Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 4-15-22

Candlelighting 7:41 p.m. | Havdalah 8:43 p.m. | Vol. 65, No. 15 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Discrimination case against Point Park proceeds

Professor Channa Newman says she’s still “shunned” on campus Page 2

LOCAL Pittsburgh teens volunteer in Israel

Plastic bugs, green onion ‘whips’ and catchy tunes: Pittsburghers’ quirky Passover customs

Please see Pittsburgher, page 12

Connecting community, one meal at a time

Pitt students develop new mealsharing app  The Swedarsky family in Squirrel Hill will finish their seder by singing “The Little Green Frog Song.” It’s a tradition.

Photo courtesy of Josh Swedarsky

A

J

Please see Passover, page 12

LOCAL

t tables worldwide, Passover celebrants recite the Haggadah’s words: “In each generation, a person is obligated to see themselves as if they left Egypt.”

But that’s far from the only tradition

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

Pittsburghers will be continuing this year.

Throughout the area, locals undertake quirky customs, eat cherished dishes and reminisce about Passovers long ago.

For Squirrel Hill resident Susan Goldman,

Page 4

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

Former Pittsburgher welcomed Ukrainian refugees to Moldova ill Shames arrived at the Ukrainian border on March 3 with a sense of community and a set of punching bags.

The former Pittsburgher and fifth-degree black belt in Okinawan karate is a trained social worker and has spent nearly 30 years teaching empowerment self-defense, often helping clients transition from what she described as “victim to hero.”

Shames, 62, made aliyah in 1996. Speaking by phone from her home in Rehovot, Israel, she said she’s worked with pediatric cancer patients and as a rape crisis counselor, but never before on the frontlines of war.

Nonetheless, days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Shames accompanied United Hatzalah, a volunteer-based emergency group, on its humanitarian mission to Moldova, a country bordering Ukraine.

United Hatzalah was looking for medics and people capable of providing psychological first aid to refugees. Shames said she felt compelled to volunteer given the nature of the work and its timeliness.

Citing earlier experience with trauma victims, Shames said there is a “golden period” after an incident occurs “where if we can get to them early enough we will be most effective.”

United Hatzalah has operated in Ukraine since 2016, according to organization representatives. Following Russia’s invasion six weeks ago, United Hatzalah reiterated its support for Ukrainians.

Shames said that before her March 3 arrival, a separate team organized by United Hatzalah created a space for volunteers and refugees.

According to United Hatzalah, a “jump team” arrived at the border of Ukraine and

Winchester Thurston and Sewickley Academy students help out at Children’s Village in Karmiel

Page 18

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LOCAL Meet Jennifer Honig

LOCAL In memoriam: Joan Brest Friedberg

FOOD What to eat after the seder

Art by mihmihmal via iStock Photo

April 15, 2022 | 14 Nisan 5782

Headlines Point Park prof says she’s still ‘shunned’ on campus as litigation proceeds — LOCAL —

By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

C

hanna Newman, a Jewish professor who filed a lawsuit against Point Park University more than two years ago alleging employment discrimination based on her Jewish and Israeli ancestry, says she is still being “isolated” and “shunned” at work.

But her litigation took a step forward last month when federal Judge Mark Hornak issued an 82-page opinion on a motion to dismiss the suit that was filed by Point Park in April 2020. Hornak, Chief United States District Judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania, dismissed several counts in Newman’s 19-count complaint — including her hostile work environment claim and a breach of contract claim — but left intact claims of statutory discrimination and retaliation.

“I’m very relieved we are moving forward, especially since I don’t see any great improvement with the situation at Point Park,” Newman said. “There is continued discrimination against me, hindering my performance as [department] chair and slanderous remarks sometimes made in public even.”

Newman, a Holocaust survivor with U.S., Israeli and Czech citizenship, has been employed by Point Park since 1964. She is the chair of the department of humanities and social sciences and is a professor of French and cultural studies.

In her amended complaint, Newman alleges that Professor Robert Ross, an outspoken critic of Israel, used his position at Point Park to promote “highly anti-Zionist views and activities” and to “foster the

p Channa Newman

Photo by Thomas Mullane

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.” She says that Ross and others sought to have her removed from her position because she did not acquiesce to their one-sided presentation of the conflict.

Newman claims in her complaint that, with the support of Point Park, Ross along with Professor J. Dwight Hines, have “advanced militant and hateful views against Israel and in favor of BDS that are anti-Semitic and lead to the creation of a hostile work environment.” She also claims that Ross and Hines successfully pushed for her removal as the coordinator of the Global Cultural Studies program and that the Point Park administration permitted Ross and Hines to create a Social Justice Program

within the GCS program without consulting or informing her or her department.

Newman alleges that she told the provost of Point Park that she was a Holocaust survivor who “had seen the conflation of social activism with targeting of Jews and Israel,” and that the Social Justice program is “a cover for anti-Semitism.” Ross and Hines ultimately moved it to a different academic department.

The anti-Zionists on campus tried to remove Newman from her position at Point Park through the filing of a Title IX complaint against her, in which a student claimed that Newman made an insensitive comment about the #MeToo movement, Newman alleges in her complaint. She was

exonerated from those charges, but not before she had endured significant maltreatment from the university, including having her classes canceled mid-semester, being prohibited from campus and being denied access to her email — actions she says were not taken against other faculty members accused of Title IX infractions.

In his ruling on Newman’s claims of employment discrimination, Hornak concluded that she had pled facts “sufficient to plausibly show that at least some similarly situated employees engaged in sufficiently ‘nearly identical’ misconduct of which Plaintiff was accused but were not subject to the same array of investigatory procedures and consequences that Defendant imposed on Plaintiff.” The court found that Newman sufficiently pled a claim for employment discrimination based on her age, sex, religion and national origin, as well as sufficient facts to proceed on her unlawful retaliation claim.

“We’re very pleased that the core discrimination claims and retaliation claims are going through to trial,” Newman’s attorney James Lieber said. “We feel like we have a strong case going forward.”

While the court did not find that there was enough evidence for Newman to proceed on her hostile work environment claim, Lieber said his client has filed a new complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “which includes the continuing hostility [she is facing at Point Park] and eventually that issue will be addressed again.”

Newman said she is still troubled by her work conditions and that she continues “to be targeted as someone who is opposed to ‘activism’ — it’s one of those lines given to Please see Professor, page 6

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Headlines ‘All words go to God’— Chabad rabbi gives benediction at Catholic Carlow University — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

H

ave you heard the one about the Hasidic rabbi who offered the prayer at a Catholic college to mark the inauguration of its Black Protestant female president?

No, it’s not the set-up for a joke. Rather, it’s the true story of a deep friendship — the type that’s common in Pittsburgh, where close neighborhoods, large college communities and a willingness to accept others create an opportunity for valued connections between those who might otherwise be considered odd bedfellows.

On March 25, Kathy W. Humphrey was inaugurated as the 11th president of Carlow University, a private Catholic university founded by the Sisters of Mercy. Chabad House on Campus Rabbi Shmuel Weinstein gave the benediction during the ceremony.

Weinstein and his wife, Sara, met Humphrey more than 10 years ago when she was hired as dean of students at the University of Pittsburgh; she later became a vice chancellor there.

“We invited her to Chabad House for a Shabbos meal,” Sara Weinstein recalled. “It’s very memorable because it was a Friday night in February, and there was a snowstorm. She ended up having to walk through the snow to our home after parking.”

That story is emblematic of Humphrey and speaks to her dedication to the students she represents, Sara Weinstein added.

Perhaps more surprising than the budding friendship that began that night was the question Humphrey asked when leaving: “Could I have a Shabbos meal at my house and host Chabad and students? Would you come?”

In fact, Humphrey said that she has hosted many Shabbat dinners in the years following that initial meal at the Weinsteins and has enjoyed every one of them.

“To the point where I know the melodies,” she said. “That’s because of the connection, the relationship and how important it is. My life has been enhanced, and my commitment to being

a voice in places where they are not is something I continue to be engaged with because I’ve learned so much. The only way to be a voice is to stand when others cannot speak.”

The bond between the Weinsteins and Humphrey was further strengthened when the Chabad couple coordinated a trip to Israel in 2018 for Pitt’s administration. It was a journey that proved meaningful for Humphrey.

“It’s the seat of all our religions,” she said. “We had Shabbat dinner at a woman’s home, and it was Ramadan. I could hear people praying.

There was a hum around the city of prayer. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had in my life, to see that convergence of faith.”

The college president said that while she didn’t understand the language, she knew that God heard every word.

Shmuel Weinstein called Humphrey a “pacesetter” during her time at Pitt, saying she encouraged people while there and worked to better understand different communities to break down stereotypes.

That attitude was on full display during Humphrey’s inauguration at Carlow University and spoke to the breadth of relationships she has built in the city. Speakers included not only Weinstein but Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas President Sister Patricia McDermott and Pastor Brian Edmonds, senior pastor of Macedonia Church of Pittsburgh.

The rabbi’s remarks concluded the ceremony.

“I was the last person between people sitting there and leaving for a reception on a Friday afternoon,” he said with a laugh.

As a result, Weinstein realized two things: His remarks would have to be brief, and he would have to grab the crowd’s attention.

The rabbi said that he came to the stage with his short speech atop a ream of paper, which he placed on the lectern with a flourish.

Weinstein told the crowd, “‘I have a lot to say about Kathy,’” he said. “Everyone had a Please see Chabad, page 6

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Headlines Pittsburgh teens volunteer in Israel, meet Ukrainian refugees, on Classrooms Without Borders trip — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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ducator Tsipy Gur has long known that lessons often are best learned outside a classroom. Last month, a cohort of Pittsburgh teens proved the point.

From March 13-23, eight students from Winchester Thurston School and Sewickley Academy joined Gur and Classrooms Without Borders to volunteer at Children’s Village in Israel, home to 275 youth between the ages of 5-18.

Located in Karmiel, the Children’s Village provides housing and counseling to youth who primarily come from “distressed families,” said Gur, founder and executive director of CWB, which has partnered with Children’s Village for 18 years. A decade ago Gur increased her involvement with the village by bringing Pittsburgh youth there for service-learning opportunities.

“It’s important to take kids out of their bubbles and into the world,” Gur said.

“When you do this, you empower kids to think about the other and to stop thinking so much about themselves.”

Before last month’s trip, Remmie Greenwald and other members of the Pittsburgh cohort learned about the village and discovered how children are placed within foster homes; how each foster home is run by a married couple who resides there with their children and 10 children from the village; how students in the village attend school in Karmiel; and how after classes, students return to the village for tutoring and to participate in activities, including athletics, art and caring for animals at a petting zoo.

Greenwald, 17, had some preconceptions of what life would be like in a foster home with 10 other kids. The Winchester Thurston

student quickly realized how wrong she was.

“We got there, and it seemed like the kids were happier than me,” Greenwald said.

The kids are “normal,” she continued.

“If you were to see them in school, you wouldn’t know the difference. They don’t look different. They don’t act different. The only thing that’s different is where they live.”

Greenwald spent much of her 10-day stay in Israel volunteering at the village, but on day seven she and the other Pittsburghers got a surprise. During a trip to a nearby absorption center, the group met 13 Ukrainian teenagers and young adults who, due to Russia’s invasion, had left their homes and come to Israel.

“We’ve been through a lot but not like these kids,” Greenwald said. “Most of the kids only had one bag. Some didn’t have parents.”

As of March 29, 15,000 Ukrainian women and children had arrived in Israel, according to HIAS. Winchester Thurston student Tadao Tomokiyo described the speed with which the Ukrainians’ lives changed.

“The day before they left, they didn’t know they were going,” Tomokiyo, 15, said. “These people were completely normal people before the war started, and suddenly their lives were completely changed, and that’s just really crazy to think about.”

Tomokiyo, Greenwald and the other Pittsburghers learned more about the young Ukrainians’ plight while accompanying them on a shopping trip. With about $2,000 — donated by a western Pennsylvanian — the Pittsburgh contingent helped the 13 young Ukrainians buy socks, T-shirts and other items.

Spending time together helped Tomokiyo realize the similarities he and the Ukrainians shared.

In a blog post for CWB, Tomokiyo wrote, Please see CWB, page 22

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p Pittsburghers and Israeli youth congregate outside a park. Photo courtesy of Tadao Tomokiyo

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Headlines Jewish Women in Business: Meet Jennifer Honig — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

J

ennifer Honig believes in the power of transformation.

She is the CEO and founder of Techstra Solutions, a Squirrel Hill-based technology consulting firm that recently celebrated a decade in business.

But technology isn’t where she thought her path would lead. Graduating from Colby College with degrees in economics and art history, Honig saw her future at the crossroads of arts and investment.

“I started to marry two very different disciplines together,” she said. “I worked for the Columbus Museum of Art in development and then at the Mattress Factory as the director of development.”

Honig eventually decided a transformation was needed.

She earned an MBA at Carnegie Mellon University, traded Pittsburgh for New York and worked for Young & Rubicam as a senior vice president of key corporate accounts.

She then was recruited back to Pittsburgh by the start-up community. It was at Young & Rubicam that Honig became more involved in business technology, something she didn’t focus on but couldn’t escape during her time at CMU. “I graduated 30 years ago,” Honig said.

“It was a big deal when we got email and those computer labs. I would say there was an affinity for analytical thinking and technology but not technology as we define it today. We were looking more at the basics of business — marketing, economics — using technology from an operations and technology standpoint.”

Honig ventured further down the technology rabbit hole, helping Young & Rubicam bring in its first global collaborative system and landing the firm’s largest account, part of which included technology. She next worked with several startups before deciding to take a pause. It was time for another transformation: The business executive decided to take some time off to spend with her two daughters, Samantha and Grayson.

“I wanted to start helping to shape their world,” she said.

The CEO credits her husband, Larry, with planting the idea of founding Techstra Solutions.

“My husband and I had a conversation at one point, and I said, ‘I think I’m going to go back.’ He said, ‘You should start your own company.”

Honig said she spent a year pondering the idea before launching Techstra.

“It’s been 10 years,” she said. “It’s evolved over 10 years. I had to find my passion.”

Ask Honig about Techstra, and she’ll say the company delivers impactful solutions

p Jennifer Honig

to clients, especially cloud migration and operationalization. She’ll discuss security and automation and networks and infrastructure and data strategy. Ask about her passion, though, and you’ll get a much simpler answer.

“It’s about solving problems,” she said before explaining her formula: “People, process and technology.”

“Do you have the right types of people with skill sets that are going to make you successful? Process: Can we do it more efficiently or define new processes that are

Photo provided by Jennifer Honig

streamlined and scalable? And then technology: What solution makes the most sense based on the business’s requirements?”

Honig said that what differentiates her leadership style and Techstra from other consulting firms is something she learned working in the arts community: the ability to color outside the lines.

