Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 6/8/2018

P I T TS B U R G H

June 8, 2018 | 25 Sivan 5778

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Candlelighting 8:31 p.m. | Havdalah 9:39 p.m. | Vol. 61, No. 23 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Twerski, Gateway to be lauded as pursuers of peace

Longtime volunteer brings coffee and companionship to Beth Shalom mornings

Various views presented at South Hills forum on Jewish future

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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Rodef Shalom’s award ceremony will recognize the importance of recovery.

by Rabbi Michael Werbow, Beth Shalom’s former spiritual leader.

“Abe Salem used to do breakfast, and when he was sitting shiva the keys were handed over to me,” she said.

When the official responsibility was finally conferred, Selekman instituted some changes to a program that began in 1985.

“Abe had four different keys for four different things,” she recalled. “That was something I couldn’t handle. I had the locks changed and had one key for everything.”

The other alteration regarded refreshments.

“The whole shul was decaf coffee,” Selekman said. “When I took over I brought in caffeinated coffee.”

Since its inception more than a generation ago there have been other adjustments to the Jewish breakfast club, explained Milt Eisner, a past president of Beth Shalom.

“It started out with just bagels and coffee,” said Eisner.

ne thing was certain after last week’s South Hills panel discussion among Jewish community leaders dubbed “Where Do We Go from Here?” — there is not yet a consensus on how to figure that out.

The May 30 program, held at the South Hills Jewish Community Center and co-sponsored

by South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh (SHJP) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, was billed as a continuation of a conversation that began in February regarding the recently released Jewish Community Study. The $325,000 study was conducted by the Marilyn and Maurice Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University’s Steinhardt Social Research Institute and was funded by the Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation.

Last week’s panel, whose task was to go beyond the hard data and discuss how best to use it to propel the South Hills Jewish community forward, featured Rabbi Danny Schiff, Foundation Scholar; Brian Schreiber, president and CEO of the JCC; Raimy Rubin, manager of the Pittsburgh Jewish Community Scorecard; Jonathan Fischer, vice chair of SHJP; Stacey Reibach, board member of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills; and David Weisberg, president of Temple Emanuel of South Hills.

Schiff began the session by acknowledging that while the study showed a 17 percent increase in Pittsburgh’s Jewish population in the last 15 years, “there are real issues we have to address.”

Cautioning that his forthcoming words would be “controversial,” he also stressed that they represented his own perspectives and that the Federation did not necessarily either support or oppose his views.

Schiff quickly dove into a topic that affects

Please see Volunteer, page 16

Please see Forum, page 16

Page 2 LOCAL Halpern family feted

Generations of philanthropic clan were on hand.

 Volunteer Dee Selekman has been preparing breakfast at Congregation Beth Shalom for the past seven years.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

Page 3

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

LOCAL ‘Bubbie’ is out, ‘Mimi’ is in

Jewish grandparents in the 21st century opt for different names.

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here is something sweet — and savory — at the daily end of services at Congregation Beth Shalom.

Immediately after reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish, a liturgical hymn delivered for the dead, worshippers remove their religious garments and amble to a nearby table. Spread over a colorful cloth is cake, cheese, carrots, gefilte fish, cucumbers, tomatoes and bagels.

“Sometimes there’s egg salad,” said Dee Selekman, a volunteer and frequent presence at the Squirrel Hill synagogue.

For the past seven years, Selekman has spent nearly every Monday through Friday morning preparing breakfast for an unknown amount of eaters.

“We could have 20 at services and five stay or 15 come and 12 stay,” she said. “I never know.”

More certain are the staple items served: English muffins, cream cheese and bagels.

Those are always on the table, she explained.

Selekman was introduced to the task

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle HISTORY

When Gene Kelly was a hit

WORLD

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WORLD

Israeli veterans go business route

Headlines Rodef Shalom to honor Twerski, Gateway Rehab as ‘Pursuers of Peace’ — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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lan Cabin is convinced that Rabbi Abraham Twerski saved his life.

Cabin suffered from drug addiction for more than 20 years, his life on a continuous downward spiral, until he was shown a path toward recovery at Gateway Rehab, a long-term treatment network that Twerski established in 1972.

Now helping others as a recovery specialist for Gateway, Cabin, 65, is just one of more than 100,000 individuals that the organization has successfully treated in its four decades of operation.

Twerski and Gateway Rehab will be honored by Rodef Shalom Congregation with its Pursuer of Peace award on Sunday, June 24, at the synagogue.

The award, which is bestowed biannually, recognizes those who demonstrate a body of work that contributes to the pursuit of peace through interfaith understanding and humanitarianism.

“Gateway saved my life,” said Cabin, a member of Rodef Shalom. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Rabbi Twerski and the staff there.”

Cabin began using drugs as a child of the 1960s, and “did not say ‘no’ to any drug” until he sought recovery at Gateway in 1995. His addiction caused him problems with school, work, and his relationships, he said. Eventually, after coming to the realization that he was being controlled by crack cocaine — obsessively and persistently thinking about the drug — and running out of lies to tell his

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EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Email: newsdesk@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org BOARD OF TRUSTEES Evan Indianer, Chairman Andrew Schaer, Vice Chairman Gayle R. Kraut, Secretary Jonathan Bernstein, Treasurer David Ainsman, Immediate Past Chairman Gail Childs, Elizabeth F. Collura, Milton Eisner, Malke Steinfeld Frank, Tracy Gross, Richard J. Kitay, Catia Kossovsky, Andi Perelman, David Rush, Charles Saul GENERAL COUNSEL Stuart R. Kaplan, Esq.

2 JUNE 8, 2018

p Rabbi Abraham Twerski

Photo provided

p Alan Cabin turned to Gateway for addiction treatment, and now helps others.

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

wife, he reached a tipping point and finally told her the truth.

“That was one of the best feelings I had, when I unloaded all the truth,” he said.

“That day, I decided to get help, and we called Gateway.”

While being treated at its Aliquippa inpa-

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Photo courtesy of Rodef Shalom

tient center for about 6 weeks, “I realized how sick I really was,” said Cabin, whose brother died as a result of his own drug addiction. “I had never looked at my life. I was too busy getting high.”

Cabin describes Twerski, a psychiatrist as well as a Lubavitch rabbi, as having “an aura

about him. He is able to model what I’d like to strive for: kind, loving in how he deals with people. He never raises his voice, he has a good sense of humor. And he has the ability to take complex ideas about recovery Please see Twerski, page 17

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Jim Busis, CEO and Publisher 412-228-4690 jbusis@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org EDITORIAL Joshua Runyan, Editor-in-Chief 215-832-0744 jrunyan@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Angela Leibowicz, Community/Web Editor 412-687-1047 aleibowicz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Toby Tabachnick, Senior Staff Writer 412-228-4577 ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Adam Reinherz, Staff Writer 412-687-1000 areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Lauren Rosenblatt, Digital Content Manager 412-228-4547 lrosenblatt@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org ADVERTISING Phil Durler, Senior Sales Associate 724-713-8874 pdurler@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org PRODUCTION Jeni Mann, Director Rachel S. Levitan Art/Production Coordinator

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p The Pursuer of Peace Award goes to Rabbi Abraham Twerski and Gateway

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Headlines Halpern family feted for generations of involvement — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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ecades after Julius Halpern extended his last loan, the Pittsburgh Jewish community is still collecting interest. Although Halpern, a banker, toy manufacturer and community activist, died in 1962, his family remains committed to upholding a standard set by him and his wife, Lillian, generations ago.

Acknowledging and saluting that paradigm rested at the heart of a Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh donor appreciation event held on May 31 at the Pittsburgh Opera in which Steven Halpern, Julius and Lillian’s grandson, accepted the PNC Community Builders Award on the family’s behalf.

“We’re now into the fourth generation of a family that has been quite devoted to community service and community building and philanthropy,” said Halpern.

Name: Community Day School Width: 5.0415 in Depth: 13.75 in Color: Black plus one Ad Number: 10043256

The nearly 400 people who attended the sold out event learned more of the Halperns’ history.

“When talking about the Halpern family’s involvement in community service and philanthropy, I should start in 1907, when Julius Halpern came to Pittsburgh from Galicia in Eastern Europe and later resettled five of his siblings here,” said Louis R. Cestello, head of regional markets and regional president of Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania for PNC Bank. “Julius had a tremendous influence on future generations, both through his drive in business and his early leadership roles in the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, which became the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, as well as the American Jewish Committee and Beth Shalom synagogue. Julius’ sons Bernard and Irving; Bernard’s wife, Ethel; grandchildren Eileen, Rick and Steve; and Eileen’s husband, Nick Lane, continued Please see Halpern, page 20

ALEXANDRA BAKER JACOB BEIRIGER RACHEL BERGER NOAH BETTINGER TEDDY CAPLAN ALEX FARBER JOSEPH FINKELSTEIN ARI FREEDMAN NAOMI FRIM-ABRAMS MADELINE HERRUP JACOB HERRUP SAMUEL HIMMEL OLIVIA HIRSHMAN

p Steve Halpern, right, accepts the PNC Community Builders Award on behalf of his family. It was presented by Louis R. Cestello, left, of PNC Bank.

BRADLEY HORVITZ JENNIFER JAFFE BELLA MARKOVITZ ADAM MORITZ CARLY PEPPER YAEL PERLMAN DANIEL PLAUT MICHAEL POLITO RACHEL ROLLMAN ELI SMITH BRAD VALINSKY OLIVER ZUNDER

Allegheny College Brandeis University (2) Carnegie Mellon University Community College of Allegheny County Cornell University (3) Duquesne University Elon University Gap Year in Israel New York University Penn State (4)

Princeton University Temple University The Ohio State University United States Air Force University of Florida University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh (2) Vanderbilt University

Community Day School graduates are scholars, artists, athletes, musicians, innovators, and leaders. They use their gifts and knowledge to succeed at the world’s finest colleges and universities and in their chosen professions. And CDS students are the future of strong, vibrant Jewish communities in Pittsburgh and beyond.

p The Halpern family received this year’s PNC Community Builders Award for their outstanding commitment to Pittsburgh for over 100 years.

Photos by David Bachman

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JUNE 8, 2018 3

Headlines Beyond ‘Bubbie,’ Jewish grandparent names get a reboot — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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hoosing the perfect name for a child can occupy expectant parents for months, but for many prospective grandparents, deciding what they want their new progeny to call them can be just as taxing a task.

Gone are the days when Jewish grandparents defaulted to the age-old Yiddish standbys of “Bubbie” and “Zayde,” or even the slightly hipper Hebrew versions, “Savta” and “Saba.” Instead, many of today’s Jewish grandparents are looking to other cultures to find suitable monikers, dipping into the wells of their own creativity or even leaving naming rights to the new offspring.

“It’s always a very exciting thing to do, to talk about grandparent names,” said Malori Asman, the founder of the Jewish travel company Amazing Journeys. “When we were talking about what we wanted to be, we realized that these names stick with you really for a lifetime.”

Asman and her husband, Barry, quickly dismissed the more traditional Jewish names.

“We don’t look like our bubbies and zaydes,” said Asman, now a grandmother to three boys. “So, I went to the international side of things, and looked up what the grandkids call their grandparents in other parts of the world.”

Asman finally settled on “Bibi,” which translates to “grandmother” in Swahili, as well as in Uzbek.

“So, I was covering several continents, and also the word sounded a lot like ‘Bubbie,’” she explained. “I thought, ‘that’s a nice blend of an offshoot of Yiddish, but with an international twist.’”

Barry Asman settled on “Z” as his grandpa name because it is the sound that begins the word “zayde,” but is “very contemporary,” his wife said.

Betty Jo Hirschfield Louik also eschewed the

term “bubbie” when her daughter-in-law was pregnant with her first granddaughter. “‘Bubbie’ is too old — it’s the babushka thing, and the rolled stockings,” Louik said.

At the suggestion of a friend, former Pittsburgher Dan Karp, Louik instead became “Bubbie Jo.” “And when I want to be formal, the grandkids can call me ‘Dr. Bubbie Jo,’” quipped the South Hills dentist, whose patients call her “Dr. Betty Jo.” “I love it,” she said. “It’s a play on my name, and it makes sense.”

Her husband, Howard Louik, is known to his granddaughters as “Poppy,” which comes from his own children calling him “Pops.” “‘Bubbie’ doesn’t fit me, that yiddishe mama type,” said Mt. Lebanon resident Janet Mostow, who now has one granddaughter, and another grandchild on the way. “I can’t relate to it.”

Instead, Mostow goes by “Mimi,” which is what her own daughter dubbed

p The Kanal family

p Betty Jo and Howard Louik walk with one of their granddaughters.

Photo courtesy of Betty Jo Hirschfield Louik

4 JUNE 8, 2018

p Malori and Barry Asman

Photo courtesy of Erin Herman

Photo by Joel Weinberg

Mostow’s mother when she could not pronounce “grandma.”

Mostow’s husband, Jack Mostow, was happy to go the traditional route, so together, they are “Mimi and Zayde.”

Educational consultant Michelle Lubetsky also goes by “Mimi,” explaining that she was 14 when her twin sisters were born, and when they began to talk, they could not say “Michelle.”

“So, I have been Mimi to my family ever since,” she said. “It was a natural progression to keep it going into the next generation.”

Her husband, Marty Lubetsky, is called “Papa” by his grandkids to honor the memory of his father-in-law, who “wore it well,” Lubetsky added.

