Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 9/14/2018

P I T TS B U R G H

September 14, 2018 | 5 Tishrei 5779

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Candlelighting 7:13 p.m. | Havdalah 8:10 p.m. | Vol. 61, No. 37 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY

G’mar chatima tova! May you be sealed for a good year!

LOCAL ‘Force of nature’ Sally Kalson remembered Longtime journalist, who passed away in 2014, was subject of Rauh program.

On Yom Kippur, to Whom — or to what — are we praying?

I the world — because there are obviously a lot more of them? I must say the answer is, “I do not know.”

But for me, it doesn’t really matter if God is listening or  Seth Adelson not because I know File photo that when I actively engage in prayer, I am doing a couple different things. I am, number one, fulfilling a mitzvah, which I like to translate as an opportunity to do something holy in the proper time. I am also taking a moment out of my day to take a step back, both literally and figuratively, from my regular self, and to take a step forward into a holier place — and in doing so, allow myself to reflect on the things that are truly important to me.

So, those are the first two things — performing a mitzvah and taking a moment of reflection, which is really valuable. And the third thing — and this in my mind is the most important thing — if you are doing prayer correctly, it not only connects you with yourself, but it also connects you to the people in the room and the people who are not in the room.

We have this Jewish custom of minyan,

n what is believed to be a first for the area, six local congregations came together to usher in the beginning of the High Holidays with music and collaboration.

The synagogues — Adat Shalom, Beth Shalom, New Light, Rodef Shalom, Temple Sinai and Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha — hosted a joint selichot service on Saturday, Sept.

1 at Temple Sinai to mark the beginning of the High Holiday season. This selichot service, which traditionally includes a set of customary penitential prayers but not customary liturgy, also offered a unique twist with a performance by the Afro-Semitic Experience, a band that strives to combine several different genres of music to portray a message of unity.

The goal of the event was to simultaneously bring more people to the selichot service and introduce the service in a new and innovative way, according to Cantor Laura Berman of Temple Sinai. Berman said she had been toying with the idea of a joint selichot service for some time because it would be a good way to “connect and refocus ourselves.”

“Rather than us having our own small service, why not pull together and do something we can’t do individually? And maybe people will wind up coming that have never come to a selichot before,” Berman said.

The combination of multiple congregations participating and the musical group brought about 250 people to the service, which many spiritual leaders said is more than they would have gotten if they had hosted on their own.

“There have been different efforts at selichot to share [services] because no one gets a full house on their own and everyone appreciates being in a room with their friends and neighbors,” said Rabbi Aaron Bisno of Rodef Shalom.

Please see God, page 16

Please see Selichot, page 17

LOCAL Jewish organizations unite

Photo by photovs/iStockPhoto.com

Page 3 SUKKOT Pondering the bare necessities

Pittsburghers offer thoughts on what any sukkah needs.

Page 11

Joining together, six congregations host selichot

By Lauren Rosenblatt | Digital Content Manager

Page 2

Agencies join together to streamline financial assistance.

$1.50

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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t is through prayer on the High Holidays that many Jews seek their deepest connection to God. We ask forgiveness for past sins and engage in self-reflection, while beseeching a higher entity to first write, then seal, our names in the Book of Life.

But to Whom, or to what, are we praying?

For most of us, the liturgical metaphors of God as king, or God as shepherd, or God as father, are just that — metaphors. We may picture an old man on a throne in heaven inscribing names in a giant book, but we know intellectually that is just an image to help us perceive the inscrutable.

Over the course of the past several weeks, the Chronicle talked with five local rabbis, asking their views on whether there is a Divine ear — and if so, whether it is listening to us on the High Holidays. What follows are excerpts from those conversations.

Rabbi Seth Adelson, Congregation Beth Shalom (Conservative)

Is there a divine ear? Yes, there is no question in my mind. I think that there is the potential that God hears our words of prayer. Having said that, do I think that God is actively listening to every single Jewish person in the world, let alone every single other person in

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Headlines ‘Force of nature’ Sally Kalson remembered and celebrated — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

T

he legacy of the late journalist Sally Kalson runs deep in her beloved hometown of Pittsburgh, where her insightful, bold and sensitive facility with words moved readers for more than three decades.

That she also was beloved was amply evident at “Sally Kalson: The Early Years,” a program presented by the Rauh Jewish History Program and Archives at the Heinz History Center on Sept. 5, where more than 250 friends, fans and family members turned out to get a glimpse of Kalson as a young reporter with values as unwavering as her abundant talent.

Kalson, who died in 2014 from cancer at the age of 63, is most widely remembered as a longtime columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, taking on controversies with a strong voice shaped by earnest convictions.

The foundations of those convictions — as well as that strong voice — are evident in a trove of her effects which her husband, Ed Feinstein, delivered to the Heinz History Center earlier this year. Those effects include reporter’s notebooks, short fiction she authored, photos and press credentials, and were on display at the program.

Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Program and Archives, used Kalson’s documents and relics to tell the story of how a young Jewish girl from Mt. Lebanon coming of age in the 1960s grew to be an accomplished journalist.

“Sally could always bring out a crowd,” her younger brother, David Kalson, told the audience at the commencement of the program.

“She was already a force of nature growing

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examples of Kalson’s writing, the first being a humorous “thank you” letter she wrote in 1968 while in high school, as well as her initial byline in the PostGazette, a letter to the editor about Vietnam War protests.

A 1968 graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School, Kalson attended the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in communications.

When, after she graduated from Pitt, her father saw an ad in The Jewish Chronicle for a society editor, he suggested she apply for the position. She was hired and worked at the Chronicle for two years.

While society editors at the time were generally relegated to listing such events as bar mitzvahs and organizations’ meetings, Kalson transformed her position into something else entirely.

“What she did with that position was really remarkable,” Lidji p Sally Kalson, mid-1980s Photo courtesy of the Rauh Jewish History Program said, explaining that when she and Archives would see that a notable figure up in our house in Mt. Lebanon,” he recalled. would be coming to town to speak at an “Sally seized every opportunity … to demon- event, she would nab an interview. strate her buoyant personality and consid“She wrote about 40 articles in the two erable talents.” years she was there,” Lidji said, including “A force of nature” also was how longtime pieces based on interviews with national and friend and colleague Mike Fuoco of the Post- international figures, allowing her to build a Gazette described Kalson. portfolio of work.

“She was young, eager and full of fire,” Following her time at the Chronicle, Kalson Fuoco said. “From the beginning, I was in awe became the public relations director for of her. She was the coolest person I ever met.” Israel Bonds, took a creative writing course at The documents that Kalson saved from Pitt, became associate editor of Pittsburgher the early part of her life, Lidji said, evidence Magazine and wrote for a publication in a “voice looking for a microphone.”

Harrisburg called Pennsylvania Illustrated.

Lidji read and displayed on a screen early In those early writings, readers can see

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the roots of Kalson’s wit as a writer as well as her resolute respect for her subject matter, Lidji noted.

Prior to her time at the Post-Gazette, which began in 1984, Kalson enjoyed an eclectic freelance career, writing for esteemed publications such as The New York Times Magazine while at the same time working for journals of less renown — like Guest Informant, a travel guide placed in hotel rooms.

The Kalson collection also includes articles and other documents from her early years at the Post-Gazette, most notably papers relating to her investigative reporting in Nicaragua during the war, and her efforts to make those stories personal and relatable to her Pittsburgh readers.

The exhibit will be displayed in the reading room on the sixth floor of the Heinz History Center, following Rosh Hashana through the end of September.

“Sally’s voice is the voice of a friend,” Lidji said. “A friend who is always there to listen, a friend who is sometimes funny, a friend who tells you the truth even if you don’t want to hear it, and a friend who has your back.”

At the end of the program, Kalson’s husband, Ed Feinstein, announced that the Feinstein and Kalson families would be establishing the “Sally Kalson Courage in Journalism Fund Award” to honor Kalson’s legacy. The $3,000 yearly award will recognize a piece of journalistic work from “print, broadcast or social media” that “embodies the characteristics of Sally’s body of work.”

The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments have each granted $12,500 to help establish the fund in perpetuity, Feinstein said. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines JFunds launches with hopes of helping community — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

T

he Jewish Assistance Fund, Hebrew Free Loan Association, SOS Pittsburgh of Jewish Family and Community Services, Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, Jewish Scholarship Services (formerly Central Scholarship) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Israel Scholarships/ Passport to Israel are embarking on a new partnership called JFunds to streamline the process for clients seeking assistance.

The Sept. 4 signing of a memorandum of understanding by representatives of the organizations at Congregation Beth Shalom was followed two days later by a breakfast launch party, where Jewish community professionals could learn about the new initiative, said Aviva Lubowsky, director of marketing and development at the Hebrew Free Loan Association.

Officials were quick to point out that JFunds is not a new organization, but is rather a “brand to help familiarize the Jewish community with the financial supports available to them.”

“The Pittsburgh community has a long tradition of providing individuals and families with financial resources, and we are a community with organizations that see the value in working collaboratively,” explained Cindy GoodmanLeib, executive director of the Jewish Assistance

“There are so many resources available from Jewish agencies to help, but previously I think most community members thought they were only for people in dire need,” said Adam Hertzman, Federation’s director of marketing. “JFunds will help people in Jewish households — especially working class and middle class families — understand that everyone can use financial assistance sometimes. Really any time people have a major life change or event, they should be thinking about JFunds to p From left: Cindy Goodman-Leib, Dana Himmel, Alayne Lowenberger, find out financial resources that could help.”

Matthew Bolton, Debbie Swartz, Ellen JFunds began with a series of conversaClancy, Aviva Lubowsky tions dating back to last year, said Swartz.

Photo by Jim Busis Its launch came at the perfect time, Fund. “JFunds brings together these positive added Goodman-Leib. “JFunds is especially qualities within a Jewish context and provides timely, given the financial snapshot of the a seamless referral system among our partners.” Jewish community, which confirmed the need The beauty of JFunds is it provides a “one for supportive financial services from all of stop shop in the community for people who are our partner organizations.”

The 2017 Greater Pittsburgh Community looking for some type of financial assistance,” said Debbie Swartz, Federation’s Israel and Study reported that “it is clear that there are overseas planning associate. Whether someone some unmet needs in the community. Aside needs to pay her electric bill, get funding for from the expenses associated with affiliating travel to Israel or replace the roof on a house, with Jewish organizations, providing Jewish education for children, purchasing kosher food JFunds is poised to facilitate that process.

Visitors to JFundspgh.org can see a list of and other means of engaging in Jewish life, less participating organziations, what services are affluent families are also more likely to be strugavailable and who is eligible for aid. Those gling with basic necessities such as adequate uncertain about which agency is best suited housing and good health. There are underto handle the request will be assisted by the served households throughout the community, JFunds partners, said Goodman-Leib. but particularly among the Orthodox, families

with children and young adults.”

According to the study, 33 percent of the Jewish community describes itself as “prosperous” or “living comfortably,” while 45 percent say they are “living reasonably comfortably.”

Still, nearly one quarter (23 percent) say they are “just getting along,” “nearly poor” or “poor.”

Additionally, a quarter of Jewish households reported they did not have savings amounting to three months of income, which financial planners suggest is a necessity when facing an unexpected hardship.

Thirteen percent of Jewish households would be unable to pay a $400 emergency expense.

Almost half of Jewish households (47 percent) earn no more than $75,000 per year, and 37 percent earn less than $50,000 per year.

JFunds is seeking to “get the message out for what is available for Jewish families that need help,” said Swartz.

The partnership “creates a network of critical financial services that human service professionals can more easily access to help their Jewish clients,” said Matthew Bolton, director of the food pantry.

“I’m very excited about being a part of this collaboration,” said Swartz. “The best part about this is because we are all working together if someone calls me I can refer them right away to the correct place.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Older adults, young students find ‘oasis’ in tutoring program — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

T

he older adult volunteers from the Pittsburgh OASIS Intergenerational Tutor Program become much more than tutors to the young students with whom they meet weekly; they also become mentors and friends.

That was one of the core messages conveyed

by John Spehar, the program’s director, at a two-day training session held downtown last month, which attracted 25 would-be tutors hoping to make a difference in the life of a child.

“This program is for kids that need a little extra help, and that’s you,” Spehar told the group.

“As a teacher, it is so important to me that we are making a difference in the lives of these kids.”

OASIS training is offered about four times a year to volunteers, who then visit one of many local schools to meet regularly with a child to talk together, write together and read together.

Last year, OASIS, a project of Literacy Pittsburgh, placed 148 tutors in 31 schools, improving the educational experiences of 230 students. The sites included 28 Pittsburgh Public Schools and three schools in Woodland Hills.

“The tutors help with reading, writing and oral communication, but they also give the student someone to talk to they might not

p John Spehar trains a new class of volunteer tutors.

p The tutors join in a game of Simon Says as part of their training.

otherwise have,” Spehar said. OASIS has seen data showing that such one-on-one visits improve test scores and grades, as well as increase attendance and improve attitude.

“You can reach students with low self-esteem better with one-on-one tutoring,” Spehar said.

