Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 2-16-24

Patel battles attacks of identity politics in District 12

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

Bhavini Patel, an Edgewood Borough Council member, entered the race for District 12’s House seat in October, challenging Rep. Summer Lee in the Democratic primary. Since then, she says she has been targeted by some of Lee’s backers, in part because of her support for Israel.

A progressive with blue-collar roots and a vocal advocate for the Jewish state, Patel has garnered support from many Jews in Pennsylvania’s 12th District who are disappointed with Lee’s voting record and statements regarding Israel.

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state, Patel has released several statements and appeared at many local public events in support of Israel and the hostages held in captivity in Gaza.

The rhetoric and actions against her are amping up, she said, and may have contributed to the decision to cancel her appearance at a University of Pittsburgh event.

“It’s quite disheartening,” Patel told the Chronicle the day after the Frederick Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh canceled her speaking engagement. The congressional hopeful is an alum of the school and wasn’t planning to discuss

politics.

In a Feb. 7 Facebook post, Patel wrote: “Today, Pitt cancelled my speaking engagement citing concerns of disruption and my safety. I’m a proud graduate of Pitt and celebrate it as an institution where I found the power of my voice.”

Patel said that she was excited when offered the opportunity to speak at a Frederick Honors College alumni engagement event. She planned to discuss being the first person in her family to graduate from college and the associated challenges, the importance of internships and how to build a successful professional career.

Understanding that Pitt is a 501(c)(3) and that she is a candidate for political office, Patel said that she and the university went to great lengths to make sure no lines would be crossed.

“We went back and forth about how that would happen and what questions would be asked by the students and the guidelines within which we would operate,” she said. “Even the way it was advertised was as an alumni speaking engagement.”

Despite the work done to ensure the event remained nonpolitical, Patel said she received an email from the university the day

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

When he decided to convert to Judaism, Nico Demkin knew that standing with the Jewish people wouldn’t always be easy.

“I knew that people might say ‘You’re choosing a side or giving up being American or the values you were raised [with],'" he said. “I knew that I would face adversity. Unfortunately, I have, but that doesn’t deter me in any way.”

Demkin is working with Rabbi Aaron Meyer at Temple Emanuel of South Hills to become a Jew by choice. He’s emblematic of those who have decided to cast their lot with the Jewish community despite pervasive antisemitism.

He is aware of the increased tensions that exist between the parts of the Jewish world and various other groups — including some far-left progressives in the United States, countries that consider terrorist attacks to be legitimate forms of “resistance,” and others who support the Palestinian cause while condemning the Jewish state.

“I’m active online with a lot of Jewish groups,” he said, “and there are some converts who have been shaken up by the events.”

Demkin said that he expected that a conflict like the one begun by the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 would eventually arise.

“Unfortunately, I was correct,” he said.

A self-described leftist who grew up Roman Catholic, Demkin pondered the

Holocaust

 Bhavini Patel

Photo by Maureen Kelly Busis

Headlines

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Moshe Baran, a World War II partisan, then Pittsburgher, whose centuryplus years of life encompassed the modern Jewish story, died Feb. 3.

Baran was 103 and known worldwide for his wit, devotion and commitment to taking root in fertile soil.

Born Dec. 10, 1920, to Yosef, a trader, and Esther, a homemaker, Baran was the oldest of four children.

The family lived in Horodok, Poland, in a small home with a “dirt floor and no running water or electricity,” Baran’s grandson Boaz Munro said. “Moshe’s bubby slept in a loft above the oven in the middle of the house, because it was the warmest place to be.”

Horodok typified shtetl life.

“Twice a week, the square filled with farmers, merchants and animals,” Munro said. “On Fridays, women cooked and cleaned in preparation for Shabbat. Families gathered for dinner, and Shabbat was quiet as people refrained from work, prayed and visited neighbors.”

The start of World War II razed that reality.

Following the Soviets’ occupation of Horodok in 1939, “religious life ended and people began disappearing, sent to Siberia,” Munro said. In 1941, after the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union, “everyone had to wear a star and live in the ghetto.”

Prominent Jews, including Baran’s uncle, were shot. Baran and his brother were sent to different towns as forced laborers.

In the summer of 1942, Horodok’s Jews were exterminated.

“They were forced into a barn, gunned down and the barn was set on fire,” Munro said.

Baran and his immediate family escaped after hiding in a nearby town; his grandmother

did not. The surviving relatives ended up in Krasne, a nearby ghetto. Baran and other young men escaped again, stole weapons that the Germans had captured from the Russians and joined the partisans.

After working with the resistance group to retrieve his family and other weapons, Baran’s sister, brother and their mother “rode out of the ghetto on the wagon of a Christian farmer, who was working with the partisans,” Munro said.

Despite the escape from Krasne, another sister, who was ill, remained with their father. Two days later, Baran’s sister and father, along with 2,000 other residents of the ghetto, were shot by German soldiers.

“They burned the bodies in a huge pyre,” Munro said.

Baran continued working with the partisans.

“They ambushed garrisons and blew up railroads,” his grandson said. One of Baran’s responsibilities was lighting signal fires in the forest, so “Soviet planes could see where to drop supplies.”

After Germany eventually retreated, Baran was drafted into the Soviet army and spent three years serving before arriving, along with surviving members of his family,

to a displaced person camp in Austria.

Inside the camp, Baran met Malka Klin, a Polish orphaned survivor. Klin eventually moved to Israel. Baran, his mother and two siblings went to Shreveport, Louisiana, after relatives agreed to sponsor them. Baran and Klin corresponded for years.

The Barans eventually left Louisiana for New York, “looking for that Jewish community,” Munro said.

Baran then went to Israel, married Klin and brought her back to New York.

“He loved my bubby with a respect and admiration that is rarely seen in most marriages,” their granddaughter Eliana Munro said.

The couple became “regulars at Forest Hills Jewish Center and worked hard to build a new family,” according to their grandson Isaac Munro. They raised two daughters, Bella and Avi, “talented, intelligent, fiercely devoted girls who grew up to become talented, intelligent, fiercely devoted mothers.”

Bella made aliyah, married and raised a family in Israel. Avi married and raised a family in Pittsburgh.

After leaving New York in 1993, Moshe and Malka split their time between Squirrel Hill and the Jewish state.

Despite their advanced age, “they adapted quickly and allowed this beautiful vibrant community to become not just their home but their extended family,” Isaac Munro said.

Whether through involvement at Congregation Beth Shalom, Young Peoples Synagogue, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, Community Day School or simply “walking up and down Forbes and Murray and saying hello to friends, they found ways to weave themselves into the fabric of the lives of everyone that they touched,” the grandson added. “And they did the same in Israel.”

Aviya Baran said she would “count the days” until her grandparents returned to Israel, and when they would leave, “my heart was broken.”

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has

Moshe Baran, who told his story of survival in classrooms, documentaries and countless other settings, demonstrated several truths, according to his grandson Yosef Munro: “Protect and respect our traditions, [and] inject humor and wordplay into everything.”

Ted Goleman, who cared for Baran during the final years of his life, fondly recalled his wit.

A fter asking the centenarian the secret to living past 100, Baran told him, “Don’t die young.”

On another occasion, Goleman asked Baran whether the men would have been friends had they met at the war’s conclusion. Baran replied, “If we were, I wouldn’t have told anybody.”

Baran, who traversed a life of student, laborer, partisan, soldier, survivor, immigrant, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, storyteller and sage, epitomized the modern Jewish story, his descendants said.

He demonstrated that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and that the heart and the will can triumph if you will, and that a good teacher still knows how to learn even at any time,” Yosef Munro said.

In conversations with family, friends and students, Baran often addressed the importance of “taking root in fertile ground,” his daughter Avi Baran Munro said.

But though growth is aided by a soil’s richness, the tender’s responsibility is paramount.

B aran reiterated this charge before concluding his survivor testimony at the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education.

“If you have something of importance and you don’t share it with anybody, it’s a lost cause,” he said. “If you can contribute something to history you have an obligation to do it. There’s no excuse.” PJC

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

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p Moshe Baran Photo courtesy of Avi Baran Munro

Headlines

Raised in Pittsburgh, Pearl Berg, world’s oldest Jew, has died at 114

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

The oldest Jew in the world has died. Pearl Synenberg Berg, a supercentenarian who grew up in Pittsburgh in the 1920s, died Feb. 1 in Los Angeles. She was 114.

The Gerontology Research Group, which verifies the birthdays of centenarians, recognized Berg as the oldest Jewish person in the world, the third oldest American and the ninth oldest person in the world.

“She was just a force to be reckoned with,” said Judy Taback, Berg’s 83-year-old niece, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb Westlake Village. “Pearl had become everybody’s mother, everybody’s aunt, everybody’s grandmother.

“To have had her in my life, it was amazing.”

Berg was born Oct. 1, 1909, in Evansville, Indiana, the first child of Archibald and Anna (née Gerson) Synenberg. Shortly after her birth, Berg’s parents, both aspiring photographers, joined a traveling vaudeville show and the trio landed briefly in New Orleans. (Here, the young Pearl met her larger family for the first time, leading to the belief — which she held until her death — that she was born on Feb. 14, not Oct. 1.)

The Synenbergs intended to head north to Detroit, but ended up in Cleveland, said Taback, the family’s genealogist. By the early 1920s, they had settled in Pittsburgh, renting — and later buying — a home at 254 N. Craig St. in North Oakland.

Notice of Berg’s family first appeared in the Jewish Criterion, a predecessor to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, on Dec. 7, 1923, Rodef Shalom Congregation Archivist Martha L. Berg — no relation — said.

By 1924, Berg’s father was advertising his Forbes Street business, Massie’s Used Cars — which he billed as “Pittsburgh’s leading used car company” — in the Criterion.

On Dec. 4, 1925, the Criterion reported Berg’s election as president of a group called Gamma Ipsolon Pi. On Feb. 19, 1926, Berg’s family threw a party in her honor.

Berg was confirmed at Rodef Shalom — the date is lost to time — and attended Schenley High School, a North Oakland school and historic Pittsburgh landmark built in 1916. It closed in 2008 due to asbestos issues and was later sold.

“Pearl was a beautiful woman, had very good taste and was always well-dressed,” said Gerry Teitelbaum, a longtime friend of the family. “She was short in height — but packed a wallop!”

When the stock market crashed in 1929, ushering America into what became The Great Depression, Berg and her family hopped in their McFarlan — a luxury car built until 1928 in Indiana — and drove across the country to California, Taback said.

Within weeks of arriving in Los Angeles, Berg met her future husband, Mark Berg, a businessman and investor who died in

1989, at age 88 or 89. (His specialty was scrap metal.) When the pair met, Mark had recently immigrated from a town outside Kyiv, in what is now Ukraine, and spoke little to no English, Taback said.

Berg became active in Jewish causes in California, dabbling in philanthropy and volunteering for her local Hadassah chapter. At one point, she served two years as president of the Nordea chapter in Los Angeles.

Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of

Hollywood, a Reform congregation where Berg was a member since 1938, told the Times of Israel that “Jewish life was always a priority in Pearl’s life.”

Berg was “a lifelong supporter of the state of Israel,” he said.

The Bergs had two children, both boys: Alan, 86 and living in Philadelphia, and Robert, 84 and in Washington, D.C. Berg also is survived by a granddaughter, Belinda.

Teitelbaum, who met Berg decades ago,

Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood, a Reform congregation where Berg was a member since 1938, told the Times of Israel that

“Jewish life was always a priority in Pearl’s life.”

spent her early years in Pittsburgh and moved with her family to California in August 1948, at age 10.

“I don’t care where I go in the world, when they say, ‘Where are you from?’ I say, ‘Squirrel Hill,’” quipped Teitelbaum, 85, and a resident in Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighborhood.

After Berg’s husband died, she joined a book club and became more involved with a bridge group, Teitelbaum said.

Into her 90s, Berg served as the designated driver among her group of friends, her family remembered. An avid letter writer and correspondent, she was involved in her congregation’s Sisterhood and helped pen notes for congregants’ life cycle events or the passing of a loved one — until she was about 105.

Berg also was light-hearted about her longevity, friends and family said.

