Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 4-5-19 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

April 5, 2019 | 29 Adar II 5779

Candlelighting 7:31 p.m. | Havdalah 8:31 p.m. | Vol. 62, No. 14 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Community leader Sidney Busis dies at 97

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL JAA visits Islamic Center

New group expands Israeli connections in Jewish Pittsburgh

Community members offer support after NZ massacre.

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

A told Busis, “When you graduate, you are going to join the practice.” His son, Dr. Neil Busis, recalled, “Family was everything, so my dad said OK and that was it.’” After a year in medical school, Busis enlisted in the U.S. Army and completed medical school as an Army private. As a lieutenant in the Medical Corps, he attended the School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Field, Texas, trained to be an aviation medical examiner, and served as a flight surgeon in the Army Air Corps. Following the directive of his Uncle Lou, he completed an ENT residency at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Pittsburgh, and also attended graduate school for basic science at the University of Pennsylvania. Early in his career, he worked with the team that treated polio-stricken children as Dr. Jonas Salk was developing the polio vaccine. Busis had a thriving private practice for more than 50 years, treating thousands of patients, including those with industrial hearing loss. At one point in his career, he maintained four separate offices. Busis was recognized both nationally and internationally for his work, said Neil Busis. He taught otolaryngology at the University

Jew living in America is a minority, but an Israeli Jew living in America is a minority within a minority. That’s why, for years, Israelis living in Pittsburgh have been supporting each other and gathering for activities ranging from holiday parties to family picnics to book clubs. When a new Israeli family moves to Pittsburgh, those living here reach out to help them find housing and otherwise become acclimated. Now, local programming for Israelis — and for those who may not hold an Israeli passport, but still love Israel — will expand through a new affiliation with the IsraeliAmerican Council, an independent, national nonprofit established 11 years ago. Following the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue building, IAC representatives reached out to Israelis in Pittsburgh to see what it could do to support the community. “After the shooting IAC contacted me and said, ‘We want to do something together,’” said Anat Talmy, who now holds a parttime position with IAC organizing events in Pittsburgh. The result was a solidarity Shabbat “Shishi” dinner held at Temple Sinai on Nov. 9 that attracted more than 200 people from across the denominational spectrum. “The community’s warm welcome of the IAC was a catalyst for incorporating Pittsburgh into our coast-to-coast community,” said Shoham Nicolet, co-founder and CEO of the IAC. “Pittsburgh is joining our network of 57 communities from coast-to-coast, and our goal is to build a community that connects our next generation to its unique identity and heritage and that strengthens the bond between the people of the United States and Israel.” An Israeli-style Purim party held on March 31 at Congregation Beth Shalom was

Please see Busis, page 16

Please see Israelis, page 13

Page 2 LOCAL Exhibit highlights connection

 Dr. Sidney Busis, center, poses with his family in the mid-1960s.

Photo courtesy of the Busis family

“We Are All Related” showcases links between religions, communities. Page 3 LOCAL Tackling the patriarchy

Johnstown native Idra Novey talks about her new novel. Page 4

$1.50

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

he landscape of Jewish Pittsburgh might look very different today if it had not been for the decades of untiring stewardship of Dr. Sidney Busis. Busis, who was a leader of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Family and Community Services, the Holocaust Center, Rodef Shalom Congregation, and many other local, national and international Jewish organizations, died on March 22. He was 97. “To find a person like this so fully dedicated through the decades — who never stops — is very rare,” remarked Rabbi Walter Jacob, Rodef Shalom’s rabbi emeritus and senior scholar, at the March 25 funeral service at Rodef Shalom. Busis was born in the Hill District and grew up in the East End. His involvement with Jewish communal life began at an early age, and as a teen, he was active in AZA, an offshoot of B’nai B’rith, and an adviser at Emma Kaufmann Camp. After graduating from Peabody High School, he attended the University of Pittsburgh for his undergraduate degree, and later for medical school. At the urging of his uncle, Dr. Louis Friedman, he decided to become an ENT (ear nose and throat physician). Friedman’s brother had died young, and

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NATIONAL Talking peace plan at AIPAC

WORLD Being Jewish in Sweden

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Headlines JAA visit to Islamic Center builds bridges between communities raised more than $230,000 for the victims and their families in just a few days, and Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha raised almost $60,000. After Christchurch, the residents of Weinberg Terrace — many of whom are

the prayer hall, or musalla, where they sat in chairs in a semicircle, with Perez seated on the floor before them. Perez, who is the youth director at the Islamic Center, welcomed his guests and

Perez, who was born in Puerto Rico and is a convert to Islam, spent the next 45 minutes discussing the precepts and traditions of his By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer religion, and its commonalities to Judaism and Christianity. He also fielded questions aomi Greenblott has been from the residents and the staff accominterested in other religions her panying them on such topics as holiwhole life, but she had never days, burial practices and dietary laws. visited a mosque. Having the Jewish seniors visit the That changed on March 27, when Islamic Center “meant a lot to me at a she and seven other residents of the time when elders are often neglected, or Jewish Association on Aging’s Weinberg forgotten and not respected,” Perez said Terrace spent the morning at the Islamic in an interview following the program. Center of Pittsburgh, learning about “It was an honor for me.” Islam from Imam Hamza Perez. The massacres at the Tree of Life syna“I grew up as the only Jewish child in gogue building and at the Christchurch my public school on the South Side of mosques less than five months later Pittsburgh,” Greenblott said. “I find all both resulted from a “problem that religions have something in common. has not been properly addressed — the If you care enough to be religious, problem of white supremacy,” he said, that’s a good thing.” suggesting that actions such as the The excursion to the Oakland mosque visit of the Weinberg Terrace residents was the idea of Tara Bailey, the activities to the Islamic Center, and the mutual director at Weinberg Terrace, a personal support of targeted communities, is part care facility in Squirrel Hill. Bailey also of the solution. is a member of the Islamic Center. “Standing together against hate and “The Muslim community was pivotal bigotry,” he said. “Coming together and in supporting members of Tree of speaking out against injustice — even if Life” following the Oct. 27 massacre, it is speaking out against ourselves.” explained Bailey. In addition to visiting the Islamic Following the massacre, Muslim Center, members of the Weinberg p Residents of Weinberg Terrace, wishing to support the Muslim community in the groups raised significant funds for the wake of the New Zealand mosque murders, visited the the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh Terrace community also have made victims’ families, and stood side by side in Oakland last week. Photo by Toby Tabachnick donations to the victims of the with Jewish Pittsburgh at several vigils. Christchurch massacre, and have Likewise, the Pittsburgh Jewish created cards for the victims and famicommunity reached out to help the Muslim members of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha — explained that he was sitting on the floor lies, which will be distributed by the New community in Christchurch, New Zealand, also “wanted to do something to show their because, in Islam, “the rights of elders and Zealand Islamic Information Centre. PJC after the March 15 attacks that resulted in the support,” Bailey said. parents are very high. We don’t sit on the Toby Tabachnick can be reached at murder of 50 Muslims in prayer, Bailey said. As they entered the Islamic Center, resi- same level out of respect for your rank and ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh dents removed their shoes and headed into what you have been through in your life.”

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Headlines Portrait photographer promotes unity in “We Are All Related” Shadyside studio. “You would not see me on the front lines of a march holding a sign because I wanted my work to speak for me, By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer because that’s my personality.” London’s disquiet began in 2016. Public ndrea London has been a silent rhetoric and behavior targeting vulnerable observer for 30 years. Peering populations challenged her beliefs, and on through her viewfinder, she has Jan. 21, 2017, while standing beside several seen the soft embrace of generations — their hundred thousand others at the Women’s cheeks pressed together, hands clasped — March in Washington, D.C., the portrait and in each instance captured the scene by photographer had a revelation. pushing her shutter button again and again. “I decided I could no longer be silent, and Two and a half years ago, though, something although my work was speaking for me, I clicked and London shifted focus. wanted to create a body of work, and put “I have always been behind the camera this work out there with my name on it, that and my portraits were my voice. I have not I hoped would make a difference,” she said. been, up until this point in my life, someone London returned home and consulted who spoke out,” she said while seated in her with friends and family. She was encouraged to pursue a project showcasing the commonality of her subjects. Despite her shyness, London mustered the courage and applied for funding. Support arrived and, with the aid of individuals scattered throughout Western Pennsylvania, she approached seemingly disparate communities with an aim of demonstrating oneness. In the process, London entered homes, attended weddings and broke bread with Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and p Hadeel and Shadia Photo by Andrea London Sikhs. She observed those with

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wide-ranging abilities and perceived love in myriad forms. She listened to sagas of immigration and internment, and preserved narratives with audio equipment. She then invited more than 50 individuals into her second-floor space on Walnut Street and resumed her position behind the camera. London’s efforts spanned more than two years and culminated in the recent opening of a gallery exhibition, a public art installation and the publi- p Andrea London poses beside portraits cation of a 130-page book. The from her “We Are All Related” exhibition. collective work, which includes Photo by Grace Wong, courtesy of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust a 13-minute video, is titled, “We Are All Related.” and mature resignation. It is the continuum Gazing into a subject’s eyes or reading an that has characterized our human family for accompanying tale can be haunting, heart- many millennia.” breaking or inspiring, but the exercise is That idea should engender action, about looking inward, explained London. “I said London. want somebody to stop and say, ‘Wow, I never “I hope maybe other people have somethought of that person as being a mother or thing to say on this topic and maybe they’ll a grandmother and caring about her grand- speak out — because I’m speaking out — in children as much as I care about mine.’” their own way: letters to the editor, voting or “Andrea’s portraits teach us to see us how marching, or writing books or whatever, or we were meant to see and to be seen,” Tony just welcoming their neighbor in.” Norman writes in the book’s forward. “The London carried a related hurt for 62 years. emotions on display in ‘We Are All Related’ “I grew up in a part of Mt. Lebanon, old run the gamut from curiosity and satisfaction with life’s sweet bounty to melancholy Please see Photographer, page 20

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Headlines Johnstown native Idra Novey’s newest novel tackles patriarchy, anti-Semitism — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

eaders and reviewers of Idra Novey’s newest novel, “Those Who Knew,” have speculated that the unnamed island town in which the story is set is actually San Juan or Santo Domingo, or in Cuba. They are wrong. According to Novey, the fictional setting for her book was inspired — at least in part — by Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Novey, who grew up in Johnstown as a fourth-generation Jewish resident, was in Pittsburgh on March 24 as the featured speaker at Congregation Beth Shalom’s Derekh Speaker Series. Novey was the third author to speak at this series, which is made available through the Jewish Book Council. “Those Who Knew” — Novey’s second novel — is described in promotional materials as “a taut, timely novel about what a powerful politician thinks he can get away with and the group of misfits who finally bring him down.” Novey, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., recounted fond memories of traveling from Johnstown to Pittsburgh in her youth for BBYO events, or to shop for bagels or Passover supplies with her family.

“For me, Pittsburgh was the Novey has spent time living in metropolis,” she said. Chile, the home country of her Growing up in Johnstown as a husband, who is a Sephardic Jew. minority made an impression on “I felt there was someNovey, who drew from her experithing very similar about the ences living in what she describes Jewish community in Chile as as a patriarchal town that saw its to the Jewish community in share of anti-Semitism. Johnstown,” she said. “There was The inspiration for “Those p Idra Novey this level of anti-Semitism that Who Knew” came to Novey after Photo by you see in a Catholic country like Toby Tabachnick Chile that was very similar to the she read media reports about care that you have to have in a high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio, who were accused of town like Johnstown.” assaulting a woman, but whose coach covered Tapping both the “patriarchal culture” for them so they wouldn’t miss their season. and a level of anti-Semitism present in both The personalities involved in the story environs, Novey created an imaginary and were familiar to her, she said, having grown ambiguous island setting for her book. There are Jewish characters in “Those Who up in a similar small-town environment. “It got me thinking how in many ways Knew” who struggle with anti-Semitism and those southern Allegheny towns, like a the notion of concealing identity to accomSteubenville or like a Johnstown, are like plish things like running for office or being islands,” she said. “I was thinking about successful in business. The novel is a “parable,” Novey explained. the culture of Steubenville, and the level of patriarchy in a town like Steubenville, where “It’s set on this island and you don’t know certain men in power get to legislate what the name, you don’t know where it is. I just happened, even if that isn’t what happened.” wanted to talk about a very divided country In Johnstown, she continued, very few and the way that patriarchy plays out when people leave and very few people come, “so you have a very divided country — how that there is an island feel to it, where you can’t plays out in politics and who gets pushed really get off the island.” into silence and who gets to speak up.”

