinberg, Hillel Academy’s principal. “As a result, what ends up happening is that students come

p Judah Goldston uses school supplies.

down to the office and ask for supplies. We’re trying to avoid that.” In order to reduce unnecessary interactions with others, Hillel Academy is providing each student with all items typically found on a back to school list. “We figured it will help our parents not have to go to stores unnecessarily,” said Weinberg, and is consistent with the school’s

Photo courtesy of Community Day School

goal of reducing the sharing of supplies. Hillel Academy has begun the process of purchasing items in bulk from an array of in-person and online retailers. The costs, which Weinberg estimates at $10,000, will be largely subsidized by the school and absorbed into its annual budget. To help slightly defray Please see Lists, page 15

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Headlines Excitement, apprehension felt by high schoolers heading back to class — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

ith school resuming shortly, many high school students are excited about returning to in-person instruction. But some are also apprehensive about resuming once-common practices. “It will probably be a little weird at first,” said Maya Davis, an incoming senior at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. “I heard we are going to be spacing out desks and that group projects won’t be happening.” Collaboration and socialization have traditionally been critical components of school culture, but with an increased emphasis on physical distancing, students will have a more independent experience within the school walls. Mushka Altein, a rising sophomore at Yeshiva Girls School, said it will be strange to avoid formerly busy spots like hallways and rows of lockers as students reduce unnecessary interactions. Between that and the fact that out-of-town students at Yeshiva aren’t returning until after the High Holidays, things will feel pretty different, she said. Even as students understand the changes are being made for safety reasons, they’re

eager to get back to learning. “A lot of us haven’t had a normal education in like six months,” said Liora Goldberg, an incoming sophomore at Hillel Academy. “It’s not beneficial.” Mushka Altein Since area schools were Photo courtesy of last spring, Rabbi Sruly Altein shuttered Goldberg, like Altein and Davis, has been keeping in touch with friends as best she can, whether through physically distanced porch visits or digital communications. “I think that most people are doing a very good job with the social distancing guidelines,” she said. Although people have acted responsibly, according to Davis, within “such a small, tightknit community,” returning to school poses a risk. “We have to take the right precautions and be careful,” she said. “The school is trying very hard to make sure all of the CDC guidelines are followed, that there’s social distancing and podding,” said Simi Davidson, a rising senior at Yeshiva Girls School. “I appreciate that they are working so hard to make things go back to normal during uncertain times.” Without a rigid schedule, Davidson has spent a lot of time during the past months

focusing on music and art. As nice as that’s been, she knows it will be helpful to return to the building and in-person classes. “It’s a lot easier to focus, and we get through more material, we’re more productive,” she said. Benji Himmel, a rising senior at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, also felt that the online schooling lacked the rigor of in-person learning. Himmel hopes that teachers have gotten better at digital instruction, since the Pittsburgh Public Schools — like schools in Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles — will begin the year online. With a course load that includes Advanced Placement English, AP U.S. government, AP statistics and forensics, the rising senior is mostly concerned about online lessons in statistics. With digital classes, he noted, “it’s harder to ask questions.” Despite the difficulties posed by virtual learning, Himmel recognizes administrators, staff and public health officials are grappling with significant challenges. Given the number of students in the building, it would be difficult to physically distance, he acknowledged. “It would be helpful to have in-person learning with teachers even for one or two

days a week,” Himmel said. For high school seniors, it’s an especially busy and uncertain time. Between college applications, and deciding whether or not to spend a gap year in Israel, Himmel has some big Maya Davis Photo courtesy of decisions to make. Elena Davis For Davis, it feels like a bizarre time to be a senior. “I’m excited to go back to school,” she said, “but I’m also just trying to focus on getting into colleges and seminaries while also trying to balance thinking about COVID and being in high school.” “Senior year is supposed to be fun,” said Davidson. “This is our last year of socializing with our friends, and it’s going to be very different than what we thought it was going to be.” Even so, there’s still a lot to look forward to. “I’m definitely ready to see and interact with other people than those who I see in my home,” said Goldberg. “I may have to redevelop social skills because I’ve just been around my family for so long,” joked Davis. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Calendar >>Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q FRIDAY, AUG. 21 Like any legal system, Jewish law is dynamic. It responds to new societal issues as they arise. In “Jewish Law Today,” Rabbi Danny Schiff addresses five 21st-century legal debates from the perspective of Jewish legal sources. Explore “Coronavirus in Jewish Law,” the last class in the series, where you can earn CLE ethics credits or social work continuing education units. 8:30 a.m. For more information, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. q SUNDAY, AUG. 23 The Jewish Agency invites Pittsburgh teens to attend TeenFest2Gether: 1st Virtual Global Festival for Jewish Teens, a creative, accessible platform for meeting other Jewish teens from Israel and around the globe, strengthening their Jewish ties and having fun in an international event for thousands of young people: a virtual international Jewish youth festival. For more information and to register, visit my.jewishagency. org/teenfest. q SUNDAYS, AUG. 23, 30; SEPT. 6, 13, 20 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. q MONDAY, AUG. 24 Join Beth El Congregation of the South Hills for their 4th Annual Current Events Speaker Series with an at-home happy hour. Happy hour begins at 7 p.m., lectures start at 7:30 p.m. For more information, including topics and registration link, visit bethelcong.org.

q MONDAYS, AUG. 24, 31 Join Temple Sinai for “21st Century Judaism.” Explore the dynamism and evolving issues in the Jewish community today. 7 p.m. For more information, including topics, and to register, visit templesinaipgh.org. q MONDAYS, AUG. 24, 31; SEPT. 7, 14, 21 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. q MONDAY, AUG. 24 The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents the next installment of its Conversations Series. Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh Director Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather will speak with Jason England on the theme “The Power of the Individual.” England is an assistant professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University who has written extensively on race, sports and societal issues. 12 p.m. To register and for more information, visit hcofpgh.org. q MONDAY, AUG. 24-FRIDAY, AUG. 28 Enjoy a side of Israel you have never seen with the help of a licensed tour guide on the ground in Israel. Join a “busload” of people from across the opportunity and experience the thrill of Israel right from your very own home. $50. The virtual tour begins each day at 4 p.m. with a virtual dinner and coffee hour following. Mon-Fri. Presented by Jewish National Fund. For more information and to register, visit jnf.org. q WEDNESDAY, AUG. 26 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. For more information, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. Join Classrooms Without Borders as they discuss the book “How to Be an Antiracist” every Wednesday in August at 4 p.m. on Zoom. RSVP each week to receive the link. 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. For more information visit classroomswithoutborders.org. Grab your knitting supplies, a puzzle or some laundry that “needs folded” and join Moishe House Pittsburgh to listen to and discuss Episode 1 of the podcast “The Heart.” 7 p.m. Visit Moishe House’s Facebook page for more information, including a link to the podcast. q THURSDAY, AUG. 27 Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for “FedTalks: Community Strength in a Time of Crisis” featuring Michael G. Masters, national director and CEO of the Secure Community Network. The annual meeting will include a report of the Pittsburgh Jewish community’s strengths and achievements as well as details on how donor support enabled the Jewish Federation to provide immediate expertise and a financial lifeline this year to the organizations that serve Jewish Pittsburgh. 5 p.m. jewishpgh.org New Light Congregation invites you to attend the second concert in their Sing a New Light series: “Making Light: A Zoom Comedy Hour.” The concert series honors the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting of Oct. 27, 2018. 8 p.m. To register, visit bit.ly/makinglightcomedy. q SUNDAY, AUG. 30 Join Partnership2Gether for a virtual tour of Karmiel/Misgav by tour guide Adi Zarchi of Karmiel. Learn about the history, culture, narratives and people that have shaped that region in Israel. 12 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jfedpgh.org.

q TUESDAY, SEPT. 8 Leket Israel: A webinar with Joseph Gitler, founder of Leket Israel will focus on what Leket is doing to address food insecurity and food waste during the coronavirus pandemic. Leket is supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Campaign, so the webinar will highlight both the issue of food security and Federation’s impact. 12 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jfedpgh.org. q THURSDAY, SEPT. 10 Chabad of Squirrel Hill presents the Virtual Mega Challah Event. 7 p.m. $10. For more information and to register, visit chabadpgh.com. q SUNDAY, SEPT. 13 Registration opens soon for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s 10th Annual Apples & Honey VIRTUAL Fall Festival. The festival will include special programming, a live event and plenty of downloadable activities. 10 a.m. For more information, visit jewishpgh.org. Join Partnership2Gether and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, in collaboration with Classrooms Without Borders, for the movie “H.I. Jew Positive,” about four Polish Jews who discover their Jewish identities. A post-film conversation will include director and producer, Ronit Kertsner, Polish Jewish history scholar Natalia Aleksium and Polish Jews who are part of this ongoing process. 1 p.m. Visit jewishpgh.org for more information and to register. Chabad of the South Hills presents a Pre-Rosh Hashana Creative Canvas Painting, outdoors and socially distanced in its parking lot. All children aged 3-11 are welcome, $8/child. 3 p.m. For more information and to register, visit chabadsh.com.

q MONDAY, AUG. 31

q WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16

Join Beth El Congregation of the South Hills for First Mondays with Rabbi Alex. Pianist Tom Roberts will discuss Louis Armstrong and his Jewish influences. 12 p.m. Visit bethelcong.org for more information and to register.

Join the Jewish Federation online for This Is Us: 2021 Community Campaign Kickoff and help launch the 2021 Community Campaign. This firsttime virtual event is partnered with The Jewish Federations of North America, featuring Eugene, Sarah and Dan Levy. 1 p.m. Learn more at jewishpgh.org/this-is-us. PJC

Bend the Arc examines the moral imperative of voting in panel discussion

eaders from various faiths gath- of voting for down-ballot candidates who national candidates, voter disenfranchiseered virtually on Sunday, Aug. 17, to can affect communities more directly than ment and where the obligation to vote from a moral perspective is found examine the obligation to in various faith traditions. vote through a panel discussion In addition to the moderhosted by Bend The Arc Jewish ated discussion, panelists Action Pittsburgh and moderated fielded questions from those by Sara Stock Mayo. watching online. Audience “Elections and Voting: The members asked about the Moral Imperative” featured Rev. responsibility of voters after Liddy Barlow, executive minister an election and whether of Christian Associates of religious institutions and Southwest Pennsylvania; Islamic public schools should provide Center of Pittsburgh Imam Chris voting education. Caras; Resurrection Baptist Mar ku s b e g an by Church Pastor Richard Freeman; discussing the importance of and David Evan Markus, rabbi justice in both religious and at Temple Beth-El of City Island, civic institutions. New York. Markus also serves “One of the strongest ways as the deputy chief counsel in we can exercise the ability the New York state judiciary to bring about justice is by and judicial referee in the New voting, ” he said. York Supreme Court. p Sara Stock Mayo (bottom) moderated a panel discussion of Freeman said he felt The 75-minute Zoom conver- voting as a moral imperative with leaders from Christian, Jewish voting, as a moral imperative, sation discussed the importance and Muslim communities. Screenshot by David Rullo

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needed to be filtered through common morality, faith-based morality, and personal morality, meaning his views may not always harmonize with those of different faiths. Caras pointed out that members of his congregation were often fearful of voting because of the oppressive governments from which they escaped. Barlow contrasted that fear with white Christian communities where “we have become accustomed to having our needs catered to by political systems, by being in charge of political systems and expecting our desires to be met by the system with no regard for how others function.” Concluding with a statement addressing his fear of religious institutions becoming entwined in civic education, Markus offered: “We need to do it, but the flip side is that the separation of church and state exists theoretically to protect each from the intrusion, encroachment and capture of the other.” PJC — David Rullo

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You are Invited to an Exclusive Pittsburgh Preview and Panel Discussion of

Thursday | September 3 | 7:00 pm https://ovee.itvs.org/screenings/w0duc Be among the first to preview this documentary produced by WQED for PBS. It shares the story of nearly 20,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII to the port city of Shanghai. You’ll hear their extraordinary recollections and unique relationship with their adopted city. This preview will be followed by a panel discussion with Pittsburghers with ties to this poignant story. Rivaling all elements and in tragic contrast to those who could not escape, this is a Holocaust story of life.

