Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 1-27-23

Josh Shapiro showed Jewish pride at gubernatorial inauguration

Greenfield Jewish community continues to be targeted by antisemitic verbal attacks

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

Agroup of Jewish teens was harassed on Saturday, Jan. 14 while leaving B’nai Emunoh Chabad at 4315 Murray Avenue in Greenfield.

According to a witness who wished to remain anonymous, a group of Black teenagers began to harass the Jewish teens as they left the Chabad center at approximately 6:30 p.m.

“They got very loud,” the eyewitness reported. “They started laughing and said, ‘effing’ something. Another one made a comment to one of the Jewish boys. They said something like, ‘You Jews have got all the money.’ I thought it might escalate, but the Black teenagers got on the 93 bus to Hazelwood.”

IShapiro, who wears his Judaism on his suit sleeve. And in the 2022 governor’s race, Shapiro beat an opponent, Republican Doug Mastriano, who openly flirted with antisemites by more than 700,000 votes and almost 15 percentage points.

On Jan. 17 outside the statehouse in Harrisburg, Shapiro — the open, proud and victorious Jewish governor — was on full display.

He took the oath of office from Pennsylvania Chief Justice Debra Todd with his hand on a stack of three Jewish bibles. One was his, and the good book on which he has taken the oath for every

office he has held since becoming a state representative in 2005; another was from the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and belonged to a Jewish World War II veteran; and the third was a bible from Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation.

During a 23-minute speech after his swearing-in, Shapiro made implicit and explicit Jewish references to the crowd of former governors, current General Assembly representatives and state Supreme Court justices and voters/residents who drove from across the commonwealth to watch the transfer of power beneath the capitol dome.

“Along the winding road that has led to this moment, I have been grounded in my

While the incident left a lasting impression on the witness, he said he spoke to the Jewish teens the next day, and they didn’t think it was a big deal.

The witness reported the incident to the Zone 4 Pittsburgh Police.

This is the third known incident of antisemitic harassment since the start of the new year taking place in the neighborhood abutting Squirrel Hill.

Earlier in the month, a group of juveniles harassed Jewish community members, asking if they were “fake Jews” and swearing at them, according to Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

At the time, two separate incidents were reported to the police, who said that because the suspects are juveniles, charging them with crimes would prove “challenging.”

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Josh Shapiro and his wife, Lori, enjoy the inaugural festivities at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg on Jan. 17.

Photo by Jarrad Saffren

Jud Newborn brings the tale of the ‘White Rose’ to Beth El

time that was so dark and dangerous. They were risking their lives,” he said.

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

It’s no surprise that Jud Newborn was attracted to the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose.

The members of the German resistance group fighting against the Nazis were seemingly typical Germans who simply decided to fight injustice. It was a daring move at the time and ultimately led to Scholl’s death by guillotine in 1943.

Likewise, Newborn grew up where many might consider the American Dream — Long Island — living a seemingly typical life. But while the community is home to more than 300,000 Jews, antisemitism still raised its head in the suburban enclave.

Newborn said most people think of Long Island as a liberal bedroom community of Manhattan, but antisemitism has always existed there.

“There was antisemitism when I was a kid,” he said. “There were areas that were restricted where Jews couldn’t buy houses or join the country club. I remember in my own neighborhood people saying antisemitic things to my father — ‘You Saul, you’re a white Jew. You’re a good Jew.’”

Newborn will discuss his book “Sophie Scholl and the White Rose” at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills on Monday, Jan. 30

For all its warts, Newborn said that Long Island offered an escape from New York City after his father returned from World War II, thanks to the G.I. Bill.

He’s also quick to note that he still lives on the island and sees no reason to bad-mouth it. In fact, he said the Newborns were integrated into everyday life in the area. His father was one of the first Jewish elected officials on Long

Island, and his mother sang soprano in the opera. And while the family wasn’t part of an underground network fighting antisemitism, like many Jewish-American families, they were touched by war and tragedy.

Newborn’s father was a chief squadron navigator in the Pacific who carried in his wallet a picture of a Jewish soldier with a star on his helmet.

He remembered as a 5-year-old finding a photo of faces he didn’t recognize in his grandmother’s bureau drawer hidden beneath blankets.

“I ran over to her and asked her, ‘Grandma, who are they?’ She turned her face away and said, ‘Don’t ask.’ That’s how I discovered my family had a Holocaust history,” he said. “My mother used to hear my grandmother crying at night, asking ‘Where’s my sister, where’s my brother?’ The letters stopped coming at some point.”

Newborn said his mother decided to have six children to symbolize the 6 million murdered in the Holocaust.

“So, the Holocaust had a role in my life, even though I am not the child or grandchild of

Holocaust survivors,” he said. “Via my grandmother, I feel as if I have a deep connection.”

Newborn has found a way to entwine that connection to his vocation.

In addition to his book, “Sophie Scholl and the White Rose,” Newborn has been a lecturer, cultural anthropologist and curator. He is credited as a pioneer in the creation of Holocaust museums — he helped build New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage, serving as its founding historian and curator.

Scholl, he said, is an appealing character like Anne Frank.

“There were some real similarities in how they thought,” he said. “They could almost be seen as sisters in spirit.”

Despite Germany’s attempt to drive a wedge between the state’s population and the Jewish people, Newborn said that Scholl — a former Hitler Youth — and her brother Hans became leaders in the resistance movement and are regarded in their home country much the way Americans think of Abraham Lincoln.

“They stood up, they spoke truth to power in the most dramatic way and they did at a

Newborn was awarded the Anne Frank “Human Writes” Spirit Award by the Anne Frank Center for “Sophie Scholl and the White Rose,” as well as for also his passion and activism in his work on the Holocaust.

Newborn’s talk at Beth El was coordinated by Steve Denenberg, a member of the board and adult education committee.

Denenberg said he has known Newborn since the author was 2 or 3 years old.

“I was in the same second-grade class as his sister,” Denenberg said. “We see each other every five years at a high school reunion, we talk a couple of times a year. His sister kept telling me that, ‘My brother’s this Holocaust expert,’ and I just put it in the back of mind. Then, one day, for whatever reason, I looked him up online and said, ‘Wow, this guy’s pretty impressive.’”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh provided a grant that helped the Conservative synagogue bring Newborn to the city, Denenberg said. He’s excited about the possibility of the entire Pittsburgh Jewish community having the opportunity to hear his childhood acquaintance talk.

“We want a really big crowd,” he said.

Newborn, who, in addition to his academic work, won an Emmy while serving in the role of curator of celebrity and special programs at the Long Island Cinema Arts Center, said he is looking forward to his talk at Beth El.

“I’m really excited about talking at the congregation,” he said, adding that he has included a surprise in his lecture. For that, though, people will have to attend.

“An Evening with Jud Newborn” can be attended in person or on Zoom on Monday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. PJC

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

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EDITORIAL

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p Jud Newborn

Photo courtesy of the Anne Frank Center

A bit more about the Jewish

Hamburger, Hast, Kaufmann, Kingsbacher, Sunstein and Weil.

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

In this column in late November 2022, we considered a list of more than 200 people from western Pennsylvania who donated to the original Jewish Encyclopedia in the early 1900s. Analyzing the list revealed a Jewish population beginning to move away from the city center. Established families of Allegheny were moving to the East End, and dozens of Jewish families were settling in certain small towns throughout the area. There are a few other trends worth noting but only one for now.

The Jewish Encyclopedia was promoted broadly, not just within the Jewish world. The list of donors is ecumenical, containing all kinds of Jews and even many Christians.

The central Jewish figure on the list is Dr. J. Leonard Levy, who led Rodef Shalom Congregation from 1901 until his death in 1917. He wrote a history of Pittsburgh for the encyclopedia, and he had relationships with many of the other financial donors.

Some of those relationships are easy to ascertain. The list includes many of the leading families of Rodef Shalom Congregation at that time, well-known names like Aaron, Cohen, Frank,

But there are also lay leaders from other congregations: Marks Browarsky of Tree of Life Congregation, Adolph Edlis of Poale Zedeck Congregation, and Maurice Louis Avner, who would soon become one of the founders of Congregation Beth Shalom.

Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz donated. He led Shaare Torah Congregation in the Hill District. He was the senior Orthodox rabbi in the region and an active voice against Reform. How he came to donate is unknown. Perhaps he was approached independently, or perhaps Levy approached him. They were occasionally brought together through communitywide speaking engagements, such as a mass meeting in 1905 to protest pogroms or a different meeting that year in support of the proposed Montefiore Hospital.

Rev. M. A. Alter and Rev. Saul Grafman donated. They were associate rabbis at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, the oldest and largest Orthodox congregation in the city. Their relatively new-to-town superior Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky is not on the list.

Rabbi Michael Fried donated. He was the first spiritual leader of Tree of Life Congregation to have been ordained by Jewish Theological Seminary. He was collegial with Levy. They both spoke at a

memorial service for Dr. Lippman Mayer of Rodef Shalom in 1904, and soon they were both building big, beautiful synagogues at opposite ends of Oakland — Tree of Life on Craft Avenue, and Rodef Shalom on Fifth Avenue.

Rabbis throughout the region also donated. Rev. Jacob M. Bazel led Agudath Achim Congregation, an Orthodox congregation

in Braddock. Rabbi Jacob Goldfarb led Beth Israel Congregation, an Orthodox congregation down in little Washington.

Rev. Isidor Reichert led Temple Israel, a Reform congregation in Uniontown. The year before Temple Israel was founded, Levy had been addressing a group of Reform Jews in Uniontown and overheard some people tossing around the idea of starting a congregation. As Jacob Feldman described the incident in “The Jewish Experience in Western Pennsylvania, A History: 1755-1945”: “When [Dr. Levy] came to the podium, the men were puffing their cigars and sipping coffee. He discarded his prepared speech and instead urged that a new congregation be organized ‘right then and there.’”

Levy spent years developing B’nai B’rith lodges in Braddock, Washington, Uniontown and many others in the region. He was trying to create a mechanism outside the synagogue where Jews of different ideologies could come together productively.

The Jewish Encyclopedia list also includes Christian clergy.

Rev. John Price donated. He led St. James Catholic Church on the West End of Pittsburgh. Why did he support the Jewish

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Rabbi Isidor Reichert also donated to the Jewish Encyclopedia. He was the first rabbi of Temple Israel in Uniontown, formed with the help of Dr. J. Leonard Levy. Photo courtesy of the Rauh Jewish Archives

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, JAN. 27 – FEB. 28

ZOA Pittsburgh is now accepting applications for its Scholarship to Israel Program from any local Jewish teen who will be a junior or senior in high school in September of 2023 and is participating in a qualified, structured, study trip to Israel. Applicants will be evaluated on their involvement in Jewish organizations, volunteerism and on an essay about Zionism and Israel. Three $1,000 scholarships will be awarded. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 28. For information and applications, please contact ZOA Executive Director Stuart Pavilack at stuart. pavilack@zoa.org or 304-639-1758.

q FRIDAY, JAN. 27

Join Chabad of the South Hills for Friday Night Live, a new and refreshing Shabbat experience for everyone — families, couples, singles, young and old. Traditional and easy to follow for newcomers and the experienced alike. Learn the “how tos” of praying and sing along to the melodies. Followed by Kiddush and an array of cocktails and traditional dishes of different themes, international tastes and aromas. 5:30 p.m. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com.

q SUNDAY, JAN. 29

With a combination of classroom learning and active chugim (electives), the Joint Jewish Education Program religious school teaches the fullness of our heritage in a fun, joyful and personal way. Come see what it’s all about at its open house and info session. Open to all prospective families with children entering grades K-8. 10:30 a.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. jjep.org.

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center presents “Share and Share Alike: The Rules of Genealogical Privacy” with Judy G. Russell. Register online. Free for JGS-Pittsburgh members; $5 for general public. 1 p.m. For more information, contact the Rauh Jewish Archives at rjarchives@heinzhistorycenter.org.

Gather with other teen girls from the neighborhood for Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Teen Cooking Club. Bake desserts for Our Giving Kitchen, a local organization that offers food for those in need. 3:30 p.m. chabadpgh.com.

