Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 12-18-20

December 18, 2020 | 3 Tevet 5781

Candlelighting 4:38 p.m. | Havdalah 5:41 p.m. | Vol. 63, No. 51 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY NATIONAL SCOTUS considers Holocaust theft

From baking to music, new pastimes help fill space created by pandemic

$1.50

Volunteers gear up for Mitzvah Days 2020

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Y

on March 13 and on March 14, Pi Day, Goldstein marked the occasion by baking — what else? — a pie.

The Churchill resident soon expanded her solo baking endeavor by creating a Facebook group, the “2020 Coronabake Challenge.”

The group currently has more than 2,100 members, amateur bakers from as far away as Australia and Romania.

Goldstein, executive director of Public Radio Program Directors Association, initially planned daily challenges for the group, but she soon learned that level of commitment was hard to maintain.

The group settled on weekly challenges which Goldstein, a “Great British Baking Show” fan, posts on the group’s Facebook page.

“People have a week to make the challenge or they can go back to the list and look up

es, the COVID-19 pandemic is running its course throughout Pennsylvania and the rest of the world. But that’s not going to stop the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh from encouraging those it serves to serve others.

The Federation will host several days of online programming, Dec. 21 through Dec. 25, to mark Mitzvah Days this holiday season.

The Zoom sessions include everything from encouraging Pittsburghers to color pages for hospitalized children and sew face masks to making phone calls to Pittsburgh seniors who are sheltering in place.

“It was really important for us to provide this outlet in a year where everything has been strange,” said Adam Hertzman, the Federation’s director of marketing.

One event will involve Pittsburghers writing notes of encouragement to female job seekers in the area; that “Dress for Success iVolunteer” event takes place 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

Mitzvah Days this year also will include two JCC blood drives — one in Squirrel Hill and one in the South Hills — from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 24.

David Chudnow did not mince words about whether this year’s Mitzvah Days would pale in comparison to previous years’ efforts. The manager of the Federation’s Volunteer Center said 2020 would not close without he and others setting the stage for area residents to give back to their neighbors.

“We’re still going to make a pretty big impact and brighten some people’s days,” Chudnow said.

Some organizers expect a strong response to one offering in particular: a Mitzvah Day event involving the Lone Soldier Foundation. On Friday, Dec. 25, at 10 a.m., Pittsburghers will gather on Zoom to write letters to Israel Defense Forces soldiers who have no family in Israel.

Please see Pastimes, page 14

Please see Days, page 14

Local attorneys support victims and heirs seeking restitution Page 2

INTERPLANETARY When the planets come together

Pittsburghers prepare for a once-in-alifetime astronomical event Page 3  Abby Goldstein’s meatloaf cake, iced with mashed potatoes, was created in response to one of her 2020 Coronabake Challenges.

Photo by Abby Goldstein

LOCAL Making aliyah during COVID

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

T A local couple fulfills their dream and moves to Israel Page 8

he pandemic hobby. It’s a thing.

Since March, millions of Americans, flush with spare time and limited options for socializing, have started making their own sourdough bread, playing the ukulele and discovering more about the birds that visit their backyards.

Pittsburgh’s Jewish community has embraced this trend, learning new skills, building virtual communities and starting projects they previously put off due to lack of time.

Abby Goldstein, a self-described “baking fan,” decided to spend the extra time on her hands by honing those skills.

“Learning how to bake different, harder and more challenging projects has been a goal of mine, so, I decided to start when the lockdown began,” she said.

Coronavirus restrictions took effect

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle

OBITUARY Remembering Miriam Rosenblum

LOCAL Catching up with Abby Mendelson

FOOD Maple-glazed beef bacon donuts

Headlines Local attorneys help Holocaust victims and heirs seek restitution for stolen property in US courts — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

H

olocaust victims and their heirs asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 7 whether U.S. courts can give restitution for theft occurring abroad prior to and during World War II. The two cases, which pit survivors and their descendants against the governments of Hungary and Germany, concern artwork and other property stolen by the Nazis.

In Republic of Hungary v. Simon, 14 Holocaust survivors, four of whom are now U.S. citizens, seek compensation from Hungary and its state-owned railway for theft committed during transportation to Auschwitz and other concentration camps.

In Republic of Germany v. Philipp, three heirs of German-Jewish art dealers claim that in 1935, their forebears were forced to sell the Welfenschatz — a collection of medieval Christian reliquaries and other devotional pieces — to Nazis for a price lower than its value. The Welfenschatz is currently estimated to be worth $250 million and is held at the Bode Museum in Berlin.

Both cases are about “getting justice for Holocaust survivors,” said attorney Arthur Traldi. “These are people who have not gotten restitution for things that were taken from them close to a century ago, and who deserve it.”

Traldi, and a team of lawyers representing the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and other groups, including the Jerusalem Institute for Justice and Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America, filed amicus briefs arguing that looting was

 Holocaust victims and their heirs asked the Supreme Court whether US courts can give restitution for theft that occurred abroad prior to and during World War II. Photo licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0

integral to the genocide of Jews during the Holocaust and therefore constitutes a taking in violation of international law.

Foreign states are generally protected from

suit in U.S. courts. However, according to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, there is an exception for expropriation of property taken in violation of international law.

The survivors in the Hungary case, and the heirs in the Germany case, claim that because Please see Victims, page 15

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Headlines Local experts say ‘Great Conjunction’ offers unique perspective

 NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Saturn in 2008. This week marks the first time in 800 years that Saturn and Jupiter will appear so close together.

Photo by NASA/public domain

— LOCAL — Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

W

ith days remaining on the calendar, the singularity of 2020 continues: Next week, Jupiter and Saturn will be observable in a way that they haven’t been for almost

800 years. For the first time since March 4, 1226, people will be able to see the two planets form what astronomers are calling a “Great Conjunction.”

A conjunction occurs when planets or celestial objects appear close to each other in the sky, but the Dec. 21 great conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn is a rarer type of event, explained Jeffrey Newman, professor of physics and astronomy at

University of Pittsburgh.

Every planet maintains an orbital path.

Since Mercury is closest to the sun, its path is the smallest; Venus’ path is larger; Earth’s path is larger than Venus’ and Mars’ path is larger than Earth’s. Because Jupiter and Saturn — the last two planets that humans can see with the naked eye — possess larger orbital paths, a conjunction between those planets is unique, said Newman.

The process is similar to what happens when two marbles run on tracks of different sizes, explained Scott Dodelson, a professor of physics and department head at Carnegie Mellon University.

The marble that’s on the track with the smaller radius (Jupiter) will complete its cycle faster than the marble that’s on the track with the larger radius (Saturn).

Eventually, the two marbles will appear to align. In Jupiter and Saturn’s case, that occurs every 20 years, said Dodelson.

The uniqueness of next week’s great conjunction is due not only to Jupiter and Saturn’s closeness but their orbital tilt, explained Newman.

In addition to the two planets heading along a two-dimensional plane, they’re also slightly oscillating up and down, so for Jupiter and Saturn to line up like this is pretty historic, said Dodelson.

The last time Jupiter and Saturn appeared this close, and with a similar orbital tilt, was March 4, 1226, according to Rice University researchers.

Although the two planets will reach their closest point on Dec. 21, viewers were able to see Jupiter, Saturn and even the new moon as early as Dec. 15. But while the two planets may appear close — they will be 0.1 degree from one another — Jupiter and Saturn will Please see Conjunction, page 15

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 3

Headlines Miriam Rosenblum, educator and founder of Keren Rachaim, has died at 78 — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

M

iriam Rosenblum, a lifelong Jewish educator who influenced thousands of Yeshiva School elementary students over a five-decade career in Pittsburgh, died last week. She was 78.

Her death comes about two months after that of her husband, the late Rabbi Ephraim Rosenblum, who died in September.

“One of the doctors told us she was suffering from something called heartbreak,” her son, Yeshiva Schools CEO Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, told the Chronicle.

Though Rosenblum often was associated with her husband, a fellow Yeshiva educator and principal of the boys’ school, she was a force in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community in her own right. She founded the Keren Rachaim organization in Pittsburgh and dedicated herself to supporting those in financial, physical and spiritual need. Many Pittsburghers remember her regularly handing out gift cards and Shabbat candles outside the Giant Eagle on Murray Avenue, her family said.

One of her sons — she had six children; three of them followed in their father’s path and became rabbis — remembered another story.

A student of Rosenblum’s ran home to his mother at the end of the day and said a boy in class was not acting nicely. The student’s mother said people wouldn’t be very nice to him, then. “‘That’s not what Morah Rosenblum said,’” the boy retorted, according to Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum. “‘She said if we were all nice to him, he’d be nice to us.’ That was my mom.”

Yossi Rosenblum also said people frequently flocked to their house — and not just for the wise words of their father, a fixture in Orthodox and Chabad circles in Pittsburgh.

People wanted to know what Miriam Rosenblum thought of things, as well.

“She was a guide to many people — many people sought her advice,” Yossi Rosenblum said. “She was a very special woman.”

Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum, another son, said one of his mother’s biggest legacies was the selfless work she did for Keren Rachaim in Squirrel Hill and elsewhere.

“I think she made a major impact on the community and minor ones, too,” he said.

“Every individual felt her touch.”

Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld, who heads Chabad of Western Pennsylvania, said the “extent of Morah Rosenblum’s influence encompasses the entire world, wherever her hundreds of students share her light, a light that she so generously gave to others.”

“Each student was to her a diamond, multi-faceted and with unlimited potential,” said Rosenfeld, who helped lead the Yeshiva Schools while Miriam Rosenblum taught kindergarten, first and second grade there. “Every challenge was absolutely surmountable and she toiled tirelessly until success was achieved.

“Morah Rosenblum lived her life to do one more mitzvah, constantly encouraging Rabbi Ephraim and Mrs. Miriam Rosenblum at the everyone around her p to do the same, every bas mitzvah of their granddaughter Esther Photo by Eliran Shkedi single day,” he added.

Miriam Rosenblum is survived by her chil- by her siblings: Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak dren: Fraidy Gurevitch of Crown Heights, Wolosow of Ramat Yishai, Israel; Rabbi New York; Rivky Raices of Skokie, Illinois; Mendel Wolosow, of Crown Heights, New Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum of Pittsburgh; York; Rabbi Chaim Wolosow of Sharon, Chanie Baron of Columbia, Maryland; Rabbi Massachusetts; and Tzippy Simpson of Yehoshua Dovid Rosenblum of Caracas, Crown Heights, New York. PJC Venezuela; Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum of Pittsburgh; and several grandchildren and Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer great-grandchildren. She also is survived living in Pittsburgh.

CS R 4 DECEMBER 18, 2020

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Headlines Jewish Federation approves relief funds, raises money — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

T

he Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s board of directors, on Dec. 14, allocated an additional $1 million in COVID-19 relief funds, bringing its total to more than $7 million.

Of particular note, according to Director of Marketing Adam Hertzman, is $1.2 million dedicated to health and human services, making the Pittsburgh Jewish community eligible for $600,000 in matching dollars from the Jewish Federation of North America’s Human Service Matching Fund.

That money will be used to support services outside of education and the connection to Jewish life, Hertzman explained.

“It’s food insecurity, mental health, it’s physical health,” Hertzman said. “It’s protecting frontline workers, which is super important right now. It’s providing staffing necessary to enable social distancing. It’s providing support for people with financial insecurity during the pandemic. All the things that enable people to keep their families healthy, safe and solvent, which are all connected.”

While the funds are unrestricted, Hertzman pointed out that several beneficiary agencies, including the Jewish Association on Aging and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, serve the target population of the new COVID-19 vaccine: residents of longterm care facilities and nursing homes, at-risk seniors and frontline workers.

Other beneficiary agencies include the three Jewish day schools — Community Day School, Hillel Academy Pittsburgh and Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh. For the first time, allocations include unrestricted grants to the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee for food insecurity and emergency funding programs.

“This is the power of collective giving

through the Federation,” said Jeff Finkelstein, Federation’s President and CEO. “Together, and only together, can we address the most challenging issues facing our community.

Now more than ever, we fight the pandemic and help people in need together with Jewish agencies working as donors, volunteers, community members and staff. All Jewish Federation supporters should feel so proud of what we accomplish.”

