Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 8/3/2018

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August 3, 2018 | 22 Av 5778

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Candlelighting 8:15 p.m. | Havdalah 9:17 p.m. | Vol. 61, No. 31 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Cheese expo brings celebration of dairy to Steel City

Synagogues pursue cemetery digitization projects

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Team Israel star looking to make impact for Pirates

By Jonah Berger | Chronicle Intern

A and United States, said he co-founded the company in 2013 after observing that monitoring cemeteries often constituted what he called a “disjointed” and “fragmented” process.

With many cemetery directors continuing to store information in file cabinets, the process was prone to misplacing information or neglecting to update records, he noted.

Robert Menes, executive director of Beth Shalom, echoed those concerns.

“We have a lot of information and most of it is stored in paper files,” he said. “They will degrade. They will be hard to understand as time goes on.

“So we need to move them into a system that allows us to access that information and preserve it for years to come.”

McAllister suggested PlotBox’s technology improves the experience for family members of the deceased, as well as synagogue employees overseeing cemetery records.

“Our mission at PlotBox is to help take away some of the pain that’s involved around dealing with death, and that’s mainly from the family standpoint, but also from those who have to serve them,” he said.

Other synagogues around Pittsburgh are also looking toward digitizing cemetery records.

Temple Sinai began an “audit” of its cemetery roughly a month ago, which will be followed by an effort to upload the locations of all of the

fter making a splash at the World Baseball Classic for Team Israel last spring, catcher Ryan Lavarnway is seeking to make an impact for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they fight for a playoff spot.

Lavarnway is currently the starting catcher for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. Triple-A is the highest level of minor league baseball, directly below the major leagues.

The Pirates, who find themselves in the thick of the division race after winning 11 games in a row, could call up Lavarnway in September when the team expands its active major league roster to 40 players. The catcher is hitting .287 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs for the Indians, and recently competed in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio.

Though his major league career prospects may be uncertain, Lavarnway’s impact on Jews around the globe arguably is not. As the team’s catcher, he led Team Israel to multiple upsets at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, the country’s first appearance at the tournament.

Lavarnway helped the young squad pick up decisive wins against South Korea and Chinese Taipei, the third- and fourth-ranked teams in the world, respectively (Israel entered the tournament ranked 41st). He wound up hitting over .500 for the entire tournament and won the Pool A MVP award.

Team Israel — comprised of players who are citizens of Israel or could qualify for citizenship — ultimately fell to top-ranked Japan, finishing sixth overall at the tournament.

Prior to the WBC, the team traveled to Israel, the first trip to the Jewish state for many of the players.

“Being embraced by the Jewish community really helped me find my own spirituality,” Lavarnway said. “Being in Israel and

Please see Cemetery, page 15

Please see Baseball, page 15

‘Harbison,’ above, from Cellars at Jasper Hill in Vermont took the top prize.

Page 2

 A bird’s eye view of Congregation Beth Shalom’s cemetery, with colors indicating the status of each plot Screenshot courtesy of Lonnie Wolf

LOCAL

By Jonah Berger | Chronicle Intern

J-JEP leader off to BBYO Liron Lipinsky will operate new education initiative.

Page 3 FILM Pic tackles postwar difficulties

Hungarian-language production hits theaters.

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ultiple Pittsburgh synagogues are in the process of updating and digitizing cemetery records in order to centralize information about burial plots and facilitate members’ accessibility to those records.

Congregation Beth Shalom, Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation, Shaare Torah Congregation and Temple Sinai are all pursuing some form of modernization initiative for their respective cemeteries, although each is in a different stage of its respective project.

At Beth Shalom, congregation leaders are embarking on a multistep process to verify and digitize cemetery records, which will involve photographing the thousands of headstones at the synagogue’s Shaler Township cemetery and uploading the photos and other information about each plot onto a publicly accessible website.

The company behind the technology, PlotBox, provides digitization software to approximately 80 cemeteries around the country. Cemetery directors — such as Lonnie Wolf of Beth Shalom — upload as much information as needed about each plot onto PlotBox’s website, which then displays it in a user-friendly manner.

“If only I could download my brain into PlotBox,” quipped Wolf.

Sean McAllister, CEO of PlotBox, which employs 34 people in the United Kingdom

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What Birthright guides really say

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Western Wall sheds a stone

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Headlines American Cheese Society meeting is a dairy lover’s dream — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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f Willy Wonka had a factory full of cheese then it may have looked like the David L. Lawrence Convention Center last week, where pillars of brie balanced beside cubed Colby, mozzarella mounds and gorgeous Gouda. With stacks of cheese everywhere in sight, entrants to the downtown hall resembled toothpicks on a heaping catered tray, with nearly 1,900 attendees slicing, serving and plucking chunks from tons of delectable dairy.

Amplifying the aura of the 2018 American Cheese Society Conference and Competition were cheesemakers, cheese mongers, cheese consumers and even a cheese artist who indulged in informational sessions, networking opportunities and the penultimate Festival of Cheese — a Saturday evening affair where eaters enjoyed 2,000 varieties of the celebrated comestible.

Having now aged into its 35th year, ACS’ annual gathering is akin to “cheese camp,” explained attendees.

“It’s about the people and the relationships,” said Kathleen Shannon Finn, past president of the organization.

“You see each other every year. It’s like a cheese family, so it’s really fun to come back,” echoed Maegan Olsen, R&D food technologist at Cabot Creamery in Vermont.

The 2018 convention, which spanned July 25-28, marked ACS’ Steel City debut, and though the area may be better known for Iron City beer than grass fed cows, it impressed both industry insiders and those simply fond of fontina.

Nora Weiser, executive director of the 1,800-strong ACS, praised Pittsburgh for its “burgeoning food scene, great chefs” and accessibility.

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p Aileen Kacvinsky, director of technical services at Schuman Cheese, poses with the company’s spread at the American Cheese Society Conference and Competition.

Photo by Lauren Rosenblatt

“It was a good fit, it was a good size for our organization,” said Weiser. “The city was very welcoming in bringing us here, so we’re excited. People are pleasantly surprised about what they’re discovering about Pittsburgh.”

Cathy Gaffney, the organization’s incoming president, agreed.

“Pittsburgh people love cheese it seems, so that’s a great place for us to be,” she said.

While the yearly event affords ample chances to ingest everything from Acapellas to Zwitsers, it is really about the learning, explained John Antonelli, the organization’s president. “When folks come here they are getting an opportunity to get access to education.” Panel presentations and lectures from leaders in the field allow many rural based “dairy men and women” to hear from those who “have the expertise that you wouldn’t

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necessarily have access to in your home city.”

Especially edifying was the newly published “ACS Cheese and Dairy Product Lexicon and Glossary.” Intended to “facilitate conversations across the supply chain of cheese by creating a credible, modern resource that provides a greater understanding of the myriad ways in which cheese is discussed and described,” the lexicon is “a way for us to communicate better with all of the folks in cheese,” said Weiser.

“Taste is very subjective,” noted Gaffney, “so being able to help folks understand how to taste and how to communicate that is going to be essential to the growth and the success of our organization and continued growth of our cheese.

“You can liken it to a program for sommelier,” Gaffney added. “There’s a language around

wine. There’s a history of where the product comes from and what tastes you expect, and that’s what this is for cheese in many ways.”

At the organization’s initial conference in 1983 judges selected from 89 entries in a best of show competition; 35 years later, experts reviewed the attributes and defects of 1,954 cheese and cultured dairy products from 259 companies representing 35 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, Mexico, Columbia and Brazil, said Ashley Greco of Fresh Ideas Group.

Several participants marveled at the sheer volume of cheese and cheese-related services on display.

“I had no idea there were all these different kinds of cheeses, and the way they make them and they wrap them … it’s unbelievable,” said Leslie Frischman, of Squirrel Hill.

Of particular note, added Frischman, who was volunteering at the conference, is Beehive Cheese’s “Barely Buzzed.” Described as a “unique espresso and lavender hand-rubbed cheese with subtle notes of butterscotch and caramel,” the “full-bodied cheese with a smooth, creamy texture product” is “made from the milk of Jersey cows.” After the “unique espresso blend is mixed with French Superior lavender buds and freshly ground onsite, the mixture is diluted with oil to suspend the dry ingredients in the rub,” aged in a “humidity controlled facility and then moved to two different temperatures during the aging process to develop texture and flavor.”

Though “Barely Buzzed” placed first at ACS’ competition in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2015, “Harbison” from Cellars at Jasper Hill in Vermont took this year’s top prize.

The “soft-ripened cheese with a rustic, bloomy rind” is described by its makers as “woodsy and sweet, balanced with lemon, mustard and vegetal flavors.”

Much in the same way that people “care Please see Cheese, page 20

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Headlines Pittsburgh educator to head national BBYO initiative — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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iron Lipinsky, who spent the last six years at the helm of J-JEP, a supplemental religious school and collaborative effort between Congregation Beth Shalom and Rodef Shalom Congregation, has been tapped by BBYO to implement a national educational initiative. The new initiative will be funded by a three-year $3.9 million grant from the Maimonides Fund, a foundation dedicated to education and Jewish identity in North America and Israel.

On Aug. 5, Lipinksy will begin her tenure as the associate vice president of Jewish enrichment at BBYO, the pluralistic youth group with more than 21,000 members throughout the world.

Lipinsky will be charged with “heading up a major grant we received to further place Jewish educators, Jewish song leaders and Jewish speakers throughout our platforms and experiences,” said Matthew Grossman, CEO of BBYO, in a phone interview.

The speakers and educators will be used at the more than 100 annual BBYO retreats, as well as at BBYO’s summer camps and at its International Convention, which attracts about 3,000 Jewish teens from around the world, Grossman said.

It is Lipinsky’s “strong educational background, inside and outside the Jewish space,” as well as her talents as a “manager, able to mobilize people,” that make her a good fit for her new position, Grossman said. “These were two of the qualities we were looking for.”

Prior to directing J-JEP, Lipinsky served as the head of schools at Beth Shalom and as a teacher in a public elementary school, as well as a corps member for Teach for America.

In her new position at BBYO, Lipinsky will be working to “assemble a corps of the best and brightest Jewish talent” to infuse BBYO programming with rich Jewish content, Grossman said. She will also be supervising at least four full-time professionals and managing a relationship with the funder.

“The whole idea is to create a network of Jewish talent, Jewish educators who will be working with BBYO,” Lipinsky said. “So, taking all the really incredible programs that they are already known for and elevating the Jewish content within it. I’ll be leading the onboarding and training and supervision of the Jewish faculty of BBYO — “anyone who is working with all the different conventions, and their camps and their international conventions, and their regional conventions.”