During a celebration of Berg’s 110th birthday, someone from her temple told her, “May you live to 120!”

“Oh, God — no!” laughed Berg.

“She was very smart, very witty,” Teitelbaum said.

In recent years, Berg’s age drew a fair amount of media attention, her family said. The Jerusalem Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal and the publication Humans of Judaism all profiled Berg.

Another Jewish member of the supercentenarian study, Louise Levy, died last year in New York at 112, according to the Times of Israel. There are no other Jews among the verified 50 oldest people in the world. But a Jewish sculptor named Morrie Markoff recently entered the supercentenarian club, turning 110 in January. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p Pearl Berg

Photo courtesy of the Gerontology Research Group, Judy Taback

p A 1924 ad in the Jewish Criterion for Archibald Synenberg’s business, Massie’s Used Cars

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Calendar

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

q FRIDAY, FEB. 16

Are you looking for an informal, inviting way to teach your little ones about Shabbat and connect with other families? Join Cantor David Reinwald, Rabbi Daniel Fellman and Danie Oberman for a Tot Shabbat Service and Dinner at Temple Sinai. 5 p.m. Contact Danie Oberman at danie@templesinaipgh.org.

Join NCJW for this year’s Shabbatluck. Bring your favorite dish for a community potluck meal with friends and allies to toast our wins and talk about how you can help shape the future of reproductive justice. 5 p.m. 1620 Murray Ave. ncjwpghevents.org/ upcoming-events.

q SATURDAY, FEB. 17

Join Temple Sinai for a JDAIM Dance Party honoring 2024 Shore-Whitehall Award recipient Sam Skobel. 7 p.m. No charge, however, there is a $10 suggested donation per person. Please register at templesinaipgh.org/event/jdaim-event.html.

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s “Soul to Soul.” The first time in Pittsburgh, from klezmer to jazz to spirituals to show tunes — a rousing concert to celebrate what unites Jewish and African Americans. 7:30 p.m. Kaufman Center, 1825 Centre Ave. bethshalompgh.org/soul.

q SUNDAYS, FEB. 18–DEC. 29

Join a lay-led online parshah 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, FEB. 19

Join Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh at its Here to Stay VIP donor event, including dinner, an open bar, live music from Tali Yess and keynote speaker Tamir Goodman. 5:30 p.m. For more details and tickets, visit yeshivaschools.com/heretostay.

q MONDAYS, FEB. 19; MARCH 4, 18; APRIL 1

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership and practitioner Shawn Fertitta on the first and third Monday for Reikiinfused Sound Bathing. Immerse yourself in the soothing tones of crystal and Tibetan singing bowls. His experience is tailored to calm your mind, body and soul, promoting optimal healing. 10 a.m. South Hills JCC. 1027healingpartnership.org/reiki-infusedsound-bathing.

q MONDAYS, FEB. 19–MAY 13

H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff presents Torah 2. Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is perhaps one of the most important things that a Jew can learn. In Torah 2, Schiff will explore the second half of Leviticus and all of Numbers and Deuteronomy. 9:30 a.m. $225. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/torah-2-2/2023-10-09.

q MONDAYS, FEB. 19–DEC. 28

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

q TUESDAY, FEB. 20

Join Chabad of the South Hills for Kosher in the Kitchen, a kosher cooking experience for your little chef. Ages 4-11, divided into age-appropriate groups. 5:30 p.m. $18/class. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh. com/kidscooking.

Join NCJW Pittsburgh for Repro Shabbat Watch Party: Abortion in Media - Portrayals of Abortion in Movies & Television Over the Decades. Look at the way abortion has been portrayed in television shows and movies over time, and discuss how it

has changed and how it reflects feelings about abortion at the time it was aired. In-person and virtual options. 5:30 p.m. 1620 Murray Ave. and online. ncjwpghevents.org/upcoming-events.

q TUESDAYS, FEB. 20–MAY 14

Understanding and explaining Israel’s current position requires knowledge of history. In the 10-part course, A History of The Arab-Israel-Iran Conflict: All You Need to Know, Rabbi Danny Schiff will provide a full overview of the regional conflict that Israel has experienced over the last century. What pivotal moments brought us to where we now are, and what might that mean about where the conflict is headed? The cost of taking a course is never a barrier to participation. If price is an issue, please contact the organizer of this course so that we can make the cost comfortable for you. $145. 8 p.m. jewishpgh.org/series/history-of-the-arab-israeliran-conflict.

q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21

Join Rabbi Jonathan Perlman for Fun with Rashi: Torah Insights of a Medieval Scholar, an introduction to the most famous of all medieval Torah commentaries that will become the foundation of much Jewish thought and strategy concerning the reading of sacred sources. Students will develop critical skills learned from greatest of the first wave of commentaries and understand how they influenced Judaism in generations to come. Please bring a Tanakh to class. Register by emailing janet@newlightcongregation.org

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 21, 28

The 10.27 Healing Partnership and Emily Harris, experienced practitioner of Spirited Fun Improv, will be offering “Improv in the Community,” a onehour, once-a-week improv program aimed at older adults (but open to everyone). Participants will cultivate a supportive, lighthearted space where their creativity and connection will shine. Games and scenes are inspired by participants’ life experiences and leave attendees refreshed and energized. 1 p.m. Squirrel Hill JCC, Room 316. 1027healingpartnership.org/event/improv-incommunity/2024-01-24.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 21–MARCH 6

Chabad of the South Hills presents a new six-week course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, Advice for Life: The Rebbe’s Advice for Leading a More Purposeful Life. This multimedia course is a journey through the Rebbe’s practical wisdom on work, family, health and well-being. 7:30 p.m. Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 21; MARCH 20

Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for its monthly meeting. Refreshments will be provided. For further information, contact Marcia Kramer at 412-656-5903. 1 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, Falk Library, 4905 Fifth Ave.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 21–MAY 15

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh virtually presents two Melton courses back-to-back: “Ethics” and Crossroads.” In “Ethics,” learn how Jewish teachings shed light on Jewish issues. “Crossroads” will present an emphasis on reclaiming the richness of Jewish history. 7 p.m. $300 for this 25-session series (book included). jewishpgh.org/series/ melton-ethics-crossroads.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 21–DEC. 18

Bring the parashah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful with Rabbi Mark Goodman in this weekly Parashah Discussion: Life & Text 12:15 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh. org/life-text.

Temple Sinai’s Rabbi Daniel Fellman presents a weekly Parshat/Torah portion class on site and online. Call 412-421-9715 for more information and the Zoom link.

Join AgeWell for the Intergenerational Family Dynamics Discussion Group the third Wednesday of each month. Led by intergenerational specialist and educator Audree Schall. The group is geared toward anyone who has children, grandchildren, a spouse, siblings or parents. Family dynamics and relationships is a fascinating topic, and whether you have family harmony or strife, these discussions will be thought-provoking, with tools to help build strong relationships. Free. 12:30 p.m. JCC South Hills. jccpgh. org/app/uploads/2023/02/JCC-South-Hills-SeniorsNewsletter-February-2023.pdf.

q SUNDAY, FEB. 25

Everyone has their own special recipe that they think is the best. Prove you have the winning recipe at Temple Sinai’s Kugel Cook Off. 10 a.m. templesinaipgh.org/event/kugel-cook-off-sponsoredby-wots.html.

Join Chabad of the South Hills for a Tie-Dye Party Create awesome socks and compete in games. For grades 6-8. 4:30 p.m. $10. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com/cteenjr.

q THURSDAYS, FEB. 29; MARCH 14-28; APRIL 11-18

Join Rabbi Amy Bardack and Dor Hadash member Charlie White for a morning Shabbat service study a nine-session, in-depth study of the structure and content of the siddur, with a focus on the prayers of Shabbat morning. Explore themes and theology; identify blessings, Biblical quotes and key words; and discuss the changes from traditional liturgy found in the Reconstructionist siddur. 7:30 p.m. Free for members; $120 suggested donation for non-members. In-person with a virtual option. congregationdorhadash.shulcloud.com/event/ class-on-shabbat-morning-services.html.

q SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for Sisterhood Shabbat. This year’s honorees are Shoshana Barnett, Tammy Hepps and Beth Jacobs. 9:30 a.m. Contact Helen Feder hrfeder@gmail.com

q SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Join Chabad of the South Hills for its annual Jewish Comedy Night, featuring comedian Chris Monty and

opening act David Kaye. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. 7:30 p.m. Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main St., Carnegie, 15106. $54/$45 early bird discount until Feb. 8. chabadsh.com/ comedy.

q MONDAY, MARCH 4

Experience “Perseverance,” the play that brought a powerful memoir of healing and renewal to the stage. Meet author Lee Kikel, playwright L.E. McCullough and director Art DeConciliis, with a postshow discussion about the play and the Holocaust. 7 p.m. $17-$27. 6 Allegheny Square East, 15212. primestage.com/event.

q THURSDAYS, MARCH 7–DEC. 5

Join Beth El Congregation of the South Hills for Hope & Healing on Zoom the first Thursday of each month, a 30-minute program led by Rabbi Amy Greenbaum. Chant, breathe, pray for healing and seek peace. Call Beth El at 412-561-1168 to receive the Zoom link. 5:30 p.m. bethelcong.org.

q THURSDAY, MARCH 14

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for a free Legal Appeals Process Educational Program focused on the next phase of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter trial. Professor David Harris, from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law, will explain what appeals are and the function they serve, and what we should expect to see in the case moving forward. Free. 6-8 p.m. In-person or on Zoom. Room 202 of the Squirrel Hill JCC. Registration required at jewishpgh.org/event/ legal-appeals-process-educational-program.

q SUNDAY, MARCH 17

Join the Jewish Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University for Mizrahi Music, Feminist Perspectives: An Afternoon of Performance and Discussion. The event will include contemporary performances of Mizrahi women’s music, as well as scholarly discussions of the diverse musical styles of Jewish women from the Middle East and North Africa. Please join us for lunch, wonderful music and conversation. Noon. Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, 650 Schenley Drive, 15260. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle

Book Club for its Feb. 25 discussion of “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” by Gabrielle Zevin. From Amazon.com: “Sam and Sadie — two college friends, often in love, but never lovers — become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have read before.”

Your Hosts:

Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle

David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer

How and When:

We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Feb. 25, at noon.

What To Do

Buy: “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” It is available at area Barnes & Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is also available through 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. Registration closes on Feb. 22.

Happy reading! PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

Headlines

Local meetup showcases disability research while seeking pathway to ‘end users’

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Researchers, engineers and community leaders shared oohs, aahs — and contact info — during a Feb. 9 meetup hosted by 412 Ability Tech that included presentations on adaptive and assistive technology and opportunities for future collaboration.

Alex Geht, the founder of Testa-Seat, helped organize the Bakery Square event.

The impetus, the Israeli engineer said, stemmed from a need to coalesce area resources and activities.

“You see many of the people working in the same field, sometimes serving the same people, but they are not connected at all,” Geht said.

For example, Testa-Seat creates individualized 3D-printed seats for children with disabilities.

Whether it’s car seats, high chairs or shower devices, standard products often don’t support children with special positioning needs. Testa-Seat addresses the issue, its founder said, by taking a child’s measurements and then custom-printing a seat.

Geht and his company moved here a year ago after hearing about Pittsburgh’s vast robotics and engineering community from

412x972, an organization that facilitates economic partnerships between Pittsburgh and Israel, led by Gal Inbar and Dror Yaron.

Yaron, who was one of dozens of attendees at last week’s program, praised Pittsburgh but noted the need to bolster efforts.

“Part of what I see as a challenge is connecting people with needs with the solutions: The solutions exist, the people with needs exist, but it is not easy for either side to find each other,” he said. “Alex, for example, makes seats that can change a child’s whole life, but he can’t go on Yellow Pages and

find kids that need it, and kids don’t know about Testa-Seat.”

Friday’s event, and the larger 412 Ability Tech network, enables someone like Geht to meet a clinician, philanthropist or area professional, and for those individuals to meet with Geht and others so everyone can “become aware of what’s out there,” Yaron added.

Jed Cohen of Omicelo Construction Group said he attended the program to “learn more about assistive technology and to see Pitt’s research lab.”