“For me and Techstra Solutions, transformation is that messy, creative process,” she said. “You have to be willing to get down Please see Honig, page 22

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Calendar Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions also will be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q FRIDAY, APRIL 15 Join Chabad of the South Hills for a Passover seder. The meal will include gourmet cuisine and an international kosher wine selection. Discover the meaning of the seder rituals. Hebrew and English readings, no prior knowledge. Adult $45; Children $18. 7:30 p.m. 1701 McFarland Road. southhills.chabadsuite.net/civicrm/event/ register?reset=1&id=17. q SUNDAYS, APRIL 17-MAY 22 Join a lay-led Online Parashah Study Group to discuss the week’s Torah portion. No Hebrew knowledge is needed. The goal is to build community while deepening understanding of the text. 8:30 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q MONDAYS, APRIL 18-MAY 23 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q TUESDAY, APRIL 19-MAY 10 Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Seeds of Resilience: Growing through Grief, a holistic support group, as they journey to address grief through the healing power of gardening. This fiveweek program involves self-expression through gardening and writing. The group is open to all adults who have experienced grief, no matter where they are on their healing journey, and offers an opportunity to connect and grow with others.

10.27 Healing Partnership, third floor, Squirrel Hill JCC, 5738 Forbes Ave. Noon. To register, visit 1027healingpartnership.org.

Professor: Continued from page 2

students to turn them against me and steer them to [the] Social Justice [department].

Defamation is still in the air. The effect is still palpable.”

“There is a general unwillingness to acknowledge what was done to me, which was horrendous,” she added. “I am looking forward to the truth coming out and to having justice prevail.”

Newman is concerned that if her case is not resolved favorably, a negative precedent could be set for other Jewish students and faculty — at Point Park and elsewhere — who speak out in support of Israel.

“It could put any Jewish person in danger and intimidate them from ever speaking out against antisemitism and anti-Zionism,” she said. “The one who points it out becomes the target. That’s what happened to me. I don’t

Chabad: Continued from page 3

nervous look on their face.” The tension broke when he let the crowd in on the joke and removed the pile of paper, revealing his short, two-minute speech.

The rabbi spoke of the importance of the 6

APRIL 15, 2022

q TUESDAYS, APRIL 19-MAY 24 Sign up now for Melton Core 2, Ethics and Crossroads of Jewish Living. Discover the central ideas and texts that inform our daily, weekly and annual rituals, as well as life cycle observances and essential Jewish theological concepts and ideas as they unfold in the Bible, the Talmud and other sacred texts. $300. 9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh. org/melton-2. q WEDNESDAYS, APRIL 20, 27 The National Council of Jewish Women, along with JFCS, presents Help with LinkedIn, a threeworkshop series that will get you up and running on LinkedIn. Starting with the basics of creating a profile and moving into networking, learning to navigate this powerful job search and networking tool can assist you in your career. Sign up for any number of the learning sessions. ncjwpghevents. org/upcoming-events. q WEDNESDAYS, APRIL 20 -MAY 25 Bring the parshah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful. Study the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman.

12:15 p.m. bethshalompgh.org/life-text.

Join Temple Sinai to study the weekly Torah portion in its hybrid class available on Zoom.

Open to everyone. Noon. templesinaipgh.org/ event/parashah/weekly-torah-portion-class-viazoom11.html. q WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20 Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for its monthly meeting at Rodef Shalom Congregation’s Falk Library. Cyndie Carioli, senior justice advocate for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, will speak about elder abuse, focusing on financial abuse. Proof of COVID vaccinations and face mask required. 1 p.m.

For more information call 412-656-5803.

discussion of April’s book “The Vixen” by Francine Prose. 1:15 p.m. templesinaipgh.org.

with action points. Noon. ncjwpghevents.org/events/ child-care-advocacy-101.

q SUNDAY, APRIL 24

q SATURDAY, APRIL 30

Join the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and Prime Stage Theatre for “The White Rose.” This play by James DeVita remembers Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans and their friends who created the anti-Nazi resistance group, The White Rose. 1 p.m. Prime Stage Theatre. $10. primestage.com/education/ engage-program.

Join Temple Sinai to watch “An American Pickle.” Stay afterward to talk about it. 7 p.m. templesinaipgh.org.

q TUESDAY, APRIL 26 The Arab-Israeli conflict plays a large (some would claim outsized) role in current events. This course aims to unpack the causes and core issues that relate to the Conflict. The goal is to make the subject accessible to educators and to give them the tools with which to grapple in the classroom with the subject at large and with breaking news. 2 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/arab_israeli_conflict. q THURSDAY, APRIL 28-MAY 8 Attend the JFilm Festival in-person and online.

The festival will showcase 18 Jewish-themed, independent feature films from around the world.

There will also be exclusive virtual Film Schmooze discussions and you will have a chance to vote on your favorite film. The festival will screen three films in person, including the Pittsburgh premiere of the locally filmed “Cha Cha Real Smooth” and the world premiere of “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” along with 15 films screening virtually.

For more information, visit FilmPittsburgh.org. q FRIDAY, APRIL 29

q SUNDAY, MAY 1 The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the next Chronicle Book Club meeting. We will be discussing “The Seven Good Years” by Etgar Keret.

12 p.m. on Zoom. To register, email David Rullo at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for its virtual Yom HaZikaron ceremony honoring soldiers who gave their lives to defend the state of Israel and victims of terror. 8 p.m. jewishpgh.org/ event/yom-hazikaron-2 q TUESDAY, MAY 3 Antisemitism is on the rise in the United States and around the world. Recent events caused many of us to feel anxious and upset. We often do not know what to do with these overwhelming feelings. Join JFCS for Facing Antisemitism: Conversation and Support, as its professionals listen and offer support and coping resources. Noon. jfcspgh.org/ antisemitism. q SUNDAY, MAY 15 Celebrate 74 Years of Independence for the Jewish state of Israel with the Pittsburgh Jewish community while enjoying Israeli culture and cuisine at Yom Ha’atzmaut: A Taste of Israel. Sample Israeli cuisine, participate in joyous Israeli dancing, have fun with the kids at an arts and crafts table and bring a picnic blanket so you can spread out on the grass and enjoy the day. $10 per person; kids under 10 are free. Noon. jewishpgh.org/event/yomhaatzmaut-2. PJC

Meet the Temple Sinai Book Group for its

Join the National Council of Jewish Women for Child Care Advocacy 101. Hear from child care advocates about developments in child care in the region and state. Learn successful strategies to advocate for your needs as a working parent to your legislators, employers or anybody who will listen! Discuss the importance of storytelling in advocacy and leave

want this to be repeated.”

Newman’s case has garnered national attention and, in 2020, The Lawfare Project, a nonprofit whose attorneys pursue legal action to combat civil rights violations of Jewish people worldwide, got involved.

“Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for university professors to be vilified, shunned, harassed and retaliated against, simply for objecting to anti-Zionist agendas that are being peddled by their peers under the pretense of teaching human rights,” said Ziporah Reich, Lawfare’s director of litigation and co-counsel in the Newman case. “This is part of a larger campaign that seeks to squeeze out Jewish professors in order to eliminate opposition to antiJewish curriculums.

“What happened to Dr. Newman at Point Park University was particularly egregious because professors collaborated with students to falsely accuse the professor — who had a 50-year unblemished teaching history at the

university — of a Title IX violation,” Reich continued. “To add insult to injury, university administrators not only failed to protect Dr. Newman’s rights during the Title IX investigation, but they refused to protect her from the bullying that ensued when she returned to campus after the charges against her were found to be totally baseless.”

Last month’s ruling on Point Park’s motion to dismiss “is one small step on the path to justice,” Reich said.

Point Park University declined to comment.

But in an April 2020 opinion piece for the Chronicle, Point Park’s then-president, Paul Hennigan, wrote: “All forms of anti-Semitism, which includes support for the BDS movement, generally defined as Palestinian-led campaign promoting various forms of boycott against Israel, has no place at Point Park University.” Hennigan retired from Point Park in 2021.

Ross, one of the two anti-Zionist professors referenced in Newman’s complaint, declined

to be interviewed; instead, he emailed the following statement to the Chronicle: “I am thrilled that Judge Hornak has dismissed all counts related to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Judge Hornak’s ruling confirms that BDS is a legitimate, legal form of protest, which in no way targets or harms individuals. This sweeping dismissal is a victory for the movement for Palestinian rights and liberation and should be celebrated by all who care about peace, justice, and equity.”

Lieber disagrees with Ross’ assessment of Hornak’s opinion.

The judge, Lieber said, “found it plausible that Channa Newman was targeted as an Israeli and a Jew. The amended complaint makes clear that anti-Zionists were very involved in attempting to harm her career.” PJC

Torah in Jewish life and the spiritual significance of the numbers 8 and 11 in Jewish tradition — Humphrey is the university’s 11th president.

Speaking as a friend, Weinstein said during his speech: “Kathy, everyone who knows you understands that you exhibit these same traits — you love peace, and you love people.”

For Humphrey, the mix of various faiths

and traditions was not unusual or even special, she said. Instead, she recalled words spoken to her by Bishop David Zubik when, asked during dinner to give grace, she remarked that she didn’t know Catholic grace.

“He said, ‘Kathy, all words go to God,’” she recalled. “That’s really where I believe I am and the very nature of where we are as

a university. The greatest commandment is that we love the Lord. The second is that I love my neighbor as myself. I hope that what we’re demonstrating is just that — you don’t love your neighbor from a distance. You embrace and love your neighbor.” PJC

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Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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

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Headlines Joan Brest Friedberg, founder of Beginning with Books, dies at 94 — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

J

oan Brest Friedberg, a book aficionado quick to relate to individuals and families whom society sometimes marginalized, died on March 13. She was 94.

Friedberg received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972 and taught composition there as adjunct faculty. She will be most warmly remembered, however, for Beginning with Books, the literacy program she founded in 1984 with friend Elizabeth Segel that focused on providing quality books to low-income families and promoted reading aloud to babies and children.

“Joan was a very thoughtful, kind and generous person, who cared very much about her family and her community,” said Susan Brownlee, retired director of The Grable Foundation, which helped financially support Beginning with Books. “I think it was their compassion and generosity that made the program work.”

Born in Boston, Friedberg grew up on a chicken farm in rural Massachusetts, which her parents helped buy after the stock market crashed in 1929 to weather the Great Depression. There, she attended a two-room school and developed an appreciation for living a full life despite obstacles, said her

youngest child, Susan Friedberg and it was always a pleasure to Kalson. Years later, Friedberg’s father work with her,” Kellman said. died unexpectedly during her senior “I think what she did for chilyear at Bryn Mawr College. dren and books was amazing.

“It was a complete shock, and It contributed a lot to making I think she carried that with her,” Pittsburgh a better city.”

Kalson said. “And I think she carried David Bartholomae, a professor p Joan Brest the experiences of those who were Friedberg and Charles Crow chair, emeritus different than her, too.”

Photo courtesy of in the University of Pittsburgh’s Friedberg family English Friedberg met her husband of department, met 55 years, the late Simeon A. Friedberg, at a Friedberg when he arrived on campus in 1975. family birthday party after moving to New In addition to teaching, Friedberg was active York City following her graduation from in the school’s children’s literature program.

Bryn Mawr, Kalson said.

“Like most English departments, Pitt’s “He saw my mother … and he just fell relied — as it continues to rely — on a head over heels in love with her,” she said. talented and inventive and dedicated adjunct The two corresponded daily by mail staff to teach required, lower-division writing — Friedberg in New York working for courses,” Bartholomae said. “My job was to “Publisher’s Weekly,” Simeon Friedberg help ‘direct’ this program, a program whose studying in graduate school in his native teachers were far more experienced than I Pittsburgh. They met in June 1949 and got was. Joan was one of the leaders among this married in September 1950, eventually having group. I learned much from her, and I remain grateful to this day for the kindness and three children and settling in Pittsburgh.

“They barely knew each other,” Kalson said, generosity she showed to a new colleague.”

“She was a great colleague and teacher,” “but they had this literary romance, this letter writing. And they had a wonderful marriage.” he added, “stern and demanding but also Amy Kellman served as the head of chil- generous and professional.” dren’s and young adult services for Carnegie Friedberg also taught younger chilLibrary of Pittsburgh for years. At one point, dren in the 1980s at The Carriage House she was based in the Homewood branch of in Squirrel Hill. the library system, out of which Beginning Others from Pitt remembered Friedberg’s with Books was operating. legacy by raving about Beginning with Books.

“Joan had very definite ideas about books, “Beginning with Books was an innovative

program for promoting literacy to young children in our city, which began by giving out boxes of free books to families at well baby clinics in low-income communities and which later had its own story-mobile,” said Courtney Weikle-Mills, who arrived at Pitt to teach after Friedberg had left. “While the program is no longer in existence, at least one of its alums has gone on to a major career in children’s media; Chris Loggins, the supervising producer for ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,’ got his start with Beginning with Books, driving the story-mobile.”

“They touched thousands of children,” Kalson said. “They went into really distressed communities and brought books to providers, and taught parents how to read to their children.”

Above all, Friedberg was compassionate.

Kalson recalled a family trip to New York City, where, after surfacing from the Holland Tunnel, the family’s car was approached by a homeless man looking to clean windshields for change.

“That poor man,” Kalson remembers her mother saying. “He was once somebody’s baby, too.”

“It was never about her, it was always about the work,” Kalson added. “She was a wonderful person — and I miss her so much.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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APRIL 15, 2022 7

Headlines — WORLD — ‘Nazi Grandma’ sentenced to a year in jail

Germany’s infamous “Nazi Grandma,” 93-year-old German Holocaust denier Ursula Haverbeck, was sentenced to a year in jail, after her appeal to overturn guilty verdicts in two separate cases failed, JTA reported.

The Berlin district court upheld verdicts against Haverbeck on April 1 and sentenced her to a year in prison for incitement to hate.

At issue were her statements denying the Holocaust at a public event in Berlin in 2017, as well as her related comments in an interview in 2020 disseminated online. It is illegal in Germany to deny or trivialize the Holocaust or to glorify Nazi propaganda and philosophy.

Presiding judge Lisa Jani rejected Haverbeck’s appeal, noting that Haverbeck showed no remorse or reconsideration of her views. Her age was irrelevant, Jani added.

According to Deutsche Welle, Jani told Haverbeck point blank that she was “not a Holocaust researcher [but] a Holocaust denier” who was “spreading poison, not knowledge.”

Haverbeck remains a free woman for now: She can appeal again, which would send the case to the Berlin Superior Court.

Haverbeck’s late husband, Werner Georg Haverbeck, was a right-wing extremist and member of the Nazi Party and held high positions in the early years of the Hitler regime.

2 Jews shot and wounded while trying to visit Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus

Two Hasidic Jews were shot and wounded on Monday while trying to visit Joseph’s Tomb, a shrine in the West Bank city of Nablus believed by some to be the burial site of Joseph, the son of the biblical patriarch Jacob.

The two men did not coordinate their visit with Israel’s army, which typically escorts groups to the site a few times a year, according to Israeli media.

The shooting came one day after the shrine became the site of a riot when a group of about 100 Palestinians vandalized the site and set parts of the shrine on fire.

