Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 10-29-21 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

October 29, 2021 | 23 Cheshvan 5782

Candlelighting 6:02 p.m. | Havdalah 7:01 p.m. | Vol. 64, No. 44 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Eradicate Hate Global Summit concludes, but work has just begun

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Early morning texts and contact tracing

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Two new documentaries about Oct. 27 focus on community, not hate By David Rullo | Staff Writer

The demands on school nurses during COVID

Pittsburgh chancellor emeritus. In her concluding remarks to a crowd of 500 in-person attendees, and another 1,000 people watching online, Ellsworth pledged to “be here next year, on our feet, accountable to all of you for following through on our commitment to take what happened here in this city of Pittsburgh, and to transform that pain into hope, into progress, into actual change in the field of hate and the fight against hate.” Having experts from various fields coming together to share their knowledge and ideas was “extraordinary,” said Meryl Ainsman, immediate past chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and a member of the summit’s steering committee. “The interdisciplinary approach to one particular subject, which is fighting

atrice O’Neill — a documentarian working on a film about the Oct. 27 shooting in Pittsburgh — knows the value of a story. In 1995, when O’Neill heard about Billings, Montana, a town that, “stood up against hate crimes,” she decided to tell that community’s story in a half-hour film that eventually became the first in the PBS series “Not in Our Town.” The program, O’Neill said, tells a very straightforward tale about what people did when white supremacists started organizing in their town, overturning headstones in a Jewish cemetery and leaving racist fliers on cars after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally. The town had had enough. When skinheads began making appearances at a small Black church in the town, attempting to intimidate the congregation, other congregations and community members rose up in solidarity. Members of a painters’ union repainted a Native American woman’s house that was plastered with racist graffiti messages, and 100 neighbors came out to show their support. When a brick was thrown through a Jewish boy’s window in which a menorah had been displayed, residents of the town placed paper menorahs in their own windows in support of their Jewish neighbor. The white supremacists stopped organizing. After the documentary aired, O’Neill got a call from a group in Bloomington, Illinois, who, hearing about Black churches that were burnt in the South, wanted to act to make sure that didn’t happen in their community. “We decided to follow them, and we’ve

Please see Summit, page 14

Please see Documentaries, page 14

Page 2

LOCAL The ‘Great Resignation’ hits home

Local retailers cope with labor shortage Page 4

 Summit co-chairs Laura Ellsworth and Mark Nordenberg

Photo by Josh Franzos

LOCAL From furniture store to artist haven

The Ohringer building gets a reboot Page 5

By Toby Tabachnick and Adam Reinherz

he Eradicate Hate Global Summit, which brought more than 100 experts from an array of disciplines to Pittsburgh last week to discuss the proliferation of hate, ended Wednesday. But according to summit organizers, the work of those committed to change has just begun. Now those experts will form working groups and, over the course of the next year, try to develop feasible and effective solutions to combat hate. They will then present their solutions at a summit next year. The Eradicate Hate Global Summit, which took place Oct. 18-20 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, was conceived by attorney Laura Ellsworth in the wake of the 2018 antisemitic attack at the Tree of Life building. Ellsworth co-chaired the event with Mark Nordenberg, University of

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle LOCAL

Vaccine mandate at CDS

LOCAL

Keeping Holocaust stories alive

LOCAL

Hillel JUC honors victims of 10/27

Headlines Managing COVID is full-time job for day school nurses

p Donna Weir

— LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

hen she was an intensive care nurse, Shayna Wolf regularly served patients with high levels of need. But when she swapped the ICU for a school-based setting last spring, she discovered that the demands of her work weren’t necessarily lessened. Because of competing pandemic-related pressures, Wolf ’s mornings, days and nights are spent speaking with Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh parents and administrators, as well as medical professionals serving on the Jewish day school’s COVID-19 advisory team. Each morning, beginning at 5 a.m., Wolf typically receives about a half-dozen emails

Photo courtesy of Community Day School

and texts from parents. The messages are usually inquiries about whether a child, for any number of reasons, can come to school that day, whether a child requires COVID testing and whether a child’s siblings need to stay home, Wolf said. After answering each message, Wolf travels to Hillel Academy’s Beacon Street building, where in addition to her regular duties — which range from educating classes about poison control or puberty, to seeing individual students in her clinic — she manages a slew of COVID-related tasks. “Anyone who misses a day of school, I have to reach out to them to see if they need to be tested and see if they can come back to school,” Wolf said. She also spends time contact tracing, overseeing pool testing and policy making — the latter often occurs in the evening in order to accommodate other COVID-19 advisory

p A school nurse does a temperature check.

team members’ schedules. Around midnight, parents usually stop sending texts and emails, Wolf said. Knowing the ins and outs of her neighbor’s lives and receiving constant messages can be challenging, but as a Squirrel Hill resident and Hillel Academy graduate, Wolf said she’s honored to serve her community. Diane Healy, nurse of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, also receives numerous messages on a daily basis. “Parents don’t call me at night, but I will get texts late evening and calls early in the morning,” Healy said. Before becoming a nurse at Yeshiva last April, “I wasn’t used to being glued to my phone, but now I am.” In early August 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered guidance for COVID prevention in K-12 schools. In addition to recommending universal indoor masking, the health agency extolled

Photo by kevajefimija via iStock

the benefits of vaccination and called it “the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic.” The problem, however, is that most children under the age of 12 are not currently eligible to be jabbed. (It is likely that the FDA will announce emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 in the coming weeks.) With the contagiousness of the delta variant, and the difficulties of managing a population of both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, school nurses are under significant strain. “It’s another layer of stress trying to keep everyone healthy,” Healy said. “I think we’re all on the alert and a little more nervous about how we handle episodic care.” Because children are often asymptomatic, Please see Nurses, page 15

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Headlines CDS to mandate COVID vaccines for age-eligible students — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

ommunity Day School has announced it will require all age-eligible students to have a COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend the Squirrel Hill Jewish day school. Head of School Avi Baran Munro said, in an email to CDS parents last week, that the decision was made “after consultation with our medical advisors and with the unanimous support of the Community Day School Board of Trustees.” CDS has students in pre-K to eighth grade. Currently, only children 12 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, but Munro said CDS is anticipating FDA emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine “for children ages five to 11 in the coming weeks.” Once the Food and Drug Administration provides the emergency use authorization, CDS will give students eight weeks to receive both Pfizer shots. “In addition to providing for students’ academic and developmental needs, we are committed to protecting the physical health of our community,” Munro told parents in the Oct. 21 e-mail. “Above all, we remain inspired by Pikuach Nefesh (“safeguarding life”), a bedrock principle of Jewish law, and dedicated

p CDS announced it will require all age-eligible students to have a COVID-19 vaccine. Photo by pexels-gustavo-fring

to safeguarding your families and our staff.” Officials from Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh said last week they were not joining CDS in mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for students. “My understanding at this point is that it’s premature to mandate it until the CDC is mandating it,” Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, head of Yeshiva Schools, told the Chronicle. “We respect each other and we respect their

differences. … We’ll watch and see and look at the recommendations from the CDC. And we’ll adjust accordingly.” Hillel Academy officials were not available as of press time to detail the Squirrel Hill school’s student vaccination plan. CDS parent Michael Sampson voiced enthusiastic support for the school’s vaccine mandate last week. “It’s a wonderful and well-thought-out and much needed plan to

ensure the safety of our children,” he said. “When faced with a deadly pandemic, … it would be irresponsible not to require vaccinations, as we do with other diseases,” said Sampson, whose daughter is a CDS fifth-grader and whose son attends Taylor Allderdice High School. “I’m so proud of Community Day School. … We’re supposed to care about each other and those who are vulnerable. Having a vaccine mandate is not only good policy and good science, it’s entirely in line with Jewish values.” CDS parent Yana Mednik was less sure. The Squirrel Hill resident is vaccinated against COVID-19 but said she’s uncomfortable with the school requiring the vaccine for her young children. “My opinion will be unpopular but I was shocked — not because they mandated vaccines but because they gave such a short time to do it,” said Mednik, who has a son in kindergarten and a daughter in third grade at CDS. “I want to see some information about side effects. I want to do research.” CDS spokesperson Jennifer Bails defended the school’s vaccine mandate. “This measure is about protecting our children and school staff, and keeping them in the classroom, as well as preventing spread of coronavirus in the community,” Bails told the Chronicle. “We already require that Please see CDS, page 15

HOW WE ENGINEER Equipped with only pencils and rubber bands, eighth graders compete to design and construct the strongest catapult. By following supply and time constraints, students embrace efficiency and creativity in the engineering process.

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Headlines The ‘Great Resignation’ hits local Jewish-owned businesses — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

ears ago, Jeff Weiner grew tired of searching for capable workers for his Mt. Lebanon-based specialty store, Eden’s Market a Gluten Free Emporium, and stopped looking. He and his wife, Suzanne, began staffing their business on their own, and things were going well — until the “Great Resignation” hit. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced

last week that 4.3 million Americans, or 2.9% of the entire workforce, quit their jobs in August 2021. The record-breaking month followed a period of similar statistics in which droves of workers left their places of employment. Now, Jewish business owners in Pittsburgh are finding that, one way or another, their companies are being impacted. Weiner said those numbers affect his business not because of in-store staffing — he decided long ago it “wasn’t worth the aggravation” of finding workers with requisite knowledge of natural, organic and glutenfree foods — but because the labor shortage

 Amazing Books and Records; inset: Sign posted at Amazing Books and Records Photos by Adam Reinherz

is crippling his suppliers. Many of the farms and factories he orders from lack workers, and as a result have either “shut down or shut down to small capacities,” Weiner said, leading him to believe that “people just don’t want those kinds of jobs.” Weiner has worked in the grocery business for nearly 40 years. At the start of his career, there were employees who would stick around for decades, but “when those people retired it was impossible to find replacements,” he said. Something changed. Maybe it’s a different work ethic, he said, or maybe workers no longer feel the same kind of connection to their job.

Whatever it is, Weiner said, the recent dearth of employees is surprising. Justin Sigal, president of Little’s Shoes on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, wonders if workers are worried about face-to-face interactions during a pandemic. Sigal’s staff have a lot of in-person contact with their customers. He said there’s a “safe way to do it,” and that’s how his business has managed to stay open. Even so, Little’s, like other employers, has had to cut its hours of operation. Please see Businesses, page 15

 Little’s Shoes; inset: Adjusted hours at Little’s Shoes

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Headlines Historic Ohringer building gets national recognition — LOCAL — By David Rullo | Staff Writer

mateur historian Robert Ketcham, standing outside Braddock’s Ohringer building, told a crowd of local and state officials, artists and community members about the legacy of Abe Ohringer. “We would not be here today if not for Abe Ohringer, who passed through Ellis Island in December of 1905 when he was 16 years old with $10 in his pocket,” said Ketcham, a photographer who worked with developer Greg Kander on the revitalization of The Ohringer, which is now an artists’ residence. The Ohringer was recently added to the National Registry of Historic Places. Those gathered at the Oct. 22 event were there to witness Kander unveil a plaque recognizing the building’s new status as a historic landmark. Ketcham recounted Abe Ohringer’s early years — the Jewish immigrant left his home in the Austrian Empire before settling in the Rust Belt city, 10 miles upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela. Like many who were new to the country in the early part of the last century, Ohringer’s start was humbling. He swept floors at his brother Leo’s furniture store. The future entrepreneur met his wife and partner, Helen Stern, before starting his own furniture company. His business was a success, and in 1941, he erected the Ohringer building on the corner of Braddock and 7th avenues to house it. Among those in attendance were Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald; Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman; and Ken Doyno, president of the architecture firm Rothschild Doyno Collaborative, who all spoke of their involvement with the project and its significance to the community. The current residents of The Ohringer, all artists, joined the celebration. A guitarist serenaded those in attendance; two visual artists painted portraits that were given away to community members; and a spoken word artist presented a piece between official pronouncements. For Kander, this was more than a victory lap. He became involved in Braddock several years ago, after being offered some advice from a friend of his then-girlfriend, now fiancée, Anna Hollis: “The next time someone comes to you to get involved in a community, you should do it.” Remarkably, the Squirrel Hill resident had the opportunity to act on that advice the next day when he learned of the efforts of chef Kevin Sousa’s new restaurant project, Superior Motors, and Braddock’s then-mayor John Fetterman’s efforts to revitalize the borough. “I’m a Jewish kid from Queens who came here and never had a reason to go to Braddock,” Kander said. Despite not knowing the borough, Kander was intrigued by the possibility of helping a community the right way — thinking first of the residents and new job opportunities. He

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p Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman told those in attendance of his time working in the Ohringer building. Photo by David Rullo

p Ohringer family representative Thomas Lippard unveiled a plaque at the Oct. 22 ceremony.

Photo by David Rullo

p Developer Greg Kander speaks about The Ohringer beneath the building’s historic art deco sign. Photo by David Rullo

decided to get involved. “It’s not about displacing, it’s about including,” Kander said. “I went in with that knowledge and all I’ve learned about systematic racism the past seven years. I was really a

man on a mission to use my privilege to help an underserved community.” Superior Motors opened with a lot of goodwill and press but has been shuttered since the pandemic forced its closure. Chef

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and part-owner Sousa recently left the restaurant to start a new business, leaving many in the community feeling betrayed by his departure. Kander — who views both Superior Motors and The Ohringer as pieces to a puzzle he’s trying to build that will eventually revitalize all of Braddock — sees Sousa’s contributions differently. “If there was no Kevin Sousa, there would be no Ohringer building, and if we didn’t do the Ohringer building, the trade school that’s being built by a minority contractor wouldn’t have happened, and a hair salon wouldn’t have opened down the block, and Al Boss [an optician] wouldn’t have agreed on his new façade, and the Levitt Building wouldn’t have just gone under agreement. So, he got me there,” Kander said. Kander partnered with architecture firm Rothschild Doyno Collaborative to redesign the building. He credits the firm with bringing his vision to the next level. “I would have just put in these rectangle boxes as units,” Kander said. “They designed these elaborate units; each one is different with long windows and great views, so it was a home run on that front.” The firm’s renovation of the building recently won two awards from the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects. “These types of projects mean that anything can happen, especially if you’re willing to work hard and you believe in it and build consensus around it,” architect Robert Tuñón said. “There aren’t many buildings like this, and there aren’t many projects that focus on building community, especially around the arts. For the community, this is a huge accomplishment based on many years of work that went in before any construction started.” Fitzgerald agreed. “We see the seeds of growth coming — I do anyway — in Braddock,” the county executive said. “We see it in Rankin, we see it in Swissvale, as you come further down the valley, Hazelwood Green. It’s going to keep spreading out, in my mind. Neighborhoods like this, communities like this, which are still affordable in some ways, are places where people can come, whether it’s a coffee shop or restaurant or tech center. Different businesses, I think, are going to continue to grow here. “ Fetterman, who is currently running to fill the Senate seat to be vacated by Pat Toomey, said the building’s redevelopment is personal. “I got my start here,” Fetterman said. “I was on the third floor of this building. I always felt a really strong connection to it. The work that Greg has done is astonishing, it really is.” Thomas E. Lippard, who is married to Abe and Helen Ohringer’s granddaughter Susan, attended the ceremony as a surrogate for the family. He called the redevelopment of the building “extraordinary.” “It’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “Greg Kander created magic here. They’re reinventing Braddock.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. OCTOBER 29, 2021 5

Calendar Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle. org. Submissions also will be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q

FRIDAY, OCT. 29

Join Moishe House as it partners with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Repair the World, The Friendship Circle and OneTable for Together at The Table: 10.27 Commemoration. There will be a virtual service with a brief kiddush and intention setting, followed by individual dinners at home. Time TBA. Register here: forms.gle/ieF3MzzSyU93sVm36. q

FRIDAY, OCT. 29-NOV. 24

Chabad of the South Hills’s Chanukah toy drive is taking place for hospitalized and underprivileged children. They are collecting new, unwrapped toys. Toys can be dropped off until Wed. Nov. 24, at Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road, Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.3:30 p.m. or call 412-344-2424 to make arrangements. q

SUNDAY, OCT. 31

Gather on Zoom with the Briya Project, for moments of ritual and writing in the writing course “Sh’ma - Hear Your Inner Voice.” The session will include a communal ritual and creative prompt to help you hear your inner artistic voice. 6 p.m. ticketailor.com/ events/briyaproject/564066 q

SUNDAYS, OCT. 31; NOV. 7, 14, 21, 28

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, OCT. 31-NOV. 21

In this new series, Halakhic Conversations, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will discuss a variety of controversial halakhic issues relevant to the lives of contemporary Jews with Poale Zedek Rabbi Daniel Yolkut. Ranging from end-of-life issues to the difficult test of coronavirus to the use of technology, the conversations will consider how the halakha is applied to today’s cutting-edge issues. $75 for all eight Zoom sessions. 10 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/halakhicconversations

MONDAYS, NOV. 1, 8, 15

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q

MONDAYS, NOV. 1-DEC. 20

Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will examine the accounts of some of the most interesting righteous gentiles in the Tanakh in his new course Righteous Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible. $55 for all 11 Zoom sessions. 9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh. org/righteous-gentiles q

TUESDAYS, NOV. 2, 9

In the workshop Making the Case for Israel, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will offer tools for how to respond to Israel’s critics in 2021. This is a course for those who want to see Israel prosper and who would like to know more about how to answer the accusations that are now being made against Israel. $40 for all Zoom sessions. 9:30 a.m. foundation. jewishpgh.org/making-the-case-for-israel q

TUESDAYS, NOV. 2-NOV. 30

Join Rabbi Daniel Yolkut for “Messiah,” an exploration of the history and philosophy of one of the most powerful (and destabilizing) ideas in the Jewish experience: Messianism. A fascinating deep dive into the personalities and perspectives that shaped history-changing movements from Christianity to Zionism and continues to be a misunderstood but critical Jewish belief to this day. $75 for all Zoom sessions. 11 a.m. foundation. jewishpgh.org/messiah q

TUESDAYS, NOV. 2-MAY 24

Sign up now for Melton Core 2, Ethics and Crossroads of Jewish Living. Discover the central ideas and texts that inform our daily, weekly and annual rituals, as well as life cycle observances and essential Jewish theological concepts and ideas as they unfold in the Bible, the Talmud and other sacred texts. $300. 9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/melton-2 q

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3

Join Hadassah Midwest for From Sarah to Golda: Female Jewish Leadership Past, Present and Future with Rebecca Starr, director of regional programs for the Shalom Hartman Institute. 11 a.m. $10 members; $12 nonmembers. hadassahmidwest.org/tikvahleadership q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 3, 10, 17, 24;

DEC. 1

Bring the parshah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful. Study the weekly Torah portion with

Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman. 12:15 p.m. bethshalompgh.org/life-text

Temple Sinai. 10 a.m. templesinaipgh.org/ event/Siyyum.htmlJoin

Join Classrooms Without Borders for the film “What Will Become of Us” and a post-screening discussion with filmmaker Stephanie Ayanian, Rev. Fr. Hratch Sargsyan and Anthony Barsamian in conversation with Dr. Mark Cole. 3 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/what-willbecome-of-us

WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 3-DEC. 1

Join Temple Sinai to study the weekly Torah portion in their hybrid class available on Zoom. Open to everyone. 12 p.m. templesinaipgh.org/event/ parashah/weekly-torah-portion-classvia-zoom11.html q

WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 3-JAN. 24

Through illuminating source texts and captivating case studies, Outsmarting Antisemitism — A four-part JLI course on the absurdity of antisemitism considers the sources of this ancient scourge, along with the appropriate strategies for overcoming it. 7:30 p.m. Zoom or inperson.chabadsh.com q

WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 3-JAN. 26

In The Jewish Moral Virtues, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will explore Jewish teaching on critical moral virtues. Based on the qualities listed in the 13th century Sefer Maalot Hamiddot (The Book of the Choicest Virtues), Rabbi Schiff will explore the contemporary application of these moral virtues to our 21st century lives. $65 for all 13 Zoom sessions. 9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/ jewish-moral-virtues q

THURSDAYS, NOV. 4-JUNE 30

The Alan Papernick Educational Institute Endowment Fund presents Continuing Legal Education, a six-part CLE series taught by Foundation Scholar Rabbi 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/ continuing-legal-education.

MONDAY, NOV. 8

Learn more about the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Mega Mission over Zoom. The mission will take place in Israel on June 13-21, 2022. This is your chance to hear the details and ask all of your pressing questions. RSVP required to receive Zoom link. 6 p.m. jewishpgh. org/event/mega-mission-novemberinfo-session The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh presents Disability Rights and the Power of Advocacy. Join Aaron Kaufman, senior manager of legislative affairs in Jewish Federation of North America’s Washington D.C. office, Laura Cherner, director of the Community Relations Council, and Dr. Josie Badger, disability activist and consultant, to learn what advocacy is all about, how it works and its importance to improving the lives of people living with disabilities. 7 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/disability-rights-andthe-power-of-advocacy q

TUESDAY, NOV. 9

Classrooms Without Borders presents Hollywood Composers: Musicians in Exile with Inbal Megiddo, cello and Jian Liu, piano. 4 p.m. classroomswithoutborders.org/hollywoodcomposers-musicians-exile-inbal-megiddocello-jian-liu-piano q

THURSDAY, NOV. 11

Join Temple Sinai for a free in-person concert with musician Dan Nichols to celebrate Rabbi Emeritus Jamie Gibson’s 32 years at Temple Sinai. 7 p.m. 5505 Forbes Ave. templesinaipgh.org/event/ dan-nichols-concert1.html

Join fellow Ben Gurion Society members for an incredible day of tailgating before the showdown: Pitt vs. UNC. Tickets are limited. Please provide a working email and cell phone number. Tailgating details will be sent out closer to the event. 5:30 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/bgs-pittfootball-game-and-tailgate

SATURDAY, NOV. 6

SUNDAY, NOV. 7

Join Temple Sinai for a siyyum to dedicate the completion of their new Torah honoring Rabbi Emeritus Jamie Gibson. Gibson and Soferet Linda Coppleson will write the final word of the Torah as the community shares the joy of the completion of their new Torah honoring Rabbi Gibson’s 32 years of service to

SATURDAY, NOV. 20

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for their annual fundraiser. Come together to play: MATCH GAME: CBS Style. Inspired by the TV show, watch as a member of the audience or as a contestant (in person or online) and match wits with their panel of CBS stars featuring honoree and guest panelist Mindy Shreve. 7:30 p.m. bethshalompgh.org PJC

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 6 OCTOBER 29, 2021

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Headlines Interviewer of survivors brings Holocaust to life — LOCAL — By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

ouis Schmidt has captured the untold and often harrowing stories of countless Holocaust survivors. Last week at an event with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, Schmidt, a retired journalist, spoke about his career and the work he has done with the USC Shoah Foundation. Schmidt — introduced at the event by Lauren Bairnsfather, executive director of the Holocaust Center — started his career in the 1960s as a reporter at Look magazine, then became an NFL Films producer. He ascended with the cable TV hit “Inside The NFL” and charted a tenure there of some 33 years. What was most important to Schmidt, though, came after. Starting in the 1990s, he trained to record testimony of Holocaust survivors for the USC Shoah Foundation, then a project of filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks Studios. “There’s great power in remembrance and that’s at the root … of the Shoah Foundation,” Schmidt told the audience, who gathered via Zoom the evening of Oct. 21. “I consider myself privileged to have been chosen for this historic mission.” The selection process was no simple thing, Schmidt said. About 220 eager interviewers

p Louis Schmidt, a Shoah Foundation interviewer, talks with Lauren Bairnsfather of the Holocaust Center about his experiences interviewing survivors Screenshot provided by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

met with Shoah Foundation trainers — this preceded the group’s affiliation with the University of Southern California — at a suburban Philadelphia college campus in June 1996 to throw their hats into the ring for the interviewer roles. After three grueling days of training, 47 remained. “I was very fortunate to be one of them,” Schmidt said. Schmidt had to polish his interviewing skills, learning how to be silent and completely stoic during emotional testimony — and learning what questions to ask and how. “I interviewed literally hundreds of athletes and celebrities,” Schmidt said. “I thought … I certainly knew what I was doing.

“I was wrong,” he continued. “We had to be detached, with no display of emotion — we were to be a blank slate waiting to be written.” Schmidt recalled one survivor, a Romanian man, who had been silent for 50-plus years about his Holocaust experience. But when the tape started to roll, the truths gushed out of him. “The Shoah Foundation had opened a window for him — and his life was changed forever,” Schmidt said. Another survivor recalled toiling at the Auschwitz concentration camp until he could no longer walk, fearing he no longer could survive. He asked to go to the infirmary, a sign “his usefulness was over,”

Schmidt said. On April 29, 1945, he reluctantly joined the line to the crematorium but fate intervened — within minutes, American troops had liberated the camp. “I can’t begin to describe to you what it was like sitting across from this hunched man, delivering [his memories] in monotone,” Schmidt said. “This, to me, is the quintessential Holocaust story — the difference between life and death, a matter of minutes.” Another survivor, a woman born in Minsk, Belarus, left Auschwitz after the camp’s liberation by American forces to search for her husband, who had been forced against his will to fight on the Soviet front. She found Please see Interviewer, page 15

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Headlines Hillel JUC commemorates Pittsburgh synagogue shooting — LOCAL — By Dionna Dash | Special to the Chronicle

here is no Hebrew word for history. That’s what Dan Marcus, executive director of Hillel Jewish University Center, told students at a Havdalah service marking the third yahrzeit of the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. The word for memory, zachar, is used instead, he said, and it is a Jewish tradition for people to share their own experiences of a given event and how it affected them, relying on each other for support and healing. Students from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University gathered at the Hillel building on Saturday evening, Oct. 23, for the commemoration service — which combined traditional Havdalah elements with mourning rituals — led by Hillel’s senior Jewish educator, Stefanie Greene. Students began by lighting 11 yahrzeit candles for the victims. The candle holders, each a unique glass design, were crafted by Hillel students for the one-year commemoration of the attack back in 2019. After reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish together, students shared stories and memories of Oct. 27, 2018, expressing gratitude for the support of the Pittsburgh Jewish community in the weeks following the attack at the Tree of Life building. “Hillel’s role in the community during times of grief and remembrance is simple,” Marcus said. “Hillel is here to care.” Students said they felt that sense of communal comfort during the Havdalah service. “I was hoping to have a place to feel some solidarity with other people who experienced the shooting, and I got that from tonight,” said Julia Szwalbenest, a senior at Pitt who was on campus as a freshman on Oct. 27, 2018. Szwalbenest spent last year away from campus during the pandemic. She said that the day she most missed her Jewish campus community was the date of the yahrzeit of the victims in 2020. “I’m thankful to be back in Pittsburgh for the commemoration this year,” she said. “Last year, it almost felt hard to

GET THE

p Yahrzeit candles at Hillel JUC

Photo by Dionna Dash

p Students at a commemorative Havdalah service at Hillel JUC on Oct. 23, 2021 Photo by Dan Marcus

remember everything that had happened. I felt disconnected.” That renewal of connection was one of Greene’s main goals in designing the Havdalah service. “We are three years removed and there’s

been student turnover in that time; really only the seniors were here in 2018,” she said. “I wanted to create a space for students to both commemorate the lives that were lost and to be able to come and talk about the experience they had with the shooting in their own communities, whether they were here or elsewhere in the country.” For Eva Shterengarts, who was a freshman at Pitt in 2018, hearing different perspectives made her feel less isolated in her mourning. “It was powerful to listen to everyone’s recollections and how impactful the event had been even for those not in Pittsburgh at the time,” said Shterengarts, who serves as Hillel’s student president. “I felt not only my own grief, but the grief of other students who were both in Pittsburgh and in other parts of the country.” This year’s commemoration was especially poignant for many of the seniors who were in Pittsburgh during the attack but may not be in Pittsburgh next year. Shterengarts

remembers the attack as a defining moment in her Jewish journey through college. “As a freshman, the shooting helped me realize that I emotionally and spiritually needed a Jewish community in my life for support,” she said. “Growing up, I’d never had this kind of community in my life and trying to process all the emotions I was feeling that day on my own was just too much, so I turned to Hillel.” Throughout the week, Hillel continued to host events commemorating the shooting, including initiatives to increase kindness on campus and a text study about acts of resilience in Jewish scripture. “We want a public display of care, love and hope at this time,” Greene said. “We’re trying to create a space for healing, remembrance and community.” PJC Dionna Dash is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Headlines New study from Hillel and ADL finds a third of students on campus experienced antisemitism in last year — NATIONAL — By Philissa Cramer | JTA

third of Jewish college students say they have personally experienced antisemitism in the last year, according to a new survey conducted jointly by Hillel and the Anti-Defamation League. The two groups recently announced a partnership aimed at combating antisemitism on college campuses; the survey represents one of the first fruits of the relationship. The results add data and texture to the picture of Jewish life on campus that has been built in recent years in large part on anecdotes and firestorms. They suggest that the majority of Jewish students at American colleges feel safe and supported on campus — but that a significant minority have experienced antisemitism or obscured their Jewish identity out of fear of antisemitism. The survey offers a “strong validation of the reality that Jewish students are facing, which is a significant and unacceptable level of antisemitism and other anti-Jewish bias,” Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Fifteen percent of students who responded to the survey said they had “felt the need to hide” their Jewish identity and 6% said they had felt unwelcome in a campus organization because they were Jewish. Often, the survey found, students reported being or feeling excluded because of their actual or perceived support for Israel. Conducted online in July and August, the survey captured sentiment shortly after the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in May contributed to a spike in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses and beyond. The survey included 756 self-identified Jewish college students on 220 campuses and had a margin of error of 4%. It drew from a national sample of college students, meaning that students surveyed were not all engaged with Hillel or other aspects of Jewish life on their campuses. Those that did engage with activities were more likely to say they have experienced antisemitism, the survey found, but they were also more likely to report feeling safe on campus as Jews. Hillel has made one key finding — that while 80% of Jewish students say they are proud to be Jewish, only 62% of them say they are comfortable telling people about that pride — the centerpiece of a social media campaign that launched earlier this month. The #OwnYourStar campaign has

p A student bikes across campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

been seen more than 1 million times since it began, according to Lehman. In many of the posts associated with the campaign, Hillel professionals, student leaders and their supporters have been sharing their campus experiences. One wrote this week about her fear upon seeing a Star of David etched into a bulletin board and not knowing the intention of the person who left it there. The director of Hillel at Miami University in Cincinnati, Ohio, wrote, “Our students are constantly being asked where their horns are (don’t have any!), why they killed Palestinian babies (they don’t), or have their mezuzah dropped from their dorm doors.” Lehman said Hillel’s student cabinet, a group of 22 Jewish student leaders from campuses around the world, had made a conscious decision to make combating antisemitism the focus of their social media advocacy. “We know we cannot simply bury our heads in the sand in the face of rising antisemitism and hope it will disappear,”

he said. “We feel a responsibility to take these issues on.” The Hillel-ADL findings dovetail with another major report about antisemitism in the United States released this week. The American Jewish Committee’s annual antisemitism study found that 20% of American Jews said that over the last five years, they or someone they personally knew had experienced antisemitism on a college campus. They also dovetail with a slew of reports about challenging conditions at individual campuses. Some of those reports have emerged through Jewish on Campus, an Instagram account that launched last year to let students share anonymous stories about antisemitism and has quickly become emblematic of efforts to combat antisemitism taking place outside of the traditional infrastructure of Jewish life on campus. Hillel and the ADL say the survey’s findings point to a number of steps that colleges and universities should take, including

Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images via JTA

incorporating instruction about antisemitism into any diversity training that students and faculty receive and making it easier for students to report antisemitism that they experience. The vast majority of students experiencing antisemitism said they did not report it, and 40% of those who did report incidents to campus staff said they felt their reports were not taken seriously. Lehman said the formal reporting structure that Hillel is establishing with the ADL, which has for years chronicled antisemitic incidents in the United States, is an important step. “The more venues for students to report the better, particularly given the content of massive underreporting,” Lehman said. But he added, “The more that we can have students doing reporting through official channels, the better because then we end up with a clear ability to track issues and incidents over time and a more simplified and credible set of data to take to our administration partners.” PJC

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Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Chilean newspaper draws outrage with tribute to Nazi leader

One of the largest newspapers in Chile published a tribute feature to Nazi Hermann Göring on Sunday, sparking an outcry from politicians and the Chilean Jewish community. The article, which was timed to the 75th anniversary of Göring’s death and resembled a eulogy, included details about the Nazi leader’s youth, military career and close relationship to Adolf Hitler, accompanied by various photos. In a statement posted to Twitter, the Jewish Community of Chile organization called the article “an apology for Nazism.” “In Europe, this publication would be considered a crime,” the organization said, referring to countries that outlaw Nazi sympathizing. Multiple politicians running in Chile’s presidential elections also criticized the article.

Swedish agency recommends exercise where students argue Holocaust never happened

Sweden’s National Agency for Education recommended that teachers should make

students try to prove that the Holocaust never happened, as part of a push to help them understand conspiracy theories. The recommendation came in a recently published handbook for high school teachers that the government’s institution in charge of scholastic issues had created, the Aftonbladet daily reported earlier this month. “Group 1 must find at least three arguments for the case that the Holocaust never happened, using facts and information from the internet. They can also ask others what they believe and why,” the suggested exercise read. It included a similar example encouraging students to support the argument that the 1969 moon landing was staged. The handbook defined both the moon landing and the Holocaust as “controversial subjects.”

Israel designates 6 Palestinian rights groups as terrorist organizations

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that Israel’s government will consider six leading Palestinian rights organizations operating in the West Bank as terrorist groups. The groups include some of the leading Palestinian civil society groups advocating for farmworkers, women, children and Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails.

JC ReSound ONE Couple_Eartique 6/22/21 2:44 AM Page 1

Gantz called out their alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group designated by the U.S. and others as a terrorist group. The PFLP was responsible for a string of plane hijackings in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the groups named by Gantz have been dogged by accusations from Israeli groups of ties to the PFLP for years. By designating the groups as terrorist organizations, Israel can close the organizations’ offices, seize their assets and effectively stop donations to the groups. The groups named are Addameer, Al-Haq, Bisan Center, Defense for Children International Palestine, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.

Biden names Atlanta Jewish leader as envoy to UN Human Rights Council

President Joe Biden named a leader of the Atlanta Jewish community to the United Nations Human Rights Council, a body that has been widely criticized as overly hostile to Israel. The Atlanta Jewish Times reported last week that Biden’s choice is Michèle Taylor, who is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, a founder of the Or Hadash congregation outside of Atlanta, a past member of the U.S. Holocaust Museum Memorial Council

United Arab Emirates to join Israel in moon shot

The next time Israel tries to land a spacecraft on the moon, it will have some neighborly help. United Arab Emirates and Israel plan to land Israel’s un-crewed Beresheet craft on the moon in 2024 in a joint space exploration deal, Haaretz reported last week. Israel’s first attempt to land a lunar module on the moon failed in 2019 when it crashed. The Beresheet 2 effort will be part of an agreement slated to be signed between Israel and the UAE to develop space technologies. The craft will collect soil samples and conduct experiments. Israel and the UAE are accelerating their cooperation under the Abraham Accords normalization deal brokered last year by the Trump administration. PJC

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Hear like no other

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

Oct. 29, 1956 — Arabs are massacred at Kfar Kassem

Israeli troops kill 48 Israeli Arabs returning from their fields at dusk in Kfar Kassem after Col. Yissachar Shadmi illegally moves the curfew earlier and orders troops to shoot to kill unwitting violators.

Oct. 30, 1991 — Madrid peace conference begins

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needed water for advancing British troops.

Nov. 1, 1945 — Jewish Resistance blows up rails across Palestine

The Jewish Resistance Movement sets off explosions at over 150 sites along the railway of Mandatory Palestine and blows up three British gunboats in synchronized attacks known as the Night of the Trains.

Nov. 2, 1917 — Balfour Declaration is released

British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour reveals his government’s endorsement of “the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish national home” in the Balfour Declaration, a letter to Zionist leader Lord Rothschild.

Nov. 3, 1878 — Petah Tikvah is founded The Soviet Union and the United States convene a Middle East peace conference in Madrid with a two-track approach of bilateral and multilateral talks. It is the first time Israelis and Palestinians negotiate directly.

Oct. 31, 1917 — Beersheba is captured

10 OCTOBER 29, 2021

and someone who has been involved in the Atlanta Jewish community in other capacities. She has also been involved in senior fundraising positions for the Democratic Party and is currently a member of the board of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The White House’s nomination statement noted that Taylor is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and said Taylor “has served in a number of roles advocating for protection of fundamental human and political rights.”

The Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade surprises the Turkish defenders and captures Beersheba in one day, breaking the Ottoman defensive line near Gaza and obtaining

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Religious Jews leave Jerusalem and establish the agricultural settlement of Petah Tikvah (“Gateway of Hope”), now Israel’s fifthlargest city, on 3,400 dunams (roughly 756 acres) bought near the Yarkon River and the Arab village of Mulabbis.

Nov. 4, 1995 — Rabin is assassinated

Yigal Amir, a law student opposed to the Oslo peace process, fatally shoots Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Rabin had played a prominent role in most of Israel’s history. PJC

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Headlines Meet the Jewish woman steering one of America’s largest and most influential liberal donor groups — NATIONAL — By Ron Kampeas | JTA

olitico called the Democracy Alliance, one of the country’s major liberal donor groups, “secretive.” The conservative Washington Free Beacon called it “George Soros’s shadowy dark money donor club.” But the group’s new president, Pamela Shifman, says she’s all about shining a light — on what she calls threats to democracy, right-wing antisemitism and other issues. The Democracy Alliance Pamela raises money in support of Shifman organizations the group says Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty works to “advance a progresImages for James sive agenda.” Unlike some Grant PR via JTA other liberal fundraising groups such as MoveOn that cite large numbers of donors, the Democracy Alliance focuses on major giving only: Donors must commit to giving at least $200,000 per year to enter. The group boasts Tom Steyer, Susie Tompkins Buell and, yes, left-wing megadonor George Soros among its members — but most of its donors are anonymous. Shifman, who comes from a family of liberal

Jewish activists, said she is not happy with the role of anonymous or “dark” money in political giving. But she is also not ready to give it up yet. “As progressives, we support greater transparency and an end to Citizens United [the 2010 Supreme Court decision that protected corporate political giving], but we can’t unilaterally disarm ourselves in this fight,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Because the moment is too important to do so. And what we know is activists need resources, movements need resources, and they need resources now to address the challenges we face.” Shifman, 51, is not prone to keeping a low profile. In her previous work, heading NoVo, a foundation funding racial and gender justice initiatives, she was a frequent speaker, and took to the streets in protest, at times with Jewish groups. In 2014, after a New York policeman choked Eric Garner to death, Shifman joined protests organized by Jews For Racial and Economic Justice. Melding Jewish expression with social justice was embedded in her upbringing in suburban Detroit, Shifman said, where she grew up in a Conservative Jewish home. “So much of our trace values were around tikkun olam,” she said, referring to the Mishnaic mandate to repair the world that has become a byword for social justice among liberal Jews. ”My parents have been

just unbelievably generous in the way they live their life. What that is about is helping strangers, it’s about helping anyone who they could help whether financially or not financially — we always had people staying in our home, who needed a place to stay, who were going through a difficult time. My friends all knew our house was a place they could come if they needed respite and comfort.” Shifman fondly recalls markers of Jewish involvement in the community, including membership in B’nai B’rith Girls (now wrapped into the BBYO youth organization) and playing basketball and softball in the 1986 North American Maccabi Youth Games in Toronto. (Shifman is still into fitness, training with her partner for a half-marathon.) Her family were members of Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, Michigan, but Shifman says her deepest feelings of Jewish identification come from the activism of her father, Arnold, a lawyer, and her mother, Elaine, a retired public school teacher. “My mom stands outside in suburban Detroit every Monday evening, with a group of older people with a sign that says ‘Black Lives Matter,’” she said. “It’s a group of mostly white, mostly Jewish people who stand out on Woodward Avenue in the suburbs, to send a message to other suburban folks, that they stand for racial justice.”

Shifman got emotional as she recalled her father’s funeral last year, just before the coronavirus pandemic hit. “He had nearly a thousand people at the funeral,” she said. “People shared with us, came up to us and said, ‘You may not know this, but your father helped my son for free. I didn’t have any money.’ There were just hundreds of stories of people I’d never met before. I feel his memory is with me so much in all of the work that I do.” Shifman says she detects an antisemitic undercurrent in some of the attacks on the Democracy Alliance, such as the Free Beacon’s characterization of the group as Soros’ “shadowy dark money.” Soros has been targeted in attacks from the right that Jewish groups say have often crossed into antisemitism — among them accusations that he is the unseen hand behind movements conservatives revile. Some have even called him a “puppet master,” bringing to mind stereotypes and conspiracy theories about Jewish world domination. “The right has weaponized antisemitism to undermine progressive work,” Shifman said. “The attacks on George Soros are antisemitic, there is no doubt in my mind about that. Those of us who are on the side of justice need to treat this moment as urgent and an all-hands-on-deck moment.” PJC

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Opinion The dark shadow of Sunrise DC — EDITORIAL —

rogressives were already struggling to get out from under the cloud of highprofile extremists within their ranks who rail against the Jewish state. We thought we saw the low point of anti-Zionist hypocrisy a few weeks ago when nine members of the House of Representatives opposed funding for Israel’s defensive Iron Dome program against 460 members who supported it — followed by the tearful apology of one member who voted “present” when she really wanted to support the hate agenda. But the competition to reach bottom continues. Last week, the Washington, D.C., branch of a national climate advocacy group withdrew support for a national voting rights rally because

“a number of Zionist organizations” were part of the effort. Nothing in the shocking pronouncement by Sunrise DC raised issue with the bona fides of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center (RAC) or the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) as they relate to voting rights or climate control. They were not welcome because the three organizations support Israel — which Sunrise DC called “a colonial project.” Reactions to the disturbing pronouncement were quick and pointed, calling out the antisemitic and antidemocratic overtones of Sunrise DC’s screed. In a tweet, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, called it “antisemitic – plain and simple.” But the criticism came largely from individuals and groups outside the progressive orbit. Within the Sunrise organization itself, however, there was initial silence. And even

the three targeted Jewish organizations were remarkably reserved in their reactions — mirroring a near-universal reluctance to criticize a progressive icon. It wasn’t until several days later that Sunrise Movement issued a milquetoast statement, which did not criticize the D.C. branch decision, and RAC and NCJW issued more pointed statements. The initial silence and muted responses worry us. Silence in the face of clear, public wrongdoing implies acceptance or support of the wrongdoing. More importantly, the silence betrays a fear of taking on the progressive left and the predictable demonization for doing so. It is outrageous to assert that Jewish groups who support Israel have no right to participate in social justice activity. And it was incumbent on the organizations that were targeted to challenge the action, condemn the offender and lead the response. RAC and NCJW are

well-known for hair-trigger speed in issuing challenges and condemnations for offensive activity. Their slow roll and cautious responses here are troubling. But none of that excuses the offensiveness of Sunrise DC’s actions. Social justice is not limited to those with whom one agrees. And neither Sunrise DC nor any other group has the right to decide who is permitted to advocate on behalf of any issue. Radical progressives do not own the social justice agenda. They are participants in the process just like everyone else. And they need to respect differing opinions. That doesn’t mean that Sunrise DC must participate in a rally it chooses not to join. But it does mean that Sunrise DC needs to learn to moderate its biases, swallow its bile and move forward in support of its broader agenda without getting distracted by poisonous Jew-hatred. PJC

Jonathan Sacks, morality and Facebook algorithms Guest Columnist Francis Nataf

acebook whistleblower Francis Haugen probably thought she’d driven her message home when she recently recommended the removal of algorithms on Facebook, telling the U.S. Congress it was “because I think we don’t want computers deciding what we focus on.” When it comes to computers telling people what to do, whose blood would not boil? Of course, as with most such reductionist lines, Haugen was able to appeal to our emotions through oversimplification. But computers don’t decide, we do. And even if we allow computers to steer us, those computers (more precisely, algorithms) were all designed by human beings who are ultimately no different from us. The problem with Haugen’s claims goes beyond the misleading nature of her line about computers making decisions for us.

Her more substantive position — “I’m a strong proponent of chronological ranking, ordering by time” instead of by algorithm — is like suggesting that television remove its visual component and that its programs only be heard and not seen. I know. I tried it. Although the default on the Facebook timeline is what the algorithms calculate you “most want to see,” up until very recently there was an icon on the sidebar that allowed you to see everything posted by your contacts chronologically. If you are anything like me, you would have lasted less than two minutes! Do you really want to see what someone you barely know is having for breakfast? Or whether anybody can help with their carpool in Minneapolis? True, there are many ways that algorithms can determine what you want to see, some of which might be more manipulative than others. And I am not saying that there is no room for more responsibility from the companies that use algorithms, and that government has no role to play in regulating them. But there is an important part of the equation that never seems to get mentioned here. The cries for more responsibility are all

aimed at government or industry. Yet as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (whose first yahrzeit we marked this week) repeatedly pointed out, in a liberal state, these institutions are not primarily designed to promote morality or to enforce it. Of course, they have a role to play: Industry should understand that the legitimate desire for profits does not make everything legitimate; and government needs to support whatever basic moral consensus still exists. But as Sacks wrote in his last aptly titled major book, “Morality,” morality’s home is primarily in the third sector — voluntary communities that are formed around tighter and more rigorous definitions of what we should be doing to maximize who we are as human beings. Accordingly, one of Sacks’s most valiant crusades was the call for individuals and communities to step up and take responsibility for the moral state of society. He argued that we have reached a crisis point because we have spent too much time going to the wrong addresses when the most important address is right at our doorstep. The issue becomes clearer with a Biblical metaphor, as explained by the famous

19th-century rabbi and commentator, Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush Wisser). After telling us that, “He who tends a fig tree will enjoy its fruit, and he who cares for his master will be honored,” the Bible tells us that, “As in water, face answers to face, so the heart of man to man” (Proverbs 27:18-19). The metaphor is based on the mirror image of our face that we see when we look at water. So too, claims the Bible, is the response of a person’s heart. Malbim understands this quite literally. For him, it is saying that the blood that is pumped out of a man’s heart is the exact same blood that returns to that heart. As for the teaching, he expands it broadly, telling us that what happens to us is often a direct reflection of how we act in a wide variety of contexts. Does this not sound a little (a lot!) like algorithms? These programs don’t make up anything on their own. Their output — like the reflection of our face in the water — is completely responsive to our input. In this respect, then, the blame society is aiming at social media algorithms is like throwing a rock at the water reflecting the ugliness

As it turns out, I was correct that the intricacies of steel manufacturing would not be useful in my later years. But in a delightful twist, here I am observing my first shemitah since making aliyah, and I find myself wishing that, at 14, I had spent less time rolling my eyes and writing Counting Crows lyrics in the margins of my Bible notebook, and more time listening to my Judaics teachers as they described the ins and outs of what is considered “planting.” I think about my teachers often these days as I stand in the produce aisle of the supermarket with its dizzying array of signs that announce where, when and by what method each fruit and vegetable was grown. I think about tracking them down and apologizing

for the eye-rolling and for my constant refrain of “Why do we have to learn this?” While I’m at it, I should also apologize to my math teachers, because despite my certainty that fractions were part of the devil’s plot to torture me, I am now constantly grateful that I know how to double ⅔, as it means my family gets twice as many cookies on Shabbat. But just imagine if my poor, unsuspecting math teacher had responded to my “Why do we have to learn fractions?” with a “Trust me, you’ll use them all the time while baking.” As a budding young feminist, I’m sure I would have bristled at being told that my future

Please see Nataf, page 20

On shemitah and smelting Guest Columnist Kally Rubin Kislowicz

art of the third-grade curriculum for my Jewish day school was learning about steel production. Growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1980s, the educational powers that be deemed it crucial that 8-yearolds understand the process of mining iron ore and using a smelter. Perhaps they thought it would connect us to our city and our local football team (Go Steelers!). And although I enjoyed the field trip to the coal mine, even

12 OCTOBER 29, 2021

as I dutifully answered the quiz question about how hot a steel furnace should be (at least 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit!) I couldn’t help but wonder how this knowledge was relevant to my life. Part of the high school curriculum for my Jewish day school was learning about shemitah, the Sabbatical year. We learned about the religious significance of the number 7, the challenge for farmers who depend on their crop to let the land lie fallow, and of the heavenly rewards promised to those who respect the laws of this complicated year. And as I dutifully answered the quiz question of how many shemitah cycles are in a Jubilee (7!) I couldn’t help but wonder how this knowledge was relevant to my life.

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Please see Kislowicz, page 20

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Opinion Chronicle poll results: Halloween

ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Will you and/or your children be participating in any Halloween activities this year?” Of the 177 people who responded, 20% answered “Yes,” and another 26% said “Yes, but only to give out candy to trick-or-treaters.” Thirty-two people (18%) said they would not be participating in any Halloween activities because it is not a holiday they celebrate as Jews, and another 21% said they would not be celebrating the day because they just aren’t Halloween people. Thirteen people (7%) said they were not celebrating Halloween because of COVID. Thirty-one people submitted comments. A few follow.

Biblical holidays now. I put signs on my door explaining why we don’t celebrate it. It’s the only day of the year I would send people away empty-handed and I kept candy in my sukkah to give to anyone who visited.

As Jews, we do not “celebrate” Halloween. We give out candy to be good neighbors. The death-centric themes of Halloween and the children asking for candy at homes is not in keeping with Jewish tradition. We used to celebrate Halloween but we gave it up several years ago and only celebrate

I’m still a bit reluctant to open the door and hand out candy. I don’t want to be a spoil sport, but it seems like that act violates a lot of the COVID restrictions. Maybe I’ll just put out a big basket of wrapped goodies and a sign that reads “help yourself.”

Normally, we do not celebrate Halloween at all. But with COVID still being so prevalent, I am thinking of leaving a bucket of candy at the end of the driveway for the children. Purim is a lot more fun. My family was as Jewish as anybody’s and we loved Halloween. Jews celebrate in this country. Tell people to lighten up!

— LETTERS — Antisemitism given short shrift at summit

“Universalism,” Cynthia Ozick noted, “is the Jews’ particularism.” Such was abundantly evident at the recent Eradicate Hate Global Summit. All racial, religious and ethnic hatreds are to be deplored, and, indeed, the conference “highlighted the diversity of victims.” Despite Tree of Life remembrance infusing the proceedings, however, short shrift was given to dramatically rising antisemitism, permeating social media, in the streets or on campus. There was one, peripherally related, panel: a Holocaust “conversation.” How evocative of Dara Horn’s new book title: “People Love Dead Jews.” Live ones, not so much. Quite disturbing was the singularly inappropriate prominent panelist presence of such as Salam Al-Marayat, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), who has defended Hamas and Hezbollah, Maya Berry, of the Arab American Institute (AAI), who has charged that Jews use antisemitism to silence criticism of Israel, and Shirin Sinnar, who rewteeted the view that Hamas is the “Palestine Resistance.” The American Muslim community lacks not for voices, but for platforms, in its struggle against radicalism and hatred of others. Why aren’t those, like Zuhdi Jasser, of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), ever heard? Richard D. Wilkins Syracuse, New York

Dealing with grief through acts of kindness

The Tree of Life shooting has had lasting effects on me and probably will for years to come. As a secondary trauma survivor, I have found ways of dealing with my deep grief through acts of kindness as well as through music. To me, the way to combat hate is through kindness and love. As a caring person, I have cooked meals for several friends and neighbors. I have also visited families of the victims, sometimes with food, but more importantly, as a patient listener. I also continue to engage in Torah studies, both online in New York City and in person. In this way, I carry on my rabbinic lineage and honor the memories of the 11. In addition, I have been composing a musical piece for nearly one-and-a-half years. Doing so is more difficult than I had imagined, and I continue to revise it. Perhaps it will be finished by Oct. 27, 2022. Elie Wiesel’s quote, “Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere,” is a meaningful one to me. Ever since meeting him in person at a Jewish choral festival, I’m constantly reminded of its importance. If I can alleviate someone’s suffering, even for a short time, perhaps that is another way to combat hateful actions. May the memories of the 11 victims be for many blessings. Arlene Wolk Squirrel Hill

Getting the story right

Will you and/or your children be participating in any Halloween activities this year? 6%

Not sure.

No, because of COVID.

19% No, because it is not a holiday we celebrate as Jews.

21% 20% Yes.

No, I'm just not a Halloween person.

I never celebrated Halloween as a child because “it is not a holiday we celebrate as Jews” and always thought I was missing out on an American experience of fun.

Even though it’s not a holiday celebrated as Jews, it brings the neighborhood together. Halloween is antithetical to our Jewish observance and worldview. We will, however, give out treats to be respectful neighbors. I live in a condo so I can’t. I love Halloween! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Next week’s Chronicle poll question:

Are you concerned about the negative impact of social media on children and teenagers? Go to our website, pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, to respond. PJC

we tell stories and who gets to tell them. For many years, I have been a practitioner of Playback Theatre, which is improvisational storytelling where actors listen to stories then reflect them back to the teller. At the end of each story and “play back,” the leader asks the one who shared the story if the actors got it “right.” Getting it right doesn’t mean it’s perfect; it means we have captured the story’s essence. It means the storyteller feels seen and heard. We who choose to tell the stories of others have a responsibility to get it right. The same should go for journalism and narrative writing — you will know if you’ve done a good job if the people who trusted you to get their stories right can say, “Yes, I see myself in that, I feel heard.” While reading Oppenheimer’s book, I have struggled with the response from many in our community that he got details wrong and that they felt misrepresented. While being interviewed by the author, I believed it to be his intention to get our stories right. But I am troubled there are those directly linked to the events of Oct. 27 who are feeling further hurt by their portrayal in the book, and that this book has deepened their pain. In some Jewish spiritual practices, we focus on deep listening. At the end of telling their story, the speaker says “dibarti” (I have spoken) and the listener says “shemati” (I have heard). In essence, we are saying that I have shared my humanity with you and you have honored me by listening and seeing me as I truly am. Jewish storytellers of all kinds must operate in ways that reflect these values. Writers must be accountable to both their subjects and their readers, and make sure they accurately portray personal stories — especially when they involve trauma. The stories of Oct. 27 are our personal histories and will become a part of the broader history of the rising tide of white nationalism — and antisemitism in particular — which made our neighborhood the target of the deadliest antisemitic act our country has ever known. How we tell that story matters not only for us, but for generations to come. There are many things Oppenheimer gets right about our ties to one another, the many heroic acts that day and the acts of chesed (lovingkindness). There are also many other outlets in which these stories are already being told, including oral storytelling projects and books by local authors, honoring the lives that were lost and preserving their memories. We are not required to do the work, but neither are we free to desist from it” (Pirkei Avot). In other words, our work continues to be “getting it right” so we can both heal and act in ways that cement our history as a Jewish community who used our “never again” moment to create lasting change for the future. Sara Stock Mayo Squirrel Hill

Praise for Chronicle reporting

Thank you for your informative and interesting article about the Oct. 27 shooting at Tree of Life (“Eyewitnesses testify that Oct. 27 shooter made antisemitic statements,” Oct. 22, 2021). The article was informative, objective, and contained quotes from actual sources, not anonymous ones. This is the way reporting should be and, frankly used to be, in the good old days before every article had a slant. Keep up the good work.

I have some thoughts to share about Mark Oppenheimer’s new book, “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood” — particularly about how PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

27% Yes, but only to give out candy to trick-or-treaters.

My friends used to trick-or-treat an extra bucket just for me and give it to me the next day at school. I don’t want my kids to feel left out.

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Georgia Atkin O’Hara Township OCTOBER 29, 2021 13

Headlines Summit: Continued from page 1

and combating hate, has been fascinating,” she said. Experts in various fields are often siloed, she said, but “this was an unbelievable opportunity for people to interact and learn from each other.” Ainsman is confident the world will see positive results stemming from the collaborations formed this week in Pittsburgh. “I have a firm belief, a 100% belief, that deliverables will come out of this,” she said, “and by this time next year, the world may look like a little bit of a different place.” Summit panels cast a wide net in their definition of “eradicating hate,” but largely seemed to focus on identifying how hate speech and violent actions have metastasized in the social media era. Some were focused on security. A panel on cryptocurrency on the second day of the summit discussed how bad actors have employed largely untraceable online payments to fund terror operations.

Others focused on legislation. Several speakers discussed the need for better regulation of social media to prevent the spread of hate speech online. (Section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act, which effectively immunizes internet publishers from legal responsibility for the content users publish on their site, was a hot topic; many conservative lawmakers have been seeking in recent months to overturn or reform the law, saying that it provides a shield for partisan attacks.) Day three of the summit pivoted once again to discuss victim responses. Other panels ran the gamut from covering domestic terrorism laws to the link between online speech and real-world violence in Myanmar. A panel led by Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10/27 Healing Partnership, discussed trauma-informed care for the survivors of extremism. Fareed Zakaria, a host at CNN and a columnist for The Washington Post, in a virtual keynote address, painted a grim picture of the current “culture of intolerance” worldwide, along with the rise of rightwing extremism. He cautioned that we are “heading toward

p Oct. 27 survivor Audrey Glickman sounding the shofar outside of the Tree of Life building as a call to action Image provided by Trish Adlesic/”A Tree of Life”

Documentaries: Continued from page 1

been doing that ever since,” O’Neill told the Chronicle. “Twenty-five years we’ve been following the story — not the story of hate, but the story of what we can do about it.” For the last three years, O’Neill has been working on what she called the most difficult film of her life: “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life.” “It’s so complex,” she said. “I think the stakes are so high. It’s been a very challenging story.” Part of the challenge for O’Neill is that she has chosen to tell the story through the voices of more than 120 community members. “Our stories are told by a chorus of characters, and for that chorus to sing together beautifully, that is something you have to think about every frame,” she said. The film will touch on antisemitism, the Jewish community, Pittsburgh, the rise of hate and everything both the community and country have had to deal with since the massacre, O’Neill said, including the escalation of mass shootings and 14 OCTOBER 29, 2021

identity-based shootings. The filmmaker was quick to note that she doesn’t view the film as her story — rather it belongs to the community. “This is not my movie,” O’Neill stressed. “This is a film we made together. Of course, it’s going to have the perspective we have. One very specific perspective is: How do we tell a story that can help other communities understand what Pittsburgh has been through?” Community trust, O’Neill said, is essential to this type of storytelling. To that end, she said, it is essential to give people who have just been through a community trauma time to breathe. “If we had done it earlier, I don’t know if we’d have had the same openness,” she said. “That’s just not our practice.” O’Neill said she’s now culling through hundreds of hours of footage. “I think that’s the hard part,” she said. “How do you pull that down into a piece that really grasps the complexity of this time, so an audience is able to watch it and be able to take it in?” O’Neill is still fundraising to complete the film and isn’t sure when it will air on PBS, although she’s eying an early 2022 release.

a world of political violence.” “We all have to recognize that we are heading down a path where, far from eradicating hate, we are encouraging, we are facilitating hate,” he said. “And in a sense, we are almost approving of it if we don’t stop right now.” Still, attendees were optimistic about the prospect of changing the paradigm. Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, called the summit a “beginning” and said he was encouraged by the collaborations between panelists and participants. “I’m hopeful,” Tree of Life’s Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers said, “because we’re all in it together.” It’s especially important that this summit occurred in Pittsburgh, because of the attack at the Tree of Life building, said Wasi Mohamed, a summit steering committee member and senior policy officer at The Pittsburgh Foundation. Pittsburgh is “a community that’s especially committed to this fight,” he said. It is vital for people to know that Pittsburgh wasn’t only the site of the most violent antisemitic attack in U.S. history but also a

place where people are actively responding to tragedy, said Jared Cohon, a summit steering committee member and president emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University. Scott Brady, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District Pennsylvania and a current partner at Jones Day, said he was also pleased that the summit was occurring in Pittsburgh, given the unique contributions residents here can make. When panelists and participants come to Pittsburgh, they’re able to see how the community’s strength and resilience help drive the conversation forward, Brady said. “Pittsburgh experienced something that very few communities in the world have experienced,” Brady said. “The loss that, not only the victims’ families, but the entire community [experienced] was traumatic, was devastating. And then to see how the families, the community responded was remarkable, and that was recognized around the world.” PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

p The Mallinger and Wedner families with the crew of the documentary “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” Photo provided by Patrice O’Neill

Trish Adlesic is in the final stages of her documentary about the massacre. “A Tree of Life,” co-produced by Pittsburgh natives Michael Keaton and Mark Cuban, will have its premiere on Sunday, Nov. 14, at DOC NYC, a documentary festival. Adlesic, an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker has been working on the film since the Oct. 27 attack. “I was at my childhood home in Pittsburgh the day of the horrific attack for my 91-year-old father’s birthday, which was Oct. 25,” she recalled. In an email to the Chronicle, Adlesic said the documentary creates a deeply personal portrait of the survivors, victims and victims’ families. As a result, she said, it is the first film to document the survivors’ stories. “Viewers will experience firsthand how the lives of those directly affected have radically changed and how the Pittsburgh community and the congregations set out on a path toward healing,” she said. Like O’Neill, Adlesic was conscious of the trauma suffered by the community. It was that sensitivity, she believes, that encouraged the community to tell their stories.

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“I wanted the participants to have the agency in telling their stories,” she said. “My opinion is that those that lived it should tell it.” Eric Schuman is part of the team Adlesic assembled to tell the story of Oct. 27. He is a former congregant of Tree of Life and his brother became a bar mitzvah there. His personal connection to the congregation initially made this a challenging project. “It was hard at the beginning,” he said. “There’s a lot of documentaries out there now and a lot have very graphic stuff. That’s why I think Trish’s approach was great because it doesn’t focus on the graphic stuff. But it was hard to hear about places and know that’s where my brother became a man.” Adlesic said the story may have started about one Jewish community but it became much larger. “We started out telling an AmericanJewish story, then a Pittsburgh story,” she said. “Now, in its ultimate form, the film is a universal story.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Nurses: Continued from page 2

COVID-related concerns can be tricky. Students want to be in school with their friends, and parents would like their children in class, but “you have to tell the parents many times that the child has to stay home and get tested,” Healy said. Being a school nurse at this point in the pandemic requires a lot of communication with families, students and the community at large, said Donna Weir, Community Day School’s nurse. “It’s much more hands-on,” she said. There’s a misconception that school nurses are just slapping Band-Aids on kids and sending them back to class, but it’s “a lot more involved,” Weir said. Ensuring a

CDS: Continued from page 3

students are vaccinated against a number of illness-causing viruses such as measles and mumps. And there is no reason we wouldn’t do the same for COVID-19 if federal regulators deem it safe to do so.” Munro wrote in her Oct. 21 e-mail that “achieving high levels of COVID-19

Businesses: Continued from page 4

“We’ve always been open till 9. Now we’re only open to 6. That’s a reflection of not having enough staff,” Sigal said. Amazing Books and Records’ owner, Eric Ackland, is regularly working 70 hours per week at his Squirrel Hill and downtown locations. Both Ackland and Sigal said their businesses are looking to hire and can’t fill open positions. Ackland isn’t sure what else he can do to attract workers. “I offer health care, paid time off and employee discounts to my full-time

Interviewer: Continued from page 7

him in a Russian prison, where he begged her, unexpectedly, to leave him alone. “He felt he was already dead,” Schmidt said. “She reluctantly departed and never saw him again.” The Shoah Foundation interviews always were broken into three categories: prewar,

child’s well-being requires partnering with the health department, physicians and the school’s medical panel, as well as doing “what’s safest for the majority.” As an example, Weir cited the day school’s recent clinics. Last year, CDS offered COVID-19 vaccinations to students above age 12, their parents and community members. Several weeks ago, the school arranged for its staff to receive the flu vaccine, and once the COVID-19 vaccine is approved for children above age 5, CDS plans on hosting another clinic, Weir said. Thanks to funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, each of the day schools could hire a nurse last spring. (CDS already had a nurse on staff and used the funds to hire a second part-time nurse.) The money was enough to cover one

year’s expense; however, on Oct. 4, 2021, the Federation’s COVID relief committee gave an additional $50,000 to each day school to use for their “top COVID-related items,” according to Adam Hertzman, Federation’s director of marketing. Whether the additional $50,000 is spent on a nurse or another pandemic-related cost, “it’s really up to the day schools to determine what their highest areas of needs are,” Hertzman said. In December 2020, the CDC estimated it would cost between $55 and $442 per student to implement recommended COVID prevention strategies. There are more than 1,100 students in Pittsburgh’s three day schools combined. Based on the above estimates, it would cost between $60,500 and $486,200 to fulfill the recommended COVID prevention strategies. Wolf, while speaking from her office at

Hillel Academy, said the pandemic’s toll has reached a point where it’s leaving many individuals frustrated. Parents want their children in school, educators want students in their classrooms and staff members want to come to work, Wolf said. There have been minimal outbreaks and few deaths in this community due to the coronavirus, and people “forget that COVID is still happening.” With full knowledge that her phone will continue buzzing hours after she returns home, Wolf added that school nurses are doing what they can to help students, parents, teachers and administrators, but it “really is a community effort to keep these kids safe, and we all have to do it together.” PJC

vaccination is one of the most critical strategies to help CDS safely operate and protect our most vulnerable individuals, especially given the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. “The vaccine dramatically reduces the incidence of serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 and has been strongly supported by American Academy of Pediatrics and public health officials for children and adolescents,” Munro added. Currently, 95% of eligible CDS students

— seventh- and eighth-graders — and 100% of CDS employees are fully vaccinated, CDS officials said. Once the FDA greenlights vaccinations for children 5 and older, Munro said the school would offer COVID-19 vaccine clinics in partnership with Rite Aid. It also plans to hold a town hall-style meeting with an online panel of physicians on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. All medical exemptions for CDS students must be reviewed and approved by the school’s

immunization advisory panel, officials said. “Please note we consider vaccination to be a part of our Jewish obligation to protect one’s own life and health and that of others,” Munro said. “Therefore, pursuant to Judaic principles and CDS tenets, we will not grant exemptions based upon religious belief or strong moral or ethical convictions.” PJC

employees, and profit-sharing with my manager,” he said. In an attempt to retain his current staff, Ackland also has given raises. But Sigal isn’t sure it’s all about economics. Nearly 9 million Americans stopped receiving unemployment benefits as of Labor Day. Yet even with the pandemic safety net expiring, “I’m not seeing an uptick in people wanting to come back to work,” Sigal said. Little’s, like Amazing Books, has regularly advertised open positions. Neither business has been successful in attracting talent. Ackland has tried posting on Indeed.com and placing signs in his storefronts. In the past, both efforts would net between 10 and 20 applications within a few weeks. Now, nearly no one is applying, he said.

Sigal described similar hiring pains. “I can’t make people work,” he said. E.B. Pepper, owner of the eponymous clothing boutique in Shadyside, said she’s grateful to operate such a small business at this time. The labor shortage affecting so many industries “doesn’t affect me,” she said. “I have only one part-time person. I just need me.” Pepper said her store has returned to pre-pandemic hours. “We are happy that people are able to come out and shop again, and we’re thrilled that everyone is getting vaccinated and getting back to their normal life,” she added. Even if many customers are returning to normality, many businesses are not, Sigal said.

Restaurants are a prime example of establishments where staffing shortages are affecting operating hours. Although eating and drinking spots hired 29,000 workers in September 2021, the industry is still 900,000 jobs short of its pre-pandemic staffing levels, according to the National Restaurant Association. Sigal notices skeleton crews and employee shortages when trying to dine at his favorite haunts. He’d like to see small businesses, including his own store, thrive again. Staffing, he said, is central to that success, but he doesn’t know what’s going to change any time soon. “I don’t understand. It’s mind boggling,” he said. “People got to go to work eventually.” PJC

war and postwar. Most ran four to five hours, the only pause coming from the occasional reloading of film tape into the camera or a bathroom break. Some sessions ran 15 hours. Each tape ended the same way — with a shot of the survivor surrounded by family members. “I can’t emphasize the tremendous weight of responsibility I personally felt to conduct an interview that would maximize the purpose of this once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity,” Schmidt said. Schmidt ended the emotional session on Oct. 21 by quoting famous author Elie Wiesel. “Whoever hears a witness becomes a witness themselves,” he said. “These stories must not die with them.” Schmidt also ruminated on how his work with the Shoah Foundation extended his journalistic work of the preceding four decades, for which he won three Emmys and a host of other awards.

“Time was running out — to put it simply — and this was a fight against forgetting; memory was the message,” Schmidt told the audience. “I’ve had a long career in journalism … but nothing I’ve accomplished in my life has given me more satisfaction, more value than working on behalf of the Shoah Foundation.” PJC

news JEWS CAN USE.

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

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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OCTOBER 29, 2021 15

Life & Culture Ditch werewolves, vampires: Judaism has own monsters — FOLKLORE — By Sasha Rogelberg | Contributing Writer

uring the sophomore season of the NBC comedy “30 Rock,” Tracy Morgan and Donald Glover perform “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” a “Monster Mash”-style tune that one can’t help but tap their toes to. “Boys becoming men; men becoming wolves,” they growl. With Halloween around the corner, it can be easy for some Jews (and gentiles) to grasp at pop culture straws by trying to cram Jewish culture into a holiday with pagan roots. Others reject Halloween altogether. But Jews needn’t try to search for specks of Jewish lore in the stories of vampires and lycanthropy, as we have our own wealth of folklore and mythology that not only heavily draws on the presence of monsters and demons, but pervades Jewish thought. Ilan Glazer, a maggid, or Jewish storyteller, based in Baltimore, argues that these stories are at the center of Jews’ religious values. “All of these legends and all these stories are really trying to answer universal questions, which are: What do we do when they come for us? And how can we be stronger than we are? And how can we take care of ourselves? Where are women’s voices, and what is our connection to God? And what’s our responsibility to each other?” Glazer said. Artist Teddy Poneman used the story of the Golem as a way of making sense of contemporary politics in his 2019 Temple University Master of Fine Arts thesis. The Golem originally referred to a “figure from clay that God created before God injected into it the breath of life and created Adam,” according to University of Pennsylvania folklore Professor Dan

p Teddy Poneman’s “Golem” completed his 2019 Temple University MFA. Photo courtesy of Teddy Poneman

Ben-Amos. More recently, the story of the Golem is that of 16th-century Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, who created and erected the clay giant to protect a Prague ghetto from antisemitic pogroms ravaging the area. In many iterations of the Golem story, the giant becomes too powerful and turns against the person who tries to control it. Poneman, however, stumbled upon the Golem in a completely different context: as a meme on an anti-fascist Jewish Facebook group. Someone had created a patch with the Golem of Prague that read, “Goodnight alt-right.” “It was this thing that I wanted to use as this culturally specific, historical precedent for anti-fascist organizing and activism,” Poneman said. The Golem, once a symbol of Jewish resistance 500 years ago, was reconceptualized — through Poneman and other young,

left-leaning Jews — as a symbol of Jewish resistance in modern times. But reinterpreting Jewish creatures for political causes isn’t new. Though not exclusive to Jewish folklore, Lilith, who in a midrash is said to be Adam’s first wife, appears in the Zohar, a Kabbalistic text, as a demon and wife of the king of demons. She was interpreted as a femme fatale who eats babies, the origin of the Jewish superstition of tying red string around a baby’s crib to prevent Lilith from stealing the child. Maggid Andrew Elias Ramer, author of “Queering the Text: Biblical, Medieval, and Modern Jewish Stories,” argues that this version of the story was created by men to “try doing things to keep women in their place.” In the past 50 years, the story of Lilith was reinterpreted. “In modern times, she was adopted

symbolically by the Jewish feminist movement,” Ben-Amos said. One midrash, by Judith Plaskow, has Lilith returning to the Garden of Eden to befriend Eve, despite Lilith’s demon status. The two become friends and allies. In others, Lilith is a symbol of sexual liberation. And while some demons can help strengthen a political movement, others, such as the dybbuk, remain personal to Jews and Jewish traditions surrounding death. The dybbuk, which first appears in Jewish texts 500 years ago but was made popular by S. Ansky’s play “The Dybbuk,” is a malicious soul who possesses another’s body. The dybbuk’s foil is an ibbur, a soul that cohabitates a body intending to complete mitzvot. The two spirits point to the Jewish esoteric concept of gilgul, reincarnation, which, more broadly, is a way of making sense of death, according to Ramer. “It’s a big part of Ashkenazi Jewish culture,” he said. With Judaism being replete with stories and legends, why turn to monsters to teach us about life and our values as Jews? Ramer offers that because Judaism is a monotheistic religion with a benevolent God, it is challenging at times to make sense of bad things that happen to the Jewish people: antisemitism, death, suffering. The use of demons and monsters to explain why bad things happen to us is a way of making sense of that pain. “Having an intermediate evil is a useful tool in the monotheistic faith where you don’t want to have a bad God,” Ramer said. “Some of our experiences of life are so often bad — where does it come from? To me, all these stories are reconciling life and experience.” PJC Sasha Rogelberg writes for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

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Life & Culture Jewish actor declines Off-Broadway role as Syrian immigrant amid conversation about representation — THEATER — By Emily Burack | JTA

n Off-Broadway show about an undocumented Syrian immigrant will open without the Jewish actor who was slated to play the part. “The Visitor,” starring the Tony Awardwinning actor Ari’el Stachel, was set to open Off-Broadway at New York’s Public Theater in April 2020 and is only now in previews following the COVID-19 shutdown. Stachel had previously expressed misgivings about his casting in the musical, in which he plays an undocumented Syrian character who is sent to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. Earlier this year, he told Playbill, he asked the production team why his character — who was raised in the United States — would speak with an accent. The start date of “The Visitor” had been delayed this fall, with the theater citing “conversations and commitments around equity and anti-racism.” Requests for comment from Stachel’s representatives were not immediately returned. “The Public Theater and Ari’el Stachel have made a mutual decision that he will step

away from THE VISITOR and his role in the production,” the theater said in a statement posted Oct. 20 to its social media channels. “We are grateful for his artistry and participation over the past six years. We wish Ari well in his future endeavors.” “The Visitor” previews began Oct. 16, but in the show’s early preview performances, including one attended by JTA, Stachel’s role had been filled with an understudy. The stage musical is adapted from the Oscar-nominated 2007 film of the same name. It tells the story of Walter, a white college professor, who travels to New York City to find Tarek and Zainab, a young, undocumented couple staying in his apartment. After Tarek, who is Syrian, is arrested due to a misunderstanding and subsequently sent to an ICE detention center, Walter gets entangled in their lives trying to help him stay in America. According to Playbill, “recent discussions have included the concern over the centering of a middle-aged white man as a protagonist in a story largely about immigrant experiences as well as assurances that cast members have access to resources to fully participate in telling these stories.” The COVID-19 shutdown of New York theater coincided with the protests over the police killings of African-Americans, forcing

 Ari’el Stachel

Photo by Paul Bruinooge/ Patrick McMullan via Getty Images via JTA

many theater and arts companies to confront issues of representation and inclusivity. Stachel has been with the show since early workshops, and his frustration over his character’s accent has been one of the more contentious issues of the show. “I got to the point where I couldn’t separate the experiences I was having in the world with what I was doing on stage. It is

not enough to just play a role and have fun, it really needs to exist and align politically, spiritually, artistically, for me,” Stachel told Playbill in April. “I thought to myself, ‘my brown body needs to be not seen as an “other” anymore,’ so I’m actually trying to morph this opportunity.” Stachel previously won a Tony for his role as Haled, an Egyptian musician, in “The Band’s Visit,” the smash-hit stage adaptation of the 2007 Israeli movie. Stachel’s father was born in “an immigrant absorption tent city” to Yemeni Jews and his mom is Ashkenazi, from New York. “In third grade, someone told me I was too Black to be Jewish,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2017. By high school, said Stachel, “I started avoiding being seen in public with my father. I didn’t want to be seen with somebody who looked like an Arab.” “The Band’s Visit,” about an Egyptian band stranded in an Israeli backwater, helped him connect with his Middle Eastern and Arab identity. When auditioning for Haled, Stachel explained to Playbill, he “felt this was actually our only shot and, at the time, it was exhilarating to just have a job on Broadway. By the time I got around to ‘The Visitor,’ actually, I started having an issue with the fact that all of the roles I was playing had accents.” PJC

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OCTOBER 29, 2021 17

Celebrations

Torah

Engagement

To eulogize and to weep Robin and Jerome Friedman of Point Breeze are thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter, Lauren Gail Friedman to Joseph Brendan Graham, son of Maureen and Edward Graham of Metuchen, New Jersey. Lauren is the granddaughter of Trudi and William Feldman, the late Arthur Bloom and the late Freda and Leonard Friedman, all of Pittsburgh. Joseph is the grandson of Ellen Patricia Walsh, the late Stephen Walsh and the late Joan Graham and Edward Graham, all of Metuchen. Lauren is an elementary school teacher with the New York City public school system. Joseph is a senior cyberthreat intelligence consultant at Mandiant. Lauren and Joe are both graduates of Penn State University, and they are currently living in Soho, New York City. A summer 2023 wedding is being planned in Pittsburgh. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club! November selection: ‘Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Shooting’

he Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club’s Nov. 21 meeting, when we will be discussing “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood” by journalist Mark Oppenheimer. The author will join us during the Zoom meeting. “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood,” published earlier this month, tracks the events of Oct. 27, 2018, and their aftermath. Oppenheimer interviewed 250 people as he worked on his retelling of the stories of Oct. 27, and visited Pittsburgh more than 30 times to do his research. Prior to and during our meeting we will be soliciting questions from the community to pose to Oppenheimer about his book. Your Hosts Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle David Rullo, Chronicle staff writer How It Works We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Nov.

21, at 2 p.m. to discuss the book. As you read it, we invite you to share comments and join discussions in our Facebook group, Chronicle Connects: Jewish PGH. We invite you to join now if you are not already a member of the group. Please submit your questions for Oppenheimer on Chronicle Connects, or email us at newsdesk@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. What To Do Buy: “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.” It is available at Riverstone Books on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill and Barnes & Nobel, and is also available on digital format from online retailers. Email: Contact us at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will send you a Zoom link for the meeting. We are looking forward to what promises to be a lively discussion! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

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Rabbi Shimon Silver Parshat Chayei Sarah Genesis 23:1 – 25:18

his sermon was delivered Chayei Sarah 5779, one week after the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre at the Tree of Life building. Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to weep for her. Avraham arose from upon his deceased and spoke to the Chitites saying: “I sojourn and live in your land …” “You are a prince of G-d in our midst …” From where did Avraham come? Rashi says he came from the Akaidah, the binding of Yitzchok. He was informed of the sudden death of his beloved wife. Avraham just experienced the height of spiritual ecstasy, enduring the greatest test. And immediately, he received this terrible blow. What can one say at a time like this? Ramban says the Hebrew word for “he came” is used here to mean “he began.” In other instances where the Torah describes a eulogy, this term is not used. Why is it used here? The Hebrew terms are “to eulogize Sarah and to weep for her” — which means that Avraham came with this intention. Why does the Torah not state in the past tense, “Avraham eulogized Sarah and wept for her”? It appears that Avraham came with the intention of eulogizing and weeping. He even began trying to do so, but he could not follow through. It was just too much, too difficult. There are situations that are so close to the heart, so sensitive to the self, that it is impossible to speak about them. What is there to say? The massacre at the Tree of Life building is not something that happened somewhere far away in some anonymous place, that we can look at from a safe distance and talk about. It is not something that we can watch on the news, talk about for a while and then tune out. This is here, right here. It happened to us. It took place right in our midst. How can we even talk about it? What can we say? We are silenced by our shock and our emotions. Most rabbis in America probably are talking about this “news” today, perhaps the biggest speech of their careers. But here, in Pittsburgh, what should we say? It is just too hard to say anything about this terrible event. The commentaries ask about the order of “to eulogize and to weep.” Usually, weeping comes first, and then the eulogy. Perhaps Avraham came with the intention of eulogizing but was unable to. He could only cry. We are unable to speak, but we can cry. “To eulogize Sarah, and to weep for her.” Kli Yakar explains that Sarah was known as the tzadekes, the righteous woman of the world. When he eulogized her publicly, Avraham used her name. The crying, however — that was for Avraham alone. He did not need to use her name to cry. He was crying about himself as much as about the loss of the great woman. There is no need for the Torah to mention what Avraham cried about. The prevailing practice is to refrain from

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mentioning the souls of the departed on Shabbos Mevorchim, when the new month is blessed, which occurs today. One could question this — some say that Av Harachamim, the martyr’s prayer, was instituted specifically to be recited on Shabbos Mevorchim Iyyar and Sivan, the period of the crusades when they were martyred. Furthermore, the instruction was specifically to say it on Shabbos, when tachanun is not said, and when the souls are not judged in Gehinom. Our martyrs in Pittsburgh entered directly into Gan Eden. They also died on Shabbos Kodesh, a sign of holiness. Nevertheless, it makes no difference whether we mention their names or not today. The rest of the world needs to mention their names. The rest of the world is eulogizing. We are not eulogizing, for we know not what to say. We are crying in our hearts and minds. Just like Avraham. Avraham might also have wept internally but not openly, as the Torah says he came “to weep” but does not say he wept. Perhaps he was unable to weep. It is hard for us to weep right now. There is so much media. It has become like a show, like something that we watch but do not take part in. Like a story, with pictures and videos. We cannot focus on what really happened and cry about it. Not now. Once the media moves on, then we can weep by ourselves. Nonetheless, we are all probably crying silently, afraid, panic-stricken. To eulogize is too hard, crying happens by itself. But what did Avraham say in the end, and what did the Chitites answer him? Avraham arose from upon his deceased, and he spoke to the Chitites saying: “I sojourn and dwell with you!” A gair, sojourner, is a stranger. A toshav, settler, is a resident. Avraham described himself as a resident alien (like it says on my Green Card). “With you” means that he felt a certain equality. He was together with them, with feelings of unity and fraternity. The Chitites answered: “You are a prince of G-d amongst us!” This much, I suspect all of us can say: We are conspicuously Jewish, especially those of us who choose to dress differently. We are seen as Jewish residents of the Pittsburgh community. I have lost count of the number of people to whom I am a stranger, a gair, yet they recognize me as a local resident, a toshav, and see me as a part of their lives with a measure of fraternity, who have gone out of their way to offer me condolences. All of them. In the street. In the stores. The parking lot attendant. Neighbors, acquaintances and total strangers. “You are a prince of G-d amongst us!” Our responsibility is to recognize this. We must live up to this. We need to make a kiddush Hashem. Right now. There is kiddush Hashem by the sacrificing of lives. And there is kiddush Hashem after the sacrifice, when we acknowledge the friendship of the people of the land in whose midst we live. PJC Rabbi Shimon Silver is the spiritual leader of Young Israel of Greater Pittsburgh. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Obituaries ACKERMAN: Phyllis Ackerman, 85, of Fishers Indiana, formerly of Carrol Township, Pennsylvania, and Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, passed away on Oct. 22, 2021. Phyllis was born in Monessen in 1936, a daughter of the late Abraham and Sarah Bergstein Pavloff. Along with her husband, Phyllis was the proprietor of Ackerman’s Furniture in Donora for 45 years. Phyllis was a member of Temple Beth Am of Monessen, and had served as president for many years. Surviving are her husband of 45 years, Sidney Ackerman; her sons, Dr. Bruce Ackerman (Lisa) of Carmel, Indiana, and Mark Ackerman (Sharon) of Mt. Lebanon; granddaughters, Bethanie and Brooke; grandsons, Michah and Joshua; and brother, Gerald Pavloff (Yolanda) of Stahlstown. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Rhome Funeral Home Inc., 1209 Grand Blvd. Monessen, where friends were welcomed on Wednesday Oct. 27, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. until 12 noon, the time of service. Burial followed in the Temple Beth Am Cemetery, Rostraver Township. The Ackerman Family is requesting that all visitors wear masks. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Temple Beth Am Cemetery Fund. Checks may be made payable to “Temple Beth Am Cemetery” c/o Shire Law Firm, 1711 Grand Blvd. , Park Centre, Monessen PA 15062. Online condolences may be conveyed to the Ackerman Family at rhomefuneralhome.com. BLOCK: Howard Marc Block, peacefully, on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021, after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer. Beloved husband of Loren (Pretter) Block. Loving father of Gregory, Melissa, Emily and Erica. Son of Diane and the late Gilbert Block. Brother of Susan (Robert) Fishman and the late Steven Block. Survived by many beloved family and friends. Howard grew up in Squirrel Hill, graduated from Taylor Allderdice and went on to earn his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in education policy and analysis from Stanford University. Howard spent years as an equity analyst, business owner, and consultant in the education space. He was a devoted Jew, baseball player and Steelers fan. His proudest accomplishments were his wife and children, whom he loved dearly and whom he made the center of his world. Contributions in Howard’s memory may be made to UCSF Brain Tumor Center, UCSF Dept. of Neuro-Oncology c/o Dr. Bush, JFCS Holocaust Center Northern California, and the Make-a -Wish Foundation.

GOLDSTEIN: Dal Elisabeth Goldstein, age 82, of Mt. Lebanon and Carnegie, Pennsylvania, died on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. Dal is the beloved mother of Philip Goldstein, Sarah Goldstein, Rachel Amdur (Brett) and Laura Leedham (Matthew), and beloved grandmother “Gramma” of Jeremy Amdur and Haley Amdur. The family sends special thanks and love to Dal’s many caregivers. Dal loved children and Judaism and bringing enthusiasm and happiness to anyone she possibly could. She would cross any sea and climb any mountain twice to make sure that Passover Seder was a high point of every year. She was an organizer of groups and committees. The joy of her life was raising four Jewish kids and welcoming their friends. She always knew how to lead, participate or get out of the way, so the kids would learn and have fun. She especially loved seeing people learn and grow together. Her ultimate joy was loving two wonderful grandchildren. Dal is a 50-year-plus member of Temple Emanuel of South Hills. She was a president of B’nai B’rith and of Temple Emanuel Sisterhood and she was a Temple Emanuel board member. She was a businesswoman and real estate professional who loved connecting people and homes around the region and she made many treasured friends among her clients and colleagues. Dal was a Cub Scouts den mother, a Girl Scout leader for many years, and a Temple youth group advisor. Dal was a genius of imagination and adventure and responsible scouting from her own youth and she knew just how to pass it along to kids. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of young women in their 50s today whose sense of being in the world got an early boost directly from Dal. Dal loved gardening, cooking, writing clever personalized poems, her generations of cats, putting on kids’ birthday parties and making losing a tooth into a treasure hunt instead of just finding something under your pillow. Services and interment were private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Rabbi William Sajowitz Endowment Fund at Temple Emanuel, 1250 Bower Hill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15243 (or fund of your choice), templeemanuelpgh. org/give/endowment-funds/ or to Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania, gswpa.org/ e n / g i v i n g / To G e t H e r T h e r e . h t m l . Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

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

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Goldie Fishman

Mrs. Shirley L. Hirsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward J. Levine

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solomon Abramson

Simma & Lawrence Robbins . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruben Nadler

Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Wedner

The Love and Rutman Families . . . . . Albert Jacob Love

Hedy Caplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Benjamin Mitchel

Edith Schneider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Michael Oresick

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Sharon Snider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nettie Touber

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Yettanda Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June Enelow

Mrs. Shirley L. Hirsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Raschel G. Levine

Mrs. Edris Weis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Martha Weis

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday October 31: Mayme Altman, Selma Berger, Esther L. Carver, Sally Chudacoff, Eva Dizenfeld, Jack A. Eckert, Max Feinberg, Stanley Glasser, Max Horovitz, Louis A. Levin, Julia Moses, Helene Mueller, Bernard Samuels, Sam Seminofsky Monday November 1: Doris Libby Bennett, Joseph Bilder, Max Cohen, Herman A. Donofsky, Leah Firestone, Phillip Friedman, Morris Glassman, Betty Grayer, Jennie Iskowich, Harry Jacobs, Bertha Klein, Leon Morris, Polina Novak, Meyer Seiavitch, Irwin Sidler, Fannie G. Skirboll, Sidney Stein, Sam Stern, Sam Stone, Marvin Tachna, Joseph Thompson, Mildred Weinberger, Milton Zakowitz Tuesday November 2: Bessie Lottie Azen, Vivian Cuff Boyd, Sylvia Braun, Harry Cukerbaum, Anne Firestone, Julia Goldstein, Louis Greenberg, Zelda Gutmacher, Isaac Klein, William Levy, Joseph Lustig, Jacob S. Miller, Gertrude R. Nachman, Ruben Nadler, Miriam S. Nydes, Max Perr, Philip Rubenstein, Shana Sergie, Ida Sussman, Nettie Touber, Rose Wolovitz Wednesday November 3: Jeannette Tafel Alman, Charlotte Ginsburg, Hymen L. Kaplan, Benjamin Klawansky, Esther S. Levine, Lafe B. Murstein, Sadie Rossen, Fannie Ruben, Leah W. Schlesinger, Helen G. Sheinberg, Lena Frieman Sieff, Michael Stone, Rebecca Tillman Thursday November 4: Sam Benowitz, Esther Berschling, Saul Cabin, Fannie Fleischer, Jay David Glasser, Hyman Goldenson, Meyer Helfer, Bella Kalson, David London, Alvin Meyers, David Pudles, Ida Radbord, Anna Shapira, Edward I. Solomon, Jack Joseph Sussman, Harry Edward Traub Friday November 5: Carol Lee Anatole, Nathan Bliman, Rebecca Needelman Bodek, Sadie Chotiner, Benjamin M. Cohen, Hyman Daly, Rebecca Friedman, Isaac Glick, Dr. Henry Goldstein, Selma Goldstein, David Gross, Raymond E. Gusky, Hyman H. Kimel, Alfred Malt, Alvin Marks, Max Schwimer, Elmer Solomon, David G. Tarshis, Dora B. Whiteman Saturday November 6: Sam Birnkrant, Sara Chotiner, Goldie Fishman, Benjamin Himmel, Abraham Korsunsky, Louise Lebby, Adeline Levitt, Isaac Lieb, Mary N. Lustig, Annie Mermelstein, Ida Nusin, Fred Nussbaum, Noah Saxen, Raymond Irwin Sloan, Sherwin Smalley, Arthur Speizer

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Opinion Gesher HaChaim Jewish Burial Society.

Obituaries: Continued from page 19

KANE: Thomas A. Kane passed away on Oct. 20, 2021. Tom was a successful residential and commercial real estate agent. He will be fondly remembered by his family and friends. Thomas Kane is survived by sisters Elizabeth Kane and Judith Meyers née Kane, and Alan Meyers. Arrangements were entrusted to the

Nataf: Continued from page 12

of our own face. The result is that we turn to forces outside and tell them, “Show me a prettier face.” In the short term, that may happen. Algorithms can be adjusted to appeal to our better sides or, at least, to mitigate some of the more significant negative outcomes. However, as Facebook has already anticipated, that will lead to less user time, meaning less business. And that may lead to other companies finding a way to fill the vacuum and supply us with what we seem to want. For if we are allowing ourselves to wallow in partisan hate and never looking at the other side, it means that on some level this is what we prefer. If we are willing to read things the reliability of which is questionable, it means

LOWENTHAL: Rita Lowenthal, March 12, 1927 - Sept. 18, 2021. Rita was an educator, community organizer, and social activist. The former spouse of the late David Lowenthal of Pittsburgh (2006) and the widow of Jerome Cushman of Santa Monica

that this is what we want. If we let ourselves be drawn to the bizarre, the silly and the sexually enticing, this too is what we are ultimately choosing. As in real life, knowing that any of these practices is not optimal is not the same as deciding to live otherwise. No doubt, others, including Mark Zuckerberg, have a part in the blame. But what about ourselves? A more serious and introspective society would understand that there is a deeper problem that goes beyond Facebook and the lack of government regulation. As Rabbi Sacks never got tired of reminding us, the home of that problem is within ourselves. PJC Rabbi Francis Nataf is a Jerusalem-based educator. He is the author of the “Redeeming Relevance” series on the Torah and of many articles. This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel.

(2019), as mother or stepmother she leaves behind five children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Rita taught at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work before joining the faculty of Hebrew Union College School of Jewish Communal Service where she served as lecturer and director of field work. Recipient of several local awards for activities related to social justice and international peace, she served as mentor to many beloved friends and extended

Kislowicz: Continued from page 12

would be spent in the kitchen. I’m quite certain I would have yelled, “Maybe I want to be a steelworker! Why aren’t we having another unit on smelting? I am woman! I will not be limited by your paternalistic views of my capabilities!” In summary: Everyone who ever taught me deserves an apology basket filled with shemitah fruits. Teachers do not have it easy. And I’m beholden to mine, because somewhere along the way the most important messages ultimately made their way into my brain. In the same halls where I valiantly tried to resist the patriarchy, I was also ingrained with a deep love of Israel and a commitment to our tradition, which is both ancient and very much alive, unlike the Steelers’ Superbowl hopes.

families. Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice or any of Rita’s favorite organizations: Interfaith Communities for Peace and Justice, New Israel Fund or Chai Village.

In loving memory

YOUNG: In loving memory of Nelson P. Young (1932-1998) on the 23rd anniversary of his passing by his wife Barbara K. Young and his children Ira, James and Ruth. PJC

With so many of our formative hours spent in school, it’s unreasonable to expect that every moment be infused with critical life lessons. It’s a child’s job to listen and engage and to respectfully question authority. And it’s a teacher’s job to refrain from killing them in the process. And also to teach them that one can be a feminist and love baking cookies. And that if someone offers them ⅓ or 1/2 of a bag of cookies, it is imperative that they take the ⅓, even though it seems counterintuitive. So while the learning curve is a bit steep, I feel honored and privileged to be observing the sabbatical year. And as for my heavenly reward, Counting Crows just announced that they will be performing in Israel this spring — during shemitah! It’s just like the Bible promised. PJC Kally Rubin Kislowicz made aliyah from Cleveland, Ohio, to Efrat in 2016. This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel.

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Community Eradicate Hate Global Summit 2021

p Keynote speaker Fareed Zakaria addresses the state of politics, identity and the media during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Photo by Lindsay Dill

p Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, moderates a discussion on trauma-informed care for survivors of extremism during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit 2021 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Photo by Lindsay Dill

p Keynote speaker Major Elliott Garrett discusses what he learned during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Photo by Lindsay Dill p Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life Congregation and Pardeep Kaleka of the Forgiveness Project pose for a photo during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Photo by Lindsay Dill

p Rabbi Seth Adelson of Congregation Beth Shalom participates in a group meditation guided by speaker Berry Kerzin during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit.

p Carol Black, a survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, listens to a session on community preparedness and responses to hate during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Photo by Lindsay Dill

Photo by Lindsay Dill

p An attendee wearing a “Stronger than Hate” yarmulke listens to a discussion during the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Photo by Lindsay Dill

22 OCTOBER 29, 2021

p Barry and Brenda Werber join a special dinner kicking off the Eradicate Hate Global Summit. Photo by Don Salvin

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Community Commemorating Oct. 27 Community members donated blood on Oct. 24 at the Squirrel Hill JCC and South Hills JCC in memory of Dan Stein, z”l, a committed blood donor.

p Maggie Feinstein p Chuck Bell, Sharyn Stein, Lee Stein and Ellen Leger

Photo by Adam Reinherz

More than 100 members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community celebrated the conclusion of Shabbat outside Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Eleven candles were lit to mark the yahrzeits of those murdered inside the Tree of Life building three years ago. The Oct. 23 event, which coincided with the 18th of Cheshvan (the Hebrew date of Oct. 27, 2018), was sponsored by the Vaad Harabbanim of Pittsburgh and the Gesher Hachaim Burial Society.

p Rabbi Elisar Admon lights candles.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

Something to chew on

p Members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and Zane (Pittsburgh Police’s comfort dog) await visitors outside the Tree of Life building on Oct. 24. Photo by Adam Reinherz

Chabad of Squirrel Hill hosted a Ladies’ Lunch and Learn on Oct. 20

p Participants discuss Joseph, his brothers and sibling rivalry.

Photo by Kelly Schwimer

Get on your feet

p Mental health professionals gather across the street from the Tree of Life building on Oct. 24. Photo by Jim Busis

Cardio among the cars Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Young Adult Division encouraged exercisers to achieve their target heart rate at an Oct. 13 outdoor spinning class in the garage of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill.

p Temple David religious school students dance with Lynn Berman.

u Evan Aiello, JCC spin instructor, helps Tori Weiner reach for her fitness goals. Photo courtesy of Jewish Federation

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Barbara Symons

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OCTOBER 29, 2021 23

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