Join Temple Sinai and award-winning author Lisa Barr on Zoom to discuss her book, “Woman on Fire.” 6 p.m. Free. Register at templesinaipgh.org/event/LisaBarr.html.

q SUNDAYS, JAN. 29 – FEB. 12

Chabad of Squirrel Hill presents the six-week program Jewish Children’s Discovery Center Children will explore captivating stories of our heroic Jewish fathers and mothers and bake delicious desserts that relate to each one. 10:30 a.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. $75. chabadpgh.com.

q SUNDAYS, JAN. 29 – MARCH 5

Join a lay-led online Parashah study group to discuss the week’s Torah portion. No Hebrew knowledge needed. The goal is to build community while deepening understanding of the text. 8:30 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

q MONDAY, JAN. 30

Join Beth El Congregation of the South Hills for an evening with award-winning author and expert on antisemitism Jud Newborn. He will discuss the topic “The White Rose Anti-Nazi Resistance and Heroes Today in the Fight for Democracy.” The event will begin with a wine and cheese reception, followed by the lecture. Virtual options are available. 7 p.m. 1900 Cochran Road, 15220. Free. forms.gle/xeMTmZ3ZBfQqshzh9.

q MONDAYS, JAN. 30 – MARCH 6

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly

Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

q MONDAYS, JAN. 30 – MAY 15

Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is one of the most important things a Jew can learn. But most Torah classes begin in Genesis and never finish the first book. If you want a comprehensive overview of the whole Torah, Torah 1 is the course for you. In the first year of this two-year Zoom course, Rabbi Danny Schiff will teach Genesis, Exodus and the first half of Leviticus. In the second year, he will complete Leviticus and cover Numbers and Deuteronomy. $225. 9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/torah-1.

q TUESDAYS, JAN. 31 – FEB. 7

Join Emily Harris from Spirited Fun Improv, AgeWell, and the 10.27 Healing Partnership for a series of four safe and lively events where participants can stay curious, build friendships and lighten up. Improv is PLAY – in a supportive, lighthearted space. 12:30 p.m. JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, Third Floor, 10.27 Healing Partnership Suite. To register, contact Maddie Barnes at mbarnes@jccpgh.org at 412-697-1186.

q TUESDAYS, JAN. 31 – MARCH 7

Join Temple Sinai for a weekly Talmud class with Rabbi Daniel Fellman. Noon. On site and online. For more information and for the Zoom link, contact Temple Sinai at 412-421-9715.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 1 – MARCH 2

Join Chabad of the South Hills for “Book Smart,” a six-part page-turner that courses through Judaism’s most important titles and the authors who inscribed them. From the Five Books of Moses to the 63 tractates of the Talmud, Book Smart proves that we are called the People of the Book for a reason. 7:20 p.m. At Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road or Zoom. chabadsh.com/civicrm/event/info.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 1 – APRIL 19

Participate in weekly gentle yoga with a skilled and caring yoga instructor experienced in trauma-informed care. Experience an hour of gentle and calming yoga and learn yoga you can do at home and in stressful situations, including while seated. 3 p.m. 10.27 Healing Partnership suite inside the Squirrel Hill JCC. Facilitated by Susie Balcom, and open to everyone. Register here: https://forms.gle/JQtgrutJyByaMM5K6.

q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Wellness Wednesday, a rotating series of wellness practitioners including meditation practitioners, acupuncturists, reiki-infused sound bathing, somatic healing, vibro-acoustic harp therapy and more. 6:30 p.m. 10.27 Healing Partnership suite on the third floor of the Squirrel Hill JCC, 5738 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. 1027healingpartnership.org.

q THURSDAY, FEB. 2

Join The Branch and webinar speaker Asha ChaiChang for JDAIM 2023, The Intersection of Race, Disability and Religion: A First-Person Experience, as she talks about the growing community of Jews who identify as Jews of color. Born in Long Island as the Jamaican/Cuban/Chinese/Jewish daughter to immigrant parents, Asha is an award-winning director/writer with invisible disabilities. She will explore ways Jewish communities can increase visibility and create safe spaces for Jews of color. 5 p.m. Free. thebranchpgh.org/jdaim-23.

Women are invited to bake grape-shaped challahs in honor of Tu B’Shvat at Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Loaves of Love. $10. 7 p.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com.

q THURSDAY, FEB. 2; MARCH 2; APRIL 6; MAY 4; JUNE 1

Join local clergy from Jewish and Christian backgrounds for the Christian Jewish Dialogue, a monthly discussion exploring topics of similarities and differences. Noon. Rodef Shalom Congregation. rodefshalom.org.

q THURSDAY, FEB. 2 & 16; MARCH 2 & 23; APRIL 13 & 27

This bimonthly Refaeinu healing circle is led by Sara Stock Mayo, a spiritual leader, trained drama therapist, musician and poet. The space will be open to anyone who seeks to create community in shared healing rituals, Jewish texts and music, art making and embodied wellness practices. 10.27 Healing Partnership Suite, JCC of Greater Pittsburgh. 7 p.m. To register, visit forms.gle/pAJoXvNXSJ9Ks3ow9.

q SUNDAY, FEB. 5

In “Media Bias Against Israel,” the award-winning Canadian Israeli journalist Matti Friedman examines undue focus and distorted coverage of Israel in modern media. 10 a.m. Zoom. $12. jewishpgh.org/ event/media-bias-against-israel-with-matti-friedman.

q SUNDAY, FEB. 5-DEC. 4

Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for its Men’s Tefillin Club. Enjoy bagels, lox and tefillin on the first Sunday of the month. 8:30 a.m. chabadpgh.com.

q MONDAY, FEB. 6

Join the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the 10.27 Healing Partnership to celebrate Tu B’Shevat in nature on a meditative and gentle forest bathing journey through Frick Park. Meet at the Frick Park Environmental Center, encounter nature, form warm connections and end with a Tu B’Shevat seder and tea ceremony. 1 p.m. To register, visit support.pittsburghparks.org/site/ Calendar?id=104461&view=Detail.

q MONDAYS, FEB. 6; FEB. 20; MARCH 6

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership in the South Hills for Arts in the Community, a collaborative series of therapeutic art workshops with JFCS. This artbased mindfulness program is free and open for all who are interested. The group will explore ways making art can help regulate the nervous system, promote playfulness, imagination, and connect us more deeply to our bodies, emotions, thoughts and worldviews. Attendees will come together in community as we explore different art mediums, share our personal experiences, and reflect on how art can influence us all. South Hills JCC, 345 Kane Blvd. Register at forms.gle/qPu933puGg5fQQK2A.

q TUESDAY, FEB. 7

Join the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh’s Center for Loving Kindness for the next installment of Excerpts We Should Read, Talk About and Act On: Important Passages to Guide Us to Stand UP with Our Neighbors. These Zoom conversations are based on book excerpts from must-read literature that can impact how we live in community. No need to read the books beforehand; we will share excerpts that lead to discussion and understanding. February’s conversation explores Dorothy Robert’s Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. 7 p.m. To register, visit jccpgh. formstack.com/forms/excerptsweshouldread?mc_ cid=1828b74f83&mc_eid=3c266f9d75.

q TUESDAYS, FEB. 7 – MAY 2

In “Israel Literature as a Window to Israel Society,” Rabbi Danny Schiff will facilitate an encounter with Israeli society through the pens of Israel’s leading writers, discovering voices that are original, contemporary and honest. This 10part Melton course takes you on a literary journey offering a fresh examination of the ever-relevant issues faced by Israeli writers. Together, learners will read poetry and prose that is challenging and self-critical, gaining insights into the Jewish national psyche. 9:30 a.m. $160. jewishpgh.org/event/israeliliterature-as-a-window-to-israeli-society/2023-02-07.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 8, 22

Hadassah Greater Detroit invites you to “Beyond Shtisel: A Closer Look at the Hasidic World,” a four-part virtual series learning about different Hasidic communities, discussing some provocative issues, and viewing videos of Hasidim in their home environments. Gain an understanding of what the

life of Hasidim is really like. 7 p.m. $10 per session or $35 for all four sessions. hadassahmidwest. org/GDShtisel.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 8 – 22

U.S. Law and Criminal Justice: From the Community Perspective, a three-session community course, geared to lay-people, will support learners in their understanding of the U.S. criminal legal process, the systems of justice, and criminal trials. The information presented will help the whole community understand what goes on in the criminal courts, how trials work, what justice can look like and how we might attain it, and the special features and procedures of death penalty cases. Each session, taught by Professor David Harris of Pitt’s School of Law and Squirrel Hill resident, will present on a different facet of the justice system, with ample time and opportunity to ask questions. 6:30 p.m. In-person and virtual.

10.27 Healing Partnership Suite, third floor of the Jewish Community Center, 5738 Forbes Ave., 15217. 1027healingpartnership.org/series/u-s-law-andcriminal-justice-from-the-community-perspective.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 8 – MAY 24

Registration is now open for “Melton Core 1: Rhythms and Purposes of Jewish Living.” This 25-lesson course will take you through the year’s cycle — the life cycle traditions and practices that bind us together. Explore not just the what is and how is of Jewish living, but the why is that go with them. 7 p.m. $300 per person, per year (25 sessions), includes all books and materials. Virtual. foundation. jewishpgh.org/melton-core-1.

q THURSDAY, FEB. 9

University of Pittsburgh historian Dr. Keila Grinberg and Dr. Flavio Limoncic of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janiero will discuss the history of Rio de Janiero’s Jewish community. This talk is co-sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh’s Jewish studies program and Center for Latin American studies. 5:30 p.m. Free. Cathedral of Learning, room 602.

q

SATURDAY, FEB. 11

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for Clues and Schmooze, a fun trivia event, including a raffle, open bar and snacks. Trivia will be in teams of three to six. Bring your own team or be matched up at the door. Drinks start at 7:30 p.m. Trivia game starts at 8:15 p.m. The cost is $30 per person in advance, or $35 per person at the door. To register in advance, visit bethshalompgh.org/clues-andschmooze-2023.

q SUNDAY, FEB. 12

The Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center present: “Researching Your Roots with LitvakSIG.” Join Carol Hoffman who will survey Litvak genealogical records available online. Free for JGS-Pittsburgh members; $5 for the general public. Noon. heinzhistorycenter.org/event/jgs-pittsburghpresents-researching-your-roots-with-litvaksig.

q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 15

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Creative Journaling. Learn journaling skills that can improve your emotional regulation during stressful situations. 11 a.m. 10.27 Healing Partnership Suite, third floor of the Squirrel Hill JCC, 5738 Forbes Ave, 15217.1027healingpartnership.org/event/ meditative-journaling.

Spend an evening with the FBI experts as they discuss what to know about violent extremism and how to best prepare in the case of radicalization and hate crimes. The experts will give an inside view on what to expect and what to do when the situation arises. Presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. 6:30 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. jewishpgh.org/event/ an-inside-look-at-extremism-radicalization-andhate-crimes. PJC

US Merchant Marine Academy obscures massive painting of Jesus at sea

The painting in a key room in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy was as striking as it was massive: Jesus, his arms outstretched, hovered over a lifeboat packed with grateful sailors, lost at sea, according to JTA.org.

Eighteen people — including five Jews — among the school’s thousands of midshipmen, alumni, staffers and faculty decided they did not want to see such a sectarian symbol in a room that is home to events, classes and ceremonies where attendance is mandatory. Earlier in January, they asked the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to appeal on their behalf to the academy, which reports to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In a Jan. 10 letter, Mikey Weinstein, the foundation’s Jewish founder, said the role the Elliot M. See room played at the academy made the presence of the massive painting especially inappropriate. It has served as a classroom, a venue for advisory board meetings, the room where incoming classes have their IDs processed, and as a court for disciplinary hearings, among other uses.

Academy Superintendent Joanna Nunan replied immediately, saying the size of the painting meant that it was impossible to move, but she had another solution.

“I have asked my staff to purchase a curtain to be placed in front of the painting,” she said. “This will completely block the painting from view, but

also allow those who wish to view it the opportunity to do so. Second, I have asked the director of the American Merchant Marine Museum to prepare a plaque that explains the history of the painting, which will be installed near it. Given the size of the painting, there is no other location to which it can be moved.”

