Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5-3-24

North Side antisemitism caps another week of worry for Jewish community

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

“Deborah” (a pseudonym) knew when she checked the security cameras recording activity in front of her house that there was a problem.

“I saw it on a still shot on the camera. You see him holding the spray can. I thought, ‘OK, this is bad.’ I opened my bedroom window, and I could see part of the graffiti,” she said.

Painted on the sidewalk outside of the North Side house Deborah shares with her family was the Nazi slogan “For Blood and Soil.”

defaced with photos, presumably of dead children in Gaza killed during Israel’s war with the terrorist group Hamas.

The graffiti and photos were just the latest salvo in a series of distressing incidents that the family has endured.

On April 2, Deborah’s family received propaganda shoved into their mail slot with pictures of dead children. “The child murders of Gaza” was scrawled on the paper with a marker.

Deborah also noticed that their small Israeli flag placed in their flowerbed had been removed.

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

The 2024 primary election was a tale of two tapes.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee’s victory over challenger Bhavini Patel in the 12th Congressional District Democratic primary was a disappointment to many in the Pittsburgh Jewish community, while state Rep. Abigail Salisbury’s win over Ashley Comans in the 34th District’s Democratic primary offered some level of comfort to those same people.

Despite the heated Lee/Patel race, voter turnout was only about 33% in Allegheny County — the lowest since 2012. Almost 7,500 fewer voters in the district cast a ballot than in 2022.

The slogan was used in Nazi Germany to evoke the idea of a pure Aryan race and the territory the Nazis wanted to conquer, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The concept was foundational to Nazi ideology. “Blood” refers to a racially pure Aryan people, and “soil” evokes a special relationship between the people and their land.

The glass on Deborah’s front door was also

“I later found it in the alley, and it had a footprint on it in mud and had been trampled,” she said.

Deborah called the police, filed a report and went about her life.

On April 4, the family received two more pieces of anti-Israel propaganda in their mail slot, and their Israeli flag was defaced with the words, “We demand blood.” Deborah understood those words as a death threat.

Lee prevailed 61% to 39% despite low favorability ratings. A Mellman Group poll of Democrats taken before the primary showed the incumbent with just a +27 net favorability rating, significantly lower than Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s +49 rating in the same survey, according to the Jewish Insider.

Lee retained her seat without the endorsement of the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club. Her performance in the 14th Ward —which includes Squirrel Hill,

Lenda volorei ciendi non re nus

Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss

governor comes to Beth

Josh Shapiro promotes disability awareness

to Friendship Circle!

 Rep. Summer Lee

Photo courtesy of summerlee.house.gov

 A North Side family awoke to find antisemitic graffiti painted on the sidewalk in front of their home.

Photo provided by resident

Headlines

Gov. Josh Shapiro featured speaker at local Disability and Mental Health Summit

Bdiscussing Sandy and her daughter Kate from Westmoreland County. Kate, he said, qualifies for 65 hours of caregiver services a week, but the family was unable to find providers with enough staff to give her the support she needs.

“Sandy,” he said, “as a single mom, gave up her career to care for her daughter and is actually taking money out of her retirement

budget address.

“I wanted every single representative and senator of both parties to have to look them in the eye and recognize that now is a moment where we need to do right by them,” he said, interrupted by applause.

Shapiro said he has been moved by families like Cindy and Matthew, expressing

His administration, he said, has begun the work to address the shortage.

Shapiro said his budget will include a state investment of $217 million for direct support professionals, along with federal dollars, that would mean “nearly half a billion dollars to support those with intellectual disabilities in our community. This would be an

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precedented investment.”

Additionally, he’s proposing another $78 million to “give 1,500 more Pennsylvanians home- and community-based care services, and finally get them off the waiting list.”

“We’re launching a multi-year strategy through the Department of Human Services to effectively end the emergency wait list,” he said. “No one should have to wait months or sometimes years for these services.”

Saying that all should be able to live with dignity and respect, Shapiro stated that his administration is doubling down on its investment in mental health.

ccording to a recent survey, he said, the top three services people with autism need are social skill training, behavioral support and mental health counseling.

His administration, he said, is providing $100 million to school districts so they can hire mental health counselors and is increasing funding for county mental health support services, as well as keeping the 988 hotline open for those with mental health emergencies.

And, Shapiro said, he recently directed the state insurance commissioner to reclassify autism as a mental health matter.

“We’re going to remain committed to those with intellectual disabilities and those who provide service to them,” he said. “We’re going to continue to focus our efforts on addressing mental health in our schools, in our communities and in our homes.”

e work, he noted, will require bipartisan support and continued pressure from families. He urged them to vote and to continue to text and email legislators.

“We have a lot of work to do, and we are relying on you to help us get his work done,” he said. “We will continue to work with you and alongside you.” PJC

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

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p Gov. Josh Shapiro addresses the 11th Annual Disability and Mental Health Summit.

Photo by David Rullo

Headlines

L’chaim and L’Friendship Circle

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

An organization predicated on creating inclusion is celebrating its impact in Pittsburgh. Friendship Circle is marking 18 years — but less with parties, toasts and boasts than recognition of the work remaining.

When Friendship Circle began in 2006, “it was like 1.0,” Executive Director Rabbi Mordy Rudolph said.

People questioned whether fostering a “more inclusive community” was achievable; even Rudolph wondered whether the undertaking was “just going to be a project or something short-lived,” he said.

Temporary locations in the East End allowed the organization and its members to dabble in related programming.

“When we started Friendship Circle, kids were volunteering to help kids with disabilities, but we quickly pivoted our mission to volunteering to help create a more inclusive community,” Director Rivkee Rudolph said.

Nearly a decade after its founding, the organization took a major step forward, or “2.0,” according to Mordy Rudolph.

“That was obviously a really critical decision for Friendship Circle,” former Board Chair Danny Rosen said.

Moving from a small storefront on Northumberland Street near the fire station allowed the organization to “really focus our efforts right in the heart of the community,” he continued. “We could have made a choice to move to maybe a cheaper, bigger space further out. But part of the mission that the board, and Mordy and Rivkee, and the staff, were really committed to is that the work that we’re doing at Friendship Circle is part of community transformation. And if you want to transform a community, then you need to be in the heart of the community.”

In 2016, Friendship Circle celebrated its grand opening at 1922 Murray Ave. Since then, the organization has continued its mission by expanding into adjacent properties and developing new initiatives. Last year, the organization opened The Beacon, a space to support teenagers’ mental health and well-being. Months later, Friendship Circle opened Bunny Bakes, a bakery offering adults of all abilities an accessible workspace with “any and all necessary supports.”

“Now that we have all these pieces in place, it’s kind of, in a sense, like a 3.0,” Mordy Rudolph said.

The organization’s newest pivot will be creating a “sustainable model” while fulfilling a familiar quest, he continued. “We are really trying to look at what the future holds, what our next steps are from here, because we know our work is not done.”

“We often say that we have a very, very, modest goal at Friendship Circle: to change the world,” Rosen said.

Achieving that aim requires “taking this notion of radical inclusiveness and

accessibility for everyone and making that the core and the heart of what you do when you’re planning programs, and you’re planning events, and when you’re thinking about what it means to have a community.”

Heather Mallet has volunteered with the organization since its start, she said.

“It is more than just a place. It is a sanctuary for people. They can feel like they’re a friend, that there’s a circle. The friendship never ends,” she said.

Mallet calls herself a “jack of all trades.” She volunteers with Friendship Circle’s young adult program and assists children of all ages.

“I help out just anywhere,” she said. “I feel it makes a difference.”

Rivkee Rudolph said she recognizes the impact of volunteers, friends, staff and supporters.

The other day at The Beacon a teen was

about to comment, but before doing so, Rudolph said, the person “looked at their friend and said, ‘Are you OK with me talking about this topic?’”

That ability to stop and acknowledge others before proceeding is “something a lot of grown-ups don’t know how to do,” Rudolph said.

Being able to lean into that concept of “making space for other’s differences, and really teaching that value to kids, lets them experience it and know that as they get older this is how things can be,” she continued. Teens who see those lived values “can go out and keep pushing for that in their own spheres of influence.”

Evidence of Friendship Circle’s influence isn’t only drawn from within, Rosen explained.

“I think one of the most rewarding things that we hear about at Friendship

Circle is when we see the change outside of the building,” he said. “When we start hearing from middle schools and high schools in the region that our kids are acting nicer, how people have accessibility and inclusiveness, when we hear the same feedback from day camps and summer camps, that’s when we really know we’re having the kind of impact and the kind of change in the world.”

This progress is something “we should all be proud of together,” Rivkee Rudolph said.

“Pittsburgh is a unique community. And Friendship Circle’s success is because Pittsburgh is a type of community that’s set up to receive Friendship Circle,” she continued. “We are just kind of a conduit for what Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill and the greater community values already are, which are that we know we need each other, we know we need to stick together, we know we’re all different and we need to make space for each other.”

Celebrating 18 years is a celebration of life, but it’s also a step into adulthood, Mordy Rudolph said.

“It’s not like we can say, ‘OK, now our community is inclusive,’ because if you say that and you say that our work here is done then it’s very easy for that to just revert back,” he added.

The past 18 years have brought many milestones but even more understanding, Rivkee Rudolph said.

“I think everyone can be part of what we do. You don’t need to be a part of Friendship Circle to be a part of our mission. And that’s why we’ve expanded into so many different parts of the community — to say and do exactly that,” she said. “It’s about creating a model for other people and other places to embrace.” PJC

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

p Building friendship and creating change in Squirrel Hill

Photo courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

p Friends gather at Kennywood. Photo courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

Headlines

JHF fellowship broaches death and dying

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer

With twists, turns and sometimes terror prompting life’s most challenging moments, is there any way to prepare for the absolute worst? Jewish Healthcare Foundation thinks so.

Nearly a decade ago the organization founded its Death and Dying Fellowship. Geared toward physicians, nurses, social workers, ethicists and other health care professionals, the program facilitates conversation and training.

“We cannot control the fact that we are each going to die, but there are certain things that we could potentially plan for,” Nancy Zionts, JHF’s chief operating officer and chief program officer, said. “And information is power.”

Placing that knowledge, and skills, into stakeholders’ hands was the aim of Zionts and JHF to begin the multi-week training program.

“We always say that ‘Americans want a good death, just not a moment too soon.’ But that doesn’t happen by accident,” Zionts said.

A surgeon doesn’t show up to a case without having practiced, strategized and considered outcomes. Why should conversations around the end of life be any different, she asked.

As part of the fellowship, participants spend more than two months meeting virtually and in person to discuss legal, medical, cultural and spiritual aspects of death and dying. Along

experiences, participants hear from experts.

Dr. Judith Black, a retired geriatrician, has served as program co-director since 2018.

“We share with them a lot of different resources that they can utilize,” she said.

Collectively, guides and teachers are helpful, but the work really begins with “trying to get the individual to think about who they would want to make decisions for them — if they could — and thinking about what really matters,” Black said.

People often imagine that death and dying is the last week or days of someone’s life, but “most of us will have a couple years of disability and then there’s serious illness,” she continued.

End-of-life costs and care demand increased attention. Countries with modernizing

and higher rates of chronic conditions. As a result, according to OECD, although 7 million people required end-of-life care in 2019, the number is expected to reach 10 million by 2050.

