Et odictiumqui andae amusam quistium si de net voloritat
X
JSocialists of America — the fiscal sponsor of the group No War Crimes on Our Dime — had pulled its petition to place a referendum on November’s ballot.
The referendum would have required the City of Pittsburgh to cease doing business with any organization or individual that does business with or in Israel.
In a lengthy X (formerly Twitter) post, PDSA announced its decision on Sunday night, just hours before a hearing on the matter in Allegheny County Court.
“Unfortunately, today their efforts to push us off November’s ballot succeeded,” the PDSA’s statement read in part.
The revocation of its petition was made official before a full courthouse — packed mostly with members of the Jewish community and their supporters — by Judge John T. McVay during proceedings that lasted barely five minutes.
The decision to withdraw the petition,
negotiated between PDSA’s legal team and lawyers for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and City Controller Rachael Heisler, was based only on the invalidity of signatures gathered to put the referendum
McVay did not rule on the legality of the referendum’s language, which could leave open the possibility of a similar petition being filed during the next election cycle.
“Those who support Israel unconditionally have poured resources into these legal challenges that we simply cannot keep up with,” the PDSA wrote in its online statement, seemingly conceding defeat.
Reaction from Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein was succinct.
“We won,” he said outside of the courthouse. “Whatever the other side says, we won.”
And while Finkelstein said that he was happy with the decision, he also expressed disappointment at not having arguments heard about the legality of the referendum’s
By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer
Rod Rothaus remembered being devastated when he first saw the graffiti at the Pittsburgh Public School’s Science and Technology Academy in Oakland.
On a green wall, written in large letters, was the phrase “End Genocide.”
Rothaus said he asked three school employees how long the graffiti had been there. He was told at least a week, meaning that students saw it during their final week of classes last spring.
“I was heartbroken for the Jewish students that had to walk past that,” Rothaus recalled. “I was furious and offended and, frankly, more than anything, I was hurt.”
Rothaus, a district employee providing IT support to the schools, showed the graffiti to
Fall Arts Preview begins on Page 6
Diller
From left: Community Relations Council Director Laura Cherner with attorneys Efrem Grail, Carolyn McGee and Ronald Hicks, StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Julie Paris and Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein after the defeat of a BDS referendum that would have asked Pittsburgh residents to bar the city from doing business with Israel.
Photo courtesy of Julie Paris
A student mural with the Israeli flag at Pittsburgh Public School’s Science and Technology Academy was painted over to include a chai symbol.
Photo courtesy of Rod Rothaus
Photo by Dale Lazar
Headlines
After family decimated on Oct. 7, ‘I feel they’re still here’
about them,” she said. “This is why I’m here. This is why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
Zak uses the present tense to talk about her family.
she said, ‘Tomer, I have to speak quietly so they won’t hear me.’”
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer
By the time Tisha B’Av ended on Aug. 13, Tomer Zak told her story multiple times. In a lunchroom, private residence and at a Squirrel Hill intersection, the Israeli, whose family was decimated on Oct. 7, recalled her mother Etty, her father Etay, her brother Sagi and her dog Sokka.
“This brings meaning to the things I’m doing,” she told teachers at Community Day School on Tuesday morning.
The evening prior, Zak, 23, delivered similar remarks at a private residence. A day before that, she recounted her family and the events of Oct. 7 while speaking at the Bring Them Home vigil in Squirrel Hill.
Zak is on a mission, she told the Chronicle.
“Before I get into the story of what happened to my family, I’m here to talk
Etty, an educator at Kibbutz Kissufim, was a Moroccan woman known for exceptional potato dishes, cheesecakes and salmon. Etay, a towering man with a “soft heart,” who entertained the kibbutz’s residents with imitations and jokes, worked in the avocado farm. Sagi grew up on MTV, loved dancing and greeted everyone in the kibbutz with pleasantries because of his “strong values,” Zak said.
The Israeli can speak about her family for hours. She understands, however, that sharing their story means reducing a lifetime of memories to vignettes. At one talk, Zak mentioned her mother’s love of Turkish telenovelas. At another, she omitted that her father often imitated the characters on those TV shows. In each of the talks, Zak shared photographs.
“This one is my favorite family picture,” she said. “It’s of our quiet life long ago.”
“It’s because I feel they’re still here,” she said.
On the morning of Oct. 7, Zak and her older brother Hadar weren’t home. She was waitressing in a hotel in the desert.
Zak said she woke up to bombs and wondered what was happening. She tried calling her family, but service was out.
“We didn’t realize what was going on,” she said.
The army entered her kibbutz’s group chat and began asking for details about people’s locations, Zak said. “It was then that I realized this was a big mess.”
Zak spoke with Hadar. The siblings spent hours waiting for information.
Around 1 p.m., Zak received a call from her mother.
“She had left the shelter and was explaining the situation to me,” Zak said. “She said there’s shots behind the house, but they’re OK because they’re in the shelter. And then
Published every Friday by the Pittsburgh Jewish Publication and Education Foundation 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Phone: 412-687-1000
POSTMASTER: Send address change to
The daughter told her mother to return to the shelter, saying, “We’ll talk later.”
That was their last phone call.
Hours passed before Zak received any information. Around 6 p.m., she heard from a neighbor about a fire near her house.
“I decided that it was going to be OK because the army had people inside,” she said.
Kibbutz members were being directed to the Dead Sea. Families were told to reunite there, but Zak wouldn’t go until she heard from her family.
On the evening of Oct. 8, she received a call saying that her mom, dad, brother and dog were found dead.
“My dad and the dog were at the entrance of the shelter. And my mom and Sagi were in bed,” Zak said. “The information that we got was that they died from the smoke and fire.”
Manuscripts, letters, documents and photographs sent to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle become the property of this publication, which is not responsible for the return or loss of such items.
The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle does not endorse the goods or services advertised or covered in its pages and makes no representation to the kashrut
Jewish Chronicle is not responsible if ads violate applicable laws and the advertiser will indemnify, hold harmless and defend the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle from all claims made by governmental agencies and consumers for any reason based on ads appearing in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle
Tomer Zak holds a photo of her father, Etay Zak, while speaking in Squirrel Hill on Aug. 11. Photo by Jonathan Dvir
Tomer Zak reaches for a photo during the Bring Them Home vigil on Aug. 11.
Photo by Jonathan Dvir
Headlines
Spain trip fosters local teens’ connection to community, Israel and Judaism
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
An experience abroad emboldened Jewish teens at home — and though visiting Spain wasn’t initially planned, a group of Pittsburgh young adults left Andalusia with greater ties to community, Israel and Jewish peoplehood.
Visiting Spain last month wasn’t part of the initial Diller Teen Fellows itinerary. Most years, Pittsburghers travel to Israel alongside Diller cohorts from more than 30 communities.