BBYO is “an important leader in engaging Jewish teens through dynamic Jewish learning experiences,” Mark Charendoff, president of Please see BBYO, page 16

p Liron Lipinsky

Photo provided by Liron Lipinsky

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Headlines JHF to support new research center for maternal health Impact. WHAMglobal works to identify the root causes of maternal mortality and to supporting mothers and families through the entirety of their care.

“We’re looking at the really tragic and somewhat puzzling high rate of maternal mortality in the United States — higher than any other developed country, but also sadly trending upward whereas everyone else is trending down,” Feinstein said. “So, when you’re focused on maternal mortality, of course, you look at the causes. Why would a young and sometimes quite healthy mother die as a result of pregnancy? And the No. 1 medical reason is cardiovascular disease.”

An objective of WHAMglobal is to improve the early detection of cardiovascular disease and to examine “why pregnancy sometimes exacerbates the problem or creates the problem,” Feinstein said.

Bringing together the strengths of RAND and Magee-Womens Research Institute, the new Women’s Health Research and Policy Center will work to develop a series of proposals for the National Institutes of Health and other funders related to women’s cardiovascular health during and after pregnancy. The center will focus on research that can be translated into best

— LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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or the last several years, the maternal mortality rate has been declining throughout the world. That’s the good news. The bad news is that, surprisingly, the maternal mortality rate continues to rise in the United States.

That’s why the Jewish Healthcare Foundation has approved a three-year, $600,000 grant to support the development of a Women’s Health Research and Policy Center at the RAND Corporation in a collaboration with Magee-Womens Research Institute.

As cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death among pregnant women, the new center aims to advance the understanding of women’s cardiovascular health in pregnancy and to ultimately improve the quality of care and outcomes.

The $600,000 grant is “part of a much bigger initiative,” said Karen Wolk Feinstein, president and CEO of the JHF. That larger initiative is the Women’s Health Activist Movement (WHAMglobal), founded in 2016 by the JHF in collaboration with the national organization Women of

p Karen Wolk Feinstein

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Calendar

q THURSDAY, AUG. 16 The annual Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park begins at 7:05 p.m. as the Pirates take on the Chicago Cubs.

This year, there will be an optional pre-game kosher BBQ in the Picnic Park. The food will be provided by Smokey Nat’s (a project of Shaare Torah Congregation), which is under the supervision of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh. For more information, and for ticket prices, see Pirates.com/JewishHeritage. >> 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 EVERY WEDNESDAY EVENING Heal Grow and Live with Hope, NarAnon meeting from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Beth El Congregation, 1900 Cochran Road; use office entrance. Newcomers are welcome. Call and leave a message for Karen at 412-563-3395.

q FRIDAY, AUG. 3

q SUNDAY AUG. 12

q SATURDAY, AUG. 18

Shalom Pittsburgh and the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will hold Family Friday at the Frick. Shabbat from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Frick Art & Historical Center. Bring a picnic or enjoy the food trucks. Challah and grape juice will be provided. Look for the Shalom Pittsburgh station for giveaways and other fun. There is no charge. Contact Meryl Franzos at mfranzos@jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5204 for more information.

Temple Emanuel’s Bereavement Support Group meetings will be at 10 a.m. The group, which is open to anyone who is experiencing grief following loss, is led by Jamie Del, LCSW and Naomi Pittle, LCSW, who both have experience in grief counseling. RSVP to Leon at leonsteineresa@verizon.net if you plan to attend. The Bereavement Support Group welcomes previous and newly bereaved adults to attend. Meetings are held at Temple Emanuel, 1250 Bower Hill Road.

Move Forward Through the Power of MuSic, the annual MuSic for MS Music Festival to help end multiple sclerosis forever will be from 3 to 10:30 p.m. at Hartwood Acres.

There is a charge, but free tickets are available to anyone living with MS. Visit MuSicForMS.org/tickets for more information.

q SATURDAY-THURSDAY, AUG. 4-9 The Women’s Summer Learning Program at the Kollel Jewish Learning Center, 5808 Beacon St., is a weeklong program with two teachers giving three classes a day. There is no charge. Contact Stacie Stufflebeam at 412-214-7973 or stacie@kollelpgh.org or visit kollelpgh.org for more information. q MONDAY, AUG. 6 First Mondays with Rabbi Alex Greenbaum, with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring guest George Savarese presenting “Russian Roulette,” Putin’s war on the United States.

Savarese has served as the host of the World Affairs Council’s “Global Press Conference” on KQV radio and has worked for AP Radio and National Public Radio. There is a $6 charge. Visit bethelcong.org for more information and call 412-561-1168 to make a reservation.

q SUNDAY, AUG. 19 A Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Milt Eisner at an Israel Bonds and Congregation Beth Shalom program at 10 a.m. David Eisner, former chairman and president of JTA/70 Faces Media and the Jewish Education Project, will be the guest speaker. A $100 minimum Israel bond purchase per person in 2018 purchased for Congregation Beth Shalom is required to attend. The event will be held at Beth Shalom; reservations are required. RSVP By Wednesday, Aug. 15 to Adrienne Indianer at 412-362-5154 or Pittsburgh@israelbonds.com.

Visit bethshalompgh.org/events-upcoming for more information.

q SUNDAY, AUG. 19

q MONDAY, AUG. 20

Shalom Pittsburgh will hold its eighth annual Apples and Honey Fall Festival from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Waterfront Town Center. The community is invited.

Contact Meryl Franzos at mfranzos@ jfedpgh.org or visit shalompittsburgh. org/apples-and-honey-fall-festival for more information.

Camp NCJW at Green Oaks Country Club in Verona will be held to benefit the Center for Women beginning at 11 a.m. and will include a co-ed day of golf, tennis, swimming, dinner and more. The Center for Women was launched in 2013 in partnership with the Jewish Women’s Foundation with the Please see Calendar, page 6

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AUGUST 3, 2018 5

Headlines Counter to IfNotNow narrative, Birthright guides do talk about the Palestinians — NATIONAL —

By Ben Sales | JTA

W

hen Samuel Green talks about Israel’s West Bank security barrier with the Birthright groups he guides, he first explains the Israeli view that the barrier was built to prevent Palestinian terrorists from breaching Israeli territory and that Israelis generally feel it has saved lives.

But then he’ll talk about what the barrier — which is part wall, part fence — means for Palestinians: how it cuts into West Bank territory, how it has separated people from their farmland, how they see it as an imposing wall.

“It’s a disservice to the people in front of me to leave out such information,” Green said. “So if you’re trying to understand why there’s conflict, you have to understand why people are annoyed. It’s important to talk about.”

That approach contrasts with the one viewed by 2.7 million people in a viral Facebook video taken by activists of IfNotNow, a group of young American Jews who oppose Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. In the video, a Birthright tour guide spars with a participant on a Birthright bus over the status of the West Bank.

Rather than aim to present a range of views on Israel’s control of the territory, the guide says “Israel sees the West Bank as part of Israel” — a misleading claim that does not accord with the legal status of the territory or encompass the variety of ways Israelis see it.

Soon after the bus argument, several participants on that Birthright trip staged a walk-off from the tour and visited Palestinian areas. It was one of three such walk-offs conducted in recent weeks — all organized by IfNotNow — to protest what the group calls Birthright’s silence on Israel’s occupation.

The walk-offs have sparked a debate over whether Birthright — a popular 10-day free tour to Israel for young Jews — has a responsibility to grapple with Israel’s control of the West Bank. Some 40,000 young Jews, mostly from North America, go on Birthright every year. For some, it is their first exposure to the country.

Calendar: Continued from page 5 mission of helping women in transition to achieve financial stability and independence.

The CFW offers internship and mentoring programs, career coaching, financial coaching and a variety of workshops that have served more than 1,500 women. Visit ncjwpgh.org/events/camp-ncjw for more information. q FRIDAY, AUG. 24 Chabad of Squirrel Hill will host a Loaves

6 AUGUST 3, 2018

p A Palestinian man walks by Israeli troops standing guard in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90

p Birthright guide Daniel Rubenstein says he discusses the Palestinian and Israeli views of the conflict on the tours he leads. Photo courtesy of Daniel Rubenstein

But Birthright tour guides say the debate is unnecessary. While acknowledging that they speak from an Israeli perspective, the guides said they make an effort to represent a range of opinions on the tour — including Palestinian views — and are happy to answer any questions.

“In general, what tour guides are taught is that it’s not about us,” said Daniel Rubenstein, an immigrant to Israel from Texas who is about to lead his fourth Birthright trip. “As

educators, it’s our job to teach what the various players in this region, in this conflict and in this shared society are saying, and for us to articulate the basic vision of Zionism as well as Palestinian national identity.”

In addition to completing Israel’s two-year certification course for tour guides, most Birthright guides must complete a threeweek course run by Birthright. Guides said the course focuses on how to engage groups in discussion, how to make Israel’s history

of Love event from 9 to 11 a.m. at 1700 Beechwood Blvd. Women will bake two loaves of challah and will have the opportunity to learn from Sue Berman Kress on how to make special, round beehive challahs in honor of Rosh Hashanah.

Refreshments will be served, and High Holiday inspiration will be shared as the dough is rising. The cost is $10 per woman, and reservations are required by Aug. 22 at chabadpgh.com/lol.

Power an Inspired Community, will include insights from three guest speakers who will offer creative ideas for Jewish communities.

The community is invited to the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave. The presentation will be 7 to 8 p.m.; a dessert reception (dietary laws observed) will follow from 8 to 9 p.m. Visit jfedpgh.org/annual-meeting for information about the program and speakers. The charge is $10 per person when registering online at jfedpgh.org/annual-meeting. Online registration will be available until noon, Monday, Aug. 27. At the door, admission will be $20 per person. Contact 412-992-5251 for more information and to discuss disabilityrelated accommodations. Sign language

q THURSDAY, AUG. 30 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s 2018 annual meeting, FED Talks: Ideas to

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and nature come alive, and how to relate to a North American audience.

But the guides said the Birthright training course was light on politics. It instructs guides to represent a range of perspectives, they said, but doesn’t provide a list of Israeli talking points on contentious issues like the status of Palestinian refugees or the security barrier. Green scoffed at the idea that right-wing donors to Birthright, like casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, dictate how they conduct their tours.

“They don’t have a lot of control over what guides say in the field,” Green said of Birthright leaders. “They’re trusting the guides to execute their vision. It’s not like Birthright says ‘do this’ and the guide parrots something.

“In the Birthright training we were encouraged to represent different points of view. So this idea that Adelson is dictating how we talk about the conflict is bonkers.”

The guides acknowledged that their tours are inevitably given from an Israeli perspective. One of Birthright’s explicit goals is to strengthen American Jews’ connection to the country, along with the Jewish identity of participants. And most if not all of the guides are either native-born Israelis or Diaspora Jews who chose to make their lives in Israel.

