Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 6-7-19

June 7, 2019 | 4 Sivan 5779

Candlelighting 8:30 p.m. | Havdalah 9:38 p.m. | Vol. 62, No. 23 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Meryl and David Ainsman honored at Federation donor appreciation event

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Iftar celebration

An interfaith community gathers at the Attawheed Islamic Center.

Page 4

E “now more than ever,” said Nicholas Besh, investment director and senior vice president, PNC Wealth Management.

Meryl serves as Federation’s board chair, and while it is unusual to present this award to someone currently holding that position, “this has been an unusual year,” Besh added.

In a precursor to receiving the award, Meryl and David’s numerous communal posts were mentioned. Meryl previously chaired Federation’s planning and funding committee, community campaign and women’s division. David previously chaired the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle board, served on the boards of Community Day School and Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh and currently chairs Federation’s security committee. The Ainsmans referenced their decades of involvement in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and described the impact of recent events.

Serving as board chair both during and in

ach week a new gift arrives. Sometimes it’s artwork, other times a book. A baker once brought sweet potato pies from Minnesota; a professional violinist played for congregants. Representatives of a Japanese-American cohort delivered 1,000 handmade origami paper cranes.

Since Oct. 27, the volume of items received is overwhelming, explained Janet Cohen, of New Light Congregation.

“It seems like every Friday night the rabbi brings a package that may have come from a church, school or group,” echoed Dave Kalla, of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha.

Seven months since a gunman entered the Tree of Life building and killed 11 Jews, people continue reaching out to Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life, the three targeted congregations. Along with deliveries of tangible materials are requests to join upcoming ceremonies, concerts or dedications memorializing the victims.

The sheer number of invitations makes it impossible to honor them all, “and we felt bad not being able to reciprocate or respond to outsiders with these very generous thoughtful loving impulses toward us ... so we created this ambassador bureau,” said Lori Eisenberg, of Tree of Life.

Since January, Eisenberg has served as a matchmaker of sorts. When a request comes in, whether it is an offer to attend an event for symbolic purposes, speak on behalf of those affected or receive visitors wishing to pay respects, Eisenberg reaches out to congregants from Tree of Life and representatives

Please see Ainsmans, page 14

Please see Volunteers, page 14

Dairy diary

Page 4 WORLD

 Nicholas Besh, of PNC Wealth Management, recognized Meryl and David Ainsman with the 2019 PNC Community Builders Award.

Photo by Joshua Franzos

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

S

Virtual reality

A game designer replicates women’s dicey experiences with healthcare.

Page 9

Congregation volunteers connect with those paying tribute to local Jewish community

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

LOCAL

Just in time for Shavuot, there’s Graeters.

$1.50

mooth sounds of jazz and the savory taste of sliders facilitated an evening of celebration for Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh supporters last week. The May 30 event was a chance to honor communal leaders Meryl and David Ainsman, fraternize and thank the Federation’s many donors, explained Jeff Finkelstein, Federation’s president and CEO. “This is an amazing celebration of community, and we just have an incredible group of supporters and leaders,” echoed Emily Richman, Federation’s director of development operations.

For their continued stewardship of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, the Ainsmans were honored with the 2019 PNC Community Builders Award. Since its inception 15 years ago, the award has come with a $25,000 gift, made in the honorees’ name, to the Federation’s annual campaign.

Giving this gift to Federation is important

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle LOCAL

Cyril Wecht talks abortion

WORLD

Israel calls new elections

SPORTS

Baseball’s Moe Berg

Headlines Coroner Cyril Wecht reflects on life, and death, before Roe v. Wade — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

C

yril Wecht remembers a time when elective abortions were illegal in Pennsylvania. As chief forensic pathologist, then coroner for Allegheny County in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wecht witnessed the devastating effects that the criminalization of the procedure could have on women who, seeking to terminate a pregnancy, took matters into their own hands.

His experience performing autopsies on those women informed his position on abortion rights.

“I recall we had three cases during that period of time, death cases, women who had attempted various things to end their pregnancy,” Wecht told the Chronicle in a recent interview. “One was quite dramatic. A woman had used a clothes hanger — that was kind of a common mechanical device utilized in those days because by bending the top of a hanger, you could get it in through the vaginal canal and up into the uterus. Because of the curvature you could scrape off the uterine content. So, she had perforated the uterus and that led to peritonitis, inflammation of the abdominal cavity, and then septicemia — overall infection — and she died.”

Another death Wecht recalled from that period “was a woman who had taken some strong stuff — I forget what it was, something absurd like turpentine. She died from the chemical effects of that compound or compounds.”

A third case was the death of a woman who had sought to end her pregnancy using the services of “a quasi-physician doing abortions,” Wecht said. “He had perforated the woman’s uterus during the procedure.”

Illegal abortions accounted for 17 percent of all deaths officially reported as related to

p Dr. Cyril Wecht

Photo provided by Cyril Wecht

pregnancy and childbirth in 1965, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that advances sexual and reproductive health rights.

The criminal status of abortion affected poor women disproportionately, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which reports that “a study of low-income women in New York City in the 1960s found that almost one in 10 (8%) had ever attempted to terminate a pregnancy by illegal abortion; almost four in 10 (38%) said that a friend, relative or acquaintance had attempted to obtain an abortion.

“Of the low-income women in that study who said they had had an abortion, eight in 10 (77%) said that they had attempted a selfinduced procedure, with only 2% saying that a physician had been involved in any way.”

Wecht, who served as president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and who has colleagues around the country for whom he has provided forensic consultations, noted that prior to 1973, many woman throughout the United States were physically harmed or died from botched, illegal abortions.

“I can tell you that it was not rare,” said the Jewish octogenarian. “I’m not suggesting that it was a significant epidemic, but any death is important, especially of a young woman.

And having death occur under such horrible circumstances — it was a real problem.”

The coroner has “strong feelings” about

the legality of abortion. His opinion is influenced by seeing woman harmed because they did not have laws protecting their right to end a pregnancy in a safe way.

From a “medical perspective,” he said, “I was very pleased with the Roe v. Wade decision. I personally believe that it was sensible, and I still do. I think, for medical reasons, a woman should have a right to have an abortion.”

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Roe v. Wade that a woman’s “fundamental right” to privacy permits her to terminate a pregnancy up until “approximately the end of the first trimester.”

Wecht believes “the three-month period in Roe v. Wade is reasonable.”

“One can argue back and forth. And there are people at the other extreme who argue that if a woman wants to have an abortion the day before she is due to deliver it is her right, it’s her body. I would disagree with that” if the fetus is independently viable, he said. Even if the fetus were viable, Wecht added, he would make an exception if the mother’s life were at risk, or if her health were seriously threatened.

Americans are equally divided on the issue of abortion. A 2018 Gallup poll shows that 48 percent of American consider themselves “pro-life,” while 48 percent consider themselves “pro-choice.”

The abortion debate — now making headlines again as several states, including Pennsylvania, attempt to enact laws restricting or banning the procedure — continues to be nuanced. Should abortions ever be permitted? Should they be permitted in cases of rape and incest, or only in cases where the mother’s life or health is at risk?

What about her mental health?

With the addition of Trump-appointed Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, political pundits expect that challenges to newly enacted,

restrictive state laws will find their way to the highest court in an attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade. If Roe were to be overturned, the decision to outlaw abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy would be left to the legislatures of individual states.

Since Roe v. Wade, “deaths from abortion have plummeted, and are now a rarity,” according to statistics culled by the Guttmacher Institute. Moreover, since 1973, women have been able to obtain abortions earlier in pregnancy, when the procedure is safer.

Currently in Pennsylvania, a woman may obtain an abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and also after that time frame if her health or life is at risk.

Restrictions on abortion in the commonwealth include: mandatory, state-directed counseling and a 24-hour wait period prior to the procedure; parental consent for an abortion sought by a minor; state health plans under the Affordable Care Act may cover abortions only in the case of a threat to a woman’s life, rape or incest, unless a rider is purchased at an additional cost; abortion is not covered in insurance policies for public employees except in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment; and public funding is limited for abortions to cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill in April that would ban abortions sought for the purpose of terminating a pregnancy in which the fetus has been diagnosed with Down syndrome. The bill will be heading to the Senate for a vote. If it passes, it is likely to be vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf, who said last month that he would reject “any anti-choice bill that lands on my desk.

I won’t let our commonwealth go backward on reproductive rights.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Headlines

JAA Presents

Local woman adds Jewish pro-life voice to abortion debate

The Art of Aging Step Up for Seniors

— LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

C

ecily Routman doesn’t exactly fit the part of the ardent anti-abortion advocate sometimes portrayed in media.

The soft-spoken Sewickley resident is contemplative, eloquent and frank. She exudes genuineness and honesty. If she were your neighbor, she would probably be the one you trust with your house key.

She is also Jewish.

Routman, 60, is the founder and main funder of the Pittsburgh-based Jewish Pro-Life Foundation, an educational nonprofit. Since 2006, she has taken on the mission of being a Jewish pro-life voice in the public conversation about abortion.

Being anti-abortion is a minority position among Jews. Recent Pew surveys have found that American Jews (83 percent) are much more supportive of legal abortion than the general population (57 percent).

Routman is well aware that, as a Jewish woman, her drive to speak out against abortion is counter-cultural — which is precisely the point. “Neutral� on abortion for most of her life, Routman said it was not until 2005, while listening to a National Public Radio program about the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, that she took a stand. “The program featured a Jewish woman, insisting it was her right to have an abortion, that its ban infringed on her civil rights and her rights as a Jew,� recalled Routman, who grew up attending services at the Beth Samuel Jewish Center in Ambridge and now goes to Congregation Ahavath Achim in Carnegie. “I was concerned because I didn’t agree with her, and I thought that anybody listening to this program would think that all Jewish people thought like her, because there was no other voice to interview for the program. And I thought, ‘We need another Jewish voice out there.’�

Routman got busy researching abortion. “I knew very little,� she said, “but what I learned horrified me. And I realized in my heart that it was a ghastly business and I didn’t understand how Jewish people had gotten so involved in it.�

Jews were not only outspoken in favor of the right to choose, she said, but were also “charitable donors for Planned Parenthood, and hosting fundraisers for Planned Parenthood. I did not understand that.�

Her research led her to discussions with rabbis from varied denominations, including Rabbi David Novak, president and co-founder of the Union for Traditional Judaism and a member of University College and the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. Novak is now a member of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation’s board of directors.

From her discussions with rabbis, and from reading Jewish sources, Routman “realized that despite a lot of support for abortion in the Jewish community,� traditional Judaism “emphasized the sanctity

A can’t-miss evening of satire, wit, and great fun!

Putting the “Mock� in Democracy

Tuesday, June e1 11 1 R ceptio begins Rec begin eg a 6:30 6:3 30 pm Reception at 5VCIG RGTHQTOCPEG HQNNQYU 5VC C GTHHQTOC GTHQ HQNN N QYU

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p Cecily Routman Photo by Toby Tabachnick

of human life,� and required that unborn life be protected. “A secularist doesn’t have that understanding,� Routman said. “They play God rather than serve God.�

Judaism had been “corrupted from its original meaning,� she said. “And I was so happy to learn this, because I realized I could remain a Jew. Because otherwise, I was faced with quite a dilemma.�

Still, she was not sure she wanted to publicly join the abortion debate until she had a long meeting with a Reconstructionist rabbi, who kept repeating the phrase: “It’s not a life before it’s born.� “I walked out and said, ‘OK, Lord, I’ll do it,’� Routman said. “I was called, sort of like Jonah being called to Nineveh.�

Using money she had inherited from her parents, Routman incorporated the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation as a 501(c)(3) educational foundation in 2006. Routman, who holds a master’s in social work, is president of the board, and has three other board members: Novak; her husband, Tom Kimmerle; and Mary Margaret Baxter, a nurse. “I just decided I would start an organization to educate Jewish people like our mission statement says — about the traditional Jewish law regarding abortions before it became distorted, in my opinion, and about what is actually going on in the womb,� she said. “The other issue I really cared about was to provide post-abortion healing for Jewish men and women, because there was no access to that.�

The foundation’s website is replete with educational resources, not only on abortion, but on adoption and post-abortion healing.

Each Thursday evening at 9 p.m., Routman runs a national call-in service during which women can join in a discussion on how to heal spiritually and emotionally from any post-abortion trauma.

Some weeks, no one calls in, she said, but other times, there are a handful of women on the phone.

Her goal is eventually to facilitate faceto-face peer counseling among women

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Headlines Interfaith community gathers for iftar dinner in Carnegie — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

T

he Attawheed Islamic Center (AIC) in Carnegie welcomed members of the interfaith community to share their nightly iftar dinner on Sunday, June 2, including 35 South Hills Jewish men and women.

Iftar is the traditional meal eaten by Muslims at sunset to break the daily fast observed as part of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The holiday, which took place from May 7-June 5, is observed worldwide

by Muslims through fasting, prayer, reflection and community.

According to center member Bill Bartlett, “one of the five pillars of Islam is zakat, or giving to the poor, which is why we fast during Ramadan. It reminds us of those that don’t eat daily.”

AIC President Chokri Guetari explains that during the holy month, “we break fast as a community at sunset with a small portion of food, dates, water or something like that, then we break for prayer, which is usually about five or 10 minutes, and after come back for the main meal.”