Funding for Harbor From The Holocaust was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and public television viewers, Chosky Educational Foundation, Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Support for the Pittsburgh preview event is provided by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Jewish Studies Program.

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AUGUST 21, 2020 7

Headlines Squirrel Hill intersection a growing concern to residents — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

quirrel Hill residents are raising concerns about the safety of a neighborhood intersection but city officials say they might not have the money — just yet — to fix it. Rick Wice, who has attended services at Congregation Poale Zedeck at the intersections of Shady, Phillips and Tilbury avenues for more than 10 years, says the arrangement and timing of lights at the site is an accident waiting to happen. “It’s a bad intersection — the city knows it, the people know it,” said Wice, a Squirrel Hill geologist who teaches part-time at Carnegie Mellon University. “We’re lucky no one’s been hurt there.” The intersection is a strange one, with three lights at three different junctures. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission completed a road safety audit, which included the intersection, in 2019. “Two intersections operate from one traffic signal controller,” the report read. “The signal is old and lacks detection. Shady Ave. turns as it travels through the intersection with Tilbury, which lacks warning and is unexpected by unfamiliar drivers. The intersection with Tilbury lacks crosswalks across all approaches. ADA accommodations are not adequate.”

p The intersection at Shady, Phillips and Tilbury avenues

Despite these concerns, Pittsburgh officials say they do not know when they will manage to upgrade the intersection. “The Department of Mobility and Infrastructure plans to replace the traffic signals at this intersection once the funding becomes available,” said Tim McNulty, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. “Obviously, budgets are rather tight right now due to the pandemic so we do not have a timeline on when the upgrades can be made.” Wice said “we do not have a timeline” isn’t

Photo by Jim Busis

good enough. He remembers, a few years ago, when a car speeding through the intersection hopped over the sidewalk near Poale Zedeck synagogue. “He almost drove up all the steps of Poale Zedeck,” Wice said. “Imagine that happening on a Saturday.” Several recent posts on the Jewish Pittsburgh Facebook page cited numerous examples over the years of accidents at the intersection caused by cars running red lights there, with members of the group encouraging

one another to make 311 calls to complain. Pittsburgh Police in Zone 4, which is headquartered in Squirrel Hill, say they are aware of the problem but it has not become a severe one, said Maurice Matthews, a public information officer for the city’s department of public safety. “We have had a few minor collisions but nothing too serious,” Matthews told the Chronicle. Matthews confirmed recent accidents at the intersection but said Zone 4 had no record of pedestrians ever being struck there. Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor, whose district includes Squirrel Hill, said his office has heard concerns about the intersection. “It’s a very busy intersection, it’s a very awkward intersection [and] we see a lot of speeding on Shady Avenue,” O’Connor said. Uniformed Zone 4 police sometimes station themselves at the intersection to deter speeding. “Obviously, our officers can’t sit there all day,” O’Connor said. Despite the financial crunches that could delay repair or upgrade of the intersection, O’Connor said he would like city officials to look into alternative methods of controlling traffic there, such as installing speed bumps or working on the timing of the lights. “We need out-of-the-box thinking to slow people down,” he said. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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8 AUGUST 21, 2020

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Headlines Behind every great man … — HISTORY — By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

abbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky was the most accomplished Orthodox rabbi in Pittsburgh during the first half of the 20th century. His talent was organizational. He founded the Jewish Home for the Aged, the Jewish Home for Babies and Children, the Hebrew Institute, and the Zionist Institute, and he played a significant role in advancing Montefiore Hospital and the House of Shelter. He was a skilled fundraiser, collecting what would now be millions, not only for those local institutions, but also for war relief in Europe and for the emerging State of Israel. As he was overseeing all these efforts, he was also leading more than half a dozen local congregations in three neighborhoods and informally advising many of the smaller lay-led Jewish communities throughout the region. He spent his days giving speeches, answering religious questions, and adjudicating disputes. He commanded the title “Chief Rabbi of Western Pennsylvania.” Who was his wife, the Rebbetzin Pearl Ashinsky? Her biography is usually folded into his life story. Rabbi Ashinsky showed great intellectual promise during his childhood in Poland. His teacher Rabbi Idel Drob admired the young scholar and approved a match with his daughter, Pearl. The young couple married in 1887, around the time of Rabbi Ashinsky’s ordination. They came to America and led congregations in Syracuse, Detroit and Montreal, struggling against the existing power structures in all three communities. Rabbi Drob had also crossed the Atlantic, settling in Pittsburgh. When the elder died, in 1901, the young Ashinsky family relocated here. You could easily flip that story: A young woman from a prominent Polish rabbinic family marries a precocious local boy and uses her family connections to land an important rabbinic post in a rapidly growing city where he soon establishes dominance. Rebbetzin Ashinsky mirrored her prominent husband. She advanced their priorities among Jewish women. She founded the

p A memorial notice for Rebbetzin Pearl Ashinsky praised her leadership among Jewish women’s organizations, but few records survive to detail her work.

Photo courtesy of Rauh Jewish Archives

Jewish Home for the Aged Ladies Auxiliary and the Sisters of Zion society, leading both groups for decades. She also spoke

frequently. But I’ve never read her speeches, not even a quote in the newspaper. Her voice does not survive. Rabbi Ashinsky comes to

life through his accomplishments and his appearances. His wife is often a name, a face, and a title. Her essence is a mystery. Recently, I was reading the condolence letters sent to Rabbi Ashinsky after the rebbetzin died in 1942. I hoped they would reveal her personality. Condolence letters are among the trickiest forms of literature, but any time many people write about the same subject, insights can emerge. Adjectives recur, or distinct tones ring out as a chord. But these condolence letters feel generic. The writers praise the rebbetzin as “a fine woman in Israel” and “a loyal servant of endless patience, devotion and compassion,” but they fail to draw a picture. The most often-repeated word is “beloved.” One small exception is a letter from her granddaughter, Freda. About her grandmother, Freda writes, “her life was a full and interesting one and the center of her existence was you and your career. Such wifely devotion I have never witnessed.” She then recalls the homecoming after the Ashinskys returned from a fact-finding mission to the Holy Land in 1925. “I can well remember one time when she was most happy, the time when she shared your glory. When you returned from Palestine I recalled vividly attending a meeting where, to my amazement, she addressed a large gathering of women and with unusual poise described her impressions of the Holy Land. She was happy because at that moment she [felt she] was a fitting wife for her adored husband.” The two words in parenthesis are inserted with a caret. The revision seems to be a clarification: she had always been a fitting wife, but she only felt like one in that moment. In those few sentences, an intriguing personality becomes barely audible, like a conversation heard through the walls. There are hints of self-possession and humility, of independence and deference. Better records might have revealed how such a woman navigated her responsibilities. Without a detailed account of her opinions and activities, we are left with platitudes, which are kindhearted but ultimately obscure her humanity. PJC Eric Lidji is the director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center. He can be reached at eslidji@ heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406.

JCC offers full-day child care to aid working parents during pandemic

he Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh has announced a new full-day child care program to accommodate families who have children participating in online learning. The JCC’s new program, All Day at the J, was created in response to working parents’ needs during the coronavirus crisis. The program will accommodate online learning for students in kindergarten to grade 6, and

will include activities “to address children’s mental, emotional and physical health needs,” according to a JCC press release. To ensure adherence with best practices in health and safety, limited space is available. The program will be located in at the JCC’s Robinson Building on Darlington Road in Squirrel Hill, and will run for nine weeks, from Aug. 31-Oct. 9. All Pittsburgh Public Schools students are

scheduled to begin the 2020-2021 school year online at the end August. The hours for the JCC’s new childcare program have not yet been determined, but will be based on the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ virtual daily calendar. All Day at the J will be organized with staggered arrival and dismissal times and will offer organized programming outside of the formal hours of instruction. The JCC resumed its Early Childhood

Development Center programs at its Squirrel Hill and South Hills locations on June 1, and day camps in Squirrel Hill, South Hills and Monroeville on June 22. The JCC reopened in compliance with state, county and local guidelines and CDC recommendations, including mandatory masks, social distancing and sanitation practices, and extensive cleaning protocols, according to a press release. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

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AUGUST 21, 2020 9

Headlines Milky Way restaurant opens Cleveland location

p Milky Way Cleveland

p Staff prepares the store

ilky Way, the Squirrel Hill-based staff to better learn the space and menu, kosher dairy restaurant, is on the explained Siebzener. cusp of expansion, with plans At nearly 8,000 square feet, the new store, to open a second location in a suburb of situated in a South Euclid strip mall, will be Cleveland, Ohio. about four times larger than the Pittsburgh Construction is nearly finished and the location on Murray Avenue and will health department inspection has been offer ample parking. passed. The new restaurant can open after it Milky Way Cleveland’s menu will be a bit gets building and occupancy approvals, said broader than its Pittsburgh counterpart’s, owner Aaron Siebzener. and will include breakfast foods, such as Once it gets the green light, Milky Way bagels and baked goods in addition to its Cleveland will hold a few dry runs with familiar pizzas, sandwiches and salads. JC Opn and S Sound Bar The REV_Eartique 8/17/20 4:37 PMStore Pagehours 1 friends family. process will enable will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays

through Thursdays; 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays; and one hour after Shabbat ends “until it’s not busy anymore” on Saturdays, said Siebzener. Joining Siebzener as partners in Milky Way Cleveland are Ben Dynan, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, and Yehuda Gutman, formerly of Squirrel Hill. Both Dynan and Gutman, who currently reside in the Cleveland area, have extensive experience working with Milky Way at its Squirrel Hill store, said Siebzener. Other partners in the new venture are Akivah Cooperman and Paci Elbaum, of The

raising the bar

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

Aug. 21, 1982 — Troops arrive to oversee PLO withdrawal

U.S., French and Italian troops arrive in Beirut to supervise the evacuation of about 14,000 PLO fighters from Lebanon’s capital by Sept. 1. Yasser Arafat leaves Aug. 30 for Tunisia.

Aug. 22, 1952 — First Israel Bonds mission begins

hearing devices, featuring a next-generation microchip able to adjust and balance all the various sounds around you–not just the ones directly in front of you.