“Personally, I’m going to value and weigh some perspectives differently than others,” said Rubenstein, who worked at the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Washington, D.C., before becoming a guide after moving to Israel. “I’m an Israeli by choice, so I’m not Wikipedia-neutral, but people are looking to engage with me because of who I am. I strive to represent different perspectives and make sure all voices are heard.”

The tour’s itinerary is transparently geared toward giving participants an appreciation of Israel’s natural, historical and cultural attractions. All trips must visit a series of sites, from the beachfront metropolis of Tel Aviv to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City to Masada, the ancient hilltop fortress where a group of Jewish rebels held out against an invading Roman army before committing mass suicide.

Groups will also visit the City of David, a Jewish archaeological site and community in a Palestinian neighborhood in eastern Please see Birthright, page 9

interpretation of the proceedings and largeprint agendas will be available. q DEADLINE WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 7 The Jewish Women’s Foundation 2018 call for proposals is offering two programs: small grants up to $10,000 to fund innovative programs that impact women and girls; and start-up grants between $2,500 and $5,000 to fund pilot programs and small nonprofits working to improve the lives of women and girls. For more details, visit JWF’s website at jwfpgh.org; or contact Judy at jcohen@ jwfpgh.org or 412-727-1108. PJC

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Headlines Coming Home: New immigrants ponder a new future in Jewish state — LOCAL —

By Joshua Runyan | Chronicle Editor-in-Chief

I

n many ways, Dr. Daniel and Hana Lowenstein and their four boys, ages 7, 6, 4 and 2, are the newest poster family for North American aliyah. Deeply committed to the Jewish community — she works for the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, while he’s a rabbi and psychiatrist — they decided to move to Israel after three years in Baltimore because there was never a question about making their permanent home anywhere else.

“We’ve been working toward this” for a while, she said last week from her seat on the first of two El Al flights chartered this summer by Nefesh B’Nefesh, the nonprofit organization that has taken charge of coordinating and facilitating Israeli immigration from English-speaking countries. “Even when we were dating, we knew we always wanted to make aliyah.”

Lowenstein’s father, former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, confirmed his daughter’s account, taking a break from the departure ceremony at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to speak with reporters.

Even as a high school student at a Jewish day school outside Washington, D.C., said Lieberman, Hana Lowenstein “wanted to make aliyah. … When she was dating, on the first date, she would ask the guy, ‘Do you want to make aliyah?’”

Like most of the 34 sets of parents and 18 single adults on this particular flight to Ben Gurion International Airport, Lowenstein’s commitment was rooted in a sense of belonging and an expression of Jewish pride — more the product of a positive choice to embrace a potential reality than to flee revealed danger, as has tended to characterize recent waves of Israeli immigration from places in Europe. That these families were so determined that they decided to take 127 children — Nefesh B’Nefesh’s largest airlift of minors since the project began in 2002 — from their schools, friends and

p Flanked by Hana’s parents, Hadassah and Joseph Lieberman, Dr. Daniel and Hana Lowenstein and their sons, Akiva, Binyamin, Meir and Avraham, pose for a photo at the El Al check-in area at John F. Kennedy International Airport before leaving for Israel on a flight chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh.

Photo by Shahar Azran

families to embark on a new life in a foreign country is a testament to their fortitude.

“We are inspired to see so many children making aliyah,” Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Nefesh B’Nefesh’s cofounder and executive director, said at the July 25 welcoming ceremony inside a giant hangar in a corner of Ben Gurion typically used by the Israeli military. “As Israel recently celebrated its 70th birthday, the country is now looking ahead

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to its future — an era that will be shaped by the ingenuity and passion of courageous and pioneering olim who are starting their lives anew in the Jewish state.”

But while the relative youth of the passengers aboard Flight 3004 garnered headlines in Israel last week, the fact is smaller families and more singles are moving from the United States with each passing year. This year, “we have 1,200 to 1,300 people who are

single making aliyah,” Fass revealed during a post-flight briefing at the organization’s headquarters in the Givat Shaul neighborhood of Jerusalem. “Now, 70 percent of my families call themselves Orthodox, but even their families are shrinking.”

The latter observation tracks anecdotal evidence that the rising cost of Jewish day school education is putting downward pressure on the family planning decisions of couples committed to sending their children to such schools. But the increase in those either just out of high school or out of college choosing to establish themselves in the Jewish state is reflective of what Fass contends is a greater “concept of identity.”

“Their personhood was connected on Birthright,” he explained, referring to the hugely successful program that has sent more than 650,000 Jewish young adults on free 10-day trips to Israel. “That’s very beautiful, but very odd, because it’s just 10 days. [The other] expression we’re seeing is they were defending Israel staunchly on campus against” the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. “They look for that [continued] expression, and it usually leads them to aliyah.”

Israel’s emergence as a leader in the hightech sector has also had an effect.

“These people are also looking for opportunity,” said Fass, whose organization partners with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA to facilitate immigration through group flights and aid packages, and since 2017 has been encouraging settlement in peripheral communities in Israel’s north and south.

“Israel is the next Silicon Valley.”

Perhaps emblematic of that appeal to those who have yet to establish their families is the phenomenon of 18-year-olds heading to the Jewish state for an immediate future of serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Shahar Bezherano was one of these future “lone soldiers” — IDF personnel without the benefit of immediate family in Israel — on last week’s flight. When asked why she was leaving her parents behind Please see Nefesh, page 18

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Kalmanovich, who — interesting side point — was the first person attacked in the first intifada in 1987, is not the only person to

By Marcy Oster | JTA feel this way. A quick perusal of several religious and mainstream news websites showed ERUSALEM — The heavy stone that similar sentiments from rabbis and laypeople. fell out of the Western Wall and came Alden Solovy, an author and teacher who crashing down on a platform set aside supports efforts by Reform Jews to pray as they for egalitarian prayer has been removed for wish at the Western Wall, took a different tack. examination and restoration, but the conver“On Tisha b’Av, God revealed a deep love sation about the reason for its sudden sky of Reform Jews,” he wrote in a blog post. dive — including hints of divine interven- “With a mighty hand and an outstretched tion — keeps on going. arm, God held back a stone from falling from The stone fell on Monday morning, July 23, the southern Western Wall onto liberal Jews hours after the area had been full of worship- worshipping below. The stone was, indeed, pers visiting the wall for Tisha b’Av, 25 hours destined to fall — as it did on Monday — of intense mourning for the destruction of but God held the stone back until no one the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem. The would be hurt.”

Western Wall was an external retaining wall Solovy noted that had the stone fallen on for the Second Temple, which was razed by Saturday night, when hundreds of worshipthe Romans in 70 C.E. pers and visitors were A lone worshipper standing near that part of was praying at the site, the Wall, “the results could known as the ezrat yisrael, have been catastrophic.” near Robinson’s Arch at “Clearly, God held the southern end of the back the stone to save wall, when the stone fell. some beloved Children of Daniella Goldberg, 79, was Israel,” he wrote. not injured, though she A facetious tweet by was shaken up a bit. And p Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, A crane removes a chunk she seemed to be dressed of stone dislodged from the an author in Brookline, in the garb of an Orthodox Western Wall in Jerusalem Mass., subtly suggested worshipper: Every strand of at the mixed-gender prayer that the Israeli governin July. hair covered, long sleeves, a section ment and the people that Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90 long skirt and stockings in put them there could be the summer heat. She said she prays regularly at fault. The stone fell after a week in which at the site — set at a remove from the iconic Israeli lawmakers passed a controversial plaza that fronts the Wall — and told Israeli nation-state bill, as well as a law that denies television that she would try not to let the inci- surrogacy rights to same-sex couples. dent “distract” from her prayers.

“They say the Temple was destroyed by Israeli archaeologist Zachi Dvira almost free-flowing hatred,” Ruttenberg wrote. immediately said the 2,000-year-old wall “The day after (or day of? Not sure when was badly in need of restoration, and that its this happened) Tisha b’Av during a time massive limestone blocks had to be reinforced. when Israel’s been passing bills that are But some saw theology, not erosion, at play racist, homophobic, and anti-democratic, in the near disaster. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the Western Wall spit out a stone.” the rabbi of the Western Wall, called for public She immediately clarified: “OK, all, my “soul searching” in the wake of an incident he theology doesn’t actually include a God saw as “unusual and most rare.” who finds parking spaces or gives cancer or “The fact that this powerful incident makes the right team win. Pretty sure it’s up happened a day after the 9th of Av fast, in to us to do the work to care for one another which we mourned the destruction of our down here. I am officially labeling this a facetemples, raises questions which the human tious tweet bc some people can’t get subtlety.” soul is too small to contain, and requires The entire expanse of the wall will now be soul-searching,” he said. inspected for other loose rocks, as archaeoloRabinovitch did not point fingers — gists discuss the best way to prevent another unlike the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Dov such incident. Religious leaders reportedly Kalmanovich. At first, Kalmanovich said, also will be consulted — not on the causes “We must not explain and interpret natural of the falling stones but on the spiritual phenomena as signs from heaven, as the sensibilities that must be taken into account ways of the Creator are hidden.” Then he did during preservation work. a 180, blaming the activists who want women The award for the best response should and non-Orthodox Jews to be able to pray as probably go to the archaeologist Meir they wish at the Orthodox-controlled Wall.

Ben-Dov, one of the original excavators of “The falling of one of the Western Wall the Robinson’s Arch area. In an interview stones, so close to Tisha b’Av, and exactly at with The Times of Israel, he made it clear the location of the controversial prayer area, how little significance he attached to the should be a red light for us all,” he said. “I stone’s plummet to earth. suggest that Reform leaders, Women of the “So a rock fell — so what!” Ben-Dov said.

Wall and the other quarrel-mongers examine “The State of Israel hasn’t ended, the Messiah themselves, and not the Wall.” won’t come because of this.” PJC

— WORLD —

J

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Headlines Leading Republican congressman backs Netanyahu’s stand to kick Iran out of Syria — NATIONAL —

By Ron Kampeas | JTA

W

ASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to know he has his back when it comes to Israel’s demand that Iran leaves Syria for good.

“If it’s not good enough for Israel, it’s not good enough for me,” said McCaul, the Texas Republican who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, referring to Israel’s negotiations with Russia regarding Syria.

McCaul, speaking last week, said he was concerned about the Trump administration’s commitment to backing Israel in its negotiations with Russia about removing Iranian forces from Syria. The 7-year-old civil war in Syria is winding down, and the Assad regime is emerging triumphant because of support from Russia and Iran along with Hezbollah, the Iran-allied militia based in Lebanon.