The center has always been open to the community for iftar, according to Guetari, but this year they reached out specifically to the South Hills Jewish community. “This has been going on for some years, however, when the incident in New Zealand (Christchurch

p Rabbi Alex Greenbaum

mosque terrorist attack on March 15) happened, local Jewish men and women showed up: Beth El, Rabbi Alex and his congregation. They came for Friday prayer to show their support. This was an opportunity for us to learn more about each other.”

Beth El Congregation Senior Rabbi Alex Greenbaum described the process of engagement between the South Hills Jewish and Muslim communities: “A couple of months ago, after New Zealand, we came here on a

Friday to show our support and the hope was that we were starting a relationship.

Recently, Chokri invited us to share their iftar meal because there’s a tradition of inviting guests. We’re very excited to be here.”

While the largest group of interfaith attendees were from the Jewish community, Christians were also present.

David Carver, pastor at First United Presbyterian Church in Crafton Heights, is a longtime attendee of iftar meals at AIC. “Eight or 10 years ago, I thought, ‘I don’t know a lot about Islam and given the way the world is, I probably should,’” Carver said.

“I came home from a study File photo leave, did a lot of reading and taught a class at my congregation: Islam and Christianity, which looked at the central tenets of both religions.

At the end of the class, we came down here for a tour. After the Charlie Hebdo bombing in Paris, I sent a letter of condolences saying the God I worship does not condone this kind of nonsense in the name of religion, then they asked if they could come to our church. Since then, it’s been five or six years that I’ve been coming to an iftar here. After the bombings in Sri Lanka, when so many

Christians were killed, they sent a delegation to pray with us and offer condolences.”

Greenbaum believes that this is the start of a long-term relationship.

“I’ve met with one of their education planners and we are planning a series in the fall of joint education programs where we would visit here and they would visit us,” he said.

“The Muslim community first came out to support us, and then we came out to support them. Hopefully something good comes out of something awful.”

Guetari thinks that both congregations can learn from one another.

“We’re facing the same issues as the Jewish community here at Attawheed. We never thought of security as a main issue for us, but since the New Zealand incident, it is now on the top of everyone’s mind. So we’re trying to learn from the Jewish community.”

He believes cooperation between all religions is important and opportunities like the community iftar help to educate about Islam.

“It is important we benefit from each other and extend the relationships between the various religions to better understand where everyone comes from,” he said. “There is a lot of misinformation out there, so this is an opportunity for us to show people what Islam is about.”

Iftar attendee Bob Silverman echoed Guetari: “Any opportunity we have to gather as one community is valuable and important.” PJC David Rullo can be reached drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

at

Here’s the scoop: Graeter’s handcrafted ice cream shop now open in South Hills — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Senior Staff Writer

I

ce cream, candy bars, cakes, pies, and bags of jimmies — all certified kosher by the Star-K Kosher Agency — are scrumptiously stocked at the newly opened Graeter’s Ice Cream store on Mt. Lebanon Boulevard in Castle Shannon, just in time for Shavuot.

It’s pretty much a dairy-lover’s dream come true.

Stunning, celebration-worthy cakes and pies, in an array of favorite flavor combinations (yes, I’m looking at you, Cookie Dough Chip and Chocolate Fantasy), fill one of the store’s freezers. Another freezer displays prepackaged, non-dairy, pareve sorbets in lemon, mango and raspberry, for a lighter alternative.

The ice cream counter offers options such as black raspberry chocolate chip, real coconut, and buckeye — which is chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, with peanut butter cookie dough and chocolate chips.

Also, milkshakes, old-fashioned sodas and, of course, sundaes, are available.

Although the ice cream served at the counter is certified kosher, the store itself is

4 JUNE 7, 2019

p Graeter’s Ice Cream store on Mt. Lebanon Boulevard in Castle Shannon

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

not under kosher supervision.

Graeter’s Ice Cream is a family-owned business that began in Cincinnati in 1870.

There are currently more than 50 retail stores throughout Ohio, and in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

The company’s first Pittsburgh shop launched in Wexford in 2016. Castle Shannon was chosen as Graeter’s second Pittsburgh-area location because “people from the South Hills were driving 40 minutes just to get ice cream,” said Marcus Cox, the

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Castle Shannon store’s manager.

The ice cream is popular because “it is super premium,” Cox said. “It has a high butterfat content and a low air content, and it is very dense and very rich.” It is made in small batches by hand using French Pots, the same method the company has used for almost 150 years.

Graeter’s uses cream sourced from local cows free of artificial growth hormones. To make the ice cream even creamier, it has a custard base, made from fresh, local eggs. It is sweetened with 100% pure cane sugar.

In addition to its ice cream, Graeter’s is also “famous for our chocolate chunks,” Cox said. The chocolate is melted, poured into the French pots along with the ice cream, and then chopped into chunks by hand.

Business has been good, according to Cox, who said there is often a line out the door since the store opened the first week of April.

“It’s amazing ice cream,” he said. “I grew up eating it in Columbus [Ohio], and I am thrilled to be part of the expansion.”

The Graeter’s team is currently seeking a spot for a third location in Pittsburgh, he said. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines ‘Thin Line’ highlights bias in women’s reproductive healthcare is returning home.

The game’s goal is not to “preach to the choir but to try and find a way to have

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer everybody be more open to a woman’s experience when she is looking to have an aving an abortion is not a game, but abortion,” said Kahana. respecting women’s reproductive Although “Thin Line” is available at the rights is subject for play.

Google Play and Oculus stores and has “Thin Line,” a mobile virtual reality won several awards, it was almost never (VR) experience created by Israeli Rony made. Months prior to Kahana’s May Kahana, a Carnegie Mellon 2018 graduation with a University graduate, utilizes master’s in entertainment an interactive narrative by technology, she and a enabling players to expefriend pitched the idea for rience a woman’s thoughts “Thin Line” to CMU. while navigating the “We got a mixed type healthcare system. of feedback,” said Kahana.

“Thin Line” begins with a “Some people felt it was a player receiving a call from bit too pro-choice and had “Dad” inviting her home to like zero chance of actually help pack for an upcoming convincing people.” move. In the process of Kahana accepted the boxing items, memories are criticism, consulted with spurred, including those subject matter experts and related to a budding college p Rony Kahana determined “the things Photo courtesy of Rony Kahana romance with John. The that we felt strongly that player quickly realizes she we should and shouldn’t is pregnant. An initial visit with a gynecol- say” before tweaking certain elements and ogist reveals physician-imposed biases, and pitching the game again. This time “Thin as the game continues, the subject returns Line” was approved, and along with a “tiny home, weighs her options, speaks with John team of four talented ladies,” Kahana began and chooses to get an abortion. A visit to a 15-week process of playtesting sessions the hospital affords another negative expe- during which reviewers offered feedback and rience with a healthcare professional. Later designers identified flaws, she said. stages of the game bring college graduaDuring the nearly four-month period, tion, a break-up with John, the beginning Kahana and her team engaged 126 testers of medical school and residency, a proposal and presented a dozen prototypes, including from a new boyfriend and an eventual return iterations showcased at multiple conferences. to a gynecologist. A conversation with the The back and forth with evaluators rendered gynecologist includes an inquiry whether the a relationship between player and creator previous pregnancy “ended in miscarriage more intimate than other interactive projects or termination.” After the player indicates Kahana had worked on, even those treating the latter, the doctor replies, “I understand. racial biases or teen empowerment, she said.

I’m really glad you told me. Abortion is a “I learned early on that when a person normal part of reproductive healthcare,” and takes off the headset, it’s my turn to sort of continues to discuss prenatal care. “Thin be quiet and listen if they want to talk about Line” concludes with the memory sequence disrupted by a call from “Dad” who says he Please see Thin Line, page 7

— LOCAL —

H

p “Thin Line,” a mobile VR (virtual reality) experience, was created by Israeli Rony Kahana, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate.

Cover photo for marketing materials by Kyungkuk Kim

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

JUNE 7, 2019 5

Calendar q FRIDAY, JUNE 14

q THURSDAY, JUNE 20 Temple Emanuel of South Hills hosts an Evening of Chamber Music at 7:30 p.m. in honor of Jacob Naveh. Naveh is retiring after tutoring South Hills b’nai mitzvah students for over 50 years. The concert will feature musicians from the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival: Nurit Pacht, violin; Aron Zelkowicz, cello; and Rodrigo Ojeda, piano.

Tickets are $10/person and can be purchased at templeemanuelpgh.org/event/concert. >>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 SATURDAY-SUNDAY, JUNE 8-9 Tikkun Leil Shavuot, a night of Jewish Learning, is free and open to the community from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. Contact Jan Barkley at jbarkley@jfedpgh.org or 412697-6656 or visit foundation.jewishpgh.org/ organizer/jan-barkley for more information. q SUNDAY, JUNE 9 After the Community Tikkun Leil ends at 1 a.m., the learning will continue at the Jewish Community Center for young adults and anyone who wants to join. Hosted by the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation, the Shavuot fun will continue with study led by rabbis, Jewish educators and young adult community members. Visit jewishpgh.org/event/young-adult-tikkun-leilshavuot for more information.

Young Peoples Synagogue will have a Shavuot Lunch & Learn beginning with services at 9:30 a.m. followed by Shavuot Learning with guest speaker Rabbi Aaron Herman from Tzohar Seminary, then a catered lunch. The cost of the lunch is $18, payable in advance. Reservations and payment can be mailed to Young Peoples Synagogue, PO Box 8141 Pittsburgh PA 15217. q MONDAY, JUNE 10 Make Mini-Cheesecake for Shavuot with Moishe House from 7-9 p.m. Toppings provided. Contact moishehousepgh@ gmail.com for more information. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22-32. q TUESDAY, JUNE 11 Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) offers free “Grounding Through Movement: Managing Symptoms of Trauma, Anxiety and Stress in Our Bodies” sessions to anyone suffering trauma from the aftermath of the Tree of Life shooting in room 202 of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill beginning at 6:30 p.m. No registration is necessary.

Visit jfcs.org/events/events-calendar for a complete list of community support events in June.

The Jewish Association on Aging presents The Capitol Steps performing The Art of Aging, Step Up for Seniors. A can’t-miss evening of satire, wit and great fun that puts the “mock” in democracy. Reception begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by the stage performance at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Sold out. For more information visit ArtofAgingPgh.com. q WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12 The Men’s Philanthropy Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will hold an evening of brews with the boys at Hitchhiker Brewing Co. from 6 to 8 p.m. The event will feature a brewery tour and networking opportunities. This Men’s Philanthropy event is open to the community and encourages young adults to attend. The $36-per-person fee includes tour, beer mug and three drink tickets. Heavy appetizers will be served, dietary laws observed (excluding beer). Visit jewishpgh.org/event/brewery for more information and to register or contact Josh Schuneman at jschuneman@ jfedpgh.org.

Celebrate Pride Shabbat with Temple Emanuel of South Hills at 7:30 p.m. The service will include special readings and reflections and will be followed by a dessert oneg.

For more information, visit templeemanuelpgh.org or call 412-279-7600.

Prom Shabbat at Moishe House from 7 to 9 p.m. Relive the biggest night of your young life with formal wear, stairwell pictures, slow dancing and a crowning of the prom court.

Come in your snazziest prom outfit and prompose to a special cutie or come stag, no date needed. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22-32.

q SATURDAY, JUNE 15

q MONDAY, JUNE 24

Enjoy an Outdoor Game Day with Moishe House from 2 to 4 p.m. Warm up your pulls, hammers and scoobers and get ready to play! There will be frisbees, various balls, and outdoor activities. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22-32.

Hon. David Wecht presents “Anti-Semitism and American Law” at 7 p.m. in the Eisner Commons at Congregation Beth Shalom.

Justice Wecht will share some thoughts from his perspective as a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, including how has the law has helped to shape our destiny as American Jews and what insights can our legal tradition offer as we confront anti-Semitism? Presented by Zionist Organization of America: Pittsburgh.

RSVP required to stuart.pavilack@zoa.org or 412-665-4630.

q MONDAY, JUNE 17 Yeshiva Schools annual dinner will be held at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Visit yeshivaschools.com for more information.’

Indoor Game Night is back at Moishe House from 7-9 p.m. Play Pictionary, Catan, Scrabble, or bring your own game. Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22-32. q WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19 Squirrel Hill AARP will host its annual end of the season luncheon at noon, at the Comfort Inn Conference Center, 699 Rodi Road in Penn Hills. Following the lunch there will be installation of officers. Nick Fiasco will provide entertainment with his program, “Sounds of Sinatra and Friends.” Call Marcia Kramer before June 10 at 412-656-5803 to make reservations.

q THURSDAY, JUNE 13

q THURSDAY, JUNE 20

Enjoy a relaxing evening of painting with friends at Paint Night at the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse from 6 to 9 p.m. This is a fundraiser for Clubhouse training, social and recreational events that would not be affordable otherwise.

Cost is $50/per person, which includes: art supplies, appetizers, class instruction, two free raffle tickets (more tickets will be available for purchase at the event), one drink and your art creation. Contact the Clubhouse to register 412422-1850 or mail registration payment to Zara Sayles, c/o Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse, 2609 Murray Ave., Suite 101, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

Reservations are due by June 3; space is limited.