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In a divided country, she continued, “there is a certain level of fear, there is a certain level of silence,” and “your fear of retaliation escalates by who you are associated with on that divide.” “Those Who Knew” was hailed as a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, Esquire, BBC, Kirkus Review and O Magazine, and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Several of the 30 attendees at the event had read “Those Who Knew,” and praised it for its ingenuity and timelessness. “She is my favorite fictional find of the whole year,” said local author Sharon Dilworth. “She writes these very short chapters that pack a whole world into them. She’s amazing.” “It reminded me of a [Aldous] Huxley or ‘Brave New World’ thing, because there was no location, which made it feel timeless,” said Dan Askin. “It’s a matter of people trying to correct injustices and how to go about it.” Novey’s first novel, a literary mystery titled “Ways to Disappear,” received the 2017 Sami Rohr Prize, the 2016 Brooklyn Eagles Prize, and was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize for First Fiction. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsurghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Chronicle editor Joshua Runyan leaves paper to start ‘second act’ — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

fter almost five years as editorin-chief of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, Joshua Runyan is about to begin what he calls his “second act.” The Philadelphia resident, who saw the Chronicle through the paper’s 2017 print relaunch and who was at its editorial helm as it covered the worst anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States, has resigned his position to become a lawyer. But what Runyan calls his second act is really more like his fifth. He has been a pilot, a flight instructor and a business owner. He has also received rabbinical ordination from the Central Lubavitcher Yeshiva. While he p Joshua Runyan Photo courtesy of Joshua Runyan was editing the Chronicle, he was the senior editorial director of Mid-Atlantic Media, and simultaneously had editorial oversight I would have laughed in your face,” Runyan of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and said. “I was not interested in extending my education any longer than it needed to be. I Washington Jewish Week. just wanted to jump into journalism, and that Also, he is the father of 10 children. Runyan entered law school on a whim in served me well for a number of years.” 2016, after he scored well on the LSAT, the Runyan, just in his mid-30s, “was looking law school admission exam. at where I was in Jewish journalism, and “I had always been a bit interested in the I had kind of reached the pinnacle of my law, but if you had suggested to me when I was career,” he said. Because of his relatively in school or shortly after I was out of college young age, he was “afforded the opportunity JC Opn PossibilitiesFIN_Eartique Page 1 if I were to have another act, to PM contemplate that I goMore to law school or go to grad 4/1/19 school,11:47

what would it be? And it just started an idea in my head of maybe law school.” After the LSAT, he got accepted into every law school he applied to, and decided to give Temple University’s Beasley School of Law a try. “When I started, my friend said to me I was crazy —that I was going to find it too difficult, that I wasn’t going to balance the family and job and school, and so I approached my first year of law school as just an experiment, and if it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out. But I loved it,” he said. “I’m not at the top of my class, but I’m graduating with honors.” While his job as an editor took him deep into several varied Jewish communities around the country, he was particularly impressed with Pittsburgh’s, especially in the wake of the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue building. “What that story demonstrated — and it’s something that I’ve told other outlets — is the incredible power of the Pittsburgh community, and how tightknit it is,” he said. “It’s something I think will serve the community well as far as being resilient, as far as continuing to process this tragedy and moving from it. It also had me appreciate more how much the community is invested in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, and how much the Chronicle is invested in the community.” Runyan’s two-decade journalism career taught him a philosophical approach to work that he plans to employ as a lawyer as well.

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“My developing philosophy in the realm of Jewish media I think is true in every profession,” he said. “It is very easy as a journalist to focus on the minutiae — the mechanics of a sentence, or the story, or the facts, or the theme or the mission — and forget that behind the story or the central objects of the story, or even the people who are reading the story, are human beings; they are people. So, journalists, beyond serving the truth, they are serving people. And even when we say we want to build and strengthen Jewish community as Jewish journalists, we can be so focused on a community that we forget that it is the people who make a community. “What has helped me be so successful is never forgetting that whatever I do is affecting people,” he continued. “So long as you remember that, you are going to be doing your best work.” Liz Spikol, who has served as the editorial director of Mid-Atlantic Media since 2017, will be the Chronicle’s acting editor-in-chief. For the past two years, she has been editorin-chief of the Baltimore Jewish Times and the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. She has a B.A. from Oberlin College, and a master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin. She has more than 20 years of journalism experience. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Local cantors, choirs join to celebrate Leonard Bernstein — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

hile it is true that most congregations no longer employ full-time cantors, there is nevertheless no shortage of cantors in Pittsburgh. In fact, there currently are six invested cantors here who are members of the Conservative movement’s Cantors Assembly. The six local CA members are: Congregation Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Seth Adelson; Cantor Moshe Taube, retired cantor of Beth Shalom; Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers, spiritual leader of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha; Cantor Henry Shapiro, spiritual leader of Parkway Jewish Center; Cantor Rob Menes, executive director of Beth Shalom; and Cantor Laura Berman of Temple Sinai. Stephen Stein, executive vice president of the CA, and a former Pittsburgher, took notice. “He called a meeting in Pittsburgh late last spring and suggested we have a series of concerts to celebrate the power of music and the cantorate,” said Berman. The local CA members were on board. “I have a nice working relationship with my colleagues,” said Berman, who is organizing the first show of what will be a three-concert series. “We all nodded and

agreed to make this happen with input from the Cantors Assembly.” The April 7 show is a tribute to composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein in commemoration of his 100th birthday, and will be held at Temple Sinai. Three choirs will join together in song: Temple Sinai’s Intergenerational Choir; Rodef Shalom’s choir, Rodef Shira; and members of Pittsburgh’s Bach Choir. They will be conducted by the artistic director and conductor of the Bach Choir, Thomas Douglas. Local members of the CA, as well as several visiting CA members and some “talented members of the community,” including 10-year-old Ben Nicholson, will perform Bernstein works through solos and ensembles. Violinist Lorien Benet Hart and cellist Michael Lipman — both members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well as Temple Sinai — will provide accompaniment. Flavio Chamis, a Pittsburgh-based conductor and member of Temple Sinai, who worked with Bernstein throughout the world from 1985 until his death in 1990, will share stories and photos of the legendary composer. Chamis served as Bernstein’s assistant conductor, and also helped him “with writing and researching, and assisting the taping of his concerts and TV programs,” Chamis said,

conducted dozens of times,” noting that Bernstein’s “Jewish Chamis said. “That provided a identity shaped his whole life.” natural spontaneity and fresh“He was a permanent ‘rabbi,’ ness to everything he did, always trying to explain music, and it can be noticed today or any other subject that was by listening to the different present at that moment,” versions of pieces he recorded Chamis said. “He had a deep multiple times.” knowledge of all things Jewish The Temple Sinai concert and a substantial number of will include songs from “West his compositions are based on Side Story,” “Candide,” “On Jewish themes. In fact, ‘West the Town” and “Peter Pan,” as Side Story’ started as ‘East Side well as music that may be less Story,’ in which the conflict familiar to some audiences. would be between Italian p Cantor Laura “There will be music recogCatholics and Jews around the Berman Photo courtesy of nizable and that people are time of Pesach and Easter.” Temple Sinai The photos and audio looking forward to, as well clips that Chamis will share as music expanding people’s are those he collected on different occa- awareness of the scope of Bernstein’s music sions working for Bernstein, “including and Jewish influence,” Berman said. him playing and singing in Hebrew and The Temple Sinai show is just one of many Yiddish, as well as some photos of him as a worldwide events celebrating 100 years since private tourist in Rio, during the Carnival Bernstein’s birth. parade of 1985.” Berman is “thrilled,” she said, to be orgaChamis said that Bernstein taught him not nizing the show that not only celebrates only about music, but about life. Bernstein, but demonstrates the collegiality “I think the main thing I noticed — not of the cantorate here. only in music, but also for life — is that no “It is great to be in a place where there is matter how many times he had conducted, such a shared sensibility among my colleagues recorded or played a piece, every time he about the power of music,” she said. PJC came back to it, he would start looking at the work anew, with a fresh view of music Toby Tabachnick can be reached at that he had often known for a lifetime and ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Preparing for Passover…

Clean & Cook Sell Hametz Buy Matzah DONATE TO THE JEWISH ASSISTANCE FUND

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Calendar >> Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions will also be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q THROUGH FRIDAY, APRIL 12 WorkLaunch, a series of work readiness events held each spring by JFCS Career Development Center in partnership with Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, provides offerings to meet the needs of the changing regional workforce. This year events will take place at the main branch of the Carnegie Library in Oakland. WorkLaunch helps job seekers in Allegheny County gain access to workforce-related information and connect to employers and resources in the area. The series will culminate in a Career & Community Resource Fair and the opportunity to connect with more than 20 area employers and community resource organizations. Visit jfcspgh. org/?s=worklaunch&submit=Go for more information and jfcspgh.org/events to check out the scheduled programs on the calendar. q FRIDAY, APRIL 5 Grad students and young professionals (20s and 30s) are invited to Shabbat Across Pittsburgh at the Chabad of Pittsburgh Social Hall, 1700 Beechwood Blvd. Participants are welcome to invite Jewish friends from school, work or the community. Guests must register at jewishpittsburgh.wufoo. com/forms/shabbat-across-pittsburgh. The event is sponsored by JGrads Pittsburgh, JGrads CMU, J’Burgh and Shalom Pittsburgh. Contact info@jgradspittsburgh.com or 412952-4702 for more information. q SATURDAY, APRIL 6 The Festival of the Jewish Arts, presented by Congregation Emanu-El Israel and cosponsor the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will hold Celebrating Jewish Composers at 7 p.m. in the Campana Chapel on the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg campus. This program is free and open to the community and will feature classical music of Mahler, Bernstein, Copland and Arlen. Contact CEI at 724-834-0560 for more information. q SUNDAY, APRIL 7 Congregation Beth Shalom’s Sisterhood 2019 Torah Fund Brunch at 10 a.m. will be honoring Benita “Bunny” Morris, a lifetime board member who has served on numerous committees, and she and her family have been with the shul for generations. There is a $20 charge. Visit bethshalompgh.org/ events-upcoming for more information. Take a walk through the Haggadah with Rabbi Don and enjoy great Passover desserts and recipes with Fran Rossoff at 10:30 a.m. The Rossoffs will lead a Passover-themed discussion at Temple Emanuel. Contact the Temple office at 412-279-7600 or templeemanuel@templeemanuelpgh.org for more information and to register. The Fran Lefkowitz Biblical Archaeology Series at Rodef Shalom Congregation with Ron Tappy, a weekly Sunday seven-week course through May 19, will begin with a light lunch at 12:30 p.m. followed by class from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the chapel. Tappy, of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, will delve into topics surrounding the Hebrew Bible, the life and times of Amos the Prophet, the Battle

of Lachish and the Theology of Jerusalem, and more. In addition, Tappy will present a series of major inscriptions related to Israel but were written by scribes and rulers in multiple powers outside of Israel. There is no charge. Visit rodefshalom.org/RSVP to RSVP and for more information. Friends All Around, Friendship Circle’s celebration of 13 years of friendship, will be at The Pennsylvanian at 5:30 p.m. at 1100 Liberty Ave. During the annual fundraiser the 2019 seniors will be honored. There will be a silent auction, raffle and strolling dinner. Visit fcpgh.org/friends-all-around/friendsall-around-ticket-information for more information and to RSVP. Celebrate Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday with a concert from 7 to 9 p.m. featuring a combined choir from Temple Sinai and Rodef Shalom congregations and guests from the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, Cantors Assembly and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Temple Sinai member and Bernstein assistant conductor Flavio Chamis will delight the audience with stories of his time working with Bernstein. The concert will be held at Temple Sinai. There is a $20 charge. Visit templesinaipgh.org/ Bernsteinat100 for more information. q TUESDAY, APRIL 9 Chabad of the South Hills will hold a prePassover lunch for seniors with a holiday program and model seder at noon. The building is wheelchair accessible. There is a $5 suggested donation. Contact 412-2782658 or barb@chabadsh.com to preregister. Beth Shalom will host a Lunch and Learn on the topic “Homosexuality, Human Dignity and Halakhah” at noon, downtown at 535 Smithfield St., April 2, and at Beth Shalom at noon on April 9. The Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has been reviewing contemporary halakhic issues for the Conservative movement for more than 90 years, and has a long-standing tradition of issuing thoughtful, sensitive responsa to the challenges of keeping Jewish law in today’s world. There is no charge. Visit tinyurl.com/ LunchLearnApril2019 for more information. The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh will present The Numbers Keep Changing: Poems and Paintings by Judith R. Robinson at 7 p.m. at the Holocaust Center, 826 Hazelwood Ave. As a Jew born during World War II, Robinson has always been conscious of how easily her life might have been different if she had not been born in the United States. For that reason, the Holocaust became a subject of study and identity for her. Anti-Semitism and the enormity of loss it created and continues to create led Robinson to address these themes in multiple media. Poetry and painting weave together to interpret a shared history. Robinson will read her poetry alongside corresponding paintings that will be on display at the Center through April. This event is free and open to the public. Visit hcofpgh. org/judy-robinson for more information. q TUESDAY, APRIL 9 Come to the Moish’ for a night of all things wholesome from 7 to 9 p.m. at Moishe House. We will be watching Mr. Rogers, eating homemade chocolate chip cookies and playing our special “wholesome” version of cards against humanity. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information.

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The Squirrel Hill Historical Society will present the History of Dollar Bank with speakers Joseph Smith, senior vice president of marketing, Dollar Bank and Dorothy Spangler, multimedia production specialist at Dollar Bank from 7:30 to 9:15 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer. There is no charge. Visit Squirrelhillhistory.org for more information. q WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10 The CDS Parent Association and Jewish Community Center/The Second Floor invite the community for a free screening of the new documentary “Angst, Raising Awareness Around Anxiety” at 7 p.m. at the Katz Theater at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh. The 56-minute film explores anxiety, its causes and effects and what we can do about it, telling stories of kids and teens who discuss their anxiety and how they found solutions and hope. A post-film panel discussion with mental health and child development professionals will follow, opening up a dialogue among families, community leaders and experts. The event is free, but space is limited; attendance is limited to two people per household. There is no charge. RSVP at comday.org/angst. q THURSDAY, APRIL 11 The dedication of Krause Commons Apartments, the new location of the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse and Jewish Residential Services, will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. at 2609/2615 Murray Ave. Contact Alison Karabin at JRS at 412-325-0039 or akarabin@jrspgh.org. Rabbi Barbara Symons of Temple David will lead a discussion of the book “Orphan #8.” This novel by Kim van Alkemade was inspired by true events of a woman who must choose between revenge and mercy when she encounters the doctor who subjected her to dangerous medical experiments in a New York City Jewish orphanage years before. The discussion will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Monroeville Public Library and again from 7 to 8:30 p.m., also at the library. Visit templedavid.org for more information. JFunds, the network of financial support services in the Jewish community, will be tabling outside Murray Avenue Kosher at 4 to 8 p.m. Representatives will share information and answer questions about accessing financial resources for monthly bills, large expenses, Israel travel, college tuition, and more. For information about JFunds any time, visit jfundspgh.org. Rabbi Don Rossoff will discuss understanding the Haggadah before your Passover seder at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Emanuel. Contact the Temple office at 412-279-7600 or templeemanuel@ templeemanuelpgh.org for more information and to register. q THURSDAY-SUNDAY, APRIL 11-14 The Spring Thrift & Designer Sale at the Designer Days Boutique will be held at Thriftique Pittsburgh, 125 51st St. in Lawrenceville. Free parking is available. All proceeds benefit National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section’s community service programs for women, children, and families. There is no charge. Visit facebook. com/events/569863340186858 for more information.