Israel is currently experiencing a wave of violence ahead of the convergence of the holidays of Ramadan, Passover and Easter.

Three Israelis were killed by a gunman in Tel Aviv last week and terrorists, some identified with the Islamic State group, killed 11 people within Israel’s 1967 borders over the course of a week last month.

European Jewish Congress head Moshe Kantor resigns following UK sanctions

Moshe Kantor, the Russia-born president of the European Jewish Congress, resigned after the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on him because of his alleged involvement with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s

We wish you a Happy Passover

regime, JTA reported.

Kantor, a dual citizen of Russia and Britain who has lived in London for more than a decade, resigned on April 8 after being included on a list of eight people that the British government decided to punish in connection with Russia’s war on Ukraine.

He is among eight “oligarchs” active in industries “which Putin uses to prop up his war economy,” the British government announced. The sanctions include the freezing of their assets in the United Kingdom.

Kantor is a large shareholder of the publicly traded firm Acron, one of Russia’s largest fertilizer producers.

In its statement, the European Jewish Congress said it was “shocked by the decision of the British government” to sanction Kantor.

“He is a long-standing and respected Jewish leader, who has dedicated his life to the security and well-being of Europe’s Jewish communities and the fight against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia,” the statement read.

Forbes 2022 billionaires list includes 30 Israelis

There are 30 Israeli billionaires on Forbes’ 2022 list, led by Eyal Ofer, chairman of Ofer Global Holdings, Globes reported.

Ofer is ranked 117th with $15.4 billion, while his brother Idan, the controlling

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APRIL 15, 2022

Seven of 10 Israeli bus drivers not working during Passover, Ramadan

The union of Israeli bus companies said 70% of Israeli bus drivers across the country won’t work during the upcoming holidays, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The Public Transport Forum said the extreme number of absentees is because Passover, Ramadan and Easter coincide in April. That means Israeli Muslims, Jews and Christians will miss work to celebrate their respective holidays.

The forum said it is requesting to significantly lower its transport operations during the holidays. The union said it has asked the Transportation Ministry’s National Public Transport Authority to lower the fines levied for not keeping up with bus schedules. PJC — Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

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

April 15, 1936 — Arab rebellion breaks out

An Arab uprising begins when 10 cars are attacked, and three Jews are killed in an apparent robbery near Tulkarm. Violence lasts until 1939, and the British shift toward pro-Arab policies.

April 16, 1983 — Watches, art are stolen from Islamic museum

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shareholder in Israel Corp. and Kenon Holdings, placed 118th with $10.5 billion.

They were followed by Dimitry and Igor Bukhman, who own the online gaming company Playrix at 275th with $8.5 billion and tech entrepreneur Yuri Milner at 324th with $7.3 billion.

Miriam Adelson, the Israeli-born widow of Sheldon Adelson, ranked 50th with $27.5 billion, but Forbes counted her as based in the United States because she inherited his casino empire.

In what may be the costliest heist since modern Israel’s founding, watches, clocks and paintings wor t h tens of millions of dollars are stolen from the Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem.

April 17, 1954 — Nasser is named Egypt’s premier

Gamal Abdel Nasser, who leads wars against Israel in 1956 and 1967, is appointed Egypt’s prime minister at age 36. Nasser becomes president under a new constitution in 1956.

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April 18, 1996 — 106 Lebanese civilians are killed at Qana

An Israeli artillery barrage kills 106 civilians sheltering in a U.N. compound in the village of Qana in southern Lebanon during an anti-Hezbollah offensive named Operation Grapes of Wrath.

April 19, 1977 — Carter Team meets on middle east

President Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy team agrees on its approach to the Middle East, including a regional peace conference during 1977, but fails to consider that Likud might win May’s election.

April 20, 1965 — Shrine of the Book opens

The Shrine of the Book, built to house the Dead Sea Scrolls, opens as a wing of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Its white domed roof is inspired by the lids of the jars that held the scrolls in Qumran.

April 21, 1947 — 2 Jewish militants kill themselves

Moshe Barazani, 20, of Lehi (the Stern Gang) and Meir Feinstein, 19, of the Irgun kill themselves with a grenade smuggled into their prison cell to prevent the British from hanging them the next morning. PJC

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Headlines Steve Irwin is familiar with unfamiliar territory — LOCAL —

By Matthew Kassel | Jewish Insider

L

ast summer, a couple of months before announcing that he would run for Congress, Steve Irwin, an attorney and longtime Democratic activist in Pittsburgh, was traveling through rural Pennsylvania as he considered a separate bid for lieutenant governor. “What I saw,” he said in a recent interview with Jewish Insider, “was really unsettling.”

The many Confederate flags that he had encountered were enough to make him “sick,” but equally if not more disturbing to Irwin, who is Jewish, was the sight of what he described as “Nazi memorabilia” at the county fairs he had visited during his peregrinations across the state. “It’s there,” he cautioned. “But I know what it’s like to feel like being the other.”

Beginning at the age of 10, Irwin says he was subject to overt and occasionally violent acts of antisemitic prejudice when he suddenly found himself among one of the only Jewish students in class after his family moved from Queens to the decidedly unfamiliar new territory of St. Petersburg, Florida. “I was very much in the minority,” Irwin recalled, and soon enough, “word got out” that he was different. “People literally thought we had horns, I mean literally thought we had horns,” he said. “I was really ridiculed. I was proselytized to every day at lunch. I was beaten up. Our house was egged.”

Irwin, now 62, recounted one particularly vivid anecdote that occurred around Christmastime in fifth grade when, during his first year in Florida, he returned home from school holding “a little red New Testament,” alarming his mother. “She went in to the principal and said, ‘What is this?

This is a public school,’” Irwin told JI. “You know what they said? ‘No problem, we’ll have Steve go around to every class and tell them about Hanukkah,’ and that was the beginning of my public speaking experience.

I literally went around every holiday.”

It was just one of several formative episodes, some more positive than others, that helped shape Irwin’s early self-conception as he navigated an environment that could often feel overwhelmingly hostile to his faith. “My Judaism was very much bigger in my life than it ever had been before,” he explained. But his Jewish identity, he added, “was really developed through those experiences.”

Such memories are fresh in Irwin’s mind as he mounts his first bid for public office in Pennsylvania’s newly drawn 12th Congressional District, where four years ago, a lone gunman carried out the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, killing 11 people and wounding six at the Tree of Life building in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.

“We all are suffering from post-traumatic stress from that event,” said Irwin, a former congregant at Tree of Life who says he knew half of those who were murdered. “It’s something that we continue to be experiencing, the whole tragedy,” he added. “We’re in the

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p Steve Irwin

Photo courtesy of Steve Irwin

middle of it still. The trial hasn’t occurred.”

At the same time, he said, sounding a note of optimism, the Jewish community in Pittsburgh has since built a diverse array of meaningful relationships across the interfaith spectrum, including with local Muslim leaders and Black clergy members who reached out after the shooting to lend their support.

“We’ve gotten closer in so many ways here in Pittsburgh because of Tree of Life,” said Irwin, a representative for the Anti-Defamation League’s Midwest regional board who has long been involved in organized Jewish life in Pennsylvania. “We’ve built bridges.”

Since he launched his campaign last November, Irwin — who shares a name but no relation with the late Australian crocodile hunter — has carved out a lane for himself as the leading establishment candidate in the May 17 primary. He recently notched a major endorsement from outgoing Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), who said in a statement that Irwin would “work with” President Joe Biden “to pass an agenda that helps working people” and that he would “deliver results.”

“I’ve got all this experience and we’ve got all these problems that we’re facing,” Irwin told JI. “I’m watching the way that government’s responding to the pandemic, I’m watching what’s happening with antisemitism, I’m looking at what’s happening throughout the world and the existential challenges that we face here in this region and beyond. I said, ‘I need to step up.’”

Irwin’s chief rival, Summer Lee, is a rising star in local progressive politics now finishing her second term as a state legislator. The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist — who, if elected, would become Pennsylvania’s first Black congresswoman — has consolidated support from the activist left at the state and national levels. Her coalition includes such

like-minded progressives as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) as well as organized labor groups and the Sunrise Movement.

The other Democratic candidates in the race include Jerry Dickinson, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Jeff Woodard, the executive director of Pennsylvania College Access Program.

While Irwin says he supported Lee and donated to her campaign when she unseated an entrenched Democratic incumbent in 2018 — part of a wave of progressive upsets that have recently disrupted the Democratic status quo in Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs — he argues that she is ultimately unqualified for the House. “She just hasn’t been around long enough,” said Irwin.

“We need someone who knows how to get things done and is going to get things done.

That’s my definition of progressivism: We make progress.”

Irwin himself has never held elected office but previously worked in the administration of Ed Rendell, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, and before that served as a legislative assistant for Arlen Specter, the late senator who was then a Republican. He decided to “cross the line” and join Specter’s staff because the senator, who later became a Democrat, “had a reputation as being very moderate,” a quality that Irwin suggested he would bring to the House as well.

“I feel that I’m a bridge-builder,” he told JI, arguing that his recent experience working with both Democrats and Republicans as the state advisory board chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission has prepared him for tough negotiations. “I don’t see my chief opponent in this race as someone who is accomplishing that.”

His criticism underscores a central

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animating tension between mainstream and progressive Democrats, who are preparing to face off in a number of increasingly contentious primary battles for safely blue House seats this cycle while sparring over such issues as infrastructure spending and American foreign policy in the Middle East.

For his part, Irwin took particular issue with Lee’s past statements on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, which, as in recent primaries in other post-industrial cities like Cleveland and the Bronx, is now emerging as a divisive issue in the race. “The things that she has suggested and said do not indicate a strong conviction that Israel has a right to exist and is recognized as a valid Jewish homeland,” Irwin charged. “To deny Israel’s central place in Judaism is a real problem for me.”

Lee’s public statements on the conflict appear limited to just a couple of social media comments during the war in Gaza last May. In one tweet, she argued that the “US has nvr shown leadership in safeguarding human rights of folks its othered,” drawing a parallel between the shooting of Trayvon Martin and Israel’s military actions amid escalating violence with Hamas. Taking aim at “American pols” who “use the refrain ‘Israel has the right to defend itself ’ in response to undeniable atrocities on a marginalized pop,” Lee said she couldn’t “help but think of how the west has always justified indiscriminate& disproportionate force &power on weakened & marginalized ppl.”

Asked to corroborate Irwin’s claim that his opponent does not believe Israel has a right to exist, his campaign manager, Alistair Glover, described Lee as a “vocal critic of Israel.” Citing her recent tweets, Glover said that Lee had “compared Israel’s actions Please see Irwin, page 13

APRIL 15, 2022 9

Opinion Stop the war crimes — EDITORIAL —

A

s we gather around our seder tables this week, we encourage serious discussion about the reported atrocities being perpetrated by the Russian war machine against defenseless civilians in Ukraine. According to reports, Russian forces have left a shocking trail of death in their wake. The Russian army’s retreat from the Kyiv area — and particularly from Bucha — left disturbing evidence and horrific stories of massive execution of civilians. Russian missiles have targeted hospitals, schools and places where civilians are known to shelter — including the graphic images we have all seen of the pregnant woman being carried

out of a maternity hospital that had just been bombed. The woman and her baby both died.

And last Friday, another missile struck a train station where thousands of people, mostly women and children, had gathered. The Russian war effort’s apparent careless disregard for human life is profoundly troubling.

If the reports are credible — and we have no reason to distrust them — they paint an ugly picture of atrocities that cannot be ignored.

Our government must continue to lead world outrage with meaningful action. Last week, the Senate unanimously passed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 — similar to the lend-lease act designed to help Britain against Nazi attacks before the U.S. entered World War II — which would enable the U.S. to provide military

equipment and other resources that Ukraine could use now and pay for at a later date.

We support the ramping up of sanctions against Russia and the continuation of significant funding for military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. These efforts are the right thing to do, and prompt action will help us avoid anything similar to the painful guilt and recriminations many feel from knowing that the U.S. fell short in the 1930s and ’40s by not admitting more Jewish refugees during the Holocaust and from reluctance to bomb railways leading to Nazi concentration camps. So now, we are proud to see America’s quick and meaningful responses to Russia’s Ukraine outrages and U.S. leadership in the unification of our allies.

But we add a word of caution: In discussing

the horror of Russia’s behavior and callous disregard for human life, be careful what you call it. What is happening in Ukraine is unforgivable. But it is too glib to label the war crimes being committed in Ukraine as “another Holocaust.” It isn’t. It is its own horrible thing, and the inhuman behavior deserves vilification and condemnation.

But comparing Ukraine to the Holocaust is unnecessary, and doing so diminishes the unique suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust and the Ukrainian people now.

During Passover, we imagine ourselves to be with our ancestors on the night of their redemption. We make their story our story.

This year, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our brethren in Ukraine. And let’s be part of their salvation. PJC

No, Secretary Blinken, Palestinian terror is not ‘senseless’ Guest Columnist David Suissa

H

ow many times have we heard Western voices call terror acts “senseless”? We heard it again last week after a Palestinian terrorist murdered three Israelis and injured several others on trendy Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.

After saying that “Americans are, once again, grieving with the Israeli people in the wake of another deadly terrorist attack,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken added that the U.S. “stands resolutely in the face of senseless terrorism and violence.”

But is the violence really senseless, Mr. Blinken?

It may be for you, but it’s not for the terrorists. They think their terror has a purpose. If you despise Jews and think they don’t belong in the Middle East, killing them gives you

purpose. If it makes you sick to see Jews you hate having fun in a cool city like Tel Aviv, killing them gives you purpose. And if you fall for the propaganda from your corrupt leaders that Jews will soon take over your holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem, killing Jews is anything but senseless.

Since the birth of Israel 74 years ago, virtually every act of violence against the Jewish state has been connected to an overarching belief among Palestinians that Jews don’t belong in this region, regardless of any legitimate claims of a Jewish connection to the land.

In spreading the propaganda of Jews as foreigners and land thieves, Palestinian leaders know that nothing fires up the masses like Jerusalem, Israel’s biblical heartbeat.

“We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem. This is pure blood, clean blood, blood on its way to Allah. With the help of Allah, every martyr will be in heaven, and every wounded will get his reward.”

Those fighting words were uttered on Sept. 26, 2015, by Palestinian Authority

— LETTERS — Recognizing Palestinian hopelessness will not rein in the violence

I would like to express my profound disagreement with the opinions expressed by Professor Dennis Jett in his article recently published (April 8) in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. His main thesis is that the Palestinians have resorted to terrorism because “(w)hen people live without hope, it can prompt some to snap and turn to violence.” While I agree with that statement in principle, it is hardly applicable to the present situation. Violence against the Zionist enterprise is far from a new phenomenon caused by Arab hopelessness. It has a long history.

It predated the Jewish state by several decades. Its motivation was not then — and it is not now — a result of hopelessness. It is a tactic, encouraged by those (Hamas and Palestinian Authority) that Jett correctly characterizes as kleptocracies.