The financial costs are staggering. Public and private expenses in the U.S. total $80,000 (per person) in the last 12 months of life, and $155,000 in the last three years, according to The Lancet.

Nearly 25% of all Medicare spending goes “toward care for people during their last year of life,” JAMA reported.

And, approximately 10-12% of all health care spending is dedicated to end-of-life care in the U.S., according to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The topic of death and dying cannot be avoided, “so we want to try to improve the communication skills,” Black said.

At the heart of this fellowship is a desire to ensure that health care providers and patients communicate more clearly and sensitively about difficult topics, Zionts explained.

Sometimes, even the best-intentioned professional may search for words, make mistakes or avoid matters because “it’s uncomfortable,” she said. “What if they really had a chance to contemplate things, think about what are the words they’d want to say and in what kinds of circumstances?”

Gabriella Agostaro participated in the fellowship two years ago while completing a doctorate in health care ethics at Duquesne University.

“The fellowship introduced me to difficult conversations really early on in my career,” she said.

Having those interactions — even in imagined, role-playing, scenarios — was helpful, Agostaro, a clinical ethicist at Novant Health, a North Carolina-based health care system, said.

“I frequently see a lot of cases where there’s a lack of communication, and a lot of distrust in the medical system, unfortunately. With the tools that I was provided from the fellowship, I’m better able to approach these cases in a more sensitive manner,” she said.

Thoughtfulness doesn’t only serve the patient, but the health care system, Agostaro continued: “It really works to promote health equity and the shared decision-making model that a lot of providers seek to gain with their patients.”

“Health care is moving much more to a team-based approach, and it’s very important to be able to participate in an interdisciplinary team,” Black said.

The fellowship encourages participants to “interact in small groups and learn more about

each other’s discipline. And that’s extremely important,” she added.

Shortly after starting a master’s in bioethics at the University of Pittsburgh, Ariel Leath, 36, joined the Death and Dying Fellowship.

Her professor recommended the program as a way to gain practical experience, “actually talking through these contemporary issues with other folks in the field — as opposed to just in the academic setting,” Leath said.

Leath had little idea how to address related issues.

“I was pretty nervous because I knew most of the other folks in the program had a medical background, and I was coming in from doing marketing for 10 years,” she said.

The relative newcomer worried about being “behind” other participants.

Those fears soon abated, she said: “We all came at it from this super-open collaborative perspective.”

Week after week, topics and readings generated robust conversations.

“You got to try things out, to work with the group, to workshop your thoughts and insecurities around these really difficult topics,” she said. “Even the speakers that came, no one pretended that this is easy. Everyone said it’s a constant learning process.”

JHF’s Death and Dying Fellowship just finished its 10th iteration. Since its inception, more than 250 fellows have gone through the tuition-free program.

Zionts said it’s “gratifying” to see the communal impacts.

Whereas the fellowship originally catered to early career professionals, an offshoot program now serves practitioners — some of whom have been in the field for up to 30 years — who want to “get the conversations right,” Zionts said. “They still want to talk to others about it. They still want to try out ideas.”

Another outgrowth is an Osher Lifelong Learning Course at Carnegie Mellon University. Zionts said that she and Black use the space to talk about myriad issues surrounding death and dying, such as advanced care planning.

“Death and dying” will always sound scary to some people, but the topic shouldn’t be avoided, Zionts said.

“Thinking about this and sharing your decisions with your loved ones can be a gift to them so that they’re not there in a moment of terror or emergency trying to figure out ‘I don’t know what Dad or Mom would have wanted,’” Zionts said.

The same goes for health care providers, she continued.

“You need to know what this patient and family want, versus what another patient and family want,” she said. “And you can’t tell just by looking at them. You can’t tell just by looking at their chart. You need to discuss it, and you need to find the language and the vocabulary to do that.”

The fellowship has grown since its start, but the goal remains the same, Zionts explained.

“This is about everybody being comfortable — finding that language and vocabulary and telling other people what it is that they want — so that what matters to them comes into being when the time is right,” she said. PJC

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

 JHF fellowship participants discuss death and dying.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Healthcare Foundation

Headlines

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer

An upcoming Shabbaton aims to promote the Pittsburgh Jewish community’s strength. On May 17-18, Kulam is welcoming Jewish educator Judy Klitsner for a weekend of learning and conversation.

Klitsner is the Rabbi Joshua S. Bakst Chair in Tanakh senior educator in Bible at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. The Jerusalembased center is regarded for its “open, inclusive, diverse and intellectually challenging Jewish learning community.”

A disciple of the late Bible scholar Nehama Leibowitz, Klitsner is internationally recognized for her interactive, text-based presentations, Squirrel Hill resident David Brent, co-founder of Kulam, said.

“She’s very skilled, first of all, at teaching adults, and secondly, at teaching people who come from a variety of backgrounds — that’s really her expertise,” he added.

Brent, who worked with fellow Kulam co-founder Peter Braasch on the Shabbaton, said the weekend format will ensure everyone feels “welcome and engaged.”

On Friday evening, attendees will enjoy a kosher dinner at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, followed by remarks from

Klitsner, titled, “Five Stages of Post-Oct. 7 Grief: Personal and Biblical Reflections.”

Saturday’s talk, which follows a kosher lunch at the JCC, is titled, “When Leaders Blur Lines: Two Biblical Cautionary Tales and a Blueprint for the Present.”

Klitsner’s topics are “very relevant to us,” Brent said. “Both of them promote healing and achdus (unity).”

“I think we as a community have suffered three traumas,” he continued. “We’ve suffered the shooting of Oct. 27, the pandemic and then Hamas’ assault on Oct. 7. I think for all those reasons, the idea of being able to come together and do something constructive — especially across denominations — to come together as Jews and celebrate and learn together, it’s really critical for us to be able to heal and go forward.”

Klitsner, speaking by phone from her home in Israel, agreed.

“I think it’s so important for people to come together in difficult times. And I think Torah study can be a great vehicle to bring people together with a common purpose,” she said. “Interestingly, even more than prayer — which can at times be divisive, because not all denominations can find that they want to pray together — text study is something that everybody can do, and can do together. So, on one level, it’s just an enormously unifying experience.”

There’s another aspect to Jewish learning, Klitsner continued.

“Studying text does something that is kind of countercultural today — but it’s deeply cultural for Jews — and that is to tap into this grand tradition of ours that not only tolerates debate but holds it up as an ideal,” she said. “The idea of machloket, respectful debate, where we can open up a page of Torah text and find two lines of the original biblical text surrounded by 100 lines of cross-generational debate about those lines is something that can speak very loudly and pointedly at this moment where people are shutting each other down and silencing each other.

“Machloket can lead the way, and present an alternative model, where we actually invite opposing viewpoints, consider them, respond to them, and learn how to speak and how to listen.”

Kulam originated pre-pandemic with the hope of bringing people together for “serious learning and community building,” Braasch said.

That goal is “even more painfully urgent than it was four or five years ago when we started,” he added.

“With COVID, a lot of us got out of the habit of building bridges and growing our community, and we sort of retracted to a smaller perimeter,” Braasch said.

Insular behavior affected relationships in Squirrel Hill and the larger community. Even now, a wider problem remains, Braasch said.

“It seems like we’re all getting more and more focused and used to being in more and more homogenous spaces, whether it’s politically or

religiously or anything else,” he said.

That behavior is “incredibly limiting,” Braasch continued. “It also leads us to be less and less tolerant and understanding.”

Being able to “talk across our silos of opinions is a universal problem,” Brent said. “In the post-social media world, it’s not just a Jewish problem, but it is a Jewish problem.

Within Squirrel Hill and the Pittsburgh Jewish community, there are “lots of people in proximity, and they are fascinating people, and have fascinating stories, and you never know it until you bump into them and share a meal with them,” Braasch said. The Shabbaton is a way of “trying to increase the opportunity for that to happen.”

Brent and Braasch credited the JCC with being an “incredible partner” and said they hope community members are inspired to spend time at the center, eating, studying and growing together.

“If you can possibly come to this, you should,” Braasch said. “You’re going to be surprised by the learning, you’re going to be forced to think in different ways, and hopefully, you’ll meet some new people.” PJC

Registration for the Shabbaton is available at rb.gy/992k72. The event cost is $18/meal for an individual and $54/meal maximum for a family. Registration closes May 5. Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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.

 SATURDAY, MAY 4

This Mother’s Day season, it’s time for NCJW’s M.O.M, indoor/outdoor Pittsburgh Mom Owned Market. The shopping event will be just in time for shoppers looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift — a gift for mom made by a mom. More than 20 mom-owned businesses will be o ering prepared and hot food, handmade jewelry, art and decorative items, clothing, upcycled items and other handmade goods, as well as free on-site childcare and kids’ activities. 10 a.m. 1620 Murray Ave. ncjwpghevents. org/upcoming-events.

Join Temple Sinai for an evening of jazz music with musical artist-in-residence Chava Mirel. Mirel is an award-winning Jewish composer and one-thrid of the supergroup New Moon Rising. She serves as the cantor soloist and musician-in-residence at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle. Free and open to the public, donations appreciated. 7 p.m. templesinaipgh.org/event/anevening-of-music-with-chava-mirel.html.

 SATURDAY, THURSDAY, MAY 4 and 9

The Healing with Nature Mosaic Project is designed to respond to the human experience of grief and loss through the healing power of nature and of creative expression. The six-week, 10-session program facilitated by mosaic artist Laura Jean McLaughlin will guide participants in the collective creation of a community mosaic mural, gathering shattered pieces together to tell a story of community healing and resilience. Saturday, 1-3 p.m. Thursday, 4-6 p.m. Frick Environmental Center, 2005 Beechwood Blvd. Registration required. 1027healingpartnership.org/ healing-with-nature-mosaic-project.

 SATURDAY, MAY 4–SUNDAY, MAY 12

Film Pittsburgh’s JFilm Festival, Pittsburgh’s largest Jewish cultural event, will showcase 16 engaging and thought-provoking, Jewish-themed, independent feature films from around the world. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit FilmPittsburgh.org or email info@ filmpittsburgh.org. 7 p.m. $18. filmpittsburgh.org.

 SUNDAY, MAY 5

Join Rodef Shalom Congregation as Payadora Tango performs award-winning music from “Silent Tears, The Last Yiddish Tango.” From inspiring songs about survival to mournful laments, this program, based on

poems, testimonies and writings of women who survived the Holocaust, conveys a depth of emotion rarely sung about. $18. 2 p.m. rodefshalom.org/SilentTears.

 SUNDAYS, MAY 5–JUNE 9

Join Congregation Beth Shalom and Tiferet Project for seven weekly yoga sessions in the Zweig Library that explore the week by week countdown from Passover to Shavuot. The countdown links the freedom and liberation of Passover with the revelation and responsibility of Shavuot. 10 a.m. 5915 Beacon Street. bethshalompgh.org/tiferetyoga.

 SUNDAYS, MAY 5–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.

 MONDAY, MAY 6

Join Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle senior writer David Rullo at Beth El Congregation of the South Hill’s First Monday as he discusses his book, “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the 90s Scene.” Enjoy a lunch of Beehive favorites and co ee bar. 11:30 a.m. 1900 Cochran Road.bethelcong.org.