Located within Bakery Square, University of Pittsburgh’s Human Engineering Research Laboratories is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Cohen, Yaron, Geht and dozens of participants spent the afternoon observing HERL’s workspaces and marveling at researchers’ work.

In one corner, visitors learned how older adults or people with diverse needs could gain independence at home.

Rosemarie Cooper, HERL’s associate director for stakeholder engagement, pointed to KitchenBot, an overhead track system designed to aid meal preparation and cleanup.

While following the track, KitchenBot uses a robotic arm to open and close cabinets and appliances, retrieve items and perform other kitchen tasks, she explained.

In another corner, researchers demonstrated how a transfer and repositioning system improves the quality of life for immobile individuals and their caregivers.

Called Zero Lift, the device gently raises and transfers a person from a specialized wheelchair into a bed; it also carefully returns the person from the adaptive bed into the chair.

The goal, researchers explained, is preventing musculoskeletal injuries among caregivers.

Please see Meetup, page 11

p Alex Geht, founder of Testa-Seat, visits Pitt's Human Engineering Research Laboratories on Feb. 9.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

Headlines

Israeli composer explores roots, Yemenite experiences, while studying at Pitt

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

APittsburgh-based Israeli composer is giving voice to old tales.

While tracing her Yemenite and Tunisian roots, Naama Perel Tzadok, a graduate student in composition and theory at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Music, is preserving Mizrahi influences and cultural missteps in the early Jewish state.

Perel Tzadok’s maternal grandparents were Tunisian. Her paternal grandparents were Yemenite. They were all influential, but so was her childhood musical exposure.

“Every time we came to my grandma’s house, she would play a cassette and we would dance,” Perel Tzadok.

Yemenite melodies, and songs from Zion Golan, varied from the tunes played in school.

“The music education in Israel is more Euro-centric,” she said. “What I heard at home was different.”

As Perel Tzadok aged, her musical fascination developed: In sixth grade, she began playing guitar. After graduating high school, and while completing national service, she explored other instruments and genres.

“I would sneak out to the rehearsals of a brass orchestra,” she said. “My officer wouldn’t have approved it, but I also took saxophone and guitar lessons.”

Perel Tzadok, 39, recalled listening to live performances, “sitting near the stage and being so fascinated by it. It just stuck with me.”

She enrolled as a guitar player at Rimon School of Music in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, but soon realized she enjoyed creating her own music more than playing others’.

“I shifted to composition and arrangement,” she said.

After obtaining an undergraduate degree in music education and choir conducting, Perel Tzadok revisited earlier interests.

“I decided I needed more composition in my life,” she said.

Perel Tzadok began a master’s degree

in music theory and composition at the University of Haifa.

“Those were amazing years,” she said. “In Haifa, it was very different from everything else.”

The confluence of Arab and Israeli students afforded new exposures and insights.

“The Arabic music was similar to what I grew up on,” she said. As opposed to strictly focusing on the West, there was an openness to “including other musical traditions.”

Perel Tzadok dedicated her master’s work to Yemenite music and its integration into the early Jewish state.

Of interest, she explained, was how Ashkenazi Jews shaped cultural norms and understandings.

Some composers and artists mined the Mizrahi Jewish experience and, whether through misappropriation, racism or mistake, failed to properly respect non-European Jews, she said: “We can’t ignore that, it’s part of the history.”

Perel Tzadok’s research led to the creation of an album, “Memory Traces,” which incorporates classical music, Yemenite folk music, modern music and opera.

Released in June, the record serves as “my answer to those composers,” she said. As opposed to improperly recognizing

Yemenite women’s contributions, “This is how I would integrate that music as someone who grew up on both traditions.”

“Memory Traces” explores life cycles and bygone ways.

While many men were “busy traveling with merchandise,” Yemenite women often raised children, tended their homes, ground wheat and retrieved water from wells, Perel Tzadok said.

Undertaking these tasks led many women to create songs about themselves and others; lyrics ranged from discussing the birth of a child, to making lunch or even the dislike of a husband’s second wife.

“The songs were orally transmitted from one woman to another or from mother to daughter,” she said.

Perel Tzadok was intrigued by the role of the mekonenet (lamenter), a woman who would make “people cry, while standing

the dead,” she said. The mekonenet was often a gifted lyricist who could “create a poem about the person on the spot even though she didn’t know the man or woman who died.”

There was a rich musical tradition, but after Yemenites immigrated to Israel, everything changed, Perel Tzadok said: “Communities spread out. Women didn’t have the same role as they had in Yemen — now they had water from the tap; they didn’t have to go to the millhouse to grind the wheat. The places where the music was created didn’t exist, so the music stopped being created.”

Some elements, like the laments and wedding songs, continued, “but the birth songs disappeared,” she said.

“My grandma was around this musicmaking, but her girls were not. My idea was to try and close this gap.”

p Naama Perel Tzadok

Photo courtesy of Namma Perel Tzadok

p Nurse with Yemenite mother and child at Ein Shemer kibbutz in 1950

Photo by Fritz Cohen courtesy of National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography dept. Goverment Press Office

p Yemenite mother and child in 1949

Photo by Eldan David courtesy of National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography dept. Goverment Press Office

Headlines

Judea and Samaria Jewish population up 15,000 in 2023

The Jewish population in Judea and Samaria grew by almost 15,000 people last year, according to an annual report compiled by former Israeli lawmaker Ya’akov Katz and based on Interior Ministry data, JNS.org reported.

As of Jan. 1, 517,407 Jews lived in the area, which Israel liberated during the 1967 Six-Day War, up from 502,991 on the same date in 2023.

Katz’s figure does not include the nearly 350,000 Jews living in the eastern part of Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim despite it being part of the Jewish state’s capital.

Last year’s growth amounts to a 2.87% increase, the report said. Israel’s total population grew by 1.9% in 2023, per the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The 500,000-plus Jews living in Judea and Samaria account for an estimated 3.3% of the Jews in the world. The Jewish population in Judea and Samaria has grown 15.11% since 2019, when 449,508 Jews lived in the area, according to the report.

Argentina to move its embassy to Jerusalem, Javier Milei announces during emotional visit

On the first day of his visit to Israel, Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, told Israeli authorities that his country would move its embassy to Jerusalem, JTA.org reported.

Milei had vowed during his campaign to move the embassy from its current home in Herzliya, in a sign that Argentina recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

If carried out, the embassy move would make Argentina the sixth country, and only the second major country, to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem. Since then-President Donald Trump moved the U.S. embassy in 2017, fulfilling a campaign pledge, four countries have followed: Papua New Guinea, Kosovo, Honduras and Guatemala.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, met Milei on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport, where Milei arrived on a commercial El Al flight. Katz applauded Milei’s announcement, writing on X, “Thank you, Mr. President, @JMilei, for his statement about the transfer of the Argentine embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.” He ended with Milei’s campaign motto: “Viva la libertad, carajo!” or “Long live freedom, damn!”

Pope Francis denounces ‘terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world’

In an open letter addressed to the Jewish community in Israel on Feb. 2, Pope Francis decried the “terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world” in the wake of the IsraelHamas war in Gaza, calling it a “piecemeal world war” that has created “divisive positions, sometimes taking the form of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism,” JTA.org reported.

“Together with you, we, Catholics, are very concerned about the terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world,” Francis wrote. “We had hoped that ‘never again’ would be a refrain heard by the new generations, yet now we see that the path ahead requires ever closer collaboration to eradicate these phenomena.”

Francis called for prayers for the return of the approximately 100 remaining hostages,

Today in Israeli History

Feb. 19, 2009 — Yemeni Jews secretly are flown to Israel

p Aharon Appelfeld died in January 2018 while a professor emeritus of Hebrew literature at BenGurion University of the Negev.

By

Feb. 16, 1932 — Writer Aharon Appelfeld is born Award-winning author Aharon Appelfeld is born near Czernowitz, then part of Romania and now in Ukraine. He escapes a concentration camp at age 10, joins the Soviet army as a kitchen boy in 1944 and makes aliyah in 1946.

Feb. 17, 1948 — State Department tries to stop partition

The State Department’s policy planning staff sends a memo to President Harry Truman and Secretary of State George Marshall that argues against implementing the U.N. partition resolution for Palestine.

Feb. 18, 1577 — Safed Jews petition for protection

The Jews of Safed (Tzfat), which is the largest Jewish community in Ottoman Palestine and is growing, petition the sultan for protection from official persecution, such as extortion, violence and forced menial tasks on Shabbat.

Facing terrorist threats, 10 of the fewer than 300 Jews remaining in Yemen are secretly airlifted to Israel. Most of Yemen’s Jews, numbering 50,000 in 1948, left during Operation Magic Carpet in 1949 and 1950.

Feb. 20, 1957 — Eisenhower emphasizes U.N. resolutions

In a nationally televised address, President Dwight Eisenhower emphasizes the need for Israel to abide by U.N. resolutions calling for its withdrawal from all of Sinai and the Gaza Strip after the 1956 war.

Feb. 21, 1955 — Ben-Gurion returns to government

David Ben-Gurion, in political semiretirement since December 1953, joins Prime Minister Moshe Sharett’s Cabinet as defense minister. He replaces Pinhas Lavon, who was forced to resign over a botched covert operation.

p The Technion, shown during construction, opened in Haifa in 1924 with Hebrew as its language of instruction.

and said, “I would also like to add that we must never lose hope for a possible peace and that we must do everything possible to promote it, rejecting every form of defeatism and mistrust.”

In recent weeks, Francis called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and humanitarian aid, as well as a hostage release.

“No to arms, yes to peace!” he wrote on X in December. “May this enormous suffering of the Israelis and the Palestinians come to an end.”

Grandson of Munich massacre victim assaulted in Berlin in alleged hate crime

Police in Berlin have arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly attacked and seriously wounded a Jewish student in a bar on Feb. 2, JTA.org reported. The Jewish student and his family say the attack was a hate crime.

The victim, Lahav Shapira, 30, was hospitalized and underwent surgery for non-life-threatening injuries to his face. He is the grandson of Israeli athletics coach Amitzur Shapira, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich Olympics terror attack in 1972.

His older brother, Shahak Shapira, is a prominent comedian and writer who has lampooned Germany’s relationship to the Holocaust. The brothers moved from Israel to Germany with their mother as children, and Shahak Shapira himself entered public consciousness in 2015 after several Arab men beat him on a Berlin train because he had objected to their singing anti-Israel and antisemitic chants.

Police told German media that the incident at the bar began with a dispute between the two Free University in Berlin students.

Feds to probe Harvard’s response to harassment of pro-Palestinian students

As Harvard University has become ground zero in the debate around campus antisemitism, a new federal investigation at the school will determine whether it has done enough to stop harassment of Palestinian students and their allies, JTA.org reported.

The Title VI investigation comes at a tense moment for the Ivy League institution, whose president recently resigned after angering Jewish groups with her congressional testimony about campus antisemitism. (She subsequently faced plagiarism allegations.) But an attorney for the Palestinian students said she views their case as largely similar to what Jewish students have gone through.

“These are parallel complaints that identify the same failures of Harvard administration across the board,” said Christina Jump, head litigator at the Muslim Legal Fund of America. “It’s a systemic failure by Harvard to not address these complaints by students in minority religious groups.”

The group alleges that students had been harassed while attending pro-Palestinian vigils and working student jobs, assaulted while walking to campus libraries, stalked by classmates and faced racial profiling by professors and doxxing, or the revealing of personal information, on campus. According to Jump, the most common form of harassment students faced was when they wore keffiyehs, or traditional Palestinian headscarves. PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

Feb. 22, 1914 — Technion chooses Hebrew

The directors of the under-construction Technikum in Haifa decide that the language of instruction will be Hebrew, reversing an October decision to teach in German, and they change the name to the Technion. PJC

Headlines

Patel:

Continued from page 1

before the event saying it would have to be rescheduled until after the election cycle to avoid potential disturbances.

Once the event was announced on social media, Patel said that some of Lee’s supporters began “blasting the comments section, basically saying, ‘How can you do this, you’re a 501(c)(3).’ I imagine there was additional pressure mounted that led to the last-minute cancellation.”