Russia wants Israel to take a deal that keeps Iranian forces 60 miles from the Golan Heights; Israel is resisting. President Donald Trump has said he likes Russia’s Syria proposals as they relate to Israel,

although he and his officials have not specifically addressed the plan for a partial Iranian pullout as opposed to a full one.

Regarding any deal related to Iran, McCaul said “I’m very concerned about the Russian aggression and being able to trust” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I was critical of the president basically comparing Putin to our intelligence community,” the congressman said. “He’s not our friend. He’s certainly not an ally.”

McCaul was referring to Trump’s Helsinki summit with Putin earlier this month when Trump treated as equivalent U.S. intelligence community conclusions that Russia interfered in U.S. elections and Putin’s denials.

McCaul’s outspoken criticism of Trump’s Russia posture made headlines last week when he expounded on it at length at the American Enterprise Institute. That posture and his leadership role suggest that congressional Republicans will not easily roll over on some issues, among them treating Russia with at least a skepticism more robust than Trump’s.

In his interview, McCaul said that backing Israel was a part of the calculus in confronting Russia in the international arena, in addition to being a U.S. value in and of itself. Syria, he said, was “one of the greatest foreign policy challenges” facing the United States.

Continued from page 6

Jerusalem, over Israel’s pre-1967 border.

Palestinians condemn the site’s presence as an illegal settlement.

All groups receive a lecture on geopolitics from an Israeli expert. Meeting Palestinians, and seeing Palestinian life, is not part of the itinerary. Optional programs that take place immediately following the trip offer Birthright participants the opportunity to see Palestinian society.

“Part of your education is that you’re educating about the things you see in front of you,” said Ilan Bloch, a Birthright guide who grew up in Australia. “If the route of your trip didn’t take the road next to the Israeli [security] barrier, you’re not going to start a discussion about the Israeli barrier.”

Photo by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Image

Photo courtesy of Office of Michael McCaul

He said he was especially wary of Trump’s stated plans to pull the 2,000 U.S. special operations troops out of Syria.

“It would be similar to what [President Barack] Obama did in Iraq,” McCaul said, referring to Obama’s pullout from the country in 2011 — a factor that Republicans say stoked chaos in the region.

“It’s important to keep those 2,000 special ops there to have stability,” he said.

McCaul last week pushed back against one tangential line in that speech, in which he stated the disputed claim that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin killed more people in Ukraine than Adolf Hitler killed Jews in World War II. The line gained unwanted attention.

His office said the congressman was merely “trying to highlight the atrocities of the Stalin era, not diminish the scope of the Holocaust.”

McCaul, who has visited Israel multiple times and met with Netanyahu, credits Trump with improving the relationship between the two countries after eight years of ups and downs under Obama.

“This president has been very strong about the fact Israel is our ally,” he said. “Under previous administrations, when I would travel to Israel, they didn’t understand why

we were embracing Iran,” he said, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Obama administration officials said the deal, which traded sanctions relief for a rollback in Iran’s nuclear program, made it easier to confront Iran in other arenas. Trump has pulled out of the agreement.

Under Trump, McCaul said, “The foreign policy has a bit more clarity that we support Israel. That’s why we moved the embassy to Jerusalem.”

McCaul said he would like to see more cybersecurity cooperation between the two countries. He has made cybersecurity central to the work of his committee and helped lead the passage of a 2016 bill that enhanced U.S.Israel cooperation in that area.

“Every time I meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he gets it,” McCaul said.

Last year, McCaul was honored by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, a group with close ties to the Republican establishment.

McCaul also said he hoped the Trump administration — and his friend, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — would soon name an anti-Semitism monitor, an office that has been unstaffed for over a year.

“I think it’s well overdue,” he said. PJC

Bloch said he presents Palestinian viewpoints, but that “it’s clearly not a comprehensive exposure to Palestinian views if you’re not meeting a Palestinian.”

IfNotNow activists, unsurprisingly, take a far less generous view of the tours’ approach.

Rebecca Oliver, one of the participants who walked off the bus shown in the viral video, said their guide did willingly answer their questions and discuss the conflict with them. But she said Palestinians were mentioned only when she and other participants asked about them. And she said the guide did not present a spectrum of Israeli views on sensitive issues.

In the video, the guide does not appear to attempt to be evenhanded when discussing the West Bank. He inaccurately claims that Israel sees the West Bank as part of the country (while Israel controls the West Bank to varying degrees, it has not annexed the territory and

treats it differently, in legal terms, than its recognized territory.). He also claimed that Israel does not demarcate the West Bank on its maps, which is true of some maps but not all.

“They provide a really, really biased version of what Israel is and what that education is, and in doing so, they are upholding the Israeli government and the military occupation in Palestine,” Oliver said. “They either provide misinformation or biased information without clarifying that it’s biased, or omit it.”

Tour guides chafed at the suggestion that discussing the conflict should be more of a focus. They said that not all participants are interested in a political debate. And they appreciate that the trip’s focus is on Jewish identity.

“When IfNotNow says, ‘Oh, Birthright doesn’t present the full picture of the Palestinian occupation,’ well OK, but

that’s not the purpose of this trip,” said an American Jewish communal official who has organized and co-led many Birthright trips, but who didn’t want to be named without approval from Birthright. “The point of the trip is not to learn all of every single aspect of the occupation. It’s to learn about Judaism and Jewish heritage and make friends and have a good time.”

Plus, the official added, if Birthright is seeking to drive American Jews politically rightward, it’s doing a bad job. American Jews tend to hold markedly more liberal views on the conflict than their Israeli counterparts.

“I’m sure the Israeli government gives money [to Birthright] because they have whatever their goals are,” the official said.

“I’m not sure how much that translates to a micro level. If their goal is to transform a generation of Jews into Likud supporters, they’ve clearly failed.” PJC

p Rep. Michael McCaul toured Auschwitz in 2017.

Birthright:

p Rep. Michael McCaul leaves the Capitol on April 27.

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AUGUST 3, 2018 9

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

West Bank Palestinian teens enter Israel carrying submachine guns Two Palestinian teens from the West Bank entered Israel carrying homemade machine guns.

The teens, from Nablus, were found by a Border Police foot patrol in the Seam Zone, between the Green Line and Israel’s security barrier, outside the community of Oranit near central Israel. They had tried unsuccessfully to run away, according to Israel Police.

The teens, ages 17 and 18, carried the Carlo-style submachine guns and cartridges in a colorful school backpack. They were taken for questioning.

The infiltration came two days after a 17-year-old Palestinian climbed over the fence of the Adam settlement north of Jerusalem and stabbed three people, killing a 31-year-old father of two young children.

Israel’s navy intercepts vessel attempting to break naval blockade of Gaza Israel’s navy intercepted a ship in the latest Gaza Freedom Flotilla attempting to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

The motor vessel, named Al Awda, or

The Return, was contacted Sunday afternoon by Israel’s navy about 49 nautical miles from the port at Gaza City in international waters and warned to stop or prepare to be boarded, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on its website.

The boat will be towed to the Ashdod port in southern Israel. The activists on board will be questioned and deported.

Al Awda is sailing under a Norwegian flag, carrying 22 people and a cargo of medical supplies, according to the website. There are people from 16 nations on board, including human rights supporters, journalists and crew, along with about $15,000 worth of medical supplies. The boat, a former fishing vessel from Norway, is a gift to Palestinian fishers in Gaza, according to the website.

Four boats left Scandinavia in mid-May and have since stopped in 28 ports throughout Europe to garner support for the Palestinians in Gaza. It last stopped last week in Palermo, Italy, where the town’s mayor re-named a section of the port in honor of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Two of the boats dropped out at Palermo.

The fourth boat, a Swedish-flagged yacht named Freedom, also is carrying medical supplies and supporters from several countries. It is scheduled to arrive in international waters near Gaza in about two days, according to the Freedom Flotilla.

From 2008 through 2016, international activists have sailed 31 boats to challenge the

Insuring Our Community

Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.

In May, Israel’s navy stopped a boat carrying 17 Palestinians from Gaza that attempted to breach the maritime blockade of the coastal strip. It was the first public attempt to break out of the blockade and not into it.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish citizens in clashes on the Mavi Marmara, which sailed with five others from Cyprus in an attempt to break the Gaza blockade.

Scottish Labour politician accuses British Jewish newspapers of working for the Mossad A Labour politician in Scotland accused three British Jewish newspapers of working on behalf of the Mossad after they posted a joint front-page editorial warning that anti-Semitism had eroded the Labour party and posed an “existential” threat to British Jewry.

“If the purpose is to generate opposition to anti-Semitism, it has backfired spectacularly. If it is to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader, it is unlikely to succeed, and is a shameless piece of cynical opportunism,” Mary Bain Lockhart, councilwoman for the Scottish Labour Party, wrote on Facebook.

“And if it is a Mossad assisted campaign to prevent the election of a Labour Government pledged to recognise Palestine as a State, it is

This week in Israeli history August 6, 1923 — The 13th Zionist Congress is convened in Czechoslovakia

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

Convened in Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia, the 13th Zionist Congress discusses details of the Palestine Mandate and particularly the prerogatives of the Palestine Zionist Executive (PZE) that guide Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine.

August 3, 1945 — Harrison Report confirms deplorable conditions of DP camps

The Harrison Report, an inquiry into the conditions of displaced persons camps in occupied Germany, reveals that many of the rumors of poor treatment of Jews are indeed true and that “we appear to be treating the Jews as the Nazis treated them, except that we do not exterminate them.”

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AUTO • HOME • BUSINESS 10 AUGUST 3, 2018

August 4, 1920 — Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan writes article leading to Reconstructionist movement

Famed Israeli Composer Menachem Avidom, whose compositions help lay the groundwork for future Mizrahi and Sephardic (Middle Eastern Jewish) music in Israel, passes away in Tel Aviv.

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August 7, 1904 — Ralph Bunche is born

Ralph Bunche is born in Detroit. He is appointed to the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine in 1947, which is charged with devising a partition plan.

August 8, 1924 — Israeli film pioneer Lia Van Leer is born

Rabbi Mordechai M. Kaplan, publishes “A Program for the Reconstruction of Judaism” in the Menorah Journal. His ideology eventually leads to the creation of a fourth American Jewish denomination, the Reconstructionist movement.

August 5, 1995 — Composer Menachem Avidom passes away

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unacceptable interference in the democracy of Britain,” she added.

“Israel is a racist State. And since the Palestinians are also Semites, it is an anti-Semitic State. It is time we stopped propitiating,” she also wrote.

Israel was repeatedly attacked in the comments to the post.

The three newspapers — The Jewish Chronicle, the Jewish News and the Jewish Telegraph — all published the same editorial last week warning of the “existential” threat to British Jewry that a government led by Jeremy Corbyn would pose.