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q SUNDAY, APRIL 14 Charles O. Kaufman, B’nai B’rith International president, will speak about the organization and vital issues in the world today as it celebrates its 175th anniversary of service to the world. Neighboring lodges and units from Pittsburgh to Cleveland are invited to this event at 10 a.m. followed by a brunch hosted by the Aaron Grossman Lodge # 339 JCC of Youngstown, 505 Gypsy Lane, Youngstown, Ohio 44504. Seating is limited. To RSVP, call Alan Samuels at 724658-8223 and leave your name and the number of guests who will attend or contact bootman55@aol.com. The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh will present Chana Brody for the Generations Speaker Series at 10 a.m. at Adat Shalom, 368 Guys Run Road in Cheswick. Born in the Czech Republic, Chana and her parents, Ann and William Jakubovic, immigrated to the United States in 1969. Brody feels that there is no better way to honor her parents’ memory than to tell their story. This event is free and will include a light breakfast, but registration is required; no walk-ins will be allowed. Visit hcofpgh.org/generations-speaker-series/ for more information and to register. Beth Shalom Men’s Club will host a Lox and Learning with Dennis Jett, former U.S. ambassador to Mozambique and Peru and professor of international relations at Penn State University. He has written about such issues as the future of American diplomats and the political underpinnings of the Iran nuclear deal. His book “Why Peacekeeping Fails” has been revised and re-released. The light brunch begins at 10 a.m. and is free. Visit bethshalompgh.org/events-upcoming for more information. Rabbi Don Rossoff of Temple Emanuel will present part 3 of his Jewish Life Cycle adult education series at 10:30 a.m. Topics will be illness, death and mourning. Contact the Temple office at 412-279-7600 or templeemanuel@templeemanuelpgh.org for more information and to RSVP. Chabad of the South Hills will hold a prePassover wood workshop to create a matzah holder for the seder table from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Home Depot in Bethel Park, 4000 Oxford Drive. The cost is $5 before April 7 and $7 after April 7. Children registered before April 7 will be entered into a raffle for a free pass to Snapology. Visit ChabadSH. com or contact mussie@chabadsh.com or 412-344-2424 to register. Campus Superstar, a professionally produced singing competition featuring Pittsburgh’s most talented college students, will be held at Stage AE on the North Shore from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Ten finalists compete for the Elly Award and the Ellen Weiss Kander Grand Prize of $5,000. This year’s honorees are Sue Berman Kress and Doug Kress and the proceeds of this event will benefit the activities of the Hillel Jewish University Center. Visit campussuperstar.org for more information and tickets. “Game of Thrones’ premiere, from 8 to 10 p.m. at Moishe House. Feel free to join us for some arts and crafts in the other room if that’s more your speed. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. Please see Calendar, page 8

APRIL 5, 2019 7

Murray Avenue Kosher Calendar

Name: Murray Avenue Kosher Width: 5.0415 in Depth: 13.75 in 1916 MURRAY AVENUE Color: Black 412-421-1015 • 412-421-4450 • FAX 412-421-4451 Ad Number: 3382_1 PRICES EFFECTIVE SUNDAY, APRIL 7-FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019

Calendar: Continued from page 6

Candle Lighting Time Friday, April 5, 2019 • 7:31 p.m.

Streit’s Matza

Manischewitz Matza

969 5 LB

329 1 LB $ 89 5 2 LB

Raskin Frozen Regular Gefilte Fish

Manischewitz Matzo Farfel

879 5 LB

Streit’s Matzo Meal

Yehuda Matza

979 5 LB

14 OZ

Bodek Broccoli Florets

20 OZ

Gefen Potato Starch

24 OZ

Barton’s Almond Kisses

32 OZ

READY TO SERVE PASSOVER SPECIALS MAIN DISH ROAST CHICKEN WHOLE ONLY ROAST CHICKEN LEG ROAST CHICKEN BREAST APRICOT LEG APRICOT BREAST SHERRY MUSHROOM CHICKEN BONELESS BREAST ROAST TURKEY BREAST WHOLE OR HALF ROAST TURKEY LEG (DRUM & THIGH) BRISKET SINGLE BEEF MEATBALLS SWEET ’N SOUR STUFFED CABBAGE

APPETIZERS CHOPPED LIVER GEFILTE FISH (COOKED) SOUPS CHICKEN SOUP MATZO BALL VEGETABLE SOUP NO SALT CHICKEN SOUP SALADS CARROT & RAISIN SALAD CHAROSES COLE SLAW CUCUMBER SALAD ISRAELI SALAD SIDE DISHES OVEN BROWNED POTATOES MATZO STUFFING FRUIT COMPOTE TZIMMES MATZO FARFEL W/MUSHROOMS

KUGELS BROCCOLI CAULIFLOWER KUGEL MATZO KUGEL POTATO KUGEL ZUCCHINI KUGEL

PASSOVER DINNER SPECIAL NUMBER OF SPECIALS ___ PASSOVER CHICKEN DINNER SPECIAL • $8400 NUMBER OF SPECIALS ___ PASSOVER BRISKET DINNER SPECIAL • $9900 SERVES 4 PEOPLE • NO SUBSTITUTIONS DINNER INCLUDES: GEFILTE FISH WITH HORSERADISH CHICKEN SOUP WITH MATZO BALLS CHOICE OF: __POTATO KUGEL __FARFEL INCLUDES: CAKE • TZIMMES • MATZO

ORDER DEADLINE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2019

STORE HOURS

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Thursday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. • Friday 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. HOMEMADE SALADS & SOUPS DELI PARTY TRAYS

We Prepare Trays for All Occasions UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF VAAD OF PITTSBURGH

8 APRIL 5, 2019

q TUESDAY, APRIL 23

q MONDAY, APRIL 15

PASSOVER SPECIALS

CATERING SPECIALISTS DELICIOUS FRIED CHICKEN WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES.

moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information.

The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh will present local historian David Rosenberg’s exhibit “Rediscovering the Jews of Amiens” at 7 p.m. After France fell under Nazi control in 1940, Jews across the country were forced to register with local authorities. The majority of Amiens Jews were later murdered. For decades, their names and photographs were tucked away in a government building in Paris. Slowly, they began to fade from the collective memory of their former neighbors. The exhibit shares the faces and collected biographical details that Rosenberg has unearthed. At the opening, Rosenberg will discuss some of the history and process behind the exhibit. There is no charge. Visit hcofpgh.org/amiens for more information. q TUESDAY, APRIL 16

“Seed Bomb” making from 7 to 9p.m. at Moishe House. Celebrate Earth Day and give Mother Nature a bit of a boost. We will be making custom seed bombs for you to take home. Throw it in your yard or that vacant patch of ground, and watch nature do its thing. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information. Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures will host author Sloane Crosley at 7 p.m. at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave. The cost is $22, which includes a paperback copy of Crosley’s book, “Look Alive Out There.” Visit pittsburghlectures.org/lectures/sloanecrosley for more information. q FRIDAY, APRIL 26

Harry Potter Trivia from 7 to 9 p.m. at Zone 28, 2525 Freeport Road. Five rounds of Ordinary Wizarding Levels that will challenge your memory of the beloved books. Space is extremely limited, so RSVP to reserve a spot. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information.

Celebrate the sun and the flowers with all things “spring” from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at Moishe House. We will have coily pasta, veggie spirals, slinkies and so much more. We will be welcoming Shabbat with services in the living room, followed by dinner in the dining room. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information.

q WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17

q THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 27

Squirrel Hill AARP will hold its next meeting at 1 p.m. in the Falk Library on the second floor of Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. The meeting is open to all seniors in the community. The nominating committee will present nominations for the chapter’s 2019-2020 operating year and the floor will be open for other nominations. Voting will take place during the chapter’s May meeting with installation at the annual June luncheon. Following the business meeting, Lisa Epps, Pittsburgh fire inspector/fire prevention officer, will speak on basic fire safety and escape plans. Barbara M. Morello, supervisor/ CERT instructor of Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety, will discuss creating a 72-hour kit, and the importance of family emergency and communication plans. Contact Marcia Kramer at 412-731-3338 for more information.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s traveling exhibition Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race will be at the Heritage Discovery Center in Johnstown. The exhibition examines how the Nazi leadership, in collaboration with individuals in professions traditionally charged with healing and the public good, used science to help legitimize persecution, murder and ultimately, genocide. Admission to the entire Heritage Discovery Center will be free every Saturday during the exhibition in order to maximize the number of people who see it. Visit jaha.org for more information.

Sally & Howard Levin Clubhouse will hold its spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. There will also be a 50/50 Raffle – Basket Auction. Tickets are $15 in advance, or $20 at the door. Children ages 10-15 are $10 and children under 10 are free. Takeout is also available. Limited tickets will be available at the door. Contact 412-422-1850 or visit jrspgh. salsalabs.org/2019ClubhouseSpaghettiDinner for more information and to purchase tickets. Proceeds benefit the Sally & Howard Levin Clubhouse, a program that supports adults with mental illness. q THURSDAY, APRIL 18 Congregation Beth Shalom will hold a pre-Passover pizza dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. sponsored by the Men’s Club. There will be no admission without reservations, which have an April 15 deadline. Visit bethshalompgh. org/events-upcoming to register, for cost and more information. Chametz potluck from 7 to 9 p.m. at Moishe House. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact

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q SUNDAY, APRIL 28 Moishe House will hold a Clothing Swap from 2 to 5 p.m. Clear out your closet and get a whole new wardrobe for free. Bring the clothes you no longer wear and take home some new outfits. Clothes must be in good condition. People of all genders and sizes are welcome at this event. Moishe House events are intended for young adults ages 22-32. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. q WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 The Waldman International Arts and Writing Competition allows students in grades six to 12 to submit original art and compete for academic scholarships. Participants come from across Allegheny County and Pittsburgh’s partner region in Israel, KarmielMisgav. This year’s Pittsburgh competition also features an extra category, an essay response to the prompt: “In the aftermath of the Tree of Life massacre – What do you see as the causes of hate crimes and anti-Semitism, and what would you do to stop these forms of hatred?” The award ceremony, including Holocaust Educator of the Year, will be held at 7 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation, Levy Hall. There is no charge. Visit hcofpgh.org/waldman19 for more information. PJC

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Headlines Passover shopping made easier this year with Murray Avenue Kosher expansion — LOCAL —

or those Pittsburghers who find shopping for Passover a dreaded chore — and is there anyone who doesn’t? — the task may be a bit easier this year. Murray Avenue Kosher has expanded into the space next door that was previously occupied by Smallman Street Deli. The former Smallman space is, for now, wholly dedicated to kosher for Passover items, and it is fully stocked. A wide assortment of canned foods, baking supplies, vinegars, bottled sauces, packaged baked good, beverages and candy line the shelves. Several different varieties and brands of matzah are available, as are such hard-to-find items as gluten-free panko flakes, quinoa flour and gummy bears. A freezer section has been installed in the

new space as well. “Right now, all of our Pesach stuff is there and eventually we will be expanding with more products there throughout the year,” said Aryeh Markovic, the store’s manager. Plans are underway to move the store’s deli counter into the new space after the holiday, he said, noting that “a lot of construction still needs to be done.” Beyond the deli counter, plans for the new space remain fluid and depend on “permitting issues” as well as the Vaad Harabanim, according to Markovic. “We don’t know how the store will be arranged yet,” he said. Although post-holiday plans are vague, for now, shoppers can peruse an expansive selection of Passover inventory, and do their perusing while strolling through spacious aisles. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

p The shelves in Murray Avenue Kosher are fully stocked for Passover. Photo by Toby Tabachnick

The Trump team’s Middle East peace plan: It’s beginning to look a lot like one state — NATIONAL — By Ron Kampeas | JTA

ASHINGTON — Trump administration officials have been silent and notably leak-free about what exactly is in the Middle East peace plan that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is shaping — until now. Last week, in speeches to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, it became clear that the plan will likely not accommodate a Palestinian state, or at least the sovereignty that attaches to statehood. David Friedman, Trump’s ambassador to Israel and one of three members of the peace team, outlined in his AIPAC speech why Israel should seize the opportunity of the still-to-be-seen peace plan: It allows Israel to maintain security control of the West Bank, and a future U.S. administration might not be so understanding. “Can we leave this to an administration that may not understand the existential risk to Israel if Judea and Samaria are overcome by terrorists in the manner that befell the Gaza Strip after the IDF withdrew from this territory?” he asked, using the preferred Israeli name for the West Bank. “Can we leave this to an administration that may not understand the need for Israel to maintain overriding security control of Judea and Samaria and a permanent defense position in the Jordan Valley?” Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s top Middle East negotiator and the third member of the Kushner peace team, was asked in an interview whether this meant that Israeli control of the West Bank was in the deal, as opposed to a Palestinian state making its own defense and foreign policy decisions. “I’m not going to address speculation of

p U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks to AIPAC in Washington, D.C. in March. Photo courtesy of AIPAC

what may or may not be in the plan,” he replied in an email. That was like his replies to many previous inquiries from reporters about anonymously leaked details. This time, however, the question was about on-therecord remarks by one of the plan’s architects to a hall packed with 18,000 activists. The next day, House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo three times if the Trump administration believed in the two-state solution. Each time he demurred. Instead, Pompeo in his Hill testimony referred to the other big Israel and territory news this week: Trump’s formal recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights, which like the West Bank was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. “We believe this increases the likelihood

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that we get resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,” Pompeo said. “We think it speaks with the clarity that takes this away from any uncertainty about how we’ll proceed.” Tamara Cofman Wittes, a top Middle East policy official in the Obama administration, said she was able to read two possible meanings into what Pompeo meant by “clarity.” “One is that [it] relates to the content of the Trump peace plan,” suggesting that the plan will recognize Israel’s claim to at least part of the West Bank, said Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. “The other is that it relates to what will happen if the Trump peace plan is not accepted” by the Palestinians — the United States would greenlight an Israeli annexation.