OASIS is a national non-profit initiative that extends beyond tutoring in other cities, providing meaningful activities for older adults, including trips, book clubs and quilting, according to Spehar.

Founded in 1982, OASIS reaches more than 50,000 individuals in 40 cities each year.

It was introduced to Pittsburgh in 1999 by Jewish community member Gail Weisberg,

who served as its director. Around 2007, the tutoring program came to the Steel City, with Marlene Rebb at its helm.

While Pittsburgh OASIS lost funding for most of its senior activities several years ago, the tutoring program was preserved.

The tutors come to their assigned schools with prepared lesson plans and are trained to use a curriculum specially designed by reading professionals for K-4 students. The tutor works with the same child each week.

OASIS volunteers get back as much as they give, said Nickie Rodgers, who has been volunteering for two years at Colfax Elementary School, tutoring students in

Photos by Toby Tabachnick

kindergarten and third grade.

“The best thing for me is seeing the student really grow and develop,” Rodgers said. “And I have a chance to be helpful with their self-esteem.

“I would absolutely recommend OASIS to other volunteers,” she continued. “The individual attention the students receive makes them feel special. It’s a fun activity, and with no pressure as far as testing. We read to the student, so the student can just relax and have fun and enjoy.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle wishes you and your family an easy fast.

May you all be sealed in the Book of Life.

pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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happy new year

Honey Cakes & Holidays The First Annual Dementia-Friendly Jewish High Holiday Service for Families Sunday, September 16 10:30 to 11:30am JAA Campus Community Room -+) 'ULYH Rƨ %URZQV +LOO 5RDG

wishing you a sweet and prosperous new year !

From your friends at The Jewish Association on Aging Honey Cake with Caramelized Pears Unsalted butter, softened, for pan ż BTOR @KK OTQONRD Ʀ NTQ OKTR LNQD ENQ CTRSHMF ¾ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon coarse salt Ż SD@RONNM FQNTMC BHMM@LNM

Makes 1 10-inch cake 2 large eggs ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup packed light-brown sugar ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons quality honey ½ cup vegetable oil Ż SD@RONNM EQDRGKX FQ@SDC KDLNM YDRS

/QDGD@S NUDM SN CDFQDDR !TSSDQ @ HMBG ROQHMFENQL O@M #TRS VHSG Ʀ NTQ S@O NTS DWBDRR 6GHRJ SNFDSGDQ SGD Ʀ NTQ A@JHMF ONVCDQ @MC RNC@ R@KS @MC BHMM@LNM HM @ ANVK RDS @RHCD ,HW DFFR @MC RTF@QR NM GHFG RODDC HM SGD ANVK NE @M DKDBSQHB LHWDQ ƥ SSDC VHSG SGD O@CCKD @SS@BGLDMS TMSHK O@KD @MC SGHBJ @ANTS LHMTSDR 6GHRJ SNFDSGDQ GNMDX LHKJ NHK @MC YDRS 6HSG LHWDQ NM KNV @CC GNMDX LHWSTQD SN DFF LHWSTQD LHW TMSHK BNLAHMDC @ANTS LHMTSD CC G@KE SGD Ʀ NTQ LHWSTQD LHW TMSHK RLNNSG ,HW HM QDL@HMHMF Ʀ NTQ LHWSTQD /NTQ A@SSDQ HMSN O@M !@JD TMSHK C@QJ FNKCDM AQNVM @MC @ B@JD SDRSDQ HMRDQSDC HM BDMSDQ BNLDR NTS BKD@M @ANTS LHMTSDR +DS BNNK HM O@M NM @ VHQD Q@BJ LHMTSDR 1TM @ SGHM JMHED @QNTMC DCFD NE B@JD B@QDETKKX QDLNUD RHCDR NE O@M 3Q@MREDQ B@JD SN @ OK@SSDQ 3NO VHSG OD@QR 2DQUD VHSG VGHOODC BQD@L NQ SNOOHMF HE CDRHQDC

This special program reaches those with memory loss who may be unable to enjoy a traditional service.

Highlights include familiar songs and chanted prayers with musical accompaniment.

Traditional honey cake will be served.

FREE and open to everyone.

Register at jaapgh.org/events.

Caramelized Pears L@JDR BTOR

1 tablespoon unsalted butter ź BTO RTF@Q ż ONTMCR QDC MINT OD@QR BTS HMSN Ż HMBG SGHBJ VDCFDR NQ ź HMBG SGHBJ VDCFDR HE OD@QR @QD ƥ QL ¼ cup best-quality honey 'D@S ATSSDQ HM @ K@QFD RJHKKDS NUDQ LDCHTL GD@S CC RTF@Q BNNJ RSHQQHMF TMSHK @KLNRS CHRRNKUDC LHMTSDR CC OD@QR BNNJ RSHQQHMF NBB@RHNM@KKX TMSHK RNES @MC ITRS FNKCDM

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jaapgh.org | 412-420-4000 200 JHF Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15217 JAA162_PJC_Holiday-FINAL.indd 1

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9/6/18 11:37 AM

For more information about this or JAA’s ongoing memory care services, contact srubin@jaapgh.org or call Sharyn Rubin at 412-521-1171.

jaapgh.org | 412-420-4000 | 200 JHF Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15217 JAA163_PJC_HoneyCakes-REVFINAL.indd 1

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 5

Headlines A family standing astride the boundary of Western Pennsylvania — HISTORY —

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

A

nsel Arnold was an unmarried 32-year-old cattle dealer when, in 1825, he left his native German village of Jebenhausen and came to the United States. His first 15 years in this country went undocumented, but by the 1840 census he was living in Carlisle, Pa. The agricultural town in the Cumberland Valley, just east of the Alleghenies, had recently become intertwined with the eastern seaboard. The Cumberland Valley Railroad had connected Carlisle to the outskirts of Harrisburg in mid-1837. With the addition of a bridge over the Susquehanna River in early 1839, travelers could reach Philadelphia in a day.

The railroad coincided with increased Jewish outmigration from Jebenhausen. The community had lost 30 members between 1825 and 1838. It lost 38 more in 1839 alone.

A rabbi in Jebenhausen lamented that his congregants could not see any future for their children in the crowded village. He noted that the ever-growing population of former Jebenhauseners in wide-open America was easing the burden of settling in a foreign land.

Typical of the 1839 crop was Ansel’s younger brother Marx. Marx (sometimes Marks,

sometimes Max) Arnold was a 44-year-old peddler with six children. By the 1840 census, he was a merchant in Chambersburg, the terminus of the Cumberland Valley Railroad.

Research is like hiking. Sometimes you wander alone for days. Sometimes you meet fellow travelers coming the opposite direction, and they tell you what’s ahead. In trying to learn more about Marx Arnold, I encountered the work of a German historian named Dr. Stefan Rohrbacher. For decades, Rohrbacher has been tracking the 314 Jewish men, women and children who left Jebenhausen for America between 1825 and 1870.

According to his research, Chambersburg had between 40 and 45 Jewish residents in 1840. They were all part of the extended Arnold family, and a wider network of their relatives and townsmen lived between the Allegheny Mountains and Philadelphia.

By comparison, the Jewish population of the 26-county region we now call Western Pennsylvania was perhaps five, not counting any peddlers who were passing through.

The Jewish families scattered throughout the Cumberland Valley started a benevolent society in 1840 and dedicated a cemetery in Chambersburg in 1844. I visited the cemetery a few weeks ago and snapped a picture of Ansel Arnold’s stone from 1845.

To me, his grave marks a moment just before the story of Western Pennsylvania

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canals, railroads and inclines Jewry really gets going. He opened in 1834 and stitched stayed in the Cumberland together the faraway edges Valley because he had no of Pennsylvania. reason to leave.

Marx Arnold left New By 1850, “the picture has Castle for Pittsburgh as changed significantly,” as early as 1855. He lived at 24 Rohrbacher dryly put it.

Pitt Street, which is now the The extended Arnold family northern end of Stanwix had left Chambersburg.

Street. He started a clothing Some had moved to company called M. Arnold other small towns in the & Sons at 66 Market Street, Cumberland Valley. Several Ansel Arnold spent at the current site of the PPG went east to Baltimore, p the final years of his Place ice rink.

Philadelphia and New York.

The only Jewish congregaSeemingly alone among life in Carlisle, Pa. and was buried in tion in Pittsburgh in 1855 was them, Marx Arnold went Chambersburg, Pa., the other direction. He was while his younger Shaare Shamayim, and shortly living in New Castle near brother Marx Arnold before the High Holidays his son-in-law and daughter ventured further west. that year it split along ethnic Photo courtesy Manassah and Sarah Henlein.

Rauh Jewish History lines. The breakaway group Program & Archives of southern Germans became It’s unclear who followed whom. But, as before, networks of family and Rodef Shalom and elected Marx Arnold as its railroads eased the journey. first president.

My drive home roughly followed their Marx died in 1860 and was buried in path. Today, a trip from the Cumberland Pittsburgh. Within a year, his family had left for Valley to Pittsburgh slips easily through the established cities in the east, either unwilling Allegheny Mountains. The road gives little or unable to stick it out on the frontier. PJC indication of what an impediment those mountains must have been for early travelers, Eric Lidji is the director of the Rauh how the miles and miles of ridges and valleys Jewish History Program & Archives at the divided the state physically and culturally. Sen. John Heinz History Center. He can be Philadelphia was a metropolis. Pittsburgh reached at eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org remained an outpost even after a system of or 412-454-6406.

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Calendar start to your day. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information.

>> 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 SUNDAY, SEPT. 23 Help MoHo build and decorate a sukkah from 3 to 8 p.m. at Moishe House all afternoon, then enjoy a festive dinner around 6 p.m. There will be building stations, cooking stations and crafting stations. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com.

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 EVERY THURSDAY EVENING Israeli Dancing will be held at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh every Thursday, except holidays. Beginners of all ages are welcome in the JCC Kaufmann Dance Studio with a special teaching session from 7:30 to 8 p.m. Open dancing follows until 10 p.m. The charge is $3 per person and $2 for students. q SATURDAY, SEPT. 15 Kick crafts night up a notch for a silly photo shoot with Moishe House community member Ren Finkel. The pictures will be used for a one of kind Moishe Community Calendar. Come with funny outfits, ideas or just your perfect self to Ren’s House from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com. q SUNDAY, SEPT. 16 The Pliskover Association is holding a Memorial Day (Kever Avot) to pay respect to dearly departed at the Pliskover Cemetery on Green Oak Drive in Coraopolis from 9 a.m. to noon. Prayers to be offered by Sara Stock Mayo.

The Senior Social Group will meet from 10 a.m. to noon in Room 202 of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

Individuals meet to socialize in a warm and friendly environment. “This Is Pittsburgh,” an audio-visual program celebrating Pittsburgh, will be presented by Bob Cahalan. Contact Deborah Marcus at dmarcus@jccpgh.org for more information.

q WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26

q WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19 Yom Kippur Break Fast with J’Burgh will be held from 8 to 10 p.m. at Moishe House. A full kosher meal provided (lox, bagels and so much more). There is no charge. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information.

Tumultuous Middle East.” Registration and networking will be from 11:30 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch and Harrison, at the Omni William Penn Hotel in the Bob & Dolores Hope Room. Ross Harrison is on the faculty of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he teaches strategy, and the University of Pittsburgh, where he teaches Middle East politics and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.

He is also a senior scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. Register at worldpittsburgh.org. q WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Center for Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement, is hosting High Holidays of Hope. The Yom Kippur program is free and open to everyone, no matter membership or faith, and will be held in the JCC Katz Performing Arts Center, 5738 Darlington Road, Squirrel Hill, from 2 to 3 p.m. RSVPs are requested. Contact Rabbi Ron Symons at rsymons@jccpgh.org, 412-697-3235 or visit tinyurl.com/jccpghyk for more information, the schedule and to RSVP.

Beth Shalom will present Lox & Learning, “Exiting Eden: Adapting to unprecedented change from a warming climate,” at 10 a.m. with speaker Jordan R. Fischbach of the RAND Corporation. The Beth Shalom Men’s Club will sponsor a light brunch. The event is free. Contact the office at 412-421-2288 or adulteducationcbs@gmail.com to RSVP.

In collaboration with Attack Theatre, Temple Sinai will present “I Am Jonah,” a fresh and thought-provoking approach to the story of Jonah featuring dance, music and narrative at 4 p.m. at 5505 Forbes Ave. The program is appropriate for all ages and is free and open to the community. Visit templesinaipgh.org/iam-jonah-collaboration-attack-theatre for more information.