“We do so because the party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel,” the editorials read, referring to the Labour Party.

“The stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through Her Majesty’s Opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.”

Scottish lawmaker Paul Masterson of the Conservative party told the newspaper The Courier: “For a Scottish Labour councillor to claim that Britain’s leading Jewish newspapers, and by extension the British Jews who work for them, are acting as agents for the Israeli secret service to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of Number 10 is ignorant, offensive and horrifying.”

He added that Lockhart’s remarks “are anti-Semitic and demonstrate that she is unfit to hold public office.” PJC

A pioneer in Israeli film, Lia Van Leer was born Lia Greenberg in Beltsy, Romania (today Moldova).

August 9, 1982 — Palestinian terrorist group attacks Jewish restaurant in Paris

Chez Jo Goldberg, a Jewish deli in Paris, is attacked by two terrorists wielding grenades and machine guns. Six people are killed and 22 injured. The attack is believed to have been planned and carried out by the Abu Nidal Organization, an international Palestinian terrorist group. PJC

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MEET US ON THE MOUND! ENTER TO WIN A CHANCE TO THROW THE FIRST PITCH AT JEWISH HERITAGE NIGHT

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Enjoy an evening at the ballpark to watch the Pirates battle the Cubs on Jewish Heritage Night. Attendees will receive a limited edition baseball cap. New this year, we are offering an optional pre-game kosher barbecue catered by Smokey Nats in the Picnic Park at 5:45 – 7:30PM. Register today for the game, the BBQ or a chance to throw the first pitch at jfedpgh.org/jewish-heritage-night Questions? Contact JOSH AVART at joshua.avart@pirates.com or 412-325-4903.

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AUGUST 3, 2018 11

Opinion Problems with Labour — EDITORIAL —

W

ith so many curious things happening in politics in this country, you can be forgiven for not paying attention to the circus that Great Britain’s opposition Labour Party has become. The party, with which most British Jews traditionally identified, seems intent on alienating them.

The problems revolve around party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour’s refusal to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) — whose definition is accepted internationally.

Corbyn has worried British Jews since he became opposition leader in 2015, when he dragged a comfortably centrist party sharply to the left. Under Corbyn, who has called Hezbollah and Hamas his “friends” and is fighting accusations of harboring antiSemitic sentiments, Labour has come under intense scrutiny in the media over antiSemitic rhetoric by its members. In 2016, an inter-parliamentary committee accused Labour of creating a “safe space for those with vile attitudes towards Jewish people.”

Last month, Labour’s ruling body and

p Jeremy Corbyn

Photo by Chatham House, London/commons.wikimedia.org

leadership endorsed a code of conduct that excluded several of the IHRA examples of anti-Semitism, including accusing Jews of “being more loyal to Israel” than their own country; claiming that Israel’s existence is a “racist endeavor”; applying a “double stan-

dard” on Israel; and comparing “contemporary Israeli policy” to that of the Nazis. Party members apparently felt such definitions would chill criticism of Israel. The party has deferred a vote on adopting the full code until September.

Meanwhile, Britain’s three highly competitive Jewish newspapers last week published a joint front-page editorial warning of the “existential” threat to British Jewry that a government led by Corbyn would pose. They did so “because the party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded

by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel.

The stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through Her Majesty’s Opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.”

As if to prove the necessity for the full definition of anti-Semitism, a Labour politician in Scotland accused the three Jewish newspapers of working on behalf of the Mossad. Mary Bain Lockhart, councilwoman for the Scottish Labour Party, also wrote in a Facebook post: “Israel is a racist State. And since the Palestinians are also Semites, it is an anti-Semitic State. It is time we stopped propitiating.”

And if you’re keeping score, the Labour Party recently suspended a counselor for sharing a post saying that it is a Jewish ritual to drink blood. While it’s comforting to know that Labour apparently thinks a blood libel is a step too far, it’s also clear Corbyn’s party is no longer a home for the United Kingdom’s Jewish community. PJC

Strangers in a new land: Jewish values drive community aid services Guest Columnist Josh Leib

T

ravel bans, border walls and neo-Nazi rallies. Amidst all of the searing hatred and bigotry dominating national headlines, Pittsburgh promises to be a potential beacon of inclusion and compassion in an ocean of isolation and simmering resentment. Pittsburgh Jewish organizations are transcending cultural schisms and personal prejudices to provide technical, emotional and financial support to newcomer immigrants and refugees who need it most.

Jews helping people is nothing new.

Judaism has traditions of tikkun olam, or “repairing the world,” as well as tzedakah, or “acts of justice.” Aside from these inherent customs, Jews have developed social practices in response to anti-Semitism.

Often encountering prejudice from their non-Jewish neighbors, Jews constructed aid societies to help less fortunate members of their communities. The harsh reality was, if they did not take care of their own, nobody would. Furthermore, the Torah reminds Jews not to resent the stranger, for Jews were once strangers in the land of Egypt.

This notion of a shared experience has become more powerful throughout history, as Jews have often been marginalized and

12 AUGUST 3, 2018

ostracized. Recognizing a commonality in experience is a powerful motivation for extending aid.

In Pittsburgh, Jewish aid societies date back to the mid-19th century. Barbara Burstin outlines this progression in her two-volume series, “Steel City Jews.” In the mid-1840s, William Frank and Louis Jaroslowski, two successful GermanJewish immigrants, founded the Hebrew Benevolent Society to assist the community in burial expenses and nursing the sick. Eventually merging with its sister organization in 1880, the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society, these complementary aid organizations formed the United Hebrew Relief Association (UHRA) to respond to increased immigration. In 1927, the organization again changed its name to the Jewish Welfare Association (JWA), reflecting its transition to working more closely with clients, rather than merely distributing funds.

The Great Depression forced organizations to consolidate resources, and JWA merged with several other immigrant and community aid groups to form the Jewish Social Service Bureau. Finally, in 1950, the Bureau once again changed its name to the recognizable Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS). JFCS, now Jewish Family & Community Services, still functions today, with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) as a partner organization.

As Jewish immigration decreased, Pittsburgh’s JFCS did not simply pack up

and close their resettlement operations.

Leslie Aizenman, director of JFCS Refugee and Immigrant Services, notes that the organization’s purpose naturally incorporates Jewish ideals and experiences. “It’s a Jewish value to save a life, to welcome a stranger” Aizenman says, “and we [as Jews] have been fleeing for a long time.” Idly watching newly arriving migrants struggle unassisted was not an option. The situation was too big to walk away from, the organization’s leadership had too much experience under their belts, and the mission was too relatable for a Jewish community all too familiar with being a stranger in a foreign land.

But JFCS is not the only repurposed Jewish assistance organization. The Irene Kaufmann Settlement House (IKS), the predecessor of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, opened in the Hill District in the late 1800s to help acclimate newly arriving families and facilitate community events. As African-American migration increased in the 1920s, IKS served this incoming community in the same capacity. The Hebrew Free Loan Association, once giving interest-free loans exclusively to Jewish clientele, expanded to the broader community. And the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, which was started with the funds from the sale of Montefiore Hospital, helps finance citywide initiatives that benefit all citizens.

But why do Jewish organizations, once created to help a community that no one else would help, now offer assistance to members from outside that community?

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First, there is the religious tradition of helping others. While American Jews’ success and slowed immigration rates have reduced the need for strictly Jewish aid organizations, tikkun olam and tzedakah still heavily influence social activism and engagement. Helping others is simply an ingrained characteristic of Judaism.

Coupled with these religious traditions, Jews hold a moral obligation to help those who flee oppression. The Jewish community need not look far back in a long history of persecution to find examples of the dangers of ambivalence and ignorance. For thousands of years, Jews were forced from their homes: from Egypt to Persia, from Jerusalem to Cordoba, from Kiev to Paris. As recent as the 1930s, even the United States turned Jews away. The St. Louis, a cruise liner loaded with Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, was denied entry to America’s shores, and was forced to return to Europe.

As a national community with the resources and political clout to sustain substantial aid and intervention, American Jews must continue to help immigrants in need. Pittsburgh’s Jewish organizations are emblematic of this multifaceted mission for inclusion and outreach. For Jews know all too well: we were all once strangers in a foreign land. PJC Josh Leib is a graduate of Pittsburgh Allderdice High School and is a senior history major at Franklin and Marshall College.

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Opinion A place to pray: the southern wall of the Temple Mount the beginning and end of Shabbat and the new month, as described in Mishna Middoth.

A copy of the stone was placed where it was found; the original is in the Israel Museum.

The excavation — part of the Davidson Archeological Park — also revealed the walls great deal of attention and contro- of two Muslim palaces that were built using versy has been focused on allowing cut stones from the Herodian period (in non-Orthodox prayer at the Western secondary usage) during the late seventh and Wall, the Kotel, a retaining wall of the Temple eighth centuries C.E. when the Dome of the Mount built during the Herodian period. It Rock and al-Aksa mosque were also built. is a place where thousands of Jews pray daily The excavation of the area along the southern and it’s also Israel’s most popular tourist site. wall — for which Israel was condemned by The area of the southern wall, however, has UNESCO — also revealed the original steps been ignored as a place to pray. that led up to the Temple Mount, mikvaot and In fact, the southern wall — located in the royal structures from the First Temple period.

Davidson Archeological Park — is even more Called the Ofel, across from the City of David, it significant than the Western Wall. Since only was where Professor Eilat Mazar discovered seal a small section of the Western Wall — some- inscriptions with the names of King Hezekiah times derisively called “the Wailing Wall” by and what is presumed to be the prophet Isaiah, those who saw Jews crying there as they prayed as well as a large cache of Jewish golden coins — was available as a and jewelry from the prayer site for several Persian period. hundred years, it According to became revered. Under historian Frank Ottoman Turkish rule Meir Lowenberg, it was not widely used; “Immediately during Jordanian occufol lowing t he pation it was forbidden destruction to Jews. After the Six of the Second Day War in 1967, the Temple in 70 C.E., Wall became a symbol p The Davidson archaeological Jews evidently of Jewish pride and center in Jerusalem continued to pray Photo by alefbet/iStockphoto.com a place where large either on the numbers of Jews could pray; it’s also a cere- Temple Mount itself, or on the adjacent monial site for the IDF and state events. Some Mount of Olives, from which they could mistake it for a wall of the Temple and many look down on the ruins of the sanctuary. In follow a custom of leaving notes in crevices in later years, Jews in Jerusalem found a variety the wall asking for help. of places on or near the Mount to gather for Under Israeli control, areas along the wall prayer and mourning, but only in the 16th to the north were excavated, which now century did the Western Wall … become the constitute the Western Wall tunnel. The city’s most important Jewish sanctuary. tunneling was done to preserve the Arab “What is currently known as the Western structures above in the Muslim Quarter.

