Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5-26-23

Friendship Circle launches The Beacon, supporting teen mental health

JCC director of Jewish life remembers Oct. 27, 2018

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

The pandemic, social media, the political climate and school shootings have all affected the mental health of teens. Add to that the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and you have the makings of a crisis, said Rabbi Mordy Rudolph, the executive director of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh.

Noting the downturn in teen mental health over at least the last five years, Rudolph said, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation convened a group of community leaders to talk about the crisis and what could be done to help. Friendship Circle was part of that group.

“Because we work with teens, we have seen the shift that’s going on,” he said. “We’ve seen how much their mindsets have changed, and we need to meet them where they are.”

The organization took action. Friendship Circle’s previously underused second floor, at 1926 Murray Ave., is now a community space dedicated to uplifting and supporting teenage well-being and mental health.

“It’s a space for teens to focus on their wellness and feel supported,” said Rivkee Rudolph, Friendship Circle’s director “We will have trained staff on site at all times.”

The Beacon will fall somewhere between

the unstructured space provided by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Second Floor and Jewish Family and Community Service’s UpStreet, which offers drop-in consultations with therapists, scheduled therapy appointments, text-based peer support and support groups for teens.

“We live in a city that has wonderful nonprofits that also support teens’ mental health and great hospital systems that support our teens,” Rivkee Rudolph said. “The Beacon is here to be a part of that and to uplift our teens. We want to put an emphasis on self-care, peer support and inclusion.”

The Beacon, she said, is more than a drop-in center; it’s a place where teens can look inward to gain a deeper understanding of their emotions and to feel supported in the process.

Available to all high school-aged teenagers across the Pittsburgh region, whether or not they are Friendship Circle members, the space will be open after school and will offer both unstructured time and programming, Kaitlin Hens-Greco, the clinical director of The Beacon, said.

“All the programming will be centered

Please see Beacon, page 10

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

Rabbi Ron Symons was headed to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh the morning of Oct. 27, 2018, when he knew something wasn’t right.

“It was 9:58 in the morning. I made a left turn off of Braddock onto Forbes Extension, and I was driving over the bridge and getting closer to Shady. I was overtaken by police cars,” he recalled. “When I got to a stoplight, I saw them heading toward Tree of Life, and it was striking.”

Symons is the founder of the JCC’s Center for Loving Kindness and its director of Jewish life. When he arrived at the JCC, he pulled into the garage beneath the building, breaking from his habit of parking his car at another nearby garage.

“I knew something was happening,” he said.

Inside the building, Symons found Jason Kunzman, the JCC’s chief program officer, who told him about the shooting at the Tree of Life building. The two immediately put the JCC on lockdown.

The rabbi next tried to contact his wife, Rabbi Barbara Symons, who was conducting services at Temple David in Monroeville and, as a result, was unavailable. He was able to speak with his mother in Buffalo and assured her that he was OK.

“That began one of the longest days of my

Please see Symons, page 10

p Teens will find a warm and welcoming environment at Friendship Circle’s The Beacon.

Photo by Jack Wolf Photography

p Rabbi Ron Symons and the Rev. Liddy Barlow in 2020

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Headlines

Longtime educator and Rodef Shalom staple Mimsie Leyton retires

Adam Reinherz | Sta Writer

Miriam “Mimsie” Leyton, a local pillar of early childhood education, is leaving the classroom. The longtime educator and director of the Berkman Family Center at Rodef Shalom Congregation will retire on June 30.

The April 27 announcement of her retirement was a chance for parents and congregants to lavish praise on a dedicated community member.

Since restarting Rodef Shalom’s early childhood center in 1997, Leyton helped the institution become “one of the most respected preschools in the community,” Mayda Roth, the congregation’s director of development, said.

“She’s like a second mom and an educational role model,” congregant Mimi Wertheimer said.

“Mimsie is the heart and soul of Rodef’s community,” board member Mollie Lang said.

Parents, congregants, friends and fellow educators will fete Leyton during a June 11 congregational picnic. The afternoon celebration, according to organizers, will highlight Leyton’s tireless efforts on behalf of children and families.

For more than a quarter century, Leyton has overseen the education of thousands of students at Rodef Shalom, but before restarting the Shadyside preschool, she worked as a head teacher at McKeesport Day Care, a federally-funded program providing education and services to low-income families. When the day care was absorbed by Louise Child Care Centers, Leyton remained on staff for nearly two decades, helping to establish several new centers, Roth said.

In her role as supervisor at Louise, Leyton recruited and enrolled families, trained staff and consulted across 11 Allegheny County facilities. In 1997, Leyton — a lifelong Rodef Shalom member — helped her congregation restart its educational center.

For the next 26 years, Leyton’s commitment to a play-based pedagogy prioritized the whole child within the context of family, Roth said.

Adopting such a child-led focus might sound odd to those without an educational background, but Leyton’s ability to communicate and understand both children and parents demonstrated that her “pedagogy is sound and that a child’s developmental needs are met,” Wertheimer said.

Her leadership style empowers children, teachers and parents, Lang said: “I can’t emphasize enough how you have so many questions as a young parent — about which direction to go and what to do — and Mimsie has always been this wild sense of calm in the storm of having toddlers.”

Leyton’s commitment bettered the lives of generations of families, Rodef Shalom’s

preschool committee chair Matthew Falcone said. “For all of us, kids are a priority and we would do anything for our kids, but it’s so rare to find someone who will put all kids ahead of themself. She brings so much heart into everything she does and I think that’s why she is so well loved.”

Leyton not only grew up at Rodef Shalom, but her naming occurred on the synagogue’s bimah. A newspaper clipping in the congregation’s archives shows her as a curly-haired child holding a teacup during her first day at Rodef Shalom’s “New Nursery School.”

Falcone said Leyton is a source of amazement.

The fact that someone could be named as a baby at a synagogue, attend its school, remain a central part of the congregation throughout her life and lead the institution for decades is “astounding,” he said. “I have a very difficult time wrapping my head around what that means.”

People typically don’t have the “expectation that there will be a lifelong job or that you’ll spend your life in an institution,” he continued. The fact that Leyton made

Rodef Shalom and its preschool “her own and helped others along the way is such a rare opportunity — and she has done wonders with that opportunity. It just boggles my mind.”

Leyton earned the trust and respect of generations not only because she knows “everyone’s mom and grandma, and child and grandchild,” Wertheimer said. “She ingrained herself in the community because she believes in it. And that’s a beautiful part of the community and what she’s done. She created an environment that has fostered the beginnings of what Jewish life is for a family.”

Nearly 15 years ago, Highland Park resident Lydia Blank met Leyton at a Bach, Beethoven and Brunch event at Mellon Park. Blank had a toddler in tow. Leyton was staffing a Rodef Shalom table at the concert.

Blank wasn’t yet ready to commit to sending her daughter to early childhood education, but after chatting with Leyton — who already knew who she and her

Please see Leyton, page 17

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p Mimsie Leyton first joined the preschool as a student in 1953.

Photo courtesy of Rodef Shalom Congregation

p Mimsie Leyton (far right) with her first preschool class as director of the Berkman Family Center 26 years ago.

Photo courtesy of Rodef Shalom Congregation

JCC program attracts teens with textual study — and a stipend

By Adam Reinherz | Sta Writer

Addressing life’s biggest questions doesn’t require knowledge of rocket science. In fact, all that’s needed is teens, source sheets, pizza and a small stipend.

Earlier this month, 17 local Jewish high school students completed the She’elot Fellowship. Administered by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, with funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the 12-week program encouraged teens to explore timeless questions through regular textual study. About twice a month, participants met in Squirrel Hill and scoured classic rabbinic writings while investigating topics including “Do I choose to be Jewish?” “Who determines Jewish law?” and “Is it me or fate that causes my outcome?”

Maria Carson, the JCC’s director of Jewish education and arts, said the fellowship was a stepping stone to future inquiry.

It’s important for students to know “they can remain connected to Jewish sources even beyond their bar or bat mitzvahs,” she said. “Jewish texts can be a source of wisdom for questions people struggle with throughout their lives.”

The curriculum, Carson said, was inspired by her past employment and education.

Before joining the JCC, she was director

and received a doctorate in religion, focusing on modern to contemporary American Jewish philosophy, from Syracuse University.

She’elot’s curriculum — which allowed the teens to engage in small group discussions, larger learning sessions and chavruta-style study — was designed to mirror the fellowship’s name, Carson said.

In Hebrew, she’elot means questions.

“It’s the ‘questions fellowship,’ not the ‘answers fellowship,’ and the idea was to explore the multivariate ways Jewish tradition has both asked and answered questions,” she said.

Adding richness to the fellowship was the diversity of participants, Carson noted.

Of the 17 Jewish students, three were modern Orthodox, four were Lubavitch

Reconstructionist.

“Everyone was coming from such a different place but we were all talking about the same thing,” She’elot participant Leora Goldberg said.

Squirrel Hill resident Leah Ackner, whose son Zev Loring recently completed the fellowship, described She’elot’s value.

“For those of us looking to keep our teens engaged in Jewish activities, this is an opportunity to do that,” she said. “There are lots of service-based projects and there are lots of social things that they can do, but there’s not a lot of things that are based on text or further growth in that area and this combines those two things.”

Carson said she is pleased the experience was appreciated by students and parents, but the trick to getting so many young people on board wasn’t particularly novel.

“For today’s highly scheduled and time-focused students, we thought a stipend would make the program attractive,” she said.

Giving participants $250 was a way of acknowledging, “We are taking some of your time, where you could have had a parttime job, and we are investing in you,” she said. Between the stipend and the food, the JCC was saying, “We know learning is hard work and we want to reward you.”

Rachael Speck, the JCC’s Children, Youth & Family Division director, said the fellowship served a vital communal role while supporting the organization’s mission.

“What impressed me the most was the thoughtfulness and high level of discussion that the teens engaged in regardless of how knowledgeable they are in Jewish text or what part of the Jewish community they come from,” she said. “The fact that they were learning together was such a big part of the learning itself, and it was really special to see them value each other’s different levels of understanding and the differences between them…This is classic JCC — a place where teens from such diverse parts of the Jewish community can learn together.”

Applications for next year’s program will be available in several months. More information is at jccpgh.org/the-sheelot-fellowship. PJC

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

A new take on old wisdom: Mark Asher Goodman’s ‘Life Lessons from Dead Rabbis’

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Try to define “irreverent” and you’ll come close to some of the terms that describe Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman.

Quick-witted, funny and sometimes almost counterintuitive, Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman is the associate rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill, a spiritual leader at Brith Sholom in Erie, a writer for Pittsburgh Soccer Now and, as he proclaims in his curriculum vitae, the owner of both a misdemeanor conviction for protesting white supremacy and a turtle named Lefty.

Now, Goodman, who lives in Squirrel Hill with his wife Noa and their two children, has a book that matches his unique voice: “Life Lessons From Recently Dead Rabbis.”