Rosh Hashanah apple picking with Moishe House will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com.

q THURSDAY, SEPT. 20

Chabad of the South Hills and co-sponsors Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and PJ Library will hold a Mega Challah Bake 4 Kids at the South Hills JCC, 345 Kane Blvd. from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The holiday program will feature a “Build-a-Torah” workshop. RSVP at chabadsh.com. Contact 412-344-2424 or mussie@chabadsh.com for more information. The charge is $8/child. q TUESDAY, SEPT. 18 The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will hold its Distinguished Speaker Luncheon Series with guest Ross Harrison, who will speak on “U.S. Foreign Policy Toward A

Chabad of Pittsburgh invites women to Loaves of Love to bake two loaves of challah, one to enjoy and one to share. Sue Berman will demonstrate how to make a special Sukkot-shaped challah and will also teach some more classic braids from 7 to 9 p.m. at 1700 Beechwood Blvd. There is a $10 charge. Visit chabadpgh.com/lol for more information. q FRIDAY, SEPT. 21 MoHo Morning: Coffee & Donuts with Moishe House will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Dunkin’ Donuts. Calling all grad students, work from homers, and coffee lovers. Stop by Dunkin’ (3907 Forbes Ave.) for an energizing

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Chabad of the South Hills will hold a lunch and musical holiday program for seniors in the sukkah at noon. The building is wheelchair accessible. There is a $5 suggested donation. Call 412-278-2658 to preregister and visit chabadsh.com for more information.

The Beth Shalom Sisterhood Book Club will meet to discuss “The Female Persuasion” by Meg Wolitzer at 7:30 p.m. at a private home.

Call the Beth Shalom office at 412-421-2288 for the address and visit bethshalompgh.org/ events-upcoming more information. q THURSDAY, SEPT. 27 Classrooms Without Borders will present a lecture on “Ordinary Men and Remembering Survival” by author, educator and historian Christopher Browning at 6 p.m. at the Wyndham Grand Hotel at 600 Commonwealth Place. Browning’s research focuses on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

He has written extensively about three issues: Nazi decision making and policymaking regarding the origins of the Final Solution; the behavior and motives of various middleand lower-echelon personnel involved in implementing Nazi Jewish policy; and the use of survivor testimony to explore Jewish responses and survival strategies. There is no charge but reservations are required. Visit classroomswithoutborders.org/events/show. php?195 for more information and to RSVP. Following Browning will be German Studies Association Arts Night: An evening of learning and fun from 7 to 11 p.m. Visit classroomswithoutborders.org/events/show. php?194 for more information and schedule.

Beth Shalom’s Scotch, Wine & More in the Sukkah will be held with musical toast

by Executive Director Hazzan Rob Menes beginning with minyan at 7 p.m. followed by drinking at 7:30 p.m., sponsored by Beth Shalom Men’s Club. All adults 21 and older are welcome. Other drinks and snacks will be available. A professional bartender will give brief lessons on properly mixing drinks. The event is free; no RSVP required. Donations are always welcome. Visit bethshalompgh. org/events-upcoming for more information.

Chabad of the South Hills will hold a Soup in the Sukkah Women’s Event at 7:30 p.m. with guest Yolanda Willis, who as a child was hidden in Greece during the Holocaust. There is no charge. RSVP to batya@chabadsh.com or 412-344-2424 and visit chabadsh.com for more information. q SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 Wine and Wisdom in the Beth Shalom Sukkah will be from 8 to 9:30 p.m., hosted by Beth Shalom, Moishe House and J’Burgh/Shalom Pittsburgh. Join Jewish young adults to enjoy an evening in the Sukkah to sip on wine and share words of wisdom. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

q SUNDAY, SEPT. 30 Temple Emanuel’s Bereavement Support Group’s next meeting will be on Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m. The group is led by Jamie Del MS, NCC, LPC and Naomi Pittle, LCSW, who both have experience in grief counseling. Please RSVP to Leon at leonsteineresa@verizon. net. The group welcomes previous and newly bereaved adults to attend. Meetings are held at Temple Emanuel, 1250 Bower Hill Rd., 15243. q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3 Women of Temple Sinai and the Falk Library Committee invite the community on a trip to the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center from 10 a.m. to noon with an optional lunch afterward at Lidia’s restaurant. Eric Lidji, the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives director, will offer an overview and highlight family pictures, papers and artifacts donated by Temple Sinai member Barb Siegel. These items date back to her great-great-grandparents. Lidji has described the collection as “one of the most thorough and vital pieces the Archives has received.” There will be free admission to the Archives. RSVP to Susan Cohen at susan_k_ cohen@yahoo.com or 412-363-7745 by noon on Tuesday, Sept. 26. Spaces are limited.

(Please specify if you are joining the group for lunch.) Visit templesinaipgh.org/triprauh-jewish-history-program-archives-offsite for more information.

The Jerusalem Quartet is holding a concert in partnership with the South Hills Interfaith Ministries (SHIM) at the Carnegie Music Hall at 7:30 p.m. Attendees who bring a non-perishable food item will receive free access to any upcoming Chamber Music Pittsburgh concert. Visit http://www. chambermusicpittsburgh.org/our-concerts/ series/subscription-series/jerusalem-quartet for more information. q TUESDAY, OCT. 9 Hadassah Greater Pittsburgh and Temple David Sisterhood are hosting local author A.J. Funstuff to discuss her new book for an event about breast cancer awareness at Temple David at 6 p.m. The cost of the event is $10.

Send a check to reserve your spot by Oct. 3 to Hadassah, 1824 Murray Avenue or call 412-421-8919. q EVERY WEDNESDAY EVENING,

BEGINNING OCT. 10

Melton Pittsburgh 2018-19, an international organization for adult Jewish learning, will begin classes on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The classes are sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. To register, visit https://foundation.jewishpgh. org/melton-adult-education/. For more information, contact Jan Barkley at jbarkley@ jfedpgh.org or 412-697-6656. q THURSDAY, OCT. 11 Chabad of the South Hills will host a Torah and Tea for Women at 1701 McFarland Road at 7:30 p.m. The event will look at “Eishet Chayil- Women of Valour,” the age-old wisdom of King Solomon sung as a tribute to Jewish women. Hot tea and refreshments will be provided. Visit http://www.chabadsh.com for more information. PJC

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 7

Headlines When an old synagogue downsizes, what do you do with all its stuff?

— NATIONAL —

By Alanna E. Cooper | JTA

E

RIE, Pa. — There was some debate about putting the old synagogue up for sale and moving to a new, smaller building, but not much.

In 2012, a major pipe burst at Temple Anshe Hesed, and the cost of repairing the nearly century-old building convinced the small but resilient congregation that it was time to move.

But as in any such move, there was a familiar question: How do you pack a congregation’s history and its hundreds of objects into a building one-third the size of the old one?

Last Friday, members of the Reform temple here gathered in their building one last time. At an event advertised as a “de-consecration,” some 60 men and women, along with a few children, joined under the sanctuary’s dramatic dome to say goodbye to the structure that has served as the congregation’s spiritual home since 1929.

During the service led by Rabbi Sharon Stone, the group sang together, paused for a few moments to remember Anshe Hesed

members who have passed and to recite a poem, “We recall at this time those joyous events we celebrated within these walls ...”

The reflective, serious atmosphere was mixed with a celebratory tone as members removed the five Torah scrolls from the ark and carried them out of the building, embarking on a fresh chapter in their congregation’s history. Boarding two old-fashioned trolley buses rented for the occasion, the group traveled together to its new home located five miles east on Old Zuck Road in Millcreek Township.

I took part in the event as part of my research into what congregations do with their belongings when they merge, shut down or downsize.

Like other Rust Belt cities, Erie’s population has been on a steady decline for decades.

It peaked in 1960 with 138,440 residents, and today numbers just under 100,000.

The city’s Jewish population has followed the same pattern. Erie was once home to 3,000 Jews and three synagogues, one for each of the major denominations. By 2007 the Jewish population there had decreased to 700; by 2013 it was 480.

Ohel Jacob, the Orthodox synagogue is long gone, having shut its doors in the 1970s. The Conservative synagogue, Brith

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p Temple Anshe Hesed has moved to a smaller new building on Old Zuck Road in Millcreek Township.

Photo by Alanna Cooper

Sholom, is still in operation, although the congregation sold its building in 2013 and meets in the sanctuary they rent back from the new owners.

Anshe Hesed still has enough members to sustain weekly and holiday services, and a bequest to pay for the new building. Lisa Chinsky, a former temple president who became bat mitzvah in the building and was married there, likened the move to becoming an empty-nester.

“The children have moved out and now their rooms are sitting empty,” she said.

The cost and hardship of maintaining the large building had become unwieldy for the aging Anshe Hesed congregation. In addition, the neighborhood has changed.

Congregants explained their feeling of unease in the area, pointing to hypodermic needles found around the building, and damage vandals had done to their sukkah.

Still the decision to move was not simple.

A few members objected, some threatening to leave. One anonymous individual sent a letter to the entire membership list, describing their longtime building as “alive with the breath of a living congregation.”

The writer explained, “When I touch the walls I can feel it breathe,” and now “I can also feel that breath being taken away.”

Rather than celebrating the new building, the letter called for mourning the loss of the old one.

Even the less sentimental, who insist that the life of the congregation is “about the people” rather than the building they inhabit, understood the challenge of what to do with objects accumulated over nearly a century.

The objects include large ritual items such as the ark, which holds the Torah scrolls, a Holocaust memorial display and the stainedglass windows — not to mention books, paintings, tapestries, sculptures, memorabilia and over 30 Hanukkah menorahs that had been donated or acquired over the years.

In preparation for the move, a Judaica Committee and an Arts and Archives Committee were formed to make decisions about what to keep, what to sell or give away, and what to discard. The group agreed that the new synagogue should include an archive room to house objects from the congregation’s past.

Every dedicatory plaque will be moved into the room, as stipulated by one major donor.

In addition, heavy wooden carved doors — which graced the front of the building the congregation occupied before it moved in 1929, and which were displayed on a wall of the social hall in the 1929 building — will be mounted in the archive room. The

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bulky bronze ark, which does not fit the aesthetic of the new space, will be reconfigured as a sculpture that will sit in the outdoor patio area.

The most difficult dilemma involved the 12 stained-glass windows situated around the drum of the dome, and the tripartite arched window above the balcony at the back of the sanctuary. Their vibrant colors and ephemeral quality served as a defining feature of the building’s grand prayer space, which seats 350. One elderly member said some even regarded the windows as “embodying the soul of the congregation.”

Moving them, however, would be costly and complicated. Walter Harf, 88, who grew up in the temple, estimated the cost for removing each window at $2,000, not including the cost of patching up the holes left behind or mounting them in the new, smaller sanctuary.

Some members — devoted to remembering the congregation’s long and rich history, as well as to a contemporary design that reflects current sensibilities — devised a creative solution. Only the middle panel of each window was taken out and patched up with a clear window, leaving behind the lower stained-glass panel and the arched one at the top. All 12 middle panels were refurbished, and each one placed into a wood case that is backlit with electric bulbs, allowing the colors to glow even at night. Together, the 12 of them line the back of the new social hall in a subtle but aesthetically pleasing statement about Anshe Hesed’s enduring connection to its past.

The window at the back of the sanctuary was fully removed. Artist Bonnie Cohen will crush the glass and recycle the pieces, using them to create a colorful custom-made ark for the new sanctuary, which seats 70. Cohen devised this solution when working with the Conservative synagogue Beth El in Akron, Ohio, which went through a similar process of downsizing and moving in 2012.

Anshe Hesed congregants also took with them the cornerstone of their 1929 building.

When it was removed as part of the de-consecration ceremony, an old iron box was found tucked inside. Someone handed it to Lyman Cohen, the oldest member of the group at 96.

“Were you here then, when the box was sealed up?” he was asked.

Cohen chuckled, responding that he cannot remember that far back. Riding in Please see Synagogue, page 20

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Headlines Tufts students say ‘Colonizing Palestine’ class demonizes Israel — NATIONAL —

By Penny Schwartz | JTA

M

EDFORD, Mass. — Pro-Israel students at Tufts University say a new course on Palestine is one-sided, demonizes Israel and violates the university’s own policies on taking political stances.

The course, taught by Thomas Abowd, a faculty member in the American Studies program, was first reported by Jewish News Syndicate. The JNS story sparked a flurry of criticism and concern from the Anti-Defamation League and pro-Israel campus organizations.

Titled “Colonizing Palestine,” the course is offered through the liberal arts school’s Colonialism Studies program and is cross listed with Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies. A course description says it will “explore the history and culture of modern Palestine and the centrality of colonialism in the making of this contested and symbolically potent territory.”

The description also says that students “will address crucial questions relating to this embattled nation, the Israeli state which illegally occupies Palestine, and the broader global forces that impinge on Palestinians and Israelis.”

In a statement, the Hillel chapter at Tufts

said that while it supports academic freedom, it characterized the course description as “prejudicial and unnecessarily provocative.”

Tufts Friends of Israel, a student group, wrote in a statement to the university’s president, Anthony Monaco, that the course as described prejudges the Israeli-Palestinian debate.

“A course must aid a student’s pursuit of knowledge and provide ... the information and tools to arrive at their own conclusions,” the group wrote.

Ben Shapiro, a junior from Los Angeles and co-president of Tufts Friends of Israel, says the group is still waiting for a response.

“Our main issue [is that the course] denies Jewish indigeneity to Israel and presents a one-sided narrative as truth,” Shapiro said.

Tufts Friends of Israel also said that the course breaches a 2017 statement by the Office of the President that reads: “While members of our community vigorously debate international politics, Tufts University does not adopt institutional positions with respect to specific geo-political issues.”