If the Palestinian Arab violence were directed at their leadership, I would concede the professor’s point. But since the violence is directed at innocent Jews, citizens of Israel, including even Arab citizens, I draw the line and do not accept that recognizing so-called Palestinian hopelessness will have any effect on reining in the violence.

The real truth is that Palestinians, spurred on by their corrupt leadership do not yet recognize the right of Israel to exist. Israel has offered, on multiple occasions, generous terms for a Palestinian state if it would coexist peacefully with her. She unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. Left behind were valuable orchards as a good-faith move. It was greeted by Hamas hostility. Rocket fire onto Israeli territory became commonplace. It was to be “Gaza first.” If things went smoothly there, then the West Bank would be next. How well did that turn out?

10

APRIL 15, 2022

leader Mahmoud Abbas, whom many consider Israel’s “peace partner.”

Two weeks later, on Oct. 1, Palestinian terrorists murdered an Israeli couple, Eitam and Naama Henkin, in cold blood in front of their four children, who ranged in age from 9 years old to 4 months.

Did these terrorists believe the murders were senseless? I doubt it.

The fundamental problem with characterizing terror as senseless is that it lets you off the hook. By depersonalizing the violence, by ignoring its root, you turn it into a terrible but generic crime where everyone is treated the same.

But Palestinian terror against Israelis is no generic crime. It is intentional violence rooted in a deep, singular hatred. This truth may make sophisticated diplomats like Secretary Blinken uncomfortable, but that won’t make it go away. Until Western leaders have the courage to connect Palestinian terror to the anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist propaganda that emanates from every nook and cranny of Palestinian society,

peace and reconciliation will remain delusional pipe dreams.

If the United States is serious, in other words, about “standing resolutely” against Palestinian terror, it will have to connect the dots of terror and Jew-hatred.

Until then, we’ll be left with empty reactions like, “This has to stop!” That tweet came from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides, who added after the Tel Aviv attacks that he was “horrified to see another cowardly terror attack on innocent civilians.”

I can assure you, Mr. Nides, that the large crowds in Gaza and the West Bank who celebrated the Tel Aviv attacks did not consider the terrorist a coward, and they certainly didn’t see the murders as “senseless.”

It is the treating of intentional terror as senseless that is really senseless. PJC David Suissa is editor-in-chief and publisher of Tribe Media Corp, and Jewish Journal. He can be reached at davids@jewishjournal.com.

This article was first published by the Jewish Journal and republished by JNS.

Jett also blames the Abraham Accords for enhancing Palestinian hopelessness. Maybe so.

Many Arab nations have given up on them and condemn their whining. Even they see that, by accepting Israel’s existence, peace and prosperity is possible if the Palestinians and their leaders truly want it.

If any group should feel hopeless, it would be those Israelis who live in constant fear of terror. Should the message to those besieged people be that it is OK to go on killing sprees?

Of course not. And the professor would not, in a million years, suggest that behavior is acceptable if the shoe were on the other foot.

Robert Ennis Pittsburgh

Why publish an opinion piece that blames the victim?

Who would have imagined that, in the week following a spate of horrific terrorist murders in Israel, Pittsburgh’s Jewish newspaper would feature a guest columnist who essentially blamed the victim? (“We must reflect on the ‘whys’ of terrorism,” April 8.)

What prompted the Chronicle to invite Dennis Jett to share his poorly informed and simplistic views on Osama Bin Laden, school shootings and killings in Israel?

Evidently ignorant of bin Laden’s widely known revulsion for Western ways and values, Jett asserts that the 9/11 attacks were the result of nothing more than hatred of America’s stationing of troops in a Saudi Arabia governed by a “corrupt” monarchy.

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Please see Letters, page 11

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Opinion Chronicle poll results: Iran nuclear deal

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ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Should the U.S. reenter the Iran nuclear deal if its terms are essentially the same as they were in 2015?”

Of the 162 people who responded, 40% said, “No, not under any circumstances,” and 33% said “Yes.” Twenty-one percent said, “No, not unless the terms are strengthened.” Forty-one people submitted comments. A few follow.

The worst deal since Chamberlain’s “Peace in our time” deal with Hitler.

Buying us a few years isn’t sufficient. The issue is we can’t expect that if we elevate its stature, Iran will become a good actor. It has proven over and over that it can’t be trusted and is not an honest partner.

The good enough shouldn’t be the enemy of the perfect. A good deal is better than no deal.

I am not an American ( I am a Canadian), so I really have no right to comment on American

Should the U.S. reenter the Iran nuclear deal if its terms are essentially the same as they were in 2015?

6%

Don’t know

We must prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. Both the current deal and the old deal do not accomplish that.

21%

40%

No, not unless the terms are strengthened

ongoing security, indeed the security of the entire Middle East, is threatened. The Senate and Congress have to stop using Israel as a football. This is not a zero-sum game.

No, not under any circumstances

33% Yes

policy; however, since in this instance U.S. efforts affect not only Israel and its security but the rest of the world as well, the U.S. needs to stop playing “nice-nice” with dictatorships.

Israel is the pawn in this instance and its

Letters: Continued from page 10

Far more odious is Jett’s proposition that the deaths in Israel’s street are motivated by “people who believe their lives have no hope of improvement,” then “snap and turn to violence.” That must be why these “hopeless” people were passing out candy in celebration of the murders, as they did after 9/11. Or why the “hopeless“ president of the United Kingdom’s National Union of Students prayed for “every last Jew to be killed.”

Why would the Chronicle choose to feature a columnist who writes that “it is not just the authors of the UN report who think Israel is an apartheid state.” Who else? Is he among them? Perhaps, since he goes on to make accusations against Israel that are either ill-informed or unfounded.

Are the general media so devoid of such writings that we need our local Jewish newspaper to seek out more of them? Is it not obscene to publish them when we should be mourning the murders of our Israeli brethren?

If that’s the best it can offer, what is the point of having a Jewish newspaper?

Even under the most optimistic scenario, any agreement that funnels more money into Iran’s coffers would only delay their efforts to produce nuclear weapons, not prevent them.

In the interim, any such infusion of funds would enable and encourage their commitment to provide ever-increasing levels of financial support to terrorist organizations.

We were better off with it before and we will be better off with it again. What alternatives are on offer that are better than this?

Maximum pressure?

The nuclear deal was working before President Trump canceled it. Its main

purpose was to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb. The deal’s terms served this purpose.

Any action that might slow nuclear proliferation should be pursued vigorously.

Any advantage Iran gets to build/stockpile nuclear arms will only strengthen their ability to use them on us, Israel or other Democratic societies, or to eradicate minority populations or use as bargaining chips in building alliances. “Keep your enemies closer?” Not so sure on this one.

We should never have gotten out of it to begin with! Stronger terms would be an improvement, but the deal is much better than no deal. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle poll question:

Which Haggadah are you using (or did you use) this year? Go to Pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

PACs to take a public pledge not to endorse any electoral candidates who voted against Congressional certification of the 2020 election results on January 6 or otherwise supported the “Big Lie” which falsely claims that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election.

AIPAC’s decision not to join J Street’s pledge, by endorsing a large number of candidates sympathetic to the aims of the violent insurrection threatens the very nature of our democracy.

Don’t just take our word on this misguided decision. Richard Haass, president of the Council of Foreign Affairs says: “Sorry AIPAC, but it is morally bankrupt and shortsighted to back pols who undermine democracy just because they support Israel.” And the former head of the Anti-Defamation League Abe Foxman called the decision by AIPAC a “sad mistake,” and said, “those who undermine America‘s democracy undermine America and a weak America will not be able to stand and support its ally Israel.”

In AIPAC’s defense of the endorsements, they stated that “This is no moment for the pro-Israel movement to become selective about its friends.” But those who threaten democracy are no friends of the United States, and they are certainly no friends of Israel.

Nancy Bernstein Ronnie Cook Zuhlke Ed J. Feinstein Mark Fichman J Street Pittsburgh

Ann Sheckter Powell Pittsburgh

The problem with AIPAC’s anti-democratic endorsements

No amount of pro-Israel posturing can excuse endorsing candidates who carried out the wishes of violent insurrectionists by voting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. (“AIPAC defends its endorsees, including those who questioned Biden’s election,” online, March 19.)

That’s why AIPAC’S ill-advised decision to endorse and fund more than three dozen candidates who voted to overturn the results of a free and fair election is a slap in the face for American democracy.

AIPAC has defended the decision to endorse these candidates by stating that AIPAC is a single-issue organization — but that is a false dichotomy. All political decisions and policies have an impact on one another and do not exist in a vacuum. If you publicly endorse and fund extremists who endanger our democracy, then you take on significant responsibility for their actions. Here in Pennsylvania, we are particularly concerned with AIPAC’s decision to endorse Scott Perry, who has championed the antisemitic conspiracy theory of “the great replacement.”

Additionally, many of these representatives who AIPAC has endorsed (including Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy) have explicitly sought to obstruct accountability or investigation into what happened on Jan. 6.

J Street, an organization we are active in, has a mission to uphold and promote our Jewish and democratic values both at home and abroad. With American democracy facing unprecedented peril from politicians who refuse to respect or uphold free and fair elections, it is vital that we only support and raise funds for candidates who will defend democracy. That is why J Street launched its pro-democracy pledge.

J Street’s pro-democracy pledge is a public call on all pro-Israel organizations with affiliated 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 or email letters to:

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Israel is homeland for every Jew

Rabbi Danny Schiff is indeed a fine educator. (“Ready to teach in person and online, Rabbi Danny Schiff returns to Pittsburgh,” April 8). Israel, however, is not his “adopted” homeland.

It is his homeland, as it is for every Jew. Lorraine Mackler Squirrel Hill

Echoes of Antony for Albright

Stuart E. Eizenstat’s column (“The advice I gave Madeleine Albright when she found out she was Jewish,” April 1) reminded me of Antony’s oration at Caesar’s funeral — except that he came to praise her not to bury her. Imagine, she came to ask him what to do (presumably to save her nomination/career) and his sage advice was to tell the truth (which she bravely did). Ahem!

I write not to bury Albright or to criticize her or her parents, who did as so many “had” to do, but to ask how could such an intelligent woman either not know or not have the curiosity to find out why her parents fled or find out anything about her grandparents.

As Jerry Seinfeld said about something else, “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

But, Eizenstat should have left the subject in the past rather than raising it anew with a shallow “defense.”

Jack Mennis Hampton Township Letters to the editor via email: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Address: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, 5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Website address:

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APRIL 15, 2022 11

Headlines Passover: Continued from page 1

Passover traditions are about ensuring there’s levity at the holiday table.

Each year, for the past 15, Goldman has decorated her table with stuffed animals, plastic bugs and eye masks to correspond to the 10 plagues. Whether people throw cotton balls to demonstrate hail, or shield their eyes to acknowledge darkness, the items all help tell the Passover story, Goldman explained.

In years past, Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer of Congregation B’nai Abraham in Butler used a set of toys at her seder.

“Half of them are broken, and everybody groans when I bring out the bag of plagues, but I have to use them,” she said.

It’s schticky, but at least it’s not sticky, Gray-Schaffer explained, as one year she used a plate of scallions to symbolize the whips that the Egyptian overlords slapped against their Hebrew slaves.

“My kids thought it was the best thing ever, but for weeks I was cleaning green slime underneath the table, off the floor,” she said. “It landed in places all over my dining room. My kids liked that too much. We only did that tradition one year.”

Despite a cleaner seder this year, GraySchaffer, said there is one tradition she’s thinking of picking up.

“For years, I have had a package of nail decals of the 10 plagues,” she said. She bought them more than a decade ago, but amid seder prep she always forgets to bring them out. Perhaps this will be the year to press on a new tradition, she said. “I want to finally use my 10 plagues nail art.”

Squirrel Hill resident Arielle Avishai and

 Susan Goldman has decorated her table with stuffed animals, plastic bugs and eye masks to correspond to the 10 plagues. Photo by ibrahimuzum via iStock Photo

her family have several immersive Passover traditions. Whether it’s reading the story of the exodus in Tanakh, watching “The Prince of Egypt” and “The Ten Commandments” and comparing how closely each film mirrors the biblical text, or baking matzah with Shaare Torah Congregation’s Rabbi Daniel Wasserman, Avishai said she tries to make the holiday as meaningful for her family as possible.

One activity that helps her children appreciate the perils of ancient life is accomplished with Play-Doh and green onions. While Avishai’s children create structures out of soft modeling material, her husband acts like an Egyptian taskmaster and destroys the work while “whipping” the children with the soft vegetables, she said.

Another reenactment the family performs is wrapping up matzah and transporting it throughout the dining room. While the

children carry the matzah, Avishai and her husband ask the kids where they are going, where they are coming from and what they have to eat.

Because of the memories it spurs, Rabbi Elchonon Friedman of Greenfield can’t wait to read a specific portion of the Haggadah — within the text, in its discussion of the four sons, the Hebrew word “echad” proceeds each son’s description.

Friedman said his father always pronounced the word “echad,” which means one, with the same tone people typically use when they recite the Shema, which also ends with the word “echad.”

His father inflected “echad” in the Haggadah, like “echad” in the Shema because “God’s oneness is within every child,” Friedman said, and it doesn’t matter whether that child is wise, wicked, simple or doesn’t know how to ask a question.

Oakland resident and Holocaust survivor Judah Samet, who plans on celebrating Passover with family, said the holiday will be a bit different from what he remembers as a child in Hungary.

“At the end of the seder, we would dance.

We sang ‘Hatikva,’” Samet said.

Just around midnight as the pre-war seder concluded, and the dancing and singing came to an end, Samet and his grandfather would walk about five kilometers to see Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, the Belzer Rebbe, he recalled. When they entered the room where Rokeach was sitting, his grandfather was always asked to sit next to the leader of the Belz Hasidic dynasty.

“They were childhood friends,” Samet said.

Squirrel Hill resident Josh Swedarsky will finish his seder with a song. This year, as he and his family have done for the past 20

Pittsburgher: Continued from page 1

Moldova and performed an initial needs assessment on Feb. 27. The volunteer group, comprised of 12 EMTs, paramedics, doctors, a dentist and members of the psychotrauma and crisis response unit, was followed by another team of nearly 40 volunteers — including Shames — who left Israel on a chartered plane on March 2 with 15 tons of medical supplies, food and humanitarian aid.

By March 3, just over 1 million people had fled Ukraine, according to a United Nations tracker. When Shames returned to Israel on March 8, the number had doubled.

During the six days Shames was in Eastern Europe, she and other volunteers provided thousands of refugees with food, blankets, directions, even respite. Many of the people traveled for two or three days before reaching Moldova. In some instances, refugees needed help with suitcases. In other cases, Shames said, a mother just needed someone to push a stroller or keep a child occupied for a few minutes.

Shames learned how to greet the refugees in their native tongue with meaningful messages, such as “welcome,” “you are in a safe place” and “you are not alone,” she said.