Join the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for its annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration honoring the victims of the Shoah, as well as survivors and their families, with readings, music and candle lightings. 7 p.m. Campbell Memorial Chapel, Chapel Hill Road, 15232. hcofpgh.org/ event/2024-yom-hashoah-commemoration.

 MONDAYS, MAY 6, 13

H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schi 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, Schi 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.

 MONDAYS, MAY 6–DEC. 28

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

 TUESDAYS, MAY 7, 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 Schi will provide a full overview of the regional conflict that Israel has experienced over the last century. 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-israel-iran-conflict.

 WEDNESDAY, MAY 8

Butler Area Public Library and the B’nai Abraham Synagogue present a memoir poetry reading and an open forum as part of the library’s Stories of Exile Series. The event will begin with a reading from “I Am a Jew” by Susan and Philip Terman and a forum, inviting members of the public to share stories of immigration, exile and displacement. 6 p.m. B’nai Abraham Synagogue, 519 N. Main St., 16001. ButlerLibrary.info.



WEDNESDAYS, MAY 8–DEC. 18

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.

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.



THURSDAY, MAY 9

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Virtual Legal Appeals Process Educational Program. Professor David Harris from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law will explain what appeals are and the function they serve. Free. 6 p.m. Zoom only. 1027healing partnership.org/event/virtual-legal-appeals-processeducational-program.

 THURSDAYS, MAY 9–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.

 SUNDAYS MAY 12, 26; JUNE 9, 23; JULY 7, 21; AUG. 4, 18; SEPT. 1, 15, 29

Chabad of Monroeville invites you to BLT (Bagel, Lox, Tefillin), an in-person tefillin club followed by breakfast. No prior experience necessary. Tefillin available for use. 9 a.m. 2715 Mosside Blvd. RSVP appreciated at chabad@jewishmonroeville.com

 WEDNESDAY, MAY 15

Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for its May meeting at Rodef Shalom Congregation. The New Horizon Band of Greater

Pittsburgh will perform following the meeting. For further information, please contact President Marcia Kramer at 412-656-5063. Refreshments will be served. All seniors are welcome. 1 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave.

 WEDNESDAYS, MAY 15, 29; JUNE 26; JULY 10, 24; AUG. 7, 28; SEPT. 4, 28

Chabad of Monroeville invites you to spend an hour playing mahjong and other games. Play, shmooze, learn a word of the Torah, say a prayer for Israel and, of course, nosh on some yummy treats. Free. 7 p.m. RSVP is required: SusanEBurgess@gmail.com, or text or call 412-295-1838. 2715 Mosside Blvd. jewishmonroeville.com/mahjong.



WEDNESDAYS, MAY 15; JUNE 19; JULY 17: AUG. 21; SEPT. 18; OCT. 16; NOV. 20; DEC. 18

Join AgeWell for the Intergenerational Family Dynamics Discussion Group at JCC South Hills the third Wednesday of each month. Led by intergenerational specialist/presenter and educator Audree Schall. The group is geared toward anyone who has children, grandchildren, a spouse, siblings or parents. Whether you have family harmony or strife, these discussions are going to be thought-provoking, with tools to help build strong relationships and family unity. Free. 12:30 p.m.

 SUNDAY, MAY 19

Join Tree of Life Young Jewish Community for a tour by trolley of the historic Hill District. Eric Lidji, archivist of the Rauh Jewish Archives, will be the guide through the area’s Jewish sites. Snacks included. This event is for individuals in their 20s and 30s. 1 p.m. Meet in Rodef Shalom’s parking lot, 4905 Fifth Ave. $10. treeoflifepgh. org/event/bustour.

Join the entire Jewish community for the best adult Israel Independence Day party in the ‘Burgh. Enjoy hora music and dancing, Israeli kosher food, photo booth, DJ Israeli music, face painting and more. 7 p.m. $45; $25 for students. JCC Pittsburgh, Levinson Hall. 412friendsofzahal.org.

 THURSDAY, MAY 23

Join The Branch for the May Family Forum Meeting “Arts and Community.” The Family Forum is a parentdriven e ort to support families of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing education, resources and the benefit of personal experience. 6:15 p.m. Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse, 2609 Murray Ave. First Floor. RSVP by May 20 to akarabin@ thebranchpgh.org. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its June 16 discussion of “We Must Not Think of Ourselves,” by Lauren Grodstein. From Amazon.com: “Inspired by a little-known piece of history — the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history — this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls 'gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful.'”

Your Hosts:

Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle

David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer

How and When: We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, June 16, at 1 p.m.

What To Do

Buy: “We Must Not Think of Ourselves.” 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@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will send you a Zoom link for the discussion meeting. Registration closes on June 14.

Happy reading! PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

Headlines

Anti-Israel encampment erected at Schenley Plaza, dismantled after one week

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

Agroup calling itself “Pitt Divest from Apartheid” set up an encampment on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus on April 23, then subsequently moved to city-owned Schenley Plaza.

The group said it was protesting Israel’s war against Hamas and the university’s investment in Israel and sought a statement from Pitt officials condemning what it called “genocide in Gaza.” At its rally on April 28, speakers repeatedly called for the elimination of the state of Israel.

Presidential candidate Cornel West, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and Allegheny County Council member Bethany Hallam all visited the encampment and offered encouragement to those occupying the public park. While the protest was mostly peaceful, two people were arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing while on the university lawn. The encampment was dismantled on April 30.

see Pitt officials move the protest from

“We are deeply grateful to the senior administrators at Pitt for not permitting the students to encamp on university grounds and we appreciate their leadership,” Marcus said. At the same time, he said he was “deeply disappointed” that the city allowed the anti-Israel protesters to take over

“Hillel JUC has been present for students throughout the week as a safe place and place to be in community,” Marcus said. “We will continue, as always, to provide opportunities for gatherings to engage with Israel in a

be disappointed with authorities for allowing it in the first place and permitting it to go on so long,” she said.

Weinstein noted that the university’s administration has been “very responsive,” especially compared to other campuses, and that the need was for the city to react.

Chabad at Pitt Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein said that more than 30 Pitt students went to the encampment to counter-protest.

He said it was “painful” to see outsiders and other students promote “hateful ideology that leads to pain and hurt” in the Jewish community.

The protest modeled similar encampments at other universities, including Columbia University and the University of Southern California.

University administrations and law enforcement have struggled with their

reactions to the protests, some of which have occurred on university property and have included antisemitic and pro-Hamas rhetoric, such as “Hamas, we love you,” which was chanted at New York’s Columbia University.

The chants and anti-Israel activities have left many Jewish students around the country fearing for their safety and feeling unsupported by their universities.

Dan Marcus, executive director of Hillel JUC of Pittsburgh, was happy to

Hillel, he said, works with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the university’s administration and security, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police to ensure Jewish students have a safe, positive and meaningful Jewish life on campus.

“We will not let those that want to disrupt and demonize Israel define our value and purpose,” Marcus said.

Chabad on Campus’ Co-Director Sara Weinstein said the Jewish students she knows were “proud and grateful” to celebrate Passover on campus.

“The encampments are merely a frustrating distraction which causes students to

“While they claim this is not a form of antisemitism, by reading their signs and talking to them, this is clearly another form of a double standard held against the Jews,” he said.

While tensions in the community may be heightened, Shawn Brokos, the Federation’s director of community security, is quick to note that the Jewish community is safe in Oakland.

“We’ve not seen any violence,” she said. “There are no special instructions for the Jewish community. They might feel uncomfortable, but they shouldn’t feel worried walking through Oakland.” PJC

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

at Schenley Plaza Photo by Jim Busis

Headlines

Tel Aviv has hottest day since 1907

The greater Tel Aviv area along Israel’s central Mediterranean coastline, known as Gush Dan, suffered its hottest day in April since 1907, the country’s meteorological service reported on April 25, JNS.org reported.

Records fell in Yavne, where temps skyrocketed to 42.4 degrees Celsius (107.96 degrees Fahrenheit) and in Nitzan, near Ashkelon, where the thermometer rose to 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

In the city of Tel Aviv, the high was 40.7 degrees Celsius (105.26 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking an 85-year-old record for April — the previous record of 40.4 degrees Celsius (104.72 degrees Fahrenheit) was measured in 1939.

In the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel, a 50-year-old man was found in a forest in serious condition with signs of heat stroke. The Magen David Adom emergency rescue services team evacuated him to Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

Another man, 40, was found with signs of heat stroke on Bar Ilan Boulevard in Bat Yam, south of Jaffa. His condition was serious. The MDA team evacuated him to Wolfson Hospital in Holon.

Peru detains Iranian, two others over plot to kill Israelis

A Peruvian judge on April 23 ordered 18 months of preventative detention for an Iranian and two Peruvians over an alleged plot to kill two Israelis in the South American country, according to the Associated Press, JNS.org reported.

Peruvian police and prosecutors said that the Iranian, Majid Azizi, could be a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, which conducts Tehran’s overseas terror operations.

On March 15, the Israeli embassy in Lima thanked local authorities for arresting Azizi and “having dismantled an Iranian attack that was directed against an Israeli citizen.”

According to prosecutors, Azizi contacted Peruvians Walter Loja and Ángelo Trucios last month to plan the killing of Israeli Shachar Malka.

Malka’s social media identifies him as a tour guide and healer using traditional plants in Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas. The other Israeli target reportedly was Gilad Duchovny, who opened a cafe in Cusco in 2006.

Most Israelis against Palestinian state for defense pact

A majority of Israelis oppose agreeing in principle to the future establishment of a Palestinian state in exchange for

Today in Israeli History

May 6, 1986 — Israel helps U.S. with ‘Star Wars’

Israel and the United States sign a research agreement to work on the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, known as “Star Wars.”

May 3, 1882 — Russia institutes May Laws

Russian Czar Alexander III continues tightening restrictions on Jews by enacting the May Laws, which, among other things, toughen the rules requiring Jews to live within the Pale of Settlement.

May 4, 1994 — Israel, PLO sign Gaza autonomy pact

Israeli and PLO officials sign an autonomy agreement in Cairo for the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area. The agreement, part of the Oslo process, is the first to grant the Palestinians some degree of autonomy.

May 5, 1818 — ‘Communist Manifesto’ author Marx is Born Karl Marx, baptized at age 6, is born in Trier to a Jewish mother and a Protestant father who left Judaism. His “Jewish Question” calls for the abolition of religion and associates Judaism the evils of capitalism.

a permanent regional defense agreement, according to the 15th “War in Gaza” survey published by the Israel Democracy Institute on April 21, JNS.org reported.

The question was asked about a Palestinian state against the backdrop of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Jordan helping to fend off the massive Iranian drone and missile assault on Israel on April 13.

In addition, the Biden administration is pushing for a pathway to a Palestinian state as part of a normalization agreement between Riyadh and Jerusalem.

A total of 55.6% of the Israeli public are against linking Palestinian statehood to a regional defense pact (37.2% certainly against and 18.4% think it should not be).

Among Israeli Jews, the proportion of certain respondents against a Palestinian state rises to 44.2% with 19.5% saying they think it should not be agreed to, for a total of 63.7% against.