“At first, Marty was hesitant to step into those shoes, but it keeps my dad ever present to hear the endearing term referenced with loving kindness. It is especially heartwarming since our grandson was named for my dad,” she said.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

When asked how many grandchildren she has, Judi Kanal of Squirrel Hill had to do the math. Finally, she came up with a total of 17. None of them call her “Bubbie.”

Kanal’s handle is Deeda, which was what her oldest grandson — now 15 — called her in lieu of “grandma.”

“My kids loved it, and there was no going back,” said Kanal, who also had no interest in being called “Bubbie.”

“I don’t want to insult anyone, but to me, ‘Bubbie’ is very old-fashioned, and it sounds oldish,” she said. “I was in my 40s when I became a grandmother.”

Her husband, Manny Kanal, however, “insisted on being ‘Zayde,’” she noted. “It was all he knew.”

The children of one of Kanal’s sons have two sets of grandparents in which the grandfather is “Zayde,” so to distinguish them, Kanal’s husband is “Deeda Zayde,” and the other grandfather is “Safta Zayde,” differentiating each one in terms of his spouse.

But not all local grandmothers sidestep convention when it comes to choosing their grandma names.

“I’m ‘Bubbie,’” said Nina Butler of Squirrel Hill. “No pretension. I just looked in the mirror and a bubbie was looking back at me. I embrace it and frankly don’t understand the people who are upset or ashamed that they’re old enough to be grandparents.

I say, bring it on.”

Her husband, Magisterial District Judge Dan Butler, on the other hand, wanted a name that the kids would find “unique, and summon visions of greatness and achievement,” she said. “So, he was considering — threatening — that the grandkids should call him ‘Elvis.’ Ultimately, sanity won out. He is known by our five grandkids as Zaidy.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Two encounters with Gene Kelly, 50 years apart makes this otherwise unimpressive photograph meaningful, and relevant to local Jewish history, are two details you cannot

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle see: the photographer and her reason for snapping the shot. photograph is like a balloon. Filled The Jewish community of Pittsburgh, with the right substance, a seemingly particularly its Squirrel Hill contingent, was insignificant thing can expand and the most loyal patron Gene Kelly had during float. For a photograph, the substance isn’t his apprenticeship in the 1930s. Congregahelium. It’s context. tion Beth Shalom hired him to teach dance This photograph is not technically accom- classes, arrange productions and entertain plished. The composition is lopsided. at congregational functions. (I’ll be sharing The action is pushed too far in the back- the full story of the relationship between the ground. It’s hard to tell what’s going on or Kelly family and Jewish community of Pittswho’s involved. burgh in an evening talk at Beth Shalom on Help comes from three clues found within Wednesday, June 21.) Kelly’s reputation in the image and one written on it. The sign Squirrel Hill allowed him to open the Gene at the podium and the man in the crowd Kelly Studio of the Dance on Forbes Avenue wearing the “Singin’ in the Rain� jacket with his brother Fred and sister Louise. suggest that this event must have had someMarjorie Spector was one of the dozen of thing to do with the actor Gene Kelly. The Jewish children who took dance classes from Gene Kelly and his siblings. In the archive we have a program from one of the studio’s annual “Revue of the Dance� recitals. Spector performed the “Rhythm Tap� and played a “Sweet Girl Graduate� in the Graduation Day segment of an ambitious interpretive dance medley on the theme of “Holidays Throughout the Year As Done in Song and Dance.�

Like many former students, Spector affectionately followed Gene Kelly’s rise after he bought a one-way ticket to New York City in August 1938. In her high school diary, she dutifully reported a Gene Kelly sighting at the old Kahn’s Restaurant on Murray Avenue and lamented his nervous performance on a live p Marjorie Spector documented Pittsburgh WJAS radio adaptation of “Me and events large and small, including this My Gal.� By the early 1950s, Gene ceremony to dedicate “Gene Kelly Square�

Kelly was one of the biggest movie in East Liberty.

Photo courtesy of the Rauh Jewish History Program stars in the world. & Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center Spector was an avid photographer person on the far right of the podium is who snapped shots of important events and former Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri, making interesting places (including Fallingwater this an official occasion. The location is East before its prohibition on indoor photogLiberty Presbyterian Church. The date is raphy). Her photography shifted toward April 29, 1987. more common subjects in the late 1970s.

If you assumed that the man speaking Sometimes she was compelled to capture into the microphone was a middle-aged familiar surroundings, and sometimes she Gene Kelly, and that this was a ceremony seems to have been compelled to document in his honor, you would be half-right. The changes as Pittsburgh confronted its loss of ceremony was indeed honoring the career industry and identity. of Gene Kelly. The city was dedicating the From her apartment at the Essex House, it block around the church as “Gene Kelly would have taken Spector only 15 minutes to Square.� But according to the April 30, 1987 walk to East Liberty Presbyterian Church on editions of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and April 29, 1987. Her photograph that windy Pittsburgh Press, Gene Kelly was not in atten- morning is both hopeful and nostalgic. It dance that day. documents the leaders of her city taking The man at the microphone is former a small step toward revitalizing her new City Councilman Richard Givens. He is neighborhood by honoring the man who presenting a ceremonial street sign to Gene had taught her to dance, 50 years earlier.

Kelly’s sister Louis Kelly Bailey. In the This photograph is an echo of her childhood absence of the Hollywood legend, Caliguiri brush with fame.  PJC performed an amateur version of Kelly’s Eric Lidji is the director of the Rauh famous umbrella dance from “Singin’ in the Rain.� A springtime gust flipped his Jewish History Program & Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center. He can umbrella inside out.

Accompanying the newspaper articles be reached at eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org are better photographs than this one. What or 412-454-6406.

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Calendar q

MONDAY, JUNE 25

Chamber Music Pittsburgh presents the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival, “Hebrew Melodies” featuring members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with soprano Tehila Nini Goldstein at 7:30 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. The program will showcase a Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival specialty: repertoire by RussianJewish composers affiliated with the St. Petersburg Society for Jewish Folk Music (1908-1918). Tickets are $25 and are available at chambermusicpittsburgh. org or 412-624-4129. p Tehila Nini Goldstein

Photo by Janine Escher Photograph

>> 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 RESERVATIONS DUE BY JUNE 8 New Light Congregation Men’s Club invites the community to a guided visit of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Aug. 26. The trip includes bus transportation, museum admission and a city tour. Meals are not included; the bus will stop for breakfast and dinner. The bus will leave from New Light Congregation at 6 a.m. and return at approximately midnight. Cost is $70 per person. Contact Dan Stein at 412-521-5231 to register. Visit newlightcongregation.org/ documents/HolocaustMuseumTripFlyer.pdf for more information. q TUESDAYS TO JUNE 26 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh is hosting the workshop Better Choices, Better Health six consecutive Tuesdays, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in room 202.

The workshop is free. Participants will actively be a part of brainstorming on key topics. Contact Amy Gold at 412-697-3528 for more information and to register. q EVERY WEDNESDAY Beth El Congregation of the South Hills at 1900 Cochran Road hosts a NarAnon and an NA meeting every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Enter in the school/office entrance. Contact Karen at 412-563-3395 for more information. q FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JUNE 8-10 Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha is celebrating the installation of Rabbi Jeffrey Myers. Highlights include Friday’s “Shabbat On The Rocks,” cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception at 6 p.m., followed by services at 6:45 p.m.

Saturday morning services at 9:30 a.m., followed by a Kiddush luncheon. Sunday is the installation ceremony at 2:45 p.m., followed by a concert by recording artists and cantors, Divas On The Bima at 4 p.m. Cost for

6 JUNE 8, 2018

the weekend is $25 per person or $100 per family. Contact the office at 412-521-6788 for more information. q SATURDAY, JUNE 9 Moishe House pals will meet for a citywide celebration of LGBTQ+ culture. Join together with others in the community to stand in solidarity with the queer community loudly and proudly. Meet at Moishe House at a time TBA and bus downtown together. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. q SUNDAY, JUNE 10 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is supporting the LGBTQ+ community by marching together in the Pittsburgh Pride EQT Equality March. If you cannot join the march, stop by the Federation’s booth during the festivities. The first 50 people to register for the march will get a free “Love is Kosher” T-shirt. Visit jfedpgh.org/pride for more information and to register.

New Light Men’s Club and Rodman Street Missionary Baptist Church will have a bus and walking tour of Pittsburgh’s Hill District with tour guides from the Hill House and the Heinz History Center. Highlights include Freedom Corner, The Lyceum, August Wilson’s Family House, The Crawford (Jazz) Grill, Kether Torah Congregation, Hebrew Institute, Logan Street, “Jew Town” and guest speakers. The tour will begin at 1:30 and end at 4 p.m. There is a $15 charge. Visit newlightcongregation.org/hill-walkingtour.html for more information and to purchase tickets.

Organization for Women in Early Recovery (POWER); Abby Wilson, deputy director, Public Policy and Community Relations, Allegheny County Health Department; and Ashley Potts, licensed social worker, Allegheny Health Network. Charlene Tissenbaum will be the moderator. There is no charge but attendees are asked to bring a staple item such as toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, lotion, notebook and journal for clients who arrive at POWER. RSVP by June 8. Visit jfedpgh.org/ladies-who-lunch to register.

Women of Temple Sinai will hold its next cooking class with a French-inspired menu led by Executive Director Drew Barkley from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Anyone age 16 and older is welcome. There is a $10 charge per person.

RSVP by Friday, June 8 to Carolyn Schwarz at 412-421-1268 or 4carolynschwarz@gmail. com or visit templesinaipgh.org/wotscooking-class-7.

Rabbi Danielle Leshaw, senior educator at Hillel International, will hold a two-hour course from 7 to 9 p.m. designed to help parents support their child in evaluating and responding to anti-Israel activity on campus.

This course, at the Jewish Community Center Second Floor, Robinson Building, is designed specifically for parents of college students, concluding gap year parents and parents of rising high school seniors. Josh Sayles, director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will participate in the discussion.

Contact Rabbi Amy Bardack, director of Jewish Life and Learning, at abardack@ jfedpgh.org or 412-697-6654. The program is in partnership with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. RSVP at jfedpgh.org/israel-on-campus.

Songs of the Inspired Soul, a multimedia concert in honor of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s 24th yahrzeit will be held at 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Katz Theater. A local string quartet will play six nigunim (melodies) that the Rebbe taught. Each Chabad center of Western Pennsylvania will be honoring a volunteer with the Lamplighters Award.

There is no charge. q WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 Temple Sinai is offering a trip to Johnstown from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that will include a narrated riding tour of Johnstown’s historic downtown and viewing buildings that survived the 1889 Johnstown Flood, an orientation to the old Jewish neighborhood of Iron Street and Grandview Cemetery, a dairy lunch and tour of Congregation Beth Sholom that will include viewing the 125th Anniversary Exhibit of Jewish Johnstown, the Bloom Archives and the Jewish Museum and a ride on the Johnstown Incline. The cost is $20. RSVP to Judy Rulin Mahan at judy@templesinaipgh.org or 412-421-9715, ext. 110 by June 6, or register

q MONDAY, JUNE 11 Ladies Who Lunch: Opioid Epidemic.

Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section (NCJW) and Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh will hold a discussion on the opioid crisis in the Pittsburgh area from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Temple Sinai. Drinks and dessert will be provided; bring your own brown bag lunch. Featured speakers will be Rosa Davis, executive director, Pennsylvania

online at templesinaipgh.org/temple-sinaiseniors-group-trip.

Rabbi Barbara Symons of Temple David will lead two discussions of “The Gift of Asher Lev” by Chaim Potok in the Monroeville Public Library Gallery Space at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. The discussion is free and open to the public. Visit MonroevilleLibrary.org for more information.

Crafts Night at Moishe House from 7 to 9 p.m. Join for a night of crafting and schmoozing. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will hold a civil rights discussion on Hate Crime and Hate Speech from 7 until 8:30 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation with representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, State Police and the Pittsburgh Police to discuss crimes that occur here in Western Pennsylvania. The discussion will include laws that govern hate crimes and what to do when you encounter hate speech.

Hate crime cases that have been prosecuted in Pittsburgh will be presented. This event is free and open to the community, including other faith-based groups and middle/high school-aged children. Contact Erin Wyland at ewyland@jfedpgh.org or call her at 412-9925252 to RSVP. q SUNDAY, JUNE 17 A motor coach will leave the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill for a trip to Fallingwater at 10:30 a.m. and will return at approximately 3:30 p.m. Visit the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, nestled within the lush, wooded Bear Run Nature Reserve. Tickets are $75 prepaid and include transportation and one-hour tour of Fallingwater. Contact Deborah Marcus at dmarcus@jccpgh.org for more information.

Before the Pittsburgh Playhouse officially “turns off the lights” at its Oakland campus and prepares to open its new theater complex downtown, join the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 1212 Smallman St. in a celebration of the many Jewish actors, writers, directors, stagehands, patrons and critics who have made the Pittsburgh Playhouse an iconic part of the cultural landscape of Pittsburgh for more than 80 years. See glamorous photographs and fascinating backstage materials from local playhouse legends including Nat Elbaum, Allan Pinsker, Helen Wayne Rauh, Eddie Steinfeld and many more. There is no charge. Contact Eric Lidji at eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406 for more information or visit heinzhistorycenter.org/events/curtain-calljews-and-pittsburgh-playhouse.

Please see Calendar, page 7 q TUESDAY, JUNE 12

The Squirrel Hill Historical Society will hold its next free meeting to include “Through the Place,” a film on the history of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) with remarks from Karamagi Rujumba, director of public communications and advocacy at PHLF, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Ave. Visit squirrelhillhistory.org for more information.