University of Pittsburgh spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said in an email that the Frederick Honors College regularly invites distinguished alumni to speak to students about their time at Pitt.

“It was in this capacity, not as a political candidate, that the University invited Bhavini Patel to speak,” he said. “As the event drew closer, it became clear that it would not be possible to host the event at the originally planned location and keep the focus of the event on her experience as a Pitt alumna.”

The cancellation at Pitt comes on the heels of a Jan. 28 candidate forum at Carnegie Mellon University that included an audience at turns raucous, confrontational and even at times intimidating, Patel said.

A group of Lee supporters sat in the first three rows of the auditorium, directly in front of Patel.

“The first three rows were filled with people wearing Summer Lee pins and T-shirts,” Patel said. “That’s OK, but the minute they started to scream, clap, stand up every other moment, that’s incredibly

Conversion:

Continued from page 1

priesthood before deciding to convert to Judaism after a convergence of two events.

The first was meeting his wife, Sara, who is Jewish. The second was a genealogy test that confirmed Ashkenazi DNA.

Before deciding to convert, Demkin already felt an affinity for the Jewish people. An English major with a minor in history, his college thesis was about antisemitism in James Joyce’s “Ulysses.”

He also researched how Ashkenazi Jews going to Ireland influenced the early days of the Irish Republic and the perception that the community wasn’t viewed as real Irish.

Demkin understands how they felt. He moved to Pittsburgh with his wife from Philadelphia after not feeling as safe or supported as they would have liked in the City of Brotherly Love. While the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting showed there was antisemitism here in the Steel City, it was something he viewed as a one-off.

“The unfortunate silver lining of the Tree of Life aftermath is seeing the non-Jewish community support and prop up the Jewish community,” he said. “There’s a relationship between the Jewish and non-Jewish community that is not evident in other cities, and that gives me a lot of confidence.”

Demkin, who wears a kippah, said that his exchanges with people around

disruptive and it feels like an intimidation tactic. The way they were grouped — the eye contact, I’m out in front and they’re right there — it felt inappropriate, and it made it incredibly difficult to engage in the substance of various issues.”

The article also mentioned that callers were “unanimous in their support of Israel and its war efforts in the Gaza Strip. Patel and others made multiple references to the Tree of Life synagogue massacre and Squirrel Hill’s robust Jewish community.”

“The fact that my voice is not being incorporated into that fabric of diversity and is, in fact, being shut down by my opponents’ supporters, that’s not democracy."

― BHAVINI PATEL

Patel said she has been attacked in the media for her support of Israel and because of her ethnicity.

In a Jan. 30 article in the Pittsburgh City Paper, “Bhavini Patel courts out-of-state donors with Hindu nationalist ties and pro-Israel agendas,” the writer — who said he got a tip that enabled him to attend a video call arranged for Patel supporters — reported that the call was notable for, among other things, “attendees’ vociferous praise of Israel, their interest in defeating progressive Democrats and ‘Squad’ members, including Patel’s opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Summer Lee; and Hindu nationalist rhetoric.”

Patel called the article “racist, misinformed and xenophobic.” She said that she pushed back on the story — which referenced her Indian background and what it called “Hindu nationalist” ties — because of some false claims, and that the publication revised it.

Pittsburgh have been primarily positive.

“Since Oct. 7, I’ve been walking around Squirrel Hill and had folks come up to me and say, ‘We’re not Jewish but we support you,’” he said. “I had the same thing happen in Lawrenceville, where people walked up to me and said, ‘Happy Hanukkah.’”

Those references, Patel said, made her feel “othered.”

“It’s almost like it allowed people to be outwardly racist, xenophobic and anti-Asian and hateful towards me,” she said.

Members of Lee’s staff reposted the article on social media.

“As a woman of color, as a brown woman, I’ve dealt with racism my entire life,” Patel said, “but I think what’s most shocking to me in all of this is the amount of racism, xenophobia and antisemitism I’ve seen. This is the kind of stuff you would expect to see in a Republican primary, not a Democratic primary.”

Patel’s fundraising was called into question in the City Paper article, particularly the number of her out-of-state donors. It made no mention of Lee’s out-of-state donors which, according to the FEC fundraising report for the last quarter of 2023, includes 813 donors from outside of Pennsylvania — a majority of

According to a 2014 Pew Study of the U.S. religious landscape, nearly 1 in 6, or more than 16% of American Jews, are Jews by choice.

Samantha Haberman wasn’t raised Jewish despite having a Jewish parent. Interested in her Jewish heritage, she went on a Birthright trip to Israel as an 18-year-old before the pandemic. The experience was “eye-opening,” she said.

“Before the trip, I was open to exploring the religion and seeing and learning about it. But being there and being immersed in the culture was really incredible,” Haberman said. “I just knew I wanted to be a part of it as much as possible.”

Haberman spoke with both Meyer and Beth El Congregation of the South Hill’s Rabbi Alex Greenbaum and has been taking the “Introduction to Judaism” course offered at Rodef Shalom Congregation and Congregation Beth Shalom. She decided to convert with Greenbaum because of her family ties to his congregation.

Rather than feeling trepidation or fear, Haberman said she’s proud to continue studying for her conversion following the events of Oct. 7.

She feels a personal connection to the people she met on her trip to Israel and has friends serving in the Israel Defense Forces, she said.

“There’s a real sense of nationalism that every citizen has,” Haberman said of the Israelis she knows. “I think during these times, it’s important to come together as a community around the world and

Lee’s contributors.

“Quite frankly, my money is local,” Patel said. “My opponent’s is not. It was reported recently that 60 cents of every dollar my opponent has raised is not from Pennsylvania. Seventy percent of our money comes from the state of Pennsylvania.”

Patel said she had looked forward to a campaign focusing on ideas, and being able to discuss her positions on various platforms and the historic nature of a campaign featuring three women — Center for Victims President and CEO Laurie MacDonald is also running in the Democratic primary for the District 12 seat. She didn’t expect the type of vitriol she is facing.

“The fact that my voice is not being incorporated into that fabric of diversity and is, in fact, being shut down by my opponents’ supporters, that’s not democracy,” Patel said. “That’s Trump-style tactics. That’s extremist. We should be broadening the dialogue not shutting people out. Nobody wants that. It’s so unhealthy.”

Patel noted that a staffer for Lee’s campaign posted a veiled threat on social media last fall before she announced her candidacy.

In a September 2023 tweet “Kyla in the Burgh,” who identifies herself as “Press Secretary for the badass @RepSummerLee,” wrote: “Poor Bhavini Patel is going to see my name in her sleep when she decides to challenge Summer Lee. Ask Mehmet Oz how that went for him …”

Lee’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests by the Chronicle for comment. PJC

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

show that we can’t be broken, especially in Pittsburgh after the Tree of Life shooting.”

Haberman also said she feels blessed to have discovered the Pittsburgh Jewish community — something she didn’t feel connected to before starting the conversion process.

Despite her enthusiasm, Haberman said it can be a scary time to be a Jew — and an unsettling time to join the community.

“I have a friend in New York who stopped wearing her Star of David necklace because she was afraid to walk around the city with it on in plain sight,” she said.

Since Oct. 7, Haberman said a lot of hate has been reignited. Notwithstanding the protests over Israel’s response to the Hamas attack and the different rallies she’s seen on various university campuses, Haberman keeps a long view.

“Antisemitism has always been around. It’s terrifying,” she said. “The Jewish people have endured so much.”

Rather than focus on the hate, though, Haberman thinks about the joy she has found converting.

“I really appreciated how welcoming the community has been to me and to every convert that I’ve encountered. I think it my favorite part of being a Jew is the community,” she said. PJC

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

p Nico Demkin visited the Hoover Dam wearing a kippah and Hanukkah shirt.

Photo provided by Nico Demkin)

Headlines

Meetup:

Continued from page 7

Costs related to patient transfers, given repeated manual strain and resulting injuries, are about $20 billion each year, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

Zero Lift performed 10,000 transfers and more than 20,000 in-bed repositions during 12 months without a single injury, according to HERL researchers.

Cooper led visitors several floors down to a laboratory while describing the need to connect technology with “end users.”

“One-third of the faculty and students at HERL have a disability,” she said. “Inside this fully accessible machine shop, engineers can

Tzadok:

Continued from page 8

Perel Tzadok relied on the work of an academic, who transcribed the laments, before bringing together Israeli musicians, and opera singer Shani Oshir, for an album prioritizing Yemenite women’s voices.

“Memory Traces” contains songs about marriage, birth and death, but perhaps the most moving aspects, Perel Tzadok said, concern the Yemenite Children Affair.

Between 1948 and 1954, between 1,000 and 5,000 Jewish babies and toddlers, mostly of Yemenite descent, disappeared.

Though parents were told that the children died, rumors later spread that the kids were kidnapped and given up for adoption.

Decades passed and, after several formal inquiries, the issue was set to receive new attention.

In 2021, the Israeli Health ministry drafted a report that admitted a role in the disappearance of Yemenite children during the 1950s, according to Haaretz: “Although the report doesn’t present new testimonies or details, and contains no data regarding the scope of the phenomenon, it is the first official reference by a ministry to its involvement in a scandal that has haunted Israel for decades.”

The report was never published.

Perel Tzadok said the Yemenite Children Affair affected numerous immigrant families, including her own.

operate everything from a wheelchair.”

Laser cutters, computers and an eye-washing station are all within the appropriate height and reach and are adjustable from a seated position.

“The whole concept is inclusion and accessibility,” Cooper said.

Moving past large machines, metal rods, steel sheets, scribbled whiteboards and busy engineers, she said, “The whole layout of HERL is that colleagues can converse and work together without barriers.”

Outside the lab’s office is an accolade signed by President Joe Biden on Oct. 24 commending HERL’s founding director, Rory Cooper, for “empowering the lives of millions of Americans.”

“By inventing and developing cuttingedge wheelchair technologies and mobility devices, cultivating the next generation of rehabilitation engineers, and championing wounded veterans and students with disabilities, he moves us closer to being a Nation that is accessible for all,” Biden wrote.

Throughout the program, participants shared contact information and planned future conversations.

Geht said this is exactly the point of 412 Ability Tech.

“In Pittsburgh, there are many organizations, foundations and groups,” he said. “Some are developing products for people with disabilities. Others are providing services for people with disabilities. There

“It was very painful,” she said. “Nobody ever gave them a firm answer as to where their children were. If they were dead, where were they buried? Where is the grave? Where is the body?

“These aren’t just stories,” she continued. “These are people’s lives. These are people’s children. When we recorded it I cried. It was silenced for so long.”

Perel Tzadok and colleagues from Pitt’s

are foundations that are supporting these kinds of activities, and universities that are doing research and development. But no one is really connected with each other.”

The value of Friday’s program and 412 Ability Tech is that local entities can partner and ensure their products actually reach “end users,” he added.

Rosemarie Cooper agreed.

“How can they provide services without knowing about HERL and how can we know what’s needed without them?” she said. “We are one family. We all have a stake in this.” PJC

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

Jewish Studies Program will address related issues next month during a symposium and performance titled “Mizrahi Music, Feminist Perspectives.”

The March 17 event, according to Perel Tzadok, is an opportunity to delve further into these topics both as a researcher and performer and also to welcome Oshri to Pittsburgh — the Israeli PersianYemenite opera singer who sang on “Memory Traces” is slated to join the miniconference.

Perel Tzadok is looking forward to showcasing the university, her colleagues and a beloved new neighborhood.

“We came here with nothing,” she said. “We arrived at midnight to an empty house and, within a week or two, managed to arrange a home. People donated stuff without knowing us. They invited us for Shabbat meals and dinners, and still do even though we are not new here anymore.”

Perel Tzadok and her husband have four children ranging in age from 11 to 3. Before arriving in Squirrel Hill, the family lived in northern Israel in Tirat Zvi.