In contrast, a large majority of Arab Israelis in general (74%) and Israeli Jews identifying with the political left (69%) say they support such an arrangement, while only 32% of Israeli Jews in the center and 14.5% on the right support this sort of deal.

The survey was carried out after Iran’s April 13 missile and drone attack on Israel and before the April 19 retaliatory strike on the Islamic Republic attributed to Jerusalem.

Brandeis extends transfer deadline, appealing to Jewish students distressed by anti-Israel unrest

places included rhetoric that veers into antisemitism. Jewish groups and some Jewish students say the protests have left Jewish and pro-Israel students unsafe and unable to take part in campus activities.

“As a university founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community to counter antisemitism and quotas on Jewish enrollment in higher education, Brandeis has been committed to protecting the safety of all its students, and, in the current atmosphere, we are proud of the supports we have in place to allow Jewish students to thrive,” Brandeis President Ron Liebowitz wrote in an email. “Due to the current climate on many campuses around the world, we are now expanding the opportunity for students to seek the learning environment of our campus by extending the transfer application deadline to May 31.”

About a third of students at Brandeis, which is nonsectarian, identify as Jewish, according to Hillel International.

Israel’s credit rating cut by S&P

Noting that the ongoing conflict with Hamas is continuing longer than expected, the international ratings agency S&P cut Israel’s credit rating from AA- to A+, while also downgrading its credit outlook from “stable” to “negative,” Globes reported.

The effort leads to the Arrow and Iron Dome anti-missile systems.

May 7, 1983 — Abu Musa revolts against

Brandeis University, the historically Jewish school outside Boston, has extended its transfer application deadline in a bid to appeal to students who are unhappy with their schools’ responses to campus anti-Israel protests, JTA.org reported.

The agency said that Israel’s geopolitical risks, which were already high, are increasing. It previously estimated that the war would end in six months, but now anticipates it continuing through 2024. S&P also said it sees Israel’s fiscal deficit increasing.

By Margarida Santos Lopes

Abu Musa leads a PLO revolt against Yasser Arafat while Israel is fighting the PLO in Lebanon. Abu Musa complains that Arafat, who is in Tunisia, is considering a U.S. peace plan without an independent state.

May 8, 1936 — Haile Selassie arrives in Haifa

Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie reaches Haifa after fleeing an Italian invasion. He spends two weeks in British Mandatory Palestine. With Selassie back on the throne, Ethiopia recognizes Israel in 1956.

May 9, 1942 — Zionist Congress meets in New York

Jewish Agency President Chaim Weizmann opens a special Zionist Congress in New York with delegates from 17 countries and urges pressure on the Allied powers to open Palestine to Jewish immigrants. PJC

The university announced the decision on April 22, as encampment protests spread from Columbia University to campuses across the United States. The protests, which take aim at the schools’ ties to Israel, are spurred by the IsraelHamas war in Gaza and have in some

“We forecast that Israel’s general government deficit will widen to 8% of GDP in 2024, mostly as a result of increased defense spending. Higher deficits will also continue in the medium term,” S&P wrote.

In February, another ratings agency, Moody’s, made its first-ever credit rating cut in Israel’s history. A third agency, Fitch, left its rating unchanged in March but decreased its outlook.

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

May 12 to Saturday, May 18

SERVING HOURS

Sunday: Noon to 8p

Monday to Thursday: 11a to 9p

Friday: 11a to 10p (music till 11p)

Saturday: 1p to 10p (music till 11p)

p Czar Alexander III poses in a military uniform around 1890.

p PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat checks out military hardware in Lebanon before Israel’s invasion in 1982.

CARNEGIE MUSIC HALL • MAY 2, 2024 • 7:00 PM

LEFT ALONE RHAPSODY

THE MUSICAL MEMOIR OF PIANIST JOHN BAYLESS MAY 2–12, 2024

Headlines

Antisemitism:

Continued from page 1

She contacted the police again.

“This time, they sent officers to the house who took pictures with the report,” she said. “We didn’t have cameras though.”

That changed as the family had two cameras installed later that night.

Bad weather and record-breaking rain hit the Pittsburgh region over the next several days, and no other incidents occurred.

But on April 19, Deborah’s cameras captured images of a man taking the family’s Israeli flag and tossing it in the garbage.

The family filed another report with the police and installed more cameras.

Two days later, one of the cameras captured a person painting graffiti and affixing the disturbing images to their front door.

Once more, the police came to examine the evidence.

“ They were like, ‘That’s a slogan, isn’t it?’

I said, ‘Yes, that would be a Nazi slogan on my sidewalk.’ They looked at each other, and I was like, ‘This is bad,’ and they said, ‘Yeah.’” Police were only part of the response, though.

Pittsburgh police detective with whom they met the next day.

The North Side resident said she also spoke with the FBI, which is investigating the case along with the Pittsburgh Bureau

[Shawn] Brokos said she appreciated the swift attention by law enforcement and that she was surprised by the antisemitism occurring on the North Side, a neighborhood generally free from that sort of activity.

Deborah got support from City Controller Rachael Heisler, who she said has “been fabulous”; Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey; City Councilperson Bobby Wilson; Sen. John Fetterman’s wife, Gisele Fetterman; and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, as well as other elected officials and a

Swisshelm Park, Regent Square, Point Breeze, Park Place, North Point Breeze and Duck Hollow — was down nearly 21% from 2022, and she lost to Patel in that ward.

That result isn’t surprising given Lee’s alliance with the progressive “Squad,” her calls for a cease-fire in Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas, her votes against American support for Israel and against condeming antisemitism and Iran, and the fact that she largely disregarded Pittsburgh’s mainstream Jewish community — failing to attend any vigil or rally in support of Israel or the hostages, refusing to participate in a pre-primary forum organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council and ignoring numerous interview requests from the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

The freshman representative courted controversy when she agreed to appear at a CAIR event alongside known antisemitic and homophobic speakers, then canceled her participation after public pressure and bad publicity.

That controversy wasn’t enough for J Street, which bills itself as “the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans,” to pull its endorsement of Lee — which it did for Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York when his rhetoric, the organization’s leaders said, “crossed a line.”

Mark Fichman, a member of J Street Pittsburgh, said the organization was “glad to see JStreetPAC endorsee Congresswoman Summer Lee win her primary election.” He added that J Street is looking forward to working with Lee to secure victories against MAGA and Trumpism in November.

For many on the progressive side of politics, Lee’s win was viewed as a warning to the Biden administration against its support of Israel. Her allies included those who lobbied the Allegheny County Council to pass a cease-fire motion — which was overwhelmingly rejected — and by some taking part in the anti-Israel encampment at Schenley Park, as was evidenced by a yard sign supporting Lee at the site.

The 12th District primary proved somewhat

director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and kept her up to date on each attack.

Brokos said she appreciated the swift attention by law enforcement and that she was surprised by the antisemitism occurring on the North Side, a neighborhood generally free from that sort of activity.

Brokos doesn’t expect to see a rise in antisemitism in the community once the situation is resolved. Still, she said the response from law enforcement and local politicians was warranted and urged those who see antisemitism to report it on the Federation’s website, jewishpgh.org/form/incident-report and to local police.

of Police.

Four days after the incident was reported, law enforcement officials said they had identified a person captured by the video, whose image was widely distributed in local media.

Deborah also contacted Shawn Brokos,

divisive for the local Jewish community. Many moderate Jewish voters, and those who support Israel’s war against Hamas, campaigned for Patel, who attended many Jewish communal events after Oct. 7 and backed the Jewish state’s right to defend itself. A small but active contingent of Jewish community members sided with Lee.

“What’s disappointing but not surprising is the small but not insignificant number of Jews ... in support of someone that would cheer those that would destroy them,” Squirrel Hill resident Lou Weiss said.

Weiss was frustrated with Lee’s unwillingness to speak with the mainstream Jewish community and said that he’ll be voting for her opponent in the general election, Republican James Hayes.

“He’s a very nice guy,” Weiss said, but acknowledged that Hayes’ odds of victory are long because the district tends to track blue.

“But I wouldn’t vote for Summer Lee if she were the last nominee on the planet Earth,” he said.

Karen Hochberg, the president of the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club, believes that the period between the primary and general election offers an opportunity for communication.

“Now is the time, if there are any ill feelings, for both elected officials and community members to talk,” she said.

Hochberg said there’s a need for serious dialogue, effort, respect and trust.

For Democratic activist Susan Berman Kress, Salisbury’s victory proved that people

noted the work of the incumbent, who gained her seat after a special election and had only a year in office before the primary.

“I think it showed that her district was really paying attention to the good work she did,” Berman Kress said. “On the other hand, I was disappointed about the outcome of the race between Lee and Patel.”

Berman Kress said that those who are unhappy with Lee’s win should get active in politics.

“Give your money. Give your time. Give your shoe leather. Talk to friends. Make sure people vote and make sure people have a way to vote — and not just the people that are in your closest circles. It has to be conversations with people who don’t all think the same as you already,” she said.

Berman Kress said the date of the primary —the first day of Passover — left many Jewish community members across the state feeling disenfranchised, even if they voted by mail.

“We were the only state, as far as I know, the only state in the country, that didn’t change the primary,” she said.

Like many, Berman Kress is conflicted about the general election. A vote for Lee, she said, is a vote against Jewish communal interests, but a vote against Lee means that the House may end up in Republican control, something that concerns her.

She wants Lee to engage in conversations with a broader segment of the Jewish community.

“I want her to have conversations [with

“We’ve shown this is not OK,” Brokos said. “You cannot terrorize or victimize your neighbors because of their beliefs. You may not like them, but you cannot desecrate their private property and/or intimidate them or threaten them in any way.”

PJC

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

those] that don’t agree with her, that are outside her bubble of people who agree with her positions,” Berman Kress said. “I think that’s a two-way thing. I think the voter base has to get active, but I think the representative also has to actively listen to more than one opinion from the Jewish community.”

Jeremy Kazzaz, the executive director of the Beacon Coalition — a local political education and advocacy nonprofit — viewed the election through a different lens.

“I told anybody who wanted to hear my metrics for success for this election [that] I wanted to see Summer Lee not walk away with a gigantic margin,” he said. “I wanted to see an impact here in the 14th Ward and we want to see Abigail Salisbury win.”

Accomplishing two of those three things, he said, would count as victory.

As a result, he said, “I think that I am happier than maybe most with the outcome of the election.”

Still, Kazzaz said that Lee likely feels emboldened and empowered by her victory, pointing to her use of the word “genocide” regarding Israel since her primary win.

“Something she did everything in her power to avoid using leading up to it,” he said.

Kazzaz noted the low election turnout and the out-of-state money injected into Lee’s campaign.

“She traveled the country and raised money describing the boogeyman of Jewish lobbying groups,” he said, adding that her national organizing extended to busing in people to canvas for her.

But Kazzaz believes Lee’s ability to motivate voters is limited, based on Salisbury’s victory against Comans, who was endorsed by Lee, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato.

Salisbury, he said, has been and will continue to be a strong advocate in the state House for the Jewish community, of which she is a part.

As for Lee, many aren’t so sure.

