Metro Repair the World Friendliness, charm keep out-of-town interns firmly in city’s grasp
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July 23, 2015 Av 7, 5775
Vol. 58, No. 61 $1.50
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Jewish values lead Rabbi Schiff back to Pittsburgh
‘A dangerous mistake,’ Iran deal has many worried about national security
BY TOBY TABACHNICK Senior Staff Writer
BY TOBY TABACHNICK Senior Staff Writer
through a Jewish lens?” Schiff, Brandeis said, is just the man to help answer those questions. Born in Australia, Schiff earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Melbourne and received ordination, as well as a master of arts in Hebrew Letters, from the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC–JIR).
Lawmakers representing Western Pennsylvania on Capitol Hill are meeting the completion of the deal announced last week between Iran and six world powers with skepticism, and in some cases, condemnation. “I don’t like it, quite plainly,” said Rep. Tim Murphy (R-District 18) in an interview. “I think it is more of an arms proliferation agreement.” Murphy criticized the deal as failing to impose accountability upon Iran, failing to provide adequate inspection measures and failing to “stop them from moving forward to developing nuclear weapons.” “Iran is the top supporter of terrorism in the world, with the stated purpose of genocide to Israel,” he said, noting that the Iranian regime also supports enemies of the United States such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda. “Instead of stopping nuclear proliferation, [this agreement] leads to the certainty of it,” he said. While Murphy had not yet completed his review of the entire agreement at the time of the interview, “so far, I am voting against it,” he said.
Please see Schiff, page 8
Please see Iran, page 9
Photo provided by Rabbi Danny Schiff
Rabbi Danny Schiff, former community scholar at the now-defunct Agency for Jewish Learning and former spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Israel in White Oak, will be returning to Pittsburgh this fall to assume the newly created position of Federation scholar. Schiff and his family made aliyah in 2009 after serving the Pittsburgh community for 17 years. His new position, under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will allow him to remain in Israel for six months of the year while being present in Pittsburgh for six months. The role of Federation scholar is a oneyear pilot program, which was developed to help imbue with Jewish content the way in which the Federation functions as an organization. It is funded by a grant from the Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation, the Federation’s plannedgiving arm that enables donors to create permanent endowment funds. Schiff’s responsibilities will include working with Federation staff, lay leadership and volunteers to add “Jewish context and learning to their work”; to “inspire donors”; and to train professional advisers — such as accountants, lawyers and estate planners — in how to talk about Jewish philanthropy with their clients, according to Dan Brandeis, Jewish Community Foundation director. While Brandeis anticipates that Schiff will be available on a limited basis to provide educational opportunities for the community at large, his primary role will be as an internal Federation resource. Schiff will be employed by the Federation on a three-quarter-time basis,
Rabbi Danny Schiff has been hired by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh as its Federation scholar.
and, in addition to being in Pittsburgh for six nonconsecutive months out of the year, will work from Israel for three months, Brandeis said. The Federation’s intent in hiring Schiff is to help the organization make decisions in sync with Jewish values. “We have been challenged before with the question of ‘what do we do to act like a Jewish organization?’” Brandeis said. “How do you make decisions
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