Michael Twitty’s ‘Koshersoul’ named Jewish book of the year

“Koshersoul,” chef Michael W. Twitty’s memoir about his career fusing Jewish and African-American culinary histories, was named the Jewish book of 2022 by the Jewish Book Council, JTA.org reported.

Subtitled “The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew,” Twitty’s book provides “deep dives into theology, identity, and, of course, food — giving readers the impetus to reflect on their heritage and religion in a new way,” the council said in naming “Koshersoul” the Everett Family Foundation Book of the Year.

The winners of the 72nd National Jewish Book Awards were announced Jan. 18 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan.

Apple to inaugurate new development center in Haifa

While U.S. tech giant Intel is canceling the construction of a new development center in Haifa, another U.S. titan, Apple, plans to open a new facility in the same industrial zone soon, JNS.org reported.

The Matam East #1 development, which will house Apple’s new development center,

Today in Israeli History

Jan. 30, 1958 — U.S. commits to Baghdad Pact

obtained an occupancy certificate last month, according to Globes.

The structure has 46,000 square meters (495,000 square feet) of space, with 28,000 square meters (300,000 square feet) above ground. It will be occupied within the next few months.

Matam East #2, with 28,500 square meters (54,000 square feet) above ground, will also be handed over to Apple.

Meanwhile, Intel will build a new parking lot for staff instead of its planned development center.

The plans to build a new Intel fab (semiconductor fabrication plant) in Kiryat Gat, scheduled to open next year, remain unaltered, according to Globes.

Australian politician under fire for wearing Nazi uniform at 21st birthday party

Dominic Perrottet, the premier of the Australian state of New South Wales and a leading member of the country’s center-right Liberal Party, is facing harsh criticism after news surfaced that he wore a Nazi costume during his 21st birthday party, nearly 20 years ago, JTA reported.

Perrottet apologized during a conference he called outside of the Sydney Jewish Museum last Thursday, but critics complained that he did not disclose the incident years earlier. He told the Australian Jewish News on Wednesday that he was “deeply ashamed” by the incident and claimed that he considered admitting to the act in 2021 while giving the museum $6.25 million of state funds, or while working to pass a ban on Nazi symbols last year.

“I knew the hurt the truth of this terrible mistake that I made would bring, to particularly the Jewish community,” he said.

Perrottet has claimed that he did not know what the uniform was at the time but was educated about it by his parents after returning home from the party. The news has made headlines across Australia and beyond, and reports are swirling that Perrottet’s position could be in peril.

Israel, Morocco bolster cybersecurity and intel ties

Israel’s Defense Ministry said on Jan. 17 that the first annual defense establishment Steering Committee meeting in conjunction with Morocco was held in Rabat, where the two countries decided to strengthen military ties, JNS.org reported.

“Since the resumption of diplomatic relations & the signing of a defense MOU, t he parties have deepened & expanded their defense & military ties as well as the defense-industrial field,” the ministry tweeted.

Following defense negotiations in Rabat, Morocco’s army stated that it has agreed with Israel to increase military cooperation, including in intelligence and cybersecurity.

The two countries “agreed to further strengthen cooperation and expand it to other areas, including in intelligence, air defense and electronic warfare,” the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces said in a statement. PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Jan. 27, 2001 — Taba Summit ends

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Taba, Egypt, conclude after a week of progress based on the Clinton Parameters, but Ariel Sharon rejects the results of the negotiations when he is elected prime minister 10 days later.

In Ankara, Turkey, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles says the United States is committed to the defense of the Baghdad Pact nations: Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey, plus the United Kingdom.

Jan. 31, 1961 — Ben-Gurion resigns over Lavon Affair

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion resigns, triggering Knesset elections, to protest a Cabinet decision a month earlier to exonerate Pinchas Lavon for his role in a botched spy operation in Egypt in 1954.

Feb. 1, 1885 — Novelist Peretz Smolenskin dies

Jan. 28, 1996

— Dumping of Ethiopian blood sparks riots

About 10,000 Ethiopian Jews demonstrate outside Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ office to protest the government’s decision to throw out blood donated by thousands of Ethiopian Israelis, for fear of the AIDS virus.

Jan. 29, 2004 — Israel swaps prisoners for man, 3 bodies Israel frees more than 430 Arab prisoners to win the release of an Israeli businessman abducted in Dubai in October 2000 and the bodies of three soldiers captured that month by Hezbollah and killed.

Novelist and Hebrew editor Peretz Smolenskin dies of tuberculosis at 43.

The Russian native rejected assimilation and advocated Jewish immigration to Palestine after Russian pogroms in the early 1880s.

Feb. 2, 1965 — Sale of waqf property is approved

The Knesset revises the Absentees’ Property Law to allow the government to take over and use property that is considered abandoned and is held in a waqf, an endowment created under Islamic law. PJC

— WORLD —

p Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami (left) and Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei shake hands on Jan. 21, 2001, during peace talks in Taba, Egypt.

p Peretz Smolenskin wrote six novels, all focused on Jewish life.

Camp Guide! Summer Fun for children and teens

Three cool camps that may be off your radar

summer camp for kids.

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Dave Devey thrives while being a little bit off the radar. He’s run his Falcon Camp in rural Carrollton, Ohio — a 90-minute drive west of Pittsburgh — that way since 1984.

“We’re a traditional, old-school overnight camp for boys and girls ages 6 to 16,” Devey told the Chronicle. “We’re small by design, so we provide more individual care and instruction to the campers — summer camp’s about more than just hitting the target in archery.”

People flock from throughout Pittsburgh to Falcon Camp — Devey joked his clientele includes families from Squirrel Hill to Cranberry — and he says they keep coming because it’s such a personalized experience.

“We’re in the woods, and we like it that way,” Devey laughed. “We’re not tents and outhouses, but we’re also not a country club. When we go hiking in the woods, we’re hiking in the woods.”

“If you don’t spend a lot of time outdoors, it’s a great first-time experience,” he added.

Organizations like Falcon Camp, which starts at $1,800 a week for younger kids, are big on showing Pittsburghers that they have a lot of options when it comes to

Take Assemble, a STEAM-themed camp on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood. Assemble serves children from first through ninth grade, and runs this year from June 20 through the week of Aug. 7. The day camp includes some field trips to places like Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, according to Dale Gaddes, the camp’s marketing and development manager.

At Assemble, kids can combine a love for both coding and literature — one group of campers created coded robots to recite Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” Gaddes said. There also are lots of activities related to architecture and crypto-zoology.

And what, exactly, do kids do with crypto-zoology?

“It’s like combining zoology and fantasy,” said Gaddes, who added that some groups have recycled and sewn new body parts and features onto stuffed animals.

“[Assemble] is really good for the kid who’s nerdy, artsy, not into being outside and doing sports all day,” Gaddes said.

Weekday camps at Assemble run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with optional before- and after-care extending hours to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she said.

Does your child love the outdoors? Venture Outdoors has their number.

The Pittsburgh-based nonprofit is offering eight weeks of summer camp in three local parks for kids in first through

12th grade, according to Lo Zemanek, Venture Outdoors’ director of youth education.

“Venture Outdoors summer camps are great for kids who are born outdoor enthusiasts, and for those just dipping their toe into the outdoors,” Zemanek said. “Our camps are perfect for kids who want a chance to make new friends and learn new skills.”

Venture Outdoors “believes in the power of nature and wants your child to experience the fun, excitement and benefits of being outside this summer,”

she added.

These week-long day camps will run this summer in South Park, North Park and Millvale Riverfront Park. Activities include kayaking, biking, geocaching, fishing, hiking, STEM experiments, team-building and more. Camp themes range from “Cycling through Summer,” “Summer on the Water” and even “Junior Explorers” for the youngest campers. PJC

 Campers enjoy fun in the sun at the South Hills Jewish Community Center. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh/Wood Sign: sittipong_srikanya/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

— LOCAL —

Enjoying being in nature at Venture Outdoors

Photo by Alex Catozella/Venture Outdoors

When will I know my child is ready for overnight camp?

Can your child follow directions?

So much goes through the minds of parents as they consider sleepaway camp for their children. While it’s different for every child, the first question we ask parents is: Are ready for your child to go to sleep-away camp?

Our children know us; if we are showing signs of anxiety or reluctance to send them off, they may pick up on it.

Assuming you are ready for them to go, here are some questions that will help your family make the right decision.

Who brought up the idea?

Did your child ask about it, possibly because they have friends, or older siblings, who go to camp? Or did the idea come from you and, if so, how did they react?

It’s completely normal for children to have hesitation about attending sleepaway camp. Allow time for the idea to settle with them, and include them in the decision-making process.

Camp is filled with opportunities to learn new things, make new friends and experience a new level of independence. At camp, we live as a community and setting boundaries with established rules helps everyone get the most out of their time with us. Many times throughout the day, campers

We train our staff in supporting your campers in these endeavors and provide reminders when it’s time to do these important tasks. Camp is a great place for campers to master some of these skills that they are just starting to learn. If your camper can shower on their own but needs help adjusting the water temperature or sometimes uses too

that is specifically theirs; they’re a visitor in someone else’s home. At camp, everyone is in the same position: Everyone has the same type of bed, everyone is away from their parents and everyone has the same space. Camp is the great equalizer. We’ve seen campers thrive in the camp environment even when they haven’t thrived at sleepovers back at home.

are given directions that will set them up for success; having the capability to follow those directions is important.

How are they with caring for their personal hygiene?

At camp, campers will be required to take care of their bodies. Can your camper brush their own teeth? Shower independently?

much shampoo, they’re ready for camp!

Some suggestions:

We highly recommend that you don’t put too much emphasis on whether your child has been able to sleep in places other than home. Camp isn’t a sleepover at a friend’s or relative’s house. When our children go on those outings, they don’t have any space

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

We also recommend not putting too much weight into whether they are the oldest/middle/youngest child in the family. Every child becomes ready for camp when it’s right for them. Just because their oldest sibling went to camp at age 7, doesn’t mean that everyone in the family will be ready at that same age. At Emma Kaufmann Camp, we treat each child as the unique and special person they are, and we encourage you to evaluate your children on their own abilities.

Finally, children are incredibly adaptable and sometimes we underestimate what they are capable of since we’ve been taking care of them their entire lives. PJC

Aaron Cantor is director of Emma Kaufmann Camp, a program of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

At Jewish overnight camp, kids discover who they are—and who they want to become—while having the time of their lives. They race across ziplines, jump into lakes and learn important life skills. And they create enduring friendships.

Plus, you might be eligible for UP TO $1000 OFF on your camper’s first summer.

Find your perfect camp and review COVID protocols at JEWISHPGH.ORG/ONE-HAPPY-CAMPER.

Guest Columnist

Aaron Cantor

Camp is filled with opportunities to learn new things, make new friends and experience a new level of independence.

EKC receives matching grant through Harold Grinspoon Foundation

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Emma Kaufmann Camp — an overnight Jewish camp in Morgantown, West Virginia, operated by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh — is among the scores of Jewish camps in the nation that recently received financial support from JCamp 180, a core program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

The foundation plans to support more than 100 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps over the next five years through JCamp 180 via the $25 million Forward Together matching grant.

Forward Together is a 1:3 matching grant where the Harold Grinspoon Foundation gives $1 for every $3 each respective camp raises. Each camp receives a base allocation of funds; if it raises four times the allocation within the grant period, the camp receives a $10,000 bonus.

“Jewish camping is a critical piece of our Jewish community’s strategy of deeply engaging young Jews in their Jewish identity,” said Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which supports Emma Kaufmann Camp. “We are proud of our support for Jewish

summer camp and excited that this grant will assist EKC.”

“JCamp 180 and The Harold Grinspoon Foundation has helped Emma Kaufmann Camp not only improve and transform our camp physically but enhance and enrich our camper and family experience as well,” said Fara Marcus, the JCC’s chief development

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and marketing officer. “JCamp 180 has given our staff the opportunity to learn about all aspects of camp such as recruitment, retainment and philanthropy. JCamp 180 has opened the door to our staff, lay leaders and our greater community to learn and experience the importance of the culture of philanthropy. Our toolbox is full and ready to create meaningful and lifelong moments for campers, families, staff and community.”

