Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 6-2-23

‘We will seek justice’: Testimony begins in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre trial

Federation’s CEO recalls Oct. 27, 2018

By Torsten Ove | Contributing Writer

The sound of booming gunshots and screams echoed through a federal courtroom on Tuesday as the government played a 911 call from the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre on Oct. 27, 2018.

Bernice Simon had called on her cell phone to report a shooter loose in the Tree of Life synagogue building.

“We’re at Tree of Life, we’re being attacked,” she said to the dispatcher.

Her husband, Sylvan, had been hit as the couple sat in the chapel. They had been married in the synagogue some 60 years earlier.

“He’s shot in the back,” she said in an out-of-breath voice.

The dispatcher told her to stay down and put her shawl on Sylvan’s wound to stop the bleeding.

On a second call, loud shots can be heard in the background as the shooter continued his rampage through the building.

“I’m scared to death,” Bernice said.

Her husband wasn’t breathing, she said. She said he might be dead. Moments later, the jury heard her own screams amid deafening

gunshots, followed by her dying breaths. She was 84. Her husband was 86. That call marked the first day of testimony in the federal death penalty trial of Robert Bowers.

He is accused of gunning down 11 worshippers because of a hatred of Jews. It’s the worst attack on Jews in U.S. history.

In her opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo Song recounted the systematic slaughter that morning and then made a simple declaration.

“We will seek justice,” she told the jury, “in the names of the deceased victims.”

She named each: the Simons; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; David Rosenthal, 54, and his brother, Cecil, 59; Dan Stein, 71; Joyce Fienberg, 75; Irving Younger, 69; Melvin Wax, 87; Richard Gottfried, 65; and Rose Mallinger, 97.

The accused killer, a truck driver from Baldwin, is charged with gunning them down while they gathered for Shabbat services. He is also accused of wounding other congregants and several Pittsburgh police officers in two gunfights.

Jeff Finkelstein was disoriented by more than jet lag the morning of Oct. 27.

Finkelstein, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, returned to Pittsburgh from Israel the previous evening, in time to celebrate Shabbat with his wife.

“It was a normal night after a long trip,” Finkelstein recalled. “The next morning, I had decided I was going to sleep in, which I don’t do because I get really jet-lagged. I was up the next day and got a call around 10 a.m.”

The call was from the Federation’s then-board chair, Meryl Ainsman, telling him there was a shooting at the Tree of Life building.

“I had to figure out what to do,” Finkelstein said. “Do I go there? Do I stay at home? Do I trust the news? I mean, who knows?”

He decided to head to the building. When he reached barriers set up by the police several blocks away, he realized that he had to quickly learn the details of what was happening and determine the needs of the community.

Finkelstein wasn’t the only community leader who had heard the news and traveled to the site of the danger. Gov. Tom Wolf, Mayor Bill Peduto, state Rep. Dan Frankel and Pittsburgh City Council member Corey O’Connor were all outside the building when he arrived.

“I have a couple of pictures on my cell phone of police running down the street in full tactical gear, running to storm the building,” Finkelstein

12

 Jeff Finkelstein

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

 A memorial outside the Tree of Life building after the Oct. 27, 2018, attack

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

Headlines

Former Israeli intelligence o cer shares insights during visit to Pittsburgh

— LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

If Avi Melamed had a personal slogan, it might be: “Education, not narrative.”

Melamed is a former Israeli intelligence official and senior official in Arab affairs. When he retired after nearly 20 years in various government agencies, he shifted his focus to education and began working as a Middle East intelligence analyst and commentator.

Melamed is the author of three books, including “Inside the Middle East: Entering a New Era,” published in 2022, and is the host of the documentary series “The Seam Line,” which examines Jerusalem and its Jewish, Muslim and Christian populations. He is also the founder and chief education officer of Inside the Middle East, an apolitical nonprofit that provides customized educational experiences to organizations and individuals.

A former high school teacher, Melamed said he aims to provide a clear and nuanced understanding of a complex reality.

“I don’t deal with narratives,” he said. “People have their narratives, people have perspectives, their beliefs. That’s not what I’m dealing with.”

Melamed was in Pittsburgh on May 22, sharing insights with community leaders during talks at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. His visit, part of a five-city tour of the United States organized by the JCC Association of North America, allowed him to provide a snapshot of some of the challenges in the Middle East and the threats to Israel’s security — including Iran.

Iran, he said, is led by a “brutal” mullah regime with a “revolutionary outlook,” and has effectively capitalized on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to its advantage for years.

elevate the country’s standing in a region where most Arab countries are primarily Sunni and are suspicious and resentful of the Persian country. The relationship between Iran and those Arab counties has become more tenuous as Iran has supported the secular Ba’ath Party in Syria and deepened its influence in Lebanon.

“The Arab world is starting to come back to its senses and say, ‘Whoa, just a moment. We are being fooled. We are being tricked by the mullah regime. This whole story of resistance is a big lie,’” Melamed said.

Iran hasn’t denied its intentions or influence, he continued, pointing to the country’s control of several Arab capitals, including Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad and Sanaa in Yemen.

Despite misgivings, there are still some in the Arab world who believe Iran cares about “freeing Palestine,” Melamed said.

He explained that Iran’s equation for its support of Palestinian militant groups is simple: The more it flames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the better for the rich mullahs.

Iran is unambiguous in its resolve to wipe Israel from the map, Melamed said. And while

many Westerners struggle with that concept, “the mullah regime doesn’t think in English. The mullah regime is revolutionary, and the idea of wiping the state of Israel off the map in the eyes of the mullah regime is very real.”

Hamas also wants to eliminate Israel, Melamed said, despite its public proclamations of willingness to accept a Jewish state within the 1967 borders.

“Hamas is very clearly saying, ‘for the time being,’” he said. “This is an interim phase and so, in that sense, you will find the same narrative among most of the Palestinians.”

In the Gaza Strip, Melamed said, there is some resentment toward Hamas, with many believing the organization is sacrificing Palestinians on the altar of Iran.

As a result, he said, Hamas is rethinking its political agenda, which explains the organization sitting out the last two conflicts between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Asked about Israel’s Iron Dome, Melamed said some Westerners don’t understand that the defense system not only protects Israel but also keeps the conflict with the Palestinians from deepening.

“Thanks to the Iron Dome system, we don’t

find ourselves in a situation where the Gaza Strip is totally occupied again by Israel, with everything that comes with it,” he said. “It’s interesting — sometimes people don’t make that connection, but it’s important to emphasize that Israel’s major challenge, at the end of the day, are rockets and missiles. If you’re facing a situation where you have dozens of thousands of rockets pouring down on your cities and you can’t defend your cities, you’re looking at a totally different situation.”

Doron Krakow, president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America, said the organization brought Melamed to several JCCs to help strengthen the role that engagement with Israel plays in building Jewish community.

“Over the last several years, we’ve experimented with several initiatives that include bringing resources to JCCs,” Krakow said. “We have created a philanthropic fund that allows us to provide matching dollars for creative programs at the initiatives of the JCC and have distributed close to half a million dollars in grants over the last few years.” With the Inside the Middle East effort, he said, the association tried a variation on that theme, fully funding a program and making it available to local centers.

The organization, he said, is curating a host of possibilities for future programs.

Krakow said he was pleased that Melamed, whom he views as an insightful analyst, was able to participate in the pilot program.

“I think there is great wisdom to contextualizing our engagement with Israel by ensuring that people have a broader understanding of the setting and circumstance in which Israel exists,” Krakow said.

“This is our mission,” Melamed said, “to help bring education to people.” PJC

drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Main phone number: 412-687-1000

Subscriptions: 412-687-1000, ext. 2

SUBSCRIPTIONS

subscriptions@pittsburghjewishchronicle. org

412-687-1000, ext. 2

TO ADVERTISE

advertising@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

724-713-8874

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Email: newsdesk@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Evan H. Stein, Board Chair

Gayle R. Kraut, Secretary

Evan Indianer, Immediate Past Chair

Gail Childs, Dan Droz, Malke Steinfeld

Frank, Seth Glick, Tammy Hepps, Cátia Kossovsky, David Rush, Charles Saul

GENERAL COUNSEL

Stuart R. Kaplan, Esq.

Jim Busis, CEO and Publisher 412-228-4690 jbusis@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

EDITORIAL

Toby Tabachnick, Editor 412-228-4577 ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Andy Gotlieb, Contributing Editor

Adam Reinherz, Staff Writer 412-687-1000 areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

David Rullo, Staff Writer 412-687-1000 drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

ADVERTISING

Phil Durler, Senior Sales Associate 724-713-8874 pdurler@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

PRODUCTION

Jeni Mann Tough Production Manager

Carl Weigel Art/Production Coordinator Subscriptions subscriptions@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

412-687-1000, ext. 2

Published every Friday by the Pittsburgh Jewish Publication and Education Foundation 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Phone: 412-687-1000

POSTMASTER:

Send address change to PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE, 5915 BEACON ST., 5TH FLOOR PITTSBURGH, PA 15217

(PERIODICAL RATE POSTAGE PAID AT PITTSBURGH, PA AND AT ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES)

USPS 582-740

Manuscripts, letters, documents and photographs sent to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle become the property of this publication, which is not responsible for the return or loss of such items.

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle does not endorse the goods or services advertised or covered in its pages and makes no representation to the kashrut of food products and services in said advertising or articles. The publisher is not liable for damages if, for any reason whatsoever, he fails to publish an advertisement or for any error in an advertisement. Acceptance of advertisers and of ad copy is subject to the publisher’s approval. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle is not responsible if ads violate applicable laws and the advertiser will indemnify, hold harmless and defend the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle from all claims made by governmental agencies and consumers for any reason based on ads appearing in the PittsburghJewish Chronicle

David Rullo can be reached at

 Avi Melamed recently met with members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Melamed (center) is flanked by Eli Ovits (left), president of Inside the Middle East and Brian Schreiber, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. Photo by David Rullo

Headlines

Pittsburgh college students gain perspectives on conflict during Middle East trip

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Sta Writer

After visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories, Pittsburgh college students returned to campus with some clarity but no answers regarding the regional conflict.

From May 11-22, students from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University toured Middle Eastern religious sites, spoke with researchers and residents and listened to competing narratives regarding history, land, culture and goals.

The fully subsidized trip, which was supported by Hillel JUC, gave 19 student leaders a chance to “learn and experience Israel and the Palestinian territories in a close-up and firsthand way,” Dan Marcus, Hillel JUC’s executive director and CEO, said. “It was about providing students a more nuanced and deeper appreciation of the complexity of the region beyond anything they could encounter in the classroom or from social media headlines.”

Isabel Lam, a political science and economics major at Pitt, said the program — which was called “Perspectives” — offered a substantive experience far surpassing her prior study.

Since high school, Lam has followed “modern” Israeli history, including Netanyahu’s return to power and the current judiciary situation.

She joined Perspectives, she said, “to see how much more I didn’t know, because you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Lam’s takeaway was that the IsraeliPalestinian conflict “is not an easy issue,” she said. “It is complex and it was tough to hear both sides. Both sides had the motivation to fight for their country, to fight for their people. Both sides have been persecuted. People are hurting and it was hard to hear about all the innocents who have died.”

For Asher Alvaré Goodwin, a computer engineering major at Pitt, visits to Bethlehem and Ramallah were instructive yet challenging.

Before each excursion, Goodwin disabled Hebrew notifications from his phone, unlatched his Star of David necklace, removed his yarmulke from his backpack and left his jewelry, head covering, Rav Kav (Israeli public transportation card) and other culturally identifiable items at the hotel. On each entrance into the West Bank, he asked fellow travelers to refer to him as Chris instead of Asher.

“Some people might say that’s too much, but that’s what I did,” he said. “I thought the experience was valuable enough for me to put these things aside so I could see something with my own eyes.”

Goodwin said he listened to presentations during which Jews were described as

“invaders” and Palestinians were called “the descendants of Cannanites.”

“The straight-up negation of my identity was hard to hear, but it gave me a general idea of what many people’s ideas were,” he said.

Goodwin, a self-described “confrontational person,” said he desperately wanted to counter and denounce anti-Zionist statements but elected to stay mum.

Practicing self-restraint, he said, offered a priceless lesson.

“When you’re hearing someone’s narrative, it doesn’t matter if they are factually correct or not, that’s their narrative — you’re not going to argue with them, you’re not going to disprove them,” he said. The value of quietly listening is that “you can begin to hear them and rationalize what the next steps would be for someone who is operating under that narrative.”

Quentin Romero Lauro, a computer science student at Pitt, said that among Perspectives’ numerous benefits was purposeful exposure to uncomfortable positions.

“We live in a world of nuance where things are never cut and dry,” he said. “People cling to extremes because we never listen to the other side, so being able to communicate and understand others is the first step to respecting that nuance.”

Kari Exler, Hillel JUC’s assistant director, said participants — both Jewish and non-Jewish — were selected because they are “changemakers on campus” and have influence among nearly 100 different student organizations at Pitt and CMU.

Jake Lorenz, a political science major specializing in international relations with a certificate in global studies conflict and security at Pitt, said he felt “energized and motivated to bring his experiences to campus.”

The goal isn’t necessarily to disprove radical positions “but to educate and have productive dialogue,” he said.

Like the other travelers, Romero Lauro returned to the States three days ago.

He told the Chronicle that he saw that a friend had posted an accusation against the “whole Israeli people” on social media.

Romero Lauro said he invited his friend to have a conversation about the post and Israeli-Palestinian relations.

“I don’t think I would have had the confidence to do this before Perspectives because I knew so little about the issue,” he said. “Now I feel like I am in a place where I can talk about it.”

Romero Lauro said he reached out — knowing full well that spending 10 days in Israel and the Palestinian territories still means “I hold a position of ignorance that people there don’t” — with the goal of having a “respectful” conversation.

He said his friend hasn’t replied. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

 Pittsburgh college students visit the Temple Mount. Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC

 Perspectives participants enjoy a Jeep ride in the Golan Heights. Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC

“We live in a world of nuance where things are never cut and dry. People cling to extremes because we never listen to the other side, so being able to communicate and understand others is the first step to respecting that nuance.”