Months ago, however, the San Franciscobased Diller organization decided that in lieu of visiting Israel for a three-week summer seminar, teens and program coordinators would convene in Spain, according to Rebecca Kahn, Pittsburgh’s Diller coordinator and the director of teen leadership at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.
The announcement generated mixed emotions.
Sylvia Svoboda, 16, applied for the fellowship hoping to travel to Israel.
“I have never been to Israel,” she said. Neither had Diller participant Sam Tobias, 16. The disappointment Svoboda and Tobias expressed stemmed from a growing connection to the Jewish state.
Svodoba and Tobias explained that the Diller program began in the fall with participants exploring their Jewish identities. Then Oct. 7
C ommunity Mifgash. Ten days together enabled the teens to find commonalities as well as discuss their relationship to antisemitism and Oct. 7.
These conversations furthered a connection to not only horror and heartbreak but to people, the teens explained.
Because of Diller, “I have friends in Israel, and I was able to make sure they were OK,” Tobias said. “This brought me more into the moment.”
Throughout the year, Pittsburgh meetups, Shabbatons and the Mifgash furthered relationships among Diller participants.
There was a period where it wasn’t clear how the year would end, Svoboda said: “I still thought to myself that wherever I go, even if I stay here, I am going to get a lot out of the program because of the friendships, and it’s amazing.”
When Diller announced that participants would meet in Spain for one week, Svoboda and Tobias were excited.
“While it wasn’t Israel, it was the next-best thing,” Tobias said.
“I thought that it would be a life-changing experience to go with this program, and it was,” Svoboda said.
In Spain, the teens explored Jewish history by learning about the Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews, by touring Cordoba and seeing the historic site of Jewish scholarship and by mining their own stories for Jewish connections.
Over the week, the Pittsburgh delegation spoke with teens from Baltimore, New Jersey, Chicago, South Africa, Australia, Toronto and Israel, Kahn said.
identified how they “can make a difference, not only in their communities but in the world and kind of grow from this place of crisis to something really beautiful for the future of Judaism,” Svoboda and Tobias both said they’re appreciative of their Diller experience. They encouraged local Jewish young adults to get involved.
“People should see the impact that having community can have on you,” Svoboda said. “I was sitting with all these different Israelis, and they were telling me their stories of where they were on Oct. 7, and what was
happening with them, and it was heartbreaking to hear, and I kept thinking I don’t know where else I could hear this firsthand.”
Participating in the fellowship “deepened my connection to Judaism,” Tobias said. Involvement in Diller or other “youth group” experiences is essential, he continued. “They give you an opportunity where you can help others and learn about what’s going on in the world.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
p Cohort members create connections through conversation.
Photo by Nadav Cohen-Jonathan via Rebecca Kahn
p Seeing Spain generates smiles for Pittsburgh's Diller cohort. Photo by Nadav Cohen-Jonathan via Rebecca Kahn
Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions also will be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon.
FRIDAY, AUG. 23
Join Tree of Life Congregation as they celebrate the welcoming of Shabbat. Meet before Shabbat begins to greet one another in the beautiful Rodef Shalom Botanical Gardens for Shabbat on the Rocks. Free. 6 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave.
MONDAY, AUG. 26
View “Dancing Without Their Timbrels,” photography by award-winning photographer Dale Lazar at the Rodef Shalom Congregation Jewish Museum. The art includes color and black-and-white photographs of dancers on the modernistic bridge in Netanya, Israel. The opening reception is Aug. 26, and the exhibition runs through Oct. 30. 6 p.m. Free. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/dancers.
SUNDAYS, AUG. 25–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, AUG. 26–DEC. 30
Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.
Join Temple Sinai for an evening of mahjong every Monday (except holidays). Whether you are just starting out or have years of experience, you are sure to enjoy the camaraderie and good times as you make new friends or cherish moments with longtime pals. All are
welcome. Winners will be awarded Giant Eagle gift cards. All players should have their own 2024 mahjong cards. Contact Susan Cohen at susan_k_ cohen@yahoo.com if you have questions. $5. templesinaipgh.org.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28
Join JFCS and 10.27 Healing Partnership for an artbased mindfulness program. The group will explore ways making art can help regulate the nervous system, promote playfulness and imagination, and connect us more deeply to our bodies, emotions, thoughts and worldviews. Attendees will come together in community to explore di erent art mediums, share our personal experiences and reflect on how art can influence us all. Free. 10 a.m. 10.27 Healing Partnership Suite, 3rd floor of the JCC in Squirrel Hill. Membership not required. Registration required. 1027healingpartnership.org/artin-community-3.
WEDNESDAYS, AUG. 28; SEPT. 4, 18
Chabad of Monroeville invites you to spend an hour playing mahjong and other games. Play, shmooze, learn a word of the Torah, say a prayer for Israel and, of course, nosh on some yummy treats. Free. 7 p.m. RSVP is required: SusanEBurgess@gmail.com, or text or call 412-295-1838. 2715 Mosside Blvd. jewishmonroeville. com/mahjong.
WEDNESDAYS, AUG. 28–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.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 3
The 10.27 Healing Partnership invites you to attend Preparing the Heart and Mind: Rosh Chodesh Elul. Enjoy meditative wellness activities and Jewish learning designed to increase thoughtfulness, care and introspection. We will end the program with a communal shofar blowing to kick o this year’s Season of Hope. 5:30 p.m. JCC, 5738 Forbes Ave. 1027healingpartnership.org/rosh-chodesh-elul.
TUESDAYS, SEPT. 3, 17; WEDNESDAYS, SEPT. 11, 25
Join Rabbi Hazzan Je rey Myers and Tree of Life Congregation as they take a new look at the High Holidays through the screening of the movie “The Adjustment Bureau.” 7 p.m. Free. Rodef Shalom Congregation, Levy Hall, 4905 Fifth Ave.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 4
Join Rodef Shalom Congregation for Biblical Garden Open Door Tours: docent-led tours of the congregation’s Biblical Botanical Garden the first Wednesday of the month. Free. Noon. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/garden.
Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for Ladies’ Lunch and Learn. Enjoy an hour of nourishment for the mind, body and soul exploring the month of Elul. Noon. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. $18. chabadpgh.com/lunch.
MONDAY, SEPT. 9
Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for healing, consciousness-building forest bathing. Enjoy gentle walks through Pittsburgh’s parks while nurturing your connection to the natural world through reflective practices. 9:30 a.m. Free. Registration required. Walled Garden in Mellon Park. 1027healingpartnership.org/ forest-bathing-4.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 12
Join StandWithUs for its inaugural Pittsburgh Community Reception honoring Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler and featuring keynote speaker Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus. 6 p.m. Early bird: $90; VIP: $250. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. standwithus.com/pittsburgh-event-2024.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 12- OCT. 10
The 10.27 Healing Partnership presents Fall Forest Bathing. “Bathe” in the sounds and sights of nature during gentle walks through Frick Park while nurturing your connection to the natural world through reflective practices. 10 a.m. Lower Frick Park (entering o Hutchinson in Regent Square). 1027healingpartnership. org/forest-bathing-4.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 15
Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for a Women’s Mini Retreat. Enjoy a day of exciting workshops, crafts and words of inspiration to help prepare for the High Holidays. 11 a.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. $54. chabadpgh.com/retreat.