“Jesse Helms got turned around years ago,” Weiss said, “so maybe it’s not impossible.” PJC

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

The Stock Photo Girl / Adobe Stock

In the face of antisemitism, Jewish resilience shines at Pitt

Guest Columnist

Alitza Hochhauser

Last week, I called a friend at Columbia University to check on her and discuss recent events. Little did I know that as a result of violent antisemitic protests and encampments, she was not on campus but was attending Zoom classes at home because she was told Columbia was no longer safe for Jewish students.

With COVID flashbacks coming to mind, I could not help but ask, “How is this happening?”

“Why is the safety of Jewish students being sacrificed?” And, “Will this happen to us?”

I hung up the phone thinking that something like that could never happen here at the University of Pittsburgh. But I awoke to activists attempting to build an unpermitted encampment at the Cathedral of Learning, which then moved to the city-owned Schenley Plaza.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel did not lightly touch the hearts of Jewish students; it profoundly skewed their academic year’s direction. Jewish leaders from various organizations banded together as a people to create a place for Jewish students to feel heard, respected and safe. We will continue to keep creating those spaces, even with an encampment at our local public park.

Schenley Plaza is a popular location where Pitt students go to study, hang out and appreciate the warmer weather, especially toward the end of the school year. It is also where many seniors take graduation photos. Sadly, none of this is an option now due to the recent scene of sweeping tents, large posters and aggressive rules discouraging interactions with Zionists and police.

to our presence. Some of them were chuckling. I found myself thinking that, yes, this was a counter-protest, but was simply wearing an Israeli flag and holding a poster of someone’s lost relative a reason to oust us from this public space? A public space in which the anti-Israel protesters proclaimed in their written rules to “Love Everyone!”?

We have faced obstinacy, assumptions, stereotyping, fear-mongering, cultural appropriation and silence, yet our Jewish pride returns stronger every time, despite multiple attempts to hinder it.

A few days after the encampment was set up, a group of students independently organized a peaceful counter-protest in response to the encampment and to the misinformation being spread there. Not only did various Jewish students stand with us in support, but so did community members of greater Pittsburgh. Some students donned Israeli flags on their backs, and others wore “Stronger Than Hate” T-shirts, a slogan that we still believe rings true today. We stood at the edge of the plaza, arm in arm, each holding a hostage poster to account for the 133 hostages still in Gaza. We remained silent, allowing the posters to speak for themselves, as a few encampment members barricaded a small part of the park in response

As the night proceeded, a few people approached us with questions for peaceful conversation, but others did not. As we marched around the camp peacefully, the barricade and a few heated comments followed. Chants of “From the River to the Sea” began. In response, my good friend, who lost most of his family during the Holocaust, asked, “Where do the Jews go?” An encampment member responded with “Back to Europe, where you’re originally from,” earning shocked expressions from many of us.

As the barricade wrapped around the camp with chants growing louder, we decided to sing. We ended the night as a community by wrapping our arms around each

From a Columbia alum Israeli peace activist

Guest Columnist

Rabbi Haviva Ner-David

Dear student activists:

As a graduate of Columbia College (class of 1991) and a peace activist who lives in Israel, I am watching videos and reports from my alma mater’s campus and wondering what I would have done if I were a student there now.

I am an activist and have been all my life. I believe strongly in the ability of grassroots movements and peaceful protest to change the world. Since well before the current extremist rightwing Israeli government was elected, I have been demonstrating against the occupation (later also the Nation-State Law declaring Israel officially a Jewish state) and working for JewishPalestinian partnership within Israel’s borders. My debut novel, “Hope Valley,” is about the friendship between a Palestinian Israeli woman and a Jewish Israeli woman in the Galilee.

I am a very active member of Standing Together, a movement of Palestinian-Israelis and Jewish-Israelis working in complete partnership toward an end to the occupation, Palestinian self-determination and a more equal, just and peaceful society within Israel. I am involved in a variety of groups and organizations committed to a vision of peace, justice and equality for all people on the land from the “River to the Sea.”

I remain active in these groups even after

Hamas’ brutal attack on Oct. 7. I am even out on the streets now calling for a mutual cease-fire and a return of all the hostages (many of whom it seems are tragically no longer alive), as well as for the resignation of government officials and early elections.

And so, if I were studying at Columbia today, I would ask myself: Should I join your protests?

After all, I, too, am pro-Palestinian.

But I am also pro-Jew.

And when you chant, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!” and “From the Sea to the River, Palestine will live forever!” you are not calling, as I and my Palestinian-Israeli friends are, for peace, justice and equality for all humans within those borders. You are calling for the violent destruction of the country where we live, and the murder of its citizens — including the Palestinian ones. As we saw on Oct. 7, Hamas has no more sympathy for otherthan-Jewish Israelis — not even for Muslim ones — than it does for Jewish Israelis.

When you proudly declare, “I am Hamas!”, you are showing no sympathy or compassion for innocent civilians, including children, women and seniors who were massacred and kidnapped by Hamas, nor for the women who are being raped in captivity. Even my Palestinian Israeli activist friends strongly condemned Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 and say Hamas is terrible for the Palestinian people.

And when you call out, “Say it loud and say it clear, we don’t want no Zionists here!” you are fomenting violence against and silencing other Columbia students. You may disagree with them, but does that mean they have no right to inhabit your shared campus — or even live? Do

other, singing songs in Hebrew and English for the peace of everyone suffering around the world and for the safety of the hostages.

As president of Chabad at the University of Pittsburgh, I have faced many situations this year that raised more minor concerns than felt on other campuses, but this incident has caused me to be worried about what the future holds. I never would have expected to see an encampment at Pitt. Then again, I never would have expected so many Jewish students to have to take it upon themselves to advocate for their right to be Jewish Zionists in response.

There is something to be said about the resilience of Jewish students on campus during these past six months, nationally and in Pittsburgh. We have faced obstinacy, assumptions, stereotyping, fear-mongering, cultural appropriation and silence, yet our Jewish pride returns stronger every time, despite multiple attempts to hinder it.

We are faced with a choice now as a people. We can give in to the fear that these encampments cause or proudly stand up, showing the world that we are the reason “Never Again” is not just a slogan. In the face of adversity, there is beauty to be appreciated in our fight for peace, truth and our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world. PJC

Alitza Hochhauser is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh. She is majoring in anthropology and psychology and minoring in writing.

you think I, an activist in the struggle for peace and equality for all in Israel-Palestine, have a right to live?

Make no mistake: I have no problem with the keffiyehs you wear or the Palestinian flags you wave. But why is nationalist self-determination good for Palestinians and not Jews? Why is living in the Diaspora good for Jews and not Palestinians? And why do Palestinians have a right to live in security, but Jews do not? Unlike you, I do not even consider myself a nationalist. But I do believe in people’s right to live in safety, and I do not believe in double standards.

While I am an activist advocating for Palestinian rights, I also advocate for Jewish rights. While I march for a cease-fire, I also march with the families of the hostages and am volunteering to translate into English testimony from the Oct. 7 massacre — which is absolutely horrifying, even if there are those who deny it happened.

While you in the United States demand that we be sacrificial lambs, you inhabit and benefit from a country unequivocally acquired through colonialism and grown through slavery. This is not the case with Jews in Israel (although the British may have had colonialist aspirations by being here), even if agenda-driven pseudo-historians try to convince ignorant students that it is.

Israel is far from perfect. I am outraged at the Jewish-supremacist, messianic, theocratic, anti-democratic direction in which the country is currently headed. But the answer is to try and change that direction, not call for the country’s destruction.

I understand and relate to your show of

solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The situation there is heartbreaking and devastating. But so is the situation here in Israel — with 133 hostages still in Gaza; missiles being shot from three fronts; over 100,000 displaced families; an entire country still in mourning and traumatized by Hamas’ atrocious massacre on Oct. 7; a huge portion of the population on reserve duty; tourism dead; the economy a mess; and terrible unemployment (especially in the Arab sector). The scale is just different, for a variety of reasons that are as much the fault of Palestinian leadership as Israeli.

Our political leadership on both sides is using us all as pawns in this bloody conflict. It must end. They must agree on a political solution, and we, the grassroots from both nations, must demand this.

If you from abroad want to demand something, demand a resolution of the conflict and peace in the region, not the annihilation of one side.

The situation here is so much more complex than you care to understand. There is a bloody conflict going on, with people suffering and dying on both sides in brutal ways, not just in the past months but for the past century. One who studies the history and present will know that both sides are culpable and responsible for the conflict and its resolution.

Student activists, I too question the Zionist project. I grew up on the Zionist narrative. But when I discovered I had been told only part of the story, my answer was not to believe the Palestinian narrative over the Zionist one

Chronicle poll results: Primary election results

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Are you pleased with the results of the Pennsylvania primary?” Of the 283 people who responded, 73% said no; 14% said yes; and 13% said they felt undecided or mixed. Comments were submitted by 127 people. A few follow.

The victory of Summer Lee is a tragedy for our community and for the Democratic Party. It is extreme leftist elected officials like her who drive many voters into the arms of the loathsome Donald Trump.

Summer Lee remaining our Democratic representative makes me think of having to vote Republican for the first time in my life. If Congress wasn’t so dysfunctional, I would.

More people have to be educated about Summer Lee and the threat she represents to America and our community.

It is a disgrace that we are represented in Congress by a member of the antisemitic Squad!

Ner-David:

Continued from page 12

— because it, too, is only part of the story. The answer is to acknowledge both stories and both people’s suffering and try to find a way to hold it all and everyone’s humanity.

My ideal is for us to all live in peace and dignity on this land from the River to the Sea. That means two states, with perhaps down the line more open borders and cooperation

Glad to see a victory for Summer Lee against her Republican billionaire-supported opponent Bhavini Patel, as well as a strong showing from the Uncommitted PA campaign with nearly 60,000 votes statewide and counting.

I am disappointed that we are stuck with such a virulently anti-Israel congresswoman now for who knows how long.

— if we do the work to reconcile and heal. That is what my Zionism is about. Not Jewish supremacy or theocracy or even having a Jewish state; it is about having a safe place for Jews to live. But not at the expense of another nation. And so, my vision for this place would have to be safe for everyone.

And so, if I were at Columbia today, I would not join your protests. Because now I know I do not have to choose sides. I do not even have to buy into the idea of “sides.” This is a battle

It’s a shame that Bhavini Patel couldn’t garner support from AIPAC and others to counter Summer Lee’s reelection bid. I believe that Patel’s moderate progressive stance on issues more closely aligns with the majority of voters in the 12th District.

I had only one wish, and it didn’t come true. We still have Summer Lee. So, though I am a Democrat who occasionally votes Republican, I will vote for the Republican in the general election for Congress.

Congresswoman Lee is too radical and anti-Israel and sides with those wanting Israel’s destruction. Her ignoring the Chronicle is an insult to many of the people she claims to represent. Shame on her.

It is very sad that Election Day was the first day of Passover. I truly believe that the outcome would’ve been different had more people been able to vote in person. Shame on our Pennsylvania elected officials for choosing election day to be on Passover and not changing it when brought to their attention. And with a Jewish governor … shaking my head.

between those who support violence and an all-or-nothing approach to this conflict, and those who want to find a way for us to all win out by sharing this land. It saddens me deeply that you are choosing — perhaps out of latent Jew-hatred — the way of violence and hate instead of cooperation and mutual understanding.