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Calendar Calendar: Continued from page 6 q WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 AARP Squirrel Hill Chapter 3354 will hold its annual luncheon with entertainment at noon at the Comfort Inn, 699 Rodi Road in Penn Hills.

The cost is $23 for members and $25 for guests.

Nonmembers are welcome. Make checks payable to Marcia Kramer, 100 Bryn Mawr Ct., #311 East, Pittsburgh, PA 15221. Contact Ilene Portnoy at 412-683-7985 for more information.

The 27th annual NCSY Garden Sizzler, for adults only, will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Butler Gardens, 5710 Bartlett St. Reservations can be made at centraleast.ncsy.org. q THURSDAY, JUNE 21 Hadassah Greater Pittsburgh will have a Take Me Out to the Ball Game: A night with the Pirates at PNC Park event. The cost is $25

per ticket. Contact fsurloff@hadassah.org for more information. q MONDAY, JULY 2

q SUNDAY, JUNE 24

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle congratulates

Rodef Shalom Congregation will present this year’s Pursuer of Peace Award to leaders in addiction treatment and recovery, Rabbi Abraham Twerski and Gateway Rehabilitation Center. A VIP reception will be held at 5 p.m. The tribute dinner will be at 6 p.m. in Freehof Hall; the award presentation, open to the community, is at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. All are invited to the dessert reception afterward. The charge for dinner is $250. Contact Mayda Roth at roth@ rodefshalom.org or 412-621-6566, ext. 140 for more information and reservations.w

Rabbi Abraham Twerski

Beth El Congregation will host its monthly First Mondays program with Rabbi Alex Greenbaum from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring guest Todd DePastino, historian and executive director of the Veterans Breakfast Club. He will be presenting Women in World War II. Visit bethelcong.org for more information. There is a $6 charge. Call 412561-1168 to make a reservation.

and Gateway Rehab

q TUESDAY, JULY 3 Chabad of the South Hills will hold a senior carnival at noon with a picnic-style lunch, games and presentation by Home Instead on “Five tips to avoid hospitalization.” There is a $5 suggested donation; the building is wheelchair accessible. Call 412-278-2658 to register. PJC

 PURSUER of PEACE

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JUNE 8, 2018 7

Headlines Synagogues become nightclubs in Eastern Europe — WORLD —

By Cnaan Liphshiz | JTA

T

RNAVA, Slovakia — Growing up, Robert Sajtlava remembers playing near what used to be his native city’s Orthodox Synagogue.

A rectangular structure with a deceptively unimpressive facade, its ornate ceiling and interior walls suffered extensive damage from the precipitation leaking through the roof and, occasionally, by trespassers who came through the rickety fence.

“It was a ruin,” said Sajtlava, a 28-year-old catering professional, who is not Jewish.

Since 2016, however, Sajtlava comes to that building every day as the manager of Synagoga Cafe — a chic establishment that a local contractor opened that year inside the space of the former synagogue. The launch followed a complicated and costly renovation project that retained and preserved much of what remained of the 187-year-old structure.

In a recent and controversial development in Eastern Europe, former Jewish houses of worship left abandoned after the Holocaust are being renovated for commercial ends by contractors who capitalize on their Jewish history and incorporate it into a brand.

Critics view the businesses as exploitative cultural appropriation in the wake of a tragedy. Advocates argue it reflects respect and nostalgia for Jews in addition to providing a vehicle for at least some preservation of heritage sites.

The trend is especially visible over the past decade with the commercialization of several former synagogues and houses of worship. In 2013, Krakow’s Chewra Thilim was turned into a nightclub and, in 2016, into the Hevre bar, whose interior design highlights its Jewish past.

In 2012, Warsaw saw the opening of Mykwa Bar, a drinking establishment with a translucent floor over what used to be a mikvah, or ritual bath.

It occurs also in Western Europe: A 207-year-old synagogue in the city of Deventer, in the eastern Netherlands, is in the process of becoming a restaurant whose design will reference its previous function, according to the new owners.

At the Synagoga Cafe, yuppie patrons sip pricey cappuccino on tables that are aligned with a platform on which worshippers would climb to open the wooden Torah ark.

Flanked by marble columns that the renovators brought in to replace the ones that were plundered decades ago, the ark towers over the customers, with its reliefs of the tablets of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew and the word Jehovah.

Overhead, what used to be the women’s section is now a second bar, complementing the one near the main entrance and facade, with its Star of David locked within a round window. The renovators did away with the separate entrance that once led upstairs in keeping with Orthodox requirements for separation of the sexes. But they kept the original stone stairs, which now lead up from the main entrance of the cafe, which has a capacity for 80 patrons.

8 JUNE 8, 2018

p Patrons at the Synagoga Cafe in Trnava, Slovakia

Even the collection box, with the Hebrew word for charity emblazoned over its slot, has remained intact.

Europe had some 17,000 synagogues before World War II, according to groundbreaking research published this year by the Londonbased Foundation for Jewish Heritage. But the foundation has been able to locate throughout the continent only 3,318 structures that have been known to function as synagogues, and just 762 are used as such today.

Some of the structures mapped by the foundation, especially in former communist countries, have been turned into residential homes — one notable example is the Rusne shul in western Lithuania. Others, like the Krośniewice synagogue in central Poland, became funeral parlors. Poznan in the country’s west even has a swimming pool that used to be a synagogue. In many cases, Jewish communities sold the buildings or received compensation for them. In others, Jewish communities still own the former shuls and are renting them to third parties.

But these conversions differ from projects like the Synagoga Cafe and Mykwa Bar in that hardly any of them feature a conscious effort to commemorate the building’s Jewish past, much less capitalize on it.

As with similar establishments in the region, the scene at Synagoga Cafe draws mixed reactions from Jews.

“It’s certainly a jarring experience with mixed emotions,” reads a Facebook post by Meir Davidson, an Israeli tourist from the Tel Aviv area who chanced upon the cafe on a Friday evening in February. “I mean, the local Jewish community didn’t just pack up and leave.”

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Trnava, a city of 65,000 with so many churches that it is sometimes called “the Rome of Slovakia,” counted a Jewish community of some 3,000 before the Holocaust. Some 2,500 were deported to Auschwitz, leaving a congregation of only 100 by the 1960s.

Even the survivors gradually left, leaving the unused Orthodox Synagogue and the neighboring Status Quo Synagogue, which was reopened in 2016 following renovations and now functions as an art gallery and concert hall with a memorial space.

But the congregants’ tragic fate is not mentioned anywhere at Synagoga Cafe.

Davidson’s Hebrew-language post on Facebook triggered a torrent of indignant reactions.

“Disgraceful,” wrote Shani Luvaton of Jerusalem. “They’d never do it to a church or mosque.” Removing the Jewish motifs would have “actually been less confronting.

This mix of espresso and cheese cake and the Torah Ark doesn’t work.”

Some noted that Israel and the United States have their fair share of deserted or defunct synagogues that have been turned into something else. The former Ansche Chesed Synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side is now an arts center. The Beth Abraham Synagogue in Auburn, Maine, was sold last year to a developer to be turned into apartments.

But Sara Ben Michael of Haifa objected to the comparison.

“Shocking,” she posted on Facebook.

“The Jews didn’t leave this synagogue.

They were sent to concentration camps and exterminated.”

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The Holocaust’s shadow and the absence of complete and informed acknowledgment of the genocide lie at the heart of resistance to the phenomenon, said Richard Schofield, a British artist based in Lithuania.

He will publish a book this year titled “Back to Shul” featuring photographs from nearly 100 former synagogues that he toured last August.

“The murder of the people who used to frequent the shul, the destruction of their centuries-old communities, it creates a different attitude and reality,” he said.

In this context, Schofield said, “it’s hard to keep a rational attitude.” And yet he tends to support projects that result in the preservation of disused and decaying synagogues that otherwise would be destroyed, even if it is done for profit.

Of the 2,556 buildings that used to be synagogues in Europe but no longer function as such, at least a third are in a condition ranging from poor to unsalvageable. Among the functioning synagogues, fewer than 10 percent are in those bad conditions.

Sajtlava, the manager of Synagoga Cafe, argues that the decision to renovate the synagogue and retain parts of its Jewish heritage stem from a sense of commitment.

“Listen, it would have been much easier and cheaper for my boss to find a different nice building, which was not ruined and not listed for preservation like this one was, and open a lovely cafe in it,” he said.

But his employer, Simon Stefunko, instead spent millions of dollars on a renovation that took years to complete, “so something would remain from the Jewish community here. I think it’s beautiful.” PJC

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Headlines Thailand can wait: Israeli vets are staying home to start businesses — WORLD —

By Tracy Frydberg | JTA

J

ERUSALEM — The idea came to Yotam Gross as a commander in the Givati Brigade following 2014’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza: Instead of heading back to school after his Israeli military service, he wanted to spend his days bringing people together over warm plates of hummus and pita bread.

All the money he had was what he saved while in the army in addition to the release payment he received when he left. He took it all and, combined with some loans, opened his own hummus joint as a part of a larger franchise, Hummus Eliyahu, in Be’er Tuvia, a moshav in southern Israel.

Gross is not alone. While most released Israeli soldiers use money from the army to fund a grand trip abroad (Thailand and India are favored destinations), and then later for education, a handful of enterprising go-getters choose instead to invest it into a small business.

Released soldiers receive two main payments from the Ministry of Defense. The first is the ma’anak shichrur, or release grant, which new civilians may use freely once their

p Personal trainer Sean Haber helps members of the special needs community and lone soldiers get healthy.

Photo by Tracy Frydberg

service ends. The second payment is the pikadon, or deposit, which can be used for university studies or professional training, purchasing a home or car, a wedding, driving lessons and, less popularly, to start a business. After five years, former soldiers can withdraw the money and use it as they desire if they have not touched it in the meantime. “The pikadon is meant to pay tribute to released soldiers for their contributions to the State of Israel,� a Ministry of Defense

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spokesperson said. “This personal grant is meant to help released soldiers integrate in the best way possible into economic and social life in Israel.�

Based on the Defense Ministry’s 2017 data, just 4 percent of released soldiers use the pikadon to open a business. Most common are the 45 percent who use the pikadon for further studies, followed by the 40 percent who wait the five years to withdraw the cash.

The amounts soldiers receive both

during and after their service varies based on the length of service and the position held. According to the Ministry of Defense website, a combat fighter who serves a full two years, eight months receives an initial release grant of 17,518 shekels ($5,000) and 25,337 shekels ($7,000) as a pikadon. On the other end, a jobnik, a soldier with a desk job, who served two years receives 9,125 shekels ($2,500) initially and a pikadon of 13,218 shekels ($4,000). “The idea behind the pikadon is to try to help get [released soldiers] out in the right place,� said Jake Flaster, head of the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center’s olim program, which advises recently released soldiers whose families live abroad. “Especially, if you’re a combat soldier, that’s a good amount of money.�

Unfortunately, he said, most quickly go through their army savings and rarely view the pikadon as a strategic opportunity.

Several recently released soldiers — none older than 24 — who started their own business using their pikadon agreed to be interviewed. It should be noted that despite an extensive search, no female entrepreneur who fell within this narrow category was found. The gender gap is further reflected in Please see Vets, page 17

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JUNE 8, 2018 9

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

KKL-JNF will sue Hamas over damage from rockets, incendiary kites Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund said it will sue Hamas in international court for environmental damage caused to land it owns near the border with Gaza.

The damage has been caused in recent weeks by rockets, mortar shells and incendiary kites.

“It is inconceivable that the international community would allow Hamas not to be held accountable and pay for its criminal acts; not only against the citizens of the State of Israel, but also against nature and the environment which have been severely hurt by this criminal environmental terrorism. Hamas has proved that they have no humanity; not just toward human beings, but also toward animals and natural resources,” KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar said in a statement.

KKL-JNF said it would enlist the aid of international law attorneys with experience in this area.

On Tuesday at least three fires were sparked by flaming kites near the border with Gaza, including two near Kibbutz Nir Am, northeast of the Gaza Strip, and one near Moshav Netiv Ha’asara, to the north of Gaza.

A fire also spread quickly in front of Sapir College in Sderot and was brought under control hours later. Also on Tuesday, a brush

fire broke out in a field outside Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel, believed to be sparked by an incendiary kite.

At least 200 fires in southern Israel have been caused by flaming kites and helium balloons sent over the border from Gaza since protests at the border began in March.

Damages to agriculture from fires set by the incendiary kites are estimated at $1.4 million, and thousands of acres of agricultural land and nature reserves in the Gaza border area have been damaged or destroyed, including KKL-JNF forests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ordered the government to withhold customs duties collected

by Israel for the Palestinian Authority on items that come through Israeli ports on the way to the PA in order to offset the cost of the damage.

Farrakhan attacks Jews and Judaism from Chicago pulpit Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan attacked Jews and Judaism during a threehour sermon from his pulpit at Mosque Maryam in Chicago.

The May 27 sermon was his first major public speaking appearance since February, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

During his sermon Farrakhan, a known anti-Semite, warned his listeners about “satanic Jews who have infected the whole world with poison and deceit.”

Farrakhan also claimed that contempo-

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rary Jews are responsible for promoting child molestation, misogyny, police brutality and sexual assault, among other social ills.

In addition, he asserted that contemporary Judaism is nothing but a “system of tricks and lies” that Jews study in order to learn how to “dominate” non-Jews.

Farrakhan based some of his mischaracterization of Judaism on a distorted reading of the Talmud, according to ADL. He also said that “the false Jew will lead you to filth and indecency. That’s who runs show business. That’s who runs the record industry. That’s who runs television.”