“The most important thing that a trauma survivor needs to know is that they’ve reached safety. Until a person is in a safe 12

APRIL 15, 2022

p Jill Shames welcomes in Shabbat while volunteering in Moldova.

Photo courtesy of United Hatzalah Operation Orange Wings

place they are in survival mode, and a person in survival mode can’t think ahead.”

Throughout brief and lengthier interactions with the refugees (the latter required translators), Shames said she practiced a deliberate form of listening.

“Most people when they are listening are thinking about how they are going to respond,” she said. “This kind of listening is where all of your attention is on the person speaking, and, even without trying, your body language starts to mimic their body

language, and you can feel in your own body some of the emotions that they are feeling.”

Listening that way lets the speaker know that even if their problems can’t be solved, they are nonetheless heard, Shames said, “The fact that we can do that, and reflect back to them we understand they’re suffering, is one of the most healing things one person can do for another.”

Throughout her Eastern European stay, Shames carried her punching bags, inviting passersby to use them. She said the easy-to-clean foam-filled vinyl-covered

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years, the Swedarskys will sing “The Little Green Frog Song.”

With lyrics including, “Mmm mmm went the little green frog one day / Mmm mmm went the little green frog,” the song is always a fun way to wrap up the night, Swedarsky said.

The Swedarskys typically finish their seders around 1:30 a.m., and the reason why they don’t belt out the tune earlier, during the Haggadah’s recounting of the 10 plagues, is because it would be a bit uncouth, Swedarsky explained: “It’s a frog song, but it’s not sederish, so it’s at the end.”

For Greenfield resident Miriam Gelman, a decades-old Passover tradition also occurs post-seder.

During one of the final meals of the holiday, Gelman serves her family syrniki, a fried-in-butter thick cheese pancake that’s made with farmer’s cheese or cottage cheese, eggs and matzah meal. The syrniki is accompanied with homemade strawberry jam.

Gelman said her father always loved his Lithuanian great-grandmother’s cooking and eventually decided to replicate the dishes.

Although year after year Gelman’s parents tried to make syrniki, Gelman’s father always insisted it didn’t taste right. Then, about 40 years ago, Gelman’s parents stopped making syrniki with flour and decided to substitute matzah meal.

That’s when he realized it finally tasted like the way his great-grandmother would make it, Gelman said.

For the past 25 years, Gelman has cooked the dish for her family, and said this Passover won’t be any different — after all, it’s tradition. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

blocks are another tool she uses when promoting empowerment or teaching therapeutic martial arts.

Bringing punching bags to the border was memorable, but so, too, was marking Shabbat, Shames said.

One day after she and the other volunteers arrived, the group was joined by representatives of the Joint Distribution Committee and the Israeli consulate for a Friday evening candle-lighting ceremony complete with tea lights and a yahrzeit candle.

Shames said it was odd to welcome Shabbat with a memorial flame, but decided to do so because not only were there “plenty of people to mourn,” but “you want to bring as much light as you can.”

After welcoming Shabbat, Shames continued helping refugees. Doing so was a chance to impart lessons she learned in Pittsburgh decades earlier, she explained.

“The spirit of community that we received from living in Pittsburgh we brought with us,” Shames said. “Everybody I know who has come to Israel is deeply involved in their various communities — in Rehovot, or Bet Shemesh or Raanana — and we all have a deep love for our Pittsburgh community…

This was an opportunity to step beyond that and bring some of that richness to another society who needed it.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Irwin: Continued from page 9

against Palestinians to George Zimmerman’s killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American who was unarmed when Zimmerman shot him.”

Glover also noted that Lee is a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which endorsed her first bid for public office in 2018 and “has supported” the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement “against Israel and criticized the country’s efforts to defend itself from Palestinian attacks.” He added that Lee is backed by the progressive group Justice Democrats, which asks that candidates express support for conditioning U.S. aid to Israel as part of its endorsement process.

In a statement to JI, Annie Weinberg, Lee’s campaign manager, said, “State Rep Lee has always supported Israel’s right to exist, and her opponent should point to any statements she has made that indicate otherwise.

She has never been a part of the BDS movement, but opposes the criminalization of free speech. She believes that the US should hold all its closest allies accountable to international law and human rights standards, which means that taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel should have conditions ensuring the prevention of further illegal annexation of Palestinian land, expansion of settlements, Palestinian home demolitions and the detention of Palestinian children.”

Lee addressed such issues directly during a virtual conversation with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on April 4.

Still, local Jewish leaders who spoke with JI expressed reservations over Lee’s affiliation with the party’s progressive flank as well as some of her past remarks, even if they did not go as far as Irwin. “I don’t know what her positions have been so I don’t want to unfairly paint her position on Israel,” said Jeffrey Letwin, a lawyer and Democratic activist who is supporting Irwin’s campaign.

“But she has described herself as progressive, and what we’re seeing in Congress is that the progressive wing of the party has staked out a position on Israel that is not as fair as I’d like to see.”

Dan Frankel, a Democratic state representative in Pittsburgh who has endorsed Irwin, said he has had “some concerns” about Lee’s approach to the Middle East “based on conversations” they have had on “foreign policy issues and support for Israel.” Frankel, who said has developed a “good working relationship with” Lee and “actively worked to get her reelected in 2020,” declined to elaborate on the specifics of their discussions, at risk of alienating a fellow member of his caucus.

In recent months, the primary has drawn interest from national pro-Israel groups such as Pro-Israel America, a grassroots advocacy group, and Democratic Majority for Israel, both of which have endorsed Irwin.

In a statement to JI, Rachel Rosen, a spokesperson for DMFI’s political arm, expressed concern over Lee’s endorsement from Justice Democrats while also suggesting that both Lee and Dickinson “have a history of

making disparaging remarks about the U.S.Israel relationship.”

Dickinson, who unsuccessfully challenged Doyle in 2020, has previously criticized U.S. assistance to Israel and other countries on social media but has otherwise rarely commented on Middle East foreign policy in public, beyond a recent conversation with the local Jewish federation.

In an interview, Dickinson said he is against conditioning U.S. aid to Israel, which he described as “problematic,” and supports the memorandum of understanding between the two countries that guarantees such funding. “My perspective is U.S. federal aid is and always will be instrumental to Israel’s security,” Dickinson, whose nephew is a student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, told JI. Dickinson said he was “open” to “end-use restrictions” of the sort favored by the liberal group J Street, which argues that U.S. aid should only be used for “legitimate security purposes.”

Laura Birnbaum, J Street’s national political director, said the group has “spoken with all the candidates in the race” and is “interviewing Jerry Dickinson and Summer Lee this week.” Both candidates “are being considered for J Street’s ‘primary approval’ designation, which we use to signal alignment on our issues” and which “opens up multiple candidates to receive contributions from” members, she told JI. “We’re not planning to endorse outright in this race.”

For Irwin, such issues run deep. He first visited Israel in 1975 on a summer-long pilgrimage with United Synagogue Youth, a movement affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. “I had some pretty extraordinary experiences,” he said of the excursion — during which he turned 16 — despite that his hotel had been “bombed literally days before” the group arrived.

On the trip, Irwin “realized two different realities,” as he writes in a lengthy position paper. “One showcased Israel’s radiant beauty manifested through many facets,” but a “darker picture” had also surfaced — “one of terror and fear of the unknown.”

“As we traveled in a bus in Haifa on July 4, a bomb exploded in the plaza facing our base hotel in Jerusalem, killing 15 people,” he elaborates. “The bomb had been planted by a Palestinian posing as a delivery man.

A balcony from our hotel was ripped off in the explosion.”

Irwin has since returned to Israel four times, including shortly after the Tree of Life shooting, when he visited Jerusalem with the former mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, and deposited notes from family members affected by the massacre into the crevices of the Western Wall.

Those experiences are just a few examples demonstrating Irwin‘s “uniquely personal” connection with Israel, said Jeff Mendelsohn, the executive director of Pro-Israel America, which has listed the primary as among the most important races of the cycle. “It’s not the only issue, obviously, but it is very personal for him,” Mendelsohn added, “and I think as a member of Congress that will be evident.”

From a policy standpoint, Irwin supports continued security assistance for Israel while

arguing that BDS “purports a false reality rooted in anti-Zionist ideals” and “is a destructive global movement.” He says he is in favor of U.S. funding for the Palestinians in accordance with Taylor Force Act, which withholds aid to the Palestinian Authority on the condition that Ramallah ends payments to families of terrorists.

Irwin, who believes the U.S. embassy should remain in Jerusalem, endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But he believes that attempts by “outside forces” to “impose a resolution” are “doomed for failure and will only prolong hostilities.” Instead, he favors legislation like former Rep. Nita Lowey’s Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, “which promotes people-to-people initiatives between the Israelis and Palestinians to advance peaceful co-existence,” as he put in his position paper.

“These types of efforts will lead to community building, dialogue and reconciliation.”

He also backs efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and a number of Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, a country he visited in 2018 on a delegation with the American Middle East Institute.

The accords have contributed to broader stability in the region, Irwin says, in part because they have helped counter Iran.

While Irwin says that the original iteration of the Iran nuclear deal “had serious shortcomings,” abandoning the agreement, as the Trump administration did in 2018, “has enabled Iran to move closer to having the bomb.” He supports the Biden administration’s renewed efforts to negotiate another deal, while clarifying that “any new agreement must” include “rigorous inspection” while addressing Iran’s ballistic missile program as well as “Russia’s role” in the discussions.

At the state level, Irwin advocates for strengthening “cultural and economic ties” between Pennsylvania and Israel, including in the healthcare and technology sectors, and favors increased federal security funding for Jewish nonprofit institutions.

Jeffrey Finkelstein, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said Irwin “has been involved with” local Jewish issues for decades, including volunteer work on fundraising drives as well as chairing the Community Relations Council. “He cares deeply about our Pittsburgh Jewish community.”

According to a 2017 study conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University’s Steinhardt Social Research Institute, Pittsburgh is home to a Jewish population of nearly 50,000, approximately three-fifths of whom have visited Israel, suggesting that Middle East foreign policy considerations could weigh on a number of Jewish voters in the district.

With just over a month to go until the election, the dynamics of the race remain mutable as Irwin and Lee engage in what many experts view as a head-to-head battle for the nomination. Though Pittsburgh has been trending in a more progressive direction over the past few years, the updated district, which became somewhat less

Democratic after the new congressional map was approved, could complicate that dynamic. The new lines take in moderate voters in the southern suburbs of Allegheny County as well as a western sliver of the conservative-leaning Westmoreland County.

Both Irwin and Lee have experienced some setbacks in recent months. Lee, who lives in Swissvale, was drawn out of the district in February, though only by a few blocks. Last month, Irwin’s campaign acknowledged that a petition circulator appeared to have forged some signatures, “a definite and well-publicized misstep,” said Lewis Irwin, a professor of political science at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. “At the same time,” he added, Dickinson “may split off some of the progressive votes, which would be to Irwin’s advantage.”

“This race is truly an open one that will likely hinge on the respective candidates’ advertising in the next month,” Irwin told JI, “as well as their ground games as they seek to build and turn out enough supporters to win a plurality of the vote.”

The candidates have yet to report their latest fundraising totals, which are due on April 15, but Irwin led the field last quarter, ending the year with nearly $300,000 on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission. Lee was sitting on just over $200,000 as of Dec. 31.

Joseph Corrigan, a Democratic strategist in Philadelphia who supports Lee and has donated to her campaign, anticipates that the primary could become increasingly nasty in the coming weeks, particularly now that DMFI has indicated its interest in the race. The pro-Israel group spent more than $2 million last summer in a hotly contested special House election in the Cleveland area but has not yet publicly indicated what sorts of investments it will make in the midterms.

DMFI did not respond to a request for comment from JI on its plans for the primary.

However the race goes, Irwin, who has long considered running for office, seems to be savoring his time on the trail. Recently, at a bingo event in Whitehall, he pulled out his accordion, which he played as a teenager in a fairly popular Klezmer band called Solomon and the Wise Guys, and performed “The Pennsylvania Polka” for a crowd of 100 or so voters “You know what?” he said. “They were on their feet. They were clapping. They were excited. They took signs, petitions.

Whatever it takes.”

Meanwhile, Irwin remains convinced that he entered the race for the right reasons. In high school, Irwin starred as Mordecai in a musical production of the Purim story, with songs from “The Man of La Mancha.” “‘To dream the impossible dream,’ you know, the whole thing with Esther,” Irwin said, referring to the Jewish queen of Persia who, with help from her cousin Mordecai, foils a plot to eradicate the Jews.

Lately, Irwin said he has been thinking about that role again as he runs for office. “I really think this is kind of like my Mordecai moment,” he said. “I’m a Jew. That’s who I am. I can’t deny it.” PJC This article was first published by JewishInsider.com.

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APRIL 15, 2022 13

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh recognizes and thanks all current members of the CARDOZO SOCIETY for their support of the Federation’s Community Campaign.

Member listing updated as of February 2022 • Ruthie Goodboe, Chair | Maxwell Briskman Stanfield, Step Up Chair

Membership is open to any attorney who contributes a minimum of $1,800 to the Community Campaign.

For those wishing to join our Step Up program and increase their gift over the course of three years, contact Alexis Polakoff at 412.992.5237 or apolakoff@jfedpgh.org.

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Anonymous (1) Alan L. Ackerman Lyn C. Ackerman REPAIR THE WORLD Louis Anstandig Zack Block Lauren Baldel* ROSS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY Stewart B. Barmen Jack L. Bergstein Anthony J. Ross Robin J. Bernstein ROTHMAN GORDON PC Michael E. Bleier Louis B. Kushner Eva Tansky Blum Sandra R. Kushner Dr. Jennifer Brandeis Richard J. Brean SAUL EWING ARNSTEIN & Magisterial District Judge LEHR LLP Daniel Butler David R. Berk Carl A. Cohen Jeffrey W. Letwin Deborah Comay SCHIFFMAN FIRM, LLC Saul Davis Carl R. Schiffman Carl B. Frankel Roni S. Schiffman Judith L. Friedman Alan A. Garfinkel SCHNEIDER DOWNS & CO., INC Stephen A. Glickman Don A. Linzer Louis S. Gold SCHREIBER REAL ESTATE Theodore Goldberg Brian C. Schreiber Martin E. Goldhaber Carol S. Gross SEDGWICK CLAIM Howard Grossinger MANAGEMENT SERVICES, INC Amy S. Himmel Edward Russakoff Velma B. Hirsch SENIOR MAGISTERIAL Thomas Hollander DISTRICT JUDGE Lewis N. Hyman Hon. Nathan N. Firestone Barbara Zimmer Kann Michael E. Katch SHEAR FAMILY FOUNDATION James E. Kopelman Andrea Kline Glickman Carl Krasik LAW OFFICE OF DAVID P. SIEGEL David W. Lampl David P. Siegel Lawrence F. Leventon P.C. LAW OFFICES OF MARK SINDLER Thomas Lippard Alan London Mark A. Sindler* Louise Malakoff SPILMAN THOMAS & BATTLE, PLLC Ira R. Mazer Bryan S. Neft Donald I. Moritz SQUIRREL HILL HEALTH CENTER K. Sidney “Casey” Neuman, Esquire Susan Friedberg Kalson Stephen I. Richman STEINER & BLECHMAN, LLC Lawrence J. Rosen William L. Steiner Bryan Rosenberger Karen Ross STEPTOE & JOHNSON, PLLC Alan J. Scheimer Adam S. Ennis Shelley Segal STONECIPHER LAW FIRM Mark S. Shiffman Eric A. Schaffer James D. Silverman Laurie S. Singer STONEWOOD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT David L. Smiga Lynn J. Snyderman, Esq. Mr. J. Kenneth Moritz Amy R. Spear STRASSBURGER McKENNA Douglas Spear GUTNICK & GEFSKY Marilyn R. Swedarsky Sanford Aderson Gene and Toby Tabachnick Gerri Sperling David Tannenbaum David A. Strassburger Dodi Walker Gross E.J. Strassburger Charles E. Wittlin Paula Zunder TUCKER ARENSBERG, PC Beverly W. Manne *Indicates new member UNION REAL ESTATE COMPANY

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The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh recognizes and thanks all current members of the MAIMONIDES SOCIETY for their support of the Federation’s Community Campaign.