−QUENTIN ROMERO LAURO

AgeWell Pittsburgh credentialed for its care of LGBTQ+ older

adults

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Sta Writer

AgeWell Pittsburgh has long prided itself on caring for older adults. To best serve that demographic, the collaboration of staff from the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Family and Community Services and Jewish Association on Aging undertook additional training and certification.

Upon completion of that, AgeWell announced last week that it received the SAGECare credential for demonstrating competency in caring for LGBTQ+ older adults. SAGECare is a division of SAGE, an organization that has served and advocated for LGBTQ+ older adults since 1978.

AgeWell is among only a “handful of organizations to complete the platinum level credential for SAGECare LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency Training,” Sharon Feinman, division director of AgeWell at the JCC, said.

Completing the training was a necessary step toward best serving “all older adults in our community,” Feinman continued. “We recognize that there is cultural difference when working with LGBTQ+ older adults in comparison to their younger counterparts, largely in part to the robust history of the LGBTQ+ community, as they have fought for equal rights and to be recognized across aging services.”

The training enabled AgeWell staffers to understand the “unique needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ older adults and guide them in providing the best possible person-directed care,” said Laura Cherner, director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Topics covered included terminology, history, concerns among LGBTQ+ older adults, health disparities, issues regarding identity, creating inclusive environments for transgender individuals, incorporating LGBTQ+ person-directed care, legal protections, organizational resources and best practices, Cherner said.

After AgeWell staffers and the Federation recognized a communal need, the Federation approved a grant covering training and credentialing costs.

“The grant was $2,154, and the Jewish Federation provided some coordination and facilitation as well,” Adam Hertzman, Federation’s director of marketing, said.

AgeWell is an annual recipient of

Federation support.

“The funding for AgeWell that our Federation gives is approximately $150,000 annually, and the majority of this money comes from a block grant from the Jewish Healthcare Foundation to support human services,” Cherner said.

“allowed us to know even more about the lives that LGBTQ+ seniors have lived and how best to help them continue to experience life at its fullest.”

The training “provided pertinent education to staff in different disciplines in order to better serve a diverse group of seniors

AgeWell employees completed one hour of LGBTQ+ aging training and 80% of executives and administrators completed four hours of LGBTQ+ aging training.

“This training provided an excellent opportunity to advance AgeWell Pittsburgh as a leading aging services organization in

“Our vision is to make everyone in Jewish Pittsburgh feel supported, included and inspired,” Jeff Finkelstein, Federation’s president and CEO, said. “Sometimes that requires getting expert support to ensure that staff at our Jewish agencies and synagogues know how to make everyone feel included.”

Stefanie Small, AgeWell representative for JFCS, praised the training and said it

in Allegheny County,” Nadine Kruman, AgeWell representative for the JAA, said.

Alexis Mancuso, an AgeWell representative for the JCC, said the organization has long served local area seniors: Engaging in the SAGECare training, ensured that “we continue to serve the older adults in our community with comfort, understanding and care.”

As part of the credentialing, 80% of

the region for LGBTQ+ older adults,” Lily Wein, Federation’s manager of planning and impact, said. The Federation was pleased to work “with its partners to deliver the highest standards of care to older adults in our community and ensure that all feel welcomed and supported.” PJC

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

Photo by Sabrina Bracher via iStock

“Our vision is to make everyone in Jewish Pittsburgh feel supported, included and inspired.”

−JEFF FINKELSTEIN

Justin Ehrenwerth, Jewish Pittsburgher and legal counsel to Obama, dies at 44

— LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

David Ehrenwerth always knew his oldest child and only son was special.

“From his early days, the bar mitzvah days, junior high school, he was always seen as a leader,” he told the Chronicle. “Some people are very well known and recognized for what you’d call their accomplishments — certainly Justin did all that.

“But then there are people who are kind, who are a mensch, and Justin did that, too,” he added. “He met with the president at the White House but he hand-delivered soup to the sick, too.”

Justin Ehrenwerth, a Pittsburgh Jew, son, father, brother and friend who ascended the political ladder to serve as legal counsel to President Barack Obama, then found his calling protecting the Louisiana coastline, died May 11. He was 44.

Born Sept. 5, 1978, Ehrenwerth grew up in Mt. Lebanon and became a bar mitzvah at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills. His early life was marked, however, by tragedy; his mother, Kandy Reidbord, died in a car accident when he was just 13. He channeled many of the feelings about her loss into his studies and his work, his father recalled, and excelled at Shady Side Academy. A captain of the tennis team, he also became a star student, graduating in 1997. He wanted to make his mother proud.

Next was Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where Ehrenwerth was elected president of the student body in his junior year — during a semester when he was studying at the University of Oxford, no less, his father said. During this time, he also took up competitive ax-throwing and excelled at it, winning titles. He graduated summa cum laude in 2001 from Colby College with a degree in philosophy. Afterward, Ehrenwerth returned to the University of Oxford, where he received a master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economy. After returning to Pennsylvania, he attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania and became a confidante to many friends and family.

“It was amazing,” David Ehrenwerth said, “how people would call him and ask him for advice.”

A good tennis player who never had enough time to master his golf game, Ehrenwerth also was talented at playing the harmonica, friends remembered. He would sometimes sit in with live bands at bars when living and working in Washington, D.C.

During the 2004 presidential race, Ehrenwerth did Jewish-related outreach for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic Party nominee. Cameron “Cam” Kerry, the senator’s Jewish brother, remembers a bus tour through Florida where Ehrenwerth had to wrangle and lead a group of Jewish celebrities and politicians.

“That’s really, to me, the moment I realized Justin had something special,” Kerry told the Chronicle.

During “a very vivid moment,” Ehrenwerth’s tone for dealing with the situation was pitch-perfect, something “respectfully gentle but

authoritative,” said Kerry, now a distinguished visiting fellow at The Brookings Institution, an American think tank founded in 1916.

That tone continued to serve Ehrenwerth well.

“Everybody really loved Justin,” Kerry said, “out of respect and out of affection.”

When Cameron Kerry took an Obama-era job at the Department of Commerce, his first call went to Ehrenwerth; he quickly named Ehrenwerth, his first employee, as his chief of staff.

At that job, Ehrenwerth made fast friends with then-Deputy General Counsel Geovette Washington.

“Justin was always a ray of light,” said Washington, an Oakland resident and the chief legal officer at the University of Pittsburgh. “He was happy. He was cheerful. And he created community … it feels like I’ve known him forever.”

Mostly, the two talked. And talked. And talked.

“We talked about our passion for our families, and we had a battle over who would be closer to my mom,” she laughed. “I don’t think there was anything we didn’t spend hours and hours talking about ... he and I talked about almost everything all of the time.”

In 2013, Ehrenwerth wed the former Dana Dupre, a Louisiana native and fellow attorney. The two, who met on Ehrenwerth’s first day at Colby College, started a family and were raising two boys — Louis, now 3, and Charles, now 5. Washington said Ehrenwerth lovingly referred to his sons as “my North Star.”

In the meantime, Ehrenwerth migrated to the White House, where he served as assistant counsel to Obama. The president tasked Ehrenwerth with leading the legal fight over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident, where more than 130 million gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ehrenwerth served the cause well, and Obama appointed him executive director of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, which was responsible for distributing billions of dollars to restore Louisiana’s Gulf Coast.

In 2017, he went to The Water Institute, a

Louisiana-based nonprofit, where, as president, he nearly tripled the size of the organization’s staff.

“Justin had a tireless approach to working for a better Louisiana, a more resilient Gulf Coast, and bringing those lessons to communities around the country,” said Kevin Reilly, chairman of The Water Institute’s board of directors in a prepared statement. “His vision for The Water Institute is realized in the work the Institute does every day and his legacy will live on into the future.”

“From the oil spill to the Restore Council to The Water Institute, Justin fell in love with coastal Louisiana. It came out in his work,” said Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican from Louisiana, in a prepared statement. “His drive for the best coastal solutions was a result of his commitment to our people. While I’ve lost a long-time friend, colleague and advocate, Justin’s foundation and legacy will be impactful for generations. He will be missed.”

Jordan Fischbach is the director of planning and policy research for The Water Institute. Ehrenwerth personally recruited him for the role while Fischbach was a senior policy researcher at the RAND Institute.

“Justin was an incredible human being,” said Fischbach, a father of two who lives in Squirrel Hill and, since 2011, has worked remotely in Pittsburgh for The Water Institute. “He combined so many traits I admired into one package.”

Fischbach called Ehrenwerth “a visionary leader.”

“He was very mission-driven and encouraged, overall, this restoration path for the Louisiana coast,” he said.

Fischbach recently attended a memorial service for Ehrenwerth in New Orleans.

“Hearing those stories, and there are so many about him, I realized Justin ... had a real impact on people’s lives,” he said.

In Louisiana, Ehrenwerth joined the board of his congregation, Touro Synagogue, and also served on the board of the Anti-Defamation League, his father said.

“He was doing a million things — it’s all true. His rise was so wonderful,” David Ehrenwerth said. “He was just a kid from Pittsburgh who grabbed hold of these things and kept climbing up the line.”

Jordan Strassburger, an attorney with the Pittsburgh firm Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick, & Gefsky, met Ehrenwerth at Shady Side Academy when both were freshmen.

“He and I became best friends — we spent a lot of time together, we played sports and we hung out on the weekends,” Strassburger said. “We became very good friends very soon.”

The pair stayed close into adulthood, but Strassburger admitted he wasn’t well-versed on Ehrenwerth’s resume.

“What I’ve really come to realize is how modest he was with his accomplishments,” said Strassburger, who is Jewish and lives in Squirrel Hill. “He was very, very intelligent and he was very, very accomplished. But we didn’t talk about work. We talked about our children. We talked about our wives. He didn’t advertise his jobs or his accomplishments.”

Strassburger admits he’s “not a phone guy.” But, for Ehrenwerth, he picked up the phone.

“We just always stayed close,” he said. “He and I didn’t have existential conversations about life, though. He sure could have — he had the master’s in philosophy.”

Lindsey Ehrenwerth Herman is Ehrenwerth’s younger sister. She is a social worker for a small private practice who lives with her husband, Everett, a Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh staffer, and their three children in Squirrel Hill.

Herman said anytime her brother was in Pittsburgh, “it felt like home.”

“He made anywhere he lived home but there was a lot of coming back to Pittsburgh,” she said. “There was always a soft spot for Pittsburgh.”

“I think his relationship with my kids was pretty special,” added Herman, who said her brother always fawned over her daughter Hazel, 7, and twin sons Baxter and Wolf, 5. “My kids were utterly smitten with him. He was the life of the party ... and a pretty big part of our household, as well.”

Herman said she and her brother spoke on the phone every day until he died. There was often a race to see who would call who first when one of “The Godfather” movies was playing on TV.

“He and I,” she said, “we were very, very, very close.”

Washington also spoke regularly with Ehrenwerth, right until the end.

“He was great with people,” said Washington, with whom Ehrenwerth lived for a while when between apartments in Washington, D.C. “He could see what people would be good at, in a way they could not see. He could get people on board to do the right stuff in a way where you thought it was your idea.”

“He was the very best of us — he was just the best person I’ve known,” she added. “I just feel privileged that I got to know him.”

“He was a huge part of my life. And I will miss him forever.”

A public memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. June 4 at Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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 4

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

Join Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh at the Heinz History Center for “Beautiful Days in the Neighborhood; Yeshiva Schools at 80,” a celebration of eight decades of education. 6:30 p.m. $180 per individual, $360 per couple. Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, 1212 Smallman St. yeshivaschools.com/dinner.

SUNDAYS, JUNE 4 – DEC. 3

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

SUNDAYS, JUNE 4 – DEC. 17

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

MONDAYS, JUNE 5 – DEC. 18

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

TUESDAYS, JUNE 6 – DEC. 19

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

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

WEDNESDAYS, JUNE 7 – DEC. 20

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

WEDNESDAYS, JUNE 7 – DEC. 27

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

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 8

Classrooms Without Borders presents a post film discussion of “Traces Trilogy: Portraits of Resistance, Survival and Resolve,” with executive producer Judith

Graphic crime scene and autopsy images will be part of synagogue massacre trial, judge rules

— LOCAL —

By Torsten Ove | Contributing Writer

Autopsy photos, crime scene images and a police body cam video will be shown to the jury in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre trial, the judge ruled on May 26, rejecting a defense motion to bar the graphic evidence.

U.S. District Judge Robert Colville agreed with the prosecution that the images are relevant to show the accused shooter’s intent and will help the jury understand the chronology of the slaughter that left 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue building dead on Oct. 27, 2018.

The defense team didn’t dispute the relevance of the images but argued that they could be cumulative and cause “unfair prejudice” against the accused killer, especially since the lawyers aren’t contesting the time, place and manner of the murders.

The lawyers had also said showing all the images is a way for the government to ask jurors to put themselves in the shoes of the victims, which in legal circles is called the “golden rule” argument and isn’t allowed.

But the judge said he doesn’t see how admitting the photos is an improper appeal to the jury, “especially considering the routine admission of this kind of evidence.”

Robert Bowers is accused of entering the Tree of Life building and gunning down worshippers because of a hatred of Jews. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted. The parties spent the past month selecting a jury, which was finally seated last week. Testimony began Tuesday and the trial could last two months.

The evidence at issue is 48 crime photos,

43 autopsy photos and a police body cam video, all of which are under seal.

Colville looked at them all and said he doesn’t think they are cumulative or will confuse the jury or waste time, as the defense argued. He said the crime photos show the scene from various angles and so are necessary for the jury to understand how the crime played out.

As to the autopsy photos, he said the government isn’t seeking to introduce images showing the most grievous wounds. The photos will help the jury follow the testimony of the medical examiner in establishing cause and manner of death, as in any murder case.

Colville also said the video will be allowed because it provides context for the photos.

The judge also said the defense argument that the images shouldn’t be allowed because the defendant isn’t contesting the time, place and manner of the killings has no merit.

“Whether Defendant is willing to concede facts or not, the evidence is still admissible” under the law, he said.

Bowers is only the fourth defendant in the history of the Western District of Pennsylvania to face the federal death penalty. None was executed. Juries spared two of them and the other pleaded guilty as part of a cooperation agreement against the killer in an interstate murder-for-hire plot.