The timing of the additional distribution is due to emerging needs, Hertzman said, pointing to the surge in COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County.

“Until recently, we looked at individual requests, and although this funding is in response to individual requests, we realized some of the agencies need more flexibility,” Hertzman explained. “The JCC, for example, has additional staff time they have to pay for to distribute grab-and-go meals, their collaboration with the Squirrel Health Center on COVID-19 testing, health testing for the Early Childhood Center. The JCC and JAA are now looking forward to the possibility of vaccinations, as well.”

On Sunday, Dec. 13, Federation raised more than $211,000 at their annual Super Sunday fundraiser. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the phone-a-thon was held virtually with 339 volunteers making calls from their home to prospective donors.

That figure is less than in previous years, but Hertzman explained that because of the pandemic and expected glitches caused by using new software, Federation anticipated the smaller amount.

“We wanted to make sure that the volunteers had a good experience and that they knew what to do,” he said. Now they hope to make up the difference.

“If there was ever a year we need to set a record for the capital campaign, this is it,” Hertzman said. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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JCC’s Brain Schreiber talks resilience in webinar for nonprofits

B

rian Schreiber, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, shared the nonprofit’s resilience strategies during the Dec. 8 Zoom webinar “Managing for Resilience in a Crisis.” The JCC was one of two “exemplary organizations” highlighted in the event.

The webinar, hosted by the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise and in collaboration with Case Western University’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, featured four speakers: Dennis R. Young, professor emeritus at Georgia State University and visiting professor at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences; Noha Ryder, CFO of Baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire; Mark Young, director of the JCC Association of PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Coordinated visits between residents and loved ones

North America’s JResponse initiative; and Schreiber. Dennis Young explained organizational resilience while Ryder, Schreiber and Mark Young described resilience strategies used by their respective organizations, Apollo’s Fire and the JCC, in separate presentations and in a Q&A. “Resilience has been our unofficial mantra at the JCC for the past two years and will help us emerge from the pandemic strong and resolute,” Schreiber said in a press release, a sentiment he echoed during his presentation.

Lessons learned following the Oct. 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life building informed the JCC’s response to COVID-19, he said.

Please see JCC, page 15

Photo by Josh Franzos

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

12/15/20 11:07 AM

DECEMBER 18, 2020 5

Calendar Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle. org. Submissions also will 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, DEC. 20

Temple Sinai welcomes Soferet Linda Coppleson who will present Rediscovery: Torah Detective. Coppleson, who is scribing Temple Sinai’s new Torah, will discuss a Sefer Torah’s journey to New York. Is it a relic of Judeo-Spanish life before the expulsion of Jews from Spain?

Is it what remained of a long-since abandoned North African Sepharadi community, threatened by invading armies in WWII? What circuitous route did this small, fragile Sefer Torah take on its journey to New York? Find out more at this free event. 1 p.m. templesinaipgh.org/ event/detective.html q SUNDAYS, DEC. 20, 27; JAN. 3, 10, 17

Join a lay-led Online Parashah Study Group to discuss the week’s Torah portion. No Hebrew knowledge is needed.

The goal is to build community while deepening understanding of the text. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

Month that Was: Behind the Headlines in Israel – Part 2, an in-depth analysis and a fascinating discussion with Neil Lazarus. 12 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jewishpgh.org/event.

Join Classrooms Without Borders scholar Avi Ben-Hur on a fascinating look at Jewish heritage in six different countries across Europe and North Africa. Ben-Hur will dedicate two weekly sessions to each country in this 12-week series. This series is co-sponsored by Rodef Shalom Congregation. 2 p.m. For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.org/jewishheritage-around-the-world.

Join Jewish Family and Community Services for Art and Contemplation - Teen Edition, an art-based support group just for teens. The sessions will explore how making art can help regulate the nervous system, promote playfulness, imagination, help develop insight, and connect us more deeply to our bodies, emotions and thoughts. For the first session, blank paper and drawing materials that have some variety of color will be needed.

Free. 3 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jfcspgh.org. q

TUESDAYS, DEC. 22-JUNE 1

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for a long-standing Pittsburgh tradition, Mitzvah Day, when the Jewish community provides services to organizations throughout the entire community. Opportunities include blood drives and a variety of virtual volunteer activities. For more information, visit jewishpgh.org/mitzvah-day.

What is the point of Jewish living? What ideas, beliefs and practices are involved?

Melton Course 1: Rhythms & Purposes of Jewish Living examines a variety of Jewish sources to discover the deeper meanings of Jewish holidays, lifecycle observances and Jewish practice. Cost: $300 per person, per year (25 sessions), includes all books and materials. For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org.

q MONDAYS, DEC. 21, 28;

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MONDAY, DEC. 21-FRIDAY, DEC. 25

JAN. 4, 11, 18

Join Rabbi Jeremy Markiz in learning Masechet Rosh Hashanah, a tractate of the Talmud about the many new years that fill out the Jewish calendar at Monday Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q

TUESDAY, DEC. 22

Jewish Family and Community Services hosts Mindfulness and Meditation for Stress Management, offering the opportunity to cultivate greater awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings and actions.

Increasing awareness and integrating mindfulness and meditation into one’s routine strengthens one’s ability to act with intention rather than reactively and decrease feelings of being overwhelmed.

11 a.m. To register, visit jfcspgh.org.

Discover the latest news and views from Israel and the Middle East. Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for The

6 DECEMBER 18, 2020

THURSDAY, DEC. 24

Got nothing to do on a random December Thursday night? How about a tradition as old as the Torah itself? Join Moishe House Pittsburgh for Chinese Food and a Zoom movie (“But I’m a Cheerleader”).

Chinese food delivery is on MoHo (up to $15/person) for the first eight Pittsburgh-based registrants. 6 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/ moishehouse.pittsburgh. q

SUNDAY, DEC. 27

The Zionist Organization of America will hold its first-ever virtual Superstar Gala at 7 p.m. The lineup includes David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel; Gilan Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S.; Dr. Kiron Sinner, Director of CMU’s Institute for Politics and Strategy; Rapper/Actor/ Filmmaker, Ice Cube; And Morton Klein, ZOA National President. Pittsburghers Andrea Chester and Harold Marcus will be spotlighted. For information, visit zoa.org/ gala or contact ZOA Pittsburgh Executive

Director, Stuart Pavilack at pittsburgh@zoa. org or 304-639-1758. q

MONDAY, DEC. 28

Moishe House Pittsburgh welcomes HIAS President Mark Hetfield for Our People Were Refugees Too: MoHo Meets HIAS President Mark Hetfield. Hetfield will discuss the organization’s work, the current state of the refugee crisis during the pandemic and how we can advocate for our country to welcome the stranger. 7 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/moishehouse.pittsburgh. q

SUNDAY, JAN. 3

Calling all ages and abilities, join Congregation Beth Shalom for Come Together Schlep-A-Thon. Walk, or schlep, a single lap around the synagogue in a fundraiser guaranteed to warm your spirits.

Earn the chance to win prizes by having people sponsor your walk. Staggered start times beginning at noon. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/ cometogether. q

MONDAY, JAN. 4

Join Beth El Congregation of the South Hills for First Mondays with Rabbi Alex. This month, musician Seth Kibel will present “Klezmer: American Music.”

12 p.m. For more information and to register, visit bethelcong.org. q

THURSDAY, JAN. 7

Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with Rodef Shalom Congregation, is excited to offer the opportunity to watch the film “Beslaney: Memories” and engage in a post-film discussion with the film’s director Sara Tsifroni, producer Ancho Gosh and the film’s researchers and protagonists Zouheir Takhaukho and Professor Yair Auron, in conversation with CWB scholar Avi Ben-Hur. 3 p.m. For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.com. q TUESDAY, JAN. 12; FRIDAY JAN. 22;

THURSDAY, FEB. 4

What are you doing in June 2022? The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh hopes that you will be in Israel with them and hundreds of others from Pittsburgh’s Jewish community. To learn more, join Federation for a Zoom info session.

Young adults are invited to attend a special session on Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. Adults should plan to attend on Jan. 22 at noon or Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. For more information and to register, visit jfedpgh.org. q THURSDAYS, JAN. 28; FEB. 4, 11, 25;

MARCH 4, 11

The Mishna, the Oral Law in written form, is one of the greatest works of the Jewish people. In this survey course, Jewish

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Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will provide a comprehensive overview of this singular, foundational work. Co-sponsored with Derekh at Congregation Beth Shalom. 9:30 a.m. For more information and to register, visit foundation. jewishpgh.org/mishna. q SUNDAYS, JAN. 31; FEB. 7, 14, 21, 28;

MARCH 7, 14

What does Jewish tradition have to say about God, Torah, mitzvot, suffering, messiah, Israel? In this special course, Pittsburgh Rabbis on Jewish Belief, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will host 14 Pittsburgh rabbis, each teaching a session on fundamental aspects of Jewish belief.

10 a.m. For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. q MONDAYS, FEB. 1, 8, 15, 22;

MARCH 1, 8, 15

Most people associate the term “Haftarah” with opaque prophetic reading on Shabbat morning. This course, Haftarah, will attempt to make the opaque sparkle.

Choosing selectively from the most interesting Haftarah portions, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will seek to imbue meaning in these powerful prophetic passages.

9:30 a.m. For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. q TUESDAYS, FEB. 9, 16, 23;

MARCH 2, 9

Treating Jewish jokes as text, From Sinai to Seinfeld invites students to analyze and interpret the evolving concerns, styles, rhythms, preoccupations and values of the Jewish people that lie buried deep in words that make us laugh as Jews, and that bond us as a people. $50 per person, includes all books and materials.

For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. q THURSDAYS, FEB. 18; MARCH 18;

MAY 6; JUNE 17

We live in a time of multiple challenges.

Controversial issues and struggles confront us daily. But the truth is that Jews have never desisted from addressing tough problems. In this year’s Continuing Legal Education Series, Jewish Community Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will dive into a range of “tense topics” — difficult and troubling issues that are both powerfully emotional subjects and have substantive legal ramifications at the same time. Get up to 12 CLE ethics credits. With CLE/CEU credit: $30/session or $180 all sessions; without CLE/CEU credit: $25/ session or $150 all sessions. 8:30 a.m.

For more information and to register, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org. PJC

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Headlines Pittsburgh writer and educator Abby Mendelson bucks the trend, is a jack and master of most trades — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

T

he Torah, the Pittsburgh Steelers and literature of plagues and pandemics.

It sounds like the opening of the old “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” bit where the host, dressed as Carnac the Magnificent, would divine humorous meaning from three seemingly disparate objects. Instead, all three are subjects Abby Mendelson has taught or written about.

Mendelson, a Squirrel Hill resident, is an author and instructor at Point Park University, Chatham University, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and Kollel Jewish Learning Center.

A typical day might include teaching a course in medieval poetry at 6 p.m., an environmental studies class at 7 p.m. and at 8 p.m. studying Mishna. That is between working books including his newest release, “Spirit to Spirit: A Portrait of Pittsburgh Jazz in the New Century” for which he wrote the text accompanying David Aschkenas’ photos.

“It all makes sense. I’ve always been interested in everything,” Mendelson said. “I’ve reached the stage in my life where I think of

myself as a community resource.”

Mendelson’s circuitous route started in Long Island, New York. His early plans were simple: “The standard joke is, I wanted to grow up to be a bum, but it didn’t work out,” he said. Succumbing to his parents’ pressure to follow the well traveled path of becoming a doctor or lawyer, Mendelson listened to the advice of an uncle who suggested he leave New York for school, attending the University of Pittsburgh for his undergraduate degree and one year of law school.

“I said, ‘It will be my stint in the Foreign Legion.’”

The Steel City emigre fell in love with both the city and his future wife, Judy. What he wasn’t so crazy about was law school, eventually deciding to study English instead.

“I traded two years of law school for six years of graduate school,” he said.

After earning his Ph.D. at Pitt, Mendelson tried his hand at writing due to a glut in the teaching market. He began covering sports for a weekly paper and joined the staff of a long-since-out-of-print magazine “The Pittsburgher.”

“Thank God, I had an aptitude for it,” he said.