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(The Palestinians, already snubbing administration officials since Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, are not likely to accept a plan that keeps Israeli troops in the West Bank.) Pompeo, asked whether the United States would now recognize other countries’ annexation of occupied lands, said “absolutely not.” (A number of pundits have said the Golan recognition could embolden Russia to do the same in Crimea.) However, in defending recognition of the Golan as Israeli territory, Pompeo seemed to set out the case Israel could invoke in annexing the West Bank. “Israel was fighting a defensive battle to save its nation, and it cannot be the case that a U.N. resolution is a suicide pact,” he told reporters Thursday, apparently referring to Security Council Resolution 242 immediately following the 1967 war, which established the land-for-peace principle in the Israeli-Arab conflict. It was a message that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed almost precisely the day before. “There is a very important principle in international life,” he said. “When you start wars of aggression, you lose territory, do not come and claim it afterwards. It belongs to us.” “It sounds like the Trump administration has no interest in advancing a contiguous completely sovereign Palestinian state,” said Dahlia Scheindlin, a policy fellow at Mitvim-The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies. That would be consistent with policies that Scheindlin said the Netanyahu government is advancing: expanding existing settlements, creating greater access between the settlements and Israel within the Green Line, and limiting Palestinian construction of Area C of the West Bank, the area that is still under total Israeli control. PJC APRIL 5, 2019 9

Headlines â&#x20AC;&#x201D; WORLD â&#x20AC;&#x201D; From JTA reports

Conspirator in Brooklyn real-estate magnateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s murder gets seven years A co-conspirator in the murder of a Brooklyn developer was sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison for his actions. Kendall Felix, who pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and first-degree hindering prosecution in the 2014 murder of real estate developer Menachem Stark, was sentenced Wednesday at the Kings County Supreme Court, the New York Post reported. The sentence prescribes a minimum incarceration period of 2 1/2 years for Felixâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in the murder of Stark, who was Jewish. Kendallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brother, Erskin, is currently facing murder charges. Their cousin, Kendel Felix, was convicted in 2016 of kidnapping and second-degree murder. He has not yet been sentenced. The trio wanted to abduct Stark for ransom but he died during a struggle. Kendall Felix bought gasoline during a snowstorm and brought it to the dumpster where the killers placed their victimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifeless body. They torched it to make it harder to identify the victim. Yenti Hershkovitz, a sister-in-law of Stark,

told the Brooklyn Eagle that the sentence given to Kendall Felix was too lenient. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way too little. The man ruined a living familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. No one asked him to burn the body. Cruel beyond words. I believe he deserves a lot more,â&#x20AC;? she said. Judge Danny Chun said during sentencing that Kendall Felix is â&#x20AC;&#x153;not the mastermind behind the planning to kidnap Mr. Stark in this case,â&#x20AC;? according to the Eagle. Holocaust survivor Vera Schaufeld awarded top British honor Vera Schaufeld, a Holocaust survivor, was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace on Thursday for her services to Holocaust education in Britain. An MBE is awarded to those who make a â&#x20AC;&#x153;positive impact in their line of work.â&#x20AC;? Schaufeld was born in Prague in 1930, and fled the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia on the kindertransport in 1939. Her parents couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t escape and were murdered at the Treblinka extermination camp. After World War II, Schaufeld moved to Israel and lived on a kibbutz, where she met her husband, Avram, a fellow Holocaust survivor (he survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald). They eventually moved back to Britain, where she helped establish The National Holocaust Centre and Museum and worked with the Holocaust Education Trust to

Quebec bill bans head scarves and yarmulkes Quebec has introduced a bill that bans some public employees from wearing religious symbols at work, including kippahs. The measure is intended to reinforce the separation of church and state, but critics say the real target appears to be Muslim women who wear hijabs covering their hair and necks. The Quebec parliament pushed ahead with the â&#x20AC;&#x153;secularism billâ&#x20AC;? on Thursday introduced by the right-leaning coalition government of Premier Francois Legault. Among those who would be affected are teachers, police officers and judges. Along with kippahs and hijabs, Sikh turbans and crucifixes would be prohibited. Polls show most Quebecers supporting the legislation. The Jewish community is wary. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are very concerned with the new Quebec governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statements regarding a ban on religious symbols displayed by government officials and displayed in public institutions,â&#x20AC;? said Harvey Levine, the Quebec regional director of Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nai Brith, suggesting the notion is â&#x20AC;&#x153;at oddsâ&#x20AC;? with Canadian values. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We call on the [Quebec government] to avoid the slippery slope of diminishing

fundamental rights and work instead to secure religious liberties for all Quebecers.â&#x20AC;? As an apparent sop to critics, the legislation has a grandfather clause that allows workers who now wear religious symbols to keep them on, and will remove a prominent historical crucifix in Quebecâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Assembly. But new public workers in â&#x20AC;&#x153;authorityâ&#x20AC;? positions could not wear religious symbols â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they risk dismissal if they do not follow the ban. In October 2017, Quebecâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s previous Liberal government passed a bill banning face coverings for those receiving public services. Former Jewish federation employee in Texas jailed three years for embezzling $1 million A former employee of a Jewish federation in Texas was sentenced to three years in prison for stealing nearly $1 million. Laurie Ann Reese, who had worked as the controller of the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County since 2000, had pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud. She was sentenced on Tuesday. Reese also was ordered to pay more than $992,000 in restitution and will serve five yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; probation, the Fort Worth StarTelegram reported, citing federation officials. Reese passed more than 325 fraudulent checks between 2013 and 2018 using a signature stamp from an executive with the Jewish federation as well as forging signatures.â&#x20AC;&#x201A; PJC

This week in Israeli history

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Tel Aviv to showcase the commercial and industrial activity of the Yishuv, the Jewish area of settlement in Palestine.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; WORLD â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Congregation Beth Shalom 5915 Beacon Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Samuel & Minnie Hyman Ballroom

Saturday, April 20, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.

Communal 2nd Seder

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help increase awareness of the Holocaust in Britain. Schaufeld, a mother of two and grandmother of four, has been a teacher her entire life.

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

April 9, 1921 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Navon born

April 5, 1977 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Tennis star Erlich born

Professional tennis player Jonathan Erlich, known as Yoni, is born in Buenos Aires. His family makes aliyah when he is 1, settling in Haifa. He and fellow Israeli Andy Ram win the Australian Open in 2008 to become Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first Grand Slam tennis champions.

April 6, 1923 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Justice Netanyahu born

Shoshana Netanyahu, the second woman to serve as an Israeli Supreme Court justice, is born. Her family makes aliyah to Haifa when she is 1. She serves in the Israel Air Forceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Judge Advocate General unit during the War of Independence, becomes a magistrate judge in 1969, a district judge in 1974 and a Supreme Court justice in 1981.

April 7, 1977 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Maccabi Tel Aviv wins

April 10, 1974 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Meir resigns

Prime Minister Golda Meir announces that she is resigning only a month after forming Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 16th government in the aftermath of the December 1973 election.

April 11, 1909 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Tel Aviv founded

Maccabi Tel Aviv wins its first European championship by defeating the two-time defending champions, Mobilgirgi Varese of Italy, by one point.

April 8, 1929 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Palestine exhibit opens

Yitzhak Navon, Israelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fifth president, is born in Jerusalem to a Sephardic family. He fights in the Irgun and Haganah, writes books and musicals, serves in positions throughout the Israeli government, chairs the Executive Committee of the World Zionist Movement, and is a Knesset member for the Rafi and Labor parties, including time as deputy speaker. He is elected president in 1978.

Sixty-six families gather on the dunes outside Jaffa on Palestineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mediterranean coast to claim their lots in the new neighborhood of Ahuzat Bayit (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Homesteadâ&#x20AC;?), marking the founding of the first modern Jewish city, Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv now is home to more than 400,000 people.â&#x20AC;&#x201A; PJC

The fourth Palestine and Near East Exhibition opens in

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The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh is proud to present the first annual

Week of Remembrance

This year's program is dedicated to the memory of Holocaust Center founder Dr. Sidney Busis z"l

2019 YOM HASHOAH COMMEMORATION Thursday, May 2, 7pm JCC Katz Auditorium (5738 Darlington Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15217) Free and open to the public

This commemoration includes a candlelighting ceremony honoring Holocaust survivors, rescuers, liberators, and Righteous Gentiles. This year’s ceremony will honor the heroes from October 27: first responders from SWAT, 911 operators, Fire, EMS, and the Pittsburgh Police.

THE SOAP MYTH Starring Ed Asner Monday, May 6, 2019, 7pm Rodef Shalom Sanctuary (4905 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213) General admission: $75 each Individual VIP ticket with backstage access: $150 Proceeds benefit Holocaust Center annual campaign

The Soap Myth depicts the friendship that develops between a young Jewish journalist and a cantankerous Holocaust survivor. The play grapples with the evil of antisemitism masquerading as Holocaust denial. How does a survivor survive surviving? and Who has the right to write history?

Learn more and register online at hcofpgh.org/weekofremembrance To register for Yom HaShoah by phone: (412) 939-7289 To order tickets for The Soap Myth by phone: (212) 279-4200

Sponsorship packages are available. Call Tanya Bielski-Braham at (412) 939-7293

Week of Remembrance honorary chairs: Barbara and Daniel Shapira The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh's annual Yom HaShoah program is underwritten by Agnes Rocher PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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APRIL 5, 2019 11

Headlines What it’s like to go to Sweden’s only Jewish overnight summer camp — WORLD — By Josefin Dolsten | JTA

s a child growing up in Stockholm, Noah Waldfogel was teased by his classmates for being Jewish. He was the only Jewish student in school, and he had only one Jewish friend his age. And though he sometimes attended synagogue with his father, he was largely unfamiliar with Jewish rituals. That changed in 2006, when he was 10 years old and his parents sent him to attend Glämsta, the only Jewish overnight summer camp in Sweden. He remembers the wonder of his first few Shabbats at camp, which were quite different from how his family marked the day at home. “It was an unbelievable feeling to experience as part of the Jewish people, and you really felt like you were a part of the community,” Waldfogel, now 22, said in a phone interview from the city of Lund, where he attends college. At Glämsta (pronounced Glem-stah), which is located in Stockholm’s picturesque archipelago, about two hours from the city, he experienced many Jewish rituals for the first time. He also learned about Jewish culture and the State of Israel. The camp serves as a rite of passage for many in Sweden’s Jewish community, which numbers about 15,000. Though it is organized by the Stockholm Jewish community, kids come every year from around the country — a few even from other countries. Like Waldfogel, many campers have few Jewish friends prior to attending. “Jewish life in Sweden is almost entirely built on Glämsta,” Waldfogel said. “Glämsta creates a feeling of community, and it creates a positive feeling about Judaism, Jewish friends and Jewish traditions.” David Lejbowicz, the camp’s director for 19 years, says it is impossible to estimate how many kids have been to Glämsta. But he says that attendance has increased in recent years and that more than 300 children will attend one of the camp’s three sessions this summer. Glämsta was founded in 1909 by a Swedish Jewish businessman, Isaak Hirsch, who bought the land to use as a camp for

p Daniella Bornstein, front row left, says Glämsta was central to her Jewish identity. Photo courtesy of Daniella Bornstein

Jewish kids from poor families. But in the 1960s and ’70s the camp shifted its focus to the larger Jewish community and started making religious education a bigger part of the curriculum. The camp, which now has a budget of about $575,000, gets its funding from dues, foundations and the Stockholm Jewish community. Since the country only has one Jewish sleepaway camp — Chabad runs a day camp in Stockholm — kids come from a range of backgrounds, from secular children with little knowledge of Judaism to those who attend Stockholm’s Jewish school. Lejbowicz said that presents a challenge. “It’s very difficult to find the balance,” he said. “To on one hand arise curiosity in the child who doesn’t know that much, while at the same time keep it exciting and further informing the child who has gone to [Stockholm’s Jewish day school].” Daniella Bornstein, 22, said that attending Glämsta had a much bigger impact on her Jewish identity than attending Jewish school.