The Beth Shalom Academic Book Club on the book “Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom” will be held at a location in Squirrel Hill. The book reintroduces readers to Solomon’s story and its surprising influence in shaping Western culture, and also examines what Solomon’s life, wisdom and writings have come to mean for Jews, Christians and Muslims over the past 2,000 years. A copy is available to borrow from Beth Shalom, at the front desk.

Visit bethshalompgh.org/events-upcoming for more information.

Sound of Jewish Music, a magical evening bringing together hundreds of women from all parts of the Jewish community for an evening of joy and inspiration, will open with a dessert reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by the program at 7:15 p.m. The program features a line-up of musical performers, dancers and speakers at Bellefield Hall, University of Pittsburgh, 315 S. Bellefield Ave. Visit SoundOfJewishMusic.com for more information and tickets, which are $20 in advance, $25 at the door

q FRIDAY, JUNE 21 World Refugee Day is free and open to the community from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Market Square (Market Street & Forbes Avenue).

Enjoy crafts; food; African, Nepali and Greek dance groups; Venezuelan musician, dance and drumming from the Hill Dance Academy Theater, poet Osama Alomar from Pittsburgh City of Asylum, and more. Taste treats from Syria, Iraq, Turkey and more.

q TUESDAY, JUNE 25 Jewish Family and Community Services offers free “Grounding Through Movement: Managing Symptoms of Trauma, Anxiety and Stress in Our Bodies” sessions to anyone suffering trauma from the aftermath of the Tree of Life shooting in room 202 of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill beginning at 6:30 p.m. No registration is necessary.

Visit jfcs.org/events/events-calendar or a complete list of community support events in June. q SATURDAY, JUNE 29 Start your week off with a Havdalah Bonfire from 8 to 10 p.m. Bring your ukulele, clarinet or voice and enjoy a night of singing, bonfires and s’mores. Beer and snacks will be available.

Contact moishehousepgh@gmail.com for more information. Moishe House events are intended for young adults age 22-32. q SUNDAY, JUNE 30 Jewish Family and Community Services offers free “Grounding Through Movement: Managing Symptoms of Trauma, Anxiety and Stress in Our Bodies” sessions to anyone suffering trauma from the aftermath of the Tree of Life shooting in room 202 of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill beginning at 6:30 p.m. No registration is necessary. Visit jfcs.org/events/events-calendar for a complete list of community support events in June. q SATURDAY, JULY 6 Beth Shalom hosts Noam Sienna for a study session at 12:45 p.m. centered on his work on the intersection of Jewish and queer identities.

Sienna is the author of “A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts From the First Century to 1969.” For more information visit noamsienna.com PJC

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 6 JUNE 7, 2019

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Headlines Thin Line: Continued from page 5

things,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot of people’s personal stories about how the topic sort of touched their lives.”

Wherever players fall regarding abortion, Kahana hopes “Thin Line” enables people to appreciate the biases and difficulties women experience in the healthcare system.

Creating such awareness is one of her goals in making video games.

“My goal would be to sort of push for more of a change in the games that we play and make them more inclusive and add more diversity,” said Kahana. “I grew up playing games in which it was mostly a white male character, and I was like, ‘I’m totally fine with that,’ but at some point when you start playing games and have a female lead, you’re like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. This feels so different.’”

Such inclusion would benefit a significant number of gamers. Although 97 percent of teenage boys reported playing video games, 83 percent of teenage girls similarly reported playing video games “in some form or fashion” on a computer, cell phone or console, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center finding.

The abundance of teenage gamers represents “a cultural tsunami,” noted Lenny Silberman, a former Pittsburgher and CEO of Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds in New York City who founded Lost Tribe Esports.

“Young people are always drawn to social and cultural phenomena during adolescence, but the ones that approach unanimous participation contain a common element — they offer a new vehicle for self-expression and connection with peers,” Silberman wrote in a May 21 piece for eJewish Philanthropy.

As an assistant producer for Big Huge Games, a Maryland-based video game developer, Kahana works on projects quite different from those she developed at CMU. Her current endeavors include collaborations with larger teams, working on bigger games with “a lot of player input and more moving parts,” she said. But Kahana still praises smaller-scale enterprises.

Players should seek out “more indie games,” as they “have a lot of good messages and they’re very short,” she said. An example would be the 2018 text messaging adventure “Bury Me, My Love,” which follows the story of Nour, a Syrian refugee as she attempts to travel safely to Europe. Video games like that can enable players “to learn more about the world,” said Kahana.

So, too, can “Thin Line.” While the women’s reproductive health game has yet to achieve the popularity of other interactive experiences, Kahana’s not worried so much about the number of downloads.

“It would feel great if it’s making a difference in people’s opinions,” she said. “That would be amazing.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Name: Ten Thousand Villages Width: 5.0415 in Depth: 6.75 in Color: Black Ad Number: 1594_1 Ad Tracking Number: -

the cool cats

are here just in time for summer

Chronicle welcomes new staff writer David Rullo — LOCAL —

T

he Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle is pleased to announce that Pittsburgh native David Rullo has joined the paper as a staff writer.

Rullo brings a wealth of journalism experience to the Chronicle. He has written for many local publications, including Distinction Magazine, NEXT Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. His radio experience includes serving as production director of KQV and as account executive at both KQV and CBS. His poetry collection, “Tired Scenes from a City Window,” was published by Outskirts Press in 2014.

Most recently, Rullo served as the program coordinator for South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh, where he managed the organization’s website, handled its social media presence, and wrote articles of interest to the general South Hills community. He studied journalism at Point Park University.

“We are very excited to have David join our team,” said Jim Busis CEO and publisher of the Chronicle. “He brings terrific experience in journalism and the community, and will really strengthen our bench.”

p Dave Rullo

Photo courtesy of David Rullo

Joining the Chronicle “combines my two passions, which are writing and the Jewish community, specifically the Pittsburgh Jewish community,” said Rullo. “I have a real desire to serve the Pittsburgh Jewish community because it has done so much for my family, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”

Rullo lives in Dormont with his wife, Kim Rullo, and their son, Jackson. PJC —Toby Tabachnick

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Headlines Snapshots of a busy day with Mrs. Enoch Rauh — HISTORY —

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

I

n preparing for a recent renovation, the archivists at the University of Pittsburgh found an item that they felt belonged at the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives. I assumed it would be something small, perhaps a folder of correspondence.

I went over there to look and was stunned to discover this beautiful framed montage of Bertha Rauh.

It’s heavy and huge — 46 inches by 32 inches. The caption at the bottom reads: “How Mrs. Enoch Rauh ushered in the year 1913 — on Dec. 31st 1912.” Each of the 14 photographs shows Mrs. Rauh visiting a different social service agency in Pittsburgh.

Thrilled, I hauled the frame back to the Heinz History Center, where the other archivists flitted around it like hummingbirds at a feeder, pointing out every charming detail: the white plume rising from Mrs. Rauh’s hat, the broom makers at the Work Shop for the Blind, and especially the caption: “Refereeing a Boxing Match at Kingsley House.”

Certain historical items carry you off in a swirl of romance. They seem to have come not just from another time but from another world — one more picturesque and dramatic than our own. The sight of this well-dressed Jewish matriarch appearing now at a hospital on the South Side and now at an orphanage on the North Side, gracefully communing with the downtrodden of different races, creeds, ages and genders, feels more like a sparkling scene from a movie than a

p The Pittsburgh Gazette-Times published a long feature on Bertha Rauh in January 1913 and gave her these photographs as a souvenir.

Image courtesy Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives

document of real life. If you or I were to witness so much need in one day, we would arrive home sweaty, exhausted, cranky and desperate for me-time.

Nothing in this montage gives any explanation of its reason for being. The backing is completely blank, aside from a framing tag from Kaufmann’s “Art Picture Department.”

At the dawn of 1913 Bertha Rauh was about halfway through her 19-year tenure as the president of the National Council of Jewish Women-Pittsburgh Section. In her first decade of leadership, she had transformed the organization into one of the most important social service agencies in the city. Its membership increased to 800 from 150, and its reach expanded. She wove

the needs of the Jewish community into the needs of other communities, forging strong relationships and creating a broad network of philanthropy.

She had become one of the leading humanitarians in Pittsburgh, which is why the Pittsburgh Gazette-Times devoted a page and a half to her work in its Sunday edition on January 12, 1913, in a feature called “Some Snapshots of a Busy Day With Mrs. Enoch Rauh.” The photographs and the captions in this montage all come from the article.

We follow Mrs. Rauh on her rounds, watching her interact with social workers and their clients. Between locations, we hear her thoughts on life. She espouses the “conservation of leisure,” and she calls upon

others of her privileged position to become personally engaged and thereby “prove by one’s presence that the whole social fabric is democratic.”

Her philosophy can be summarized in a single quotation: “It has been my belief always that the first place for every woman is in the home. Motherhood is her noblest function, but I believe that the idea is carried to a false conclusion when we insist that her last place is in the home. I believe that the home in modern life is no longer the place of four walls, but that it has stretched out until it articulates with every public function, whether that function be religious, social, philanthropic, charitable, industrial, economic or civic.”

Like that quotation, the article can be read in two competing ways: as an expression of one devoted spirit, or as a glimpse into the societal values of her day. Mrs. Rauh’s thoughts on gender, class, race and religion reveal her compassion and commitment.

They are also tethered to her milieu, with all its complications — just as ours are today — and those complications often seem intent on clipping the wings of a whimsical artifact.

True understanding probably involves both ways of seeing the world — individually and societally. I’m drawn to the former.

But I grudgingly respect those who, in artfully pursuing the latter, can replace the mysteries of romance with the mysteries of reality. PJC Eric Lidji is the director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center. He can be reached at eslidji@ heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406.

Daniel Stein and Irving Younger honored by Pittsburgh Pirates — LOCAL —

D

aniel Stein and Irving Younger are being remembered for their combined passion. The two friends regularly attended blood drives at PNC Park where free tickets to Pittsburgh Pirates games were distributed. Their last trip downtown to donate blood at a Pirates drive occurred on Aug. 27, 2018, exactly two months before Stein and Younger were killed during the Tree of Life attack.

To honor them and their commitment to blood donations at PNC Park, the Pirates are dedicating five blood drives in memory of Stein and Younger. The drives will be held

June 3, 10, 24 and Aug. 12 and 14, from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We felt it was fitting to dedicate these blood drives to Daniel and Irv because they were such loyal Pirates fans and committed blood donors,” said Frank Coonelly, president of the Pittsburgh Pirates in a statement.

“We hope that others will be inspired by their legacy.”

Prior to the June 19 Pirates game, the Stein and Younger families will be invited onto the field for a special tribute. In statements released by Vitalint, a community blood service provider, Stein’s loved ones recalled his singular commitment to the cause.

“Danny was very faithful about consistently donating blood. He and Irv looked

forward to the blood drives,” said Sharyn Stein, Dan’s wife.

“My Dad was a quiet man but not when it came to recruiting friends and family members to participate in fundraisers or to give back to the community,” echoed Leigh Stein, Dan’s daughter. “Whenever he had the opportunity to do a good deed, a mitzvah, he was the first to raise his hand.”

Such commitment is needed now, according to Vitalint. The community blood supply is “at an all-time low,” noted the nonprofit in a statement. “The number of donors in western Pennsylvania has shrunk by more than half over the past 10 years.”

Along with a decrease in donations has been an increase in costs for importing

needed blood. In 2017, hospitals from the Allegheny Health Network and UPMC Health System required nearly 160,000 pints of blood to treat patients. Only 74,000 pints of blood were provided by area donors, less than half the amount required.

Participating donors at the upcoming drives will receive a voucher for two free Pirates tickets and a gift from the Pirates. Additionally, during the drives, free parking is available in Red Lot #6 on W. General Robinson Street, across from the blood drive entrance. To make an appointment visit vitalant.org/pirates, call 412-209-7164, or download the VitalantPittsburgh app on a smartphone. PJC —Adam Reinherz

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Headlines Israeli elections: What happens now?

— WORLD —

By Jesse Bernstein | Contributing Writer

I

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party won 35 of 120 seats in the Knesset on April 9 and seemed to have a clear path to forming a coalition government.

But on May 30, Netanyahu dissolved the government of the recently sworn-in MKs and announced new elections after he was unable to form that coalition. On Sept. 17, Israel will hold yet another election, with much at stake for Netanyahu, his potential ruling partners, the opposition and for many political careers in Israel. The call for new elections is something new in Israel’s political history.

“Since, in Israel, no one party has ever been able to win a majority of seats on the parliament, elections do not produce a new government until a coalition is formed among a majority of the elected members of the parliament,” Ian Lustick explained.

Lustick, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania (and author of forthcoming Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality), noted that “hard bargaining” is part and parcel of coalition-building, often contributing to delays, but that never before has “the result of that bargaining has been a decision by the parliament to dissolve itself and call for new elections.”

The hard bargaining was between the two

— WORLD — From JTA reports

US Embassy in Israel will hold annual July 4th celebration for the first time in Jerusalem The U.S. Embassy in Israel will hold its annual Fourth of July celebration for the first time in Jerusalem.

The event traditionally has been held at the home of the U.S. ambassador in Herzliya. In March, Ambassador David Friedman moved into a residence in a building in western Jerusalem that formerly functioned as a consulate. He also owns a home in Jerusalem.

Last year, two months after the U.S. Embassy was moved to Jerusalem, the annual celebration was held in Airport City near Ben Gurion International Airport.

This year it will be held on July 2 at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.

