Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 7-23-21 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

July 23, 2021 | 14 Av 5781

Candlelighting 8:25 p.m. | Havdalah 9:29 p.m. | Vol. 64, No. 30 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Richard Rauh donates rare books and materials to Pitt

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Jay Apt’s view of the world

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Federation updates Jewish leaders on antisemitic threat level By David Rullo | Staff Writer

Former astronaut shares insights

she said. When a work is published multiple times, its text and illustrations may become revised, and its book cover, or dust jacket, may be updated to reflect new norms. The materials Rauh has donated may be publicly displayed in the future, noted Haas. The library, she said, encourages students to scour its holdings and curate exhibits based on its rare books and archival materials. One item which could be of interest to the public, said Haas, is a playbill signed by the original cast members of “Our Town,” as well as inscriptions from American playwright Thornton Wilder and the play’s original stage manager Frank Craven. Rauh’s donation includes first editions — all containing original dust jackets — of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ” and “A Streetcar Named Desire,” as well as a rare unpublished proof copy of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion: A Play in Five Acts: By a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature,” signed and inscribed by Shaw.

uring a closed-door meeting on July 14 at Rodef Shalom Congregation, executive directors and other leaders of local Jewish institutions were updated on the current threat level in Pittsburgh in light of the recent surge of antisemitic attacks throughout the country and regionally. The meeting was convened by Shawn Brokos, community security director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Coinciding with the recent rise of antisemitism, is the rise in the number of active shooter incidents around the country, Brokos told the Chronicle following the meeting. “It’s something from a security perspective that I want everyone to be very mindful of,” Brokos said. “As our executive directors prepare for the High Holidays, I want our executive directors and organizational leaders to be cognizant of [security] as they plan and prepare.” To date, there have been 44 antisemitic incidents in Pittsburgh in 2021, Brokos said, a sharp increase from 2020, which saw a total of 40 incidents for the whole year. The number is consistent with antisemitic incidents in other metro areas, including Cleveland and other nearby cities, she said, and includes the three recent assaults — two verbal and one physical — in Squirrel Hill. Police continue to investigate the three incidents. On July 7, The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police released its report “Review of Ethnic Intimidation Incidents for the First Half of 2021.” It referenced two incidents here in which Jewish individuals were targeted because of their faith. It reported a total of 11 incidents targeting victims because of their race, religion, disability or sexual orientation. In 2020, eight incidents were reported

Please see Rauh, page 14

Please see Security, page 14

Page 2

LOCAL Bomb shelter turned beautiful

An Israeli memorial for Pittsburgher DeDe Fink Page 4

LOCAL A victory lap for Zoe Skirboll

Aspinwall teen makes National Junior Team Page 8

 Included within Rauh’s donation are rare photographs, playbills and writings. Photo courtesy of Richard E. Rauh Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

irst or early editions of works by Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Oscar Wilde are among the 40 rare books and manuscripts recently donated by actor and philanthropist Richard E. Rauh to the University of Pittsburgh Library System. The collection is valued at more than $1.4 million. “We’re really very, very excited about receiving this collection,” said Jeanann Haas, Pitt’s special collections coordinator. Rauh’s donation, which is in the process of being cataloged, will bolster the library’s mission, which includes emphasizing the importance of primary sources, explained Haas. By examining first and early editions in the library’s Archives & Special Collections department, students and other researchers can gain a better understanding of an author’s intent. These materials provide a glimpse into “the artist’s rendering before there was any kind of critical acclaim,” said Haas. For example, in the process of becoming a bestseller, a book may undergo an evolution,

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle LOCAL

Young adults at Dor Hadash

LOCAL

Meet soloist Andrea Guthrey

LOCAL

Repairing the world

Headlines Astronaut Jay Apt’s career launched — and landed — in Pittsburgh — LOCAL — By Sarah Abrams | Staff Writer

n July 11, billionaire Richard Branson redefined the bounds of space travel by taking a ride on a rocket developed by his company, Virgin Galactic. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos launched into space aboard his company’s vessel, New Shepard, nine days later. So, what does privately funded space travel mean to a seasoned NASA astronaut? “It’s terrific,” said Jewish Pittsburgher Jerome “Jay” Apt, who has spent a total of 35 days in space spanning four different missions. “I welcome the era of sub-orbital space travel for tourists that they’re opening up.” Apt, who was raised in Pittsburgh and graduated from Shady Side Academy in 1967, returned as a Carnegie Mellon University professor almost 20 years ago. But during the years he was absent from Pittsburgh, there was … space. Apt graduated from Harvard University and earned his doctorate in experimental atomic physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. In 1991, after years of learning and training at NASA, he boarded the space shuttle Atlantis on his first mission: sending a large astronomy satellite, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, into orbit. Gamma rays are “the most energetic type of light on the electromagnetic spectrum, light created by some of the most violent events in the universe, millions of times brighter than our eyes can evolve to,” Apt told the Chronicle. “This 36,000-pound

 Jay Apt

Photo courtesy of NASA via Jay Apt

observatory was meant to study the universe using gamma radiation.” The Gamma Ray Observatory is one of NASA’s four “Great Observatories,” along with the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Spitzer Space (Infrared) Telescope. While on his 1991 mission, Apt performed two spacewalks — one emergency, one routine — both of which served as blueprints for future spacewalks on the International Space Station, which was then still in the conceptual phase. The International Space Station did not begin construction until 1998. On a spacewalk, “we put on our pressure suits that are designed to protect us against the vacuum of space and also to keep us at about room temperature,” Apt explained. “They are bulky and weigh about 250 pounds on the ground. In space there is only

 Jay Apt on flight deck of Shuttle Full Fuselage Trainer

mass, not weight.” At night, he often spent hours photographing images of the Earth along with his fellow astronauts. “It was after that flight, looking at all of those beautiful pictures, that I decided we needed to share that with people,” he said. “Two of my colleagues at the Johnson Space Center who were geographers and I selected a number of the best pictures taken from the space program at that time. We narrowed it down from a quarter of a million photographs to 250 to be featured in a book that National Geographic published.” The book is called “Orbit: NASA Astronauts Photograph the Earth,” and has been printed in 11 different languages, including Hebrew. It was published in 1996, after Apt’s third journey into space. “Seeing the Earth from the vantage point

Photo by Arthur H. Barber

of a few hundred miles up is a fabulous experience,” Apt said. Following his 12-and-a-half-year career as an astronaut, Apt joined the faculty of CMU, where he is a professor at the Tepper School of Business and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy. Much of his research centers on electric power. “We had a large project looking at how renewable power — principally wind and solar — gets integrated into the electric grid so the grid can deal with the fluctuations of the wind,” he explained. He has also researched the reliability and resilience of the electric power system and electric power markets. Some of the first work he published after he came to CMU examined whether the deregulation of Please see Apt, page 15

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Headlines Young adults launch new group at Dor Hadash — LOCAL —

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ollowing her graduation from Temple University in 2018, Anna Coufal returned to Pittsburgh as an active member of Congregation Dor Hadash, the synagogue she grew up at and grew to love, teaching religious school and leading a monthly interactive, educational Shabbat morning service for families. Now, Coufal, who studied linguistic anthropology, religion and theater at Temple, has created a new social group for young adults at Dor Hadash — Dor Ha’Ba (the coming generation) — serving a loosely defined age group that tends to fall between 18 and 40. “Our goal in the group is to become full participants in the Jewish community,” Coufal told the Chronicle. “We help bridge the divide between the older and younger generations. It’s important that we feel we have a space and a voice for ourselves and others within our community.” Coufal, 31, first tried to launch a group for young adults at Dor Hadash following the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre at the Tree of Life building. Dor Hadash, which was located in the Tree of Life building then, was one of the three congregations attacked that day. Dor Hadash member Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz was among the 11 people killed, and another member, Daniel Leger, was seriously injured. At that time, the young adult group was unable to gain traction, she said. The pandemic, though, brought more people to Dor Hadash, albeit virtually, and offered momentum to launch the group, she said. “COVID allowed many more people to access services via Zoom and allowed them to become part of our community,” Coufal said. “It really motivated us to make things happen by synergizing new members with those of us who are more experienced. The way we do that is by encouraging and empowering each other to do things they enjoy.” Dor Hadash is Pittsburgh’s only Reconstructionist congregation. It is member-led and now located within Rodef Shalom’s building in Shadyside. Daniel Heifetz, a religious studies professor at the University of Pittsburgh who joined Dor Hadash in the fall of 2020, first heard about Dor Ha’Ba’s events through Dor Hadash’s weekly newsletter. He is now the co-chair of Dor Ha’Ba’s learning and programming committee. “COVID made people feel like they were missing connections with people,” said Heifetz. “A synagogue is a good place to make social connections. People now want to reach out and have a structured way to socialize, which motivated me to join the program.”

p Anna Coufal

p Daniel Heifetz

Innovative

Respectful

Sensitive

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Photo courtesy of Anna Coufal

Photo courtesy of Maria Carson

The young adult group began meeting as a committee-to-be in early 2021. Since then, they have held several social and educational events, including a recent celebration of the birthday of anarchist and activist Emma Goldman, complete with cupcakes and a discussion of her views on marriage, prostitution and love. “Synagogues tend to lean toward older members in terms of sheer number,” Heifetz said. “Consequently, the things that younger people want out of a congregation can easily get lost. We wanted to coordinate our interests within Dor Hadash and make sure the programming that was happening appeals to us.” The new group strives to “connect all the bright and caring people in our congregation through a very open and warm community,” Coufal said, adding that prior to forming Dor Ha’Ba, “we were wandering in the wilderness trying to find our direction.” While Dor Ha’Ba was established for members of Dor Hadash, it is open to non-members as well. Contact Maria Carson at dorhabainpittsburgh@gmail.com to join its mailing list. PJC

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Headlines Late Pittsburgher honored by beautified Israeli bomb shelter — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

iane “DeDe” Fink, a Pittsburgh educator and Jewish mother and grandmother who passed away in October 2020, was a force of nature. Left paralyzed by a bicycle accident nearly 40 years before her death at age 72, Fink met adversity with remarkable passion, winning multiple wheelchair competitions — including the Great Race — and netting gold medals in track and field and swimming at the U.S. National Wheelchair Games. She

filled her house with flowers, pictures of her loved ones and trinkets. She “bedazzled” her wheelchair. She liked to match her eyeshadow to her earrings. “She knew how to put pieces together to make them beautiful and she knew how to find the beauty in everything,” her daughter, Julie Paris, told the Chronicle. “She had a special way of making things beautiful — she just had an amazing ability to make challenges into opportunities.” That beauty now is spreading to the other side of the world. Thanks to a donation by Paris and her family to Jewish National Please see Shelter, page 15

www.jwfpgh.org p A bomb shelter in Sderot, Israel, was decorated in memory of Pittsburgher

Diane Fink. 4 JULY 23, 2021

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Images courtesy of Julie Paris

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Headlines Have guitar, will travel: Meet cantorial soloist Andrea Guthrey Then, as a camper at the Union of Reform Judaism’s Goldman Union Camp Institute, she “just fell in love with Jewish music,” she said. The future soloist performed in choirs during high school, and also credits her hometown cantor, Kathryn Wolfe Sebo from The Temple Tifereth Israel, with motivating her to pursue music as a career. “I grew up admiring her voice so much,” Guthrey said. “She was a wonderful person with a gorgeous voice.” Guthrey came to Pittsburgh to pursue a master’s in music performance at Duquesne University after earning an undergraduate degree from Ohio University in music education and vocal performance. She was singing in a church choir when she decided to contact Rodef Shalom’s Rabbi Sharyn Henry to see if there were opportunities to sing at the synagogue. To her surprise, Henry hired her. She sang a few times a month as one of several soloists employed by the congregation. After leaving Rodef Shalom, Guthrey began working closer to home at Temple Ohav Shalom in Allison Park, where she served as the congregation’s youth director, music director and cantorial soloist. Eventually, she added the title of assistant director of education, and worked there

— LOCAL — By David Rullo | Staff Writer

ndrea Guthrey wants people to sing with her. The cantorial soloist enjoys leading congregations in song so much that she currently divides her time between two local synagogues — Temple B’nai Israel in White Oak and Temple David in Monroeville. In fact, she is so committed to singing at the two Reform synagogues that she drives more than 40 minutes to the Eastern suburbs from her home in the North Hills, where she lives with her husband, Justin, and their puppy, Daisy. Guthrey is moved by “everybody joining together with their voices in prayer,” she said. “I love hearing people sing with me.” Guthrey, who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, has loved singing since she was a child. She recalls performing along with her father for the residents of Menorah Park Nursing Home where he worked as an administrator, Guthrey singing while her father played guitar. “I think that was my first time performing for people,” she said. “I have this memory of my dad, who never really did anything with music, but had a lovely tenor voice. I think hearing him just put something in my head.”