There are people living here in this very real place. We are not a theoretical idea. And some of us are Palestinians and Jews who are working

No politician pleases me in today’s messy world.

I will not vote for the Republican, but Summer Lee will not get my vote in November.

Summer Lee will never be a friend to the Jewish community. And now that she knows she can win elections without Jewish support, she has no reason to engage with us in any way.

One-issue voting is not in anyone’s best interest.

I am disappointed that Ms. Patel did not win. I feel like I will have no representation in the House of Representatives. PJC

— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Do you think the City of Pittsburgh should have allowed the anti-Israel encampment at Schenley Plaza? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

together tirelessly to make our vision of peace and equality a reality. If you want to promote peace on this land, please support our work. What you are doing now undermines it. PJC

Rabbi Dr. Haviva Ner-David is a rabbi and writer. She is the rabbinic founder of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body, and Soul, the only mikveh in Israel open to all to immerse as they choose. This article first appeared on The Times of Israel.

Mayor Gainey, where are you?

Mayor Gainey: You stood with us in solidarity and sympathy after the Oct. 7 slaughter, rape and kidnapping that Hamas terrorists unleashed on Israel on Shabbos and on a Jewish festival. You stood with us when we conducted public Chanukah menorah lightings, shedding light in darkness and commemorating freedom from oppression. I am wondering where you stand now.

The occupation of Schenley Plaza, a public space, is where the First Amendment rights of all Americans should be allowed (“Hundreds of students arrested from Texas to California as college Israel protests continue,” online, April 26). But hate should not be allowed. Signs and chants declaring “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea” are directly calling for the destruction of Israel and the accompanying death of Jews. Signs stating “No Zionists allowed” and Zionists are “pigs” are hate directed at Jews and remind many of us of what was displayed on signs in 1930s Nazi Germany. Fortunately, to date we have not seen significant open violence here, but I have friends who have been yelled at and cursed at, and signs supportive of Israel that have been vandalized, as well as other personal property. Let’s hope a line is not crossed, but allowing the normalization of hate brings that line closer.

Mayor Gainey, I read your general Facebook posts against antisemitism. But I must ask you: If the people at Schenley Plaza were wearing white hoods and robes, would that be allowed? Perhaps a stronger statement from you as the mayor of the city where the worst massacre of Jews in U.S. history occurred is needed. It is needed now and it should be strong.

Yes to the First Amendment, but to groups barring public access to other groups in a public space and calling for their extermination: No. Not now and not here in the City of Bridges.

Rocky Wice Squirrel Hill

Where was the wrath of protesters after Oct. 7?

I understand and appreciate the severity of the tragedy that has been inflicted on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but I wonder whether those who are now displaying their rage over what has taken place felt any indignation and wrath when 1,200 Israeli citizens were murdered and hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas (“Hundreds of students arrested from Texas to California as college Israel protests continue,” online, April 26). Did the deaths of men, women, children and infants, and the rapes and burning alive of many, stir the conscience, or was it accepted because it was citizens of Israel who were brutalized? Did those who today demand divestment from Israel ever call for Hamas to lay down its arms, to end an existence which is based on the goal of wiping Israel off the map and killing Jews, and to release Israeli hostages?

I believe in the right to peaceful protest, including on college campuses, but when peaceful protest devolves into vandalism, taking over a building and shutting down an educational institution, the authorities must act to restore order.

Oren Spiegler Peters Township

Correction In “‘Champion of the Jewish people,’ Nicholas Lane dies at 84” (April 26), the Chronicle should have written that Lane was awarded a medal for his work on the historical commission from the president of Estonia, not Lithuania. The Chronicle regrets the error. PJC

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.

Life & Culture

Chunky chicken-barley soup

By Miriam Szokovski | Chabad.org

Ididn’t create this one — it’s my friend Rishe’s signature dish, and it could easily be renamed the best-ever soup. It certainly has my vote.

In fact, pretty much everyone who has tried it raves about it. I knew I had to share the recipe with you, and Rishe graciously agreed to let me make and photograph it with her.

This is not your typical chicken soup, with clear broth and matzah balls. It’s pretty much a meal in a bowl, with lots of chicken, vegetables and barley in every bite, and the barley helps thicken the broth, giving it a real, hearty, full-bodied flavor. Delicious for Shabbat or any weeknight. Oh, and the leftovers make fantastic work lunches if you have access to a microwave.

The recipe below makes a full 12-quart pot of soup (because you will surely be asked for seconds and thirds, and you will want to eat it all week long), but you can easily halve or even quarter it if you want to make less.

Chunky chicken-barley soup

2-pound chicken (you can use white or dark chicken, on the bone or off)

2 large Spanish onions, diced

1 huge (or 2–3 small) zucchini, peeled and diced

5 huge (or 10 small) carrots, peeled and diced

1 bunch celery, leaves removed, stalks diced ½ pound barley ¼

This recipe is for a 12-quart pot, but you can easily halve it if you want to make a smaller amount.

Place the chicken, onion, zucchini, carrots, celery, salt and pepper in the pot. Fill the pot with water and bring it to a boil.

Reduce it to a simmer and cook for two hours. Add the barley and cook for another 45-60 minutes.

Remove the chicken, debone it, dice it and return it to the soup.

Serve immediately or refrigerate it for later. It also freezes well. PJC

Miriam Szokovski is a writer, editor and member of the Chabad.org editorial team.

p Soup vegetables

Photo by Miriam Szokovski p Chunky chicken-barley soup

Photo by Miriam Szokovski

Life & Culture

Whipped feta dip

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

This whipped feta cheese dip is one of the most delicious appetizers that I serve with mezze. If you love feta cheese, you’re going to love this dip.

This is an easy recipe. All you need to do is add everything to the food processor to blend and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

I always make the base the same, but you can get creative with the toppings. This week, I roasted cherry tomatoes under the broiler to use as a colorful topping with olives, a little bit of olive oil and some toasted pine nuts for garnish. While the tomatoes aren’t necessary, they do add both color and flavor, so it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to prepare them.

This dip is amazing with pita chips or crostini, but I also like to dip grape leaves into it or add it to a plate of roasted eggplant or fish.

Ingredients:

1 pound feta cheese

1 clove peeled garlic

¼ cup of labneh or full-fat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

⅔ cup of olives of your choice

¼ cup toasted pine nuts

Fresh parsley for garnish

Aleppo pepper flakes for garnish

Optional:

1 cup of cherry tomatoes roasted in 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Put one clove of garlic into the food processor and blend for about 30 seconds.

Add the feta cheese, labneh/yogurt, lemon juice and olive oil and process on high

for about 2 minutes. The feta cheese has a lot of salt, so you won’t need to add any more to the dip.

Scrape every last bit into a new bowl or storage container, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. This step is important to get the right consistency, and it also allows for all of the flavors to really meld together.

If you’d like to add tomatoes, combine them with the olive oil in a sauté pan or a small baking sheet and broil on high for 8-10 minutes until the skin starts to blacken and the flesh is soft and starts to burst open from the heat.

Set aside until ready to serve.

If I’m serving this with a meal, I put the hot tomatoes on the cold feta dip; but if you’re using this as an appetizer, spoon the tomatoes over the feta dip when they are at room temperature.

As another option, you can make this dip with roasted red peppers. Rinse and add two whole roasted red peppers, skin removed, to the garlic in the food processor, then add the feta, yogurt and the rest of the ingredients. If using peppers, I omit the tomato topping.

After the dip has set, spread it over a dinner plate. Sometimes I make a well in the middle and put the tomatoes into the well; otherwise, top the dip with the tomatoes, olives, pine nuts, Aleppo pepper flakes and parsley. Drizzle the cooking oil from the tomatoes or a bit of plain olive oil over the top.

Serve immediately.

This will soften a bit if the room is hot, so don’t leave it out for much longer than an hour (but, honestly, it never lasts that long and I never have leftovers).

Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

p Whipped feta dip

Photo by Jessica Grann

We thank

Life & Culture

By Shira Li Bartov | JTA

AHolocaust romance, sparked when a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau is forced to tattoo a number on another prisoner’s arm and they fall in love at first sight, sounds almost implausibly uplifting for a story set in a concentration camp.

But “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” a new television series, is based on two Slovakian Jewish prisoners — Lali Sokolov and Gita Furman — who really did meet at Auschwitz, survive, marry and move to Australia together after the war. The sixpart drama premiering May 2 on Peacock and Sky draws from a 2018 novel of the same name by Heather Morris, who interviewed Sokolov over three years before his death in 2006.

“It’s what drew me in, when I read the book a few years ago — that something like this could happen was so surprising,”

Jonah Hauer-King, who plays young Lali at Auschwitz, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Any kind of love at first sight is surprising, let alone in a context like this.”

Alongside Hauer-King, known for his role as Prince Eric in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid,” Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel plays Lali’s older counterpart in his late

(Melanie Lynskey) from his home in Melbourne shortly after Gita (Anna Próchniak) has died. Directed by Tali Shalom-Ezer and executive produced by Claire Mundell, the series will also feature an end-title song by the legendary Jewish

Will Survive” is Streisand’s first recording for a TV series, set to release on April 25 ahead of the series premiere.

“Because of the rise in antisemitism around the world today, I wanted to sing ‘Love Will

Survive’ in the context of this series, as a way of remembering the six-million souls who were lost less than 80 years ago,” Streisand said in her announcement. “And also to say that even in the darkest of times, the power of love can triumph and endure.”

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz” joins a crop of World War II-period TV series inspired by buzzy bestselling novels. Hulu recently launched “We Were the Lucky Ones,” based on Georgia Hunter’s 2017 novel about her Jewish family’s dispersion across the world. And in just the past year, Netflix adapted “All the Light We Cannot See” from Anthony Doerr’s 2014 war novel and aired “Transatlantic,” about Varian Fry’s mission to rescue Holocaust refugees, based on Julie Orringer’s 2019 book “The Flight Portfolio.”

Like the other networks, Peacock has billed its series as “inspired by the reallife story,” with the added interest of a real-life romance “in the most horrific of places.” But preserving the authenticity of Lali’s story in a TV show, based on a novel that fictionalized his testimony 12 years after his death, comes with a new set of challenges — especially when the novel was critiqued for inaccurately portraying life in Auschwitz.

 Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov and Anna Próchniak as Gita Furman embrace in Auschwitz in the first episode of Peacock’s “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” Photo by Martin Mlaka/Sky UK via JTA

Torah Celebrations

Bat Mitzvahs

Olivia Kaufer,  daughter of Abigail Kaufer, will become a bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 4, at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills. Grandparents are Virginia Kaufer and Gerald Kaufer.

Scapegoats then and now

Rabbi Gregory S. Marx Parshat Acharei Mot Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30

his past summer, on a congregational mission to Israel, members of my shul and I boarded Jeeps and drove out into the Judean hills, just east of Jerusalem. We bounced our way through the desert until our driver took us to the top of a precipice overlooking the Dead Sea.

one. Finally, and I like this the best, the word Azazel could mean a “goat that escaped,” which William Tyndale in his 1530 English translation of the Bible morphed into “escaped goat,” that later became “scapegoat” by dropping the “e.” Thus the scapegoat was blamed for everyone else’s sins.