Harold Grinspoon, the namesake and co-founder behind the foundation, believes camps provide impactful experiences for Jewish young people to become enveloped in Jewish traditions, values and identity.

grant renews my commitment to helping position Jewish nonprofit overnight camps for long-term sustainability for generations.”

JC amp 180 Director Sarah Eisinger said the timing of the grant is critical as many camps seek to build on past fundraising successes.

“We are proud to make this commitment over these next five years,” she said in a prepared statement. “This support will give the camps the resources and tools to maintain and steward their current donors and attract new ones.”

JCamp 180 works with more than 100 nonprofit Jewish overnight camps and nearly 40 nonprofit Jewish day camps across North America, providing them

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“I never was able to go to a Jewish camp, but I know they are crucial ways for young people to plant the roots of lifelong Jewish connections,” said Grinspoon, who has invested more than $55 million in Jewish camps through JCamp 180 over the past 28 years. “I was overjoyed to have visited multiple camps in person this past summer after two summers away due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I saw camps brimming with life … The Forward Together

with grants, consulting, training and resources, according to organization officials. JCamp 180 leaders believe that when Jewish camps are equipped with the knowledge, skills and resources for long-term organizational excellence they will operate thriving camps that create lifelong Jewish connections. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p EKC campers enjoy a sunny day on Cheat Lake.

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

— LOCAL —

p EKC camper taking on new heights at the camp’s ropes course.

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Camp sets a course for kindness

Iwas sitting on an old bench made of longdead tree limbs and feeling miserable because I wanted to go home. I was 12 years old, and it was my first and last day ever at sleepaway camp — or so I thought at the time. A girl sat down next to me. She was a counselor, but I didn’t realize that then. She asked me what my favorite thing was to do when I was at home. Not, why was I sitting there or why was I crying — which I was by that time — but something totally random. What followed was a discussion about my favorite books, my love of making things and how much I missed my best friend who had just moved to Israel with her whole family and who I was sure I would never see again. An hour or so later, I was back in my bunk, meeting my new bunkmates, and consequently, I spent the next seven weeks and 30-plus years at camp. That counselor’s kindness to me at what I thought was one of the lowest points of my life is something I never forgot.

Gemilut Hasadim, literally meaning “the giving of loving kindness,” is a fundamental value in the everyday lives of Jews and is, easily, the most important value children

bring home from camp. The opportunities for children to see and demonstrate kindness while making new friends and learning new skills become ingrained lessons that come home along with the worn-out duffle bags and the proudly made Popsicle stick houses. No one is born kind; it’s a value that is learned from repeated examples, and nowhere are there more opportunities to teach kindness than at camp. Beginning with staff orientation training all the way through final banquet night, camps infuse their programs with these ways of teaching kindness:

2. C elebrate: Nothing brings home a lesson quicker than being rewarded for doing something nice. Some camps award a pin or bracelet whenever a camper or staff member is “caught in the act” of being kind. Other camps offer a special treat or trip for the bunk that demonstrates the most kindness each week.

3. Be a friend: It may seem obvious, but friendship is the rudder that steers kindness. And nowhere are friendships formed more quickly than at camp. The

each child can decide on their own specific kindness goal for each day. Whatever the act, delivering kindness incites a pay it forward action. Soon, everyone is being kind.

5. Empathize: One very important habit that helps kids learn to be kind is to first try to understand another’s point of view. When we teach kindness, we are teaching children to look outside of themselves to understand how their actions affect others.

6. E xplain: Kids see kindness every day, but they don’t realize it. At camp, we encourage our staff to point out something that a child did that was kind. Odds are they will do it again.

When we send our children to camp, we hope they will return with great memories, new friends, new skills and a new or increased feeling of independence and self-worth. To many parents’ surprise, they also get back a kid who is kinder and happier … because that’s what camp is for. PJC

1. Model: The best way to teach kindness is to model being kind to others. Children are sponges, and they absorb whatever they see and hear. At camp, counselors are trained to overtly demonstrate kindness. Campers, wanting to copy the “cool counselor,” then learn to be kind as well.

qualities of a friend — respect, trust, admiration, caring and honesty — embody the rules of kindness.

4. Challenge: Camp easily lends itself to a kindness project. A bunk can decide to volunteer its services to a needy group, or

Barbara Lichter is the registrar and human resources specialist at Camp Zeke, an overnight summer camp in Lakewood, Pennsylvania, where kids celebrate healthy, active living through fitness, cooking, sports, gourmet food and joyful Judaism.

Sleep-away camp nostalgia comes to comics

By PJ Grisar | The Forward

This story originally appeared in the Forward. To get the Forward’s free email newsletters delivered to your inbox, go to forward.com/newsletter-signup.

Going to Jewish sleep-away camp has long been a rite of passage, but few artists this side of Allan Sherman have paid it much mind.

While “Wet Hot American Summer” did a fine job reveling in the unsupervised eight weeks so many of us savored, we never did see those campers saying hamotzi. Nor did the film or Netflix series care to give a name to the phenomenon graphic novelist Eric Glickman calls the “Jewlusion” of camp, which makes young Jews appear to be prodigiously gifted in ways athletic and romantic while away from their gentile peers.

Glickman’s first graphic novel, “Camp Pock-A-Wocknee and the Dyn-O-Mite Summer of ‘77,” inspired by his bug juice-splattered youth, will hit a rich vein of nostalgia for many who miss the halcyon days of color wars and canteen. And, if the trend of adult Jewish summer camps is any indication, there’s a lot of people looking to relive that experience. (Maybe it’s no accident Glickman has a background in advertising.)

While the book follows 15-year-old

protagonist Glick, a helpful warning on the cover alerts the buyer this is “NOT a book for kids.” And that’s not just because the many, helpfully annotated, ’70s references will resonate best with readers of a certain age.

Glickman’s comic book alter ego sets us up for raunchy expectation with his early goal: to touch a breast. Yet even as the innuendo accumulates, the portrait of Pock-a-Wocknee is fundamentally sweet.

As Glick walks us through the camp economy (a can of Coke is the coin of the realm); the urban legends (a chef rumored to be ex-Hitler youth and a mysterious stalker in a hunter-green poncho); and the summer schedule (visiting day, camp pageants, the requisite carnival), any former camper will find something to recognize — if not get a bit misty over. I found myself transported even by the crosshatched screen windows Glickman put on the page.

Cleverly constructed with a cute love story at its center, Camp Pock-a-Wocknee is for the camper who never quite grew up. Rest assured that there’s plenty of gross-out humor and a fratty emphasis on rounding sexual bases, but I’d imagine no less so than one can find at the boys’ bunks of today.

If you were missing some more overt Yiddishkeit in your last viewing of “Meatballs,” “Camp Pock-a-Wocknee” is a charming way to get your fix. Nothing can ever recapture the magic of mosquito-bitten youth, but Glickman comes close, and that alone is worth canteen privileges. PJC

Guest Columnist Barbara Lichter

Gemilut Hasadim, literally meaning “the giving of loving kindness,” is a fundamental value in the everyday lives of Jews and is, easily, the most important value children bring home from camp.

— BOOKS —

Readers share treasured memories of camp

Compiled by Toby Tabachnick | Editor

Memories of summers spent at camp hold a special place in the hearts of our readers. Color wars, first crushes, lifelong friendships forged and the joy of celebrating Shabbat form a mosaic of meaning and inspiration. We asked our readers to share some of those memories.

Barton Schachter:

Larry and Ronnie Seiden Melnick met at Camp Barney Medintz of the Atlanta JCC, as did Larry and Marcia Gadlin Gelman, and married in 1973. Linda Snow and Barton Schachter met at Emma Kaufmann Camp and married in 1970 and then moved to Atlanta where Barton was Camp Barney director and introduced the two couples. They continue the friendships that started at camp in 1970.

Ronna Harris Askin:

When I was 7 years old, I went to Emma Kaufmann Camp for the first time. On the first night in the cabin it was very quiet. I

said, “Boy, it’s so quiet, I don’t even hear the lions roar.” My bunkmates thought I was totally crazy. But I grew up near the Highland Park Zoo. On summer nights all our windows were open, and we could hear the nocturnal lions roar!

At EKC we would light Shabbat candles before dinner on Friday nights. I was chosen to light the candles for the entire dining hall. Of course, I knew the blessing perfectly well. Prior to dinner, there was a minirehearsal. When it was my turn to stand at the candles and recite the blessing, I totally froze at the words “ashare kid’shanu.” My counselor took both of my hands between hers and said, “A share. We will share together.” I can’t tell you how old I was nor who the counselor was. But, to this very day, every Shabbat when I light candles I am back in that EKC dining hall with my hands being gently held by the counselor who told me to “share.”

My EKC bunkmates and I are now 74. I still keep in touch with several of my camp friends. Thank you Facebook. One of my friends said that she has a heartfelt dream that someday we will all get apartments at Riverview on the same floor. Every evening after dinner we will gather in the hall and sing camp songs! Sign me up

Rich Keitel:

I worked for 17 summers at the nowdefunct Camp Sussex in Sussex, New Jersey. It was started in the 1920s to bring Jewish children who lived in the tenements of New York City out to the country. Mel Brooks attended camp there.

I worked for two summers at Goldman Union Camp Institute in Zionsville, Indiana,

with my two sons. There was a tragic lightning strike one summer, and my son Jordan Keitel helped save a young girl’s life by performing CPR on her immediately after she was hit. My other son, Daniel Keitel, was the camp song leader and would lead the camp during Shabbat services and song sessions.

I have tons of great memories and photographs from both camps. PJC

— LOCAL —

p Cottage grounds, Emma Kaufmann Camp, Harmony, Pennsylvania, summer of 1964 Photo courtesy of Rodney Fink

p Top row, from left: Marcia Gelman, Larry Melnick and Larry Gelman; lower row, from left: Ronnie Melnick, Linda Schachter and Barton Schachter Photo courtesy of Barton Schachter

p Camp Sussex Photo courtesy of Rich Keitel

p Rich Keitel and sons Jordan and Daniel at Goldman Union Camp Institute Photo courtesy of Rich Keitel

p Cottage grounds, Emma Kaufmann Camp, Harmony, Pennsylvania, summer of 1964. From left, front row: Mark Rice, MD, Steve Caplan, Pharm.D., Mark Pechersky, DMD, Rodney Fink, Esq. From left, back row: Ed Kramer, Ken Siger, Jim Grossman (unit head), Lee Trachtenberg, MD

Photo courtesy of Rodney Fink

Photo courtesy

A James and Rachel Levinson Day Camp counselor enjoys the summer with campers in Monroeville.

Photo courtesy of the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh

campers

tennis match. Photo courtesy of the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh

Squirrel Hill. Photos courtesy of Camp Gan Israel, Chabad of Squirrel Hill

Shapiro:

Continued from page 1

family, and in my faith,” Shapiro said at the beginning of his address. “May their memories be a blessing,” the Democrat said later to the wives of two soldiers who were killed in the line of duty.

Then, during a run about how Pennsylvania was founded on religious tolerance by William Penn, Shapiro explained that, “In this place of tolerance, I stand before you a proud American of Jewish faith, who just took the oath of office to be the 48th governor of this great commonwealth on a bible from the Tree of Life synagogue, the scene just four years ago of the deadliest act of antisemitism in our nation’s history.”

Shapiro paused as the audience clapped. About a minute later, he brought back his favorite line to paraphrase from the Talmud. “It will require all of us to build on Penn’s promise,” he said, setting it up. “My own faith teaches me that no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it.”

Shapiro calls that Pirkei Avot line his guiding principle for public service. He quoted it in his campaign kickoff speech at Penn State-Abington in October 2021, at his election night victory party at The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in November and again at his inauguration.

But he does not just use the line to express his guiding principle. He uses it to connect with voters from all faiths.

“Each of us can make a contribution,” Shapiro said to the crowd of hundreds. “We’ve shown that, when it’s all on the line, Pennsylvanians step up and do their part.”