Member listing updated as of April 2022. • Dr. William Z. Spatz, Chair

Membership is open to any healthcare professional who contributes a minimum of $1,800 to the Community Campaign.

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Chiropractic Medicine Dr. Edward Leefer DENTISTS Cosmetic, Plastic and Anesthesiologist Reconstructive Surgery Dr. Richard Finder Dr. Dennis J. Hurwitz Endodontics Dermatology Dr. Jeffrey M. Parker Dr. Douglas Kress General Dentistry Emergency Medicine Dr. Rachel K. Eglash, DDS Dr. Jennifer Brandeis Dr. Norman Feldstein Dr. Andrew Reibach Betty Jo Hirschfield Endocrinology/Metabolism Louik, DMD* Murray B. Gordon, MD, FACE Dr. Herbert Meyers Family Practice Dr. William Z. Spatz Dr. Geoffrey Camp* Oral Surgery Dr. Barry G. Segal Dr. Marvin A. Dash Dr. Barry Tenenouser Dr. Sarah Davies Gastroenterology Dr. Marty Eichner Dr. Marcia Mitre* Orthodontist Dr. Sharon R. Roseman Dr. David Pechersky Robert E. Schoen, MD Geriatric Medicine GENERAL HEALTH Dr. Emily Jaffe PROFESSIONALS Dr. Fred H. Rubin Ms. Laura Ellman, Social Worker Hematology/Oncology Margaret L. Fischer, Elana J. Bloom, MD Occupational Therapist Hospital Medicine Steven S. Hausman, Consultant Dr. Leslie Hope Bondy Rosanne M. Levine, Nurse Mrs. Judith Lewandowski, Nurse Infectious Disease Dr. David Lee Weinbaum Dr. Sheree Lichtenstein, Pharmacist Internal Medicine Mrs. Nikol Marks, Dr. David Brillman Physician Assistant Dr. Martin Fenster Betty Sue Rich, Pharmacist Dr. Gary Fischer Dodie Roskies, Management Dr. Morton L. Goldstein Mrs. Cathy Schuster, Dr. David Harinstein Social Worker Dr. Marvin H. Levick Jon B. Tucker, Chief Medical Dr. Jorge Lindenbaum Officer/Interim CEO Chaim (Marc) Oster, MD Dr. Bruce Rollman PHYSICIANS Dr. Jennifer Rudin Dr. Jamie Stern Allergy Dr. Lee M. Weinberg Dr. Barry Asman Dr. Adrienne Young Dr. Robert Gorby Dr. Erica Zimmerman Dr. Richard L. Green Dr. Ronald A. Landay Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Dr. Howard Lang Dr. Jonathan Weinkle Dr. Macy I. Levine Nephrology Dr. Lawrence Weber Dr. David J. Levenson Cardiology Dr. Paul M. Palevsky Dr. Alan Bramowitz* Dr. Allen Wolfert Dr. Jared W. Magnani Neurology Cardiovascular Medicine Dr. Richard B. Kasdan Dr. Lawrence N. Adler Stuart L. Silverman, MD, FAAN Dr. Jeffrey S. Garrett Dr. Lawrence Wechsler Dr. Lewis Kuller Dr. Richard A. Weisman Dr. Rodney Lipman Dr. Daniel A. Rubin*

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APRIL 15, 2022 15

Life & Culture These Passover pancake noodles are better than matzah balls — FOOD —

By Liz Susman Karp, Natalie Gorlin | JTA

L

ast April, as the pandemic raged in my area, I opened my front door to my dear friend Natalie, who literally threw at me from a distance a plastic sandwich bag containing her family’s cherished Passover tradition: flädla.

Less commonly known than the universally beloved matzah ball, these Passover egg noodles are made from a thin crepe that’s coiled and cut into strips, over which steaming broth is poured.

Natalie’s family recipe was handed down from her mother’s tante Ilse, who emigrated from Germany in 1939 post-Kristallnacht.

Ask around about flädla and, like the history of any good noodle, you’ll discover the topic covers a lot of ground. Flädla, also spelled flädle, didn’t start off as a Passover food, but evolved into a dish that reflects the ingenuity and frugality of Jewish Eastern European cooks, who repurposed leftover dough or pancakes into noodles.

Noodles were a significant part of the Ashkenazi diet. In medieval times, Europeans began boiling dough in water rather than baking or frying it. In the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” Gil Marks writes that noodles were predominantly used in soup and that some cooks cut up matzah meal blintzes into the liquid. No name was ascribed to that noodle or dish.

Recipes for Passover noodles are included in numerous Jewish cookbooks, notably

June Feiss Hersh’s compilation of recipes from Holocaust survivors titled, “Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival,” illustrating how deeply ingrained the dish was in people’s memories. Sometimes called lokshen, the Yiddish word for noodle, the recipes use matzah meal or potato starch, and always the same method of frying a thin crepe and cutting it into strips.

Pinpointing when, where, or who first adapted these noodle ribbons for the holiday is a challenge. “What is most fascinating to me,” says Gaby Rossmer, coauthor with her daughter, Sonya Gropman, of “The GermanJewish Cookbook,” “is how these food traditions travel. They do follow routes. You can see it, but you can’t tell exactly which one came first, which came second.”

Many Jews, like Natalie’s ancestors and Rossmer, lived in southern Germany; in the Swabian region, pancakes are known as flädle. The recipe has been handed down over generations; tradition dictates the crepes be thin and crispy. Flädlesuppe was a popular dish, but “never for Passover,” says Rossmer. She was a year old when she came to America from Bavaria, but fondly remembers frequently frying flour crepes with her father; the goal was always to have enough left over to make flädlesuppe.

The noodles are a key component of a comparable, popular Austrian soup called frittatensuppe, or pancake soup, which is always made with beef broth, says Nino Shaye Weiss, a blogger at JewishVienneseFood. com and Jewish food guide in Vienna.

There, the crepes are called palatschinken; cut up they’re referred to as frittaten. “Jews

do seemingly love them as they cannot live the eight days of Passover without them,” he comments, adding that frittaten for Passover are simply known as Peisachdike lokshen (kosher for Passover noodles).

Legend has it that frittatensuppe may have originated in 19th century Austria to feed Austrian, French and Italian diplomats secretly meeting during the Congress of Vienna. One participant was Conte Romano de Frittata, whose coachman prepared the pancake. Frittata comes from the Italian word friggere, to fry; perhaps suggesting that the dish was named after the coachman’s employer. However, the only similar ItalianJewish recipe I could find was for Minestra di Sfoglietti Per Pesach, a soup containing noodles of baked dough, in “The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews” by Edda Servi Machlin. If the story is true, the dish did not make its way back to Italy.

Holocaust survivor Cecile Gruer, 86, is known as her family’s chef. She movingly recalls eating flädla in 1946 at the first Passover she celebrated with her family in an Austrian displaced persons camp after they were reunited. Then a teen, she watched her mother prepare the noodle as her mother had done in Hungary. Gruer makes flädla year-round, using potato starch, matzah meal, or quinoa or almond flour for gluten-free relatives. Sometimes she’ll just mix egg and water, essentially an omelette. Gruer suggests adding any herb, such as dill or cilantro, to heighten the soup’s flavor. She continues these traditions because, she says, “You do not want to break the chain.”

Gruer’s and Natalie’s families enjoy their

p These Passover egg noodles are made from a thin crepe that’s coiled and cut into strips.

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APRIL 15, 2022

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

flädla in chicken broth with matzah balls.

The Lubavitch sect, who follow the custom of gebrokts and don’t eat any dish where matzah can touch liquid, have just the noodle in their soup, says Leah Koenig, author of “The Jewish Cookbook.” Gruer confides she doesn’t like chicken soup. How does she eat her flädla? She laughs. “I would have it on the plate!”

Ingredients: 4 eggs, separated ¾ tsp salt ¼-½ cup (to taste) chopped chives 4 Tbsp potato starch ¼ cup of chicken broth oil Directions:

Separate the eggs and add the salt to the yolks.

Mix chives and potato starch in with the egg yolks. Add as much chicken broth as is necessary for the mixture to be the consistency of pancake batter.

Beat egg whites until stiff and add to yolk mixture (mix occasionally while cooking batches to avoid separation).

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and add enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Fry like a crepe, and remove from pan. Lay fladla on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

Let cool, then roll each crepe and cut into thin strips. Fladla can be made a few days in advance and refrigerated.

Serve in hot soup and enjoy. PJC This article first appeared on The Nosher.

Photo by Getty Images / yurhus

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Life & Culture What to eat after the seders On a medium flame, heat the oil in a medium-large deep skillet or pot.

Add the onion slices, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Sauté until the onion slices break into rings.

Add the mushrooms. Continue to sauté until they turn golden brown.

Add the garlic and tomatoes, stirring until the garlic turns fragrant. Remove the skillet from the flame.

Cover the skillet for 5 minutes. The recipe can be made to this point a couple of hours ahead.

Reheat the dish to warm when you are ready to serve it. Spoon the mixture onto the spinach, making sure it’s warm — not hot. If it’s hot, it will cook the spinach leaves.

Toss the ingredients and serve.

— FOOD —

By Linda Morel | Contributing Writer

Photo by larik_malasha via iStock Photo

P

assover is the most celebrated Jewish holiday, probably because most of us enjoy attending seders.

We come for the closeness of family and friends, foods we remember fondly, and to hear the story repeated of the ancient Hebrews’ historic flight from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

On the first two nights of Passover, the seder nights, the menu is usually set, mostly by tradition. Often, we eat brisket, potato kugels, matzah casseroles and cakes calling for eight to 10 eggs. While delicious, these foods are heavy.

But once the seders are over, what is on the menu for the week of meals ahead?

I love planning and preparing everyday Passover foods. There are plenty of tasty dishes that don’t call for forbidden foods: legumes and leavened wheat, barley, rye, spelt and oats.

My game plan is to return to my usual eating style, while adhering to Passover’s parameters. I think lighter and brighter, particularly because Passover is the quintessential spring holiday. With April in the air, it’s time to gravitate toward salads, green vegetables and airy desserts.

Rosemary roasted chicken | Meat Serves 6

When I consider what to serve during these special days, I ask: What would I be eating if it weren’t Passover this week?

Roasted meat or grilled fish, green vegetables and salads galore. Why should Passover be any different?

Warm spinach salad | Pareve Serves 8 10-ounce package baby spinach

Equipment: roasting pan and rack

¼ cup olive oil 1 medium onion, sliced thin Kosher salt to taste Freshly ground pepper to taste 8-ounce package of white mushrooms, sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup grape tomatoes

Place the spinach in a large salad bowl and reserve.

Nonstick vegetable spray 4-5 pound whole chicken Kosher salt Kosher salt to taste Freshly ground pepper to taste ¼ teaspoon ground rosemary, plus an additional ¼ teaspoon Please see Eat, page 22

May you remember the story of Passover and the meaning of freedom as we wish you joy and peace.

Brian Schreiber President and CEO

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William S. Goodman Chair of the Board

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APRIL 15, 2022 17

Life & Culture Pitt students’ new app aims to create community, one meal at a time

p Potluck partnered with Hillel JUC for a March 25 Shabbat dinner. Pictured from left: Andrew Firestone, Alexa Ambrosino, Joe Slomowitz, Robert Summers-Berger, Melissa Diamint, Ilana Tseytlin, Emma Stein, Naomi Brotman, Oliver Yao, Pranav Kaliaperumal, John Blair and Abby Batkhan Photo provided by Joe Slomowitz.

— TECHNOLOGY —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

I

t wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that Oliver Yao got the idea for a new social network app while flat on his back in an unknown city sleeping on a couch not his own.

OK, that might be a bit of a stretch, but it is true that Yao, a junior economics major at the University of Pittsburgh, was inspired

by Couchsurfing, a hospitality exchange service/social networking app that connects out-of-town travelers with locals. Users can request homestays or interact with other people interested in travel.

“It was kind of like a backstage pass to the world,” Yao said about Couchsurfing’s ability to connect users with meaningful experiences. As an added benefit, he said, users save money, can travel more and have the opportunity to connect with more people.

Couchsurfing inspired Yao to think of an untapped opportunity — a tool where users could connect online and share meals.

The budding CEO began to develop the app now called Potluck, but which will soon have a new name. He built his team adding Joseph Slomowitz, a junior marketing, business information systems and supply chain management major. The two met in 2019 at

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APRIL 15, 2022

Pitt’s Big Idea Blitz competition, an idea-generating competition where participants pitch projects, work with entrepreneurs-inresidence and win prizes.

Slomowitz and Yao decided to work together in future competitions. In February 2021 they teamed up to create Potluck.

Preparing for the 2021 Big Idea Blitz, they added a third member to their team: Avishai Moses, a sophomore sharing Slomowitz’s major, whom they found online. In a familiar pandemic story, Moses began partnering with the two in March but didn’t meet them in person until August.

Both Slomowitz and Moses are Jewish and believe their experiences and traditions helped with the app’s development.

“Growing up Jewish,” Slomowitz said, “we have a lot of experience meeting new people and sitting around a dinner table and telling stories over food.”

That experience, he noted, will be on full display this holiday season.

“On Passover, we talk about inviting strangers or people who need to come and eat into our house,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re trying to replicate with Potluck. Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat every week — we’re always meeting new people over food.”

Slomowitz grew up outside of Philadelphia. He attended Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth congregation, which he said was a Conservative/Orthodox mix, or what he

calls “traditional Judaism.”

Moses grew up in Houston with a traditional Jewish upbringing as well. He said that his memories of dining at his rabbi’s house following Shabbat services helped contribute to the experience he’s trying to build on Potluck.