Mary Anne Light Lang, known by all as Maryn, will become a bat mitzvah at Rodef Shalom Congregation on May 4, 2024. Maryn is the daughter of Mollie and Tom Lang and the granddaughter of Mary Anne and Hoddy Hanna of Pittsburgh and Aimee Lang of Deerfield, Illinois, and Richard Lang of Chicago. Maryn is a seventh grader at Shady Side Academy, where she participates in the musicals, chorus and jazz band and plays goalie on her lacrosse team. Inspired by the Remember, Renew, Rebuild campaign to support Tree of Life, Maryn has created and placed donation jars throughout the community to raise money and awareness.

Kimiko Evelyn Chow Smuckler will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on May 4, 2024, at Congregation Beth Shalom. She is the favorite daughter of Elizabeth Chow and Aaron Smuckler. She attends Community Day School and she has helped both the CDS soccer and basketball teams maintain an undefeated record over her three years there. She has an older brother (Benjiro) and two younger brothers (Samuru, Tomio), and she is the grandchild of Margaret Chow, and Tammie and Art Smuckler. She excels at soccer and futsal and travels the country weekend after weekend for tournaments, wearing her signature neon yellow headband. She plays the piano and enjoys both classical and contemporary music. In her free time, she loves to read, to ski, to listen to way too much Taylor Swift, to spend time with friends, to be active outdoors and occasionally to

Engagement

Eddie and Ellen Vargo of Pittsburgh are delighted to announce the engagement of their son, Daniel Vargo, to Suzanne Haberman, daughter of Joel and Lori Haberman of Highland Park, Illinois. Daniel’s grandparents are the late Edward and Elizabeth Vargo, and the late Charles and Zelda Rosenthal. Suzie’s grandparents are Judith Stern and the late Kenneth Haberman and the late Charles Stern, and the late Barbara and Oscar Segal. Daniel and Suzie both graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, where they met. Daniel earned his JD at DePaul University. Suzie earned a master’s in accounting and is licensed as a CPA. A wedding is planned in Chicago in April 2025. PJC

“This is the place of the scapegoating,” he pointed out. He reminded us of a line from our Torah portion, Acharei Mot, that describes the ritual of two goats, one offered as a sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple, the other sent away into the desert “to Azazel.”

We all carry hurts, sins and the pain of regret. We spend billions of dollars every year seeking therapeutic ways to cleanse our souls of remorse and regret. I remember speaking with a therapist once, and she spoke with great respect for our tradition of “tashlich.” “Ritual concretizes the emotional work already done” she said “of casting away one’s pains and regrets.”

Likewise, the ritual of the scapegoat was meant to carry away our sins. Our ancestors wisely did not blame others for

In the end, blaming others solves nothing. No good can come from scapegoating.

The one to be sacrificed in Jerusalem had a sanctified moment of death. The one set for Azazel had the sins of the nation placed on its head and was then led to the place where we were standing. He pointed east over the edge of the cliff and showed us a pit at the bottom. “This is where the goat, allotted to Azazel was pushed off to its death.”

In Leviticus 16:21, when our ancestors were in the Sinai Desert, the goat designated for Azazel was not killed. Instead, with all of the sins of the community placed on its head, it would head out into the desert presumably to die of thirst. Once the Israelites settled in Israel and had built the Temple, the tradition morphed into one in which the goat was actually “pushed” off the cliff to hasten its death. Tradition tells us that a red thread would be attached to its horns, half of which was removed before the animal was sent away. If the rite had been effective, the red thread would turn to white.

The word “Azazel “is a hapax legomena,” meaning it appears only once in the Torah. So, what does it mean if we see it only once?

According to two medieval commentators, Ibn Ezra and Nahmanides, Azazel was the name of a spirit or demon, one of the fallen angels referred to in Genesis 6:2, similar to the goat spirit called Pan in Greek mythology. So, according to them, sins can either be consecrated and turned to good or desecrated with no redemption possible. The best we can hope for is to distance ourselves from them.

Rashi is more pragmatic, stating that Azazel means “a steep, rocky or hard place.” It’s a physical place not a spiritual

their sins. They owned them and then sought to distance themselves from their consequences through ritual. They did not blame others for their fate but accepted responsibility. The biblical prophets proclaimed that our national suffering was a result of our collective sin, crying out “mipnei chata-enu,” “because of our own sins.”

Ironically, scapegoating today means the opposite of the biblical practice. Today, it means blaming someone else for our troubles.

Sadly, the state of Israel is scapegoated and blamed for a multitude of sins committed by other nations and then ignored by the United Nations. We Jews are also scapegoated, being blamed for almost everything from COVID to climate change. We are the quintessential scapegoat.

In the end, blaming others solves nothing. No good can come from scapegoating. Only by accepting responsibility for our faults, seeking atonement and finding a ritual expression for that purge, can we grow and transform the thread of transgression into one of wholeness. PJC

Rabbi Gregory S. Marx is the senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen. The Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia is proud to provide diverse perspectives on Torah commentary for the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication where this first appeared. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Board of Rabbis.

BILER: Born on Long Island, New York, on April 11, 1931, Bette Bigler died peacefully on April 23, 2024. She graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in 1952. She married Harold Bigler in October 1952, and they were happily married for 65 years until Harold’s death in 2018. She is survived by her loving sons, Clifford (Colleen) and Marshall Bigler, her grandchildren, Brian Bigler and Chauncey Bigler, nieces and nephews, and many close friends. Graveside services were held at Westview Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 1 p.m.

DOBKIN: Edward Joel Dobkin, of Pittsburgh, died April 24, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. He was 80 years old. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Holly Roth Dobkin, daughters Maggie D. Cham (Michael), Anna D. Baird (Peter), grandchildren Bertram Mitchell Cham, Harrison Edward Cham, Eliza Jane Cham, Charlotte Audrey Baird, sister-in-law Adair J. Roth, brother-in-law Dr. Gilbert R. Roth, sister Sandy D. Tarr, and loving nephews and nieces. He served in the U.S. Army, was a Vietnam veteran and retired with rank of captain. Ed was a warm, openhearted man; a very funny and positive presence. He added life to any room he entered, and was both witty and wise, sharply intelligent and a generous spirit. Ed worked hard, held close to his personal ethics, spoke honestly, frankly and made his family a priority in his life. He lived each day to the fullest, was known for his infectious laugh and he was amazing on the dance floor. Ed was a natural leader in both his personal and business lives. He took a small family company and transformed it into a business that deals worldwide. He always acknowledged and valued his employees for whom he was so grateful — some of whom had been with him for more than 40 years! He welcomed and treated all with deep respect. Ed’s leadership, laughter, social grace and wit will be greatly missed. Service Monday, May 6, at 12:30 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation at 4905 Fifth Ave. Visitation starting at 11 a.m. Shiva is private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank pittsburghfoodbank.org, Wounded Warriors woundedwarriorproject.org, or the Biden Victory Fund @ joebiden.com. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com

GERSHANOK: Inna Jacob Gershanok, our babushka Inna was resilient, sweet and fiercely independent. In the first 25 years of her life, she lost her father to Stalin’s terror, fled to Siberia during the Nazi invasion of Ukraine, became a civil engineer and started a family with her husband Soloman. Together they built bridges in the Soviet Union and courageously joined the Refusenik movement to give our father, Alex, a better life in America. In 1978, HIAS successfully resettled our family in Pittsburgh. Most Pittsburghers do not know my babushka, but they do know the Bloomfield Bridge, the I-279 bridge and other bridges that she and Soloman designed which thousands of Pittsburghers rely on every day.  My siblings and I remember my babushka for her soft hugs, immaculately clean house and homemade birthday cakes topped with wax candles crossed into roman numerals to mark our age and reused the next near despite the fact that we licked the ice cream off the bottom last year. At her house, we each sat in our designated chair eating from our designated set of cups, bowls and plates that my siblings and I used from age 5 to 25. During the meal, a few memories from Russia would slip into our conversation, but my babushka just wanted to listen to us laugh together. My most relaxing memories were curling up next to my brother and sister on my babushka’s couch drifting to sleep as she and my dad spoke Russian and drank black tea with cookies. When we left her apartment, she would hug us at the front door and by the time we walked out of the elevator she would be on the balcony waving goodbye to us. Every single visit. She would smile and wave to us from the balcony.  As we got older, babushka Inna just wanted to know that we were happy and healthy. After 90 seconds of chit chat on the phone, she got straight to the point saying “OK Sweetie.

Sunday May 5: Shirley Bernstein, Fannie Caplan, Irene Elenbaum, Pearl Rebekah Friedman, Julia R Goldsmith, Louis L Goodman, Betty Shermer, Beatrice P Smizik, Leroy Supowitz, Myrle Thomashefsky Spiegel, Frieda Troffkin, Lawrence Martin Wallie, Jacob Young

Monday May 6: Israel Blinn, Morris D Canter, Clara Esther Choder, Bennie Chotiner, Mollie S Davis, Rebecca Fineberg, Lillian Forman, Rachel Hodes, Max Kalser, Albert Katzman, Sarah Kramer, Julian H Rozner, Ida Schmidt, Henry Singer, Benjamin William Steerman, Irving M Stolzenberg, Sylvan B Sunstein, Belle Treelisky, Sara H Udman, Morris S Unger, David Whitman, Leroy L Williams

Tuesday May 7:Joseph Abraham Abady, Jacob Ash, Joseph A Block, Selma Winograd Cohen, Max Felder, Mollie Fiman, Abraham Friedman, Jacob Goldman, Clarence Gomberg, Harry Hertz, Bella Hostein, Pearl Janowitz, Fae Greenstein Klein, Rose Lebowitz, Jacob Levinson, Morton (Bud) Litowich, Bessie Mallinger, Anna M Oppenheim, Morris Pearlman, Evelyn M Perlmutter, Meyer Schlessinger, Alvin Silverman, Ethel Weiss

Wednesday May 8: Shirley Bilder, Ruth Fleser Coplon, Blanche Epstein, Alfred Gordon, Harry Greenberg, Fannie Horowitz, Tillie G Kubrin, Joseph Lederer, William Lewis, Edward Mermelstein, Hanna W Pink, Albert Silverberg, Annabelle M Topp, Florence P Wedner, Louis Zacks

Thursday May 9: S Abel Alterman, Louis Berman, Florence Cohen, Lillian Finn, Bertha Goodman, Harry M Greenberger, Sidney Greenberger, Sadie Klein, Frederick Knina, Stanley Slifkin, Karl Zlotnik

Friday May 10: Elias Bloomstein, William Bowytz, Samuel Broffman, Mollie Goisner Dugan, Saul Feldman, Milton E Golanty, Anna Goldblum, Celia Greenfield, Eva Korobkin, Reba Lazar, Anna Miller, Sarah Offstein, Rose Orringer, Martha Rosen, Bella Siegal, William H Whitman, Eva Grossman Willinger

Saturday May 11: Louis Americus, Isadore Berman, Hyman Caplan, Isadore Abraham Frand, Lea S Golomb, Ida Greenberg, David L Gusky, Arthur Samuel Herskovitz, Max Hochhauser, Dora Berman Horwitz, Sam Lurie, Celia Marcus, Sadie Mullen, Jack Offenbach, Lee Calvin Plevin, Dolores K Rubin, Philip L Silver, Helen Strauchler, Gertrude W Supowitz, Phillip Tevelin