Debra L. Greenberger, M.S., CCC-A Serving the Pittsburgh area for over 25 years

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Squirrel Hill ~ 2703 Murray Ave ~ 412.422.8006 ~ eartique.com 10 AUGUST 21, 2020

— Adam Reinherz

This week in Israeli history

Hearing device technology that’s

Oticon Opn S

Photos courtesy of Milky Way

Bagel Shoppe, a South Euclid-based kosher establishment, which will fold into the new Milky Way Cleveland, added Siebzener. Whether customers are Cleveland-based, Pittsburgh-based or neither, the new kosher eatery will bring a familiar warmth to those who have enjoyed the Squirrel Hill place for years, said Siebzener: Apart from the breakfast, bakery and bagel additions, “the recipes will be the same, the pricing is relatively the same and the service and cleanliness will be just as good.” PJC

The Development Corporation for Israel brings 22 Jewish leaders to Israel on a 15-day American Champions of Israel Bonds mission, the first of its kind. American-purchased Israel Bonds helped stabilize Israel’s economy in 1951.

Aug. 23, 1903 — Sixth Zionist Congress opens

The Sixth Zionist Congress, the last presided over by Theodor Herzl, convenes in Basel, Switzerland, with approximately 600 delegates and debates a proposal for a Jewish homeland in Uganda as an interim step.

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Aug. 24, 1954 — Bank of Israel Is established

The Knesset passes the Bank of Israel Law on a 55-0 vote. The law, which goes into effect Dec. 1, sets up the Bank of Israel as the state’s central financial authority with 10 million pounds in initial capital.

Aug. 25, 1918 — Leonard Bernstein is born

Composer Leonard Bernstein is born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to UkrainianJewish parents. He makes the first of several trips to Israel to conduct the future Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1947.

Aug. 26, 1903 — Protocols published

“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the most widely distributed anti-Semitic publication in history, is first published in Znamya, a Russian newspaper. The Times of London proves it is a fraud in 1921.

Aug. 27, 1892 — Jaffa-Jerusalem rail line opens

The first passenger train arrives in Jerusalem from Jaffa. The difficult-to-build 53-mile railroad line reduces the travel time from the port to the holy city from two days to four hours. PJC

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Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Facebook algorithms promote Holocaust denial content, think tank report finds

Holocaust denial content is “readily accessible” on social media and Facebook algorithms “actively” promote it, according to a report published by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The report found that typing “holocaust” in the Facebook search function brought up suggestions for denial pages, which point users to publishers that sell revisionist and denial literature. “Using a ‘snowball’ discovery method, we found that when a user follows public pages containing Holocaust denial content, Facebook actively promotes further Holocaust denial content to that user,” the report said. The downloadable report, titled “Hosting the ‘Holohoax’: A Snapshot of Holocaust Denial Across Social Media,” found that Facebook and Twitter “provide a home to an established and active community of Holocaust deniers.” It also discusses how appropriately applied content moderation policies can be effective in denying conspiracy theorists a public platform in a discussion of how Holocaust denial content has decreased significantly in the past year on YouTube. Holocaust denial on Reddit was reduced through “a combination of moderation efforts and pushback from other users.” The report said that there are 36 Facebook groups, with a combined 366,068 followers, that are specifically dedicated to Holocaust denial or host such content.

Principal who told parent he had to be neutral on Holocaust should not have been fired, judge rules

William Latson, a high school principal in South Florida, was fired after telling a parent he could not say that the Holocaust was a “factual, historical event” because “not everyone believes the Holocaust happened.” A state administrative judge ruled last week that his dismissal was in error. In October, the Palm Beach County School Board fired Latson from his post at Spanish River Community High following a four-month suspension. The judge, Robert Cohen of the Division of Administrative Hearings in Tallahassee, ruled that Latson should have been reprimanded or reassigned to another position within the school system rather than fired. He recommended that Latson be rehired but reassigned to another position and receive back wages for his suspension without pay. Latson “made some unfortunate choices in expressing his thoughts,” the judge said, and failed to communicate with supervisors while on vacations — the main reason given by the school board for his firing — but none of his actions rose to the level of “gross insubordination” required to be fired, the Palm Beach Post reported. He was with the school district for 26 years and had been principal at Spanish River since 2011. In an April 2018 email, Latson told the PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

mother of a student “not everyone believes the Holocaust happened” in response to an inquiry about the Holocaust not being taught at the school. The school’s educational offerings on the Holocaust exceed the state’s requirements, he told the parent. “I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in the position to do so as a school district employee,” he wrote. “You have your thoughts, but we are a public school and not all of our parents have the same beliefs.”

After turmoil, Florida State University president says anti-Semitism has ‘no home’ on campus

Six weeks after thousands of Florida State University students petitioned for their student body president to be removed over social media posts they described as anti-Semitic, the school’s president has announced several changes aimed at making Florida State more hospitable for Jewish students. In an open letter to the campus community, John Thrasher said he wanted “to reaffirm that Antisemitism and religious discrimination have no home at Florida State University” and outlined what he said were “significant developments on campus to combat Antisemitism.” A task force will review Jewish student life on campus, students will be surveyed about anti-Semitism on campus and staff will be trained annually on issues including anti-Semitism, religious discrimination and ways to foster a more inclusive campus for Jewish students and employees, he wrote. Plus, the school has reestablished a Jewish Student Union and is creating an alumni network “to provide enhanced support and educational resources for all our students,” Thrasher wrote, while the university calendar will be revised to include “all significant religious holidays.” Thrasher’s letter comes about six weeks after more than 8,000 FSU students signed an online petition to remove the student senate president over social media posts described as anti-Semitic, and less than a month after the student senate passed a resolution that would help to combat anti-Semitism on campus, which also recognized the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. “I want to reaffirm that this is a top priority. My university leadership team and I will continue to work determinedly to combat Antisemitism and unlawful behavior,” Thrasher wrote in the letter. “While freedom of speech is of paramount importance on a college campus, so is creating a climate of acceptance and appreciation for the value and richness of the many cultures and ideas that make Florida State University such an excellent academic experience.”

Israel’s coronavirus czar apologizes after likening spread of virus among Arabs to ‘mass terror attack’

Israel’s coronavirus czar criticized what he said was the Arab community’s failure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, likening the spread there to a “mass terror attack.” Cases of the coronavirus have risen in the

Arab sector in recent days, some two weeks after a holiday that brought families and communities together. “The Arab sector in the last two weeks, after the Eid al-Adha holiday, almost carried out an attack that would have resulted in hundreds of patients,” Dr. Ronni Gamzu said in an interview with Ynet. “Gatherings, parties, celebrations, complacency, indifference, the thought that the coronavirus can’t hurt them, and the coronavirus really struck them like a mass terror attack.” Gamzu’s comments come as Israel continues to reel from a potent second wave of coronavirus infections. The country’s death toll hit 685 on the day of the remarks, and nearly 400 Israelis are, as of press time, in what the country considers serious condition. Several Arab communities and neighborhoods have been hit especially hard, with some being placed on temporary lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. A partial closure was imposed late last week on the Druze village of Yarka in northern Israel. Gamzu rejected charges that the closures were the result of racism, and noted that the person in charge of controlling the village’s outbreak is Arab. “I received a phone call from Yarka a week ago,” Gamzu said. “They described to me what was happening there and said, ‘Come in, restrict, people here are sick.’ Why don’t you impose a closure on Yarka … You call that racism?” Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Joint List coalition of mainly Arab parties, condemned Gamzu’s remarks. “It is a shame that at a time when Arab doctors are at the front of the battle against the coronavirus, the coronavirus czar is coming out with statements that hurt an entire community,” Odeh said. “Instead of miserable statements like those, I invite him to work together to defeat the pandemic.” Gamzu later apologized and said his words had been misunderstood. He said the “use of the term ‘mass attack’ was stated in reference to a virus that causes the highest morbidity in Arab society, and not to the society itself.”

Ruth Gavison, influential Israeli legal scholar and civil rights activist, dies at 75

p Ruth Gavison

Photo by Arielinson via Wikimedia/CC BY 3.0

Israeli legal scholar Ruth Gavison, a civil rights activist who worked to keep Israel both a Jewish and democratic state, has died. Gavison, who was awarded the Israel Prize in 2011, died Saturday at 75.

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Gavison was a founder of the Association of Civil Rights, where she served at various times as chair and president. She was also a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for more than four decades, where she taught and conducted research on issues including the relationship between religion and the state, law and morality, and the nature of law. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was among the many leaders, scholars and friends in Israel and abroad who memorialized Gavison. “Professor Ruth Gavison was a brilliant jurist,” Rivlin said in a statement. “Her acute and complex thinking, crystal clear and bright, could not be pigeonholed. In word and deed she put the ‘and’ between Jewish and democratic, democratic and Jewish. Our society and our country will deeply miss her voice.” Gavison was nominated for a position on Israel’s Supreme Court in 2005, but ultimately was not chosen due to opposition from then-chief justice Aharon Barak over her criticism of judicial activism. She was a fellow of the Israel Democracy Institute and served on several public commissions, including the 2006 Winograd Commission investigating Israel’s actions in the Lebanon War. In 2013, she was appointed to draft a constitutional proposal that would reconcile the country’s democratic and Jewish characters. Gavison was born in Jerusalem in 1945. She received a bachelor’s degree from Hebrew University and a Ph.D. from Oxford University.

250,000 new immigrants will arrive in Israel in next 5 years, Jewish Agency estimates

Some 250,000 new immigrants to Israel will arrive over the next five years, the Jewish Agency estimates. The estimate is part of a Jewish Agency report with figures on immigration to Israel since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and projections for the future. The nonprofit organization’s chairman, Isaac Herzog, presented the report to President Reuven Rivlin. According to the report, some 8,500 immigrants arrived in Israel from dozens of countries during the first half of 2020, half the number that came during the same period the previous year. The decrease likely is due to the coronavirus crisis. But there was a dramatic rise in the number of people who inquired about immigration to Israel this year, with 90,000 calls from around the world. In addition, some 25,000 new immigration files were opened, a 91% increase in Western countries and 400% in North America. The report found that there are 10,000 to 14,000 Jews waiting to emigrate from Ethiopia, and their arrival will be spread over several years. On Sunday, Rivlin visited Ulpan Etzion, a Hebrew-language school in Jerusalem run by the Jewish Agency, and met with several new immigrants studying there. “You chose to make aliyah to Israel at this challenging time, the time of coronavirus,” he said. “The challenges you are facing will become the stories you tell your children and grandchildren.” PJC AUGUST 21, 2020 11

Opinion Optimism in the Mideast — EDITORIAL —

he announcement on Aug. 13 that Israel and the United Arab Emirates were formalizing their relations brought near universal praise for the diplomatic achievement. Credit for the historic accord was shared by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Trump administration, who together have changed — for the better — the rules of Middle East diplomacy that were in place for more than six decades. While there is some question about certain details — particularly regarding the meaning of a “suspension” of Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank — those issues will hopefully be ironed out in final negotiations over the next weeks. In the meantime, in the afterglow of the treaty announcement — which also was praised by Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden — there are clear winners and losers. First among the winners are Israel and the UAE. Formalization of the longstanding Israel-UAE ties, and the anticipated expansion of Israel’s diplomatic relationships with other players in the area, will make the regional coalition against Iran more credible, tangible and effective. The deal will allow an increase in trade between the rich Gulf oil

