Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 6-7-24

Et odictiumqui andae amusam quistium si de net voloritat

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By Abigail Hakas | Special to the Chronicle

As birds chirped and mellow music flooded the Frick Environmental Center, Squirrel Hill community members took turns passing by a newly installed mosaic mural, placing their hands against the tiles and saying a blessing, a solemn recognition of the mural as a quiet, safe place for grief.

The tiles were taken from the Tree of Life building, where a gunman killed 11 worshippers on Oct. 27, 2018: Joyce Fienberg, Dr. Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.

personal objects to add to the mural. Among the tiles are many embedded figures and seashells and, the longer you look, the more pieces you find. It’s a constellation of sentimentality: a key, letters spelling names and words like “love,” a bottle cap, a pattern of four-leaf clovers — objects that mean something to someone.

As Dyen worked on the mural, she found a shattered mirror in storage. It was a gift for her 60th birthday, and many of her friends had signed the back. Rabinowitz, one of the victims, had written on it. She took those shattered pieces and added them to the mosaic.

Community readies for cheesecake, Torah and coffee at Tikkun Leil Shavuot

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

Rabbi Danny Schiff knows not to tinker too much with a good thing. Case in point: the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s annual Tikkun Leil Shavuot celebration, which takes place on June 11 beginning at 10 p.m.

Each year, the community gathers at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill to learn from a bevy of teachers spanning the spectrum of denominations and leadership roles.

“My criteria for who teaches is not the title in front of their name, but can do they do a really good job and bring Torah to the community,” said Schiff, the Gefsky scholar for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, who organizes the event.

This year’s instructors include stalwarts like Rabbi Levi Langer and Danielle Kranjec as well as some new additions — the Chronicle’s Adam Reinherz will lead a session along with Rabbi Sharyn Henry of Rodef Shalom Congregation titled “Judaism is About Love: A Conversation About Rabbi Shai Held’s New Idea About Judaism.”

There are two changes this year. The first is slight: There will be an additional session offered during the 11 p.m. hour and one fewer at midnight. The second change is more significant.

Each community member spent six weeks working on the mural until its debut at Frick on June 2. Some lost loved ones in the shooting. Some survived it.

For survivors and married couple Rabbi Doris Dyen and Deane Root, the mural meant taking the pain of the shooting and transforming it. Participants were encouraged to bring

She connected it to the day of the shooting, where she and Root had planned to enter the synagogue but stopped because they saw shattered glass.

“It’s one of those sort of deep connections, you know. What occurred to me to bring personally was my own mirror pieces, but then I realized that it really is connected to the 10/27 [shooting],” she said. “It was glass that kept us

More Orthodox women will lead sessions, which Schiff said will enhance the program. When it was pointed out to him that there are Orthodox women in the community “who are outstanding teachers,” and that Orthodox women previously had not been included as instructors in the program, Schiff was determined to rectify that omission, he said.

A wide range of topics will be presented.

sunsetting of Elder Express

 Community members view the recently installed mosaic mural at the Frick Environmental Center.

Photo by Abigail Hakas

Headlines

Sunsetting of Elder Express highlights transportation needs for older adults

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Sheryl Stolzenberg is frustrated by her commute. She used to travel between

The New Riverview and Squirrel Hill Jewish Community Center twice a week via Elder Express.

Now, Stolzenberg is stuck.

“They told us that not enough people were taking it, and that’s why they are reducing it,” she said.

Ever since moving into Riverview almost four years ago, Stolzenberg used Elder Express, a transportation service operated by AgeWell Pittsburgh and ACCESS that serves older adults in the 15217 zip code. Van rides start and end at Riverview. Stops occur at the Squirrel Hill Health Center, JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, grocery stores, senior living centers and other nearby locations.

Stolzenberg rode the van on Mondays and Tuesdays to the JCC.

“Whenever I got on, there was someone getting on from another retirement community,” she said.

AgeWell representatives said Elder Express was a useful resource for older adults to reach stores, social engagements and community-based educational programs.

Nonetheless, notification was sent two months ago that “due to declining ridership,” Elder Express’ final day of regular service would be April 5, 2024, and that the new Friday-only service would be limited to four runs, with the last run beginning at 1 p.m.

As part of the changes, Murray Towers, Imperial House and Beacon Place were dropped from the route. To reach those

locations and other sites, passengers were instructed to contact ACCESS, a shared-ride public service.

ACCESS relies on federal and state funding to deliver affordable transportation.

ACCESS’ public-private partnership facilitates about 5,000 trips each week for older riders, disabled individuals and others, according to representatives.

“It’s a good service, but it has limits,” Stolzenberg said.

The Squirrel Hill resident has previously used ACCESS to reach health care facilities.

If her appointment was at 2 p.m., Stolzenberg said she’d call several days prior and ask to be picked up at 1 p.m.

Stolzenberg said.

“It wasn’t so difficult going on ACCESS, but going back could be terrifying,” she continued. “A doctor’s office isn’t open 24 hours. If the vehicle was late, you could sit on a sidewalk for an hour.”

A national driver shortage made the service even “less reliable,” Stolzenberg added.

Along with food insecurity and housing, transportation is one of the major issues affecting older adults nationwide, according to Sharon Feinman, the division director of AgeWell at the JCC.

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Transportation barriers prevented 2.3 million older adults from participating in “social activities, visiting with family or friends and attending religious services,” The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reported. Additionally, of the nearly 3 million older adults in the U.S. who rely on public transportation, more than 600,000 told researchers that their need for transport was due to a medical appointment.

Feinman is aware of recent difficulties and said that AgeWell — a collaboration between the Jewish Association on Aging, the JCC and JFCS — is exploring various options.

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p An Elder Express vehicle comes to a stop.

Photo courtesy of AgeWell Pittsburgh

Headlines

Pittsburghers prepare for college during gap year in Israel

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Two Pittsburgh teens spending a gap year in Israel are learning to become campus leaders in the States.

Since September, Katriel Camp and Tali Itskowitz have participated in Nitzavim, a Jerusalem-based fellowship. Founded by Rabbi Adi Isaacs and the 7 Schwartz Brothers Leadership Trust, in partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the fellowship offers students regular instruction from professors and mentors while awarding college credit.

Class time is spent thinking about “what’s happening on campus and how we can make a difference for the Jewish future,” Camp, 19, said.

Discussion involves exploring the root of “buzzwords that are going on now against Israel and the Jewish people,” she continued. “We try to break them apart and think about why they are so unfounded.”

Along with talking about the history of Zionism and the Jewish state, “We learn ways to stand up for the truth, when to engage and not to engage, or when to debate and not to debate,” Itskowitz, 19, said.

The fellowship, which provides three credits from Hebrew University, is a “great way to be informed and learn how to become an active leader,” she added.

Camp, an Ellis School graduate, is studying

at Midreshet Lindenbaum. Itskowitz, a Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh graduate, is at Midreshet Moriah. Both students are attending the University of Maryland this fall.

As part of the fellowship, students were

in an environment where there are so many people, so we developed a project where we connect students to make intimate familial Shabbat meals,” Camp said. The goal is that “people can be connected to their Judaism without it feeling overwhelming.”

“To engage Jewish students on campus as a peer is such a powerful concept, and it’s needed now more than ever.”

–RABBI ADI ISAACS

divided into groups and asked to design projects to implement in college.

Itskowitz is working on an initiative to reach future Jewish classmates through tabling at athletic events.

“Sports games are big social scenes, so we are going to have a table where we can attract Jewish students on Maryland’s campus who might not go to a formal Jewish event because it could be intimidating,” she said.

Camp is hoping to provide a similar demographic with Shabbat dinner experiences.

At campuses with large Jewish populations, “some students don’t feel comfortable

The Pittsburghers are among a group of 80 fellows who’ve spent the year working with alumni and business mentors to design various projects. A showcase is scheduled for June 6. Based on judges’ determinations, winners will receive funding to implement the projects on campus, according to Nitzavim representatives.

“This program is literally the secret weapon that the Jewish people need,” Fellowship founder Rabbi Adi Isaacs said in a statement. “To engage Jewish students on campus as a peer is such a powerful concept, and it’s needed now more than ever.”

A survey of 310 Jewish students between May 6-8 by Benenson Strategy Group

for Hillel International gauged current attitudes.

When asked if they felt a need to hide their Jewish identity from others on campus, 40% said yes; 28% said they have felt unwelcome in a campus space due to being Jewish or their feelings about Israel; and 32% of students said they have been “too scared to attend Jewishrelated events (i.e., Shabbat dinner, Jewish programs, etc.).”

“Although the situation for Jewish students at secular campuses looks scary on the news, we are prepared to stand up for the Jewish people and Israel in any way we can,” Itskowitz said.

“There are so many like-minded students who want to make a difference, and it’s important to support them,” Camp said. “The best agents for the Jewish people on campus are the students themselves.”

Months remain until the Pittsburghers arrive in College Park, Maryland. Camp and Itskowitz can’t wait.

“It’s easy to put your head down and go to classes and get through it, but that won’t really do anything,” Itskowitz said.

Being a leader, Camp said, is imperative.

“Students have the ability,” she said, “to make the most impact on campus if they’re only given the opportunity.” PJC

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

— LOCAL —

p Tali Itskowitz

Photo courtesy of Tali Itskowitz p Katriel Camp

Photo courtesy of Katriel Camp

Headlines

Protesters trespass, encamp on Pitt’s property, call for termination of relationship with Hillel

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

For the second time in less than three months, anti-Israel protesters created an encampment on Sunday at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.

Upping its rhetoric from previous protests, Pitt Apartheid Divest posted a statement on its Instagram site calling for the university to “Immediately terminate Pitt’s Chapter of Hillel,” “immediately terminate the Student Coalition for Israel at Pitt” and “Remove the IHRA definition of antisemitism from the DEI website to avoid the false and defamatory conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism.”

The group also threatened that “escalation will continue until the University upholds its purported commitment to justice and equity.”

Those calls were among a litany of demands on Pitt, including divesting investments from Israel, rejecting the normalization of ties with “the Zionist regime,” refusing grants from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, supporting Palestinian academics, dropping charges against protesters, demilitarizing the campus police and severing ties with Pittsburgh police.

The group also called on the university to “assure the protection of First Amendment rights and the freedom to speak, assemble and protest,” while demanding that speakers with whom they disagree be banned from campus.

The Hillel Jewish University Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said in a joint statement they were “outraged” by the encampment.

“The calls to terminate Hillel JUC is a reprehensible attempt to target the primary Jewish organization that serves close to 2,200 Jewish students across Pittsburgh area universities,” the statement read, adding that the motivation of the demand was clear: to threaten Jewish safe spaces and to make Jewish students feel unwelcome.

The Hillel/Federation statement said the protesters’ demand to remove the IHRA definition of antisemitism was “an insulting

ago), but those with whom he’s been in contact “are disgusted and deeply disturbed by this encampment and expect the university to deal with it.”

Marcus said he expects that the university will deal with protesters “in a correct and timely manner.”

The latest confrontation between protesters and the university began when demonstrators erected a fence around pitched tents and formed a human chain at the Cathedral of Learning.

Jared Stonesifer, Pitt’s communications director, said two demonstrations taking place in Oakland converged on the Cathedral of Learning’s lawn and “quickly erected wooden barricades, fencing and other structures with tents inside.”

The university, he said, was working with the Pittsburgh police, Allegheny County police, Pennsylvania State Police, Carnegie Mellon University and Carlow University to monitor the situation.

As of Monday morning, only one person, Donald Johnson, 33, of Pittsburgh, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and obstruction. He is not affiliated with the university.

Despite only one arrest, the chaotic scene included other acts of violence.

Reuben Rochkind, a Pitt student, heard about the encampment from other Jewish students in a group chat. He went to the protest with a few friends, taking an American flag with him. As he stood with his back to the fence separating the encampment from the rest of the cathedral grounds, a masked assailant in the camp grabbed him from behind. He fell to the ground while struggling to break free from the attacker, who clutched the backpack Rochkind was wearing.

“It caught me off guard,” Rochkind said. “I was definitely not expecting that to happen.”

He said that he went to the demonstration to try to engage the protesters in conversation, something the group’s handlers wouldn’t allow to happen.

Rochkind said he thought it would be appropriate to bring an American flag.

“I believe America has a lot of good values, like the freedom of speech and the freedom to protest,” he said. “The protesters are out there and they’re, in my opinion, anti-Western and Rochkind’s assault didn’t stop him from

trying to have conversations with the protesters. He was back Monday morning, and while he didn’t speak with any demonstrators, he did talk with a history professor wearing an “Irish for Palestine” pin. The professor said the conflict in Gaza was a “genocide.”

Rochkind said it was a war. The professor walked away saying there was no agreement between their stances.

“That’s a professor,” Rochkind noted, adding that the encampment “is a hostile environment” for Jewish students.

“It’s right in the middle of campus and hard to avoid,” he said. “It makes sense to keep moving and not engage if you want to avoid any kind of trouble.”

In a June 3 statement to the Chronicle, Stonesifer acknowledged that the new encampment was “markedly different from the largely peaceful protest in Schenley Park in April.”

The new protest, he said, included the destruction of property and other actions outside of the university’s foundational principles of peaceful advocacy and open dialogue. He noted that the protesters’ leaders who were asking for meetings are not students “and their affiliations are with organizations that also have no connection to the university.”

Although those in attendance violated several university policies and failed to follow police directions to disperse, “senior leadership remains committed to meeting with students, faculty and staff to hear their concerns,” Stonesifer said.

In a June 3 message to Pitt students, faculty and staff, Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel noted that the group protesting is not affiliated with the university and that it defaced the Cathedral of Learning and the exterior of the Frick Fine Arts building, including with “antisemitic graffiti.” Additionally, a weapon was thrown through a window and materials were placed in the revolving doorway of the Cathedral of Learning with “what appeared to be the intent to ignite those materials.”

Several of the protesters also brought young children with them, she said.

“We have no illusions that the efforts of this group last night are directed toward free expression,” she wrote. “What we saw last night, and continue to see, are attempts to destroy property at the historical core of our campus, as well as accompanying action that in no way elevates open inquiry or allows for peaceful advocacy.”

On Monday morning life in Oakland was

back to normal. The only disruption was the closure of the Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union, along with the closure of the sidewalk on Fifth Avenue between Bigelow Boulevard and Lytton Avenue, in front of the

Even the antisemitic chants coming from the camp — “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” and “There is only one solution, Intifada, Revolution” — were ignored by those passing by the encampment and drowned out by the sound of buses and construction vehicles on the neighborhood’s thoroughfares.

And yet, by Tuesday evening, another group of protesters, egged on by the Instagram accounts of Pitt Apartheid Divest and Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Pittsburgh — who issued pleas for people to come to the encampment and bring creature comforts like energy drinks and paper towels — gathered on the university’s property and clashed with police.

That protest fizzled to an end after conversations with Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato. They negotiated with a group that included self-identified Pitt students and instructors, as well as someone who Innamorato called “a faith leader inside the encampment,” and some members of the “Jewish and Palestinian” community, Innamorato said.

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Gainey said his primary focus is on keeping the city safe, and after hearing about the clashes with police, he reached out to Innamorato and the two worked to deescalate the situation.

“If I can make a difference to ensure that everyone goes home safely, I’m going to do that,” Gainey said.

The negotiations, he said, were not about the group’s demands, which were primarily focused on the university’s policies, but on a way to resolve the conflict.

“Last night, we were able to keep the peace in Oakland, which is my primary responsibility as county executive,” Innamorato said.

Addressing the reports of antisemitism at the encampment, Gainey was clear.

“We have seen a rise in antisemitic behavior. Let me say right now, I condemn any antisemitic behavior in this city,” he said. “I’m speaking directly to everyone in this city when I say that we condemn antisemitic behavior.” PJC

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

p Antisemitic statements were chanted and displayed outside of an anti-Israel encampment at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning.

Photo by David Rullo

p Anti-Israel protesters at an encampment located at the Cathedral of Learning show support for Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists, who support the terrorist group Hamas and have attacked American and British ships in the region. Photo by David Rullo

Headlines

Israel Bonds divide

credit rating from A1 to A2, are reasons not to invest in the Jewish state.

“‘How can I stand and watch disaster befall my people?’ pleads Esther to the king (see Megillat Esther 8:6). To be moral is to live with and for others, sharing their responsibility, participating in their su ering, protesting their wrongs, arguing their cause…”

Lee & Lisa Oleinick

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity believes Israel Bonds make a good investment.

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel, Garrity, a Republican, ordered an increase of $20 million in the state’s investment in Israel Bonds.

And while she believes that it’s important to stand with Israel, Garrity said the investments are simply good for Pennsylvania.

“We’ve been invested in these bonds since the ’90s,” she said. “They pay above-market returns and they’ve never defaulted.”

Erin McClelland, Garrity’s opponent in the November general election, has a different view.

McClelland, a Democrat and former employee of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, said that she doesn’t believe the state should put money in foreign bonds, especially if it means taking sides in an overseas conflict.

“We’ve never seen the treasurer take sides in foreign conflicts before,” she said. “That’s a relatively new construct we’re seeing that is becoming very prevalent in the Republican Party.”

Citizens interested in taxpayer dollars being invested in foreign conflicts, she said, should do so through the proper avenue — a U.S. congressperson or senator.

McClelland said Israel’s war in Gaza, and Moody Investor Services’ decision earlier this year to downgrade the Jewish state’s

Furthermore, she said that when dealing with conflicts that involve terrorist organizations, there should be a concern about municipalities becoming a target.

“We’ve seen an increase in those attacks since October,” she said. “We saw the Aliquippa Water Authority get hacked by Iran because they use an Israeli-made software system.”

Garrity’s focus, McClelland said, should be on protecting municipalities and using the resources of the cybersecurity program in the treasury to ensure the state’s schools, water authorities and emergency response infrastructure are safe and secure.

Pennsylvania’s treasurer disagrees.

Garrity said she “unequivocally” stands with Israel.

She explained that she can’t simply invest the state’s money in anything she wants, and there is the “prudent investor standard,” which is a legal guideline for trustees of investment portfolios that requires a fiduciary to act in the best interest of the trust’s beneficiaries and outlines standards for legally controlling investment portfolios.

“Also, we have an investment policy statement which says, basically, what percentage of your portfolio can be invested in fixed income, what percentage can be in equities and so on,” Garrity said. “We are well within what our investment policy statement says for those targets.”

McClelland is not alone in disagreeing with Garrity.

p Stacy Garrity

Photo courtesy of Stacy Garrity

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 9

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

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

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

 SUNDAYS, JUNE 9–DEC. 29

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

 MONDAYS, JUNE 10–DEC. 30

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly

Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

 TUESDAY, JUNE 11

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for Tikkun Leil Shavuot, its annual night of Jewish learning featuring well-known rabbis and speakers, plus cheesecake and co ee. 10 p.m. JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, 5723 Darlington Road. No registration required. For more information on the speakers and topics, visit jewishpgh.org/occasion/tikkun.



WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12

Celebrate Shavuot with Chabad of Squirrel Hill. Come hear the Ten Commandments and enjoy a delicious dairy dinner and ice cream bu et. 5 p.m. 1700 Beechwood Boulevard. chabadpgh.com/ shavuotparty.



WEDNESDAYS, JUNE 12–DEC. 18

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

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

 THURSDAY, JUNE 13

Join Temple Sinai’s SAGES (Seniors Actively Gathering, Energizing Sinai) as they revisit the golden era of drive-in movies. Sing along with “The Wizard of Oz” while snacking on drive-in

staples like popcorn, burgers and hot dogs (vegetarian options will be available upon request). 11:30 a.m. Register at templesinaipgh.org/ programs-events.

 MONDAY, JUNE 17

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

 TUESDAY, JUNE 18

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

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

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

 FRIDAY, JUNE 21

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

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

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

 SUNDAY, JUNE 30

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

 THURSDAY, JULY 18

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

Author Lauren Grodstein to join Chronicle Book Club on June 9

What To Do

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

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

Happy reading! PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

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

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

Your Hosts: Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer

How and When: We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, June 9, at 1 p.m.

 Lauren Grodstein Photo by Rosie Simmons

Headlines

Yeshiva Schools welcomes Bayla Blumstein to head Girls High School Judaics

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Anew leader is coming to Yeshiva Schools.

Bayla Blumstein, a Houston-bred Jewish educator, will succeed longtime Yeshiva Schools staffer Batsheva Deren as Girls High School Judaic principal beginning this summer, Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, Yeshiva Schools’ CEO and head of school, announced recently.

Blumstein grew up in Texas and met her husband, Rabbi Yarden Blumstein, while living in Brooklyn. They moved to the Detroit area about 15 years ago; for nearly a decade, Bayla Blumstein has worked as the principal at Chaya Mushka Girls High School.

“I’ve led and guided the school here for nine years, and I look forward to bringing those experiences to Yeshiva Schools,” she said.

Blumstein, who previously worked for Friendship Circle in Michigan, has 20 years of experience working with people from eclectic backgrounds and focusing on child development and teen engagement, Rosenblum said.

One area where Blumstein sees parallels between the two communities is in student dormitories. She said she helped to build a dorm while leading Chaya Mushka Girls High School and grew it to 30 girls from around the world. In Pittsburgh, she will focus, among other duties, on growing Yeshiva Schools dormitories in Greenfield.

Blumstein also said she nearly doubled enrollment at Chaya Mushka, growing it from about 40 to 70 students.

“A lot of my first months will be learning — learning the culture of the school and learning the culture of the community,” Blumstein said. “I’m coming here able and ready to learn.”

Yarden Blumstein plans to serve as a teacher in the boys’ high school and a student counselor for both the girls’ high school and the boys’ Mesivta, in conjunction with the wellness division, Rosenblum said.

He previously taught at Frankel Jewish Academy and worked as a teen mentor

and director of UMatter, an organization of Friendship Circle focused on emotional health and well-being for teens, Yeshiva Schools said in a letter to parents.

The Blumsteins plan to send their eight school-aged children, ranging from 1 to 15, to Yeshiva Schools.

Bayla Blumstein is set to arrive in Pittsburgh the last week of June and is looking to find “the right house” in either Squirrel Hill or Greenfield, she said.

Her knowledge of Pittsburgh is limited, she said. But the family is very happy with what they’ve seen so far.

“We’ve experienced a very warm and welcoming community” in Pittsburgh, Blumstein said. “It feels like the community is close-knit and pretty united.”

Blumstein admits she’s got large shoes to fill.

Batsheva Deren is leaving after serving 43 years at the Orthodox school in Squirrel Hill, most recently as principal of the girls’ school.

Deren arrived at Yeshiva Schools in 1981, first as a teacher and, later, an administrator, Rosenblum said in a letter to school families.

“Mrs. Batsheva Deren has educated and guided our students who have since gone on to be mothers and even grandmothers, proud Jewish women and contributing members of society,” Rosenblum said. “Her tremendous spirit, and devotion to her mission and her students, has shaped our school into the institution it is today.”

While Deren “really formed the culture” at Yeshiva Schools, Rosenblum told the Chronicle he is confident Blumstein “will continue to upgrade, expand and develop school programs.”

“She already has made an impression on everybody,” Rosenblum said. “We’re looking forward to her coming. We’re extremely excited.”

In related news, Rochel Rabinowitz, the girls’ assistant principal for grades 7 through 12, is moving into a new role as Judaic principal of Yeshiva Schools’ middle school, which includes grades 7 and 8, school officials said. PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

WishingYOU A תועובש

Jason Kunzman, JCC President & CEO Scott E. Seewald, JCC Board Chair Staff & Board of the JCC

p Rabbi Yarden Blumstein Photo courtesy of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh

p Bayla Blumstein Photo courtesy of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh

Headlines

Professor encourages Point Park students to boycott Israel

By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

Point Park University has not experienced the same level of anti-Israel activity as have some larger universities, but a Point Park professor has urged students to “get involved” in the “Palestine/ Israel conflict” by boycotting “corporations that support Israel,” according to an article published in the school’s student newspaper, The Globe, on April 17.

The Globe reported that Robert Ross, a professor of social justice studies and community engagement, delivered a lecture upon returning from “occupied Palestine” and “encouraged attending students to stand up against Israel’s attacks on Palestine by staying educated, boycotting, contacting their elected officials and protesting.”

Corporations students were encouraged to boycott included Starbucks, McDonald’s and Sabra hummus, according to The Globe.

Ross is a vocal pro-Palestinian advocate. He was referenced in a lawsuit filed in 2020 by Channa Newman, a Jewish professor at Point Park, who alleged he was using his position at the university to promote “highly anti-Zionist views and activities” and to “foster the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.” Newman claimed that Ross and others sought to have her removed from her position at Point Park through the filing of a Title IX complaint because she did not acquiesce to their one-sided presentation of the conflict. Ross denied those allegations in a 2020 email to the Chronicle. The case was settled in 2022.

Ross has authored several articles urging boycotts of Israel, including an academic boycott.

Point Park officials take a different view.

“Point Park University and its leadership does not support a boycott movement against Israel,” Lou Corsaro, a spokesman for the university, said in an email to the Chronicle.

“Our students are not a monolith,” Corsaro added. “They have strong opinions about this conflict and a number of social, cultural, and world issues. Our responsibility is to ensure that all our students, no matter their beliefs, feel safe and heard on our campus. That said, the university has commended our students and the entire campus community for their admirable conduct and civility throughout the conflict. We are proud of the safe, inclusive environment that has long existed on the Point Park campus.”

Point Park enrolls approximately 3300 full- and part-time students. It is unclear how many are Jewish. A list of student organizations and clubs on the university’s

website does not include any focused on specifically Jewish interests.

In February, a new Point Park club, Point Park Students for Change, “represented by Robert Ross,” was launched, according

On Feb. 7 ,The Globe’s editorial staff changed the logo on the paper’s cover “to add red and black, two additional colors of the Palestinian flag,” they wrote. The editorial called for the U.S. to cease its support of

responsibility is to ensure that all our students, no matter their beliefs, feel safe and heard on our campus.

–LOU CORSARO

to The Globe. It held its first meeting “in solidarity with Palestine.”

“We want to make it explicitly clear that in our solidarity for Palestine, we are not anti-Semitic. We are opposed to Zionism and the loss of all innocent lives,” PPSC said in a statement to The Globe.

“Israel in their attacks against Hamas,” and bemoaned the loss of life in Gaza. The editorial did not mention Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel or the murders and rapes of Israeli civilians.

Richard Keitel, a professor and director of Theatre Arts at Point Park who is Jewish,

said that while he believes “everyone is entitled to their opinion,” he has been disturbed by the articles in The Globe. The coverage, he said, has been “very slanted.”

“I don’t want to see innocent Palestinians get murdered,” he said, “but I put the blame on Hamas.”

Keitel is well aware of the rising tide of antisemitism in the U.S. Before Oct. 7, he applied to take a sabbatical next fall so he could visit Israel, then direct a production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” when he returns.

“Then Oct. 7 happened and antisemitism skyrocketed,” Keitel said. Staging a play about Anne Frank “couldn’t be more timely.” Point Park does not offer courses that teach the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, “but the University would always welcome people to our campus interested in educating our community,” Corsaro said.

Julie Paris, regional director of StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic, said in an email that her organization “regularly advises administrators about best practices for ensuring that all members of the campus community — including Jewish students and other stakeholders — are afforded a safe learning environment with equal access to and use of all campus programs and activities.”

While the First Amendment protects the right to express “even highly offensive views and beliefs,” Paris said, “it does not protect conduct that harasses, discriminates, threatens, or causes physical harm. To the extent that anti-Israel (or any other) activity on campus crosses these lines, universities have an obligation to enforce applicable policies and laws swiftly and even-handedly to address that conduct and prevent the creation of a hostile antisemitic campus environment.”

StandWithUs, Paris said, encourages administrators “to remind faculty of the purpose and proper use of university resources and assets, such as email listservs and departmental websites, to ensure that individual views are not mistaken for the official position of the institution, and to reiterate the fundamental values of open dialogue and debate, honest inquiry and investigation, and factual accuracy in the presentation of classroom information so that our universities remain bastions of true education rather than ideological indoctrination. We look forward to continuing to work with administrations across the country, including at Point Park, toward these ends.”

The editor of The Globe did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for an interview prior to press time. PJC

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

p Point Park University’s Academic Hall

Photo by J. James via Wikimedia

Headlines

Palm Beach County official sued over record $700M investment in Israel bonds

A group of Palestinian Americans is suing a government official in Florida over his decision to invest more than $700 million of county funds in Israel bonds, JTA.org reported.

Joseph Abruzzo, who oversees investments for Palm Beach County, has put about 15% of the county’s funds into the bonds, making him the largest buyer of the debt in the world since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. His investments and outspoken support for Israel have earned Abruzzo praise from many in Palm Beach County’s sizable Jewish community.

The lawsuit accuses Abruzzo of violating state and county laws requiring officials to avoid risky investments and manage public funds without regard for ideological considerations. Abruzzo has disregarded financial warnings about the ability of Israel to pay back its debts and is motivated by his pro-Israel politics, the lawsuit claims.

Abruzzo rejects the claims in the lawsuit, arguing that investing in the bonds is not only legal but also beneficial in that they have delivered $172 million in interest payments to county coffers.

The lawsuit was brought by three PalestinianAmerican residents of Palm Beach County. They filed anonymously and are asking the court to allow them to proceed without being named due to fear of harassment and reprisals against their family members in Gaza.

John Fetterman disavows Harvard,

his alma mater, while receiving an award from Yeshiva University

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has emerged as an unlikely champion for Israel since Oct. 7, disavowed his alma mater, Harvard University, while receiving an award at Yeshiva University’s commencement ceremony, New York Jewish Week reported.

Fetterman and YU leaders used the May 29 event held in Queens to portray the flagship Modern Orthodox university as a counterpoint to college campuses across the United States (including Harvard’s) that have had pro-Palestinian encampments and whose graduation ceremonies have been marked by disruptive protests.

In his remarks after receiving the Presidential Medallion, which YU says is its most prestigious award for global leadership, Fetterman echoed that comparison. He said the last time he attended a graduation ceremony was his own at Harvard, 25 years ago.

At the mention of Harvard, the crowd hissed — and Fetterman responded: “I have been profoundly disappointed,” he said, mentioning “Harvard’s inability to stand up for the Jewish community after Oct. 7.”

He then removed a red stole from his shoulders — from Harvard’s traditional graduation robes.

“I do not fundamentally believe that it’s right for me to wear this today,” he said to applause.

Harvard says it will no longer take stances on many issues

Harvard University will no longer issue statements on topics that are not directly relevant to its operations, on the advice of a task force convened amid tensions around the

Today in Israeli History

drinking and agriculture. The system of pipes, canals, tunnels, reservoirs and pumping stations can carry 19 million gallons per hour.

June 11, 2013 — Google buys Waze

June 7, 1930 — Magen David Adom is founded Magen David Adom, now Israel’s Red Cross affiliate, is relaunched as the emergency medical service for the Yishuv, the Jewish community of Palestine, after the Arab riots of 1929.

June 8, 1963 — Educator and politician Chaim Boger dies Chaim Boger, a member of the second Knesset, dies at 86. He helped bring the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium to Tel Aviv in 1909 and taught at the high school from 1919 to 1951.

June 9, 1959 — General and politician Benny Gantz is born Benny Gantz, who rises to be the IDF’s chief of staff in 2011 and emerges as a candidate for prime minister in opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu in 2019, is born on a moshav, Kfar Ahim.

June 10, 1964 — National Water Carrier begins pumping

The 81-mile National Water Carrier begins pulling water out of the Sea of Galilee for

Israel-Hamas war, JTA.org reported.

The Institutional Voice Working Group, formed to examine questions about when and how the school should weigh in on controversial and political issues, recommended the new policy in its first report, issued on May 28. University leaders immediately said they accepted the recommendations.

“Harvard isn’t a government. It shouldn’t have a foreign policy or a domestic policy,” Noah Feldman, a law professor and author of a recent book about contemporary Judaism who co-chairs the group, said in a university Q&A published after the decision was announced.

Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber, formed the working group after taking over at the Ivy League university following the resignation in January of Claudine Gay. She faced a plagiarism scandal ignited by controversy over her handling of Israel protests on campus and her remarks at an explosive congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. The group formed in April, the same month students launched a pro-Palestinian encampment on Harvard’s campus.

Just 19% of Israeli Jews believe a Palestinian state can peacefully coexist with Israel

The share of Israeli Jews who believe an Israeli and a Palestinian state can peacefully coexist has plummeted since Oct. 7, according to a new survey, JTA.org reported.

The figure of 19%, reported in a study published on May 30 by the Pew Research Center, was the lowest since Pew started surveying Israelis in 2013. It is down from 32% in a survey released just weeks before

the war broke out.

In 2013, according to Pew, nearly half of Israeli Jews — and a majority of Israelis overall — supported a two-state solution. In 2005, another polling firm found that most Israeli Jews supported the establishment of a Palestinian state.

This year, a quarter of Israeli adults overall — including nearly half of Israeli Arabs — believe a Palestinian state and Israel can peacefully exist side-by-side. That takeaway is one of a number from the Pew survey that shows Israelis hunkering down for more conflict as the Israel-Hamas war is about to enter its eighth month. The survey of roughly 1,000 Israeli adults was taken in March and April — before Israel invaded the Gaza city of Rafah and other recent developments.

Australia rejects Palestinian statehood in landslide vote

Australia’s Parliament on May 30 voted down by 80-5 a proposal to recognize a “State of Palestine.” The motion was tabled by the Greens Party, JNS.org reported.

The motion, tabled by the Greens Party, is “contrary to the traditions of Australian foreign policy,” said Liberal MP Julian Lesser.

Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts said, “Simplistic wedge motions in the house do nothing to advance the cause of peace.”

MP Monique Ryan criticized the Greens, saying, “These debates and motions do not help them any more than they help the people of Gaza or of Israel.”

Denmark, too, recently voted against recognizing “Palestine.” PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

Google agrees to pay roughly $1 billion for Israel-based social mapping service Waze, which came from a program launched in 2006 called FreeMap Israel. Google wants Waze’s tech and team, not its user base.

June 12, 2014 — 3 teens are abducted, killed

Three Israelis ages 16 to 19 are abducted while hitchhiking near Alon Shvut in the West Bank and are shot dead. The two attackers are believed to be Hamas members. The bodies are found 18 days later, leading to Operation Protective Edge.

June 13, 1950 — Harari resolution ends constitution push

The Knesset adopts a resolution sponsored by Yizhar Harari that says Israel will adopt a series of Basic Laws instead of crafting a single constitution as promised in the Declaration of Independence. PJC

p From left: Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, were abducted and killed June 12, 2014.

p A Magen David Adom ambulance is ready for an emergency call in June 1948. By Zoltan Kluger, Israeli National Photo Collection, CC

Headlines

Mosaic:

Continued from page 1

from going any further and saved our lives.”

The pieces of the mirror formed a part of the larger image: a teardrop falling into water, sending out ripples. The teardrop itself is a collection of broken pieces of mirror, allowing visitors to see themselves in it. The ripples were created using the Tree of Life building’s tiles that participants broke into smaller pieces with a hammer.

“To use pieces from a place where we lost — so many parts of our community were shattered in many ways and lives were shattered — to be able to use those pieces from that broken space, and to create something that was transformed into beauty was very meaningful,” Root said.

“It’s no longer sort of shattered, jagged edges,” Dyen added. “They’re still there, but the totality of the mosaic mural is not jagged and shattered. It’s whole.”

The idea of making shattered pieces whole is central to the project. It was conceived by therapists Ted Cmarada and Susan Spangler.

Over the six weeks and 10 sessions, the participants ventured into Frick Park and spent time in nature, worked on the mural and ended the sessions reflecting around a candle at a center altar.

While in nature, they gathered materials to press into clay medallions that speckle the design. Many organizations — Jewish Family and Community Services, 10.27 Healing Partnership, Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Media, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Lively Pittsburgh — supported the creation of the mural, dubbed the Healing with Nature Mosaic Project. The group was guided by mosaic artist Laura Jean McLaughlin.

Cmarada and Spangler drew on the grief and loss they’ve shared as a married couple to inspire the use of each mural-making session as a therapeutic space. Spangler would bring in a Pueblo storytelling figure, a gift from her mother, to remind Spangler of her mother’s ability to tell a story. Others brought their own objects to the altar.

“We work from our own authentic experience in order to work with other people going through their real and deep and emotional

Continued from page 1

Classes include: “The Role of Liturgical Poetry on Shavuot,” “The Afterlife,” “From Adam to Ruth: How it All Connects” and “Revelation, Torah and Resilience on Campus.”

Shavuot is one of the festivals that the Torah commands Jews to celebrate. The practice of studying Jewish texts erev Shavuot can be traced back to at least the 16th century.

There is no clear explanation of why cheese cake and other treats featuring dairy products, including blintzes, are consumed on the holiday, but many trace it back to the Torah and its description of Israel as a land “flowing with milk and honey.”

experience,” Cmarada said. “We may go in communities that are quite different from one another, but the grief is no different.”

Rituals were a key part of the sessions. At the first session, participants picked up stones and placed them around the center altar, forming a ripple like those in the mural. As they placed pieces of the mirror in, participants were encouraged to say a prayer, blessing or a name.

While they shared somber moments, the sessions weren’t without levity and joy.

“There was a feeling of family, and sitting around the mosaic table really felt like breaking bread together,” Spangler said. “It really felt like a Thanksgiving table where we were all together, sharing life together, making this thing, making our meal, our mosaic meal together, and sharing stories around the table.”

Many of the participants met for the first time as they began to share their grief in sessions, but some knew each other already.

Sharyn Stein’s husband, Daniel Stein, was killed in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and she worked on the mural alongside her friend Peg Durachko, wife of Dr. Richard Gottfried, another of the victims.

Their therapist gave the two of them rocks in the first year of the shooting. The granite rocks had three different layers within them, which reminded their therapist of the three congregations affected by the shooting: Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light.

When Durachko brought her rock to add to the mural, Stein followed suit. Among all the occupied spaces on the mural, there was just enough space next to Durachko’s rock for Stein to add hers.

Stein wasn’t able to join as the group finished the mural, so she saw it for the first time at the unveiling. Attendees were encouraged to write messages on hearts and place them on the wall around the mural.

Some consider the holiday as the proper time to introduce children to Torah study. In Eastern Europe, there was a tradition of giving children between the ages of 3 and 5 honey so they would associate the study of Torah with sweetness.

Tikkun Leil Shavuot has become one of the

Federation’s most popular events, enjoyed by hundreds who give up a few hours of sleep to study with other Jewish community members from across the city.

“If It’s not the largest Federation event of the year, then it’s in the top two,” Schiff said. “It’s always a competition — is Yom Ha’atzmaut

“We’re doing one of the most fundamental things that Jews do together, which is to strengthen our identity and return to our primary source texts.”

- RABBI DANNY SCHIFF

bigger than Tikkun Leil Shavuot or the other way around?”

The program, he said, is popular both with attendees and teachers. So popular, in fact, that Schiff is unable to accommodate all those who wish to teach.

“If we simply allowed everybody to teach

“It was awesome and overwhelming that it came together so well because doing it and seeing it were two different things,” she said. “When we were working on it, it was just sort of like a jungle, but it did come together so beautifully.”

The mural will be available for visitors to view over the summer at the Frick Environmental Center. While no plans are set for the mural after the summer, Spangler and Cmarada hope that it will continue to find new places to give viewers a space to reflect on their own grief.

“We all have come with grief and with some kind of trauma in our lives,” Root said. “That individual pain is like the individual broken pieces that we all put together in physical form into something that is beautiful.” PJC

Abigail Hakas is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

that wanted to teach, we might have 40 sessions or more, which would mean five or 10 people in each session, which wouldn’t be very satisfying,” he explained. “So, we limit the number of sessions.”

Like everything else since Oct. 7, this year’s celebration will occur beneath the shadow of Israel’s war with the terrorist group Hamas and the plight of the hostages still in Gaza.

Schiff said the evening offers the opportunity to find solidarity and comfort in the presence of others in the Jewish community.

“We’re doing one of the most fundamental things that Jews do together, which is to strengthen our identity and return to our primary source texts,” he said.

More information about Tikkun Leil Shavuot, including a list of sessions and instructors, can be found at jewishpgh.org/ occasion/tikkun. PJC

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

Tikkun:

p Rabbi Danny Schiff File photo

p A close-up of the mosaic mural installed at the Frick Environmental Center

Photo by Abigail Hakas

Headlines

Transportation:

Continued from page 2

For more than 21 years, ACCESS and AgeWell partnered on Elder Express. The pandemic “prompted a hiatus,” but the JCC and ACCESS responded by using the service to deliver JCafe meals to the homebound. Since its September 2021 relaunch, ridership has trailed pre-pandemic usage by 40%, with rates continuing to decline.

The service averages only “10 rides per day, with some days being as low as two,” Feinman said. “It’s well below the minimum requirement of at least 25 rides a day for sustainability.”

Although Elder Express still operates on Fridays — due to a higher usage rate — the subsidized service will sunset at the end of this month.

Feinman and other AgeWell representatives said they’re disappointed by the decision, but reality necessitates change.

“We’ve been trying for the past two years to increase ridership through marketing and speaking with people to find out what their needs are,” Feinman said. “People say they want the service, but then the ridership isn’t enough to keep it going. It was successful

earlier, but things change over time — the demographic changed, needs change — and we need to pivot with it.”

long as the person applies for and receives a Senior ConnectCard.

Apart from the bus or ACCESS, other

Along with food insecurity and housing, transportation is one of the major issues affecting older adults nationwide, according to Sharon Feinman, the division director of AgeWell at the JCC.

Though subsidized, Elder Express isn’t free for passengers. To ride, a personal account with ACCESS must be established before loading an electronic purse with funds. Each fare, which costs $1.75, is then deducted from the passenger’s account. New rides cannot be scheduled unless there’s enough money in an account.

The cheaper option is riding a bus.

Older adults, ages 65 and up, can take any public transit in Pennsylvania for free as

options exist.

AgeWell Rides is a volunteer-based transportation system for people ages 60 and up who do not drive and need to get to medical appointments, supermarkets, volunteer sites or other social settings. More information is available at 412-422-0400.

There’s also A to B, a digital tool that recommends transportation options for Allegheny County residents. After answering a series of questions regarding age, ability,

insurance and trip logistics, individuals are presented with personalized options for transport.

There are multiple ways to get around the area, but the loss of Elder Express still stings, Stolzenberg said.

Before moving to Pittsburgh, the Squirrel Hill resident worked as a city and county planner in central Pennsylvania and South Florida.

“I got a chance to see how public transportation was handled in a lot of different places, and I never saw anything like Elder Express anywhere I’d been,” she said.

“Unfortunately, with ridership dropping since the pandemic, it’s difficult to keep the service running the way that it has been,” Feinman said.

That doesn’t negate AgeWell’s commitment to helping older adults easily navigate the area.

“You can contact us directly, and we will work with you,” Feinman said. “We are here to support.” PJC

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

In February, pro-Palestinian activists protested the treasurer’s investment in Israel Bonds at the state capitol, leading to dozens of people being arrested.

A second protest took place in March, this one a “die-in,” where people laid in front of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s office building.

“I said the only die-in that took place occurred on Oct. 7,” Garrity said, “so quite honestly, they could come and protest every day. It wouldn’t bother me.”

Despite the protests, Garrity has said most of what she’s heard has been positive.

“I would say 99% of Pennsylvanians have applauded me for it,” she said. “They want to be on the right side of history and fully support being invested in these bonds.”

Garrity doesn’t simply believe in investing in Israel Bonds; she also doesn’t agree with divesting from Israel, nor does she support the BDS movement.

“In fact,” she said, “Pennsylvania has Act 163 from 2016 and it prohibits state agencies or affiliates from contracting with companies engaged in BDS activities against Israel.”

McClelland’s position is more nuanced,

saying divesting from Israel Bonds would be difficult because they aren’t tradable.

“Once you have them, you’re kind of stuck with them,” she said, “unless you have a partner that wants to buy them and you’re

probably going to sell them for a loss, and I couldn’t do that to taxpayers.”

Pushed on whether she supports BDS, McClelland said she’d rather not politicize the Treasury Department’s Office and, instead, would prefer to use the money to invest wisely for the people of Pennsylvania. And while she said the issue has turned the treasurer’s race — which doesn’t typically garner much attention — into a hot campaign, she would prefer to stick to the functions of the job.

“We’re talking about running a treasury of $163 billion,” she said.

For her part, Garrity thinks Israel Bonds are a good investment, war or not, and is certain there is only one party to blame for the war between Israel and Hamas.

“Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East,” she said. “When I talk with folks about this, I say, ‘Let me put it simply: If Hamas stopped fighting today, there would be no more war. If Israel stopped fighting, there would be no more Israel.” PJC

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

p Erin McClelland

Photo courtesy of Eric McClelland

At a time of rising antisemitism, we must have moral clarity from our elected officials

Our Pittsburgh Jewish community knows firsthand the immense power of words and the devastation that can come from dangerous rhetoric. During his trial last summer, the evidence was overwhelming that the man who committed the most violent act of antisemitism in U.S. history was inspired by the antisemitic and anti-immigrant ideologies he was reading online.

That’s one reason why we are closely following the social media posts and other statements by our elected officials as antiIsrael campus demonstrations and antisemitic incidents proliferate here, around the country and around the world.

The goal posts setting the bounds of acceptable anti-Israel speech seem to be shifting, trending toward the normalization of antisemitism, and we are greatly concerned.

Last weekend, anti-Israel demonstrators — for the second time — erected an encampment on the grounds of the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning (see story on Page 4), and, as is typical of these types of protests, they submitted a list of demands to the university. But this time, the demands went beyond asking the university to divest from its interests in Israel. This time, any line between what some might consider to be legitimate anti-Israel speech and grave antisemitism was clearly crossed.

This time, the demonstrators called for the termination of the university’s relationship with two prominent Jewish student organizations — Hillel Jewish University Center and Student Coalition for Israel — following a trend that is starting to gain

traction around the country.

The demand is textbook antisemitism. It’s hard to imagine university students calling for the abolishment of any other student group that serves a minority population. The Jews, though, seem to be an exception.

While the anti-Israel students — and the professional agitators helping to organize them —often say they are following in the footsteps of students in the 1960s who helped move the needle on ending the Vietnam War, what is happening now is clearly different. In the 1960s, students were pitting themselves against a questionable foreign policy. Now, students are pitting themselves against other students — Jewish students.

We applaud our local politicians who issued statements or posted on social media unequivocally calling out the demands and chants of the protesters — including “Globalize the Intifada” — as antisemitic.

State Rep. Dan Frankel: “[C]alling for the immediate termination of Pitt’s Jewish student orgs is a clear effort to isolate and demonize a group of people for their ethnic and religious heritage. This is not a close call: it’s antisemitism, and it’s dangerous.”

State Rep. Abigail Salisbury: “Calling for the expulsion of Jewish organizations at Pitt while still claiming not to be antisemitic is an interesting intellectual exercise…”

City Controller Rachael Heisler: “I respect the right to protest, but calling for an intifada is calling for the murder of Jews.

This is anti-Semitic hate speech and must not be tolerated.”

Other politicians released statements supportive of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community without specifically labeling the protesters’ statements as antisemitic.

Mayor Ed Gainey: “We have seen a rise in Anti-Semitism, and a rise in Anti-Arab activity, and in order to build a city where everyone can feel safe it is clear to me that the only way we can reach that goal, is to honor the humanity of all people. That means continuing to meet with and support our local Jewish community and speaking out against Anti-Semitism and the loss of innocent Israeli lives. It also means that we must condemn Anti-Arabic activity and recognize the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the loss of innocent Palestinian lives.”

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato: “The mayor and I cannot speak on behalf of [the protestors’] demands, but have encouraged all those involved to engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue to address their concerns. As the leader of this county who strives to build a community where everyone feels safe and welcomed, we will continue to balance and keep everyone’s First Amendment rights intact while standing resolute against antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and hate in all of its forms.”

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger: “My constituents’ safety will

always be my first priority. Sadly, actions and statements from the group currently protesting at Pitt have made many students and families I represent feel profoundly unsafe. I unequivocally condemn demands to ban Jewish groups from campus.”

Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick: “[T]roubling for many of my constituents are the slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ and the word ‘Intifada.’ There is no doubt that these particular terms — both in Arabic and in English — hold different meanings for different groups. And we are navigating this global conflict — and the words we use to describe it — in real time.”

We are alarmed that Rep. Summer Lee neglected to acknowledge her Jewish constituents’ pain and fear, and instead wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Police escalation in protests always leads to violence. That’s why it’s never the answer. Instead of meeting calls for justice with unnecessary force, we need to listen, understand & address the root cause of the outrage. Our communities demand change, not violent confrontation.”

Lee visited the first encampment in April in support of the protesters.

There is a difference between making broad statements condemning antisemitism and calling out particular instances of Jew hatred. We implore our elected officials to be clear in their condemnation of antisemitism and to speak with moral clarity and specificity. Words matter. PJC

Dreading wedding season? Shut up and dance with me.

Guest Columnist

Andrew Silow-Carroll

In Jami Attenberg’s 2013 novel “The Middlesteins,” there’s a chapter about a joint bar and bat mitzvah told entirely from the perspective of the parents’ friends. So indistinguishable are these Cohns, Grodsteins, Weinmans and Frankens that the chapter is narrated in the first-person plural.  “We were at the age where we had almost been forgotten but were not quite old enough to be heralded for still being alive after all these years,” they explain. “Of course we were seated together at the reception, the eight of us.”

When I first read “The Middlesteins,” I was close to the age of the parents, and I thought it was the most depressing description of the disappearing act of encroaching age that I had ever read. And it only gets worse. During the reception, the couples limit themselves to one quick dance. Otherwise, [w]e checked our watches, and thought about the errands we needed to run the next day, the walk we would take in the sunshine, the phone calls we would make to our children, some of whom lived in

other states, with grandchildren we missed terribly. We had only been there for two hours, but it was already starting to feel late.

I’d like to say that after reading the book I vowed never to become “those people.” Or that I promised myself I’d be, if not the “bride at every wedding” (as Eleanor Roosevelt once described her narcissistic uncle Teddy), then the kind of guest my hosts wouldn’t regret inviting.

Instead, for perhaps a decade I was exactly those people. I treated weddings and b’nai mitzvah as chores. I complained that the music was too loud. I spent way too much time in the hallways. I calculated how soon I could leave without seeming rude.

And then, over the past two years, more and more of my friends’ kids started marrying, and I decided I wasn’t ready to fade into the not-so-good night of the “parents’ friends table.” At the next wedding, instead of trying to make myself heard over the din of “Mr. Brightside,” I pulled my wife onto the dance floor. And stayed there. I have maybe three moves, and I used them all, again and again. This time I did make a vow: that I’d stay on my two left feet until the band packed up their instruments. I’ve stuck with it.

You might credit my transformation to the pandemic, and probably should. After

two-plus years in lockdown, I joined others in “letting life out of the box,” as the poet Tony Hoagland puts it.

I also had Jewish guilt — even law! — as a goad. The Talmud, in Brachot 6b, says rejoicing with the bride and groom — simchat chatan v’kallah — is a mitzvah, meaning a commandment, and no mere good deed.

And 2,000 years ago the rabbis anticipated the self-consciousness of graceless middleaged men. If you are worried about making a fool of yourself on the dance floor, remember the story of the great scholar Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Isaac, who would juggle myrtle twigs before the bride (Ketubot 17a).  When Shmuel’s colleague Rabbi Zeira said such antics were beneath him, Shmuel squirted him with a seltzer bottle. (Okay, not really, but the same passage goes on immediately to explain that not only did Shmuel not demean himself or Torah, but that when he died he was blessed with an extremely rare sendoff of divine fire.)

And ultimately, I have Jewish history as inspiration. In her classic guide, “The Jewish Wedding,” Anita Diamant quotes a saying she attributes to Holocaust survivors: “To dance at a Jewish wedding is to dance on Hitler’s grave.” She continues: “For every generation, weddings are a glimpse into the future, a

repudiation of past griefs, and a celebration of the here and now.”

I’ve also learned a secret over these past few years. As dumb as you might feel clomping around in a circle while holding hands with a sweaty neighbor (Jews call this “dancing”), others find it admirable. I’ve had a few people, including brides and grooms, come up to us at the end of weddings and compliment us for having closed down the dance floor.

I mean no disrespect to people who either can’t or don’t wanna dance with somebody, shake it off, shut up and dance or celebrate good times, come on. Your hosts really don’t mind. And I’ll tell you how I know this: Last Sunday we celebrated the wedding of my middle child to a brilliant, kind and beautiful woman whose smile is as radiant as his. The music was loud. The dance floor was packed. I was where I needed to be. And my pounding heart grew big enough to cherish everyone in the room, whether they were getting down or sitting it out.

Because when it comes to celebrating a young couple’s love amid a cloudy here and now, I’m Mr. Brightside. PJC

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor at large of the New York Jewish Week and managing editor for Ideas for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Opinion

Chronicle poll results: Does the American media treat Israel fairly?

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Do you think that most of the American media treats Israel fairly?” Of the 316 people who responded, 80% said no; 13% said yes; and 7% said they weren’t sure. Comments were submitted by 80 people. A few follow.

I read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The New York Times and The Washington Post. They are all factual.

Fox News and The Wall Street Journal are the only options I use. The rest are a complete disappointment.

Most of the media have become mouthpieces for Hamas.

The media bias against Israel is nothing new. It’s just intensified with social media. The

outcome, though, is that Israel is being required to wage a war in a way that no other country has ever been required to do.

I believe that every time the media shows a crying Palestinian child, they should also show the unseen videos of the violently murdered Israeli children. The uneducated American public really needs to see the full extent of what Hamas did.

American media are consistently biased in Israel’s favor and consistently biased against Palestinians’ just grievances.

CNN is very biased against Israel. Fox is much better when it comes to Israel.

To be well informed, which is critical in today’s world, people must listen to a variety of news sources — typical national news on ABC, NBC and CBS; cable channels like Fox, Fox Business, Newsmax, CNN and MSNBC; and The Wall Street Journal as well as The New York Times (both sides of the

political divide on social media) to evaluate what is being said by various options — as well as what is not being reported. This will take valuable time, but a couple of weeks of doing it all will astound and scare you.

Sure, some media treat Israel unfairly, but not most, at least in my experience. We Israel supporters play a stronger hand focusing on the (very real, legitimate) affirmative case to make, rather than playing the “victimhood” card of unfair media ... even if it’s sometimes justified. PJC

— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Will you attend a Jewish study session on Shavuot? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

Farley Weiss’ selective memory

In his guest column “Is the Jewish vote going Republican?” (May 31), Weiss relies on conclusions from specious polling and promotes the percentage of the Jewish vote as a bellwether for national trends despite being just 2.4% of the population. Has Mr. Weiss forgotten Donald Trump’s moral equivalence of torch-bearing neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville and those opposing them? After the terror attack by a white supremacist which killed an anti-racist demonstrator and injured others, Trump condemned this “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” As for Trump’s numerous references to Jewish international banking interests (epitomized by George Soros), these are straight out of the late 19th- and early 20th-century fascist publications prevalent in Italy, Germany, France, England and the USA.

Lastly, he takes a swipe at Barack Obama, who he claims was irretrievably hostile to Israel while sending the most military aid to Israel of any U.S. president before or since. Joe Biden? His unwavering support of Israel may well cost him the 2024 election. And his criticism of Bibi’s failures and withholding 2000-pound bunker busters hasn’t stopped the flow of munitions to date. As for “meticulous” IDF military operations in Gaza … eight months into this campaign and the hostages remain in Hamas tunnels, hundreds of IDF soldiers are dead, thousands have been seriously wounded while nothing has been resolved regarding the future of Gaza.

DNC talking points

Richard Friedman Pittsburgh

Rep. Dan. Frankel’s commentary in the Chronicle is a hit piece on former President Trump (“Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game, and Jews lose either way,” May 31). Like other progressives, he is trying to project a false image of the former president.

Let me remind Mr. Frankel, and the rest of the progressives with Trump Derangement Syndrome, of Trump’s pro-Israel accomplishments. The U.S. embassy was moved to Jerusalem under Trump. Clinton, Bush and Obama failed to enact the law that placed it there. Only Clinton had one Arab state make a cold peace with Israel, while Trump had four. Iran was on the ropes under Trump; now, with Biden, it’s emboldened to wage war with Israel and make nuclear weapons. Trump cut aid to the Palestinian Authority because that money was being paid to families of terrorists. Under Obama, the U.S. failed to stop an anti-Israel U.N. resolution in late 2016. President Biden has continued the trend to placate anti-Israel voters in Michigan and Minnesota.

Let’s look at the Hamas sympathizing party — the one that includes Reps. Tlaib, Omar, Ocasio-Cortez and our own Summer Lee, among other “Squad” members. They all have been outspoken against Israel. It’s not the far-right who are protesting against Israel — it’s the progressive left and its Jew-hating funders. Antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed under Biden in the last three years.

Biden has always been on the wrong side of history, and now is no different. His idea of a two-state solution is Michigan and Minnesota. Even suggesting there be a two-state solution is giving a win to the terrorists. Biden has shown weakness in most situations and has only emboldened our enemies. Thus, the war in Gaza.

Mr. Frankel is projecting the current Democrat narrative on Trump — right out of the DNC

Response to Rep. Frankel’s op-ed

In his op-ed “Donald Trump is playing a dangerous game, and Jews lose either way” (May 31), state Rep. Dan Frankel astoundingly warns against the dangers to the Jewish people of a victory by Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election. It is quite ironic that, while Rep. Frankel sounds this alarm, the Jewish people are suffering the worst outbreak of Jew-hatred in the United States and worldwide since the Holocaust. This vile antisemitism is not only occurring during the presidency of Joe Biden, but, in no small measure, can be attributed to his colossal failure of leadership, particularly his handling of the Gaza war.

When the war broke out Biden stood firmly with Israel: “In this moment of tragedy, I want to say to [Israel] and to the world and to terrorists everywhere that the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back … Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop … And my administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”

That was President Biden, who has since undergone a quick and seamless transmogrification into lowly politician Biden.

It is that failure of Biden to adhere to his initial promise that has allowed and furthered this eruption of Jew-hatred. The president of the United States operates on a world stage and has a unique opportunity to promote and foster, with moral clarity, the fundamental principles of American democracy, including the ideas of equality and rule of law. But Biden was not up to the task. When Jew-haters, including some members of Congress, denied the atrocities that Hamas committed, the president should have denounced them with a fervor, but he didn’t. When leftist mainstream media regularly jumped with glee to promote the lies that Hamas perpetuated and to distort the reality of the war, he should have denounced them with a passion, but he didn’t. When all of the hate-filled campus demonstrations, called out, “From the River to the Sea” and threatened Jewish students, he should have denounced them with a vehemence, but he didn’t. When the United Nations, the ICJ, the ICC and other international institutions shamelessly smeared Israel, he should have denounced them with zeal, but he didn’t.

Why should he have denounced them? Because they failed miserably, and continue to fail miserably, to uphold the cherished principles upon which each of these institutions — academia, media, international — were founded.

Why didn’t he denounce them? It was not only because of an upcoming election. It was because his administration and much of his political support is filled with woke progressives who are driven by ideology and by emotion, not by rational analysis, and who suffer from severe weakness caused by profound moral confusion. This failure is a result of an insidious, creeping, neo-Marxist encroachment into our cherished institutions, where rule of law no longer matters.

This is a much greater danger to Jews, America, and Western civilization than a possible four more years of Donald Trump.

Reuven Hoch Pittsburgh

and New York Times playbook. I do not see him criticizing his own party and the feckless occupant of the White House.

Andrew Neft Upper St. Clair

Life & Culture

Key lime cheesecake for Shavuot

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

I’ve never had the pleasure of buying a quality key lime pie from a kosher bakery or restaurant. When I started to have a craving for a slice, I knew that I was going to have to make it at home, but I wanted to do something a little different. I took my basic cheesecake recipe (which uses lemon) and tweaked it into a key lime cheesecake — and I have to say that I’m incredibly happy with how this turned out. It took a few attempts to get the natural, zesty lime flavor that I was looking for. I prefer sweet but natural-tasting desserts, and this one really did it for me.

I’ve never seen actual “Key” limes for sale locally so I used the small round ones that I typically use for cooking or making margaritas. When I made the adjustments for the amount of lime juice needed it changed the texture of the cheesecake, but I was pleasantly surprised.

My regular cheesecake recipe, which I got from my mother, is incredible but dense. This version is so light that it’s more like a cheesecake mousse. You will get all of the flavor of a homemade cheesecake, but the consistency is much easier to enjoy after a large meal.

This dessert is perfect to serve over Shavuot and into the summer months when citrus desserts are extra refreshing.

Key lime cheesecake (Serves 10-12)

Ingredients

Graham cracker crust:

1 cup finely crushed graham crackers

(1 sleeve of crackers makes 1 cup)

¼ cup melted, salted butter. If you have unsalted butter, add a small pinch of sea salt

3 tablespoons sugar

⅛ teaspoon of cinnamon

Cheesecake filling:

3 8-ounce bricks of full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, strained

1 teaspoon lime zest, gently packed

3 large eggs at room temperature

Lime slices and whipped cream for garnish, optional

Prepare the crust first. Either hand crush the graham crackers by placing them in a large plastic storage bag and going over them with a rolling pin, or throw them in the food processor. If there are any larger pieces left intact, crumble them with your fingers.

Place the crushed graham crackers in a small bowl and mix in the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon.

Mix/pulse the ingredients to get a light, almost sandy texture. The graham cracker mixture should hold together when pressed down but just barely. If it isn’t holding together, you can add an extra tablespoon of melted butter.

The crust can be prepared ahead of time and left on the counter until you’re ready to bake.

Preheat your oven to 325 F, and place the oven rack in the center of the oven.

Pour the graham cracker crumbs into a springform pan. Gently press the crumbs down with your hands, spreading them evenly across the bottom of the pan to create a crust. Bring the crust up the side of the pan slightly for extra stability when cutting slices later.

Bake for 8-10 minutes and remove from the oven.

While the crust is baking, mix the cheesecake batter. I have not seen much difference between using a whisk or a paddle attachment here and lately, I’ve been using a hand mixer instead of my stand mixer. Add the cream cheese to your mixer bowl and mix on medium-low for 2 minutes until smooth. Add the sugar, lime juice and lime zest, and mix for another minute before adding the eggs, one at a time. As soon as the yellow of the egg yolk looks mixed into the batter, add the next egg. Once blended, turn the speed up to medium and mix for another minute.

Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl down and mix again on low speed for one more minute. You may see some small lumps even if it’s well mixed — they will bake into the cheesecake so don’t worry about them.

Cut two pieces of foil that are larger than your springform pan and also large enough to come completely up the side of the pan. Fold one up and turn the edges over to make a rim around the edge of the baking pan and repeat with the second layer.

Boil 6-8 cups of water.

Place the springform pan (with foil) into a stable baking pan or dish that is larger than the springform pan and is also level.

Gently pour the batter over the graham cracker crust. Use a rubber spatula to even out the batter and smooth the top.

A Bain Marie (water bath) works well with this version of the recipe and I think that it helped with the mousse-like consistency. I also didn’t have any cracks and the cheesecake stayed pale in color after being baked.

Pour the boiling water into the bottom pan so that it comes at least halfway up the side of the springform pan.

Be extra careful when putting this into the oven because the water is boiling.

After placing the cheesecake with Bain Marie, close the oven door, turn the heat down to 300 F, and bake for 55-60 minutes or until firm. You can tell that it’s done when it looks firm but there is a slight wobble to the cheesecake, like when you make quiche. Turn the oven off, crack the door and allow the cheesecake to rest for an hour.

After an hour, pull the pans out to continue cooling on the counter. At this point, take the springform pan out of the Bain Marie. You can also loosen the foil around the springform pan because that retains heat.

Once it’s completely cool — which could take 2-3 hours — run a sharp knife around the edges and then release the spring on the pan. I prefer to leave the springform sides around the cake while refrigerating to support it and protect it from anything else that may fall onto it. I place a large dinner plate over the pan and refrigerate overnight. Avoid plastic wrap at this point — it will ruin the finish of the cheesecake.

It is important to let this rest in the refrigerator overnight for the best consistency, so make this the day before you plan to serve it. You can add thinly sliced limes as a garnish with whipped cream. Fresh mint and strawberries also pair well with it. Canned whipped cream melts quickly, so if you’re using store-bought, put it on each slice immediately before serving. Homemade whipped cream holds up much better, so you could decorate the cake several hours before the meal and store it in the fridge. Either way, keep this refrigerated until immediately before serving.

This cheesecake keeps well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and freezes well if wrapped in several layers of plastic wrap and is frozen on a baking pan. That will keep it level and in good condition.

Wishing you an inspiring holiday of Shavuot! Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Grann

in Pittsburgh.

p Key lime cheesecake

Photo by Jessica Grann

Life & Culture

Squirrel Hill gets parking lots

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

In the second of a three-part series, the city negotiates the construction of the first parking lots in Squirrel Hill. Giant Eagle works on building a third.

Squirrel Hill lost a few people and gained a lot of cars in the 1950s.

The population of the neighborhood declined by nearly 1,200 over the decade, or about 3.5%. Car ownership across the entire city increased by more than 30%.

By the end of the 1950s, two-thirds of Pittsburgh families owned a car, up from half at the start of the decade. Even though Pittsburgh was still near the bottom of major metropolitan areas when it came to car ownership — only New York was lower — the rate of growth here was almost 10 percentage points higher than the national average.

I was unable to find neighborhood specific figures, but the rate of car ownership has historically always been higher in wealthier neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill.

The opening of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the Parkway East in 1953 created major traffic changes throughout Squirrel Hill. Murray Avenue now fed into an interstate.

To accommodate all those cars, there was curbside parking outside homes, metered parking throughout the business district, and a few small private lots,

garages and driveways. The Pittsburgh Parking Authority had been formed in 1946, and yet, by the mid-1950s, there were still no city-owned off-street parking lots in Squirrel Hill.

of Murray Avenue, but the company was planning to build a small, standalone store at the corner of Murray and Bartlett with a 40-car parking lot behind it.

It’s fascinating to read through the minutes of the February 1959 hearing, knowing how things turned out. So many questions raised at the meeting eventually came to pass.

Was the parking lot too small? Would Giant Eagle eventually need additional properties to expand? The answer at the time was no. Ultimately, though, Giant Eagle purchased the former Chofetz Chaim synagogue and expanded the lot all the way to Beacon Street.

Would the lot be available to everyone? No, just Giant Eagle customers — like today. Even so, the Squirrel Hill Board of Trade favored the plan. They argued it would ease parking throughout the business district. It was common for shoppers to circle the block in search of parking, sometimes finding it blocks away, always in front of other businesses. And this was still the day when clerks regularly carried groceries to the car. Would the lot create traffic issues on Bartlett Street? We’ll save that’s for next time.

Meanwhile, the new Miracle Mile in Monroeville had rows upon rows of free parking.

As with the parking meters in the 1940s, the business community largely favored these two parking lots. At the hearing, Giant Eagle presented a petition with signatures from 700 supportive shoppers. Opposition came mostly from the residential community.

The Pittsburgh Parking Authority surveyed Squirrel Hill in the late 1950s and concluded the neighborhood needed 235 additional off-street parking spaces to meet demand.

It initially looked for a location near the intersection of Murray Avenue and Beacon Street. It bought two houses with adjoining backyards just west of Murray Avenue — one on Beacon, one on Bartlett. It would be enough space for a paved lot with 72 spaces. The Squirrel Hill Board of Trade supported the proposal, calling it “urgently needed.”

Both properties had to be rezoned. At a December 1958 hearing, a property owner on Bartlett Street fretted about the impact on neighborhood zoning. Why, he asked, couldn’t the authority have acquired the larger vacant lot on the other side of Murray Avenue?

In the meeting minutes, this lot is called “the Reichbaum property.” It previously had been home to the Block Building, anchored by a Perl-Reichbaum Co. grocery store.

The Block Building was an important commercial development, filled with shops and offices, including the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. The building was destroyed in a major fire in 1956. After it was demolished, it was used as a commercial parking lot.

An authority staffer explained that the Reichbaum property was “under study by the owner for a building which will have its own parking but will not remain a parking lot.”

The proposed building was Giant Eagle. The Squirrel Hill branch was located at that time on the other side

Both lots were ultimately constructed. Giant Eagle got permission to build a new store with an adjoining parking lot. The city built the parking lot between Beacon and Bartlett. The Squirrel Hill Board of Trade helped finance the Beacon Street lot. Local business owners covered a third of the $150,000 cost by purchasing bonds at 4% interest.

Even with these two new lots, Squirrel Hill still needed between 83 and 123 spaces to reach the Pittsburgh Parking Authority goal — depending on whether you counted the Giant Eagle lot among the total. And so the Pittsburgh Parking Authority was already developing another parking lot in Squirrel Hill, this time at Forbes and Shady avenues.

The northwest corner of Forbes and Shady at that time was an Atlantic Refining Co. service station. Behind it was a large singlestory building, previously a used car lot.

The Pittsburgh Parking Authority approved a plan in late 1962 to raze the single story building, freeing up space behind Forbes Avenue for a parking lot with 65 spaces.

Financing came from another bond sale among local businesses and from $120,000 in meter revenue. And so, in a way, residents, shoppers, and businesses all footed the bill.

Now the city needed another 18 to 58 spaces to reach its goal. It pursued much more. PJC

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

p Workers paint a storefront in the 2100 block of Murray Avenue, just up from the corner of Murray and Douglas, on June 25, 1951. Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections

Life & Culture

Shinshinim end year of service by recognizing growth and opportunity

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

On the heels of an unexpectedly demanding year in Pittsburgh, four young Israeli emissaries are returning home — satisfied by the work they’ve done and ready for the future.

Nearly 10 months ago, the high school grad uates arrived in the Diaspora. The goal, the Shinshinim told the Chronicle at the time, was to bolster Jewish peoplehood.

A noticeable fissure had grown between young Americans and Israelis. Exacerbated by the Israeli government’s efforts to rebalance judicial powers in the Jewish state, the rela tionship revealed increasing cracks. The hope, according to the Shinshinim’s program coordi nator, Moran Tuti of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, was to help repair it.

“These Israeli kids are the same age as kids here,” Tuti said in August. “They will be able to talk, whether it’s about the simplest things or the harder parts.”

Three of the Israeli teens entered the program with some exposure to the States. Earlier participation in the Diller Teen Fellows Program and Emma Kaufmann Camp offered insights into American behavior, but nothing

The Flagstaff Hill gathering, Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said, was an opportunity “for folks from every faith community to come together and express our sorrow for the victims in Israel, as well as our support for our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

Support is meaningful, the Shinshinim said, but combat occurring 6,000 miles from Oakland has a palpable effect here.

“All four of us have siblings in the army. Let that sink in,” one said.

Eight months after draping themselves in Israeli flags, ascending the Schenley Park stage, embracing in a mutual hug and articulating unwavering support for the Jewish state, the teens point to that night as having changed their entire year.

“Coming here we were mostly directed to work with kids — like the oldest people we were talking to were students at Hillel JUC — and suddenly, we got this whole new world of impact,” Maya, 19, said. “We got a chance to tell people, from our perspective, what’s happening.”

The teens seized the opportunity and readjusted their purpose in Pittsburgh.

“We talked to other people and explained things to them so that they could explain things to other people,” Maya said.

Married Couple

Robert Levin & Kerry Bron, M.D.

King & Queen

The Plung Resnick Family

Landmark

Kathy Krause

UPMC Western Behavioral Health and UPMC Community Care

Window-down

Berger and Green

Giant Eagle Foundation

Larry King and Barbara Krause

The Pollon Family

Rita and Andrew Rabin

Dr. Lawrence and Phyllis Wechsler

Blockbuster

Dr. Cheryl and Mr. Tom Fogarty

Jewish Healthcare Foundation

Leonard D. Silk

The Sol & Tina P. Waxman Family Foundation

Scribe

Kathy and Larry Hurwitz Employment Fund

Susan and Louis Leff

Anne and Michael Levin

Lee and Lisa Oleinick

Rae-Gayle and Mitchell Pakler

Reid Roberts and Theresa Greco

Cathy Green Samuels and Michael Samuels

Andrea Solomon-Eller and Andrew Eller

David Sufrin and Diane Samuels

University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

Bob and Roelie Whitehill

Sticker

ACTION-Housing, Inc.

Anonymous Board Member

Dr. Ellen Berne and Mr. Paul Needle

Cindy Berg Vayonis

Eagle Point Technology Solutions

Nancy E. Gale

Lori and Richard Guttman

The Jewish Chronicle

Karen J. Levin

Lexus of North Hills

Littles Shoes

Pechersky Orthodontics

Lorrie Rabin and Paul Pitts

Deborah Rubin

Rebel Fox

The Rosenberg Food Group

Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition

Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky

Rick and Shari Sweet

Verland

The Wagner Agency, Inc.

p Moran Tuti, center, joins the Shinshinim.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

Please see Shinshinim, page 20

Torah Celebrations

Bar Mitzvahs

Micah Angel Ramirez, son of Danielle (Segall) and Robinson Ramirez, will become a bar mitzvah at Adat Shalom during Shabbat morning services on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Grandparents are Roslyn (Applebaum) and Herschel Segall of Pittsburgh, and Luz Marleny Rincón and Aníbal Ramírez of Miami, Florida. Micah is a high honor roll student at Dorseyville Middle School. He also plays soccer with Steel City FC, runs track, enjoys cello and tap dancing, and loves summers at Emma Kaufmann Camp. For his mitzvah project, Micah is helping his recuperating uncle fulfill his wish of cataloging and donating some 500 Judaic texts to schools and religious institutions in the Pittsburgh area so that the books continue to be used and valued by future generations.

Everett Stahlman will become a bar mitzvah on June 8, 2024, at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills. His parents are Lisa and Matthew Stahlman of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. He is a big brother to two sisters, Piper and Lydia Stahlman. Grandparents are Marc and Anita Alop from Phoenix, Arizona, and Paul and Linda Stahlman from Fairmount City, Pennsylvania. Everett loves to play video games, read, solve puzzles and Rubik’s Cubes, and is on the Chartiers Valley Middle School swim team. For his bar mitzvah project, Everett volunteered at the Washington Humane Society by reading to cats to help socialize them.

Morgan (Blumenfeld) and Ryan Vibbert of Columbus, Ohio, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Margot Elyse, a 5-pound bundle of joy. Grandparents are Cheryl Blumenfeld, Harold Blumenfeld and Sheryl Riddle. Great-grandma Rochelle Blumenfeld and great-aunt Beth are both so happy to welcome her. And so is her 4-month-old cousin Eliza Rose. Margot Elyse is named after her great-grandma Mildred and great-aunt Estelle.

Brandon Blumenfeld and Cassandra Malis welcomed their sweet strawberry Eliza Rose on Feb. 22, 2024. Named after Brandon’s Aunt Estelle and great-great-grandmother Rose Reznik. Grandparents are Cheryl Blumenfeld, Harold Blumenfeld and Sheryl Riddle. She also is the great-granddaughter of Rochelle Blumenfeld and niece to Beth Blumenfeld. Eliza Rose is also the cousin of Margot Vibbert, just recently born to Morgan and Ryan Vibbert. The Blumenfeld family is overjoyed to welcome all our

Parker Neiman and Laura Forth are elated to announce the birth of their daughter Riley Alexandra Neiman. Grandparents are Mark and Barbara Forth of Williamsburg, Virginia, and Roz and Sandy Neiman of Shadyside. Proud aunts and uncles are Emily and Gavin O’Connor, Andrew Forth and PJC

Making it count

TRabbi Barbara AB Symons Parshat Bamidbar Numbers 1:1 – 4:20

here are times to count down and times to count up. On the Jewish calendar, this is the time to count up.

From the second day of Passover until Shavuot, we count up as commanded in Leviticus 23:15-16. Starting from the second night of Passover, “…you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week — fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to Adonai.” At first, each day’s counting was accompanied by bringing a small offering of barley to the Temple in gratitude to God. In time, it became the ritual link between leaving Egypt as celebrated during Passover to standing at Mt. Sinai as celebrated on Shavuot, 50 days later. There is a formula for counting the omer: Declare you are ready. Say the blessing. Announce the day of the omer. For example: “Today is the 46th day of the omer”; then divide it into weeks and days. Some people refer to a chart to do the math. At Temple David, we have a ringer for this: a congregant, who is a retired high school math teacher — able to navigate and teach advanced algebra, trigonometry and geometry — is the one who solves our division problem. If today is the 46th day of the omer, she computes that is six weeks and four days of the omer. Yet, we may ask, why do we need to count both days and weeks? It comes from a rabbinic argument whose crux is that the biblical text instructs, “You shall count 50 days.” On the other hand, the text also

says to “count ... seven complete weeks.” So, do we count in days or weeks? The answer is “yes,” meaning count both days and weeks. We are to live in two countings at once: One is measured by the week. It reminds me of a reading from our family Shabbat service by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon and Nanci J. Freedberg: “Think about the week you just lived. From last Shabbat to this Shabbat. Think about the moments and your memories over the past seven days. How many choices did you make that were on target? How many times were you unselfish? How many times did you tell the truth? How many times did you say, ‘Thank you?’ How many times did you say, ‘I am sorry?’ How many times did you appreciate what you have? Shabbat is a time to reflect on a week gone by.”

Meanwhile, we are to also make each day count as 11th-century Bachya ibn Pekuda taught: “Days are like scrolls, write on them what you want remembered.” We are to be intentional, present, mindful, seeking mitzvot introduced by 100 blessings per day.

As we count the omer, we are to consider time in bigger and smaller chunks, for counting time makes it, well, count.

For 18 years, I have had the honor of being the rabbi of Temple David and, through that sacred relationship, to partner with many Jewish, interfaith and secular organizations and institutions. As Ron and I prepare to relocate, I thank you, Pittsburgh, for 6,574 days, which is 939 weeks and one day. PJC

Rabbi Barbara AB Symons is the rabbi of Temple David. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy

Obituaries

DAVIS: Arnold Arthur Davis, died peacefully with friends and family at his home in Pittsburgh on June 2, 2024. He forever will be remembered as the beloved husband of Selene Letichevsky Davis; the loving father of Jay, Shawn, Robin, Daniel and Natasha; and a devoted grandfather of Renee-Rose, Paula, Margaret and Sophie. Arnold was born on June 13, 1933, to Maurice Davis and Jeannie Rieder Davis in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At a young age Arnold moved to Toronto where he joined Hashomer Hatzair, a labor Zionist movement that would play a formative role in introducing him to Marxism and other academic theories and worldviews. He remained an active member until the age of 25 and often recalled this experience fondly throughout his life. Maurice was a fruit and vegetable peddler and Jeannie was a housewife. Despite the household’s modest means, there was always an abundance of food on the table. During a time when his family’s economic situation was harsh, he was placed in an orphanage. Soon after, Arnold started working at the age of 6 as a corner newspaper boy at night. Thus began a great love affair and his life’s work: He quickly mastered the art of salesmanship and marketed Bibles, cook ware, cars and finally prefabricated steel buildings. Over time, steel became his defining profession. In Canada, he built a sales organization and accompanying steel factories to fulfill his growing book of orders. After a brief interlude in the world of muffin baking in Manhattan, Arnold returned to steel, this time in America, where he would once again build a network of sales organizations and factories. As a business leader, he took great joy in teaching people the art of sales. As someone who never had the opportunity to graduate from college, he took a particular interest in those like himself — short on opportunities but large in natural talent and grit. With this true pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps American mentality, he fostered his own rags-to-riches story in many others. His love of sales was matched by his love of adventure and food. Arnold traveled the world many times over, exploring rural outposts across America as well as Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, India, Iran, Israel, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Egypt and Spain. At age 80, he could be found (or maybe not found, rather) traveling by wooden canoe up the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea visiting remote villages and locals along the way. The one constant throughout his travels was that he enthusiastically sampled and savored the delicacies he found, whether at a hole-in-the-wall or a Michelin-starred favorite. New and novel types of sweets always had a particular allure. These travels furthermore provided countless collectibles and antiquities, the discovery of which provided Arnold great joy. Size and weight were no deterrent: He realized quickly that it was no tougher to squeeze entire tribal spirit houses and massive totem poles into shipping containers abroad than it was to fill a similar container with steel at his factories. He

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

developed a great passion for West Coast Canadian art — acquiring many pieces by Norman Tate and Christian White. He also crafted an outdoor sculpture garden filled with massive pieces of petrified wood, stone warriors, and bronze elephants and lions. He built a grand library, its shelves’ eclectic collection reflecting his expansive interests and tastes: history, art, physics, poetry and literature (with clear favor for American and Irish dramatists). He shared this passion for books with his daughter, Natasha, helping her form a collection of first editions that she continues to grow. He also took joy in auctions, flea markets and antique bookshops, and as his travels subsided later in life, he became adept at logging in to flagship online auction sites around the world. His collection of such mementos obviously led to a Pittsburgh household resembling a museum to most guests, but to Arnold and his family, it was just home. The sparkle of his eye was his wife, Selene. They were together for 39 years. Ahead of their time, they met through an ad placed by Arnold in the New York Review of Books. They quickly realized their enormous compatibility in taste and how complimentary they were in their skills and abilities. They shared many an interest: opera, ballet, theater, musicals, symphonies, literature, museums, Judaism, traveling and exploring, and more. He adored how she lovingly crafted a home for him in many ways. She carefully curated a beautiful house and garden and brought order to their ever-growing art collection. Emotionally, she also made a home for him by offering a great sense of security, stability, understanding, kindness and unwavering support. While Selene provided much spiritual and mental nourishment, Arnold also delighted in her exquisite culinary skills across Brazilian, Jewish and French food. A fond place in his heart is reserved for her Queen of Sheba cake and apple Charlotte. The table was just as full of treats at the end of his life as at the beginning. Services were held at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Interment Homewood Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Stanley Marks Endowed Research Fund at Hillman Cancer Center, 5150 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com.

ROSEN: Wilma Lee Rosen, beloved wife of 71 years to Sidney Rosen, passed away on June 4, 2024. Known for her consummate cooking, sharp wit and jazzy fashion sense, there was no one quite like Wilma. She loved travel, art, music, a perfect meal, and most of all, being with her family — she was a cherished and caring wife, mother, Nannie, sister and aunt. In addition to her husband, Wilma is survived by her daughters Cheryl Levin, Lynda (Marc) Turko and Pam (Paul) Volz; grandchildren Sarah Levin (Ian Fishman), Laura Levin (David Lowe), Harrison Volz, Erika (Barron) Dickinson, Noah (Jessica) Volz and Alex (Ashley) Turko; great-grandchildren Mae and Lou Fishman, Brady Dickinson, and Beckett, Campbell and Davis Turko; and many nieces and nephews. Wilma is also survived by her sister, Gladys Brog. Graveside service and interment were held at Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh (humaneanimalrescue. org) or a charity of your choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com PJC

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

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the

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Monday June 10: Ida Borovetz, Rose C Cody, Samuel William Corn, Louis L Edelman, David Eisenberg, Bessie Finkelstein, Eva Gold, Marsha Goldman, Lena Herr, Rose Gordon Labowitz, Sylvia A Livingston, Frank L Mandell, Julius Nydes, Jo Anne Persons, Hyman Roth, Milton M Ruttenberg, Harry Siegman, Leonard Silverblatt, Harry F Skirboll, Manuel Solomon, Yetta Spodek, Hedwig Stern, Jerome Supowitz, Abraham Swadow

Tuesday June 11: Sylvan Arnold Alpern, Dr Abraham L Barbrow, Nathan Friedlander, Ben B Goldberg, Israel Haltman, David Hartstein, Moses L Hurwick, Saul S Hurwick, Adolph Katz, Sara Lisker, Minnie Mervis, Samuel A Meyer, Abraham I Miller, Morris Podolsky, Irene Scherb, Helen G Solomon, Mollie R Whiteman

Wednesday June 12: William Barron, Dr Samuel R Cohen, Helen Danovitz Berenfield, John Jacob Elling, David Glasser, Sam Gold, Rebecca Kaufman, Jeannette Klein, Sylvia Rita Lipkind Podolsky, Edna F Sachs, Bella Schlosser, William Schlosser, Samuel Serbin, Erma A Weinthal

Thursday June 13: Rosa Lee Minzenberg Berry, Alfred Bornstein, Louis Cohen, Leah Hansell Freedman, Howell J Friedlander, David Gould, Rashel Katkisky, Hannah Miller, Robert Moldovan, Dora Schultz, Nathan Shapiro, Daniel Shussett, Paul Stein, Dora Sussman, William F Weiss

Friday June 14: Ida Friedman, Dora Samuel Goldfarb, Mollie T Golomb, Phyllis Elaine Gutmacher, Anna B Hausman, Michael O Kohn, Sarah Koppleman, I Hyman Lerner, Charlotte Perelstine, Sarah Y Rudick, Irving Shapiro, Alex Silverman, Jacob Slome, David Soltz, Helen Tenenouser

Saturday June 15: Morris Borof, Sonia Drucker, Dora Felman, Jean K Gefsky, Sarah K Gellman, Sylvia Gerson, Alvin Abe Golomb, Albert William Hertz, Albert Horn, Freda Horn, Leah Korobkin, Rochelle L Lubarsky, Tillie Marshall, Helen Ohringer, Fannie Schachter, Nathan Silver, Rhoda Freedel Sternlight, Frances Tenor, Esther Martin Wallie

Life & Culture

Shinshinim:

Continued from page 17

“That’s what we were trying to bring here: that this is the life and the reality that we are living, that our friends are living, that our families are living. And it’s not just a story that you hear about. It’s something that is happening,” Noam, 19, said.

The Shinshinim still considered themselves emissaries of the Jewish state, but the task became increasingly personal.

“We really felt like we’re doing something new, something very meaningful. And it just became bigger than expected,” Lidor, 19, said. “And so did our actions. We realized that we have an opportunity here, that something needs to be done.”

In classrooms, on the street, while working out, the teens donned yellow ribbons or silver dog tags symbolizing the plight of hostages still under Hamas control.

“We try to bring that with us everywhere we go, and have conversations about it, and literally mention that they are still there,” Noam said. “We are an am (people), and not everyone is free.”

“In the beginning, all we wanted to do was talk about it with people — it felt like a mission, like we were kind of starving for that,” Roni, 19, said.

As the months transpired and interaction after interaction occurred, the teens saw noticeable changes.

“To be hearing people say, ‘Thank you,’ after

I had a conversation with them, was really meaningful. It helped me understand the craziness of this,” Roni said.

“We came to the U.S. at a very specific moment in our lives, and then a lot of perspectives changed for us,” Lidor said. “We just graduated high school, and we started our adult lives here.”

Having Oct. 7 and the ensuing war catapult a group from adolescence into adulthood was unimaginable, but the original reasons for undertaking a year of service delivered constant comfort, he continued. “We’re speaking about community all the time, but community is people.”

The Shinshinim, who asked that their last names be withheld, will join the Israel Defense Forces upon returning to Israel.

“They understand life much better now after a full year being away from home. I can see that they’re ready,” Tuti said of the young adults. “They have so much to give.”

A year like the past bestows countless lessons but certain teachings are paramount, according to Noam.

“We stood up for what we believe, and we stood up for our values,” she said. “I think this is the thing that I want for every kid, and every teenager, and every young adult, and every other human being that I’ve talked to. I want them to step forward for their values. Just spread love and good and happiness, and stick together with people.” PJC

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

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Nestled

Chronicle wins 11 national Jewish press awards for outstanding work

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle was recognized for its excellence in journalism by the American Jewish Press Association, winning 11 Rockower Awards in the weekly and biweekly newspaper division.

The awards were presented at the Rockower Awards Banquet in conjunction with AJPA’s annual conference on June 3 at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.

The awards recognized work done in 2023.

The Chronicle received first place in the category Award for Excellence in News Reporting for “Yahrzeit plaques and other mementos collected, as Tree of Life prepares for future,” by Chronicle Senior Staff Writer Adam Reinherz. Judges commented: “Can a story be haunting, hopeful, and uplifting all at the same time? This story is my reminder of why Jewish journalism is compelling, reading it was like praying at a different type of altar. Beautiful photos too.”

The Chronicle received second place in the category Award for Excellence in Personal Essay for “After the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial: A reporter reflects,” by Chronicle Senior Staff writer David Rullo. Judges commented: “In this wrenching essay, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle reporter David Rullo describes the unique burden of covering the trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue killer — a story that literally hits too close to home. Rullo’s innate understanding of his insider/outsider status makes the essay a compelling and unforgettable read.”

The Chronicle received second place in the category The Boris Smolar Award for Excellence in Enterprise or Investigative Reporting for “A new generation of Jewish spiritual leaders take their turn at Pittsburgh’s bimahs,” and “A new generation of Jewish spiritual leaders confronts gender, identity” by Rullo.

The Chronicle received second place in the category Award for Excellence in Arts News and Features — Reporting for “Warhol Museum installs 10 ‘Jewish Geniuses’ amid controversy” by freelancer Emma Riva.

The Chronicle received second place in the category Award for Excellence in North

American Jewish History for “Civil War seder memorialized in Fayetteville,” by Reinherz.

The Chronicle received second place in the category Award for Excellence in Writing about Seniors for “JAA to offer non-kosher meal option at Weinberg Terrace, AHAVA Memory Care,” and “JAA addresses community concerns and revamps kosher dining option,” by Rullo

The Chronicle received first place in the category Award for Excellence in News Obituaries for “Rabbi Stanley Savage, downtown spiritual guide and wrestling savant, dead at 74,” by Reinherz. Judges commented: “An excellent mix of anecdotes and observations make the reader feel they knew Rabbi Savage.”

The Chronicle also placed second in the category for “Pittsburgh sports legend Stan Savran dies at 76,” by freelancer Justin Vellucci.

The Chronicle received first place in the category Award for Excellence in Education Reporting for “Protecting children from trauma during the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial,” by Reinherz. Judges commented: “Excellent work. Adam Reinherz took a novel approach to the Tree of Life synagogue shootings. The article presented multiple perspectives including

institutional while never losing its humanity.”

The Chronicle received first place in the category Wild Card Category — Award for Excellence in Writing about the War in Israel: Antisemitism for “After Hamas attack, progressive Jews are feeling abandoned by their left-leaning peers,” by Chronicle Editor Toby Tabachnick. Judges commented: “The best crafted, thoroughly reported and well executed story of the bunch, with a unique angle that educates the reader far more than the typical story about the rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7.”

The Chronicle received first place in the category Wild Card Category — Award for Excellence in Writing about the War in Israel: Personality Profiles for “Pittsburgh medical examiner helps identify bodies of terror victims in Israel,” by Vellucci. Judges commented: “A well written and interesting story for the intended audience. Relates well to the news from Israel at the time of publication, focusing on one individual directly engaged in an activity resulting from the war.” PJC

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

After ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ AI graphic goes megaviral, pro-Israel rebuttals proliferate

— WORLD —

By Jacob Gurvis | JTA

The image has been hard to miss: A picture of a desert packed with tents, snow-capped mountains visible in the background and the text “All Eyes on Rafah” superimposed on top, has been shared nearly 50 million times on Instagram this week.

The image has spurred a debate over the role of AI graphics in online advocacy about the Israel-Hamas war, as well as a host of pro-Israel riffs that aim to challenge pro-Palestinian social media activism.

In one image that Israel’s official X account shared in response, a cartoonish bloodied baby is seated in front of what appears to be a member of Hamas, holding a gun, with the text “Where were your eyes on October 7?” Another depicts a large rally with an Israeli flag and the popular refrain “Bring them home now.” A third exhorts, “If your eyes are on Rafah, help us find our hostages.”

None of the pro-Israel images have been shared anywhere close to as widely as the original, which has been posted by more than three times as many people as there are Jews in the world and has been seen by many times more than that. Among the people sharing it have been a number of pro-Palestinian celebrity influencers, from Dua Lipa and Mark Ruffalo to Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid.

The phrase “All eyes on Rafah” is attributed to a February interview with Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative overseeing the West Bank and Gaza, who used the wording to warn against an Israeli invasion of the city. The phrase ramped up a rallying cry for pro-Palestinian activists after dozens of people, including children, were killed following an Israeli bombing in Rafah over the

weekend — an incident that distressed some of Israel’s most ardent defenders.

The Instagram graphic was created by a Malaysian content creator who had previously been relatively unknown. It does not actually show Rafah, the southern Gaza city near the border with Egypt, where more than 1 million Palestinians sheltered as the Israeli army battled in the territory’s north over the last six months. Instead, Rafah is rendered as an AI-generated tent city.

The graphic’s spread was facilitated by a number of Instagram features. The platform’s “Add Yours” sticker allows users to share a graphic with one click. Like most mainstream social media platforms (other than X), Instagram also inhibits the spread of graphic content, making real images showing devastation in Gaza less likely to go viral.

“If you’re desperate for a super concise explanation as to how this random Malaysian user ended up creating the Post Of The Moment,

it’s because they basically managed to do the impossible,” Ryan Broderick wrote in Garbage Day, his newsletter about the internet. “They generated a pro-Palestine solidarity image vague and abstract enough to bypass both censors and filters on one of the biggest remaining social networks that real people still use.”

The image has drawn criticism from some pro-Palestinian voices for sanitizing the reality on the ground in Rafah and for being a tool of “slacktivism” — fair-weather online advocacy that has little real-world impact. Some have likened it to the black squares that many Instagram users posted during protests in the United States after the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, which some longtime racial justice advocates decried as ineffective virtue signaling.

For some, sharing any of the new AI images related to Rafah is “careless and thoughtless,” as New York-based writer and activist Alana Zeitchik wrote on Instagram. Zeitchik, who

is half-Israeli, had six family members taken captive on Oct. 7; five were released during a temporary deal, but one, David Cunio, remains a hostage.

“As someone who had to step up into real advocacy for my own loved ones, I cannot be careless,” Zeitchik wrote. “Every action I take comes with great care and thought for how it could impact them. You can never understand what it’s like unless you have the misfortune of experiencing it.”

She went on: “The hostages are not a social media trend. The people of Gaza are not a social media trend. Choose voices and advocates who are directly impacted and elevate them and their demands to make a deal, ceasefire and end the war.”

Luai Ahmed, a Yemeni-Swedish journalist who identifies as a Zionist, posted a picture of the Rafah graphic alongside one of the pro-Israel versions. “I made this picture because I don’t see myself in the division that is being shoved down my throat on this app,” he wrote.

Some pro-Israel activists took a harsher stance. Eve Barlow, a writer with nearly 76,000 followers on X, called out those who shared the Rafah graphic, blaming the death of innocent civilians in Gaza on “useful idiots of western media.”

“You are keeping this war alive with your dumb propagandist ceasefire now posts,” Barlow wrote. “It’s you. You are helping Hamas win this war. You are doing exactly what Hamas wants.” The image’s creator, known on Instagram as “shahv4012,” acknowledged the backlash in a subsequent Instagram Story.

“There are people who are not satisfied with the picture and template, I apologize if I have made a mistake on all of you,” they wrote, adding, “Whatever [you do], don’t look down on the Rafah issue now, spread it so that they are shaken and afraid of the spread of all of us.”

p The “All Eyes on Rafah” AI graphic that has gone viral on Instagram is superimposed on a real-life scene as Palestinians packed up their tents in Rafah following an Israeli bombing there on May 28. Jehad Alshrafi/Anadolu via Getty Images

Community

Bring them home

Community members gathered on the corner of Darlington Road and Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill on June 2 to demand the release of an estimated 125 hostages. The hostages have remained under Hamas captivity since Oct. 7.

Temple

p Community members collect signage during the June 2 demonstration.

p Congregants and friends marked Rabbi Symons’ 18 years with the congregation. p by congregants.

Sayonara celebration

David hosted a gala weekend marking the retirement of Rabbi Barbara Symons.

p From left: Community Campaign Leaders Sue Berman Kress, Todd Rosenfeld and Debbie Resnick, join Josh Schwarcz, secretary general for the Jewish Agency for Israel Photo by Joshua Franzos

Oh, what a night

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh hosted a Night of Philanthropy. The May 30 event at Schenley Park Visitors Center celebrated Federation donors.

From left: Rachel Speck, Jason Kunzman, Fara Marcus, Patrycja Dolowy (CEO of the JCC Warsaw), Sam Kapner (JDC Entwine Fellow at the JCC Warsaw) and Sara Rhoades Photo courtesy of Patrycja Dolowy

Przyjaciele in Pittsburgh A team from the JCC in Warsaw, a Partnership2Gether sister city, visited Pittsburgh.

p Participants link arms while calling for hostages to be returned home. Photos by Jonathan Dvir

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