Obituaries

Obituaries:

Continued from page 19

Thank you for calling. Love you.” If I could have one more conversation with my babushka, before she tried to hang up, I would say “thank you for bringing us to America and giving us the opportunity to succeed and live as Jews without fear. Thank you for creating the most comfortable space for my brother, sister, and I to connect. Thank you for being an amazing mother to my dad. Please tell Soloman we miss him. We will keep looking up at you, smiling and waving to us from your balcony.” Graveside services and interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. w ww.schugar.com

RECHT: Marilyn Malin Recht, on Friday, April 26, 2024. Beloved wife of the late Raymond Recht. Loving mother of James Recht and Cathy Recht Gold (Melvin). Daughter of the late Nathan and Anna Malin. Cherished sister of late siblings David, George and Leonard Malin and Jean Port. Devoted Grammy of Mallory Gold (Jeremy Rudkin) and Ashley Gold (Eli Glazier), and adoring Gigi of Levi Rudkin and Clara Gold Glazier. Also survived by many beloved nieces and nephews. Marilyn was completely devoted to and enamored with her beloved family. She was an excellent cook and hostess and a truly kind and empathetic person who put everyone around her at ease. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment at Gemilas Chesed Cemetery in North Versailles. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Temple David, 4415 Northern Pike, Monroeville, PA 15146, or Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, 1 North Linden St., Duquesne, PA 15110. schugar.com

Real Estate

Jason A. Smith & Caryn Rosenthal

Jason: 412-969-2930 | Caryn: 412-389-1695

Jasonasmith@howardhanna.com

Carynrosenthal@howardhanna.com

Life & Culture

‘Cabaret’ will wine, dine and destroy you

By PJ Grisar | Forward

It’s New Year’s Eve at Berlin’s Kit Kat Club, circa 1930. The air is saturated with sex of all sorts. Possibility beckons, but no one will make good on their resolutions. Not much will change — unless you count all of Germany.

The individual tragedies of stasis at the center of “Cabaret,” John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical elegy to the Weimar Republic, are belied by its regularly rejiggered revivals. Based on John Van Druten’s play “I Am a Camera” — in turn taken from a selection from Christopher Isherwood’s “Berlin Stories” — the songwriting team, working with a book by Joe Masteroff, expanded a slight tale about an expat chanteuse and her writer roommate into a trenchant warning against fascism.

But no two stagings are alike — even the Oscar-winning film departs significantly from the source material.

On its surface, the new production by Rebecca Frecknall, imported from the West End, has a major innovation: renovation. The August Wilson Theatre has transformed from a proscenium house to an in-the-round auditorium. Scenic and theater designer Tom Scutt (who also did costumes) has daubed even the stairwells with Weimar glory. Eye motifs — sconces, logos, a rotating disco ball pupil — greet the visitor along with complementary schnapps before one settles in an assigned seat, perhaps at a lamplit table with built-in telephone. If the original 1966 production held a literal mirror to its audience, reflecting back complicity, the goal of this run’s extended pre-show of performers in harem pants, doing a modern dance dumbshow throughout the building, is surely one of hospitality and comfort.

It’s more than a gimmick. The famous opening, “Willkommen,” invites us to leave

Continued from page 17

Morris’ “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” raised eyebrows from the Auschwitz Memorial in 2018, which said the book “cannot be recommended as a valuable position for those who wish to understand the history of the camp” and is “almost without any value as a document.”

A report from Wanda Witek-Malicka of the Auschwitz Memorial Research Center said the book’s “based-on-facts” marketing, combined with its international success — selling over 12 million copies with translations into more than 40 languages — raised concern that many readers might treat it as a historical source on the realities of Auschwitz, despite several errors and misleading representations.

These inaccuracies include the number that Lali was forced to tattoo on Gita’s arm in the story’s pivotal scene. In the book, she is branded with the number 34902, but Gita herself said in a testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation that her number was 4562, a claim supported by evidence from the Auschwitz Memorial.

our troubles outside — to numb ourselves to a grim reality that will slowly penetrate this decadent escapism. By the end of Act 1, Novocain turns to venom. The Jew, the queer, the untermensch is made to feel most unwelcome as quiet American Cliff Bradshaw learns the doctrine of Mein Kampf is, for some of his new acquaintances, praxis.

Setting the evening’s tone is, as always, the Emcee, here played with a warble by Tony and Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne. In a way you can judge any version of “Cabaret” by its master of ceremonies. Joel Grey, who originated an impish, pancake-makeup rictus could not be more different than Alan Cumming’s gaunt, garter-wearing compere who, in Sam Mendes’ revival, was hinted to be a victim of the Holocaust, bidding patrons “auf wiedersehen” in a striped uniform at the play’s close.

As befits a production whose semi-dressed ensemble features nonbinary actors, flouncing and simulating sex to Julia Cheng’s kinetic choreography, Redmayne’s Emcee is the most fluid yet. He begins the show as a genial and scoliotic redhead in a girdle, morphs into a taloned embodiment of martial and economic ambition, does a spell as the clown Pierrot and ends the night as a ramrod-straight conductor of drab, Aryan conformity. He is not so much a

Witek-Malicka also disputed a plot line in which Lali obtains penicillin for Gita’s typhus in January 1943, saying this event was “impossible” because penicillin only became readily available after the war. Elsewhere, the book depicts a revolt by the “Sonderkommando,” predominantly Jewish prisoners who were forced to work in the gas chambers and crematoriums. Though the Sonderkommando did revolt at Auschwitz in 1944 and set fire to one crematorium, the book says they blew up two.

The sexual relationship between an SS commander and a Jewish prisoner in the book also raised questions for Witek-Mailcka, who said the possibility of such a long-term relationship was “non-existent.” She also pointed out that the building where the characters supposedly rendezvoused was only completed in January 1945 and never put into use. Meanwhile, Lali’s son Gary told the New York Times he was bothered to see his father’s name misspelled “Lale” in the book.

S ome of these inaccuracies have been corrected in the TV series, which depicts

character as he is a premonition.

But he is the exception amid a cast of the doomed. Cliff’s landlady, Fräulein S chneider (an excellent Bebe Neuwirth) is introduced singing “So What,” an ode to settling. She will, predictably, resist the happiness offered by her Jewish suitor, Herr Schultz (Yiddish “Fiddler’s” Steven Skybell, who sadly doesn’t deliver the oft-cut Yiddish tutorial tune “Meeskite”). Schultz, confident he’s as German as anyone, insists the Nazis are a passing phase. And the singer Sally Bowles, faced with a pregnancy and an offer to leave, refuses once more to change her life.

As Sally, Gayle Rankin, perhaps best known for Netflix’s “GLOW,” makes even her novelty numbers feel like one-act plays. Her “Maybe This Time,” in which she considers the stability of a decent man, is as vulnerable as her 11 o’clock title number is desperate, mad, defiant and resigned all at once.

Without doing much to the book, and providing nearly nothing in the way of scenery, Fracknell’s “Cabaret” meets a moment where queerness is more visible yet ever more under threat and a former president is publicly questioning the loyalties of American Jews. Casting Ato Blankson-Wood, a Black man, as Cliff adds a new dimension, making more lucid his

Gita’s original number and corrects the spelling of Lali’s name. But Shalom-Ezer told JTA that she relied heavily on the judgment of Morris, who worked as a story consultant for the show.

“Heather devoted her life to this,” ShalomEzer told JTA. “I’m not just talking about the last three years of Lali’s life, when she spent three times a week sitting with him for hours, listening to his story — all the 11 years it took her to find a publisher for the book and even later, she just devoted herself to this. So I felt confident enough that I believe her, that she’s trying to tell us the story in the most genuine way she can, as close as possible to his truth.”

Morris herself has said that she did not aim to write an academic historical account, only to share Lali’s memories of his life.

“It is Lali’s story,” she told the New York Times in 2018. “I make mention of history and memory waltzing together and straining to part, it must be accepted after 60 years this can happen but I am confident of Lali’s telling of his story, only he could tell it and others may have a different understanding of that time but that is their understanding, I have written Lali’s.”

instinct to leave before the political winds shift. His fear of raising a family with Sally in Germany takes on a new subtext given his race — even if it makes his recruitment as a smuggler for the Nazis a touch more far-fetched.

The triumph of this iteration is how it anticipates its audience, teasing them with frothy liberation before making them gasp at Nazi armbands and shattered windows. As the Emcee oversees, or even appears at times to orchestrate, these national contradictions, it’s hard not to feel queasy at the dissonance. Particularly, I’d imagine, if you paid the upcharge for a stage-side meal.

When the drumroll closes the show, a new aesthetic takes hold, complete in its muted menace. Dramatic irony is the play’s engine; we know there’s no changing the outcome. But when we sit pretty at the Kit Kat Club — tipsy, titillated, terrified — it’s not too late for us. PJC

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

In its TV form, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” nods to the fickle nature of memory, particularly the memory of a traumatized person. Sometimes the viewer sees one version of events — for example, Lali discovering that a younger friend was selected for the gas chamber at random — and then the older Lali remembers a different story, in which his own number was on that selection list, only changed to his friend’s after the Nazis employed Lali as a tattooist.

The character Lali shares some of these revisions with the character Morris. Others come to him after she has left, when he is alone and haunted by the dead who occupy his kitchen at night. The series shows Lali talking to these ghosts, bargaining with his memory and making deals with the guilt of survival.

“I think that this is the nature of trauma, it creates a kind of dissociation from what happened so you cannot really remember it correctly,” said Shalom-Ezer. “So the team and I, we thought that this is the most authentic way to portray a man with a trauma that for the first time is trying to share his story with someone.” PJC

p Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee with the Kit Kat Club company

Photo by Marc Brenner

p Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles

Photo by Marc Brenner

Tattooist:

Community

Bring Them Home

Midway through the Passover holiday, community members gathered on the corner of Darlington Road and Murray Avenue to demand the release of an estimated 133 hostages held by Hamas terrorists since Oct. 7. The April 28 gathering marked 204 days of captivity.

Revisiting history

The Center for Jewish History commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Johnson-Reed Act with an April 8 symposium titled, “Reconsidering Jewish Migration to the United States: A Century of Controversy.” The Johnson-Reed Act, passed in 1924, established a quota system that

p From left: Julie Paris, candiate for Senate Dave McCormick and David Dvir

The sweetest seder

religious studies, University of Pittsburgh; Mark Hetfield, president and CEO, HIAS; and Kathleen Blee, distinguished professor of sociology, University of Pittsburgh

Photo courtesy of The Center for Jewish History

p Rona Kitchen speaks during the April 28 demonstration. Photos by Jonathan Dvir

Hooray for charoset Temple Sinai hosted a Passover fair. The April 6 event featured tasty treats, costumes and a

p enjoyment.

Photo courtesy of Temple Sinai

Eras Trivia Night (JFed’s version)

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Young Adult Division hosted an Eras Trivia Night. Held on April 18 at the Hunter Saw historic building, participants worked together in teams of up to four to answer trivia questions from each decade.