We see a significant opportunity for Palestinians to engage with Israel on movement toward a two-state solution, and to do so with the support and encouragement of much of the world community. state and the nimble Israeli economy and promote collaboration on matters of medicine and science. The agreement also will provide Israel with its third Arab peace partner, following Egypt and Jordan. The United States is also a winner, having played an active role in the agreement process. That effort reflects a welcome reemergence of the Trump administration in the region, following multiple signs of withdrawal. We hope the move signals the administration’s desire to resurrect U.S. prominence as an honest broker. The clear loser is the long-stagnant and remarkably stubborn Palestinian leadership, which condemned the agreement along with Iran and Turkey. Palestinians have reason to be worried, since the agreement defies the long-touted formula that Arab state normalization with Israel would only

come in tandem with progress on resolution of Palestinian issues. That clearly has not happened here. As Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., wrote last week in The Times of Israel, the UAE-Israel agreement proves that “resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict is nowhere near as important as countering the Iranian threat and stimulating Middle East development. It proves that, in order to achieve peace with a powerful Arab state, Israel does not have to uproot a single settlement or withdraw from a meter of land. It opens the way to alternative approaches to addressing the dispute, one that is not dependent on Israelis and Palestinians offering concessions that neither can ever make. And the agreement punishes, rather than rewards, the Palestinians for leaving the table. It will not be surprising if, in the coming weeks, the

Palestinian Authority begins to intimate its willingness to return.” We see a significant opportunity for Palestinians to engage with Israel on movement toward a two-state solution, and to do so with the support and encouragement of much of the world community. To the extent such an effort requires new thinking or leadership on the Palestinian side, it is incumbent on those who are able to step forward, seize the opportunity and help navigate the process. Palestinians need to test and explore Israel’s repeated commitment to resolution, and to do so within the two-state construct that offers the most potential benefits for all parties. Such an effort would require compromise and concessions on both sides — as with any negotiation — and is achievable. We are optimistic about the future of Israel and its neighbors. Speculation is rampant that possible diplomatic deals are in the works with Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan and even Saudi Arabia. The agreement between the UAE and Israel is a valuable reminder that conflict in the Middle East is broader than the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. Throughout its 72-year history, the Jewish state has had to deal with many hostile players. Making progress toward peace with one is genuine progress, and we are hopeful it will indeed be a first step in creating a more secure Middle East for all. PJC

Black Lives Matter is about more than just law enforcement Guest Columnist Rep. Dan Frankel

he summer of 2020 has been about two things: inequality and COVID-19. Many of us have found ourselves back out on streets, with masks on our faces and protest signs in our hands. Black and brown people should not have to fear for their lives at traffic stops. Our prison system should not be churning people of color through, drawing them in on minor offenses and a cash bail system, and then pulling them back again and again through a broken parole system. But Black Lives Matter is about more than the senseless loss of life that has come at the hands of law enforcement or the relentless cycle of the justice system, because Black lives are also disproportionately being lost in hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. If you are person of color in Allegheny County, you are more than twice as likely as a white person to contract COVID-19. You are also far less likely to be tested. County data also shows that Black people are more than three times more likely to be hospitalized and three times as likely to be admitted to intensive care. These numbers are both shocking and not surprising.

12 AUGUST 21, 2020

Individuals in disadvantaged communities are more likely to be essential workers and less likely to have sick leave or reliable health care. They are more likely to live in multigenerational homes and have less access to accurate information about prevention and treatment of this virus. Our shameful minimum wage leaves countless families on the edge of financial disaster, unable to weather a sudden expense or a drop in income for even a couple of weeks. Language barriers, lack of internet access and lack of outreach to disabled Pennsylvanians have all created additional obstacles for Pennsylvanians working to navigate this crisis. A looming housing crisis threatens to set back many families’ hard-won economic progress by decades. Health disparities are nothing new for marginalized communities, and every time a health threat hits this country or this state, it is those communities that will be hit first, and hit hardest. In 1918, the flu pandemic attacked Pittsburgh in a similarly unequal way, but the groups affected were different. A 1999 study in Carnegie Mellon University’s “Sloping Hall Review” found that the city’s Jewish hospital saw a disproportionate spike in the number of deaths in 1918 and 1919, and the Jewish orphanage saw a corresponding spike in the number of children sent there during that time period. History shows another pattern for historically disadvantaged groups when a health

crisis hits that is familiar to Jewish people everywhere: a spike in hatred. As the bubonic plague swept across Europe in the 14th century, wiping out half the population, it was the Jewish people who were blamed and, as a result, massacred, tortured and persecuted. But now, we have the benefit of history to guide us. Last week, the COVID-19 Response Task Force for Health Disparity, created by Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman with community leaders from across the state, released a report detailing how the pandemic is affecting vulnerable populations and what the state can do to address those effects. The resulting recommendations cover the crucial areas of housing, criminal justice, food insecurity, health disparities and economic opportunities during the pandemic. While many of the recommendations can be instituted by state and local health departments and other officials, several related legislative items are already collecting dust in the committees of the General Assembly. I was not surprised to see two of my bills on the list: extending civil rights protections to LGBTQ people and strengthening our hate crimes laws to remove devastating barriers that interfere with the ability of Pennsylvanians to get help when they need it. Another measure that could quickly mitigate an issue that disproportionally harms vulnerable populations is Rep. Jake Wheatly’s bill to enact a driver’s license

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

restoration program. That measure would restore mobility to many marginalized Pennsylvanians when they desperately need it. Countless bills would increase assistance thresholds so that a curveball like having a sick family member does not change the course of a generation of lives. In July, I co-chaired with Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Stephen Kinsey and Welcoming Caucus Chair Joe Hohenstein a policy hearing on health disparities during this pandemic. While the statistics were stark, I was heartened to see a commitment from state and county health officials to understand and address these disparities. Unlike in 1918, we in Pennsylvania don’t have to depend on incomplete hospital records to determine how different groups are being affected by COVID-19. Our state is prioritizing inclusive data collection so that we can identify inequality and root it out. This year will go down as one of the most painful in our state’s history as we collectively take stock of how deeply systemic racism and inequality infect our experience as Pennsylvanians. But it is also an opportunity, a chance to address these issues head-on, so that when we look back, it can also be seen as a time of tremendous growth and progress. The choice is ours. PJC Dan Frankel, a Democrat, represents the 23rd District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Opinion Ushering in a new era of peace Guest Columnist Benjamin Netanyahu

ast Thursday, together with U.S. President Donald Trump and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, I declared the historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This is the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab country in 26 years. It is different from its predecessors because it is based on two principles: “peace for peace” and “peace through strength.” Under this doctrine, Israel is not required to withdraw from any territory and together the two countries openly reap the fruits of a full peace: Investments, trade, tourism, health, agriculture, environmental protection and in many other fields, including defense of course. This peace was not achieved because Israel weakened itself by withdrawing to the 1967 lines. It was achieved because Israel strengthened itself by cultivating a free economy, and military and technological strength, and by combining these two strengths to achieve unprecedented international influence. This strong international position found expression in our willingness to take a stand against Iran’s aggression in the region and its efforts to attain nuclear weapons. The fact that we stood alone, and sometimes I had to

stand alone against the whole world against Iran and the dangerous nuclear agreement with it, this made a major impression on Arab leaders in the region. A simple fact was proven anew: Strength attracts and weakness repels. In the Middle East, the strong survive and with strength, one makes peace. I have advanced the cultivation of Israel’s strength over the years and thereby the doctrine of “peace for peace” as well. I do this with leaders around the Arab and Islamic worlds. This concept found public expression in my meeting with the president of Sudan about six months ago, in my meetings with senior Arab foreign ministers in the open meeting in Warsaw a year and a half ago, and in my open visit to Oman two years ago at the invitation of the late Sultan Qaboos. I can tell you that it found expression in a series of secret meetings, about which I shall not go into detail. This doctrine stands in complete contradiction to the concept that held, up until a few days ago, that no Arab country would agree to make an official and open peace with Israel before a conclusion was achieved in the conflict with the Palestinians. In the Palestinians’ view, and in the view of many in the world who agreed with them, it would be impossible to achieve this peace without capitulating to the Palestinians’ demands, including the uprooting of communities, the division of Jerusalem and a withdrawal to the 1967 lines. In effect, this mistaken concept gave the

Palestinians a veto over achieving peace between Israel and Arab countries. It held Israel and the Arab world as hostages to the Palestinians’ most extreme demands, which put the State of Israel in genuine existential danger. Perhaps, in my view, the greatest danger was that more than a few Israelis agreed with the absurd conditions. No more. This concept of “peace through withdrawal and weakness” is gone from the world. It has been replaced by a different concept: Genuine peace, peace for peace, peace through strength. This is what we are advancing today. I remind you that in the current agreement, not only has Israel not withdrawn from so much as one square meter, rather the Trump plan includes, at my request, the application of Israeli sovereignty over extensive territories in Judea and Samaria. It was I who insisted on including sovereignty in the plan. President Trump is committed to it and I am committed to conducting negotiations on this basis. At the UN in 2013, I said that for years, many believed that Israeli-Palestinian peace would advance a broader reconciliation between Israel and the Arab world. I said that I was of the view that peace would be achieved in the opposite fashion: Expanding reconciliation between Israel and the Arab world would likely advance an Israeli-Palestinian peace. I added that in order to achieve this, we had to gaze not only at Jerusalem and Ramallah, but at Cairo, Amman, Abi Dhabi, Riyadh and other places.

This was not a prophecy. This was the persistent and systematic policy that I led and which took years to trickle down. Thank God, it has indeed trickled down. I see additional countries joining the circle of peace with us. This historic change will also advance peace with the Arab world and, in the end, peace, true peace, monitored, secure, with the Palestinians as well. I would like to thank the various elements that, over the years, assisted in maintaining the link with the United Arab Emirates, especially the Mossad. I also add my special envoy to the Arab world, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, and National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat and his team. I thank them all. In addition, special thanks for advancing this peace agreement goes to an additional person, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer. He did exceptional work, unassumingly and professionally, together with the White House team and his colleague in Washington, the Emirati ambassador. And of course, again, I would like to express deep gratitude to President Trump and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed; the cooperation between us brought about an historic move of very great importance to the future of Israel and the entire region. PJC Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel. This piece originally appeared on JNS.org.