Greenfield:

Continued from page 1

Chabad of Greenfield Co-Director Rabbi Yitzi Goldwasser said that he was concerned about the recent antisemitic activity. He pointed out that Jews in the community are in the minority and that several circumstances might be contributing to the incidents.

“One of the issues is that there’s a bus stop, right by the PNC Bank, taking people from other neighborhoods,” he said. “Then there’s a bar up the street. We have drunk people that walk by on nights and weekends — it’s a regular thing — and there are teens looking for trouble.”

Goldwasser said that, especially in the shadow of the massacre at the Tree of Life building, people are anxious.

“When something like this happens, people are scared by it. Especially with people who might have had drugs or alcohol, hate could present itself not just verbally. It does make people scared, especially parents, children and the elderly, who can’t just run away. It does

Encyclopedia:

The member of the Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park — in the northern suburbs outside Philadelphia — is the third Jewish governor in Pennsylvania history.

The first, Milton Shapp of Philadelphia, who served as governor from 1971 to 1979, changed his name from Shapiro to Shapp decades earlier to help his business career. (He became a multimillionaire in the television industry.) The second Jewish governor, Ed Rendell, led Philadelphia as mayor from 1992 to 2000 and then Pennsylvania as chief executive from 2003 to 2011. Rendell never hid his Jewish identity or changed his name. But he also did not make it part of his political persona.

Shapp died in 1994 at 82. Rendell is 79 and last held political office more than a decade ago. Shapiro, 49, is of a different generation.

Rabbi Gregory Marx of Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen — another suburb of Philadelphia — joined Shapiro and other religious leaders on stage for the invocation. Marx and Shapiro have been friendly for more than two decades. Marx said that Shapiro’s open and proud Judaism “can only be good for the Jewish community.”

But he stopped short of calling Shapiro’s representation progress.

“I think it’s who Joshua Shapiro is. I don’t want to say that America is changing. I’m not sure if it is or not. But Josh Shapiro is proud of his faith,” he said. “In some ways, you can argue that America has gotten more xenophobic.”

Others, though, think that Shapiro does represent progress.

Adam Stout, a Philadelphia resident, convert to Judaism and member of Congregation Kol Emet in Yardley, Pennsylvania, drove the two

make them panic,” he said.

Brokos said that neither she nor the police knew why there has been a recent uptick in this type of antisemitic incident, but noted that Pittsburgh is in the midst of an increased “threat tempo.”

It is unknown if the suspects are affiliated with the Black Hebrew Israelites, “a fringe religious movement that rejects widely accepted definitions of Judaism and asserts that people of color are the true children of Israel,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. The religious sect, and its belief that the traditional Jewish community are ‘fake Jews’ gained traction among some when Kayne West posted Israelite memes on his Twitter account on Oct. 9, and on Oct. 27, when NBA star Kyrie Irving posted a link to the movie “Hebrews to Negroes,” which advanced Israelite theology.

Another area of tension might be the recent increase in the number of Jews in Greenfield. Both Brokos and Goldwasser noted, though, that there was no proof that the suspects were from the neighborhood. In

hours west to Harrisburg to see the Democrat get inaugurated. He called it “historic to see our third Jewish governor, especially in light of what I would say is a rise in antisemitism.” Stout added that he “got emotional” as Shapiro stood up there as “a proud Jewish American.”

Stout converted because he felt that Judaism was an “action-oriented, life-affirming faith.” He said both values came across in Shapiro’s speech.

“It’s about living a life in the moment and doing your best to enhance the lives of others,” he added.

Stout also believes that Shapiro’s victory shows the religion’s crossover appeal.

“The values of the Jewish faith are not just exclusive to Judaism,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we share with Christians, Muslims, even Hindus and Buddhists. All the other faiths.”

Rabbi Shaya Deitsch of the Lubavitch of Montgomery County attended Shapiro’s inaugural celebration on the night of Jan. 17 at Rock Lititz Studio in Lancaster County, about a half-hour east of Harrisburg. Shapiro has spoken at Lubavitch events for “many years,” Deitsch said. The Chabad rabbi is “very proud” of Shapiro’s public identity. He also called it “important.”

“We need Jewish leaders. And he’s a good representative of the Jewish people,” Deitsch explained. “He’s a real mensch. He’s very humble. Having him represent us is not just Jewish pride but pride as an American citizen.”

“I believe very strongly that when you’re not embarrassed about your Judaism, when you wear it openly and proud, and educate people about your Jewishness, like he spoke today, people see that and learn from it,”

fact, Goldwasser said, that since the suspects got on a bus, they might not be part of the larger Greenfield community.

Brokos said that Federation and law enforcement take it seriously any time a member of the Jewish community is harassed because of their beliefs or appearance.

“Much of the work we’ve done in the Jewish community is to teach our members to stand up and say, ‘This is not OK. This is wrong and we need to report it,’” she said.

Following the recent incidents, the Greenfield community members did exactly what they were supposed to do — report the incidents to law enforcement. Brokos urged anyone with information about the verbal attacks to contact the Federation and the police.

“It’s absolutely essential,” she said. “We don’t want this trend to continue, and we need to learn more about why this particular rhetoric is being spread in this particular area.”

Goldwasser said that he and Chabad of Greenfield have good relations with their neighbors, pointing to both Chanukah

he added. “A lot of antisemitism comes from the lack of understanding of what Judaism is all about.”

University of Pittsburgh students Ira Scheer and Raya Gilman also know Shapiro’s family and attended the inaugural party. Scheer grew up a congregant at Lower Merion Synagogue on the Main Line and graduated from the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Shapiro’s alma mater and the school his kids attend. Gilman came of age at the Reform Beth Or and then the Conservative Ohev Shalom of Bucks County. Like Scheer, she graduated from Barrack.

Gilman explained that Shapiro’s representation of the Jews is so important that, even if she disagreed with him on issues, which she doesn’t, she would still vote for him. She recalled that her mom “started to cry” when she saw Shapiro’s campaign ad about how he makes sure to get home for Shabbos dinner with his family.

“He was proud of it, which I think is very important,” Gilman said.

But he’s not just proud of it, according to Scheer. He uses it. The Pitt student sounded like the governor when he talked about how Shapiro does that.

“Him being openly Jewish, and then going out there to meet with every other community that Pennsylvania has, really shows that our backgrounds don’t define us and separate us as much as many people want it to seem,” Scheer said. “We’re Jewish Pennsylvanians; we’re Black Pennsylvanians; we’re any Pennsylvanian you are. Together, we’re Pennsylvanians.” PJC

Jarrad Saffren writes for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

and Sukkot celebrations that included shutting down Murray Avenue for community celebrations.

The rabbi said that the Greenfield Jewish community isn’t naive, though, and it is taking steps to further secure its synagogue building and those who come to celebrate Jewish life.

If the recent antisemitic incidents were intended to intimidate the community, Goldwasser said, they were failed attempts.

“The community’s going to keep growing and thriving and celebrating who we are,” he said. “This has happened too often, unfortunately. The biggest job we have right now is to strengthen our communities and not feel ashamed of who we are or guilty or apologize for it. We’re going to keep doing what we do in a safe way and we’re doing to get along with our neighbors and do everything in a peaceful way. We contribute a lot to our neighborhoods and we’re going to continue to do that.” PJC

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

Continued from page 3

Encyclopedia? I don’t know, but for years he wrote the “Question Box” column for a local Catholic paper “The Pittsburgh Observer,” and so he would have appreciated having a handy repository of religious knowledge.

Rev. S. Edward Young of the Second Presbyterian Church donated. Rodef Shalom sold its Eighth Street synagogue downtown to Second Presbyterian Church in 1904, as it prepared to relocate to its new home on Fifth Avenue.

Second Presbyterian allowed Rodef Shalom to remain in the building for three years as construction proceeded.

Young and Levy became friends. They both spoke at the last Rodef Shalom service at the Eighth Street synagogue. In his remarks, Levy compared their friendship “to that which existed between Damon and Pythias.” Young cried.

“Interfaith relations” is a neutral term. They can be positive or negative. Maurice Ruben and Rev. A. R. Kuldell both donated.

They were associated with the House of the New Covenant Mission to the Jews, which sought to convert local Jews to Christianity. PJC

Eric Lidji is the director of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. He can be reached at rjarchives@heinzhistorycenter. org or 412-454-6406.

Concerned about Israel’s new government? Continue financial support

Guest Columnist Brian Eglash

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently formed a new government with several parties that are either Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) or on the fringes of Israeli politics. Sadly, these parties’ perspective on Diaspora Jewry is either misguided due to ignorance or downright prejudiced. I am an Israeli citizen and ardent Zionist who formerly served in the Israel Defense Forces. I put my life on the line in a combat unit to protect my fellow Israelis, regardless of whether they were Jews, Arab Muslims, Christians, Druze, members of the LGBTQ+ community, secular, religious or people of color. That is one of the reasons why I continue to be disturbed by the endless fray of sinat chinam (baseless hatred) that has caused our homeland’s downfall on multiple occasions. But I am not writing this piece to fret about the Israeli political scene. Rather, I am concerned about voices across the Diaspora, including in my own community, calling not only for disengagement from Israel but also for withdrawal of charitable support that enables our own Jewish charitable institutions to provide life-enhancing and, in some cases, lifesaving services. Many community members feel that withdrawing their support sends a disapproving message to

the newly elected government in Israel. With all due respect to this intention, American Jews decreasing their charitable support won’t change Israeli government policy; rather, decreasing charitable support may have the reverse effect. First and foremost, withdrawing support may reduce the influence we already have on pluralism in Israel through collaborations such as the Israel Religious Expression Platform (iRep). iRep is a consortium of Jewish Federations — including Pittsburgh’s — working to advance meaningful change to the secular/religious status quo and to promote pluralism and diversity of Jewish expression in Israel. The iRep committee makes decisions on strategy, budget and allocations to support Israeli NGOs that promote Jewish religious pluralism in Israel. iRep has four primary areas of focus: (1) marriage freedom (i.e., civil marriages and ability to get married outside the Rabbinate); (2) pluralistic options for b’nei mitzvah; (3) meaningful options for all Jewish Israelis to celebrate Jewish holidays; and (4)working with decision-makers (especially elected officials) to promote Jewish diversity. iRep also serves a unique role as a convener for the NGOs at the forefront of the battle for religious pluralism in Israel.

Support for iRep, together with Federation support for the different streams of Judaism in Israel, is crucial to ensuring religious pluralism in Israel. Support for Federation helps our overseas core partner the Jewish Agency for Israel influence the Israeli government and gives Diaspora Jews a voice. JAFI has led the charge

for egalitarian prayer space and freedom of worship at the Kotel, an ongoing challenge that is likely to intensify under the new government. Our Federation also does important work in partnership with JAFI and Jewish Federations of North America by educating members of Knesset on the importance of a strong and reciprocal Diaspora relationship with Israel. In fact, pre-pandemic, a delegation made up of members of Knesset from across the political/ religious spectrum visited our community to learn about the vibrancy and diversity of Jewish Pittsburgh. Moreover, JAFI is our seat at the proverbial table with the Israeli government and gives Diaspora Jews a much-deserved voice, and it is more important now than ever to be heard loud and clear.

Withdrawing support also puts at risk the progress we have made in shared society between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews. Whether it is providing the seed funding for the first Arab/Jewish kindergarten in the Galilee, working with Moona to teach STEM to Arabs and Jews in the Karmiel and Misgav region, or supporting vocational training for Arabs and Jews at NICAT (Northern Israel Center for Arts and Technology), our Federation is making important investments in the present and future of the state of Israel. Shared society also extends to the anti-discrimination laws protecting the rights of the LGBTQ community, religious and secular Jews, women, Ethiopian Israelis and other people of color. Our work educating and lobbying Israeli government officials will be

The radical antisemitism of the JVP

Guest Columnist

Hannah Margolis

On Nov. 3, the official Twitter account of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, the lobbying wing of the far-left organization Jewish Voice for Peace, claimed that the shared values of the United States and Israel are “super racist.”

Five days later, the JVPA retweeted a statement that “Zionists”—a thinly veiled dog whistle for “Jews”—“will happily burn down democracy everywhere.”

