P I T TS B U R G H
August 31, 2018 | 20 Elul 5778
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Candlelighting 7:36 p.m. | Havdalah 8:34 p.m. | Vol. 61, No. 35 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Synagogue official shines in life and death moments
Opioid addiction and loss through the lens of local poet
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Page 3 NATIONAL John McCain remembered Valarie Bacharach took to poetry when dealing with her own profound loss.
Photo by Toby Tabachnick
in poetry workshops through Carlow University’s Madwomen in the Attic program wo years after Valerie Bacharach’s — has mastered the art. Her first collection of son, Nathan, died at the age of 26 poetry, “Fireweed,” sheds light on a parent’s from causes related to his opioid ordeal suffering through the addiction of a addiction, she was still searching for ways to child, and, ultimately, his death. cope with her unfathomable loss. The slim volume, published by Main Street The grief she was experiencing was Rag Publishing Company, contains just overwhelming. 30 poems, but within its pages lie a heart“To lose a child is the wrong order,” breaking world of truths. Bacharach said. “Your children B a ch ar a ch , a should outlive you, not the other special education way around. It’s not the way teacher, had not written Other fall poetry prior to her son’s it’s supposed to be.” arts preview death, but once she began, When her therapist she “grew to love it, not suggested she look coverage only for the way it helped to art as a way to begins on me begin to cope, but I loved express her feelings, page 13. the act of writing, ” she said. Bacharach picked up w Soon after enrolling in the some colored pencils writing workshops, she began and some paper, publishing some of her poems, and eventually and tried to draw. decided “to try to put a book together.” Just She hated it. But one day, in yet another attempt one month after submitting her manuscript to sketch a flower with a purple pencil, she to Main Street Rag, she heard back that it had been accepted for publication. instead jotted down a poem. She was thrilled. “It was a really bad poem,” she recalled, “I wanted Nathan’s story out there,” said but nonetheless, the process of putting her Bacharach, whose other son, Jacob, is a thoughts to paper was cathartic. That was seven years ago, and in that time, Bacharach — who has been engaged Please see Poet, page 18 By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer
Page 5 ROSH HASHANAH Traditional Jewish dumplings
Making kreplach ties generations together. Page 12
JCC CEO Schreiber to help national association strategize By Lauren Rosenblatt | Digital Content Manager
Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha vice president volunteers for rescue missions.
Late senator’s bipartisanship also extended to Israel support.
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resident and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Brian Schreiber has been tapped to help leadership at the JCC Association of North America as it begins to strategize and strategically plan for the future of the JCC movement as a whole. Schreiber will serve as special adviser to JCC Association president and CEO Doron Krakow starting in November. In his role at the JCC Association, he will act as a “resource and connector” between the national association and individual JCCs and will offer advice based on his nearly 20 years of experience as a sitting executive at the Pittsburgh JCC. During his 90-day sabbatical, a team of professional and lay leaders will take over day-to-day operations of the community center in Squirrel Hill. For Krakow, the JCC Association is at a “meaningful juncture,” as they are beginning to form action plans to best evolve alongside the Jewish community and continue to serve as one of the most significant points of contact for Jewish life. “We have an increasingly clear understanding of the vision [for the future of the movement], but being able to take a vision and bring it to life through implementation is going to require a lot of thought and careful planning,” Krakow said. “We’ll be using this time that Brian will be working here to evolve specific plans for how to make ourselves into a better version of ourselves.” Over the next few months, Schreiber and Krakow will work together to plan the agenda and make sure he is prepared and properly equipped once he arrives in Manhattan. At the same time, Schreiber and JCC leadership will be working to prepare for his absence. Please see Schreiber, page 24
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