“The U.S. Embassy to Israel will hold its July 4th celebration in Jerusalem this year, consistent with the embassy’s move to Jerusalem and the recent fulfillment of the Jerusalem Embassy Act,” a State Department official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The 1995 act called for the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem, but President Donald Trump’s three predecessors exercised

p Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen after a vote on a bill to dissolve the parliament, at the Knesset, in Jerusalem last month.

Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

major factions of the Israeli right. One side is largely made up of secular, hawkish conservatives, while the other is religious and keen to maintain power for the Orthodox in government, especially when it comes to military conscription.

Yisrael Beytenu, the secular party of former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, refused to join Netanyahu’s coalition unless the government passed a bill drafting some haredi men. Orthodox parties countered with a looser bill, one that Yisrael Beytenu did not approve. Thus, the coalition

was broken. Lieberman’s actions, according to Lustick, put into greater relief how much Netanyahu relies on the Orthodox for his power, and created a stare-down.

“These two politicians played a game of chicken with each other,” he said.

Yoram Peri, the director of the Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Center for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland and once a political adviser to Yitzhak Rabin, put it this way: “The norms, the rules, the regulations, the historical procedures, are that if someone is asked by the president to form

a government and he cannot, then the president asks somebody else to do that, either from the same party or from another party.

So when Netanyahu realized that he cannot form a coalition, doesn’t have enough seats in the Knesset for his coalition, he had to go back to the president and tell the president, ‘Sorry, I was trying to do it, but I failed.’” The catch, Peri said: “He didn’t want to do that.”

Peri theorized that the decision to dissolve the government came less from

a clause that allowed a waiver due to national security reasons. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama insisted the status of Jerusalem should be determined in a peace agreement.

Trump had used the waiver three times but did not sign it last month following Friedman’s move to Jerusalem, which along with the embassy relocation fulfilled the act’s requirements.

said, adding that the Torah law would be observed “according to today’s spirit, today’s economy and how society lives in 2019.”

Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to name him interim justice minister in the wake of Netanyahu’s firing of Ayelet Shaked from the position.

Avigdor Liberman, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party, slammed Smotrich after saying last week that he cannot be part of a “halachic government” over the demands of the haredi Orthodox parties.

“These are no longer comments coming from a delusional hilltop youth, but a statement of intent,” he said of Smotrich, a West Bank resident. “We will prevent that, we won’t lend those efforts a hand. Jewish law is an important and critical part of the Israeli justice system, but Israeli law cannot be Torah law.”

Smotrich has called himself a “proud homophobe” and called the Jerusalem Pride Parade an “abomination parade.” He was slammed in 2016 for saying that Arab and Jewish women should be put in separate rooms in the maternity wards of Israeli hospitals. He also called Reform Judaism a “fake religion.”

ordered deported over his past involvement in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Omar Shakir was ordered expelled from the country a year ago. The deportation order was accepted by a district court and upheld by a lower appeals court before heading to the country’s high court.

On Sunday, the Supreme Court issued the interim injunction freezing the deportation order for the duration of legal proceedings. The court also said the appeal will be “scheduled in the current court year,” which ends July 21. The appeal date has not yet been set, however.

When Shakir, a California native, was appointed to his position in February 2017, he was denied both a work visa and a tourist visa by Israel. A month later he was allowed entry to Israel — the same day the Knesset passed a law banning entry to foreigners who publicly call for boycotting the Jewish state or its settlements. The following month he was granted a work visa.

The Interior Ministry compiled a sevenpage dossier to support its deportation order against Shakir. Much of the dossier covers a time period before Shakir assumed his position at Human Rights Watch, including a great deal of his time at Stanford University.

According to the organization, the lawsuit is the first legal challenge to the 2017 law that bans from Israel those who publicly call for boycotts of the country. PJC

Right-wing Israeli lawmaker: Return nation’s justice system to days of kings David and Solomon A right-wing Israeli lawmaker said he wants to be the country’s justice minister so his religious party can “restore the Torah justice system.”

Bezalel Smotrich of the Union of RightWing Parties, which includes his Jewish Home party, made the statement Sunday night at a Jerusalem Day event at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem. On Monday morning he doubled down on the statement in an interview on the Kan national broadcaster.

“The State of Israel, the country of the Jewish people, with God willing, will go back to operating as it did in the days of King David and King Solomon,” he told Kan. “I want the State of Israel to operate according to the Torah in the long run. That’s how it should be, it’s a Jewish state,” he also

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Supreme Court in Israel freezes deportation order against Human Rights Watch director Israel’s Supreme Court has frozen the expulsion order against the local director of Human Rights Watch, who was

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Please see Elections, page 20

JUNE 7, 2019 9

Headlines California progressives want the state Democratic Party to link Israeli government to Pittsburgh massacre — WORLD —

By JTA Staff

F

ar-left Democrats in California have put forth draft resolutions fiercely critical of Israel ahead of this weekend’s state party convention, including one suggesting that the Israeli government is partly responsible for the atmosphere inspiring last October’s massacre at the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh.

One resolution, first reported by Fox News, calls the murder of 11 Jews by a white supremacist “the culmination of an alarming re-emergence of virulent antiSemitism that is a core element of historical and currently resurgent white supremacism in the United States and around the world.”

The “Israeli government, along with some of its U.S. backers,” the resolution continues, “welcomed support from Christian fundamentalist and ultra-right groups in the United States and abroad, dangerously ignoring their deeply rooted antisemitism while aligning with their virulent Islamophobia.”

That platform resolution was authored

by David Mandel, a state Assembly delegate from the Sacramento area who Fox says holds dual U.S.-Israel citizenship.

“The Israeli government and its supporters here seem to be embracing the right wing and not caring what they say about anything else — Islamophobia, dog whistles for anti-Semitism,” Mandel told Fox when asked about the Pittsburgh connection. “That, I think, does indirectly lead to some of the violence.”

Other resolutions to be introduced at the San Francisco confab urge a rollback of President Donald Trump’s Israel policies, including recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights; condemn Israel for clashes with Palestinians in Gaza without mentioning provocations or attacks by the Hamas leadership there; and direct party officials to take a subsidized trip to Israel only if they spend the same amount of time visiting Palestinian villages and leaders.

Mandel’s resolution opposes “all efforts to stigmatize and suppress support for Palestinian human rights by falsely conflating it with anti-Semitism.”

The latter is a reference to criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who apologized after fellow Democrats and others said she had invoked several anti-Semitic tropes in her criticism of Israel.

Whether the resolutions will be debated by the full assembly of 3,000-4,000 delegates at the Moscone Convention Center is up to a

p President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu display the proclamation Trump signed recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights after their meeting at the White House in March 2019.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Omages

Resolutions Committee. Delegates have the option of gathering 300 signatures to force a debate on the floor.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America expressed “deep concern” about reports of the resolutions.

“We urge the California Democratic Party not to fall into the trap of letting Republicans divide us on Israel and the fight against

anti-Semitism,” Halie Soifer, the council’s executive director, said in a statement. “Nearly all extremist violence in the United States, including attacks on Jews and Muslims, have come from right-wing extremists.”

She added: “While Republicans continue to attempt to turn Israel into a partisan Please see California, page 11

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department, writes in his diary that he has learned that all members of the Arab leadership in Palestine except the mufti of Jerusalem acknowledge that refusing to participate in British government discussions about the future of Mandatory Palestine has been a failure.

— WORLD —

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

June 7, 1930 — Magen David Adom founded

Magen David Adom is reborn as the emergency medical service for the Jewish community of Palestine in response to the Arab riots against Jews in 1929. The original Magen David Adom began in 1915 to help those captured or wounded during World War I. Magen David Adom officially becomes Israel’s Red Cross affiliate in 1950.

June 8, 1971 — First El Al 747 takes off

The first El Al flight using a Boeing 747 jumbo jet departs Lod Airport for London and New York.

June 9, 1967 — Troops move into Syrian Golan

Israeli forces launch an offensive into the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights on the fifth day of the Six-Day War. The offensive produces heavy Israeli casualties but gives Israel control of the Golan before accepting a cease-fire the next day.

June 10, 1930 — Arab leaders recognize failure of not cooperating

June 11, 1947 — Emma Gottheil dies

Emma Gottheil, one of the first female Zionist leaders, dies at 85. A native of Beirut, she moves to New York in 1891 after marrying Richard Gottheil. The Gottheils are delegates to the Second Zionist Congress, and she helps found a group that becomes Hadassah, named in memory of her mother.

June 12, 1948 — Tripoli Jews face riots

A mob attacks the Jewish Quarter in Tripoli, Libya. In the two days of riots, 14 Jews are killed, and 300 lose their homes. Rioters are heard shouting, “If we cannot go to Palestine to fight Jews, let’s fight them here.”

June 13, 1950 — Harari Resolution ends constitution push

The Knesset adopts the Harari Resolution, a compromise proposal stipulating that Israel will adopt a series of Basic Laws instead of crafting a constitution as a single document. PJC

Frederick Kisch, the head of the Jewish Agency’s political PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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Headlines Chicago-area high school pulls support for teacher training on Palestine after members of Jewish community call it one-sided

The school district covering the high schools, Niles Township 219, has withdrawn the course after some local rabbis raised alarms and some parents, staff and others objected. Two Orthodox synagogues in Skokie, Or Torah and Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, mobilized members to call the school to object. Two national pro-Israel groups, StandWithUs and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, also sent out notices to members about the course.

Hart said dozens of Skokie community members complained to the school.

“When you talk about how to deal with students who believe in the right of a Jewish state to exist, when they are targeted in that way and presented as a problem to be dealt with, that makes students and faculty feel unsafe,” he said.

Hart also spoke Thursday with the district superintendent, Steven Isoye, and its director of equity, La Wanna Wells. Later that day, the district released a letter announcing the withdrawal of the recommendation for the course, and said it will work on a more rigorous set of standards for professional development courses.

“We recognize that without multiple perspectives surrounding this topic, we created a sense of exclusion by including this offering,” the letter said. “We will continue to strive to create an equitable place of

learning that allows each and every student to feel safe. We recognize the need to work collectively to educate each other on the cross-cultural, religious, political and socioeconomic issues that impact our world.”

Teachers for Social Justice did not respond to a request for comment. But its website says the Chicago-based group views teaching as inherently political. Other courses the group is offering this summer focus on racial justice in the United States and “US Imperialism’s Impact on Honduras.” “[W]e must recognize and accept our role as either confronting the social, political, and educational inequities within U.S. school settings, or continuing to reproduce the oppressions in our current society,” its “About Us” page says. “We stand for confronting these inequities. Neutrality is not possible. We understand that teaching is a political act.”

An activist who took part in creating “Teaching Palestine,” Lesley Williams, said that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is acknowledged by the international community, and that Palestinian students have said they do not feel that their perspectives are represented at school.

“We were hearing from teachers and also from students that they didn’t feel Palestine was being actively covered in the curriculum,” said Williams, an activist with

Chicago’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.

“It’s not as though the existence of these human rights abuses or the existence of the occupation is purely a partisan issue. These are facts that can’t be denied.”

Teachers at Niles North said students and faculty have repeatedly heard anti-Israel messages at school programs. A teacher told JTA that multiple speakers who were brought to the school to discuss various topics ended up criticizing Israel for oppressing Palestinians.

“There’s an increasing amount of anti-Semitism events that have been happening,” said a teacher who asked to remain anonymous, so as not to be publicly identified with the controversy. “I think that it’s very concerning that this is kind of an insidious thing that’s been increasing over the years.”

The school is diverse, teachers said, with its 2,000 students speaking approximately 100 languages. It also has long had a large Jewish student population. But teachers said Israel was never an issue until this year.

“It’s a school that has everyone — Jews, Muslims, every denomination of Christian you can imagine,” said Aaron Minkus, a history teacher and faculty sponsor of the Israel Club for students, which he said focuses mostly on cultural events. “It’s a rainbow, it’s the United Nations, and the Arab-Israeli conflict, I’ll be honest, never reared its ugly head.”

To head off future issues of this kind, the district will be convening a working group of eight administrators and faculty over the summer “to establish a set of guidelines our schools will use to vet potential speakers before they come to our schools, as well as to vet potential professional development opportunities shared by the district,” Jim Szczepaniak, the district’s director of community relations, wrote in an email.

Hart said the administrators sounded sincere in wanting to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for their students.

“I think schools should focus on serving their students and on creating fair and equitable learning environments for each and every one of their students,” he said.

“In the context of a class on world history, I would expect that educators are provided with a variety of viewpoints and with nuanced materials, and allow their students to be exposed to many different views and ideas.” PJC

The current California Democratic state platform, adopted in 2018, supports “a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiated by the parties that guarantees equality, security and democracy for all, recognizes Israel’s future as a secure and democratic Jewish state with recognized borders and provides the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty and dignity.”

It also regards Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but says the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem “should not remove [Jerusalem] from final status negotiations, nor should it be

used to undermine the peace process.”

In 2018, the delegates also adopted two resolutions, neither of which made it into the platform, that were opposed by many in the pro-Israel camp. One opposed federal bills targeting the boycott Israel movement, and the other proposed a federal bill preventing Israel from using U.S. tax dollars to detain Palestinian children.

The Progressive Zionists of the California Democratic Party urged party members to oppose the Israel resolutions.

“These six anti-Israel resolutions divide us

rather than bring us together,” the group said in a statement to the Jewish News Syndicate.

