Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5-31-24

Pittsburgh provides twoweek respite for wounded Israeli war veterans

May 19, was easy. Speaking about the situation in Israel since Oct. 7, or what it’s like leaving family — and a country at war — was harder.

“In Israel, I feel alone all the time. This is how the world makes us feel,” Otniel Danzinger, 37, said.

“Back home, you feel alone — that there’s

lation of Cranberry, or if they kidnapped 4,500 people in Cranberry, what would we do?”

Zell and his wife, Barbara, co-chair 412

Friends of Zahal. Launched by the late Sylvia Robinson, the nearly 50-year-old group

scheduled for June 23.

The focus, Casey said, is on uprooting antisemitism.

“That’s part of what we’ve tried to do with this $1 million appropriation, which

Hillel

 Sen. Bob Casey announces $1 million in federal funding for Tree of Life, Inc.

Photo by David Rullo

 Barbara and Sandy Zell, front row, provided a relaxing setting for Israeli guests.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

Hillel JUC adapts as Israel-Hamas war continues

the Oakland-based organization.

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

With the war raging between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, Hillel JUC has doubled down on its mission to be a hub of Jewish campus life — all while navigating new pressures, including increased security needs and heightened emotions.

“Since Oct. 7, the work of Hillel JUC has required adaptation,” the organization’s Executive Director and CEO Dan Marcus told the Chronicle.

As the Israel-Hamas war progressed, staff responsibilities and security needs grew for

“The care and support that the staff team at Hillel JUC has provided to our students has become even more vital,” Marcus said. “That listening and caring ear is even more crucial.”

Hillel JUC staffers typically engage with students through coffee dates, informal meetups and small group gatherings.

Students and parents shared that these get-togethers are appreciated, especially now, Marcus said.

Weeks ago, Inside Higher Ed reported that the Israel-Hamas war has generated “increased demand for counseling” among college students.

The finding comes on the heels of an epidemic.

The rates of loneliness among young adults “increased every year between 1976 and 2019,” according to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. And, in 2021, young people were “almost twice as likely to report feeling lonely as those over the age of 65.”

“The Hillel JUC team knows their role is not to be mental health professionals but to be that listening and caring ear, and when necessary to guide students to the right mental health professionals and resources like the 10.27 Healing Partnership,” Marcus said.

“After Oct. 7, we’ve seen that students are more anxious, and rightfully so,” said Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “There have been protests in

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front of the building numerous times — things have escalated.”

A January visit to Hillel JUC by Yadin Gellman, an IDF veteran and Israeli actor, spurred “student and community protesters” to block traffic and chant outside the Hillel JUC building for approximately an hour, The Pitt News reported.

For the past seven months, Brokos has worked closely with Hillel JUC to ensure the organization safely achieves its mission of enriching the lives of Jewish students.

Ensuring students, staff and the building remain “as safe and secure as possible is a priority for us,” Brokos said.

Bolstering security has led to more than

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p Hillel JUC students visit Israel as part of a Campus Ambassadors program.

Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC

Please see Hillel, page 11

Headlines

Bookended by pandemic and war, high school seniors reflect on last 4 years

Before it was made into a musical or characterized by mean girls, fast times and days off, high school was established to confront modernity.

Two hundred years ago, East Coast educators and political activists recognized that advancement required further study for the young. Despite a war in Israel and political strife at home, modernity has never been in better hands, according to Pittsburgh’s Jewish youth.

Today’s graduates entered high school during the pandemic. Although those years are hard to remember, “I feel like we would be pretty prepared” for future challenges, Emmet Schuler, 17, said.

Schuler and his twin brother, Dov Schuler, are graduating from Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh next month.

“The pandemic was a strange time,” Emmet Schuler said. “You had to get used to using a computer as your main source of knowledge.”

“It’s hard to imagine how I learned anything,” Akiva Weinkle, 18, said. “You’d wake up, get out of bed, go to your desk, look up and it’s 3 o’clock and the day is halfway over.”

Weinkle is graduating from Pittsburgh Allderdice High School next month.

“Every once in a while, we’ll have online school — like if it’s a snow day or the building is too hot — and I’ll think how ridiculous it is that I did this for a whole year,” he said.

Ellia Neiss, 17, was in the United Kingdom with her family when “COVID-19” and “social distancing” entered common parlance.

“I was living in London, and we actually moved back for the sole purpose of me starting high school here, but it didn’t happen because it was all online,” she said.

To mark the first day of her freshman year, Neiss’ parents took a photograph of their daughter.

“I am sitting at my desk with nine fingers held up,” she said. “Anything that has to do with biology, geometry, freshman English, I couldn’t tell you anything about because that whole year is like a fever dream.”

It was hard to “feel like I was in high school,”

Jennifer Jackson, 17, said. “The rowing team

ackson, who is graduating from Allderdice next month, joined the squad her sophomore year.

“It became a second family — a place to come and be with people I care about and do the sport I love,” she said.

Neiss agreed that athletics offered respite.

“The girls on the soccer team were my friends,” she said. “I was able to play all four years. It was a really good outlet for me even though I had to wear a mask.”

As high school progressed, extracurricular events and other social gatherings resumed. Students eventually returned to in-person learning.

“But the pandemic didn’t go away all at once,” Schuler said. “Sometimes we would go back for a week, or two weeks, or a month. It was pretty challenging to find a norm.”

“Tenth and 11th grade were really different,” said, Weinkle, a Community Day School graduate who began high school at Pittsburgh CAPA, then transferred to Allderdice before junior year.

“When I was younger and thought what high school was going to be like, these past two years are like what I thought it would be,” he said.

There’s something “bittersweet” about graduating, Jackson said. “I am kind of

eiss visited her freshman math teacher’s classroom the other day.

Even though she never sat in that space — or even learned from that instructor in person — Neiss described her relationship with her former teacher as close.

“I was one of the only kids to turn my camera on and ask questions,” the senior said.

As the teacher and student were chatting, a group of ninth graders entered the room.

“It’s crazy that I never had the experience of being a freshman,” Neiss said.

“I wish I had all four years,” Jackson said. “It was definitely cut short, but overall I feel like I had a good high school experience.”

Following commencement, Pittsburgh’s Jewish youth, like high school seniors nationwide, will explore diverse paths.

Jackson is attending Robert Morris University. Neiss is going to Villanova University. Weinkle is taking a gap year in Israel — he’s participating in Young Judaea Year Course — before attending Indiana University Bloomington. Emmet Schuler hopes to enroll in a rabbinical program in Australia. His brother Dov is attending Pittsburgh Zal, a post-secondary Jewish learning program for young men.

It’s strange to think about life after

ever since. Most of our classmates have known each other since kindergarten, and this will be the first year where everyone is splitting up.”

Though their destinations differ, the high school seniors told the Chronicle that the last few years have prepared them for the world they’re entering as young Jewish adults.

Jackson said she learned to speak carefully about difficult topics, like the Israel-Hamas war and pauses to “see what the people around me say before I say something.”

It’s frustrating when “people post ignorant things on social media,” but one way of countering it is working with others, Neiss, a senior counselor for Diller Teen Fellows, said.

Aiding local Jewish 10th and 11th graders who navigate similar situations online has been helpful. “It’s a big part of my Jewish identity,” she said.

“I don’t hold it against people, but there’s a lot of misinformation going on,” Emmet Schuler said.

While distributing Shabbat candles and also when helping passersby don tefillin, Schuler and his brother said they’ve experienced verbal assaults.

“We’ve had quite a few altercations with guys, a lot of people screaming out of car indows,” Dov Schuler said.

Lessons of the past provide a pathway forward, Emmet Schuler said: “It’s best to keep your head up high, ignore it and get your day done.” or Jackson, high school provided a prism

So much of these past few years felt out of reach, so “the philosophy I have tried to go by is let life happen to me — you can control parts of it, but you just have to see where you go,” she said. “Be flexible, control what you can control, but also let yourself ride the wave of what comes at you.”

e present period is tumultuous for many people, but high school offered essential instruction, Dov Schuler said.

We have to focus on the good because there is so much of it now — there’s more now than I have ever seen before,” he said. “Why focus

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

p Jennifer Jackson dons a costume she made. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Jackson

p Like so many seniors, Ellia Neiss began ninth grade online. Photo courtesy of Ellia Neiss

p Akiva Weinkle is all smiles.

Photo courtesy of Akiva Weinkle

p Emmet Schuler hopes to continue studying in Australia.

Photo courtesy of Amy Schuler

p Dov Schuler will attend Pittsburgh Zal. Photo courtesy of Amy Schuler

Headlines

Squirrel Hill resident charged with ethnic intimidation, arson

Squirrel Hill resident William Murray was arrested on May 23 for ethnic intimidation relating to a hate symbol he allegedly drew at the entrance of Congregation Shaare Torah.

Murray faces 34 criminal charges — including one felony count of arson — for being found in “possession of explosive or incendiary materials, causing or risking catastrophe and multiple counts of making or possessing prohibited weapons.”

The material was found when Murray was evicted from his apartment and his landlord was clearing out his possessions.

Pittsburgh police arrested Murray at a

homeless shelter after he failed to appear for a May 14 hearing about the hate symbol drawn on Shaare Torah’s building.

aw enforcement hasn’t established a motive for the crimes but does not believe Murray poses a threat to the community, according to

Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Murray purportedly identifies as “half Jewish, half wizard,” Brokos said.

He is being held in custody until his next scheduled court appearance.

In other community security news, antiIsrael graffiti was found at Blue Slide Park in Squirrel Hill.

No one has been charged for the graffiti, which is similar to graffiti seen in the neighborhood since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. Federation urges anyone who has witnessed an antisemitic incident to report it on the Federation’s website, jewishpgh.org/form/ incident-report. PJC

— David Rullo

California woman sentenced for antisemitic, threatening messages targeting former director of Tree of Life

Joel Goldstein’s nearly five-and-a-halfyear ordeal is over.

Goldstein is a former director of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation who resigned a few months before the Oct. 27, 2018, shooting at the building. He was still mourning the tragedy when he began

receiving antisemitic messages on his phone from Melanie Harris of Riverside, California.

Harris’ messages began as antisemitic then became increasingly more threatening and often mentioned Goldstein’s adult child J.E. Reich, Goldstein told the Chronicle in March.

When Goldstein and his wife, Linda Myers, moved to Florida, they contacted

the Anti-Defamation League’s Southern Division about the calls and were told that the messages rose to the level of threats. ADL officials contacted the FBI.

Harris was arrested and pled guilty in March to “knowingly and intentionally transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce.”

Last week, Harris received a sentence of 32 months in federal prison.

Myers credited the ADL for its help. “None of this would have happened if the ADL hadn’t noticed and elevated the component of the legal implications of the threats,” she said in a prepared statement. “We pursued this because it’s vital to demonstrate the need to report incidents when they happen.” PJC

— David Rullo

Pro-Israel voices respond to Etna Council cease-fire resolution

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

While Etna Borough Council may have been anxious to move beyond the resolution it passed last month calling for a cease-fire in Israel’s war against the terrorist organization Hamas, some Jewish community members weren’t quite as ready.

The resolution, written by council members Jessica Semler and Alice Gabriel, was hastily approved during the borough’s April 16 council meeting.

Council members received the resolution on Friday, April 12, four days before their meeting. The language was altered three times during the procedure, was unable to be read in its final form because of an issue with solicitor John Rushford’s computer and there was no opportunity for anyone absent from the meeting to read the resolution.

Because of those issues, Council Chairperson Dave Becki asked several times if the council would prefer to table the vote until its May

Julie Paris, regional director of StandWithUs, coordinated the pro-Israel community’s response to the initial vote.

She said that at the meeting, approximately six people spoke against the resolution and another four or five spoke in favor of the call for a cease-fire.

Nanci Goldberg, who was unable to attend the April meeting, said that she was upset after reading the Chronicle’s story about the Etna resolution and the apparent speed of the vote.

flag incident and the cease-fire resolution.

“Why would you rush this? Why now would you rush something like this with no other voices?” she asked. “I became very concerned.”

At the meeting, Semler and others who support a cease-fire said that they didn’t feel the resolution was antisemitic — despite members of the Jewish community telling the council it was.

meeting. That suggestion was rejected, and the resolution was approved after public comments that included only pro-cease-fire speakers.

Etna Mayor Robert Tuñón was the lone voice speaking against the resolution.

After an April 19 Chronicle article reporting on the meeting, more than 40 people wrote letters to Etna council members expressing their frustration with the vote. Tuñón said that each letter was read.

