P I T TS B U R G H
August 17, 2018 | 6 Elul 5778
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Candlelighting 7:57 p.m. | Havdalah 8:56 p.m. | Vol. 61, No. 33 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Retirement caps career spent helping others Sybil Lieberman to leave JCC after 29 years.
Graphic goods and decorated devotees highlight Steel City Con
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as much as his role as Vincent in “Beauty and the Beast” (1987-1990) earned him the praise of critics who awarded the Jewish thespian a Golden Globe for Best Actor in Television Series Drama in 1989. Betwixt spaces within the convention center designated for star seekers and areas for purchasing wares was an artist alley. Seated within it was Erin Schechtman Caruso, a Cleveland-based illustrator whose work specializes in embracing pop characters. “It’s all different characters hugging, so there’s superhero ones like Batman and Robin hugging, there’s ones from your favorite cartoons like Steven Universe, where everyone is hugging, there’s kind of some ones that are a little awkward — like I have Iron Man hugging vodka because he’s an alcoholic — so they’re not all sweet and cute. There’s a little bit of humor involved as well,” said the Jewish artist. Situated at a station nearby was Brock Flotta, whose paper mache masks were of particular pride.
f the 49,200 Jews that live in Greater Pittsburgh, 9 percent, or about 4,500, live in the North Hills, according to the recently released Jewish Community Study conducted by Brandeis University researchers and commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. While the percentage of North Hills Jews has remained constant since the last survey was completed in 2002, the actual number of residents there increased 17 percent. “I’m getting calls every week from young families who are new to the North Hills,” said Rabbi Jeremy Weisblatt, spiritual leader of Temple Ohav Shalom in Allison Park. Weisblatt, who came to the Reform congregation last year, is working to find new and better ways to serve this burgeoning Jewish community. One of those ways, he said, is to create a new vision of “what Jewish life is in the North Hills, and what is Jewish life in general.” Part of that vision, he said, is built on realistic expectations when it comes to Shabbat service attendance. “People don’t come to every Shabbat service,” Weisblatt acknowledged. “So we have to figure out what makes them come so we can make those moments of meaning as impactful as possible. “What I find people are looking for is a service that has meaning and is not being held just for the sake of existing,” he added. “If you start with what people want and need, you can be successful.” Helping to create such services at TOS is Sara Stock Mayo, who recently joined the congregation as its director of music and ruach, a title she emphatically prefers to “cantorial soloist.” Mayo helps lead two Shabbat services at TOS each month, and her vision is one of robust congregational participation.
Please see Comics, page 15
Please see Temple, page 15
LOCAL Scooting has its perks
Justin Delsignore (left), Spencer Kids, Nikki Bath, Shawn Poland and Spike Bowan pose while partaking in cosplay at Steel City Con. Photo by Adam Reinherz
Page 4 LOCAL ‘Aladdin’ like never before
Jewish actor relishes role as Kassim, the friend who never made it in animated film. Page 5
More Jews in North Hills inspire changes at Ohav Shalom By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer
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There’s an app (and free parking) for Scoobis.
$1.50
By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
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simple sketch of Steel City Con would show artists, vendors, celebrities and fans navigating 100,000 square feet of a Monroeville convention center for three days. The more telling narrative, though, is how so many selfdescribed “geeks” broke down the barriers separating competing fantasy worlds during Pittsburgh’s annual comic convention. Prior to the gathering’s 10 a.m. start on Friday, Aug. 10, a line of eager attendees stretched into the Monroeville Convention Center parking lot. Some clad in cartoon oriented T-shirts, others clinging posters and transportable mementos, the eventgoers were given wristbands denoting whether they had purchased single-day or three-day passes. Once allowed inside, participants were able to peruse dealers’ and artists’ tables, purchase memorabilia and meet Hollywood icons including Ron Perlman, whose performance in Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy” (2004) and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008) endeared him to devotees perhaps
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