 Andrea Guthrey

Photo by Tracy Brien Photography

Please see Guthrey, page 15

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Headlines 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 SUNDAY, JULY 25 Before it closed in 2018, Beth Israel Center donated a wonderful collection of records to the Rauh Jewish Archives. Attend Beth Israel Center: Before Charter to learn about the initial meetings in 1957 leading to the congregation’s founding by a group of Jewish engineers from the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory and the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory in 1958 and the larger development of Jewish life in the South Hills at the time. 11 a.m. heinzhistorycenter.org/events/beth-israelcenter-jul-21 Hang out at Frick Park dog park with Moishe House. Dogs can frolic in the off-leash area and humans can snack and dog watch. 5 p.m. facebook. com/moishehouse.pittsburgh q SUNDAYS, JULY 25- AUG. 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 SUNDAYS, JULY 25-AUG. 22 The Book of Job is one of the most powerful pieces of writing in the Hebrew Bible. Focused on the

question of “why do the righteous suffer?” this book has universal significance. In this course, Rabbi Danny Schiff will offer a journey through the core themes raised by the Book of Job. $70. 10 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org q MONDAYS, JULY 26; AUG. 2, 9 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q WEDNESDAYS, JULY 28-AUG. 18 Join New Light Congregation for a weekly examination of Maimonides’ Mishna Torah Book on Repentance led by Rabbi Jonathan Perlman. Examine the journey of the soul, sin, forgiveness and the meaning of the High Holidays. 7 p.m. To register, email janet@newlightcongregation.org. q SUNDAY, AUG. 1 Join the Westmoreland Jewish Community Council and make a High Holiday trivet followed by a potluck picnic lunch at Twin Lakes Park, pavilion 5. There is no charge for the picnic but there is a fee to create the trivet. 10 a.m. trivet making; 12:30 p.m. picnic. wjccwestmoreland@gmail.com q MONDAY, AUG. 9 Join Classrooms Without Borders for a virtual tour of Israel. Monthly tours with guide and scholar Rabbi Jonty Blackman via Zoom. 7 p.m. For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.org.

q TUESDAY, AUG. 10 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Volunteer Center’s August VOOM will be tree tending in Squirrel Hill with Tree Pittsburgh. Meet on Murray Avenue near Forward (across from parking lot between Starbucks and GetGo). Be prepared to get messy and dress appropriately. 6 p.m. Register at jewishpgh.org/event/voom-with-tree-pittsburgh. q THURSDAY, AUG. 12 Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with the German Academic Exchange Service, is excited to offer the opportunity to watch the film “Oma and Bella” and engage in a post-film discussion with director Alexa Karolinski and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, an expert on Eastern European Jewish cuisine and its history. Moderated by Kathleen Gransow program director, German Academic Exchange Service. 3 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/oma-bella-postfilm-discussion q TUESDAY, AUG. 17 From the recent conflict with Gaza to the internal political upheaval in Israel, there is a necessity to get an educated view from the “inside.” Classrooms Without Borders is offering an opportunity to hear from in-house scholar — Avi Ben-Hur — as he helps us navigate and understand what is happening with the cease-fire with Hamas and the change of leadership of the Israeli government. 2 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/israel-update-2021 q WEDNESDAY, AUG. 18

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Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on Zoom to learn more about the Mega Mission 2022. The mission will take place in Israel June 13-21, 2022. This is your chance to hear the details and ask all your pressing questions. RSVP required to receive Zoom link. 7 p.m. jewishpgh.org/ event/21-mega-mission-2022-general-informationsession-7-11-2021 q THURSDAY, AUG. 19-JUNE 30, 2022 The Alan Papernick Educational Institute Endowment Fund presents Continuing Legal Education, a sixpart CLE series taught by Foundation Scholar Rabbi Dr. Danny Schiff. Earn up to 12 CLE credits. Each session is a stand-alone unit; you can take one class or all six. 8:30 a.m. With CLE credit: $30/session or $150 all sessions; Without CLE credit: $25/session or $125 all sessions. For a complete list of dates and topics, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org/continuinglegal-education. q SUNDAY, AUG. 29 Join Classrooms Without Borders, The Ghetto Fighters House, South Africa Holocaust and Genocide Foundation for a discussion with Loung Ung, author of the bestselling memoir and the critically acclaimed 2017 Netflix original movie directed by Angelina Jolie, “First They Killed My Father.” For more information, visit classroomswithoutborders.org/loung-ung. PJC

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Headlines Squirrel Hill Food Pantry set to fully reopen through the pandemic to be flexible — that’s unfortunately going to be a part of life on planet Earth as the pandemic plays itself out.” And JFCS clients are relying on their plasticity, he said, because “COVID-19 has been a very challenging time for everyone, but especially for people in our community who are struggling financially.” Director Matthew Bolton doesn’t hide his pride in the fact that the JFCS pantry was one of the few in southwestern Pennsylvania to remain open five days a week during the pandemic. “We never had to close,” Bolton said. Even so, of course, the pandemic challenged the organization. During COVID-19, the food pantry’s approximately 60-to-70 area volunteers largely kept out of the building; accordingly, JFCS estimates, it lost about 350 volunteer hours a month over the course of the past year.

— LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

he Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) Squirrel Hill Food Pantry plans to reopen for in-person, in-store pick-up during the first week of August, another sign that life is returning to normal as most COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in Allegheny County. Volunteers poured back into the Hazelwood Avenue food pantry for “open houses” in mid-July and the facility is expected to be back in full operation before the summer is over, according to JFCS CEO Jordan Golin. “It does seem like it’s safe to begin moving forward with this model,” Golin told the Chronicle. “But I think we’ve all learned

“ We’ve tried as best we can to adapt to the needs of the community. I’m proud we’ve

”

stepped up and gone above and beyond.

— MATTHEW BOLTON, JFCS DIRECTOR

SAFEGUARDING YOUR PRESENT & FUTURE

p Fully stocked shelves at the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry.

Photo courtesy of JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry

That left a core staff of three or four people with the Herculean task of lifting, sorting and bringing out for parking lot pick-up about 15,000-to-20,000 pounds of food a month, Bolton said. He also stressed that “life cycle events do not stop because there’s a worldwide pandemic.” Neither do holidays. In 2020 and 2021, the JFCS food pantry served the needy during Passover, delivering more than 10,000 pounds of food during two-week spans. It also was involved in helping launch kosher food pick-ups made available through Yeshiva Schools. “With this pandemic, it’s just been one thing after another,” Bolton said. “We’ve tried as best we can to adapt to the needs of the community. I’m proud we’ve stepped up

and gone above and beyond.” The pantry took some additional measures as well. During Passover — when some Jews leave on ovens overnight so they can cook on the holiday — the pantry distributed literature on fire and electrical safety, and issued more than 400 surge protectors and smoke alarms, Bolton said. Other social services continued as well, despite the COVID-19 obstacles. Thanks to the United Way, the pantry distributed micro-grants up to $700 each to families in financial need, said Claire Burbea, JFCS clinical needs coordinator. Golin, the JFCS CEO, said he’s excited people can resume shopping for their own food in the pantry “grocery store style.” He believes there’s a certain dignity in that. He also stressed that the perception that people in the Jewish community don’t need support or food supplements — in Pittsburgh or elsewhere — is rooted in stereotypes about Jews and money. “The more we investigate, the more we find a need,” Golin said. “Poverty is not a situation you can avoid due to your religion or your membership in our tribe … we in the Jewish community are not immune to it.” For more information about the food pantry, call 412-421-2708. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Headlines Jewish Aspinwall swimmer Zoe Skirboll readies for international competition — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

t this point, competitive swimmer Zoe Skirboll, 16, would be justified in taking a break. Last month, she accomplished her goal of swimming at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, and two weeks ago, she was named to the U.S. National Junior Team. A rising senior at Fox Chapel High School, the Aspinwall Jewish teen has already committed to the University of Virginia, one of the country’s top swimming programs. After achieving so much at such a young age — and considering it’s summer vacation — Skirboll has earned some time off. The thing is, all she wants to do is prepare for her next challenge, regardless of whether it’s in the water or on dry land. “Everything that I want to do now is to try to better myself for college, whether that’s in school, in the classroom or on the pool deck,” she said. “I think just bettering myself before college and just keeping myself motivated is one of my main goals.” She wants to arrive at the University of Virginia, she said, “ready to perform.” Being on Team USA should help. Following the Omaha-based Olympic Trials — where she finished 25th in the 100-meter breaststroke; 27th in the 200-meter individual medley; 41st in the 50-meter freestyle; and 44th in the 100-meter freestyle — Skirboll was one of 22 girls selected for the National Junior Team. (USA Swimming selected athletes for both its Olympic Team and its National Junior Team based in part on their performances at the trials.) Joining the National Junior Team is an important stepping stone for young athletes, explained Lindsay Mintenko, managing director of USA Swimming’s National Team, in a prepared statement. Through U.S.-based practices and worldwide meets, these young swimmers will gain “valuable training and racing experiences which we feel are critical to success on the international stage,” said Mintenko. “Junior athletes are an important conduit to our Olympic Team.” Even though team practices haven’t yet officially begun, Skirboll is already excited

 Zoe Skirboll, right, and her dad and coach, Jim Skirboll, stand near the pool during the Olympic Trials.

about the possibility of traveling to Colorado Springs and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center. Skirboll already knows three of her teammates — they have also committed to the University of Virginia — but she hopes being in Colorado Springs with the entire group will give the girls, ages 14 to 17, a chance to work together before traveling globally, she said. Participation on the National Junior Team is a one-year commitment. Given her age, Skirboll is eligible to compete next year as well, as long as she requalifies. But even before thinking about making the team a

second time, or the competitions that could take place in 2022, there’s plenty to focus on in the months ahead. Skirboll and the 42 other swimmers on the National Junior Team will represent the United States at the third and fourth legs of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup. The competitions are slated for Oct. 1-3 in Berlin and Oct. 7-9 in Budapest. Leading up to those meets, Skirboll will work with head coaches Chuck Batchelor and Kate Lundsten. Until Skirboll’s work with the National Team begins, she will follow a routine similar to the one that brought her to this point. She’ll