WEDNESDAYS, 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.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for a Women’s Farbrengen, an evening of Chassidic songs and stories on the topic of “Stepping into the Light.” Enjoy hot drinks and desserts. 7 p.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. $10 suggested donation. chabadpgh.com/farbrengen.
Join the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for An Evening with Solange Lebovitz. Learn about Holocaust survivor Solange Lebovitz’s experiences as a Jewish child and teen living in occupied France, hiding from the Nazis and their collaborators. While she was living in hiding, her other family members were in concentration camps and her brothers were members of the French Resistance. 6 p.m. Eddy Theatre at Chatham University, Woodland Road, 15232. eventbrite.com/e/989.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 26
The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh is pleased to welcome Alex Kor and Graham Honaker for A Blessing, Not a Burden: The Story of Two Holocaust Survivors, Eva and Mickey K 6 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. eventbrite.com/ e/995324782217?a =oddtdtcreator. PJC Camp’s out School’s in Are you thinking … School supplies Kids’ clothes Missed work days Yom Tov/High Holidays!?
Join the Chronicle Book Club!
The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Aug. 25 discussion of “House on Endless Waters,” by Emuna Elon.
Overview: “Renowned author Yoel Blum reluctantly agrees to visit his birthplace of Amsterdam to promote his books, despite promising his late mother that he would never return to that city. While touring the Jewish Historical Museum with his wife, Yoel stumbles upon footage portraying prewar Dutch Jewry and is astonished to see the youthful face of his beloved mother staring back at him, posing with his father, his older sister … and an infant he doesn’t recognize. This unsettling discovery launches him into a fervent search for the truth, shining a light on Amsterdam’s dark wartime history — the underground networks that hid Jewish children away from danger and those who betrayed their own for the sake of survival. The deeper into
the past Yoel digs up, the better he understands his mother’s silence, and the more urgent the question that has unconsciously haunted him for a lifetime — Who am I? — becomes.”
Your hosts
Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle
David Rullo, Chronicle staff writer
How it works
We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m.
What to do
Buy: “House on Endless Waters.” It is available at some area Barnes and Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon. 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.
Happy reading! PJC
— Toby Tabachnick
Headlines
UCLA can’t let protesters block Jewish students’ access to campus, judge rules
The University of California, Los Angeles, must take more decisive action to protect its Jewish students from any obstacles they encounter from pro-Palestinian protesters and encampments, a judge ruled on Aug. 13, according to JTA.org
The temporary injunction, from U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, is one of the most significant legal rulings to follow the spread of pro-Palestinian encampments, which protesters organized on campuses across the country last spring. It comes in response to a handful of Jewish students suing UCLA, alleging that they were briefly barred from entering a campus space that had been occupied this spring by people protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
In his comments, the judge wrote that he was appalled at the state of campus affairs for Jewish students.
“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote.
The pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA was closed off with multiple layers of barricades and a heavy police presence.
Sen. Chuck Schumer to release book warning of antisemitism in US New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S.
history, will release a book this winter about antisemitism in the United States that will draw on his experience as a Jewish American in politics, New York Jewish Week reported.
“Antisemitism in America: A Warning” is scheduled for publication in February and will be based on Schumer’s experiences growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s, his studies at Harvard University and his tenure in politics.
In the book, Schumer will seek to shed light on Jewish experiences and prejudice that have led to historical and c urrent discrimination against Jews. Antisemitism has surged across the United States since Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel.
“At its core, my book is a warning,” Schumer said in a statement. “If America fails to understand the context and history of antisemitism, if America’s darker impulses ultimately overwhelm its better angels, an age-old truth will prove true once again: that antisemitism inevitably leads to violence against Jews and a rise in bigotry in our society at large.”
El Al nets record profit for second straight quarter
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. announced on Aug. 15 a record profit of $147.4 million in the second quarter of 2024, JNS.org reported.
The airline garnered revenue of $839 million in the April-June period, 33% more than the $630 million it earned in the same period in 2023.
In the first quarter of 2024, Israel’s flagship carrier recorded a then-record profit of $80.5 million from revenue of $738 million.
On Aug. 14, the airline signed “the largest agreement in its history,” for up to 31 Boeing
Today in Israeli History
Aug. 26, 1903 — Russian newspaper publishes ‘Protocols’
by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
Aug. 23, 1903 — Herzl’s last Zionist Congress opens The Sixth Zionist Congress, the last presided over by Theodor Herzl, convenes in Basel. It is the largest so far, with approximately 600 delegates, and explores a plan for a temporary homeland in East Africa.
Aug. 24, 1926 — Playwright Nissim Aloni is born
Playwright and translator Nissim Aloni is born in a poor area of southern Tel Aviv. His second play, “The King’s Clothes,” establishes him as one of Israel’s leading playwrights and a stage revolutionary.
“The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the most widely distributed antisemitic publication in history, is first published in Znamya, a Russian newspaper. The Times of London proves it is a fraud in 1921.
p A 1934 edition of the “Protocols” was
Aug. 27, 2001 — PFLP
Commander is assassinated
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa is killed when helicopter-fired missiles strike his office in Ramallah after a week in which 11 Israelis and Palestinians are killed. Israel takes credit for the assassination.
737 MAX aircraft at $2.5 billion.
The planes will replace El Al’s 737800 and 737-900 fleet, with delivery beginning in 2028.
“This deal represents a further step in the realization of our strategic plan, and will support expansion of our destinations map, greater frequency of flights to existing destinations, and an advanced flying experience,” the company said.
Columbia president resigns, citing toll of controversy over pro-Palestinian protests
Minouche Shafik, the Columbia University president whose campus became an epicenter of unrest this year following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has resigned weeks before the start of the school year, JTA.org reported.
Shafik’s resignation, tendered on Aug. 14, means she is stepping down after about a year in the role. Her decision comes after widespread, sustained criticism of how she handled pro-Palestinian protests that have convulsed the Ivy League university since Oct. 7.
“I write with sadness to tell you that I am stepping down as president of Columbia University effective August 14, 2024,” Shafik wrote in an email to the university. She said she had achieved progress in her role but added that “it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”
She wrote, “This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community. Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.”
Her resignation means that the heads of four of the eight Ivy League schools have now stepped down in the wake of controversies tied to Oct. 7. The leaders of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University resigned following their own widely panned testimony on campus antisemitism. Months later, the president of Cornell University stepped down.
Murder case dismissed against man charged with killing Detroit synagogue president
A man charged with multiple counts in the killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll has had a murder charge dismissed by the judge in the case, JTA.org reported.