On Dec. 13, JVP tweeted, “Being pro-Israel in America also means being complicit in conservative efforts to sustain white supremacy, roll back reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, and weaken democracy.”

These statements are part of a long history of antisemitic tropes that claim Jews are the source of the world’s misfortune and epitomize what a given society perceives to be ultimate evil.

Do not be fooled by its moniker. Jewish Voice for Peace does not advocate peace of any kind. Its goals are simple: Delegitimize the state of Israel and promote antisemitism.

Worse still, the organization has a significant following on social media and maintains chapters on college campuses around the country.

In Pittsburgh, where I am a student at the University of Pittsburgh, JVP in October 2022 promoted a blatantly slanderous petition calling for “honest coverage of Israeli attacks on Palestinians from the NY Times.”

The petition in question demanded that The New York Times demonize Israel’s defensive actions in response to Palestinian terrorism committed by the “Lion’s Den” terror group

In 2021, JVP promoted the discredited “Deadly Exchange” conspiracy theory, which falsely claims that Israel trains American police officers to use violence against people of color.

The petition claimed, without evidence, that “U.S. police are using the tactics of occupying armies [Israel] on the people of this country.” In effect, the petition blamed Israel for the problem of police brutality and American racism. This is a classic example of JVP exploiting antisemitism by holding Jews responsible for America’s social problems.

This not only harms Israel and Jews, but also the United States. The Anti-Defamation League proposed bringing Israeli and American law enforcement together because Israel has been dealing with the constant threat of terrorism since it was created. After 9/11, it became clear that the U.S. could benefit from Israel’s decades of counter-terrorism experience.

The JVP’s opposition to exchanges between

American and Israeli police that involve “no tactical or military training whatsoever” is deaf to legitimate concerns about American domestic terrorism. This is all the more true following the deadly shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018.

Spewing lies about and fomenting hatred against both Jews and Israel is not without consequences. A 2022 report published by the AMCHA Initiative documented 254 attacks on Jewish identity in the 2021-’22 school year alone, double the previous year. The report notes that “attempts to disconnect Zionism from Judaism and from progressive causes nearly tripled.”

JVP also attempts to negate the legitimacy of Israel and the Jewish connection to the land by defining Zionism as “a settler-colonial movement” To JVP, indigenous rights and self-determination apply to everyone except Jews.

Israel is and has always been the homeland of the Jews, and the Jews have maintained their connection to it for centuries. They prayed toward Jerusalem. The Amidah prayer contains an entire verse dedicated to the return to Israel: “May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy. Blessed are you, Lord, who restores His Divine Presence to Zion.” On Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover it is customary to say, “Next year in Jerusalem.”

This is why, when given the opportunity, the Jews returned to the land in a series of

extremely important to uplift the voices and rights of these communities.

If American Jews withdraw charitable support, they will put at risk progress in integrating Haredi Jews (12% of Israeli society) into the workforce. Our investment over the years — programs that promote and support Haredi soldiers serving in the IDF as well as the JDC Hanoch program that helps to integrate Haredi Jews into the workforce without removing them from their community — and other such initiatives ensure the Haredi sector can contribute productively to the Israeli economy.

Reducing charitable support also impedes our focus on aliyah, a centerpiece of Zionism that has enabled Israel to absorb 75,000 Jews in 2022 alone. As a result of the ongoing war, 17,000 Ukrainian Jews made aliyah in 2022, an additional 37,000 and counting have left Russia for Israel, and by year’s end an additional 3,000 Jews will have arrived from Ethiopia on the heels of a civil war. Our core overseas partner, JAFI, is uniquely positioned to lead the charge of protecting the “grandparent clause” to Israel’s Law of Return. They have spoken out repeatedly and recently shared their concerns in an unusually direct missive to the newly elected prime minister, along with the JFNA and World Zionist Organization. We will continue advocating to protect this vital tenant of Zionism.

Not only does cutting funding for Federations

modern aliyot. Despite Arab violence against the Jews, the olim built a proto-state against all odds, and ultimately accepted the 1947 Partition Plan that would create a Jewish state alongside an Arab state. Arab leaders rejected the plan and launched a war on reborn Israel, preventing the establishment of the Arab state.

This rejectionism has not changed. Since 1947, all two-state solutions that have been proposed have been rejected by Palestinian and Arab leaders.

None of this matters to JVP. To them, Israel and Israel alone is to blame for the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict. And this is not enough for them. Israel must be at fault for all the problems of the United States as well.

The lies promoted by JVP to college-age audiences around the U.S. damage perception of Israel and directly conflate the evils of the world, such as racism, colonialism and other forms of violence, with Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Beyond its blatant antisemitism, however, perhaps the most egregious aspect of JVP is that it engages in such behavior while hiding behind the excuse that they are a Jewish organization aiming for a “Judaism beyond Zionism.” PJC

Hannah Margolis is a CAMERA fellow and a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. This column first appeared on JNS.

Chronicle poll results: George Santos

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Should George Santos be forced to resign from Congress?” Of the 315 people who responded, 94% said yes; 4% said no; and 2% said they weren’t sure. Comments were submitted by 101 people. A few follow.

It’s ridiculous that he’s still there. He lied about everything. In a normal job, he’d have been fired a long time ago.

He can serve his two years. I do not think he will be re-elected, but it is the voters’ decision.

It’s a travesty that he’s still there! In a more just world, he would be removed from office expeditiously because it’s right and to make an example of him. Sadly, the speaker won’t do this since he desperately needs his support.

Continued from page 14

prove counterproductive in Israel, but it also shortchanges people in North America. With immersive Israel experiences that have a profound impact on Jewish identity; life-enhancing work helping people in need; community relations efforts to combat surging antisemitism; and Jewish community security programs to protect you, your family, and our entire Jewish community, Jewish Federations keep everyone in our community included, supported and inspired. Reducing support for Federations puts the important work that we do here and in Israel in jeopardy at a time when it is more important than ever.

At this moment, we must lean into our

He is a fraud. He lied to the voters of his district about every aspect of his life. And based upon interviews of his district’s voters, some voted for him because he claimed he was Jewish. Who says lying doesn’t matter?

What kind of message are we sending to our children and society at large if an elected official is not held accountable for blatant lies?

That there is any question as to whether he should resign reflects on the sad state of American politics.

All politicians lie about everything. Whoever voted for him should remember his lies the next time he runs.

He was elected on false pretenses. Speaker McCarthy saying that the voters have spoken is disingenuous, since the voters actually elected a college-educated, financial investment worker who is the grandchild of Holocaust survivors. They did not elect George Santos.

Treat him like a Democrat. I do not like a liar, but the Democrats do it all the time.

It is not uncommon for people to

LETTERS

historic relationship that precedes the founding of the state. Withdrawing or reducing support will likely be counterproductive, short-sighted, and harmful both to Diaspora Jews’ voice in Israel and to those who need charitable support the most through our collective impact. By using resources that are made possible through our community’s charitable contributions, we can instead strive to live our values, speak up for the most vulnerable and protect the rights that make Israel the just, vibrant and diverse Jewish homeland it is and has always strived to be. PJC

Brian Eglash is the chief development officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

the Chronicle Book Club!

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Feb. 5 discussion of “Waking Lions” by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. The novel was a joint winner of the prestigious 2017 Jewish Quarterly Wingate literary prize. From the New York Times: “Eitan Green, the protagonist of the Israeli author Ayelet Gundar-Goshen’s novel ‘Waking Lions,’ is a respected neurosurgeon who has been forced by a professional dispute to relocate from Tel Aviv to Beersheba, a desert town where dust is everywhere, ‘a thin white layer, like the icing on a birthday cake no one wants.’ Speeding through a remote area in his S.U.V. late one night, he hits an Eritrean man walking by the roadside. And when he decides that the victim is beyond help, he impulsively flees the scene. ... ‘Waking Lions’ is a sophisticated and darkly ambitious novel, revealing an aspect of Israeli life rarely seen in its literature.”

Your Hosts:

Toby Tabachnick, editor

David Rullo, staff writer

How and When: We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Feb. 5, at noon.

What To Do

Buy: “Waking Lions.” It is available from online retailers including Barnes & Noble and Amazon (new and used editions). There are also several copies available in the Carnegie Library system.

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

Happy reading! PJC Toby

embellish their qualifications. I think that everyone agrees that what Santos did was outright lie to the voters. The danger of a forced resignation is that absent specific standards for its use (what and who triggers the action), it will become a political weapon to use against select members of the opposite party. I would rather see another election between the original candidates jointly paid for by the candidate and his/ her party. The threat of this kind of expense would incentivize the party machine to do their due diligence in vetting candidates they support. In a new election, the voters will know precisely who and what Santos is. If they want him as their representative knowing the facts, so be it. PJC

Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Jan. 15 was National Bagel Day. Where do you buy your bagels? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

Colfax handled word search controversy admirably

As a shomer mitzvoth Jew, a mother and a professional, I wanted to take a moment to respond to the article about a teacher at Colfax who used a word search to teach about the Holocaust (“Word search puzzles used at Colfax to teach Holocaust,” Jan. 20).

My husband and I have four kids in Colfax, and this is our seventh year being part of the Colfax family. In all those years, we have developed great relationships with many of the teachers and staff as well as with Dr. Tamara Sanders-Woods, the principal of the school. Whenever there was an issue, Dr. Woods always took the time to answer my calls, and she gave each problem the time and attention it deserved. This time was no different.

The word search in question was distributed to our oldest daughter (the great-granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor) and when I saw it, I picked up the phone and called the assistant principal. When my phone rang again, it was both the principal and assistant principal on the line.

They wanted to let me know that they had received my message, the word search was definitely a problem and they were looking into it to make sure it never happened again.

We were all in agreement.

So, yes, this word search was not appropriate for either the subject matter or the grade level. But it was one person who chose to do something that was not part of the planned curriculum or even approved for the classroom. As soon as Dr. Woods found out about the situation, she made a point to sit down and call all of the parents in the eighth-grade classes.

All of the parents.

She did not take this lightly, and it showed in the way she handled it. I couldn’t have asked for a better response from the school.

We’ve had nothing but great experiences with Colfax, and we will continue to recommend the school to anyone who asks. We appreciate all the support we’ve received over the years.

Arielle Avishai Squirrel Hill

Ready to acknowledge Israel’s faults

American Jews, at least those of a certain age, cherish the state of Israel and feel protective of it. Israel to us is little David confronting Goliath. We have overlooked and justified Israel’s flaws. The recent Chronicle poll (Jan. 13), in which 58% of respondents said that they “didn’t like” the new government of Israel overall, and 19% said they would “wait and see,” suggests that we are ready to acknowledge that Israel can have faults. As members of J Street, we believe in Israel. We are pained to see its government indulging anti-democratic actions that can only lead to fracture and disaster.

Arlene Weiner Pittsburgh

We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned. Mail or email letters to: Letters to the editor via email: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Address: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Website address: pittsburghjewishchronicle.org/letters-to-the-editor

Tabachnick

Should George Santos be forced to resign from Congress?

Eglash:

Greek lemon rice chicken soup

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

Would you like to add more flavor to your usual chicken soup? This traditional Greek version, called Avgolemeno, will delight your taste buds.

While Ashkenazi food is often based on wonderful, sweet-and-sour recipes, Sephardic and Mediterranean food most often has full-on sour flavors — which may seem strange if that’s new to you, but it’s heavenly.

I remember eating this soup when I was young, and it reminds me of hamud, a traditional Syrian dish that is made with kibbe (a combination of bulgur cracked wheat, chopped onions, spices and lean meat).

You don’t need to start this soup from scratch. Feel free to use store-bought broth and leftover roast chicken. I firmly believe in taking shortcuts if it puts homemade food on the table.

A simple way to make chicken broth is to put a whole chicken in a crockpot in the evening with a few small onions and a few stalks of celery. Cook on low overnight, cool, discard the celery and onions, then strain the broth and pull the chicken from the bones — this is an easier method than cooking broth for hours on the stovetop.

This recipe has simple ingredients that

most of us have on hand. The secret is eggs whisked with fresh lemon juice that are tempered back into the pot of soup. The addition of eggs makes the soup look and taste creamy, yet the broth still has a very light texture.