Photo courtesy of Jim Skirboll

keep working with Jim Skirboll, her dad and the head swim coach for Racer X Aquatics, and continue practicing six days a week. The demanding routine is familiar, even if her mindset has changed. For so long her focus was on swimming at the Olympic Trials and making the Junior National Team, but having realized those personal goals, she appreciates she is “part of something bigger than myself now,” she said. “I’m swimming for Team USA.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Pittsburgh Public Theater to present free pop-up performances of ‘Barefoot in the Park’

ittsburgh Public Theater will present a week of pop-up performances of “Barefoot in the Park” — written by Jewish playwright Neil Simon — in, well, a park. The shows, which will run Aug. 3-7, will be held at the newly opened Allegheny Overlook Pop-Up Park, located on Fort Duquesne Boulevard in downtown Pittsburgh. “When our 2019-2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 crisis, the first 8 JULY 23, 2021

priority was the health and safety of our audiences, artists, and staff,” said Pittsburgh Public Theater Artistic Director, Marya Sea Kaminski in a prepared statement. “One of the productions we were all looking forward to with great anticipation was Neil Simon’s ‘Barefoot in the Park,’ which unfortunately had to be cancelled that season. Yet here we are, so many months later, bringing a pop-up production of this classic romantic comedy to an incredible new outdoor

venue featuring some of the most irresistible, hilarious performers in the region. I simply cannot wait.” The show will be directed by Kaminski and will feature music from Jewish Pittsburgher Doug Levine. “Bringing audiences together at the Allegheny Overlook will be cause for celebration this August,” said Pittsburgh Public Theater Managing Director Lou Castelli in a prepared statement.

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“Our patrons have been incredibly patient and supportive during this time, and they deserve a night of relaxation and laughter. Once again seeing friendly faces in the crowd and enjoying the magic of live theater together will make for one memorable week.” Tickets are available at no charge. Visit ppt.org/barefoot to register. PJC — Toby Tabachnick PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Temple Emanuel’s Rabbi Jessica Locketz steps down — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

fter 17 years of serving Temple Emanuel of South Hills as its associate rabbi and director of education, Rabbi Jessica Locketz concluded her professional responsibilities with the congregation on June 30. The decision, said Locketz in a letter to congregants, was driven by a desire to “seek out new opportunities and experiences.” Locketz, a University of Wisconsin and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati graduate, joined Temple Emanuel in 2004 after serving as assistant rabbi at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Shadyside from 1999 to 2002, and as assistant rabbi at Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia, from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, Temple Emanuel’s past president Melvin Vatz told the Chronicle that the congregation had first offered Locketz a position in 1999. “We would have been thrilled if she had chosen to join us at that time,” Vatz said, “and we are certainly just as thrilled now.” After joining Temple Emanuel, Locketz led countless educational and spiritual

 Rabbi Jessica Locketz

programs and services. Those experiences, she said, “infinitely” shaped her rabbinate. “I am so proud of what I have brought to the congregation through my education work in the Torah Center, Jewish High School/JLine, ECDC and on the Beit Midrash (Adult Education) Committee,” she wrote in her letter to congregants. “I

feel fortunate that I was able to do so many things including opening the doors to interfaith marriages and helping to make Temple a safe and welcoming place for all.” Locketz’s rabbinate was marked by “wisdom, kindness and enthusiasm,” said Michelle Markowitz, Temple Emanuel’s president in a separate letter to congregants. “On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to express deep gratitude for all that she has done to ensure a love of learning and connection to Judaism in children and adults alike. Her presence on the bimah, in our classrooms, and with our families will be File photo missed at Temple Emanuel.” Temple Emanuel’s senior rabbi Aaron Meyer worked with Locketz for two years at the South Hills congregation. Meyer praised her contributions. “Rabbi Jessica Locketz is a wonderful educator and colleague who has shaped and enriched so many lives in her time with Temple Emanuel,” he said. “We are grateful for her many years as our rabbi,

teacher and friend.” Markowitz, who declined to speak with the Chronicle, wrote in her letter to congregants that although Locketz oversaw several facets of congregational life, Temple Emanuel had no immediate plan to hire another rabbi or educator. “However,” Markowitz continued, “I can assure you that youth and family programming, along with Torah Center and Jewish High School, will continue to be central to Temple Emanuel’s mission in the coming year.” Meyer has begun connecting with Torah Center faculty, and during the coming school year “the Board of Trustees will engage in a process of exploration and discernment to make strategic decisions regarding how Temple Emanuel’s staffing can best be designed to achieve our mission of Living, Learning, and Leading Judaism,” according to Markowitz’s letter. Locketz, who declined to speak with the Chronicle, wrote in her letter to congregants that although “I will no longer be one of your Temple Emanuel rabbis, I will continue to be a part of this community. I look forward to our paths crossing again soon.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Repair the World Pittsburgh logs more than 10,000 service and learning hours — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

his year’s cohort of Pittsburgh fellows and senior fellows for service organization Repair the World recently completed their annual assignments, leaving the organization and those it serves the opportunity to reflect on a plethora of nonprofit work. Between the summers of 2020 and 2021, the Repair the World Pittsburgh team “engaged the community in completing 6,972 acts of service and learning, and 10,589 hours of service and learning, across 178 programs,” the organization announced in a letter to supporters. “This year’s fellows really embody the Jewish value of strengthening each other or hitchazkut,” said Julie Mallis, city director of Repair the World Pittsburgh. “Everyone worked together and shared their interests, experiences and skills with one another and with the community through service-learning programs. This in turn strengthened them right back. I am proud of this team, inspired and grateful as they complete their fellowship.” Volunteering with the group was “such a pleasure,” said Alix Cramer, a family programming coordinator with Repair the World Pittsburgh. “I’m so proud that despite the immense challenges we all faced, we were able to pivot and find new ways to

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rallies together for important causes and how everyone’s work intertwines. Pittsburgh is forever my home base and I’m so glad I got to work with a community that has been such a key part of my life thus far.” Schanwald also emphasized the Jewish roots at the core of her work with Repair the World. “Tikkun olam is at the center of everything Repair the World does — from its emphasis on food and education justice to community building and connection making,” she said. “It is a precept that keeps me p Sarah Schanwald Photo courtesy of Repair the World grounded and focused on doing the most important come together.” work I can for those around me.” The service organization’s annual fellowship benefits numerous local organizations, from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Just Harvest and the Kelly Strayhorn Theater to the PeerCorps program, Garfield Community Farm, 412 Food Rescue and Bend The Arc. n Israeli man accused of raping For fellow Sarah Schanwald, the program a 15-year-old girl 17 years ago in sparked more participation in Jewish life. Dormont has been sentenced to 10 “I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh to 25 years in prison. and, although I had frequented Squirrel An Allegheny County jury found Moshe Hill for various Jewish events, I really hadn’t Journo, 56, guilty of rape, aggravated indefelt so connected to Pittsburgh until this cent assault, sexual assault, statutory sexual year,” Schanwald told the Chronicle. “I’m assault and indecent assault following a always amazed by how the community five-day trial last month.

Some fellows who are leaving the program won’t be going far. Senior fellow Brenna Rosen has been hired as Jewish Teen Life Director at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, and fellow Elisha Serotta has become a volunteer coordinator with the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, according to Repair the World. As for Schanwald, she’s set to get to work on a diversified vegetable and flower farm in Michigan. “It has been amazing to see the strength of the Pittsburgh community despite the challenges that arose due to the pandemic,” she said. “I’m so thankful to have been part of such an ambitious organization and I can’t wait to continue collaborating in the future.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

Israeli man sentenced for 2004 rape of teenager in Dormont

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Journo, formerly of Beechview, had been accused of assaulting the teenager in his tanning salon in 2004. After he was released on bond, authorities say he fled the country and remained at large until he was arrested by Israeli police in December 2017. He was extradited to the United States in 2019. PJC — Toby Tabachnick JULY 23, 2021 9

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Argentina’s vice president rails against AMIA trial on anniversary of the Jewish center bombing

On the 27th anniversary of the AMIA Jewish center bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 and injured hundreds, Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner called the imminent trial into her alleged efforts to cover up Iran’s role in the attack a “monumental scandal.” “This is a judicial panel to persecute opponents of Mauricio Macri,” she said, referencing Argentina’s previous president, in an angry video speech given during the same time as the annual commemoration ceremony for victims of the bombing. She called for her trial, set to start later this year, to be dropped. Kirchner, a progressive leftist who was the country’s president from 2007 to 2015, was indicted by a federal judge in 2018 for obstructing the investigation into the 1994 attack. After conducting his own investigation into the case, Jewish prosecutor Alberto Nisman claimed in 2015 that Kirchner had a secret back channel with Iranian officials who were involved in the bombing and worked to keep them free of suspicion. Nisman was later found dead in his apartment, on the day he was to present his findings in court. His death was eventually ruled a homicide, after being initially deemed a suicide.

Argentine Jewish umbrella group DAIA, which is part of the group leading the accusations against Kirchner and has its headquarters housed on a floor of the AMIA building, had requested Kirchner’s public hearing be moved. It was pushed ahead only one hour, and Kirchner’s fiery speech overlapped with part of the commemoration ceremony. “July is a month of remembrance, tribute and claim for justice. It is not a month to politicize a cause. To do his audience on the same day is offensive,” DAIA president Jorge Knoblovits told JTA. “If the feelings of the victims of the greatest terrorist attack of the 20th century are disrespected, it is very difficult to reach justice and end impunity.” Kirchner also remains indicted in multiple corruption scandals from her time as president. The AMIA commemoration was held virtually for a second year in a row, due to coronavirus precautions.

Mark Zuckerberg shared a photo of his dog wearing a yarmulke. It was hit with antisemitic comments

Not even the CEO of Facebook’s dog is immune to online antisemitism. Mark Zuckerberg posted a photo to his platform of his family pet — a Hungarian sheepdog named Beast — wearing a yarmulke and a canine-sized tallit, or Jewish prayer shawl. The post was quickly inundated with comments, most of them pushing a pro-Palestinian message, despite the photo’s lack of Israel-related content.

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Some of the responses included antisemitic rhetoric and imagery. Many contained the phrase “Israel ISREAL terrorism,” and some contained caricatures with large noses. One showed a foot stomping on an image of the Israeli flag. “Lol literally this post has nothing to do with israel…. And here are the comments. Reminder antizionism goes hand and hand with antisemtism [sic],” one user commented. The American Jewish Committee called attention to the post’s reactions in a tweet. “We must make sure social media platforms are free of hate,” the statement read. Zuckerberg has been more public about his Jewish identity in recent years. At Harvard’s commencement in 2017, he said that he often sings the “Mi Shebeirach” prayer to his daughter.

David Harris, longtime American Jewish Committee CEO, to step down next year

David Harris, who first made his mark on U.S. Jewish advocacy in the fight for the freedom of Soviet Jews, will step down next year after leading the American Jewish Committee since 1990. “Every single day, I have been grateful beyond words for the opportunity to pursue my lifelong mission — to assist Jews in danger worldwide, support Israel’s quest for peace and security, combat antisemitism, and defend democratic values against the radical right and the totalitarian left,” Harris, 71, said in a statement.