Woll, a 40-year-old Democratic and interfaith activist and president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside of her home on Oct. 21, 2023. Her killing came just two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, alarming Jews in Detroit and beyond who feared that she had been the victim of an antisemitic attack. But law enforcement was quick to say that her killing was not a hate crime. Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 29, was the second suspect taken into custody, nearly two months after Woll’s death, and the first to be tried. A jury had acquitted him of premeditated murder in July at the end of a five-week trial, in a win for Jackson-Bolanos and his attorney, who claim he was staking out the neighborhood to break into cars and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. PJC
Compiled by Jarrad Saffren
Aug. 25, 2004 — Israel Wins First Olympic Gold Windsurfer Gal Fridman wins Israel’s first Olympic gold medal at the Summer Games in Athens and becomes the first Israeli with multiple Olympic medals. He took the bronze in Atlanta in 1996.
Aug. 28, 1898 — Second Zionist Congress convenes
The Second Zionist Congress begins in Basel with 400 delegates, nearly double the size of the First Zionist Congress. The new participants include Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel.
Aug. 29, 1897 — First Zionist Congress starts Spearheaded by Theodor Herzl, the First Zionist Congress opens in Basel. The congress unanimously adopts the Basel Program, which calls for a legal, safe Jewish home in the Land of Israel. PJC
p Wearing his windsurfing gold medal, Gal Fridman is honored during a ceremony upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport on Aug. 30, 2004. By Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fall Arts Preview
Photo
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer
An exhibition is offering a bridge to the work of photographer Dale Lazar. Between Aug. 22 and Oct. 30, visitors to Rodef Shalom Congregation can see “Dancing without their Timbrels,” a 15-photo collection featuring two Israeli dancers, a ballet dancer and a modern dancer, on a pedestrian bridge in Netanya, Israel.
Lazar, a Fox Chapel resident, captured the images during a 2023 masterclass arranged by Israeli artist Archie Granot.
Lazar, 76, said that he wasn’t certain what to expect after hearing about the photo opportunity. He only knew that there would be a couple of dancers and a few other photographers.
After showing up on-site, however, Lazar’s excitement grew.
“When I arrived at the bridge in Netanya, I saw the dancers in their incredible dresses framed by the geometric architecture of the bridge, and experienced a photographic adrenaline rush,” Lazar said. “I was excited to begin photographing the dancers, post-process the images then share my photos.”
Lazar’s images detail the dancers’ movements. But equally important to the photos is the setting. Reservation Bridge, and its “favorable slopes,” passes over Ben Gurion Street in south Netanya. The modern marvel follows the area’s
bridges Israeli dancers and Rodef Shalom
topography and allows visitors to enjoy views of water, trails and urban life.
In designing the bridge, the intention was to “create a structure that relays perpetual motion from different points of views, using a complex system composed of interconnecting spine, vertebrae and ribs, much like a living organism,” according to Mossessco Architecture Team.
Lazar said he was captivated by the overpass and its inherent challenges.
“I’m always cognizant of the background when taking photos,” he said. “The background is just as important as the foreground. I tried to avoid taking photos where bridge elements came out of the dancers’ mouths or heads.”
Capturing the scene required almost four hours of stillness from the photographer and nearly 1,000 clicks of the shutter. Neither was necessarily difficult, Lazar explained.
“The excitement, and the adrenaline rush, and the opportunities all kept me highly energized and motivated,” he said.
Throughout Lazar’s collection, there is a careful regard for color and movement.
“I am very focused on making my photos look real and not overly post-processed,” he said.
Relying on Adobe Lightroom, Lazar edits the images just enough to maintain the “reality of the visual experience.”
There’s another reality embedded within the collection. Lazar took the photos before Oct. 7. He’s now displaying them 10 months into the war.
“Given the current situation in Israel, I was conflicted about publishing joyful photos of Israeli women dancing on a bridge,” he said. The goal, however, is that viewers see the photos as “aspirational.”
“My hope is that someday there will be a lasting peace in the Mideast, where once again people can dance on bridges and streets in Israel,” he said.
Lazar will share more of his thoughts during an opening reception on Aug. 26 at Rodef Shalom.
Until then, he’s happy for people to view the collection and scores of other albums on his Flickr site.
“I don’t sell my photos. I shoot to share. I share them by entering competitions as well as sharing them with family and friends all over the world,” he said. “I’m a philanthropic photographer.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
— PHOTOGRAPHY —
exhibit
A dancer performs in Netanya, Israel.
Photo by Dale Lazar
A bridge and dancer caputred photographer Dale Lazar’s eye. Photo by Dale Lazar
Fall Arts Preview
By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer
Nancy Zionts is excited about Front Porch Theatricals new production
“Bandstand: The New American Musical.”
No, really, she’s very excited.
“I saw dress [rehearsal] last night and, oh my God, the costumes and, oh my God, the wig person and oh my God, the lighting guy. All these pieces when they come together, it’s magical. It’s very exciting.”
She’s just as effusive praising everyone else involved in the production — from the designer to the choreographer and actors, all the way to the stagehands and interns.
Zionts is especially taken with the music, calling it “extraordinary.”
“It’s a swing experience. There’s a fivepiece combo on stage the whole time, and it’s backed by a 13-piece orchestra,” she said.
“Musical Director Deana Muro has killed herself the last year. She was the first person we told about the show because we had to get her involved, and she wanted this show.”
“Bandstand” tells the story of Pfc. Donny Novitski, a singer and songwriter who returns home from World War II with the hope of rebuilding his life with only the shirt on
musical outfit to compete in a national swing band competition.
The production is the Pittsburgh premiere of the award-winning musical and is a work Zionts and her Front Porch Theatricals production partner Bruce E. G. Smith have had their eye on since its Broadway debut in 2017.
The show went on tour in 2019, which meant Front Porch had to wait for its run to end before it could get production rights.
“We literally would be on the site for the licensor every day pushing the button,” Zionts said. “The first day it became available last year, we grabbed it.”
after returning from war. Soldiers, Zionts said, came home as heroes to ticker tape parades but carried the weight of what they experienced.
“They were all in different conflicts and experienced different things,” she said. “One of the guys is a liberator of Dachau — you see the PTSD he had. It turned him into both an alcoholic and a lawyer fighting for social justice. You see what people took from their experiences and how deeply it touched them and what it did to their lives.”
Despite the heaviness of some of the material, Zionts promises an inspiring performance.
One
“You can’t leave not uplifted by this show,” she said.
As for the actors? Zionts noted that Pittsburgh has a large talent pool, meaning Front Porch has the opportunity to cast people age-appropriate to the characters they’re portraying.
“We have everybody from college kids through the Gold Star widow,” she said. “We are very proud that every single person in the show — on stage, backstage, around — is from Pittsburgh. We’ve never had a problem casting in Pittsburgh.”