The book, subtitled “Hassidut For The People,” harkens back to Goodman’s days in rabbinical school, when he discovered the untranslated texts of Hasidic rabbis, most from the 18th and 19th centuries. To fully understand the texts, Goodman said, it helps if the reader is well-versed in Talmud, Kabbalah and Midrash.

“It was very psychological and very personal,” Goodman said. “Hassidut is the attempt to personalize and make incredibly relevant all of the Bible.”

He started a class on Hassidut texts at Congregation Beth Shalom that was thwarted

largely by the pandemic in 2020. But he soldiered on, and found himself writing miniature essays in response to, or as a kind of comment on, some of the texts.

“I wrote 10 chapters without telling anybody,” he said. “Then I turned to my wife one day and said, ‘I think I’m writing a book.’”

The book is distinctly Goodman-esque, with Talmudic readings from Hasidic masters set alongside lyrics from rappers the Wu-Tang Clan. He even drops the F-bomb a few times.

“That’s never happened in a Hasidic text before,” he laughed.

“There are some brilliant rabbis out there (doing Hassidut), but they went to Ivy League schools and listen to Mozart,” Goodman added. “I’m not built like that. I listen to hip-hop. I play basketball in the park … I’m just not built to be stuffy.”

Rabbi Seth Adelson, with whom Goodman works at Beth Shalom, likes it that way. Adelson said he’s proud of Goodman’s accomplishment in publishing the book.

“These texts truly energize him, and we are thrilled that the energy with which he has infused the Beth Shalom community for the past few years is now available to the general public,” Adelson said.

Part of the zeal behind “Life Lessons” also comes from Goodman’s life experience. Goodman previously lived in the Denver area, where he served as the rabbi and director of Judaic studies at Denver Jewish Day School from 2012 to 2017 and as rabbi at Har Mishpacha in Steamboat Springs, Colorado,

from 2014 to 2018.

When one of his work contracts was not renewed, his wife took a physical therapy job in Pittsburgh. He followed.

“When we moved to Pittsburgh, I wasn’t doing really well. I was in a tough place a little bit,” Goodman said. “My ego was bruised and so was my self-confidence.”

Time has helped heal those wounds. It’s also helped that his first book was published by Bayit, which was founded in part by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, a noted author and Jewish thinker known as “the Velveteen Rabbi.”

Barenblat has nothing but good things to say about Goodman’s unique book.

“What drew me to the book is the balance between respect and honor for the tradition on the one hand, and holy irreverence and wry wit on the other,” Barenblat said. “Mark takes Hassidut, and the deep spiritual potential of this Torah, very seriously. But he doesn’t take himself seriously. He’s willing to be real with us about his spiritual struggles and how they might map to our own.”

Barenblat called the book “a powerful tool for integrating Hasidic wisdom into the fabric of our everyday lives.”

“I hope it will reach people who would never have picked up a leather-bound all-Hebrew tome,” she laughed.

Goodman is hoping for the same thing.

“I would say the book is for a lot of people — I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone,” Goodman said. “Some people will say it’s too irreverent. Some will say it’s too touchy-feely.”

But Goodman believes the book is ultimately a product of his self-styled, authorial voice.

“Ten years of writing soccer articles was good for this book,” he said. “It was a good process, it was a good part of the learning process.”

There also was healing. Two survivors of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting took Goodman’s class in Squirrel Hill; he wrote one of the chapters in his book about them.

“To be part of that process after the shooting,” Goodman said, “it was an extremely powerful experience for me.” PJC

p Participating teens gather during the She’elot Fellowship graduation ceremony.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p Book cover Image courtesy of Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman

Home & Community Based

Headlines

TeenyFest highlights Jewish jokes and Jewish comedians

so everyone can laugh

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Sta Writer

Ready for a bit that’s better than your bubbie’s babka? Thanks to Steel City Arts Foundation, Jewish Pittsburghers have a chance to laugh about all things heimish and not.

Between May 31 and June 2, Steel City AF is hosting TeenyFest, a European-style comedy festival with six shows, including one titled, “Make Bubbie Proud.”

Produced by Jewish comedian and screenwriter Eben Parker, “Make Bubbie Proud” features several Jewish comedians and concludes with a Jewish stand-up dressed like an older “kvetch” who will mock all of the

same joke they used in 1995, then I want to see them use the same technology they did then.” Society has evolved and therefore comedy must as well, Hofstetter continued. If this isn’t the case “then I would say make those jokes on a VHS or on your fancy new cordless phone.”

Though the format and tone are geared for a Jewish audience, “Make Bubbie Proud” will be “funny for anyone,” Parker said.

Both Hofstetter and Parker are excited about “Make Bubbie Proud,” and the festival in general.

Along with showcasing Jewish comedians, TeenyFest is highlighting LGBTQIA+ comedians, Pittsburgh comedians and women in comedy, as well as comedians who are Black, Indigenous and people of color.

“All of the shows are being produced by very talented people and represent other communities that are also facing rising hate,” Parker said. “The LGBTQ community is facing that. The Black community is facing that. There is a lot of legislation about restricting women’s bodies. These shows are highlighting those communities.”

So much of what makes something hilarious is “relatability,” the Squirrel Hill resident continued. “People say there’s truth in comedy but what I think they’re really saying is ‘I relate to that.’”

Steve Hofstetter, Steel City AF’s founder and chairman, said “Make Bubbie Proud,” as well as TeenyFest in general, is a chance to highlight diversity, build community and “laugh in the face of antisemitism.”

“There are cultural commonalities that we can celebrate that aren’t damaging,” he said. “The idea of an overbearing grandmother is something found in many cultures, and that’s actually a way for non-Jewish people to relate because they have gone through the same thing we have.”

What isn’t funny, Hofstetter said, is when comics use “stuff based on old stereotypes.” Although that type of humor is “cheap and lazy,” it doesn’t mean there can’t be great jokes about Jewish people and Jewish culture, he explained.

“If it comes from a compassionate place, sure, no one is off limits,” he said. The problem is “if someone is going to argue that they can use the

Parker is excited to laugh alongside fellow landsmen but said the programming has a greater purpose: “Part of being an engaged community member is being involved not only with what’s going on in our community but with everyone, and the whole festival is about that.”

Hofstetter agreed.

“We are happy to celebrate Jewish culture in Pittsburgh — it’s not something that is done often enough — and considering what the Jewish community in Pittsburgh has been through it’s nice to get some wins,” he said.

TeenyFest’s goal, though, is to get people of different backgrounds to laugh together.

“I think that goes a long way toward eliminating prejudice,” Hofstetter said. “Prejudice happens when people believe secondhand accounts of what other groups are like. When you see for yourself that people are alike everywhere, it’s hard to stay prejudiced.”

TeenyFest will be held at Hop Farm Brewing Company. Tickets and information are available at TeenyFest.com. PJC

p Eben Parker Photo courtesy of Steel City AF

p Steve Hofstetter Photo courtesy of Steel City AF

Headlines

The life and death of a factoid

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

Every time I read a story, I picture the action. Perhaps you do, too. These mental pictures are often vivid and convincing, but they are essentially make-believe.

With fiction, that’s part of the fun: Words on a page become a mental movie. With any writing based in fact, though, I’m often suspicious of these images. The whole point of journalism and history is to convey reality, not a personal imagined version of it.

Some time ago, I read that the first minyan in western Pennsylvania occurred in Lawrenceville in 1842. Instantly, I pictured this momentous occasion: peddlers crammed into a parlor somewhere off Butler Street, prayer shawls on their shoulders, prayer books in their hands, perhaps a Torah scroll, and the Allegheny River chugging along outside.

This image is completely fictional, and not only because it was imagined. The initial fact isn’t a fact. We’ll call it a factoid: information with the shape of a fact but without any substance behind it. I have found no credible evidence that the first minyan in western Pennsylvania occurred in Lawrenceville and little that it occurred in 1842.

And yet this persistent factoid appeared in a century of scholarly and general publications before dying out. Some of those publications still circulate widely online, and that circulation gives the false impression that this factoid is well sourced. In actuality, every use of it can be traced to a single source with weak credentials.

In the 1889 volume “History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,” published by A. Warner & Co. of Chicago, we read: “The Jews in this vicinity first began to meet for worship in Lawrenceville in 1842. Services were held on their Sabbaths and principal holidays at private houses, or wherever circumstances would permit them to assemble.”

There is no citation for this factoid. The volume was published before citations were commonplace in historical writing. Oddly, though, no author is listed, either.

The volume is huge and covers many aspects of Allegheny County history. Each section comes courtesy of an expert in the field: lawyers writing about legal history, geologists writing about natural history. A preface credits all these authors by name.

For the two chapters on the religious history of Allegheny County, experts come from each denomination — except for Judaism. No author is credited for the three brief paragraphs on Jewish history. Dr. Thomas Cushing of Barre Centre, New York, is listed as “general supervisor” of the

CONTINUING

volume. He may have been responsible for compiling these paragraphs — or not — perhaps in coordination with a local Jewish correspondent — or not.

Once in print, this factoid could strut around like a fact.

In the 1908 volume “A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People,” John Newton Boucher wrote, “The Jews in Pittsburgh

formed their first regular organization when they began to meet for worship in Lawrenceville about 1842. Services were held on their Sabbaths and the principal days observed by them in private houses but later in larger halls such as they could procure.” His use of “about” was a hedge. Between 1889 and 1908, other Jewish community histories had begun using 1844 or 1847 as the date.

The Jewish Criterion published long community histories in 1918 and in 1942. In the 1918 history, Charles I. Cooper repeats this factoid with some skepticism: “John Newton Boucher, author of ‘A Century and a Half of Pittsburgh and her People,’ claims that as far back as 1842 there was Jewish public worship in the Lawrenceville district.”

But in the 1942 history, Ruth Arnfeld extends the factoid. “As early as 1842 group services were known to be held in private homes for those who wished to worship on Sabbaths and High Holidays in the district of Lawrenceville where most of the Jews lived at the time.” She provides no evidence that “most of the Jews” lived in Lawrenceville at that time. She appears to have invented this explanation to prop up a tottering factoid.

Between those two accounts, in a 1930 graduate thesis reviewing late 18th- and early 19th-century Jewish history in western Pennsylvania, Julia Miller repeated the

Please see Factoid, page 17

LEGAL EDUCATION 2023 SERIES WITH RABBI DANNY SCHIFF

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THURSDAY, MAY 4 8:30-10:45 ON ZOOM RANSOMING CAPTIVES: A VEXING LEGAL DILEMMA

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EARN 2 ETHICS CREDITS PER CLASS! WITH/WITHOUT CREDIT: $30 per class

REGISTER TODAY: jewishpgh.org/explore/federation-learning

p Illustration of the Vigilant Fire Engine House, where Shaare Shamayim Congregation dedicated a synagogue in August 1849

Image courtesy of the Rauh Jewish Archives

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

FRIDAY, MAY 26

Hear the Ten Commandments and enjoy a dairy dinner and ice cream party with Chabad of Squirrel Hill at its Shavuot party. 5 p.m. Free. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com.