“We came from the kibbutz, but even though Pittsburgh is a city it’s very familyfriendly,” she said. “We love the nature around us and I really enjoy the university. We really love the warmth of the community here. We feel like it’s a very good choice that we’re here.” PJC

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

p “Memory Traces”

Image courtesy of Naama Perel Tzadok

p HERL's Rosemarie Cooper describes inclusion and accessibility during a 412 Ability Tech meetup.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

p KitchenBot, potentially coming to a home near you. Photo by Adam Reinherz

The ‘impossibility of Israel’s predicament’

Guest Columnist

Rabbi Aaron Meyer

Elana Kaminka grew up in Davis, California, and, together with her husband Eyal, decided to raise their family in Tzur Hadassa, a small town some 30 minutes to the west of Jerusalem. Their oldest son, Yannai, had his bar mitzvah at Kehilat Shir Chadash, the Reform synagogue in Tzur Hadassah, and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces (as is required for young non-Haredi Jews). Yannai declined a combat unit in favor of serving on a search and rescue training base and was stationed at Zikim, an hour’s drive from his home, along the Mediterranean Sea — right along the border with Gaza.

When the initial volley of some 3,000 rockets was launched by Hamas on Oct. 7, landing in and around and flying over Zikim, the basic trainees at Zikim were replaced at their guard posts by their officers and sent to take shelter. Yannai’s post looked over the Mediterranean and the popular Zikim beach, where hundreds of people were camping during the holiday weekend.

As Hamas terrorists began landing on the beach, killing 20, the campers scattered and some made their way to the base looking for safety and protection. Yannai killed the terrorists chasing the campers and ushered them to safety near the new recruits in his care. He

returned to his guard post to continue the fight until the commander beside him received a head wound. He brought her to the shelter before returning to his guard post to fight again.

that ended his life, but he did not die in vain. Only one Hamas terrorist managed to enter Zikim, killing only one new recruit. Yannai’s actions saved the lives of 130 people.

I was asked to confront the impossibility of Israel’s predicament: simultaneously needing to fight a war to remove the security threat from its borders and to do everything possible to get its citizens back.

These heroic actions of a 20-year-old soldier sound like they could be taken from a movie script, or perhaps overvalorized by his parents as they were mourning their son and telling me his story. But they are verified and preserved in a WhatsApp group — a popular international texting program — that the officers used to communicate. It was through that texting group that Yannai received word the soldiers in the guard post facing Gaza had run out of ammunition and were about to be overwhelmed. Yannai stopped the wave of terrorists on his side of Zikim, and ran to their post to continue the fight. He arrived just before the rocket-propelled grenade

I so wish every American calling for Israel to lay down its weapons would have to hold their signs and chant their slogans in front of these grieving parents who understand what that would have meant for their son and the many lives he saved on Oct. 7.

But Elana’s message wasn’t done. When Yannai died, a friend of Elana’s from that Palestinian village near Tzur Hadassah brought a platter of dates, a traditional Muslim expression of consolation during a period of mourning. Elana wrote those friends a letter recognizing the impossibility of this time for Israelis and Palestinians alike. She described Yannai’s service in

Transforming PA higher education

Cynthia Shapira

Higher education nationally is experiencing a crisis of trust and even relevance to much of the American public. It is up to higher education — particularly public higher education, where the vast majority of students enroll — to adapt and, in some cases, transform.

As Jews, the label “People of the Book” underscores the importance of education in our daily life and existence as a people through the millennia. This ancient and strong Jewish value around our own learning translated to a passion for education among the Jews who emigrated to the United States over the past three centuries.

Data from any number of metrics — including those around personal finances, health, family stability and citizen engagement — bear out that higher education provides Americans with the most reliable means to freedom from poverty and, indeed, upward social mobility. Yet higher education, in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, now stands at a crucial juncture, grappling with rising costs and the evolving needs of employers and students amid a backdrop of skepticism regarding its value.

Here in Pennsylvania, more than 60,000

high-demand jobs have gone unfilled because people cannot access or afford the degree or credential necessary to do the job. That means countless teachers, nurses, mental health professionals, technology experts and more are needed right now. This shortage has persisted for years, highlighting the urgent need for transformative action.

for six consecutive years — a remarkable feat in public higher education.

It is with this perspective — appreciating the value, needs and possibilities — that I celebrate Gov. Josh Shapiro’s bold and comprehensive proposal to transform Pennsylvania’s public higher education sector.

The governor’s proposal is the most

Through comprehensive system redesign and enhanced coordination, we have achieved greater financial sustainability and increased enrollment while holding tuition flat for six consecutive years — a remarkable feat in public higher education.

As past chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, I appreciate the role of a strong central organization to bring community together and foster collaboration. As chair of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, I have seen firsthand how a comprehensive and collaborative effort can transform educational institutions and generate stronger financial and educational outcomes. Through comprehensive system redesign and enhanced coordination, we have achieved greater financial sustainability and increased enrollment while holding tuition flat

far-reaching call for a new public higher education system the country has seen in y ears. Gov. Shapiro’s blueprint for transformation focuses on driving down costs for students while simultaneously expanding access and opportunities. A key feature will be the creation of a comprehensive public system that encompasses the 10 PASSHE universities and the 15 community colleges. This bold proposal paves the way for seamless educational pathways and collaboration with key industries, t hereby advancing the commonwealth’s

the IDF as one focused on humanitarian relief efforts and spoke in detail about the ways he built loving relationships with all people. Her letter concluded with the most powerfully hopeful line I heard while on my recent trip in Israel: “I don’t blame you for the deeds of the Hamas, and I hope this cursed situation will somehow bring our two nations to at last learn how to live together, with mutual respect, so there may be no more parents, Israeli or Palestinian, that must grieve for their sons.”

I so wish every American calling for Israel to flatten Gaza would have to hold their signs and chant their slogans in front of these grieving parents, who understand what that would mean for other people’s sons after Oct. 7.

While in Israel, I was heartbroken to speak with the Kaminkas, to hear from the families of hostages and those who have been displaced, and to learn with politicians and community leaders. I was asked to confront the impossibility of Israel’s predicament: simultaneously needing to fight a war to remove the security threat from its borders and to do everything possible to get its citizens back.

The Israelis with whom I spoke believe Israel must stop fighting and that it can’t stop fighting: the impossible, terrible reality of this time. PJC

Rabbi Aaron Meyer is senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel of South Hills.

competitiveness and economic development.

Importantly, the plan prioritizes greater financial investment in students, particularly those from low-income backgrounds. Given that PASSHE universities and community colleges together serve nearly half of Pennsylvania’s low-income students, this initiative would be a bold step in ensuring that higher education remains accessible to all.

PASSHE has been rapidly evolving to meet the changing needs of students with a carefully planned strategy that has gained statewide and national attention. We intentionally have focused on maximizing the benefits of being a system to help our students and universities. But there is only so much we can do by ourselves. Gov. Shapiro sees the hard work we’ve done in our own system and seeks major reforms that go well beyond PASSHE — reforms that will help create the future we all want to see.

Envisioning this level of collaboration and systemness across all institutions presents an opportunity to transform the educational landscape for the better. By supporting Gov. Shapiro’s proposed reforms, we affirm our commitment to fostering educational excellence, social mobility and communal prosperity. This bold plan reflects the best of our Jewish values and will be transformative for the commonwealth. PJC

Cynthia Shapira is chair of the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.

Guest Columnist

Chronicle poll results: Suspending UNRWA funding

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Do you agree with the decision by the U.S. and other countries to suspend funding to UNRWA after it was revealed that 13 of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel?” Of the 325 people who responded, 88% said yes; 7% said no; and 5% said they weren’t sure. Comments were submitted by 78 people. A few follow.

Civilians are literally dying and do need aid. But the implicated UNRWA employees should be arrested and charged, not just fired!

UNRWA needs to be eliminated and taken over by the main UN agency for refugee settlement. No more generational refugee program, no incentive to resettle refugees.

The U.S. should defund all aid to organizations that support terrorism.

Do you agree with the decision by the U.S. and other countries to suspend funding to UNRWA after it was revealed that 13 of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel?

Anyone who was surprised to learn about UNRWA’s involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks has not been paying attention to the actions of this organization over the past 30 years. This is completely on-brand for UNRWA.

UNRWA has 30,000 employees and provides vital services to Palestinians. The claims that 13 employees (less than 0.1% of the staff) were involved in the Hamas attacks have not been validated and are still under investigation.

Not only that, but we should suspend all of our UN funding. UNRWA has been part of the problem for decades, not part of the solution, and the broader UN has a long track record of injustice and terrorist coddling. Those 13 are the very tip of a very large iceberg.

UNRWA’s role in promoting antisemitism through its children’s textbooks is reason enough to dismantle the organization. It would have been more surprising to regular observers if UNRWA personnel hadn’t participated.

Permission to feel hopeful

Shayna Goldberg

It was nice to remember what it feels like to be hopeful.

For a few short hours on Monday, we were given that privilege. These days, hope is not something we take for granted.

Over the last few months, we have cycled through every challenging emotion in the book. You name, we felt it. Fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, frustration, devastation, guilt, despair, loneliness, cynicism, exhaustion, helplessness, loss of control. It has been a tough ride.

The last couple of weeks have been especially rough. We have settled into a wartime routine, But that routine is far from normal. And as time goes on, the effects of this war become more apparent. The toll it is taking on marriages. The difficulty for soldiers to readjust to life when they return from the

front. The crazy things our children say that make us realize what is really on their minds. The heavy losses. The ever-growing circles of grief. The big questions about our future.

Last Shabbat, our 14-year-old mentioned that he had a feeling that some hostages were rescued. It was such a nice thought, and we grabbed onto that hope for a few hours. We wanted so badly to believe his intuition was correct. As Shabbat ended, we were disappointed but not surprised to find out it was not the case. Nothing had changed.

And then suddenly, on Monday, something had.

I had barely slept. I had a huge pit in my stomach all night. It had been a complex day. Too many people suffering. Too many to worry about. Too many unknowns. Another scary dream about the war that incorporated personal conversations and experiences.

At 5:30 a.m., I stirred and could feel my husband moving around the room. Something felt different.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“They rescued two hostages,” he responded,

Looking for more nuanced perspective

his voice full of emotion. “They are alive and well.”

The reaction was fast and visceral. My body shook, my eyes filled with tears, the intensity was overwhelming. I could barely breathe.

“For real?”

So many emotions coursed through me. And none of them felt familiar. It has been months since I have tasted pure, unadulterated hope, joy, elation, release, redemption.

There have been moments where I’ve felt glimmers. I’ll listen to a podcast that gives new insight and perspective, and a hope flickers that maybe there is something to what they are saying. I’ll meet an individual who is resilient, and a desire wells up to channel some of that strength.

But Monday was different. It was real, and it was deep. It was authentic. It was all encompassing.

And it was wonderful.

A belief that maybe things could get better. A renewed faith in our army and its incredible capabilities. An acknowledgment that we don’t know everything going on behind the scenes. A realization of how

— LETTERS —

Returning to Pittsburgh after several decades away, I subscribed to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. I’ve enjoyed the rich and lively coverage of community activities. But I haven’t enjoyed the often narrow and one-sided perspective on political issues. The Chronicle’s coverage frequently seems to equate supporting Israel with supporting the Israeli government. But Netanyahu has been a poor steward of the state of Israel — indicated by the fact that only 15% of Israelis want him in that role (poll, Israeli Democracy Institute, January 2024).

I am thinking particularly about the Chronicle’s stance now, during the war on Gaza. Netanyahu’s incompetent governance led to a massive intelligence failure and allowed a devastating attack in Israel. Israel’s military response has failed to eliminate Hamas or recover

UNRWA should have been dissolved long ago when funding was not reaching the residents of Gaza.

It is still a charitable organization, and it apparently ousted the offending members.

Unfortunately, documentation of UNRWA collusion with Hamas in the forms of graphic photos and other evidence won’t sway public opinion. It is correct action on the part of the USA to cease funding terrorist organizations. I am sure it will come to light that more than 13 UNRWA employees were involved. This is nothing new. PJC

— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: How will you be voting for the April 23 Pennsylvania primary, which is on the first day of Passover? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle. org to respond. PJC

quickly things can turn. A reminder that God’s goodness, shrouded in suffering, is endless, as are the lengths to which Jews will go to rescue one another.

One by one, I woke up our children and reveled in watching those same feelings and understandings wash over them. They were emotional, their eyes were teary, they jumped out of bed, they joined us to watch the live coverage.

The hope and joy was palpable and personal.