The statement, however, came in a letter by the president rejecting a resolution by the university’s undergraduate student government calling on Tufts to divest from entities doing business with the Israeli government.

It is not clear whether offering a course, however one-sided, suggests that a university has adopted an “institutional position” on the subject being taught.

Women of Rodef Shalom 84th Year of the Sisterhood’s (WRS)

Solomon B. Freehof Book and Author Series Thursday, October 4 | 10:30 a.m.

Helen Faye Rosenblum, Writer, Teacher, and Community Reviewer will review: “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh

Sunday, November 4 | 7:00 p.m.

Panel discussion based on the book: “My Own Words” by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

The Panel will be moderated by Lynn Cullen, Author, and Radio Talk Show Host.

The panel consists of: Rabbi Sharon Henry Rabbi Daniel Leshaw Rabbi Jessica Lockets, Rodef Shalom Congregation

Hillel International

Temple Emanuel

p The Tufts University campus in suburban Boston has more than 5,500 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students.

Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The university sees the course as one among many options that offer students an opportunity to “become familiar with a variety of perspectives on important and complex issues facing our global society,” according to a statement from Patrick Collins, the school’s executive director of public relations.

“University-facilitated discussion of these issues does not imply endorsement of a particular view, and we anticipate and welcome the Tufts’ community’s vigorous discussion of varying viewpoints and beliefs,” the statement says.

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This Panel discussion is co-sponsored by the Faith Weinstein Book and Author Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

These book reviews are free and open to the public.

No reservations are needed. Everyone is welcome.

By midweek, fewer than five students had signed up for the course, Shapiro said, reviewing online course registrations.

Collins was unable to confirm how many students had enrolled or pin down whether there is a minimum number required for a class to be offered.

Founded in 1852, Tufts, some six miles north of Boston, has more than 5,500 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students, with a faculty of just over 1,500.

In an email, Collins provided descriptions of several university courses that address a range of perspectives on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, including one at its prestigious graduate program at the Fletcher School that is open to undergraduates.

He also cited an array of courses in Judaic studies and political science that address Israeli politics and culture.

Abowd is the author of the 2014 book “Colonial Jerusalem.” He supports the academic boycott against Israel and signed a boycott statement by Anthropologists for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions.

In an email, Abowd declined a request to discuss his course and a response to the objections raised.

“I’m going to have to decline an interview with you due mostly to the sheer volume of requests I’ve been receiving of

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 9

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Britain’s chief rabbi publishes LGBT guide for Orthodox schools Britain’s chief rabbi published a guidebook for Orthodox Jewish schools to help them provide support for LGBT students in the Jewish community.

The guide by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis calls for a zero-tolerance approach to homophobic or transphobic bullying, despite a biblical prohibition against homosexual acts.

The 36-page booklet, titled “The Wellbeing of LGBT+ Pupils,” was produced with input from LGBT Jews and the support of KeshetUK, an organization promoting equality for LGBT members of the Jewish community.

The booklet in some cases employs Torah values to show the school leaders how to teach students to deal with the issue, such as not speaking ill of others.

Mirvis said in an op-ed published Thursday in the London-based Jewish Chronicle: “Young LGBT+ people in the Jewish community often express feelings of deep isolation, loneliness and a sense that they can never be themselves. Many are living with the fear that if they share their struggles with anyone they will be expelled, ridiculed and even rejected by family and friends. They may even be struggling with a loss of emunah (faith, trust in God) and the fear of losing their place of acceptance and

belonging in the Jewish community.

“I hope that this document will set a precedent for genuine respect, borne out of love for all people across the Jewish world and mindful of the fact that every person is created betzelem Elokim, in the image of God.” Some haredi Orthodox schools in Britain have been criticized by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, or Ofsted, and some sanctioned for failing to teach students about LGBT issues and censoring textbooks with chapters on the topics.

The guide defines LGBT+ as referring to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender, as well as those who are genderfluid, non-binary or questioning their sexuality or gender identity.

Israel closes embassy after Paraguay’s leaves Jerusalem Israel closed its embassy in Paraguay following an announcement by the South American country that it was relocating its embassy back to Tel Aviv four months after moving to Jerusalem.

The move comes as Paraguay joins the effort to bring peace to the Middle East.

“Paraguay wants to contribute to an intensification of regional diplomatic efforts to achieve a broad, fair and lasting peace in the Middle East,” Foreign Minister Luis Alberto Castiglioni told reporters last week.

Shortly after the announcement of the return to Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled his country’s

ADATH JESHURUN CEMETERY

HOLIDAY VISITATIONS Sunday, September 16

On the show’s third episode, Cohen in his guise as Israeli terrorism expert Erran Morad delved into allegations that Moore sexually harassed and assaulted multiple women decades ago, including some who were minors. The allegations came to topple his Senate campaign.

Cohen as Morad demonstrates what he calls a pedophile-detecting device that beeps when it comes near Moore. He also gives Moore a prize for his support of Israel.

“As an Alabamian, I believe in truth and honesty, which the shadowy media groups behind this illicit scheme do not,” Moore said in a Facebook post on July 12 of the taping by Cohen’s team in January.

The episode was aired on July 29, but by then it was well known that the recordings were hoaxes. Moore said at the time that he would sue.

Roy Moore sues Cohen over ‘Who is America’ appearance

Israeli teen falls to death at Yosemite while taking selfie

Roy Moore, a failed Republican candidate for Senate, has sued Sacha Baron Cohen over his humiliating appearance on the comedian’s show “Who is America?”

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges defamation and emotional distress, and asks for $95 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

Moore is the first public figure to sue Cohen after being punked on this summer’s Showtime series. CBS and Showtime also are named in the lawsuit.

An Israeli teen fell to his death while hiking in Yosemite National Park in California while taking a selfie.

Tomer Frankfurter, 18, of Jerusalem, was on a two-month trip to the United States prior to entering the Israeli army.

He is believed to have lost his balance while taking the picture, according to reports.

Israel’s Channel 10 reported that Frankfurter climbed to one of the highest cliffs in the park and stood on an unstable rock while taking the photograph. PJC

This week in Israeli history Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords, brokered by President Jimmy Carter. The accords have two parts: an agreement about the future of relations between the two nations and a framework for implementing Palestinian self-rule.

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

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Sept. 14, 1948 — Palmach integrated Into IDF

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Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announces that the elite Palmach, a Haganah strike force formed in 1941, is being dismantled as an independent force and integrated into the Israel Defense Forces. The move is part of a policy to depoliticize the military and is also applied to the Irgun and the Stern Gang.

Sept. 15, 2009 — Goldstone presents U.N. report

South African Judge Richard Goldstone presents his U.N.-sponsored report criticizing Israel and Hamas for their actions in conflict during the previous December and January. In April 2011, he recants parts of the report that suggest Israel intentionally killed civilians.

Congregation Bet Tikvah www.bettikvah.org (412) 256-8317 Bet Tikvah is a queer-centric independent minyan, including family and friends. We hold services at Rodef Shalom Temple, Fifth & Morewood Aves.

Services are free and open to all. No tickets needed.

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10 SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

ambassador to Paraguay and then ordered the Israeli embassy closed. Netanyahu also holds the foreign minister’s portfolio.

Paraguay opened its new embassy in Jerusalem in May, a week after the United States moved its embassy to the capital from Tel Aviv and days after Guatemala.

A previous embassy in a Jerusalem suburb was closed in 2012 in retaliation for Israel shuttering its diplomatic mission in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion as part of a round of budget cuts. A new Paraguayan embassy opened a year later near Tel Aviv.

Then-President Horacio Cartes, who left office in mid-August when the government of Mario Abdo Benitez took over, announced in late April during an event in Asuncion marking Israel’s 70th Independence Day that he planned to move the embassy before the end of his term.

Sept. 16, 1977 — Dayan meets with Egyptian

Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan holds secret talks in Morocco with Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Hassan Tuhami to enable the two sides to assess each other’s willingness to negotiate seriously toward a peace agreement.

Sept. 17, 1978 — Camp David Accords signed

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Sept. 18, 1949 — Compulsory Education Law implemented

The Compulsory Education Law, passed Sept.

12, goes into effect. It requires all children ages 5 to 15 to attend recognized educational institutions and provides for free elementary education. A provision allowing parents to send children to schools that are part of a recognized trend leads to separate school systems for Arabs, Druze and religious Jews.

Sept. 19, 1988 — Ofek 1 launched

Israel launches its first space satellite, the 340-pound Ofek 1, from an undisclosed location near the Mediterranean Sea. Ofek 1 (named for the Hebrew word for horizon) makes Israel the ninth country capable of launching a satellite.

Sept. 20, 1890 — Rahel Bluwstein Born

Rahel Bluwstein, considered the founding mother of modern Hebrew poetry, is born in Russia. She begins writing poetry at age 15 and makes aliyah in 1909. PJC

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Sukkot Small sukkah or surplus of space, here’s the one item you need this holiday the ultimate Sukkot survival guide: If there is one thing every sukkah needs it is “a false wall to a man cave section,” said the

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer Squirrel Hill denizen.

Adam Pollack, a local recreational t its minimum, a sukkah requires craftsman, equally appreciates the cavernous three walls with the size of each qualities within some structures, which is being roughly two feet in length, why he said, “I believe the most neglected two feet in width and three feet in height. aspect of most sukkahs is the lighting.” Many These dimensions have been times there will just be a “single, debated within Jewish writings too bright bulb” suspended for more than 1,500 years, but from above and “you don’t whether reviewing the Talmud’s want your sukkah to feel like an take or that of later commentainterrogation room.” tors, it’s clear that long before Through the use of “several HGTV allowed viewers to strands of clear Christmas voyeuristically enjoy “radical lights,” which he admittedly downsizing,” the subject of tiny purchased “on clearance at houses was of considerable Home Depot the first week of Jewish interest.

January,” Pollack created an In a similar nod to miniaesthetic effect in which his malism, the Pittsburgh Jewish sukkah is less like the torture Chronicle reached out to scene from “Syriana” (2005) community members with and instead has “a beautiful a single question: “If you warm and inviting glow.” could recommend one item Illumination is important readers have in their sukkah, but pales in contradistincwhat would it be?” tion to these constituents: There were those who As for a critical component responded tersely, which of the sukkah, Maimonides, seemed almost apropos, and the medieval Jewish theoloothers who gave great thought gian, wrote in the Mishneh to a solitary suggestion.

Torah, his 12th century Rabbi Seth Adelson, of legal compendium, “When Congregation Beth Shalom, a person eats and drinks [in said, “Let’s go with a utility celebration of the holiday], knife, like a Leatherman or he is obligated to feed the Swiss Army knife.” convert, orphan, widow and The ability to easily open others who are destitute and cans should not be neglected, poor. Conversely, a person imparted the spiritual guide. who locks the gates of his Similarly practical in her courtyard and eats and drinks advisement was Stefanie Small with his children and wife, of Squirrel Hill, who noted, without providing food and “I’d say an extra table, not so drink to the poor, and remains much for guests but because embittered, is not rejoicing you never realize how much in the seasonal commandsmaller a folding table is than ment, but rather rejoicing your regular dining room table in his stomach.” until you’ve run out of room for The upcoming holiday is a all your food, drinks, challah chance for merriment and gathand place settings.” ering. But in moments of repose The idea was comparable to one old-school apparatus Stephen Neustein’s, who as past shines, explained Rabbi Stacy international vice president Petersohn, of Congregation of the Federation of Jewish Emanu-El Israel in Greensburg.

Men’s Clubs, recommended a “I would recommend that “table and chairs.” everyone have a copy of a book For some people, paring that they absolutely love in their down excess objects and detersukkah — not an e-reader or mining one element proved an audiobook, but a real paper challenging, and, like classical book. With a book, there is no Jewish thinkers, these responchance of getting bored and no dents parried the query with worries about losing battery in a question of their own, such the process of reading it,” said as “Who else is going to be Petersohn. It’s a “great way to to have. there?” or “Will I be sleeping p No matter how you decorate your sukkah, there is always an essential item Photos disconnect and enjoy time in courtesy of Eliyahu Alpern in the sukkah?” the sukkah.” PJC] Other parties offered direct and themati- with the Hermès-designed handbag known Comfort comes at a premium this time of Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz cally relevant replies. as a Birkin — as her ideal choice. year so ensuring optimal surroundings is key.

“A lulav or etrog,” said Mark Frisch, Arielle Avishai, who consulted with her For that reason, Josh Swedarsky devised @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

— SUKKOT —

A

an associate professor in the department of modern languages and literatures at Duquesne University, but “if those don’t count, a piece of fruit or a vegetable.”

Shira Berkowitz, who arrived in Pittsburgh last year from New York, shifted between footie pajamas and a birkon — the booklet containing the traditional grace after meals and celebratory songs, not to be confused

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husband Avi Avishai, both of whom actively cure beef as part of their Smokey Nat’s BBQ business, said, “An air conditioner.”