This recipe has a lot of rice and chicken that is hearty and filling but easy to digest.

Ingredients:

2 quarts (8 cups) chicken broth

3-4 cups cooked chicken

⅔cup white rice

1 medium onion, chopped

1½ cups carrots, diced

1½ cups celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 heaping teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1½ teaspoons oregano

2 eggs

½ cup fresh lemon juice

Fresh parsley or dill to garnish

Rinse the rice by measuring it into a mesh strainer and running it under water for a few minutes; or put it in a bowl, cover with water and change the water a few times. You’ll see a lot of white starch leak into the water, which is exactly what you want to see. The grains of rinsed rice stay separate

and don’t turn into mush when cooked.

If you made chicken broth or are using leftover chicken soup broth, be sure that it’s strained and any old vegetables are removed. You will sauté fresh onions, carrots and celery to add to this soup.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the soup pot, and place it over medium-low heat.

Add the onions, celery and carrots to the pot, and sauté for 10 minutes.

Stir in the fresh garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and cook for one minute, until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the rinsed rice, chicken and chicken broth to the pot along with one large bay leaf.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer for half an hour.

Whisk two eggs well in a mediumsized bowl.

Pour the fresh lemon juice into the eggs and whisk well for about a minute. The mixture will look light and frothy.

When the soup is fully cooked, take the bowl with eggs to the stovetop. Using a soup ladle, scoop one full ladle of hot chicken broth out of the pot.

With one hand, continuously whisk the egg mixture, and slowly add the hot broth into the bowl. If you pour slowly and whisk quickly you will not have any issues. If you don’t whisk quickly, or you pour too much hot broth into the bowl at once, then the eggs will scramble.

Repeat this process, then very slowly stir the egg mixture into the pot of soup. Stir the soup continuously while pouring in the egg broth mixture. The clear chicken soup broth will turn a creamy yellow color.

Remove the pot from the heat, and put the lid on immediately. It will stay very hot for half an hour.

Garnish with fresh dill or parsley before serving.

You can rewarm this soup, but you have to do it slowly and over medium-low heat or the mixture will separate. I find that the texture and broth are always best on the first day.

I hope that you enjoy this flavorful Greek soup. Bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

 Greek lemon rice chicken soup

Photo by Jessica Grann

Sacred cows, sacred lambs: The Exodus and liberation from idolatry

heritage of the Patriarchs out of desperation born of slavery.

Along with the narrative of the Exodus, our Torah portion introduces the practices that would keep its memory alive throughout the generations, including the mitzvah to retell the Exodus every Passover. The mishna (Pesachim 10:4) famously teaches that the story of the Exodus told on the night of Pesach needs to be told as a trajectory from genus, disgrace, to shevach, praise, without clearly defining what that means. There are two opinions in the Talmud as to what these bookends are, both of which are incorporated into our text of the Haggadah. According to Shmuel, this refers to the journey from slavery to freedom, which seems to be the more intuitive approach. According to Rav, the obligation is to chart the spiritual evolution of the Jewish people — from idolatry to the worship of Hashem. This explains why, in the course of telling the story of leaving Egypt, we say: “Originally our ancestors were idolators.”

The focus on the struggle against idolatry as a key component of the story of the Exodus can actually be found in Tanach itself. The prophet Ezekiel (20:7) describes a prophetic campaign to the Jews while they were still slaves in Egypt. According to Ezekiel they were urged to “Cast ye away every man the detestable things of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt.” This description evokes a different image of the Jews in Egypt, beyond just their slavery. It describes the Jews having become intimately involved with the religious life of the Egyptians.

What led to this entanglement with idolatry? How did the children and grandchildren of Yaakov lose sight of their heritage? Perhaps there was a campaign of apostasy mounted by the Egyptians with the goal of wiping out the Jews by eradicating their identity and belief system, as is suggested by the Ritva (13th/14th century Spain). It may have been an internal process of assimilation, whereby the Jews gradually adopted the ways of the Egyptians. Or perhaps their entanglement with idolatry reflects a rejection of the

Chai

Chai

Chai

As part of the process of redemption, the Jews needed to reject the idolatry of Egypt. The most powerful symbol of this was the Korban Pesach (Paschal lamb), which, as a number of medieval commentators explain, was a highly charged act in an Egypt that venerated the sheep as a divine symbol. By their willingness to publicly take and slaughter the lamb, and daub its blood on their doors, the Jews made a decisive and brave statement of their intent to strike out in a new theological direction.

The Meshech Chochmah (R Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, 19th/20th century Latvia) writes that this is a fundamental aspect of the Korban Pesach, and that, in fact, part of the process of national repentance for the sin of idolatry throughout the generations is the offering of the Korban Pesach. Hence, while the Jews may not have been formally obligated in Korban Pesach until they settled in Eretz Yisrael, two offerings of the Korban Pesach are described in the wilderness years: one in the year following the Exodus, and one led by Joshua at the end of the 40 years of wandering when they entered the Land. These special offerings were brought as a response to national episodes of apostasy of the Golden Calf in the first year and Ba’al Peor in the 40th. Similarly, the Bible emphasizes that when Kings Hezekiah and Josiah led national campaigns rejecting idolatry that they culminated in an offering of the Korban Pesach.

While we live in a world where formal idolatry is not a burning issue, the idea that part of our identity as Jews is being countercultural, of being able to critically examine and reject those messages that we receive that run contrary to the Torah, continues to be one of our great contemporary challenges. Reflecting at the Seder on the bravery of Jews through the ages who were able to reject the tide and uphold the values of the Torah is, as Rav taught, a fundamental goal of the Seder. PJC

Rabbi Daniel Yolkut is the rabbi of Congregation Poale Zedeck. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

Every Friday in the

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea.

Every Friday in the

Every Friday in the

News for people who know we don’t mean spiced tea. and all the time online

Every Friday in the and all the time online

@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

For home delivery, call 410.902.2300, ext. 1.

@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

For home delivery, call 410.902.2300, ext. 1.

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Rabbi Daniel Yolkut Parshat Bo Exodus 10:1 - 13:16

LANDAY: Marjorie Rosendale Landay, on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, at age 87. Beloved wife of 53 years of the late Alan S. Landay, and daughter of the late Edward Rosendale and late Sylvia Wechsler Rosendale Rosenzweig; beloved mother of Mark (Patricia) Landay of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Edward Landay, her caretaker for many years; proud grandmother of David Asher Landay of Los Angeles and Drue (Brian) Landay-Wayne of Pismo Beach, California. Also survived by her adoring first cousins Caryl (Irv) Halpern, Marlyn Gilbert of Beachwood, Ohio, Richard Speer (Barbara) of Pepper Pike, Ohio, John (Mary Nelson) Wechsler of Greenwich, Connecticut, Robert (Emily Aber) Wechsler of North Haven, Connecticut, nieces and nephews Marc Zelenski (Lynn), Jill Marcus (Jan Lott), and Jim Marcus (Marlene) and their extended families. Special thanks to her caregivers provided by Caregiver Connection of JFCF, specially Dawna Smith, Donna Price and Kara Beringer. Marjie loved travel, allowing her to take many wonderful trips with Alan and helping others to enjoy travel through her long-term career at Mon Valley Travel. She was proudly involved with National Council of Jewish Women as an advocate for women’s rights and opportunities. She had a great eye for fashion and was always well dressed for any occasion. Marjie also enjoyed playing canasta and mahjong with good friends. Graveside services and interment were held at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. A memorial service is planned for July for friends. Contributions may be made to Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, the National Council of Jewish Women, 1620 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, or to a charity of the donor’s choice. schugar.com

MARKOWITZ: Ruth Markowitz, 94, passed away on Jan. 1, 2023. She was the beloved wife of Morton Markowitz for 71 years. Ruth was born in Pittsburgh on Jan. 30, 1928, daughter of Morris and Diane Boksenbaum. She was the valedictorian of her high school class at Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill and attended the University of Pittsburgh on a full academic scholarship, where she trained as a teacher and was also a docent at the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning Nationality Rooms. After college she taught business classes at various schools in Pittsburgh. Ruth spent most of her adult life helping and visiting with the sick, impaired and elderly. She was very committed to and involved in various organizations in the Pittsburgh Jewish community, serving as president of the Hillel Academy PTA, the Poale Zedeck Synagogue Sisterhood, and, for 10 years, the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Jewish Association on Aging. In her spare time, Ruth loved to bake, cook and entertain in her home. She spent many summers with her children at the outdoor pool of the Jewish Community Center. She was an avid reader and enjoyed going to the symphony and ballet with Mort. Family came first for Ruth. She and Mort never refused an invitation to visit with family, and they traveled many times from Pittsburgh to Rhode Island, Chicago and New York for simchas and to stay involved in their children’s and grandchildren’s lives. Ruth is survived by her husband, Morton, of Pittsburgh; her children, Michael Markowitz and his wife, Deborah, of Brooklyn; David Markowitz and his wife, Surah Leah, of Far Rockaway, New York; Marian and her husband, Barry Bessler, of Providence, Rhode Island; and Marcia and her husband, Scott Dodelson, of Chicago; and her grandchildren, Erica, Marcy, Ora Lee, Yoni, Avi, Max, Talia, Matthew, Ilana, David and Coby. She was predeceased by her brother, Mervin Boksenbaum, and her granddaughter Danielle. Contributions in er name may be made to Congregation Poale Zedeck or the charity of your choice.

Morris E. Ogun, of Pittsburgh, passed away on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023, at the age of 85 after a valiant battle with a lengthy and difficult illness. Morris was the beloved son of Joseph and Rikel and adored sibling of Jack Ogun and Sarah Stein. Morris is survived by the wife he adored, Davida (Morris and Davida celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on Jan. 21, 2023), daughter Rachelle and son Harvey. He is also survived by his nieces Rebecca and Beth and nephews Howard and David, who enjoyed a close relationship with their uncle (much of that due to him helping out with a family newspaper route spearheaded by his nephew Howard!). Born in Irwin, Pennsylvania, Morris was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. After college, he relocated to Harrisburg and embarked on a long, enjoyable and fulfilling career as a pharmacist with retail chains. This included a lengthy tenure with Peoples Drug in downtown Harrisburg before finishing up his pharmacy career with Rite Aid. Morris had an unparalleled work ethic but balanced that with a beautiful devotion to family and his hobbies. After retirement, Morris used his free time to enjoy his hobbies of keeping close tabs on the Pittsburgh Pirates, the stock market and current events, along with serving on the board of directors of Kesher Israel in Harrisburg.  A funeral service was held Monday, Jan. 23, at Adath Jeshurun emetery. Donations in Morris’ memory may be made to Kesher Israel (kesherisrael.org/).

REICH: Jay S. Reich Jr., formerly of Pittsburgh, passed away on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, at the age of 74 in Boca Raton, Florida. Jay was the beloved son of Doris and Jay Reich Sr., and the adored brother of Judy Reich (jreich222@att.net) and her fiancé Dave Marti of St. Louis, Missouri. Formerly from Churchill, Pennsylvania, Jay graduated from Shady Side Academy in 1966 and American University in 1970. After college, Jay worked for his father at Jay Reich Advertising, Inc., one of the largest advertising agencies in the region. Jay had an intense love of music,

especially the compositions of Bob Dylan. In high school he worked as the record librarian for Chuck Brinkman, one of Pittsburgh’s most popular Top 40 DJs at KQV radio. From 1972-1977 Jay was manager for guitar legend Roy Buchanan. He recruited Billy Price as lead singer and other Pittsburgh musicians, bassist John Harrison and drummer Byrd Foster, to play in Roy’s band. Reich booked Buchanan at major venues throughout North America and Europe including Heinz Hall-Pittsburgh, Carnegie Hall-New York City, Newport Jazz Festival-Rhode Island, the Roxy and the Troubadour-Los Angeles, and the Spectrum-Philadelphia. He negotiated Roy’s recording contract with Atlantic Records. Until the time of his death, Jay was an energy manager/consultant for Chrislynn Energy Services. Jay was an avid golfer and a dedicated fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates and University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Jay will be missed by his many loving friends and family. A celebration of life for friends and family was held in Boca Raton on Sunday, Jan. 22. Donations in Jay’s memory may be made to: “The Class of 1966 Memorial Hall Library Project” at Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, at website: supportssa.org.