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“My Jewish identity really only comes from Glämsta,” Bornstein, who lives in Stockholm, said in a phone interview. She said it was an “obvious” choice to attend camp when she was 9 years old, since nearly all her classmates were going and many of her relatives had done so. “I felt that we learned so much more out there than at school,” Bornstein said. “We got to practice Shabbat for real instead of just reading about it in books.” For this reporter, too, Glämsta served as a place to learn about Jewish traditions. I attended camp for two years before I was 13, when I left Sweden with my family for the United States. At Glämsta, I learned how to sing the Grace after Meals, or Birkat Hamazon, a blessing I still know by heart. I also remember having serious discussions about anti-Semitism, which was a reality for all the campers there. Though I knew there were people who didn’t like Jews, I grew up perhaps more sheltered than many others. I did not understand its seriousness until several campers said they would likely get beaten up if they wore a Star of David in their hometowns. I remember feeling shocked and sad that this was the situation for people like me in the country I called home. The fact that kids from all religious backgrounds attend the camp sometimes leads to conflicts about making religious choices. Benjamin Gerber recalls clashing with others after he introduced the idea of offering an egalitarian service — in addition to an Orthodox-style one — when he worked as a counselor and religious leader in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “It became hell just trying to do that one of the Shabbats because the leaders were very keen about their ‘Glämsta tradition,’” said Gerber, who runs an egalitarian minyan, or prayer group, in the city of Gothenburg. Gerber, 41, said that though many of the opponents were not particularly observant

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religiously, they wanted to do things the way they had done them as campers. “Most of them had really gotten their Jewish childhood education there,” he said, “and they felt that even if you smoked on Shabbat, they knew how it should be in the synagogue: that boys and girls should sit separate. They felt that ‘if you mess with that, you mess with my Jewish identity.’” Last year, the camp found a way to compromise by alternating services, so that one week Shabbat services are done Orthodoxstyle and the next week they are egalitarian. “It’s really important to convey that you can be and feel Jewish in many different ways,” Lejbowicz said. “No one way is more correct than another way.” Though Jewish programming is central to the Glämsta experience, there is also plenty of time for typical camp activities. Kids do arts and crafts, sail and swim, as well as participate in a Maccabiah-style competition. Security is a priority. Swedish Jews are increasingly facing anti-Semitism from many groups in society — including the rising nationalist far-right and leftists whose anti-Israel views sometimes veer into anti-Semitism, as well as immigrants from Muslim countries. But Lejbowicz, who asked that the camp’s exact location not be published due to security concerns, emphasized that though there is an increase in anti-Semitism in Sweden, Glämsta isn’t being targeted per se. To make sure nothing happens, he said, there are always guards on duty and security cameras monitor the area. The camp also is in close touch with the local police. Many of Glämsta’s campers later return as counselors. Waldfogel said he decided to work at Glämsta because he wanted kids to have as positive an experience as he had. “That was a big driving force in why you work as a counselor because you’re not really paid that much and you have to work long hours,” he said. Gerber, who attended Glämsta as a camper before working there as a counselor and religious leader, described Shabbat at Glämsta as “shtiebel-like,” using a Yiddish word for a prayer space that is often smaller and more intimate than a synagogue. Counselors encouraged customs such as dressing up for Shabbat and dancing outside after Friday night dinner to make the environment feel “magical and special,” Gerber said. “I think for many counselors they want to give the kids an experience like what they had as children, and it feels very much like it’s a heritage that is passed down from the counselors to the campers,” he said. Bornstein echoed Gerber’s description in talking about Shabbat at camp. “You enter ‘Shabbos mode’ and you don’t really do that at home. There’s a magical atmosphere in a way,” she said. Glämsta has a life-changing impact on many campers and counselors. Waldfogel believes that his life would be more similar to non-Jewish Swedes had he not attended Glämsta. “I wouldn’t have an understanding of Jewish traditions,” he said. “I wouldn’t have Jewish friends. I wouldn’t have a feeling of Jewish community in the same way.” PJC

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Headlines In Mallorca, descendants of Jews forced to hide their faith now run the community — WORLD — By Cnaan Liphshiz | JTA

ALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain — Like countless Jewish children in Europe, Toni Pinya was routinely subjected at school to anti-Semitic bullying. Growing up in the 1960s on this island south of Barcelona, Pinya would be beaten up and called “Christ killer” and “dirty Jew” at least once a month, he said in a recent interview. But unlike most other victims of such abuse, Pinya was sure at the time that he was Catholic. “I asked my grandfather why the other children were calling me a Jew,” Pinya said. “It made more sense after he explained.” The explanation was that Pinya is a chueta, the name in Mallorca for about 20,000 people whose Jewish ancestors converted to Christianity centuries ago during the Spanish Inquisition. Devoutly Catholic but widely distrusted by fellow Christians, chuetas ironically retained their distinct identity because hostility to them forced them to marry mostly among themselves. Mallorca’s tiny Jewish community is now stronger for this turn of events. Last year Pinya, a chef, and Miquel Segura became the first two chuetas elected to the four-person executive board of the Jewish Community of Mallorca, finally giving representatives from that minority a place at the communal table. This development “means the world to us, it gives us pride, a sense of belonging and, I guess, also closure,” said Iska bat Valls, Pinya’s wife, who is also chueta. The couple are among several dozen people from that group who have returned to Judaism in recent years. Most chuetas today do not consider themselves Jews. Pinya, whose parents were forced to marry in secrecy because his non-chueta grandparents opposed the union, and bat Valls underwent an Orthodox conversion to Judaism about five years ago. Other

Israelis: Continued from page 1

the second IAC event here. It attracted 110 mostly-costumed Purim revelers with lively Israeli music, food and dancing. Talmy, the mother of four young children, has lived in Pittsburgh for 16 years. She was raised in Rehovot, Israel, and came here with her husband so they could both work on their master’s degrees in computer and electrical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. They liked Pittsburgh so much, they decided to stay. Since then, she has seen a need to not only connect Israelis living in Pittsburgh together, but to the wider Jewish community. Under the umbrella of IAC, Talmy said, programming in Pittsburgh can have “more added value for Israeli-Americans, whose

finally and suddenly reached the point where Mallorca is ready to remember,” said Dolores Forteza Rei, a member of the Memoria de la Carrer association that is dedicated to the preservation of chueta heritage. “The Inquisition is still a dirty and painful secret here,” said Dani Rotstein, a New Jersey native who settled here in 2011 and now gives tours about the island’s Jewish p Members of the Jewish community of history and last year helped launch Mallorca, Spain, attend a Tu b'Shevat picnic in February. Photo by Cnaan Liphshiz Mallorca’s popular Limmud Jewish learning conference. chuetas, like the sculptor Ferran Aguilo, had Some foreigners contribute directly to the a Reform conversion. preservation of Jewish heritage sites. The conversions and the election of In Inca, Mallorca’s second city, a former chuetas to the community’s board are part synagogue and mikvah was discovered and of a growing recognition of the tragic Jewish partially preserved by the British designer history of Mallorca. Robert Lopez Hinton and his life partner, Last year, local authorities unveiled a Marie-Noelle Ginard Feron. memorial plaque at the Palma square where The couple, neither of them Jewish, 37 people were publicly burned alive in 1691 bought a dilapidated building in Inca’s for being Jewish in what is locally known as former Jewish quarter a decade ago. It was “the bonfire of the Jews.” only during renovations that the structure In 2015, the city helped build a tiny Jewish betrayed its secrets. museum in what used to be the Jewish “The penny dropped when we noticed quarter. Located on a cobbled street inside that narrow window, which we always found the sandstone labyrinth that is the old city strange, transports a shaft of light into the center, the surrounding alleys are so quiet interior twice a year: on the equinox and and well preserved that it is easy to imagine the solstice,” Lopez Hinton recalled, adding life here centuries ago, when crypto-Jews that this design is a hallmark of synagogues ran virtually all of the tanneries, shoe shops and churches in Spain. “When we unearthed and butcher shops. the ritual bath,” with its elaborate system The buildings that once housed three for collecting rainwater, “we knew this synagogues in Palma are still in good condi- was no church.” tion. One of them used to be a bakery. The couple open their home to visitors one Another is a church. day a week and host cultural events. Last month, the city sponsored a memo“I feel there is, of late, a growing interest rial ceremony for Jews who in 1688 tried to in the subject, or at least an openness escape the island on a ship but were caught to it,” he said. and tortured. A large metal anchoring ring Yet 600 years ago, the islanders were stands today outside the Bahía Mediterráneo among the first in the Iberian Peninsula to restaurant near the marina, where many embrace persecution of Jews. chuetas believe the ship used to stand. The Members of that minority were slaughring is smooth because chuetas touch it tered here a century before the official whenever they walk past. implementation of the Inquisition in 1492. “I think that in the past few years we Jews were murdered on the street in the 1391

pogroms, and the slaughter was accompanied by anti-Jewish measures that would culminate in the Inquisition. Against such radical persecution, many chuetas were determined to demonstrate their detachment from Judaism. They would make a point of working on the Sabbath; the phrase for doing chores in Mallorcan dialect is still “doing Sabbath.” And they turned their kosher challah breads into what is now known as ensaimada — a dessert that, bizarrely, is made of pork lard, according to ensaimada connoisseur Tomeu Arbona. Last year Arbona, who is not Jewish, began selling in his Fornet de Sa Soca bakery a kosher variant of this circular national food in what he called a “literally closing of a circle.” Indeed, closing circles is to many chuetas the main motivation for converting back to Judaism. Pinya and his wife are now regulars at Mallorca’s only synagogue. On Friday nights, about 50 locals from all walks of life, including some Americans, Brits and Israelis, gather here for Sephardic-style prayers punctuated by singing and clapping. Some chuetas say they don’t need to convert to be a part of the Jewish community. And Nissim Karelitz, an Orthodox haredi rabbi from Bnei Brak, Israel, ruled in 2011 that chuetas need not convert to Judaism because they are already Jewish — a rare concession from one of Judaism’s strictest and most respected interpreters. It was a good call, according to Rabbi Joseph Walles, a descendant of Rabbi Rafael Valls, the last Jew burned at the stake in Mallorca in 1691. Walles, who runs the Bnei Brak-based Arachim group devoted to increasing unity among Jews, visited Mallorca in February to meet with members of its Jewish community. “Laced into the history of this island is the determination of its Jews to stay Jewish at the face of one of history’s most brutal attempts to eradicate Judaism,” Walles said. And that, he added, “is a testament to the resolve of Jews everywhere to remain that.” PJC

needs and character are unique.” Israelis, she said, want to immerse themselves and their children “in Israeli culture and in spoken Hebrew, and we want to have more programs about Israel — for example, the history, and the conflict. I don’t want my kids growing up apologizing for their love for Israel. We want to empower and to strengthen the next generation of Israeli Americans to have Israel in their hearts.” The challenge of being Israeli in America “is that as an Israeli in the U.S., I am a minority,” Talmy said. “In Israel, I grew up not as a minority. As an Israeli in the American Jewish community, I am a minority within a minority. Now I have the same obligations of every American Jew: how to thoughtfully transit my identity and my values to my

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Please see Israelis, page 16

p Pittsburghers celebrate Purim “Israeli-style” at IAC event. Photo provided by Anat Talmy

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

APRIL 5, 2019 13

Opinion Israel’s Golan Heights — EDITORIAL —

resident Trump’s March 21 tweet that “it is time … to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty” over the Golan Heights may have been timed to help the re-election efforts of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it also set off a flurry of debate about the issue. That debate only intensified after Trump signed a proclamation four days later recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory during a meeting with Netanyahu. Many of the usual opponents — the Arab world and assorted left-leaning political commentators and academics — rejected Trump’s comments and actions, making

familiar arguments. Criticism focused on the assertion that the Golan Heights is occupied territory, meaning that recognition of Israeli sovereignty there would be illegal under international law. Even those who were more accepting of the new Trump policy — if only because of the practical realities relating to the Golan Heights — questioned the timing of the move. While we understand the concerns and criticism, we disagree with them. In fact, the change in policy is not that controversial. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the defensive 1967 war, and formally annexed the area in 1981 — a move that was condemned by the United Nations shortly thereafter. But for the past 52 years, Israel’s

control of the Golan Heights has been largely undisputed. Israel needs the Golan Heights. Not only does it provide access to the freshwater Sea of Galilee, it also serves the more important strategic and military purpose of a buffer zone for communities in the Galilee who were subject to Syrian attacks before and during the Six-Day War. In the grand scheme of things, the new Trump policy regarding the Golan Heights won’t make all that much of a difference. We agree with Ian Bremmer, of Eurasia Group, who told CNBC: “On policy substance, I doubt the U.S. decision will change things on the ground,” noting that Syria doesn’t often win sympathy points because of its pariah status. “So there’s been no pressure on Israel

to back away from the existing status quo. … It’s not likely to have much impact.” We do remain concerned, however, about the continuation of the president’s unnerving practice of diplomacy via tweet. While the change in policy regarding the Golan Heights may not be all that consequential, there is something decidedly unpresidential about making that declaration by tweet rather than in a more formal announcement that could have included a longer explanation. The formal change in U.S. policy regarding the Golan Heights was nothing more than a recognition of reality. On balance, that result outweighs concerns about how the announcement was made, the motivation for it, or its timing. PJC

Before Marie Kondo, there was the Talmud Guest Columnist Marina Ioffe

nundated with unpacked boxes, unsorted toys, mountains of cords and clothing, wardrobes in multiple sizes, reference manuals and outdated technology sprawled everywhere, households are drowning in accumulated stuff. This crisis has inspired the popularity of everything from organizational life-hacks to hoarding reality TV shows based on Marie Kondo’s widely popular book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” The Jewish community is not immune to this clutter problem, and it becomes particularly dramatic once the joy of Purim has ended and the Passover cleaning begins to loom. We should be anticipating our celebration of the Exodus, but there’s just so much to clean and so much to organize! In opposition to the all-encompassing scrub-witha-toothbrush approach, schools of thought like “The One Day Passover Cleanup Guide” advocate for more sanity and less physical labor. While such tactics can help with the cleaning anxiety by lessening the load, they don’t help with the primary cause: We

have too much stuff piled around the house because we don’t know how to take care of it. Is organization a Jewish virtue, which is to say, do we have a special mitzvah to be tidy? Does the Torah have anything to teach us about keeping our homes neat and organized? “How does the bed of a Torah scholar look?” the Talmud asks in Bava Basra (58a). “Any bed that has nothing stored beneath it except sandals during the summer season and shoes during the rainy season.” By contrast, what do we find under the bed of an unlearned person? It is “like a jumbled storeroom.” Our possessions should be carefully curated for a specific purpose, and should bring us joy. In every Marie Kondo episode there is a moment when her clients are asked to consider whether an item still sparks joy or if it’s just filling space. If something has outlived its usage, owners are encouraged to thank the item and let it go. Centuries before Kondo, the Talmud advocated the plainest of organizing solutions: Own a pair of shoes for the dry season, own a pair of shoes for the wet season, and keep them under your bed. By turning our homes into clean, thoughtful spaces, we are enabled to better serve God with joy. Why does owning so much stuff give us anxiety? Pirkei Avot addresses this dynamic when the sages wrote, “The more possessions, the more worry.” Long before Biggie