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

July 23, 2002 — Knesset enacts Tal Law on Haredi draft

On a 51-41 vote, the Knesset approves the Tal Law, an effort to address the growing problem of Haredi yeshiva students avoiding military service. The Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional in 2012.

July 24, 2013 — Sons of former chief rabbis win the positions

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Rabbis Yitzhak Yosef (Sephardi) and David Lau (Ashkenazi) are elected as Israel’s chief rabbis. Yosef ’s father, Ovadia Yosef, held the post from 1973 to 1983, as did Lau’s father, Yisrael Meir Lau, from 1993 to 2003.

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nightclubs across Israel, dies in Budapest at age 52. His hybrid music, laika, set the stage for the rise of Mizrahi music.

July 26, 1928 — Writer Netiva Ben Yehuda is born

Netiva Ben Yehuda, a writer acclaimed for a trilogy based on her service in the Palmach, is born in Tel Aviv. She calls the books neither fiction nor history, but a “worm’s-eye view” of front-line trauma.

July 27, 1955 — El Al flight is shot down

Two Bulgarian MiG-15 fighter jets shoot down El Al Flight 402 en route from London to Israel after the Lockheed Constellation veers off course into Bulgarian airspace between Vienna and Istanbul.

July 28, 1923 — Opera arrives in Palestine

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Harris first came to the AJC in 1979. The child of Holocaust survivors who raised him in a French-speaking home, he left the AJC briefly in the mid-1980s to join one of the organizations at the time advocating for Soviet Jewry before returning to become its Washington director. In that capacity, Harris helped steer the 1987 rally on the National Mall that brought out 250,000 Jews from across the country, believed to be the largest ever gathering of American Jews. Three years later he became CEO and soon was leading what would be a successful effort to get the United Nations General Assembly to reverse its 1975 “Zionism is racism” resolution. Under Harris, the AJC expanded its diplomacy, establishing ties with Arab and Muslim countries long before those same nations normalized ties with Israel. More recently, the AJC under Harris has been criticized for sustaining unquestioning support of Israel by some Jewish organizations. A year ago, when the Israeli government seemed ready to annex West Bank territory, the AJC said it opposed the move, but also would defend it. A succession committee will seek candidates for Harris’ post along with an outside executive search group. Harris said he will pass the baton at next year’s AJC Global Forum and then stay on for another year in a consultancy role. “S/he will have my full support and cooperation to ensure AJC continues to be the preeminent global Jewish advocacy organization,” Harris said of his successor. PJC

Aris San, who helped popularize the Greek sound in Israeli music and opened

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Mordechai Golinkin’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” marks the beginning of opera in the British Mandate of Palestine.

July 29, 1891 — Pregnancy test developer Zondek is born

Bernhard Zondek, the obstetrician-gynecologist behind one of the first reliable pregnancy tests in 1928, is born in Wronke, Germany, now in Poland. He flees Nazi Germany in 1933 and reaches Palestine in 1934. PJC PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Breaking a 2-month silence, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream announces boycott of Israeli West Bank settlements — WORLD — By Asaf Shalev | JTA

ollowing pressure from pro-Palestinian activists, Ben & Jerry’s announced Monday that it would stop selling ice cream in “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” The Vermont-based ice cream brand said it would continue operating in Israel, suggesting that it is planning to pull its products from stores located in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. “We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the company said. “We also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.” Ben & Jerry’s announced the decision on its social media accounts Monday, breaking an uncharacteristic two-month silence that began during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The move makes Ben & Jerry’s one of the most high-profile companies to refuse to do business in the settlements. It also means that the company declined demands to engage in a broader boycott of Israel. A subsidiary of the British conglomerate Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s said it would allow its controversial contract with a licensee that manufactures the brand’s ice cream at a facility in Israel proper and distributes it in the region to lapse next year. The company said it would maintain a presence in Israel, where its ice cream is popular, “through a different arrangement” to be unveiled in the future. Ben & Jerry’s Israel, the company licensed to produce and distribute Ben & Jerry’s ice

cream in Israel, tweeted after the announcement that it had refused to accept a demand from the American company to stop distributing its products in settlements. “This is an unprecedented action by Unilever, owner of Ben & Jerry’s Worldwide,” it said. “Ice cream is not part of politics.” Known for its embrace of progressive politics in its marketing strategy, Ben & Jerry’s has long been a prime target of the movement to boycott Israel as a strategy to change Israeli policies that its advocates say harm Palestinians. Among the countless brands owned by Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s is uniquely vulnerable to such pressure because of a special provision that grants it independence from the larger company. The sale to Unilever in 2000 tasked a special board of directors with preserving the ice cream brand’s “social mission” and gave it the power to override certain corporate decisions to do so. As protests and violence engulfed Israel in May, scores of users flooded the social media pages of the ice cream brand with criticism and calls to boycott the country. Ben & Jerry’s could not promote its flavors without being bombarded by political messages. Ben & Jerry’s critics, who have been lobbying it to stop selling in Israel for nearly a decade, said they counted the settlements boycott as a win but still hoped to see the company exit Israel completely in the future. Ben & Jerry’s is not the first company to decline to do business in settlements: Notably, McDonald’s has a longstanding policy of not operating in the West Bank. The vacation rentals booking site AirBNB in 2018 barred users from advertising rooms in settlements, then reversed the decision earlier this year amid a lawsuit by American pro-Israel activists. PJC

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Spend nine exhilarating, romantic and memorable days exploring Israel in luxury with the one you love and 19 other couples from Pittsburgh. Come home with a community that lasts a lifetime. p Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Jerry Greenfield, left, and Ben Cohen serve ice cream following a press conference announcing a new flavor in Washington, D.C., Sept. 3, 2019. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images via JTA

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Opinion ‘My Unorthodox Life’ is the story of one woman, not a community Guest Columnist Izzy Posen

n “My Unorthodox Life” (Netflix), we see a fascinating woman who felt trapped in the Orthodox Jewish community is “kick ass” (as her daughter puts it) in the secular world of fashion, and feels liberated to express herself and her sexuality. Needless to say, many parts of this “reality” show are clearly staged, and yet moments of authenticity shine through. Julia Haart is clearly fearless, but she is also a woman of contradictions, especially when, in the name of freedom and choice, she emotionally manipulates her son to abandon his religious beliefs and practices which he claims to have chosen freely. She says he is being brainwashed by the religious, and yet there is more than a little hint of brainwashing in her own imposing stance with her children. The heroine of this show sees Orthodox Judaism as inherently oppressive, especially toward women, which has sparked a response from many successful and happy Orthodox women who don’t see themselves as oppressed. In turn, these women are called apologists by critics and leavers of Orthodox Judaism. I must confess that when I first left Orthodox Judaism some years ago I also saw things in this light. Many years and a philosophy degree later,

I see a more relativist picture. I don’t think that Orthodox communities, including strictly Orthodox ones, are either better or worse than other communities, nor do I think their flaws or attributes are overall more significant than those found in other communities. I have seen no research suggesting that people living an Orthodox life are either more or less happy than people not living that life, or that life satisfaction is more or less than in other communities. This is the kind of research you would need to show me to change my mind. Each and every community or society has its own unique norms and values that affect people in the community in different ways — sometimes beneficially and sometimes harmfully. The same norms that can harm some can benefit others; the same values that can produce negative effects can also produce positive effects. Take for example the insularity and xenophobia that exists in many ultra-Orthodox communities. I would argue that this is one side of a coin whose other side is unparalleled community support systems and safety nets. No other community I know of exhibits that level of concern and support for its members — including a private first resolve system, free AA service, interest-free loans, lending organizations for any and every need, volunteers to visit the sick, and the list goes on and on. Even since leaving the strictly Orthodox community and suffering quite a bit of pain through shunning and family cut-off, in times of need it is more often than not Orthodox Jews who stood by

my side and offered a helping hand. Just to be clear, I am not saying that the good excuses or cancels the bad. But I am asking, what if they come as a package deal? What if that tremendous, unparalleled community support comes hand-in-hand with insularity? What if the reason we don’t see this level of communal support in wider society is because we are more individualistic, cosmopolitan and universal? Every community has its own good and bad. Since leaving the Orthodox community I am freer, but I am also less supported. I am less judged, but I am also less looked after. I can make more choices, but I am more lonely. In other words, I have gained the benefits of individualism and suffered its negative consequences, too. That was my choice and I’d do it again, but I won’t judge those who find the other option more appealing, nor will I claim that mine is the universally better choice. I am no apologist for the Charedi community and I have written and spoken a lot about its problems. But there’s a difference between pointing out individual shortcomings of a community and its wholesale demonization. When you start seeing members of the Charedi community as oppressed victims, rather than as ordinary folk going about their lives, that’s when your criticism has gone into demonization. No community works for everybody. The Charedi community didn’t work for Julia Haart and it didn’t work for me. But let’s not pretend that our communities work for everybody. The wider community also

has plenty of people who fall through the cracks and we also have lots of people bitter with the system and feeling oppressed — as a year of riots, protests and unrest has shown very clearly. If we want to help “oppressed Charedim” there are plenty of people who need help. Most people like Julia Haart — who feel oppressed by the Charedi system — don’t have her fearlessness, connections and money. I didn’t. Please do help people in that situation for whom the Charedi system doesn’t work and who find themselves genuinely oppressed and helpless. But don’t assume that Charedim in general are victims who just need to see the light of Western liberalism. Julia Haart says she felt oppressed in her Charedi community. I believe her. So did I. But she also says she sees Charedim as victims. That’s where she’s wrong. My mother, a proud and happy house mother, is no victim, nor are thousands of happy men and women in the community who live their best lives with beautiful family values and profound meaning. Let’s put to rest this lazy trope of Charedim as oppressed and miserable, shall we? PJC Izzy Posen grew up in the ultra-Orthodox community in Stamford Hill in London and attended several Charedi yeshivas. He has now departed from that community and is a Jewish educator in the wider Jewish community. A longer version of this piece first appeared on Britain’s Jewish News. It was edited here for length.

Now is the right time for a law of return for Italian anusim Jews Guest Columnist Rabbi Barbara Aiello

t was more than a decade ago when Rabbi Stephen Leon, rabbi to the B’nei Anusim in the American southwest, introduced a resolution at the Conservative movement’s convention that would have a lasting impact on Judaism worldwide. Rabbi Leon believed that mainstream Judaism had an obligation to welcome the descendants of Spanish Jews who had suffered persecution during the Inquisition. Back then no one could have predicted the turn of events that Rabbi Leon’s resolution would have. In fact a scant six years later, in 2015, Spain and Portugal passed bills enabling descendants of exiled Sephardic Jews to acquire naturalized citizenship, finally acknowledging the immense social and economic damage the expulsion had upon the lives of their Jewish citizens. Historians document that during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, hundreds of

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thousands of Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal. Those Jews who remained in their native countries often were subjected to forced Christian conversions and then, when accused of “Judaizing” in secret, these Jews faced arrest, torture and the dreaded “autoda-fe” — burned alive in the public square. Spain was the first to acknowledge its culpability and the first to attempt to set things right. Portugal followed suit, and today the “law of return” for the descendants of Sephardic Jews who were persecuted by the Inquisition has resulted in naturalized citizenship for thousands of B’nei Anusim eager to reestablish their rightful place in a society that, 500 years ago, ruined their lives. In October 2019, researchers Arielle Goldschläger and Camilla Orjuela reported that “153,767 descendants of Sephardic Jews had applied for citizenship in Spain and by mid-2020, more than 62,000 were reported to have applied in Portugal.” Yet phenomenal as these numbers might be, the statistics do not tell the whole story. That’s because the persecution of the Jews did not stop at the Portuguese border. In fact, thousands of Jews desperate to avoid Portuguese persecution made their way to the

island of Sicily, the Aeolian Island chain and eventually to Italy’s mainland, to the region of Calabria, the “toe” of the Italian “boot.” Unfortunately, with the Inquisition authorities in hot pursuit, these Sephardic Jews suffered a similar fate as had their co-religionists in Spain and Portugal. Thousands were murdered, their synagogues were destroyed and their family’s wealth and property confiscated. And just as it happened in Spain and Portugal, the relentless persecution of southern Italian Jews had devastating effects morally and economically as well. Professor Vincenzo Villella in his book “Giudecche di Calabria” (“The Jewish Quarters of Calabria”) quotes renowned Italian historian Oreste Dito who, in 1916 wrote, “From the expulsion of the Jews in Calabria, what happened was, to a lesser degree, the same as happened in Spain itself. From the economic and moral decadence [of the persecution] came a general misery. The population decreased, the inhabited centers decreased, the flourishing marinas were abandoned to piracy, to malaria and to starvation. The Spanish government was thus able to dominate southern Italy for two centuries that [resulted in] driving

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out the Jews and the subsequent complete ruin of Calabria.” It is no coincidence that the day of intense mourning and fasting, Tisha b’Av, coincides with the exact Hebrew date when the expulsion of Jews from Spain began in 1492 — a persecution that continued unabated for nearly a century, resulting in the Jews living in Sicily and Calabria suffering the same fate. The time is right for the Italian government to examine the law of return adopted by Spain and Portugal and to begin a process to enact Italy’s own law of return for those whose southern Italian heritage includes Sephardic Jewish roots. An Italian law of return for Calabria and Sicily’s B’nei Anusim seems timely, appropriate and the right thing to do. PJC Originally from Pittsburgh, Rabbi Barbara Aiello is the first woman and first non-orthodox rabbi in Italy. She opened the first active synagogue in Calabria since Inquisition times and is the founder of the B’neio Anousim movement in Calabria and Sicily that helps Italians discover and embrace their Jewish roots. This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Opinion I helped organize the Washington rally against antisemitism. It wasn’t perfect, but it was necessary. Guest Columnist Elisha Wiesel

hen Nazi tanks surrounded Warsaw, my father related in a rare moment of frustration, the Jews were in shul arguing over who should get “shlishi” (the honor of being called up third to the Torah). It was a story I thought about often on Sunday, on Tisha b’Av. The day marks the destruction of our Temple in Jerusalem and the beginning of exile, the day our sages teach was brought about by our anger at each other. And it’s a story I couldn’t shake from my head this past month as our small team of organizers worked nonstop to inspire Jews and our allies to join us in Washington, D.C., for a rally against antisemitism. Critics and doubters awaited us at every turn. We were criticized for asserting that anti-Zionism was a form of antisemitism. How dare we include groups who praised Donald Trump, many asked. How dare we exclude groups who call for an end to the Jewish state? Cynical left-leaning Jewish publications ran articles claiming that this rally would be a right-wing gathering, warning their readers to stay away. We were criticized for having a diversity and

inclusion statement. Certain right-leaning Jewish leaders circulated concerns by email and social media, arguing that the rally had been compromised by the left. How dare we include groups who use terms like “occupation,” they asked. How dare we exclude groups who call for hatred or violence? And those were just the ideological battles. Every day we received grief for giving not enough kavod, or honor, to one group, for giving too much to another. And we were warned turnout would be low — perhaps a few hundred or fewer — in the intense summer heat. I understood that some would choose to stay away. But we were determined to take that first step — even if it was imperfect — and on July 11, under the banner of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and dozens of other organizations, some 3,000 Jews and allies came together in front of the U.S. Capitol to demonstrate Jewish solidarity. I never wanted to organize a rally. I just wanted to attend one. When Hamas rockets started falling in Israel, and Jews found themselves being attacked on New York and Los Angeles city streets, I agitated for someone to scale the local rallies run by the Israeli-American Council, like one I attended in New York, into an in-person national rally in Washington. I made many calls. How many Jews would have to die or be

— LETTERS — Editorial wrong on Omar

I wanted to respond to the July 9 editorial asserting that Ilhan Omar is a “blight” on the Democratic Party. As a Jewish person actively involved in his congregation who has lived several years of his life in Israel and who is actively involved in U.S. politics today, I politely disagree with this assessment. I felt the editorial itself was very short on details of Omar’s behavior that makes her equivalent to Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the examples given were not convincing. Her condemnation of Israeli behavior, and her assertions about the difficulties of being able to even note the Israeli atrocities the government regularly commits against the indigenous population is not antisemitic. Painting her with such a brush just strengthens her point about how censoriousness our community is toward those who point out our failings. There is a strong pressure amongst American Jewry to wholly support all decisions made by the Israeli government regarding Palestinian issues. This pressure is to our detriment and it resulted in the needless prolongation of Netanyahu’s corrupt administration since honest debate about how Likud has been handling things has not been possible. Omar’s voice is a reasonable one. She is doing as all people in her position do: standing up for an oppressed minority. She has never degraded or trivialized Jewish history, but instead highlighted the obvious extremes that Israel has come to, and the conspiracy of silence around them. In listening to her, I feel I am better able to understand my position, and I am grateful for her voice. Thank you for your excellent publication, though. I do enjoy reading the diversity of the Jewish community you regularly bring to your pages.

threatened, in Israel or here at home, before our anger overflowed into the streets? At first, nobody raised their hand. I vowed to help whoever did. That group was the relatively unknown Alliance for Israel. Within a couple weeks, we had partnered with the ADL and AJC, and brought together the vast majority of the Jewish world from right to left, Orthodox to Reform, to stand with us as sponsors. Together we created a platform for powerful testimony that needed to be put on the record for the thousands who attended and the many more who watched at home. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers described reciting the Viddui (the deathbed confession) while a murderer stalked his congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Just out of the hospital, Rabbi Shlomo Noginsky of Boston drove eight hours with his arm in a sling to tell us how his attacker sought to slash the many children behind him. Matthew Haverim shared how his parents fled Iran, and how he was beaten for declaring his Jewish identity to a group of anti-Israel protesters in an L.A. restaurant. Talia Raab from Illinois described how an anti-Israel mob screamed “kill the Jews” as they attacked her family’s car. These testimonies could not wait another day. Rabbi David Saperstein, a light within the Reform movement who feels Israel needs to withdraw militarily from Judea and Samaria, spoke moments after Dan Raab

quoted Menachem Begin and announced his upcoming enlistment in the Israeli army. Both received respect and applause from the audience. Ron Klein of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and Norm Coleman of the Republican Jewish Coalition — former members of the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively — jointly declared that antisemitism was a bipartisan problem and that both parties need to work together to stop it wherever it emerges. Their on-stage embrace is a refutation of everything partisan we have heard for the past eight years. In a profound demonstration of allyship, Joshua Washington, the director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, sang “Gesher Tzar Meod” (“The World is a Narrow Bridge”) with Rabbi Menachem Creditor of UJA-Federation of New York and reminded us that we do not stand alone. On Tisha b’Av, I reflected on all the anger sent my way. We had tried to build a broad coalition among those who agree on the Jewish people’s right to exist in peace and security here, in the Jewish State of Israel and around the world. The cynics insisted that this unifying belief was not enough given how much disagreement there is among American Jews on Israeli policy and how best to combat antisemitism. But I believe the cynics are wrong. There Please see Wiesel, page 20

consider that in the secular world, there are also extreme circumstances of unhappiness and people feeling the need to “leave the community,” but this doesn’t accurately represent an entire group of people. It seems that Netflix continuously feels the need to spark controversy over religion, so why not show a Jewish community that is happy? A show depicting Jews who love Torah and who love the way they are raised would spark just as much interest and would show Judaism in a positive light. What some viewers of “Unorthodox” and “My Unorthodox Life” don’t know is that Judaism holds a standard that “a Jew is a Jew is a Jew,” meaning that however you practice, whatever level you are at, and however you express (or don’t express) your Jewish identity, a Jew is a Jew and is accepted as one. Additionally, Jews are taught not only to accept other Jews, but to accept all people for who they are. There are a huge number of Jews who actually come to the religious world on their own, rather than leaving it. Many Jews do not grow up with a Torah education or parents who demonstrate this type of Jewish lifestyle, yet deep down they crave it and find it on their own. This is what makes Judaism so special: everyone is accepted, regardless of their background, where they came from, or how they were raised. This is the type of show that should be airing, and this is the type of show Netflix could be proud of. Jews have been discriminated against and brought down for years, and until Netflix (the number one streaming service in the world) takes a stand and shows us differently, it is perpetuating the problem. I encourage anyone who feels this way to reach out to Netflix via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as live chat on the Netflix website. Stephanie Birnbaum Chicago

Dan Warner Bloomfield

Netflix show misrepresents Orthodox life

Thank you for highlighting some of the major problems with “My Unorthodox Life” (“‘My Unorthodox Life’ typical reality fare,” July 16). I’m highly disappointed by the choice to air another show depicting the Jewish community in a negative light. I understand that in order to bring in money, Netflix shows need to attract viewers and be entertaining, however it is not entertaining to continuously see people bashing Judaism and the choice to live in a Jewish community. Both “Unorthodox” and “My Unorthodox Life” focus on very extreme circumstances, where people are extremely unhappy and struggling with their faith. It’s important to PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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JULY 23, 2021 13

Headlines

 Richard Rauh donated several first editions and early printings of classic literary works.

Rauh: Continued from page 1

This vast collection, which also includes works on poetry and photography, also offers insights into Rauh’s many interests, according to Haas. Born to Richard and Helen Wayne Rauh in 1940, Richard Enoch Rauh graduated from Shady Side Academy and the University of Pittsburgh. While in college, he founded WPGH, the university’s first student radio station. Rauh described those efforts and his long connection to the arts in a 1994 interview with the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section. In addition to performing on stage, on television and in film, Rauh produced the Pittsburgh Playhouse Film Festival between 1968 and 1994, taught film and theater courses at Point Park College and has supported numerous local causes, including the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section; Carnegie Mellon University; the Pittsburgh Playhouse; the O’Reilly Theater and Heinz Hall. In 1999, Rauh endowed the Western Pennsylvania Jewish Archives, a then 10-year-old organization whose mission was “to collect, preserve, and make accessible the documentary history of Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania,” according to its website.

Security: Continued from page 1

for the entire year. During last week’s meeting with community leaders, the Federation introduced a booklet it created with standardized procedures to be followed in crisis situations. The plans include checklists providing consistent steps for all Pittsburgh-area Jewish institutions to follow in the event of an active shooter, bomb threat or hostage situation, as well as several other emergencies, including floods, fires and medical crises. “I cherry-picked what I thought was best from emergency plans across the country,” Brokos said. “I wanted something that was a

14 JULY 23, 2021

 Photograph and writing from Oscar Wilde

Photos courtesy of Richard E. Rauh Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Following Rauh’s gift, the group became known as the Rauh Jewish Archives, in memory of Rauh’s parents, and Rauh has maintained his support. In 2015, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Rauh as saying his gifts to the nonprofit had “totaled $400,000 over the years.” Haas credited Rauh’s many communal involvements with bettering the area’s civic life and said she’s excited to eventually make his donated materials available to researchers and students. Kornelia Tancheva, Hillman University Librarian and director of Pitt’s Library System, said in a statement that “the Rauh Collection revels in firsts, originals and rarities including first editions and presentation copies of the most celebrated American and British novelists and playwrights of the 19th and 20th centuries. “Inscriptions, autographs, manuscript letters, original dust jackets, limited printings, interesting bindings and exceptional provenance are just some of the fascinating characteristics that distinguish this collection [and] that will complement our other archival materials.” The Rare Book Library of Richard E. Rauh will be housed in the Archives & Special Collections department of Hillman Library alongside nearly 100,000 other rare books, broadsides, pamphlets, sheet music and serials. Rauh was unavailable to comment. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

 A copy of “Our Town” signed by Thornton Wilder.

Photo courtesy of Richard E. Rauh Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

quick reference guide so that, for example, if there was a bomb threat, you can go right to that tab and there’s a stepby-step guideline or checklist as to how to respond.” The meeting also offered guidance to organizations that will be applying for both state and federal security grants in 2022, Brokos said. While the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and  Booklet introduced Delinquency Nonprofit at the July 14 S ecurity Grant Fund security meeting Photo courtesy of program — established in the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh 2019 after the Pittsburgh

synagogue shooting — was not funded for the coming year by the Republican-led legislature, community leaders are “identifying how to continue this program moving forward,” according to Laura Cherner, director of the Federation’s Community Relations Council. “In the past, our local elected officials have been very supportive and we expect that support to continue.” Brokos urged executive directors and community leaders to contact their public

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officials and encourage them to push for the program’s funding in Harrisburg. One possibility could be funding the grant through the state’s discretionary fund, Brokos said. Grants from the federal Nonprofit Security Fund program, run by the Department of Homeland Security, are still available. That program typically opens in March and awards funds in August. Brokos said the information provided during the July 14 meeting at Rodef Shalom was intended to help community leaders remain vigilant and make informed decisions. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Apt: Continued from page 2

electric power markets had lowered prices for customers. The answer, according to Apt, was a resounding no. Apt teaches both undergraduate and Ph.D. students at CMU, and gives an annual lecture to students working on space hardware development. During the lectures he talks about the failures of the space exploration

Shelter: Continued from page 4

Fund U.S.A., an artist has transformed a bomb shelter in southern Israel into a tribute to Fink, who grew up in Squirrel Hill and raised her family in Fox Chapel. Beautifying bomb shelters, some of which are just yards from Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, is part of JNF USA’s “Blueprint Negev,” an initiative to attract 500,000 new residents to Israel’s south, according to leaders of the organization. The shelter painting project, executed by local artist Elisaf Miara, also is catching on in interesting ways: Area children have started joining Miara in painting the bomb shelters in their own communities.

Guthrey: Continued from page 5

for four years. In 2018, Guthrey began serving as Temple B’nai Israel’s cantorial soloist for the High Holidays. The 32-year-old now helps lead the congregation in song during Shabbat services, a role she assumed when the congregation began streaming on Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the congregation’s return to in-person services, Guthrey has continued to sing at the synagogue one Saturday a month.

program, what students should learn from those failures and what can be changed in the future. With the help of student researchers, Red Whittaker, the CMU professor who teaches the course, is planning to land a robotic rover on the moon. “I am extremely proud of the work that Red and those students have done,” Apt said. Apt was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1997 and the Metcalf Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to engineering in 2002.

In 2012, the International Astronomical Union approved the name “Jeromeapt” for an asteroid in Apt’s honor. The asteroid was found by a scientist at Table Mountain Observatory, where Apt once served as director. “I was delighted to discover that the discoverer did that,” said Apt. “It was really nice.” Apt and his wife are members at Rodef Shalom Congregation and are proud of their Jewish heritage. “We love the Jewish community here in

“Imagine putting your young children to bed or helping them get ready for school in the morning, and suddenly, your family is jolted by the sound of a wailing siren and you have just a few seconds to run to the nearest bomb shelter before being surrounded by a barrage of rockets,” said Jeff Koch, director of JNF-USA, Western Pennsylvania. “Hearing loud explosions while running for your life would be a terrifying experience for anyone, but it’s especially traumatic for children. Thanks to philanthropists like Julie Paris, these stunning masterpieces help young kids cope while living in fear and demonstrate how Israelis will always find a positive light — even in the darkest of times.” JNF USA invites supporters of Israel to make a donation to dedicate a bomb shelter masterpiece in honor or in memory of a

family member or life event. Donations toward the bomb shelter beautification project were matched, up to $50,000, through February, thanks to several prominent donors. Fink’s new mural is located in Sderot, a southern Israeli town less than a mile from the Gaza Strip. Paris said her mother, a passionate supporter of the Jewish state, would be proud to know her memory lives on through the shelter’s art, depicting butterflies, flowers and her dog, Izzy, a miniature goldendoodle. “What drew me to this was taking something that’s a necessity — ugly blight in the middle of a city, but a necessity — and making them beautiful, making them personal,” Paris said. Anyone who knew her mother, Paris

added, “would walk up to this shelter and say, ‘Yeah, that’s DeDe.’” Putting a little beauty on concrete — or using paintbrushes to wipe away terrorist acts — is not the only benefit to the program, Koch told the Chronicle. “We beautify these bomb shelters not only to help the local communities, but also to create jobs and livelihoods,” he said. “When we employ an artist to paint a bomb shelter, this has a multiplying effect throughout the local economy. “Julie’s support for Israel is simply inspiring,” he added. “And I believe her work will motivate others to get behind our vision for the Negev.” PJC

She sings at Temple David the fourth Shabbat each month (and the fifth week, if there is one), leading the young family service earlier in the evening and the regular Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. She also assists with “special” services, such as “Shabbat in the Park” and Simchat Torah, said Rabbi Barbara Symons, the congregation’s spiritual leader. Equally at home with both the drama of High Holiday services and the everyday spirituality of a Friday night Shabbat service, Guthrey said some of her favorite pieces are Avinu Malkeinu and Kol Nidre. “They’re just so beautiful,” she said. “I

love whenever I get to have a cellist with me for Kol Nidre.” She also praised Debbie Friedman’s version of “Mi Shebeirach,” calling it “gorgeous and very moving.” Temple B’nai Israel’s Rabbi Howie Stein said Guthrey is easy to work with and fits in well with his congregation — which likes to sing. “She’s able to combine the abilities of a strong leader with melodies the congregation knows,” he said. “I generally give her complete discretion over what melodies she chooses. It’s a good relationship.” Temple David’s Symons agrees.

“She brings a joyful attitude, both in the planning and in the leading,” Symons said. “She has an obvious gift for music which I very much enjoy. And she is able to lead when it’s a service of our youngest folks to ones that might need more traditional music. She has the flexibility and versatility to do both of those.” Whether it’s Zoom or in person, the High Holidays or “Shabbat in the Park,” Guthrey finds joy hearing others sing with her. “There’s a beauty in that,” she said. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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

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Pittsburgh,” Apt said. Most of an astronaut’s work is preparation, Apt said. Despite working for more than a decade as an astronaut, he only spent about a month of that time in space. But that, of course, is the best part. “If you took out all the training and the meetings, I’d go up again tomorrow if someone asked me,” he said. PJC

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JULY 23, 2021 15

Life & Culture For online dating, Lox Club tries to ‘reinvent the whale’ — DATING — By Sasha Rogelberg | Contributing Writer

ox Club dating app co-founders Alec Lorraine and Austin Kevitch were on their way to a wedding in Las Vegas last weekend. The pair, childhood friends since meeting in the second grade at Germantown Academy and growing up together in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, were the best men for their roommate, who met his wife on — you guessed it — Lox Club. Though Lorraine, the app’s head of engineering, described the match as a typical “boy meets girl,” he co-founded Lox Club with Kevitch, Lox Club’s CEO, to be more than just the average dating app experience. Lox Club is taglined as a dating app for “Jews with ridiculously high standards.” It was created in late 2020 as a foil to apps designed to facilitate hookups, ones that took themselves too seriously, yet drew an audience that wasn’t at all serious about dating. “I just thought they’re also corny and superficial and awkward,” Kevitch said. “I understood why people were embarrassed to say that they were on dating apps.” Lorraine and Kevitch were earnest in their intentions to create Lox Club: More than creating a dating app for particularly discerning users, the pair wanted to make sure Lox Club’s users were “in it for the right reasons.” They designed an app that required users’ Instagram and LinkedIn accounts to be vetted, not for followers, but to make sure they held the Jewish values instilled in them: “family-oriented” and “career-driven.” And just like the smoked, cured salmon of the app’s namesake, Lox Club membership doesn’t come cheap, costing anywhere between $8 and $12 a month. But despite wanting the users to take the app seriously, Lorraine and Kevitch were not interested in the app being self-serious. The entire concept of Lox Club was built around a fictional narrative Kevitch created about a star-crossed couple and a speakeasy hidden in a deli that shared the app’s name. For Lorraine and Kevitch, who see their app from an aerial perspective, Lox Club’s wins are clear. The founders attend friends’ weddings, receive messages and see Instagram posts from lovebirds who found their match on the app. “That’s like our superpower: People are

 Alec Lorraine

Photo courtesy of Alec Lorriane

almost proud to say that they’ve met on Lox Club,” Lorraine said. Though Lox Club’s self-proclaimed exclusivity is what Lorraine and Kevitch believe separates it from other dating apps, it may also be its greatest challenge. Users aren’t sucked into the vortex of scrolling and swiping — they can only see six to 12 profiles every several hours on the app. And beyond just a limit in the number of users one can swipe through each day, there just seems to be a limit in users, period. One user, Michael, a photographer in New York, has been using Lox Club for about six months. A few weeks ago, the app notified him that there were no more users in New York and instead displayed the profiles of users in Philadelphia, and even Los Angeles. And within this smaller dating pool, Michael noticed some homogeneity among its users: Many of them are in STEM professions, own their own businesses and have significantly more Instagram followers than users on the other dating app he uses, Hinge. Lorraine and Kevitch are aware of this; they’ve noticed that Lox Club members are also commonly lawyers, doctors and consultants, mostly in their 20s and 30s. “It is a little intimidating,” Michael said. “Would they be OK with dating a creative who doesn’t make a ton of money?” The centering of career ambitions on the app was discouraging to Michael, who felt like a “robot” when talking about career goals. He felt like people talking about their

 Austin Kevitch

jobs was contrary to the app’s goal of not taking itself too seriously. “Out of all the [apps] I’ve used, Lox Club definitely feels like the most serious,” he said. “I can’t think of any other dating app where front and center, is career ambitions.” Lorraine and Kevitch wanted to “avoid the elitist mentality” by creating Lox Club, but given some user’s experience, they may have missed the mark in that regard. Among the sea of Davids and Bens on the app — and boy, are there a lot of Davids and Bens — the profiles seemed to follow a few trends: venture capitalists, Wharton grads, men in button-up shirts posing holding big freshly caught fish or golf clubs in awkwardly cropped photos. It all cements that Lox Club serves a particular clientele, just maybe not the one Lorraine and Kevitch had in mind. But if even Kevitch admits that dating apps are “cringe-worthy,” and if Lox Club is subject to user critiques, what does it mean for a dating app to be successful? Some Jewish matchmakers in Philadelphia, whose job it is to connect young Jews with romantic partners, believe that many people are simply sick of dating apps, which is why they turn to more specifically tailored dating opportunities like matchmaking. “People with the apps delete them en masse, or they take a week-long break from them, or they farm out swiping to somebody else,” said Danielle Selber, assistant director of Tribe12 and founder of the organization’s matchmaking initiative.