Wall … is not mentioned (as a prayer site) …

A tiny section of the wall at ground level prior to the 16th century. … There exists an — the Kotel HaKatan — surrounded by Arab ancient tradition [dating to at least the 12th homes was used by Jews, but was difficult to century] that ‘the Shehina [Divine presence] access and dangerous. will never move from the Western Wall.’

In the mid-1970s, the area south of the “But this saying does not refer to the Western Wall’s prayer plaza was excavated, present Western Wall; instead, it describes revealing structures and the foundations the ruins of the western [inner] wall of of a bridge from the late Second Temple the Second Temple building mentioned period beneath what is called “Robinson’s by many pilgrims. … Over time, as the Arch” (named after the archeologist who visible ruins of the original Temple walls discovered it in the 19th century). A disappeared, this saying was applied to the Hebrew inscription (a quote from Isaiah) current Western Wall.” from the time of the Roman emperor Julian The Davidson Archeological Park has (mid-fourth century C.E.) cut into the wall a museum and convenient facilities. The was also revealed — “When you see this well-prepared site is easily accessible and has your heart will rejoice and your bones will a shaded area that can be used by non-Orflourish like grass.” With messianic implica- thodox worshipers. Using it as a prayer tions, it referred to Julian’s granting permis- site will avoid controversy and contention, sion to Jews to rebuild the Temple. preserve the archeological site and will save At the end of the Western Wall where it additional and unnecessary expenses. It’s a meets the southern wall, a carefully cut stone win-win solution. PJC was discovered with the inscription “to the Moshe Dann, Ph.D., is a historian, writer trumpeting,” referring to the area above which was used by Kohanim during the Second and journalist in Israel. A version of this Temple period to blow trumpets announcing article first appeared in the Jerusalem Post.

Guest Columnist Moshe Dann

A

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— LETTERS — Time for coffee chat is over I was present at the JCC on June 19 when people representing Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow disrupted the presentation of Israeli consul Almog Elijis (“‘Anti-occupation’ group disrupts Israeli diplomat event at JCC,” June 29). In an appalling display of brazen rudeness and insufferable self-righteousness, these people bellowed very loudly in a patent effort to prevent Elijis from being heard and did not desist until police officers forcibly removed them from the hall.

The moderator, Josh Sayles of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council, downplayed the incident, indicating that these people were entitled to their opinions, but noting that they should have conveyed them in a more delicate manner.

Sayles depicts Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow as almost benign, if perhaps misguided.

These groups, however, are anything but benign. They are a menace to the Jewish people.

Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow feel an intense need to criticize Israel, which is confronted with an enemy in the Palestinians that persists in seeking its destruction. They should not be invited to coffee. They should be vigorously opposed.

Edward L. Russakoff Green Tree

Correction

In the July 27 article, “Day schools welcome budget increase to EITC program,” the number of Community Day School students who qualify for EITC assistance was reported incorrectly. Sixty percent of students receiving tuition assistance at CDS qualify for funding under the tax credit program. The Chronicle regrets the error.

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.

Mail, fax or email letters to:

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AUGUST 3, 2018 13

Headlines ‘1945’ a quiet, haunting parable of post-war guilt — FILM —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

T

here are only two Jewish characters in the 2017 Hungarian film “1945” — and they don’t say much. Nonetheless, their presence hangs over the small village they visit on a summer day at the end of the war, foreboding like the heavy dark plumes of smoke emitting from the train which brings them to town.

Directed by Ferenc Török, this black and white gem explores a subject rarely depicted in mainstream Holocaust films: the theft of Jewish homes and businesses by the neighbors of the rightful owners after their deportation to the camps. The film goes beyond that, though, probing questions of greed, blame, culpability and, for the Jewish characters, closure.

His son Árpád (Bence Tasnádi) is getting ready for his wedding to a beautiful peasant girl, but the mood of the film is far from celebratory. Strained familial relationships, infidelity and chronic depression permeate the atmosphere. No one seems happy.

The chaos harbored shallowly beneath the surface of labored normalcy is exacerbated with the arrival of the two Jews and their mysterious and cumbersome trunks.

When word spreads to the townspeople of their arrival, a Pandora’s box of emotions and actions are let loose, as neighbors warn each other: “They’re back.” The townspeople presume they have come to take back the property of the village’s deported Jews — the homes, the businesses, the silver, the rugs.

The 90-minute film unravels as a sort of Old World parable, replete with horse-drawn wagons and townsfolk with weathered faces dealing with their collective as well as individual guilt.

Based on the short story “Homecoming” by

Based on the short story “Homecoming” by Gábor T. Szántó, the film depicts a community that has tried to bury its recent past while living with the spoils it has accrued through its outright or passive complicity to evil.

The story commences with the arrival of an Orthodox man and his grown son to a Hungarian village as its residents prepare for the wedding of the town clerk’s son. At the film’s start, István Szentes (Péter Rudolf), the clerk — who also owns a successful pharmacy — is captured peering at his reflection in a mirror as he shaves with a sharp blade.

Gábor T. Szántó, the film depicts a community that has tried to bury its recent past while living with the spoils it has accrued through its outright or passive complicity to evil. There is a haunting quality to “1945,” with the two Jewish men taking on the role of metaphorical ghosts.

When the reason for the Jews’ visit to the town is finally revealed in an intimate and

p Movie poster for “1945”

moving scene toward the end of the film, the dichotomies between past and present, as well as spiritual and physical, come sharply into focus.

“1945” returned to Pittsburgh, playing at the AMC Waterfront, after having won the

Photo provided

Audience Award at the Pittsburgh Jewish Film Festival in 2017. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Roseanne Barr defends Jarrett tweet, then veers even further off script — TELEVSION —

By Josefin Dolsten | JTA

N

EW YORK — Roseanne Barr still doesn’t think the tweet that got her TV show canceled is racist.

On Thursday night, July 26 at a comedy club here, the Jewish actress and comedian talked about plenty of random things while defending the bizarre tweet she aimed at Valerie Jarrett in May. Barr, 65, appeared in a conversation with the prominent Rabbi Shmuley Boteach at Stand Up NY on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

14 AUGUST 3, 2018

She had told Boteach in an earlier podcast that she regretted the tweet, in which she mocked Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama who is African-American.

The tweet said the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”

The comment drew wide criticism and led ABC to cancel the hit reboot of her sitcom “Roseanne.”

Instead of sounding remorseful on Thursday, Barr said the tweet had been misunderstood.

“You apologized to her because you recognized that you had wronged her?” Boteach asked Barr, who had reached out to Jarrett following the controversy.

“Well, I recognized that she thinks I

wronged her,” Barr replied. “I’m sorry that anyone thought that was a racist and not a political tweet.”

As the conversation jumped from topic to topic, Barr made several comments that were borderline incoherent.

“I made a vow at 3 that I would always fight against extremism because that doesn’t allow for Jews,” she said at one point. “Places where Jews are free are way better places than places where Jews are not free, and same for women, blacks, brown people, Asians, everybody.”

When Boteach mentioned that he had invited her to dine at a kosher restaurant following the event, Barr said that she “would have a Nathan’s hot dog in a heartbeat.” The

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popular hot dog brand is not kosher.

“My mom would eat hot dogs for all five meals per day,” she added.

Earlier in the day, Barr appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show and claimed the tweet was not racist and she was not aware that Jarrett was African-American when she wrote it.

The Jarrett tweet wasn’t the first time that Barr has drawn criticism for her social media usage. On Twitter, she has promoted conspiracy theories and posted comments criticizing transgender people. Some have also taken issue with Barr for her vocal support of President Donald Trump.

Please see Barr, page 20

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Headlines Cemetery: Continued from page 1

plots onto a database, according to its executive director, Drew Barkley. That will allow congregants to view a map of the cemetery and discern which plots are available for purchase.

“We are actually in the very beginning stages of digitizing, creating a software version of the map by section,” Barkley said.

Sam Schachner, president of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, wrote in an email that the congregation is in the early stages of a modernization effort, but added that the specifics of the project and the exact timeline have yet to be hashed out.

“ We’re in the digital age, and there’s no reason not to.”

— RABBI DANIEL WASSERMAN

Rabbi Daniel Wasserman of Shaare Torah said the congregation is in the process of uploading cemetery records onto its website,

including locational information.

“We’re in the digital age, and there’s no reason not to,” Wasserman said of why the

congregation is embarking on the initiative.

“It’s easier for us and easier for everybody else.”

Synagogues have sought to move into the digital age in other ways as well. Many are looking to harness technology in order to attract younger members, although not as quickly as some would like. In Pittsburgh, for example, members of Congregation Beth Shalom are using the messaging service GroupMe to boost attendance at evening minyans, while members of the Chabad community consistently use WhatsApp to answer questions and spread community updates. PJC Jonah Berger can be reached at jberger@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Baseball: Continued from page 1

being embraced by Jewish people around the country and by Israel, I really felt a member of the Jewish community.

“It kind of filled a hole inside of me that I didn’t even know was there, a sense of belonging,” he added.

Jonathan Mayo, a Pittsburgh-based reporter for MLB.com, has taken a keen interest in chronicling Jewish baseball players throughout his career. He traveled with the team on its trip to Israel, working with Ironbound Films to produce a documentary called “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel.” The film, which follows the players as they tour the country, was featured at this year’s JFilm Festival and will be released nationwide on Aug. 5.

“Baseball still isn’t a big deal in Israel, though that’s changing very, very slowly,” Mayo said. “That said, the interactions Ryan and the rest of the players had with Israelis were amazing. The players were treated like rock stars and were absolutely swarmed.”

Lavarnway attended Yale University, winning the NCAA batting title his sophomore year with a .467 average. In 2008, he was drafted in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Boston Red Sox.

“ Being embraced by the Jewish community really helped me

”

find my own spirituality.

— RYAN LAVARNWAY

Just three years later, the Red Sox called up Lavarnway to its major league roster. He was never able to establish himself in the majors,

though, going back and forth between the minor league and big league rosters for multiple years.

After stints with the Baltimore Orioles,

p Ryan Lavarnway, now with the Triple-A Indians, helped Team Israel finish a surprising sixth at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Photo courtesy of Adam Pinta

Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics, Lavarnway signed with the Pirates in January as a non-roster invitee. He competed for the backup catcher position on the major league roster, losing the spot to Elias Diaz.

Lavarnway said one of the benefits of the WBC is that players don’t have to worry about losing their roster spot as they would in the MLB or in the minor leagues, improving camaraderie and performance.