Smalls intoned “Mo Money Mo Problems,” the rabbis understood, in a time when cheap, disposable products were not the norm, that overindulgence in material possessions is overwhelmingly anxiety-producing. Our problems aren’t always like Biggie’s (the inevitable attention and ayin hara that material wealth generates) but sometimes simpler and more innate — we are trying to fill a void with our purchases. We buy objects to make our lives easier and more carefree, and then find ourselves drowning in them. Our homes are cluttered with purchases that fill our basements, kitchens, playrooms and closets, as if the department stores will not exist tomorrow. We hold on to things “just in case,” to the point of not remembering what we have; and in all that having, what we actually want gets lost. How many times have you raced around the house looking for your keys, your phone, a missing shoe, a sweater or bank statement? How many of the things that you own would you really want to keep if you had to sort through it all? Out of the fear of precarity, that we just won’t have enough, we stuff our homes with possessions. Accumulation becomes a cheap surrogate for true plenty — a relationship with God centered around the trust that all of our needs will be met. Just as the Jews in the desert trusted that God would

provide the manna, so too should we trust that God will provide us with possessions when we need them. In “A Place for My Stuff,” comedian George Carlin riffs on a familiar experience: “That’s all your house is — a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house… A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it… Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.” Actually, a Jewish home is a place to do mitzvot. Our stuff is merely a facilitator of that purpose — doing mitzvot. Anything that hinders that has no place in our homes, and anything that does not bring us joy hinders that. The Ba’al Shem Tov teaches us that joy breaks through all boundaries. As long as we live in the Exile, we may continue to struggle with material issues large and small. However, by identifying the possessions that bring us joy, and ruthlessly culling everything else, we may find a liberating space in our homes. This is a critical redemptive and revolutionary act, it’s therapeutic, and imagine how much easier it’ll make Passover cleaning! PJC Marina Ioffe is a professional organizer and declutterer. Her website is organize withmarina.com.

Embrace the risk — co-creation of learning Guest Columnist Danielle Kranjec

hen I first moved to Pittsburgh nearly eight years ago, I had the privilege to serve as a teaching assistant for modern Hebrew classes at the University of Pittsburgh. I taught Hebrew grammar and conversation five days a week in the most literal of ivory towers — the Cathedral of Learning. At 42 stories, it is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere. Lofty, distant and authoritative, it 14 APRIL 5, 2019

is an apt symbol of the university and Western educational model. I left that “ivory tower,” and today, after nearly six years of teaching in a modest three-story building mere blocks away, I could not imagine re-entering that space and the pedagogy it represents. In my role as senior Jewish educator at our multicampus Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh, there is no pose of critical distance or monolithic truth. Now when I am teaching, I find myself most often sitting in a circle with my students, or standing together at the counter in the kitchen, or in conversation as we set the tables for Shabbat — the physical location of our teaching emblematic of the mutuality for which I am striving. I am

working toward a nonhierarchical pedagogy of relational learning, in which all participants bring their whole selves to the encounter. What does the educational moment look like when the pedagogy is almost purely relational? What does it mean to bring one’s whole self to the learning encounter, to bring one’s heart and one’s mind, and not just one’s head? What does it mean when so-called educators also envision themselves as learners and assume no hierarchy with regard to the so-called students? What is at stake? What is lost and what is gained? These are the questions I have been exploring in earnest since last July when I took part in M²’s Relational Engagement Circle.

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What I knew almost viscerally as I committed to this year of learning and research is that any pose of critical distance between myself and my students is a fallacy, and that my educational moments are richest when I am truly present and most integrally myself, when I am in the nexus of learning, as it occurs as part of my relationships. These past months of study and research in the context of our group have given me a vocabulary and a framework for understanding how to more deliberately enact relational learning as a pedagogy. The embrace of a relational learning pedagogy involves great risk for educators. In this Please see Kranjec, page 15

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Opinion Kranjec: Continued from page 14

model, educators can no longer hide behind the guise of expert and stand separated at the front of the classroom, but instead, in a true relational pedagogy, must involve themselves in the educational experience as co-creators and participants themselves. In American Jewish educational spaces, there has been so much fear and focus on Jewish continuity that we have not made space for risk-taking, either on behalf of the participants or the educators. We feel we have so much to lose, and so little capital, we revert to the tired model of the educational landscape. Is our fear of asking too much causing us to alienate ourselves and our own needs? What is the danger of educators asking themselves, ‘What do I need from this encounter?’

A risk of narcissism, perhaps; but balanced with the question, ‘What does the student/ other need from this encounter?’ a potential for meaning emerges. In my case, after the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue building, blocks from where I live in Pittsburgh, I could not ignore that I was bringing my own trauma and grief into the classroom. The question for me has become how to transform that grief into an opening point for creating greater connection and meaning in the educational endeavor. By recognizing my own needs and owning my perspective, I found that the participants in my learning groups, both formal and informal, were able to access their own truths in a way that was mutually enriching and allowed for significance beyond what was expected or planned for — both for the students and myself. M² has made a bold statement in the structure of the model in the Relational

Engagement Circle, in which faculty and mentors are full participants in the entirety of their seminars. Experiencing this in praxis was at first unsettling, but the blurring of the lines between instructor and learner in our workshop has emboldened me in my own practice. For example, in the peer leadership model at our Hillel, we empower our students to teach each other. Yet, often I would find myself as the educator off to the side or in some way just outside the room — now I am entering the circle as a participant. The possibilities this opens are unfamiliar for all involved. The young people who come to our Hillel specifically looking for a transactional data exchange are unsettled by my unwillingness to be their human encyclopedia. But as a mutual embrace of questioning with regard to our truths and the tradition becomes more familiar, they become more open to delving into their own beliefs and ideas.

One of M²’s taglines is, “Powerful experiences shape lives. Some people are fortunate enough to create them.” One of my main takeaways from my months in the Relational Engagement Circle is that as educators we have to realize, embrace and take risks with the knowledge that we are also creating experiences for ourselves. In a pedagogy of relational learning, the educator is not just creating the experience for the other, but is rather a co-creator of a situation from which mutually shared meaning emerges. Within this new model of relational learning, I find that my own learning sustains me and nurtures me more than ever before. PJC Danielle Kranjec is the Senior Jewish Educator at the Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh and a participant in M² Circles: Relational Engagement, cohort 1. This piece was first published in ejewishphilanthropy.com.

— LETTERS — Not laughing about Kahane Since the March 22 issue of the Chronicle arrived in my mailbox on Purim, I can only assume that Hirsh Dlinn’s op-ed “Kahane is an easy target, but the name-calling is wrong” was an attempt at a bit of “Purim Torah.” Personally, I did not find it funny at all. But I will play along for the sake of the holiday. Let’s see how I do: Haman was trying to uphold traditional Persian notions of rank and bowing, based on the sacred texts of the Persian people. And his proposed attack on Jews was really only against those who supported that extremist Mordecai. Threatening to kill them all was obviously wrong, but if only the Persian government had listened to this wise man earlier and offered the Jews compensation to move out of the Persian empire, surely most if not all would have gone along with that. Am I getting the hang of this? Mussolini and his fellow Fascists had grounded their views in traditional Italian teachings and were only trying to protect their fellow Italians. Hitler and the Nazis. … No, that might be going too far, even in the spirit of Purim reversals and spoofing. So now that Purim is over, let’s be serious: Yes, we were all taught in kindergarten that we shouldn’t engage in “name-calling.” But those calling out Kahanism for its racism and extremism are not engaged in schoolyard bullying or teasing. Sometimes, we must name things as they are. Meir Kahane led a political movement that was banned from running for election by the Supreme Court of Israel for violating Israeli law about inciting racism. When he was in the Knesset, representatives of every political party left the chamber when he spoke to protest his extremism. Members of his movement and his followers have engaged in terrorist activity and his organization was listed for many years by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. That Kahane thought he was acting on behalf of the Jewish people and believed that his views were grounded in Torah is irrelevant. In this circumstance, calling Kahane’s ideology and his actions “racist and terrorist” is not “untrue and shameful.” Rather, it is an accurate description of an ideology and a movement. What is shameful is the recent return of this way of thinking to a place of prominence in Israeli politics and the apologetic attempts to normalize this form of extremism within Jewish discourse. Adam Shear Squirrel Hill

Soul searching about Omar and Israel Just after learning about the white supremacist massacre in New Zealand, I saw in my latest Chronicle a cartoon of Rep. Ilhan Omar that equated her with violent white supremacists. As a proud Jew, a supporter of Israel and liberal, I have engaged in some serious soul searching recently. My conclusion is that my position on Israel has been knee-jerk and one sided. I realized that I needed to come to grips with a few basic facts. First, as someone concerned about the influence of powerful, well-funded lobbying groups influencing U.S. policy, I cannot exclude AIPAC from the conversation. Despite an ugly history of monetary stereotypes, talking about AIPAC members’ use of financial resources is not anti-Semitic. Second, I believe Netanyahu is extreme, corrupt and abusive with zero desire to achieve peace. Yet I have not been able to acknowledge that any of his policies/actions toward the Palestinians are wrong. The situation is horribly complicated. I need to accept that Israel can be in the wrong at times, and the Palestinians include both suffering victims and violent aggressors. Third, I do not agree with Rep. Omar’s views about Israel, and she does make statements that go too far. But making sweeping and insulting comments about groups who disagree with us is ubiquitous. I need to pay attention to how much of that kind of language I am PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

hearing from Jews on this issue, in addition to paying attention to Omar’s comments. Lastly, I cannot escape the feeling that the ferocity of the reaction to Omar is as much about the hijab on her head as it is about her comments. The level of outrage is disproportionate and the rhetoric is extreme. She is not a violent anti-Semite. She is not calling for the extermination of Jews. She is not a sleeper cell for the Palestinians within the U.S. government. Many Jews have a fit of apoplexy whenever someone criticizes Israel. We need to be willing to engage in the conversation. We need to remember that being critical of Israel is not the same as being anti-Semitic and that being supportive of Israel is not the same as being supportive of Jews. We need to remember that Islamaphobia is never an appropriate response to real or perceived anti-Semitism. Karen Beaudway Ambridge

Political mediocrity In the op-ed by Rep. Dan Frankel, the representative shows that he and many other Jewish Democrats are placing their party and position of power above those whom elected them. This is the issue with politics today, in both parties. In a recent letter, Rep. Connor Lamb bragged that he took no corporate money during his elections. He also insinuated that these dollars breed the hate now surfacing in politics. I am sure that he took plenty of union money that is just as bad. He also had the gall to call for campaign finance reform and to criticize Citizens United. So much for free speech. I am saddened that so many Jews are not taking a hard stand with Democrat leadership against Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. They excuse their anti-Semitism as a cultural difference. Rep. Jan Shakowsky of Illinois said that exactly. These are the talking points of Pelosi and Schumer, the party leaders. Dan Frankel did not explicitly condemn the anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric emanating from his own party. Not one of the Jews in the Democrat party have pushed for Omar to be stripped of her committee assignments or be alienated from the party. They allowed a watered-down condemnation to pass the House. All politicians have one thing in common. They put their party, their power and egos above those whom they are supposed to serve. They go into politics as paupers and come out millionaires. We do not need campaign finance reform, we need term limits and a repeal of the 17th Amendment. If the president and governor are limited to eight years in office, so should our state and federal legislatures. Senators no longer represent the interest of the states, they are elected officials and beholden to money and power. It’s time that we realize that the politicians have prostituted themselves for money to keep their power. We need to press our legislature to push for an article 5 convention to amend our constitution with term limits and a repeal of the 17th Amendment. This will ensure that people running for elective office will no longer make a lifetime career of being mediocre. Andrew Neft Upper St. Clair

Correcting Iditarod record While I appreciated your article about Blair Braverman’s Iditarod accomplishment, she was not the first Jewish woman to complete the race. That title goes to Susan Cantor, who completed the Iditarod in 1992. Shira Burg Pittsburgh

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APRIL 5, 2019 15

Headlines Busis: Continued from page 1

of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and published several scientific articles and book chapters. He also served as president of the American Neurotology Society, a national organization of ear doctors. His work inspired Neil to not only pursue medicine as a career, but to practice with care and passion. “He set an example of how to get along with colleagues, how to get along with patients, how to keep up with the field,” Neil Busis said. “And his work ethic is legendary.” In addition to his busy career as a physician, Busis maintained a “second career” as a volunteer, said his son, Jim Busis, publisher and CEO of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. Having grown up against a backdrop of anti-Semitism, he had a deep love for the Jewish community, and an instinct to protect it. Busis became a “fierce and devoted defender of Israel and endangered Jewish communities around the world,” Jim Busis said. “Some people remember how, in the lead-up to the Six-Day War, he wanted to help Israel but didn’t have funds to make a donation, so he took out a $10,000 loan and donated those funds to Israel.”