Farrakhan alleged that Jews often force aspiring actors to submit to sex.

“Do you know that many of us who go to Hollywood seeking a chance have to submit to … all kind [sic] of debauchery [before] they give you a little part?” he asked.

He used disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is Jewish, as proof of his allegations.

Farrakhan also said that President Barack Obama was “under Jewish influence” when he advocated for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Marriage equality, Farrakhan informed his audience, is “satanic.”

The day before his speech, Farrakhan appeared on Chicago radio station WGCI on a program titled “The Morning Takeover” and said that President Donald Trump has helped his cause by “destroying the enemies of the Nation of Islam. Included in this group are the Department of Justice and the FBI.” Meanwhile, Louis Farrakhan Jr., the Nation

of Islam leader’s son, died in his sleep Saturday at a family home in Phoenix, according to the organization. He was 60 and had a heart condition, according to the Nation of Islam.

Farrakhan, 85, has nine children.

Terrorist plan targeted Netanyahu and US Embassy building An eastern Jerusalem man was arrested for planning attacks on targets that include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, as well as the U.S. Embassy, on behalf of a terrorist cell directed from Syria.

Muhammad Jamal Rashdeh, 30, an Israeli-Arab citizen, was arrested in April and indicted last week, the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, announced for the first time on Tuesday after a gag order on the case was lifted.

Two other unnamed members of the terror cell were later arrested, according to the ISA. In addition to targeting high-ranking Israeli officials, Rashdeh also planned to attack buildings that belong to the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, which is now the embassy, and a senior Canadian delegation that was visiting Jerusalem.

The cell also planned to bring a terrorist into Israel from Jordan to help advance the attacks, according to the ISA. Rashdeh, on instruction from a terrorist in Syria that the ISA did not name, carried out advance operations to gather intelligence on possible targets. Rashdeh has spent time in an Israeli prison for what the ISA called “terrorist offenses.” PJC

This week in Israeli history June 12, 1948 — Riots against Jews in Tripoli take place

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

As a number of North African Arabs pass through Tripoli en route to join Arab armies in the 1948 War against Israel, a mob of rioters attacks the Jewish Quarter in Tripoli.

June 8, 1971 — First El Al flight departs for London and New York

June 13, 1950 — Harari Proposal passes, ending prospects for an Israeli constitution

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After several days of training and an official dedication by Prime Minister Golda Meir, the first El Al flight, using a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet, departs from Lod Airport for London and New York.

June 9, 1967 — Invasion of the Golan Heights takes place

Israeli forces, under the command of Major General David Elazar, launch an offensive into the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights.

After more than a year of continued debate on the issue, the First Knesset adopts the “Harari Resolution,” which stipulated that the “constitution” of Israel would be composed of a series of Basic Laws approved by the Knesset.

June 14, 2009 — Netanyahu speech offers points for a demilitarized Palestinian State

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a 30-minute foreign policy speech at Bar-Ilan University, offering details for a completely demilitarized Palestinian state. PJC

June 11, 1947 — Emma Gotthiel passes away

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Emma Gottheil, one of the first and most important female Zionist leaders, passes away at her New York home at the age of 85.

AUTO • HOME • BUSINESS 10 JUNE 8, 2018

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Headlines Some Jewish camp counselors want to teach kids about ‘the occupation’ — NATIONAL —

By Ben Sales | JTA

W

hen Aviva Schwartz started praying publicly for Palestinians at her Jewish summer camp, she knew it would be controversial.

Schwartz had grown up ensconced in the Conservative movement, had attended three of its Ramah camps and had moved up the ranks as a staff member at Ramah Wisconsin. When Israel’s war in Gaza broke out in the summer of 2014, she was the unit head for incoming seventh-graders — a position reserved for staff veterans.

She was also a college student who, after a lifetime of pro-Israel education, was becoming more critical of Israel’s control of the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians. So when fellow staff members began saying Kaddish, the mourners’ prayer, for Israelis killed in the conflict, she began praying for Palestinian victims as well.

Her superiors let her do it — but they did not back her up when she felt backlash from her unit counselors.

“I felt pretty strongly that we needed to acknowledge and remember the lives of Palestinians and Israelis,” Schwartz said.

“Particularly, Israeli staff were incredibly upset and uncomfortable. I wasn’t told not to do that, and I don’t feel like I was really given support in the form of the camp backing me, to support me in my conversations with upset counselors.”

Now, with tensions in Gaza again running high, Schwartz wants to help other Jewish camp counselors do what she did: talk about Palestinian narratives and challenge Israeli actions while at camp. She was among the organizers of a daylong training for counselors on how to discuss the issue with campers and staff, both informally and in

camp programs. The goal is to encourage counselors to present divergent sides of the conflict rather than solely a pro-Israel line.

The May 27 session in Boston attracted about a dozen counselors from eight Reform, Conservative and liberal Zionist camps. It was run by IfNotNow, a group of Jews that refers to “the occupation” as a system of violence and does not oppose the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

“Having to relearn and re-evaluate your whole childhood and mentorship and teaching because of the feeling of being lied to is a potentially life-shattering moment,” said Schwartz, now an employee of the campus group Hillel at the University of Washington.

“I don’t want campers to have to think, oh, did my counselors know the occupation is happening and they’re just lying about it?”

It’s a change of pace for IfNotNow, which focuses much of its energy on public and often disruptive protests of large American Jewish organizations. But in March, members of IfNotNow met with Mitchell Cohen, the national director of Ramah camps, to outline their concerns with what they feel is an overly one-sided Israel curriculum at the camps.

Cohen proudly acknowledged that Israel is portrayed in a positive light at the camps.

Ramah, like other Jewish camps, infuses Israeli culture into much of its programming. Campers study Hebrew daily, perform Israeli dances, sing Israeli songs, eat Israeli food and learn about the country’s history.

Delegations of Israeli counselors and staff work at all of the camps, whose founding was inspired partly by the ethos of early 20th-century labor Zionism.

Several Ramah staffers attended the training. But Cohen said he wasn’t worried about what they discussed and is open to nuanced Israel education — though any educational program counselors put on this summer will, like all others, have to be vetted by their camps’ senior staff.

p Participants in a camp counselor training by IfNotNow in the Boston area

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“Some people use the word occupation in quite harsh ways,” he said. “Some people use it in more mild ways. Certainly the fact that there is a difficult situation between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, a conflict, people suffering on all sides — this is something we don’t have a problem talking about at camp.”

Cohen said the camps’ top priority is fostering a sense of affection in campers toward Israel as a Jewish homeland. He noted that a range of perspectives exist within Israel regarding the conflict, but there are red lines.

“To the extent that there are liberal opinions that are critical of Israel that are not Zionist, anti-Zionist, we would never allow that at camp,” he said. “First we teach a love for Israel. Then we teach the nuances and the conflict.”

Noam Weissman, who is consulting with a Jewish camp on its Israel curriculum, also says an Israel curriculum should combine love and nuance. Weissman, senior vice president for education for Jerusalem U, a video-focused Israel education organization, says kids need to learn about the diversity and complexity of Israel, but from a place of love.

Loving Israel, he said, “builds in a real confidence of Jewish peoplehood, a love for oneself and a confidence for oneself.”

“We want to be able to ask tough questions, but we want to do it in a contextualized way that says we love Israel, we care about Israel,” Weissman said. “The occupation needs to be discussed and the different perspectives on the occupation need to be discussed, but the foregone conclusion that the occupation is ‘bad’ is indoctrination just like anything else that they’re claiming is indoctrination.”

Weissman was referring to claims by some Jewish critics that the “pro-Israel” approach is also indoctrination, and that Israel advocacy groups only discuss the Palestinian side in order to debunk it.

Photo courtesy of IfNotNow

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At the IfNotNow training, participants began by talking about their camps and why they feel attached to them. Following seminars on the history of American Jewish camps and IfNotNow’s activism, participants discussed how to talk about difficult issues with children. After brainstorming ideas of how they would discuss the conflict with their campers, the participants saw a presentation by counselors from Habonim Dror, the liberal Zionist youth movement, about their curriculum on Israel and the Palestinians.

Adina Alpert, a lifelong camper at Ramah in Ojai, Calif., who co-organized the training, said the event was coming from a positive place: The counselors do not want to hurt their camps, even if they were unhappy with some of the Israel education they received there. Alpert fondly recalled a wealth of Israeli cultural programs at camp. But she also felt that lessons on Israeli history, the Israeli War of Independence and subsequent events did not present the Palestinian point of view.

“These are not communities we want to be leaving or alienating or becoming isolated from,” she said. “We want to do this work within our communities because we love our communal moments of joy and growth [while] thinking back and reflecting on the moments where our Israel education wasn’t what we wanted it to be.”

But ahead of the conference, counselors were not exactly sure what their ideal IsraeliPalestinian program would look like. Some suggested having campers read Palestinian stories or poems, or see Palestinian artwork.

Others suggested studying Palestinian texts or having a Shabbat program framed around the Palestinian experience. Another idea was to have campers read a number of opinions and perspectives regarding a recent event in the region, like the recent clashes on the Gaza border.

Alpert said “if campers hear the term ‘Palestinian’ in a non-derogatory way, that would be a success.”

Maya Seckler, an incoming gardening counselor at the Reform Eisner Camp in Massachusetts, wants to expose her campers to Palestinian life by placing signs next to each vegetable with its name in Hebrew, English and Arabic.

“I want to expose kids to Arabic and Palestinian culture,” she said. “That’s part of Israeli culture, that all three languages are going to be on every sign, and it’s not ignoring a whole group of people in Israeli history and Israeli culture. Both are valid and both are important.”

An incoming unit head at Ramah Outdoor Adventure in Colorado, Sylvie Rosen, said she has not formulated programs yet for her campers because she wants to talk first to her counselor staff. But if violence flares up in Israel this summer, she does not want to shy away from it.

“Going into ninth grade, I think they’re old enough to hear stories from families living in the West Bank, living in Gaza,” she said. “If the violence in Gaza continues throughout the summer, that’s something I want to address.” PJC JUNE 8, 2018 11

Headlines Israel’s conversion policies are about to get stricter — WORLD —

By Ben Sales | JTA

J

ewish converts in America may have a much harder time being accepted in Israel because of a new set of regulations proposed by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

If adopted, some activists in Israel say, the new guidelines for religious courts could drive a deeper wedge between Israel and Diaspora Jewry.

The Chief Rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage, divorce, conversion and burial in the Jewish state, is largely run by haredi Orthodox leaders. For years it has clashed with rabbis in America — even Orthodox ones — who have more liberal interpretations of Jewish law.

The Chief Rabbinate does not consider non-Orthodox Judaism to be valid, so it does not accept the authority of Conservative and Reform rabbis. And in recent years, it has had a series of public disputes with Orthodox rabbis whose authority it rejects.

This week, hoping to clarify exactly which Orthodox rabbis meet its standards, the Chief Rabbinate published a list of draft criteria for religious courts in the Diaspora.

If a religious court meets the criteria, the Jewish conversions it conducts will be recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. If not, the Chief Rabbinate will not consider its converts Jewish.

The same goes for Jewish ritual divorces: The Chief Rabbinate will accept them only if they are performed by a qualified religious court.

This matters for non-Israeli converts and divorcees if they ever want their religious or marital status recognized in Israel. Those who convert in America under an unrecognized religious court, for example, would not be able to marry in Israel because the Chief Rabbinate controls Jewish marriage there.

Likewise, divorced individuals would not be able to remarry in Israel if their Jewish divorce is not recognized. Children from a female convert’s second marriage would be forbidden to marry a Jew. The document’s language is in the past tense, which means it could apply retroactively — rejecting the status of Jewish converts who formerly were accepted in

p The headquarters of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem

Israel. In other words, a convert accepted by the Chief Rabbinate this year could be rejected next year.

The criteria demand that the courts be permanent and operate year-round. Their rabbis must demonstrate fealty to Orthodox Jewish law and be endorsed by a major Orthodox organization.

This means non-Orthodox rabbis and rabbinical courts will be rejected. So will graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a liberal Orthodox seminary in New York City, because they are not recognized by the Rabbinical Council of America, the major U.S. Orthodox rabbis’ group. Ad hoc religious courts, often set up in small communities for a specific person’s conversion, also will not be approved.

If two courts are serving the same local population of Jews, only one will receive approval. Courts that want to apply for approval must submit their rabbis to an exam on Jewish law administered by the Chief Rabbinate.

The Chief Rabbinate says the criteria are an attempt to set transparent, objective stan-

celebrations IN THE

Photo by Flash90

dards. At a Knesset meeting on the proposed criteria this week, Knesset member Uri Maklev of the haredi United Torah Judaism party said that “clarifying what is Judaism is an obligation in [rabbinical] courts and a fundamental principle upon becoming part of the Jewish people.�

In the past, the religious authority has rejected the qualifications of an Orthodox rabbi because it deemed him insufficiently observant of Jewish law. That’s what happened in 2014 when the Chief Rabbinate rejected a conversion affirmed by Rabbi Avi Weiss, the prominent liberal Orthodox rabbi and founder of Chovevei Torah.

But in other cases, the Chief Rabbinate has rejected rabbis’ authority simply due to bureaucratic confusion. In 2015, one of its district courts rejected the authority of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, a widely respected Modern Orthodox rabbi in New York, even though Israel’s chief rabbi vouched for him.

As of now, one midlevel bureaucrat, Rabbi Itamar Tubul, decides which rabbis and marriages are accepted by the Chief Rabbinate. Last year, JTA obtained a so-called

“blacklist� of Diaspora rabbis whose authority the Chief Rabbinate had rejected.