“Within the clubhouse and the team itself, it was different in that there was no ego, there was no worrying about getting sent up or sent down,” he said. “It was just 25 guys pulling on the same rope in the same direc-

tion, worrying about nothing but winning.

“It was very pure baseball in that sense and it was very enjoyable.”

Mayo — considered a foremost expert on the minor leagues — suggested Lavarnway could still make an impact for the Pirates, even at the age of 30.

“I really think all he needs is an opportunity to play in the big leagues again,” Mayo said. “I think he has all the tools to be a very good backup catcher at that level, but he just needs a shot to do so.” PJC Jonah Berger can be reached at jberger@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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AUGUST 3, 2018 15

Headlines BBYO: Continued from page 3

the Maimonides Fund, said in a statement.

“We believe that the Jewish educators who will be brought on to create new content, programs and experiences for BBYO members will play a vital role in creating environments where teens feel more Jewishly capable and connected.”

Although BBYO’s headquarters are in Washington, D.C., Lipinsky primarily will be working remotely from Pittsburgh and will remain in the Pittsburgh Jewish community.

“Naturally, we are very happy for Liron’s new professional opportunities,” said a July 28 letter sent to J-JEP families and members of

Health: Continued from page 4

practices for cardiovascular health care for pregnant women, and on addressing gaps in care.

“That has to do with how mothers get cared for … prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy, and post-natal,” Feinstein said. “The consequences of pregnancy can reveal themselves anywhere in the first year post-natal. And where cardiovascular disease is concerned, it may mean a lifetime of diligence. So, the research aspect of it is critical and we have a great opportunity here, because both through RAND and their researchers, and of course Magee-Womens and their research institute — where there are also outstanding researchers in this area — we thought what a wonderful partnership.”

In the United States, of the 5,259 deaths within a year of pregnancy completion that occurred during 2011-2013 and were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2,009 were found to be pregnancy related.

There are considerable racial disparities in

Beth Shalom and Rodef Shalom, and signed by the executive directors of those congregations, Rob Menes and Barry Weisband, respectively. “We are fortunate to have had Liron’s leadership to establish and grow J-JEP into a nationally recognized multi-denominational Jewish religious education program that stands out as a model for other communities around the country. Liron has been a valued leader, teacher, and member of our community and we thank her for her strong commitment to both synagogues and J-JEP.” Under Lipinsky’s leadership, J-JEP’s K-7 enrollment swelled from 110 students to almost 200. Students attend Judaics courses offered at Rodef Shalom on Sundays and are offered Hebrew programs at both

synagogues during the week.

The increase in J-JEP enrollment runs counter to national and local trends, which are generally in decline in non-Orthodox part-time Judaic schools.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished at J-JEP,” Lipinsky said. “It’s been absolutely incredible working with all the rabbis and working with the entire community and creating the most innovative and creative program for our children, and really thinking deeply about what kind of Jews we want them to be — what they need to have in order to continue living the best Jewish lives they can.

“If it wasn’t what I learned from J-JEP, I don’t think I would be able to step into this gigantic role [at BBYO],” she continued. “And it’s very

“ Why would a young and sometimes quite healthy mother die as a result of pregnancy? … The No. 1 medical

”

reason is cardiovascular disease.

— KAREN WOLK FEINSTEIN pregnancy-related mortality, according to the CDC. During 2011-2013, the pregnancy-related mortality ratios in the United States were 12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births for white women; 43.5 deaths per 100,000 live births for black women; and 14.4 deaths per 100,000 live births for women of other races.

Of those pregnancy-related deaths, 15.5 percent were attributed to cardiovascular diseases and 14.5 percent were attributed to

noncardiovascular diseases.

“Our interest overall is to understand better the role that cardiovascular disease plays in pregnancy and the role that pregnancy plays in bringing forward cardiovascular complications,” said Feinstein.

Last April, the JHF organized a trip to Australia to observe best practices there.

The maternal mortality ratio in Australia, between 2008 and 2012, was 7.1 deaths per

bittersweet, because I created this with them, and to walk away from it is a bit challenging.

And yet, I’m ready because I know that the next iteration of J-JEP will be just as magnificent as the first iteration. I can’t wait for my daughter to be old enough to attend J-JEP as well. And I’m looking forward to continuing to be a part of the Jewish community.”

Lipinsky will conclude her work as director of J-JEP on Aug. 19.

The congregations’ executive, rabbinical and lay leaders “are meeting to develop a transition plan,” regarding J-JEP, according to the July 28 letter. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

100,000 women who gave birth.

“What we observed was that both the women’s hospitals and the child development centers were so first class,” Feinstein said. “It was so extraordinary and modern. The facilities were just excellent. The people who lead the teams were exemplary. They take a very comprehensive approach to pregnancy in Australia; the women are assessed over and over again during pregnancy and afterward to make sure that people are on a healthy continuum.

“They are very focused on the mother-infant attachment afterward, so they look at the whole family unit very comprehensively, and because they do such rigorous assessments when any woman or family presents themselves as being at-risk, a whole level of intervention that just awed us goes into effect,” she continued. “So, once you are determined to be at risk, or the family unit is at risk, or the infant is at risk, immediately you are connected to a whole host of services and volunteers.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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AUGUST 3, 2018 17

Headlines

Torah

Nefesh:

Are we seeing those around us?

University, had three years of yeshiva at Machon Shlomo in Jerusalem under his Continued from page 7 belt. “Then we went on this [pilot] trip — he was so awoke.” in suburban Washington, Bezherano said Like the Krizmans, the Lowensteins were simply that she “felt like this was something “most apprehensive about [the] children I needed to do.” fitting in, learning the language, adjusting,” “Because we lived so close to the Israeli said Hana Lowenstein, who will be living Embassy, there were always families who near Jerusalem. But, “we had some support came from Israel to visit,” said Bezherano, — we had someone speaking Hebrew with who was also active in Tzofim, Israel’s equiv- them this year. So, I think everything will alent of scouting, in the United States. “I was come together nicely in the end.” raised in a very Israeli Speaking in Hebrew, environment. [Making Sofa Landver, Israel’s aliyah] felt right for me.” minister of aliyah and Perhaps indicative of integration, pledged her her youthful exuberance, country’s assistance to Bezherano expressed zero the new arrivals during apprehension about the the welcoming ceremony. move. If anything, recent The ministry offers a events and the increased basket of benefits to new threat of violence immigrants, including from Palestinians in financial payments, free Gaza has caused her to p language instruction Rabbi Yehoshua Fass is the co-founder and executive “want it more.” and tax breaks.

“I need to live director of Nefesh B’Nefesh.

“Thirty-nine years ago, Photo by Shahar Azran it,” she said shortly I was also an immigrant,” before departing New York. “I can’t said Landver, looking out at a crowd of more stand on the sides.” than 1,000 people, including soldiers, who While they shared Bezherano’s enthu- had gathered to welcome the flight. “No one siasm, several of the parents juggling juice accepted us then. cups, headphones and books from their seats “Thank you. We are continuing to a 40,000 feet in the air grudgingly admitted shared future together. Thank you for that they do have one worry: How will their coming to Israel.” children fare as new immigrants?

For Hana Lowenstein, it was an easy choice.

“We’re throwing our kids into the fire,” “My parents are very much about living a said Jordan Krizman, a father of two girls, meaningful life,” she explained. “I’m a very ages 9 and 6, from Phoenix, Ariz. “They patriotic American. I care about America. know Hebrew, but they’re not fluent.”

But at the same time, for me, it’s wonderful to “It’s like a huge reality change,” echoed his have a choice [where to live]. On my mothwife, Rina Krizman, whose parents are actu- er’s side, they were Holocaust survivors. … ally Israeli citizens.

Aside from all the tears, all the loss, I wanted The Krizmans, like many immigrant fami- to help build that next generation. For me, lies, did a test run on a pilot trip two years [living in Israel] is the next step.” PJC ago. Until that point, Rina Krizman “was Joshua Runyan can be reached at jrunyan@ the passionate one,” she said, although her husband, a graduate of George Washington pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Rabbi Jeremy Markiz Parshat Ekev | Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

I

n Parshat Ekev, God is described as “great, mighty and awesome.” This rare and descriptive language was important enough that it was included in the Amidah to be recited three times daily.

This moment stands out in the narrative, bringing our attention to its specificity. Before this, Moses shares the story of the Ten Commandments. It spares no detail, discussing the gritty and frustrating mistakes of the Golden Calf. Moses reminds the people of their mistakes, directly, and without equivocation. The Torah says, “Circumcise your hearts, and stiffen your necks no more” (Deuteronomy 10:16).

In the face of our errors, we are commanded not to be callous and that we can do better. To be “stiff necked” in the Torah is usually understood to mean stubborn. Rather, I believe that we’re being instructed to keep our eyes open and really look around. We are to expand our perspective and really see how our actions impact the world. To “stiffen your necks no more” teaches us to really see those around us.

Next, God is described through verbs: “Who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the orphan and the widow, and loves the stranger, providing them with food and clothing.”

We might ask, how could God be bribed?

This language appears strange on its surface.

Just as in the ancient world, so too today, those with power and money might believe that they can control everything, even God. But, we’re told, our God is a God who seeks justice, who pays attention to those who need the most help among us, and cannot be bought.

We are given a model of what a powerful

figure should care about: the vulnerable.

We are being taught that those with power have a responsibility. It defines this obligation clearly for us, meaning that we should provide the stranger with food and clothing.

We are instructed to treat them with dignity.

The Torah is explicit, not allowing any misunderstanding of our duty: “You too must love the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.” God loves the stranger and we are to do so as well.

We are to be like God, as those who cannot be bought, who seek justice and fairness. We should those who protect the vulnerable.

We are given a model of what a powerful figure should care about: the vulnerable. We are being taught that those with power have a responsibility.

The discussions in our country around immigration, including those who were separated from their children and their parents, need to be realigned. Are we acting with dignity? How we treat veterans and the elderly needs to be re-examined in our nation. Like God, are we upholding their cause?

God tells us clearly that we must remember our responsibilities. We are reminded this week to treat the vulnerable with dignity, to not allow ourselves to become callous, to act with fairness, and to make space in our hearts. PJC Rabbi Jeremy Markiz is the director of Derekh and Youth Tefillah at Congregation Beth Shalom. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinic Association.

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Obituaries GRAFF: Rhoda (Dubin) Graff, age 93, of Pittsburgh, died on Friday, July 27, 2018.

Rhoda was the beloved wife of the late Israel Jerome Graff, loved mother of Michael (Carol Ostrow) Graff, Connie (Sidney) Feiler and Dr. Daniel (Dana) Graff; adored grandmother of Sarah, Fiona, Todd, Anabel, Emily, Candace, Andrew and Jesse; treasured great-grandmother of Jack, Micah, Jaime and Lola; sister of Mickey Soffer and Fay Hacker.