Israelis: Continued from page 13

children. This is a challenge we all face as American Jews. However, in addition, I have this unique identity that I have inside myself, the love for Israel, the love for its culture, the people, the language, and I have to pass that on, too, to my children. This is crucial to me. IAC supports me in those efforts.” IAC programs also aim to bridge the gap between American Jews and Israeli Americans, according to Talmy. “Most Israelis aren’t plugged into the conventional outlets of the Jewish community,” she explained, noting that many of them

Busis and his wife of 71 years, Sylvia, traveled to more than 20 countries on missions with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an arm of the American Jewish community that helps Jews in need throughout the world. They also participated in many Federation missions to Israel. Photography was a passion for Busis, and Israel was one of his favorite subjects. One of the most impactful memories Busis had of his lifelong involvement with the Jewish community was taking a group of non-Jewish executives to Israel, he told the Chronicle in an interview a few years ago. “It was called the ‘Industrialists Mission,’” Sidney Busis recalled. He had assembled a group of local power brokers, including the chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, the president of Carnegie Mellon University and the CEOs of such giants as Gulf Oil, U.S. Steel and Mellon Bank to the Jewish state during the late 1970s. “We wanted to educate these people about Israel,” Busis said. “We showed them how narrow it was. People didn’t understand that Israel couldn’t afford to lose one war.” Busis maintained the relationships he forged on that trip, and when he reached out to those power brokers years later for help in creating an endowment for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, they were there for him and the Jewish community.

“He picked up the phone and he was able to call virtually every corporate CEO of a Fortune 500 company in Pittsburgh who went on that trip to Israel, and they all met with us,” recalled Howard Rieger, president and CEO of the Federation from 1981 to 2004. “They didn’t turn Sidney down.” Busis “was totally selfless, he was into whatever he was into only for the good stuff,” Rieger said. “He was an amazing guy, and what a privilege to have known him and worked with him and Sylvia over so many years. He made a lot of impact that will stand as a real memorial to him.” His many leadership roles in the Pittsburgh Jewish community included president or chairman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Family and Community Services, and Rodef Shalom Congregation. He also served on the boards of the Jewish Association on Aging, United Way of Allegheny County, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Healthcare Foundation and Jewish Education Institute, among others. His and Sylvia’s enduring support for their community has been an inspiration for the next generation of leaders. “I’ve been working with both of them for many years and seeing them continue to show up year after year after year as I’ve assumed different roles,” said Meryl Ainsman, current

are secular. “They may not be synagogue members, and their kids may not attend a Jewish day school. We want to plan programs that will attract both Israeli and American Jews, so we can get to know each other, make friends, and make Jewish connections.” Strengthening the bond between American Jews and Israel is another goal of IAC. “I feel Israel is being pushed from being the center of the Jewish people by some in the American Jewish community,” Talmy said. “IAC’s goal is to try to create a home for pro-Israel Americans, and we, IsraeliAmericans, can help bridge this perception of the gap by open dialogue and eliminating misconceptions on both sides.” Talmy estimates there are between 100 and 150 Israeli families living in Pittsburgh,

although many Israelis come to Pittsburgh for a few years, then go back to the Jewish state, so the numbers are fluid. Future IAC programming here is likely to include a leadership initiative and a program for middle and high school students. There will also be more Friday night dinners, and a family picnic for Yom Haatzmaut. The programs will be open to American Jews as well as Israeli Americans. In addition, IAC will partner with Classrooms Without Borders to bring Hebrew-speaking Holocaust survivors to Pittsburgh tell their stories. For Abby Schachter, who is both an American and an Israeli citizen, it is meaningful to get together with others to “express a full-throated love for Israel, and love for the

chair of the Federation. “I would look and see them still showing up, and think, ‘If they’re still showing up, I’ve got to show up, too.’ “Watching them as role models really energized me and many, many others in the generations that came after them because they were in there for the long haul.” Busis set an example of how to live a meaningful life for his four sons through his actions, said Jim Busis. “It’s not like we would sit down at the dinner table and he would pontificate about why he loved Israel, why Israel was important, or why the Federation was important,” Jim Busis said. “He just did things. You just watched him do things and you saw the time and care he put into them.” Busis is survived by his wife, Sylvia; sons Neil, Richard (Judy Beck), Jim (Maureen Kelly) and William (Leslie Hall); grandchildren David (Catherine Blauvelt), Anne (z”l), Hillary (Michael Palmieri), Sarah (Matthew Cohen), Deborah (Mathew Levine), Samuel, Ethan, Hannah, Abigail, Adam, Daniel and Molly; great-grandchildren Arthur, Joshua, Noah and Diana; and sister Jean Simon. Interment was at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Hebrew language, and love for Israeli food and music, art, and also to come together as Jews. “It is not a question of nationality,” Schachter stressed. “ I am a member of the Jewish people, and being attached to and wanting to spend time with people who have a similar love of the Jewish homeland is part of my Judaism.” Julie Paris, who is not an Israeli citizen, was happy to join in the Purim festivities with her Israeli friends. “I like supporting the Jewish community and the Israeli community here in Pittsburgh,” Paris said. “It’s great to see our community come together to celebrate the holiday Israeli-style.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Celebrations

Torah

B’nai Mitzvah

Bringing the light of the moon Rabbi Elchonon Friedman Parshat Tazria | Leviticus 12:1 - 13:59 Shabbat HaChodesh

T Ellie Greenbaum, daughter of Rabbis Alex and Amy Greenbaum, will become a bat mitzvah on Saturday, April 6 at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills. Grandparents are Fred and Sharon Schomer of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Cantor Sam and Mona Greenbaum of West Bloomfield, Michigan.

Daniel William Lederman, son of Moe and Kathy Lederman of Mt. Lebanon, will become a bar mitzvah on Saturday, April 6 at Temple Emanuel of South Hills. Danny is the older brother of Jack. Grandparents are Stan and Lynette Lederman of Squirrel Hill and Terry and Marion O’Brien of Mt. Lebanon.

his Shabbat is one of the rare occasions in the year when we take three Torah scrolls to be read on Shabbat day. In the first Sefer Torah, we will read the weekly portion of Parshat Tazria. In the second Torah, we will read the portion for Rosh Chodesh, celebrating the new month of Nissan, beginning on Shabbat. The third Torah will be used for the reading of Parshat HaChodesh, which includes the laws of the Passover sacrifice and the commandment to eat matzah and marror on the night of the Seder. This triple crown comes on one of the most auspicious days on the Jewish calendar, namely, Rosh Chodesh Nissan. On this day, the world was created. On this day, the Tabernacle was erected in the desert and on this day the first mitzvah was commanded to the Jewish people in Egypt.

it’s whole and bright, while on other nights it can disappear entirely. But the moon always comes back, helping those lost in the night. G-d commanded the Jewish people to set their calendars to the cycle of the moon — to recognize that as human beings we all have ups and downs, we all give and sometimes must take. But we survive, not by natural causes but rather the miraculous. For G-d redeems slaves from Egypt, the oppressed from the oppressor. He hears the cries of the widow and the orphan, and lifts the poor from the brink of despair. As we sit with our children at our beautiful Seders this Passover, let us remember the message that has kept us alive for eternity: G-d loves the Jewish people because we care for the poor, the sick and the weak, like the moon that cares for those lost at night. And just like G-d ensures that she will forever shine, so too will G-d always care for His people. It might sound ridiculous that the nation chased from place to place, without a homeland for thousands of years, should

God loves the Jewish people because we care for the poor, the sick and the weak, like the moon that cares for those lost at night. Danica Simon, daughter of Dr. A. Michael and Jami Simon, sister of Zach and Matthew Simon, granddaughter of Evelyn “Huvvy” and Meyer Simon and Diane and Ernie Halperin, is in the seventh grade at Edgewood Middle School in Highland Park, Illinois. Danica loves to dance and will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on April 6.

Nate Weinstein, son of Matt and Marcie Weinstein, will become a bar mitzvah on Saturday, April 6 at 10:30 a.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Nate is a seventhgrader at the Winchester Thurston School. His favorite hobbies are playing the drums and the bass guitar. Nate also runs on the cross-country team for his school and swims for Jewish Community Center Sailfish. He enjoys spending summers at the Emma Kaufmann Camp. PJC

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be surviving and thriving. Yet, this is the miracle of the Jewish people and this is the miracle of Nissan, the month of miracles. So let us rededicate ourselves to those still in the dark, the poor, those in pain and those lost wandering in a world without meaning. Let’s bring them the little light we can: a kind word, an inspiring message, a smile, a gift, an education. Let’s find that Jew who doesn’t have a home in which to celebrate his Seder, and invite him to come eat some matzah and celebrate the miracle of the Jewish people and the time G-d took us out of Egypt with miracles and an outstretched hand. So too, today, He does miracles for each one of us, in each moment in our lives. Just look at the moon and remember our nation’s story. PJC Rabbi Elchonon Friedman is the rabbi at Bnai Emunoh Chabad-Greenfield. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Our rabbis relate that the day of Rosh Chodesh Nissan is represented by 10 crowns — 10 special moments which happened on the day. Our rabbis relate that when G-d created the world, He chose the day of Rosh HaShana to be the beginning of the year. Later, during the exodus from Egypt when He chose the Jewish people as His nation, He chose for them the day of Rosh Chodesh Nissan to become the beginning of the Jewish year and calendar. As stated in the Torah reading of Parshat HaChodesh, “This new (day of the) month shall be for you the head and beginning of all months.” The new year and new month of Nissan reflects the Jewish people’s unique comparison to the moon. While the sun represents the bright and consistent, the moon represents the weak yet miraculous. The moon reflects the light that is not its own and may not always do a perfect job; some nights

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Obituaries CAPLAN: Ivan Caplan, on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Beloved husband of Francine “Frani” Browarsky Caplan. Devoted father of Joel and Ira Caplan. Stepfather of Lisa Fleischer Jackson (Christopher) and Bryan (Jennifer) Fleischer. Cherished brother of Jeffrey (Patty) Caplan and the late Sharon Caplan Schoenberger. Loving grandfather of Ellie, Aaron, Max, Jonathan and Benjamin. Caring uncle of Steven, Eric and Seth. Also survived by many loving extended family members and friends. Ivan was part owner of Main Loan Office with his brother for over 60 years. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Abraham Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Association on Aging, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. schugar.com FINE: Milton Fine, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, Milton Fine, beloved husband of Sheila Reicher Fine, passed away at the age of 92 surrounded by family after a brief illness. Loving father of Carolyn Fine Friedman (Jerry) of Newton, Mass.; Sibyl Fine King of Poole Dorset, England; and David J. Fine (Rachel) of Weston, Mass. Grandfather of Rose Friedman, Daniel King, Ari Fine, Ryan King, Nina Friedman, Sophia Friedman, Benjamin Fine, Adam Fine and Alice King. Stepfather to Pam Wein Levy (Michael) of Pittsburgh, Howard Reicher (Donna) of Pittsburgh, Jan Reicher (Alain Bismuth) of San Francisco, Calif.; and step-grandfather to Joshua Wein (Abby), Zachary Wein, Max Levy, Benjamin Reicher, Adi Alouf and Alexandra Alouf. Son of the late Samuel Fine and Ida (Krimsky) Fine. Brother of Ethel Christin of Palm City, Fla., and the late Sara Fine Patz and Harry Fine; also survived by many nieces and nephews. He attended Taylor Allderdice High School. He often credited his education to the hours he spent reading at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he developed a love for literature. He enlisted and deployed to France in World War II. There, he was promoted to sergeant at the age of 19, an achievement that — as he would one day tell the Wall Street Journal — eclipsed even those of his business career. Upon returning to Pittsburgh in 1946, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and completed his undergraduate degree and received his Juris Doctorate in less than four years. He practiced law throughout the 1950s, gradually entering into business ventures, including real estate. He is known as a selfmade entrepreneur who earned an international reputation as one of the outstanding leaders of the hospitality industry. Beginning with one motel in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1960, he and Edward A. Perlow co-founded and grew Interstate Hotels Corporation (IHC) into the largest hotel management company in the world with hotels under management

throughout the United States, Canada, U.S. Caribbean and Russia. Following the sale of IHC in 1998, he formed FFC Capital with the Fine family and a select group of senior executives from Interstate for the purpose of investment management and the acquisition and development of real estate. He became a respected art collector and developed a passion for contemporary art, forging close relationships with artists and museum curators. In the early 1980s, he became a trustee of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, where he helped revitalize the Carnegie International — the nation’s oldest exhibition of global contemporary art. In addition to becoming chairman of the CMA board, he was also a founder of The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, where a curatorial position bears his name. A resident of Palm Beach, Fla., he was also on the boards of Wyndham International Hotel Company, the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. In 2007, he and his wife, Sheila, established The Fine Foundation, which supports projects in arts and culture, Jewish life, and science and medicine, primarily in his hometown of Pittsburgh. Services were held at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice or UPMC Family Hospice, 50 Moffett Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15243 or Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, 2000 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com FREEDEL: Paul H. Freedel, on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Beloved husband of the late Rochelle Freedel. Beloved father of Michelle Freedel and Gerri (Victor) Primak. Brother of Norton (Adrienne) Freedel. Grandfather of David, Adam, Kayla, Ethan and Ava. Graveside services and interment were held at Pliskover Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com MARK: Gunther (Gad) Mark, on Saturday, March 30, 2019. Beloved husband of the late Ofra Mark. Beloved father of Mina E. Mark, MD, of Philadelphia, Daphne MarkFerenchik (Kevin) of Pittsburgh and Rona N. Mark (Niall O’Rourke) of New York, N.Y. Brother of Dr. Harry Mark of New Haven, Conn., and Dr. Miriam Pollak of Berlin, Germany. Grandfather of Gabriella Ferenchik. Graveside services were held at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to American Cancer Society, 320 Bilmar Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205. schugar.com

A gift from ...