Critics are calling the criteria demeaning and overly strict. Itim, an Israeli nonprofit that works to navigate and challenge the Chief Rabbinate’s bureaucracy, called the list a “power grab.� “These ‘criteria’ show the Chief Rabbinate’s disdain for world Jewry, blatant attempt at power consolidation, and profoundly un-Jewish approach,� Rabbi Seth Farber, Itim’s founder and director, said in a statement. “Itim will fight this using every legislative and legal tool available.

The Israel Democracy Institute think tank called the document “very problematic.� “The proposal creates a reality in which the Israeli rabbinate extends its monopoly over Jews’ personal status in areas of marriage and divorce — beyond Israel,� Shuki Friedman, director of the institute’s Center for Religion, Nation and State, said in a statement. “Thus the rift between Israel and Diaspora Jewry could grow, many Jews around the world may feel alienated, and immigration to Israel could decline.�  PJC

SPECIAL OCCASIONS DESERVE SPECIAL ATTENTION The more you celebrate in life‌ the more there is in life to celebrate!

SEND YOUR SIMCHAS, MAZEL TOVS, and PHOTOS TO: announcements@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Headlines Republicans and Democrats grapple with question of who is an anti-Semite — NATIONAL —

By Ron Kampeas | JTA

T

wo congressional races have been beset in recent days with charges of anti-Semitism, and each case — in California and in Virginia — uncovers challenges for Jews in the Republican and Democratic parties.

For Jewish Democrats, it’s about Israel and the party’s left wing. For Jewish Republicans, it’s about extremists.

In both cases, Jews in the respective parties are grappling with old problems made sharper by recent developments. Democrats for years have had a left wing that tended to see Israel as a problem more than an alliance, but the party’s drift from the country in recent years has brought a once marginal tendency to the fore.

Republicans, similarly, have repudiated fringe candidates who embrace far right and even Nazi identities, but President Donald Trump’s on-again/off again embrace of the “alt-right” has lent greater urgency to facing down extremist GOP nominees.

John Fitzgerald, in California’s 11th District, is at least the third Republican nominee in a congressional district expected to vote Democratic who has associations with the far right. (Two others are in Illinois. In all three cases, extremists seized the opportunity when the state and national GOP ignored unwinnable races and secured the Republican nomination by default.)

Fitzgerald peddles myths, for instance, that an army of Jews working in government are in fact Israeli citizens. (They are not. A list he links to on his campaign website generously includes a number of non-Jews presumed to be Jewish, among them National Security Adviser John Bolton.)

In Fitzgerald’s case, GOP condemnation was so swift, landing in inboxes before much of the media knew his anti-Semitism was a thing. In a statement sent Tuesday evening to the media, the Republican Party in California said it took steps to remove the endorsement automatically conferred on him when he became the nominee.

“The California Republican Party’s Board of Directors took swift and decisive action to eliminate any support for John Fitzgerald due to anti-Semitic comments he made recently — those views have no home in the Republican Party,” the state party chairman, Jim Brulte, said in a statement. “As always, California Republicans reject anti-Semitism, and all forms of religious bigotry, in the harshest terms possible. We reject John Fitzgerald’s campaign and encourage all voters to do the same.”

In the same release, the Republican Jewish Coalition said that “the California Republican Party has been a good ally in our fight against anti-Semitism in the past, and we proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them on their decision to reject support for Fitzgerald.”

It has been a busy season for the RJC and its condemnations of putative neo-Nazi

p Leslie Cockburn is a Democratic congressional candidate in Virginia.

Photo by Leslie Cockburn for Congress

candidates. Two weeks ago its target was Patrick Little, a U.S. Senate hopeful in California who says Jews control the United States.

Little, the RJC said, “is a white nationalist whose anti-Semitic, racist, bigoted views put him far outside of the GOP and civil discourse.”

Little has told David Duke, the wellknown American white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader, that he thinks Trump could one day be persuaded of the merits of his anti-Jewish arguments.

His optimism is fueled in part by an administration that has been populated by alt-right figures and a president who equivocated in his condemnation last year of the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in a protest that left a counter-protester dead.

Charlottesville is in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, once solidly Republican, but now a possible pickup for Democrats eager to retake the U.S. House of Representatives with the sudden announcement this week by incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Garrett that he will not seek re-election.

The Democratic nominee, Leslie Cockburn, is a journalist who perhaps is best known as the mother of actor Olivia Wilde (“House”). But 27 years ago she earned notoriety of a different sort when she co-wrote “Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the U.S.-Israeli Covert Relationship” with her husband, Andrew.

Virginia’s Republican Party this month seized on the book to cast Cockburn as a “virulent anti-Semite.”

By way of evidence, it quoted reviews at the time from Commentary, the conservative pro-Israel magazine, and The New York Times.

Neither review calls the 1991 book antiSemitic, although Commentary does insinuate that it is hostile to Jews per se. Joined with another review I uncovered, in the Los Angeles Times, the book’s principal sins appear to be that it is often vaguely sourced, sensationalist and driven by a lazy anti-imperialist agenda.

(The headline to the Commentary review is, irresistibly, “Inside Dopes.”)

Virginia Jewish Democrats appear to agree that the book is problematic, but not anti-Semitic, as they indicated in interviews with The New York Times this week after

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p John Fitzgerald is a Republican running for a House seat in California.

Photo by John Fitzgerald for Congress

Cockburn attended a salon organized by Charlottesville Jews, and also in a posting on Blue Virginia, a pro-Democratic blog.

“We urge voters in Virginia’s 5th who consider themselves allies to Jews in Virginia and throughout the country to go out and discover the truth for themselves: that these charges against Leslie Cockburn are false, made in bad faith, and should be dismissed for not even meeting the lowest bar of evidence to support them,” said the Blue Virginia post

by David T.S. Jonas and Lowell Feld.

Jonas and Feld acknowledged that the book was lacking in some respects.

“The writing can be too sensationalist at times, making it seem like the authors are pushing too hard, rather than letting readers come to their own decisions,” they wrote.

At the Charlottesville salon, The Times reported, the consensus was that Cockburn was not anti-Semitic, but that she represented a trend among Democrats unsettling for pro-Israel Jews.

“None of us think she’s anti-Semitic,” Sherry Kraft, an organizer of the meeting, told the newspaper. “That’s not even an issue.

It’s more where are you about Israel. There’s a lot of negativity toward Israel from the political left right now and people who call themselves progressive.”

Plunging into political marriages is a delicate affair, but there are indications that the spouse who has Israel issues is not Leslie but her husband. Internet searches come up with plenty on Andrew Cockburn, who just last year was peddling the far left and baseless accusation that Israel is aligned with the Islamic State, and who in a 2007 Oxford Union debate spoke about a pro-Israel “stranglehold” on debate in the United States.

For Leslie Cockburn, all I got was this 1991 appearance on C-Span with her husband pitching their book. Leslie Cockburn, who

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

weathered Scud attacks on Israel as a journalist during the first Gulf War, seems quite enamored with the country. She fretted at the time that Israelis were vulnerable not just to Scuds but to misfired U.S.-operated Patriot anti-missile missiles.

“Israelis are very interesting people, also,” she said. “The fact is, Israelis love to talk and tend to be, at least in this business — in the arms business and in intelligence — fairly gregarious, and also they have a lot of feuds with each other, very strong personalities. It’s a very interesting group of people to work with.”

Will Cockburn’s co-authorship of the book hurt her? She’s already pushing back hard, taking to Twitter to call Republicans “desperate” and to quote an Israeli historian, Irad Malkin, as saying the anti-Semitism charge is “outrageous.”

In a season where partisan divisions on Israel are deepening, Republicans will naturally run on the pro-Israel relationship. Campaigning in Tennessee this week, Trump spoke at length about his decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. The move earned him a standing ovation last week at a closed-door, minimum $50,000 a head fundraising dinner in New York, according to a report in Politico.

And Democrats stumping for Jewish votes will circle back to the threats posed

by Trump’s flirtations with the alt-right, and the overlap between the alt-right and plain old Nazis.

“At a time when American Nazism is on the rise and literally has cost Virginians their lives, we don’t have the luxury to simply let these bad-faith charges go unanswered,” Jonas and Feld wrote. “There is a real and present danger facing American Jews, and it’s not coming from authors of a book that no one has actually shown contains anti-Semitic passages.” PJC JUNE 8, 2018 13

Opinion Tefillin rage — EDITORIAL —

F

ifteen years ago, anyone viewing the strange encounter between three Israelis, one of whom was putting on tefillin at Ben-Gurion Airport, would have had grist for an amusing story at dinner.

But this is 2018. So last week’s confrontation between University of Maryland professor Pnina Peri, Chabad Rabbi Meir Herzl and business traveler Gad Kaufman drew much more attention, as it was recorded on a phone, posted online and spread virally.

The admittedly disturbing video shows Peri, a visiting assistant professor in U-Md.’s Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, shouting in Hebrew and berating Herzl as he helps Kaufman with the tefillin. Peri yells to them to “move because you are bothering me” and asks rhetorically, “Why are you doing this here? There are people here.” Throughout the video tirade, she laughs mockingly.

But what happened before and after the recorded obnoxious activity? In an interview, Peri said that she first “politely” asked

Photo by eldadcarin/iStockphoto.com

the men “if they could allow me my personal space.” She said that in response, the men “shouted at me to move, called me misogynist names and cursed me out, saying that ‘it’s too bad that Hitler didn’t kill you and your entire family.’” She said the remark about Hitler led to her outburst, but nevertheless apologized for “losing control.”

Herzl, director of the central Chabad House serving the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev, disputed Peri’s account in the

Israeli media. As he recalled the exchange, someone in the lounge area compared Peri’s ostensibly anti-religious attitude to the Nazis’ hatred of Jews.

In the absence of more significant evidence of Peri’s anti-religious animus — and no such information has been uncovered or brought forward publicly, this unfortunate confrontation should have stopped there.

The person who shot the video had the choice not to record it. Kaufman had the

choice not to post it. And the rest of us had the choice not to view it. Instead, people who 10 days ago had never heard of Pnina Peri are calling for her firing, using as a “supporting argument” the wholly immaterial fact that her husband, Yoram Peri, a distinguished scholar, is a former president of the left-leaning New Israel Fund.

Peri could have legitimately been concerned about a perceived violation of her personal space, she could have been stressed out prior to boarding an international flight, she may have had a momentary lapse of sanity, or she may actually harbor vicious hatred of Orthodox Jews and Orthodox religious practice. We believe that verbally assaulting a man for putting tefillin on in public is wrong, but without knowing Peri’s motivations, it makes no sense to question her academic qualifications or to judge her on the basis of her religiosity, as many unfortunately did.

While it is difficult to refrain from reflexively condemning the part of the story captured in the video, the lack of a full understanding of what happened counsels that we all get off the outrage bandwagon. PJC

Pursue distinction: a philanthropist’s call to action to Jewish day schools Guest Columnist Manette Mayberg

D

istinction. It’s in the Jewish community’s DNA, and it has enabled our survival throughout the ages. We are a people scattered over all four corners of the Earth, and distinction is the unifier that has made our survival possible.

Our pursuit of distinction has biblical roots — easily seen throughout the Torah, including the narrative documenting our journey to freedom beginning with the one bold act that became the first mezuzah. Jewish Egyptians demonstrated tremendous courage to distinguish their households as G-d directed by marking their doorposts with the blood of an animal considered sacred by the Egyptians.

G-d said, “Mark your houses,” because the values that you hold inside are the hallmark of the Jewish family that will distinguish you for all time. G-d clearly had an eternal message in what the mezuzah represents, and it applies to all institutions today that are extensions of the Jewish home — including our day schools.

With every mezuzah hanging on day school classrooms, there is a clear directive for educators to distinguish Jewish subjects from the other disciplines presented in school. Success in educating Jewishly is directly related to the expression of our distinct values. Day schools should align how they convey Judaic subjects with the desired outcomes for students. They should 14 JUNE 8, 2018

consider the impact of their decisions on students’ Jewish self-esteem. They should ensure their policies, curricula and evaluations convey to students what it means to be Jewish outside of a purely academic setting.

Are all our day schools striving for this level of distinction?

As a funder and active thought partner in the work of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, I spend a considerable amount of my philanthropic time meeting talented day school educators and passionate parents and philanthropists who are deeply invested in the benefits of a day school education. And as every year passes, I become more resolute in my belief about the misuse of grades in day schools’ Judaic studies classes. It is inconsistent with Jewish wisdom to judge critically a Jew’s ability to learn Torah subjects.

A student labeled anything but an “A” in a Jewish subject will internalize a view of himself or herself as less than great at Jewish study, or worse, a less than great Jew. If we agree that we want to build Jewish self-esteem in students and cultivate their Jewish greatness, what role does administering exams and assigning grades serve? We feel the painful results of this rigid form of evaluation with every student who graduates from a day school without a lifelong love of Jewish learning and a rock solid Jewish identity.

Recently I received a message from my 21-year-old, a second year student studying at IDC Herziliya, noting how much he is “starting to love the intellectual challenge of Talmud, now that there’s no grade.” He even punctuated his WhatsApp message with two emojis: a laughing face and a crying face.

He is the same student who lamented with

his friends during high school about how demoralized they felt to be judged in Judaic subjects, which are supposed to build a foundation for their identity and support a lifestyle of Jewish engagement and growth.

I know in both my heart and my head that we are doing a huge disservice to our people by imitating a system of evaluation designed for subjects like math and history. Those subjects don’t cut to the core of a person’s identity.