With heat index values reaching as high as they have recently, that might have been the most pragmatic of answers. But in the event of an unexpected chill, hand warmers may be best, remarked Donielle Morgenstern of Pittsburgh.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 11

W

e at the Chronicle appreciate the support you have given us during the transition to our new look, our new website and our new weekly electronic newsletter, and above all the switch to free subscriptions for all members of the Jewish community of Greater Pittsburgh. We thank you, our community, for being with us during the transition and for responding so positively to our first annual appeal. appeal You were here for us so that we can continue to be here for you.

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We send you and your loved ones our best wishes for a healthy and happy 5779.

G’mar chatima tova.

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 13

Opinion A useful tool or a powerful weapon?

— EDITORIAL —

T

he power of speech and the havoc it can wreak has forever been a concern of our Jewish sages. They take talk seriously, emphasizing in particular the precept that a person should never shame another in public — likening that sin to murder.

As we recite the Al Chet (confession of sins) this Yom Kippur, the weight that Judaism puts on proper communication is clear: Of the 43 sins enumerated, 11 of them have to do with speech.

This year, like each year, those of us who

attempt meaningful self-reflection will recognize where we have gone astray and ponder ways we can improve our behavior in the coming year. As the community enters into this introspection, as individuals as well as a collective, we hope that those sins related to speech are considered earnestly.

We live in a time where public speech has taken a wrong turn, a time when our tweeterin-chief hurls vulgar, mean insults at everyone from the late Sen. John McCain (questioning his heroism) to LeBron James (“the dumbest man on television”) to former political aid Omarosa Manigault-Newman — whom he called a “dog” and a “crazed, crying lowlife.”

But our president is far from the only one

guilty of these sins. We can look to those on the political left as well, some of whose comments have been equally outrageous.

Remember Robert De Niro at the Tony Awards a few months ago? He got a standing ovation for shouting “F--- Trump!”

Television comedy star Samantha Bee earlier this summer called Ivanka Trump a “feckless c---.” Joy Behar, a host of the ABC show “The View,” called Vice President Mike Pence “mentally ill” because of his Christian convictions. To her credit, Behar issued a public apology afterward.

While these are examples of public figures whose speech has gone haywire, they are not the only ones guilty of the sins of speech.

It seems that we have become a society of insulters. Some of us post offensive memes on social media. Some of us refuse to even talk to others whose political views differ from our own, while others of us spread rumors — either verbally or on the internet — without bothering to check the facts.

The sound of the shofar summons us to do better, to work toward rebuilding our society into one that seeks to protect the common good, and to repair the divisiveness that has taken over our country and our community.

We can start by taking heed of what we say, and how we say it.

May this year be one of healing.

G’mar chatima tova. PJC

Meaning well does not always do well Guest Columnist Saul Golubcow

V

arious news stories recently have called attention to a quandary facing the Jewish community in knowing when to confront or walk away from a seeming ally with whom we believe we have common cause but who also appears hostile to a core part of ourselves. The difficulty is even greater when our Jewish sense of justice is mediating for assisting that ally.

Two instances point out these challenges.

The appropriation of the Women’s March movement by blatant anti-Semites and Israel haters such as Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour — who have stated openly that one cannot be a Zionist and a feminist, who have shamelessly associated themselves with Louis Farrakhan, and who gallingly agitated for Starbucks to drop the Anti-Defamation League as a contributor to anti-bias training — appears to have become an intersectionality almost too far for most Jewish women associated with that movement.

Carly Pildis, a strong voice for Jewish social advocacy, writing a few months ago in Tablet frames her problem as follows: “Pitching a big tent is critical to creating a movement that can mobilize for change. I have partnered with people and organizations I have fierce policy disagreements with in order to win big victories. That said, there are lines that can’t be crossed in the name of progress.” Yet for Pildis and many others who see themselves as Jewish social justice warriors, the crossing of the anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism line does not create a total break with supposed “allies” who have venom in their hearts and ill-intent against Jews.

Winning “big victories” overrides the menace Pildis recognizes as she claims to “have forgiven people for engaging in anti-Semitic rhetoric in my local community.” Even though Jewish women like Pildis are not welcome in Mallory’s tent, Pildis says she would welcome Mallory to 14 SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

her table so that she can discuss all aspects of hate with her.

A second example involves a trip last July by members of T’ruah, The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, to the Mexican border to ally with Mijente, a Latino group protesting immigration policies. Mijente leadership praised the Jewish contingent for showing up and “supporting the young kids throwing rocks at all borders,” a blatant reference to scenes of Palestinians throwing rocks and incendiary devices at Israeli soldiers. Other speakers described borders, fences and walls as police state oppressions, again rhetorical expressions for delegitimizing Israel.

These anti-Israel aspersions were met with Jewish silence.

Following the protests, Rabbi David Hoffman, a vice chancellor at the Jewish Theological Seminary, concluded that despite feelings of discomfort at hearing anti-Israel rhetoric, he did not rue his silence because he did not want to miss an “opportunity to build foundations for a real transformative exchange of ideas,” a motivation very similar to Pildis’ having Tamika Mallory to dinner.

It’s interesting how choices are made when one’s argument comes neatly wrapped in a moral imperative that also supposedly militates against speaking out against one’s own people’s welfare. T’ruah, after Charlottesville last year, appropriately called President Donald Trump to task for his “lackluster statement … which refuses to condemn white supremacists [and] only encourages these dangerous racists.” As T’ruah set an example of finding even a lackluster response to anti-Semitism unacceptable, shouldn’t T’ruah have also had only one response to the Mijente anti-Israel rhetoric: zero tolerance?

The difference may be that T’ruah views the cause Mijente espouses as part of a progressive, social justice vanguard that is excused for being incorrect when it comes to Israel and anti-Semitism because other interests match. I imagine that’s why Pildis would have Mallory, a manifest anti-Semite, at her table but rightly would not do so for a white supremacist. In substance and projected harm to Jews, is there really any difference between the two?

The Talmud teaches us, shtikah k’hodaah, silence means consent. The Mijente leadership, hearing no counter response, reflecting on no pain or anger or repudiation from its Jewish allies, would they not conclude that the silence means that even the Jewish folks are with them, not only on immigration policy but also on the negative way they feel about Israel (oh, and maybe about Jews in general)?

Might they also consider taking another leap by ratcheting up the rhetoric and supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement or any other initiative that delegitimizes Israel? At some point, Farrakhan’s outrageous description of Judaism being a “gutter religion” may not sound so outlandish to them.

Because the T’ruah rabbis and Pildis are Jewish leaders and role models, how they respond to anti-Semitism and Israel delegitimization is critical, particularly for our Jewish youth.

Many of our children on college campuses are attacked and made to feel guilty with accusations of white (Jewish) privilege, economic class exploitation and fifth-column behavior in support of Israel. Cowed into silence, insecure in their emotions and at times succumbing to a Stockholm syndrome affiliation with their bullies and accusers, our vulnerable youth are left reeling and in need of defenders and advocates. There may have been Jewish college students at the border with T’ruah listening to the Mijente leadership’s invective. What were they to think?

How were they to act?

As they waited to see what their own leaders would do, did they not need a champion to say, “The words we are hearing from Mijente leadership are absolutely unacceptable!” If they hear that Mallory sat at Pildis’ table uttering useless deflections, what will the acceptance of that coarse sophistry do to their resolve in standing up to anti-Semitism?

It’s difficult to argue with someone like Hoffman who virtuously claims as an explanation for his inaction that “focusing on our shared humanity” is a righteous impulse.

But we have also been endowed with seichel,

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with common sense as a complement to our hearts and souls.

When one’s own family, people, community and homeland is in danger, seichel should serve as a counter balance to the well-meaning impulses toward the welfare of others so that we also consider the safety of our own. While saving others, pursuing justice, and protecting the stranger are core Jewish values, the Torah also states, “You shall keep My laws and My rules and live by them,” which commentators for millennia have interpreted to mean to live by and not die for them.

Today, in our cultural and political environments where special group interests predominate, perhaps we must find ways to ally with others to accomplish certain objectives. But allies respect strength and resolve from their partners, not a one-way street where one party gives away heart and soul and gets trampled in return.

Not responding to Mijente’s anti-Zionist drivel exhibited self-abnegating weakness in the relationship and was a missed opportunity by Jewish participants to have educated a community that has a poor understanding of our history, love of Israel, the danger Israel faces in being surrounded by enemies vowing its annihilation and our pain in listening to the diatribes aimed at us.

Pildis extending hospitality to Mallory demonstrates a misplaced generosity of spirit that affords dignity to assaultive malevolence. It might make one feel virtuous in the moment but, like victims of domestic abuse, indicates that for the sake of the relationship, I will suffer your outrages and hope you will change.

No, as we ally with other communities, we must stand up proudly and make it clear that there can be no friendship between us if you spew anti-Semitic and Israel-bashing sentiments regardless of how much agreement exists elsewhere. If you cannot abide by these terms, we are perfectly capable of continuing our work in building a better world without you. PJC Saul Golubcow lives and writes in suburban Washington, D.C.

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Opinion Only Jewish education can help bridge the Israel-Diaspora divide Guest Columnist Pinchas Goldschmidt

I

srael’s passage of the nation-state law brought another round of barrages across the Atlantic underlining the growing alienation of the world’s two largest Jewish communities. The issues are increasingly familiar: American pluralism versus Jewish exceptionalism, Orthodox versus Liberal, nationalism versus enlightenment.

Yes, we have a problem. Israel and American Jewry are growing apart from one other. It would be wrong to put the responsibility of this growing schism only on the Israeli government, or Israeli civil society, since Diaspora denominations have changed, too. The American Reform movement, for example, unilaterally introduced patrilineal descent, redefining Jewishness.

These tensions were aired in Ronald Lauder’s recent op-ed in The New York Times, in which the president of the World Jewish Congress argued that the nation-state law betrayed Israel’s universalist values and that the country’s religious establishment was alienating non-Orthodox Jews in the Diaspora. Reading between the lines, I sensed the anguish of a father and grandfather who sees his children distancing themselves from their people and ancestral homeland.

Naftali Bennett, Israel’s education and Diaspora minister, responded to Lauder’s op-ed with one of his own in the same newspaper, pushing back in defense of Israel’s right to pass such laws. Bennett seems uninterested in bettering relations with the Diaspora — in direct contradiction to his title and portfolio. He did not understand that the main question posed by Lauder was not “who is right and who is wrong,” but what can we do to minimize the divide between Israel and American Jewry.

As American Jews are grappling with the direction their country is taking, and struggling to identify with a non-utopian Israel, the search for fresh waters from the well of our Jewish sources is called for.

Liberal Diaspora denominations count fewer followers in the U.S., and the Jews there are being assimilated into an increasingly secular country. The empty synagogues will have to be replaced with the classrooms of Jewish schools. The challenge of giving over 1 million Jewish children a minimal Jewish education can and should be tackled if the government of Israel will take a lead and major Jewish philanthropists will join.

In the beginning of the 1990s, when the Jewish Zionist establishment vehemently opposed the idea of establishing schools in the former Soviet Union, Lauder was among the first to understand that Jewish continuity, especially in the secularized post-Soviet countries, can only be guaranteed by formal Jewish education. The establishment

of two dozen schools in Eastern and Central Europe in the beginning of the ‘90s by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation guaranteed a positive Jewish identity for tens of thousands of children of Jewish families.

(Full disclosure: My wife, Dara, is the head of the Lauder Etz Chaim School in Moscow, the largest Jewish day school in the former Soviet Union with currently almost 600 children.)

Having the honor to meet and speak to many of the thousands of graduates of our schools in Moscow, I can attest to the impact on the identity and personal commitment to the Jewish cause of the students of the Lauder school.

These children’s lives are forever changed.

— LETTERS — What’s our excuse?

Many thanks for an excellent and thought-provoking op-ed, but it does not touch on the question that troubles me the most (“Holocaust Museum’s exhibit makes excuses for FDR,” Aug. 31). Why did we, the American Jewish community, not do more to force our government to take necessary action?

In the 1930s, the U.S. population included more than 4.4 million Jews. We had been told what was going on under the Nazis in the Europe. Kristallnacht in 1938 made it crystal clear what Hitler intended to do to us. At least a tenth of our population should have gone to Washington and gathered in front of the White House with a simple message: “President Roosevelt, we love you. Most of us voted for you and hope to do so again. But we’re staying here until you take decisive action to save the lives of our people in Europe.”

I doubt FDR would have ignored a half million determined supporters. Would some other Americans have called us “pushy”? Of course. But we had the facts. This would have been the time to make our case to our fellow Americans.

Why did we not do more to demand action to save our people? Well, one of the glories of the FDR administration was the number of Jews in positions high and low, who helped Roosevelt’s ideas become administrative realities. They literally helped save the republic. But, was it possible that the very number of our people, in responsible positions, might have been one reason we were not more forceful on this issue? The word “tragedy” is over-used and misused, but here it might really apply.

Jonathan Robison Squirrel Hill

We as a people are out of balance.

The world is out of balance.

What Lauder has achieved in Central and Eastern Europe should be applied now in the United States, where the continuity of the largest community outside of Israel is in danger.