Rhoda was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Sophia (Swerdlin) Dubin.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment was at Temple Sinai Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to a charity of your choice. schugar.com LASSMAN: L. Arthur Lassman, on Saturday, July 28, 2018. Beloved husband of Nancy B. Lassman. Beloved father of Donald R. (Amy) Lassman, David R. (Diane) Lassman and Thomas C. (Rebecca) Lassman. Grandfather of Rebecca, Adam, Zachary, Joshua, Anna and Jacob. Stepbrother of the late Mildred Glass. Graveside services and interment were held at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com SIEGEL: Richard A. Siegel. “Everyone who knew him was struck by his modesty. If one didn’t know, one might not have had a clue as to his full, varied career, and his

substantial impact on the American Jewish community through the institutions he led and founded.” This is how Richard Siegel, who passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 70 on Thursday, July 12, 2018, was described by his wife, Rabbi Laura Geller. Richard grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his family were members of Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill. He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1965 and attended Brandeis University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in politics. He received two masters’ degrees, one in Jewish history from the Jewish Theological Seminary and the other in contemporary Jewish studies from Brandeis. While an undergraduate, he was one of the founders of Havurat Shalom in Somerville, Massachusetts — the first countercultural Jewish community in the country and an incubator for developing new ways of combining spirituality with classical Jewish learning. Richard’s master’s thesis at Brandeis became the blueprint for “The Jewish Catalogue,” which he co-edited. First published in 1968 by the Jewish Publication Society, The Jewish Catalogue,” a countercultural “do-it-yourself kit” for living Jewishly, patterned after “The Whole Earth

Catalogue,” was JPS’ highest selling book after the Bible and has influenced thousands of Jews throughout the country. Richard subsequently went on to author other publications including the “Jewish Calendar” and “The Jewish Almanac.” Richard’s professional career began as Hillel director at Stonybrook College in New York, the first Hillel director who was not an ordained rabbi. In 1978 he began working with the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, eventually becoming executive director. He served in this position for over 20 years, his pioneering endeavors setting a high bar for how the arts serve as a gateway into Judaism. In 2006, Richard moved to Los Angeles to join his wife Rabbi Geller for what he thought would be a leisurely retirement. But in 2007 he was asked to become interim director of HUC JIR School of Jewish Nonprofit Management.

In 2009 he was named director and created a new vision leading to a naming gift by the Zelikow family. In 2015, Richard became the founding leader of ChaiVillage LA, the first synagogue-based village — a community led by adults who share their optimism, skills, support and expertise to joyfully navigate the next step in their lives. Richard’s final project, along with Laura Geller, is a book entitled “Getting Good at Getting Older: A Jewish Catalogue for a New Age,” to be published by Behrman House in 2019.

Richard is survived by his wife, Laura, his children Ruth(ie) and Andy, his brother Bill, stepchildren Elana and Joshua Goldstein,

nieces, nephews and close cousins. Richard’s 5-year-old great-nephew Jona summed up his passing very succinctly: “My mind feels strange without him. My future feels different without Uncle Rich.”

S TA N KO R B : Carly Jayne Stankorb, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. Beloved daughter of Johanna Stankorb (nee Van Zaig) and the late J. Michael Stankorb and stepdaughter of Steve “Scuba” Augustine.

Adored granddaughter of Annette “Ge-Ge” Van Zaig and Rabbi Elliot “Edit” Burk and Carol Stankorb, Gerald Stankorb and the late Jon Van Zaig. Sister of Addison Augustine. Niece of Josh and Donna Van Zaig, Susan Stankorb and Elizabeth ans Jay Bruns. Also survived by many cousins and treasured friends. Carly was the epitome of the phrase, “kindness is the highest form of intelligence.” She was a wonderful, loving and creative young woman full of generosity and compassion. Carly was a champion and protector of little children and animals.

Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Homewood Cemetery, Star of David Section. Donations in Carly’s memory may be made to any “no-kill” animal rescue charity of your choice. schugar.com PJC

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AUGUST 3, 2018 19

Headlines Cheese: Continued from page 2

so much about how food is made and where it is made,” the industry is noticing similar interests in the production of kosher cheese, said Weiser.

“Especially in the United States, when we’re doing these major food shows I’m having these conversations about kosher products, and the more shows we attend,

the more people who are asking about those products and how many do we offer,” said Anthony Constantine, national sales manager at George DeLallo Company.

Being able to offer kosher cheese, kosher culture products and kosher butter is “really important to us,” said Olsen of Vermont’s Cabot Creamery. “And I think it’s something that makes us stand out.”

Situated behind gobs of a certified kosher Swiss Valley Farms item, DeMetria Isabel, of Davenport, Iowa, agreed.

“Who doesn’t love a bagel with cream cheese? Who doesn’t love that,” she said.

“The biggest perk for me” is elsewhere, said Finn, a past president of ACS. “My focus has always been the cheesemakers. They are wonderful, hardworking, good people from all over the country.”

Jessica Little, co-owner of Sweet Grass Dairy, drove 14 hours from Thomasville, Ga., to attend ACS. At a meet the cheesemakers session on Thursday evening, her sons carved chunks of cheese the size of marbles for sampling. Eduardo

Barr: Continued from page 14

In the conversation with Boteach, some of Barr’s comments on Judaism left this reporter stumped. She spoke about her love of Sephardic Judaism, describing it as “source Judaism, it’s about the Earth.” She did not elaborate on the connection.

Barr also said that she liked the Book of Esther because of her love of Sephardic Judaism. Though the book, which is read on Purim, tells the story of how Esther rises to become the Queen of Persia, it is part of the canon for Jews of all backgrounds.

She seemed to blame the tweet about Jarrett on a vitamin deficiency.

“I didn’t have any Vitamin B because I can’t absorb minerals, so I was terribly emotionally unbalanced, and I felt myself to be so,

p Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, left, and Roseanne Barr converse at Stand Up NY in Manhattan.

Photo by James Devaney/Getty Images

and I told ABC that I knew I needed to get my meds checked because I knew I was in trouble. So there’s that,” the comic said. “And

I wasn’t completely coherent when I woke up at 2 and wrote that tweet.”

Boteach — an author, speaker and adviser

Rodriguez, founder of My Artisano Foods in Cincinnati, operated a table nearby.

Being a cheesemaker offers much gratification, he said.

But there’s a lot of responsibility, offered Ephraim Miller, of Lancaster, Pa.-based Alpine Heritage Creamery. “I do everything from answering the phone to washing the drains.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

to several celebrities — praised and defended Barr throughout the event.

“You’re a very high-profile Jewish woman who speaks about the Torah openly and unashamedly, and defends Israel unashamedly — very rare in Hollywood,” he said.

Boteach mentioned his and Barr’s admiration for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. several times, seemingly as a defense against claims of racism.

As the night came to its conclusion, the rabbi praised Barr for apologizing in their podcast interview.

“The humility you showed in saying sorry for a mistake I thought was a phenomenal affirmation of Jewish values, and I told you at the time,” Boteach said. “I said that you had made a kiddush Hashem, that you had sanctified God’s name by saying you were sorry, and you did so in the name of Judaism, in the name of penance.” PJC

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AUGUST 3, 2018 21

Community Scenes from the JCC’s James and Rachel Levinson Day Camp Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh campers wish the summer would never end!

p Campers prepare to play and learn new activities in camp each and every day. These campers are trying tennis for the first time at J&R Day Camp.

p Campers work with staff and learn outdoor experience skills. J&R campers learn how to navigate through the woods and use their surroundings. For the culminating event, campers collect wood, build a fire and cook a meal using only supplies from nature.

p Great Outdoor campers learn how to pitch a tent in any environment around them. Each day, the Great Outdoor campers learn new skills about the environment.

p Campers unite together each day for the Flagpole rituals.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Scenes from the JCC’s overnight camp near Morgantown, W.Va., Emma Kaufmann Camp

p Joanna Huang, Sabra camper, enjoys the slip ‘n’ slide during the Foam Party. The Foam Party is a new activity offered to campers in grades 2-6.

22 AUGUST 3, 2018

p Amelia Roscow and Ronni Greenberg enjoy lake time on EKC’s stand up paddleboards. EKC’s fun lake toys include “The Blob,” “The Rave” and “The Saturn,” along with canoes, kayaks and pedal boats.

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Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

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Community t Nathaniel Blecher will enter his final year of medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He will specialize in ophthalmology, and is starting to apply for his residency.

CSLRS Annual Check Distribution Event The Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service (CSLRS) held its annual check distribution event at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill on Monday, July 23. CSLRS is a scholarship program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh that is administered by Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS). This year, almost $450,000 was distributed to nearly 200 undergraduate and graduate students. Pictured are three of the scholarship recipients.

u Jonathan Berken, also entering his last year of medical school at Pitt, is still deciding his specialty between neurology, pediatrics and pediatric neurology. Jonathan already has a doctorate in neuroscience, specializing in the brain study of bilingualism.

He said he wants to practice medicine, but also teach medicine as well.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Family and Community Services

p Emily Kenner is entering her last year of graduate school at Duquesne University and will receive a doctor of psychology degree in school psychology in the spring. She plans to specialize in the area of evaluation, counseling and intervention.

Machers & Shakers

Book Launch at Rodef Shalom Congregation On Tuesday, July 10 Rodef Shalom Congregation hosted the official book launch for “The Seventeenth Generation: The Life Work of Rabbi Walter Jacob” with a reading by author Eric Lidji, remarks by Jacob, followed by a wine reception and dessert. The 200 attendees each received a signed book. This was the culmination of a multiyear project initiated and spearheaded by Rodef Shalom member Ruth Westerman.

p Cynthia Shapira

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

p Nancy Zionts Photo by David Bachman

At the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s annual meeting on Thursday, Aug. 30 two community leaders will be celebrated Cynthia D. Shapira is the recipient of the 2018 Emanuel Spector Memorial Award, the highest honor presented by the Jewish Federation. The award recognizes exemplary service to the community.

Nancy D. Zionts is the recipient of the 2018 Doris & Leonard H. Rudolph Jewish Communal Professional Award. The Rudolph Award recognizes the exceptional personal and professional commitment of a Jewish communal professional employed by the Jewish Federation or one of its partner agencies. p Rabbi Aaron Bisno, of Rodef Shalom Congregation, Ruth Westerman and her husband, Bob Myers Photo by Mosaic Photography for Rodef Shalom

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KOSHER MEATS

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

Empire Kosher Fresh Ground Turkey Sold in 1 lb. pkg.

4

49 lb.

Save with your

Price effective Thursday, August 2 through Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Available at $' B3-&B LQGG

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