January 14, 2022 | 12 Shevat 5782
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Checking in with CheckMates Volunteers help seniors remain independent. Page 3
Candlelighting 4:59 p.m. | Havdalah 6:02 p.m. | Vol. 65, No. 2 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Congregations navigate surging Pittsburgh’s COVID cases female rabbis reflect on 50th anniversary of women in the rabbinate By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
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LOCAL Closing time
Congregations throughout the area are grappling with the challenges posed by the recent surge of COVID cases. Temple David in Monroeville posted this sign last spring when it first reopened for in-person services. Photo by Barbara Fisher
Two diners leave Squirrel Hill. Page 7
LOCAL A merger to bolster immersion
Onward Israel and Birthright join forces. Page 9
By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
D
uring Shabbat services last week, Rabbi Jeremy Weisblatt shared a thought with members of Temple Ohav Shalom about the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases: It is OK to “feel down,” he said, adding that expressing that sentiment was actually aligned with the weekly Torah portion. One of the lessons of Parshat Bo is that, despite hardship, a better tomorrow eventually arrives. As the ancient Israelites learned, following the horrific pain of Egypt there was a triumphant exodus. Likewise, although no one knows when this pandemic will end, there will be a “time to come out of it,” Weisblatt said. Before concluding his message — which was delivered virtually — Weisblatt reminded his congregants that “we need to be safe and smart and move forward as a community.” How to “move forward” — and whether that will occur strictly online — is a question Pittsburgh’s non-Orthodox rabbis and congregations are navigating in light of the newest COVID surge. On Jan. 5, Allegheny County reported 3,392 new infections, marking an all-time high.
At Ohav Shalom, a COVID task force meets each Sunday evening to evaluate whether the upcoming week’s activities should occur in person or not, Weisblatt said. As of Jan. 4, the congregation’s preschool was still meeting in person, and an administrator was still working in the office. But the Shabbat morning services on Jan. 8 were only held on Zoom. At Temple David in Monroeville, “we are continuing as before: in person and on Zoom,” Rabbi Barbara Symons said. While the congregation still gathers in person, Temple David leaders are “monitoring the surge carefully,” Symons added. On Jan. 2, members of the Reopening/ COVID committee at Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill recommended to the executive committee that the congregation return to virtual services, meetings and programs through Jan. 23. The executive committee approved that recommendation, according to Drew Barkley, Temple Sinai’s executive director. “Our goal is to protect everyone as best we can during the omicron surge, with the
022 marks 50 years since Sally Priesand became the first woman in the United States ordained by a rabbinical seminary. The year was 1972 — the height of the women’s liberation movement and the year that President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments into law, thereby prohibiting sex discrimination in any educational program receiving federal financial aid. Priesand, then 25, was ordained by the Reform movement’s Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk, president of the Hebrew Union College‐Jewish Institute of Religion. Two years later, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso became the first woman ordained by the Reconstructionist movement, and in 1985, the Conservative movement ordained its first female rabbi, Amy Eilberg. Since 1972, more than 1,000 female rabbis have been ordained by the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements. There are about a half dozen Orthodox women serving as spiritual leaders in modern Orthodox congregations — a practice which remains controversial in the wider Orthodox community — and are often given the title of rabba, maharat or rabbanit. The Chronicle asked local female rabbis to share their reflections on the occasion of 50 years since Priesand forged the path leading to their own ordinations.
Rabbi Amy Bardack, director of Jewish Life and Learning for Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh
It has been 25 years since my ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1997. I remember my first encounter with a
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