Photo by Lindsey Kevitch

But despite dating app burnout, according to Erika Kaplan, senior matchmaker at Three Day Rule Matchmaking in Philadelphia, matchmakers still see dating apps as a viable choice for those looking for love. “We don’t knock the apps,” she said. “I think that there are plenty of relationships that come out of the apps.” Selber described online dating as a “roulette,” an unpredictable, unreliable means of meeting a partner. But for love, something just as unpredictable, niche dating apps can be helpful for those looking for something specific from a partner. “There’s room for everyone to play,” Selber said. “If you’re not for someone, you’re for no one.” Ultimately, Lox Club doesn’t need to be for everyone. In the realm of dating, when users are trying to find a date or a partner in an unexpected place, failure and flops are to be expected. For Lorraine and Kevitch, who are able to see the fruits of Lox Club’s labor in weddings and Instagram posts, Lox Club is a triumph because it has connected people who may not have otherwise connected. Though Lox Club might present limited options for some, or might be off-putting for others, it’s changed the lives of a lucky few. And there’s no denying the success in that. PJC Sasha Rogelberg writes for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

‘My children are still religious’: Interview with Julia Haart of ‘My Unorthodox Life’ — STREAMING — By Shira Hanau | JTA

ulia Haart doesn’t want her son Aron to stop being Orthodox. On “My Unorthodox Life,” the new Netflix reality show about her family, Haart is shown encouraging the 14-year-old to give up the commitment he made at summer camp not

16 JULY 23, 2021

to talk to girls at his new school. He says engaging with girls — or sports, for that matter — would distract him from learning Torah. She tells him that life is bigger than the Torah. It’s among the more emotionally charged scenes on the show, which premiered this week on Netflix. It’s also evidence that Haart’s critics are citing to show that she wants to force the people in her life to abandon Orthodoxy the way she did before becoming

a fashion industry CEO, all in her 40s. But in her interview with JTA, she said that she does not pressure those close to her to change their ways. “Do I give them a hard time about being religious? No, the only person I ever gave a hard time to was Aron,” Haart said. “All I said is, talk to girls, get an education, go to college. It’s just about opening the outside world to yourself, and realizing that there are wonderful people in every nationality, in

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every ethnicity, in every religion.” Here are some highlights from Haart’s JTA interview about her religious Jewish upbringing, why she decided to tell her story now and the impact she hopes to have on the community she left:

Please see Haart, page 17

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Life & Culture who leave do not end up where you are.

p Julia Haart and her 14-year-old son, Aron, who is still religious, in a scene from “My Unorthodox Life.” Photo courtesy of Netflix

Haart:

you know, people get attacked. It’s not an easy decision to make, but I chose to do it. I have met so many thousands of women from different walks of life, different situations, different cultures and nationalities. And what I have seen is that it’s a story that hopefully — that’s my prayer — may help other women. There are so many women in different situations, different countries, religions … it doesn’t matter what the impediment is to them achieving their goals, but there are so many women suffering. And so I felt that it [my story] is such an unusual story that perhaps it may inspire someone, it may give someone the courage to change their life.

Continued from page 16

JTA: How did you decide to tell your story so publicly? And why now?

Haart: When I first left the community, I didn’t tell a soul. I started telling my close friends after I became creative director of La Perla [three years later]. Until that moment, no one knew me. I hadn’t ever done anything, and I wanted to first get known for what I was capable of — to show the world what I had inside of me. And then, to go from there to sharing it with the planet, that was a very difficult decision for me because it is very personal and private. And we live in a world with social media and,

Can you elaborate about how you left the community? Most people

Thank you for pointing that out, because that is the truth — most people who leave do not have that same experience. And it’s not because they’re not brilliant or hardworking, or they don’t want to, you know, change their life and become part of the outside world, it’s because they’re not equipped to handle it. And that’s the frightening part. When it comes out I hope you read [my memoir] “Brazen.” Believe it or not, when I handed it in when I finished writing, it was 1,700 pages because it’s such a complex story and there is no short way of telling it. Luckily I have great editors, we got it down to something under 500 pages, but the reality is that it is a crazy story. Like, the first woman to walk into my showroom was the head buyer of shoes for Harrods and I met her at a fashion party.

Who in particular do you want to watch “My Unorthodox Life”?

I hope everyone watches the show. For the people in my community, I think if they actually watch the entire show and not just the first episode, where I explain why I left. … The next eight episodes show that we [in the family] all get along, that there’s beautiful things in religion and that I have nothing against Judaism. My children are still religious. Do I give them a hard time about being religious? No, the only person I ever gave a hard time to was Aron. All I said is, talk to girls, get an education, go to college — it’s just about opening the outside world to yourself, and realizing that there are

wonderful people in every nationality, in every ethnicity, in every religion.

One of the critiques we’re hearing is that you only have negative things to say about your life before leaving Orthodoxy. How would you respond to that?

I learned many beautiful things in my community. I mean, during Purim, you don’t go and ask for gifts, you give gifts. There’s so much giving and generosity and gratitude and appreciation. I talk about it in this show, I talk about it in every interview. I love being a Jew, I love the people in my community. I hate fundamentalism, and there are aspects in our world that are fundamentalist, and they need to go, and they can go.

In an ideal world, what changes would you want your show to induce?

I don’t want to change halacha [Jewish law]. … I would love to see women have an opportunity to have a real education, go to college, and not have to get married off at 19 on a shidduch [arranged marriage]. I want women to be able to sing in public if they want or dance in public if they want. I want them to create. I want them to be doctors or lawyers or whatever they want to be. I want them to know that they matter, in and of themselves, not just as wives and mothers. PJC This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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rovidence Point is Pittsburgh’s premier retirement address and, as a Life Plan Community, it is designed for the way you live now with the added peace of mind you want for your future. Just ask active Mt. Lebanon resident Eileen Jacobs. Eileen found that maintaining her home and yard was becoming a burden. She wanted to simplify her life and make more time for the things she enjoys. She talked with friends who live at Providence Point and attended a few events. When a 1,492 sq. ft. Lancaster floor plan became available, Eileen knew it was meant to be. The hot housing market made selling her home easy. With a copy of the floor plan and paper cut-outs of furniture, she configured her new apartment to feature her favorite belongings. As her move took shape, the pandemic was worsening, but that didn’t stop Eileen. Things she decided not to keep quickly sold on line, and soon she was ready to move. Eileen says that living at Providence Point has made it easier to remain social and continue doing things she loves, like volunteering for the Mt. Lebanon Library Book Cellar, walking with friends at the nearby JCC, and joining Providence Point’s Needlework Club. According to Eileen, her apartment is warm and inviting and just the right size, plus it offers stunning views of the Chartiers Valley area and beyond.

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Celebrations

Torah

Engagement

Sadness can be cause for celebration Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum Parshat Vaetchanan Deuteronomy 3:23 -7:11

Marvin Gold and Janice Penick of Point Breeze are proud to announce the engagement of their son Max to Heather Viola, daughter of John and Donna Viola of East Meadow, New York. Max is an investor and graduate of Pomona College with a B.A. in economics. Heather is a graduate of Marist College and NYIT College of Medicine. Heather is a primary care physician and assistant professor at Mt. Sinai in Manhattan. The couple resides on the Upper West Side of New York City. The wedding is on June 4, 2022, at Flowerfield in Saint James, New York. We are very excited and wish them the best! PJC

JEWISH CEMETERY BURIAL ASSOCIATION O F G R E AT E R P I T T S B U R G H RESTORATION ✡ PRESERVATION ✡ CONTINUITY

Community-wide Sacred Book Burial — Annual Unveiling Ceremony The JCBA is privileged to coordinate a Sacred Book burial for the Jewish community. The burial will follow JCBA’s unveiling ceremony, and take place on Sunday, Aug. 15 at 11:00 a.m. at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, 498 Oakwood St. in Shaler, 15209. Accepted materials include prayer books and/or any sacred texts that cannot be otherwise discarded. Materials can be picked up at any specified location by emailing the JCBA at JCBAPgh@gmail.com, or brought to the cemetery on Aug. 15th. The community is invited to attend. For more information please visit our website at www.JCBAPgh.org, email us at JCBAPgh@gmail.com, or phone the JCBA at 412-553-6469. 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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he Talmud relates a story about Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues going up to Jerusalem, around a century after the destruction of the Second Temple on the ninth of Av 68 CE. When they reached Mt. Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. His colleagues started weeping; Rabbi Akiva laughed. Said they to him: “Why are you laughing?” Said he to them: “Why are you weeping?” Said they to him: “A place [so holy] and now foxes traverse it, and we shouldn’t weep?” Said he to them: “That is why I laugh…. There are two prophecies: ‘Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field’; the second: ‘Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem.’ As long as the first prophecy had not been fulfilled, I feared that the second prophecy may not be fulfilled either. But now that the first prophecy has been fulfilled [Zion was plowed like a field to the point that foxes traverse there], it is certain that the second prophecy will be fulfilled.” With these words they replied to him: “Akiva, you have consoled us! Akiva, you have consoled us!” But why did Rabbi Akiva respond by asking why they were weeping? Did Rabbi Akiva really not know why they were crying? Watching a fox roaming in what was the spiritual epicenter of the universe, is it not obvious why these great sages were crying upon this desecration? The answer to these question was presented by one of the most illustrious rabbis of the 19th century, Rabbi Moshe Sofer (Chasam Sofer). It all comes from an unforgettable biblical verse in Genesis. Joseph has been sold into slavery. His brothers have dipped his coat in blood. They bring it back to their father, saying: “Look what we have found. Do you recognize it? Is this your son’s robe or not?” Jacob recognized it and replied, “It is my son’s robe. A wild beast has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces.” We then read: “Jacob rent his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned his son for a long time. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to console him, but he refused to be consoled, for he said, ‘Because I will descend on account of my son as a mourner to the grave.’” Why did Jacob refuse to be comforted? There are laws in Judaism about the limits of grief — shivah, sheloshim, a year. There