“I was best friends with the rabbi’s kids,” Moses said. “So many people came to the rabbi’s house afterwards — I loved it. I got to meet all these people. I had all these experiences, literally every week since I was like 4 years old until I went to college.

I had my own seat at the table. It was cool to meet everyone — people flying into town, normal congregants, just all these people in their household.”

Potluck is still in development, but users eager to try it can do so by signing up on the website, joinpotluck.app.

Slomowitz’s and Moses’ Jewish roots continue to play a part in the program’s development.

Slomowitz hosted a Shabbat dinner in his apartment through Hillel JUC that was shared on a Discord server — Potluck’s temporary home.

“We had the opportunity to invite some of our friends and people who have known about Potluck,” he said. “We made it a Potluck event. Hillel was supportive of us, and it was a really cool experience. With Passover coming up, we’re going to do the

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

same and host a Passover seder on the second night.”

The Potluck team created a video blog series on YouTube to explain the app. Moses said that the videos show the potential of the program, noting that in one he shared a chocolate babka with members of the Irish Culture Club, who were invited to share a meal at Yao’s apartment.

Yao said that Potluck is working to help people make connections when they no longer live in their home communities, pointing out that while he’s in Pittsburgh much of his family is in California or China.

“I think that what Potluck is trying to do is mitigate some of the cons that come with increased individualism,” he said.

“Sometimes you don’t have that tribe, that community, especially when you’re in a new place. Our vision is to use food as a way to create this community of uplifting, kind humans that transcend national, cultural and ideological borders for everyone to feel that sense of trust and belonging no matter where they are in the world.”

Potluck placed second in this year’s Big Idea Blitz competition, won the video award in the Randall Family Big Idea competition last year and is competing again this year in the Randall competition. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Join the Chronicle Book Club!

T

he Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its May 1 discussion of the memoir “The Seven Good Years,”

by Israeli author Etgar Keret.

From Amazon.com: “Etgar Keret is not your usual memoirist.

For his first foray into the genre — he is the author of several lauded short story collections — Keret chose the titular Seven Good Years between the birth of his son and the death of his father as temporal boundaries for a series of four- to five-page vignettes and ruminations, ranging from humorous to

anxious (but humorous) to heavy (and humorous). And for the most part, those events don’t even define the content of this collection. Keret — a native of Israel — contemplates moments of his life against a backdrop of constant conflict, casting an absurd light on both the monumental and mundane: a time-wasting game of chicken with a telemarketer becomes an irritating memento mori; the terrorist subtext of Angry Birds comes disturbingly (if somewhat speciously) clear; a whimsical mustache conjures a story of a near-fatal encounter in Lebanon. His

compact style benefits the brevity of the pieces, perfectly matching his skewed and occasionally detached tone; Keret is a sort of bemused and sometimes baffled observer of the world and the people who inhabit it, and simply a wonderful writer.”

Your Hosts

Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle David Rullo, Chronicle staff writer

How It Works

We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, May 1, at noon. As you read the book, we invite you to share comments and join discussions in our Facebook group, Chronicle Connects: Jewish

PGH. We invite you to join now if you are not already a member of the group.

What To Do

Buy: “The Seven Good Years.” It is available from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will send you a Zoom link for the discussion meeting.

Happy reading! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

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hank you to all the supporters of the Chronicle’s annual campaign!

We asked, and you responded. We are overwhelmed by the amount of support from the Pittsburgh Jewish community — the number of you who gave and how generous you were. We started our 2021 annual appeal with Giving Tuesday on November 30, 2021, and then continued in print and online throughout December 2020 under the theme “No news is not good news.” Many of you continued to make contributions into January and beyond. Over 1,000 donors contributed more than $100,000. In addition, we want to give a special thank you to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation for its generous grant of $50,000 and to the anonymous donor who made a generous contribution facilitated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

You count on us, and we count on you.

Donors to our 2021 annual campaign through April 12, 2022: Edward J. Abes Barbara Abraham Jeff Abramovitz & Fabi Cheistwer Stuart Abramson Herbert Adelman Rabbi Seth Adelson Dr. Lawrence Adler David L. Ainsman Meryl Ainsman Alan Schorr Morton Alman Angela & Joseph Leibowicz The Angerman Friedman Family Foundation Ruth & Scott Apter Charles B. Arent Kathy W. Arnheim Sandra & John Aronis Bill & Selma Aronson Michael Aronson Marilyn Ashkin Leonard Asimow Marilyn & Leonard Asimow Ronna Harris & Dan Askin Georgia Atkin Milo Averbach S. Lewis Averbach Zivi Aviraz Valerie Bacharach Ronna & Harry Back Janice & Nathan Bahary Lauren Baldel Karen & Marshall Balk Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Balk Robert Baraff Judith Bardack Regina Bardin Marilyn Barmak Tracy Barnett Eileen & Joel Barney Deborah & David Baron Diana Baron Debra & Gordon Bass Mr. Noah Bass Eva & Bernie Bauer Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Baum The Baum Family Fund of the JCFGP* Barbara Baumann Marcia & Philip Baumfeld Rena Becker & Bennett Goldstein William Behrend Dr. & Mrs. Harvey R. Bendix Bari Benjamin Alan Berg Adam Berger Margaret Berger Rachel Berger Jack L. Bergstein Salessa Berk Deborah Berkovitz Mr. Melvin Berkovitz Irene Berkowitz Lester Berkowitz Paul Berkson Barry Berman Bruce Berman Marcy Bernson Cindy & Hal Bernstein Jonathan Bernstein & Kara Bernstein Linda Bernstein Sharon Bernstein The Ellie K. Bernstein and Robert S. Bernstein

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APRIL 15, 2022 21

Headlines Honig: Continued from page 5

and dirty. You have to be wiling to see what’s ultimately best for the client. That might be a little unconventional, and that’s OK.” That creativity was on full display during COVID when, in the short-term, things slowed and there was a lot of uncertainty, she said.

“At the same time, it allowed us to retrench and think about who we were as a company,” Honig continued. “We wound up with some great opportunities in cloud and data and building out robust recruitment. We built out capabilities during those two years.”

CWB: Continued from page 4

“As they went shopping, we got the chance to talk with some of them, and we realized that while they had endured such horrific and incredible journeys, they were still just young people like us. Some of them were eager to talk to us about their favorite sports teams. Others quickly exchanged their social media accounts.”

Eat: Continued from page 17 4 whole garlic cloves ¼ teaspoon garlic powder A dusting of paprika

Place the rack inside the roasting pan.

Coat them lightly with nonstick vegetable spray. Move the oven rack a little below the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Rinse the chicken under cold water, inside and out. Drain the water from within, and pat the skin dry with paper towels.

Sprinkle the chicken’s cavity with salt, pepper and ¼ teaspoon of rosemary. Place the garlic cloves inside the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken skin all over with kosher salt, pepper, ¼ teaspoon of rosemary and the garlic

Because of that build-out, Techstra is well-positioned to assist companies forced to implement technological changes faster than they would have anticipated, such as a jump to cloud services, she said.

Along with her role as a CEO, Honig believes it is important to be a role model for the next generation of leaders and her daughters.

As an adjunct professor, she teaches a class with her husband at the CMU Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and structures her day to concentrate on what she feels is important.

Honig starts at 5 a.m. with work and coffee before squeezing in a workout on the Peloton.

It’s then time to pack lunch for Grayson and get to the office before coming home for

dinner with her family. She ends the night FaceTiming with her daughter Samantha, a freshman at the University of Denver.

“I want to show that it’s possible in whatever passion you have,” Honig said. “You can have a career and a family, and sometimes it might be messy, but it’s OK to do all that. You don’t have to pick one or the other.”

Honig said her family is rooted in their Jewish beliefs and values and are members of Temple Sinai. Her husband has sat on the board of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, and she has sat for years on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women.

Her Jewish values, she said, have helped inform the way she leads her company.

“I believe family and tradition are core Jewish values for me,” she said. “So, when you think about building community, that’s what a company is all about — celebrating differences. It’s about agreeing to not agree at the right times and work through conflict.”

Honig also values Judaism’s emphasis on education.

“And then just being a mensch,” she said.

“What COVID taught me is, kindness is important. And kindness can come in all shapes and sizes. Kindness and respect — if we want to marry those — are core to Judaism.” PJC

Suzanne Hegarty, a Winchester Thurston teacher and trip participant, said that spending time with Ukrainian and Israeli youth was enlightening.

When “you open your mind and see other cultures, you see how different other people can be but also how same they are,” she said.

Last month’s trip was Hegarty’s first time in Israel. While the visit was informative, she said, she would have liked to learn more about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in addition to discussions they had about Israel’s

portrayal in the media.

Visiting the Jewish state gave participants a chance to not only engage with Israeli and Ukrainian youth but counter what’s often presented on television and online, Gur said.

“In order to fight hate and antisemitism, you have to see what’s really happening, which we did by introducing the group to Israeli Arabs and showing them the Golan Heights and Israel’s borders,” Gur said. “When the kids saw the borders, they couldn’t believe how small Israel is.

“We were also in Israel when the terrorist attack happened in Beersheba,” she continued. “The kids felt the atmosphere in the country. They could see what people there endure … Several of the kids told me that prior to the trip they didn’t appreciate their families or what they have at home, but now suddenly they are saying ‘thank God’ for everything they have.” PJC

powder. Dust a little paprika over the breast.

Place the chicken breast side up on the rack. Roast for 1½ hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 F. Remove the roasting pan from the oven.

Tent the chicken loosely with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Move the chicken to a cutting board and slice it. Serve immediately.

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 cups well-chopped pecans

Chocolate Passover pralines | Pareve Yield: 60-64 pralines

Equipment: 5 cookie sheets and 5 pieces of parchment paper 12 ounces semisweet chocolate 4 egg whites 1 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 F. Line 5 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Set up a double boiler by pouring 2 inches of water into the bottom portion and covering it with the top portion. Place the chocolate in the top portion and cover it with a lid. (If you don’t have a double boiler, you can use a pot for the bottom portion and a heatproof bowl for the top portion. Use aluminum foil as a lid.)

Heat the double boiler over a medium flame until the water comes to a rolling boil. Stir occasionally until the chocolate melts. Remove the boiler from the flame and cool to warm.

Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric beater, whip the egg whites on a high speed. Once the egg whites

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

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. thicken, stop and start the beater every minute until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat, or the egg whites will turn stiff.

Slowly beat in the sugar and cinnamon on a medium speed until the egg whites become shiny. Add the melted chocolate and mix briefly on a low speed until combined. Using a rubber or silicone spatula, fold in the pecans.

Using 2 teaspoons, pick up the dough with the first one, and push the pralines onto the baking sheets with the other.

Bake for 16 minutes. But after the first 8 minutes, move the upper cookie sheet to the lower level in the oven and vice versa. Bake for another 8 minutes.

The pralines will appear soft but will harden as they cool. PJC Linda Morel writes for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

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APRIL 15, 2022

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Celebrations

Torah

Birth

A song of ascent

Richard and Sreyleap Sherman of Sambour, Cambodia, are thrilled to announce the birth of their son, Justin Sherman, on March 22, 2022. Grandparents are Roz and the late Bill Sherman of Squirrel Hill and Phoeun Pon and Mok Ly of Cambodia. Justin’s Hebrew name is Hillel in memory of his paternal great-grandfather, Albert (“Hilly”) Gross. PJC

Shaare Torah hires new rabbi

S

Jewish Center in Riverdale, New haare Torah Congregation York. He has served as part of has hired Rabbi Yitzi Genack that congregation’s rabbinic to succeed Rabbi Daniel team since 2010.

Wasserman, who will be moving Young said there is a lot of to Israel in June. Wasserman has excitement at Shaare Torah and served Shaare Torah since 1996. in the community about the new The Squirrel Hill Orthodox rabbi, and also praised the congrecongregation partnered with the gation’s outgoing spiritual leader.

Center for the Jewish Future to Wasserman is “leaving Shaare conduct an extensive national Rabi Yitzi Genack Torah in a wonderful spot,” Young search for its new rabbi. The Photo provided

by Shaare Torah said. “We’re a healthy congregacenter, according to Shaare Torah tion, a vibrant congregation. We’re President Jonathan Young, is a nonprofit based at Yeshiva University and in a good place and that’s to his credit.”

Genack, who will move to Pittsburgh with includes groups from the Orthodox Union his wife and five children, will begin serving and the Rabbinic Council of America.

The congregation approved Genack’s the congregation in August. PJC hiring on Sunday, April 3.

Genack is an associate rabbi at Riverdale — David Rullo

Monroeville resident’s book describes loss, hope and value of Jewish community

M

onroeville resident Carol Goldblum Nathenson gives readers a window into her life and a push for perseverance in her recently published book, “A Young Widow’s Twenty-Year Journey: Navigating the New Normal.” In her memoir, Nathenson recounts the loss of her husband Dr. Lee J. Goldblum, meeting a new partner and the challenges of rebuilding a shattered life. Nathenson said her book is germane to Pittsburgh’s Jewish readers given its setting

and themes. Apart from taking place in western Pennsylvania, the book describes the importance of Jewish communal membership, support within a congregation and the value of rabbinic guidance.

“A Young Widow’s Twenty-Year Journey: Navigating the New Normal” is published

by Newman Springs Publishing, Inc. and is available at amazon.com. PJC — Adam Reinherz

Legal Notice Aussenberg, Earl a/k/a Aussenberg, Earl C., deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA. No. 02290 of 2022.

Frederick N. Frank and Phyllis M. Baskin, Co-Executors, c/o Gregory M. Pocrass, Esq., 33rd Floor, Gulf Tower, 707 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Happy Passover to our friends and far-flung family!

This year in person in Pittsburgh The Busis Family

Rabbi Elchonon Friedman Parshat Pesach | Exodus 12:21-51

A

s we prepare for Pesach with our family and guests coming from near and far, we search for some novel idea, a thought, an activity or concept to bring meaning to our seder. For some reason, we feel the old is not relevant. We get all uptight with the notion that guests might be bored or that Uncle Joe might fall asleep.

We think of how we can shorten the seder or spice it up. We look on the internet and ask friends for any tips that might create some excitement or bring some added meaning.

“Shir LaMalot a song of ascent, I lift my eyes to the mountains from where will my salvation come?”

“From where will my salvation come” sounds very similar to the story of the exodus and the lesson we are meant to learn on this Pesach night — the lesson that no matter how difficult our situation might be “My salvation comes from G-d, the creator of heaven and earth.”

We say in the Haggadah, and the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, added: “In every generation and each and every single day one is obligated to see him or herself as if he or she came out of Egypt.” As a community and people we have our generational challenges and as individuals we each have our familial, community and daily challenges. Pesach teaches us that we can, we will and we do overcome these challenges with the help of G-d “the maker of heaven and earth.” He cares for our successes and gets involved in our daily situations to make sure that our feet do not stumble.

Shir LaMaalot, Psalm 121, a song of Ascents. Our world, the universe and life itself is a song of ascent, a song reaching higher and better as our world and life advance to more moral and spiritual places. A song that unites our world and ourselves with G-d Himself, bringing the unity and bliss we all crave.