Breaking the cycle of terror, 3 years later Guest Columnist Amy Spitalnick

n Aug. 11, 2017, the country watched in horror as neo-Nazis and white supremacists attacked Charlottesville, Virginia. Three years later, as far-right extremists continue to spread disinformation, hate and violence, it’s clear that “Unite the Right” was a harbinger of what would follow — and that we still have much to learn from that weekend. My organization, Integrity First for America, is supporting a coalition of Charlottesville residents in a federal lawsuit against the individuals and groups that orchestrated the violence. The trial is scheduled for October. These extremists didn’t come to Charlottesville to peacefully protest the removal of a Confederate statue, as they claimed. Rather, for months in advance, in private social media chats, they methodically planned a weekend of violence. “Next stop: Charlottesville. Final stop: Auschwitz,” they wrote amid discussions of which weapons to carry and whether they could claim self-defense if they hit counterprotesters with cars. And that’s exactly what happened. First, the violent tiki torch march, meant to evoke the KKK and Nazis, with chants of “blood

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and soil” and “Jews will not replace us.” Then, the next day, the attack on downtown Charlottesville, culminating in James Fields driving his car into a crowd of peaceful counterprotesters — exactly as planned in those chats — and killing one, Heather Heyer. Charlottesville — and the many incidences of white supremacist violence that followed — were not accidents. They are part of a cycle in which each attack is used to inspire the next one, nearly always online: The white supremacist who killed 11 at the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh communicated with the Charlottesville leaders on the far-right site Gab before his attack; the Christchurch shooter painted on his gun a white power symbol popularized by one of our Charlottesville defendants; the livestreamed Christchurch attack in turn inspired massacres in Poway, El Paso and elsewhere. In all cases, the attackers were motivated by anti-Semitic and racist conspiracies, like the idea that the white race is being systematically replaced by Black and brown people — with Jews as the puppet masters. Now, even during a global pandemic and a national reckoning on racism, the cycle continues. Far-right extremists have tried to bomb hospitals and turn the coronavirus into a bioweapon against Jews and other minorities. Others, like the white supremacist group Identity Evropa (a defendant in our Charlottesville suit), have spread disinformation — posing as “antifa” on Twitter to urge violence in white neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, vehicle attacks have skyrocketed, with dozens reported since May, like the KKK leader who plowed his car into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters in Richmond, Virginia. So how do we break this cycle? To begin, we must understand how these extremists operate. We must acknowledge the central role of social media in allowing these white supremacists to connect and plan and promote violence. White supremacists are no longer meeting in the woods wearing white hoods. Rather they’re connecting online — turning social media into a place where extremists conspire before their car attack memes and other violent hate become real world action. While there are some in power who seek to legitimize white nationalism — and the anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia and other forms of hate that fuel it — social media companies have no obligation to allow it on their platforms. For the sites that have built business models on platforming extremism, domain registration and web hosting services can act. Second, we need to understand how these white supremacists use disinformation and deception to pit communities against one another. The fake antifa tweet was intended to fuel racial tensions, pitting white neighborhoods against Black Lives Matter protesters in an effort to undermine the critical message of the protesters. This is the same tactic we

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saw when white supremacists posed as Jews online to spread anti-Black hate and sow tensions between our communities. It’s all part of a larger effort to distract and deflect — a tactic used frequently by the Unite the Right leaders. Finally, we must treat the crisis of violent extremism with the urgency it deserves. Anti-Semitic and other forms of extremism tend to fall out of the news and off people’s radar until the next attack. This is compounded by the federal government’s cuts to counterextremism resources and reduced civil rights investigations. Which is why brave private plaintiffs like ours are especially vital. With this Charlottesville lawsuit, we are taking on the leaders and groups at the center of this movement, holding them accountable in court for the violence they orchestrated, with the potential to bankrupt and dismantle them through large civil judgments. Three years after Unite the Right, history continues to repeat itself. When the leaders of this violent movement are put on trial this fall, our plaintiffs will take a critical step toward breaking this cycle of violence. But this country will fail them, and the Charlottesville community, if we don’t finally take the lessons of that horrific weekend to heart. PJC Amy Spitalnick is the executive director of Integrity First for America, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. This piece originally appeared on JTA.org. AUGUST 21, 2020 13

Headlines Yeshiva: Continued from page 1

Rabbi Chezky Rosenfeld, who was formerly the director of development and has been promoted to chief operating officer. Rosenblum’s peers heaped praise last week on the educator best known for creating the Zekelman Standards, which are used as benchmarks for best practices in Jewish studies. Yeshiva Schools was an early adopter of Zekelman, initiating the protocol about seven or eight years ago. “Rabbi Rosenblum will help take our success to the next level, and it’s the education of the students that’s the basis of that existence,” Oster said. “In general, [Rabbi Rosenblum] wants to make the educational program more rigorous and more successful. Yeshiva Schools is one of a limited number of Chabad schools that offer Judaic and general studies from preschool through high school. Rabbi Rosenblum is very focused on improving that education so that it is as successful as it can be.” Yosef Hashimi moved his family to Pittsburgh in part because of the work of educators like Rosenblum, he told the Chronicle. “We left Chicago and came here because we believe in higher education and we wanted to send our children to a Chabad

“ We left Chicago and came here because we believe in higher education and we wanted to send our children to a Chabad school that provided a balance between

”

general studies and Jewish studies.

— YOSEF HASHIMI school that provided a balance between general studies and Jewish studies,” said Hashimi, a Harvard-educated technology consultant who has two students in Yeshiva Schools and four children who already have graduated. “Our desire is for Yeshiva Schools to maintain a strong dual curriculum along the ethos we came here for. We want it to be a place where future generations of children can get an excellent, well-rounded education,” Hashimi said. “Yeshiva is unique among Chabad schools. Central to its mission is the goal to raise Jews capable of supporting their families both spiritually and financially. A

bird needs both of its wings to fly.” The appointment of a new CEO has dovetailed with the development of a strategic plan at Yeshiva Schools that “blends the traditions of the past with the needs of the future and goals of the new leadership team,” officials said. The plan yielded six categories of initiatives and a whopping 110 actionplan items. That work — aiming to improve education there, among other measures — was undertaken by a 25-member committee of parents, academic staff and community members. “[The committee] was an incredible community experience — a true

Teens: Continued from page 1

things to the kids,” he said. “They can’t change their messages based on the latest things which they have heard. And they’ve got to be very careful that any information they share with their children is reliable scientific information, not information that is out there to create anxiety in people.” If a teen is unusually irritable, that could be a sign they are experiencing heighted stress, according to Dr. Mindy Hutchinson, a board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist with a private practice in the South Hills. “When teens get depressed, they get more cranky,” she explained. “They lose interest in things they usually enjoy,” and living in close quarters with their families can intensify those feelings. The teenage years are when people separate from their parents, Hutchinson said. “They get angry and push their way out,” often turning to friends for support. Because of social distancing mandates, though, teens now are being denied access to their friends and usual activities. Teens having a hard time dealing with stress often become frustrated and upset with people outside of their family as well, Hutchinson noted. “That’s a bad sign,” she said. The forced quarantine caused by the pandemic “squeezes the family unit exponentially into a smaller box,” said Eric Bernstein, a psychologist who offers forensic evaluations for the courts and child protective services. As a result, he said, teens are forced to navigate a new set of expectations. Parents working from home with children who would normally be at school adds an 14 AUGUST 21, 2020

p Teens may be feeling overwhelmed as school begins amid the pandemic. Photo by dragana991/iStockphoto.com

additional dimension of stress, according to Bernstein, and miscommunication between parents and teens can exasperate an already tense environment. “They may not communicate what’s going on,” Bernstein said. “They may not even understand why they are so stressed. The parent has to deal with that and the child must deal with the parent’s own stress. So, it really is a challenge upon everybody.” Moreover, the sudden loss of experiencing milestones can affect teens emotionally and psychologically.

“There is a level of grief that is real and palpable,” Bernstein said. Significant experiences that teens may have missed out on this year include the first day of school, prom and even the SAT. Teens who graduated in 2020 also missed out on rites of passage, including graduation ceremonies and school trips, causing additional stress, noted Stephanie Rodriguez, a teen and adolescent psychotherapist for UpStreet, JFCS Counseling Services. The new school year presents different challenges, according to Erin Barr, a clinical

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partnership between parents and the administration,” Hashimi said. “I was always interested in standards-based learning, having some direction for where we’ve got to go, like a GPS,” Rosenblum said. “One of the things where we’ll get more rigorous is by asking essential questions.” Yisroel Rosenfeld was excited by the appointment of Rosenblum, whom he taught as a student in the eighth grade decades ago. “[Rosenblum’s appointment] will enable more to see that other things will continue to grow,” Rosenfeld said. “Hopefully, this is a win-win for everyone and it will enable us to get through the challenges we have, our community has.” Rosenfeld stressed that he will continue to take an active leadership role in Pittsburgh’s Orthodox community. “At some point, being the rabbi of Lubavitch, being the head shaliach of Chabad — that’s a lot happening, a lot on the plate,” he said. “Now, I have and will continue to have time for many positions.” Yeshiva Schools, founded in 1943 in Pittsburgh, includes The Early Learning Center, a middle school, and girls and boys high schools. Collectively, the school educates 450 students, employing 125 people annually. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

coordinator with UpStreet, JFCS Counseling Services. “There are still a lot of unknowns,” she said. “I’ve heard as recently as this week that schools are changing their plans for reopening. As soon as they begin preparing for one possibility it changes. So, they’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop.” To maintain a sense of normalcy and fight some of the stress, Barr recommends teens taking control of what they can. “Maybe go out and get something for your at-home desk,” she said. “Redecorate the area. Designate a specific area in your home for school. That is something that can help you feel like you have control over something when you have little control over other things.” When teens do begin to feel overwhelmed, it is important that they reach out to other people, said Rodriguez. Equally important is for parents to check in with their teens. Communication between parents and their children is vital to ensure teens can navigate the stressful landscape created by the pandemic and the start of the school year. “It’s a balance between candor, transparency and considering the needs of your child,” Bernstein explained, and parents should acknowledge to their teens that they, too, are struggling, while not burdening them with concerns about bills or fears over their job. “I’m hoping there will be some relief for kids and families, now that schools are making some decisions about when and if they’re going to reopen,” Hutchinson said. If, however, teens still have trouble dealing with stress, she recommends speaking to a family physician who can recommend a clinical psychologist. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Supplemental: Continued from page 2

would prefer Zoom. Our approach is to at least offer partial in-person participation with all the safety guidelines in place.” The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s J Line, open to students in grades eight to 12, will offer a combination of the two approaches seen in area congregations. South Hills instruction for J Line will begin the school year virtually, according to Chris Herman, division director of Jewish life. It has not yet been determined whether

Downtown: Continued from page 3

ever met. He took me in. We clicked.” Since then, the two men have remained close. “He’s been with me through thick and thin,” said Yanoff, 54. Yanoff is now saying Kaddish for his mother, who died in November, but these days, because there is no minyan at the downtown shul, he sometimes recites the traditional mourner’s prayer solely in the presence of Savage. “These are some unique times we are dealing with,” Yanoff said. “Let the numbers be what they are. I look at it as it’s better to say Kaddish than not to do it.” Savage agreed. “I answer ‘Amen,’” the rabbi said. While Savage has some companionship on

Lists: Continued from page 4

expenses, however, each family will receive a $25 school supplies fee, he said. Other changes at Hillel Academy include the elimination of lockers to “minimize congregating in hallways or tight spaces,” Weinberg said, and textbooks will be purchased digitally in case students must

there will be in-person classes for the winter and spring trimesters, Herman said. The Squirrel Hill J Line experience has been given a facelift, no longer meeting on Sunday mornings for 24 sessions. “Instead,” Herman said, “there will be small experiences within the J Line menu and those will all be held in-person.” The year will begin with an emphasis on current events and morph to focus on taking action for social justice in the winter. “We have about five small group experiences that will begin in October and go through May,” Herman said. Other teen JCC programs, including Diller Teen Fellows, Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy and Rosh Chodesh, all will be

meeting in person, following CDC guidelines. Like many area religious schools, freelance b’nai mitzvah tutor Hal Grinberg has shifted to online instruction, tutoring students through FaceTime. It took his students some time to get used to the idea of virtual tutoring and Zoom b’nai mitzvahs, but now, Grinberg said, everyone is used to it and expects it to continue in the fall. And, while Grinberg, the former religious school principal at Dor Hadash, thinks that parents and students have adjusted to the online tutoring, one downside to FaceTime lessons “is the absence of the scroll.” “Practicing from the school and chanting

weekday mornings, he acknowledged that Shabbat and holidays are tough. “Shabbosim are really something,” Savage said. Most Saturday mornings, Savage is joined by just one man for prayer and kiddish, and the long summer Shabbat afternoons can be difficult. “Sometimes it’s no picnic,” Savage admitted. “But I have a lot to read, and I’m a good cook.” His specialty, he said, is fish and French fries. When Shabbat concludes, Savage turns on the television to watch sports. He is a big fan of wrestling in particular and has a cache of colorful stories about Pittsburgh wrestling icons. The pandemic compelled the rabbi to have solo seders this year, and he will be alone for the High Holidays. Although several invitations have been extended by friends to stay with them for Rosh Hashanah and