And, for those familiar with Front Porch’s history with Zionts’ late husband, Leon Zionts, there will be moments paying homage to the production company’s founder, a local musical theater stalwart.
“Somebody in the show will wear a beret,” Zionts said, a tribute to Leon’s signature headware. “That’s easy for this one.”
One of the goals of each production, she noted, is for performers to know about her husband and his role in the company and on local stages. It’s something she considers part of the work Front Porch does, calling it a “legacy” mission.
“I believe he haunts the theater,” she said. “We joke about it all the time. I believe he haunts some of the work we do. We crack jokes about him the whole way through.”
The cast of “Bandstand: The New American Musical” Photo courtesy of Front Porch Theatricals
Fall Arts Preview
Matisyahu continues to find inspiration in Judaism and music
By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer
Matisyahu recognizes that creating art is messy.
“My career has had its ups and downs,” he said. “If you were on the outside looking in, you could certainly see things that have worked and things that didn’t. I’ve just allowed myself different phases. I’ve allowed myself to be a little messy.”
Matisyahu’s musical journey has followed a trajectory unlike many in the industry.
He debuted as a Chasidic Jew playing music that mixed reggae and hip-hop influences, informed by artists like the Grateful Dead and Bob Marley, with a heavy dose of Jewish spiritualism.
Over the years, the black suit and hat, along with the long beard, have been shed. Matisyahu now looks like any other legacy act that might play a jam band festival alongside the likes of the Black Crowes or Phish, albeit with a large chai and gold chain around his neck and musical lyrics inspired by the Torah.
“I’ve ended up in a place that’s important and real to me,” he said.
One of the things that has been important, he said, is his religion, which has always been at the core of his identity.
“People will respect that, or they won’t,” he said. “It might not be for everybody at every moment.”
cian, Matisyahu’s career is filled with moments where his Jewish message wasn’t for everyone.
Going back nearly a decade, the artist had his performance at Rototom Sunsplash reggae festival in Spain canceled after he refused to reply to a demand to clarify his position on Palestinian statehood. More recently, he’s had shows canceled in Chicago, Santa Fe and Tucson.
Despite the controversy, there have been other shows that have strengthened his resolve, like a reggae festival he played in Las Vegas on Oct. 7.
“When I woke up that morning, I felt out of place in that environment,” he said, “until I saw someone in the audience with an Israeli flag.”
Matisyahu said he brought the audience member on stage, which helped revive his spirits.
“Muscle memory kicked in, and I went back to being the Matisyahu on stage in Spain performing before 1,000 BDS members with signs that said ‘Nazi-yahu.’ I went back to being the kind of religious Matisyahu and what that meant to me.”
In fact, one of his latest songs, “Fireproof,” is inspired by a dream he had and its
religious symbolism.
“I had a very vivid dream,” Matisyahu said. “I was in a synagogue in some country in the Middle East in the days where there were synagogues there. There was a baby tiger I was playing with, and the mother was shooting flames out of her eyes, and when I looked down, I realized that I wasn’t burning even though I was consumed by fire, like the burning bush and Moshe.”
He explained that “Moshe” means “drawn from the water” and that the Jewish prophet was described as having humility — something that Matisyahu interprets as a fine line between fire and water.
“A musician has to deal with not burning up in their own flame,” he said, “and not letting their flame go out. As you progress as an artist, stamina is important and it’s something young people don’t think about — stamina and endurance.”
The song appears on his new acoustic EP, “Hold the Fire,” which he’s promoting on tour this year.
The shows, he said, will differ from some of the larger performances he’s done, featuring mainly just the performer with another musician, usually Adam Weinberg, but sometimes Aaron Dugan.
He said the performances feature acoustic versions of his work with beatboxing, singing and guitars.
“It’s multiple layers and loops and effects,” which means that sometimes the term “acoustic”
isn’t the best describer for what people will experience, he said.
These stripped-down performances are different than what inspired his best-known song, “One Day.”
“I was inspired by Bob Marley and Shlomo Carlebach when I was becoming religious,” he said.
He said the song was written with the awareness that there’s a universal idea, some aspect of love, that can unite us all.
“I set out to create a song like that. It was good as a journey and it made that song work,” he said. “There aren’t many songs that address those issues that everyone can buy into that aren’t corny and aren’t cheesy.”
Of course, the success might have been bashert as well. The song was co-written by The Smeezingtons, an American songwriting and production team that included Bruno Mars.
The song has taken on a life of its own and is now a staple on radio, at Jewish day camps and during Shabbat services in synagogues across the country.
“No one cares who wrote ‘One Day,’” Matisyahu said. “It’s one of those songs that is bigger than the artists, in a way. It became more about the song than the artist. It’s a good song. It’s a great song.”
Matisyahu will bring his acoustic show to the Thunderbird Café in Lawrenceville on Sunday, Nov. 17. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
TICKETS ARE
HOUGHTON, HORN
Matisyahu Photo courtesy of Matisyahu
Fall Arts Preview
Pittsburgh poets’ publications proliferate this fall
By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer
If you like your poetry written by Jews, or if you like Jewish poetry written by American poets, you’re in luck this fall.
Two of the region’s most well-known poets, Yehoshua November and Philip Terman — both previous judges of the Chronicle’s poetry contests — have offerings available in time for autumn reading and Chanukah gift-giving.
November considers his newest book, “The Concealment of Endless Light,” as a “kind of meeting point of Chasidic teachings and everyday life.”
“One Chasidic axiom, or tenet,” he said, “is that the loftiest divinity can come down to the lowest space and illuminate the lowest space and spiritualize that lowest space.”
Following that precept, November’s poems seek the spiritual dimension in seemingly ordinary moments.
In “The Concealment of Endless Light,” November synthesizes the two — whether it’s hearing Roy Orbison at a Holiday Inn pool, grading papers, driving, remembering familial moments with his son, father and grandfather, celebrating his 18th anniversary or writing about poetry readings; and the soul is always present, if not the main character.
“The midrash says that the purpose of creation was that God wanted to dwell in the lowest realm, meaning the physical world, which means to spiritualize the physical experience, to spiritualize the ordinary experience is the very purpose of creation,” he explained.
In “Notes on the Soul,” November writes: “Part of the soul/resides inside/the body,/ which resides inside/the world — /the way the memory/of a kiss/circle in the mind/ of a prisoner/walking laps/around the prison courtyard.”
Throughout the collection, November combines the sacred and the profane, calculable and infinite, in a work that would sit comfortably on any modern poetry library shelf.
“God is like a celebrity/making small talk/at a dinner party./Everyone hangs on His words, and if He were to stop speaking,/the evening would end,” he writes in “On the World’s Continuity Via Divine Speech,” updating a Chasidic teaching for the 21st century.
November seems to find meaningful rituals not only in Judaism’s practices and ceremonial objects but in the mechanics of everyday life as well.
That’s purposeful.