They aren’t subjects unique to a people who have a responsibility to distinguish themselves among nations. Those subjects don’t inform the values that build a home or a marriage.

They aren’t the basis for morality or ethical behavior. They don’t build future Jewish leaders. Success is reflected in the happiness and wellbeing of these day school graduates, not on a job title or income level.

While I am all for academic achievement, mastery of textual skills alone is not going to see students to a definition of success that encompasses the whole human being.

What will is how they navigate the world and demonstrate their ethics and courage.

What will is how solidly rooted they are in their Jewish identity. What will is how relevant they view Jewish values and texts to their lives and the depth of their relationships with Jewish mentors, Jewish practice and ultimately G-d. These are the critical measures of a successful Jewish education.

Courage is a vital trait for Jewish growth and expression. It took an unimaginable amount of courage for those Jews in Egypt to mark their doorposts. It takes courage to move from one culture to another, to change practiced customs, to transform ourselves and even our institutions. Courage is so rare

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these days in leadership that when it shows up, it gets attention and admiration.

I observed a great demonstration of courage last March at the AIPAC Policy Conference. From the lineup of prestigious speakers, the most talked about speaker was U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley. She said, “The most important thing is to not be afraid to stick with the fundamental principles, even when they go against entrenched customs.

Some of those outdated customs have gone unquestioned for years.” Ambassador Haley presents a courage that is refreshing in politics. She dares to buck the status quo, stands up to bullying and speaks up for what she believes is just. She is a true hero. This type of courage is not foreign to Jews, who have courage embedded in their core.

I, too, am committed to fighting courageously for what I know is right, for the values that distinguish our people and for future generations of Jews to choose and to own their Judaism. I invite all Jewish day school leaders and stakeholders to have the courage to say what needs to be said, to do what needs to be done and in doing so connect the dots that will actualize our efforts to evolve day schools into the distinct greatness befitting the Jewish people. PJC Manette Mayberg is a trustee of the Mayberg Foundation, which founded the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC) in 2012. She now works with multiple philanthropic partners to advance JEIC’s vision to reignite students’ passion for Jewish learning and improve the way Jewish values, literacy, practice and belief are transferred to the next generation.

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Opinion How learning will bring together divided communities Guest Columnist Elchanan Poupko

I

magine a room full of students from across the United States — Orthodox, Conservative and Reform — sitting with each other and discussing a given text from the Tanach, the Bible. Sounds like a utopian goal? A scene from the ’60s when Jewish communities were not that divided?

Sitting this month in the heart of Manhattan watching my students participate in the U.S. National Bible Contest showed me that as divided as the world can be, there is always something that unites us all.

Students from Phoenix to Philadelphia, from Tallahassee to Teaneck, and from Dallas to Detroit, all gathered for the National Bible Contest in New York. The electrifying power of our oldest common denominator was visible as children and teens from vastly different locations and backgrounds connected in such a wholesome way.

This year, organizers decided to include a chavruta (studying partner) component to the event, giving students the opportunity to learn with students from other cities. This created a beautiful bond between students, transcending geographical and social differences.

As the winners were being announced, the tension could be felt in the air. Everyone wanted to know if it was someone from their school, synagogue or city who might have won. I, too, listened attentively to find out who the winners were. And then, when they announced different winners from different cities, a winner from a very Orthodox community and a winner representing her Reform temple, I knew that we all won. Seeing how the words of the Torah are bringing us together in such a beautiful way showed me that despite the divisions which sometimes play louder than needed, we are one family.

In today’s deeply divided political climate, Jewish leaders and organizations struggle with the question of how it is that we can create a “big tent”; how it is that we can include radically different ideologues and ideologies under the same umbrella. Well, looking at what we just witnessed at the Chidon Hatanach, as the event is known in Hebrew, the answer is quite simple: Bring us a book and let us learn together. Focusing on

the areas that bring us together rather than those that tear us apart has the power to heal the fractured world that we live in.

Learning that is stripped of any political or controversial element holds the key to uniting people from vastly different backgrounds. Nothing has the potential to strengthen Jewish identity as much as the core of Judaism: the engagement in learning.

Known for thousands of years as the “the people of the book” and a “nation of philosophers,” our sacred texts have always been the veritable epicenter of who we are and remain exactly that to this day.

Jewish organizations who want to overcome the widely recognized divides among young Jewish Americans need to engage more people in more learning far more often. Barriers of background and particularities melt away in the face of common learning, reflection and focusing on our shared heritage.

Will there be differences in our approaches to learning, text and history? Sure. That is the kind of academic approach that enriches both arguing sides; each one gets to think of the academic matter in a unique way, something Jews always welcomed.

Last year, a study done at the University of Michigan found that hearing from our peers about the relevance of a topic is far more effective than when we hear of its relevance from teachers and professors. Simply put, learning is much more effective when we see how much our own peers value what is being learned. Giving young Jews the opportunity to engage in peer learning — specifically those which cross boundaries of place and class — has the powerful potential of reinforcing the importance of our shared heritage.

Sitting at the National Bible Contest surrounded by the vibrancy and joy of learning, I realized the power of learning to bring us together. There I saw a text given in the dessert more than 3,300 years ago alive and well — in the heart of Manhattan in the year 2018. I saw a people whose birth and life have been woven through the words of the text breathe and drink the words of that same text. And so, as we face ever growing differences and polarization, I look to that same text and see its profound power to reunite us as a people. PJC Rabbi Elchanan Poupko is a rabbi, teacher and writer. He is the president of EITAN-The American Israeli Jewish Network and lives with his wife in New York City.

Correction In “Two Pittsburgh school board members vote against Holocaust education trip” (June 1), a statistic from a study by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against the Germany was reported incorrectly. The study found that more than one fifth of millennials (22 percent) have not heard of, or are not sure if they have heard of, the Holocaust. The Chronicle incorrectly reported that “Less than one-fifth of millennials in the United States have heard of, or are not sure if they have heard of, the Holocaust.” The Chronicle regrets the error.

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— LETTERS — True conversation respectfully acknowledges differences This letter is in response to a recent op-ed by Michael Vanyukov (“One-man show ‘The Forbidden Conversation’ advocates for a hopeless conversation,” May 25). On May 9, J Street Pittsburgh and Temple Sinai Tikkun Olam Center for Jewish Social Justice co-sponsored “The Forbidden Conversation” at the JCC. This one act play, written and performed by Gili Getz, describes his personal journey into the past and the future, exploring the difficulty of talking openly about Israel within the American Jewish community. The play was followed by conversations in small groups, giving the members of the audience an opportunity to address this issue from their own personal experiences.

How ironic and indeed how sad that the writer of the op-ed missed the entire point of the evening. He was not able to get beyond his own personal biases and misguided historical contexts, to such a degree that he entitled his op-ed the “hopeless conversation.”

The intent of the program was not “to reach a compromise” or “when opponents agree on the position of one of them.” Rather, it was, and continues to be, the recognition that because there are different points of view within the American Jewish community, we Jews have to learn to address these deep differences respectfully and civilly.

A hopeless conversation is one that besmirches and vilifies the other, as the writer did with his ugly remarks both about the author and J Street. As the tent of Abraham and Sarah was open on all sides, our community tent also should be wide enough to welcome all organizations and all individuals and their particular points of view.

Malke Frank and Nancy Bernstein Co-Chairs, J Street Pittsburgh

Pastors’ presence in Jerusalem distressing

The provocation of moving the U. S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is additionally distressing upon learning who helped Israel celebrate its defiance as massive protest and violence spread throughout the region (“Embassy opening spurs celebrations across the Atlantic,” May 18).

Two of the most extreme clerics, Robert Jeffress and John Hagee — both of whom have made outrageous statements, including incendiary comments about Jews — were welcomed to provide the opening and closing prayers, respectively.

It was stunning to see that Jeffress closed his prayer with, “in the name and the spirit of the Prince of Peace, Jesus our Lord,” thereby serving to expectorate in the faces of his hosts, whom he seemed to have forgotten are Jews.

We must recognize that the United States is not an independent island, that actions we undertake have serious ramifications throughout the world and affect our standing in the world. Our president says, nonsense, we will do what we please and he demonstrates it through one unilateral action after another, consistently undertaken in defiance of the counsel of our allies.

The credo of “we will do what we please, if you do not like it, too bad” is no way to govern.

It is sure to come back to haunt us and it already is.

Oren Spiegler South Strabane Township

Cutting ties with seminary wrong

I was deeply saddened by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s decision to cease “publicly partnering” with the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary because of the seminary’s hosting a lecture by the head of the largest and most respected Palestinian/Israeli Christian organization (“Presbyterian seminary speaker spurs Federation to cut ties,” May 25).

The conflation of Rev. Ateek’s criticism of Israeli governmental policies with anti-Semitism that was displayed in the comments by Josh Sayles was deeply disturbing. While it is tempting to do so, that conflation is harmful to efforts to combat genuine anti-Semitism and also, many of us believe, to the long-term survival of Israel as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people.

To say that a Palestinian speaker is discredited because he is one-sided is to discredit the thousands upon thousands of speakers in American Jewish venues who do not attempt to present the Palestinian point of view. Understanding and peace can only come about by hearing each other out in respectful ways. I hope the Federation can eventually agree.

Eileen Kraus-Dobratz East Liberty

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

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JUNE 8, 2018 15

Headlines Volunteer: Continued from page 1

The meeting spot was also different, as the group convened “downstairs.”

After rebuilding from the 1996 fire — which destroyed several floors of the Rose Hyman Kaufmann Community Building, a five story structure — the present location for was selected. Services occur in the Homestead Hebrew Chapel and breakfast is in the adjacent Eisner Commons. The abutting kitchen is designated “for dairy,” explained Selekman, who typically shops for milk, vegetables, pastries and other products once a week.

“This is my way of giving back to the

shul,” she said.

Although Selekman had been a member of Beth Shalom since 1973, in 2004 her presence at the morning services increased.

“I started coming here when my mom passed away,” she said.

Wishing to say the Mourner’s Kaddish in the company of others, Selekman spent a year alongside fellow daveners. When the formal period of grieving concluded, she remained.

“Now I’m part of a community,” she said.

“There’s a whole group of us who don’t have to be here, but we just come anyway.”

Whether helping congregants reach a quorum, setting up sweets or “making phone calls to give members a heads-up about yahrzeits,” Selekman “works behind the scenes to connect people to Beth Shalom and

to each other,” said Rabbi Seth Adelson, Beth Shalom’s spiritual leader.

Selekman said that her activities are a continuation of earlier enterprises; after teaching Hebrew school at Tree of Life, she become the educational director of Temple Sinai and eventually executive director of NA’AMAT USA, Pittsburgh Council.

But there is something special about nourishing others at sunrise, noted Eisner.

In 1984, “I was traveling to other cities,” he said. “I was saying Kaddish at that time” and noticed congregations offered breakfast after praying, he added. After services, in which the final utterance is relegated to mourners, “it’s nice to have a little comradeship.”

Upon returning to Pittsburgh, Eisner

Forum: Continued from page 1

almost all of the non-Orthodox world in some way or another: intermarriage.

“Here we are, discussing the Jewish future, and there is clear data on the impact of intermarriage on the Jewish future in this material, and we shouldn’t ignore it,” he stressed.

Schiff pointed to the study’s findings that while 99 percent of Pittsburgh Jews who are married to other Jews are raising their children either “Jewish by religion” (86 percent) or as secular or cultural Jews (13 percent), only 10 percent of Jews who are married to a non-Jew are raising their children as “Jewish by religion.” And only 23 percent of intermarried households are attempting to raise their children as secularly or culturally Jewish.

The significance of these findings is obvious, according to Schiff.

“We can gloss over it, and we can ignore it and we can not talk about it, but if you’re going to ask a question about the Jewish future and wonder what’s best to ensure the Jewish future — and someone tells you that you have a three times greater chance to raise Jewish children if you are inmarried — it’s hard to ignore. The reality is that marriage choices make a big difference in the Jewish future.”

Schiff recognized that many people in attendance would find his comments “problematic.” They have intermarried family members and they “certainly want to be welcoming and friendly and open.”

“But here’s my question,” he continued.

“Can you be simultaneously welcoming to those who are intermarried and at the same time, make the case that in-marriage is best for the Jewish future?”

A national study conducted by Sylvia Barack Fishman of Brandeis University and Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College, analyzing data published in the 2013 Pew survey of American Jewry, supports the data in the Pittsburgh study regarding intermarriage: “Hardly any children (17 percent) of mixed marriages marry Jews and an almost equally small number (21 percent) raise their children as Jews,” according to the authors.

Reibach presented a different perspective on how the community should think of intermarriage, based on her personal experiences and anecdotal evidence.

16 JUNE 8, 2018

p The panel featured, from left, Rabbi Danny Schiff, Foundation Scholar; Brian Schreiber, president and CEO of the JCC; Stacey Reibach, board member of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills; David Weisberg, president of Temple Emanuel of South Hills; Jonathan Fischer, vice chair of SHJP; and Raimy Rubin, manager of the Pittsburgh Jewish Community Scorecard.

Photo provided by David Rullo

Beth El, she said, “embraces the reality of intermarriage. They make the non-Jewish spouse feel welcome without sacrificing Jewish practice.”

Reibach explained that although she was not born Jewish, the warmth and acceptance of a congregation in Colorado “led me to decide to raise my children Jewish and ultimately convert.”

The community need not “be scared of intermarriage,” she said. “It’s happening no matter what. And it doesn’t always end so badly for the Jewish people. Being exclusive and turning your back won’t work.”