Yom Kippur, he has declined, preferring the comfort of his own surroundings. Last year, the synagogue drew 44 people for High Holiday services. “We aren’t doing anything this year,” said Frank. “The building is closed. I’m afraid to open it up. We are not opening up until there are lots of green lights out there. It’s too hard to worry about the cleaning and the virus safety issues.” The rabbi, though, is hoping to hold services for Sukkot outside in the shul’s sukkah, where it will be easier to comply with health guidelines. He wants to give his congregants a chance to say Yizkor, the memorial prayer for the dead, he said. While the pandemic has caused life to become more quiet for the rabbi, it’s not like he never gets out. He can often be seen strolling around downtown Pittsburgh — his chosen form of exercise — where he is

quarantine and miss in-person instruction. At Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, there will be definite differences in the school experience this year, but the school will continue its practice of providing supplies to those who need them, explained Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, Yeshiva’s head of school. Parents were provided grade-specific shopping lists designed with an intent to reduce sharing between students. Items can be bought online or in-person, but for those

who are unable to acquire materials, Yeshiva will follow past procedures. “In general, our community provides support for everyone who needs things purchased for them and if they are concerned or unable to leave their homes,” explained Rosenblum. After so many months at home, and with COVID-19 still raging, returning to school will be a new experience, agreed the Jewish day school professionals. Things may be slightly different than

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from it that morning and carrying it around the sanctuary has a lot of emotional and historical meaning for the students and their families,” he said. Whether virtual or in-person, J-JEP’s Freedman said there is value in a Jewish education. “What we do is still important and it’s still meaningful and it’s still urgent,” stressed Freedman. “Even though it won’t look the same, don’t cut back on your child’s spiritual education. Don’t cut back on your child’s connection to their heritage.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

recognized and greeted by the professionals still working in the neighborhood. “Lawyers in town, computer people, UPS drivers,” Savage said. “They know I am here by myself.” Having spent half his life serving the downtown shul, Savage has a “handshake agreement” to stay put at least until he turns 72 — quadruple chai, he pointed out — next year. “I’ll will see how my health is,” he said. Savage readily admits he is “not like other rabbis,” an impression shared by his flock. “That’s why I always got along with him,” said Yanoff. “He doesn’t always take everything seriously.” Except when he does. “It does get lonely sometimes,” Savage confessed. “I do miss the guys here.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. before, but, as the American Academy of Pediatrics pointed out, there is a value in returning to in-person instruction, according to Weinberg of Hillel Academy. The new plans, he explained, represent “our best thinking as to how we can balance our needs and aspirations as a school community.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Life & Culture NPR host Ophira Eisenberg to perform at New Light event — COMEDY — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

phira Eisenberg, a comedian, actress, author and host of National Public Radio’s weekly trivia, puzzle and game show “Ask Me Another,” is digitally coming to Pittsburgh to lift spirits with New Light Congregation on Aug. 27. The free event — the second in New Light’s “Sing a New Light” series — is an opportunity to lighten the mood during a difficult period, celebrate the future and honor the memories of Richard Gottfried, Daniel Stein and Melvin Wax, the three New Light members who were killed during the Oct. 27, 2018, synagogue shooting. Both the 2018 attack and the current pandemic factored into Eisenberg’s decision to perform at next week’s online fundraiser. “We are all estranged from each other in new ways, and it just became even more important to try to find a way to bring together community and to have people feel connected to each other,” said Eisenberg, whose familiar voice can also be heard on the storytelling program “The Moth.” Eisenberg had not yet finalized her set at the time she spoke to the Chronicle, but whether she references her Canadian Jewish upbringing, things she misses given the current climate or her vast coffee consumption during a period in which there’s nowhere to go, Eisenberg said attendees can expect material “that will be as joyful as possible in a dark time.” For that reason, she’ll forgo addressing the events of Oct. 27, 2018. “There would be nothing I would be able to add comedically,” said Eisenberg. Instead, the digital act will be one in which attendees can briefly enjoy themselves, “be together and try to create a little bit of connection and happiness.” As someone who’s performed regularly for nearly two decades and mused about topics such as her childhood obsession with meeting Santa Claus in a mall or the singularity of her Hebrew-rooted first name, Eisenberg is comfortable filling a room with levity. After spending so many years riffing onstage, however, transitioning to a screen for streamed performances requires adjustment. “You don’t do the same set, obviously, that you would do onstage because that would feel ridiculous,” she said. Even so, there’s a certain charm to this method of delivering setups and punchlines. “These new comedy shows are imperfect, life is imperfect, but they’re not as bad as I thought they would be.” In fact, virtual performance “in the strange world that we’re living in feels extra special, especially when you get to see your friends or be with people you love,” she said. A Calgary, Alberta, native, Eisenberg, 48, is the youngest of six. Her parents first met in Holland, where her mother was a Dutch teenager and her father, a British soldier, was among those who liberated the country from German occupation. The couple eventually relocated to Safed, Israel, and welcomed

16 AUGUST 21, 2020

p Ophira Eisenberg

Photo by Mindy Tucker

“ We are all estranged from each other in new ways, and it just became even more important to try to find a way to bring together community and to have people

”

feel connected to each other.

— OPHIRA EISENBERG

the first two of Eisenberg’s five siblings. In 1957, the growing family moved to Canada. After Eisenberg’s sister was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, another sister, brother and Eisenberg were born in Calgary, where their father served as a Hebrew teacher before becoming principal of the school. Unlike her four older siblings, who conversed with their parents in Hebrew, Eisenberg and her youngest brother spoke English as children. She attributed the difference in language to the fact that her father had left the Hebrew school, she was enrolled in public school and there was a trend then of immigrants speaking English to their children. “They would speak in either Yiddish or

Dutch or Hebrew when they wanted to say things in front of me and my brother that they did not want us to hear,” she laughed. “It became their secret language.” Even within the fashionably Englishspeaking home, Eisenberg was often reminded of earlier days. Her mother shared details about the war more often than her father, but it was through literal scraps that Eisenberg came to a fuller understanding of her parents’ experience during the war: Whether it came to maximizing food or materials, everything was used. “The way we lived was very much based on a World War II mentality,” she said, “this mentality all the time about the money, and the cost, and just being conscious of

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rationing and making do with what you had. It’s still how I live.” Whether joking about a single old pear that she can’t throw away or describing her parents’ willingness to reflect on the horrors of World War II, Eisenberg purposefully offers a peek into her own life in her performances. Speaking honestly and exposing one’s vulnerability are critical narrative tools, she explained. That’s why she feels when working with future storytellers, it’s important to teach them that the challenge isn’t chronicling an episode perfectly but rather getting to the truth. “The truth is going to be infinitely more interesting, infinitely more relatable, and that’s what we’re here to explore,” she said. Eisenberg will join several other comedians for the Aug. 27 event, and although her digital routine may not have the emotional weight of a story she’d share on the “The Moth,” there’s still a seriousness in the subtext of her jokes. “This is a comedy show. It is there to bring joy and bring people together and connect, and have a brief escape from our lives and a laugh. But it also does honor the memory of the three New Light members that were killed in that mass shooting,” said Eisenberg. “We come to this event with reverence to that and just gratitude that we get to do something that potentially has a positive impact on everyone’s emotional state.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Life & Culture

Salad photo by Jessica Grann; platter photo by Wade Grann

Arayes: grilled lamb stuffed pita pockets

— FOOD — By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

love lamb. It’s my favorite of any meat available and it’s even better grilled. Arayes — pitas filled with lamb — are typical street food that one can readily find in Israel and other Middle Eastern countries. They are easy to prep, easy to cook, and super easy to eat. One of the best things about this recipe is that you can cook it a day in advance and just warm in it the oven before guests arrive. I serve it with a simple garden salad or Israeli salad and a simple-to-make garlic dipping sauce. This is a great party food because you can easily eat it while standing.

Arayes 2 pounds of ground lamb 1 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley 1 large onion

¼ cup of pine nuts 2 teaspoons of baharat spice 2 teaspoons of salt 1 teaspoon of black pepper 6 small, thick pitas, halved Olive oil

Place lamb, pine nuts, baharat, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Peel and quarter the onion and place it with the parsley in a food processor. Pulse until well blended. Scrape mixture onto an old cloth dish towel or napkin that was not washed with strong-smelling detergent or fabric softener — you don’t want your mixture to taste like soap! Twist the towel and squeeze as much liquid out as possible. It will take a few minutes and you may see 1-2 cups of liquid drain out. Once strained, add into the large bowl and loosely mix with your hands. Cut 6 pitas in half and stuff with the lamb mixture, as close to the top as possible

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without overstuffing. Brush both sides of each pita lightly with olive oil. I typically stand them meat-side up in a baking pan. You can grill over low-medium heat, or cook these in a cast iron skillet on your stove top over medium-high heat. I prefer lamb grilled and well done, but you can cook it to your liking, simply use an instant read digital thermometer. Place each half down onto the grill or into the skillet, cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and cut in half so that you have 2 wedges from each half. Place back onto the grill or into the skillet, meat-side down for 1-2 minutes, then turn to the other side to sear the lamb. At this point, move to indirect heat on the grill, or onto a baking sheet and into the oven warmed to 325 degrees. Remove from heat after 10 minutes and cover with foil to keep warm. You can also cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate. I suggest setting your oven to 325

and warming for about 15 minutes. These are a great picnic-style food and also a fun but satisfying meal for Shabbat lunch. Garlic dipping sauce ½ cup of mayonnaise 1 clove of garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice 2-4 tablespoons of water

Crush and mince one large clove of garlic. Whisk garlic and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice together, then add into half a cup of mayonnaise. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, whisking after each addition until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. I prefer it fairly runny. Serve with a simple garden salad or Israeli salad. The dipping sauce also works as a flavorful, garlicky salad dressing. Enjoy! PJC Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

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AUGUST 21, 2020 17

Celebrations

Torah

Anniversary

Under God, indivisible Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler Parshat Shoftim Deuteronomy 16:18-21:19

Eddie and Myra Childs will celebrate their 50th golden wedding anniversary on Aug. 23. Eddie and Myra tied the knot on Aug. 23, 1970, and it’s still tied! Through all the ups and downs, sickness and health, good times and bad, their love story has endured for half a century and continues on. Their children and grandchildren — Sol, Shari, Aly and Dylan, Wes, Kim and Paige, and the rest of their family and friends — offer congratulations on this amazing milestone. May they both continue to live long and prosper.