And it felt so, so good.

It was important to remember that we still have the capacity to feel hopeful. It is possible. It is real. It is meaningful. It gives strength.

And I remain hopeful that we will feel it again. PJC

Shayna Goldberg (née Lerner) teaches Israeli and American post-high school students and serves as mashgicha ruchanit in the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women in Migdal Oz, an affiliate of Yeshivat Har Etzion. This article first appeared on The Times of Israel.

the hostages and has led to unjustifiable civilian harm, with no plan for the future. In light of this, the Chronicle’s calls to unquestioningly support the Israeli government’s actions are not, I believe, helpful to either the state of Israel or the Jewish people.

I recognize the Chronicle’s commitment to the Pittsburgh Jewish community and to its idea of Jewish well-being. But I urge a more nuanced editorial approach that is less reflexively supportive of the Israeli government and more focused on Jewish values of peace, understanding and justice. Including more views could provide a valuable service in educating readers about important issues, connecting Jews with different beliefs and ultimately finding ways to live ideals of community in Pittsburgh and beyond.

Maya Fischhoff 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. Send letters to: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org or Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217

We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence, we cannot reply to every letter.

Guest Columnist

Life & Culture

Mujadarrah: a healthy vegetarian dinner

By Jessica Grann| Special to the Chronicle

Mujadarrah is pure luxury in a bowl. It’s made from simple, quality whole grains cooked with onions and olive oil, and it’s perfect if you’re following a Mediterranean diet.

Making this dish is a labor of love because caramelizing the onions takes a solid halfhour and sometimes longer. The upside is that you’ll have a healthy vegetarian dinner that is quite filling — and you can feed a family of four for around $5.

Steer clear of red and light-green lentils because they disintegrate too quickly. Use rounder lentils that will stay al dente, like Greek brown lentils or French dark green De Puy lentils.

You can choose your grain for this dish. I made it with long-grain white rice until a friend suggested cooking the lentils with coarse bulgur wheat. I was impressed with how the bulgur mujadarrah turned out. It only takes a little more water and cooking time for the bulgur version.

I serve this with labneh, which turns a pareve dish into dairy. (If you’re vegan, you can omit the labneh or use a pareve version.) Use full-fat, plain Greek yogurt if you can’t find labneh. The cool labneh melts into the warm bowl and adds a richness to the meal. I often add cumin or lemon zest to the labneh to change the flavor a little, but plain labneh is perfect.

If everyone at your table likes cumin, you can add a teaspoon to the pot before you cook the grains.

The dark caramelized onions top off each bowl — they are well worth your time and patience to prepare. The onions cook

down like spinach. You’ll start with a large amount, but you will divide a portion for cooking with the grains, and end up with a cup-and-a-half to share between the bowls for the topping.

This is a weekly meal in my home. It’s a common dish in certain Jewish communities — like Syrian and Lebanese — to eat on Thursday evenings and also before fast days. There is also a tradition not to serve mujadarrah on Shabbat or holidays.

Ingredients:

3-4 large yellow onions (about 4-6 cups, thinly sliced)

⅓ cup olive oil, plus additional if needed ¾ cup brown or dark green lentils

1½ teaspoons sea salt

1 cup long-grain rice or coarse bulgur wheat

1½-2 cups water

Labneh or full-fat, plain Greek yogurt (optional) Aleppo or ground black pepper for seasoning

Peel and thinly slice the onions. Add the lentils to a saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water.

Put on medium heat to boil.

Once the water is gently boiling, reduce the heat to simmer and cook the lentils uncovered for about 20 minutes.

Strain the lentils with a bowl underneath the strainer to catch the cooking water from the lentil pot. If the lentils soaked up most of the liquid, don’t worry. You need 1½ cups of total cooking liquid for rice or 2 cups for bulgur. So, for example, if you have a half-cup of liquid left, add enough water to measure the appropriate amount that you need to cook whichever grain you’re using.

When the lentils are cooking, add ⅓ cup of olive oil to a large, wide pot.

Put the heat on low and warm the oil for 2 minutes before adding all of the sliced onions.

Stir regularly to get the onions well coated in olive oil. Because I cook with olive oil rather than oils that can handle high heat, I start the onions over low heat and gradually increase the flame over 15-20 minutes. This is when the onions start to turn a nice brown color. The heat should be at medium-high for the last 10 minutes of

cooking. Stir constantly and scrape any black bits from the bottom of the pan. It’s OK if some of the onions blacken; some people prefer those bits. If the pan seems dry at any time while you’re cooking the onions, stir in 1 tablespoon of olive oil at a time until everything is well coated and browning nicely.

When the onions are finished, take a bit more than half of the onions from the pot and set them aside to use as a topping.

Add the al dente lentils, rice or bulgur wheat, salt and cooking liquid (water, or mix of lentil broth and water) to the onions in the pot.

Bring the pot to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat. Cook for 25 minutes.

Some people like to add a couple of tablespoons of butter or more olive oil to the pot at this point. You don’t need to stir it in; just lift the lid, add it and cover it again. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon before serving.

Top with the remaining caramelized onions.

You can garnish with parsley or cilantro. Add spice with Aleppo pepper flakes or freshly ground black pepper.

This dish goes well with a simple salad of green onion, diced tomato, salt, lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

Optional: To flavor the labneh, add 1 teaspoon of cumin, or ¼ teaspoon of lemon zest to 1 cup of full-fat labneh. If the yogurt is super thick, add a small dash of milk to help it come together.

I hope you appreciate this meal as much as I do. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

p Mujadarrah

Photo by Jessica Grann

Life & Culture

Jewish musician finds peace and healing after Oct. 7 through song

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

Loolwa Khazzoom found her voice after Oct. 7.

The Seattle-based singer said Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel left her physically and emotionally distraught.

“I was broken. I was a wreck. There was basically Jewish genocide around the world,” she said.

What was happening on American college campuses, like her alma mater Columbia University in New York, only deepened those feelings.

“I was like, here comes the Holocaust. I was terrified,” Khazzoom remembered.

For nearly two months, the singer did almost nothing, preferring the safety and security of her apartment to the outside world.

Then she attended a concert by the band Yemen Blues and was reminded of the power of music.

“It was primal and thrashing, and I was dancing and cracked open,” she said. “This paralysis was suddenly gone, and I started dancing every day and then this album just gushed out of me.”

The album, “’Til You Can Dance Again,” is a seven-song collection of music Khazzoom wrote in honor of the victims of Oct. 7. It captures the emotions the singer was feeling,

including what she calls “radical Jewish joy.”

Hamas wants the Jewish community to be demoralized, she said, but radical Jewish joy is a defiant “f--- you” to the terrorist organization.

The songs bridge the entire emotional spectrum she felt, from those early days when it was hard to leave her couch, to rage at the Red Cross and its inaction in helping the hostages

and victims, to solidarity, to finally healing.

Khazzoom knows something about the power of music and its ability to help heal.

The daughter of an Iraqi Jewish refugee who left the country when he was 18, the singer said that her father absorbed the shame that was part of being a Sephardic Jew at the time. She grew up Orthodox and fell in love with the songs and prayers she heard her father sing.

As a youth, she begged her family to get her a piano, saving up $300, she said. They took her to a local music store for lessons and the instructor recommended she go to a conservatory for music. Still, a career in music for a woman sired by a Harvard Ph.D. wasn’t necessarily in the plans.

K hazzoom worked in various fields, subverting her desire to create music until 2010, when she was diagnosed with cancer. Rather than take the usual route of chemotherapy and surgery, she explored alternative healing.

“For nearly a decade, I forgot I was musician,” she said.

Then she got back into music and formed her band, Iraqi in Pajamas.

A funny thing happened when Khazzoom began singing again.

“Within a few months, the nodules started shrinking,” she said. “They had remained stable — they didn’t grow, they didn’t shrink. When I returned to music, they started to shrink. That was a huge ‘aha moment’ like, ‘This is who I am. This is my soul.’”

The music helps her deal with the trauma of Oct. 7, as well. A friend, she said, questioned her lyrics, uncomfortable with some of the anger expressed in them.

“He kind of freaked out, but a week later we were talking, and he was like, ‘How are you so peaceful and calm?’ And I was like, ‘Remember all those angry songs? I worked through it and found peace on the other side.’”

If Khazzoom’s life seems unusual to some, the makeup of her band and recording of “’Til You Can Dance Again” might seem just as uncommon. For others, it might seem modern, especially in a post-pandemic world. That’s because Iraqis in Pajamas is a virtual band with musicians not in the same physical space.

In fact, drummer Chris Berlin, a Pittsburghbased percussionist, is featured on the album

Berlin became a professional musician 25 years ago, owns a traveling drum school and does freelance recordings for artists around the globe. He has been featured on more than 100 recordings and performs approximately 150 shows a year.

With such a busy schedule, he’s used to recording tracks for artists who aren’t in the same studio he’s in when he lays down tracks.

“A lot of it is West Coast stuff, which is always interesting because of the time difference. I can record tracks at midnight, and it’s 9 p.m. their time,” he said.

Berlin said he learned that Khazzoom was auditioning drummers and submitted an audition online.

“We talked about patterns, and she was writing the demo and was like, ‘Hey, can you write some drum parts?’ I was selected to do her first single and then she asked me to do the following ones,” he said.

The percussionist said that even when he isn’t in the same room as the musicians he’s backing he works to capture an artist’s vision. For Iraqis in Pajamas, that meant talking to Khazzoom about the lyrics and the background of each song.

“I try to understand what she’s saying and then try to convey that on my instrument,” he said.

For Khazzoom, her vision of healing extends from the personal to the global — from cancer to Oct. 7.

“Just stand in grace and stand in confidence,” she said. “There’s no deference anymore. It’s gone, the residue of millennia of trauma. There’s only so much you can do at any given time. I found the dark little corners in my psyche that were still there and now they are gone. They’re just gone.”

“’Til You Can Dance Again” will be released on March 23 and will be available on most musical streaming services. PJC

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

p Iraqi in Pajamas logo

Art by Ruben Shimonov p Loolwa Khazzoom has used music to find her way through the forest.

Photo by Ailisa Newhall

Visit a kibbutz in the Gaza envelope that was victim to infiltration & terror

Meet survivors of the October 7 attack

Meet recipients of Pittsburgh’s Israel Emergency Relief Fund

Visit IDF base with soldiers serving in the Swords of Iron War

REGISTER TODAY: jewishpgh.org/mission/solidarity

For questions: contact Kim Salzman at ksalzman@jfedpgh.org. Space is limited. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.

Participation in this mission requires a minimum commitment of $1,800 each year to the 2025 and 2026 Federation Community Campaigns (or $1,000 for young adults ages 22-45 at the time of the mission).

Celebrations

Bat Mitzvah

Shoshana Ann Graver will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Feb. 17, 2024, at Congregation Beth Shalom. Shoshie is the daughter of Deborah and Matthew Graver and the sister of Aviva. Her grandpar ents are Nadene Sales, Arthur and Judy Sales, Paulette and Stephen Kolcun, and Sharon and Daniel Graver. Shoshie is a seventh grader at Community Day School and enjoys many sports, especially horseback riding and skiing. Her favorite summertime activity is going to camp at Emma Kaufmann. For her mitzvah project, Shoshie created and sold custom earrings made from recycled aluminum cans and donated the proceeds to a local organization providing equine therapy.

Birth Announcement

n Parshat T’rumah, we explore the relationship between art and faith through the nstruction of the mishkan, the tent which will house the new law given to the Israelites. God emphasizes in Exodus 25:8, “Make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”

expression to represent the electric chair for an inmate on death row. Cave’s narrator references biblical law while expressing no remorse for his actions. He sings, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and anyway I told the truth, and I’m not afraid to die.”

Rachel and Jeff Bittenbender of Beachwood, Ohio, announce the birth of their second son, Eli Henry, on Jan. 16, 2024. Proud grandparents are David and Teddi Horvitz and Rhonda L. Horvitz of Squirrel Hill, and Chuck and Christy Bittenbender of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. PJC

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Although the parsha may seem at first focused around measurements and directions, perhaps reading more like an Ikea manual for the mishkan, I wish to highlight one particular verse, which has come to embody the powerful link between biblical imagery and the artistic imagination.