He was able to harness that aptitude, writing for advertising and public relations firms, as well as working with Pittsburgh

 Abby Mendelson

Photo courtesy of Abby Mendelson

Mayor Richard Caliguiri, helping to craft speeches and working on public political campaigns.

Along the way, Mendelson was lucky enough to be asked to pen what might be considered the ultimate honor for a Pittsburgh sportswriter: the official history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He remembered the offer being based primarily on a few criteria: “They said we know you

can write on a deadline, you covered them during the glory years and you knew The Chief,” he explained.

Updated four times, the book went on to be a Pittsburgh bestseller, knocked out of its top spot by a book penned by America’s anchorman, Walter Cronkite.

The writer’s second act began 16 years ago, teaching English courses part-time at Point Park college. His classes have included Intro to Literature, poetry, short narrative and even a class on the graphic novel covering classics in the genre like Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight Returns” and “Maus” by Art Spiegelman.

He has also taken his show on the road, teaching courses at, among other places, Mt. Lebanon Public Library and Beth El Congregation of the South Hills.

Bernice Hoffman Natelson has brought Mendelson to speak at Beth El as part of their popular “First Monday” lunch series, where he has discussed Jewish Hollywood and the Jewish Hill District.

“When I first heard him, I was immediately impressed by how engaging he is as a speaker,” said Natelson. “He can balance giving really good information while also being entertaining and informative.”

Joan Rothaus and her husband Ron have Please see Mendelson, page 15

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 7

Headlines Pittsburgh couple makes aliyah — during COVID-19 — LOCAL —

By Kayla Steinberg | Digital Content Manager

L

ee Golden paged through a couple hundred yogurts on an Israeli grocery store’s online ordering form. He had translated the site into English but couldn’t figure out the difference between all the yogurts. He decided he’d just start randomly picking yogurts and move on.

It was Carri and Lee Golden’s second grocery order during their mandatory 14-day bidud, or quarantine, upon arriving in Israel.

So far they’ve seen the quiet Tel Aviv airport, the view of the land from their van ride, and the steps up to their temporary quarantine apartment. And there’s an orange tree they look at outside the bedroom window.

For the married couple, Lee, 64, and Carri, 63, aliyah has been years in the making — but when they started planning, they couldn’t have imagined the move would look like this.

Lee began thinking about it a decade ago, and when the couple visited Israel in 2018, the prospect felt real.

Carri was reluctant. Pittsburgh has always been home — both she and Lee are second-generation Pittsburghers, and the two built their lives here from childhood to marriage to raising two daughters, now 29 and 32.

“There’s nothing that we really don’t like in Pittsburgh,” said Lee. Eventually, Carri came around to the idea of moving to the Jewish state.

“We’re commanded to settle our homeland,” said Carri. “This is the only homeland.

This is it. This is the one we’ve been given.”

They decided to move forward with the aliyah process in 2019, filling out Nefesh B’Nefesh forms, gathering information about the costs and getting fingerprinted to prove their identities.

They interviewed with the Jewish Agency at the end of February 2020, right before everything shut down. After that, nothing happened for a while.

But when, in October, Nefesh B’Nefesh was able to buy airline tickets for the couple, the process hurtled forward.

They booked the temporary apartment for quarantining and found a permanent apartment as well, picking it instinctively and virtually (they had originally planned to visit Israel over the summer to choose a place). And they prepared to move out of the house they lived in for 32 years.

Carri handled the home upgrades while Lee dealt with logistics and financial research for Israel. They cast aside their agendas and began a flurry of packing. Carri described her mindset as: “This mess can get thrown in a duffle bag and wait till Israel.”

Their final hurried days in the U.S. were filled with food from friends, masked and distanced meetups with a few close relatives and Zooms with others. Then, they left.

They were met with pandemic-friendly celebration: At the airport, the Ministry of Aliyah held up welcome signs and Nefesh B’Nefesh greeted them with sandwiches and cookies; fellow former Pittsburghers in Israel

8 DECEMBER 18, 2020

p Carri and Lee Golden at the airport

Photos courtesy of Carri Golden

p Lee and Carri Golden with their makeshift Chanukah display in their quarantine apartment

— including one of their daughters — have sent them food while they’re quarantined.

“We feel like rock stars,” said Carri. “We were very jazzed to feel so welcomed.”

Lee is actually happy about quarantine.

“This has been great,” he said. “I get to hang out with my wife for two weeks uninterrupted, which never happens.” They’re in a comfortable apartment with books and games, and can recover from moving and flying and jet lag until quarantine ends.

For Chanukah, Carri brought what she calls

a “cheapo” menorah, a box of candles, a few dreidels and some decorations. The pair set up a little Chanukah display in the living room.

Nefesh B’Nefesh helped Lee find a job in Israel — he’ll continue his work as a patent lawyer beginning next month. Carri, a social worker, hopes to find work, but she’s not rushing into it. She wants to focus on getting settled in Israel, improving her language skills through ulpan, and making their new apartment in Rehovot feel like home.

Even with the aliyah process rocked by

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the pandemic, the new olim feel good about their decision.

“It’s really exceeded my expectations at this point, and we haven’t gone anywhere,” said Lee. “I did not expect to have a job, I did not expect to have an apartment, I did not expect a lot of things, and it has exceeded all of that.

“If we ever get outside, it’s going to be great.” PJC Kayla Steinberg can be reached at ksteinberg@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Israeli Deni Avdija shines in first NBA preseason game

The play-by-play announcer of Sunday night’s NBA preseason game between the Washington Wizards and the Brooklyn Nets was so impressed with Israeli basketball star Deni Avdija’s performance that he made one of the more memorable Jewish sports puns in recent memory.

“It’s the mensch off the bench on Chanukah!” said the Wizards’ announcer Justin Kutcher, who is Jewish, after Avdija hit an off-balance shot to score two of his 15 points. Color commentator Drew Gooden added “Shalam,” a genuine attempt at saying “shalom.”

Kutcher was referencing the Mensch on a Bench toy, a Jewish take on the popular Elf on a Shelf toy, and the fact that Avdija, who the Wizards drafted in the first round of the recent NBA draft, did not start the game on the floor but instead came off the bench.

Kutcher had earlier said “Happy Chanukah!” after Avdija made his first shot.

In total, Avdija hit all six shots he took, including three three-pointers, resulting in 15 points in 24 minutes of playing time.

Before the game he also hugged his former Maccabi Tel Aviv teammate Amar’e Stoudemire, who is now an assistant coach for the Nets. The Wizards posted a photo of their reunion on their official Instagram account with an Israeli flag emoji.

The team on Friday had launched a Twitter feed in Hebrew for its new Israeli fans following their native son.

Avdija, who is just 19 and stands at 6-foot-9, is a native of northern Israel who lives in the coastal town of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. He holds dual Israeli and Serbian citizenship, as his father, Zufer, a Muslim Serbian-Israeli citizen, played for his native Yugoslavia’s national basketball team as well as several Israeli pro teams in the 1990s. His mother, Sharon Artzi, is a Jewish Israeli and former track and field athlete.

In May, Kutcher spoke to students online at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland.

New Hampshire state rep apologizes for sharing post from neo-Nazi website

Dawn Johnson, a Republican just elected as state representative in New Hampshire, apologized for sharing a post from the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer.

“I have removed the report as it came from a source I do not agree with and thanks to a couple of people who showed me,” she said.

Johnson declined to comment to InDepthNH about why she was reading material posted on a neo-Nazi website.

Johnson, who also serves on the school board in Laconia and who has backed President Donald Trump’s false claims that he won the presidential election, had posted on Facebook an image of her failed attempt to post the Daily Stormer article, which advanced a debunked

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

Dec. 18, 1947 — Trans pioneer Gila Goldstein is born

Gila Goldstein, the first Israeli to have sex reassignment surgery, is born as Abraham Goldstein in Turin, Italy. Goldstein becomes a dancer, a singer, an actress and an LGBT activist.

Dec. 19, 1936 — Novelist A.B. Yehoshua is born

Avraham B. Yehoshua, one of Israel’s most acclaimed writers, is born in Jerusalem.

He leads a new wave of Israeli writers with novels including “The Lover,” “Mr. Mani” and “The Late Divorce.”

Dec. 20, 1936 — Toscanini arrives in Palestine

New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini arrives at the airport in Lod to conduct the opening performance of the Palestine Philharmonic six days later before a sold-out crowd of 3,000 people.

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theory that a man close to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was killed as part of a conspiracy to hand the election to President-elect Joe Biden.

“When you try to share truth FB says NOPE we will not allow it,” she wrote.

The Daily Stormer is a racist and anti-Semitic website run by Andrew Anglin, who is being sued by a Jewish family in Montana who claim he encouraged his followers to harass them.

Montreal Jewish nursing home will be first in Quebec to get COVID vaccine

Among the first Canadians to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will be residents and staff at a Jewish nursing home where dozens of residents have died of the disease.

The Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre could begin vaccinations as early as Friday night, according to reports in the Canadian media.

The public facility in the predominantly Jewish suburb of Cote St. Luc was made a priority because of its status as a “hot red zone,” Francine Dupuis, a Montreal health official, told the Montreal Gazette.

Family members of Maimonides residents received emails in French on Thursday notifying them of the vaccine’s imminent arrival and asking for their consent.

Joyce Shanks told the newspaper that her 81-year-old father, Harvey Stoliar, had chosen to get the vaccine.

“I told him that six weeks from now I want to say ‘you made it through the pandemic,

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Avraham Stern, one of the most wanted members of the Jewish underground in Palestine, is born in Suwalki, Poland. After the Irgun halts attacks on the British in 1940, he forms Lehi, known as the Stern Gang, to keep up the violence.

Dec. 24, 1969 — Israel smuggles missile boats out of France

Israel uses a fake shipping company to purchase five military boats and sneaks them out of Cherbourg, France, defeating a French arms embargo enacted after the June 1967 war. PJC

A Ukrainian ultranationalist filmed himself toppling a Chanukah menorah in downtown Kyiv while shouting about death to Jews.

The man is the subject of a police investigation after video of the vandalism emerged, the Ukrainian news site Zik reported.

The man posted video of his actions on Facebook, adding: “How to treat foreigners who are engaged in usurpation of power, occupation of territories, genocide.”

As he toppled the menorah, he shouted: “To Ukrainians the power, Jews to the graves.”

He attempted to topple another menorah but failed because it was bolted to the ground, Zik reported.

Ukrainian nationalists have repeatedly targeted Jews in their protests against Ukraine’s Jewish president, Vlodymyr Zelensky. PJC

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A Middle East peace conference opens in Geneva under the auspices of the United States and the Soviet Union. Syria skips the conference, which ends Dec. 29 and never reconvenes.

Dec. 23, 1907 — Stern Gang’s founder is born

‘Jews to the graves,’ Ukrainian ultranationalist shouted as he toppled menorah

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Dec. 21, 1973 — Peace conference is held in Geneva

The British Government Hospital of Haifa, now the Rambam Health Care Campus, opens with 225 beds. The British high commissioner calls it the “finest medical institution in the Middle East.”

all miracles are welcome on Chanukah,’” said Shanks, who leads an advocacy group for families of Maimonides residents.

The facility will receive two boxes of 975 doses each of the Pfizer vaccine, according to the Gazette. That’s more than 3% of the 30,000 initial doses that Canada is due to receive imminently.

Less than two weeks ago, 20 residents at Maimonides were moved to other facilities to stop a second wave of infections that thus far has killed eight residents. Dozens of Maimonides residents died this spring in the pandemic’s first wave.

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 9

Headlines Israeli and UAE disabilities professionals find common purpose in expanding inclusion — WORLD —

By Howard Blas | JNS

M

ichal Rimon, CEO of Access Israel, recently put an important note on her door: “Do not disturb—I’m with Dubai.” Rimon’s two extended meetings and webinars in one day with colleagues in the United Arab Emirates offer an important window into collaborations already in progress between the disability inclusion communities of both countries.

Rimon started her day at the Hod Hasharon offices of Access Israel. She attended the virtual two-day Tolerance & Inclusivity Week at Expo 2020 Dubai. The conference’s goal was to “work together as global citizens to foster greater common understanding for more inclusive societies,” and to “reimagine how social spaces, physical environments and modes of storytelling can be more inclusive and foster greater multiculturalism and co-existence.” She participated on a panel with five disability-inclusion colleagues from around the world. The panel was titled, “Accessibility Spotlight: The Value of Difference.”

Minutes after the discussion, Rimon was back on Zoom, this time with her colleague and new friend from the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Ayesha Saeed Husaini, founder and director of Manzil, a not-for-profit organization based in Sharjah. She started the first support group in the UAE in 1999 and founded Manzil in 2005 to serve people with disabilities in the areas of educational inclusion, employment, social support, consultancy and research.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates only recently entered into the Abraham Accords, signed in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15 and ratified by the Knesset on Oct. 15. The UAE became the third Arab country, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, to agree to formally normalize its relationship with Israel — the first Persian Gulf country to do so.

While the relationship is formally still in its infancy, Husaini and Rimon actually met in person before the countries had formal relations — in February 2020 in Austria at the Zero Project Conference, which brought together accessibility leaders and organizations from around the world.

“My first real memory of Michal was from breakfast at the Zero Project,” Husaini said.

“Someone said, ‘You have to meet Michal!’”

Rimon, an ambassador for the project, took an instant interest in Husaini: “She was amazingly helpful, taking me table to table, introducing me to people.”

Though they knew they could not, at the time, continue their relationship with in-person meetings in their home countries, they remained determined.

“We discussed what options we [had],” Rimon recalled.

At the time, Rimon had no idea that in a few short months, Israel and the UAE would sign historic accords.

Husaini and Rimon both have 10 DECEMBER 18, 2020

p Ayesha Saeed Husaini

LinkedIn via JNS

p Michal Rimon, CEO of Access Israel, attends the virtual Tolerance & Inclusivity Week at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Photo via JNS

distinguished careers advocating for people with disabilities and creating programs for them. In the late 1990s, Husaini learned from students in the university classes she taught of the stigma they felt having a sibling with disabilities. She created a support group for families and began to engage her students as volunteers.

“I had to start somewhere,” she said, reasoning that she could begin to change attitudes in her country if she started with the younger generation.

Husaini continued to spread awareness about disabilities and founded Manzil in 2005. Soon after, the UAE began changing its laws around the inclusion of people with disabilities.

“UAE lawmakers were always very openminded,” she said. “The challenge was not from the government, but from being in a nascent stage; we needed more professionals and best practices.”

The process of moving toward greater inclusion in the UAE was actively promoted

by Husaini and her colleagues. Husaini serves on several advocacy committees and boards as governor of inclusion. In 2005, she implemented a program at Manzil with a “reverse inclusion” approach, inviting people without disabilities to join programs serving people with disabilities.

“We got a lot of attention in the media and from people in the government,” she said. UAE Law # 29, which was passed at the end of 2006 to protect the rights of people with disabilities, finally gave wings to her inclusion project.

Israel passed an equality law in 1994, and in 2005, around the same time that the UAE was passing similar legislation, Israel passed an Accessibility Clause requiring every ministry to issue regulations to require accessibility.

Access Israel was established the same year to increase awareness and assist in the implementation of the accessibility laws.

Rimon speaks with admiration and appreciation of Access Israel’s founder, Yuval Wagner. A wheelchair user, he requested a meeting with the CEO of a large cinema chain in Israel, expressing concern over the lack of accessibility in 11 theaters. The CEO was impressed with Wagner’s professional

response and his making a strong business case for accessibility. As Wagner stated, “An accessible business is a more profitable business.”

In Access Israel’s early years, they worked to address physical accessibility, then social accessibility. Rimon, like Husaini, turned her attention to working with young children.

“The kindergarten students learned that people with disabilities are like everyone else, and that inclusion is accepting everyone and treating them the same,” she said.

Now, Husaini and Rimon have an unprecedented opportunity to move forward together.

“I have spent many a sleepless night dreaming about all the different ways in which we can collaborate,” said Husaini.

“There is so much potential, so much synergy between the two organizations; there are so many similarities. When the skies are open, we are ready to fly.”

Added Rimon: “The excitement is there.

The sky is the limit. We can do amazing things together.”

Fred J. Maahs Jr., president of FJM Solutions, chief operations officer of Travel for All and editor of Melange, Accessibility for All, is enthusiastic about the potential of this relationship.

“I am overjoyed that Israel and the UAE have entered into a peace agreement that will restore business relations, direct flights, tourism and even sharing of best practices on some levels,” he said. “As a person with a disability who uses a wheelchair, I am hopeful that both countries will also share what’s working and what’s not when it comes to accessibility for people with disabilities.

“The UAE has abundant resources,” he added, “and is using them, along with advice from experts from all over the world, to help make the UAE the top accessible tourist destination in the world. They are in a position to share their resources — financial and otherwise — with Israel, which tends to struggle to a degree with a budget, especially when it comes to accessibility.

However, this does not minimize Israel as a resource to the UAE.” Maahs says Israel has done an excellent

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p Yuval Wagner

Photo via JNS

job making more modern cities like Tel Aviv and ancient cities like Jerusalem, including its holy sites, mostly accessible. And they have been able to do it with far less financial support. “Both can learn from each other,” he said.

Maahs is in the UAE for meetings this month and hopes to attend the next Access Israel conference in Israel.

Laura Kam, president of Kam Global Strategies, an Israel-based communications firm that is working with UAE clients and media, says that “building truly deep bonds between Israel and the UAE will come not from business deals alone, but through relationships formed between civil society groups.”

“Individuals who come together to work on solutions for issues related to disability issues,” Kam added, “will develop ties that will be more personal in nature — not simply transactional — and those are the type of relations that are strongest and longest-lasting.”

James A. Lassner, executive director of Friends of Access Israel, found the recent Zoom meeting with Husaini and Rimon meaningful and one more step in forging ties between the two organizations and countries.

“The blessing of peace brings with it many seeds,” he said. “It is humbling to be part of a warm connection that is beginning to blossom between Manzil and Access Israel based on the common goal of ‘leave no one behind.’ ” PJC PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 11

Opinion Another Chanukah miracle: Morocco and Israel Guest Columnist David Suissa

T

here’s a special place in my heart for Morocco. It’s not just that every scene of the movie “Casablanca” is like an old friend. I grew up there. Memory can play tricks on us — and I confess that my nostalgia for Casablanca may be idealized.

But it’s there.

I remember the beaches where my father taught me how to swim. I remember the deserts where we would go on pilgrimages to the graves of holy Jewish sages. I remember our crowded Jewish neighborhood, where neighbors would talk to each other through windows.

I remember the kiosk across the street from where we lived, where an Arab man would make Moroccan donuts called sfhinz.

I remember the magazine stand a block away from where my brother and I would bargain for cowboy magazines.

I remember the community oven where Jewish families would send their dafinas — Moroccan cholent — for cooking and

then pick them up right before Shabbat.

I remember those magical nights of Mimouna, the last night of Passover, when Arab grocers would help us gather flour, honey, dates and other ingredients for the traditional sweet tables.

And I remember something my parents always told us: The King of Morocco loves the Jews.

Every ethnic group has its mantras. For Moroccan Jews, that is on top of the list: The King loves the Jews. The King protects the Jews. The King protected us during World War II. And the King continues to protect us today.

Throughout instances of tension between Jews and Arabs in Morocco — and they existed — that protection stood the test of time, from one king to another. One of the king’s top advisers is a Jew. It’s a special connection.

Would this connection with Jews ever translate to a connection with the Jewish state? That was more complicated. A Jew in Morocco was much easier to accept than a Jew in the sovereign Jewish state of Israel.

The conflict with the Palestinians only reinforced this distance.

That is why the announcement that Israel

and Morocco have agreed to establish diplomatic relations is an extraordinary moment and means so much to me. I know it wasn’t easy. In that part of the world, accepting the Jewish state is a risky move. But things are changing. We’ve already seen it this year with the three other Arab countries in the Abraham Accords: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

These accords are a celebration of our common humanity.

When two countries say, “We need each other, we can help each other, we can work together,” that is humanity at work. If we go back far enough, we realize that Jews and Muslims share the same father, Abraham. We worship one God. We live in the same land.

We love hospitality. We love music. We want to work and make a living. We love our children.

My friend Aomar Boum, a devout Moroccan Muslim, speaks to my mother not just in French but in Arabic. Her Shabbat food reminds him of the flavors from his childhood home in the south of Morocco.

The bonds of culture can transcend the differences of religion.

The Judaism I grew up with in Casablanca was the “Judaism of the sun,” a Judaism inspired by mystical deserts and cozy

neighborhoods. In our Jewish enclave, Jewish rituals and holidays kept us bonded to one another. We practiced our tradition in a Muslim land that respected our tradition.

It’s no surprise that after centuries, Arab culture came to color our melodies, our foods and our customs.

Moroccan Jews suffered after migrating to Israel in the early 1950s. There was plenty of discrimination against Sephardic Jews, who looked more like Arabs than European Jews. But Moroccan Jewry played a major role in the growth of Israel. Today, it has taken its proper place at the table with over 100 different nationalities populating the Jewish state.

I can only imagine that Moroccan Israelis will gladly take advantage of the new direct flights between the two countries. They will have a chance to visit the land of their ancestors, a land where Judaism flourished and an Arab king watched over us.

We ought to light a candle tonight in honor of this victory for humanity.

Happy Chanukah! PJC David Suissa is editor-in-chief and publisher of Tribe Media Corp, and the Jewish Journal, where this piece first appeared.

Does the New York Times have a Chanukah problem?

Guest Columnist Andrew Silow-Carroll

J

ewish Twitter was not amused by a New York Times op-ed by an author saying why she no longer celebrates Chanukah.

Sarah Prager, an historian of LGBTQ history, explains that her father is Jewish and that growing up her family attended a Unitarian Universalist meeting house. She writes that Christmas was the most important holiday in her home. As a parent herself, she no longer lights the Chanukah candles. “I am not Jewish and it doesn’t feel authentic to celebrate a Jewish holiday religiously,” she writes.

Well, okay then.

The angry comments focused on why The Times would devote space to what is essentially a rejection of a Jewish holiday by someone who doesn’t regard herself as Jewish. “Truly impossible to imagine @nytopinion allowing a random white person to appropriate the religion of any other minority — and purely for the purpose of discarding it. Gross — and revealing — on so many levels,” tweets Batya Ungar-Sargon, opinion editor of the Forward.

“To check my memory, I searched @nytimes for last decade’s #Hanukkah op-eds,” tweeted Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah. “Almost all made fun of holiday, declared [it] ‘hypocrisy,’ or ‘discovered’ that the childhood story wasn’t ‘true.’ Can NYT not find anyone with actual Jewish knowledge to write a thoughtful piece?”

12 DECEMBER 18, 2020

My beef with the article was its lack of significance. “I no longer follow a tradition that never meant much to me in the first place” (I’m paraphrasing) is a very thin reed upon which to hang an essay.

I often tell op-ed writers to put their drafts to the “this as opposed to what?” test. A strong essay arguing for something is usually arguing against something else. I’m not sure what that “something” is in Prager’s case. Are outsiders or family members demanding that she celebrate Chanukah and asking that she explain herself? That’s not clear from the essay, and unlikely given that she and her wife have “no religion at all.”

Is she arguing against religious coercion, because “the old way hurt or didn’t fit”?

Perhaps — but is Chanukah the field on which to fight that particular battle? With a powerful Christian Right in this country carving out exemptions from anti-discrimination laws based on their religious beliefs, and with a conservative propaganda machine devoted to a mythical “war on Christmas,” why pick on a minor holiday celebrated by less than 2% of the population?

And it’s not like it is news or surprising that people with Jewish heritage are letting go of Jewish traditions. Prager seems to be creating a permission structure for people to do something that they have been doing in droves for decades. Ironically, Chanukah is often the last Jewish custom that secular Jews relinquish.

Defenders of the article said she is merely describing an experience common to many families with attenuated Jewish roots, who part with vestigial customs with a combination of

wistfulness and defiance. If so, Prager doesn’t make it a very interesting experience — she leaves Chanukah behind with a nostalgic shrug, with little discussion of what would be worth preserving in the first place. “Just like I did, my kids will celebrate Santa and the Easter Bunny, not a religion,” she writes.

(Compare her longing to “dust off the menorah” with the difficult and consequential struggles of the formerly charedi Orthodox men and women, profiled in a recent New Yorker article, who are torn between the all-enveloping belief structures of their youth and the uncharted territory of secular life.)

Both Ungar-Sargon and Rabbi Jacobs suggest there is something systemic about The Times’ choice to run the article ahead of Chanukah. I’ve often argued that The Times is not anti-Semitic, but rather tends to reflect the predilections of secular Jewish intellectuals — on its staff and over-represented among its readers — who take a bemused approach to Judaism and a conflicted approach to Israel.

It’s a point of view that treats Jewish traditions less charitably than other religious traditions, in part because family members often treat each other worse than they would outsiders.

And as Jacobs notes, The Times has gone down this path before when it comes to Chanukah. I remember a snarky 2010 piece by novelist Howard Jacobson saying Chanukah didn’t feel authentically Jewish because its heroes are soldiers and religious zealots — perhaps the quintessential critique of a Jewish tradition by a secular Jewish intellectual. Another novelist,

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Michael David Lukas, picked up on this theme in 2018, calling Chanukah “an eight-night-long celebration of religious fundamentalism and violence.”

At least Jacobson and Lukas are arguing against something. Prager’s article reads like the confession of a life-long vegetarian who once ate meat as a child, and doesn’t really miss it.

One essay wouldn’t mean much to me, even within the pages of a newspaper as widely read and influential as The New York Times. What disappoints me is another lost opportunity to reflect on Chanukah and Jewish tradition in ways that are neither sermonic and pious, nor secular and snarky.

There are plenty of Jewish voices who can frame Chanukah within the context of modernity, critiquing its uncomfortable aspects while preserving the ways it has been reimagined according to a modern, even liberal, Jewish understanding of religious freedom and the dilemmas of assimilation.

But that would demand editors and gatekeepers to take seriously the idea that religion and intellectual rigor can coexist. It would mean engaging with the rabbis and everyday Jews who cherish Judaism not as a series of quaint but outdated gestures — no more or less significant than Santa or the Easter Bunny — but as a tradition of texts and actions that can speak deeply and seriously to the present moment. PJC Andrew Silow-Carroll (@SilowCarroll) is the editor in chief of The Jewish Week, where this piece was originally published.

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Opinion Anti-Zionism is the university’s new anti-Semitism Guest Columnist Aidan Segal

A

mid a rise in anti-Semitism in the United States, some institutions of higher learning also have become breeding grounds for the age-old hatred. But instead of the explicit Jewish quotas, ghetto benches and employment discrimination of the past, the new anti-Semitism occupying the lecture halls and student unions comes wrapped in the guise of anti-Israel and anti-Zionist politics.

The good news is many Jewish students are finally paying attention to what is happening on college campuses across the country and taking action.

I am one of those students. As a campus fellow for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, I am responsible for surveilling reported instances of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activity seen across universities across the county.

The AMCHA Initiative, which documents anti-Semitism on campus, reported

that in 2019 there was a 70% spike in Israelrelated anti-Semitic activity on college campuses nationwide. While Pittsburgh campuses largely have been spared from significant anti-Israel activity recently, it is still important to understand why such a phenomenon exists to better prepare for when it does happen here.

Anti-Semitism is shapeshifting in nature, conveniently adaptive to the given political and cultural landscape. In earlier times, when racism prevailed as the social norm, the anti-Semite was the self-admitted racist.

Now, anti-Semites, in their defamation of the Jewish state as the culmination of white colonialism, allege the Jew is the racist. Just as it was necessary for Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to depict Jews as their society’s perceived evil — in being communists or capitalists, respectively — college students and faculty will sometimes paint Israel and Zionism as the embodiment of contemporary society’s chief evil: racism.

Much misinformation about the IsraeliPalestinian conflict on college campuses comes from cunning bigotry. When the University of Pittsburgh’s Students for Justice in Palestine demonstrate at the corner of Schenley Plaza holding a sign that reads

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” that’s not a mere political difference, that’s an endorsement of genocide. When a professor from Point Park University claims that an organized effort on the behalf of an anti-Zionist faculty to have her removed for being pro-Israel, that’s not Palestinian activism, that’s Jew-hatred. When “Free Palestine” is spray painted in huge letters on the side of a house in South Oakland, one must ask what that might mean for the majority of the world’s Jews who call that land home.

We must find the courage to combat the gross libels spouted by anti-Zionists, but there is a conflict for many American Jews who align ideologically on most other progressive issues with a political left increasingly hostile toward the idea of Jewish self-determination.

While Jews’ propensity for fighting injustice is admirable, we often don’t recognize the dangers we face ourselves.

Rather than confront the anti-Israel bigotry present within the Black Lives Matter organization, for example, a headline for a recent article published in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles read: “Tomorrow we can talk about Israel.”

To that I ask: Since when in Jewish history — let alone Israeli history — has tomorrow

ever been a guarantee?

“If one is attacked as a Jew,” Hannah Arendt once said, “one must defend oneself as a Jew. Not as a German, not as a world-citizen, not as an upholder of the Rights of Man.” Today, an update to Arendt’s proverb is in order. The fate of Israel is the fate of the Jews, for if one is attacked as a Zionist, one must defend oneself as a Jew — not as an American, not as world citizen, not as an upholder of progressivism.

It’s futile to try to reconcile with people who don’t accept you as you are — a Jew who believes in the right to live as “free men on our own soil, and die peacefully in our own homes,” as Theodor Herzl said. Opposition to Herzl’s notion is anti-Semitic, not political.

There is no need to compensate for being a Zionist by castigating Netanyahu to appear more progressive, or to insist on your belief in the possibility of a two-state solution.

Those who are anti-Zionist opposed Israel in its embrace of socialism under David Ben Gurion and they opposed Israel when Menachem Begin shifted the nation rightward. It makes no difference — that it’s Jewish is what matters. PJC Aidan Segal is a fourth-year student at the University of Pittsburgh.

We let our kids plan Chanukah this year — and it taught me so much about the holiday Guest Columnist

Hannah Lebovits

W

hen I go out with my kids, we often play a homemade game called, “I spy with my little eye something very Yiddish.” The kids pick up on anything related to the practices, laws and symbolism of Jewish tradition.

See two triangles that almost look like they could be a Star of David? You win a point!

A mezuzah on someone’s door? Two points!

It’s a great way for them to secure their

sense of identity and see themselves in the things around them.

In prior years, during Chanukah, the game has reached silly levels. Living in a Jewish community near a major city, there are just so many things to find that relate to our lives. Menorahs in windows after sunset, any random donut shop, even a bag of potatoes in the grocery store.

But this year, with the pandemic making this kind of urban exploration impossible or impractical, I realized something about the game. Playing it outside of our home means that my kids take the Jewish items inside of our home for granted. And when preparing for Chanukah, this became especially clear.

Because the truth is, I’ve outsourced the

Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle Poetry Contest Our readers are invited to submit poems to the Chronicle’s first poetry contest. Winning entries will be published in our Jan. 15 issue, prior to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The theme is “solidarity.” Submissions will be accepted in two categories: teens and adults. The winner in each category will receive a $54 gift card to Pinsker’s Books and Judaica, supplied by an anonymous donor. All submissions must be received no later than Dec. 25.

Chanukah experience more than any other holiday. And many of my fellow parents have done the same.

Parents of school-aged kids know this well. Unlike most major Jewish holidays, Chanukah doesn’t require any school vacation days. And though one day of Purim can also be celebrated in school, Chanukah is eight days long. And those days are some of the most enjoyable. Regular academic practices are replaced with school trips, fun activities and, of course, lots of junk.

Community events are early enough in the day, with menorah lighting happening at around 5 p.m., that even young kids can enjoy public affairs. The spiritual meaning of the holiday and its timing with Christmas make it incredibly visible as well. So it makes sense that many of us end up relying on others to make Chanukah fun, meaningful and celebratory.

But this year, our home has become our community. We’ve had to learn how to adapt and bring what we could from our normal communal structures into our homes. We’ve learned a lot along the way about what is

most meaningful to our family, about how we want our communal spaces to change in the future, and how we can keep holiday traditions alive even when we aren’t with our families and communities.

But I hadn’t quite figured out how to do that on Chanukah. Our kids are in school but are restricted in how they can celebrate there. Communal activities are out of the question. We had previously travelled over Shabbat Chanukah, which was no longer an option either.

And then it hit me.

We can do anything.

The beauty of this holiday — and especially of experiencing it amidst a global pandemic —is that we have the opportunity to make it our own. Eight full days to play as many games of dreidel, eat as many latkes and sing as many songs as we’d like. It’s an incredibly freeing feeling. Like the lights of the menorah, the possibilities can expand what we might have expected.

So, with this newfound knowledge, I Please see Lebovits, page 20

Guidelines: Poems must be submitted to newsdesk@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Please type “Poetry Contest” in the subject line. The poem must be in a Microsoft Word file.

No pdfs or handwritten entries will be accepted.

• One submission per author • Must include the author’s name, address, phone number and email address • Must designate whether entry is intended for teen or adult category • Poem should reflect the theme of solidarity • Unpublished poems only

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 13

Headlines Pastimes: Continued from page 1

past challenges,” she said.

Included in the group’s 65 challenges to date have been tried-and-true staples like pies and chocolate chip cookies; items that require a more delicate baking touch, including choux pastries and macarons; and the less easy to define dishes such as “imposter bakes,” requiring participants to make something that looks like something else.

“I made a meatloaf that looked like a cake and iced it with mashed potatoes,” Goldstein said.

The group has provided its members with more than a way to simply increase their baking skills.

“People have commented that this group has sort of been their savior through the pandemic, that they go every day to see what people have posted,” Goldstein said. “I’ve made friends from all over the country — in fact, all over the world.”

Environmental Charter School freshman Tali Blitstein also has tried her hand at baking during the pandemic, but with a focus on challah.

Spending 10 months baking one thing over and over might not sound like much of a challenge, but Blitstein has upped her bread game, moving beyond the traditional Shabbat loaf to include flavors like apple cinnamon, sesame, Israeli spices and Nutella. She also has tried her hand at various styles of challah, including a six-braid bread, which she said “probably took me six weeks to learn.”

Blitstein gets ideas online and from social media sites like Instagram, and shares her creations with neighbors.

With more time at home these days, Michoel Dovid Leopold has decided to focus on getting in shape.

“I’m an accountant and usually working in the office super long hours,” Leopold said.

“Because of the pandemic, I’ve been working from home and thought that since I don’t have to drive, I should work on becoming healthier, so I started exercising from home.”

The Squirrel Hill resident uses his time on

Days: Continued from page 1

That’s where you’ll find Adrienne Indianer on Christmas Day. Indianer is a longtime Federation volunteer and, appropriately, has chaired the Volunteer Center for the past two years.

She’s been helping organize events for years and even met her husband of 19 years while volunteering.

“We’re very excited we have these opportunities for people to volunteer — we wanted

his stationery bike to listen to podcasts.

“Half the time I listen to Jewish podcasts — there is a multivolume set by the Lubavitcher Rebbe that I’m listening to,” he said. “The other half of the time I’ll listen to more informal or motivational podcasts.”

Carrie Nardini, of Peters Township, and her family enjoy podcasts as well while partaking in a pastime they have been doing together since the start of COVID-19 restrictions: painting miniatures that are used for cooperative desktop games.

“It’s along the lines of fantasy and Dungeons and Dragons gaming,” Nardini said. “These miniatures go with a lot of different games. There are Star Wars and fantasy, like orcs and ogres and sea creatures.”

Nardini did not have to look far for her new hobby. Her husband, Enrico, a former teacher, owns Drawbridge Games in Castle Shannon.

“It’s made my husband super happy to share with me and it’s something my kids enjoy doing with me, as well,” said Nardini.

Ria David also has delved into the arts, taking up the electric bass, while spending more time at home.

David is the president and co-founder of Cybergenetics, a company which focuses on solving complex DNA evidence. The Congregation Beth Shalom member played guitar and piano as a teenager and thought she would try the six-string again. Her husband, a guitar player in Beth Shalom’s band, suggested the bass instead.

“My goal is to be able to do the opening of ‘Dazed and Confused’ by Led Zeppelin,” she said.

A couple times each week, she concludes “a long, hard day dealing with all the crazy stuff we do in our business” by practicing bass guitar for about an hour.

David’s new hobby has been contagious.

“One friend, after hearing what I was doing, said she’d always wanted to play drums,” David said. “For her birthday, her husband bought her an electronic drum set.

I’ve got another friend who’s been meaning to buy a keyboard. And so, our goal is, in the summer, when we can actually get together, we might start a group.”

to make sure we are still serving our communities,” Indianer said. “We’re trying to make things as normal as we can. We want to keep that continuity … these people who need us, need us more than ever.”

“We’re just happy to continue our history of caring and serving the community,” she added. “We’re there like we’ve always been.”

For full details on this year’s slate of Mitzvah Day events, go to jewishpgh.org/ mitzvah-day. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

“ We’re still going to make a pretty big impact and brighten some people’s days.”

— DAVID CHUDNOW

14 DECEMBER 18, 2020

He bought an ammunition reloading press and is refilling the spent cartridges he has collected over 10 years of practice shooting.

Neft has wanted to try his hand at refilling cartridges for some time, and while he is not afraid to try different crafts at home, he acknowledges that working with bullets is a little more technical than building a birdhouse or working in the lawn.

“You have to make sure you have the right powder in the casing, that the primer is in there, that you have the right shell loads,” Neft said. “There are guides that come out every year — every powder manufacturer has a guide as to how many grains of their powder you need to use.”

And what if any of those measurements are incorrect?

“You could blow the gun  Tali Blitstein has used her time during the pandemic up, ” Neft said. to bake challah.

Photo provided by Dana Platt Blitstein Karen Skoop Taylor calls One other benefit of David’s new herself a stay-at-home mom, but the mother hobby: “I can now open jam jars with my of two runs a craft business from home and fingers,” she said. works with entrepreneurs through her own Rabbi Eli Seidman, who recently retired network marketing business. from the Jewish Association on Aging, also She decided to take classes about the has taken up an instrument — the saxo- United States Constitution because of the phone, which he chose for its jazzy and pandemic and the closing of various busibluesy qualities, he said. nesses, she said.

Seidman has already learned a few simple “My first thought was, ‘Is this even legal? songs, he said. Given the time of year, it’s Is this constitutional?’” she said. “I got a copy not surprising they happen to be Chanukah and started to read it, but it’s very vague and tunes, including “Ma’or Tzur” and “I hard to decipher.”

Have a Little Dreidel.” He credits Rabbi The Lower Burrell resident began attending Yitzchak Cowen with helping him learn his various conferences and took a Constitution newfound instrument. course through Patriots Academy.

“I choose a Jewish song and Rabbi Cowan “I got so interested in it that I became gives me sheet music or I find it online,” a Constitution coach and help others Seidman said. “When I learn it, I play it for navigate their way through it, as well,” my wife and send it to my kids on WhatsApp. Taylor said. PJC That’s fun. It enhances Chanukah for me.”

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ South Hills resident and gun collector Andrew Neft also has begun a new hobby. pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

 At the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in 2018, adults and kids worked together to create “blessing bags,” bags filled with items useful for individuals in need. PJ Library, which sends free books celebrating Jewish values to families with young children, collected the items for the bags.

Photo by Josh Franzos

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Headlines Victims: Continued from page 2

their belongings were taken in violation of international law, the FSIA provides U.S. courts with jurisdiction. The Trump administration disagrees and filed briefs supporting the Hungarian and German governments’ claim that the FSIA exception does not apply.

The nine U.S. justices are currently considering several issues regarding the FSIA: In the Germany case, the Supreme Court is deciding what the FSIA’s expropriation exception means and whether that exception includes Holocaust takings. In both the Germany case and Hungary case, the Supreme Court is determining whether the FSIA precludes U.S. courts from considering issues like comity (mutual recognition by political, national and judicial entities): Specifically, even though the taking of property may trigger the FSIA’s expropriation exception and nullify a foreign state’s immunity, do other factors outweigh a plaintiff ’s ability to bring suit in the United States?

Prior to adopting the FSIA in 1976, Congress worked with foreign policy experts and international lawyers for three years. Codifying the FSIA establishes clear

Conjunction: Continued from page 3

actually rest almost 450 million miles apart, according to NASA’s Night Sky Network.

Gayle Rieger, a member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh, is looking forward to next week’s conjunction but wishes it didn’t coincide with the pandemic.

Were it not for COVID-19, Rieger would have enjoyed observing the night sky with friends from the AAAPGH, she said. “It’s

protocols for when plaintiffs can bring suit against foreign states in U.S. courts and demonstrates a renunciation of judicial decision-making on a case-by-case basis, said David Jacobson, a Pittsburgh-based attorney who joined Traldi in authoring the briefs.

In addition to the legal justification for these cases going before the U.S. Supreme Court, there’s another interest at play, said Traldi, who clerked for Justice Debra Todd of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, then went on to work at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and later at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia as Trial Attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor.

“I think there’s something really fundamentally American about seeing victims, underdogs, survivors of terrible crimes, get their day in court and seeing them get a fair shake,” he said.

Jacobson, who prior to joining Blank Rome’s Pittsburgh office, worked at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and AJC Berlin, agreed.

“There are still wrongs that have yet to be rectified,” Jacobson said. “Although Germany and other countries have done a lot to promote restitution since World War II, there

are still areas that need to be addressed.”

Prior to the Dec. 7 oral arguments, which were delivered by phone due to the pandemic, lawyers for the German government claimed that Germany has provided mechanisms for mediation and restitution, and pointed to the work of the German Advisory Commission, which after reviewing material regarding the Welfenschatz determined the 1935 sale did not justify return.

Heirs of the art dealers counter that despite the German government’s general efforts to address the horrors of the Holocaust, neither the Advisory Commission nor German courts have provided adequate recourse regarding the Welfenschatz, and for that reason, U.S. courts are the necessary venue for adjudication.

During the Dec. 7 oral arguments, Justice Stephen Breyer noted the precedent that could be established if such claims are allowed to proceed, and the cases that could flow from that precedent against the U.S. “You can have slavery involving property,” he said. “You can have systematic discrimination. You can have cruel and unhuman degrading treatment. I mean, the list goes on and on of what violates international law.

And many of them involve property. And

if we can bring these kinds of actions here, well, so can these other countries do the same and accuse us.”

Whether it’s the internment of Japanese people during World War II, slavery of African Americans or forced labor of railroad workers in the 19th century, there’s a list of potential claims that could be brought against the United States, and this is something serious to consider, continued Breyer.

Nonetheless, Congress made clear, through its drafting of the FSIA, that certain exceptions to foreign immunity exist. Because Hungary and Germany’s actions fall within those exceptions, and, given the United States’ continued commitment since Nuremberg to rectifying Holocaust-era ills, the court should permit the plaintiffs’ claims to seek restitution in U.S. courts, said Jacobson.

“The events transpired long ago, but these are still significant wrongs,” he said.

“If the Supreme Court closes its doors now, there may be no way for these people to seek recovery.”

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision later this term. PJC

almost like a family.” Between meetings and “star parties,” members get together twice a month “and sometimes even more.”

The pandemic has restricted the group’s ability to gather in recent months, which is a shame because 2020 would have been “a fabulous year for star parties,” given the various conjunctions that recently occurred, said Rieger.

Since the beginning of March, there have been six instances of planetary conjunctions.

Pittsburgh isn’t a “very astronomically friendly city,” Rieger said. Between the city lights and cloudy skies, dark sky viewing isn’t

that easy. “We have maybe a handful of really good viewing nights.”

For better conditions, Rieger suggested traveling “out in the country.”

Newman agreed that there’s a general value in viewing the sky from a “truly dark site,” like Pennsylvania’s Cherry Springs State Park, which is about 180 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, but said that city dwellers shouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage if they choose to observe the great conjunction from home.

“It won’t be quite as dramatically bright in

Pittsburgh as it would be at a dark site, but both Jupiter and Saturn are bright enough that if it’s clear you can see them easily with the unaided eye,” he said. And, as an added benefit, if one uses a telescope, or even binoculars, to observe the event, there’s a good chance of seeing not only Jupiter and Saturn together, “but also the moons of Jupiter, and perhaps even the largest moon of Saturn: Titan.” PJC

diversifying revenue sources, pivoting when needed and giving employees a reprieve.

This year, they will have Dec. 25 off.

Developing resilience isn’t just for moments of crisis, said Schreiber: “I think that resilience is a form of culture-building. Culture-building is something that has to happen intentionally every day — so not only are you built for crisis, but you’re built to be a thriving organization.” PJC

 Brian Schreiber during the Zoom event

Kayla Steinberg

care professional, allowing him to escort children out of the building since parents cannot come in.

“I would not call that the standard CEO role, but in a pandemic, the rules of the game have changed,” he said. “[It] isn’t just about the fact that I’m supporting the staff but it’s also about the visibility of the CEO to help staff stay resilient so they don’t see me just sitting in an executive office.”

The JCC’s strategies for resilience include

jazz and ’60s and ’70s rock music.

“I find it humorous,” Ron noted, “that he used to hang out in an Oakland dive bar the Decade. He was a big rocker from his early days. It’s been fun knowing him.”

The couple studied jazz with the music fan, adding “But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz” to their library because of the course.

Rothaus called him a mensch: “We’re very fortunate. He’s not just teaching a class that unapproachable. He’s amazing on all those levels — on a personal level, on a professional level. It’s very rare.”

If Mendelson is a mensch, perhaps it is because of the work he does outside of teaching and writing. He has served in various board positions, including as

president at Congregation Poale Zedeck, taught Torah study at Kollel and continues to study the Talmud — he’s currently on his third Daf Yomi cycle — and volunteered for years with the Aleph Institute, visiting Jewish prisoners.

Executive Director Rabbi Moishe Vogel said Mendelson was dedicated, visiting prisoners weekly.

“He was concerned with the welfare of individuals; he was a great asset to Aleph,” Vogel said. “The years that he went, he was a tremendous asset to the community. He is a smart man, he has wisdom, he listened.

More important than anything, his empathy left a lasting impression on me.”

The father of three and grandfather

of eight has authored numerous books including “Pittsburgh: A Place in Time,” “Arena: Remembering the Igloo,” “Pittsburgh Prays: Thirty-Six Houses of Worship” and “Pittsburgh Born, Pittsburgh Bred” and taught hundreds of Pittsburghers on a myriad of topics. But he has a simple philosophy.

“I keep telling my lit students at Point Park and Chatham, ‘For heaven’s sakes, have fun; enjoy the stuff. It is meant to be enjoyed,’” he said. “Sure, reading good stuff and writing stuff is work. We know that. But if you can’t do it with a proverbial song in your heart, do something else.” PJC

JCC: Continued from page 5

“In the response to the Tree of Life synagogue shooting all the way into the pandemic,” Schreiber said, the JCC’s leadership learned a lot about what it means “to lead by example.”

Schreiber has personally sought to do just that: He is now licensed as a child

Mendelson: Continued from page 7

taken Osher courses taught by Mendelson for close to a decade.

“We’ve done courses on George Orwell, one was Toni Morrison, Appalachian Dreams, we’ve done Native American literature and a course on doomed explorers,” the South Hills resident remembered. She recalled him once saying, “I’m going to give you books you’ll want to read the rest of your life.”

“And you know, it’s true,” she said.

Her husband connected with Mendelson not only through classes but a shared love of 15 DECEMBER 18, 2020

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Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

— Kayla Steinberg

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Life & Culture Judah Cowen’s candied beef bacon donut a hit for Chanukah — FOOD —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

M

ashups seem to be hot this season, so if Lifetime and KFC can collaborate on a mini movie starring Mario Lopez as a steamy Colonel Sanders then why not blend bacon and Chanukah?