More than a dozen people attended the council’s May 21 meeting, but most were not permitted to speak because they weren’t Etna residents.

“Even if I had been there, how would I have had time to vet all that language and read all of that?” she said. “I was incredulous that they voted.”

Goldberg said that in the past, the council has worked to address antisemitic incidents in the borough, pointing to its response in December 2021 when a resident flew a Nazi flag.

“They handled it very well, spoke through the Jewish community, had a great conversation,” she said, adding that the slogan, “Etna is for everyone. Hate has no home here,” came from that incident.

Goldberg said there was “a day and night difference” between the handling of the Nazi

Chronicle wins 2024 Golden Quill Award

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle was recognized for outstanding journalism by the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania at the Golden Quill Awards ceremony on May 28 at the Rivers Casino.

Chronicle Editor Toby Tabachnick won

the 2024 Golden Quill Award for Excellence in Written Journalism–Editorials for three articles: “Clinging to hope”; “Justice, not vengeance”; and “It’s well past time for Rep. Summer Lee to speak with the Chronicle.”

Tabachnick also was a finalist in the Profile category for “Lawyer who represents the ‘worst of the worst’ leads defense in synagogue massacre trial.”

Adam Reinherz and David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writers, were finalists for six Golden Quills.

Reinherz was recognized in four categories: Spot/Breaking News (“Summerset vandalized with antisemitic and other hateful messages”); News Feature (“Yahrzeit plaques and other mementos collected, as Tree of Life prepares for future”); History/Culture (“Civil War seder

In the end, the council decided to not send the cease-fire resolution to the federal government — yet. Instead, it will take more input from community members, business owners and the wider Jewish community.

Paris said she’s happy with the pause but would prefer the resolution to be rescinded.

“Allowing the spread of misinformation and propaganda through their council meeting and through the resolution itself is incredibly dangerous to the Jewish community,” she said.

“We hope there’s a chance to turn this around.”

The Etna Borough manager did not respond to a request for an interview before press time. PJC

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

memorialized in Fayetteville”); and Education (“Protecting children from trauma during the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial”).

Rullo was a finalist in two categories: Enterprise/Investigative (“Detangling the legal issues of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter trial”); and Columns/Blogs (“After the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial: A reporter reflects”). PJC

p Anti-Israel graffiti was recently found at Blue Slide Park in Squirrel Hill. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

p Etna Borough Council passed a resolution on April 16 calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with the terrorist organization Hamas. Photo by David Rullo

Headlines

Washington’s Beth Israel Congregation sells building but continues operations

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

Beth Israel Congregation won’t go gently into the good night. Or maybe it’s the little engine that could. Or perhaps it’s the cat on the poster on the wall in the human resources department of every corporation urging you to “just hang on.”

Then again, maybe the 133-year-old congregation is more than a cliché and is simply fighting to remain relevant to and for its members.

Beth Israel has, yet again, found one more trick up its sleeve enabling it to continue offering Shabbat services and Jewish community in Washington, Pennsylvania.

This time, though, the solution is both more permanent and more unusual.

The congregation is selling its building to AMVETS, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization.

What makes the sale so beneficial, besides unburdening the congregation of the need to keep up the building, is that AMVETS will allow Beth Israel to use the small chapel for free for the next 20 years.

The arrangement means that the congregation will continue to hold services for its

members — now numbering fewer than 30 family units — into the foreseeable future.

The membership number is a bit misleading because the pandemic brought something of a revival to the congregation.

“When we do Zoom on Friday night, we have people from all over the country,” David Posner said.

Posner leads Friday night services. He and his wife, Marilyn, said that people from all over the country join them on Shabbat

using the streaming service — including participants from California, South Carolina and Texas.

In fact, the Zoom services have been a way for those who live far away but have spiritual connections with the congregation to stay in touch.

“A woman in California, who is related to our very first rabbi who served this congregation from 1891 to 1941, comes,” David Posner said. “She loves our Friday night

service and then she goes to her shul afterward because we’re three hours earlier.”

Ever prescient, Marilyn Posner said that she began preparing for the sale of the building several years ago. She has given away, sold or put on consignment much of what a congregation acquires over more than a century of existence.

A Judaica antiques dealer has taken some of the non-kosher items and the congregation has donated books to an eastern Pennsylvanian prison whose inmates don’t have access to the internet.

Still, Marilyn Posner has had difficulty finding homes for all of the material — including furniture, artwork, prayer books and children’s Sunday school books. The congregation recently held an auction to help empty the synagogue, but its leaders know they might have to make some tough decisions.

Items will be available until at least June 10, but Marilyn Posner has coordinated with the Jewish Burial Society to bury any unclaimed books when the time comes.

An art gallery in McKees Rocks is auctioning off artwork, a task they hope to have completed by mid-summer.

For Marilyn Posner, sorting through

 Beth Israel has been housed at 265 North Avenue in Washington since 1955. Photo courtesy of Marilyn Posner

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.

 SUNDAY, JUNE 2

Join the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh for Jewish Genealogy Day as Lara Diamond leads two dynamic sessions on Jewish genealogy: “Jewish Genealogy 101” and “Defying Expectations: The Story of Jewish Woman Who Took on the Russian Empire.” Sessions begin at 10:30 a.m. $10/$18. Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St. heinzhistorycenter. org/event/jewish-genealogy-day.

 SUNDAYS, JUNE 2 and 9

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

 SUNDAYS, JUNE 2–DEC. 29

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

 MONDAYS, JUNE 3–DEC. 30

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

 WEDNESDAYS, JUNE 5–DEC. 18

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

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

 THURSDAY, JUNE 6

Join Chabad of the South Hills as guest speaker Evyatar Ifwergan shares his experience of being called back to Israel after Oct. 7. Ifwergan was stationed next to Lebanese border, patrolling and serving as a medic. 7:30 p.m. $10. At Chabad of South Hills’ Bower Hill location. chabadsh.com/Israel.



THURSDAYS, JUNE 6–DEC. 5

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

 SUNDAY, JUNE 9

Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill and women from all over the community for The Sound of Jewish Music, a magical evening of music, dance, art, poetry and inspiration. 6:30 p.m. $18. Katz Performing Arts Center, 5738 Darling Road. soundo ewishmusic.

Join Temple Sinai as they welcome Jewish Book Council Author Rabbi Michael Strassfeld on Zoom as he discusses his new book and “How do you hold on to faith in a modern world?” 7 p.m. Free. Register for Zoom link. templesinaipgh.org/programs-events.



TUESDAY, JUNE 11

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for Tikkun Leil Shavuot, its annual night of Jewish learning featuring well-known rabbis and speakers, plus cheesecake and co ee. 10 p.m. JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, 5723 Darlington Road. No registration

Jewish Fertility Foundation, UPMC partner to offer greater financial support to fertility patients

The Jewish Fertility Foundation has partnered with the University of Pittsburgh Medical CenterMagee Women’s Center for Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology to provide greater access for people seeking fertility treatment in the Pittsburgh area.

As part of the partnership, “JFF-Pittsburgh clients who are awarded a fertility grant will now have access to a helpful benefit: a 20% discount on clinic services at UPMC,” according to JFF officials.

JFF will continue to offer its established financial assistance for intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization treatments, with fertility grants of up to $10,000 available to eligible applicants, according to a news release.

“We are thrilled to formalize our partnership with UPMC, a respected institution known for its excellence in healthcare,” JFF Founder and CEO Elana Frank said in a prepared statement.

“This collaboration represents a significant milestone in our mission to provide holistic support to individuals and families facing fertility challenges. By combining

required. For more nformation on the speakers and topics, visit jewishpgh.org/occasion/tikkun.



THURSDAY, JUNE 13

Join Temple Sinai’s SAGES (Seniors Actively Gathering, Energizing Sinai) as they revisit the golden era of drive-in movies. Sing along with “The Wizard of Oz” while snacking on drive-in staples like popcorn, burgers and hot dogs (vegetarian options will be available upon request). 11:30 a.m. Register at templesinaipgh. org/programs-events.

 MONDAY, JUNE 17

Temple Sinai Brotherhood will cheer on the Bucs against the Cincinnati Reds. $37 per adult includes Pirates Cove Seats (down right field line in Sec. 205) with unlimited hamburgers, hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos and soft drinks. 6:30 p.m. Register at templesinaipgh.org/programs-events.

 TUESDAY, JUNE 18

Join the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for a Generations Speaker presentation by Clare Drobot. Drobot will share her search to uncover the past and understand the legacy of her paternal grandparents, Wanda and Jane Drobot, Holocaust survivors who raised their children as Catholic in post-WWII Poland. 6 p.m. Free. Chatham University’s Mellon Board Room, Chapel Hill Road, 15232. hcofpgh.org/event/generations-speakerpresentation-by-clare-drobot.

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

Join AgeWell for the Intergenerational Family Dynamics Discussion Group at JCC South Hills the third Wednesday of each month. Led by intergenerational specialist/presenter and educator Audree Schall. The group is geared toward anyone who has children, grandchildren, a spouse, siblings

or parents. Whether you have family harmony or strife, these discussions are going to be thoughtprovoking, with tools to help build strong relationships and family unity. Free. 12:30 p.m.

 FRIDAY, JUNE 21

Join Temple Sinai at 5 p.m. for a Tot Shabbat with snacks and activities that include sensory, big-body and creative play, followed at 5:30 by a short, interactive, musical service, plus dinner and more time to play. Contact Danie Oberman, community engagement director, with questions at danie@ TempleSinaiPGH.org.

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

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

 SUNDAY, JUNE 30

A memorial celebrating Cyril Wecht will be held on Zoom and at Temple Sinai, 5500 Forbes Ave., from 1 to 4 p.m. Relatives, friends and colleagues will share their recollections, with a short film and a musical interlude, followed by light refreshments. Open to all. Contact Ben Wecht at benwecht@aol.com or via Facebook Messenger for the Zoom link.

 THURSDAY, JULY 18

Join the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for its Generations Speaker presentation with Melissa Marks, who will share stories about her mother, grandmother and grandfather. Free. 6 p.m. Chatham University’s Mellon Board Room, Chapel Hill Road, 15232. hcofpgh.org/event/generationsspeaker-presentation-by-dr-melissa-marks/. PJC

Author Lauren Grodstein to join Chronicle Book Club on June 9

financial assistance with world-class medical care, along with our free emotional support and educational programming, we aim to help hopeful parents on their journey to parenthood.”

The Jewish Fertility Foundation, which has operated in Pittsburgh since 2022, is a beneficiary organization of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Frank created the nonprofit organization in 2015 after experiencing her own infertility journey. JFF provides financial assistance, educational awareness and emotional support to those struggling to build families.

“We are honored to partner with the Jewish Fertility Foundation in this important endeavor,” said Dr. Pamela Parker, a reproductive endocrinologist at UPMC and a member of JFF’s National Medical Advisory Council. “At UPMC, we understand the profound impact that fertility challenges can have on individuals and families, and we are committed to providing compassionate, personalized care to every patient who walks through our doors. By joining forces with JFF, we can further expand access to fertility treatments and support services, ultimately helping more people realize their dreams of becoming parents.” PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to Zoom into the Chronicle Book Club for its June 9 discussion of “We Must Not Think of Ourselves,” by Lauren Grodstein. The author will join us for the meeting!

From Amazon.com: “Inspired by a little-known piece of history — the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history — this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls ‘gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful.’”

Your Hosts: Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer How and When: We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, June 9, at 1 p.m.

What To Do

Buy: “We Must Not Think of Ourselves.” It is available at area Barnes & Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is also available through the Carnegie Library system.

Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will send you a Zoom link for the discussion meeting. Registration closes on June 7.

Happy reading! PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

 Lauren Grodstein Photo by Rosie Simmons

Headlines

Mt. Lebanon students bring ‘LIGHT’ — and hope — to community

By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

Nick Haberman recognizes that the lessons of the Holocaust are just as applicable in 2024 as they were in 1945. But even as hate continues to proliferate throughout the world, the Holocaust educator and founder of the LIGHT Education Initiative is hopeful for a better future.

“The younger generations are absolutely amazing,” Haberman said. “And they are doing incredibly inspiring work to make the world a better place. We find hope in the students. That’s where the hope lies.”

His comments came following a May 21 community presentation by Mt. Lebanon students in the high school’s Fine Arts Theatre, where they showcased the work they’ve been doing on what it means to be a good neighbor.

The program, sponsored by Lebo United and Eradicate Hate Global Summit, included a screening of the documentary “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” and a panel discussion with survivors and family members of the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, community advocates and LIGHT students. The panel was moderated by Maggie Feinstein, executive director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership.

Haberman launched LIGHT (an acronym that stands for “Leadership through Innovation in Genocide and Human rights Teaching”) in 2017 to help school districts provide safe and supportive educational environments for students and staff. The initiative is fiscally sponsored by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and Tree of Life, Inc.

He was inspired to create LIGHT based on his experiences teaching in the Shaler Area School District, where he routinely brought Holocaust survivors into his classroom.

“I realized the power of students meeting someone with a lived experience of the topics they were learning about in their textbooks,”

a lived experience in the content that you’re learning about, then what happens is the students become more inspired to act and to care, and their teachers can help make them be more prepared to do something with the information they’re learning about.”

The students thereby feel empowered, he said, which can lead to positive action.

LIGHT was launched to “help place students into leadership roles in genocide, human rights teaching,” he said.

While the foundation of the program “has always been Holocaust remembrance,” Haberman said, LIGHT also has “always been about transforming Holocaust remembrance into advocacy and action for all victims of contemporary identity-based violence and hate — so transforming Holocaust remembrance into action for any individual or group that experiences any type of identity-based hate.”

Haberman and his team work with more than 50 teachers trained in this philosophy and 17 school districts, mostly in southwestern Pennsylvania. Mt. Lebanon High School has been affiliated with LIGHT for three years; the district’s two middle schools joined the LIGHT community this year.

At the May 21 event, Mt. Lebanon students reported on their LIGHT work, including the Butterfly Project, where all eighth-grade students read Elie Wiesel’s “Night” then created

butterflies will be incorporated into large murals at each middle school.

High school LIGHT students talked about attending the Eradicate Hate student conference last fall, which led to students in ninth through 12th grade watching and discussing the film “Repairing the World: Stories From Tree of Life.”

They also joined with middle school LIGHT students to teach seventh graders “the importance of kindness,” Ava Smith, a Mt. Lebanon senior, said. In April, the LIGHT students “taught all Mt. Lebanon seventh graders about how their words and actions matter and provided ways for them to be a practicing upstander, someone who sees what happens in a bullying situation and intervenes, interrupts or seeks to stop the bullying.”

Standing up for others can be difficult, especially in middle school. Following the screening of the film, a panel discussion ensued where survivors and family members of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting — Dan Leger, Andrea Wedner, Jodi Kart and Amy Mallinger — offered advice to the young leaders, who sometimes face challenges when talking to their peers about racism and antisemitism.

For Kart, the answer is “small acts of kindness.”

“I just try to be as friendly as possible,” said Kart, whose father, Mel Wax, was killed on Oct. 27, 2018. “When I’m out in public, I try to strike up a little conversation with the person in

front of me in line if I’m shopping. You know — if you’re at a four-way stop sign, let the other person go first. Just really small things to just be a good human and a good neighbor.”

Wedner, who was shot and seriously injured on Oct. 27, and whose mother, Rose Mallinger, was killed in the attack, advised the students to “focus on the positive.”

“I am grateful for life and I cherish every day,” she said. “I look for the good in people. I look for the good in everything. And to me, my glass is always half full and I try to send that through to other people. It’s very gratifying when people see how grateful I am and it makes them grateful and it makes them happy.”

Amy Mallinger, whose grandmother Rose Mallinger was killed on Oct. 27, encouraged the students to stay focused on their goals and not be deterred by outside influences.

“It’s really easy to look at the world and be scared and be worried about all of the things that are happening,” she said, “but it kind of deters you from achieving things that you would like to do. So you have to just keep going, keep facing it.”

Leger, who also was shot and seriously wounded on Oct. 27, said that the students and their work gave him hope.

“You know, we’re really giving you a terrible world,” he told the student LIGHT leaders. “It’s really a messy place. But when I look at you folks and I see the energy that you have to bring good into the messes that need repairing that we have left to you, I feel so optimistic. I feel so hopeful.”

Leger acknowledged that the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, which occurred five-anda-half years ago, “is almost like history” to the teens.

“I’m much more interested in you than I hope you are in me,” he said, “because I think if our story informs you in any way to keep that message going that you brought to the podium today, that’s really what we need.” PJC

Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Pittsburgh’s Jewish Women’s Foundation joins in collaborative grant to support Israeli women

The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh joined 10 other Jewish women’s organizations in funding Israeli nonprofits working to support women in the Jewish state during and after the war.

The collaboration, called the Jewish Women’s Collective Response Fund, was established by Elluminate and The Hadassah Foundation.

The group announced grants to five Israeli nonprofits to benefit women in Israel.

“We believe that women have and are bearing the brunt of this war, in multiple respects, revealing both specific and broad inequalities and challenges in familial, social, economic and civic spheres,” said Audrey Weiner, chair of The Hadassah Foundation, in a prepared statement.

“These five grantee organizations have been and will continue to be on the forefront of changing the status quo for women and girls in Israel at a time when their voices and place in government

and society are no less than crucial to the country’s reemergence from October 7th.”

In addition to Elluminate, The Hadassah Foundation and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh, contributing partners include the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; the Women’s Amutot Initiative of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; the National Council of Jewish Women; Propel – The Jewish Women’s Fund (San Francisco); The Fund for Women and Girls at the Jewish Community Foundation of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington; The Miriam Fund (Boston); Women of Vision of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia; and Women of Reform Judaism.

The five Israeli organizations receiving grants, each for $25,000, are:

• The Adva Center, based in Tel Aviv, advances equality, social justice and gender-responsive policies in Israel, including giving voice in the Israeli government to women at a time when they are often excluded from decision-making.

• Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, based in Jerusalem, raises awareness within Israeli communities and government of genderbased sexual violence and harassment; provides support, resources and advocacy for survivors; and leads calls internationally for accountability for the sexual terrorism committed against Israeli women on Oct. 7.

• Itach Ma’aki - Women Lawyers for Social Justice, based in Tel Aviv, empowers and gives voice to Israeli women facing social, geographic, national, ethnic and economic discrimination by providing legal aid, engaging with activist groups and other allies, and identifying and promoting changes in national policy and legislation.

• The Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center, based at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, promotes the status and rights of women in matters of family law and works to end gender discrimination and inequality in Israel through advocacy and legislative change.

• WePower, based in Azor, works to elevate women to influential and decision-making

positions in Israel, focusing on erasing the gender gap in public and political arenas by identifying potential female leaders and training them for leadership positions, promoting gender-aware legislation to remove barriers and advancing gender equality as a societal foundation.

“The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh funds grants that effect positive social change for self-identified women and girls,” said Judy Greenwald Cohen, the executive director of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh. “JWF’s grantmaking is focused primarily on funding organizations in western Pennsylvania.

“Given the impact of the war in Israel on women, it was important for JWF to be part of the Jewish Women’s Collective Response Fund to support organizations in Israel that are advocating for the rights of women. This collective effort at a national level demonstrates the power of collaborative philanthropy, which is a core value of JWF.”

PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

p Pittsburgh synagogue shooting survivor Dan Leger addresses Mt. Lebanon eighthgrader Eden Cheng at a community event on May 21 at Mt. Lebanon High School. Right: Andrea Wedner, a survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

Headlines

Squirrel Hill gets parking meters

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

In the first of a three-part series, Squirrel Hill business owners ask for meters to bring order to the commercial district. Fights ensue.

Pittsburgh is one of the nicest cities in the world, except when it comes to parking.

If I mentally tick through the meanest encounters I’ve had with strangers, most involve parking: ugly notes left on the windshield, cutting remarks yelled from porches. One time someone buried my entire car in snow as punishment for a perceived parking offense.

It was “perceived” because no laws were violated — no written laws anyway. There are two sets of parking regulations in Pittsburgh. One is set by the city. The other is set by the People. Violating the first gets you a ticket. Violating the second gets you an enemy.

In an old, cramped city like Pittsburgh, where space is a premium, parking marks the exact point where the rights of individuals bump against the needs of a community.

Parking is a three-way competition. Residents want parking in front of their homes, ideally without any charge. Employees want parking close to work for long stretches during the day. Shoppers want parking close to businesses for short periods of time.

Pity the poor city officials who must appease all three!

Complaints about the new purple “smart loading zones” in Squirrel Hill got me thinking about the ways small changes in parking policy can ripple through a neighborhood.

To sharpen the point: Perhaps parking could help explain why Squirrel Hill maintained its Jewish community while similar neighborhoods in many other cities were upended by emerging suburbs. Not that parking is the answer, just that it provides some useful data.

Squirrel Hill today has five city-owned parking lots and several hundred parking meters throughout the Murray-ForbesForward business district and creeping onto a few side streets. Thanks to new digital resources from the City of Pittsburgh Archives and the Squirrel Hill Historical Society, it was possible to discover how this situation came to be.

The 14th Ward had the highest rate of car ownership in Pittsburgh in the late 1930s. The neighborhood accounted 6.5% of the city’s people and about 17% of its cars. With the growth of the Squirrel Hill commercial district throughout the 1930s, the demands of residents, shoppers and employees came increasingly into conflict.

Squirrel Hill parking was a bit lawless back then. People parked anywhere they wanted, for as long as they wanted. There was all-day parking, all-night parking,

and double-parking. Cars and big trucks often blocked hydrants, driveways and loading zones.

Toward the end of the decade, the business community made a push for metering Murray and Forbes. The Squirrel Hill News strongly favored it. So did business owners, four to one, according to a persuasive but unscientific survey by the newspaper in January 1940.

At issue were shoppers. Supporters said meters would improve business. Paid parking would push employees out of the business district, making it easier for shoppers to park near shops. Detractors thought meters would push shoppers to other parts of the city.

In September 1940, the city installed about 150 meters along both sides of Forbes between Murray and Shady and along both sides of Murray between Forbes and Phillips.

had to rush outside mid-sandwich to feed the meter.

Simple enough.

By the following spring, the Squirrel Hill News was campaigning for meters on Forward Avenue, conducting a survey of that business community with similar results as before.

And yet, revolt was brewing.

The city was considering removing the meters on Murray. Opposition among residents was growing. And this was not mere complaining but open and aggressive conflict.

City officials said Murray Avenue was causing more trouble than any other section of Pittsburgh. And to be clear, this was just on Murray. Everything seemed calm on Forbes.

What was the difference? If I had to guess, I would say Forbes attracted more business from outside the neighborhood, while Murray attracted more business from inside the neighborhood. Perhaps locals resented having to pay to park in their own neighborhood.

Even before these meters were active, homeowners on Bartlett and Darlington were protesting. Metering the business district, they said, would push drivers onto side streets.

The Bartlett Street Property Owners Association was formed in summer 1941 to demand better enforcement of parking on side streets. They complained about all-day parking, blocked driveways, and “constant hornblowing.” There had once been one-hour parking signs on the street. When those disappeared, they filed a petition, leading the city to prohibit all parking, even for residents, along 650 feet of Bartlett Street for a 60-day test.

Berthold Floersheim and his sister Bertha Rauh led this petition drive. The Rauhs had been living on Bartlett Street for almost 40 years. “The new restrictions make it livable again here,” she said. “At one time we wanted to put our home on the market and sell it because the noise and clutter of the traffic on Bartlett street made it unbearable here.”

The Squirrel Hill News was incensed. What if homeowners on every block of Bartlett and Darlington protested? “Where do merchants, clerks, doctors, dentists, and shoppers unable to secure parking on Murray and Forbes, place their cars?” the paper asked.

The business community appealed the 60-day test through official channels. One local company took a different approach.

The Perl-Reichbaum grocery chain said it would demolish the house at 5807 Bartlett St. and construct a small parking lot for customers.

The move was technically illegal, but the city was actively considering an ordinance that would have fast tracked such parking lots in residential areas to ease parking problems.

“Parking Meters Seem to Solve Problems,” read a Squirrel Hill News headline in October 1940. Shoppers could suddenly find parking spaces. The only frustration came from shoppers who every so often

“Three officers who have been on patrol duty along the metered zone on Murray avenue have been removed to other locations as a result of ‘brush-offs’ with residents who were tagged,” the Squirrel Hill News reported in July 1941. “These selfsame residents used ‘political pull’ to have the officers ousted from the Squirrel Hill district.” Locals were jamming meters with slugs. Business owners were trying to bribe officers into allowing parking in loading zones. One woman tried to rip an officer’s badge from his chest.

Amid this rancor, the gentlest of scandals emerged. A Squirrel Hill News investigation in August 1941 revealed that six property owners on Bartlett Street had never actually signed the petition for the 60-day test. They had merely expressed a desire to see some improvement to the situation and had been added to the petition without their knowledge.

So the 60-day test ended, the lot wasn’t built and tensions between shoppers, employees and residents persisted until the city pursued an obvious solution: off-street parking lots. 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. — HISTORY —

p Shoppers on Murray Avenue facing north toward Bartlett Street, near the current Giant Eagle, July 10, 1947. The city metered the street in 1940. Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections

Headlines

60 Jewish groups, from left to right, back bill creating national coordinator to fight antisemitism

More than 60 Jewish organizations across the political spectrum are lining up behind a bill that would establish a coordinator of government efforts to fight antisemitism, JTA.org reported.

The joint effort is an expression of American Jewish political solidarity not seen in years. Groups that signed a letter supporting the bill range from J Street on the left to the Zionist Organization of America on the right. The signatories include organizations whose leaders rarely share the same stage and who have accused each other at times of enabling antisemitism. They include Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and haredi Orthodox groups.

The letter, sent on May 22 to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, acknowledged the ideological range of the signatories and said they “are united in our deep concern over the exponentially rising incidents of antisemitism in this country.”

It quoted statistics from the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee documenting a sharp spike in antisemitism, and Jewish concern about it, since the outbreak of the IsraelHamas war on Oct. 7.

The bill, called the Countering

Antisemitism Act, is sponsored by North Carolina Rep. Kathy Manning and has bipartisan support.

Norway, Spain and Ireland will all recognize Palestinian state

Spain, Norway and Ireland said on May 22 they would formally recognize a Palestinian state, a sign of Israel’s challenges on the global stage, JTA.org reported.

The countries portrayed the step as an attempt to salvage long-dormant prospects for progress toward a two-state solution, creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Israel castigated the move as a reward for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which launched the current war.

“Last month I stood on these same steps with Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain, and we said that the point of recognizing the state of Palestine was coming closer,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said in Dublin. “That point has now arrived.”

He said it was “an historic and important day for Ireland and Palestine,” adding that the recognition has come “because we believe in freedom and justice as the fundamental principles of international law and because we believe that permanent peace can only be secured on the basis of the free will of a free people.”

Recognition of a Palestinian state is a symbolic step with no immediate material impact for Palestinians living in Gaza and

Today in Israeli History

June 3, 1948 — Ben-Gurion reports on first 3 weeks

May 31, 1665 — Shabbetai

Zevi declares himself

Messiah Shabbetai Zevi declares himself the Messiah after meeting with a mystic, Nathan of Gaza. Ottoman officials arrest him in 1666 and let him choose conversion to Islam or execution; he picks Islam.

June 1, 1948 — Burma Road relieves Jerusalem siege

The first convoy of 17 trucks takes the Burma Road, built along a mountain animal trail, to aid besieged Jerusalem residents. By the end of June, the road is carrying 100 tons of supplies per night.

June 2, 1948 — U.S. assumes 2-state reality in U.N. memo

The United States lays out three Middle East assumptions in a policy memo to the United Nations: Israel will continue to exist; an Arab state also will exist in Palestine; and cordial relations benefit both sides.

the West Bank. But it represents a sharp rebuke to Israel, whose current government opposes Palestinian statehood and which has long held that a diplomatic resolution to the conflict should come only via negotiations.

Iranian Jew’s execution reportedly delayed just before country’s president dies in helicopter crash

An Iranian Jew who has been sentenced to death has reportedly received a one-month stay of execution after a global pressure campaign that included calls for prayer in Persian Jewish communities around the world, JTA.org reported.

The stay came as Iran was plunged into political turmoil on May 19 when a helicopter carrying its president and foreign minister crashed under unclear circumstances. President Ebrahim Raisi is known by the nickname “Butcher of Tehran” for his role in overseeing executions in the country, whose top official is the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Arvin Ghahremani, 20, had been scheduled to be executed first on May 18 and then on May 20 for his role in a murder during a street fight two years ago, according to the organization Iran Human Rights.

The stay of execution followed a frenzy of advocacy on Ghahremani’s behalf by Jewish communities around the world. In the Iranian Jewish diaspora, Ghahremani’s case has been a source for calls to prayer, charity and religious devotion — actions

that Judaism traditionally holds can “avert a harsh decree.”

Tlaib blasts Biden for shielding ‘genocidal maniac’ Netanyahu Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Saturday accused President Joe Biden of supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she referred to as a “genocidal maniac” and “murderous war criminal,” JNS reported.

Speaking at the People’s Conference for Palestine at the Huntington Place convention center in downtown Detroit, Tlaib said, “You are an enabler, President Biden.”

She accused Biden of attempting to prevent Netanyahu, and other senior Israeli officials, from being held accountable for “crimes against humanity” by interfering with the International Criminal Court. Tlaib also mentioned the recent International Court of Justice ruling that Israel must halt such operations in Rafah “which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden on Monday, Biden said, “Contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice, what’s happening [in Gaza] is not genocide.”

“Where is your red line, President Biden?” Tlaib asked on Saturday, adding that the president “shields the murderous war criminal Netanyahu and the Israeli government.” PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister and defense minister of the provisional government, reports on the status of the War of Independence and accuses the British of aiding the Arab war effort.

June 4, 1899 — Pro-Soviet politician Ya’akov Hazan is born Ya’akov Hazan, a socialist member of Israel’s first seven Knessets, is born in Russia. He urges a pro-Soviet policy and calls the Soviet Union the Jewish people’s second homeland but shifts in the early 1950s.

June 5, 1967 — Six-Day War begins

Israel launches a pre-emptive strike on the Egyptian air force at 8:15 a.m., destroying 204 aircraft within an hour. Ground troops roll into the Sinai, and the Six-Day War pulls in Jordan and Syria.

June 6, 1944 — Allied forces land at Normandy U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower orders the largest amphibious assault in history, sending Allied troops onto the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, as the ground war to liberate France from the Nazis begins. PJC p

Headlines

Veterans:

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annually welcomes wounded Israeli veterans to Pittsburgh for two weeks of respite.

This year, the Zells hosted two of the seven delegates, accompanied the entire party on several local outings and even spent time with the group in Niagara Falls.

“It’s important that they get to come and see that they have support, that we are behind them, that we care,” Barbara Zell said. “They can go back with a better feeling.”

Moy Margalit, 53, wasn’t interested in talking about returning to Israel yet.

Instead, Margalit was fixated on why she traveled 6,000 miles from home.

“I came to speak about Israel, to try to find a solution for us, and to tell everyone how it feels after the attack,” she said.

“With social media and the news, the truth is harder to accept,” she continued. “People look at us like we are monsters. They forget that our hostages are still there. They forget that people raped them.”

“All the world has to know these acts that the terrorist organization did in our community,” Bassam Sabik, 49, said. “Hamas murdered children in front of their parents, murdered parents in front of their

Tree of Life:

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will help fund and support antisemitism K through 12 educational programming for not just the next generation but many generations,” he said.

Tree of Life, Inc. CEO Carole Zawatsky opened the news conference by recalling walking Casey through the building. He was one of the first people she took through the site after she arrived in Pittsburgh in November 2022.

“I will never forget when he asked me, ‘Would it be OK if I stopped and prayed?’” Zawatsky recalled. “Sen. Casey kneeled down in front of the ark in the Pervin Chapel and prayed. He truly understands how deeply felt this mission is.”

Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the attack, stressed that “through education … we can make a difference.”

“ The world’s oldest hate does not appear in a vacuum,” Myers said. “It starts at the kitchen table. Since it’s unlikely that the kitchen tables that we need to sit at will be welcoming, the future Tree of Life will be a place with lots of kitchen tables.”

The organization, Myers explained, will teach the history of antisemitism, the attitudes that led to the Holocaust and the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and will recognize that fighting antisemitism is only the beginning.

“It is through elementary school children that attitudes can be transformed to de velop a respect and appreciation for all

children. They burnt people alive. They raped women. They beheaded men. They tortured Holocaust survivors. They kidnapped babies. They committed the most horrific crime against people who thought they were peaceful neighbors.”

Sabik is a lawyer in the Israel Land Authority, a governmental body.

in all units.”

“They are our brothers,” Levy said. “We are an inseparable part of the Israeli community and take pride in our bond with the Israelis and with Israel,” Sabik said. “We are not tourists. We live in Israel, and when you live in a country you have to be loyal to the country that you live in.”

“I just want to live my life. I want to raise my kids, my family, without having to look behind my shoulder all the time.”

– ELAD AZOULY

When asked more about the Israel-Hamas war, Sabik cited a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson: “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

Sabik is a member of the Druze religious community.

He insisted on sharing “what that means” in the Jewish state.

“According to our faith,” Sabik said, “we must be loyal to the country that we live in. In Israel, that means among other things the duty of serving in the army. We serve with pride

people, regardless of color, religion or sexual orientation,” he said.

Michael Bernstein, board chair of Tree of Life, Inc., said the leaders of the organization feel a responsibility to not only memorialize the victims of the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre but to turn the tragedy into something full of hope.

Duty prompts various practices. For the Zells, that sense of obligation means opening their home, providing a near-endless supply of bottled water and beer and creating a place of refuge.

“They’re here for two weeks, but they become our brothers and sisters for life,”

Sandy Zell said.

“We do it because it’s our heart. It’s our life. It’s our souls. We know that they’re there for us and we want to be there for them,”

Barbara Zell said.

to develop an innovative curriculum and provide experiential learning opportunities, while teaching students to disrupt hate and antisemitic claims through in-person and virtual offerings.

“Our hope is that students develop a better understanding of how Jewish Americans experience antisemitism and an ability to

“I have a firm belief that on this sacred ground, this place will be the place where the dark, cold, evil hate and antisemitism will be confronted by the warm bright light of education, the warm bright light of understanding.”

– BOB CASEY

The Tree of Life’s mission, he said, is to uproot antisemitism and identity-based hate. He noted that now is a time of heightened antisemitism, exemplified through recent events on college campuses and in town halls.

Antisemitism “is learned,” he said, “which is why we are reimagining the Tree of Life as a place that tells the story of antisemitism in America and equips visitors, including students in grades K through 12 and beyond.”

The federal investment secured by Casey, Bernstein said, will enable the organization

recognize and call out hatred and antisemitism in daily life,” he said.

The site will house the Tree of Life Institute for Countering Hate and Antisemitism, the Tree of Life Center for Jewish Life and Culture and the official 10.27 Memorial, designed in partnership between Daniel Libeskin, the family members of the victims and the three congregations impacted by the attack: Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life.

Those murdered on Oct. 27, 2018, were Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon,

For more than an hour, the delegates sat around a shaded table in a Point Breeze backyard. Cigarettes were smoked. Beverages were consumed. As the afternoon progressed, the delegates articulated their thoughts about returning to their family and friends in Israel, about what it means to go back to a country at war.

“I’m a commander, I have soldiers in Israel, and all the time I have to be serious,” Shlomi said. “All day I’m in my uniform. I just take it off before I get to shower and go to sleep.”

“It’s scary sometimes,” Elad Azouly, 37, said. “Imagine you have two kids who see their father killed in front of them — or a dad who sees the slaughtering of his kids in front of his eyes — and can do nothing … I just want to live my life. I want to raise my kids, my family, without having to look behind my shoulder all the time.”

The Israeli’s comments were interrupted by a chirping bird.

Azouly deemed it a welcome distraction.

“My body’s here but my head is still in Israel. That gap went smaller and smaller while I was here,” he said. “Thank you guys a lot. I appreciate it.” PJC

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

Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.

Tree of Life, Casey said, has embarked on an ambitious and noble project.

“I have a firm belief that on this sacred ground, this place will be the place where the dark, cold, evil hate and antisemitism will be confronted by the warm bright light of education, the warm bright light of understanding,” he said.

Following his prepared statements, Casey was asked if the funding and upcoming groundbreaking represented a pivot to the future for the organization. He said it is a “turning point.”

“Increasingly,” he said, “we’re more focused on the future. We can change hearts and minds in a place like this.”

Asked about the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would require the U.S. Dept. of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, Casey said the Senate is trying to find a way forward. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month.

Casey said there are senators in both parties who don’t like the IHRA definition and would prefer a broader definition. He said he’s heard those objections but doesn’t agree.

“You’ve got to pay a price if you allow antisemitism or racism or other discriminatory practices to persist,” he said.

PJC

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

Headlines

Hillel:

Continued from page 2

$40,000 in related costs, Marcus said.

Efrat, a Jewish Agency emissary in Pittsburgh who declined to share her last name, said the post-Oct. 7 toll is noticeable among Hillel JUC students and staff.

Apart from increased security and communication about safety, various programs have undergone structural changes.

Cafe Ivrit, a social and educational program where participants drink coffee and practice Hebrew, was moved from nearby shops to the Hillel JUC building “for security purposes,” Efrat said.

Additionally, the tenor of Cafe Ivrit and other Hillel JUC offerings has changed.

“We had to adjust our educational programming to the situation and figure out a way to connect everything that is happening in Israel, to help students gain deeper understanding while creating a space for them to ask questions,” Efrat said.

The modifications are noticeable, University of Pittsburgh senior Yoni Preuss explained.

“Students are definitely searching for something different than before, which doesn’t necessarily change the mission, but it does change how the staff may go about creating programs,” he said.

Tweaks include new uses of Hillel JUC’s building.

“It was always a place to do work or meet, but I know personally I spend more time there now,” Preuss said.

The political science major said he finds himself and other students “spending more downtime with staff just chatting about life — hearing their perspectives on how we can grow as a community — and not just talking about programs.”

Creating connections between students and staff is “nothing new,” Marcus said,

Continued from page 5

the synagogue’s items has been a way to reconnect with its history.

“Our very first rabbi — Rabbi Jacob Goldfarb — we had a beautiful portrait of him that we gave to his great-granddaughter,” she said. “We’ve found other items — books that were inscribed for someone’s bar mitzvah that we returned to the family.”

Marilyn Posner has shared her journey of discovery and cataloging with the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center, first with former archivist Susan Melnick, then with Director Eric Lidji.

Lidji said that Melnick launched the Small Town Jewish History Project, a proactive effort to go to small towns, build relationships and figure out what records needed to be preserved.

He has worked with Beth Israel and Marilyn Posner for the last eight years and said he’ll now have to invent ways to stay in touch with a person he’s come to admire.

but the recent engagements bear a distinct quality.

“More students are coming than before

relaxation at a time when campus life could be stressful.”

Programs often begin with a reminder

“Students are definitely searching for something different than before, which doesn’t necessarily change the mission, but it does change how the staff may go about creating programs.”

– YONI PREUSS

to find the basic needs of community and friendship,” Preuss said. Hillel JUC staff “understand the emotional needs and are able to provide a sense of togetherness and

“Beth Israel is on the older end of smalltown Jewish congregations in the region,” Lidji said. “It’s not the oldest, but it’s definitely on the older side.”

that security is present and where to head in an emergency, Preuss said.

Students and staff recognize the realities, Efrat said: “We’ve had to transfer from

Jews living there and are able to pull together these synagogues that last, in some cases, 100 years or more.”

Eventually, Lidji explained, there are no

The experiences of small-town congregations can be a good barometer of what will happen to congregations in urban areas and cities, Lidji said.

The congregation, he said, is similar to others that developed in small towns outside of Pittsburgh.

“Western Pennsylvania had this huge economic expansion starting in the mid-19th century, continuing into the 20th century,” Lidji said. “You had all these Jews coming over from Eastern Europe that were looking for opportunity and willing to go to these small towns. They find enough other

a regular routine to a more urgent routine.”

Even so, campus activities, advocacy and trips to Israel are continuing.

“Hillel JUC will not deviate from the mission and vision — we will only redouble our efforts to create a vibrant and meaningful Jewish community — and will not let those who wish to demonize the Jewish people and Israel dictate our mission and vision,” Marcus said. “We will not shrink from the public square.”

Hillel International stresses the importance of that devotion.

“Students and families are turning to Hillel as the most comprehensive and reliable source of information and support for their child,” Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International, said in a statement.

“Our goal has always been to be the main resource for helping students grow and mature and think deeper. We are not supposed to know everything, but our mission as educators is to provide students a way to get there while shaping their personalities as they age throughout college,” Efrat said.

For Marcus and others, the past seven months reflect a mix of old and new at Hillel JUC.

“We are working more with Shawn Brokos, and the Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh police, who do extra patrols, come into our building periodically and check on us to make sure we are OK,” he said.

There is increased security, but for the students, the real change is elsewhere in the building.

“Students are more passionate than ever,” Preuss said, “and Hillel is able to provide a space for programs and activities to further our growth as students and people especially in the wake of Oct. 7.” PJC

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

community starts in the small towns and makes its way into the city,” he said. “A lot of the innovations designed to try and accommodate multiple viewpoints start in the small towns and move into the city. A lot of the demographic issues do, as well.”

The same holds true for antisemitism, Lidji said, noting that Jews in small towns have a more immediate relationship with their non-Jewish neighbors.

Lidji is glad to see an organization like AMVETS taking over the Beth Israel building rather than watching it fall into disrepair.

longer children in the congregation so the religious school closes, and then maybe there’s no longer a need for a full-time rabbi, or a rabbi at all.

“You see the same general arc,” he said.

The experiences of small-town congregations can be a good barometer of what will happen to congregations in urban areas and cities, Lidji said.

“All of the egalitarianism in the

“It’s my hope that it’s the kind of the thing where in 25 or 30 years you’ll still be able to go down there and see the building and get a sense of what Jewish life was like,” he said.

“I feel very honored to be a part of this family,” Marilyn Posner reflected, but noted this isn’t the end.

“We are not going away. We are just not taking care of the whole building.” PJC

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

p Students create friendship and solidarity at Hillel JUC. Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC

Beth Israel:

Yes, there’s a war. But I felt safe while in Israel

Guest Columnist

Marc Weber Tobias

Ijust returned from a week in Israel. While the events of Oct. 7 have justifiably jarred the psyche of Israeli citizens about their security and that of the country, and while the massacre and fate of the hostages can be seen everywhere, amazingly, life goes on.

News reports paint a different picture than what I saw in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Yavne and Caesarea. Yes, Israel is at war in Gaza. However, the conflict does not represent what a resilient and vibrant country Israel is.

I met with security experts, a senior corporate lawyer, a retired national police executive who dealt with intelligence and research, and the head of a major corporation that manufactures locks and security hardware. They assured me that the Israel I have known since

first visiting in 1961 is still alive and well and will survive and prosper. The political upheaval will be dealt with and the attempted global isolation will subside. The significant rise in antisemitism likely will continue, which mandates that the country survives.

The Israel that I savored last week, with young people on the beach in Tel Aviv, the vibrant neighborhoods in Jerusalem, the busy restaurants and sidewalk cafes, the shops, the traffic and the people going about their daily lives, was exhilarating.

I had not been there since 2019, just before the pandemic grounded the world from travel. Significant construction was everywhere, including a new high-speed rail connecting many cities.

As my senior guide at the Knesset stressed, Israel is the last safe place for Jews worldwide. So, for me, it is simple: Despite the tragedy of Oct. 7 and the plight of the soldiers and hostages and their families, the country is a miracle in the desert. Travel from the U.S. is more complicated because our airlines are still

not flying to Ben Gurion, but El Al and other airlines from Europe are operating as usual. I flew in and out of Athens with no problem. Everything was as if there were no hostilities.

If you are considering visiting Israel as a tourist, for a bar mitzvah or for business, the fighting in Gaza is far away from the major cities. The day I departed, there were several rockets fired toward Tel Aviv, but they did no damage. Israel has shown that it can protect itself.

From the perspective of one who is keenly attuned to and deals with security issues, Israel may be safer than America. Every young soldier carries a weapon, but there are no mass shootings as we experience every week. Random and infrequent terrorist acts, yes, but the population does not seem scared. They are cautious, vigilant and mindful of what can happen, but it does not adversely affect their daily lives and business.

My wife, relatives and colleagues in Pittsburgh expressed alarm and dire warnings about what could happen if we went to Israel

so soon after Oct. 7. They canceled plans for aliyah and travel. They postponed bar and bat mitzvahs. I had no fear for my journey to the Middle East, and I returned to Pittsburgh with great memories.

Support Israel as the world is trying to blame it for the actions triggered by Hamas that threatened the homeland and its existence. The metropolitan areas are safe. Enjoy and experience the food, the scenery and the friendship of the people.

Above all, enjoy the immediate camaraderie that only Jews can understand in their own country. Regardless of where you are from, being greeted with “shalom” means everything. PJC

Marc Weber Tobias is a lawyer, physical security expert, author and former prosecutor who lives in Squirrel Hill. His team sponsors a security engineering lab at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. He has written eight books, six of which are about security.

Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game, and Jews lose either way

Guest Columnist

Rep. Dan Frankel

Last week, former President Donald Trump posted to his social media account a video that referenced a “unified reich” in an effort to construct a vision of a prosperous future that could be unlocked only by the return of Trump to the presidency.

That was two months after Trump said that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats “hate” their religion.

None of this is new. Both Trump’s flirtation with Holocaust terms and imagery and his accusations that American Jews are disloyal to their heritage when they decline to support him are well-worn flourishes for the former president.

These controversies may seem ephemeral in a news cycle saturated by Trump’s ugly rhetoric. But make no mistake: Trump has set a terrible trap for Jews. We don’t know whether he will win or lose in November, but either way, he has already put our safety on the line.

We have more than enough evidence to know

that a Trump victory could be perilous for Jews.

Dangerous white supremacist individuals and groups are clearly paying attention to his words, lapping up every signal that if Trump wins the election in November, their white nationalist dreams for America would enjoy tacit approval from the highest levels of government.

ideologies, providing comfort and support to those who might do harm.

But what of a Trump loss?

When Trump repeatedly attacks the 70% of American Jews who typically vote for Democrats as disloyal to their faith, he sets the stage for them to be held responsible for his defeat at the ballot box.

We have more than enough evidence to know that a Trump victory could be perilous for Jews.

We don’t have to guess what happens when political leaders routinely send those signals.

Since Trump’s political popularity began to take off in 2015, antisemitism and hate crimes have spiked, and Jew-focused conspiracy theories have proliferated.

A review by ABC News turned up dozens of criminal cases where Trump was invoked in direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence or allegations of assault; the same search for connections to President Barack Obama or President George W. Bush came up empty. Meanwhile, far-right social media platforms have created communities for hateful

We know that bearing blame for Trump’s loss can be dangerous. The last time Trump lost an election, thousands of his most fervent supporters descended on the U.S. Capitol Building in a violent attempt to stop the certification of the election. Trump’s own aides recalled Trump seeming to cheer on the angry mob’s chants of “hang Mike Pence!” because his vice president refused to interfere in the election process.

And narratives that scapegoat Jews already dominate right-wing conspiracy theories.

“Replacement theory,” which holds that the white race is in danger of extinction by a rising tide of non-whites who are controlled and

Is the Jewish vote going Republican?

Guest Columnist

Farley Weiss

There are increasing signs that the Jewish vote may be shifting away from the Democrats. A poll taken of New York voters in February showed that 53% of Jewish voters intend to vote for Donald Trump in

A

month reported that Jewish donors appear to be moving toward the Republicans due to U.S. President Joe Biden’s troubling policies on the Israel-Hamas war.

While there is a paucity of additional surveys on how Jews intend to vote in November, a Pew survey taken in February found that 89% of American Jews favor Israel in its war against Hamas. Unsurprisingly, this is the highest percentage of any American ethnic group. These results are consistent with an August

2019 finding by Gallup senior scientist Frank Newport, who stated, “My recent review of the available data shows that about nine in 10 American Jews are more sympathetic to Israel than to the Palestinians. (That compares to about six in 10 of all Americans.) Additionally, 95% of Jews have favorable views of Israel, while 10% have favorable views of the Palestinian Authority — significantly more pro-Israel than the overall national averages of 71% favorable views of Israel and 21% favorable views of the Palestinian Authority.”

manipulated by Jews, inspired both the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, and the murder of 11 Jews as they attended Shabbat services in my neighborhood.

When Trump is called out for endangering Americans with his comments, he sometimes professes ignorance and sometimes doubles down. Regardless, the trap has been set for American Jews: If he wins, antisemitic white supremacists will be emboldened. If he loses, he’s already signaling to a receptive audience where the blame should lie.

Our country has weathered times like this before. In our 250 years as a nation, many charismatic figures have led and stoked antisemitic, anti-immigrant and anti-Black movements. Our best protection is to call it out, without equivocation. PJC

Dan Frankel represents the 23rd District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Editor’s note: The video referenced in this column was removed from Trump’s account a day after it was posted. A Trump campaign spokesperson said that a junior staff member had reposted the video from another account and he was unaware that the word “reich” appeared in the video.

Moreover, despite the predictions of many pollsters, an exit poll taken on election day 2020 in Florida showed that Trump won 41% of the state’s Jewish vote. In 2016, exit polls showed Trump winning only 24%.

Biden has taken stances that are offensive to many Jewish voters. Besides holding up military aid to Israel, his administration has failed to protect Jewish college students from the recent massive rise in campus antisemitism. The

November.

Bulwark article this

Chronicle poll results: Criminal proceedings against Donald Trump

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Have you been following the criminal proceedings against Donald Trump?” Of the 316 people who responded, 84% said yes and 16% said no. Comments were submitted by 134 people. A few follow.

The proceedings are indeed criminal.

I hope he is convicted. Following that conviction, I hope he is disallowed to be a presidential candidate as a convicted felon, though I know there is no law supporting that. I cannot imagine having this man as president again. It would be disastrous for the U.S.

This is nothing but a sham trial orchestrated by the corrupt Biden administration and presented by a Trump-hating judge who is a Biden donor — and his daughter is a Biden surrogate. Talk about “threat to democracy?” It’s definitely Joe

Weiss:

Continued from page 12

president was also painfully slow to condemn campus antisemitism publicly.

He has also unfairly criticized Israel’s meticulous military operations in Gaza and opposed an IDF incursion into Rafah. The remaining hostages (including five Americans) are likely being held in Rafah and the last four Hamas battalions are stationed there. A Rafah operation is essential to Israel’s victory. Yet Biden even applauded a speech at Morehouse College calling for an immediate cease-fire. In contrast, Trump has made it clear that he

Have you been following the criminal proceedings against Donald Trump?

Biden. Initially, both the feds and local DA refused to prosecute because they knew there was no case whatsoever.

However, when Trump declared his candidacy, they changed their tune and

fully supports an Israeli operation in Rafah and an Israeli victory over Hamas. Trump also has a solid track record on Jewish issues. He moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, ended aid to the Palestinian Authority, brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords, assassinated Iran’s arch-terrorist, military officer Qassem Soleimani and placed heavy sanctions on Iran.

I was at the White House when Trump signed an executive order that made Jews a protected group under Title VI. This gave the U.S. Justice Department the tools necessary to defend Jewish students on campus.

Attorney Alan Dershowitz called it the most important action against antisemitism taken by any U.S. president. Trump has condemned

decided to prosecute. We now have a weaponized DOJ and FBI against a political opponent for the purpose of preventing him from winning in 2024. Biden has nothing good to run on, and his handlers know it!

He should have been jailed for treason on Jan. 7. I find it appalling how our justice system has been abused by him and his cronies who support this pathological liar.

Trial should never have happened. It is election interference!

He’s an embarrassment to our country.

This is strictly political, but the man has no scruples.

I only look at the headlines but don’t want to invest any more time in reading more about this amoral individual. I am so disillusioned with the presidential election this year. Neither candidate is worth a vote.

the universities that refuse to enforce their own codes of conduct against antisemites. He has indicated that he will rescind the student visas of antisemitic demonstrators who are foreign students.

There is also evidence of history: In 1976, Jimmy Carter received 71% of the Jewish vote. He came to be seen as hostile to Israel and, as a result, his Jewish support dropped to 45% in 1980. This helped give Ronald Reagan the presidency. President George H.W. Bush received 35% of the Jewish vote in 1988, but when he refused to give Israel loan guarantees to help it absorb a million Soviet Jews, Bush’s share of the Jewish vote dropped to 12%. Barack Obama received 78% of the Jewish

Neither is good for the USA or for Israel. It truly is the worst of times.

Like Trump or not, these current and other potential proceedings against him are entirely politically motivated and very dangerous to our country.

Our obsession with all things Trump is overwhelming and ridiculous.

Just tell me when it’s over. I don’t even want to see or hear him.

If there is any justice in this world, he’ll be spending the rest of his life in a jumpsuit that matches his hair. PJC

— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Do you think that most of the American media treats Israel fairly? Go to pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

vote in 2007 but by 2012 he was seen as irretrievably hostile to Israel. His share of the Jewish vote dropped to 69% in 2012.

Biden may have thought that visiting Israel immediately after Oct. 7 was enough to win over the Jewish vote. Carter thought the same after he helped broker the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Bush probably felt so, too, after winning the 1991 Gulf War. They were both wrong. Biden may be as well, and it could lead him to defeat in November. PJC

Farley Weiss is chairman of the Israel Heritage Foundation and former president of the National Council of Young Israel. This article first appeared on JNS.

Mo Husseini has his facts straight

In her letter to the editor, Simone Shapiro takes issue with one of Mo Husseini’s 50 facts, and it’s not about the origins of hummus (“Not all of the ‘50 Completely True Things’ ring true,” May 17). She takes exception to his statement that “Israelis … have committed acts of terror” and “that some aspects of Israeli military activity may be war crimes,” calling them lies. Taking a longer historical view, and not one solely limited to Oct. 7 and later, Mr. Husseini has gotten his facts straight. The kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir in 2014, the burning of Ali Saad Dawabsheh in Duma in 2015 and, of course, Baruch Goldstein’s rampage in the Cave of the Patriarch’s in 1994 were acts of terror. Yes, the IDF has also been involved in several war crimes; maybe in the heat of battle, but still against the rules of war and the purpose of Tohar HaNeshek (Purity of Arms) that we were taught when I was in the IDF. There are admitted instances of deliberate killings of Egyptian POWs in both the 1956 and 1967 wars. Much as we wish it not to be, Leon Uris’ “Exodus” is a work of fiction, even if based on fact. We’re not pure, and we need to be able to look in the mirror and acknowledge the blemishes. The answer isn’t, “What about North Korea or Russia in Ukraine?” or “We’re not Iran.” The answer is, “What do we (Israelis, Jews, the IDF) need to change to return to the goal of being a light unto the nations?”

Richard Kaplan Pittsburgh

Reconsidering cover photo

I write with disappointment regarding the Chronicle’s choice to feature a picture of only six protesters on the cover of our newspaper, while neglecting to showcase the hundreds of individuals who proudly marched in support of Israel during the Yom Ha’atzmaut parade (“Antisemitic, anti-Israel incidents continue to plague Pittsburgh,” May 24).

At a time when antisemitism is on the rise, it is crucial that we stand united in celebrating events like Yom Ha’atzmaut openly and proudly. By relegating such a significant demonstration of solidarity to the back pages, we miss an opportunity to demonstrate to the greater community our unwavering support for Israel.

I am sure the Chronicle is aware of the adage “any press is good press,” so by placing the image of the six protesters on the cover, it is acting as an enabler for their nefarious mission.

Allan Tissenbaum Pittsburgh

Bunny Bakes: a calm refuge during a time of turmoil

I spent a delightful two hours at Bunny Bakes with my dear friend today (“Bunny Bakes & Specialty Coffee sells kosher sweets,” Nov. 17). What a charming coffee and pastry shop! The staff was outstanding. Everyone was busy focused on their work, welcoming each customer with a smile and answering questions about all the beverage and in-house baked pastry options. The shop is modern, spotlessly clean with an open atmosphere. Although most of the tables were full, it was quiet and relaxing. At this time of unrest and ugliness that plagues our neighborhoods, this little shop brings a calm sense of belonging. Thank you, Friendship Circle, for bringing this lovely cafe to the neighborhood.

Amy Jonas Pittsburgh

We

Life & Culture

Lemon poppy seed cake

2 teaspoons lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2⅔ cups flour

By Keri White | Contributing Writer

My niece MH is a skilled baker. Despite her youth, she has become the go-to member of the family when a dessert is needed for a gathering.

She recently sent me a photo of a cake she made, and I was dazzled. Upon request, she kindly shared her recipe and technique. The lemon curd filling is tricky — MH had a snafu on her first attempt, which resulted in what she described as “scrambled eggs,” but she intrepidly tried again, and the results were splendid.

She used candied lemons and berries to festoon the top and additional poppy seeds to adorn the sides, resulting in an eye-popping, show-stopping dessert. But if you opt out of the adornments, the cake will still be tremendous!

The candied lemons — the directions follow — produce a delightful by-product: lemon-infused simple syrup. Save it and use it to sweeten lemonade, iced tea, cocktails or mocktails.

Here’s what she did …

For the cake:

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1½ cups sugar

4 eggs

1⅓ cups buttermilk

2½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

For the frosting:

½ cup butter, softened

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

3½ cups powdered sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon lemon extract

Pinch salt

For the candied lemons:

1 lemon, sliced thinly

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

Garnishes: mint leaves, fresh berries and poppy seeds

Heat your oven to 325 F. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans (8- or 9-inch). Set them aside. Mix the lemon zest and sugar and rub it with your fingers to release the lemon flavor into the sugar. Set it aside.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Whip the butter and oil together until uniform. Slowly add the sugar and beat it on high until the mixture is fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and lemon extracts. Beat it for another 3

minutes — you want to make it airy and fluffy. Add some of the flour mixture, then some of the buttermilk and alternately keep adding these, slowly and gradually until the batter is just blended. Do not overmix it at this stage. Fold in the poppy seeds and divide the batter evenly between the pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, the cake is a light golden brown and it springs back in the center when gently pressed. Cool completely. While the cake bakes, make the frosting, lemon curd and candied lemons.

For the frosting: Whip the butter with the cream cheese. Add the sugar gradually along with the milk and extracts. Add more milk if needed to achieve a creamy texture.

For the candied lemons: Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan until combined

and melted. Add the sliced lemons and simmer them for a few minutes. Remove the lemons from the syrup and place them on parchment to dry.

Lemon curd:

4 egg yolks

⅔ cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch salt

6 tablespoons butter at room temperature, cut into 6 pieces.

In a double boiler, bring the water in the bottom to a boil, then lower it to simmer. Place the egg, sugar, zest, juice and salt in the top of a double boiler and whisk until blended. Continue whisking to prevent the egg from curdling. The mixture should become thick in about 10 minutes.

Remove it from the heat and whisk in the butter piece by piece. Cover it with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature.

Assemble the cake: Cover the bottom cake layer with the lemon curd. Place the top layer on the lemon curd layer and cover the top and sides with the cream cheese frosting. Decorate as desired with the candied lemon, berries, mint leaves and poppy seeds. PJC

Keri White is a Philadelphia-based freelance food writer. This piece first appeared in the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

 Lemon poppy seed cake

Photo by Mary Hope Pierotti

Life & Culture

Letters of Judge Henry Ellenbogen, now digitized, provide glimpse into Jews’ struggles in pre-war Europe

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Adigitized collection of historic papers details the painful and tedious realities of immigration. Held at the Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish Archives, the items include correspondence to and from Judge Henry Ellenbogen, an Austrian-born Jewish lawyer and former judge on the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1933-1938.

Among the 574 letters recently uploaded to Historic Pittsburgh — a digital repository of Western Pennsylvanian archives — are desperate pleas and methodical requests to help evacuate Jews from pre-war Europe.

One item, dated Oct. 28, 1938, is a missive from New Yorker Fred Goodman to Ellenbogen begging that Goodman’s brother, Walter Gutmann, be sent an affidavit of support.

“A few days ago I had the opportunity to meet a recent immigrant from Vienna,” Goodman wrote. “He tells me that the passport situation has become very acute and that only very few Jews escape confinement in concentration camps where a great number succumb from mistreatment and starvation.”

Another item, dated July 23, 1938, is a cable from Ellenbogen to the U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull imploring Hull to intercede on behalf of Dr. Adolf Gruenbaum, a prisoner at the Dachau concentration camp.

“I know Dr. Gruenbaum personally and would like to be of assistance to him,” Ellenbogen wrote. “I need not tell you, Mr. Secretary, that incarceration at Dachau present [sic] distinct danger to the health and life of Dr. Gruenbaum. I know that your powers in this matter are limited, because Dr. Gruenbaum is an Austrian citizen, but I hope that in view of the fact that he has relatives here who are American citizens, and in view of my own deep interest in this, you will find it possible to convey to the German authorities your concern in this matter.”

Thanks to underwriting by the Ellenbogen family, Catelyn Cocuzzi, a project archivist at the Rauh, began preparing the papers for remote access nearly a year ago.

“These letters are so raw and offer a lens into this really dark moment in history and this really traumatic experience,” she said. “We see sensitive materials at times, but until this collection, until this correspondence, I hadn’t really faced anything of this nature. And it just was really powerful for me

to see these people 3,000 miles away reaching out to Henry Ellenbogen, and seeing how he’s able to work the system and able to figure out ways to help.”

Readers of the collection can find both emotionally agonizing and seemingly bland administrative writings.

“One of the values of an archive is to put specificity on a story that’s often spoken about in general terms,” Rauh Director Eric Lidji said. “The story of Jewish escape from Europe — but migration more broadly — is often talked about in a very general way. And I don’t know that people really understand the actual mechanics of how it worked during that time period.”

The complicated nature of “bureaucratic maneuvering” when lives are at risk, he added, “changes the way you look at that experience.”

Lidji hopes educators and scholars can convey that “this is actually what it looked like to try to navigate that process of getting out of one country and getting into another.”

Cocuzzi noted that although archives are often considered remote storehouses for academics, these items have broad appeal.

“It is really important to have this out there so people can see this type of material,” she said.

En gaging with archival material is different from “reading a history book where there’s a story being presented to you,” but there are ways to easily reap the benefits of this collection, Lidji said.

“Set a timer for 20 minutes on your phone and just go through and start to grab some of these letters at random … You could probably read between five and 10 of these, and just watch as the back and forth unfolds,” he said. “Try and look at the dates and understand what you know about what was happening in terms of the Nuremberg Laws, Anschluss, invasion of Czechoslovakia so that you can kind of understand where these conversations fit in this larger international narrative.”

Once that process is complete, “just allow the information to sit in your mind, without having to necessarily draw a conclusion. Just listen to the voices and the humanity of it,” he said.

The collection isn’t merely a time capsule, Cocuzzi said.

“These are situations that are still happening today — across the board, across all countries — and it is still really difficult.” PJC

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

Israel’s Jewish humor show offers a serious message for a dark time: We will survive

By Ben Sales | JTA

Israelis have long taken pride in two things: the long arc of Jewish history, and their relentlessly dark humor in the face of unspeakable tragedy.

For about a decade, the synthesis of those two qualities has been “The Jews Are Coming,” a sketch comedy show now in its sixth season on Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster.

Nearly every sketch in the show satirizes an event from millennia’s worth of Jewish and Israeli religious texts and history. Its guiding principle is irreverence.

In the opening credits and between sketches, the show displays the tools used in a ritual circumcision.

So after Oct. 7, the program confronted a question: What to do when the tragedy isn’t historical but current and — for many Israelis — ongoing?

p Characters on the closing skit of the first episode of the new season of Israel’s “The Jews are Coming” tell a story of Jewish trauma and perseverance that spans thousands of years. Screenshot

So the show’s catalog includes spoofs of the story of Purim and the invention of the mezuzah, but it also features joke after joke about the Nazis, the Spanish

Inquisition, the Yom Kippur War, the destruction of the Second Temple in ancient times and any number of other lachrymose episodes of the Jewish past.

Last week, we got our answer: In unprecedented times, “The Jews Are Coming” did something unprecedented: It got serious.

In two segments posted online over the past week, which opened and closed out a recent episode, the comedy show hardly aimed to elicit any laughs, but

see Humor, page 22

p The lawyer Henry Ellenbogen (right) with Father James Cox in Harrisburg. The two worked together on pro-labor causes in the early years of the Great Depression. Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center

p Judge Henry Ellenbogen (second from right on bench) presiding over a Flag Day celebration at the Court of Common Pleas. Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center

p Henry Ellenbogen sent this portrait to his mother around the time he passed the Pennsylvania bar exam. Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center

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THE CHOSENNESS SYMPOSIUM

JUN. 24, JUL. 1, 8, 15 • MON. 7:00-8:00PM

What does it mean to be chosen? Discuss texts— classic and contemporary—that address the heart of chosenness and its relevance to contemporary Jewish life.

ZOOM: $55 FOR 4 SESSIONS

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS INTENSIVE

JUL. 29, 31, AUG. 5, 7, 12, 14

MON. & WED. 9:30-11:00AM

An intensive (two sessions per week) exploration of these foundational statements of Western civilization–as understood through the lens of rabbinic Judaism.

ZOOM: $95 FOR 6 SESSIONS

QUESTIONS?

Contact Hayley Tanzman at learning@jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5226.

Classes are generously supported by the Elaine Belle Krasik Fund for Adult Education

JUN. 25, JUL. 2, 9, 16 • TUE. 7:00-8:00PM

In just 4 sessions, Rabbi Schiff will convey the contents of his book, Judaism in a Digital Age—why modern Judaism is weakening and what needs to be done to revitalize Judaism in the digital age.

ZOOM: $55 FOR 4 SESSIONS

AUG. 11 • SUN. 10:00-11:30AM

In the past year, the Jewish people has been through a calamity unprecedented in our lifetimes. Explore how the loss and destruction inherent in Tisha B’Av is followed by a determined path towards consolation.

ZOOM: NO CHARGE

Full inclusion is a core value of Jewish Pittsburgh. The Jewish Federation welcomes invitees of all abilities, backgrounds, races, religious affiliations, sexual orientations and gender identities. The cost of taking a course is never a barrier to participation. If price is an issue, or if you need accommodation for a disability, please contact Hayley Tanzman at learning@jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5226 so that we can make the course accessible for you. jewishpgh.org/explore/federation-learning

The Gefsky Community Scholar position is endowed by the H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Endowment Fund of the Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation.

Torah Celebrations

Zach Karabin , son of Alison and Josh Karabin, became a bar mitzvah at Temple Sinai on May 18, 2024. Zach is the grandson of Stephanie and Peter Brown of Squirrel Hill, and Cathy and George Karabin of North Huntingdon. Zach is a seventh grader at Colfax School who loves sports, travel, animals and all things Pitt-related. He plays baseball for the 14th Ward Baseball Association. For his bar mitzvah project, he raised money through bake sales for Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh. PJC

An enduring bond, engraved on stone

One of my favorite Chasidic tales took place in Chicago.

In the 1940s, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, regularly dispatched emissaries to Jewish communities across America to share the joy and warmth of Judaism. One such mission was given to the venerable Chasid Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, who was sent to visit Chicago.

for the idea but offered an important clarification. While Torahs are written with ink, the Ten Commandments were engraved on stone.

The Rebbe explained the difference between writing and engraving. Writing with ink on parchment involves separate entities that can fade or be erased. In contrast, engraving on stone forms letters within the material itself, creating an enduring bond where the letters cannot fade or be erased, though they may become covered with dust.

Throughout the month of June we will be featuring rainbow bagels for Pride Month.

During Rabbi Shmuel’s visit, he was directed to meet with Mr. Charles Lissner, a prominent businessman and member of the local Jewish community. Mr. Lissner’s ancestor, Arke of Liozna, had been a devoted Chasid. However, having grown up in America, Mr. Lissner had become somewhat “Americanized,” prompting the Rebbe’s interest in a spiritual reawakening for him.

The Rebbe likened a Jew to an engraved script, like the Ten Commandments, where the essence is inherent and enduring. He emphasized that a Jew’s true self is never lost but can be temporarily obscured by external influences. Helping a Jew rediscover their essence is like clearing away dust from an engraving, revealing their true vividness once more. The heart, he concluded, is always awake and responsive to this inner spark.

The Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman

The

Rebbe likened a Jew to an engraved script, like the Ten Commandments, where the essence is inherent and enduring. He emphasized that a Jew’s true self is never lost but can be temporarily obscured by external influences.

The atmosphere in the meeting was warm and personal, with Rabbi Levitin sharing stories of Mr. Lissner’s family’s rich Chasidic heritage. Mr. Lissner fondly recalled his upbringing where Chasidic customs and Shabbat celebrations were central.

As the meeting concluded, Mr. Lissner, assuming it was a fundraising visit, offered a contribution. However, Rabbi Shmuel respectfully declined. This puzzled Mr. Lissner. “Surely the venerable emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe did not come all the way from New York to pay me a social visit,” he exclaimed.

The rabbi explained that Jews are compared to the letters of the Torah scroll. When a letter in the Torah is faded or cracked, the Torah scroll is in need of a periodic examination rather than a complete rewrite. He likened their role to that of a Torah checker who restores faded letters, refreshing and uplifting Jewish souls, clearing away external influences to reveal their inherent holiness.

Mr. Lissner was very touched by these words.

Upon his return to New York, Rabbi Shmuel shared the encounter with the Rebbe, who responded with appreciation

of Liadi, expounded on the meaning of the word “ bechukotai ” (“my statutes”), the name of this week’s Torah portion. He explained that “ bechukotai ” comes from the Hebrew root “chakikah,” which means engraving.

As the story illustrates, the message is that the mitzvot (commandments) are deeply ingrained within a person’s being, much like letters engraved in stone. The observance of mitzvot is an integral and unchangeable part of a person’s identity.

This knowledge helps us overcome the “dirt” that gets in the way of us fulfilling the Torah and mitzvot.

As we wipe off the external dirt and uncover our integral Jewish identity, may we merit all the blessings of this week’s portion, including “and you will live in security in your land (Israel), and I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down with no one to frighten [you] … and no army will pass through your land. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.” PJC

Rabbi Yisroel Altein is the spiritual leader of Chabad of Squirrel Hill. This column is a service of Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.

Rabbi Yisroel Altein Parshat Bechukotai

Reubens...

Obituaries

DRUCKER: Harry Drucker, on Monday, May 27, 2024. Beloved husband of the late Esther Drucker. Loving father of Jean (Paul) Reznick and Jeffrey (Elyse) Drucker. Cherished Papa to grandchildren Dr. David (Dr. Stephanie) Reznick, Sara (Jason) Berliner, Rachel Reznick (Aaron Greengard) and Madeline Drucker; great-grandchildren, Alexandra Reznick, Leo Reznick and Lillian Berliner; and countless friends. Preceded in death by his father, mother, three sisters and one brother in the Holocaust. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Pittsburgh Holocaust Center, 107 Woodland Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15232; Congregation Beth Shalom, 5915 Beacon St., Pittsburgh, PA 15217; or Community Day School, 6424 Forward Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217. schugar.com

GOPPMAN: Sandy Goppman, on Saturday, May 25, 2024, age 68, of Pittsburgh. Son of the late Allan and Ethel Goppman. Beloved husband of Shirley Goppman. Loving father of Steven (Taryn) Goppman and Gina Goppman. Cherished brother of Murray (Denise) Goppman. Sister-in-law Ronna Rubin. Also survived by nephew Brian (Alicia) Goppman and niece Elizabeth (Nolen) Goppman. Sandy attended Peabody High School. He was a Shriner and Mason for 47 years. He was also a member of the organization BBYO. Sandy will be missed dearly. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel. Interment Adath Jeshurun Cemetery. Contributions can be made to Parkway Jewish Center, 201 Penn Center Blvd., Building One Suite 530 Pittsburgh, PA 15235, Chabad of ) or Adath Jeshurun Cemetery (adathjeshuruncem-

Contact the Development department at 412-586-2690 or development@jaapgh.org for

Sunday June 2: Edna Ruth Goldberg Abelson, Gitel Busis, Morris Fivars, Herbert L Friedlander, Sol S Goldstein, Wolf Morris Kaiser, Clara Sigal Kwall, Jack H Lembersky, Louis Marcus, Mildred Greenwald Miller, Zalman Miller, Aaron Pattak, Hildegard Perlstein, Isadore Rosen, Nathan Sadowsky, Leo E Sattler, Anna Stein

Monday June 3: Ida Stern Cohen, Charles Friedberg, Emil Geminder, Samuel Goldberg, Irving Levenson, Sarah Holstein Lindenberg, Joseph Orlansky, Hyman Rogal, Ida Sacks, Helen Werner

Tuesday June 4: Dr Henry H Black, Abe Bortz, Ida Eisen, Mollie Klater, Macy L Leuin, Sophia Meyer, Irwin Pariser, Betsy Sachs, Milton Sadowsky, Henry L Schutzman, Herman S Schwartz, Mary Sinaikin, Meyer J Slotsky, Benjamin Solomon, Harry Tyson, Bessie Chait Weinberg

Wednesday June 5: Henry M Abrams, Maurice D Azen, Joseph H Breman, Isadore Brody, Irving Caplan, Ralph Covel, Theodore T Davidson, Harry Feldman, Lawrence R Katz, Jennie Kramer, Donald W Levenson, Anna Levy, Eva Cohen Roth Levy, Martin Lewinter, Bertha Esther Miller, Raymond Rosenson, Samuel Schwartzman, Lillian Staman, Jeanette Stern, Clara Stevenson, Rebecca Zwibel

Thursday June 6: Gustave J Bloch, I Aleck Brand, Lillian Braun, Henry Cramer, Meyer M Diznoff, Pesach Aaron Katz, Shirley Kress, Dorothy Natterson Maas, Edward Pearlstein, Abe J Perlman, Mollie Reich, Emil Rosenthal, Rose Steinberg, Rose Stern, Esther Miller Swartz, Esther Weinberg, Milton Saul Weinberg, Rachel Dugan Weisberg, Elinor Young

Friday June 7: Ruth W Braude, Lillian L Halpern, Jennie R Jacobson, Herman Lee Krouse, David Louff, Louis Mandell, Frances Simon, Dolores M Stein, Dora Stein

MANN: Estelle Olitzky Mann, Feb. 4, 1933 – May 26, 2024. Peacefully, on May 26, 2024, Estelle Olitzky Mann, beloved daughter of the late Louis and Tillie Olitzky. Devoted wife for 57 years of the late Melvin Mann. Loving mother of Andrea Mann Lowenstein (Michael) and Leslie Mann (Jennifer).  Adoring and adored grandmother of Lauren Bauer (Nick), Rachel Hoekstra (Mark), David Lowenstein (fiancée Nesa), Natalie Mann (fiancé John) and Alexander Mann, and great-grandmother of Samuel Bauer, Emme Hoekstra and Ellen Hoekstra. A lifelong Pittsburgher (except for one year at the University of Michigan before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh), and a proud resident for 55 years of Winterburn Avenue in Greenfield, Estelle lived her life with relentless and irrepressible positivity and enthusiasm. “What did you have good to eat?” Whether it was in her career as a substitute teacher, or with her limitless group of close and lifelong friends, her special Schenley Park Golf Course friends (where the bench on Hole Number 3 is dedicated to Estelle and Melvin), her many cousins in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and beyond, and most of all her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, every day was a good day for Estelle, and every day was a little brighter for anyone who encountered Estelle. For most of her life, this positive approach to life was manifested by laughter, smiles, conversation and more conversation. Estelle was the life of many parties and always a strong contender for the last to leave, often to the bemusement of her loving and patient husband. “C’mon Gracie, it’s time to go.” Even as Parkinson’s robbed Estelle of much of her physical vitality and her ability to speak, it never diminished Estelle’s joy for life. Estelle enjoyed bingo and Pokeno at Riverview and breakout road trips to Big Jim’s for spaghetti Monday or Wendy’s for a Frosty. She remained faithful and devoted to all her Pittsburgh sports teams. “What channel is the Pitt game on?” But nothing made Estelle beam like seeing her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom she adored unconditionally and enjoyed immeasurably. Estelle was a lifetime honorary trustee of Temple Sinai, which held a special place in her heart. At Sisterhood activities, Friday night services, the High Holidays, Meals on Wheels, the Jewish Food Festival, and many other congregation functions, Temple Sinai was a central part of Estelle’s life, and Estelle and Mel’s life together. Temple Sinai was just one part of the many ways that Estelle Mann made life better for many people and left the world a better place than she found it. Special thanks to Estelle’s caregivers, especially Mary Sherrill and Iris Marshall, everyone at Riverview Towers, and the many health care and community professionals who have been so helpful to Estelle. Services and interment were private. Contributions may be made to Temple Sinai, 5505 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217, or a charity of the donor’s choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com

Saturday June 8: Bessie Averbach, Saul Caplan, Helen Unger Casar, Frances Fink, Louis Aaron Gernstat, Milton M Goldstone, Sidney Harris, Mollie Greenberg Kalson, Esther Leipzig, Ben H Liepack, Saul Linder, Adele Lundy, Kathryn Friedlander Miller, Dora Weiss Nach, Joseph Price, Pearl R Regenstein, Benjamin Saunders, Bessie Srulson, Saul Waxler

Anna Marie Shields, deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 3170 of 2024, Nicole Lockhart, Executrix, c/o David J. Slesnick, Esq., 310 Grant Street, Suite #1220, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Michele Stehle, deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 3168 of 2024, John J. Checkeye, Administrator, c/o David J. Slesnick, Esq., 310 Grant Street, Suite # 1220, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

news JEWS CAN USE.

Obituaries

Obituaries:

Every Friday in the and all the time online @pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. For home delivery, call 412-687-1000, ext. 2

Continued from page 19

SACKS: Shirley Prizent Sacks, on Friday, May 24, 2024. Beloved wife of the late Aaron Sacks. Loving mother of Joseph Sacks and the late William Sacks. Daughter of the late Saul and Fannie Prizent. Sister of Miriam (Burton) Cohn and the late Edith (late Al) Gross. Also survived by loving nieces, nephews and friends. Shirley worked as a nursing supervisor at Magee Women’s Hospital in the 1960s. She also ran a stationery business from her home providing countless Jewish families with their bar and bat mitzvah, and wedding invitations. She finished her nursing career as a supervisor at what was then known as the Jewish Home for the Aged. Graveside services and interment were held at Poale Zedeck Memorial Park. Contributions may be made to Na’AMAT, 6505 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 635, Los Angeles, CA 90048, naamat.org/. schugar.com

WERBER: Steven Werber, 56, passed away in Pittsburgh after a valiant fight against leukemia, surrounded by his family and friends. Steven was a very loving spouse, beloved son and treasured friend. He was an avid reader, enthusiastic gamer and talented actor and comedian. Steven, or “Stevie” to his friends and family, was a former teacher at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh for 20 years before the pandemic had him transitioning to tutoring. Stevie was beloved by his students and colleagues, as well as his family, friends and neighbors. He was, as his friend Scott says, “an eminently kind, warm and generous person.” Stevie was a big warm and safe hug in the shape of a human being. He will be sorely and deeply missed by all who knew him. Steven is survived by his wife, Cheryl; his parents, Barry and Brenda; cousins, Riki, Greg and Caren; and all his nieces and nephews — not to mention by his friends. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to WYEP.org. A graveside service was held at the Penn

Israel to commemorate Diaspora victims of Jew-hatred

By JNS

The Israeli Cabinet approved a plan on Monday to officially commemorate Jews murdered in antisemitic attacks in the Diaspora.

Amichai Chikli, minister for Diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, proposed the move, which is aimed at strengthening Jewish identity and fostering solidarity between the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

“Hostile actions often target the Jewish people, both within our borders and across the sea,” said Chikli on Monday.

“The Oct. 7 massacre and the Iron Swords War were launched against Israel for one reason: hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel. This is also the sole reason our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora suffer from severe and appalling antisemitic events,” he continued.

The decision comes amid a wave of antisemitic violence worldwide partially triggered by Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

The initiative is part of the “The Ruderman Roadmap,” strategic guidelines devised by the Ruderman Family Foundation to formally outline and codify the Israeli government’s

responsibility to Diaspora Jewry.

“This is a courageous government decision that strengthens the bond of

shared destiny between Israel and the Jewish world, which has become more evident than ever since Oct. 7,” said Shira

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Ruderman, executive director of the Ruderman Family Foundation.

“This is a historic day where the state of Israel has proven that only through our unity as a people and the mutual responsibility between us can we ensure

In May 2023, the Cabinet approved preliminary resolution 492 in light of “the need and moral obligation to commemorate the Diaspora Jews who are not citizens of Israel, who were murdered due to their Jewishness in antisemitic hostile acts in the Diaspora, and in order to promote this

Among the initial recommendations made was to mark the commemoration of the Fallen in the Diaspora as part of a ceremony on Memorial Day; establish a designated state monument to commemorate the Fallen in the Diaspora; and make information about the Fallen in the Diaspora accessible through an open and available

“Israel’s official recognition for the victims of antisemitic violence is an important and necessary step — a step that implements the state’s commitment under the law, which stipulates that ‘the state will ensure the safety of the Jewish people and their citizens who are in distress and captivity because of their Judaism or citizenship,’” said Chikli on Monday. PJC

— ISRAEL —

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Continued from page 16

gave viewers a window into where Israelis’ heads are at more than seven months after Oct. 7.

Both sketches take place in what look like typical “Jews Are Coming” settings. In the opening video, the biblical Moses, a recurring character on the show, praises Israelis for their spirit of generosity after the attack.

remains on the tragedy of the Hamas attack and its aftermath rather than on the tens of thousands of Palestinian casualties. “In October we got a slap in the face not just from Hamas but from all of history — from Pharaoh, Amalek, Haman, the Cossacks, the Mufti, Hitler — those who in every generation rise up against us,” Natalie Marcus and Asaf Beiser, the show’s creators, posted in a statement online. “At difficult moments, when the present is intolerable and the future is clouded with fog, the

The show’s creators appear wise to the fact that messages of shared destiny may ring hollow at a time when their country is both deeply traumatized and deeply divided.

“I saw how you’re volunteering, how you’re hosting guests, how you pile into vans to go and cheer up evacuees, or to dance with soldiers, to bring some happiness to this sad time,” he says. “You really surprised me. You’re a great nation, and you deserve to hear it.”

The closing video begins with Yael Sharoni, one of the show’s actors, dressed in robes indicating ancient times in front of what looks like a wall from the Old City of Jerusalem. Text on screen reads, “Jerusalem, 70 CE.”

“It was the morning of the ninth of Av,” she begins, looking troubled, in a reference to the day when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire. “We were awakened by a terrifying noise. We didn’t know what was happening, until we understood that the Romans had started burning the temple.”

Seconds later, looking terrified, Sharoni’s character says, “Then we heard shrieking from the house next door.”

The scene shifts to a man in medieval garb, from Cologne in 1096, during the crusades, who picks up the narrative where Sharoni’s character left off. He is followed by Jewish survivors of the 1903 Kishinev pogrom, the 1929 Hebron massacre, Kristallnacht in 1938 and the Farhud, an antisemitic pogrom in Baghdad. Each describes witnessing the murder of Jews and their own fears of their families getting killed by violent antisemites.

Finally, the narrative shifts to a woman in contemporary clothes and full color, alongside the text, “Kfar Aza, 2023.” The community was one of the sites hit hardest by the Oct. 7 attack.

“Everyone asks if we can go on living with this,” she says. “We have no choice. We must carry on, step by step, and start rebuilding from scratch.”

The message is clear: With global attention increasingly turned to devastation in Gaza, the video relays the Israeli perspective that Hamas’ attack — which killed approximately 1,200 people, destroyed Israeli communities and took some 250 people hostage — is just the latest in a long line of antisemitic massacres that the Jews have overcome. It also reflects that Israelis’ focus

past has a special power: It’s a source of comfort, guidance and, above all, a sense of proportion.”

Both videos, uploaded with English subtitles, are directed at an Israeli audience as well as a global one. And both, aiming for a unifying tone, come from a show that has divided Israelis in the past. Its premiere a decade ago was delayed for months after a promo clip satirizing right-wing extremist murderers from Israeli history drew charges of political bias.

Orthodox rabbis have complained about depictions and invocations of Jewish tradition, and critics staged a protest against the show in 2020 that drew thousands of people. The show includes a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode that says “We apologize in advance” if anyone is offended.

The show’s creators appear wise to the fact that messages of shared destiny may ring hollow at a time when their country is both deeply traumatized and deeply divided. In the Moses segment, he cautions Israelis not to yield to the forces pulling them apart.

“Remember what you’ve been like in this time, without fighting or shouting or civil wars. And decide what kind of generation you want to be: a generation that destroys or a generation that builds. The future generations of the Jewish people are watching you now,” he says.

(Because it is, after all, a comedy show, he adds, “Past generations are watching too, but that’s because there’s nothing better to do. We don’t have Netflix.”)

Still, he ends on a hopeful note: “I know this is a tough time, but remember, I got past Pharaoh — you can get past this.”

Whether the message of Jewish endurance will register in today’s Israel and around the world is unclear. But online, where the segments took off as soon as they were posted, in part because of the addition of English subtitles, there were signs that they were hitting their mark.

“I love the way your team have made us laugh,” one commenter wrote on YouTube. “Now you deserve also my gratitude for your tribute to our reality.” PJC

Community

Community members gathered on the corner of Darlington Road and Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill on May 26 to demand the return of an estimated 125 hostages. The captives have remained

Friends all around

In every generation there are women

Women of Temple Sinai held a women’s seder on April 27. The Laura Fehl Memorial Seder honored a past president and friend to many who died unexpectedly in April 2023.

Bring

it Bach

The Music and More at Rodef Shalom series hosted Three Centuries of Violin

Sonne on violin, Amaury Morales on piano and Alison Fujito on

p Steering committee members joined more than 70 women at the seder. Photo courtesy of Lynn Rubenson

Artistry with Roy

violin.

p

p Fara Marcus, a Jewish communal professional at the JCC, speaks on May 26.

p Friendship Circle teens pose during the VIP reception for graduating seniors. Photo courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

p Musician and Israel advocate Sarah Kendis addresses the crowd. Photos by Jonathan Dvir