If the defendant is sentenced to death, the execution would be carried out in the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana. PJC

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

S. Goldstein and writer Samuel George. Moderated by Avi Ben Hur. 3 p.m. cwbpgh.org/event/post-filmdiscussion-traces-portraits-of-resistance-survivaland-resolve.

SUNDAYS, JUNE 11, SEPT. 10

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

MONDAY, JUNE 12

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

MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, JUNE 12 – JULY 12

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

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, JUNE 13 – JUNE 27

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

MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, JULY 17 – AUG. 2

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

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21

The Squirrel Hill AARP will hold its end of the year annual luncheon and installation of o cers. Matt Sigler will perform a comedy/magic show. Those planning to attend should contact Gerri Linder at 412-421-5868 before June 5. 12:30 p.m. $26.25 Roma Bistro Restaurant, 2104 Ardmore Blvd. PJC

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

Your Hosts:

Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle

David Rullo, Chronicle staff writer

How and When:

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

What To Do

Buy: “Judaism in a Digital Age.” It is available from online retailers including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

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

Happy reading! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Getting to know: Ellen Gettinger

By Justin Vellucci | Special the Chronicle

Ellen Gettinger returned to her native Pittsburgh with a bold, new mission: developing and nurturing the latest generation of leaders.

Raised in Mt. Lebanon and a graduate of SUNY-Binghamton University, Gettinger has extensive experience cultivating lay leadership. She strives to understand organizations’ cultures and builds people to thrive within and beyond those borders.

Until recently, though, most of that work took place on a broader, national level.

Gettinger has an impressive resume, having worked for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the JCC Association of North America, the umbrella organization for Jewish community centers.

She began in December at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh as the director of the Buncher Institute for Leadership Development, or BuILD. Since then, she’s become laser-focused on working within a community, not above it.

“BuILD is really a lay leadership development institute … for all the [Jewish] nonprofits of Pittsburgh,” Gettinger said.

“At national organizations, you have a big reach, but it’s tough to see the impact of your work and be integrated into a community,” she continued. “At the Federation, because my role is so externally focused ... I get to embed myself in the Pittsburgh community,

which has been really special.”

A lot of her work includes meeting with the stakeholders.

“Right now, I’m doing a listening tour,” she said.

The pieces are fitting together nicely. As the Federation launched BuILD — whose director position is endowed by the Buncher Family Foundation — Federation President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein said he “wanted someone with

not only an extensive experience in leadership training but also a particular expertise in culture and employee engagement.”

“Ellen has done exactly this work for three great, national Jewish organizations, so I anticipate that she will really raise the bar on leadership training for Jewish Pittsburgh,” Finkelstein said.

Gettinger is getting acclimated again to the Pittsburgh experience she used to

know. After college, she moved to New York City, where she lived for several years. During the pandemic — as she was working remotely for Hillel International as its associate director of people and culture— she and her family boomeranged and relocated to Pittsburgh’s North Hills.

The job at the Federation soon followed. She loves her new space — compared to NYC’s cramped city apartment — and explores it with her husband, Jonathan, a data analyst, and their son Max, age 3.

“One thing that’s been a nice change from New York is we’ve been doing outdoorsy stuff, biking and hiking — we love going to North Park,” Gettinger said.

“I had a Pittsburgh salad again recently, and that was a nice throwback,” she added with a laugh. “And it was so fun to see how amazed (Max) was by the inclines — it warms my heart to get to see him doing things I grew up doing.”

Gettinger also is connecting with figures from her past. A former member of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills, she’s met with Rabbi Alex Greenbaum — though, now, as peers looking to build relationships in the community.

“It just feels really nice being back,” Gettinger said. “This job had made me feel sort of more like I live in Pittsburgh, even more than when I first moved back and was working remotely.”

“I think I always wanted to get back to Pittsburgh.” PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

Chronicle honored by Western PA Press Club during 59th annual Golden Quill Awards dinner

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle was recognized for professional excel lence by the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania during the 59th annual Golden Quill Awards dinner on May 30.

The Chronicle received the Service to Journalism award for its 60 years of outstanding service to the community. Accepting the award on behalf of the Chronicle, Publisher and CEO Jim Busis said, “The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle stands upon generations of our staff, our board and our community of readers and supporters.”

“Even when other publications cover the same story, our coverage is unique,” Busis continued. “We inform our community, we engage our community and we connect them with each other.”

Along with honoring the Chronicle’s historic and comprehensive coverage, the Press Club recognized Chronicle Staff Writers Adam Reinherz and David Rullo, Editor Toby Tabachnick and freelance writer Justin Vellucci for articles published in 2022. Reinherz was awarded a Golden Quill Award for coverage related to Spot/Breaking News (“Collapse of Fern Hollow Bridge Raises Questions and Awe”) and Lifestyle (“Kerry Weber

Uses Swissvale Skateboard Park to Foster Inclusivity”); Tabachnick won for coverage of Public Affairs/Politics/Government (“We Tried to Interview Summer Lee. Here’s What

Happened”); and Vellucci won in the category of History/Culture (“A Torah’s Journey: From Lithuania to Pennsylvania to Israel”).

The Chronicle was a finalist for eight

additional awards. Reinherz was recognized in the categories of News Feature ( “Shortage of Care Professionals Poses Crisis for Families of Those With Disabilities”); Traditional Feature (“The Gift of a Winter Coat Results in Hall of Fame Friendship”); Sports (“NBA Player Promotes Peace in Israel While Fulfilling Pittsburgh Teaching”); and Profile (“No More Horn but Lots of Gratitude: Israeli Musician Praises Early Pittsburgh Days”).

Rullo was recognized in the categories of Enterprise/Investigative (“Local Impact of URJ Ethics Investigation”); Arts/ Entertainment (“Author Jerry Stahl Confronts ‘The Worst of Humanity’ in New Book”); and Columns/Blogs (“This Is Israel Calling”).

Vellucci was recognized in the category of Profile (“Prolific Letter Writer Oren Spiegler on Five Decades of Missives”).

The Press Club received more than 1,000 entries for this year’s competition honoring professional and student excellence in print, broadcast, photography, videography and digital journalism in western Pennsylvania and nearby counties in Ohio and West Virginia. More than 250 people attended the May 30 event at Rivers Casino.

PJC Adam Reinherz

 Ellen Gettinger Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

Resources are available to ease trauma during synagogue shooting trial

By Helen Fallon | Contributing Writer

Maggie Feinstein knows that the Jewish community of Pittsburgh is resilient. That trait is a legacy, passed on by the many immigrants who faced trauma when they came to Pittsburgh to start a new life and raise their families.

“There was this sense of self-reliance, a community that can take care of itself,” the 10.27 Healing Partnership executive director explained.

But those immigrant parents also knew that trauma would resurface here at some point, and culturally, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were aware it would, too. And it did, horribly and tragically, on Oct. 27, 2018.

Feinstein’s organization and others have worked for three years to prepare for the synagogue shooting trial, a critical process to ensure the community will have access to healing and coping resources during it.

Feinstein wrote on May 10 in the Chronicle that emotions and old wounds will reawaken during it. In the column, she offered steps and advice for the Squirrel Hill community and beyond to become more resilient.

Feinstein said the community has had no say in the long time it took for the legal proceedings to begin, but it could look ahead of it to prepare. “We had no way to predict how it will happen, but we can predict how it will feel,” she said. “We knew this would be coming. Even if it is uncomfortable, we have a lot more control than we did on Oct. 27 [2018].”

Pittsburgh and specifically Squirrel Hill have an abundance of counseling centers, professionals and support groups, which is fortunate. The 10.27 Healing Partnership has added drop-in counseling and alternative healing, which Feinstein said her organization is very committed to and is in addition to other services, for people who may experience trauma and reactivation trauma as the trial gets underway. It is expected to last for three months.

The needs of these people who seek help will be very individual, Feinstein said. “We are encouraging people to tell us what their trauma is when they come in the door,” she said. How they find help will also be individual. “Coming out for drumming, reiki or our forest bathing program, we hope people can engage in less conventional ways,” she said.

A concern always for counselors is that affected people will not seek help at all. “So many things stop people from getting help,” she said. “One is pride. [Another is] feeling either ashamed, or ‘I should be able to do this myself. Why is it so hard?’ ”

Another obstacle, especially related to Oct. 27, is they believe someone has it worse than they do. “I call it the scarcity mindset. ‘If there are only so many resources, I don’t want to take them from someone else,’ ” she explained. “I want you to ask for what you

need for yourself.”

Finally, for a lot of people, hopelessness prevents them from accessing counseling. She said they believe, “ ‘Nothing has ever helped me. Why should I try now?’ ”

Feinstein said she was just a neighbor and community member on Oct. 27, concerned about her friends and not a leader. “Going to this trial is the first time I am carrying that weight. I am honored to be there with my neighbors and my community members,” she said. “I think the pain that will come out of this process will have purpose. I don’t know what it will be yet.”

The 10.27 Healing Partnership announced recently that it has secured funding and will continue its operations until 2028. It spent a year listening to the community and evalu ating needs, working closely with more than 100 organizations, Feinstein said.

“We came up with the realization that we are blessed with many resources in this

community,” she stressed, noting that the rebuilding of the synagogue that housed the three congregations will take place during the same time span. “We will work to transfer the work back to the organizations we have worked with. … We believe that we will be able to transition the work into their capable hands.”

What follows is a listing of community resources available to those experiencing trauma, reactivation trauma or any additional difficulties as the trial begins and then concludes. This list will be updated as more information is provided and additional

resources

available to the general public during the trial, all held in its center, Room 316 in the Jewish Community Center, 5738 Forbes Ave.,

Drop-in counseling : Available every weekday. Anyone can access therapy during these hours for free and for any reason during these hours:

Mondays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Wednesdays, 3-6 p.m.

Thursdays, 3-6 p.m.

Fridays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Individual-focused counseling: Available through Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and Staunton Farms Foundation grants.

The partnership’s experienced trauma clinician is available for walk-in and rapidly scheduled appointments. Based on the right support for the right person at the right time, sessions can be scheduled to work remotely, in the partnership’s office or in the community.

Trauma support group: Led by therapist Linda Welsh, this support group is especially designed for those who have experienced hate-based violence or trauma, including trauma stemming from antisemitism, the synagogue shooting or the trial.

It meets every other Monday at 4 p.m. Check online calendar for upcoming dates.

Alternative wellness: Wellness Wednesdays, drum circles, yoga and more.

With the belief that healing can take a different path for every person, the partnership offers a variety of programs designed to enhance connection, healing and communal care. It holds Wellness Wednesdays once a month with rotating practitioners, including healing storytelling, reiki, sound bathing and acupuncture. Trauma-informed yoga is offered once a week and expressive and cathartic drum circles every month.

10.27 Healing Partnership suite : A free space, open to all, weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Its center within the JCC is open to everyone, with or without a JCC membership. It is available to anyone who wants to connect, needs a quiet space for reflection, or is looking for a calm and empathetic space to talk.

Solidarity building: Various and ongoing events.

The partnership recognizes that standing in solidarity, action and community is a powerful healing modality. It has held several solidarity-building events and volunteering opportunities and will continue to do so throughout the trial. It encourages everybody to wear or display blue ribbons throughout the trial as a symbol of their commitment to standing against hate in all its forms and their solidarity with the families, survivors and victims during the trial.

Other resources : Online and printed information.

The partnership includes mental health and trial support information in its newsletters

 Painted rocks left outside the Tree of Life building Photo by Adam Reinherz Please see Resources, page

 Maggie Feinstein

Photo courtesy of the 10.27 Healing Partnership

Headlines

Roger Waters uses Anne Frank’s name at German concerts, prompting calls for punishment

Roger Waters projected Anne Frank’s name at recent concerts to draw comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany, leading Germany’s Orthodox rabbinical association to call for a ban on his performances in the country, JTA.org reported.

Observers said that Waters, the former Pink Floyd frontman known as a leader in the boycott Israel movement, has lumped Anne Frank with Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in on-screen projections at concerts on his current tour. Abu Akleh was killed on an assignment in the West Bank last year.

Belltower journalist Nicholas Potter, who observed the May 17 Berlin concert, said that Waters promoted antisemitic language.

In speech bubbles on an LED screen in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Waters blamed the world’s troubles on “THE POWERS THAT BE,” which Potter described as “an ominous, overpowering elite that is not explicitly named — this is an antisemitic blueprint on which many conspiracy narratives work.”

Before the event, BDS supporters outside the arena handed out flyers and held up banners, one of which read, “Jews, Israelis and internationals all agree with the Roger,” added Potter, noting that the average concertgoer appeared to be white, German and around 60 years old.

German court acquits COVID denier who compared Israel to Nazi Germany

A German microbiologist known for repeatedly spreading misinformation about the coronavirus was acquitted on May 23 of incitement to hatred for comments about Jews and Israel, JTA.org reported.

In a 2021 campaign video for the fringe political party die Basis (The Basis), Sucharit Bhakdi, 74, a well-known critic of Germany’s pandemic restrictions, said that the Jews had learned evil under Hitler and are using it in Israel to spread more evil.

“The people who fled from this land where the arch evil was, and have found their land, have turned their own land into something even worse than Germany was,” Bhakdi said in the video. “That is the bad thing about the Jews. They learn well.”

Prosecutors at the Plön district court argued that Bhakdi’s comments could lead to the targeting of Jews in Germany. But a judge concluded that it couldn’t be determined without reasonable doubt that Bhakdi had spread antisemitic hatred toward Jews, rather than a specific criticism of the Israeli government and its vaccination policies, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour apologizes for saying killing of British Israelis happened in ‘shootout’

CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour apologized on May 22 for saying in April that the killing of three British Israelis happened in a “shootout.”

Amanpour was referring to the shooting of

Today in Israeli History

June 5, 1952 — Hadassah Medical Center breaks ground

three members of the Dee family, who were killed in a West Bank terror attack in early April by a Palestinian gunman. Maia and Rina Dee, ages 20 and 15, respectively, were killed, and their mother, Lucy, 48, later died of her wounds.

Soon after the attack, Amanpour said on screen that the Dee daughters “were killed in a shootout, and now the mother has died of her injury.” She commented amid a recounting of recent violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel media watchdog, tweeted to Amanpour, “you owe a grieving family an apology.” And this week, Rabbi Leo Dee, the husband and father of the victims, said he was considering suing CNN for $1.3 billion, according to the Jewish Journal.

The next day, Amanpour apologized on air. Wikipedia disciplines editors in Holocaust distortion dispute, sidesteps Polish complicity debate

Wikipedia banned three editors from working on articles related to Jewish history in Poland during World War II, in a bid to resolve editing disputes and safeguard its credibility, JTA.org reported.

But the online encyclopedia stopped short of taking more aggressive action toward allegations of widespread Holocaust distortion on the platform.

The May 20 decision concludes more than two months of deliberation by Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee, which acts as Supreme Court over the volunteers who edit the website.

The Arbitration Committee opened an investigation in response to an unprecedented academic study concluding that a group of

editors had gamed Wikipedia’s rules to introduce content that absolves Poland of blame for antisemitism and Jewish suffering during the Holocaust, in line with the ultranationalist view prevailing in the country.

In keeping with Wikipedia’s accountability framework and to the dismay of the study’s authors, the committee didn’t take a position on the underlying dispute over Polish antisemitism and complicity with the Nazis. The committee instead concluded that the editors didn’t adhere to the community’s code of conduct.

Nearly all antisemitism removed from Saudi textbooks, but Israel not on maps

A review of Saudi schoolbooks shows that most antisemitism was removed, even if Israel does not appear on the maps, JNS.org reported.

The findings by the London office of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education released on May 23 are based on a review of more than 300 textbooks, including 80 for the 2022-‘23 school year.

The report builds on a positive trend of changes since 2020, the year the Abraham Accords saw four Arab countries make peace with Israel. Previously, there were dozens of examples of Jew-hatred in Saudi textbooks, with entire chapters containing negative material about Israel now removed, IMPACT-se said. However, there remains a failure in the textbooks to acknowledge Israel’s existence, with the Jewish state omitted from the maps. And Israel is still referred to as the “Zionist entity.” PJC

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

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

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

June 3, 1977 — Carter counters

Resolution 242 vagueness

President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, redefines U.S. positions on U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, supporting a Palestinian homeland and Israeli territorial withdrawal.

June 4, 1985 —

Supermodel Bar

Refaeli is born

Bar Refaeli, a model known for her business investments and her romantic life with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, is born in Hod Hasharon. She is the first Israeli featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue.

Hadassah breaks ground on the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center at Ein Kerem to replace its medical campus on Mount Scopus, which is in the Jordanianoccupied section of Jerusalem.

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.

June 7, 1981 — Israel destroys Iraqi reactor

Eight Israeli F-16s fly a 2,000-mile round trip to bomb Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. Operation Opera destroys the Frenchbuilt reactor, which Israel fears is meant to develop weapons. Ten Iraqi soldiers and a French civilian are killed.

June 8, 1898 — Zionist Orthodox Union is founded

The Orthodox Union forms in New York as an organization for traditional Jewish congregations in the United States and declares that “restoration to Zion is the legitimate aspiration of scattered Israel.” PJC

 Presenters (from left) Assi Azar, Lucy Ayoub, Bar Refaeli and Erez Tal rehearse for the final of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv.

By Martin Fjellanger, Eurovision Norway, EuroVisionary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 A Jewish grave is visible among the rows of the soldiers buried at the American Cemetery at Normandy.

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

Biden plan to combat antisemitism demands reforms across the executive branch and beyond

— NATIONAL —

By Ron Kampeas | JTA

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden unveiled a multifaceted and broad strategy to combat antisemitism in the United States that reaches from basketball courts to farming communities, from college campuses to police departments.

“We must say clearly and forcefully that antisemitism and all forms of hate and violence have no place in America,” Biden said in a prerecorded video. “Silence is complicity.”

The 60-page document and its list of more than 100 recommendations stretch across the government, requiring reforms in virtually every sector of the executive branch within a year. It was formulated after consultations with over a thousand experts, and covers a range of tactics, from increased security funding to a range of educational efforts.

The plan has been in the works since December, and the White House has consulted with large Jewish organizations throughout the process. The finished document embraces proposals that large Jewish organizations have long advocated, as well as initiatives that pleasantly surprised Jewish organizational leaders, most of whom praised it upon its release.

Among the proposals that Jewish leaders have called for were recommendations to streamline reporting of hate crimes across local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, which will enable the government to accurately assess the breadth of hate crimes. The proposal also recommends that Congress double the funds available to nonprofits for security measures, from $180 million to $360 million.

One proposal that, if enacted, could be particularly far-reaching — and controversial — is a call for Congress to pass “fundamental reforms” to a provision that shields social media platforms from liability for the content users post on their sites. The plan says social media companies should have a “zero tolerance policy for hate speech on their platforms.”

In addition, the plan calls for action in

partnership with a range of government agencies and private entities. It says the government will work with professional sports leagues to educate fans about antisemitism and hold athletes accountable for it, following instances of antisemitic speech by figures such as NBA star Kyrie Irving or NFL player DeSean Jackson.

The government will also partner with rural museums and libraries to educate their visitors about Jewish heritage and antisemitism. And the plan includes actions to be taken by several cabinet departments, from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the USDA.

“It’s really producing a whole-ofgovernment approach that stretches from what you might consider the obvious things like more [security] grants and more resources for the Justice Department and the FBI,” said Nathan Diament, the Washington director of the Orthodox Union. “But it stretches all the way across things that the Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration can do with regard

to educating about antisemitism, that the National Endowment of the Humanities and the President’s Council on Sports and Fitness can do with regard to the institutions that they deal with.”

An array of Jewish organizations from the left to the center-right echoed those sentiments in welcoming the plan with enthusiasm, marking a change from recent weeks in which they had been split over how the plan should define antisemitism. Still, a handful of right-wing groups blasted the strategy, saying that its chosen definition of antisemitism diluted the term.

Despite the relatively united front, there are elements of the strategy that may stoke broader controversy: Among a broad array of partner groups named in the plan is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose harsh criticism of Israel has led to relations with centrist Jewish organizations that are fraught at best. The call to place limits on social media platforms may also upset free speech advocates.

Biden recalled, as he often does, that he decided to run for president after President Donald Trump equivocated while condemning the neo-Nazis who organized a deadly march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

“Repeated episodes of hate — including numerous attacks on Jewish Americans — have since followed Charlottesville, shaking our moral conscience as Americans and challenging the values for which we stand as a Nation,” Biden wrote in an introduction to the report.

The administration launched the initiative last December, after years during which Jewish groups and the FBI reported sharp spikes in antisemitic incidents. The strategy was originally planned for release at its Jewish American Heritage Month celebration last week but was delayed, in part because of lastminute internal squabbling over whether it would accept a definition of antisemitism that

Please see Plan, page 13

 Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff speaks about the Biden administration’s antisemitism strategy at the State Department on May 25. Screenshot

With the increasing costs of long-term care, having the help of a legal professional when planning for your family’s future can help you make better decisions that can result in keeping more of your money.

We help families understand the strategies, the bene ts, and risks involved with elder law, disability and estate planning.

Headlines

Trial:

Continued from page 1

There is no doubt as to his guilt.

The real question is whether he should die for his crimes in the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Song described how the congregants had gathered that morning to pray. She personalized each of them.

Brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal, both intellectually challenged and known as “the boys,” were “trusting and pure” and took up posts in the lobby to welcome other worshippers. Bernice and Sylvan Simon, a couple devoted to each other for 60 years, sat side-byside in a pew. Rose Mallinger, a “devoted, vibrant member” approaching 100, entered with her daughter and would lead the prayer for peace.

The congregants settled in for a morning of prayer.

A half hour away, Song said, Bowers was also making plans — to destroy and kill.

“He hated Jews,” she said. “He called them the children of Satan.”

Online, he had praised the Holocaust and had some 300 followers who agreed with him. He especially reviled Jews, Song said, because he believed that they were responsible for an invasion of refugees coming to America to replace white people.

He left his home armed with an AR-15, three handguns and a shotgun, drove to the synagogue and parked in a handicapped spot.

Finkelstein:

Continued from page 1 said. “I’ve never shared them publicly. They’re on my phone as a reminder of what that day was all about. A lot of people saw it on TV. I saw it live.” Media, too, were beginning to arrive on the scene. Finkelstein said that Squirrel Hill resident and WPXI anchor David Johnson was already on-site and filing on-air reports.

Shortly after Finkelstein spoke with Federation’s then-director of community security, Brad Orsini — who was traveling to the building from Somerset, Pennsylvania — the shooter was apprehended and more information about the attack became available.

“I started to get reports on how many people had been killed,” Finkelstein recalled. “I think the first update was that there were three people, then seven and then it became 11.” Finkelstein’s next call was to Brian Eglash, Federation’s chief development officer and senior vice president, asking for help coordinating the response effort.

It wasn’t long before the media realized that the Federation’s CEO was at the building and began asking for interviews. That caused Finkelstein to pause to consider what role he would play, both locally and nationally.

He said he recalled former Knesset member and friend Nachman Shai, who handled communications for the Israel Defense Forces during the Gulf War.

“When everyone was getting trained on how to use gas masks and how to create safe rooms to block out any chemical weapons, he would get on TV and tell everyone to stay calm and that everything was fine. I really thought about that,” Finkelstein said. “I had a role to try and bring some calmness and support to the Jewish community while we were still trying to figure out what was going on.”

Using his cell phone, he posted his contention that a Jewish refugee group, HIAS, was bringing in “invaders that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

He then blasted out a window with the rifle and methodically roamed the building, killing everyone he saw. Song recounted him shooting helpless victims as he came across them in the sprawling building and described the horrendous wounds he inflicted. He shot six in the head at close range, others in the chest. Some congregants hid or ran while others stayed with victims to try to help them.

Song said 22 people were in the synagogue that morning. The defendant killed half of them.

“He left a trail of death and destruction,” she said.

The motive was clear: Hate.

After the Pittsburgh SWAT team wounded him, an officer asked him why had gone on the rampage.

“All Jews need to die,” he said. “I just want to kill Jews.”

In afternoon testimony, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers took the stand. He initially thought someone had knocked over a coat rack that morning but soon realized he was hearing gunfire. A congregant, Stephen Weiss, came running down the aisle. Realizing most of the congregants in the chapel were old and could not run, Myers told everyone to drop to the floor or lie flat on the pews and stay quiet.

He said he heard gunfire growing louder and

As the day progressed and the immediate threat subsided, Finkelstein and other community leaders moved to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. His thoughts then turned to the larger community.

“The first thing I did was tell Brad Orsini to spend whatever it takes and do whatever you need to do,” Finkelstein said. “We want to make sure the community not only is safe but feels safe. We’ll figure out the money down the road.”

That type of decision-making isn’t common in Jewish communal service, he said, because volunteers typically help make important decisions for the organizations they serve.

Finkelstein informed Ainsman of his directive immediately after talking to Orsini, and continued to update the organization’s board, who, he said, helped in the following days to make critical decisions.

“In a three-week period, we had six board meetings,” Finkelstein said. “We normally have six board meetings a year. We suspended normal business for several months. We stopped the annual campaign. We stopped everything we were doing so we could focus on helping this community stay resilient.”

In the years that followed the attack, many people have presumed that Federation’s response to the attack is Finkelstein’s greatest professional achievement. While he’s proud of the work accomplished by everyone involved in that effort, he disagrees.

“The proudest I am of Federation leadership is in 2016 when we decided to hire a security director,” Finkelstein said. “We saved lives that day. It was a horrible day, but we saved some lives.”

In addition to security training, Orsini provided a level of expertise that helped streamline and manage the Federation’s response, Finkelstein said. At the JCC that day, Pittsburgh’s three largest Jewish communal organizations

helped three people escape the chapel. As he too fled, he called 911 while he climbed a staircase to a third-floor choir room and hid in a bathroom. He told the dispatcher he heard 20 to 30 shots and a woman screaming. He later realized the woman was Bernice Simon.

As he hid in the bathroom, he gripped the doorknob with one hand while he held his phone in the other. He said he was preparing to fight for his life if he felt that doorknob turning.

Prosecutors played the 911 call, and shots and screams can be heard in the background. At one point Myers said he had to stop talking because he thought he heard the shooter coming up the stairs to get him. He then started whispering on the call.

Eric Olshan, one of the prosecutors, asked why he had been whispering.

“I was praying,” he told the jury. “I expected to die.”

He said he thought of all the Jews hunted and slaughtered over the centuries and what they had endured, and he recited the final confession prayer. He also asked for forgiveness for not being able to save the others.

Soon four SWAT team members surrounded him, protecting him with their bodies, and led him away.

“Rabbi,” one of them told him, “run your ass off.”

The defense had no questions for Myers or for the other government witnesses and stayed silent.

In her opening statement, one of the

organized and delegated responsibilities.

Jewish Family and Community Services, headed by Jordan Golin, took on mental health needs and immediately opened walk-in clinics. The JCC, led by Brian Schreiber, became the gathering center for families waiting for news about their loved ones and the headquarters for the FBI. Federation, Finkelstein said, handled security as well as communications and marketing.

In collaboration with other organizations, including the JCC’s Center for Loving Kindness, Federation took the lead in planning the vigil at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Oakland the next day.

“We knew we needed to bring the community together,” Finkelstein said. “Because of our trusted relationships, we knew we could just run in our areas and keep each other informed of the decisions we were making. No one organization could handle it all.”

Finkelstein still gets emotional recalling the process of families being told of their loved ones’ deaths. His voice cracking while fighting back tears, he said all families hoped for the best, but as the afternoon progressed most knew the reality of the situation.

“It was horrible seeing their faces and the pain they had,” he said. “Seeing each of them take it in, it was devastating.”

In the days following the shooting, Federation set up the Victims of Terror Fund, allowing people to donate — without knowing exactly how the funds would be used. To make that determination, former CEO of Giant Eagle Corp. David Shapira was drafted to chair an independent committee created by Federation.

“We didn’t ask for a penny and ended up with over $6 million donated in the weeks ahead,” Finkelstein said. “That money mostly went to the victims’ families, but other pieces went to

defendant’s lawyers, anti-death penalty specialist Judy Clarke, said that the defense will not defend what Bowers did.

“It’s indefensible, it’s inexcusable,” she said. “You will see it, you will feel it and you will agonize with each witness” as the trial proceeds for the next two months.

“The loss that occurred was immeasurable,” she said, and her client caused it.

Her focus is on intent. The Bowers prosecution is not a straightforward murder case, she said. The federal charges are specific offenses, including hate crimes, requiring the government to prove each element. Among the charges, for example, is obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs involving an attempt to kill.

Clarke asked the jury to analyze each count carefully because the government has to prove that the defendant acted with that specific intent.

“There is no making sense of this senseless act,” she said. But what the jury can do, she said, is “uphold the rule of law.”

Bowers is only the fourth defendant in the history of the Western District of Pennsylvania to face the federal death penalty. None of the others was executed. PJC

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

security and some money came in specifically for Federation purposes from some of our friends and the big foundations around the country.”

Finkelstein can’t point to any particular day when the community felt ready to restart Jewish life again, but he said there was an inflection point after the JCC took the lead to set up the 10.27 Healing Partnership.

“When we opened that, we — as a community — were working toward what comes next,” he said.

By December 2018, Federation leaders decided to relaunch its annual campaign, realizing that both local agencies and their oversea partners were going to need funds, Finkelstein said.

“This was the time we pivoted toward some sense of normalcy in our operations,” he said.

Finkelstein has been a part of the fabric of Pittsburgh Jewish life for more than a quarter century, having grown up in Boston. During that time, he said, he’s developed deep relationships. And the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting led to meaningful connections with the families affected.

“I didn’t know any of the victims personally, not one of them,” he said. “But now, I’ve gotten to know their family members. I’ve gotten to know people like Andrea Wedner and Dan Leger [who were both shot but survived the attack]. Honestly, it’s some of the biggest blessings in my life. These are incredibly inspiring people.” PJC

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

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

Headlines

Resources:

Continued from page 8

and through its social media pages. A list of other community organizations that will help residents is available on its website, 1027healingpartnership.org.

JEWISH FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES, 5743 Bartlett St., is offering the following resources:

Individual counseling : Counseling is provided in a wide range of areas, including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, self-image or self-worth, relationship problems, family stress, anger management, grief and loss, and parenting issues, including single parent and blended families. Specialists in the challenges of aging

Plan:

Continued from page 10

some on the left said chilled free speech on Israel. Some right-wing groups were deeply critical of the new strategy for not accepting that definition to the exclusion of others.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) praised the breadth of the plan and said the delay seemed to produce results.

“The White House has taken this very seriously. The phrase that something is still being worked on can often be a euphemism for a lack of concern,” he said. “In this case, it seems to have resulted in an even more comprehensive and hopefully more effective result.”

Some of the initiatives in the plan focus less on directly confronting antisemitism and more on promoting tolerance of and education about Jews. The Biden Administration will seek to ensure accommodations for Jewish religious observance, the accompanying fact sheet said, and “the Department of Agriculture will work to ensure equal access to all USDA feeding programs for USDA customers with religious dietary needs, including kosher and halal dietary needs.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League CEO who was closely consulted on the strategy, said promoting inclusion was as critical as fighting antisemitism. “Is FEMA giving kosher provisions after disasters going to solve antisemitism?” he said in an interview. “No, but ... it’s an acknowledgment of the plurality of communities and the need to treat Jewish people like you would any other minority community, and I think I’m very pleased to see that.”

are available for older adults; in-home sessions are an option.

UpStreet services: Help directed to people ages 12-22. The teen mental wellness program offers drop-in consultations with therapists, scheduled therapy appointments, text-based peer support and support groups. Brief chat support also available.

JFCS therapists : Available at the 10.27 drop-in center at the JCC.

Regular emails and online information: Provided to the community with advice and help on therapy resources, tips, techniques and more. A recent article on its website, jfcspgh.org, offered advice on negotiating social media during the trial.

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER, 5738 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill, and 345 Kane Boulevard, South Hills, has resources and programs that can provide a respite, including:

Fitness: The JCC of Greater Pittsburgh offers programs and fitness classes every day of the week. With upgraded facilities, Olympic-size pools and wellness programs, it prioritizes fitness and community under one roof.

“Working out can provide mood-boosting effects. When you exercise, endorphins

In the months since Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, convened a roundtable to launch the initiative, the Biden administration has pivoted from focusing on the threat of antisemitism from the far-right to also highlighting its manifestation in other spheres — including amid anti-Israel activism on campuses and the targeting of visibly religious Jews in the northeast. Those factors were evident in the strategy.

“Some traditionally observant Jews, especially traditional Orthodox Jews, are victimized while walking down the street,” the strategy said in its introduction. “Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel.”

The proposal that may provoke controversy beyond American Jewry is the Biden Administration’s calls to reform the tech sector, which echo bipartisan recommendations to change Section 230, a provision of U.S. law that grants platforms immunity from being liable for the content users post. Free speech advocates and the companies themselves say that if the government were to police online speech, it would veer into censorship.

“Tech companies have a critical role to play and, for that reason, the strategy contains 10 separate calls to tech companies to establish a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech on their platforms, to ensure that their algorithms do not pass along hate speech and extreme content to users and to listen more closely to Jewish groups to better understand how antisemitism manifests itself on their platforms,” Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Biden’s top Homeland Security adviser, said during a 30-minute briefing on the strategy on Thursday. “The president has also

are released and they can reduce anxiety, depression and, additionally, give you a boost of happiness. Belonging to a community also has a positive impact on mental health. The JCC offers several group exercise programs that help you build strength, improve your cardiovascular fitness and help you recover,” JCC Fitness Director Laurie Wood said.

Residents can come to either JCC location in Squirrel Hill or South Hills and try out a membership for one week for free. Contact the Membership Department at membership@jccpgh.org or stop by the front desk to pick up a guest pass. Information on its programs and schedules is available on its website, jccpgh.org.

Center for Loving Kindness: An UPstander is a person who could be a bystander, yet

called on Congress to remove the special immunity for online platforms and to impose stronger transparency requirements in order to ensure that tech companies are removing content that violates their terms of service.”

In the weeks before the rollout, a debate raged online and behind the scenes among Jewish organizations and activists about how the plan would define antisemitism. Centrist and right-wing groups pushed for the plan to embrace the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition. Among its examples of anti-Jewish bigotry are those focusing on when criticism of Israel is antisemitic, including when “double standards” applied to Israel are antisemitic.

Advocates on the left say those clauses turn legitimate criticism of Israel into hate speech; instead, they pushed to include references to the Nexus Document, a definition authored by academics that recognizes IHRA but seeks to complement it by further elucidating how anti-Israel expression may be antisemitic in some instances, and not in others. Others sought to include the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, which rejects IHRA’s Israelrelated examples.

In the end, the strategy said the U.S. government recognizes the IHRA definition as the “most prominent” and “appreciates the Nexus Document and notes other such efforts.”

A number of the centrist groups pressed for exclusive reference to IHRA, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Those groups praised the strategy and focused only on its embrace of IHRA. So did the Israeli

when the opportunity presents itself, decides to stand UP for a neighbor, according to the JCC website.

UPstanders are community members who provide acknowledgement, understanding and support for neighbors facing challenges as a result of hateful acts, natural disasters, violence or intolerance that threaten the integrity of their community.

How it works:

• When a need presents itself, JCC’s Center for Loving Kindness sends out an email alert announcing the UPstander volunteer opportunity.

• Each registered UPstander decides whether to participate.

• Each opportunity is stand-alone, with no commitment to volunteer on a regular basis.

Interested residents can register at jccpgh.org/upstander. PJC

Helen Fallon writes for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, where this first appeared. She can be reached at hfallon@ unionprogress.com.

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

ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog. “I would like to congratulate the Biden administration for publishing the first ever national strategy to combat antisemitism,” Herzog wrote on Twitter. “Thank you, @ POTUS, for prioritizing the need to confront antisemitism in all its forms. We welcome the re-embracing of @TheIHRA definition which is the gold standard definition of antisemitism.”

Some center-right groups like B’nai Brith International, StandWithUs and the World Jewish Congress, praised the strategy while expressing regret at the inclusion of Nexus. Other right-leaning groups, such as the Republican Jewish Coalition and Christians United for Israel condemned the rollout.

RJC said Biden “blew it” by not exclusively using the IHRA definition. The Brandeis Center, which defends pro-Israel groups and students on campus, said the “substance doesn’t measure up.”

Groups on the left, however, broadly praised the strategy. “We call on our Jewish communities to seize this historic moment and build on this new strategy to ensure that the fight for Jewish safety is a fight for a better and safer America for all,” said a statement from six left-leaning groups spearheaded by Jews For Racial & Economic Justice.

Greenblatt said it was predictable that groups on the left would take the win and that groups on the right would grumble — but that it was also beside the point. IHRA, he said, was now U.S. policy.

“This document elevates and advances IHRA as the way that U.S. policy will be formulated going forward and across all of the agencies,” Greenblatt said. “That is a win.” PJC

 Signage at the JFCS building

Photo courtesy of JFCS

 The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Photo by Adam Reinherz

As a child of survivors, I see my parents in every Ethiopian immigrant to Israel

Guest Columnist

Mark Wilf

Recently, I watched a mother reunite with her son for the first time in 41 years.

On May 9, I was part of a delegation of the Jewish Agency for Israel that accompanied Ethiopian olim (immigrants) from Addis Ababa to Ben Gurion Airport and new lives in Israel. The mother had made aliyah in 1982 as part of Operation Moses, when Ethiopian Jewish immigrants trekked for weeks through the Sudan, hiding out from authorities in the daytime and walking by moonlight, to reach Israeli Mossad agents, who were secretly facilitating their transport to Israel.

But the son, due to family circumstances, was left behind. And here she was on the tarmac, praying and crying, and the embrace they had when the now grown man walked down the stairs, that depth of emotion after decades of waiting and yearning, was something that I will never forget.

The Ethiopian Jewish community dates back some 2,500 years, from around the time of the destruction of the First Temple. We know that they have always yearned, from generation to generation, to be in Jerusalem. Most of the Ethiopian Jews emigrated to Israel during the 1970s and 1980s and in one weekend in May 1992, a covert Israeli operation, dubbed Operation Solomon,

airlifted more than 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel over 36 hours. Those coming today are being reunited with family members who came during one of these earlier operations.

On my four-day trip from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I listened to the stories of incredible perseverance, and of heartrending suffering, among Ethiopian Jews — our brothers and sisters. Close to 100,000 of them have made their way to Israel over the past 40-plus years, fulfilling this community’s centuries-long quest to come to Israel.

perseverance, suffering and, for the fortunate among us, survival.

My parents were born in Poland in the 1930s. During World War II, my father and his family survived in a Siberian labor camp and then in a remote part of Poland. My mother’s family managed to get work papers, but her father did not have them. He survived the war by hiding under the floorboards of a barn on a farm where they were living. The woman who owned the farm did not know they were Jewish, so it was a harrowing day-to-day existence.

family perished in the Holocaust. There was nowhere for them to go.

This drives what I do. Today, everything has changed because we have a state of Israel, and we have a Jewish Agency that ensures that Jews can make aliyah and helps them make new lives in Israel.

Last year, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I traveled to Poland and stood at the border as thousands of Ukrainian refugees streamed across. I was standing only a few miles from where my grandfather hid under the floorboards of that barn about 80 years earlier. Back then, there was no one there to protect my family, no one to do anything for them. And here I was in 2022 standing amid a massive array of aid agencies, and the very first thing these refugees saw — whether they were Jewish or not — were signs with the Star of David, marking the Jewish Agency, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and other Jewish groups.

I heard about the Ethiopian Israeli who, as a 15-year-old, marched through Sudan with his family and lost three of his siblings to starvation. I heard the stories of families waiting, for months or years, for that moment of aliyah, as clandestine negotiations among government negotiators dragged on. It was so powerful to hear of the sacrifices they made and how strong the dream was, and is today, of coming to Jerusalem, to Israel.

And I thought of my own family’s journey — a different time, under different circumstances. But also a Jewish journey of

But my mother and father survived, managed to make it to liberation, and eventually came to the United States. They were first sponsored by the Birmingham, Alabama, Jewish community, and then made their way to New York and New Jersey, where our family has built a new life. We now have fourth-generation children growing up here in New Jersey, and we feel so fortunate for the lives we have.

Here is the essential difference from their story and mine: For my family, there was no state of Israel. Many members of my

A definition of antisemitism that harms Jews

Guest Columnist

Eric Fusfield

The Mishnaic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai spoke 18 centuries ago about a group of people in a boat. One of the passengers brandished a hand drill and began to drill a hole under his seat. When the others panicked, he asked why they would care if he confined his drilling to the space where he sat. To his fellow passengers, the answer was obvious: He was causing the entire boat to sink.

Last week, the White House released its unprecedented U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. There is much to commend in this comprehensive strategy, including measures to bolster the security of Jewish institutions and steps to improve hate-crime monitoring and responses.

The 60-page document speaks to numerous challenges the Jewish community faces, such as online hatred, data collection and education. The administration deserves praise for its concerted effort to address the world’s oldest hatred in a serious, systematic way.

The administration’s affirmation of its earlier embrace of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is an important addition to the White House document. But the reference to the IHRA definition is unfortunately offset by the Strategy’s warm mention of the Nexus Task Force definition, which punctures a hole in the IHRA standard.

constitutes antisemitism, one that the Biden administration has supported for the past two years. But its effectiveness is blunted by any official approval of one of several alternative definitions whose implications are rather sinister.

Much of today’s antisemitism consists of anti-Zionism in the form of virulent hatred of Israel, as opposed to the routine policy criticism that the IHRA definition

While there has been significant hardship and struggle for the first generation of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, it was incredibly inspiring for me to meet members of the second generation — those who made the trek as children or teenagers in the 1980s and ’90s — who are now Israeli adults in positions of leadership and significant responsibilities. We heard from Havtamo Yosef, who immigrated as a young child from Ethiopia with his parents, and then

Please see Wilf, page 15

stipulation that “even contentious, strident or harsh criticism of Israel for its policies and actions, including those that led to the creation of Israel, is not per se illegitimate or antisemitic.”

It is well known how harsh and strident criticism from Israel’s enemies can be, but this sentence gives cover to those who challenge Israel’s right to exist and wish to revive the canard that Zionism is racism.

The assertion that “opposition to Zionism and/or Israel does not necessarily reflect specific anti-Jewish animus” is an absurd affirmation of the rhetorical formula that one can hate the Jewish state and a national movement that forms a core component of Jewish identity without being antisemitic.

“The Administration welcomes and appreciates the Nexus Document and notes other such efforts,” the strategy says.

The IHRA definition is the most widely accepted standard around the world for what

explicitly states is not antisemitism. But the Nexus definition not only grants a permission slip to anti-Israel vitriol; it does so with shocking specificity.

One need look no further than its

The Nexus definition also endorses the use of double standards and obsessive fixations on Israel, as evidenced by the declaration that, “Paying disproportionate attention to Israel and treating Israel differently than other countries is not prima facie proof of antisemitism.” By this obtuse standard, the United Nations’ singular dedication to bashing Israel with metronomic regularity is nothing to worry about.

Please see Fusfield, page 15

It was so powerful to hear of the sacrifices [families] made and how strong the dream was, and is today, of coming to Jerusalem, to Israel.

Much of today’s antisemitism consists of anti-Zionism in the form of virulent hatred of Israel, as opposed to the routine policy criticism that the IHRA definition explicitly states is not antisemitism.

Chronicle poll results: Primary election

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Did you vote in the May 16 primary election?” Of the 255 people who responded, 91% said yes and 9% said no. Comments were submitted by 51 people. A few follow.

Everyone should vote in every election. They all matter. You owe it to yourself and your community to spend some time learning about the candidates so that you can vote.

It was difficult to find information about some of the candidates. I didn’t vote for those offices.

Did it by mail-in ballot. I thought it went smoothly and was handled well.

Did you vote in the May 16 primary election? 9%

I work the election polls and was disappointed, once again, in the low voter turnout.

I never miss an election. It’s not only my right; it’s my obligation as a citizen.

If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about the results or aftermath.

My paternal grandmother, born in 1895 in New Kensington, never missed an election. She taught her son — my dad — the value of voting, and I passed that lesson onto my children. To keep democracy alive requires the participation of all people — and voting allows our voice to be heard.

made available when the ballots were mailed, not just the week before the election.

I have not missed an election since I was away at college — over 40 years ago.

Not too pleased with the results on the Democratic side. We need more centrist politicians.

We need to have more information available for local school board candidates.

My candidates are not winning. Concerned about inexperience and ineffective candidates. PJC

Local elections are also important. This election was critical and more people should have taken a greater interest and participated in the voting process.

Wilf:

Continued from page 14

watched his father become a street sweeper and his mother a housecleaner while he was growing up. Now he heads up the entire Ethiopian Aliyah and Absorption services for the Jewish Agency, ensuring that there are stronger absorption procedures, better education and firmer foundations for better lives for these new immigrants than there ever was for his family.

While there was no Israel for my family when we were refugees, there were — in Birmingham, Alabama; in Hillside, New Jersey; and everywhere along the way of my family’s journey — people who thought outside of themselves, who cared and took care of my relatives. This is my legacy and what motivates me today.

Fusfield:

Continued from page 14

Slanderous accusations that Israel is an apartheid state or a Nazi-like regime guilty of ethnic cleansing would find new life in light of the White House affirmation of the Nexus definition. Such defamatory language is calculated by Israel’s enemies to consign the world’s only Jewish state to pariah status, thus isolating it from the international community.

What’s worse is that allegations of apartheid tear at America’s national wound of racism and are likely to drive a wedge between Jews, Blacks and other minorities.

One of the great lessons of recent years is that hatred of Israel is nothing other than antisemitism in a different guise. The Nexus definition, which legitimizes such

So when I stood on the tarmac at Ben Gurion last month, I cried tears of sadness at the long family separations and tears of joy that today this Jewish journey continues, from Ukraine and Russia and Ethiopia to Israel.

Today, there is a place to go and a people to welcome Jews on that tarmac, with an Israeli flag, a smile and a warm embrace, and a promise of better lives in freedom. PJC

Mark Wilf of Livingston, New Jersey, is chairman of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel and immediate past chair of the board of the Jewish Federations of North America. He is also a past president of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, now the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ. This first appeared on JTA.

hatred, has no place in a national strategy to combat a problem that this myopic definition enables.

The Nexus definition, now referenced in the White House National Strategy, is the hole in the bottom of the boat that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai spoke of. The IHRA working definition of antisemitism is the vessel that carries our efforts to combat the problem, but the Nexus definition threatens to negate the former’s value as a consensus document and validate the wishes of antisemites by undermining the best tool available for exposing their hatred. PJC

Rabbi Eric Fusfield is B’nai B’rith International’s director of legislative affairs and deputy director of its International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy. This first appeared on JNS.

Voting is a responsibility and a privilege.

I voted by mail and wish abundant information about the candidates was

Chronicle weekly poll question: Are you following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial closely? Go to pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

— LETTERS —

21st-century Judaism should reject the death penalty

Let there be no doubt: Traditional Jewish law does indeed allow for capital punishment, albeit with prodigious safeguards. Rabbi Danny Schiff adroitly outlines the rabbinic arguments that reflect this reality in his excellent opinion piece, “Judaism does not reject the death penalty” (May 12).

Though I am an ordained cantor and a former Jewish prison chaplain, I am not a rabbi, and as such I do not claim to have the same level of expertise in my knowledge of Jewish law. I do, however, agree with Pittsburgh’s Jacobo Bielak in his response to Rabbi Schiff, “Jewish law prohibits imposition of the death penalty if it does not deter” (May 19). Just as there is no doubt that traditional Jewish law allows for the death penalty, there is also no doubt that meta-studies show that when it comes to deterrence, there is no demonstrable link between the presence or absence of the death penalty and murder rates. For this reason alone, most traditional Jewish arguments for the death penalty no longer apply.

But there is more that the Jewish world must consider in the wake of the Holocaust and the events of the 20th century. Many of the members of the Facebook group I co-founded, “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty,” are descendants of Holocaust victims and survivors. For many L’chaim! members, the shadow of the Holocaust is inextricably linked to their firm rejection of the death penalty in all cases.

The most common form of execution used by the U.S. federal government and multiple states is lethal injection, which is a direct Nazi legacy, first implemented by the Third Reich as part of its protocol used to kill people deemed “unworthy of life.” That program was devised by Dr. Karl Brandt, the personal physician of Adolf Hitler. If this were not enough, across the U.S., more states are erecting gas chambers, including one in Arizona that uses Zyklon B, the same lethal gas used in Auschwitz. No Jewish argument about the death penalty in the 21st century should ignore these facts. Regarding Israel’s 1962 execution of Nazi perpetrator Adolf Eichmann, Rabbi Schiff is correct that the rabbis did not object. Many other Jewish leaders did, however, vociferously protest. These included renowned Hebrew University philosophers Samuel Hugo Bergman and Nathan Rotenstreich, scholar of Kabbalah Gershom Scholem, and Jewish theologian and philosopher Martin Buber, who called the execution a great “mistake.” When Elie Wiesel was asked about his feelings on capital punishment, he resolutely stated, “Death is not the answer.” On this, Wiesel made no exception, stating: “I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”

In the wake of the Holocaust and the unparalleled horrors of the 20th century, 70% of the nations of the world have recognized the inviolability of the human right of life and have abolished the death penalty. Judaism, directly targeted by that unparalleled conflagration, must reflect this evolution.

Cantor Michael Zoosman College Park, Maryland

Death penalty also harms the executioners

Aside from the question of the ethics of capital punishment, I wish people would inform themselves of the proven, lasting harm done to those tasked with killing prisoners who receive the death penalty. It is rarely even mentioned in discussions of the death penalty, as if the executions somehow just happen, rather than being carried out by fellow human beings. Reading about how the executioners are haunted by their deeds further strengthened my own opposition to capital punishment.

Michele Feingold Squirrel Hill

Compiled by Toby Tabachnick We

Letters to the editor via email: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle,5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pgh, PA 15217. Fax 412-521-0154 Website address: pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Life & Culture

— FOOD — Soupe au pistou

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

Irarely eat hot soup during the summer months, but I make an exception for soupe au pistou. It’s made from lots of fresh summer vegetables, beans and a little bit of pasta, so it’s light and delicious.

Pistou is a Provencal basil pesto made without the nuts and cheese of Italian pesto. You place a dollop of the pistou on top of the soup, and the garlicky basil sauce just melts into the broth.

My vegetable soup recipe stands well on its own, but the pistou takes the flavor to another level.

The key to adding any pasta or noodle to soup is cooking it separately ahead of time and then adding it to each bowl when serving. This keeps the soup broth clear and the pasta from getting soggy. It also allows for any leftovers to be rewarmed while keeping the consistency of freshly-made soup.

I love simple, Mediterranean-style food year-round. This healthy soup is as good as it gets.

To make this recipe vegan, replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

Ingredients:

¾ cup dry pasta, cooked separately according to package. I suggest tiny soup shells, ditalini or another very smallsized pasta.

Vegan basil pistou

4 cups fresh basil, long stems removed, washed and fully dried

5 cloves minced garlic

½ cup olive oil

⅛ teaspoon sea salt; add more to taste

Vegetable soup

12 cups chicken or vegetable broth. Storebought is OK.

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups diced onion

1 leek, white and light green parts only, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 large zucchini, cubed, about 3 cups

1 large summer squash, cubed, about 2 cups

2 large carrots, peeled and diced, about 2 cups

1 large potato, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes, about 14 ounces

2 cans cannellini or white beans, rinsed and drained

1 large bay leaf

2 cups fresh green beans, broken by hand into small pieces

1 tablespoon sea salt; add more to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:

For the pistou

Wash and let the basil air dry a few hours before you make the pistou.

It’s really important that the leaves are not wet. Combine the basil, minced garlic, salt

and olive oil in a food processor and pulse until well blended.

Scoop the pistou into a small bowl and drizzle it with olive oil to keep the color, using a rubber spatula to get every last drop out of the food processor bowl.

If not using immediately, cover it with plastic wrap.

This keeps well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you have any left over, it’s wonderful in omelets or mixed into a salad.

For the soup

You can use store-bought chicken broth or vegetable broth if making this recipe vegan.

To make fresh chicken stock in a slow cooker overnight: Put a small chicken, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, a few peppercorns, 3 stalks of celery and half of an onion into the slow cooker and fill it with about 14 cups of water. Let it cook on high for a few hours before setting it to low to cook overnight. Refrigerate the broth if you will use it within a few days; otherwise, freeze it for later use.

I never make any soup by just throwing everything into a pot and walking away. You can do that when making stock, but the individual vegetables won’t stand out if you don’t cook them for different amounts of time.

In a large soup pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat before adding the onions. Sauté for 10 minutes,

stirring occasionally.

Add the celery and leek, and sauté for another 5 minutes, then add the zucchini, yellow squash and carrots. Give everything a good stir to distribute the oil and reduce the heat slightly.

Stir occasionally for another 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic, stirring constantly for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the can of diced tomatoes (with juices) and the potato.

Add 12 cups of the broth of your choice and bring it to a boil over high heat.

Add a bay leaf and the rinsed cannellini beans, reduce the heat and simmer at a soft boil for 30 minutes. Do not cover.

Add the green beans (I usually tear these by hand) and cook them for an additional 20 minutes. Adding the green beans later keeps their texture firm. You can also add a cup of peas or use peas instead of green beans. Either way, add them last.

The vegetables release a lot of water, so check for salt at this point and add a little olive oil if the broth tastes weak. Add fresh ground pepper.

When serving, add a tablespoon or two of the cooked pasta — which makes a nice little addition to the soup without overpowering it — and a spoonful or two of pistou, and stir into the broth. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

Basil pistou

Photo by Jessica Grann

 Soupe au pistou

Photo by Jessica Grann

Life & Culture

An app that can generate 64,000 kosher cheesecake recipes aims to prove AI’s value for Orthodox Jews

— TECH —

By Philissa Cramer | JTA

Sara Goldstein’s regular cheesecake recipe is like the rest of the kosher food she makes and shares on her Instagram account — “straightforward, and I wouldn’t say too adventurous.”

But she tried something special this year ahead of Shavuot, a Jewish holiday when dairy foods are traditionally on the menu. In honor of the holiday, she whipped up a bourbon caramel cheesecake, with candied pecans on top.

Goldstein’s baking shakeup was spurred by an online tool that, using artificial intelligence, allows users to mix and match ingredients that can be made into more than 64,000 different cheesecake recipes. For Goldstein, a chef and kosher recipe developer who lives in Lakewood, New Jersey, CheesecakeWizard.AI offers a welcome challenge.

“You have to be extra creative in the kosher world because it’s very limited,” she said. “And I think it definitely opened people’s eyes to what’s possible. I mean, saying there’s 64,000 combinations that are kosher —  it’s really, really cool.”

The app’s creator, Brooklyn marketing executive Abraham Bree, doesn’t just want to push the bounds of what gets served on Shavuot tables. He’s also looking to prove to clients his value in a world of AI-generated press releases — and to show his fellow Orthodox Jews that ChatGPT and other AI tools can be a boon to Jewish observance, not a threat, despite concerns about internet use in his community.

“Not everybody who is going to go to this website is going to actually bake the cheesecake,” Bree said. “They’ll futz around with it, and they’ll push a couple buttons and it’ll make us all meshuggeneh trying to come up with the craziest flavor. ... While they’re doing it, the company that’s sponsoring it, their logo and their name is there.”

The app asks users to select their crust, filling and topping preferences, then uses artificial intelligence to spit out a recipe to match. An image integration feature called Midjourney allows users to see computer-generated pictures of what their cheesecakes might look like — from carrot-cake crusts to maple and sweet potato filling to savory toppings such as an olive tapenade.

Since its launch last month, Cheesecake Wizard has been used by about 12,000 people to generate 45,000 recipes — though it remains to be seen how many actual cheesecakes result. Bree said that like Goldstein, he had been drawn to the “boozy options” in the Cheesecake Wizard interface and hoped that when the holiday began Thursday night, he’d get a chance to partake.

“After a very long week of work, I’d like to sit down on Shavuos eating cheesecake, and having a splash of bourbon on top would definitely, you know, add a little more enjoyment to the holiday festivities,” he said.

Bree’s experiment with AI started last spring, when clients began to drop him because, they said, they could use the new technology to create their marketing materials instead. He decided to explore the new terrain. Passover

a day-trip generator, inspired by the hassle Orthodox families can face when deciding what to do in the middle of the weeklong holiday, when Jewish schools and workplaces are closed.

behind, let’s just face it,” he said. “Our tradition is what kept us going all these thousands of years, so anytime something new comes into the picture, we’re always a little more wary and always a little more concerned. So AI really

inappropriate content that conflicts with and diverts attention from Jewish practice.

Some Orthodox leaders have urged Jews to reject the internet entirely. In 2012, a rally warning of the dangers of the web drew more than 40,000 men to Citi Field in New York; last year, two massive rallies for women urged them to delete their social media profiles and give up their smartphones.

With the abrupt arrival of consumer-facing AI in recent months, the technology has drawn specific attention from some rabbinic leaders for the first time. Last month, a dozen rabbis from the traditionalist Skver Hasidic community, based in New Square, New York, explicitly banned its use.

“It is possible that at this point, not everyone knows the magnitude and scope of the danger, but it has become clear to us in our souls that this thing will be a trap for all of us, young and old,” the rabbis wrote in their decree last month. “Therefore, the use of ‘AI’ is strictly prohibited in any shape and form, even by phone.”

Despite these warnings, many haredi Orthodox Jews use the internet for work, shopping and other activities. But in some communities, users are expected to install “kosher” filters that block content considered inappropriate, and many Orthodox yeshivas require parents to install filters as a condition of enrollment. Bree said his own children’s Brooklyn yeshiva required a phone filter, which he installed, and that he made sure to construct his apps so that they would function on phones whose function is limited to WhatsApp and basic communication tools.

He also said that while Norman’s was persuaded to move forward with the cheesecake app because it had its own website, he was considering adding a disclaimer.

CanWeGoNow launched on the first day of chol hamoed, the period of the holiday when travel is allowed, and quickly crashed as the link ricocheted across WhatsApp groups that are the primary form of communication for many Orthodox Jews. Bree called his wife from synagogue and said he needed to scrap their own family’s plan to take their six children to an amusement park. He had to spend the time getting the site back up.

“I said, ‘Pessy, the bottom line is I stepped into something that might be amazing,’” he recalled.

“I generally don’t work on chol hamoed, but if there’s a loss involved, the rabbinical leaders say you can work. So I said, ‘If I don’t take care of this, the whole thing’s going to fold.’”

Ultimately, 20,000 people generated tens of thousands of trip ideas in the United States, Israel, England, Australia and even Mexico, where hundreds of people at a kosher-for-Passover hotel got wind of the app.

Bree lost money on the venture, but he gained confidence that AI could catch on in his community, despite some of his Orthodox peers’ ambivalence toward new technologies. Now, he has relaunched his marketing firm to focus squarely on using AI to reach Orthodox audiences. (Its name, MarketAIng.AI, makes the gambit visible.)

“The Jewish community is always a little bit

hasn’t made inroads yet.”

Bree’s latest effort hit a turning point while he was in synagogue, which he referred to as “a mini-networking event” that he attends three times a day for prayers. A self-described ultra-Orthodox Jew, he had been casting about for a kosher corporate partner for the cheesecake bot. An acquaintance named Akiva overheard him lamenting his lack of connections to a fellow worshiper after evening services.

Akiva said his wife worked for a kosher dairy-products company called Norman’s. A few WhatsApp messages later, Bree was in touch with executives there — and now the company’s name and logo appear on the website, and its products are inserted into the cheesecake recipes that the tool generates. Goldstein has also promoted the company on her social media posts about Cheesecake Wizard.

The sell wasn’t totally straightforward, Bree said. An executive “was a little bit nervous because of the internet aspect,” he recalled. “Right now in the Jewish community, it’s a weird sort of policy we have, like, we don’t encourage you to use it but if you’re going to use it, have a filter on it.”

Indeed, internet use has been a fraught topic in haredi Orthodox communities, with rabbis warning that online access can be a gateway to

“We might have to actually make a little statement on the website saying something along the lines of, you know, ‘Please abide by your rabbinical guidelines regarding internet use,’” Bree said. “Because people were saying, ‘Oh, what are you pushing internet for?’ We’re not pushing it. If you’re using it anyways, then you could use this.”

Goldstein said she wasn’t sure she would become a regular AI user but thought that Cheesecake Wizard, for which she posted an instructional video for her followers last week, was a comfortable entry point for her community. “I definitely think it’ll take people a little while, maybe, to warm up to the concept, but it’s a great way to introduce it,” she said.

In her heavily Orthodox town of Lakewood, Goldstein said a wide range of internet uses are tolerated — and that she sees a value in remaining online.

“I’m not telling people to come start using Instagram, start using AI — it’s if you’re here [and] it’s where you’re at, then this is a fun way to make something amazing, to elevate something for chag,” Goldstein said, using the Hebrew word meaning holiday. “For people who are already out there on the internet — whether you need it for work, or just, you’re not at that place yet to completely eradicate internet from your life — here’s a way to take these tools and do something even spiritual with it.”

 Blueberry cheesecake

Photo by Hansuan_Fabregas via Pixabay

An image integration feature called Midjourney allows users to see computer-generated pictures of what their cheesecakes might look like — from carrot-cake crusts to maple and sweet potato filling to savory toppings such as an olive tapenade.

Celebrations

Birth

Adam and Victoria Rockter are thrilled to announce the birth of their son Ezra Joseph Rockter, born in February. Ezra is the grandson of Lisa and Art Dickter of Pittsburgh and Diane and James Robertson of New York. Ezra’s great-grandparents are Marcia Uram Kramer and the late Sidney Uram and the late Irving Kramer; Morry and Eleanor Dickter; Judy and James Robertson; and Jacqueline and the late Joseph Somers. Ezra is lovingly named after the late Irving Kramer and the late Joseph Somers. Adam, Victoria and Ezra reside in New York.

Bar Mitzvah

Jonah Asher Ferleger will be called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah on June 3, 2023, at 10 a.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. He is the son of Donna Kruman and Len Ferleger. Ben Ferleger is his older brother. Jonah’s grandparents are the late Estelle and Jack Kruman and Ruth and Arthur Ferleger. Jonah is in seventh grade at Community Day School. He enjoys playing basketball and hanging out with his friends and his dog, Luna.

Making each person count

n 1986, the Lubavitcher Rebbe of Blessed Memory, began conducting a weekly “receiving line.” Each Sunday, the Rebbe would stand in a small room near his office as thousands of men, women and children filed past to see him and receive his blessing. Many used the opportunity to pose a question and receive a word of advice. And to each of them the Rebbe gave a dollar bill, appointing them as his personal agent (shaliach) to give it to the charity of their choice.

Why the dollar? The Rebbe explained his custom by quoting his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, who would often say: “When two Jews meet, something good should result for a third.” The Rebbe wished to elevate each of the thousands of encounters of the day to something more than a meeting of two individuals; he wanted each to involve the performance of a mitzvah, particularly a mitzvah that also benefits another individual.

A most amazing phenomenon was reported by all who came for “Sunday Dollars.” The Rebbe, well into his ninth decade, would stand for as long as eight hours without interruption. Yet in the few seconds that a visitor was with the Rebbe, each felt that the Rebbe was there only for them. It was as though each person were the only visitor of the day.

Once, an elderly woman could not contain herself and burst out: “Rebbe, How do you do it? How is it that you do not tire?”

The Rebbe smiled and replied: “Every soul is a diamond. Can one grow tired of counting diamonds?”

With these words the Rebbe taught us a vital lesson: Within the Jewish community, there is often a strong emphasis on the act of counting ourselves in one way or another. Our communal dialogue frequently revolves around tracking our numbers as a nation and examining our demographic shifts. It seems that hardly a year goes by without warnings about the diminishing Jewish populations in various communities worldwide, attributed to factors such as low birth rates, assimilation and the like. The significance of these population counts can vary, as they are utilized for different purposes and agendas.

The origin of counting our people can

Business & Professional Directory

be found in the Torah. In fact, the book of Bamidbar, also known as the Book of Numbers, received its name due to its extensive focus on counting. Throughout Bamidbar, there are several instances where G-d instructs Moses to conduct various counts of the Jewish community. These counts serve practical purposes, such as organizing the people, determining their military strength and establishing their tribal structure.

However, alongside the emphasis on counting, Bamidbar also emphasizes caution and provides guidance on how counting should be approached. In the Torah portion Parshas Naso, which we read this week, there is a specific instruction to count the people. Interestingly, the Hebrew word used for counting in this portion is “Naso,” which means “to lift up” or “to elevate.”

This choice of terminology provides a profound lesson on the primary principle of counting people. It reminds us that the act of counting should not reduce individuals to mere numbers but should instead lift them up and make them feel valued and significant. The Torah is conveying the importance of recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of each person, ensuring that they are not lost in the numerical calculations.

In the teachings of the Rebbe, it is beautifully expressed that when counting the people, they should be regarded as diamonds. This analogy underscores the preciousness and uniqueness of each individual, emphasizing the need to create an environment where they feel genuinely counted and appreciated.

By using the word “Naso” and emphasizing the principle of uplifting, the Torah encourages us to count people in a way that acknowledges their importance, respects their individuality and fosters a sense of dignity and belonging. It reminds us that counting should go beyond the mere gathering of data; it should be a means to empower and uplift individuals, making them feel that they truly count. PJC

Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum is director of Chabad of the South Hills. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum Parshat Naso Numbers 4:21 – 7:89

Obituaries

BETTER: Saul Better, age 75, on Sunday, May 21, 2023. Loving husband to the late Renae (Lewis) Better and Rebecca (Snyder) Better. Beloved father to Brent (Kelly) Better and Brooke (Joshua) DeMarco. Loving grandfather and “Poppie” to Caleigh Better, Leilani and Lincoln DeMarco. Also survived by nieces Marissa and Abigail Ferry. Graveside service and interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

HORNE: Susan N. Horne, on Monday, May 22, 2023. Beloved wife of the late Jay H. Horne. Beloved mother of Seth Horne. Daughter of the late Morris and Minnie Edelman. Sister of Shelley (Michael) Garr and Debra Edelman (Herman Stein). Sister-in-law of Carole Horne. Aunt of Jonathan and David Garr. Also survived by other devoted family and friends. Graveside service and interment were held at Beth Abraham Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

LEVINE: Richard Steven Levine, 76, of Randolph, New Jersey, passed away suddenly on May 15, 2023, after suffering a heart attack. Born in 1947 in Pittsburgh, Richard was the son of the late Ishmael and Rosalind Levine. He received a BS in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University, and then went on to the University of Illinois where he received a master’s degree in chemistry. After graduate school, Richard and his wife, Susan (daughter of the late Harry and Elsie Abramson), moved to New Jersey. Together they became successful entrepreneurs. They founded Industrial Corrosion Management / ICM Laboratories. Richard and his wife sold their business after 25 years and retired in Randolph, New Jersey. Earlier this month, they celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary. Richard is also survived by his daughter, Alisa Levine Seelig (Eric Seelig) of Antioch, Illinois; his two granddaughters, Samantha and Lauren Seelig; and his sister, Susan Levine Abrams (widow of the late Bruce Abrams) of Pittsburgh. He will also be greatly missed by his two miniature schnauzers, Charlie and Teddy. Richard was world renowned for being an expert in corrosion in very large air conditioning systems. He was an avid gardener and computer programmer. He loved vacationing in Hawaii with his wife. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Interfaith Food Pantry Network (mcifp.org) or Tunnel to Towers (t2t.org). All arrangements are private by Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph (Tuttlefh.com).

POLLOCK: Beverly King Pollock (Jan. 14, 1924 – May 29, 2023) of Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and more recently, Tucson, Arizona and San Diego, California. Beloved wife of the late Melvin M. Pollock, cherished sister of Sherry Halpern, loving mother of Larry Pollock (d. 1995), Susan Pollock Stein (Jonathan), Sally Pollock Bedrick (Alan) and Robert (d. 1992). Proud grandmother of Rachel Stein Rosner (Leonard), Jessica Stein Colvin (Matt), Aaron Bedrick (Sophy), and Laura Bedrick. Wildly enthusiastic great-grandmother of Andrew Rosner, Leah Rosner, Lev Colvin, Shai Colvin, Eliana Bedrick and Miri Bedrick. Talented columnist, playwright, poet, storyteller, editor, public relations director, AIDS activist, volunteer and loyal friend. Family was top priority, and that included many who were “like family.” She often quoted Leo Rosten: “The purpose of life is not to be happy — but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you lived at all.”  Beverly mattered. Services were held at Temple David. Interment Temple Sinai Memorial Park. Contributions in Beverly’s memory may be made to Temple David 4415 Northern Pike Monroeville PA 15146 or Shepherd Wellness Community 4800 Sciota St. Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family

Holy Society Cemetery /Uniontown

e days are long gone when Uniontown’s B’nai B’rith young men’s so ball team won the 1949 Fayette County championship. is once thriving Jewish community now represents the largest number of Jewish graves in Western Pennsylvania with the least number of Jews. e size of the area’s once thriving community can best be seen at Holy Society Cemetery, one of the nest maintained Jewish cemeteries anywhere, with over 550 graves in a lovely tranquil setting.

Holy Society’s congregation, the Tree of Life, was founded in 1901 as an Orthodox congregation. By the mid-1920’s over 1000 Jewish residents called Uniontown home. A Reform congregation, and Jewish Community Center, long shuttered, round out the remaining infrastructure that still can be seen along the main route through town. A sandstone sculpted memorial to the Holocaust remains on US 40. e Tree of Life closed in 2015, running out of members but not of the spirit that kept these families close with one another.

e natural resources under the Keystone State resulted in over y communities in Western Pennsylvania with sizeable business districts, and each with over 100 Jews. Uniontown was at the center of numerous Jewish populations in Southwestern PA. Burials at Holy Society are from Connellsville, Masontown, Brownsville and Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Holy Society Cemetery, located in Hopwood near Uniontown, is easy to locate as signage marks the route from US 40. e Holy Society Cemetery began an association with the JCBA in 2022.

For more information about JCBA cemeteries, to volunteer, to purchase plots, to read our complete histories and/or to make a contribution, please visit our website at www.JCBApgh.org, email us at jcbapgh@gmail.com, or call the JCBA o ice at 412-553-6469. JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation

RICE: Frances Dorothy Gefsky Rice: On Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Beloved wife for 65 years of the late Sidney David Rice; loving and cherished mother of Edward R. Rice (Anna Marie Yosinski Rice), Marjorie C. Rice, Sandra J. Rice-Fritsch (Bryan), and the late Richard D. Rice. Sister of Anatilie Gefsky Seewald, Sorlee Gefsky Chetlin (Martin), and the late Philip Gefsky. Loving and adoring “Ma” to Carley, Ariel and Noah. Also survived by many loving nieces, nephews and cousins. A lifelong Pittsburgher, Frances was born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and grew up on Coltart Street and McKee Place in Oakland. She married the love of her life, Sidney, in the original Tree of Life Synagogue on Craft Avenue on New Year’s Eve of 1950, in a snow storm as family legend has

Please see Obituaries, page 20

The Original

Our Only Location At

Serving

In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania:

Docket No. GD-23-05640

In re Petition of Brendan Andrew Flicker

For change of name to Brendan Andrew Askin

To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the ling of said petition and xed the 23rd day of June, 2021, at 9:30 AM as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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

Frani & Milo Averbach

Marc M Bilder

Sylvia & Norman Elias

Sylvia Elias

Tibey M Falk

Rhoda & Jay Gefsky

Edward M Goldston

Obituaries

Obituaries:

Harold Middleman

Milton Bilder

Robert N Moldovan

Samuel Moldovan

Louis Meyers

Jean Gefsky

Stella Leedy

Libby J Israel Jennie R Jacobson

Michael Levin .............................................................. Morris Shakespeare

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

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS —

Sunday June 4: Lillian Amper, Beatrice K Barnett, Dr Milton Bilder, Meyer M . Braun, Yetta Elino , Belle Farber, Ida A. Friedman, Leonard Hyman Gettleman, I . Max Greenfield, Charles L. Jacobs, Stella Leedy, Carl Lipson, Ralph Leon Markowitz, Cele Monheim, Alta M . Orringer, Morris Shakespeare, Sarah Teplitz, Sara Weinberg, Barry Yahr

Monday June 5: Sybil B Berkman, Florence Boodman, Herman Braunstein, Sherman B Golomb, Michael David Levine, Louis Rider, Cecelia M. Schmidt, Libbie R Seiavitch, Hilda Z Silverman, Gertrude Simon, Irving Spolan, Sara Titlebaum, Abraham Weiner, Chava Wekselman

Tuesday June 6: Jennie Bleier, Jacob Garber, Mayme Gerson, Morris B. Green, Lillian Handmacher, Leah Kramer, Helen Langer, Robert Langer, Samuel A. Lichter, Abe Mazer, Abraham Rothenstein, Morris A. Schwartz, Betty Silberblatt

Wednesday June 7: Israel A Brahm, Howard Finkel, Tillie L Gallagher, Dr. Harold Saul Kaiser, Leroy A. Klater, Jack Maslo , Fannie Miller, David Reubin, Anshel Rosen, Sylvia Rosenblum, Minnie Schilit, Benjamin B. Sklar, Sidney Whitman

Thursday June 8: Sylvia Barmen, Barney B . Dobkin, Stanley Flansbaum, Belle Goldman, Saul Goldstein, Fanny Kurfeerst, Jacob Landay, Max H. Leib, Esther Littman, Joseph Morantz, Max R. Morgan, Geraldine Sadowsky, Jennie Santman, Margery L. Selkovits, Helen P. Suttin, Bertha Weisberger

Friday June 9: Casper Alman, Dr. Fredrick Amshel, Leah Bloom, Louis Bowytz, Mary Segal Eger, Sadye Klee Gardner, Oscar Green, Sarah Haltman, Rae Kreger Hepps, Rose Kramer, Jack Kenneth Kruman, Shirley F. Levenson, Joseph Pickholtz, Hyman Shapiro, Mollie Silverblatt

Saturday June 10: Edith S Adler, Sarah Bass, Benjamin Block, Dr Mortimer Cohen, Usher Z Cohen, William Congress, Suzanne Dolgin, Hyman Elovitz,Louis Fienberg, Ida Leah Hurwick, Cheri Glick Jak, Dorothy Levine, Jessie Levine, Fannie Lipsich, Dr. Theodore Lundy, Dorothy Glickman Mandelblatt, Erwin Lawrence Rubenstein

Continued from page 19

it. Frances was creative and artistic. She was the driving force and CEO of her family. She was the consummate homemaker, chef, seamstress and artist, to name but a few of her talents. A legendary cook and “balabusta,” Frances was known for feeding the neighborhood and opened her home to all. There was no prouder grandmother on the planet — Frances celebrated her three grandchildren’s every accomplishment with an abundance of joy and bursting heart. Lovely inside and out, she was a loving, kind, sweet soul to everyone who crossed her path. Everything she did, she did with her whole heart and soul. She will be deeply missed and always remembered. Services were held at Congregation Beth Shalom. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Congregation Beth Shalom, earmarked for the Rice Auditorium, 5915 Beacon Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

WHITMAN: Robert S. Whitman. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Robert S. Whitman, M.D., on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at the age of 93. Born on Oct. 14, 1929, in Pittsburgh, he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh medical school, where he earned his degree in 1955.  He then completed his residency in internal medicine at Pittsburgh’s Montefiore and Presbyterian Hospitals and U.S. Army Hospital, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Dr. Whitman practiced in Churchill Valley in his medical building, Suburban East Medical Center, until retiring in 2001. He was a highly respected physician who touched the lives of countless patients, colleagues and friends. He had a gift for connecting with people and was known for his compassion, empathy and kindness. Deeply committed, he always went above and beyond to provide his patients with the best possible care. Dr. Whitman was the beloved husband of the late Frommie Harris Whitman for 55 years; son of the late William H. and Jenny (Goldman) Whitman; loving father of Douglas (Debbie), Jill and the late Steven (Annetta); brother of the late Audrey Lederman of Florida and the late Lloyd (Shirley) Whitman of Pittsburgh. He is survived by his sister Barbb (Larry) Grand of Atlanta, Georgia, and grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He was truly a Renaissance man: always a dedicated physician, he pursued multiple interests and achievements as a photographer, inventor, painter, writer and poet, creative craftsman, builder, philatelist and antique collector. Services and interment were private. Donations can be made to Make-a -Wish Foundation, 707 Grant Street, #3700, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.  Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com PJC

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

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

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

e Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association has a successful record of cemetery restoration and relies on those who have feelings for the cemetery. e JCBA assumes ownership of Shaare Torah this year. You are invited to assist by designating your contribution speci cally to the Shaare Torah Cemetery and Gates of Wisdom, the cemetery’s oldest section.

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

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

Real Estate

Smith-Rosenthal Team

Jason A. Smith & Caryn Rosenthal

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

Jasonasmith@howardhanna.com

Carynrosenthal@howardhanna.com

5501 Baum Blvd. Pittsburgh PA 15232 Shadyside Office | 412-361-4000

5125FifthAve.

2&3Bedrooms Cornerof FifthandWilkins Spacious

GREENFIELD • $280,000

758 Melbourne St

4 Bedroom 2 bath home with central air, Renewal by Andersen windows and Owens Corning roof. Extra storage on first and very convenient location.

SHADYSIDE • $624,000

206 N. Woodland Road

North Woodland Road Townhome. Unique custom built sophisticated 4 levels. Lower Level has a great wine cellar, storage, int garage, and a side room which could be an office. First floor has a great room kitchen, dining and living area, plus 1/2 bath. This room leads to an unbelievable courtyard and luscious grounds with a sprinkler system. Next level- large room with a whimsical full bath. Top level has a great master area, with master bath and laundry, Smashing steel and glass staircase, dramatic lighting. Terrific acrhitectural details.

OAKLAND - $290,000 - PENDING

Dithridge House

New listing. 2 bedroom 2 bath on the 11th floor with a closed in balcony with a great view. Balcony can be used year round. Building has many amenities. Guest Room, Party Room, Meeting Room, Pool, Guest Suites, Meeting Room, Outdoor Guest Parking, Valet Parking etc.

vegan restaurants without kosher supervision

Conservative movement OKs vegetarian

By Jackie Hajdenberg | JTA

For years, a subset of Jews who eat only at kosher-certified restaurants have bent the rules by taking advantage of a growing trend: fully vegan eateries.

Now, a ruling issued by the Conservative movement has given that practice its official imprimatur, declaring that Jews may eat at vegetarian or vegan restaurants that don’t have kosher supervision.

In practice, the ruling’s target audience is small. Most Jews who eat only in certi fied kosher restaurants are Orthodox and pay little if any attention to Conservative opinions on Jewish law. According to a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 17% of Jews identify as Conservative and only a fraction keep kosher at home. Even fewer adhere to the strict dietary laws when they dine out.

But the ruling does represent a change in how the Conservative movement approaches one of the core elements of traditional Jewish life. It comes as an increasing number of Americans are going meatless and amid a broader reckoning over what counts as kosher, now that products such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Pork, which are plantbased and contain no animal products, are available in grocery stores.

“It has been the case for a number of years already that many people, making a judgment of their own, have begun to eat at vegan restaurants, looking at them and seeing no obvious kashrut problems,” said Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner, the ruling’s lead author.

A study by Dror Fixler, an Israeli religious Zionist rabbi and physicist, also concluded several years ago that Jews may eat in a strictly vegan restaurant, as long as they refrain from consuming vinegar, which could be non-kosher. The ruling also comes after the Conservative movement updated its Passover guide, permitting Jews to purchase certified gluten-free products ahead of the holiday, as long as they were also oat-free.

Previously, the movement deemed that Conservative Jews who keep kosher should eat only at restaurants under kosher supervision. But the 38-page ruling, issued earlier this month, says that without any meat products, many of the concerns

Restaurants

because there is still the risk of cross-contamination of un-kosher foods.

“The requirement to eat only kosher is not one of health or physical purity, but one of Godliness and the observance of mitzvot,” the ruling concludes. “While there are some levels of risk which the halakhah prohibits undertaking, we have argued that eating in an unsupervised vegan or vegetarian restaurant where government oversight exists and restaurants are generally concerned with their reputations does not overstep that boundary.”

The document adds that ancient rabbinic prohibitions on the consumption of bread baked by non-Jews were instituted primarily to prohibit social interactions with non-Jews.

surrounding kosher observance are rendered moot. The decision was voted on by 20 of the 25 members of the committee, the vast majority of whom voted in favor.

Without meat, there can be no mixing of meat and milk, the ruling says, and there is also no possibility of eating non-kosher foods such as pork. Even though the vast majority of kosher supervisors say cheese needs certification, the ruling permits eating at vegetarian restaurants on the grounds of a prior Conservative ruling stating that animal rennet is not prohibited.

The ruling is explicit in that it does not apply to restaurants that serve meat or fish but otherwise have vegetarian options,

“The prohibitions are social and unrelated to any concern of kashrut,” the decision says of the ancient ban. “We see ourselves and our gentile neighbors as equal members of society and reject social discrimination that holds us separate from those of other religious persuasions.”

The ruling notes that one of the reasons for the intricacy and strictness of certain kosher laws is to prevent intermarriage. Reisner said that the new openness to vegan and vegetarian dining does not signal a loosening of the prohibition on interfaith marriage.

“The Conservative movement has for some time been moving away from edicts to maintain social separation, arguing a more humanist position about the desirability of good relations with all of our compatriots,” Reisner said. “Now, that is not the same as to say that it approves of intermarriage.” PJC

 The Conservative movement says vegetarian and vegan restaurants need not have kosher certification.

Photo by Getty Images

Community

Raise your hand, raise your voice

Jeff Weinberg, president of Caregiver Champion and author of “The Emperor Needs New Clothes or Why The Caring Disappeared from Health Care,” joined Temple Emanuel of South Hills for a discussion on advocating within the health care system.

Taking a moment to remember

Rabbi Ron Symons, Rabbi Larry Freedman and Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Officer David Shifren worked with AgeWell Pittsburgh at the JCC program and with ECDC students to commemorate Memorial Day.

Viva la Torah

Nineteen members of Temple Sinai traveled to Milan, Italy, and donated a Sefer Torah to Congregation Lev Chadash.

Minyan Makers

Community Day School students joined morning minyan at Congregation Beth Shalom.

Friends All Around

Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh held a strolling dinner and silent auction at Acrisure Stadium on May 21.

 Be a champion.

Photo courtesy of Temple Emanuel of South Hills

 Along with holding a moment of reflection near the JCC’s outdoor flagpole, participants fostered classroom discussion.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

 Members of the 2023 graduating class

 Before leaving for Israel on their class trip, students enjoyed a delicious post minyan breakfast.

Photo by Mindy Shreve

 Drew Barkley, Rabbi Jamie Gibson and Lynn Magid Lazar lead a hakafah (Torah procession) through the streets of Milan, Italy.

Photo by Dale Lazar

 Friends All Around co-chairs Karen Oosterhous, Stacey Seewald, Rachel Petrucelli and Rivkee Rudolph Photos courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

KOSHER MEATS

•All-natural poultry — whole chickens, breasts, wings and more

•All-natural, corn-fed beef — steaks, roasts, ground beef and more

•Variety of deli meats and franks

Available at select Giant Eagle stores. Visit gianteagle.com for location information.

Empire Kosher Fresh Bone-In Split Chicken Breasts

54 9 lb.

Price effective Thursday, June1through Wednesday, June7, 2023