“If you look at most Jewish practices, they concern physical items, like putting on tefillin in the morning, taking the parchment from the skin of a cow and using that to pray to God,” he said. “Judaism is really invested in uplifting the physical, spiritualizing the physical. I would say, albeit in a secular way, it’s the ambition of many poets and
artists to show some kind of light or luminescence behind what other people overlook or what other people are too habituated to notice.”
Terman’s newest poetry collection, “The Whole Mishpocha: New and Selected Poems, 1998-2023,” is tethered to the experiences of Judaism in everyday life rather than focusing on the divine.
It is Terman’s second poetry collection published this year, following “My Blossoming Everything,” a book he refers to as his “non-Jewish” poetry.
Uncharacteristically, “The Whole Mishpocha” opens with the essay “Writing Jewish.”
In it, Terman explains that he “writes Jewish,” drawing on the images, allusions, figures and forms provided by his Jewish legacy. And while acknowledging his debt to Judaism, he also explores Philip Roth’s statement that he was “a writer first and a Jew second.”
Terman, who embraces both his identity as a Jewish writer and a writer who is Jewish, ultimately describes himself as “a Jewish poet.”
The goal, he said, is to write poetry that both entertains and educates, even if readers aren’t familiar with all the Jewish scenes he paints.
“People are reading because they both want to have pleasure from reading but also learn,” he explained. “If I were reading a book by an Irish poet, I would want to learn and would look up information. I’m sure I limit the reader but don’t want that to stop me. They’ll pick it up, they’ll Google,” he said.
The poetry in “The Whole Mishpocha” wasn’t written specifically for the book — much of it has been published in various outlets — but it still maintains a consistent feel, perhaps because Terman organized the work into five sections: Small Boys, Unfathomable God; L’Dor Va’Dor; This Flickering World; The Service; and Our Scriptures.
The writing draws from Terman’s
and we own that,” in “What We Own.”
Much of the work feels like a warm blanket woven with Terman’s memories.
Other poems speak of more universal themes, like “Night of the Broken Glass,” or “A Minyan Plus One,” dedicated to the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
Still other pieces would feel at home if they were read on a kibbutz during Israel’s early days, such as “Albert Einstein at the Soup Kitchen,” which includes the stanza, “I’m the bread and donut man/ in this assembly line of volunteers/who gather for our three-hour/of weekly service and socialism.”
If any one theme dominates Terman’s book, it is community. In fact, he addresses that directly with the epigram taken from Hillel in Pirkei Avot: “Sever not thyself from the congregation.”
“I love that epigram,” Terman said. “Even if you hate community, you’re part of it, so you have to help.”
experiences, as when he writes, “And that last night, after everyone/in the hotel fell asleep, my mother/led me down the rough stones,/whitened by stars so close,” in “At the Wailing Wall”; or, “I followed you down the switchback trail of the Grand Canyon/and we slept in a crevice,
“The Whole Mishpocha: New and Selected Jewish Poems, 1998-2023” will be published on Aug. 27 by Ben Yehuda Press. “The Concealment of Endless Light” will be published on Sept. 3 by Orison Books. Both are available now for preorder. PJC
David Rullo can be contacted at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
Fall Arts Preview
By Emma Riva | Special to the Chronicle
Outside of the Frick’s “Treasured Ornament: 10 Centuries of Islamic Art,” a mural by Ebtehal Badawi of Building Bridges Pittsburgh asks, “How do you build bridges?” A Post-it wall beside it invites viewers to weigh in. Pre-opening, there were only magnets beneath the question, but one of the visitor services employees organized the magnets into the shape of a bridge.
The objects in “Treasured Ornament” span thousands of years and vast swaths of the globe.
The ceramic work is exquisite — flashes of cobalt blue and glimmers of copper all displayed against dark mauve walls that make them pop and shine.
But this traveling collection of Islamic art comes to Pittsburgh this month after an initial postponement in November, where the museum cited concerns around escalating tensions in the Israel-Hamas war.
It opened Aug. 17 and is slated to run until Oct. 20.
“Treasured Ornament” comes from the personal collection of two Syrian immigrants from West Virginia, Joseph and Omayma Touma. The exhibit made its home at the Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia, and traveled around the country to several
locations including the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina.
“We reached the decision to postpone ‘Treasured Ornament’ with the intention of making it better,” the Frick’s Executive Director Elizabeth Barker said. “The additional time to prepare for the exhibition interpretation and educational programs enabled us to engage more community partners and subjectmatter experts.”
Barker said she wanted the front-of-house staff to be better prepared to discuss Islam.
“Allowing ourselves more time to prepare for the exhibition meant we had the opportunity to provide our team with further training opportunities, including a guest lecturer who is a scholar of modern Islam, and deeper resources about Islamic art and culture that will hopefully create
a richer experience for our guests,” she said.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas should not prevent the display of Islamic art, said Laura Cherner, director of the Community Relations Council at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
“As we stated at the time of the initial cancellation, there is no reason to connect a display and celebration of Islamic art with the actions of Hamas on 10/7,” Cherner said.
“Celebrating history and culture through art is a wonderful way to connect and inspire people. We believe many art lovers in the community are looking forward to what should be a wonderful exhibit at the Frick.”
While the local Jewish community has “seen a dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents post Oct. 7,” Cherner added, this exhibit “is in no way
connected nor does it contribute to that rise.”
“Treasured Ornament” makes a point to question the use of “Islamic art” as a catch-all term for art from the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region. Curator Dawn Brean pointed out that one of her favorite objects in the collection, a small bowl from the Sasanian period in Iran, predates Islam. Wall text asks viewers to question how the phrase “Islamic art” might erase certain nuances within art from the Middle East.
A Christian icon from the Melkites -— a Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox community — and an illuminated copy of the “Bhagavad Gita” shows faith diversity that some might not expect from a show about the Islamic world. There’s even a Star of David in the show, on a 14th-century bowl from Iran, though the motif itself may not be directly connected to Judaism since the six-pointed star appears as a motif in early Islamic religious artwork, too.
The exhibition provides a map showing where each object came from, and one moment of surprise in the show is the Toumas collected from Italy and Poland as well. Filippo Bartoli’s “Preparing for Prayer” comes from the Orientalist school of European painting that depicts imagined scenes from life in the SWANA region.
Brean noted that as far as she could tell, Bertoli never left Italy, and there are several
CHOOSE VIP ACCESS FOR A SPECIAL NIGHT OUT
ITZHAK PERLMAN VIOLIN
MANFRED HONECK, MUSIC DIRECTOR
Bowl, Egypt or Syria, gift of Drs. Joseph and Omayma Touma and family Photo courtesy of International Arts and Artists
gift
Joseph and Omayma Touma and family Photo courtesy of International Arts and Artists
Fall Arts Preview
Discover new reads and local favorites at Pittsburgh’s Jewish Book Festival this November
By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
Booklovers will have a chance to meet nationally and locally celebrated authors at Pittsburgh’s Jewish Book Festival, held from Nov. 10-13 at Congregation Beth Shalom.