“They give no care for the human rights, self-determination and safety of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland. As they all demonize Israel and hold Palestinian leadership completely harmless, one resolution even calls for the destruction of Israel as the Jewish state.”

Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are expected to attend the convention. PJC

— NATIONAL —

By Ben Sales | JTA

A

high school district with a large Jewish population has withdrawn its recommendation of an optional training opportunity for teachers called “Teaching Palestine” after local teachers, synagogues and national organizations protested.

The training was one of several offered to high school teachers in a section of north suburban Chicago. One of the schools, Niles North High, is the primary high school serving Skokie, a local Jewish population center.

“The course presented an extremely one-sided view of a very complex situation,” said Rabbi Ari Hart of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue. By using the phrase “occupation of Palestine,” he said, the course’s language implied “that a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland is illegitimate.”

The training opportunity does not offer continuing education credit, does not depend on accreditation from a school district and is open to teachers throughout the Chicago area, according to one of its designers, who characterized it as more of a discussion group. The training will still take place.

Offered by a group called Teachers for Social Justice, the course was open to “critical educators who want to teach about Palestine and the Palestine liberation struggle,” according to a May 22 email to teachers obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. It promised to teach both about how to develop curricula on Palestinian history, as well as how to counter objections from Zionists.

The email said the course also said it would draw connections between Palestinian issues and race relations in the United States.

Its objectives included “Develop a deeper understanding of the history and current political context of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Palestine liberation struggle” and “Discuss concrete strategies for how to respond to Zionist Professional Developments and curricula or when parents/staff/others object to anti-Zionist curriculum.”

The course said it would use Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization that supports the boycott Israel movement, as one resource.

California: Continued from page 10

wedge issue, the Democratic Party remains staunchly pro-Israel. The Democratic Platform adopted in 2016 affirms that ‘we will always support Israel’s right to defend itself, including by retaining its qualitative military edge, and oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.”

p Members of the Palestinian community and their supporters march toward the Israeli consulate to protest President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in Chicago in May 2018.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

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JUNE 7, 2019 11

Opinion Tikkun Leil Shavuot should be template for more communal programming — EDITORIAL —

B

ack in 2009, as Jewish Pittsburgh’s first community-wide Tikkun Leil Shavuot was being planned, organizers at the now defunct Agency for Jewish Learning had no idea if the program would be a success. While there had been all-night study sessions during Shavuot at various synagogues throughout the years, there was no guarantee that an attempt to bring community members of all denominations together to learn from a diverse range of rabbis and educators would be a hit.

Not only was the event a success, but it exceeded expectations.

Now, in its 11th year — and presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh in partnership with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh — Tikkun Leil Shavuot is one of the most popular annual events for Jewish Pittsburgh, and is a lesson in how to bridge gaps among diverse segments of the community.

Since its launch, the program has consistently attracted more than 400 attendees each year. Those who come to learn can choose from about two dozen different study sessions led by rabbis from virtually all streams of Judaism, local Jewish educators, as well as a Hebrew priestess.

People have been taking advantage of

p Jewish Pittsburgh’s Tikkun Leil Shavuot is now in its 11th year and consistently attracts more than 400 attendees.

Photo by photovs/iStockphoto.com

the opportunity to hear perspectives from those teachers whom they would normally not encounter in their typical worship or learning environments. Orthodox men have sat in sessions led by the Hebrew priestess, and Reform Jews have engaged in learning with Chabad rabbis.

This year, 22 sessions taught by 22 distinct Jewish voices will be offered at the JCC in Squirrel Hill, beginning at 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 8. The topics are as varied as the teachers, including “Jewish Texts

on Resilience,” “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself: From the Heart of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” “Finding Joy in Judaism” and “Redemption Song: The Yearning of Early Zionist Poets.”

It is a longstanding tradition on Shavuot to study Torah all night. That tradition is enhanced by bringing together the entire community, with open minds and open hearts, to learn from each other.

This type of community-wide educational event is a unique phenomenon that

does not happen in many other cities, and Jewish Pittsburgh’s enthusiast embrace of collaboration beyond denominational lines should be appreciated and celebrated.

After the Oct. 27 massacre at the Tree of Life building, all of Jewish Pittsburgh was united in its response to the tragedy and in support of one another. We came together seamlessly because we already knew that our commonalities far outweighed that which might divide us.

Prior to that first community-wide Tikkun Leil Shavuot, Barbara Shuman, co-chair of the AJL’s adult learning committee, told the Chronicle: “To me, the news is not how many people show up, but that we’ve been able to bring teachers and students from every corner of the Jewish community together to learn.

I’m hoping this will not be the last time, that it will be the start of a community custom.”

Shuman’s words then were prescient. The event has become a community custom. But it should also serve as an example of what we can accomplish when we pool our resources, disregard our differences and join together for a common cause or celebration, or even a common time to mourn.

We applaud the Federation and the JCC for continuing to offer this remarkable event to Jewish Pittsburgh, and encourage our communal leaders to seek out and implement other programs that will bring us together. PJC

Pride 2019: We really are stronger together Guest Columnist Laura Cherner

I

first participated in Pittsburgh Pride in 2017. I had been working in the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council (CRC) for less than a year, and organizing the Jewish community’s participation in the Equality March was one of my first large-scale independent projects. While we have always had a presence at Pride, it was the first year we made a unified effort to march as a group.

We created the Love is Kosher brand with T-shirts and merchandise to generate some buzz, organized poster-making sessions at a local congregation and started a social media marketing campaign to increase awareness. I was expecting a decent turnout considering all of our efforts, but the response from the Jewish community far surpassed what I had anticipated. We had over 140 members of our community march with us that year in the Equality March. Regardless of age, religious observance, background or sexual orientation, all Jews came together to celebrate love and equality. To this day, I see members of the community proudly wearing their Love

12 JUNE 7, 2019

is Kosher T-shirts, decorating Jewish and non-Jewish spaces with the declaration that pride is all around us.

As we marched that first year, I saw an older man holding hands with his partner, looking on at the parade with something that can only be described as awe. I found myself feeling incredibly moved by the thought of how far we’ve come without forgetting how far we need to go. A few steps later, extremist groups were protesting this display of positivity with hate-fueled vitriol. Groups like these, which only know what they’re against and not what they’re for, only serve to deepen divisions between us.

In June of 2016, the LGBTQ+ community was attacked in an act of hate-induced violence, when a gunman opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49. In the days following, hundreds of people attended a vigil organized by the Federation’s CRC as sign of solidarity.

The Jewish community knows only too well the pain of being targeted for one’s identity. Oct. 27 of this past year was one of the darkest days in our community’s history. An anti-Semitic terrorist killed 11 worshipers of the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations simply because they were Jewish. In our close-knit community in Pittsburgh, this was a fear that we never thought would be realized.

Here it was, just over two years later from the Pulse tragedy, and we were organizing a vigil for the victims of violence that took place our own backyard. Both communities were attacked in places where the Jewish and LGBTQ+ community respectively were authentically themselves. These attacks were desecrations of those safe spaces and what emerged from the horror was an inexplicable bond between our two communities.

One of the most incredible things we experienced in the aftermath of the shooting at the Tree of Life building was a complete and total sense of unity not only across the entire Jewish community, but the entire city of Pittsburgh. We were comforted by the assurance from the broader community that this was not just an attack on the Jewish community; this was an attack on all of us.

It should not take a tragedy for us to realize how important it is to come together. In a way, the unity that the city of Pittsburgh experienced after Oct. 27 is mirrored every year at Pride. It is a time for the LGBTQ+ community and allies across the spectrum to come together to affirm the values of love, acceptance and equality.

While the Equality March is truly a highlight for many members of the Jewish community, we will be supporting from the sidelines this year, as June 9 is also the major Jewish holiday of Shavuot. Though this

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precludes our community from marching, the values on which we will be reflecting seem to fit perfectly with the values we share during Pride. One of the main tenets of Shavuot is that it is celebrated as the anniversary of the day that the Jewish people were given the Torah and commandments at Mount Sinai. Our tradition teaches us that all Jewish souls — past and future — were present at the receiving of the Torah and heard the voice of God. No matter their denomination, opinions, or lifestyle, Jews all stood together on the same day as one people. This sense of togetherness and peoplehood is a central aspect of Shavuot, just as standing together with other communities is a Jewish value.

Similarly, Pride is a time for the LGBTQ+ community and allies across the spectrum to come together to affirm the values of love and equality. To march in support with Pride means to stand together as one. On Shavuot, we are reminded of a time when all were equal and all were standing as one harmonious community, focused on what unites, not what divides. As we celebrate Pride not just this month, but every day, let us remember that we are stronger together. PJC Laura Cherner is the assistant director of the Community Relations Council for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Opinion On abortion, Judaism advocates a middle ground Guest Columnist Danny Schiff

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bortion again. The never-ending legal struggle goes on. Unfortunately, it is a struggle that tends to suppress the possibility for reasoned moral conversations. Consumed with the issue of rights (on both sides), there is little patience for more nuanced ethical concerns.

In this highly polarized environment, it is worth recalling that Judaism advocates an intriguing middle-ground approach.

Historically, Judaism has preferred to consider abortion within a context where moral arguments can be made and heard, and where each case can be truly judged on its merits. Hence, when it comes to abortion, Jewish law calls for the application of a number of moral principles, all the while acknowledging that the details of each instance need to be considered individually.

Central to these Jewish moral principles is the idea that maternal life is superior to fetal life. Judaism affirms that the fetus is a life from conception on, but it differs from other traditions in holding that there are actually two versions of life: the life of an emerged, ensouled person, and the more limited form

of life that a fetus represents. Jewish texts identify the fetus as a life in order to communicate that the fetus is abundantly precious in its own right, and worthy of protection.

The idea of maternal life having superior value to fetal life has practical ramifications: If a mother’s life is at stake at any stage of pregnancy, not only is it permissible to abort the fetus, it is mandated to do so. Within traditional Judaism there is a difference of views as to whether the mother’s superior standing might allow for abortion in circumstances less severe than a direct threat to her life. Some think that any abortion in less than life threatening circumstances would be an unacceptable act of murder. Another school of thought is prepared to countenance abortions in varying serious situations with deleterious implications for the mother, including rape and incest. However, given the standing of the fetus as a life, none of the traditional sources countenance abortion for economic reasons, for timing issues or for lesser stressors.

Legal writings from non-Orthodox Jewish sources concur with this approach. The Conservative movement allows for abortion when the “continuation of pregnancy might cause the mother severe physical or psychological harm, or when the fetus is judged by competent medical opinion as Please see Schiff, page 15

— LETTERS — Article Not Accurate This letter is in reference to the article entitled “Osher course on Israel canceled; course from ‘Palestinian perspective’ renewed,” appearing in the May 16, 2019, edition of the Jewish Chronicle. It is written on behalf of the board of directors of the nonprofit Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

The Jewish Chronicle contacted the Osher office to inquire why the course had not been renewed; we declined to comment at that time because we considered this an internal matter that was properly and fairly reviewed. However, feedback from members of the community makes clear that the article conveys an important misconception about our program, which needs to be clarified.

For a study leader to have a course renewed and offered again, we require that the courses be taught competently, honestly, and fairly, and that our study leaders adhere to our established code of conduct.

It is important that your readers understand that the decision to turn down the renewal request was not due to the content of the course. For your readers information, in recent years, the Osher program has offered numerous courses dealing with various special topics that have been of interest to members of the Jewish and Muslim communities. Osher has had taught 17 courses focused on contemporary issues concerning Israel and her neighbors, 12 courses focused on Palestine and the Palestinian people, 12 courses related to Israeli archaeology and 6 courses concerned with opposing viewpoints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We will continue to welcome and offer courses in all of these areas as we find qualified individuals to teach them.

Going forward, we seek a positive relationship with the Jewish Chronicle and its readers, which motivates us to put out this clarification.

Jim Reitz President, Osher at CMU Board of Directors We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned.

Mail, fax or email letters to:

Letters to the editor via email:

Website address:

letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Fax 412-521-0154 pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

In Judaism, abortion is not a right — and pregnancy is a responsibility Guest Columnist Avi Shafran

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s in all life matters, when it comes to abortion, Judaism doesn’t speak of rights but of responsibilities and obligations. Seeing things through that lens can be a real eye opener.

The concept of “rights” is deeply ingrained in our Western minds. We rarely stop to question it. But the idea, as wonderful as it is and as helpful as it has been to humanity, doesn’t coexist very cozily with a fundamental Jewish truth: Everything benefiting us isn’t due us, but is rather a gift that we are charged to use responsibly in the service of something higher than ourselves.

We have no legal or moral claim on financial success, happy marriages, health or good fortune — no “right” to any of those things — in Jewish law or in the Bill of Rights.

In addition to having no right to such things, Judaism also teaches that we have a fundamental obligation to act responsibly toward others.

While the much-invoked aphorism “the right to swing my fist ends where the other

man’s nose begins” may well reflect the American legal approach, Judaism sees the assailant who doesn’t stop at a nose not as having violated the nose-owner’s rights, per se, but as having incurred a responsibility — an obligation to pay for the damage, pain, medical bills, missed work and embarrassment that the fist owner has wrought. It’s a subtle but important distinction.