Another important data point coming out of Pittsburgh’s study, Schiff said, was the significant drop in non-Orthodox congregational affiliation in the last 15 years, down from 73 percent to just 56 percent, with indications that the decline will continue.

“The Reform and Conservative movements are dying,” he said, “and they won’t be around to see the next century. What are synagogues supposed to do?”

Schiff suggested that rather than focus on growing membership, congregational boards should instead work on securing their institutions as “places that are serious and focused on the mission they’re set up to perform and spreading Jewish practice, and to ensure Jewish practice is something that

becomes more widespread.”

Jonathan Fischer, 31 and recently engaged, said that he has yet to find such an institution in the South Hills.

“I don’t belong to a synagogue, but I do feel immersed,” he said, referring to the study’s categorization of five types of Jews in Pittsburgh, with “immersed” being the most Jewishly involved. “I worry about this community. I’m being constantly told to go to Squirrel Hill to be with my peers and raise a Jewish family. I don’t want to feel that way.

I challenge the synagogues in the South Hills to try to recruit me. I need to feel I have a home here and that I can adequately raise a Jewish family in the South Hills.”

Noting that he represents “a younger demographic,” Fischer said he invites “the community to think about ways to keep your kids and grandkids in the South Hills. I have a lot more fun with my friends in Squirrel Hill than I do here.”

The researchers did not categorize community members based on denomination, but instead on five categories of engagement: immersed, connected, involved, holiday and minimally.

Schiff argued that while Jewish institutions tend to focus on outreach efforts and funding programs geared to those who are minimally engaged Jewishly, that is not the most effective strategy to ensure a vibrant Jewish future.

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worked with Rabbi Morris Sklar to create a similar environment at Beth Shalom. Sklar used to “be in charge of the minyan and read all of the yahrzeits,” Eisner explained.

Together, they instituted an atmosphere where solace and nosh have been available for more than 30 years.

“We’re like a social group,” said Selekman.

“The same women and men come in every morning,” echoed Eisner.

Before turning on the toaster, Selekman invoked a Hebrew word, whose biblical origin connotes an assembly, to describe the early morning activities at Beth Shalom: “It is a kehillah.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

“I suggest that if we are serious about this Jewish future, Judaism has always been maintained by a tiny minority, a saving remnant,” he said.

The study showed that only about 27 percent of the South Hills Jewish community is either immersed or connected, and therefore “serious and engaged about their Judaism,” Schiff noted.

“That’s the group that’s going to take us forward,” he said. “Eighty percent of the focus should be going there, but now the thinking is the opposite. The data and Jewish history suggests that is wrong. In synagogues and organizations and federations, we should be focusing on the core, and less on the periphery. And if the core is really good, it will be a magnet for some. The core is where our Jewish future lies.”

Rubin, who staffed the community study, reported that its “main purpose” is to “drive action in the community and be good stewards of the philanthropic dollars that come in.”

He suggested that the “organized Jewish community” needs to provide “higher level programming” to reach millennials, and that the money spent on that cohort is “working.”

Schreiber, citing statistics showing the low level of Jewish immersion and connection in the South Hills, said he sees an opportunity for the people less involved to “have Jewish journeys.”

Temple Emanuel’s president, Weisberg, said his congregation is “positioned for the future” and, in light of its longtime rabbi Mark Mahler’s upcoming retirement, has been having parlor meetings and distributing surveys to its members to “look at who we are as a congregation.”

With declining numbers, the congregation is “looking to attract new members” while thinking “about why people want to join.

The ‘why’ is important,” he said.

In a lengthy question and answer session, many in the audience of 100 people expressed their opinions on what should be the South Hills Jewish community’s next steps. Some argued for inter-organizational cooperation, while others advocated for more serious Jewish programming in the South Hills, which now is home to 20 percent of Jewish households in Greater Pittsburgh. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Twerski: Continued from page 2

and put them into simple terms that make sense. It’s a true gift.”

Twerski was a pioneer in the treatment of drug addiction, said Paul Bacharach, president and CEO of Gateway.

“Abe early on understood that addiction is a disease that has biological, psychological, social and spiritual components,” Bacharach said, noting that in its early years, Gateway focused on “steering people to 12-step programs,” and today places a greater emphasis on medications that can help treat addictions.

Twerski, along with the Sisters of St. Francis, opened Gateway Rehab in 1972 as a 28-day alcohol and drug dependence treatment center.

He created Pennsylvania’s first program for nurses with alcohol or drug problems, served on the Governor’s Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse and chaired the Committee on the Impaired Physician for the Pennsylvania Medical Society. For 20 years, he served as clinical director of the department of psychiatry at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh and was an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine.

Drug overdoses killed 63,632 Americans in 2016, with almost two-thirds of those deaths involving a prescription or illicit

opioid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The opioid epidemic in the United States is rampant, and there is no community or demographic that is immune, Bacharach said. His own son, Nathan, died in 2009 at the age of 26 as a result of “complications from his addiction problems.”

Nathan’s story is not an unusual one, Bacharach explained. His son broke his leg playing soccer, was prescribed painkillers, ultimately became addicted, and continued “using them for eight years, unbeknownst to anyone.”

Nathan sought help from another provider, but like scores of others, could not overcome his addiction.

On an average day, Gateway provides help to about 1,700 people, according to Bacharach, who added that “23 million people in the United States have some sort of substance abuse disorder.”

The problem is not going away anytime soon, said Twerski, speaking by phone from his home in Israel.

“I wish we could have done something more to prevent the crisis which is getting worse every day with no end in sight,” he said. “The number of young people dying from drugs is greater every year. It’s terribly frustrating.”

Contemporary society’s obsession with the pursuit of pleasure is to blame, Twerski said, and it’s a tough issue to address. He pointed to Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign

Vets: Continued from page 9

the numbers: While making up 50 percent of the workforce, only 20 percent of Israeli businesses are owned by women — of which only 8 percent are independently owned.

It’s been just three years since Josh Phillips made aliyah from London. In that short time, the Brit has managed to learn fluent Hebrew and finish his two-year service in the Palsar company of the Nahal infantry brigade as a lone soldier. Last week, he opened London Vapes, an e-cigarette store in southern Tel Aviv’s hip Florentin neighborhood.

“I got into it by accident,” said Phillips, 24, explaining his pivot into the e-cigarette business. “I’m an ex-smoker and when I lived in London, I wanted to stop smoking and electronic cigarettes worked for me.

“Towards the end of my service I started smoking again. I realized I didn’t want to.

I was looking for stores in Israel to find an e-cigarette and realized very few exist.”

Phillips, who lives in Florentin, found one in central Tel Aviv.

“I mentioned to the store owner that South Tel Aviv would be an ideal spot for an e-cigarette shop, to which [he] responded, ‘Why don’t you do it?’” Phillips said.

“My immediate response was that I don’t have the time or the experience. But after a few days, I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Phillips took his pikadon and some money he had in savings from his pre-Israel days investing in real estate to open a brick-andmortar shop with the British flag painted boldly on the exterior.

He is working with an existing London Vapes e-cigarette store in Tel Aviv, but Phil-

p Josh Phillips stands inside his new e-cigarette shop, London Vapes.

Photo by Tracy Frydberg

lips said the Florentin shop is his 100 percent.

“I think what the army does is actually quite amazing where it gives you multiple options to access your pikadon — they’re quite strict about it, which I agree with,” Phillips said. “I think the pikadon is the best way [to initially fund a business] because it’s your money.”

Ido Vital was just 14 when he started cutting hair. He began as an apprentice in his neighborhood barber shop in Jerusalem by sweeping up hair and arranging towels before touching a pair of scissors. “[At age 14], I understood that this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” said Vital, 24. “It was just something that flowed.”

During his three years in the navy, he would rush home from base on Thursdays

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as a “very naïve” and inadequate response.

“Some social workers interviewed a 14-year-old girl asking her, ‘What is your reaction to ‘Just Say No?’” Twerski recalled. “She answered, ‘Why say no? What else is there?’

“We are a pleasure-focused society,” he continued. “We are unfortunately not a responsible people. We are a hedonistic culture. We don’t give a damn and the society pays the price. What can we do to stop young people from ruining themselves, killing themselves in their pursuit of pleasure? I don’t have the answer.”

Twerski is unable to travel to Pittsburgh to accept the Pursuer of Peace award, but said he is “honored” to receive it.

“I’m pleased my work was acknowledged and grateful it has been appreciated,” he said.

“I put Gateway on the map as one of the leading resources for rehabilitation.”

A video featuring Twerski will be shown at the event, according to Valerie Bacharach, one of the program’s chairs.

“We chose to honor Rabbi Twerski because of the crisis in the community,” said Marian Allen, another chair of the event. She emphasized Twerski’s “focus on spirituality” as an integral element of his success.

“From a world that can be insular, he’s brought the meaning of cherishing life to people from every walk of life,” she said.

As recipient of the Pursuer of Peace Award, Twerski follows previous honorees including the Most Reverend Bishop David

A. Zubik, William E. Strickland Jr., Fred Rogers (posthumously) and Rabbi Walter Jacob. Rodef Shalom translates from Hebrew to “Pursuer of Peace.”

“We honor Rabbi Twerski and Gateway Rehab because of the pioneering work they have done in the area of addiction treatment of individuals, families, and our community as a whole,” said Rabbi Aaron Bisno, Rodef Shalom’s senior rabbi.

“When he began, Rabbi Twerski’s work was pioneering. Now, when we are all aware of the scurrilous scourge of addictions, their causes and effects, we celebrate what Rabbi Twerski and Gateway Rehab have accomplished, and we commit to partnering and addressing this challenge going forward, for this is how we bring peace into our homes and the world.”

Twerski is the author of more than 75 books, has been a guest on television and radio programs and featured in hundreds of magazines, newspapers and publications worldwide. He has lectured extensively on chemical dependency as well as stress, self-esteem and spirituality.

The award presentation is open to the public. All are invited to the dessert reception immediately following in Freehof Hall hosted by Rodef Shalom Congregation. For more information, go to rodefshalom.org/peace. PJC

to open up a small studio in his home and give friends and neighbors a trim.

After his service, Vital moved to Tel Aviv to attend hairstyling school, which he paid for with his pikadon. Vital then took another percentage of his remaining army deposit, along with other money he saved, to open a hair salon in Jerusalem’s happening Mahane Yehuda market.

Two years since its opening, Vital said business is better than expected.

“The army gave me a small [financial] push to give me money for my studies and then to open up my business. It was my first push when I didn’t have any other financial backing,” he said.

“The first thing most people do after leaving the army is go on a large trip somewhere in the world. They want to enjoy and have some fun. I started my business perhaps a little younger than I should have. But I’m happy that way.”

Personal trainer Sean Haber, 22, opens the gate to his ground-floor home off of Bezalel Street in Jerusalem to reveal a cozy AstroTurf garden.

“Perfect for outdoor workouts!” Haber cheerily says as he opens the door to his fitness studio, where shiny new equipment stands waiting for the next soon-to-be sweating client.

In another room Haber’s wife, Sara, runs a hair salon. Today she’s with a bride.

Haber’s family moved to Israel from Queens, N.Y., when he was 12, but shortly after he went back to his native city to finish high school on his own. At 18, Haber returned to Israel for army service and was drafted into Yahalom, the Israeli army’s elite combat engineering unit. He started his service as a combat fighter and

ended it as a fitness instructor in Yahalom’s training course.

“I really felt like I was doing something more significant [as an instructor],” Haber said. “There is stigma about people who are no longer combat soldiers, but I was able to have a unique impact and utilize my skills.”

When Haber finished his service in November 2016, he wanted to continue the work he started in the army.

“I immediately took my pikadon and invested it in a lot of [workout] equipment,” he said.

“My main dream was opening a center for the special needs community. I have an autistic brother and before I was drafted into the army, I worked with special needs kids,” Haber said.

He also wanted to help lone soldiers get into fighting shape before and after being drafted.

“The army is oriented towards the average Israeli, who is very lean and can just run,” Haber said. “Americans tend to be a little heavier, but the army says to eat so you can be strong.”

This strategy, he said, doesn’t work for everyone. Haber offers his gym and special training options at a discounted rate for lone soldiers.

“I wish there was more awareness that people can use the pikadon to start a small business,” Haber said. “The second you get out of the army, there is [a letdown]. Many Israelis living with parents are asking, ‘What do I do now?’ Lone soldiers are asking, ‘Do I run back to America or am I going to stay in Israel?’ And I said I’m going to use my pikadon to help Israel and at the same time be able to support myself.”

The bottom line, he said, is that the army’s financial benefits provide an opportunity.

“Don’t waste it,” Haber said. PJC

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

JUNE 8, 2018 17

Celebrations

Torah

Engagements

Wired wirelessly awesome

Mark/Kohl: Dr. Martin and Ronna Mark of Louisville, Ky., and Scott and Diane Kohl of Chicago are pleased to announce the engagement of their children, Josh Mark and Jessi Kohl.

Josh and Jessi are 2015 graduates of Indiana University and currently live in Columbus, Ohio. Jessi is a teacher at Columbus Jewish Day School, and Josh works in data analytics at Abercrombie & Fitch. He will be pursuing a master’s degree in business analytics beginning this fall at the Ohio State University.

Josh and Jessi plan to marry in the fall of 2019.

Tabor/Hirsch: Susie and Mark Tabor of Boca Raton, Fla., formerly of Pittsburgh, announce the engagement of their son Gregory Paul to Eden Bari Hirsch, daughter of Robin Hirsch and the late Mark Hirsch of Albertson, N.Y. Greg is the grandson of Adeline Tabor of Boca Raton, formerly of Pittsburgh, and the late Harry P. Tabor and the late Jane and Bruce Gilbert. Eden is the granddaughter of the late Sara and George Targum and the late Beatrice and Leo Hirsch.