Communities such as the United Kingdom, Australia and France have achieved great strides in recent years toward this goal. The great majority of their children receive a formal Jewish education; there is no reason why this should not be attainable in the U.S. Every Diaspora Jew is the carrier of dual identities — the national one and the Jewish one — trying to juggle and reconcile and build a symbiosis. Trying to strike the balance between enlightenment and tradition has not been easy.

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, in his latest book “Enlightenment Now,” argued that the Enlightenment improved humanity by replacing “dogma, tradition and authority with reason, debate and institutions of truth-seeking.” Yoram Hazony of The Herzl Institute, in a response to Pinker, said that if the response of the Jews to the Enlightenment had been absolute, then the Zionist movement — which drew its passion and strength from the vast sources of Jewish tradition and history — would never have been born and we wouldn’t have had a Jewish state today.

We as a people are out of balance. The world is out of balance. The climate is out of balance, and geopolitics are increasingly shrill and simplistic, polarizing friends and family members. Let us try to regain some balance and perspective for the sake of our future, of our children — before it is too late. PJC Pinchas Goldschmidt has been the chief rabbi of Moscow since 1993, serving at the Moscow Choral Synagogue and since 2011 as president of the Conference of European Rabbis.

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 15

Headlines God: Continued from page 1

meaning you can’t really fulfill all the aspects of prayer until you are part of a group. And I find that is really essential.

It doesn’t matter where your head is; it doesn’t matter where the other at least nine people’s heads are; you’ve gathered together for this holy purpose, and there is real power to that in the sense of connection to other people. And prayer, if done correctly, should in fact connect us to others and sensitize us to their needs, and I hope to the needs of the world.

I think we need more prayer. It doesn’t matter if God is listening.

What distinguishes the High Holidays, I think, from the rest of the year is that I think people are really open at this time to what our tradition offers. That’s why I’m not going to talk about the Book of Life [in my High Holiday sermons], but I’m going to talk about what it means to be a better person.

What does it mean to increase the love in this world? What does it mean for me to spend a little time on these three days in communion with God and my community reciting these words of prayer? How can I take something meaningful from that?

Leaving God and theology aside, I am convinced that our tradition offers a lot for us to learn from and to improve our lives — to make our relationships better, to elevate the holiness in our community, to bring people together. Our tradition teaches us to focus on improving our lives. And whether or not there is a divine ear is secondary. Not irrelevant, but secondary.

The Hebrew word l’hitpallel means to pray. It doesn’t mean to mumble words in an ancient language. It literally means to judge oneself. It is reflexive. It reflects back at us.

We are standing in judgment on ourselves — and that doesn’t just have to happen on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I do that every morning and every evening. It’s not easy, but that’s what it’s for.

Our primary goal should not be to seek God, but rather to seek holy moments: the moments of acknowledgment of wonder in our lives, of the sanctity of life and family and relationships.

Rabbi Yisoel Altein, rabbi of Chabad of Squirrel Hill (Chabad-Lubavitch)

According to Chasidic Kabbalistic theology, when we are thinking about God in general, we are talking about the true and real existence of everything — reality, ourselves, p Yisroel Altein the world, everyFile photo thing that happens.

To quote the verse, when the Jews were at Mt. Sinai, they were shown “that nothing exists other than God.” When I am talking to God, it’s talking to real existence, not only of some true existence outside myself, but also to my true existence, my true self.

In Chasidic literature there is a lot of talk about the word tefillah; it doesn’t just mean prayer but comes from the word “connection.”

16 SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Obviously, prayer is a connection with God, but it is also finding God inside of me.

When you ask, “Am I praying to God or am I hearing myself?” it’s one and the same.

Prayer is about where I can connect to God. Prayer would be a time to speak to God, but also a time to find myself, to prioritize and recognize who I really am, what my needs are really here to serve.

There is absolutely a divine ear. The divine reality, God — again, we can’t wrap our heads around what this means, this true reality, God, it’s beyond our limitations — but this Supreme Being, which is the truth of all reality, is listening to us. As much as we are seeking that connection with God, God is seeking a connection with us.

Prayer is a time to develop this relationship with God and ourselves, or ourselves with God. And in order to really do that — because we have to uncover the true self — we have all these metaphors. Believe it or not, our connection is like a parent to a child, a spouse, teacher/student, sibling. And the reason for that is, everything that exists is coming from God. That fact is that all these relationships in the physical world reflect these relationships with God. Our relationship with God is so multi-leveled that we can fit in any one of those relationships with God and it’s true.

The most important relationship on the High Holidays is king/subject, which is mentioned throughout the liturgy and is probably the most common or most visual relationship that’s in the High Holiday liturgy.

Our relationship is multi-tiered, and different moments, different people, different occasions, bring out those different levels of relationships. It’s all metaphors to help us appreciate. But it’s not just a metaphor; there is an element of our relationship with God that mirrors any of these analogies that are used throughout either our liturgy or literature in expressing our relationship with God. I think the balance between the two ideas — Aveinu Malkenu — where the focus is on God as king, but also the personal relationship of God as father, or even as a spouse, go together. We combine the two, because even when we are talking about God with trepidation — God as king — that important focus of recognizing the loving approach that God has to us is what we are here to reciprocate back. And that is supposed to be a warm, meaningful experience on the High Holidays. That doesn’t mean we are making light of the kingship but putting the kingship in the proper perspective, that awe and trepidation don’t have to be in contradiction to joy, warmth and comfort.

Rabbi Aaron Bisno, Rodef Shalom Congregation (Reform)

While we have a textural tradition that says we were created in God’s image, in point of fact, we human beings created a God in our image. And God was to the rabbis, the rabbi par excelp Aaron Bisno File photo lence. If the rabbis could be judicious in their rulings, because God is judicious, or they could be merciful, they could be like God. They projected onto

God the very best humanized qualities that they wanted to aspire toward.

Much of liturgy, I believe, is in such an arcane kind of voice, that while it resonates as mantra, if we unpack it, we can see some historical development about our concept of God, but it’s really just sort of mantra. The liturgy frustrates our ability to get at what we want most to talk about here.

When someone comes up to me and says, “I don’t believe in God,” my retort is usually something like, “The god you don’t believe in, I don’t believe in either.” Let’s all agree we are going to reject the old man on the throne theory.

When we recite, “What are we God that you are mindful of us?” I actually don’t believe in a God that’s taking note of me.

The verb “to pray” in Hebrew is l’hitpallel — in this we have tefillah — and it’s a reflexive verb. What that means is, the one who does the action, it is to them that the action is actually happening. So, l’hitpallel is to “pray yourself ” as it were. It’s to have an effect internally.

But I can use God language to get there — that is to say, to recognize that when I make choices, some choices are better than other choices, and choices have consequences. If I make good choices then I can continue in that direction, whereas if I start making choices that are not in my best interest, or are nefarious, or that are against my ideal over my conscience, then it becomes easier to do that. The idea is that the efficacy of prayer in Jewish thought is on the one who is doing the praying.

The inner voice that animates you and gives you personality, whether it is articulated or not, whether it comes across your lips or whether it’s inside — the idea is that the effect is on you, that you might be inspired to bring about peace, or you might create it, that you should find it.

Do I believe when I pray that I’m praying to God? The answer is, that’s not the idiom that works best for me. That’s not the image I have. I take seriously the idea of l’hitpallel, that prayer is to have an effect on me.

When we’re praying, ultimately we have the greatest impact on ourselves, and our relationships with others.

So, are we actually directing our prayers to some deity, or some concept of the divine, to something larger than ourselves which may suspend disbelief, or is it inside you? That’s the constant tension.

On the one hand, each of us ultimately is alone in the world, but we make connections and we experience emotions, and we decide we are going to invest in certain relationships which gives us a sense of significance.

And, at the exact same time, the world would work just fine without any one of us in it.

And both are true.

You can make your life meaningful, and you can make your beliefs have impact.

Ultimately, what you believe is interesting. What your beliefs lead you to do is significant.

Rabbi Doris Dyen, rabbi for the independent havurah Makom HaLev (ReconstructionistRenewal)

There are times in life when the sense of the presence of holiness can be really strong. I feel God’s presence deeply around the High

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Holidays, and at other times, such as life events when someone I love is close to death, or when someone I care about has just had a baby. Then there are other moments when I find myself asking, p Doris Dyen File photo “Where is God? Is anything out there? Does anyone care?”

Perhaps both experiences are true not only for me but for many people.

When I’ve been very ill, it can be a struggle to say, “God is here for me.” What does that really mean? At times like that it’s been useful to reframe my thinking: “Okay, what are the things that have helped me? Who are the people who have been there for me?” So maybe God is not about anything external, but instead it’s that God is in us, the sense of Godliness is within us, if we’re open to it.

For example, I believe that the ability to forgive is Godly. So, to the extent that I am able to forgive someone else, I am expressing the very best that is in this world, and therefore emulating what “Godly” is.

When someone forgives me for something I’ve done to hurt them, that person is manifesting Godliness.

On Yom Kippur, asking forgiveness from the Holy Universe is a way of saying, “I am not isolated in this world. I have to live with other people. I have to be connected; I want to be connected.” Perhaps God is in that connection. If so, then to the extent that you or I can strengthen that connection — one person to another to another to another — we increase the amount of Godliness in the world: the “God-Field.”

In my rabbinic training, we were taught to look at the way God is perceived at different times in Jewish history. We came to recognize that God is described in different ways in Tanach, even within Torah itself. In Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy, God appears as a parental entity “out there,” one with humanlike emotions, one who intervenes in world affairs and one who punishes or rewards. But in the book of Leviticus, we encounter God as a powerful source of spiritual energy in the universe, analogous to nuclear energy: a Force that can make wonderful things happen, but one that can also be extremely destructive, if not dealt with well.

We’re no longer talking about reward or punishment here. This concept leads to a different way of thinking about Godliness: the idea that the things every one of us does have an impact in the world. If we make plants grow that can give life to another person or that can help feed others, and we do it in a responsible way that helps the planet’s sustainability, we are treating that powerful force with respect. But if we throw tons of plastic garbage in the oceans and start killing off fish and decimating life, then we are not treating that powerful force properly and it will become destructive.

I believe it is the weight of all of these concerns that we are being asked to confront during the High Holidays. What have we done or failed to do on the personal level to manifest the Godliness within us? What have we done or failed to on the global level to work in harmony with the universe’s Please see God, page 17

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Headlines God: Continued from page 16

powerful unseen God-energy, what Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan called “the force that makes for salvation”? The transformative force that enables change to happen, the dynamic spiritual force that allows for creativity. What have we done or failed to do that would bring about changes for the better?

Opening to God during the High Holidays is therefore not about asking for rewards or fearing punishment. Instead it means heeding the call to face who we are, who we really are at this moment.

Rabbi Daniel Yolkut, Congregation Poale Zedeck (Modern Orthodox)

This is a time of year when we are taught that we experience God’s proximity in a different kind of way, that we perhaps awaken ourselves to something that is always there, but that we don’t take the time to think about or to feel. The Talmud interprets the Book

of Isaiah, ‘Call to Him when He is close,’ as a reference to the period from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur, when we feel this sense of connection, connection to the infinite.

The notion in p Daniel Yolkut File photo Judaism of closeness to God is an undeniably radical one.

On the one hand, God, who is the source of everything, is other, that He is wholly different than we mortal physical creatures are. Paradoxically, at the same time, we believe God is imminent, that He is there, that He is accessible, that He can be a source of connection of comfort, He is approachable in prayer, and that He is listening to our prayers, even though we are small and inconsequential by comparison, that God is interested in us and gave us mitzvot in the Torah to shape our lives.

All of Judaism is predicated on this idea that God cares about us, and is interested in us, and is rooting for us, notwithstanding

all of our flaws. And the truth is, isn’t that what we are all looking for in life in general?

Someone who knows everything about us — and still cares about us.

Capturing what that means comes with work. There are times when God’s presence is intuitive. There are times when we feel God, be it going somewhere like the Grand Canyon, the birth of a child, sometimes at a time of loss — the notion that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves and that all of this has to have a meaning is almost intuitive. At the same time, that kind of natural feeling has to be nurtured and given a context. So one of the prayers that really highlights that is on Yom Kippur. Before we come to the section on confession, there is a prayer called “We are your nation,” which goes through a litany of different models of trying to understand or trying to think about what it means to be connected to God. So, we say, “we are your people, you are our God, we are your children, you are our father, we are your sheep, you are our shepherd, we are your friend, you are our beloved.

We are your nation, you are our king.” This

series of metaphors attempts to capture what is on some level extremely abstract, but that we naturally know must be there. We process our relationship with God in a more vivid way by integrating these models, but being overly hung up on any of the models misses the point. Each person has to find their own balance between these different pieces in a way that allows God into their lives.

This is a time about reconnecting to God, reconnecting with the idea that God has a plan for the cosmos and the Jewish people and every person, that God will reveal himself to the world, that the world will be transformed into a society where everyone has a shared sense of connection to God and a sense of mission, and committing ourselves to that vision.

