Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 4-26-19

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April 26, 2019 | 21 Nisan 5779

Candlelighting 7:51 p.m. | Havdalah 8:55 p.m. | Vol. 62, No. 17 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL New Jersey visits Pittsburgh

From bleak to beautiful, sidewalk gallery to replace tarps at Tree of Life

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Lorraine Mackler scales peaks for inclusion Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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of TOL*OLS, who has been involved with the #HeartsTogether project since its inception. Speculating that it will be at least two years before the building is restored, the three congregations decided to improve the appearance of its exterior to express gratitude to the first responders as well as “the neighborhood that has been so loving and so wonderful to us,” Eisenberg said. “We want to say, ‘thank you’ to well-wishers by taking something unattractive and making it beautiful.” The congregations are working on the project with the pro bono assistance of Troy Grossi at D&GG Advertising. While each of the three congregations is currently housed elsewhere (TOL*OLS and Dor Hadash are using space in Rodef Shalom, and New Light is in Beth Shalom), they remain active, continuing to host religious services, life-cycle events and a range of other activities. “An empty building with unseemly tarps is not reflecting the vitality and energy we have,” Eisenberg said, adding that by beautifying the building, the congregations are taking an active role in “not letting the perpetrator control our mission.”

orraine Mackler has climbed new heights, as well as a few rocks and some uneven terrain. The Squirrel Hill resident recently returned from Israel where she was among nearly 40 hikers and 70 cyclists to journey through the Negev in support of Camp Ramah Tikvah programs. Mackler, a former Ramah camper and counselor, who considers herself “more a croissant and cafe sort of person” than a serious adventurist, received 48 contributions totaling $3,366 for her weeklong hiking endeavors. Mackler’s fundraising efforts, along with those of other participants, helped raise more than $520,000 for the Ramah Tikvah programs. Now back in Pittsburgh, Mackler said that despite the taxing nature of the trip, she is happy to have participated, given the cause. “These programs and others like it are worthy of our support,” she said. Started in 1970, the Tikvah programs have provided Ramah’s Jewish camping experience to young adults with various intellectual, developmental and learning abilities. The programs in the National Ramah Tikvah Network are intended to meet the same goals as Ramah camps overall: build and strengthen connection to Judaism. Both kids with disabilities and those without have plenty of opportunity to interact at Ramah camps. When the Tikvah initiative began nearly five decades ago, the idea of inclusion was revolutionary, Mackler explained. “Growing up, you didn’t see special needs children being integrated,” she said. Now, because of this program and others like it, “you can’t tell a person, ‘We can’t include your child.’” Mackler’s husband and their four children all have deep ties to Ramah, and from personal experience, she said, she sees why integration is so vital. “I’ve seen for myself how important the

Please see Gallery, page 14

Please see Mackler, page 14

Congregants from the Garden State spend Shabbat with Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha. Page 2 LOCAL Regaining a sense of safety

 The fence around the Tree of Life building will soon project images of love Photo by Toby Tabachnick and hope.

Trauma specialists from Israel and locally talk about healing. Page 4 LIFE & CULTURE Abracadabra, Pittsburgh A new club showcases the Jewishinflected majesty of magic. Page 16

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

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he scene can be gloomy for those passing by the corner of Wilkins and Shady avenues: the Tree of Life synagogue building, uninhabitable, and surrounded by a chain link fence and dismal blue tarps. It is the site of the most violent anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, and for now, its exterior is dreary. The three congregations that were housed inside know that their home’s current façade does not represent the joy felt there prior to October 27, 2018, nor does it represent what it could hold in the future. Determined to transform the grounds from bleak to beautiful, Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, New Light and Dor Hadash have launched #HeartsTogether: The Art of Rebuilding, a campaign to solicit original artwork from youth between the ages of 13 and 17 from all over the world. The congregations will use that art to replace the unsightly tarps with windscreens, creating a sidewalk gallery filled with images representing love, hope and peace. After the massacre that left 11 dead and six wounded, the grounds of the Tree of Life synagogue building became a “a blight on the block,” said Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg, a board member

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