Greg received his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from the University of Miami.

He is a health care consultant in South Palm Beach County. Eden graduated with a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University and a master’s degree in childhood education from Hunter College. She teaches in the Palm Beach County public schools.

An October wedding is planned in Boca Raton.

B’nai Mitzvah Nathaniel Holden Green, son of Cindy (Joseph) and Todd Green, will become a bar mitzvah on Saturday, June 9 at Temple Sinai. Grandparents are Phoebe Joseph and the late Kenneth Joseph of Walpole, Mass., and Dana and Richard Green of Pittsburgh.

Nate is finishing seventh grade at Dorseyville Middle School. He enjoys playing basketball, running, playing video games and reading books.

Rabbi Ely Rosenfeld Parshat Shelach Numbers 13:1-15:41

I

get asked this all the time. It’s probably the most common question I get as a rabbi.

Last week while walking in the park I was asked, “What are those strings for?�

As a young boy, I struggled with tzitzis, that four-cornered woolen (some wear cotton) garment with eight strings and five knots in each corner.

Try to imagine this: You wake up on a hot, humid summer morning and you are trying to find the perfect breathable clothes to wear — preferably something wicking that won’t stick to your skin when you sweat.

So, you put on your perfectly thin “Cool 32� wicking shirt, and then you put on this extra woolen layer. The super cooling power of your awesome shirt is now useless.

So why wear them?

My parents — to their credit — gave me some ingenious explanations for tzitzis from Jewish tradition.

All I have to do is toss the garment over me and slide my head through the hole and voila, I’m magically surrounded by a mitzvah. I have this wireless connection to God, though I have 32 mini wires hanging from my side.

Remember cordless phones with the big antenna? That’s what I had.

But, I still struggled with them.

One day, my mom asked me to vacuum my room. My tzitzis got sucked into the back of the blower. I had to cry for

help to get “unvacuumed.�

One time, I was trying to get out of the car, and I discovered that my tzitzis were magically tied with my seatbelt and I was anchored in ‌ extra safe.

One time, when I was studying abroad, the cleaners charged me a fortune for having to undo all those knots!

Thank G-d, we come to this week’s Torah portion, where G-d tells me exactly why he gave us this wireless connection of tzitzis. “Wear them so you should be reminded of all the many mitzvah opportunities you have in your life.�

Aha! Tzitzis are for me! All those 32 wires remind me that I’m directly wired — albeit wirelessly — to my source: G-d Himself.

Tzitzis is a constant meditative exercise for me to mindfully and physically envelope myself in this mitzvah, and in all mitzvot/ opportunities to connect with the Almighty and with each other.

Tzitzis hanging at my side remind me that G-d has empowered me to elevate myself, to be bigger than I think I can be, to be kinder, to be distinct in my actions, to live a more meaningful life.

I am grateful for all 613 incredible opportunities to live happier!

So the next time I get asked, “What are those strings for?� my answer is simple: “I wear them to be awesome.�  PJC Rabbi Ely Rosenfeld is the director of the Jewish Relief Agency and the TheHappyRabbi. com. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries BERMAN: Norton Lawrence Berman, aged 87, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 27, 2018, in New Orleans. Norton was born March 3, 1931, in Pittsburgh to Jack Berman and Rose Berman nee Schreiber. In addition to his parents, Norton was preceded in death by his brother Alan Berman (Joyce) and daughter Marsha Berman. He is survived by his sons Evan Berman (Dira) and Eric Berman (Diana), sons of Bernice Rinsma-Lehman, and his daughter Lauren N. Berman, daughter of Susan Berman nee Silverman. Norton was grandfather to Gillian Berman, Daniella Berman, and Naomi and Melanie Berman. A native of Pittsburgh, he received both his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Bernice, lived in the city while he worked briefly as a lawyer while earning his master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Pittsburgh’s GSPIA program. Leaving the practice of law for work in economic development in the late 1960s, his career took him and wife, Susan, from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, D.C., to the Peace Corps in Liberia and Botswana, and then to the Michigan Commerce department. In 1978, he and Susan moved to Papua, New Guinea, where Norton was trade secretary for the newly independent government, then back to Michigan in 1982 as the director of economic development for the state. Following stints in Rhode Island and New Jersey in similar positions, Norton returned to Michigan in 1986, where he founded his economic development consulting firm, the BermanGroup, LLC. The BermanGroup, LLC was hired by USAID to work in the Czech Republic and went on to run projects throughout Central and Eastern Europe. After 10-plus years working and traveling in the region with companion Dottie Stephenson, she and Norton returned stateside, settling in New Orleans where he continued to work in development, most notably for St. Joseph’s Seminary College.

Norton had a life-long appreciation for both classical music and contemporary art. He served as executive director of the American Craft Council, president of the board of Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, and was an avid supporter of the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans Friends of Music and the Musical Arts Society of New Orleans. Graveside services and interment were held at B’nai Israel Cemetery. Gifts in memoriam may be made to New Orleans Friends of Music, 5500 Prytania Street, New Orleans, LA 70115 or at friendsofmusic.org. A memorial service will be held in New Orleans at a later date. Please reach out to the family if you would like to be notified when the memorial is scheduled.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com KRUMAN: Suzanne Irene Kruman, on Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Beloved wife of 62 years to Leonard M. Kruman. Beloved mother of Randy Kruman of Loveland, Colo., and Jeffrey (Janet) Kruman of Canonsburg.

Sister of the late Dina Boras. Grandmother of Samuel Kruman. Services and interment were held at The National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Bridgeville. Contributions may be made to Alzheimers Association, 1100 Liberty Avenue, Suite E-201, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com SACHS: Roslyn N. Sachs, on Sunday, June 3, 2018. Beloved wife of Herbert Sachs; loving mother of Katie (Adam) Lauzer, Amy (Larry Hershman) Alfred and Heidi (Richard Maletsky) Sachs; sister of Richard H. Nelson; “Mollie” to Rachel and Jacob Lauzer, Sarah, Victoria and Zachary Levow, Max, Hannah and David Maletsky. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation.Contributions may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1501 Reedsdale Street # 105, Cardello Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. schugar.com PJC

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Headlines Halpern: Continued from page 3

Julius’ legacy of Jewish community involvement and leadership.”

The early generations established “a legacy of hard work, community involvement and philanthropy,” said Eileen Lane, another Halpern descendent. As a whole, we have felt a “responsibility to pass it on. That’s what has made us a strong and dedicated family.

“There are things that are important to us.

We’re willing to give our time, and talents and at times money and that has been passed on as a legacy through the generations.”

“We feel as a family, collectively, a responsibility to continue to do what we do,” echoed Halpern, explaining that the goal is to “give of our time and engagement as opposed to just writing a check.”

Throughout the years, many members of the family have taken on leadership posts.

Those roles have always been rooted in a “shared commitment to community,” said Lane. “My father was president of his synagogue. I was president of a synagogue. My father was head of the Jewish Chronicle. My husband was head of the Jewish Chronicle.”

Both Lane’s mother and brother also headed Jewish Family & Children’s Service (now Jewish Family and Community Services).

Taking on such tasks is who the Halperns, said Cestello. “Members of the Halpern family have served as board chairs of the American

Jewish Committee (Pittsburgh Section), Beth Shalom and Rodef Shalom synagogues, Bikur Cholim, the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, the Jewish Association on Aging, Jewish Family and Community Services, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, Montefiore Hospital and the Pittsburgh Conference on Soviet Jewry.

“The Federation has seen seven members of the family over three generations serve on the board, with many of those chairing either the funding committee or the campaign.”

Lane, a co-founder of Pittsburgh’s Race for the Cure, pointed out that her relatives “have good relationships and are supportive of each other. I’m proud that we’ve maintained those kinds of relationships and pass on that legacy that we’ve received to those who’ve come after us.”

Halpern praised the younger members of the family who remain “involved in helping others.”

“The Halperns are very fortunate today to have five members of the next generation involved in community service: Alexandra, Allison, Jonathan and Stephanie Halpern and Adam Lane,” added Cestello. “Some are here in Pittsburgh, while others live in different cities around the country. Each is involved in various causes as a volunteer or board member, including Beth Tikvah Congregation in Boston, Allegheny Youth Development, Friendship Circle and Social Venture Partners in Pittsburgh and the Kelly Writers House of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.”

Jeffrey Finkelstein, the Federation’s president and CEO, was equally effusive in his praise.

p Lillian and Julius Halpern at his 70th birthday party on June 12, 1960.

Photo courtesy of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives

“A multigeneration family of sustained involvement at all levels of Jewish and general communal life is what the Halpern family is all about,” said Finkelstein. “As one looks at a record of all the places and institutions that have been the lucky recipients of their individual and collective energies, and

then look at the impact each of those has had on our community, the Halpern family is a natural choice to receive the PNC Community Builders Award.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Community Hillel Academy track team

p Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s track team at a May 23 meet at Schenley Oval. Hillel’s team placed in each of the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m and relay events. Participating schools included Community Day School and Environmental Charter School.

p Dov Gelman passes the baton to Rami Shaw in a relay exchange during the track meet. Both are students from Hillel Academy.

Generations Speaker Series

ZOA announces Israel Scholarship awardees

Photos by Adam Reinherz

On Wednesday, May 16 the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh held the latest talk in its Generations Speaker Series. Local actor and radio personality Paul Guggenheimer spoke alongside his father, Dr. James Guggenheimer. James Guggenheimer, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, spoke about his experience as a child refugee from the Holocaust.

p Rachel Luzer

p From left: Paul Guggenheimer, Holocaust Center Director Lauren Bairnsfather and James Guggenheimer Photo by Melanie Friend

p Aviva Itskowitz

p Elana Eydelman

Photos courtesy of ZOA: Pittsburgh

The Zionist Organization of America: Pittsburgh announced the recipients of its Israel Scholarship Program for 2018. They are Elana Eydelman, Rachel Luzer, and Aviva Itskowitz.

Each student will receive a $1,000 scholarship to help offset expenses of their respective summer study programs. Students are evaluated on their accomplishments, volunteerism and essay on the topic, “What the State of Israel and Zionism Means to Me.” Funding comes from endowments underwritten by Avraham and Patti Anouchi; Harold and Marla Scheinman; the late Thelma Esman; the late Bernard and Esther Klionsky; and the Novick family, in loving memory of the late Ivan and Natalie Novick.

Elana Eydelman and Rachel Luzer will be attending the NCSY Israel in Depth program.

Aviva Itskowitz will be attending the NCSY Michlelet program.

Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning graduation On Thursday, May 24 the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning students, 2017-18, graduated after two years of Melton study. The graduates are shown with two Melton teachers: Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff and Danielle Kranjec, senior Jewish educator at Hillel Jewish University. These graduates are professionals in Jewish organizations that want to bring a greater understanding of Jewish teachings into their work and lives. In Pittsburgh, the Melton School is a program of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and is underwritten by the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning Endowment Fund, established by the Edgar Snyder family. Edgar Snyder Family.

u From left, back row: Kim Salzman, Marisa Tate, Alex Zisman, Elina Lipov, Bill Stein, David Guzikowski, Aviva Lubowsky, Rabbi Danny Schiff; front row: Lauren Wolcott, Rachel Lipkin, Debbie Swartz, Kate Kim, Hope Nearwood, Jennifer Slattery, Danielle Kranjec

Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

22 JUNE 8, 2018

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Community CELEBRATION! On Thursday, May 31 more than 400 guests attended CELEBRATION! the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s sold-out event to thank donors to the Federation’s Community Campaign. CELEBRATION! took place at Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip District. All attendees were honored for their commitment to the Federation’s Community Campaign and, in turn, helped to recognize the Halpern family, recipients of the 2018 PNC Community Builders Award. The award recognizes Federation leaders whose volunteer efforts have resulted in a stronger, more vibrant Greater Pittsburgh community

p Leaders of the Federation’s Community Campaign, from left: Ellen Teri Kaplan Goldstein, Community Campaign vice chair; Linda Joshowitz, Community Campaign chair; and Jan Levinson, Community Campaign co-chair.

p Kippalive, an Israeli a cappella group, provided musical interludes at the sold out CELEBRATION! Event.

p Elizabeth Coslov greeted the guests and honored her grandparents, Ira and Nanette Gordon (z”l), whose endowment fund in the Jewish Community Foundation underwrote the event.

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p Sam Gerber and his mother, Laurie, were among attendees at the Federation’s CELEBRATION! event, which was the official launch of the Jewish Federation’s Legacy Fund. In Pittsburgh, the Legacy Fund is part of a national effort to encourage after-life philanthropy.

p From left: Attendees Rachel Firestone, Bev Block and Teddi Jacobson Horvitz Photos by David Bachman

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

JUNE 8, 2018 23

Name: Giant Eagle Width: 10.25 in Depth: 13.75 in Color: Black plus one Ad Number: 10043711

KOSHER MEATS

Empire Kosher Fresh Ground Turkey

• All-natural poultry — whole chickens, breasts, wings and more

Sold in 1 lb. pkg.

• All-natural, corn-fed beef — steaks, roasts, ground beef and more • Variety of deli meats and franks Available at select Giant Eagle stores.

Visit GiantEagle.com for location information.

4

49 ea.

Save with your

Price effective Thursday, June 7 through Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Available at 17AD32058_PJC_0607.indd 1

24 JUNE 8, 2018

and PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

5/30/18 12:05 PM

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