SUNDAYS, MAY 28 – DEC. 3

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

SUNDAYS, MAY 28 – DEC. 17

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.

MONDAYS, MAY 29 – DEC. 18

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

TUESDAYS, MAY 30 – DEC. 19

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

Join Women of Temple Sinai for Yoga at Temple Sinai a relaxing class taught by certified yoga teacher Bre Kernick. All levels welcome. No experience required. Ages 16 and older. 7 p.m. $15 a session. templesinaipgh.org/programs-events.

WEDNESDAYS, MAY 31 – DEC. 20

Join AgeWell for an intergenerational family dynamics discussion group. Whether you have family harmony or strife, these discussions are going to be thoughtprovoking and helpful. Led by intergenerational specialist/presenter and educator Audree Schall. Third Wednesday of each month. Free. 12:30 p.m. South Hills JCC.

WEDNESDAYS, MAY 31 – DEC. 27

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

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 1

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

Join Chabad of the South Hills for a shot of inspiration at Jews, Booze and Schmooze, a South Hills Men’s Night. Address will be emailed after RSVP. 7 p.m. $25. chabadsh.com.

Join Rodef Shalom Congregation for a lively discussion of the new book “Prophetic Voices, ” with editor Rabbi Barbara AB Symons. The book provides short commentaries from a diverse group of contributors on each haftarah, giving new life to these ancient texts and demonstrating their profound relevance to the present. 7 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org.

Synagogue massacre trial expected to start May 30

— LOCAL —

By Torsten Ove | Contributing Writer

Jury selection in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre death penalty trial will conclude this week with testimony expected to begin after Memorial Day.

Following more than three weeks of selection, U.S. District Judge Robert Colville closed individual juror questioning and set the final day of selection for May 25, when both sides will use their peremptory strikes to arrive at a jury of 12 plus six alternates. A peremptory strike means lawyers can eliminate a juror for any reason. Testimony is expected to start on May 30.

The parties started questioning prospective jurors on April 24, mostly on their death penalty views, to arrive at a pool of 69 from which the final panel will be selected on May 25.

The court is in recess until then.

Robert Bowers, 50, is accused of gunning down 11 worshippers from three

congregations at the Tree of Life synagogue building on Oct. 27, 2018, because of his hatred of Jews.

The Justice Department is seeking to execute him at the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The defendant’s team of lawyers is seeking life in prison.

He is the fourth person in the history of the Western District of Pennsylvania to face the federal death penalty.

None was executed. Juries spared two of them — Joseph Minerd of Connellsville and Jelani Solomon of Beaver Falls — and the other, Lawrence Skiba of White Oak, pleaded guilty and cooperated against a Chicago hitman. PJC

Torsten Ove writes for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, where this first appeared. He can be reached at jtorsteno@ gmail.com. This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial by the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle and the Pittsburgh Union Progress in a collaboration supported by funding from the Pittsburgh Media Partnership.

SUNDAY, JUNE 4

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for an exciting Partnership2Gether online film club that brings together people from di erent Jewish communities for thought-provoking discussion based on di erent films. 1 p.m. jewishpgh.org/events/category/partnership2gether.

Join Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh at the Heinz History Center for “Beautiful Days in the Neighborhood; Yeshiva Schools at 80,” a celebration of eight decades of education. As the oldest Jewish day school in the city, we’re proud to have had such a presence in educating and nurturing the next generations of Jewish leaders. 6:30 p.m. $180 per individual, $360 per couple. Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, 1212 Smallman St. yeshivaschools.com/dinner.

SUNDAYS, JUNE 11, SEPT. 10

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for “Toward Friendship and Discovery: Conversations Between Christians and Jews” as they read portions of “The Bible With and Without Jesus” together in small interfaith groups. The program is limited to 50 Jewish and 50 Christian participants. Childcare will be provided. All food o erings will be kosher or otherwise labeled for mutual comfort. Registration is required. $100/per person. BethShalomPgh.org/ Interfaith-Program-2023.

MONDAY, JUNE 12

Join the Women of Temple Sinai for Make ‘n’ Eat Monday Nights — A Year of Spices. The instructor will lead students in making a meal so everyone can eat together and taste the featured spice. 6 p.m. $15. templesinaipgh.org/event/ spicecooking.html.

MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, JUNE 12 – JULY 12

The Jewish people has given the world a range of extraordinary gifts. Without Jews, these amazing contributions might not exist at all. In the 10-part series, The Gift of the Jews, Rabbi Danny Schi will detail the most significant 10 gifts that Jews have given to civilization and will explain their importance to humanity as a whole. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. $140. jewishpgh.org/event/the-gifts-of-the-jews/2023-06-12.

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, JUNE 13 – JUNE 27

In the lead-up to Tisha B’Av, Rabbi Danny Schi invites you to join him in a study of the Book of Lamentations and the powerful insights that it o ers. This new course explores the history and the context of a book that is filled with tribulations. What lessons can we learn today from Lamentations and from the destruction of Jewish sovereignty that took place so long ago? $70 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. jewishpgh.org/event/the-book-oflamentations/2023-06-13.

MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, JULY 17 – AUG. 2

There has never been an age in Jewish history without internal Jewish controversies. In the sixpart series Contemporary Jewish Controversies, Rabbi Danny Schi will lead robust discussions about significant Jewish controversies that echo across the contemporary Jewish landscape, including Zoom prayer, intermarried rabbis, the death penalty for acts of terror against Israelis and much more. $85. Mondays and Wednesdays. 9:30 a.m. jewishpgh.org/event/contemporaryjewish-controversies/2023-07-17. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club for a chat with Rabbi Danny Schiff

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its June 11 discussion of “Judaism in a Digital Age” by Rabbi Danny Schiff. From Amazon.com: “What is the next chapter in Judaism’s story, the next step in its journey? The dramatic changes of recent decades invite us to explore what role Judaism is to play in this new era. As the digital future becomes the present, Danny Schiff makes the case that the period known as ‘modernity’ has come to an end. Noting the declining strength of Conservative and Reform Judaism, the largest U.S. Jewish movements of modernity, he argues for new iterations of Judaism to arise in response to the myriad of weighty questions that now confront us about what it means to be human.”

Your Hosts:

Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle

David Rullo, Chronicle staff writer

How and When:

We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, June 11, at noon.

What To Do

Buy: “Judaism in a Digital Age.” It is available from online retailers including

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Barnes & Noble and Amazon. 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.

Happy reading! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Hundreds of rabbis say Biden’s plan to fight antisemitism should embrace a disputed definition

and educational tool, similar to European Union countries’ use of the definition in their Action Plans,” the letter said.

By Ron Kampeas | JTA

WASHINGTON — More than 550 rabbis are calling for the Biden administration’s forthcoming strategy on fighting antisemitism to include a definition of anti-Jewish bigotry that has come under debate.

The letter was sent as progressive groups are seeking to dissuade the administration from using the definition because they believe it chills legitimate criticism of Israel. The letter’s signatories disagree with that assessment.

“IHRA is critically important for helping to educate and protect our congregants in the face of this rising hate,” said the rabbis’ letter, which was sent to the White House last week via the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The acronym IHRA refers to the 2016 working definition of antisemitism crafted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

“We believe it is imperative that in its National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, the administration formally embrace the IHRA Working Definition as the official and only definition used by the United States government and that it be used as a training

The IHRA document consists of a two-sentence definition of antisemitism followed by 11 examples of how antisemitism may manifest. Most of those examples concern speech about Israel that the IHRA defines as antisemitic. Israel critics, and some progressive supporters of Israel, say two of those examples are so broad that they inhibit robust criticism of Israel: “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” and “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”

The letter’s signatories hail from all three major Jewish denominations, though the list of names includes few leaders of the movements. The Reform movement has said IHRA is a useful guide but has opposed using it in legislation.

Among the signatories are rabbis known to be close to President Joe Biden, including Michael Beals, a Delaware rabbi who played a prominent role campaigning for the president in 2020, and Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the rabbi who protected his congregants during a hostage crisis at a Texas synagogue last year.

If the Biden administration does include

the IHRA working definition in its plan, it won’t exactly be a surprise. Soon after his inauguration, a Biden administration official called the IHRA document an “invaluable tool,” and one month later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration “enthusiastically embraces it.” The working definition has been endorsed by past administrations of both parties and, in 2019, Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the Department of Education to consider it when weighing civil rights complaints concerning Jews. It has been adopted in varying forms by a range of national and local governments, universities, professional sports teams and other bodies.

But now, according to Jewish Insider, progressive groups are asking the Biden administration to forgo including the definition in a soon-to-be-published strategy to combat antisemitism. Biden said at an event last week that the strategy would have 100 recommendations for action, and insiders say it may be published as soon as next week.

A number of coalitions have proposed alternative definitions that contain more limited definitions of when anti-Israel speech is antisemitic. The letter from the rabbis does not mention Israel, but cautions against adopting a definition other than IHRA’s.

“We believe the adoption of any definition

less comprehensive than the IHRA definition would be a step backwards for this administration and make our work on the ground significantly harder,” it said.

In a meeting last week with members of the press, Biden’s lead antisemitism monitor, Deborah Lipstadt, who is a member of the administration’s antisemitism task force, would not say if the IHRA definition would make it into the strategy. She said it was “effective” and helped her in her work, but added, “I’m not going to preempt what the White House is going to say or not say.”

William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents, said the notion that the IHRA working definition inhibits Israel criticism has been belied by the “slew of people critical of Israeli policy [who] have not been muted because of the IHRA definition.” Daroff pointed in particular to widespread criticism of the Israeli government’s plan to weaken the judiciary, which critics have said would undercut Israel’s democracy and remove a curb on human rights abuses.

“A comprehensive report on antisemitism might not be comprehensive without defining antisemitism,” Daroff told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It might undercut American efforts to combat antisemitism abroad by weakening the clear importance of the IHRA definition.” PJC

THANK YOU TO ALL CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE CARDOZO SOCIETY on behalf ofthe Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for their support of the federation’s community campaign.

Member listing updated as of April 2023 • Ruthie Goodboe, Chair | Maxwell Briskman Stanfield, Step Up Chair

Membership is open to any attorney who contributes a minimum of $1,800 to the Community Campaign. To join the Cardozo Society or our Step-Up program and increase your gift over the course of three years, contact Roi Mezare: 412-992-5230 or rmezare@jfedpgh.org.

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Headlines

London firefighters scold British synagogue for lighting holiday bonfire indoors

London’s fire and rescue service reminded Jewish congregations to keep holiday bonfires outdoors after the city’s Jewish News outlet shared video of a synagogue celebrating Lag B’Omer on May 9 with an indoor fire, JTA.org reported.

The video showed a fire raging inside Beis Medrash Beis Shmuel, a haredi Orthodox synagogue in Golders Green, a heavily Jewish neighborhood of London.

The congregation purportedly started the fire indoors because of rainy local conditions on the holiday.

Under traditional Jewish law, Lag B’Omer is the one day in the mourning period between Passover (often in April) and Shavuot (often in late May or early June) on which observant Jews can do certain things such as get a haircut or hold weddings. Bonfires often mark the celebratory day.

“Though we are keen to see communities enjoying the festival of Lag b’Omer, we don’t want to see anyone harmed as a result. You should never build a bonfire indoors,” the London Fire Brigade told the Jewish News.

Israel to invest $40M in North American Jewish day schools

Citing “a major crisis in Jewish education,” Israel’s Diaspora ministry plans to pour about $40 million into training educators at Jewish

schools in the United States and Canada, JTA.org reported.

Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister of Diaspora affairs, announced the initiative, called “Aleph Bet” after the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, on May 15. He hopes enrollment will increase at Jewish day schools, fearing that “we are losing large parts of the Jewish people,” and said the initiative would “focus on training teachers for Jewish education and Israel studies as well as principals for Jewish day schools,” according to The Jerusalem Post.

Chikli did not elaborate on how his ministry would spend the allocation, nor did he detail when funds could start making their way into North American Jewish schools. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Israel’s governing coalition plans to approve a state budget next week, ahead of a May 29 deadline.

North American Jewish schools have received varying levels of Israeli government support for years, according to Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah, a nonprofit supporting Jewish day schools. He said staff members of day schools were optimistic about the additional funding despite lacking details about where it would go.

Endangered seal became a celebrity on an Israeli beach

For nearly a week, Israel’s latest unlikely celebrity lounged on the Jaffa beach, drawing throngs of onlookers, constant media attention and round-the-clock protection from the government as she sunbathed and slept the day away, JTA.org reported.

Then on May 16, the unwitting star named

Today in Israeli History

— WORLD —

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

May 26, 1958 — U.N. o cial, 4 Israelis are killed on Mount Scopus

Gunfire from Jordan’s side of the Jerusalem demilitarized zone on Mount Scopus kills four Israeli police officers and the Canadian head of the United Nations’ Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission.

May 27, 1911 — Teddy Kollek is born

Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem’s mayor from 1965 to 1993, is born near Budapest. He is named after Theodor Herzl. He grows up in Vienna and moves to Palestine in 1934 to escape Nazism. David Ben-Gurion mentors him.

May 28, 1964 — PLO is established

A 400-delegate council convened by Jordan establishes the Palestine Liberation Organization. Ahmad Shuqayri, a former lawyer from Acre who represented Syria at the United Nations, is elected the chairman.

May 29, 1911 — Poet Leah Goldberg is born

Poet Leah Goldberg is born in Königsberg, Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russia. She begins writing poetry in Hebrew and Russian around age 12 and is a published writer before she moves to Tel Aviv in 1935.

May 30, 1972 — 26 are killed in airport massacre

Contracted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, three Japanese Red Army terrorists kill 26 people at the Lod airport. Two terrorists die in the attack; the third is captured, tried and convicted.

May 31, 1936 — Politician Zevulun Hammer is born

National Religious Party politician Zevulun Hammer, elected eight times to the Knesset beginning in 1969, is born in Haifa. His Cabinet posts include welfare, religious affairs, and education and culture.

June 1, 1941 — Farhud pogrom strikes Iraq’s Jews

Two days of anti-Jewish riots known as the Farhud break out in Baghdad, Iraq, during Shavuot. The violence kills 180 Jews, wounds more than 240 others, destroys 100 Jewish houses and damages more than 500 businesses. PJC

Yulia — a rare 6-foot species of seal weighing hundreds of pounds who has traveled the eastern Mediterranean — waded into the water and swam away. She left no sign of whether she would ever return.

Her departure has left some residents bereft and others hopeful that she may find a safer home than a bare beach with little shelter, other animals and litter. News of her departure spread quickly through the area’s social media and WhatsApp groups, one of which had even changed its name from “Friends of Jaffa” to “Friends of Yulia.”

“Of course, I know she’s not smiling, but her lips are formed in a way that makes her look like she is. She’s so utterly calm — even while a million people are watching her,” said Aya Zaken, a resident of the ancient city adjacent to Tel Aviv, who added that she was “deeply sad” that Yulia had returned to the sea.

Austrian police charge 2 men after Hitler speech plays on public train’s loudspeakers

Austrian authorities are searching for two men suspected of blaring a recording of Hitler’s voice and a series of “Heil Hitler” and “Sieg Heil” chants on a public train for about 20 minutes on May 14, JTA.org reported.

Vienna’s chief rabbi was on the train and told CNN that the recording started with “strange music, snippets of conversation and laughter which suddenly turned into a Hitler speech played louder and louder.”

The rabbi, Schlomo Hofmeister, tweeted that he was disturbed at how long it took for the train’s conductors to shut off the recordings.

Police said that the men were not employees of the ÖBB, Austria’s federal train service, but that they infiltrated the intercom system via a key that all employees have. Officials believe the suspects played other sounds — a “nonsensical, confusing mix” of children’s songs — on other trains around Vienna last week.

The two suspects were charged by Austrian authorities. Austria, which was the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, has strict laws against pro-Nazi statements and Holocaust denial.

Foreign tourism on the rebound in Jerusalem

Foreign tourists are flocking to Israel’s capital again, but the number of visitors has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released on May 17, JNS.org reported.

The Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research’s 37th Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem presents a comprehensive picture of the city’s situation.

Last year saw double the number of international visitors compared to 2021, with room occupancy in city hotels at 55% in 2022 versus just 22% the previous year. However, in 2019, before the pandemic, occupancy stood at 72%.

Hotel revenues last year reached $549 million, marking an 181% increase compared to 2021 but still well below 2019’s record of $686 million.

Jerusalem in 2022 was the top destination in Israel for foreign visitors in terms of overnight stays at 34% but was far less popular among Israelis, drawing only 8% of overnight stays compared with figures of 42% for Eilat, 11% for the Dead Sea and 8% for Tel Aviv. PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

p Ahmad Shuqayri was elected the first chairman of the PLO.

p Poet Leah Goldberg and writer Ya’acov Horowitz relax in Tel Aviv in 1935.

Courtesy of Gnazim Archive and Yair Landau

Headlines

Beacon:

Continued from page 1 around how we strengthen our teens’ emotional literacy, their coping strategies and capacities,” she said.

Examples of the activities that will be available include open mic nights, art expression, animal therapy, podcasts, clubs and other programs that teens are interested in and suggest — all with a focus on increasing mindfulness, self-esteem and self-expression, Hens-Greco said.

The space was inspired not only by community stakeholders and design partners, including Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel, Kolano Design, F.J. Busse Co. and Snoezelen, but most importantly, HensGreco said, by Friendship Circle teens.

“Everything from the flow and use of the space, lighting, color, the mission statement and choice of furniture — everything has been chosen with the intention of creating a space that’s warm welcoming, safe and inclusive,” she said.

Design elements include a conversation corner, a grounded wall with rotating words to help expand teens’ emotional vocabulary,

Symons:

Continued from page 1 life,” Symons said.

As he was dealing with the turmoil of the day, there was a knock on the glass doors of the JCC’s Levinson Hall, a rarely used entrance.

“It was Pastor Todd Leach of Shadyside Presbyterian Church, who came just to give me a hug,” Symons said. “That was in the 10 o’clock hour. He was the first person to come in.”

Through the Center for Loving Kindness, Symons has been building and bolstering relationships with clergy of other faiths and other community leaders. One of the first professional phone calls he made that day was to the Rev. Liddy Barlow of Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania, “just to begin thinking about what do we do, but not even knowing what was.”

All of the senior staff stayed at the JCC, Symons said, because they knew the JCC would be used as the convening spot for the community

“As we began to set up, people just walked in,” he said. “They were shellshocked. People that weren’t even in the building, people that didn’t have family here but just needed to be somewhere, came here … I remember family members coming in and embracing me and saying, ‘I don’t know where so-and-so is,’ and not knowing how to respond. It was just so horrific.”

In the hours after the attack, as people gathered, the rabbi said it felt like “a reverse shiva.”

“We knew what happened, we knew who we didn’t hear from, who was in the building, who didn’t come out of the building, and we were just waiting all day long until 6 or 7 o’clock,” he said.

The JCC conference room served as a makeshift control room where the coroner, other county officials and the presidents from the three congregations — Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha — were seated around

a tactile wall, a sensory room, a kitchen and a large meeting space resembling a living room.

The purposefulness that went into the design of the center is expected of the teens who use it.

“When they walk in as a member, they need to express their intention for the day,” Rivkee Rudolph said. “They need to stop at our check-in center and practice naming their emotions with the intent of helping them understand and develop emotional literacy.”

The Beacon, Hens-Greco said, will help teens practice positive mental health and to understand that, as humans, we experience a wide range of emotions. If deeper or more formal clinical support is needed, the center will help find the appropriate care.

Ursula Brown, 18, a senior at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School and a co-chair of Friendship Circle’s Teen Wellness Committee, is part of the planning committee for The Beacon. The center, she said, aligns with Friendship Circle’s mission of connecting people with a range of abilities and special needs to others in the community.

“Someone said it perfectly at one of our

a table while the JCC’s leaders were standing along the back wall.

The coroner said that the plan was to not release the bodies for another 14 hours. Symons said he demanded they start releasing the names.

“I remember the very sad part of watching an FBI agent … tap a family member on the shoulder and bring them in here,” he said. “It was just horrific.”

An interfaith response

That afternoon, Symons, along with Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff, Rev. John Welch, who was serving as a Pittsburgh Police chaplain, and Barlow began planning the following day’s vigil at the Soldiers & Sailors Hall & Memorial Museum in Oakland.

“Because of, not just the work we had been doing on crossing over bridges, but because of generations of work here in Pittsburgh, we were able to put together what happened at Soldiers and Sailors very, very quickly,” Symons said. “It was amazing to see the outpouring of support from the community.”

Asking clergy to speak at the vigil gave Symons a sense of purpose. The ask, he said, was easy because the Jewish community has always been part of the fabric of Pittsburgh.

The decision was made to ask representatives from the three congregations that were attacked to speak, as well as Welch, Barlow and Wasi Mohamed, then-executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh.

“We knew that Wasi was the strongest interfaith representative from the Muslim community,” Symons said. “Interestingly, he’s not clergy. He’s a spiritual leader, although he would deny it.”

It was important to have interfaith representation so the focus would not be on “those poor Jews,” Symons said, but instead, “woe to us.”

When clergy arrived at the vigil who weren’t originally invited to speak, they were asked to

meetings,” Brown noted. “They said, ‘At Friendship Circle you show up to be a friend to others, but in order to do that you need to be a friend to yourself.’ That was part of the intent behind [The Beacon], fostering that.”

To take advantage of The Beacon, HensGreco said, teens will need to become a member through the Friendship Circle website. Once they do that, a member of The Beacon team will reach out and do a more formal intake.

The hope, she said, is to engage with approximately 300 teens in the next year.

The Beacon staff will reach out to teens through Friendship Circle clubs that already exist in several schools including Allderdice, CAPA, Baldwin and Shady Side Academy, Rivkee Rudolph said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mean of nearly 6,500 teens between ages 12 and 17 visited a hospital with a mental health emergency each week in 2022. That number is down slightly from 2021 but still represents a significant number of teens in crisis. A mean of nearly 4,200 suicide attempts were made each week by the same age group.

“We recognize that there are never going

participate in the service, swelling the number to more than 100 people.

The support of the interfaith community, Symons said, continued after the initial reaction to the synagogue shooting. On Nov. 8, clergy gathered in preparation for Thanksgiving. Barlow, Symons said, suggested canceling the event but the rabbi said, “No, we have to talk.”

That phrase became the moniker of the ongoing effort to bring interfaith spiritual leaders together in Pittsburgh, which now includes more than 500 participants.

The informal Thanksgiving gathering, he said, drew 150 spiritual leaders.

“We prayed; we asked each other questions,” Symons said. “We allowed space for people to talk and brainstorm in an open space: What is that they think we need to do next? We came up with about a dozen subjects and knew not one organization could do it all. People began to grab different aspects.

“The ‘we’ — the Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Center for Loving Kindness — took on the concept of talking and helping people to understand we need each other and that we belong to each other,” he said.

Chevra Kadisha

In the days immediately following the shooting, Symons said he was walking around “like a zombie,” unsure of how to react. A Jewish ritual provided an answer.

The rabbi is a member of Pittsburgh’s New Community Chevra Kadisha and participated in the tahara, or ritual washing, of the bodies of the victims.

One particular moment came to symbolize both the anxiety and generosity of Pittsburgh’s community, he said.

While at the funeral home Ralph Schugar Chapel and in the process of purifying a body, there was a knock on a door that had the extra security of a folding chair beneath its doorknob.

“It scared me,” Symons recounted. “Under normal circumstances, I would have had the

to be enough mental health professionals in the group to meet the crises of today’s teens,” Rivkee Rudolph said. “We hope to train our teens to be able to listen and support each other. We want them to listen differently, ask questions differently and we want to teach them to lean on each other for that.”

In addition to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, The Beacon is funded by The Allegheny Foundation, Charles M. Morris Charitable Trust, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust, the Fine Foundation, Highmark Foundation, Mary Hillman Jennings Foundation, Jack Buncher Foundation, Philip Chosky Charitable and Educational Foundation, Robert and Mary Weisbrod Foundation and the Smart Foundation, as well as the Mallet and Plaut/ Behrmann-Cohen families.

The Beacon will be open after school and in the evening, Monday through Thursday, beginning in September. Teens can become members at tinyurl.com/TheBeaconPGH, and the center will host several events throughout the summer. PJC

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

fortitude to open the door myself, but I just couldn’t. I was down. A funeral director, who’s name I forget, opened the door by taking away the folding chair and a little old woman thrust $1,000 in our faces and said, ‘It’s for the married couple’ [Bernice and Sylvan Simon, who were killed in the massacre]. We asked her name, she said, ‘No name.’ We asked if we could give a hug, she said, ‘No hug.’ She just left. We closed the door for security purposes and just embraced each other in tears.”

That act, he said, proved that in incredible darkness there can be sparkles of light.

There is a phrase from the prophets, Symons said, recited each time a tahara is performed. It says Israel’s branches shall spread like an olive tree and its fragrance shall be like Lebanon.

“That day, I was responsible for the reading and wept like a baby,” he said. “Saying that line days after the most antisemitic attack on this land — these are our neighbors — just threw me over the edge. The line has never been innocent for me since. It’s just so painful to go back there.”

Symons continues to serve as the JCC’s director of Jewish life but recently announced that he will step down next year when his wife retires from Temple David. The couple plan to move to New York to be closer to their children.

While Symons said he wouldn’t wish something like the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on anyone, it did amplify long-held values: Love your neighbor as yourself, do not stand idly by as your neighbor bleeds and the “redefining of neighbor from a geographic term to a moral concept.” PJC

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

This story is part of ongoing coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial by the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle and the Pittsburgh Union Progress in a collaboration supported by funding from the Pittsburgh Media Partnership.

May

August

Mr. Biden, define antisemitism

President Joe Biden’s heart is in the right place in the fight against antisemitism.

He has been forceful in his condemnation of the deep-seated hate that drives antisemitism; he has shown compassion toward its victims; and he has made clear his administration’s commitment to structure an “ambitious” and “comprehensive” plan to address antisemitism.

Biden has used all the right words. For example, he has promised that “hate will not win” and referred to the rising tide of antisemitism as “a stain on the soul of America.” He has also delivered on many of his antisemitism-related promises, like increased federal funding to help secure Jewish institutions and the appointment of an ambassador-level special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.

So why is it that the much-ballyhooed White House national antisemitism strategy is having difficulty defining antisemitism?

The most widely accepted working definition of antisemitism is the one developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). That definition is simple, straightforward and clear: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be

expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The IHRA definition has been adopted or

critique of Israel, and could violate the right of free speech.

Israel is not mentioned in the IHRA definition. But it does figure prominently in the non-binding “illustrations” that accompany the working definition. “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g.,

Why is it that the much-ballyhooed White House national antisemitism strategy

antisemitism?

endorsed by 1,116 global entities, including 42 independent nations, 30 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces, numerous U.S. cities and counties and a host of national and international organizations. But the Biden administration is facing pressure from some on the left to use a different definition of antisemitism, or none at all, out of fear that the IHRA definition — which identifies some forms of anti-Zionism as antisemitism — does not leave sufficient space for

by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” is one example. “Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation,” is another. The definition points to the fact that anti-Zionism is often used to cloak antisemitism. And that is unquestionably true.

Those opposing the adoption of the IHRA definition often argue that not all criticism of Israel is antisemitic. We agree. The problem

arises when that proposition mutates — as it frequently does — into “no criticism of Israel is antisemitic.” The IHRA definition provides a useful framework to determine when rhetoric crosses the line.

Nothing in the IHRA definition limits or restricts legitimate, civil, non-Jew-baiting criticism of Israel. We have seen that to be the case in vivid color over the past several months. Thus, notwithstanding the uniform adoption of the IHRA definition across the world, there has been no chill in the criticism of the Israeli government and its planned judicial overhaul, or other protests against the Netanyahu government. All without a whiff of antisemitism.

Opponents of Israel are free to criticize Israel all they want. They can criticize its leaders. They may criticize its policies. They can criticize its actions. They may even criticize its food and its music. They just can’t do any of that by invoking antisemitic arguments, images, tropes or hate — or by denying that Jews have a right to self-determination.

If anti-Zionists can’t be critical of Israel without being antisemitic, that’s their problem. But any strategy to fight antisemitism needs a clear definition of exactly what it is fighting. The IHRA working definition is the gold standard. PJC

Why this Jew is binge-watching ‘The Chosen’ (and maybe you should too)

the most intensely Jewish Jesus and the Gospels we’ve ever had.

Imentally cringed when I first heard about “The Chosen.” Another Christian evangelistic tool that ends up making the Jews out to be the bad guys, the dramatic foil for some new message, the ones responsible, the persecutors. Another Jewish-Christian relations disaster? No thanks. Plus it all sounded a little, well ... cheesy.

All the Christians were talking about it on Facebook, and that of course couldn’t be a good sign. I started getting private messages — including from people whose opinion I respect — encouraging me as a teacher and scholar of Jewish-Christian relations, to watch it. No way.

To my embarrassment, it wasn’t until “The Chosen” approached me to help on a small “Jewish advisory board” for Season 4 that I realized I probably should have some idea of what I had agreed to.

So there I was — a religious Jewish mother of six trying to prepare the house for Passover and binge-watch three seasons of “The Chosen” at the same time. My kids were a bit appalled that I was so intent on watching so much Jesus TV. “It’s work, kiddos. Sometimes work just has to get done.”

And then I started watching.

To my complete surprise, “The Chosen” (Season 1 is streaming on Netflix) presents

Now look, don’t misunderstand me. As an educated Jew watching it, undoubtedly some of it is a bit kitschy. Some of it is anachronistic. Some of it is just plain wrong. But all that pales in the face of its value for building understanding between Jews and Christians. The series takes a fact that by now all Christians know, and makes it impossible to look away, fleshing out the Jewishness of Jesus and his earliest followers into something with an inescapable, determinative and profoundly positive foundation for the Christian faith.

with a multi-season Christian mega-hit would seek us out for extended conversations about Jewish practice, Jewish sensitivities, Jewish texts and Jewish holidays in order to better present Jesus and his disciples is unprecedented, and reflects an extraordinary moment in healing the relationship between Jews and Christians.

But what about Jews? Should Jews even be watching “The Chosen” at all?

There is an unfortunate tendency for many Jews to think that the New Testament is kind of threatening, that it is foreign, that it has nothing to do with us. That it belongs to “them.” Much of this is no doubt aided by

New Testament has some real value. And if Jews could feel more comfortable with the New Testament as comprising an important piece of Jewish cultural literature, we might be able to engage more deeply together as Jews and Christians.

“The Chosen” has the possibility of transforming how Jews think about Jesus. Not in a missionary kind of way. But in recognition that this 1st-century rabbi, his family, his students and his earliest followers were Jewish. That Jesus was “one of ours” is something that all Jews know, but never think through the implications: that at the heart of Christianity lies a profoundly Jewish center, one of Pesach and Chanukah, one of prayer and sacrifice, one of morality and ethics. And while we absolutely must remember the harm that the church has done to our people over the centuries, we must also come to realize that Christian anti-Judaism is not something essential to Christianity, but rather a terrible detour based on amnesia about its own Jewishness.

Creating this small Jewish advisory board tells us a lot. Until now, all the advisers for “The Chosen” were Christian, aside from one Messianic Jewish leader. Which makes sense. But recognizing that the narrative was entering more complex terrain in terms of Jewish-Christian relations, the team realized some more traditional Jewish input should be solicited. And that in itself is remarkable.

That a group of Christian professionals

well-meaning Christians seeking to shove it down our throats.

I wish that Jews could understand that the New Testament is thoroughly Jewish — replete with Jewish categories and Jewish practices, Jewish controversies, Jewish scripture and brimming with Jews — and I think we could reclaim some of our own history. Because, let’s face it, if we want to understand something about the Judaism of our ancestors in this specific period, the

“The Chosen” will, I believe, alter how a whole generation of Christians envisions and connects to the Jewishness of Jesus. And as such, it has the potential to radically impact how Christians encounter their Jewish neighbors, friends and co-workers. At a time of rapidly rising antisemitism in the West, this is no small thing. PJC

Faydra Shapiro is the founding director of the Israel Center for Jewish-Christian Relations and holds a Ph.D. in religious studies. This first appeared on The Times of Israel.

Guest Columnist

Faydra L. Shapiro

“The Chosen” will, I believe, alter how a whole generation of Christians envisions and connects to the Jewishness of Jesus.

is having di culty defining

Chronicle poll results: COVID-19

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Is COVID-19 still affecting your daily life?” Of the 222 people who responded, 54% said “no”; 36% said, “yes, somewhat”; and 10% said, “yes, significantly.” Comments were submitted by 63 people. A few follow.

I’ve worked in hospice care during COVID. I am seeing more mask freedom. Apart from work, I don’t have any COVID issues.

Just had it for two weeks after managing to avoid it for over three years. Five vaccine doses.

Long COVID is real. Not everyone is fine after COVID; for many, it is debilitating. It also is still preferentially killing older members of society. Masking isn’t hard; just don’t shame me for it.

For me, it is now in the category of the flu.

I think about it a small amount, but we live completely as if it never existed.

I still worry about bringing any sickness home to my ill wife. I wear a mask to the hospital and supermarket.

I am a champion of masks and vaccines and still feel the urge to mask up sometimes. But after three years, I’m more than ready to move on.

I still wear a mask when I am in crowded places. Otherwise, things are normal.

I am immunocompromised from prior chemotherapy, so I am reticent about being in crowds. Having said that, I must concede that I do not wear a mask any more.

I mask when indoors, don’t go to movies, don’t go to crowded prayer services, etc.

It astonishes me the number of people who remain reclusive because of COVID. I have a friend like that — she has not left her house in years, and nothing we say takes away her fear. Her isolation is harming her more than COVID would.

All precautions taken and still got it on a trip.

— LETTERS —

Rejecting Rep. Betty McCollum’s bill introducing new conditions to U.S. aid to Israel

Recently, Rep Summer Lee (D-PA) co-sponsored a bill introduced by Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) which was theoretically meant to address serious human rights allegations against Israel and ensure that no U.S. assistance dollars are used to perpetuate those alleged crimes (“Summer Lee cosponsors bill that would restrict aid to Israel,” May 12). Israel, like all democracies, faces difficult dilemmas in balancing security versus democratic concerns. While facing a complex security situation unparalleled to other democracies, the Israeli government and legal system make every effort to prioritize democratic considerations at every step along the way. Israel is indeed imperfect, but it does an exceptional job managing this delicate balancing act.

There are several serious problems with the McCollum bill that should give pause to anyone who supports Israel’s right to self-defense, including dozens of misleading, unsubstantiated allegations against Israel made in the bill without providing any sense of context or proportion. For example, the bill alleges that 500-700 Palestinian children are detained each year by the Israeli military, without noting that is among the lowest rates of juvenile incarceration in the world, and without addressing the fact that, sadly, these children are often the perpetrators of violent terror attacks. Recent examples include a January terror attack in which a 13-year-old Palestinian opened fire on a group of Israelis resulting in multiple serious injuries, and a February terror attack in which a 13-year-old Palestinian stabbed and killed an Israeli Border Police officer. Palestinian teenagers are routinely recruited by terrorist organizations which publicize the teenagers’ membership if they are killed while committing terror attacks.

The bill also says the Israeli military court system “lacks basic and fundamental guarantees of due process” which is blatantly untrue, and makes no mention of the extensive reforms Israel has undertaken in recent years to improve its system of juvenile justice in the West Bank.

As the bill itself notes, there already exists a large body of laws governing how U.S. assistance can and cannot be spent, and as with all foreign aid, the U.S. government has an extensive system in place to ensure that those laws are followed and are in line with the “legitimate self-defense criteria” set by the U.S. government. Over the many years that the U.S. has been providing military assistance to Israel, there have been no credible charges that Israel has in fact been using U.S. funds to commit the “crimes” alleged in the bill or in any other way inconsistent with U.S. law.

Calling to restrict U.S. funds for these purposes has nothing to do with “good government” or “transparency.” It is solely about using security assistance to score political points against Israel, and sets the stage for future cuts in aid while creating an overly broad certification requirement that would be impossible for any administration to meet.

Philip Milch Pittsburgh

I work at a UPMC doctor’s office, and masks were made optional a few weeks ago.

It’s likely I will be at least somewhat cautious for some time. Not because I’m over-cautious, but because there will remain many “non-vaxxers” who don’t believe in vaccination or anything related to the epidemic. They are the ones who will selfishly continue to spread COVID and/or infect others. They will continue to be whom we need to protect ourselves against.

I am so glad that COVID is no longer occupying my life. It feels so good to breathe without a mask and to be able to see everyone’s faces again! PJC

Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Did you vote in the May 16 primary election? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle. org to respond. PJC

Deterrent e ect of death penalty is unknown

In response to the letter “Jewish law prohibits imposition of the death penalty if it does not deter” (May 19), which states there is no evidence that the death penalty deters murder, there are a few points I would like to raise:

1. The writer simply makes a blanket statement that death penalty states “do not show any reduction in the number of murders per capita.” No statistical evidence is given to back up this assertion.

2. How do you determine the number of potential murderers who are deterred from their crimes by their fear that capture will lead to their own death? The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter did not take his own life.

3. The very nature of the crime at the Tree of Life building and the fact that the shooter had a social media presence suggests there might be a community of haters paying attention to the resolution of this case. There is no way to know how many would-be shooters might be deterred if they knew a death penalty conviction was a possibility.

4. Finally, think of the survivors, the friends and families of the victims. Their loved ones were gunned down in the most heinous way. They will never get to see another sunset. Why should the shooter, if convicted, be allowed to enjoy life when he showed such callous disregard for the lives of his victims?

Georgia Atkin Pittsburgh J Street’s actions contradict its ‘pro-Israel’ label

In the Chronicle’s May 19 issue, a letter from members of J Street explains their support for Congresswomen Summer Lee’s cosponsoring of a bill that would place restrictions on aid to Israel (“Clarification on bill cosponsored by Summer Lee”). J Street defines itself as pro-Israel and as an advocate for a two-state solution. One has to ask: Who is the peace partner? Hamas or the Palestinian Authority dictatorship? J Street boasts about its support for the pro-democracy movement in Israel but doesn’t seem as vocal when it comes to the terrorist-led regimes in Gaza and the lack of elections in Ramallah.

In their letter the writers state, “Like all U.S. aid, our taxpayer money should be accounted for and should not be used in ways that undermine U.S. interests.” They also call for transparent accounting of how funds are spent. I do not recall J street demanding the same accounting of how funds are spent by the PA. Stipends are paid to PA terrorists and their families for their violent actions, which sometimes include the death and injury of Americans.

J Street too often points a finger at Israel, especially with its current government, but rarely utters a word about the human rights violations and lack of democracy in Gaza or the West Bank. I suppose J Street will blame Israel for that, as the organization appears to be one-sided — and not “pro-Israel.”

Rocky Wice Squirrel Hill

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Gallery of Graduates2023

Temple Ohav Shalom congratulates its 2023 graduates!

Name of Graduate School

Degree if applicable

Derek Benjamin Bashe Washington University in St. Louis, MOBachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering

Daniel Noah Berlin Penn State University

Nathaniel Brauser Pine Richland High School

Natalie Daninhirsch Northwestern University

Ben Pasternak Slippery Rock University

Alexander Solomon Pizov The Ohio State University

Brooke Singer Pennsylvania State University (main campus)

Brynn Surloff Pine Richland High School

Abby Turkheimer North Allegheny Senior High School

Noah Wisnock North Allegheny Senior High School

Bachelor’s in Actuarial Science

Bachelor of Arts in Theatre; Certificate in Musical Theatre

Bachelor’s in Secondary Education/History

Bachelor’s in Business, Magna Cum Laude

Bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Studies (minors in Rehabilitation and Human Services and Jewish Studies)

Rose Jacobs, daughter of Jacqueline Gindler of Atlanta (formerly of Pittsburgh) graduated from Touro College of Dental Medicine in New York, on Sunday, May 21, 2023. Rose completed her undergraduate studies in Biology, Anthropology, and East Asian Studies at Brandeis University, in Boston. After graduation, Rose will complete a 1-year general practice dentistry residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, after which, she will practice in an underserved area of the United States for 2 years, in fulfillment of the National Health Service Corps Scholarship she received for dental school.

May the mark you make in this world be carved with empathy, kindness and your unique and joyful spirit.

Love,

Mom, Dad, Micah and Bubbes

Avishai Meir Matusak

· Graduating from Riverview Junior-Senior High School

· Will be attending Michigan State University

· Major: Computer Science and Engineering

Earn up to $7,500 in grants with Dream Israel!

Headlines

Leyton:

Continued from page 2

daughter were — decided to visit Rodef Shalom’s center.

“I was in love with the place as soon as I saw it,” Blank said. “The natural light from the windows, the caring staff, the way she approached us. Mimsie understood what it meant to have a toddler, and what it meant to give your toddler up into the care of other people. She made us feel really comfortable and confident about the decision.”

Weeks ago, Blank and her college-bound daughter were attending a synagogue event where scholarships were being awarded to high school seniors. Several students gathered for a picture. Arms extended across one another. Smiles showcased a moment of elation. Beside the joyful awardees and their siblings was a lifelong educator who understood the value of marking accomplishments, modeling instruction and prioritizing children.

“What I will miss the most are the relationships that I have made with the children

Blank enrolled her daughter in Rodef Shalom’s preschool. She and her husband joined the congregation and subsequently entrusted their two other children to Leyton and Rodef Shalom’s care.

As the years progressed, Blank and her family became more involved at Rodef Shalom. They attended services, marked the holidays and celebrated family milestones there.

For many of those occasions, Leyton was present, Blank said: “Mimsie is part of our family.”

and their extended families,” Leyton said. “Together with my excellent teaching staff through the years, we have built a caring and supportive community.”

Rodef Shalom’s leaders, families and clergy bolstered their community by recognizing what’s at the heart of early childhood education, Leyton continued.

“Preschools are really relationship labs,” she said. “If you have good relationships, what you can teach is limitless.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Mazel tov! We are so proud of you! Love,

Mom, Dad, Adam, Carly, Bubbie, Grandy and Papa Paul

Noah Indianer Fox Chapel Area High School

“[Leyton] created an environment that has fostered the beginnings of what Jewish life is for a family.”

−MIMI WERTHEIMER

LEFT FOR FALL 2023

Factoid:

With Gifts of Israel Bonds Graduates

Continued from page 5

original claim and also unknowingly undermined it when she wrote, “Even as early as 1842, however, services were held at private homes in Lawrenceville on Sabbaths and principal holidays. Yet the city directories do not mention a Minyan ... until 1850.”

With the arrival of more rigorous historical methods, the Lawrenceville claim quietly drifted away. And yet the 1842 claim persisted. And with it emerged this new claim, that this first service resembled our most common impressions of Jewish prayer.

In a 1959 monograph about local Jewish settlement, Jacob Feldman cited the 1889 volume and wrote, “Formal Hebrew religious services are known as ‘minyan’ or ‘minyanim’ and require the presence of a quorum of ten adult (over thirteen years of age) men. These were first being held in Pittsburgh in private homes by approximately 1842.”

In a community history in the American Jewish Outlook in 1959, in honor of the city’s bicentennial, Jewish Community Relations Council Director Lillian A. Friedberg wrote, “Early records are few, many of them having been destroyed in the great fire of 1845, but we do know that by 1842 a ‘Minyan’ of Jews conducted regular religious services in private homes.” Revisiting the subject in 1972 for the Encyclopedia Judaica, she placed this service closer to downtown: “It was not until 1842 that Jews first met in a minyan for worship in a home near the Point.”

In a 1970 graduate thesis analyzing local Jewish population patterns, Leonard Irvin

Kuntz wrote, “By 1842, there were enough adult Jewish males in Pittsburgh for worship services to be held regularly.” He cited the July 1843 issue of The Occident, the first Englishlanguage Jewish newspaper in America. That issue includes a list of subscribers, including two men from Pittsburgh. They would have needed eight more for a minyan.

Setting these sources one after another, you can watch this factoid metastasize as each writer rearranges the original source into their own words. “Worship” becomes “public worship” becomes “group services” becomes “minyan.” Each of these terms is similar to the others, but not entirely synonymous. The authors from 1889 and 1908 were likely not Jewish. They may have used “worship” in a Christian way, referring to a joint service with some fixed structure, rather than a private “now I lay me” type of prayer.

The later authors were all Jewish. They saw the world as Jews. In trying to understand what made this supposed 1842 service distinct from any Jewish prayer that might have preceded it, they assumed it was numbers: Pittsburgh finally had a minyan.

Except, it didn’t.

Feldman was the first historian of the local Jewish experience to rely heavily on primary sources, rather than books, articles

and communal lore. Long before digitization democratized historical research, he spent decades paging through newspapers, census schedules, deed books and city directories to compile basic historical information.

By the time he wrote his seminal 1986 book “The Jewish Experience in Western Pennsylvania,” he had conducted granular research about the early 1840s, counting all the individual Jewish people he could find in the available record. Here’s how he describes the scene at the time: “Certainly, this tiny group of Jews couldn’t muster a minyan, a quorum of ten men aged thirteen and over, for the religious services they held in private homes unless a few itinerant Jewish peddlers or visitors also were stopping off in town.”

The 1842 date continued to appear in various accounts of local Jewish history for a while. Then, as Feldman’s book became the standard reference, the factoid finally died.

So what do we actually know about the first minyan in western Pennsylvania?

The November 1846 edition of The Occident reports, “In Pittsburg, too, in this state, we hear that the Jews speak of uniting themselves for the promotion of worship.”

Allegheny County Deed Books show that in June 1847, a small group of men purchased a burial ground in Reserve Township for the Bes Almon Society.

According to brief community history published in the American Israelite newspaper in 1854 and another published in a now-hard-to-find 1903 issue of Jewish Criterion, the first Jewish congregation in this region was founded in 1848. It was called Shaare Shamayim (Gates of Heaven), and it rented a hall at Penn and Sixth, downtown.

(Based on nothing but a hunch, I suspect that the author of the 1889 volume heard “Penn Avenue,” put the pin too far east, and mistakenly wrote “Lawrenceville.” For what it’s worth, Sixth Street downtown was known as St. Clair Street in the late 1840s. By the late 1880s, Penn and St. Clair was located in the part of town we now call East Liberty.)

By triangulating an 1849 newspaper notice and an 1850 city directory listing, it is safe to assert that Shaare Shamayim dedicated its first synagogue in a room above the Vigilant Fire Engine House on Third Avenue between Wood and Market streets on Aug. 3, 1849.

A few weeks later, on Aug. 25, Shaare Shamayim applied for a county charter.

In its June 1850 issue, The Occident wrote, “We learn from one of the members of that congregation that they are progressing there in all things, and that the number of Israelites is fast augmenting in the western capital of Pennsylvania. We should like to obtain an accurate account of their condition. Will some of our friends oblige us?” PJC

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

p Clipping from the August 7, 1849 edition of the Pittsburgh Daily Post, announcing the dedication of a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Image courtesy of Newspapers.com

Torah Celebrations

This year’s Torah

Lois and Alan Kopolow are so happy to announce the marriage of their daughter, Andrea Jill Kopolow to Noah Asher Cassis, son of the late Gilles and Marilyn Cassis. They were married on May 13, 2023. Andrea is the granddaughter of Muriel Friedman and the late Max Friedman, and the late Marge and Oscar Kopolow. She is the sister of Amy Jenkinson and Adam Kopolow. Noah is the grandson of the late Edith and Andre Abecassis and the late Sylvia and Jacob Schuster. The couple lives in Philadelphia. Rabbi Art Donsky performed a most beautiful ceremony.

Rabbi Joe Hample Parshat Shavuot II Deuteronomy 14:22 – 16:17

Iscarcely heard of Shavuot in my ultraReform childhood: it was a delightful discovery of my mature years. Creamy or cheesy delicacies define its culinary appeal, while the weirdness of tikkun leil (late-night observance) adds a mystical vibe. For those who read Ruth at Shavuot, the holiday particularly spotlights the contributions of women and converts.

on The Modern Jewish Crisis, or why our great-grandparents left Russia and what happened next. The assassination of the czar in 1881 — blamed on the Jews, of course — reversed Russia’s tepid experiment with liberalism. Our people fled to the land of Israel, launching the Zionist saga; to central Europe, inadvertently reawakening antisemitism there; or to America, enriching the New World with their many talents. Or they stayed in Russia, with high hopes (later crushed) for a bright revolutionary future.

Randi and Ellis Weinstein are thrilled to announce the birth of their granddaughter, Rosie Lee Weinstein (Aviva) on Jan. 23 in Chicago. Rosie is the adored daughter of Ellie and Jared Weinstein, niece of David Weinstein and Sarah Salky and granddaughter of Molly and Kenny Salky of St. Louis. Great-grandparents are Leslie Spiegel and the late Arthur Spiegel, Burney and the late Lee Salky, Pat and George Roether and the late Virginia Byrum. PJC

Unlike some beloved Jewish (or secular) holidays, Shavuot doesn’t have a colorful origin story. There’s no elaborate narrative about the first Shavuot. All we have is Moses climbing the mountain and descending with the commandments. We may reenact it in our religious school, with foamboard tablets, but there aren’t a lot of supporting characters or ironic plot twists. It’s a one-man, one-act play.

The dramatic intrigue of this holiday is not in the scripture, but in our own lives. Every year, we go back up the same Sinai, but each year we bring down a different Torah. The letters and words may be unchanged, but the meaning is always new. The sins that enticed me in my youth are not the ones that tempt me today, and the advantages I felt gratitude for in boyhood are not the gifts I’m thankful for now. My Torah is evolving.

Perhaps Shavuot is best appreciated as a festival of learning. Above all, Torah is a thing to study (Mishnah Pe’ah 1:1). And if the most powerful way to learn something is to teach it (Talmud Ta’anit 7a), then faculty ought to be the greatest Shavuot revelers. Invite your favorite professor to your kiddush.

At my Morgantown shul, my contract requires me to provide adult education, but if I offer it at the synagogue I don’t get much turnout. So I’ve taken to teaching at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), a program serving seniors and retirees, with volunteer instructors. Mostly I’ve covered Bible topics, attracting a few Jewish students and a lot of churchgoing Christians. The Christians are already familiar with the scripture, but they’re curious what a rabbi will say about Adam and Eve, or David and Goliath. Or Shavuot, which they know as “Pentecost.”

After many Bible-based curricula, this spring I tried something different: a course

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History is a scary thing to teach. The Bible is big, but finite; history is effectively infinite. What do you focus on? How do you connect the dots? No two people will handle it alike. And I wasn’t sure Christians would be interested in all that Jewish suffering. But to my surprise, I got a huge turnout.

In its own way, history is Torah: the Torah of transgression, the Torah of cautionary examples. Where God is ignored, or invoked insincerely, all the commandments are broken. Our people were robbed and murdered in the pogroms and the Holocaust and the Gulag. They were raped and slandered, their sabbath was profaned, their property was coveted. These crimes were sanctified by idolatries like divine right, racial purity or the dictatorship of the proletariat. The whole Ten Commandments — or, rather, the consequences of neglecting them — are in The Modern Jewish Crisis.

At the end of the term, the students asked what I planned to teach next. My occasional digressions during this course, my attempts to briefly summarize the Jewish backstory in premodern Europe or the Middle Ages, suggest possible topics for another syllabus. Alas, it’s not enough to list names and dates and places: You have to teach why it matters. That’s the hard part, but I’m working on it.

This Shavuot, climbing the mountain once more, I reflect on the purpose of my rabbinate. Am I meant to be a pulpit rabbi, a life cycles rabbi, a hospital rabbi, a social justice rabbi? All of those, in their season. But my role as an education rabbi looms largest at the moment. May God show me the didactic Decalogue. PJC

Rabbi Joe Hample is the spiritual leader of the Tree of Life Congregation in Morgantown, West Virginia. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.

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Obituaries

ELOVITZ: Elizabeth Esther Elovitz, on Friday, May 19, 2023. Beloved daughter of Stuart Elovitz and the late Miriam Steiner. Sister of Renee Steiner Glasser, Joe and Lewis Steiner. Niece of Shelley Elovitz and Charlotte George, Mark and Martha Elovitz, Albert Elovitz and Kerry Nauhaus. Cousin of Rachel, Michal, Reuben, Drew and Devon. Graveside service and interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Pennsylvania Keystone Chapter, 1501 Reedsdale St., Suite 105, Pittsburgh, PA 15233. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

KRAMER: Diane R. Kramer, of Pittsburgh, died May 15, 2023. Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Diane “Di” moved to Pittsburgh after marrying her beloved husband, Glenn. Together, Di and Glenn founded Anything Goes delivery while raising three boys. While coaching and managing her kids’ teams, she helped build the western Pennsylvania soccer culture. She was a lover of animals and took great joy in the companionship they offered. Preceded in death by husband Glenn W Kramer. Survived by sons Scott (Deirdre) Kramer, Sean (Farrell) Kramer and Jared (Christy) Kramer. Proud grandmother of Finnegan, Danny, Gwennie, Amelia, Cecilia and Eleanor. Sister of Tina Gross, Nancy Rosenfeld and Shelley Rosenfeld. Also survived by nieces and nephews and beloved pets. The family held a private service and interment at B’nai Israel Cemetery. Friends were asked to join the family for an informal Celebration of Life at the Forest Hills Fire Department. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to The Special Olympics of Pennsylvania (give.specialolympicspa.org/DianeKramerFund), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (givenow.lls.org) or the Pittsburgh Zoo (pittsburghzoo. org/donations/). Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com PJC

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from ... In memory of...

Contact the Development department at 412.586.3264 or development@jaapgh.org for more information. THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS —

Sunday May 28: Ida Friedman, Dora Samuel Goldfarb, Mollie T Golomb, Phyllis Elaine Gutmacher, Anna B Hausman, Michael O Kohn, Sarah Koppleman, I Hyman Lerner, Charlotte Perelstine, Sarah Y Rudick, Irving Shapiro, Alex Silverman, Jacob Slome, David Soltz, Helen Tenenouser

Monday May 29: Morris Borof, Sonia Drucker, Dora Felman, Jean K Gefsky, Sarah K Gellman, Sylvia Gerson, Alvin Abe Golomb, Albert William Hertz, Albert Horn, Freda Horn, Leah Korobkin, Rochelle L Lubarsky, Tillie Marshall, Helen Ohringer, Fannie Schachter, Nathan Silver, Rhoda Freedel Sternlight, Frances Tenor, Esther Martin Wallie

Tuesday May 30: Goldie Ackerman, Mollie Goldberg, Charlotte Ha ner, Sam Kaufman, Ida R Kovacs, Irwin J Kravitz, Tobias G Lang, Clara M Leon, Naomi Levinson, Sam Match, Frank R Phillips, Ernestine L Rosenfield, Louis A Safier, David Sanes, Natalie Iris Santos, Rose Supoznick Schwartz, Jennie Ra el Silverman, Hyman Weiner, Edythe L Wolfe, Sadie Zoltan Katz

Wednesday May 31: Aaron Cohen, Rose Blockstein Fisher, Freda Kalik, Gertrude Klein, Abraham Krouse, Dr David Lipschutz, Louis Ruttenberg, Louis Sable, Theodora Helen Samuels, Morris Shapiro, David She ler, Margaret Katherine Stark, Rose H Weisburgh, Norman Wesoky, William H. Yecies

Thursday June 1: Edward Balter, Edith Rodney Berman, Lillian Cazen, Jacob Dickman, Ethel Sofer Frankel, Fannie Gordon, Morris Oberfield, Charles Zola Pollock, Leonard Robinson, Herman Shapiro, Isadore Thomashefsky

Friday June 2: Rebecca Adler, Nellie Bricker, Anne Stein Fisher, Samuel Hankin, Albert Jacobson, William Moldovan, Rose Rattner, Norma Rosenstein, Samuel Rotter, Martin Rubin, Blanche Sigel, Seward Wilson, Fannie Wolk

Saturday June 3: Sarah Lee Backal, Irving H Cohen, Robert Allen Cohen, Lena Davidson, Robert (Bob) Feinberg, David Friedman, Elsie Lichtenstul Goldbloom, Tillie Gordon, Marjorie Le , Morris Hyman Le , Fannye B Mermelstein, Freda Oawster, Phillip Pattak, Samuel Schneirov, Florence Sherwin, Morris Thomashefsky

Are you one of the hundreds of Jewish Pittsburghers with relatives and friends buried at Shaare Torah Cemetery?

Shaare Torah, Pittsburgh’s fourth largest Jewish cemetery, and the largest Jewish veterans section in the region, is in acute need of annual maintenance and care.

e restoration has already begun. Downed trees have been removed, overgrowth has been cleared out, fence lines have been cleared and some monuments have been reset. e cemetery is being transformed but the annual needs will be ongoing.

e Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association has a successful record of cemetery restoration and relies on those who have feelings for the cemetery.

e JCBA assumes ownership of Shaare Torah this year. You are invited to assist by designating your contribution speci cally to the Shaare Torah Cemetery and Gates of Wisdom, the cemetery’s oldest section.

Judaism instructs us that we must not fall short of the task to remember our loved ones and to maintain our cemeteries. Let us use this opportunity to plan for the future.

PLEASE give now to the Shaare Torah Cemetery Endowment Fund by using the JCBA Website www.jgbapgh.org or by emailing us at jcbapgh@gmail.com or calling the JCBA o ce at 412-553-6469 and/or sending your check to JCBA, P.O. Box 81863, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. ank you.

Sam Zell, Jewish billionaire, dies at 81

world,” a Forbes columnist wrote at the time.

By Andrew Silow-Carroll | JTA

Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate magnate and son of Holocaust survivors who led a tumultuous leveraged buyout that bankrupted the Tribune media company in the early 2000s, died last week. He was 81.

Before buying the Tribune Co. in 2007, the billionaire was known for his gift for reviving moribund companies. He developed an officetower company that he sold to the Blackstone Group for $39 billion in 2007. His firm also invested in manufacturing, travel, retail, healthcare and energy. He pioneered the use of REITs, real estate securities that trade like stocks on the major exchanges.

But Zell appeared to lose his magic touch in 2007 after buying the Tribune company and its assets, which included televisions stations, the Chicago Cubs baseball team and major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. The company foundered in what Zell himself called the “deal from hell,” and filed for bankruptcy in December 2008, one year after Zell took the company private in a heavily leveraged $8.2 billion deal. Although the deal took place at a time of declining fortunes in the media industry, Zell’s personal leadership and decision to saddle the company with debt were widely blamed for the failure.

“The ‘grave dancer’ of real estate development was now the ‘grave digger’ of the newspaper

Zell was a major donor to Jewish causes, including the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, the Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress, the American Jewish Committee and the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, named for his father, in Chicago. (Its alumni include former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and actor Ike Barinholtz; a Jewish high school in Chicago is named for Zell’s mother Sophie.)

Zell was born on Sept. 28, 1941, in Chicago. He graduated in 1963 from the University of Michigan, where he was also a member of the Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. He managed student housing apartments as an undergraduate and founded his chief investment vehicle, Equity Group Investments, in 1968.

“Sam Zell was a self-made, visionary entrepreneur. He launched and grew hundreds of companies during his 60-plus-year career and created countless jobs,” Equity Group Investments said in a written statement last week. “Although his investments spanned industries across the globe, he was most widely recognized for his critical role in creating the modern real estate investment trust, which today is a more than $4 trillion industry.”

Zell was married three times. His survivors include his wife, Helen, three children and nine grandchildren.

Zell credited his own drive to the lessons he learned from his parents. In his memoir, he recalls seeing footage of the concentration camp atrocities that his parents escaped. PJC

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Life & Culture

Lemony pasta with herbs, ricotta and peas

—

FOOD —

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

When I crave an authentic Italian dairy pasta dish that’s easier to make and lighter to digest than a typical Alfredo sauce, I turn to fresh ricotta cheese.

I love this pasta and not only because it tastes so good: It’s a great way to get some extra vegetables onto your plate. I add fresh mint, basil and a little lemon to bring the flavors together.

This is a lovely pasta to serve in warmer months, and it’s simple to whip up on a weeknight. It works well as a main or side dish.

Ingredients:

1 pound small pasta, cooked al dente per the instructions on the package

¼ cup olive oil

2 cups frozen peas

5 cloves minced garlic

3 cups ricotta cheese

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

½ cup torn basil and mint leaves, plus more for garnish

1½ teaspoons sea salt

⅓ cup reserved water from the cooked pasta

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Parmesan cheese for the table

I suggest using a smaller pasta for this dish and one with a little texture, which will hold onto the sauce better. Cook it al dente per the instructions on the package and set it aside. Reserve ⅓ cup of the pasta water for use when it’s time to add the pasta to the sauce. I recommend this step for all pasta recipes, both meat and dairy.

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat for a minute or two before adding 2 cups of frozen peas. Sauté the peas in the olive oil for 7-10 minutes. Petite peas will cook a bit faster.

Cook the peas at a lower temperature to keep them from turning dark. Add the minced fresh garlic to the peas, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and let them cook in

the oil mixture for about 30 seconds — just enough to release the flavors.

Add the ricotta, lemon juice and lemon zest to the pan and bring it to a soft boil over medium heat. Ricotta cheese has little flavor on its own, so add 1½ teaspoons of salt. (You can start with 1 teaspoon and add more to your taste.)

Add freshly ground pepper to the pot. Stir the cooked pasta and the reserved cooking water into the cheese sauce, cooking over low heat for another 2 minutes to allow the flavors to combine and the cheese to coat the pasta evenly.

Remove the pan from heat. The ricotta cheese will not get smooth — it has a beautiful texture on the pasta.

You can serve this immediately after cooking. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese over the top of your bowl adds even more flavor to the meal.

Garnish the pasta with more fresh basil and mint leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

Robinson awards for films about the Jewish experience

Israeli director Uriya Kapach took home the Gold Prize for his film “No Limits” at the 12th Annual Robinson International Short Film Competition. And German director Andreas Kessler and Swiss director Jonathan Laskar both were awarded Silver Prizes for their films “Nakam” and “The Record.”

Nearly 50 films were included in the competition. The prizes were awarded on May 16 at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater.

Sponsored by the Sanford N. Robinson Sr. Memorial Lecture Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the competition awards $18,000 in prizes for documentary, narrative and animated shorts less than 35 minutes long.

Over the last 12 years, the competition has awarded more than $200,000 in prize money.

The festival honors independent

p Lemony pasta with herbs, ricotta and peas

Photo by Jessica Grann

This is a lovely pasta to serve in warmer months, and it’s simple to whip up on a weeknight.

Robinson family every year to bring these beautiful movies from all over the world to

— David Rullo

p Robinson International Short Film Competition winners on the red carpet at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater on May 16

Photo courtesy of Film Pittsburgh.

Community

Pedaling for resettlement

Dor Hadash congregants donned symbolic blue ribbons and matching hats while kicking off a 300-mile bike ride to support refugee resettlement in Pittsburgh. Self-described as “old Dor Hadashers,” the group committed to riding 300 miles into Shenandoah National Park and raising $12,000 to fund refugee resettlement. Dor Hadash, one of three congregations attacked on Oct. 27, 2018, previously spent a year working with a refugee family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The charity ride will go toward raising money to host a second refugee family in collaboration with JFCS.

Mazel tov inductees and awardees

The Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Western Pennsylvania held its 2023 banquet on May 21 at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Inductees included Lily Feldman (soccer), Leon Grundstein (track) and Danielle Miller Bond (softball). Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s Rabbi Sam Weinberg received the Ziggy Kahn Award. Members of “The Original Squirrel Hill Turkey Bowl” (since 1969) were honored for their dedication to the traditional turkey bowl football game, while Joe Gordon, the former Steelers public relations director, was recognized for his induction into the Pro Football Hall

View from the top

Frantic feet find the finish

p Congregants build community by cycling.

p Hall of Fame inductees Danielle Miller Bond, Leon Grundstein and Lily Feldman Photo by Sharon Eberson

of Fame. Aly Cohen served as emcee.

p Picturesque pit stop

Photo courtesy of Chabad House on Campus

Rabbis Shmuli Rothstein and Shmuel Weinstein of Chabad at Pitt led two busloads of students through Israel as part of Taglit-Birthright.

p Participants are all smiles before heading out. Photos courtesy of Congregation Dor Hadash

p Rabbi Sam Weinberg is congratulated by his children after receiving an award.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

p Almost there

Photo by Adam Reinherz

Community Day School and Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh students competed in a series of track events. The May 11 meet, which was held at CDS, promoted teamwork, healthy competition and school pride.

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