The parsha explains that there should be a covering for the Ark of the Covenant, which will contain the stone tablets of law revealed at Mt. Sinai, and that this covering will be a sacred place. God declaims in verse 22: “There I will meet with you, and I will impart to you, from above the kaporet … all that I will command you concerning the Israelite people.” The word for this meeting place, kaporet, in Hebrew takes the root chaf, fay, reish, which has two very different connotations. This root is used to imply a covering of some kind, as is the case with the covering for the Aron or ark; however it also implies the covering of sins, or atonement, as in the holiday Yom Kippur.

In this setting, the mercy seat comes to represent the poet’s own relationship with death, and coming to terms with his own mortality and sins. It would be a sad journey for our kaporet if this was the final layer of midrash to unveil; however the kaporet continued its journey through modernity, taking on new meaning from another great musician. In 2001, Johnny Cash recorded the song, adding his own unique voice and interpretation of the tragic text, as a way to speak out against what he saw as unjust implementations of the death penalty in Texas. Cash related, “If a man’s been there 25 years, maybe we should consider whether or not he has become a good human being and do we still want to kill him.”

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In the Greek Septuagint, the Hebrew was interpreted as “hilastērion,” or “thing which atones.” This then made its way through Latin translation to “propitiatorium,” which has a similar meaning. In many later English Christian translations, the kaporet is then rendered as “mercy seat,” implying a new theology around this simple covering. Thus we see that our Hebrew root has become more than just a practical description, but rather a basis for new theology for other religions.

Yet, the journey of our kaporet went even further! In 1988, Australian goth-rocker Nick Cave, who is no stranger to biblical imagery (Cave’s only novel is entitled “And the Ass Saw the Angel,” a clear reference to Balaam’s donkey in Parshat Balak) penned the song “The Mercy Seat” on the album “Tender Prey.” In this context, the kaporet took on a more sinister meaning, with Cave using the

Thus, Cash, using the language of the mercy seat, the kaporet, takes this imagery to speak out against this perceived injustice, and with his rendition, our unique and ambiguous word for covering has come full circle. Although the kaporet may never have had any implication of judgment or atonement for sin in its original context, we see that through linguistic and artistic development, this word has become loaded with poetic, theological and philosophical midrash. Our Torah is so powerful that through Greek, Latin, Australian and finally American channels of reinterpretation, we see a great American country artist again finding new ways to interpret the Torah in a contemporary context for his own life and times.

In Parshat T’rumah, we are taught about using gold, silver and precious stones to glorify God’s sanctuary and how to construct a dwelling place worthy of God’s presence; however we also see that the reverse can be true. The words of the parsha can also be used to ornament and enlighten our contemporary imaginations, inspiring us in prophetic words of artistry, poetry and righteousness for our contemporary world. PJC

Cantor Toby Glaser is cantor at Rodef Shalom Congregation. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.

APPLEBAUM: In deep sorrow, we announce the passing of Jack Applebaum, 92, on Feb. 12, 2024. He is mourned by his wife Meira Applebaum, sister Roslyn Segall, four children (Elana, Aaron, Hildy, Daniel), 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Jack was born May 30, 1931, to Lottie and Samuel Applebaum. He graduated Peabody High School (class of 1948) and subsequently the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in business. He and Meira were leaders of the Parkway Jewish Center (Shaar Ha’Shamayim) before making aliyah to Israel in 1967 following the Six-Day War. Jack was a pioneer in the electronics industry in Israel. He founded Rapac Electronics in 1965 as the first and leading electronic component company in Israel. The funeral was in the civilian cemetery in Kirat Shaul on Feb. 13, 2024, in Israel. The family will be sitting shiva in Protea Village. For condolences, please send to Hkarev00@gmail.com.

LEIBER: William (Billy) Norman Leiber, age 80, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. Son of the late Robert Samuel Leiber and Leonard and Frances Wingert. Survived by his beloved wife of 33 years, Saralee; children Wendy and Brittney Leiber; grandchildren Skyler, Julian, Justice, Nicholas and Tristan; sister, Trudi (William) Feldman; niece and nephew Robin (Jerome) Friedman and Sam Bloom. Billy was born and raised in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School, attended Miami University on a golf scholarship and then graduated from University of Youngstown. He proudly served in the Army medical corps at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, from 1965-1966. Billy was a licensed independent private investigator from 1975-1980. A proud Pennsylvania state constable since 1977 and Wilkinsburg police department constable from 1992-2003, he remained constable for several local police departments until his death. Billy was also a former member of Baldoc Hills Country Club, where he was club champion for five straight years. He was also an avid Corvette enthusiast in the 1960s and 1970s. He enjoyed being a dad to numerous dogs and cats over many decades. His outgoing personality and sense of humor will be missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him personally and professionally. Services at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to an animal rescue organization of your choice. schugar.com

UNGAR: Ira Ungar, 67, of Pittsburgh, passed away on Feb. 3, 2024. Born and raised in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to Leo and Hilda Ungar, Ira attended Boston University and Case Western Reserve University, where he received a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and a Doctor of Medicine. He completed his emergency medicine residency in Cleveland and resided there for 20 years. Ira was an avid cyclist (raising charity funds by riding in the MS 150 for over 10 years), golfer and sailor. Ira leaves a lifelong legacy of woodworking talent through heirlooms he has left to family, friends and his synagogue. Ira was very involved in Beth El Congregation of the South Hills and FJMC, where he served as president of the Tri-State Region and was a Man of the Year and Ma’asim Tovim wardee. He also developed the Build-A-Pair Tefillin Program and received the Hoffman Family Distinguished Service Award. Ira is survived by his beloved wife, Beth; children David (Srilaxmi), Aaron and Lauren; and brothers Bruce (Melissa), Leslie (Faye) and Joel (Gail). He will be greatly missed by beloved sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, cousins, nieces, nephews and many loving friends. Contributions may be made to Beth El Congregation of the South Hills or the MS Society.

ZIMMERMAN: Sam J. Zimmerman of Miami, formerly of Pittsburgh. On Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. Beloved husband of Joy Zimmerman; cherished son of the late David and late Dora Zimmerman; brother of Mira Zimmerman; uncle of David Zimmerman. Services and interment were held in Miami, Florida. A service of Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com PJC

Lawrence Langer, renowned scholar of Holocaust testimony, dies at 94

By Andrew Silow-Carroll | JTA

“One of the first things I learned is that you cannot generalize about the Holocaust experience,” Lawrence Langer told an interviewer for the 2004 documentary, “A Life in Testimony.” “We have to particularize constantly. So that’s what I devoted my life to try to find out: What was it really like?’’

In dozens of books and essays — most famously “Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory” — Langer used his skills as a professor of literature to explore what the

words of survivors themselves revealed about the genocide and the process of memory. Analyzing hundreds of testimonies gathered by the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University, Langer urged that the memories of eyewitnesses be taken seriously and unsentimentally and not be subjected to a process of mythologizing that plugged survivors into trite categories of “martyrs” or “heroes” who had triumphed over adversity.   A professor emeritus of English at Simmons University in Boston, Langer often argued against the ideas of what he called “trauma theorists,” who sought to find the good or lifeaffirming in the midst of unspeakable tragedy.

Please see Langer, page 20

BES ALMON CEMETERY AND WEST VIEW CEMETERY RODEF SHALOM

The Bes Almon Cemetery is the final resting place for Pittsburgh’s first Jews. In the 1840s, the Gateway to the West was both a jumping off point into the nation’s growing interior and an emerging industrial center for the East. These pioneers came here to start businesses, families, and a new Jewish community. The cemetery, established in 1847 with a $300 purchase, is Jewish Pittsburgh’s oldest, with a commemorative plaque dedicated to its history. Situated at the corner of Mt. Troy Road and Lonsdale Street, Bes Almon is directly next to the Reserve Township municipal building. The earliest burial is 1848, and visiting the cemetery is a must stop for anyone interested in the region’s early Jewish roots.

The founders of the Bes Almon Burial Society later became leaders in Shaare Shamayim Congregation and its successor Rodef Shalom Congregation. The Bes Almon Society remained an independent entity for years. Its earliest known by-laws date from 1869. Early translations of Bes Almon are the “Mourner’s House”, the “House of the Widower”, even the “House of Eternity”. To the locals, it’s the Troy Hill Jewish Cemetery. The Society transferred the property to Rodef Shalom in 1906, and this noted congregation has lovingly cared for the ground ever since.

A cradle of early Pittsburgh Jewish history, Bes Almon holds the remains of Captain Jacob Brunn. A Civil War veteran, Brunn volunteered April 1861, barely a week after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter. He made the ultimate sacrifice at the Battle of Williamsburg, a short and intense battle. A Prussian native, Captain Brunn was the first officer from Pittsburgh to die in the Civil War. His death in Virginia on May 5, 1862 brought the war home to Pittsburgh. The entire city turned out for the funeral, people of all faiths to honor this young captain (age 33).

Before the war, Brunn was a salesman and an interpreter for the Allegheny County courts, probably arriving in the area in the early 1850’s. Bes Almon officials posthumously awarded him honorary membership, and paid his funeral expenses. Brunn’s soldiers, captured at Williamsburg, were released in time to be his pallbearers. He is one of the approximately 400 interred on Troy Hill, a testimony to the region’s early German Jewish community. Full records are held within the extensive archives at Rodef Shalom.

Four miles north sits the successor to Rodef Shalom’s first burial ground. Dedicated in 1880, West View’s 110 acres are one of the region’s finest maintained cemeteries. With many of Pittsburgh’s Jewish elite buried here, a short list includes former Pirates owners Barney Dreyfuss and Bill Benswanger, US Congressman Henry Ellenbogen, and many members of the Kaufmann Family.

Accessed on Cemetery Lane just east of I-279, the gently rolling hills within the cemetery lend to its tranquil setting. An on-site greenhouse provides plantings for both the cemetery, and for Rodef Shalom’s Biblical Botanical Garden, another must see for area tourists. A community mausoleum, along with a section set aside for burials that comply with green standards, are on the grounds. West View holds over 5500 graves, and is the second largest Jewish cemetery in Western Pennsylvania. A stroll through the cemetery’s many well kept lanes are like a walk through Pittsburgh Jewish history. Numerous family mausoleums dot the northern portion of the cemetery, amidst a giant stand of mature trees. Both Rodef Shalom cemeteries are guided by the congregation’s active Cemetery Committee, and in coordination and cooperation with the JCBA.

For more information about JCBA cemeteries, to volunteer, to purchase plots, to read our complete histories and/or to make a contribution, please visit our website at www.JCBApgh.org, email us at Office@jcbapgh.org, or call the JCBA office at 412-553-6469.

JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation

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“I understand the need to find something good from something that was so bad; I guess it’s a human need, but it distorts the nature of the experience,” he told an interviewer in 2021. “The idea does not emerge from the testimony

Langer was born to Irving and Esther (Strauss) Langer in the Bronx in 1929. When discussing his interest in the Holocaust, he would often recall that in the early 1940s, a German Jewish family moved into his family’s apartment building. He did not know consciously that they were refugees, he told another interviewer, but “nonetheless something about

Sunday February 18: Frances A. Barniker, Esther R. Broad, Samuel Cushner, Mary J. Darling, Maurice Firestone, Rebecca Goldstein, Marion H. Jacobson, Marvin L. Kaufman, Ethel Mallinger, Emanuel Mervis, Mildred Platt,Emanuel Ripp

Monday February 19: Tillie Berenfield, Shirley L. Borcover, Hyman Cahen, Morris Gilbert Davidson, Pauline Davis, William Davis, Charles Glick, Eleanor Granowitz, Jack Greenfield, Julius L. Gusky, Sondra Hansell, Florence L. Hochhauser, Samuel Hodes, Mollie Koss, Esther Mandel, Thelma Marder, Jacob Marks, Max A. Moses, Estelle S. Nernberg, Rebecca Rubin, Max Seltman, Markus Sherman, Fannye Taper, Israel Whiteman, Josephine Olbum Zinman

Tuesday February 20: Frank B. Bortz, William Davis, Eva Fox, Minnie Herring, Isadore S. Levin, Oscar Levine, Joel Litman, Sophia S. Meyers, Sadie Pearlstein, Abe Platt, Julius Rosenberg, Louis S. Rosenthal, Freda Rubin, Ida Shieff, Ethel Simon, Harry Uram

Wednesday February 21: Isadore Bergstein, Ida Dektor, Anna Finer, Rebecca (Baron) Greenberg, Marvin L. Gusky, Earl Herman, Harry I. Horwitz, Harriet Isaacson, Elinor Kann, Edward Oring, William Oskie, Maurice F. Sadowsky, Milton Weisenberg, Samuel Yanks

Thursday February 22: Samuel Cohen, Mary Farber, Eva Fingeret, Emanuel B. Friedberg, MD, Belle S. Friedman, Anna Kuperstock, Ben Leshney, Samuel Lewis, Cecelia F. Rosen, David Rosenthal, Bessie S. Schulman, Frances L. Shaeffer, Myer Solomon, Miriam W. Steerman, Silvia Stuhl, Lea S. Teplitz, Sidney M. Wolk, Martin Zamore

Friday February 23: George Bonder, Anna Feinberg, Mollie F. Ganelin, Minnie Gottesman, Maurice Greenberg, Hyman Greenspan, Melvin W. Helfant, Max Janavitz, Jack Lebovitz, Lewis Levick, Julius Markley, Freda R. Selkovits, Esther K. Stutz, Nellie Swartz, Phillip Zamsky

Saturday February 24: Pearl Auslander, Max L. Bluestone, Merle Blumenfeld, Pearl Erenstein, Max Freedel, Samuel M. Gordon, Betty I. Greenwald, Joseph Honig, Winifred Joyce Hynes, Lena Kline, Jacob Kunst, Louis Lawrence, Howard Mamolen, Samuel Marcovsky, Irwin J. Schultz, Becky Schwartz, Harry Swimmer, Ida Valinsky, Sidney Weisberger

Langer died Jan. 29 at a hospice near his home in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He was 94.  A native New Yorker, Langer found his life’s work in 1964 when he visited the Mauthausen concentration camp and the AuschwitzBirkenau death camp as a Fulbright Professor of American Literature at the University of Graz in Austria. He wrote his first book “The Holocaust and the Literary Imagination” in 1976, following a sabbatical year in Germany. It was one of three finalists for the National Book Award.

“Holocaust Testimonies,” published in 1991, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. He was also the editor of “Art from the Ashes: A Holocaust Anthology,” published by Oxford University Press in 1995.

Langer taught American literature at Simmons College from 1958 until his retirement in 1992. At Simmons, he inaugurated in 1965 the first course on Holocaust literature known to be taught at an American college or university.

In 2016, Langer received the Holocaust Educational Foundation’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Holocaust Studies. The City University of New York will award an him an honorary degree posthumously at its commencement ceremony this May.

Langer attended City College of New York. Upon graduation in 1951, he and his wife Sandy moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he earned a PhD in American literature at Harvard University.

Following his retirement in 1992, he forged a partnership with his friend Samuel Bak, a painter and Holocaust survivor, writing critical essays for 11 volumes featuring the artist’s work.

Langer published his last two books in 2022: “The Afterdeath of the Holocaust,” featuring essays in which he continued to argue against the tendency to “sentimentalize” the survivors’ experiences, and “Hierarchy and Mutuality in Paradise Lost, Moby-Dick and The Brothers Karamazov,” his only non-Holocaust related work.

Survivors include his wife, Sandy; a son, Andy Langowitz; a daughter, Ellen Lasri; five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

In 2020, the Journal of Holocaust Research dedicated an issue in honor of his 90th birthday. “One cannot open a book that deals with any aspect of Holocaust memory, testimony, or literature without encountering not only Langer’s name but also a discussion of his ideas,” the editors wrote in the introduction. PJC

Life & Culture

‘Blazing Saddles’ marks a half-century of hilarity — and controversy

By Stephen Silver | JTA

The phrase “that movie could never be made today” has probably been said more about “Blazing Saddles” than any other movie in history.

Mel Brooks’ spoof of Hollywood Westerns is full of the N-word and racial and ethnic jokes, and gay stereotypes are played for laughs. There are rape jokes aplenty and more than one reference to a Black man’s endowment. A character punches a horse in the face, and one scene likely broke Hollywood records for sustained flatulence.

Those things, the argument goes, would never be accepted by the sensitive audiences of today, much less greenlit by skittish Hollywood decision-makers.

This may be true. But it’s also true that most of the things that are controversial about “Blazing Saddles” now were just as controversial back when it was first released, 50 years ago this week.

“Blazing Saddles” arrived in theaters on Feb. 7, 1974, as a sharp parody of the Hollywood Western, borrowing and upending the cliches of a classic genre as well as some of the actors who had worked in it. Hollywood’s Hays Code — prudishly dictating what could and couldn’t be done on film — was phased out only six years earlier.

Thomas Doherty, American studies professor at Brandeis University, places the film in the context of the New Hollywood era of the 1970s, including the way the taboo-breaking directors of that period deconstructed established genres like horror (“The Exorcist”), film noir (“Chinatown”) and the gangster flick (“The Godfather”).

“One of the things that made the second golden age of Hollywood so exhilarating is you never knew what Hollywood was going” to throw at you, Doherty told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“It was the first time ever that American cinema (virtually) was free from censorship — so filmmakers were showing things on screen that audiences had never seen before,” he said. “There were few guardrails for race, sex, vulgarity. You could even blaspheme against the sacred genre of the Western — which we had all grown up with and whose generic conventions were knew by heart — with farting around the campfire, saloon gals who really were hookers and Black sheriffs.”

But there’s another aspect of “Blazing Saddles” that’s timely today: It was made as an anti-racist statement. As Brooks writes in “All About Me!,” his 2021 autobiography, “In ‘Blazing Saddles,’ there’s a very serious backstory. Racial prejudice is the engine that really drives the film and helps to make it work.”

Directed by Brooks and written by a quintet that included both Brooks and comedy legend Richard Pryor, who was Black, “Blazing Saddles” takes place in the 19th-century frontier town of Rock Ridge. The town stands in the way of a railroad that

will enrich the politician Hedley Lamarr (Jewish actor Harvey Korman, desperate not to have his name confused with that of the bombshell Jewish actress Hedy Lamarr, who wouldn’t be born for another 40 years). Scheming to drive its residents away, he gets the dim and drunken governor (Brooks) to appoint a Black railroad worker named Bart (Cleavon Little) as the new sheriff, banking that the racist townspeople will clear out.

The all-white residents — all with the last name “Johnson” — react predictably. But soon, the sheriff teams up with a drunk, down-and-out gunslinger known as the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder, sporting an untamed Jewfro under his Stetson) to foil the plan. Eventually, they marshal a multiethnic alliance to defeat a racist army that includes Klansmen and a few anachronistic Nazis. And even the townspeople, up to a point, come around on Bart.

“Blazing Saddles” is a story about politicians and ruthless capitalists seeking to leverage racism in order to make money. It was made in the same year that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal for creditors to discriminate based on race, religion and national origin. Every time a modern politician gets elected by leveraging a culture war, with the ultimate goal of helping big business, they’re in a sense reenacting the plot of “Blazing Saddles.”

While “Blazing Saddles” is often described as a movie that “offended everyone,” it mainly denounced people who under the guise of defending “family values” are closed-minded and bigoted. Or, in the famous words of Wilder in the film, “the common clay of the new West — you know, morons.”

Similar to what the late Norman Lear — like Brooks, a Jewish veteran of World War II — was doing on television around the same time with groundbreaking shows like “All in the Family,” “Blazing Saddles” threaded the needle between uproarious comedy and

social satire. And it’s that balance, much more than the all-around “offensiveness,” that’s made it the standard to which other satires aspire.

“Blazing Saddles” is one of the great triumphs of one of the top Jewish directors (Brooks) and one of the most beloved Jewish movie stars (Wilder) of the 20th century. And in the fine Brooks tradition, there’s Jewishness sprinkled throughout the proceedings, even if it’s parodying a genre that’s traditionally been mostly devoid of Jews. Before Hedley Lamarr lands on the scheme of hiring a Black sheriff, his henchman Taggert (Slim Pickens) suggests something biblical: “We’ll kill the firstborn male child in every household.”

“Too Jewish,” the politician replies.

Later, Brooks shows up as a Yiddishspeaking Indian chief (a gag, writes Brooks biographer Jeremy Dauber, that suggests a “kind of racial solidarity”). And speaking of Yiddish, the lisping German seductress played by the Jewish actress and Brooks perennial Madeline Kahn was named “Lili Von Shtupp” — her last name Yiddish slang for her favorite activity.

“I think what Brooks might have been doing with both the Black and the Jewish stuff was inserting characters who had traditionally been erased from the Hollywood Western,” Doherty said.

As a Jewish actor, best known at the time for comedies and the title role in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” Wilder was a counterintuitive choice to play a harddrinking cowboy gone to seed. According to his memoir Brooks had actually approached John Wayne to play the part of the Waco Kid. While the cowboy movie legend was interested, he told the director, “I can’t do it, it’s too dirty. My fans will accept almost anything, but they won’t take dirty,” although he did vow he’d be “first in line to see it.”

With Wilder in the role, Brooks had

not only confounded expectations of the gunslinger cliche but created in Little and Wilder a two-man Black-Jewish alliance. The big anniversary arrives at an eventful time for Brooks who, at 97, has outlived nearly everyone else involved in the film. (Two of the writers, Andrew Bergman and Alan Uger, are also still alive, as is actor Burton Gilliam, who played Lyle, one of Taggert’s henchmen.) Brooks received an honorary Oscar in January, to go with the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay he won for “The Producers” in 1969.

“Blazing Saddles” is getting a two-night Fathom Events re-release this September to mark the anniversary. And in March, the new documentary “Remembering Gene Wilder” is set for release in New York and Los Angeles, with more cities to follow. The film about Wilder, which had a run on the Jewish film festival circuit last year, has a segment that tells the story of “Blazing Saddles,” with extensive commentary by Brooks.

In recent years, it’s often been said that modern-day attitudes will eventually lead to the cancellation of “Blazing Saddles.” But this has never materialized. (The network Max, to the chagrin of some viewers, has aired the film with an introduction by TCM host Jacqueline Stewart, putting the film’s language and themes in the context of the day. “Blazing Saddles” remains available on Max, Netflix and Paramount+, as well as VOD channels.)

Brooks, too, is almost universally regarded as a beloved living legend, a link to a legacy of entertainment that extends from the Borscht Belt to Hollywood to the Broadway stage. No less than Barack Obama gave Brooks, and “Blazing Saddles,” his presidential seal of approval, presenting the director with the 2015 National Medal of Arts and reportedly saying that he was “thrilled with the picture” for suggesting that it was possible for a Black lawman to be put in charge. PJC

p Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little appear in a scene from 1974’s “Blazing Saddles.” Photo courtesy of Fathom

Community

Conversations with friends

Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh hosted “Training Tracks,” a program where teens and adults join speakers to discuss topics surrounding disability. Jason Smierciak of Self-Advocacy Voices, University of Pittsburgh Visiting Lecturer Alonna Carter-Donaldson and FC member Brandon

In every generation Temple David welcomed young and not as young members for

The arts know no boundaries

Temple Sinai hosted a brunch and discussion in conjunction with Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month. “The Arts Know No Boundaries” panelists included Eli KursLasky (photographer and writer), Lindsey Kaine (Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s associate director of education and accessibility), Flavio Chamis (composer, conductor,and teacher who helps individuals with disabilities gain fulfillment through music), Kara Snyder (artist) and Lynn Rubenson

Community members gathered on the corner of Darlington Road and Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill to demand the release of an estimated 130 hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. Pittsburghers recited prayers, waved signs and implored elected officials to help bring the hostages home.

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p Photos by Jonathan Dvir

Season done, so much fun Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball team concluded its

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Photo by Adam Reinherz

Shalom Shabbat, a child-centered

p Ilana Yergin and Miri Yergin

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Barbara Symons

p Participants discuss the Intersection of Race and Disability Project.

Photo courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

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Photo courtesy of Temple Sinai