The festival, sponsored by Beth Shalom, the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, and Carolyn Slayton and Seth Glick, will feature keynote speakers from the Jewish Book Council, including Ilan Ivyater, author of “Target Tehran,” and Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, author of “For Such a Time as This.”
Local authors include Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff (“Judaism in a Digital Age”), Chronicle Senior Staff Writer
Bandstand:
Continued from page 7
Front Porch will also pay homage to veterans during “Bandstand’s” run.
Not only did Front Porch employ an intern from Carnegie Mellon University to help educate the cast and crew about some of the words and themes of the show,
The Frick:
but Zionts also asked if anyone involved with the production knew a veteran they wanted to honor.
“I thought we’d get five or six,” she said. “You never know people’s feelings about war and service. I thought we’d get a few. We are honoring in our program and lobby over 100 veterans with a firsthand connection to our Front Porch family as
Continued from page 10
inaccuracies to how he depicted Muslim prayer. Anthony Badowski’s “Pilgrims Encamped Near Cairo” has the same backstory, a painter who never left Europe imagining what he thought Islam looked like. But the Toumas bought them nonetheless, and they add a thoughtprovoking context within the show.
“We hope ‘Treasured Ornament’ provides an opportunity for people in our community to see Islamic art and artifacts that are not often exhibited in our region, and that it sparks their curiosity to learn more,” Barker said.
One of the objects that best illustrates that point is a small embossed bowl. At first glance, it’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, but underneath its plexiglass pedestal, there is a mirror that reveals the gleam of the delicate copper on the bottom.
Brean struggled with how to display the bowl in a way that people would be able to see the bottom, and she landed on the mirror as the best option. That tiny bowl serves as a reminder to look carefully at what you see and to seek out what might not be obvious.
“Treasured Ornament” pairs well with the Frick’s Clayton home tour “Gilded Not Golden,” which similarly engages with nuanced ideas while not overcorrecting at the expense of the beauty of the featured objects. Learning and discernment is important, but so is art appreciation of objects like that bowl.
Some might like what they see in the mirror, others might gravitate toward the bowl’s initial presentation. But shared experience of works of art and understanding of multiple perspectives is what, in the end, builds bridges. PJC
Emma Riva is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
MELLON PARK
h & Shady / Beechwood Blvd. / Pgh., PA
SEPTEMBER
FRI 6th 1–7
SAT 7th 10–7
SUN 8th 10–5
David Rullo (“Gen X Pittsburgh”), Rabbi Rachel Adler (“Engendering Judaism”), Barbara Burstin (“Steel City Jews”), Rachel Kranson (“Ambivalent Embrace”), and Marylynne Pitz and Laura Malt Schneiderman (“Kaufmann’s”), among many others.
Spearheaded by Shari Woldenberg, Beth Shalom’s Derekh coordinator, with the help of a diverse committee (including this writer), the festival will celebrate Jewish authors and books with Jewish themes.
Woldenberg was inspired to launch a Jewish book festival in Pittsburgh after realizing one day last spring that “Every city I’ve ever lived in has had a Jewish book festival, but Pittsburgh did not have one. And so I immediately joined the Jewish Book Council and started planning this.”
part of this show. It’s moving and wonderful.”
Zionts said they’ve also reached out to various veteran groups and are offering discounts to veterans.
“Many of us know veterans that have never spoken about their experience and this story talks about the stories they came home with that many of us didn’t
As a bonus, former Pittsburgher and celebrity chef Michael Solomonov and Steve Cook, restauranteurs and authors of “Zahav Home,” will be featured at a special event one week later, on Nov. 20.
An all-festival pass to hear all speakers will be offered for $18.
“We’re so excited to offer this platform and support to Jewish authors and Jewish-themed books,” Woldenberg said.
A full schedule will be available online in the coming weeks. Sponsorship opportunities are available. More details can be found at bethshalompgh.org or by emailing Woldenberg at swoldenberg@ bethshalompgh.org. PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
know,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful, uplifting experience.”
Directed by Joe Jackson and starring Dave Toole and Marnie Quick, “Bandstand” will be staged from Aug. 16-25 at the New Hazlett Theater. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
Flyer for Jewish Book Festival Provided
Headlines
Referendum:
Continued from page 1
language, which he said would violate state anti-BDS laws.
“I think [it] would have set a good precedent for the future,” he said, “because we are worried about what the future could bring. We’ve seen this hatred for many years.”
In a prepared statement, Heisler called the decision a victory for the city of Pittsburgh.
“The referendum would have been impossible to implement, a threat to public safety and a significant legal liability,” she said.
Heisler said she was proud to have been part of the challenge but was disappointed that other government leaders chose not to intervene.
The referendum, she said, was fundamentally bad policy that would not make anyone safer, in Pittsburgh or in Gaza.
“I believe the referendum language itself is why they failed to get enough signatures,” she said. “City residents do not want to lose
Schools:
Continued from page 1
then-Principal Angelique Benjamin and emailed district Superintendent Wayne Walters.
The June graffiti was only the opening salvo in a battle that lasted the entire summer for Rothaus. Later that day, someone asked him if he noticed the Israeli flag on the school wall. It was part of a project of the Middle Eastern North Africa Student Union. He was sent a photo that showed the flag had been painted over and the outline of the Hebrew word chai painted in its place.
Rothaus acknowledged that the message behind the word could be viewed positively, but noted that a word is not a flag. Moreover, the Palestinian flag remained untouched.
He sent a second email to Walters, telling him about the flag, and asked how this type of anti-Israel activity could be tolerated.
“Across the world and all over the world dangerous falsehoods are spreading,” he wrote. “Institutions of higher learning are failing to address them, and the results are all over the news. PPS should not be standing on the sidelines as casual observers. Rather, we should be making our students learn the real truths. What a disgrace to send them off to their futures without this knowledge.”
Two days later, Walters responded with an email saying that Assistant Superintendent Melissa Pearlman would handle the investigation into Rothaus’ concerns.
After several weeks of limited engagement, Rothaus sent the pair another email asking for an update.
“My community demands answers and accountability,” he wrote. “I demand them, too. Please, I beg you help heal this terrible pain.”
Pearlman sent an email with the findings of her investigation nearly a month after Rothaus initially reported the incidents.
She said that the “End Genocide” vandalism was removed by painters over the summer. She also said that video footage was reviewed, and the matter would be addressed by the school.
Pearlman said her investigation found that the vandalism was removed within 24 hours of being painted, which Rothaus contends is not true, saying he first noticed the graffiti on June 14 and another employee at the school told him it was still there on June 17.
access to essential drugs our medics and EMTs carry or the safety equipment that protects our firefighters or the electricity to keep the lights on.”
Neither the city solicitor nor City Council challenged the petition.