Which brings us to Jewish religious law’s stance on abortion. As in many areas of halacha, it is complex: There are a variety of approaches, situations and opinions. A good overview of the halacha of abortion was written recently for JTA by nurse practitioner Ephraim Sherman. But a compendium of sources and applications cannot touch the core issue, the one that should be a game changer for Jewish-minded Jews: responsibility.

Abortion, in Jewish law, is not a right.

In the vast majority of cases it’s actually a wrong. But even in cases where it is permitted or required, as when a Jewish mother’s life is endangered, even indirectly (or, although the matter is hardly free of controversy, according to some respected rabbinic opinions when the pregnancy seriously jeopardizes the mother’s health), the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not a question of a woman’s right to choose but of her responsibility to choose correctly, her

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obligation to do what halacha counsels in her particular case, whatever that may be.

And so, from a Jewish perspective, all the constitutional, judicial and philosophical issues whacked back and forth across the tennis court of public discourse are beside the main point.

It’s not the stage of pregnancy that ultimately matters and not the “status of a fetus.” Not “ensoulment” and not the specter of looming back-alley abortionists. What counts alone in Judaism is the responsibility to do what Jewish law requires in any particular case.

Most reasonable people on both sides of the perennial abortion debate would like abortion to be rare. Currently, although the abortion rate in the U.S. has dropped somewhat in recent years, it is very far from uncommon. The predominant reasons for seeking an abortion, according to a 2013 U.S. National Library of Medicine-National Institutes of Health survey, have been financial (40 percent), timing (36 percent), partner-related reasons (31 percent) and the need to focus on other children (29 percent).

From a “rights” perspective, all such justifications are perfectly acceptable. From a “responsibility” perspective, though, not so much. In fact, not at all. Halacha considers a potential life to trump most other concerns.

There is, of course, no reason why Jewish theology should be embodied in American

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jurisprudence. But Judaism’s stance happens to reflect the feelings of a majority of Americans. A 2018 Gallup survey found that only 29 percent of respondents believed abortion should be legal in all circumstances.

Blanket bans on abortion, to be sure, would deprive Jewish women of the ability to act responsibly in cases where abortion is halachically required. And so, what Orthodox groups like Agudath Israel of America, for which I work, have long promoted is the regulation of abortion through laws that generally prohibit the unjustifiable killing of fetuses while protecting the right to abortion in exceptional cases.

In the end, while abortion in Judaism’s eyes may not be a matter of “rights,” it is indeed a matter of “choice,” a word much invoked in the abortion debate and central to all aspects of human life.

Not “choice” in the sense of “all choices are equal,” but rather in the sense conveyed by the word as it is used in Deuteronomy.

“I have placed before you,” God informs us through Moses, “life and death, the blessing and the curse.”

“Choose life,” the verse continues, “so that you and your offspring will live.” PJC Rabbi Avi Shafran writes widely in Jewish media and serves as Agudath Israel of America’s director of public affairs.

JUNE 7, 2019 13

Headlines Ainsmans: Continued from page 1

the aftermath of Oct. 27 was the “toughest challenge,” said Meryl. “All of us felt the pain. What helped me through was having an opportunity to get involved.”

Immediately following the Tree of Life attack, Meryl worked with Federation staff to organize the community vigil at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Oakland. Held one day following the killings, the event attracted thousands of attendees, hundreds of whom stood outside in the rain after indoor capacity had been reached.

Since then, in an effort to prepare and aid other Jewish communities, Meryl has traveled around the country sharing Pittsburgh’s story of organizational partnership and communal resilience.

This is a unique moment, David said, and to observe the diversity of Jewish educational experiences available locally is truly remarkable. “If our ancestors could see what we’ve crafted in this community, they would be really proud.”

As Jews, “we have survived and flourished,” he continued. “This community is amazing.”

About 400 people attended the May 30 event held in the Grand Hall at the Pennsylvanian.

“David and Meryl have been such tremendous assets for this community. It’s such an

Volunteers: Continued from page 1

from Dor Hadash and New Light.

Dave Kalla was headed to Galveston, Texas, to visit his father and sister when a request came in from 18 mosaicists who had created a project inspired by last October’s event. Their work, “From Darkness to Light: The Tree of Life Synagogue Memorial Mosaic Project,” was hanging at Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin, roughly 200 miles away from Galveston.

Eisenberg asked Kalla whether he would be interested in attending.

Going to Austin was “definitely not out of my way,” said Kalla, who traveled to Congregation Agudas Achim, met with the rabbi and several of the artists. The mosaicists explained their efforts and Kalla shared with them the intricacies of communal life in Squirrel Hill. The conversation gave new meaning to their pieces, he said.

“I actually got to meet the people that were behind the artistry, as opposed to just receiving something with a note,” said Kalla.

“They were so gracious and happy to have

“ If our ancestors could see what we’ve crafted in this community, they would be really proud. As Jews, we have survived and flourished. This

”

community is amazing.

— DAVID AINSMAN honor to see them honored in this crowd,” said Skip Grinberg. “They are two of the best people. Their hearts are in the right place.”

“I came up through the ranks with Meryl leading the way,” said Linda Joshowitz, Federation’s community campaign chair. “She is like an older sister and wise mother with cool clothes. She really combined the two for me and it’s been a real honor to work under her.”

Rachel Marcus, former associate executive director at Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, recalled Meryl beginning her volunteer career decades earlier. After Meryl publicly thanked Marcus, as well as Finkelstein, Brian Schreiber and Brian Eglash for years of mentorship, Marcus noted, it was meaningful “for me to see it made a difference because of my work at the center.”

Meryl and David’s family members joined in honoring the couple.

“So much of this has taken me away from my family,” Meryl said. “There were times when I would say, ‘Mommy has to go to a meeting so all we’re having for dinner is mac and cheese.’ Part of that was teaching them what’s really important.”

The lessons were well-received, explained Laura Sohinki and Molly Fisher, the Ainsmans’ daughters.

“They are incredible people, incredible leaders and incredible parents. The community is as fortunate as we are,” said Sohinki.

“And we are incredibly proud of them,” added Fisher.

Philanthropy and community are very much rooted in family, explained Peter

someone from Tree of Life.”

Months ago, when they conceived of linking congregants and opportunities, “we had not thought how moving the experience would be for the ambassadors,” said Eisenberg.

“Everyone gets something a little different from it. I have heard they find it very moving and they are honored to be recognized,” said Cohen, who matches congregants from New Light with various requests.

The ripple effects go beyond bringing back positive messages, or even easing an individual’s burden, explained Eisenberg.

“It’s really creating relations and building bridges in a way that we hadn’t quite anticipated when we originally set out to find a polite way to honor so many of these requests and invitations,” she said. “The groups that we are meeting with and interacting with are going to go back to their church, synagogue or youth group and say, ‘I’ve been to the Tree of Life synagogue building, I’ve seen what the memorial looks like, I’ve heard from actual members who knew the victims,’ and they just spread goodwill and say positive things about us, about Jews.” Those they connect with “become ambassadors of

goodwill themselves,” she added.

Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life handle requests differently. Only the latter has created a formal “ambassador program.” A commonality, however, is that the three congregations are united in empowering their congregants. An unexpected outcome has been the strengthening of current congregants’ ties to institutions.

Because of October’s events, “we aren’t in our own building, we don’t have our own space, so for people who aren’t looking to come to services Friday night or Saturday morning, this is a way p Dave Kalla, right, traveled to Austin, Texas, to be connected and represent to represent the three congregations targeted the synagogue,” said Eisenberg. on Oct. 27. Kalla is joined by Susan Ribnick and Dor Hadash and Tree of Life Rabbi Neil F. Blumofe of Congregation Agudas Photo courtesy of Dave Kalla presently meet at Rodef Shalom Achim in Austin.

Congregation in Shadyside. New Light meets at Congregation Beth Shalom in community service project.

Squirrel Hill.

“It’s just amazing, there seems to be a As time passes, people are seeking never-ending variety of ways to do lovely methods for healing. Some of the opportu- beautiful things together,” said Eisenberg. nities can offer benefit, explained Cohen.

“We are all having these really special “I met such wonderful people outside your experiences and any time you can find a typical Squirrel Hill crowd,” said Kalla. silver lining in something horrific it’s nice “To meet these people [who] are still to share it with other people so they can keeping us in their thoughts and still care appreciate it too.” about us all these months later, it’s an abso“We’re overwhelmed with the support lutely win-win situation,” echoed Eisenberg. we’ve been given by these external groups.

There has been no shortage of requests. In ..and grateful that people are rememthe coming weeks one congregant is sched- bering and continue to honor our victims,” uled to speak to a group of eighth-grade said Cohen. PJC graduates in Great Neck, New York. Other congregants are slated to welcome visiting Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ students from Iowa and collaborate on a pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

“ I met such wonderful people outside your typical Squirrel Hill crowd.”

— DAVE KALLA

14 JUNE 7, 2019

Gordon, son of the late Ira and Nanette Gordon (last week’s event was underwritten by the Ira and Nanette Gordon Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh). “It chokes me up because my parents were so dedicated to it ... and I’m so proud of their memory,” he added.

Gordon and his wife, Robin, referenced the presence of their daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Jesse Coslov, at last week’s event.

“To have something continue that’s so good, that’s what it’s about,” said Robin Gordon.

After praising the Ainsmans and thanking donors (those present included supporters who committed at least $1,000 to the Federation’s 2019 Community Campaign, Jewish Community Foundation Legacy Fund holders and their adult children), Finkelstein encouraged the community to come together again.

“Next weekend is my favorite holiday of the year,” he said, noting that on the evening of Shavuot in Pittsburgh people from all walks of Jewish life will venture to the JCC in Squirrel Hill and spend hours studying together with diverse teachers. “Ever since Oct. 27, we have said we need to find ways to continue coming together as a community. Tikkun Leil Shavuot highlights not our uniformity but our strong unity. Make this your Saturday-night activity.” PJC

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

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Headlines Voice: Continued from page 3

who have gone through abortions, and to provide adoption referrals for women who choose not to abort a baby but cannot care for it themselves.

“It’s important if you do pro-life education to have another avenue available,” she said.

The foundation does not “have anything to do with the politics or the legislation,” Routman stressed. “I thought when I started, the last thing I needed to do was to create some sort of opposition with people that were politically and ideologically to one side.

I didn’t want to set that conflict up. I really believe in my heart that if Jewish people were educated about the tragedy of abortion and the problems it causes their hearts would be changed.”

The abortion industry, she opined, “has a very successful propaganda campaign that has been going on for decades now, and it is very seductive. It speaks to your emotions and your compassion for women. If you have any resentment about traditional roles for women, and problems women face, it speaks to that, so women are easily convinced

that abortion is a legitimate answer to these problems.”

Many of the Jewish women with whom Routman has spoken post-abortion “have no support from their families,” she explained.

“In fact, their mothers, brothers, their fathers, excoriated them for getting pregnant.

It’s a different culture. It embarrasses us.

“It’s such a shame,” she continued, “because so many times people think abortion is necessary because the baby is going to have terrible circumstances, so why don’t we just be compassionate? Take the baby’s life in the womb, so that they don’t have to face this challenging life of poverty, or whatever. But in the Jewish community, we have so many resources, it’s not a valid reason for a Jewish child.”

Through the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation, Routman aims to provide “a wonderful safe place for Jewish people who can’t speak about this in their own community,” she said.

“They find us. I am building this pro-life Jewish rabbinistry, where people can contact us and be consoled, supported. Because we know that Judaism in its most foundational sense is all about life.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Scarf seller comes to Pittsburgh to honor victims

p Front row: Ina Sable and Marcia Stewart. Back row: Renee Abrams, Jeanne Pim, Marlene Haus and Mark Pim Photo courtesy of Renee Abrams

— LOCAL —

Schiff: Continued from page 13

severely defective.” The Reform movement cautions that “we do not encourage abortion, nor favor it for trivial reasons, or sanction it ‘on demand’.”

In this light, it is worth offering a Jewish assessment of the divergent abortion laws recently passed in New York and Missouri. In New York, the legislature removed abortion from the penal code altogether and permitted abortions beyond 24 weeks for threats to maternal life or health. Previously, abortions beyond 24 weeks were only permitted to save the mother’s life. In defining “health” the Supreme Court has held that “medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age … All these factors may relate to health.”

From the perspective of Jewish moral thinking, the New York law is too permissive.

The Torah itself calls for a monetary penalty for the improper killing of a fetus. And the broad understanding of “health” that underlies the New York law could potentially permit some abortions beyond 24 weeks that Jewish sources would regard as ethically inappropriate. Of course, all current American abortion laws allow for a situation where the majority of abortions carried out at earlier stages of pregnancy are in this problematic category.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Missouri law, one of several states that have recently passed more restrictive abortion provisions. In the Missouri statute, the fetus is defined as a life equivalent to all other lives from conception. The Missouri legislation seeks to ban all abortions except in the case of a “medical emergency” where

the mother’s life is at risk or where “delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function”.

From the perspective of one of the two traditional schools of Jewish thinking, this law is too restrictive. It defines the status of the fetus in a way that is not supported by Jewish sources. It provides no exceptions for profound threats to a woman’s mental wellbeing, for critical medical issues that are not an emergency, for rape, incest, severe fetal illness or other instances where a sizable cohort of rabbis permits abortion.

For Jews, it is noteworthy that there is a challenging asymmetry between the two laws. In the case of the New York law, it is possible for a Jew to follow Jewish prescriptions by voluntarily foregoing abortions that the law permits. Conversely, in the case of the Missouri law, there are abortions that some rabbis would allow that the law forbids. In other words, while the New York law provides room for a Jew to comply fully with rabbinic perspectives, the Missouri law does not. It is a difference that is important to consider.

Long before there was a New York or Missouri, Jews were having serious conversations about the ethics of abortion.

Through the centuries, the tradition developed wisdom on this issue that does not align with either side of the contemporary American legal debate. Perhaps such a moderate approach could make a valuable contribution in 21st-century America. PJC Rabbi Dr. Danny Schiff is the Foundation Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. He is the author of “Abortion in Judaism,” published by Cambridge University Press.

T

ree of Life*Or L’Simcha members Renee Abrams, Ina Sable, Marlene Haus and Marcia Stewart joined entrepreneur Jeanne Pim, of Maryland, for lunch at the Frick Cafe in Point Breeze on Wednesday, May 29. The gathering facilitated an opportunity for kinship, and to wear matching silk scarves depicting Viennese artist Gustav Klimt’s “The Tree of Life.”

Following the events of Oct. 27, Pim sent scarves to several members of the congregation. Pim, a Maryland native and scarf seller, explained she has always felt a connection to Klimt’s work “with its rich shades of gold, curling branches and caramel-colored trunk rising up from a jewel-toned garden,” and

decided to sell 100 “Tree of Life” scarves in order to raise money for the congregation. By Dec. 17, Pim sold 115 scarves and received several monetary donations totaling $4,500.

That sum was presented to Alex Speck, of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, on May 29.

Meeting with Pim, and hearing of her desire to benefit those in Pittsburgh, was an opportunity to connect with a new friend from afar, explained Abrams.

Pim is “not Jewish, she doesn’t live here, she has no reason to reach out and offer emotional support to congregants or fiscal support to a synagogue that needs repair,” said Abrams. “When an individual takes this upon themself with no other backing and wants to do this, I find it to be exceptional.” PJC —Adam Reinherz

Chronicle wins Golden Quill Award — LOCAL —

T

he Press Club of Western Pennsylvania announced the winners of the 55th annual Golden Quill Awards during a presentation on Thursday, May 29, at the Rivers Casino. The competition recognizes professional and student excellence in print, broadcast, photography, videography and digital journalism in Western Pennsylvania and nearby counties in Ohio and West Virginia.

Chronicle staff writer Adam Reinherz and former digital content manager Lauren Rosenblatt won for their story, “Homebrewing a Boozy Recipe for Friendship,” in the Lifestyle category, Non-Daily Newspapers.

Reinherz was also a finalist for “Reporter’s Notebook: Last Burial Is Communal

Testament,” in the category News Features, Non-Daily Newspapers.

The Chronicle’s senior staff writer, Toby Tabachnick, was a finalist for five stories: “Sorting Through Mounds of Mail Is a Daunting Task in Wake of Shooting,” News Features, Non-Daily Newspapers; “A ‘Rose Tattoo,’ Local Jewish Landlords All Part of Holiday Miracle,” Traditional Features, Non-Daily Newspapers; “Israeli Jews, Arabs Finding Common Ground at Pittsburgh-Inspired Center,” Education, Non-Daily Newspapers; “Pittsburgh Author Uncovers Little-Known History of Female Persecution,” History/Culture, Non-Daily Newspapers; and “The Music of Bob Dylan, Served up With a Classical Twist,” Arts/Entertainment, Non-Daily Newspapers. PJC —Toby Tabachnick

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

JUNE 7, 2019 15

Headlines Moe Berg’s life as ballplayer and spy, this time as a documentary so he remains a mystery to some extent.

There are many myths and tall tales about Moe’s activities during the war, including the claim that he parachuted into Yugoslavia and met with partisan leader Tito. After extensive archival research, we found no evidence of this claim. Unfortunately, this story is featured in several museums and exhibits.

— SPORTS —

By Andrew Silow-Carroll | JTA

M

oe Berg’s 15-year career as a major league shortstop, catcher and coach in the 1920s and ’30s wasn’t much to speak of, but his story keeps being told in about as many ways as there are to tell it.

A Columbia Law School graduate who played for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and others, Berg is best known for working as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency, during World War II. His exploits include intelligence-gathering trips to Italy and Switzerland to uncover secrets about the Nazi nuclear program.

Berg’s story has been told in a nonfiction book and a feature film, but veteran filmmaker Aviva Kempner thought his story also deserved a full-length documentary. “The Spy Behind Home Plate” is in selected theaters nationwide.

Kempner, who lives in Washington, D.C., and is the director or producer of four previous documentaries, spoke with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency via email.

The story of Moe Berg has been told at least twice before — in the 1994 biography

by Nicholas Dawidoff, “The Catcher Was a Spy,” and in the 2018 scripted movie of the same name starring Paul Rudd. What does your documentary add to what we know about Berg?

I had the advantage of incorporating 18 interviews conducted from 1987 to 1991 by filmmakers Jerry Feldman and Neil Goldstein for “The Best Gloveman in the League,” which was never completed. Their interviews were archived at Princeton, and The Ciesla Foundation supported digitizing them for use in “The Spy Behind Home Plate.”

Their archival interviews include Moe’s brother, Dr. Sam Berg; Berg’s fellow players center fielder Dom DiMaggio, and pitchers Elden Auker and Joseph Cascarella; fellow OSS members Horace Calvert, William Colby and John Lansdale. Two interviews with former OSS members Earl Brodie and Edwin Putzell, conducted by ESPN for its “SportsCentury-Moe Berg” biography, were also included.

I also think the courage and accomplishments of the OSS, our too short-lived intelligence agency, should inspire numerous feature films, more documentaries and even a heroic television series.

Your interest in Moe Berg’s story seems pretty natural — your previous films include “Partisans of Vilna” (1986), about Jewish commandos fighting the Nazis, and “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” (1998), about the legendary Jewish baseball player. But what was the specific impulse that led you to tell Berg’s story?

Life-size wall hangings of my three favorite Jewish baseball players — Sandy Koufax pitching to Hank Greenberg and Moe Berg as catcher — adorn the curved wall of my home’s staircase. I was so proud of making “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” because he was a Jewish hero during times 16 JUNE 7, 2019

In what sense is the story of Moe Berg — beyond the biographical facts of his being a son of immigrant Jewish parents — a Jewish story? Did he face anti-Semitism either as a ballplayer or a spy? And did he have an affirmative Jewish identity?

Moe Berg did not have a bar mitzvah but did know Hebrew and Yiddish among his many languages. While attending Princeton in the mid-’20s, when Jews were labeled “Hebrews” in the yearbook, Berg took a courageous stand of not joining a dinner club if other Jews were not allowed. While in the MLB Berg did not face the anti-Semitism that Hank Greenberg did as a slugger. And every day he was spying as a Jewish male in Europe during the war he was risking being caught and executed.

He is an American hero for sure.

p Moe Berg as a catcher during his time in MLB

p Moe Berg, center, on assignment in South America

of teeming anti-Semitism in America and while the Nazis were raging in Europe.

Businessman William Levine asked me after seeing “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg,” “Do you want to make a film on an unusual Major League Baseball player?” Levine pointed out that “Moe Berg was a great subject because he became a spy for the OSS during World War II, helping to defeat the Nazis.” I jumped at his generous offer to support a Berg bio film. “The Spy Behind Home Plate” fits perfectly into my goal to make historical documentaries about under-known Jewish heroes and my career focus on exploring courageous tales about those who fought the Nazis.

Berg is usually described as “enigmatic” — I’ve seen the famously eccentric baseball manager Casey Stengel quoted as describing

Photo Courtesy of Irwin Berg

Photo courtesy of Linda McCarthy

Berg as “the strangest man ever to play baseball.” There was speculation on everything from his sexuality to how many languages he actually spoke. Is there a key interview or piece of evidence that you discovered that unlocked some of his mystery?

Nothing we could find verified he was gay.

Quite the contrary, the interviews from 30 years ago with his fellow players point to Moe Berg being a lady’s man. Also, the documentary has testimony from Babe Ruth’s daughter, Julie Ruth Stevens, who danced with Moe on the ship to Japan in 1934. She talked about how he “came on to her.” And finally Paul Huni, the son of Estella Huni, who Moe had a relationship with for over a dozen years, talks about how they had a great love affair. He also provided photos of them together. Yet we could not find much footage of Moe actually talking,

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You are the child of Holocaust survivors. Your first film, “Partisans of Vilna,” was I think the only one in which you approached the Holocaust directly, although I often notice that with some of your other subjects — Hank Greenberg, the comedian and actress Gertrude Berg, and Moe Berg — the Holocaust is hovering just outside the frame either as a presence or an absence. After “Partisans,” did you make a conscious choice not to make another direct Holocaust documentary?

After “Partisans,” I have concentrated on making films about the Jewish-American experience and their heroes. Also, it seems I like making films about subjects with Berg in their names. Seriously, I wanted to show Jewish heroes reflecting nonstereotypical roles and fighting the isms of fascism, sexism, McCarthyism and again Nazism.

Hank Greenberg, Gertrude Berg, Julius Rosenwald and now Moe Berg are all those role models that are good for we as American Jews to revere and emulate.

You and I first met somewhere in between “Partisans” and “Greenberg.” I think I learned from you that documentary filmmaking is about 30 percent making the film and 70 percent fundraising. How do you get a funder excited about a project?

Has it gotten any easier?

My 501(c)(3) produces my documentaries and yes it’s a challenge to raise the funds in a timely fashion. I am so lucky that after 40 years in the business that one angel came to the rescue to fund this film. In the past there have been dozens upon dozens of generous funders. I am just hoping there are other mensches like William Levine that want to support another Jewish hero or heroine.

Bonus question: What are you watching these days? Are there some new documentaries you think our readers shouldn’t miss?

There is a fun one called “The Mamboniks” about how Jews loved dancing mambo. PJC

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JUNE 7, 2019 17

Celebrations

Torah

Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;nei Mitzvah

Why King David matters Elana Miriam Padnos, daughter of Bill Padnos and Shari Back, will become a bat mitzvah on Saturday, June 8, at Temple Sinai. She is the granddaughter of Harry and Ronna Back of Pittsburgh and Norman and Darlene Padnos of Glenview, Ill. She is the older sister of Ari. Elana is a seventhgrader at Dorseyville Middle School. She has a passion for theater and performing at Pittsburgh Musical Theater. Elana is looking forward to her fifth year at EKC this summer.

Jack Aaron Segall, son of Mia and Arie Segall, will become a bar mitzvah on Saturday, June 8, 2019 at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Jack is a seventh-grader at Colfax where his favorite subject is math. He enjoys playing basketball and spending time with his brothers, Noah and Nate. For his mitzvah project, Jack is raising money for the Backpack Program at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank which provides nutritious weekend meals to students.â&#x20AC;&#x201A; PJC

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Rabbi Jonathan Perlman Parashat Bamidbar Numbers 1:1 - 4:20

S

havuot is the only holiday that marks the death of a major Jewish figure.

We might expect that it would be Moses because he is closely connected to the giving of the Torah celebrated on this holiday. To our surprise, it is King David, not Moses, who died on Shavuot! Furthermore, David is also connected to the end of grain harvest that marks this holiday. Why should this be the case?

A legend goes that David had a prophecy that he would die on Shabbat. He made it his practice to learn Torah consistently at night to thwart the Angel of Death. His perfect concentration on Torah kept the Angel of Death from being able to get at him. Finally, in Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s old age, on a Sabbath that is also Shavuot, the Angel became frustrated and began shaking the tree branch outside Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s window. David came out to see what was going on, slipped on the top step of the garden stairs, and fell into the arms of the Angel of Death.

Another midrash tells us that King David started the custom of learning Torah in the late hours of night. He would sing praises to God until midnight and then, at the chiming of a string from the harp above his bed, he would gain the strength of a lion and immerse himself in Torah learning until dawn. Perhaps this is the true origin of keeping a vigil with the Torah until the early hours of the Shavuot morning.

How is the grain harvest connected to David? In the final year of Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, this transition of spring into summer was also the last season of Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life on earth. Scholars suggest that the Assyrian god Tammuz was an agricultural god who was basically viewed as the power in the grain, dying when the grain was milled. Jewish custom was to bind 50 sheaves of wheat on each of the 50 days of the harvest beginning on Pesach. At the end of the harvest, the entire field is leveled.

Tammuz was characterized as a romantic and tragic figure. Could it be that David is the romantic and tragic figure in his own right who is also the perfect symbol of the harvested grain? We mourn him the

anniversary of his death, Shavuot, but we also celebrate his birthday. We pray that the grain will return next year. Just as the grain returns again and again after it is harvested, we say of David: David melekh Yisrael chai vekayam; David, king of Israel, lives forever.

We remember David for his love of Torah.

It was David who danced before the Ark of the Covenant when it was brought to Jerusalem. We remember David as the cycle of death and birth. But to get to know David intimately is to know his psalms. Psalm literature hearkens back to the earliest texts of

We remember David for his love of Torah.

It was David who danced before the Ark of the Covenant when it was brought to Jerusalem. the Torah that sing Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s praises and speak of Torah. The pure emotion of dread and gladness, fear and love, belief and non-belief fills out the picture of the romantic king.

In the 23rd psalm, David pictures God as a shepherd. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing that I lack; He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides the still waters; He restores my soul.â&#x20AC;? The first three verses establish Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creatureliness â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he pictures himself as Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sheep. Then comes the troubling verse: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.â&#x20AC;? This describes Davidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emotions in the midst of a mortal struggle. David does not walk into the valley of the shadow of death, he walks through it. Like the faithful of Israel who made their way through the desert to receive the Torah from the fiery mountain, David was no sheep; he walked proud, brave and tall.â&#x20AC;&#x201A; PJC Rabbi Jonathan Perlman is the spiritual leader of New Light Congregation.

SPECIAL OCCASIONS DESERVE SPECIAL ATTENTION The more you celebrate in lifeâ&#x20AC;Ś the more there is in life to celebrate!

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Obituaries BECKER: Sara Esther Becker, on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. Beloved wife of the late Nathaniel Becker. Cherished mother of Paul (Nancy) Becker, David (Maryann) Becker, Rena Becker (Bennett Goldstein), Scott (Sandy) Becker and the late Ellen Becker (Bruce Skud). Sister of the late Norman I. Sandler. Grandmother of Natalie, Nathaniel, Alexa, Andrew, Jordan, Jeremy and the late Noah. Graveside service and interment were held at Tree of Life Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Association on Aging, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. www.schugar.com

LEINER: Lilyan Leiner (Lakey); Born July 10, 1920, passed away on Thursday, May 30, 2019.

Beloved wife of the late Louis Leiner.

Loving mother of Marsha (Sheldon) Clark. Daughter of the late Isaac and Rose Lipsitz. Sister of the late Benjamin, Abe and Sidney Lipsitz. Beloved “Bubbe” to Staci (Kevin) Ross, and Robyn (Len) Kaplan. Great-“Bubbe” to Samuel, Allyson and Lucy Ross and Lindsay and Danielle Kaplan. Also survived by many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins and friends. The family would like to thank her caregivers and the staff at Charles Morris Nursing Center. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Adath Jeshurun Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Beth El Congregation, 1900 Cochran Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15220 or a charity of the donor’s choice. www.schugar.com

GOTTESMAN: Samuel Gottesman, On Saturday, June 1, 2019, age 95, in Los Angeles, CA; beloved husband of the late Leah Gottesman; beloved father of Jeffrey (Judith) Gottesman of Santa Monica, CA; brother of the late Helen Friedman Gottesman, Feige Gottesman, Reize Gottesman, Jacob Gottesman, Simon Gottesman, Florence Friedman; grandfather of Melinda Gottesman and uncle of Abe Friedman. Sam was a Holocaust survivor who was a speaker at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh who touched countless lives with his recounting of his experiences during the Holocaust. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Torath Chaim Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, 826 Hazelwood Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa 15217. www.schugar.com

SCHWARTZ: Walter Stanley Schwartz, age 76, of Franklin Park, died peacefully in his sleep on May 23, 2019. Devoted husband for 23 years to Gwen Schwartz. Beloved father and stepfather of Bart (Daryn) Schwartz, Peter (Lynn) Schwartz, Darrah (Lance) Rhinehart and Brena Price. Doting grandfather to Evan, Aaron, Stuart and Michael Schwartz. Brother to Mark and Gerald. A lifelong Pittsburgher, Walter dedicated 30 years of his professional life to K-12 education in Western Pennsylvania as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, primarily in the North Allegheny School District. An alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, he loved to attend Pitt basketball games along with cheering on his cherished Steelers and Penguins. A service for family and friends will be held at the Homewood Cemetery Temple at 1599 S. Dallas Avenue in Pittsburgh on June 2 at 1 p.m. The family of Walter will host a celebration of his life from 4:30 to 8 p.m. on June 2 in North Park at the School House Grove on Walter Road. (From Route 19 take W. Ingomar Road into the Park. Turn left onto Hamilton then slight right onto Walter Road.)

All are welcome to join us for the celebration.

Contributions can be made in honor of Walter to the Marshall Elementary School Library.

Contributions should be mailed to Marshall Elementary School c/o Tina Tomczak at 5135 Wexford Run Road, Wexford, PA 15090.

Professional Services Trusted to Thomas M. Smith Funeral Home & Crematory, Ltd. (Blawnox). www.thomasmsmithfh.com

IZENSON: Irwin Izenson of Delray Beach, Florida, formerly of Pittsburgh, passed away on May 30, 2019. He was born June 16, 1936, to the late Morris and Frances Izenson. Irwin owned and operated Specialty Luggage until his retirement in 2001. He is survived by his high school sweetheart, Ann Goldberg Izenson, who he was married to for over 60 years. He is also survived by daughter Mindy and her husband Philip Rosenberg and their children Andrew, Micah and Jack and his son Jeff and his wife Joanna and their children Eli and Oscar. Also surviving are brothers David and Howard and their wives Cathy and Phyllis, sister-in-law Joanne Goldberg (late Marc Goldberg) and many nieces and nephews. Irv’s pride and joy was his five grandsons. The family would like to thank his caregivers, Marcel, Mark, Julie and Harriet. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. The family requests that donations be made to the Anti-defamation league. www.schugar.com

Unveiling

The unveiling for Murray A. Segal will be held on Sunday, June 7 at 2 p.m. at Tree of Life Memorial Park, Reise Run Road, Franklin Township. Friends and family are invited. PJC

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THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday June 9: William Barron, Rose Blaufeld, Dr. Samuel R. Cohen, Helen Danovitz Berenfield, John Jacob Elling, David Glasser, Sam Gold, Rebecca Kaufman, Jeannette Klein, Evelyn Letwin, Sylvia Rita Lipkind Podolsky, Edna F. Sachs, Bella Schlosser, William Schlosser, Samuel Serbin, Erma A. Weinthal Monday June 10: Rosa Lee Minzenberg Berry, Alfred Bornstein, Louis Cohen, Leah Hansell Freedman, Howell J. Friedlander, David Gould, Rashel Katkisky, Hannah Miller, Robert Moldovan, Dora Schultz, Nathan Shapiro, Daniel Shussett, Paul Stein, Dora Sussman, William F. Weiss Tuesday June 11: Ida Friedman, Dora Samuel Goldfarb, Mollie T. Golomb, Phyllis Elaine Gutmacher, Anna B. Hausman, Michael O. Kohn, Sarah Koppleman, I. Hyman Lerner, Charlotte Perelstine, Nathan Roth, Sarah Y. Rudick, Irving Shapiro, Alex Silverman, Jacob Slome, David Soltz, Helen Tenenouser Wednesday June 12: Morris Borof, Sonia Drucker, Dora Felman, Sarah K. Gellman, Sylvia Gerson, Alvin Abe Golomb, Albert William Hertz, Albert Horn, Freda Horn, Leah Korobkin, Rochelle L. Lubarsky, Tillie Marshall, Helen Ohringer, Fannie Schachter, Nathan Silver, Rhoda Freedel Sternlight, Frances Tenor, Esther Martin Wallie Thursday June 13: Goldie Ackerman, Mollie Goldberg, Charlotte Haffner, Sadie Katz, Sam Kaufman, Ida R. Kovacs, Irwin J. Kravitz, Tobias G. Lang, Clara M. Leon, Naomi Levinson, Sam Match, Frank R. Phillips, Louis A. Safier, David Sanes, Natalie Iris Santos, Rose Supoznick Schwartz, Jennie Raffel Silverman, Hyman Weiner, Edythe L. Wolfe Friday June 14: Aaron Cohen, Rose Blockstein Fisher, Freda Kalik, Gertrude Klein, Abraham Krouse, Dr. David Lipschutz, Louis Ruttenberg, Louis Sable, Theodora Helen Samuels, Morris Shapiro, David Sheffler, Margaret Katherine Stark, Rose H. Weisburgh, Norman Wesoky, William H. Yecies Saturday June 15: Edward Balter, Edith Rodney Berman, Lillian Cazen, Jacob Dickman, Ethel Sofer Frankel, Meyer Gerstein, Fannie Gordon, Claire Biggard Lichtenstul, Morris Oberfield, Charles Zola Pollock, Leonard Robinson, Herman Shapiro, Isadore Thomashefsky

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JUNE 7, 2019 19

Headlines Elections: Continued from page 9

considerations regarding affairs of state and more with personal preservation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to do it because he knew that if heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not going to be prime minister, in a very short period of time, legal procedures will start and he will find himself in court and most likely behind the closed door of the prison,â&#x20AC;? Peri said.

Indeed, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced in February that his office was planning to indict the prime minister after a two-year investigation into bribery, fraud and breach of trust; a hearing

was set for October wherein Netanyahu would be able to plead his case before the indictment was finalized.

Joseph Puder, the mid-Atlantic director of StandWithUs and a long-time columnist for David Horowitzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FrontPage Magazine, concurred on the final point. If Netanyahu does not retain his position come fall, Puder said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;certainly, the opposition will jump on it, and there will be a call to indict him.â&#x20AC;?

But, Puder added, should Netanyahu replicate his spring electoral success, or even surpass it, that would represent a new factor for the attorney general to consider. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The will of the people certainly counts for a great deal,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Lustick doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see much of a chance for

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any non-Likud coalition to take power in the new coalition that will be formed in the fall. He theorized that â&#x20AC;&#x153;a secularist allianceâ&#x20AC;? could form between Yisrael Beytenu and Blue and White â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the primary opposition party that won 35 seats in the April election, led â&#x20AC;&#x153;not by Benny Gantz, but by Yair Lapid.â&#x20AC;?

In the meantime, he noted, little will get done legislatively.

To Peri, the whole affair is indicative of a lack of trust between Israeli voters and their government, and between the politicians themselves (he highlighted the fact that Labor Party leader Avi Gabbay insisted on filming the prime minister during negotiations for a possible coal deal). Moreover, he said, the fact that Netanyahu would use

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legislative power to protect himself was especially unfortunate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In other places,â&#x20AC;? he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;there would have been a revolution.â&#x20AC;?

Puder believes that Netanyahu will do well in the fall, and also said that he sees it as a chance to push Liebermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s party out of a ruling coalition. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The public in Israel is cognizant of the fact that at this time in our historic life thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no substitute for Netanyahu,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Given the breadth of his experiences in foreign affairs and in economic affairs, corruption notwithstanding, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still the best man around.â&#x20AC;? PJC

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Community JFCS presents awards Jewish Family and Community Services held its annual meeting on Tuesday, May 21, marking an emotional year. JFCS has been at the forefront of offering community counseling following the tragedy at the Tree of Life building. Other achievements included an increase in resettled refugees; a new AgeWell Reads program to bring books to homebound seniors; and expanded services and areas in legal services, career development and guardianship. The evening was also inspired by winners of annual awards: Carol Robinson (Howard & Beverly Mermelstein Award for Outstanding Board Leadership), Ronna Scaratow (Dan Stein Agewell Rides Driver of the Year), and Jack and Mimi Halperin (Aryeh Sherman Volunteer of the Year).

u From left: Mermelstein siblings Jan Shaw, Bob Mermelstein and Margie Dubner and award recipient Carol Robinson

HaZamir sings with Pittsburgh HaZamir members sang in solidarity with Pittsburgh at a free concert on May 19 at Temple Sinai. Singers from 20 chapters of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir joined HaZamir Pittsburgh. The concert included the music of Nurit Hirsh and the Pittsburgh premiere of two new works by Cantor Gerald Cohen and HaZamir alumnus Samuel Rosner. Jewish musical styles from across the globe and throughout history were showcased.

p From left: Food Pantry Director Matthew Bolton and recipients Mimi and Jack Halpern

p From left: Leigh Stein, award recipient Ronna Scaratow and Sharyn Stein

Photos courtesy of Erica Dietz

22 JUNE 7, 2019

p Jeremy Berkun, grandson of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation Rabbi Emeritus Alvin Berkun and the late Flora Berkun and member of HaZamir Miami, narrates.

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Photo courtesy of Zamir Choral Foundation

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Community Pittsburgh celebrates Israel Independence Day More than 400 community members celebrated Israel’s Independence Day on May 9. The celebration was organized for the first time by the Israeli community in Pittsburgh. With Israeli folk dancing, sing-alongs, food, music, crafts and games, it felt like home.

p From left: Judith Kayam, Sonia Amram, Marcel Ohayon, Yamit Levy and Noga Ben-David Photo courtesy of Elan Mizrahi

p From left: Kivi Itskowitz and Benji Marcus

Photos by Elan Mizrahi

p From left: Alia Rapport, Sylvia Svoboda

Photo courtesy of Elan Mizrahi

Machers and Shakers

p From left: Rhonda Roth Horvitz, Efraim Tuti, Amit Tuti and Tomer Tuti

Photo courtesy of Anat Talmy

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Lauren Haffner, a student at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School’s Center for Advanced Studies Program, has spent months focused on “Keeping Up With Kindness.” Haffner developed the project after October 27. She met and interviewed community members, including Councilman Corey O’Connor; Bob Nelkin, United Way president & CEO; Shulamit Bastacky, Holocaust survivor; Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha; and Rabbi Chuck Diamond, Kehillah La La and developed the conversations into a fourweek program with second-graders at Pittsburgh Colfax K-8. Students relied on materials presented to model and discuss acts of kindness. Haffner plans to expand “Keeping Up With Kindness” next year to include additional grade levels and schools in Pittsburgh.

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Photo courtesy of Lauren Haffner

JUNE 7, 2019 23

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