B’nai mitzvah Trey Weston Schachter, son of Shaina and Joshua Schachter, and brother of Zane and Lucy, will become a bar mitzvah on Aug. 29, 2020. Grandparents are Nancy Rabner and Tat Rabner and Linda and Barton Schachter. Trey, Dov Baer Moshe, will be called to the Torah in an outdoor service led by Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation. The service will also be available virtually to family and friends. Trey attends Shady Side Academy where he will be an eighth-grade student this fall. His major interests include basketball and music.

Aidan Jacob Stein, son of Bradley and Allison Stein, will become a bar mitzvah at Adat Shalom on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020. Grandparents are Kay Liss of Monroeville, Elsa and Ken Beckerman of Sarasota, Florida, and the late Richard Stein of Scottsdale, Arizona. PJC

he first paragraph of Shoftim begins, “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your gates ... ” and ends with one of the Torah’s most famous exhortations, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” Who is responsible to keep this mitzvah? And how does the pursuit of justice follow? Maimonides’ Sefer HaMitzvot included the mitzvah “to appoint judges and officers in every community of Israel.” Later, in the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides stipulated, “Only in Eretz Yisrael are we required to set up courts of law in every district and every city.” He then described how this should be accomplished under the auspices of the Great Sanhedrin. In Maimonides’ lifetime, this description was purely aspirational, with Eretz Yisrael a constant battleground between Christendom and Islam. Could this be the reason he disregarded the Talmud’s position? The Talmud had applied this mitzvah to Jewish communities worldwide. Makkot 7a held that “in your gates” means in “Eretz Yisrael you shall establish courts in each and every district and in each and every city, and outside Eretz Yisrael you establish courts in each and every district but you do not establish courts in each and every city.” The Talmud further expanded this mitzvah to dimensions that exceed almost all other mitzvot. Sanhedrin 56a enumerated the seven mitzvot given to “the descendants of Noah,” i.e. “all of humanity.” The first mitzvah is to establish courts of justice (dinin) to oversee the other six mitzvot: prohibiting blasphemy, idolatry, sexual impropriety, bloodshed, robbery, and eating the limb of a living animal. Thereby, “Judges and officials shall you appoint in all your gates” is a mitzvah for the whole world to keep. Judaism has never claimed there is only one religion. Judaism has always proclaimed that there is only one God. The seven Noahide commandments engender Judaism’s belief in the familyhood of humanity. The Torah asserted this principle from the beginning when God created all of us in God’s own image. So how does the pursuit of justice follow? The answer should ring a bell. The Liberty Bell was one of countless bells sounded on July 8, 1776, fulfilling its inscription, another stirring verse from Torah, “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.” The pealing bells summoned citizens to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Among the 56 signatories of the Declaration, there was not one Jew. The signatories likely identified themselves as Christian Deists, well versed in the Bible.

This was enough to suffuse the Declaration’s most famous phrase with the influence of Judaism: “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Still, imagine if a Jew or two been included in the drafting. They might have made “a more perfect union,” to borrow from the preamble to the Constitution. Jews could have quoted the exact verse from Genesis, “God made man in God’s own image … male and female God created them,” then cited God’s relentless condemnation of slavery in Exodus. Imagine if the Declaration’s first phrase had been written, “All human beings are created equal.” It would have spared us centuries of all the “-isms” of hate and prejudice that stain America’s soul. The Jewish influence on the Declaration may seem to ring loudest in “the pursuit of Happiness,” as it resonates with “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” But therein runs the crack in the Liberty Bell. How often is happiness pursued at another’s expense? Winners and losers. Victors and vanquished. Our success entails their failure. Life in pursuit of happiness becomes a zero-sum game. Or how often is happiness confused with self-gratification? Yes, wholesome happiness exists, starting with loving relationships, tasks well done and life’s challenges met. Yet how often is the pursuit of happiness merely self-indulgence? Especially today when unhappiness is a national epidemic on top of the worldwide pandemic, where has “the pursuit of happiness” brought this country? If a Jew or two had a hand in drafting the Declaration of Independence, they would know that Judaism supersedes and subsumes the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of justice. “Happiness cannot be pursued,” wrote Victor Frankel. “It must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.” With the exhortation “Justice, justice shall you pursue,” Shoftim calls us to the greatest of causes administered by “Judges and Officials” worldwide. If a nation aspires to “liberty and justice for all,” then it must be guided by justice. Only the unstinting pursuit of justice ensures happiness for all. With Elul here and the High Holy Days approaching, our nation is “a house divided against itself.” How shall it stand? Let us pledge ourselves to work toward “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” We Jews, a light to the nations, thereby can make this nation a light to all nations. PJC Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler is rabbi emeritus at Temple Emanuel of South Hills.

Estate Notice

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 18 AUGUST 21, 2020

Sharon Martin, Deceased of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania No. 02-20-1068 Marc D. Barna, Executor; 1054 7th Street, West Elizabeth, PA 15088 or to Bruce S. Gelman, Esquire, Gelman & Reisman, Law & Finance Bldg., 429 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1701, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

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Obituaries COHEN: William Stephen C ohen passed away on Aug. 14th after a six-year heroic battle with multiple myeloma. He was born on April 15, 1949. Bill was raised in Pittsburgh, the son of Sidney and Esther Fay Cohen, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in communications. Raised in a musical and artistic family, his passion for photography led to an early career in that field. He was a gifted painter with a compelling and personally expressive style. Bill enjoyed attending Pittsburgh Symphony concerts followed by dinners with his wife, Judy Greenwald Cohen. Bill was a proud partner and supporter of Judy’s extensive involvement and leadership in both local and national Jewish organizations. The work that Judy continues to do in the nonprofit community was important to them both and a great source of pride for Bill. Bill was an avid runner, having completed more than 30 marathons. He enjoyed a range of sports and outdoor activities, including cycling and racquetball, hiking and golfing. His interest in sports extended to his hometown teams. He was an enthusiastic follower of the University of Pittsburgh football and basketball teams, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball, Steelers football and Penguins hockey. He followed all the games, and the first thing he turned to each morning in the newspaper was the sports page. Bill also enjoyed the study of World War II history, his home filled with many books on this and other subjects that interested him. In his later years, he developed a special interest in watching everything from documentaries on history to science fiction and dramas. Bill was a perfectionist in the best sense of that word, and he used his talent for fixing things to attack whatever he saw that needed improvement. No job he ever started was left undone. Bill was a successful businessman and entrepreneur in multiple fields, though family and close friends were always his life’s priority. Judaism and its traditions remained a guiding light throughout his life. Bill enjoyed 22 years with his love, Judy. He had a special and adoring relationship with his stepson, Joshua Kuznetsov, whom he loved since the first time they met. He was a devoted and committed parent and a partner to Judy in raising Josh. In addition to his wife Judy and stepson Joshua, Bill is survived by his loving sister Judy Cohen Wall (Irwin Wall) and niece Rachel Lisa Joseph. Additionally, Bill is survived by brothers-in-law Bruce Greenwald (Leslie Greenwald), Dan Greenwald, niece Rachel Greenwald, nephew Elliot Greenwald and dear cousins near and far. Close friends, like his family, will miss his engaging conversation, goodness of heart, commitment to his family and artist’s sense of style in all things. Special thanks to the many people, including his doctors, PAs and nurses, at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center who cared for him through the years of his illness, and to the Siskind family, who were always there for him and his family. Funeral services are private. Please honor Bill and Judy’s lifelong support of others. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Cemetery and Burial PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Association of Greater Pittsburgh, (jcba. org) or the 21 and Able program of the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, (uwswpa.org; earmark it for the 21 and Able program). Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com GOLDSTEIN: Herbert M. Goldstein, on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. Beloved husband of Marlene Goldstein; loving father of Sharon and Alan (Sarah); grandfather of Ava, Bailey (Deklan), Samuel and Laurel. Graveside services and interment private. Contributions may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation, 575 Lincoln Ave., Ste. 101, Bellevue, PA 15202, the UPMC Benevolent Care Fund, 200 Lothrop St., Forbes Tower Ste. 10055, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (memo line — Light House Point) or Sivitz Hospice, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Arrangements entrusted to the Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com MARCUS: Violet R. London Marcus passed away on Tues., Aug. 11, 2020, six weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She was predeceased by husband Sam, son Alby, daughter-in-law Maxine, parents Albert and Sarah Walkow London and sisters Hilda Lebovitz and Lilyan London. Violet was a trailblazer and a trendsetter whether as a highly requested special education teacher without a college degree, receiving a master’s degree without a bachelor’s degree or during her illustrious career as an investigator with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Violet was devoted to volunteering in both the Jewish and civic communities, especially her beloved Rodef Shalom Congregation, which bestowed on her many honors for her years of dedicated service. She was a JAA Eight Over Eighty honoree, Israel Bonds Chai Tea honoree and was honored by Ladies Hospital Aid Society. In addition, she was honored as an outstanding alumna of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Violet is survived by her sons Harold and wife Maureen, Chuck and wife Ilene and daughter-in-law Nancy. She was the adored Grandma Vi to Josh Marcus and Amy and Kevin Segal. Her favorite title was Gigi to the love of her life, her great-granddaughter Morgan. The family extends heartfelt gratitude to dear friends, Judy Cascio and Sally Seed whose love and care for Vi enhanced her life beyond measure. Graveside services and interment private. Graveside service and Thursday shiva will be Zoomed. Family suggests contributions to Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden or a charity of choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

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

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Americus

Jerrie Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leslie Lou Mullen

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarah Americus

Jere Leib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rose Leib Rothman

Dr. Lawrence N. Adler and Natalie A. Kaplan . . .Sadye G. Adler

Carol & Richard Margolis . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Lynn Simon Dupre’

Renée Batten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ella Herman Marilyn & Irv Beck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Beck Sherry Cartiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irene Posner Natalie and Stanley Faleder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alick Portnoy Sherwin Glasser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Molllie Kurtz Claire Z. Goldberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harry Zeligman Claire Z. Goldberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth Zeligman

Mrs. Alvin Mundel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Mundel Larry Myer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lena Myer Bonnie & Gordan Post . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry and Larry Miller Paula S. Riemer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maxine Sittsamer Mrs. Harvey E. Robins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Mermelstein Edith Schneider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Flom

Susan Goldman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lillian F. Pachtman

Myron & Eileen Snider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Howard Snider

Susan Goldman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pauline Marcu

Dr. Susan Snider and Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Howard S. Snider

Gloria Greenfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luiba Horvitz

Elaine & Leroy Supowitz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alfred Supowitz