In an ode to savory sufganiyot, Judah Cowen of Elegant Edge Catering included a mapleglazed candied beef bacon donut on his takeout menu for Shabbat Chanukah.

Making a kosher creation that centers around what sounds like a singularly treif item is one positive outcome of COVID-19, explained Cowen.

Since the start of the pandemic, with fewer large-scale events and more people stationed at home, Cowan’s Squirrel Hillbased catering company has pivoted with an eye toward takeout, giving him a bit more room for creativity.

A family of two or four may be more apt to try maple-glazed candied beef bacon donuts than a host ordering Chanukah treats for a big affair, he said. Cowen, a graduate of the Jerusalem Culinary Institute, said the donut was inspired by the rich flavors of Israel.

Having spent nearly five years in the Jewish state, Cowen remembers tasting sufganiyot filled with jelly, custard and even meat

during the winter holiday.

Although Cowen’s donut — which is listed as an entree on his takeout menu — may be relatively new to Pittsburgh, similarly exotic offerings have sprouted up elsewhere in recent years.

In 2016, Burger King announced it

was selling a “Sufganiking,” a donutWhopper combo, at its Israeli-based chains during Chanukah.

Two years later, the Jerusalem Post reported that a slate of New York kosher eateries were serving donuts made with schnitzel, pastrami and even lamb.

Cowen toyed with the idea of stuffing his sufganiyot with pastrami, but elected to inject beef bacon instead.

“We were messing

around with it, but I really stuck with this,” he said.

After placing the donuts on his takeout menu, orders came in at a steady pace. By the morning of Dec. 11, he had sold out.

Cowen thanked his “loyal following” for their support, and added, “If I knew the amount of attention this would get, I probably would have come out with a few more varieties. We’ll work on that for next year.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

 Above: Judah Cowen holds his creations, maple glazed candied beef bacon sufganiyot, also seen at right.

Photos courtesy of Judah Cowen

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 17

Celebrations

Torah

Birth

Why gelt?

Rabbi Zalman Gurevitz Parshat Mikeitz Genesis 41:1 - 44:17

W

ith the last days of Chanukah behind us, it is a good time to look at some of the timeless lessons that can last until next year.

Of all the commandments, lighting Chanukah candles is the only mitzvah that needs to be performed for the public. The menorah needs to be lit by a window or a doorway where people passing by can see it.

Any other commandment can be fulfilled privately. A sukkah, for example, can be built in a gated courtyard — there’s no obligation for people passing by to see your sukkah. But when it comes to Chanukkah, the mitzvah is to publicize the miracle.

The time to light the menorah is as it

“Chanukah gelt.”

The meaning of “gelt” in Yiddish is money.

This ties into the theme of Chanukah, which is turning darkness into light. Money is something neutral, but when we take that money and do a mitzvah with it, we are turning it into a source of light. Chanukah is the time for us to teach our children the value of money and the value of making giving part of their day-to-day life.

It’s always nice to get presents, but when a child gets a present, he can either give it all away or keep all of it. It’s hard to find a middle ground. When a child gets money, though, he can learn to develop a healthy attitude toward giving charity by having the opportunity to give from his own money. It’s just as important for a child to have a tzedakah box as it is for a child to have an Xbox!

A few years ago on a Friday afternoon, an Israeli exchange student at West Virginia

When a child gets money, though, he can Ross and Kayla Miller of Greenfield are proud to announce the birth of their son, Will Portman Miller. He was born on Nov. 8, weighing 8 pounds 5 ounces. His paternal grandparents are Todd and Elaine Miller of Squirrel Hill, and his maternal grandparents are Tom and Theresa Neff of Gibsonia. Will’s Hebrew name is Chaim Levi, in memory of his beloved paternal great-grandmother, Myrna Portman Miller (z”l) — “Meema” — whose zest and love of life were an inspiration to all who knew her. PJC

learn to develop a healthy attitude toward giving charity by having the opportunity to give from his own money.

Did You Know?

Kesher Israel Cemetery – Port Vue For more information about the JCBA, to inquire about plot purchases, to view full histories, to volunteer, and/or to make a contribution please visit our website at www.jcbapgh.org, email us at jcbapgh@gmail.com or call the JCBA at 412-553-6469.

JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation

The Kesher Israel Cemetery is adjacent to the Calvary Cemetery in Port Vue. The ground was purchased in 1907. The congregation was formally consecrated in 1910 and located on Mulberry Street in McKeesport.

Rabbi Weinberg was their longstanding leader. Kesher Israel merged with Anshe Sfard in 1935. Twenty graves, some marked only with numbers, have been cared for by a dedicated neighbor since 2004. JCBA assumed maintenance and care beginning in 2020.

Chai

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

gets dark. This teaches us that the theme of Chanukah is about reaching out beyond the boundaries of our homes or synagogues and spreading holiness and G-dliness throughout the world by adding the light of studying the Torah and fulfilling mitzvot.

There’s something special about light.

Light doesn’t actively fight darkness, it’s existence naturally eliminates it. Chanukah teaches us to focus on the good that’s in us and on the good that is in others — to focus on the mitzvot we can do, and to do them better and with more joy. That will bring light into our own lives and into the world around us.

Little known fact: On the three biblical holidays (Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot) it’s a mitzvah for the head of the household to purchase gifts for the members of his household so that the holiday becomes a joyous time for all. Chanukah is not a biblical holiday and therefore there’s no mitzvah to give gifts. However, it is customary to give children (even adult children)

University named Shay walked into the Chabad house and asked for the tzedakah box. Shay and I came from very different backgrounds. I grew up in a Chasidic home in Brooklyn. My first language was Yiddish.

Shay grew up in central Israel, and his parents were not observant. I asked Shay what inspired him to donate. Shay explained that on his way to class, he found a $20 bill and he needed to put it in the tzedakah box.

While occasionally we received donations in larger amounts, this was one of the most valuable donations we ever received.

While we grew up worlds apart, Shay and I shared the same core values. There are so many things a college student can buy with $20, but this was a testament to Shay’s core values, and there is only one way to teach those values: by being a living example. PJC Rabbi Zalman Gurevitz is the rabbi at the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center in Morgantown, West Virginia. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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18 DECEMBER 18, 2020

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Obituaries EISEN: On Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, Joan Rosalie Eisen left her loving family to join those who had preceded her in death: her parents, Edith and Hyman Speer; her husband, Dr. Howard Burton Eisen; and her sons, Edward Bruce Eisen, Marc Harold Eisen and Barry Alan Eisen. She is survived by her son Michael Craig Eisen and his fiancée Kelly O’Rourke of Pittsburgh, and her daughter-in-law Roberta Calgaro, also of Pittsburgh. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Spencer Edward Eisen and his twin sisters Sabrina and Sydney Eisen of Bexley, Ohio. She also leaves behind a niece, Linda Dershem of Kettering, Ohio, and a cousin, Talia Sue Gerstein of Cleveland, Ohio. Joanie was very active in her community, serving 25 years as volunteer at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh, 15 of which were at the gift shop of Montefiore.

She was a member of Ladies Hospital Aid Society of Western Pennsylvania and held various offices and chairmanships. Joan and Howard played bridge every other weekend with three other couples. Joanie also played mahjong and canasta with her close friends. Her wide smile and cheery “hello” are already sadly missed by her many friends, neighbors and family members.

Services and interment private. For those wishing to make donations in her memory, donate online at montefiorecare.org, find donate link, select “Montefiore rabbis fund” or other funds available or call foundation

office at 216-910-2350 or The Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Research Fund, michaeljfox.org/ donate. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Fund (uwswpa.org/donate) or a charity of your choosing. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

GROSS: Charles David Gross, of Scottsdale, Arizona, formerly of Pittsburgh, died at age 88 on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, family members could not be by his side, but his dog Mishka was with him until the end. Charles was the youngest child of Max Gross and Frances Gross, and baby brother of Edith Mills, Ruth Cohen, Selma Krupp, Annette Deakter and Edward Gross. Charles is survived by his former wife, Madeleine Gross, and sons Lee (Megan) Gross, Stuart (Tina) Gross, Andrew (Tracy) Gross and James (Nureet) Gross. Charles is also survived by 13 grandchildren, Ophir, Max, Roni, Lewis, Jake, Carly, Tav, Tehilla, Akiva, Hinda, Eli, Gavin and Alexander. Charles worked with his father in Pittsburgh in the meatpacking and rendering businesses. After his father passed away, he transitioned into real estate, creating a successful residential and commercial real estate business. Around the year 2000, he moved to Arizona, where he lived until his passing. Graveside services and interment were held at Cneseth Israel Cemetery on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020. Contributions in his honor can be made at Arizona Kosher Pantry (azkosherpantry.org), United

HAALMAN: Perry Haalman passed away on Dec. 4, 2020, in Richmond, Virginia. He is survived by his son Marc (Erin) Haalman and his daughter Rachel (Henry) Blaufeld, brother Mickey (Nancy) Haalman and sisters Kathy Lobelsohn and Ann Haalman, grandchildren Pierce and Paxton Haalman and Jackson and Blake Blaufeld. He will be missed by his nieces and nephews, Yael (Josh) Eads, Josh (Julianne Hluska) Lobelsohn, David (Nikki) Haalman and Mariah and Maci Eads. Graveside services and interment were private at B’nai Israel Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com KROUSE: Shirley Krouse, age 91, of Squirrel Hill (formerly of New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), passed away on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. Beloved wife of Isadore Krouse (z”l); loving mother of Michael Krouse (Dawn) of Peachtree Corners, Georgia; Allan Krouse (Lou Ann z”l) of Clarion, Pennsylvania; and Elaine Miller (Todd) of Squirrel Hill.

Grandmother to Ross Miller (Kayla), Evan Miller, Isaac Miller, Katherine Krouse

Estroff (Brandon) and Ilyssa Krouse, and great-grandmother to Will Miller. Shirley was active in civic affairs in New Bethlehem as well as in the sisterhoods of Tree of Life Congregation in Oil City and Kneseth Israel in Kittanning. She also volunteered at Clarion Hospital. Upon marrying Isadore (Iz) and moving to New Bethlehem in 1957, she taught the other ladies in town how to play mahjong and was the catalyst of weekly mahj games for 45 years. Shirley derived much joy from being with family and friends. She was born on Feb. 10, 1929, in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, to Meyer and Rose Rosson Gordon, and graduated from Penn State University in 1951. Her warmth, candor and sense of humor will be missed by all who knew her. Graveside services and interment were private at Titusville Oil City Jewish Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Jewish Association on Aging (jaapgh.org/donate). Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated.