At the same time, it is self-reflecting, a time of looking at ourselves trying to take an honest look at our shortcomings, where we want to grow, where we want to change and how we. So it is really both at the same time. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Selichot: Continued from page 1

“The community is changing,” he continued. “The numbers are what they are and the fact that we’ll come together so that our sum is greater than our parts is an inevitability. It’s nice to see people embracing this ahead of necessity.”

The 2017 Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study, which the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh released in February, found that while the Jewish population is growing, denominational affiliation is dropping; only 35 percent of Jewish households belong to a synagogue or other Jewish worship community, declining by 53 percent in the last 15 years. Additionally, the proportion of Jews who claim no denominational affiliation has increased from 17 percent to 30 percent of the population.

Even before the results of the study were released, most representatives from the participating congregations said their communities have been working hard to embrace more collaboration, particularly around special services including selichot, Simchat Torah and Tisha B’av.

Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation said these collaborations help synagogues pull together not only their members but also their finances, which allows for more creativity in programming — inviting the Afro-Semitic Experience, for example. “[The selichot service] continued to demonstrate to the community the value in collaboration and how we all benefit from it,” he said. “We’re far better and stronger when we can all work together.”

The service itself combined traditional liturgy with melodies that resonated with jazz, bluegrass, funk, soul and many other different backgrounds of music, one of the main goals of the Afro-Semitic Experience.

The group also evokes Jewish cantorial music in its sets, including several songs from Yossele Rosenblatt, a cantor from the 1950s.

Stephen Cohen, co-president of New Light Congregation, described the evening as an

p Members of the Afro-Semitic Experience perform at S’lichot: An Evening of Reflection, Devotion & Jazz.

Photo courtesy of Temple Sinai

“overture to the High Holiday opera,” particularly for people who do not generally attend a selichot service.

“It combined the beauty of the service with the beauty of the music which is very unusual and very different,” he said. “I think it was a fantastic combination of two different strands into a tapestry.”

For Rabbi Seth Adelson of Congregation

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Beth Shalom, the fact that the congregations collaborated on this particular service had a special meaning. At the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, he said, it is traditional to quote Isaiah 57:19 — “Shalom: shalom to those who are far off, shalom to those who are near, says Adonai” — in some ways to recognize that many people are returning to synagogue who haven’t been there in a while.

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“There’s this sense of togetherness that we acknowledge as we enter Rosh Hashanah,” he said. “So what I really liked about this [selichot service] was the sense of togetherness, this sense of we’re gathering together in preparation of the High Holidays.” PJC Lauren Rosenblatt can be reached at lrosenblatt@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 17

Headlines

Torah

Israelis want American Jewish help in promoting religious pluralism, study finds

Afflictions of happiness

— RELIGION —

By Ben Sales | JTA

T

he latest version of an annual survey shows that Jewish Israelis disapprove of how their government handles religious issues. It shows that they want more liberal religious policies. And it says they want American Jews to intervene in the debate.

The one wrinkle is that when Jewish Israelis talk about “religious freedom,” they are mostly talking about a different set of issues than their American counterparts. American Jewish institutions have poured their energy into changes at the Western Wall and blocking restrictions on Jewish conversion. But Jewish Israelis mostly care about quotidian issues like public transit on Saturdays and government funding of yeshivas.

Those are some of the takeaways from an annual survey of attitudes among Jewish Israelis on religion and state conducted

by Hiddush, an Israeli organization that supports religious pluralism. The survey questioned 800 Jewish Israelis in July and has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

“The overwhelming majority views negatively the government’s policy on religion and state, opposes practically every aspect of any decision or any issue, whether it’s the [military] draft or marriage or public transit on Shabbat,” said Rabbi Uri Regev, the founder and CEO of Hiddush. “The public does want freedom, does oppose government decisions and policies. The public wants Diaspora Jewish involvement in promoting religious freedom.”

As it does every year, the survey found that Jewish Israelis are far more liberal on religious issues than their government. The government’s religious policies are largely administered by the haredi Orthodox Chief Rabbinate, which only recognizes Orthodox rabbis, Orthodox weddings, Orthodox conversion and Orthodox kosher certifi-

cation. Israel bans nearly all public transit on Shabbat. It does not recognize same-sex marriages performed in the country.

But two-thirds of Jewish Israelis support separation of religion and state, representing an increase of 10 percentage points since 2012. Seventy percent back government recognition of all forms of marriage, including civil marriage — an increase from 53 percent in 2009. Sixty-six percent support the three major denominations of Judaism — Orthodox, Conservative and Reform — enjoying equal status in Israel.

Nearly half support recognition of all forms of Jewish conversion, while an additional 28 percent support a liberalization of current conversion regulations. More than 70 percent want increased public transit on Shabbat.

The survey does have some good news for fans of Israel’s religious status quo. On issue after issue — from conversion to marriage to kosher certification — younger respondents favored more traditionalist policies than their elders. While more than 80 percent of respondents over age 50 support separation of religion and state in Israel, for example, only 42 percent of those under 29 do.

Regev, a Reform rabbi, said part of this divide is due to high haredi birth rates. But he said it’s also due to “an element of contrarianism you find in young people.”

And while only 22 percent of Israelis identify as religious or haredi — and 13 percent self-identify as Conservative or Reform — a greater part of the population has traditional religious tendencies. Nearly half of Jewish Israelis observe Shabbat partially or fully. And given the choice between different types of weddings, most would still opt to be married in an Orthodox ceremony — either under the Chief Rabbinate’s auspices or outside of it.

But while 76 percent of Jewish Israelis express dissatisfaction with the current government’s religious policies, it may not make a difference. Israelis have not historically voted on religious issues, prioritizing security and economic concerns. PJC

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Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Parshat Vayelech Deuteronomy 31:1-31:30

I

s Yom Kippur a happy day or a sad day?

Many associate the Day of Atonement with solemnity and trepidation. Indeed, according to most translations, the Torah specifically states regarding this holiest of days, “You shall afflict your souls” (Leviticus 16:29).

The great Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, however, suggests a radically different understanding of the day. “On Tisha B’Av, I can’t eat because I’m so sad,” he said. “On Yom Kippur I have no need to eat, because I’m so happy.” But what of the command to afflict oneself? What is the basis for his happiness?

In truth, his interpretation reflects a deep insight about the essence of the day, based on the fact that the Hebrew letters that form the root for “affliction” (ayin-nun-yud) are also the letters that form the root for expressions of joyous song. For example, the Torah states regarding the declaration of the farmer, who, filled with feelings of happiness, brings the First Fruits (bikkurim) to the Temple: (v’anita v’amarta), “You shall happily sing and declare” (Deuteronomy 26:5).

Similarly, at the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the Torah reports, using the same root, “And Miriam [happily] sang to them” (Exodus 15:21).

This gives us a fresh perspective on the aforementioned verse in Leviticus, which as we noted above, is usually translated as “you shall afflict yourselves.” However, re-reading the Hebrew original — in light of the above — we can accurately understand it as “you shall make your souls sing.” Indeed, the next verse explains why we should be happy: “For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to purify you; from all your sins shall you be purified before God.” We can now gain an appreciation of the verse in our portion that refers to the Torah as a song. In what way is the Torah a song?

Because like a song, the Torah can bring us great happiness via the commandments, which allow us to ennoble and sanctify ourselves. In the same way that we enjoy a great high when we accomplish a difficult task and perform it well, so, too, does the song of the Torah allow us to rejoice in the

potential of human nature and the ability of the human being to achieve a life of morality and holiness.

It is for this reason that the Day of Atonement is fundamentally a day of happiness. One might have thought that with all the fasting and the many hours spent in the synagogue, we should relate to the day in purely solemn terms. But Yom Kippur is not a fast of sadness. Rather, it is when we re-discover our great spiritual capacity to be like the angels who never need food or drink, soaring close to God, and transcending the physical. It is then that we understand the meaning of true rejoicing: spending 25 hours in fellowship with the Divine, without need of physical comforts. This experience opens the window to the spiritual rejoicing that gives us such great comfort and well-being.

Yom Kippur is not a fast of sadness.

Rather, it is when we re-discover our great spiritual capacity to be like the angels who never need food or drink, soaring close to God, and transcending the physical.

Indeed, the custom in yeshivas is to ecstatically sing and dance with renewed vigor and dedication after the last shofar blasts are sounded at the end of the Ne’ila prayer, at the conclusion of the fast. The excited students and teachers declare with their enthusiasm: Behold, we have transcended our physical selves. We have climbed upwards into the Divine embrace. We feel Your gracious compassion, and we are ready and hopefully worthy to attempt to perfect ourselves and the world. PJC Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the chief rabbi of Efrat.

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Obituaries CAPLAN: Michele J.; It is with great sadness that the Caplan family announces that Michele J. Caplan passed away on September 5, 2018 at the age of 65. Michele was a native of Greenfield but built her life and family with her late husband Jeffrey Paul Caplan in Churchill, Pa. A graduate of Duffs Business School and one time employee of General Electric and CVS Pharmacy, Michele’s favorite job and one that she was most proud of was that of being mother to her two children Heather Faith Ewing (P.K.) and Adam Ross Caplan. Michele’s warmth and involvement in synagogue activities and with the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization brought her close to her community and friends. A cancer fighter and survivor for 23 years, her tenacity inspired everyone she met. She passed peacefully surrounded by her children and family. In addition to her children she is survived by her fiancé Eric Haverstock and cousin Fred Orlansky.

Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Shaare Torah Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Parkway Jewish Center, 300 Princeton Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 or American Cancer Society, 320 Bilmar Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205. www.schugar.com IZSAK: Rae, S., of Williamsville, N.Y. on September 1, 2018, after decades of debilitating illness. Rae was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and was the beloved daughter of the late William and Bella Spatz. With her devoted husband Edward Izsak, Rae spent most of her 55-year marriage raising her children; mother of the late Michael (Rebecca) Izsak, and Robin Izsak (Raymond Tseng); grandmother of Mikey and Simone Tseng; sister of Dr. Sherman (Ruthie) Spatz; aunt of Dr. William Spatz, and Abby Spatz.

Rae was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a math teacher in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh public school systems. After their marriage, Rae and Ed moved to Atlanta and subsequently settled in Buffalo. A Pittsburgh girl at heart, Rae returned home for burial, with graveside services held at Machzikei Hadas Cemetery. Memorials in Rae’s memory may be made to Hospice Buffalo and to Beth El Synagogue, Mt. Lebanon.

KUBRIN: Emery P., passed away on Sunday, September 2, 2018. Beloved husband of the late Shirley Kubrin; beloved father of Alan Kubrin of Pittsburgh and Debra Whitehead of Annapolis, Md.; former father-in-law of

Gail Kubrin and Brad Whitehead; brother of the late Sylvia Weitzman, Minnie Rubinstein and Mildred Kubrin; grandfather of Amanda Whitehead, Davita Kubrin and Koby Kubrin.

Also survived by nieces, nephews, greatnieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Torath Chaim Cemetery. Contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. www.schugar.com ROSENFELD: David II, passed away on Friday, August 31, 2018. Devoted husband and proud father, died at age 98. While he did not reach his goal of living to age 120, he was privileged to live a long life. He is survived by his wife Lois (nee Blyler); children Samuel (Sacha); Brian (Sally Thorner) and Maida Milone; and two grandsons, Everett Rosenfeld and G Matthew Milone. He was predeceased by his dear grandson Jordan Rosenfeld whose death deeply affected him. Dave was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., in March 1920 to immigrant Jewish parents and grew up a true child of the Depression. In 1938, he graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School, the public school his three children would also attend. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp in January 1942 and spent the war in Africa and Europe as a Staff Sergeant until June 1945. He returned to Pittsburgh after the war and joined his family business, Liberty Cleaners & Dyers, spending the next two decades driving throughout western Pennsylvania managing the company’s many Quaker Cleaners. He met the love of his life, Lois, at the store in Altoona, and often corralled his children in his un-air-conditioned Chevys during the summer months as he drove them from Johnstown to Meadville to Erie managing the stores. When the family business was sold, Dave moved to Philadelphia and tried his hand at a number of jobs, and ultimately found his most satisfying work helping his son Sam manage his dental offices as his bookkeeper. Dave and Lois moved to Sarasota, Florida in the late 1990’s where he spent his retirement volunteering at Doctors Hospital, attending services at his neighborhood synagogue and complaining endlessly about politics, food in restaurants, the state of the world, etc. Services and Interment were private. Please send donations in his memory to Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America or Aviva Jewish Housing Foundation.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. www.schugar.com

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Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

SHAPIRO: Sophie Shapiro, of Pittsburgh, Pa., beloved wife of Robert D. Shapiro, passed away on, Friday, August 31, 2018, at the age of 91. Sophie was born November 12, 1926, in Minersville, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Rose (Samuels) and Samuel Zubroff. Rose passed away in 1936. In 1937, Sophie was blessed when Samuel married Mae Holstein. Mae loved and raised Sophie as her own child. Sophie graduated top of her class from Minersville, Pennsylvania High School and continued on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pa. Sophie married Robert D. Shapiro on March 28, 1948, recently celebrating 70 years of marriage. Sophie worked alongside Robert for years at their three-generation family business, Ideal Specialty Shoe Company on Fifth Avenue. She was one of Temple Emanuel’s founding members, President of Temple Emanuel’s Sisterhood, active in ZOA and many charitable causes.