In memory of...

A gift from ...

In memory of...

Anonymous .................................... Isadore Berenfield

Mrs. Joan Lieberman......................Sarah Leah Zinner

Anonymous ........................................... Freda Gordon

Mrs. Joan Lieberman............................ Joseph Zinner

Anonymous ..............................................Esther Kohn

Mrs. Joan Lieberman...........................Rebecca Rubin

Evan Adams ......................................... Marvin Adams

Mrs. Joan Lieberman.......................... Charlotte Rubin

Ron & Larraine Bates........................Dorothy L. Fisher

Dr. Anita E. Mallinger ................... Lena Ripp Mallinger

Bernard & Marilyn Caplan .................... Cernie Caplan

Elaine McNeill ..................................... Rory S. Melnick

Susan Cohen ...................................... Birdie Schwartz

Harvey L. Rice ........................................William Taper

Arthur & Maxine Cook ............................Joseph Cook

Estelle Rosenfeld ............................ Samuel Rosenfeld

Arlene B. Fogel ........................................ Steven Beck

Mena Shapiro ...................................... Melvin Shapiro

Ruben Goldberg ................................ Louis Freedman

Mena Shapiro ............................Minnie & Abe Shapiro

Robert & Kathleen Grant ..................Helen H. Berman

Patricia Green Shapiro ...................... B Joseph Green

Mary Jatlow ....................................... Joseph Sherwin

Rae Solomon ............................................ Pearl Braun

Amy Kamin ............................................ Marvin Kamin

Harold C. Weiss .................................Samuel J. Weiss

Ina Kraus ................................. Freda & Edward Lewis

Elinor Young ............................................. Ida N. Shrut

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday April 7: Philip Blau, Birdye Brody, Mollie Bucaresky, Louis Engelman, Meyer Goldfarb, Charlotte Gordon, Morris E. Greenberg, Maurice Edward Jacobson, Charles Kaufman, Dr. Jack Leedy, Fannie Lichtenstein, William S. Miller, Gerald E. Moskowitz, Sanford A. Rogers, Trudy Rosenthal, Merle Arnold Sands, Fannie Singer, Ida Sissman, Morris L. Speizer, Eileen M. Swartz, Louis Weinberger, Celia Weiner, Samuel Weiner, Zelda Hilda Zamsky Monday April 8: William L. Birken, Belle Broder, Elsie Cohen, Dorothy Gross, Leon Hytovitz, Pearle N. Lenchner, Israel Marcus, Allan Jay Mellman, Joseph Melnick, Alvin Milligram, Celia J. Rubin, Leo I. Shapiro, Benjamin Thorpe Tuesday April 9: Elliott Alber, Rosa Birnbaum, Joseph Brody, Elizabeth Cousin, Marvin G. Elman, Phillip Fenster, Freda Foreman, Harry Friedlander, William Katz, Ida E. Keller, Samuel Levinson, Sarah Markowitz, Jack Marks, Rachael Bessie Miller, Samuel Miller, Samuel Mines, Albert Schwartz, Harry Schwartz, Kania Sigman, Joseph Viess, Jacob Weiner, Sally Louise Weisman, Joseph M. Zasloff Wednesday April 10: Alice Serbin Bogdan, Louis Caplin, Harold Erenstein, Aaron Friedland, Jacob Richmond, Rose Shrager, Irwin Silverman, Lazarus Simon, Esther Dena Stein, Jacob Steinberger Thursday April 11: Matilda Beck, Sarah S. Berman, Anna F. Davidson, Sadie Farkas, M. Emanuel Heller, David T. Horvitz, Myer Klevan, Sidney H. Lebovitz, Bessie Lundy, Philip Singer, Sarah Sontag, Sam Vixman, Bernard Winer Friday April 12: Allen Stein Amdur, Louis Farkas, B. Joseph Green, Saul Guttman, Max Handelsman, Julia Hepps, Morris J. Klein, Arthur Kramer, Mildred Lebovitz, Helen Mermelstein, Rose Beck Nathanson, Isadore M. Peril, David Pollack, Anna L. Rosenberg, Edward S. Sheinberg, William Shussett, Dr. Sidney A. Silverman, Tillie N. Sirocca, Abe Turk, Harry Weinberger, Louis Zamore Saturday April 13: Sol Bennett, Bernard Berry, Samuel L. Case, Ralph Herny, Mollie Liff, Leo A. Mars, David A. Myer, Leah J. Rosenberg, Rose Rosenthal, Max Rotter, Louis A. Schwartz, Allan Robert Shine, Sam Stein, Samuel J. Weiss

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APRIL 5, 2019 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

RYZHIK: Konstantin Ryzhik, a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and an engineer who helped build some of the most traveled roadways and tunnels in Pittsburgh, died peacefully on March 29, 2019, after a long illness, at nearly 92. He was born May 1, 1927 in St. Petersburg, Russia, to GirshZusya Meyer Ryzhik (father) and Nehama Kalman Pliss (mother), who predeceased him, along with his sister Rachel Ryzhik. For over 69 years, he was devotedly married to Betty (Podolsky) Ryzhik, known as Bella, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, and who survives him. They met when they were 5 and 6 years old. Having lived through the siege of Leningrad, in which

Photographer: Continued from page 3

Mt. Lebanon, where there were very few Jews,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was the only Jewish girl in my class, and I was shamed for it and I was ostracized for being Jewish.â&#x20AC;? London recalls in the preface to her book that when she was 8, her best friend, Christine, ceased contact. Walking home from school one day, Christine said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want you to come to church with me this Sunday.â&#x20AC;? London asked why, and Christine responded, â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Sunday School teacher told me that anyone who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in Jesus will die and burn in hell, and I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be friends with someone whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to hell.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;It destroyed me,â&#x20AC;? London said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be Jewish, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be different. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be the only one in my class with naturally curly hair, which I was. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not saying that I know what it feels like to be a minority race, or an immigrant, or a refugee or differently abled,â&#x20AC;? she added,

by Asa. Konstantin is also survived by numerous other family members and friends on whom he made an indelible imprint. A man who could fix anything, who was equally at home in front of a sewing machine and a carburetor, Kotya, as his family called him, was known for practical jokes and landing a punch line. He was also an avid hockey fan who spent many nights at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, cheering on the Penguins with his son. He argued about global politics until the very end, and helped innumerable people in Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Russian immigrant community land on their feet. He made sure his family members knew they were loved, and they hope to carry on with all the fortitude, grace and humor he taught them. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Donations can be sent to: Shadyside Hospital Foundation, 532 S. Aiken Avenue, Suite #302, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, to the nursing staff of Pavilion 3 in memory of Konstantin Ryzhik. schugar.comâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; PJC

the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residents were starved, both are Holocaust survivors; Konstantin nearly died as a 14-year-old on a ration of four ounces of food per day. He went on to study construction engineering and worked at federal construction sites, including, at a top-secret location in the Urals, the first nuclear facility in Russia â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Soviet equivalent of Los Alamos. In 1979, Konstantin immigrated to the United States with his family and began a long and happy life in Squirrel Hill, where he bought and hand-remodeled (and then remodeled, and remodeled again) a home that became the hub of many lively holiday and family gatherings. He was known for dressing up as a dancing Santa, stashing lottery tickets under the dinner plates, and making pancakes and pizza for his grandchildren every Saturday. Working for Green International, he was an engineering inspector during Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s light rail construction. Later, he began a long career at Mosites Construction, where he managed major projects including the

Coraopolis Bridge, the Turnpike Tunnels and the Pittsburgh Airport. He retired from construction sites, somewhat reluctantly, at age 76, after many entreaties by his colleagues to stay. His work ethic and expertise, his coworkers said, made him â&#x20AC;&#x153;a legendâ&#x20AC;? in the job. Though he only started speaking English at 52, and sometimes still had language foibles â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he called his favorite show not â&#x20AC;&#x153;MacGyverâ&#x20AC;? but â&#x20AC;&#x153;MacDiverâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he nonetheless aced a Dale Carnegie speaking course. Konstantinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart and pride were in his family, and he is survived by his son Gregory (Anna) Ryzik, of Pittsburgh; his daughter Larisa Mason (Ray Stoner), of Fox Chapel; his grandchildren Melena Ryzik, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Michael Mason, of Allison Park; Tanya Portny, of Philadelphia; and Katrina Mason-Bentz, of Fox Chapel; along with their spouses Daly Clement, Dr. Ekaterina Yatsuba, and Brian Portny. He doted on his five great-grandsons: Matthew, Daniel and Andrew Mason; Zachary Portny; and Constantine Ryzik Clement, who goes

â&#x20AC;&#x153;but I know what it feels like to have someone tell me, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to have anything to do with you because of who you are,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and I learned that lesson, that very painful lesson, as a child and it stuck with me.â&#x20AC;? The realization propelled London to photograph more studies and record additional stories, but in the process, she better appreciated her past. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I never spent a lot of time thinking about why my grandparents came here to this country â&#x20AC;&#x201D; my fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family from Russia and my motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from Lithuania. They came here to escape the threat of religious persecution, one of the same reasons that people are coming to this country today, to escape fear of horrible things. And so when I meet people who are immigrants and they are here to hope for a better life for their children and grandchildren. â&#x20AC;Ś It just all came full-circle for me.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Are All Related,â&#x20AC;? which includes portraits and narratives sometimes separated by decades, opened on March 22 at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trustâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 937 Gallery on Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh

and on the corner of Penn and Centre Avenues in East Liberty. Through its early iterations and now public promotions, the project has forced London to become the subject of othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attention â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an uncomfortable but necessary position, she explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am living proof that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s never too late to start something new. Photo by Andrea London I just turned 70. This p Jashu with Pryan is my first major exhibition. I truly believe each of us has a gift and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our responsi- A gallery crawl at 937 Liberty Ave. is schedbility to do something with that gift, even uled for April 26 from 6-10 p.m. A panel if we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m walking discussion featuring London and project proof that with gratitude my dream of my participants will be held on April 27 from 7-9 lifetime is coming true for me right now in p.m. Details available at andrealondon.com. this moment.â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201A; PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Are All Relatedâ&#x20AC;? runs through May 12. pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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APRIL 5, 2019 21

22 COMMUNITY

Community Purim Shpiel at B’nai Abraham Congregation B’nai Abraham members performed “Hamanton: A Butler Purim Shpiel,” based on “Hamilton: An American Musical.”

u David Perelman as Achashverosh leads his court toasting Vashti on day 179 of his feast.

A South Hills Purim t Temple Emanuel’s Rabbi Don Rossoff and Rabbi Jessica Locketz were in the Purim spirit at the South Hills Celebration on March 20th.

Photo courtesy of Temple Emanuel

Concert at New Light Congregation

p Tom Harrison as Haman sings “You’ll Be Dead!” (“You’ll Be Back” from “Hamilton”). Photos by Kim Csonka

22 APRIL 5, 2019

New Light Congregation enjoyed a performance by violinist Monique Mead and pianist Luz Manriquez for the survivors and family of those lost on Oct. 27, 2018. Also recognized was Louise Hunt, a valued member of New Light who died on Nov. 9, 2018. Mead is director of music entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon School of Music. Manriquez is an associate teaching professor of collaborative piano and is co-director of collaborative piano at Carnegie Mellon School of Music. Photo by Barry Werber

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23 color COMMUNITY

Community Hillel a cappella

Shabbat at Temple David More than 110 people celebrated Shabbat on Friday, March 22, at Temple David with a special invitation to Hindu-Jain, Baha’i, Muslim, Unitarian Universalist, Sikh, Catholic and Protestant neighbors. Called “Nourishing Our Faith,” it was an opportunity to enjoy a traditional Shabbat meal with table questions to prompt meaningful interfaith dialogue followed by a creative service led by Rabbi Barbara Symons and Cantor Julie Newman. The service included questions such as: “In your faith tradition, how does God show God’s love for you and how do you show your love for God?” prior to chanting Ahavat Olam and Sh’ma. Dinner was followed by homemade traditional sweets including hamantashen and mandelbrot.

p The Hillel Jewish University Center a cappella group, Hillelujah, had the honor of singing the national anthem at the opening of the AIPAC 2019 Conference in Washington, D.C. From left: Danielle Pitlor, Rotem Benharush, Alan Menaged, Zachary Sussman, Jonah Dubin, Sam Weber, Brandon Wu, Sarah Krastman and Emily Broude Photo courtesy of Hillel Jewish University Center

Chlidren learn about SHIM

p Participants engage in discussion

p On March 24, children aged 8 to 12 gathered at South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM) to learn more about the organization and volunteer at their food pantry. They donated more than 200 pounds of food that was collected by the children following their Feb. 10 session. The event was coordinated by PJ Library South Hills in partnership with Repair the World and Seth Dubin at SHIM. Photo courtesy of PJ Library

Machers & Shakers Zipora “Tsipy” Gur, founder and executive director of Classrooms Without Borders, received a special honor from her doctoral alma mater: the Instruction and Learning Distinguished Departmental Award in the 2019 University of Pittsburgh School of Education Distinguished Alumni Awards. Gur was modest about the special honor, heaping praise on her husband David, who has supported her throughout her career and her founding of Classrooms Without Borders. Board members, the organization’s community of learners and volunteers and fellow educators assembled that night.

p Tsipy Gur is fourth from right in the back row.

Photo courtesy of Classrooms Without Borders

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p Questions were provided at the tables to prompt interfaith dialogue.

p Rabbi Barbara Symons and Cantor Julie Newman led the service.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Photos courtesy of Temple David

APRIL 5, 2019 23

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