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is no such thing as a bereavement for which grief is endless. A midrash gives a remarkable answer: One can be comforted for one who is dead, but not for one who is still living. Jacob refused to be comforted because he had not yet given up hope that Joseph was still alive. That hope was eventually justified. Joseph was still alive, and eventually father and son were reunited. Now we can understand the words of the Talmud: “Whoever mourns for Jerusalem merits and sees her joy.” The Talmud speaks in the present tense, not in the future, to teach us that the joy lies in the very fact that thousands of years later we still care, we still mourn and weep for Jerusalem and refuse to be complacent. The very fact that we cry for the Holy Temple, for Jerusalem in her full spiritual majesty, for the Jewish exile and for all the suffering in the world, means that the Holy Temple and Jerusalem have never “died.” We could never have “closure” with Jerusalem, because we never believed it was gone. We felt it was alive and it would return to us. There is a legend that Napoleon, passing a synagogue on Tisha B’Av, heard the sounds of lamentation. “What are the Jews crying for?” he asked one of his officers. “For Jerusalem,” he replied. “How long ago did they lose it?” “More than 1,700 years ago.” “A people who can mourn for Jerusalem so long, will one day have it restored to them,” he is reputed to have replied. This may be the meaning behind the exchange between Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues. He was giving them an insight: Because you are weeping, that is why I am laughing! If you weren’t crying, then I would start crying, because that would have indicated you have come to terms with our destruction. As Jews, we never came to terms with exile, destruction, violence and our alienation from God. This explains, says the Chasam Sofer, why Scripture refers to the 9th of Av as Moed, a holiday, and hence there is no confession on that day. It is strange. This is our saddest day. How did it become a holiday? But the truth is the very fact that we are sad on this day is a cause for celebration, for it means that our past is alive in our hearts, and thus we still cry about it. Whoever mourns for Jerusalem merits and sees her joy; whoever does not mourn for Jerusalem does not see her joy. May we see and celebrate that joy, speedily in our days! PJC Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum is director of Chabad of the South Hills. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries FREEDEL: Frank J. Freedel, on Sunday, July 18, 2021. Beloved husband of the late Sylvia Freedel; loving father of Miriam Freedel and David Freedel. Grandfather of Alexandra Revoredo and Saxon Gall. Also survived by nieces, nephews, and his faithful companion of 27 years, Ruth Silverman. Service and interment were private. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com GOLDSTEIN: Eraline Goldstein, on Thursday, July 15, 2021. Beloved wife of the late Sanford Goldstein. Loving mother of Ronna (Larry) Neft and Joel Don Goldstein (Linda Myers). Sister of the late Rose, Florence, Sylvia, Herman and Dorothy. Sister-in-law of Sondra and Richard Glasser. Grammy of Liza Neft, Evan (Kate) Neft, Zachary (Victoria) Goldstein, Brett Joshua Goldstein, Jamie Reich, Melissa (Michael) McCafferty, Amanda Reich and Michael Kuster. Great-grandmother of Derek and Allison Neft, Miller McCafferty and Graysen Goldstein. Aunt of Paul, Louis, Jodi, Marty, Ellen, Todd, Ryna and Sue. A special thank you to all of her caring and compassionate caregivers who enriched her life this past year. Graveside service and interment were held on Monday at 11 a.m. at Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, 1 N. Linden Street, Duquesne, PA 15110. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com. KLEIN: Dorothy Mae Klein, on Saturday, July 17, 2021, surrounded by her loving family. Beloved wife of the late Bernard H. Klein; loving mother of Bruce (Bev) Klein, Amy (Stuart) Epstein, and Aaron (Irene) Klein; proud Grandma of Benjamin Klein, Jonathan (Julie) Klein, Asher (Jaclyn) Epstein, Elliot Epstein and Alana Epstein, Philip (Joelle) Klein and Leslie (RJ) Pandey. Also survived by great-grandchildren Leila, Shirley, Ethan and Avery. Graveside services and interment were held at Adath

Jeshurun Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Pittsburgh, 2835 E. Carson Street, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com TABOR: Adeline Gruber Tabor, 100, of Boca Raton, Florida, formerly of Pittsburgh, passed away on Friday, June 25, 2021. Preceded in death by her loving and devoted husband, Harry P. Tabor, her brothers, Irving and Stanley Gruber and her sister, Saundra Grobstein. Adeline lived life to the fullest. Each and every day was filled with possibilities and opportunities to learn, to grow and to enjoy. Her optimism regarding life was overflowing. Adeline belonged to and volunteered for many Jewish organizations, enjoyed golf, bridge, mahjong and was president of her garden club. She was one of the last living members of the original 20-couple social group (the AK’s) that began almost 65 years ago on Harry’s 40th birthday. Adeline enjoyed traveling the world with Harry and close friends. During World War II, she took two buses each way to fabricate ammunition for the war effort. Adeline was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and loved by many nieces, nephews and cousins. She is survived by her children, Judy Smizik (Frank) of Pittsburgh and Boca Raton, Florida, and Mark Tabor (Susie Gilbert) of Boca Raton; her grandchildren, Stacey Smizik, Stephen Smizik (Bari) and Gregory Tabor (Eden); and great-grandsons, Jakob and Reid Smizik and Myles Tabor. The family wants to express their appreciation to Lucky Toney and Glenda Riley, caregivers who brought with them love, warmth, smiles and affection to our mom every day and received the same from mom in return for many years. Funeral services were held June 28, 2021. Interment at Westview Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in Adeline’s memory to Rodef Shalom Congregation, the Fuller Center, 200 NE 14th Street, Boca Raton, Florida 33432, or a charity of the donor’s choice. PJC

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from …

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Sarah Stern

Jeffrey and Roberta Kwall . . . .Isadore Louis Sigal

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Leah Katz

Linda Levine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theodore Kohut

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Americus

Nessa Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martha H. Green

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sarah Americus

Irma E. Morris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Eger

Gertrude Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sam Weinberger

Mrs. Alvin Mundel . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marie G. Mundel

Dr. Lawrence N. Adler. . . . . . . . . . . .Sadye G. Adler

Lisa Pollack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlotte Pollack

Marlene Alpern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eva Greenberg

Charlotte and Evan Reader . . . . . . . . . .Ethel Kwall

Joel Broida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Julius S. Broida

Flo & Caryn Rosenthal . . . . . . . .Donald Rosenthal

Patricia Cohen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nathan Fisher

Ellen Sadowsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Susan Kabat

Sylvia & Norman Elias . . . . . . . . Alvin J. Moldovan

Ellen Sadowsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maurice Sadowsky

Sylvia & Norman Elias . . . . . . . . . . . . . Annie R. Brill

Ellen Sadowsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shari Salsbury

Karen Fink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Robert “Bob” Fink Geraldine Gomberg. . . . . . . . . . . . Theodore Marks

Ellen Sadowsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lillian Sadowsky

Mary Jatlow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nathan Glantz

Sandra Taxay Schanfarber . . . . . . . Martin S.Taxay

Sharon Knapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sonny Galanty

Bill and Amy Snider . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Howard Snider

Sharon Knapp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert D. Fink

Sharon Snider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myron Snider

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS —

Sunday July 25: Esther Bennett, Dr. Simon Berenfield, J. Richard Bergad, Frances Cartiff, Bertha Feldman, Solomon Kramer, Abraham Leibowitz, Rose Lipser, Benjamin Plotkin, Samuel Sidney Sakol Monday July 26: Jacob Friedman, Gilbert Murray Gerber, Helen Goldberg, Diana D. Gordon, Robert Green, Anna Greenberg, Morris H. Hirschfield, Herman Jacobs, Rae Labovitz, Morris Lebovitz, Robert Shapiro, Ruth Zeligman Tuesday July 27: Sarah Bales, Adam Chotiner, Abraham Endich, Anna Friedman, Anna Friedman, Rose H. Green, Eva Greenberg, Rebecca Gusky, Annetta Marks Horwitz, Marvin Klein, Isadore Mandelblatt, Tzivia Marbach, Milton Morris, Anna R. Rosenbloom, Freda Barnett Safier, Cecilia Selkovits, Eleanor Ruth Simon, Louis A. Skeegan, Myron Snider, Harry Winsberg, Esther M. Wyner, Harry Zerelstein Wednesday July 28: Sadye Bowytz, Julius S. Broida, Bernard S. Davis, Irwin Sowie Fein, Charles J. Goldberg, Lester A. Hamburg, Lois Hepps, Herman Hollander, Bessie Perr Miller, Esther Patkin, Theodore Somach, Gilbert Stein, Edward Stern, Rebecca Supowitz, Bella Weiner, Renee Weinstock Thursday July 29: Sara J. Ansell, Earl Barmen, Esther Caplan, Harriet L. Cohen, Rebecca Lebenson, George Lisker, Paul A. Love, Joseph Siegman, David P. Zelenski Friday July 30: Liza Canter, Elizabeth Cohen, Leonard Ehrenreich, Dr. Morris H. Glick, Bertha Klein, Harry Lipser, Harry H. Marcus, Rhea Mark, Sophie Masloff, Gussie Sacks, Morris Schwartz, Herbert Sternlight, Rose Zweig Saturday July 31: Meyer Coon, Meyer David Elovitz, Fanny Kramer, Mary Lang, Hazel Pinsker Lemelman, Albert P. Levine, Zelman Lee Moritz, Tillie K. Morris, Irene I. Posner, Mollie Rothman, Samuel Selkovits, Gabe Shapiro, Melvin Tobias, Eva Ulanoff, Rabbi Hugo Unger, Sarah Wesely

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Opinion Wiesel: Continued from page 13

is another way. Imagine the possibility that your ideological opponent is not an enemy but is a champion of something rooted in Judaism. If you believe in land for peace, can you see

someone who is committed to holding onto territory for Israel’s security as a champion of saving Jewish lives? And if you believe a continued Israeli military presence beyond the Green Line will be needed for the foreseeable future, can you see someone who is committed to Palestinian self-determination as a champion of Jewish values? Yesterday was Tisha b’Av.

Yesterday we mourned 2,000 years of exile, brought about by our hatred for one another. Yesterday many of us mourned what is happening now. Yesterday I felt the sense of loss for our divided community. I am done being angry at Jews with whom I disagree. I am saving my anger for the antisemites who threaten our safety in the Diaspora and in Israel, who

lie about us in the halls of Congress and in American universities, who work within social, published and broadcast media to spread bias against us. Today is the day after Tisha b’Av. It is time to rebuild. PJC Elisha Wiesel is the son of Marion and Elie Wiesel. This piece first appeared on JTA.

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Sunday, August 22 8 AM Our 2nd Annual outrageously challenging obstacle course race at the JCC’s 100-acre, wooded Family Park in Monroeville

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Community Hats off and on to Israel Participants in Emma Kaufmann Camp’s EKC Israel Experience are all smiles during their summer tour. The leadership development training program enables young adults to learn,

through real-world experiences, how to become role models and mentors for children as well as productive members of their communities at home. EKC Israel Experience is supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

p The group begins their Israel-stay at Sde Boker.

p EKC Israel Experience group leaves from Emma Kaufmann Camp.

Photos courtesy of Emma Curtis of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Hooray for summer

p Just another day of friendship and field trips at Hillel Academy Summer Camp.

Fun times at Friendship Circle

p All made up, heading for the pool

Photos courtesy of Kira Sunshine via Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

Pool party

Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh hosted a Summer Cooking Extravaganza in the FC Great Room and on Zoom. Participants made oat energy balls, decorated cookies and had fun in a photo booth during the July 11 event.

p Seniors enjoy an aquatics class at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Photo courtesy of Emma Curtis via the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

A happy first

p Yafa and Liora Schnadower

Photos courtesy of Adina Warren via Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

u From left: Lexi Vayonis, Rivkee Rudolph, Kaylee Uribe, Ariel Stein, Rachel Herskowitz and Reid Ringold

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Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Young Adult Division held its first in-person happy hour since the beginning of the pandemic. The July 16 event occurred at Bakery Square. p From left: Yamit Lavi, Elad Karni, Carrie Garrison, Drew Greenwald, Max Goldstein, Alex Himmel, Laura Weiss, Raphael Segal and Elan Rosenfeld

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

JULY 23, 2021 23

KOSHER MEATS

• All-natural, corn-fed beef — steaks, roasts, ground beef and more • Variety of deli meats and franks • All-natural poultry — whole chickens, breasts, wings and more Available at select Giant Eagle stores. Visit GiantEagle.com for location information.

Alle Kosher 80% Lean Fresh Ground Beef

99 lb.

Price effective Thursday, July 22 through Wednesday, July 29, 2021

Available at 24 JULY 23, 2021

and

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