ROSENBLOOM: Natalie M. Rosenbloom, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Beloved wife of the late Dr. David A. Rosenbloom. Beloved mother of Elizabeth (Jay) Winston, Howard (Chris) Rosenbloom and Jeffrey Rosenbloom. Sister of JoAnn (Mike) Fishbein and children, Scott (Shelly) Meyers and children, and Lee (Karen) Meyers and children. Also five grandchildren: Rory, Zoe and Kanzie Winston, and Jacob and Zev Rosenbloom. Natalie was a member of Hadassah, NA’AMAT and Beth Shalom Sisterhood. She enjoyed playing mahjong and bridge along with taking walks. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, 826 Hazelwood Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (pittsburghfoodbank.org) or Beth Shalom Cemetery (bethshalompgh.org). schugar.com

RUDEL: David I. Rudel, 91, of Pittsburgh (formerly of Johnstown), died peacefully Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023, at Seneca Manor. He was born in Johnstown on Sept. 26, 1931, son of the late Abe and Rae Rudel. He married Charlotte Harris at Rodef Sholom Synagogue in Johnstown on Dec. 19, 1954, and they enjoyed 62 years of marriage. He is survived by five children: Neil (Dianne) of Duncansville; Mark (Gail) of Marietta, Georgia; Barry (Debra) of Churchill; Miriam (Kevin) Quast of Penn Hills; and Karen (Fred) Reb of Paris, France. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren: Nikole (Greg), Gino (Jessica), Adam (Rebecca),

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS —

Sunday January 29: Clara Deutch, Myer Feldman, Isadore F. Frank, Benjamin Harris, Bess M. Levenson, Albert Dale Malyn, Frank Miller, Sophie Paransky, Max Rosenfeld, Louis E. Rosenthall, Harry Schlesinger, Leon Stein

Monday January 30: Sidney J. Alpern, Samuel J. Amdur, Julius Belle, Beverly Renee German, Harry Kalson, Tillie Krochmal, Dee (Dolores) Laine, Joseph H. Levin, Jeremy Marcus, Samuel Miller, Ida B. Shaffer, Edith Nayhouse Thorpe, Minnie Weller

Tuesday January 31: Marcella Apter, Anna Cohen, Celia Cohen, Edythe B. Dickerman, Julia P. Farbstein, Katie Fireman, Jennie Gold, Sarah Goldstein, Ruth W. Gusky, Max Jeremias, Harry Kaplan, Marian Papernick Lindenbaum, Morris Lipkind, Alice Lipp, Manuel L. Mason, Harry Miller, Anna Schwartz, David S. Shermer, Albert Sherry, Ruth K. Slotsky

Wednesday February 1: Jennie Bluestone, Bernita Buncher, Charles Fishkin, Ida Karp, Freda Lenchner, Katie Middleman, Lillian Myers, Louis Rosenfield, Rebecca Schutte, Meyer H. Siegal, Maurice Smith, Harry L. Steinberg, Roslyn Weinberg

Thursday February 2: Joseph Baker, Rebecca Belkin, David Allen Bertenthal, Helen Citron, Max Elinoff, Jennie Greenberger, Rachel Grinberg, Minnie S. Kopman, Sylvan A. Mendlovitz, Wallace Norman, Ciril Perer, Manuel Regenstien, Anna Gross Rosen, Jacob Rosenberg, Jacob Rosenzweig, Merle Nancy Scolnik, Pearl Sheckter, Morris Singer, Herman Smith, Eleanor Goldberg Toker

Friday February 3: Ethel Graff Braun, Moses Brown, Brenda Cramer Miller, Sarah A. Epstein, Anna C. Feigus, Minnie Feldman, Max Green, Meyer Grossman, William Gusky, Jesse L. Kann, Samuel Karp, Ida A. Leff, Fannie London, Samuel Robins, Ethel Ruben, Louis Samuels, Belle Sokolow, Sidney Stark, Louis B. Stein, Irvin H. Tapper, Phyllis Weiner Unger, Ida Winer, Morris Wolk

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following:

A gift from ... In memory of...

Jeff, Steven (Emily), Eric (Elizabeth), Alex (Becca), Rachel, Zachary, Jacob and Azriel, and three great-grandsons, Dominik, Dylan and Ari. He is also survived by a niece, nephews, cousins, sister-in law Alayne Harris and many friends. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Charlotte, brother-in-law Jerry Harris and sister-in-law Betty Harris. David was a 1949 graduate of Westmont Hilltop High School and a 1954 of Penn State University. He spent his career initially in life insurance sales and later with Heritage Real Estate. David was a lifelong Johnstowner with lifelong service to Johnstown’s Jewish community as B’nai B’rith chairman, executive board member of Beth Sholom Congregation and co-chairman of Johnstown Jewish Cemeteries for 45 years. He enjoyed playing cards and golf, watching Penn State football and, most of all, spending time with his family. Friends will be received on Friday, Jan. 27, from noon until time of funeral service at 1:30 p.m. at John Henderson Co. Funeral Home, Central Ave, Johnstown. Rabbi Irvin Brandwein officiating. Interment will be held at Grandview Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in David’s name may be made to Beth Sholom Congregation, 700 Indiana Street, Johnstown, Pa. 15905.

WEISS: Harold Carl Weiss passed away on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, at the age of 99. He was the beloved father of Sharon (Morry) Feldman and the late Jeffrey Weiss; beloved grandfather of Cara and Jamie Feldman; beloved husband of 43 years of the late Marian Weiss and beloved husband of 20 years of the late Lila Margolis; and beloved uncle, cousin and friend. Harold was born on Dec. 1, 1923, to the late Samuel and Molly Weiss. His siblings included his late brothers Phillip and Alfred. Harold was raised in Pittsburgh’s East End (Highland Park) and was a proud graduate of Peabody High School. He and his family were devoted members of B’nai Israel Synagogue. Harold attended the University of Pittsburgh, studying engineering. He very proudly served our country

in WWII as a U.S. Army sergeant in the intelligence unit in Europe. After his military service, Harold joined his father, Sam, and his brother Phillip, along with his uncle and cousins, in the meat processing business known as Penner and Weiss. In the late 1950s, Harold and his brother Phillip founded Weiss Provision Company, then located on Pittsburgh’s South Side. They created a very successful business encompassing meat processing and food distribution throughout the tri-state area. Phillip passed away in 1968 and Harold continued as the owner, expanding his business even further. Harold retired in 1995 after selling his business. In 1956, Harold married Marian Swartz and they had two children, Sharon and Jeff. Harold was the extremely proud grandfather of Cara and Jamie Feldman and father-in-law of Sharon’s husband, Morry Feldman. When Sharon married Morry, Marian and Harold felt they gained not just a son-in-law, but another son. The years were filled with loving family dinners and celebrations. Harold was delighted to attend Jamie’s graduation from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 2019 at the age of 95. Judaism was very important to Harold. He consistently contributed to many Jewish organizations, and was so proud to be part of Cara’s and Jamie’s bat mitzvahs years ago. Special thank-yous for kindness and excellent care of Harold in the past few years to: the staff at Sunrise of McCandless; Janet and Reanna of Gallagher Home Health; and Juliet and all of the caregivers at Home Instead. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment in Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Make-a-Wish Foundation, 707 Grant Street, #3700, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 or a charity of the donor’s choice. schugar.com PJC

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Life & Culture

Local Holocaust story to get world premiere at Prime Stage Theatre thanks to NEA grant

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

APittsburgh-based theater company was awarded a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which it will use to stage the world premiere of a Holocaust narrative.

Prime Stage Theatre is one of 1,251 recipients of Grants for Arts Projects awards, which total nearly $29 million.

The grant supports the stage adaptation of “Perseverance,” which is adapted from the book “Perseverance: A Holocaust Survivor’s Journey from Poland to America.” The book is co-written by Melvin Goldman and his daughter Lee Goldman Kikel, and is written from audio recordings Melvin Goldman made decades after World War II and accented by his daughter’s memories of Pittsburgh.

“I am honored to have the support of the NEA as we bring this important true story of a local Holocaust survivor who persevered and inspired many people to life on stage,” said Wayne Brinda, producing artist director of Prime Stage Theatre. “Through this play, he will continue to inspire many others.”

Goldman, who lived in Squirrel Hill, appeared to have a typical, post-war life. But the real story is another thing entirely.

Goldman saw his home destroyed, his family torn apart, his health ruined and nearly everyone he had known murdered in the death camps of the Third Reich, according to a statement from Prime Stage Theatre. Throughout his trials, he refused to let his experience destroy his faith in God or his love for humanity.

“From hearing my father’s voice, and realizing his intent to tell his story to the world, to completing the book, and now seeing this remarkable story come to life on stage, I hope this testimony of hope inspires a global audience,” said Lee Goldman Kikel.

Jason Kikel described listening to cassette tapes recorded by his grandfather, Melvin Goldman.

“Hearing this recollection, I imagined Melvin in his office, sitting in front of a tape recorder, recounting many emotions — love, nostalgia, despair and hope,” Jason Kikel said. “To see this manifest on stage at Prime Stage Theatre is a true gift. A Pittsburgh premiere is a tribute to the city he called home for over 45 years.”

L.E. McCullough wrote the play and is pleased that Prime Stage “specializes in plays that let audiences see world events through the eyes of an individual and connect with

people we might think are totally remote to us,” he said.

“Watching the story of Melvin Goldman and the Goldman family, we realize it’s our story, too,” McCullough said.

“Melvin Goldman was a natural storyteller and very astute observer of human behavior,” McCullough added. “The play is structured around his insights into not just surviving the terror of Nazism but what it took for him to rebuild his life in Pittsburgh, which ended up focusing on his artistry as a skilled jewelry designer. We see the who of Melvin Goldman unfold through the play. Each scene reveals at least one of his essential character traits, and it gives us a full picture of his extraordinary journey to heal and become the person the war had interrupted. Revealing those traits is the structure of the play.”

The premiere, for which Prime Stage is collaborating with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, is set for April. There will be two live performances at the New Hazlett Theater and then it will be streamed locally and worldwide in May with closed captioning and audio description, theater officials said.

The NEA said it is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide.

“Projects such as this one with Prime Stage Theatre strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy,” NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson said. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

—THEATER —

Promotional image for Prime Stage Theatre’s production of “Perseverance” Image courtesy of Prime Stage Theatre

MLK Day

Bowling with Temple David

Curry with chaverim

Teen Leadership Shabbaton

at CDS Community Day School students marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day with several activities.

p Sixth grader Idan Feinberg posts his personal reflections on a historical photo during an “MLK Day Gallery Walk.”

Temple Sinai’s Vegetarian Dinner Group enjoyed a Jewish Indian dinner.

From left: Carolyn and Frank Schwarz, Susan and William Cohen, Robert Kraut and Aya Betensky, Susan Blackman, Larry and Barbara Shuman (not pictured) Photo courtesy of Temple Sinai

Temple David Weiger School students, faculty and families gathered at Miracle Lanes in Monroeville for a morning of bowling. Along with enjoying time together, students sought sponsors to support various organizations including the Rauh Jewish Archives, Magen David Adom, the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry and the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

More than 60 local teens gathered for opportunities to connect, lead and learn together during a Friendship Circle Teen Leadership Shabbaton. Along with a Shabbat dinner, the weekend included outings to Zone 28 and the Second Floor of the JCC.

p Participants received training in leadership and self-care.

p The Shabbaton was supported by a grant from The SteelTree Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation.

Photos courtesy of The Friendship Circle

p Engagement Coordinator DaVonn Brown works with fifth grader Eliana Mirvish to prepare lasagna to deliver to the East End Cooperative Ministry. Photos courtesy of Community Day School

p Fourth graders Eliza Lawrence and Victoria Kostromsky collaborate with CDS Enrollment Management Director Sarah DeWitt to make no-sew tote bags from upcycled T-shirts for the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry.