The Jewish Chronicle Feb. 3, 2011

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Style Workin’ on the Railroad North Hills man builds miniature trains Page 10

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE thejewishchronicle.net february 3, 2011 shevat 29, 5771

Vol. 53, No. 40

Pittsburgh, PA

Wrapped up with the Steelers Jews celebrate Steelers in educational, creative ways

JTA

Associate Editor

Please see Steelers, page 23.

Pro-Israel groups face dilemma: How to approach Egypt BY RON KAMPEAS

BY JUSTIN JACOBS

If you’ve left your house or turned on the television in the last two weeks, you know: Pittsburgh’s going to the Super Bowl. But while huge portions of Pittsburghers — and, surely, much of the country — will be cheering for a Steeler victory, some members of the city’s Jewish community are celebrating in creative, and even educational ways. At Tree of Life/Or L’Simcha Congregation Sunday school, students will actually feel some unity with Green Bay, Wis. This Sunday morning, the school’s 90 students will connect with the 20 students of Congregation Cnesses Israel, a small Conservative synagogue in Green Bay, through Skype. Students at both schools spent the last few weeks learning football-related vocabulary in Hebrew, which they’ll swap with each other and answer sports trivia. “When Pittsburgh was entering the AFC championship, I challenged the kids: on Sunday you come in with any Hebrew words pertaining to football, and anybody who does gets a prize,” said Shelly Schapiro, director of education. “Sure enough, some students they had their lists. But now, for the Super Bowl, those papers are piling up on my desk.” Schapiro knew she could put that enthusiasm to work, and thought, “It’d be cool for the kids to connect with a congregation in Green Bay,” she said. “It was truly one of those moments when a light went off.” Schapiro connected with Congregation Cnesses Israel because, “It’s

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Photo by Steve Hecht

Rabbi Alex Greenbaum of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills sports his homemade Terrible Tallis to stir up some excitement for the Super Bowl on Sunday, when the Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Green Bay Packers.

WASHINGTON — As Egypt convulses, pro-Israel groups and U.S. Congress members are seized by the ancient maternal dilemma: If you have nothing nice to say, should you say anything at all? The question of whether to stake a claim in the protests against 30 years of President Hosni Mubarak’s autocracy is a key one for the pro-Israel lobby and pro-Israel lawmakers because of the role they have played in making Egypt one of the greatest beneficiaries of U.S. aid. And in the same way that the outcome in Egypt continues to idle in the gear of “anyone’s guess,” there is little consensus in the byways of pro-Israel Washington over how to treat the nation and its nascent revolution. The competing claims were evident in the divergent, and at times contrasting, calls issuing from figures known for their closeness to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, the trendsetter in the pro-Israel community. In general, reactions to the unrest in Egypt crossed political lines, with some liberal and conservative commentators pressing the Obama administration to help topple the regime, and others stressing the need for stability. Some AIPAC-related called for assistance to Egypt to be contingent on whether the emerging government remained committed to cooperation with Israel. Others were emphatic in omitting Israel as a consideration, saying it was not the place of Israel or its friends to intervene in what appears to be an organic shucking-off of a dictator. Josh Block, AIPAC’s former spokesman who is still close to the lobby, said the commitment of whatever government emerges to peace with Please see Egypt, page 14.

B U S I N E S S 1 7 /C L A S S I F I E D 2 0 /C O M M U N I T Y 1 6 /O B I T UA R I E S 2 2 O P I N I O N 6 /R E A L E S TA T E 1 9 /S I M C H A S 1 5 /S T Y L E 1 0 /T O R A H 2 0

Times To Remember

KINDLE SABBATH CANDLES: 5:23 p.m. EST. SABBATH ENDS: 6:25 p.m. EST.


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