A song has its higher notes and lower notes, its moments of silence and moments of crashing cymbals. A beautiful song comes together in one great tune harmonized and perfectly sung.

Similar to the soundtrack of a movie

Rabbi Elchonon Friedman is the spiritual leader of Bnai Emunoh Chabad. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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— which unlike the movie that has violent and scary scenes as well as uplifting and victorious scenes — this soundtrack is just one large musical, a beautiful tune and symphony that unites the whole story into one great experience.

Songs don’t get boring; a good tune is one we love to play over and over for its beautiful melody and the inspiration it brings.

The same is true for our life story, celebrated on this Passover night. It’s not about the novel idea you will share or the frog you will pull out of your back pocket. The seder is about the song you and your family will sing together, the old traditions, the family love lightly spiced with questions from children and the proper answers from adults. The story of generations of Jews who experienced exiles and salvations and continued to sing the song “that G-d the guardian of Israel never slumbers or sleeps.”

The song of life is experienced when the family gathers together celebrating the generational song of grandparents, children and grandchildren, friends and family — all sharing a song of Jewish tradition, values and salvation.

The song is still ascending with a continuous loop of notes creating a deeper and more musical world and life we all enjoy.

On this Passover night we sing the songs of Hallel and thank G-d for the wonderful song of freedom, the tune of continued growth, the music of overcoming our greatest challenges. Sit back and relax, for tonight we lean back and enjoy the greatest seder as the old is sung once again with the same voices of loved ones joining in harmony with cherished traditions and new faces.

But the song must be sung each day.

Passover is not a moment in life but rather the ingredient of life. We need to add the high notes of mitzvot and learning Torah to our mundane low notes. We need to drive our song to higher octaves and greater crescendos. Let the music roll, and let’s join together for a seder of songs.

Let’s make the greatest crescendo of them all this seder night! L’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim!

Have a kosher and joyous Passover. PJC

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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Obituaries DARLING: Wilbert “Will” Darling, on Monday, April 4, 2022, age 100. Beloved husband of the late Estelle Gross Darling.

Beloved father of Lynn (Karl) Gattlieb, Hope (David) Koncal, and Shelly (Wayne) Roth.

Son of the late Mary and Jake Darling.

Brother of the late Sandy (surviving spouse Carole) Darling and the late Esther (late Sidney) Weingarden, brother-in-law of the late Sol (surviving spouse Vivien) Gross.

Also survived by six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Wilbert was a veteran of Iwo Jima in WWII. He was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Pharmacy School. Wilbert was the owner of Hill Pharmacy and co-founder of Ace Demolition. A memorial service was held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment private. Contributions may be made to Sivitz Hospice, 200 JHF Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217; Make-a-Wish Foundation, 707 Grant St #3700, Pittsburgh, PA 15219; or a charity of one’s choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com GRADITOR: Sylvia Ziskind Graditor, 101.5 years young, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, died of natural causes on April 6, 2022. Sylvia was born on Oct. 22, 1920, to Louise and Henry Ziskind of McKeesport and Brownsville. After graduating from high school in Brownsville, she went on to study at Carnegie Mellon University, a rarity for women of that era. In 1942, she met Jesse Guttman, and they wed in 1943, going on to have two children, first Steven and later Jack.

Sylvia had a thirst for life that undoubtedly helped to propel her into her second century without significant health issues. She was a voracious reader, consuming multiple books per month and loved a good television series.

She loved to travel and voyaged all around the world during her 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, collecting all sorts of interesting antiquities.

She was a passionate golfer, playing until her shoulder prevented it well into her 80s.

She was a fiercely independent woman, and chose to remain single for the last 40 years of her life, after her second husband passed, so as not to be slowed down again. She collected lifelong friends in the various communities where she lived, and she never shied away from sharing her (typically strong) opinion — whether to family or friends. It was rare to spend time with Sylvia without getting a piece of her mind, and yet this was a quality for which she was most loved. Sylvia was predeceased by Jesse Guttman in 1969, by her second husband, Milton Graditor, in 1980, and by two sisters, Goldie in 2016 and Charlotte in 2017. She is survived by two sons and a daughter-in-law: Steve and Kathy Guttman of Miami and Jack Guttman of Boca Raton; four adoring grandchildren: Josh Guttman, Jordan Rosner, Lauren Ravitz, Lindsay Guttman; and eight great-grandchildren: Zach, Nathan, Chloe, Sydney, Isabella, Noa, Lillian and Asa, all of whom cherished their extended time with her. Services and interment private. Arrangements entrusted

to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com RANDALL: Richard Randall passed away on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. He was a true patriarch —loving, generous, and dedicated to his family. He is the beloved husband of Arlene, father to Cheryl (Jeffrey) Lemberg, and Joseph (Deborah), zadie to Alexander, Jordan, Madeline, Andrew and Jason, and many caring nieces and nephews.

He was born on Jan. 18, 1931, in Dormont, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Minnie. He was the youngest of five siblings (Albert, Thelma, Miriam, Bernice) who all preceded him in death. Upon graduating from Dormont High School, Richard began his career at Jones & Laughlin (J&L) Steel Corporation in accounting. In 1952, he was drafted and served in the U.S. Army, whereby he deployed for the Korean War as an artillery ordnance supply specialist. He received multiple decorations, medals, badges and citations for his valor. Upon his discharge from the Army, while on the G.I. Bill, Richard graduated from Robert Morris University, attending night classes. Simultaneously, he resumed his career at J&L Steel which spanned about 35 years.

He was employed at Consumer’s Produce for about 10 years, before enjoying a well-earned retirement. He spent his post-employment years traveling to and from Florida, keeping active through activities like softball and his treasured bowling league, spending time with his family and being genuinely kind to all.

Services were held on Sunday, April 3, 2022, at D’Alessandro Funeral Home in Pittsburgh, followed by interment Adath Jeshurun Cemetery in Allison Park. The family requests contributions, in lieu of flowers, and they can be made to any charitable organization of choice. Professional services trusted to D’Alessandro Funeral Home & Crematory LTD., Lawrenceville. dalessandroltd.com SILVERLBLATT: Ronald Silverblatt, 90, on Sunday, April 10, 2022, passed away peacefully after an arduous battle with congestive heart failure. He was born on Oct. 4, 1931, in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, to parents Leonard and Ruth (Gordon) Silverblatt. After graduating from Penn State University, he married Shirley (Furman) in 1954. They had two children, Bruce and Annie. He spent his career in sales, and was often regarded as “the world’s greatest salesman” by all those who knew him. He was the consummate sports buff who loved watching his beloved Pirates, Penguins, Steelers and Nittany Lions win or lose. Ron had an infectious laugh and had a remarkable ability to make everyone around him share in his joy. Ron is survived by his children, Bruce and Annie (Brad Miller), his grandchildren, Shayna (Anthony Sabo), Joshua (Caitlyn) Silverblatt, and Aaron (Danielle) Miller, and his great-grandson, Levi Sabo. He is also survived by his niece, Kathy Lieberman, and nephew Jay (Coleen) Lieberman. Preceding him in death was his wife, Shirley, parents, Leonard and Ruth Silverblatt, and sister, Marcia. Private graveside services and interment were held at Agudath Achim Cemetery, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com PJC

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THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday April 17: Rae E. Abady, J. Bernard Block, Cernie Caplan, Sol Fox, Philip Hanauer, Sr., Herbert E. Hirsh, E. Abe Keizler, Samuel L. Krauss, Edith Tanzer Levendorf, Luella Mattes, Louis N. Miller, Esther Unitan, Harry Weisberger, Aaron Weiss Monday April 18: Betram I. Adler, Pearl Braun, Louis Cohen, Joseph Cooper, Samuel Davidson, Edith Pichel Davis, Adolph Edlis, Erwin R. Glick, Bernard Gold, Saul Goldberg, Mildred Winer Grossman, Flora Klein, Jennie Peetler Kliman, Julius Lebovitz, Sophie Ida Meyers, Oscar Radin, Sadie Reznik, Ben Rothman, Jacob C. Tanur, Dora C. Weiss, Mollie Weiss, Mary Zoni Tuesday April 19: Harry Ellanovitz, Jennie Friedman, Bertha Kaiser, Philip K. Landau, Dr. Edwin Sheldon Protas, Hannah R. Rubinoff, William Taper, Norman Weinberg, Helen Jaffe Wolk Wednesday April 20: Fannie Ackerman, Harry Birnbaum, Julius H. Cohen, Ben Fleischer, Anne M. Flitman, Lillian H. Goldfield, Edward L. Gordon, Rachel Haltman, Sidney Lawrence, Jack Lundy, Fannie Pollock, Herman Aaron Rosenblum, Jacob Rubenstein, Matilda S. Strauss, Ferd N. Taub, Rose Tick, Bessie Rebecca Traub Thursday April 21: Isaac Abramovitz, Sarah Balkman, Merle N. Berger, David D. Bernstein, Helen Lorinczi Braunstein, Philip Golden, Beatrice Hollander, Harry Kornstein, Harry Melnick, Edna Gertrude Rothman Richman, Tillie Pechersky Serbin, Joseph Sherwin, Andrew H. Spitz, Saul Stein, Harry Stevenson, Pearl Wishnovitz, Albert Abraham Wolk Friday April 22: Nellie Baker, Solomon Balfer, Jennie Bergstein, Richard W. Brown, Joseph Cook, Sophie Glick, Philip Goldberg, Rev. Solomon Horwitz, Jennie Ruttenberg Joseph, Leona Kaminsky, Fanny Kaufman, Esther Kohn, Frank Leff, Alex G. Levison, Regina Margolis, Max Neiman, Ruth Paris, Albert Silverberg, Diann Taxay, Mollie Wikes Saturday April 23: Sadie Gelb Braunstein, Max Fischman, A. Morris Ginsburg, Edith Glosser, Celia Greenberg, Bruce Herron, Abraham Horowitz, Hannah Kamin, Isador Klein, Samuel Klein, Abraham Jacob Kwall, Bernard David Levine, Mattie Goldie Levine, Michael Liff, Rose H. Lowy, David Myers, Max Pretter, Nettie Rosenthal, Dr. Zanvel Sigal, Myer Solomon, I. Weinbaum

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APRIL 15, 2022 25

Headlines Police seek information on Andrew Clinton

T

he Allegheny County Police department is looking for help in identifying anyone in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community who may have been a victim of theft

by Andrew Clinton, according to Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Clinton, a 20-year-old male who lives in Squirrel Hill, is not Jewish but has done handyman work and odd jobs for Jewish Pittsburghers. He is in custody at

the Allegheny County Jail on $20,000 bail after his arrest last week on more than a dozen charges of theft in Fox Chapel and Ohara Township.

“He’s been on our radar for some time for questionable behavior,” Brokos said. “Through inappropriate behavior, he is Clinton highly manipulative, and well- p Andrew Allegheny County versed in social media. He is Police photo

certainly a person of concern but he is not known to be violent.”

S e vera l memb ers of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community also have been victimized by Clinton, according to Brokos.

Pittsburgh Police Zone 4 Detective Frank Rosato, who is assisting the Allegheny County Police Department in the investigation, is asking that anyone

who has noticed items missing after Clinton has been at their house to immediately call 911 and reference “Andrew Clinton.”

The issue is “time-sensitive, as detectives are working on expanding this investigation,” Brokos said.

Questions and concerns may be directed to Brokos at sbrokos@jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5229. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Defense in 10/27 case says it won’t be ready for trial until late 2023

W

hile federal prosecutors said they would be ready by Sept. 12 to start picking a jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering 11 Jews in the Tree of Life building, defense attorneys said they wouldn’t be prepared until the end of 2023.

During an April 6 status conference on Zoom, U.S. District Judge Robert Colville pressed the parties to come up with a timeline for the next six months, the Post-Gazette reported.

The status conference was the first time

Colville met with the attorneys since he took over the case from Judge Donetta Ambrose, who retired in February.

Colville didn’t impose any deadlines, according to the Post-Gazette, but asked the lawyers to file briefs on their anticipated timelines by April 12.

It has been 3½ years since the deadly Oct. 27, 2018, attack, in which congregants of Tree of Life, New Light and Dor Hadash were killed, and six other people were injured,

including four police officers.

Last month, Colville denied a motion by the defense to transfer the case out of Pittsburgh because of negative publicity against the defendant.

At the conference, the prosecution said it would be ready for trial on Oct. 19 after jury selection on Sept. 12, the Post-Gazette reported, noting that some dates could be adjusted to accommodate Jewish holidays.

An attorney for the defense said her team was

“a long way from having a trial-ready presentation.” After being pressed for a date, she suggested late 2023, according to the Post-Gazette.

On April 5, Colville denied an earlier motion by the defendant to dismiss his indictment based on his claim that the makeup of the grand jury was flawed because Black and Hispanic people were underrepresented in the jury pool. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Beth Abraham Front Entrance Under this recently restored front archway sits Pittsburgh’s third largest Jewish cemetery. The JCBA has been transforming this sacred ground by tending to long deferred maintenance, and is appreciative of Jewish Pittsburgh’s significant support, and ongoing volunteer efforts in the work being done at Beth Abraham, Shaare Zedeck and Marks Cemeteries in Carrick.

For more information about JCBA cemeteries, to volunteer, to read our complete histories and/or to make a contribution, please visit our website at www.JCBApgh.org, email us at jcbapgh@gmail.com, or call the JCBA office at 412-553-6469 JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation

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APRIL 15, 2022

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Community Chabad enhances Jewish life on campus

Music to our ears

Chabad House on Campus raised funds to provide Passover seders for more than 400 students, along with classes and Shabbat and holiday meals.

p Music at Rodef Shalom returned, featuring internationally-acclaimed pianist Gerald Robbins with Roy Sonne, violin, and Adam Liu, cello, for an evening of all-Beethoven music.

Photo courtesy of Rodef Shalom Congregation

Nope, it’s not a dream t Temple David member Randy Boswell dressed as Theodor Herzl and answered questions about founding the state of Israel during a program with Temple David’s Weiger Religious School.

p Pitt students on the Chabad at Pitt E-board join co-director Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein for a photo.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Barbara Symons

Rabbinical court is now in session Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh Boys High School students traveled to New York City for the Landers College Model Beis Din Competition. The annual program, hosted by Touro’s Lander College for Men, encourages students nationwide to discuss and debate contemporary moral and halachic questions. p Students gather on campus.

Photos courtesy of Chabad House on Campus

Showing support

Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Center for Loving Kindness created a banner showing support for the local Ukraine community.

p From left: Dov Smith, Eliezer Bates, Avi Becker and Chaskie Yolkut

Photo courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

It’s cool to be crafty

p Staffer Linda McCullough shows off a member-signed banner.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Chabad of Squirrel Hill Co-director Chani Altein welcomed guests for a mezuzahmaking activity on April 5.

Photo by Kelly Schwimer

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

APRIL 15, 2022 27

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APRIL 15, 2022

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