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday August 23: Sarah Americus, Alan Herbert Azen, Annie Berezin, Samuel Berger, Isadore A. Bernstein, Susan Dickter, Rebecca L. Guttman, Anne Harris, Mary Garson Mazer, Marie G. Mundel, Louis Rosenbloom, Eli Spokane, Morris Toig, Louis Whiteman Monday August 24: William Americus, Tillie Bennett, Samuel W. Berk, Zelda Glantz Chasick, Howard W. Jacobson, Mollie Kurtz, Sara Melnick, Sharon Lee Morton, Milton Moskovitz, David Pearlstein, Rose Rom, Alex Ruben, Fannie Shapiro, Leo Spiegle, Harry Treelisky, Louise Ziskind Tuesday August 25: Lillian Bergad, Florence Bertenthal, Fannie Cohen, Patty Danovitz, Lena Darling, Rose Gold, Dora F. Greene, Bernard J Harris, Jeanette Miller Horowitz, Leah Katz, Pearl Laufe, Selma G. Leventon, Natalie Myra Lewis, Harry Malkin, Essie Jacobs Marcus, Laura Marcuson, Rabbi Pincus F. Miller, Stefanie Ann Miller, Sylvia Monsein, Harry L. Richman, Max Roth, Gwen Amy Shakespeare, Howard Snider, Oscar Wilson, Isadore Sidney Wolfson Wednesday August 26: Anna Friedman Calig, Rose Calig, George H. Danzinger, Ella Friedman, Edith Goldstein, Liuba Horvitz, William M. Katz, Marcel Lucja, Frank Miller, Frances Rosen, Benjamin David Schwartz, Becky Weiner, Annie Wirtzman, Nathan Zapler Thursday August 27: Harry Z. Davidson, Rev. Henry Friedman, Helen Handlesman, Samuel E. Jacobson, Mimi Lawrence, Pauline Racusin Leventon, Jennie D. Miller, Rachel Mintz, Jennie Papernick, Ernst Perlstein, Samuel M. Rosenzweig, Dora Shaffer, Sarah Snyder, Mildred Tannenbaum, Sophie Tauber, Saul Weis Friday August 28: Joseph Baker, Belle Berman, Harry Dickter, Jacob Dobkin, Marilyn Elikan, Nathan Fisher, Rose Goodstein, Rita Hertz, David Kravitz, Thomas Lewis, Simon Lieberman, Lillian London, Yehudi Marbach, Sadie Margolis, Leon Pattak, Freda Rubin, Alice D. Safier, Rebecca Siegal, Lena Thomashefsky, Sarah Zweig Saturday August 29: Leon Alan Berger, Jean Serbin Burckin, Honey Sue Fink, Esther Kochin, Bert Lasnik, Eva Zawitz Mannheimer, Fannie L. Morris, Rebecca Rockman, Sadie Simon Sieff, Harry Siegal, Harry Zeff, Margaret Zelman

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www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Please see Obituaries, page 20

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

AUGUST 21, 2020 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

SHAPIRO: Joan Sally (Zirkin) Shapiro, on

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Beloved wife of the late Robert Shapiro. Beloved mother of Stuart (Candi) Shapiro, Michael (Ann) Shapiro, Minor (Linda) Shapiro and Lynne (William) King. Daughter of the late Louise

(Finn) Zirkin Silverberg, Samuel Zirkin and Dr. Minor Silverberg. Grandmother of Justin, Robert, Brandon, Alexis, Alison, Dennis, Amara and Landon. Services and interment private. Contributions may be

made to Jewish Family and Community Services, 5743 Bartlett St., Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com PJC

Braddock restaurateur portrays Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine as Nazis in Facebook post

raddock restaurateur Robert Portogallo, owner of Portogallo Peppers N’AT, posted an image on Facebook last Wednesday that portrayed Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine — who is Jewish — as Nazis. In the black-and-white image, Wolf ’s and Levine’s heads are superimposed onto Nazis in uniform. The post was captioned “Thursday’s lunch special is the Getapo Combo,” a misspelling of Gestapo, the official secret police of Nazi Germany. It continued: “The Levinie Wienie and Wolfe Waffle Fries for $5.99. Political opinions are free!”

The since-removed post provoked backlash. On Friday, the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh shared a statement condemning the post. “Hate is not a political opinion,” said Bob Silverman, chair of the CRC, in the statement. “This person clearly either does not understand or is unwilling to acknowledge the history of the Holocaust where 6 million Jews were murdered, as were a large number of LGBTQ+ people. “He has every right to agree or disagree with the methods the governor and the secretary are undertaking in an effort to save lives during a pandemic, which includes

additional regulations on restaurants. But the means by which he has expressed those opinions are entirely unacceptable.” Braddock Mayor Chardaé Jones also condemned the post, writing last Friday on Facebook, “In such uncertain times hate should not be the basis of a ‘joke’ and is always in bad taste.” Portogallo has apologized, telling City Paper that the post, intended to be comedic, was callous and that Portogallo Peppers N’AT did not move forward with the advertised “Getapo Combo” special. Portogallo also said he did not realize Levine was Jewish. “I didn’t mean it in an anti-Semitic way,” Portogallo told City Paper. “Looking at it now, I can see how people took it that way.”

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The post stemmed from frustration with restrictions on bars and restaurants in light of COVID-19, Portogallo told the Tribune-Review. “It just feels like we’re being singled out, and a lot of people aren’t going to make it,” he said in the Tribune-Review. “We’re hanging on by a thread.” Portogallo has previously posted content that caused controversy, including an April post in which Portogallo mocked Levine, who is transgender, with a photo of himself donning a wig, glasses and pearls. It was condemned by members of Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ community. PJC

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AUGUST 21, 2020â&#x20AC;&#x192;21

Life & Culture With synagogues off-limits for the High Holidays, attention is turning to Jewish practice at home — EDUCATION — By Shira Hanau | JTA

n Montreal, the boxes will include apple or honey cake mix. In New Hampshire, they’ll include bird seed. And many synagogues will distribute apples and honey, the snack that symbolizes a sweet new year. The packages are among many that will start to land soon on the front steps of Jewish homes: deliveries of prayer books, art supplies and gifts meant to make a High Holiday season spent at home a little less lonely and a little more spiritually fulfilling. “What we’ve learned over these months is that to create an online program is not just to take an in-person program and just to put it online, it’s a new field of engagement,” said Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal. “You need something tangible.” The High Holiday boxes reflect a dawning awareness that with most synagogues closed or at least curtailed, homes are now the center of the Jewish experience. Just as people the world over have begun baking sourdough bread during the pandemic, many Jews have started baking their own challah. Now as the coronavirus pandemic extends into the second half of its first year,

p Preschool-age children participate in a morning gratitude session with Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold at home. Photo courtesy of Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold via JTA

synagogues and other Jewish organizations are taking new steps to make home practice easier to access. To some, the shift in focus from synagogues to homes as the center of Jewish life is a healthy recalibration for a culture in which synagogues had become too central. “We’ve sharply differentiated home from synagogue … and we’ve put all our energy into the synagogue,” said Rabbi Lawrence

Hoffman, a professor at Hebrew Union College who researches synagogues, liturgy and ritual. “Instead of two separate entities, we now have the opportunity to share from one home to another.” Hoffman himself has found that the pandemic has changed the way he observes Shabbat. When the pandemic first started, he started singing Shabbat songs on Friday afternoon with his children and grandchildren over Zoom. Eventually the gatherings became a weekly ritual and incorporated songs, candle lighting and a full Shabbat dinner conducted over Zoom. “We worry about synagogues … but at the same time we have a strong home ceremony that keeps us going and it’s partially the secret of our success,” Hoffman said. “It’s kind of an exciting moment in time when we’re experimenting with open scripted rituals in our homes that could become anything.” Kohl Finegold and others in her position are traversing uncharted territory, according to Vanessa Ochs, a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Virginia. She said this year’s Passover had effectively been a “Jewish boot camp,” as people who might normally attend a family or communal Seder had to figure out how to make one themselves, and now the lessons are being applied to the High Holidays. “How do you do Rosh Hashanah on your own? Our community hasn’t invented that yet,” she said. That invention is underway. A website that sells Passover haggadahs — and allows users to compile resources to create their own — has launched HighHolidays@ Home, which invites users to “download a simple Rosh Hashanah Seder & Yom Kippur Guidebook or mix & match to create your own holiday gathering.” Rabbi Yael Buechler, a school rabbi and founder of Midrash Manicures, a company

that sells Jewish-themed manicure kits, said she noticed Rosh Hashanah cards becoming less popular over the years but thought this year would be the perfect opportunity to bring them back. She collaborated with a New Yorker cartoonist to create Rosh Hashanah cards that feature an apple and honey separated by a Zoom screen. “This is a really unique opportunity for young people to use cards — hand-written notes are really powerful — to reach out to family and friends they haven’t seen for months,” Beuchler said. Support is also coming from the synagogues that congregants this year cannot enter. In addition to making sure they have easy-to-access Zoom setups and prayer books to follow along with at home, many congregations are distributing supplies aimed at enriching the holiday experience. At Temple Beth Jacob in Concord, New Hampshire, Rabbi Robin Nafshi is planning to send congregants a package of materials for tashlich, the ritual in which Jews throw bread crumbs into water to symbolize the casting away of sins. With the day when tashlich would be performed falling on an early-fall Sunday this year, Nafshi was concerned about trying to assemble the congregation with proper social distancing at potentially crowded local bodies of water. So congregants at the Reform synagogue will get packets of bird seed in their holiday boxes, which volunteers will hand deliver throughout the region. (The synagogue has used bird seed in place of the traditional bread, which can be harmful to birds and fish, for years.) “Like everyone, we’re trying to figure out this online world where we’re trying to find ways to make this more personal,” said Nafshi. She said she hopes the packages will “remind them that our clergy and board and staff are thinking of them.” At Kohl Feingold’s synagogue, where she is director of education and spiritual enrichment, families will get a box before Rosh Hashanah that will include chocolate bars for the kids and conversation starters to fuel meaningful conversation during holiday meals. Families will also get a glass jar filled with premixed dry ingredients for a honey or apple cake. The idea is for families to bake together for the holiday, then use the container to keep notes marking things to be grateful for or good deeds to bring the lessons of Rosh Hashanah into the rest of the year. Kohl Finegold plans to use the box model in the synagogue’s religious school this year, creating kits for each of the school’s four- or five-week-long units. “It’s opening up a world of possibility that brings us into the children’s homes in ways that I think just weren’t as easy to do before,” she said.˜ PJC

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Community 6th Annual NCJW Back 2 School Store The National Council of Jewish Women has coordinated the Back 2 School Store for the past six years. This year, 60 volunteers filled 1,000 backpacks with new school supplies, winter apparel and personal hygiene kits for 28 community organizations and elementary schools to distribute to families. Over the course of two weeks, 46 volunteers completed the backpack deliveries to local sites.

p Meredith Brown, NCJW director of community service and volunteer engagement, with her youngest daughter, Avery

p NCJW volunteer and board member Barb Ginsburg, left, delivers backpacks to a partner agency.

p All volunteers wore masks and followed social distancing guidelines throughout the preparation and delivery of backpacks and supplies.

p Coaches and staff from the Duquesne University Athletics Department delivered 150 backpacks and supplies to the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh.

t NCJW Board President Teddi Horvitz, left, meets with Jan Glick, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Horvitz was one of four volunteers who delivered 50 backpacks and supplies to the organization.

p Gilit James, left, NCJW volunteer and graduate of the NCJW Leadership Development Program, delivers backpacks to Casa San Jose, which will distribute items to participating families.

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t NCJW Past Board President Lynne Jacobson, left, and volunteer Judy Key load their cars with boxes filled with backpacks, hygiene kits and winter apparel to deliver to NCJW’s partner agencies. Photos courtesy of NCJW

AUGUST 21, 2020 23

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