She was passionately involved with various Pittsburgh art organizations, especially, the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. Her art was displayed at Carnegie-Institute, Harrisburg Museum, Erie Art Museum, Bird in Hand Gallery, Pittsburgh Print Group, Pittsburgh Centers of the Arts, Three Rivers Art Festival, a One Woman Show at Studio Z Gallery, as well as many private and corporate locations throughout the country. As an Artist she wished to create beauty through color and design; for her it was an adventure and a process of discovery. She worked spontaneously and emotionally with an idea letting her intellect, feelings, and impulses guide her hands. Creating art was often difficult, sometimes frustrating, but it was always a great source of joy. Sophie’s talents flourished

Synagogue: Continued from page 8

the procession to the new building, he held the box on his lap like a treasure.

After a religious service in the new sanctuary, people gathered around to open the box. The documents inside included letters

Tufts: Continued from page 9

late,” Abowd wrote.

News about the course drew an immediate rebuke from Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League and a Tufts alum.

“We support academic freedom but @ TuftsUniversity must ensure that classes examining the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not one sided platform for propaganda that demonize Israel and empower anti-Israeli activists,” Greenblatt wrote in an Aug. 16 Twitter post.

Shapiro was not persuaded by the administration’s response that the school offers 20 SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

with her cooking and gardening. Her Mandel Bread is irreplaceable. Beautiful memories were shared on Sundays and Holidays dining with family and friends over her delicious meals. Sophie is survived by her husband Robert D. Shapiro; children Michael, Elynn and Daniel (Sharon); grandchildren Ali Knight, Abbey Stewart (Jason), Cole Shapiro (Jenna), Zane Shapiro (Lisa); and great grandchildren Bryce Stewart, Aubrey Knight, Cash and Duke Shapiro, who all were her heart and soul. Also surviving Sophie are Richard Zubroff (Betsy), Ellen Hirsch (Steven), Elliot Holin (Susan), Randy and Rose Rutman, Elgie, Frank, Ned Holstein, Gay Martinelli and their families. She was preceded in death by her sister Julia Rutman and brother Billy Zubroff, Earl, Woody, and Charles Holstein.

Sophie was a dynamic woman, devoted wife and the best mother ever. We were privileged tohave loved Sophie and even more so to have been loved by her. Her beautiful spirit remains partof us in the love we give and the kindness we share. This is the celebration of her life. Our Celebration of her life is being planned for later this year. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Gallagher Hospice, 1370 Washington Pike, Suite 401B, Bridgeville, PA 15017 or any Hospice or Charity of your choice. William Slater II Funeral Service, Scott Township, Entrusted with arrangements.

contributions to the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, 234 McKee Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. www.schugar.com

ment program for senior citizens named by her son Mark, Silver Motion. Ruth brought love, vitality and determination to every undertaking with her passions being dance, gardening, shopping, traveling the world and spending time with family. If a worthwhile endeavor was beyond her capacities, she marshaled others to her cause, be it her efforts to preserve the artistic legacy of her uncle Sam Rosenberg through a book and video, or a book to celebrate the life of her friend Rabbi Walter Jacob. Ruth married her first love Robert C. Westerman (Bob).

Bob shared and supported Ruth’s love of family helping to raise their three children, Jeff who lives in Los Angeles, Mark, living in Maryland, and recently deceased Diane Reichblum, who each took Ruth’s dance class for children, while growing up.

Although Bob never took Ruth’s class, she encouraged him to go with her to Arthur Murray where they learned to dance together so they could be more like their life-long friends Emil and Barbara Trellis.

Bob passed away in 1984, at the age of 62.

Years after Bob’s passing, Ruth married J. Robert Myers with whom she has lived and travelled for over 20 years. Ruth inherited a love of family from her parents and grandparents and bequeathed it to her children and 7 grandchildren Matt, Beth, Jamie, Sara and Sam Westerman, and Rachel and Justin Reichblum and her newly minted through marriage to Rachel, 8th grandchild, Dan Rosenzweig. While dance and the arts played a major role in her life, Ruth’s true love was always her family first and foremost, followed closely by her garden. Ruth lived a full and joyous life and was an inspiration to all she met. Services were held at Rodef Shalom Congregation.

Donations are suggested to the Rodef Shalom Congregation Biblical Botanical Garden; the Pittsburgh Dance Council; or the charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. www.schugar.com PJC

SWARTZ: Murray H., passed away on Monday, September 3, 2018. Beloved husband of the late Florence Calig Swartz; father of the late Lyle R. Swartz; father-in-law of Betsey P. Swartz; grandfather of Jodi M. (Edward Nueslein) Swartz and Lisa E. Swartz; great grandfather of Harper E. Nueslein; brother of the late Louise Kohn; uncle of Sarilyn (Sherman) Fogel. A self-made professional, Murray was a partner in Swartz, Izenson and Associates, a certified public accounting and business consulting firm. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. The family requests

WESTERMAN: Ruth Lois, 89, passed away on September 4, 2018.

Ruth was a Pittsburgher by birthright, by disposition and by choice, but, through a quirk of history, was born in Detroit on April 1, 1929, to her loving parents Max and Belle Levy. She returned to Pittsburgh as an infant and grew up on Coltart Street in Oakland, in a duplex with her parents and her grandfather Joseph Levin, who was the Cantor of Tree of Life Congregation, and her beloved aunt and uncle, Libbie and Samuel Rosenberg, who pointed her toward a life of art, culture and beauty. For more than 70 years, Ruth cultivated an appreciation for health and wellness first as a gym and health teacher at Wightman School and through modern dance in Pittsburgh. Ruth was truly ahead of her time as Modern Dance emerged over time as an art form. She took classes at the Genevieve Jones Dance Studio in Squirrel Hill starting at the age of four, and, after she briefly abandoned dance as an adolescent, returned to dance with a passion as a teenager, starting with a series of trips to study in New York City and a summer at the University of Wisconsin, to advance her studies under the world renown Martha Graham. She attended, and performed at, Schenley High School, the University of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Playhouse.

After graduating from Pitt, she went on to teach physical education and health at Wightman School. Afterwards, she taught modern dance at the Contemporary Dance Association, the Arts & Crafts Center of Pittsburgh and Dance Alloy Theater; sat on the board for many years of the Pittsburgh Dance Council; and developed a move-

of congratulations on the congregation’s new building, as well as a list of donors who supported its construction. Almost a century has passed, but the sentiments around constructing a new congregational home, moving in, and the hopes for a financially stable and vibrant community life remain the same.

Leaving, I spoke with a former temple

president, Jackie Breakstone, who ushered the congregation through much of the de-accessioning. She has not felt emotional during the two-year process, Breakstone said, “but when we left the old building and I turned off the lights, I choked up.”

Not for long, though. Breakstone will be back there in the coming weeks to finish going through the sundry items that hold

no sentimental value. She is hoping to find organizations to take the stuff.

“Whatever we don’t manage to donate,” she said, “we’ll have to pay to haul.” PJC

numerous options that examine the contemporary Middle East. Judaic Studies courses are often about religion, history or cultural topics.

They “do not have to do with modern Israel,” he said.

The current Judaic Studies catalog offers a course on Israeli film “dealing with Israeli and Palestinian history and daily life from the late 19th century to the present.” The Fletcher School is offering a course this fall titled “Negotiation and Mediation in the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict: Past Lessons And Future Opportunities” that promises to “explore the Israeli and Palestinian narratives.”

Tufts Friends of Israel is not trying to shut down Abowd’s course and will not mount a protest, Shapiro said, since classes wouldn’t

begin until after Labor Day and he had yet to see a syllabus. Instead, the group is turning its attention to the question of how new courses win approval.

The group is also gathering signatures online for a letter calling on the Tufts administration to reaffirm its opposition to academic boycotts against Israel.

The school has taken a stance against academic and economic boycotts against Israel dating back to 2013, when it issued a statement strongly opposing the American Studies Association’s resolution for an academic boycott, and most recently in 2017.

Robert Trestan, the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Boston office, said the controversy raises an important

question about the college’s process for course approval — especially the way the school promotes and advertises its classes.

“No one is saying that this is a forbidden topic or restricting a professor’s ability to teach about the subject matter,” Trestan said in a phone conversation.

But, he said, the course description “states as fact that Israel is committing illegal acts,” and draws judgments and conclusions “before the first class is in session.”

“It’s important to insure that when [Tufts] does advertise a class, it’s inviting for all students and sends a message that all views and perspectives are welcome for discussion,” Trestan said. “This course seems to do the opposite.” PJC

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Alanna E. Cooper is director of Jewish Lifelong Learning at Case Western Reserve University and an adjunct assistant professor in its Department of Anthropology.

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 21

Community Yeshiva Schools begins its 75th year For the 75th time, Yeshiva Schools began a new school year. Activities and celebrations are planned to mark the school’s 75th anniversary.

p Elichaim and Atara Rosenthal were excited to arrive at Yeshiva Schools for their first day of school.

p Three generations of Shollars pose for a Yeshiva family photo. Pictured are Leah Shollar, director of general studies (Yeshiva Girls School), her daughter Ella Shollar Ritti (Judaics first grade morah), and granddaughters, Mina and Chana Rittri.

p Yeshiva parent, Benny Greenberg escorts his daughter Kayla to her first day of school at The Early Learning Center at Yeshiva.

p Noah Firtell helps Emmet Schuler at the Yeshiva Boys School first day BBQ.

Photos courtesy of Yeshiva Schools

Fall Ball is Underway

p With Zach Itskowitz, of the Milwaukee Brewers, at the plate, Jack Morowitz, of the Tampa Bay Rays, prepares to catch the ball. Both players are part of the East End Fall League, a collaboration between 14th Ward Baseball Association and Squirrel Hill Baseball Association. The local endeavor has welcomed 300 players, between the ages of 4-16, and runs between August 29 and October 15.

Photo by Marc Itskowitz

22 SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

p Yitzi Sutofsky of the Milwaukee Brewers prepares to hit off of Jesse May of the Oakland Athletics.

Photo by Khari Mosley

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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Community CDS is back to school

Pittsburgh Young Judaea

p Elinor Nathanson and her son, 5th grader Benjamin Kogan

p Ellie Greenbaum, Evelyn Aizenstein, Oren Gilboa, Eli Rosenberg, Akiva Weinkle, Jonah Rosenberg (back row) Noa Shimshi, Ari Broverman, Avi Remes (front row) enjoy time together during a gorgeous day at the park.

New and returning Community Day School families kicked off the 2018-2019 academic year on Tuesday, August 28. Children’s voices filled the CDS hallways and classrooms on the first day of school, as students reconnected with their friends and teachers and jumped into another year of learning, growth, and discovery.

Pittsburgh Young Judaea started off the year with a Day in the Park at Mt. Lebanon Main Park. Kids in grades 2-12 enjoyed Israeli games, crafts, snacks, and getting together with friends from around the city. Young Judaea is a pluralistic Zionist youth group offering year-round activities and summer camps. For more info contact PGHYJ@YoungJudaea.org.

Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Young Judaea

t Kindergarten student Aviva and 2nd grader Shoshana Graver with parents Debbie and Matt Graver

Hillel Academy welcomes students and families Students and families were given the red carpet treatment as staff and faculty at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh welcomed new and returning students with an array of pomp and decorations, including a red carpet.

t Tammy, Daniel and Stella Berkowitz pose for a quick photo before heading inside to begin a new year.

Photo courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

Machers & Shakers

p Peter and Jill Braasch with children Ezra, Elihu, and Yehudah Braasch

Photos courtesy of Community Day School

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Davis Stile Morgenstern, 13, of Squirrel Hill, has been accepted and will attend Interlochen Arts Academy, the world’s premier fine arts boarding high school. Morgenstern, the son of Aaron and Donielle Morgenstern, will study piano at the Academy. For the previous eight years, Davis has been a student at Community Day School.

Currently, he studies piano with Yeeha Chiu, a Steinway Artist. After winning Best Liszt Piece in the 2018 Pittsburgh International Piano Competition (PIPC), Davis performed Liszt’s transcription of Widmung by Schumann at Carnegie Hall in New York City on July 28, 2018. For the past two seasons, he has performed before the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert in the Grand Lobby of Heinz Hall. For the past five consecutive years, Morgenstern has spent each summer in the Advanced Piano Program at Interlochen Center for the Arts and been a member of the Steinway Society Young Artists Program. For the past seven seasons, Davis has been a regular attendee of the Grand Classics Series of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Interlochen Arts Academy is part of the nonprofit Interlochen Center for the Arts, recipient of the National Medal of Arts and the only organization in the world that brings together: a 2,500-student summer camp program; a 500-student fine arts boarding high school; opportunities for hundreds of adults to engage in fulfilling artistic and creative programs; two 24-hour listener-supported public radio stations (classical music and news); more than 600 arts presentations annually by students, faculty and world-renowned guest artists; a global alumni base spanning eight decades.

Photo by Gary Yon Photography

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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