Please see Obituaries, page 20

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Burstin, Jacob Cohen, Florence G. Davidson, Jake Davis, Sarah Rachel Elpern, Aryeh Zalman Esrauw, Sarah Esrauw, Louis L. Fierman, Lena Freedman, Fannie Friedman, Ruben Friedman, Joseph Goldhammer, Abraham Saul Gordon, Ethel J. Greenberg, Hannah Greenberger, Borris Halpern, Helene Tumpson Horewitz, H. Samuel Jacobson, Samuel H Jacobson, Rose Jonas, Rachel Klein, Judas Lapidus, Rachael Levy, Max Lewis, Rachel Lewis, Albert Marcus, Jay H. Dr. Mervis, David Miller, Edwin L. Miller, Regina Monsein, Julia Oppenheimer, Fannie Pecarsky, William Perlman, Sarah Belle Pettler, Jean Polack, Isaac Rintzler, Fannie Robinson, Max Roth, Maida Rothaus, David Rothman, Fred Schiller, Seymour Schwartz, Joseph A. Sedersky, Ida Shafman, Esther Levy Shapiro, Fannie Shenson, William Skirboll, Ralph Morris Swartz, Matthew Teplitz, Ida Sack Tobias, David Weinberger, Morris Wolf, Abraham Isaac Zober Tuesday December 22: Bess B. Aberman, Celia Atran, Sam Bazer, Dora Bennett, Anna Berger, Rose Bickart, Abraham Boodman, Lewis S. Browm, Joseph Cottler, Esther Epstein, Hannah Erenstein, Esther Feinberg, Sarah Libbie Fink, Dora Gordon, Henry E. Green, Samuel Harrison, Bernat Hartstein, Harry Haupt, Regina Horowitz, Esther Ruth Karpo, David Labowitz, Reuben B. Lando, Itzik Lemelman, Hyman Mandell, Rita Jacobson Mark, Dr. Patterson Menlowe, Abraham Midler, Anna Miller, Laura Roth Miller, Jerome Myers, Ida Perlman, Edward P. Reinhard, Dina Rosenberg, Samuel Roth, Blanche Rubenstein, Harry Rubenstein, Bessie Swatt Seder, Morey Seltman, Samuel Shaffer, Tillie Shussett, Eva Slavkin, Helen Spiegel, Rebecca Steiner, Edward H. Talenfeld, Abe Joseph Weiner, Joseph Abe Weiner, Regina M. Weisz Wednesday December 23: Celia Anish, Sarah Herr Baer, Eloise A. Bay, Rachel Beerman, Hyman Hillel Berman, Hyman Borovetz, Rae Rothman Buncher, Elsie Bazell Caplan, Cpl. Lawrence Cohen, Lawrence Cpl. Cohen, Isaac Diamondstone, Max Finkelhor, Wolfe Benjamin Foster, Bertha Friedman, Emil Friedman, Jennie Goldstein Gefsky, Louis Gerber, Mollie Gilberd, Inez S. Gottfried, Al H. Gottlieb, Ida L. Gusky, Rebecca Harris, Helen Haupt, Israel Herring, Albert Hurwitz, Lillian Hytowitz, Jack Kalmenson, Eva Katz, Emanuel Klee, Eliasz Lefkovics, Rose Levine, Lib H. Levy, Betty Ruth Nadler, Stanley Myles Perilman, Milton Henry Platt, Lena Roman, Elsie Wintner Rosenberg, Joseph Rosenberg, O. Louis Rubenstein, Bella Rubinstein, Max M. Saul, Paul Shoff, George Shullman, Celia Siff, Berry Sigal, M. Alan Slone, Dora Stearns, Minnie Stein, Dora Goldberg Wine Thursday December 24: Celia Ackerman, Bessie Barbalat, Anna Wilkoff Bash, Louis A. Behr, Etta M. Berman, Harry Borovetz, Lepke Brown, Florence Burechson, Aaron Canter, Edward J. Eggleston, Linda Elmaleh, Ida Epstein, Lena Feingold, Louis Fischer, Leah Samuels Friedberg, Joseph L. Friedman, Dora Goldman, Libbie Merle Goldstein, Anne B. Goldston, Anne B. Goldston, Harry Gordon, Fred Gottesman, Samuel Greene, Freda Halpert Gross, Irvin Grossman, Clara Schweizer Half, William M. Kahanowitz, George Kazan, Anne Joel Kirsch, Nachman Klein, Sigmund Lample, Ida Levin, Zelda Levin, Bessie Levine, Maurice Levitt, Edith Markowitz, Samuel Melnick, Joseph A. Mervis, Jeanette Morris, Anna L. Perlow, Bessie Recht, Abraham L. Ruben, Sarah Rubin, Jennie F. Sapper, Esther Malka Schwartz, Max Selkovits, Charles Shapira, Joseph Sigal, Joseph L. Singer, Harold Sylvan Soltman, Hannah Rachel Wein, Charles J. Weinberger, Jerome Bernard Zaslov Friday December 25: Pearl Albert, Carl Colman Alpern, Harry I. Alpern, Emil Hirsh Altman, Belle Anatole, Wolf Aronovitz, Sophie Balch, Dora Barbakow, Abe Bliwas, Herbert Burechson, Bertha Cook, Nelson Carl Cotlov, Sylvia S. Cramer, Sally Daniels, Lena Diznoff, Louis Duga, Brynie Goldberg, Fanny R. Goldstein, Jerome S. 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Gallow, Celia Goldberg, Fannie Goldstein, Harry Green, Max Greenberg, Jeannette Herman, Rose Kalser, Saul Kann, Harry Kaufman, Helen Jacobson Klein, Benjamin Knina, Sarah Krieger, Fannie Kweller, Nathan Lavine, Louis Levin, Isaac Levinson, Blanche B. Levy, David Lichtenstein, Jack I. Mallinger, Esther Marks, Dr. Jay H. Mervis, Bessie Poster, Helen Rosenbloom, Boruch J. Rosenson, Hyman Sachs, Paul Sarkoff, Mendel Schwartz, Louis Sesler, Louis Silverblatt, Florence Silverman, Frank Tavernise

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

DECEMBER 18, 2020 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

LEVINE: Samuel D. “Sammy” Levine. On Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, he passed away just two months after his 99th birthday. Sam was the son of the late Benjamin and Ronella (Lipsitz) Levine, brother of the late Jane Stern and husband of the late, much loved Gretchen O’Hagan Levine. Sam loved to hold court and tell stories about friends and relatives. His extended family said he knew everyone in Pittsburgh. During his career, he worked for the Sun Telegraph, then for the state of Pennsylvania. He was a longtime volunteer for Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. He is survived by devoted cousins Bette (Mel) Spokane, Debbie Cooper (Jim Ostronic) and many extended family members. He was blessed to have wonderful neighbors and friends

Lebovits: Continued from page 13

turned to my go-to fun advisory board: my kids. They requested a parade, dessert for dinner, dreidel with Chanukah gelt (instead of just chocolate chips), a game night, and something to put outside of our home to show the world what we’re celebrating.

We ordered some photo booth masks and put together a parade (which also turned into a play). We settled on whole wheat waffles with marshmallows for “dessert for dinner” night. We let them count out three chocolate coins each when they played dreidel. And we’ve ordered our “pin the candle on the menorah” for game night.

But my kids’ last request gave me pause. The idea of decorating the outside of our home was incredibly foreign to me. While I myself had grown up in an area with many brightly

who were always there to assist and provide companionship. His family is especially grateful to his aide, Kelly, who selflessly was always by his side. We also thank the JAA for their attention and concern (volunteer Linda) and the devoted staff at his apartment and former aide, Megan. A special thank you to the ICU staff at the hospital for their attentive and compassionate care.

Due to COVID-19, services and interment private. The family suggests donations be made to Jewish Association on Aging, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 (jaapgh. org) or Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 100 West Station Square Drive, Suite 450, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, (information@phlf.org). Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com ROTH: Allan Roth. On Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020; beloved husband of the late Bernice Roth. Father of Michelle (Larry) Limpert, Michael Roth, Stephanie Roth and Suzanne Acrie. Cherished brother of the late Marvin and Idella Roth. Also survived by 11

SCHWARTZ: Janet Cooper Schwartz.

Daughter of the late Nettie and Meyer Rosenfeld. Mother of Randi (Anthony) Cost and Dayna Spitz. Grandmother of Max and Eli Gelernter, and loving partner of David Schnitzer, passed away suddenly on Dec. 11, 2020, in Boyton Beach, Florida, at the age of 77. Janet was an overflowing source of love and light to her family throughout

lit homes on the block, in my Orthodox Jewish upbringing I was often taught that the practice was exclusively for those celebrating Christmas, and that we should be proud of our own holiday and its traditions, which did not include decorating the outside of our home. My husband came from a similar background and understood my discomfort.

So, we made a compromise with the kids — we’ll put something up, but it won’t be lights. And it won’t be a Christmas decoration that’s Jew-ified. It will be something that suits us and our holiday. We settled on a large Chanukah-themed backdrop to hang across the front of our house. We figured that not only could others admire it, but they could use it as a selfie background, if they so choose (#happyChanukah).

We knew our home would be our community this year. What we hadn’t expected was that our practices might catch on or be noticed.

Immediately after we put the backdrop up, people started slowing down when driving by. If we were outside, drivers rolled down their windows to wish us Happy Holidays or a Happy Chanukah. When they saw us walk to our home after a quick stroll around the neighborhood, several of our new neighbors who had noticed the image wished us the best. And then, two days after we put up our decorations, a Jewish family across the street put up a sign as well: “Eight nights, eight lights,” it read, the pride spreading like fire from our home to theirs.

I don’t know if we’ll celebrate like this in future years. Most of my list of Chanukah activities is so candy-filled that they might not be ideal for a year when the kids get donuts in school, chocolate at a public menorah lighting and cake from bubbe over Shabbat.

But I am certain that I’ve experienced a paradigm shift — a different perspective that I couldn’t reach during any other holiday

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grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, one niece, one nephew and his former spouse C arol e Koz i m e r.

A l l an g r a du at e d from Swissvale High School in 1956. He attended the University of Pittsburgh prior to working as a salesman in the coin-op industry. Services and interment private.

Contributions may be made to University of Pittsburgh Covid Research, engage.pitt. edu/project/20425/donate. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

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we’ve experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. While preparing for and managing the other holidays, I had intuitively understood that many things inside of our home would not change. That those things that would be done differently revolved around the ways that we engage with others — services, having guests, visiting family.

But when it comes to Chanukah, we realized we didn’t have much inside our home. The small activities we engaged in were dwarfed by the communal and institutional ones.

We now see it as our home’s duty to directly engage with the holiday, in a way we never have. And I know that’s something we’ll try to hold on to for a very long time. PJC Freelance writer Hannah Lebovits is an incoming assistant professor at the University of Texas- Arlington who lives in Dallas with her husband and two children. This piece was originally published by JTA.

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her life. Janet was born and raised in Squirrel Hill, where she and Sam Spitz raised their daughters. She worked proudly alongside her mother, Nettie, as they passionately co-owned Cooper Studio, a wedding photography business, in the heart of Squirrel Hill. Janet was a fiercely independent woman, a loyal mother and grandmother — traits that she instilled in her daughters and grandsons. Janet will be reunited with many loved ones, including her mother and late husband, Edward Schwartz.

Our mother, grandmother and friend will be missed and remembered for her infectious laughter, zest for life and her ability to love us all unconditionally. Services and interment private. Donations in her honor can be sent to the Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh (the family prefers the donations go specifically to the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry). Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com PJC

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Community Spreading the light on Chanukah

Continuing to Liftoff Liftoff PGH (a virtual health care innovation summit from the Jewish Healthcare Foundation) continued its two-week programming with daily activities and invited participants to visit its public art installation at the 7th Street Cultural Trust Oasis downtown.

p CDS Middle School Student Council Adviser Ronit Pasternak helps with food and household supply collection during a Chanukah food drive for 412 Food Rescue.

p The Liftoff PGH supported Streaming Space Station public art installation by Alisha Wormsley and Ricardo Iamuuri Robinson was created in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Photo courtesy of Community Day School

Busy weekend at Temple Emanuel of South Hills

p Incoming JHF Board Chair Debra Caplan picks up her Liftoff PGH launch kit.

p Rabbis Aaron and Emily Meyer wish congregants a Shavuah Tov and Happy Chanukah while reciting Havdalah and lighting the third candle of Chanukah.

p JHF volunteer Khulood al Ali hands a launch kit to a Liftoff PGH attendee during the drive through Liftodrop at Rodef Shalom Congregation.

p Melinda Freed provides a 30-minute latke making demonstration on Dec. 13.

Screenshots by Adam Reinherz

22 DECEMBER 18, 2020

p Each launch kit includes these goodies.

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Photos courtesy of Jewish Healthcare Foundation

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Community Class revolves around learning

CDS students keep learning from home

Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh early childhood students spent the week enjoying hands-on Chanukah instructions.

p After instruction moved online, CDS second-grader Jonah and his dog, Freddie, go to CDS@home.

p Pre-K students learn about spinning while creating dreidels.

p CDS first-grader Sumner Ferris practices his Hebrew skills.

p This menorah is purr-fect.

Photos courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

Wearing the holiday on your sleeve

p CDS fifth-grader Nava Kass joins children worldwide for Computer Science Education Week in the Kodable #HourOfCode Beach Clean Up. Photo courtesy of Community Day School

Macher and Shaker Skip Grinberg was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who. Grinberg was recognized for his career longevity, philanthropic endeavors and lasting contributions to society.

Photo courtesy of Skip Grinberg

p Aaron Cantor, director of Emma Kaufmann Camp, dresses up for Chanukah and is joined by All Day at the J students. Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

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DECEMBER 18, 2020 23

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