A statement from Mayor Ed Gainey’s office said he expects that conversations and efforts to “end the war in Gaza” would continue.
“I believe the vast majority of our residents deeply wish for an end to hostilities in Gaza as well as for the return of all hostages, and we continue to pray for better, wiser leadership to emerge so that there can be peace. My role in this work is to keep Pittsburgh safe and to make common cause with those who refuse violence and who are actively listening to their neighbors and engaging in meaningful dialogue, as that is the only real
StandWithUs was one of the entities that helped organize more than 100 volunteers to examine the 15,000-plus signatures submitted as part of PDSA’s petition.
“It would not have happened without the mobilization of our community members meticulously going through every single signature not once, not twice but three times,” Paris said.
The Jewish community, she said, has been constantly attacked since the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting of 2018.
“We are a community that is traumatized by attacks, and this is another example,” Paris said.
The referendum, she added, has nothing to do with human rights or justice; instead, she said, it has “everything to do with antisemitism and discrimination.”
when discourse arose about the importance of keeping the Israel flag arose from students.”
She did not state with whom the discourse took place or why the flag was initially removed.
“Other flags, including the Israeli flag, and other flag-like images will be added at the start of the school year by the students, as this is their project,” she said, before noting that additional conversations will take place between MENA, Pearlman and two other staff members.
For Rothaus. though, the response falls flat.
“Why not paint over the wall and have the students repaint all of the flags?” he asked. “Students will still have to come back to the school, not see the Israeli flag and still see the Palestinian flag.”
In a response to Pearlman, Rothaus said that he was aware that Jewish students were bullied in the school.
“We must wonder,” he wrote, “if the Chai flag had anything to do with this. Painting over a flag and replacing it with a word is denying the legitimate existence of the State of Israel.”
Rothaus also offered to be a part of the conversation with MENA in the new school year.
R othaus’ fight doesn’t end with the investigation.
In July, while helping the school’s new principal, Shavonne Johnson, with IT issues,
Jeremy Kazzaz, executive director of the Beacon Coalition, said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the case.
Like StandWithUs, the Beacon Coalition helped organize volunteers to pore through
the signatures filed as part of PDSA’s petition.
“I think last night the DSA folks who filed the petition came to the realization that we had gained when our volunteers put their elbow grease into reviewing the petition,” Kazzaz said. “They failed to meet the minimum requirements. They couldn’t even get 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in Pittsburgh to sign this petition.”
And while Kazzaz was pleased with the decision, he also would have liked to hear the arguments around the referendum’s legality. If nothing else, he said, it would have been good for public discourse.
Despite the win, this may not be the last time lawyers for the parties meet in a courtroom. Attorneys for the Federation have indicated that they will seek a judgment ordering the PDSA to cover the organization’s
Rothaus mentioned that he was the employee who raised the anti-Israel issues.
“I wanted her to know I was the one in the Pearlman email she was copied on and didn’t want it to be weird,” he said. “I reiterated that I wanted the flag replaced or all of them painted over, and said I was willing to speak with MENA so they understand the situation.”
The two parted on good terms, according to Rothaus — or so he thought.
Shortly after returning to his South Side office, Rothaus spoke with his supervisor who told him there was a request that he no longer work at Sci Tech.
Last week, he filed a grievance with his union and a complaint with PPS’ employee relations. He has also reached out to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council and StandWithUs.
In an interview with the Chronicle, Pearlman said she could not discuss Rothaus’ grievance or the events with Johnson, as she was unable to address personnel issues.
The other two incidents, she said, were separate and were being addressed independently.
The graffiti, Pearlman said, is an act of defacing school property. She said that an investigation began within 24 hours of learning about it. The process of removing the graffiti began within the time frame but, she said, but took more than a day to complete.
Pearlman said that it was important to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible, but
she was unwilling to tie it directly to the conflict
“That statement encompasses atrocities committed against so many groups and is not just limited to antisemitism but many groups throughout history and all parts of the world — Armenia, Rwanda, Darfur — so that was handled immediately,” she said.
The defacing of the Israeli flag was a different matter since it involved a sanctioned mural painted by a student group that some members then altered. She acknowledged that Jewish students passed the image during the school year but noted that the flag was added back to the mural by Aug. 20, a week before the new school year would begin.
When the new academic year begins, Pearlman said, there will be conversations with both the student group and its faculty adviser.
For Rothaus, the repainting of the flag brings some satisfaction — although he is still not allowed to work at Sci Tech — but he continues to be concerned for the district’s Jewish population.
“I never wanted this to go public,” he said. “I told them several times that I didn’t want to go to the press. I just wanted the graffiti removed and the Israel flag repainted. I’m really upset about what this means for the school’s Jewish community.”
PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@
p A wall at Pittsburgh Public School’s Science and Technology Academy was defaced with graffiti reading “End Genocide.”
Photo courtesy of Rod Rothaus
p Pittsburgh Public School students walked a corridor with a mural featuring flags of the nations, excluding Israel. The Israeli flag was painted over. Photo courtesy of Rod Rothaus
Headlines
Months passed. Zak returned to the army and served near Kissufim. On Jan. 7, three months after the heinous attack, she returned to the kibbutz.
There are no words to describe that experience, she said: “It was really hard.”
Zak entered the shelter and found Kalashnikov bullets, “the bullets of the Hamas terrorists,” she said. “There were blood stains on the bed and holes in the wall.”
Her findings didn’t match the smoke inha lation narrative.
“I started doing research and putting the puzzle together,” she said.
Zak believes the terrorists knew the IDF was on its way to rescue residents. She said there were instances where terrorists donned IDF uniforms, relied on strong Hebrew skills and fooled people.
“I know my family really trusted the army,” she said. “We grew up in the kibbutz in a peaceful way and believed in its strength. We felt secure all the time. We felt safe because the army was around us.”
Zak saw no signs of struggle or holes in the shelter door. She did notice, though, that an item was removed from the refrigerator — on the appliance’s exterior were photo magnets of the family.
“One was from Sagi’s bar mitzvah,” she said. When the terrorist’s body was located, a magnet was “found on his dead body,”
to bring back and show his family that he murdered them,” Zak said. “I believe with my whole heart this is the story of my family and what happened.”
Zak has no plans to stop speaking about her family or the events of Oct. 7. Her conviction was spurred by an experience at Emma Kaufmann Camp.
More than two months ago, Zak arrived at EKC as an arts specialist. Staff week hadn’t yet finished, and Zak sensed “an elephant
people felt uncomfortable approaching her, she said. “I asked if I could do a presentation about my family,” she continued. “I want all of them to know what’s going on, to see that I’m really fine with this subject and see that they can talk to me, not to be afraid.”
Zak spoke about Etty, Etay, Sagi and Sokka. She talked about her family and the way they lived — how every Friday on the kibbutz their home was filled with friends and family, how after the army Zak
returned to work with her dad and the dog on the avocado farm.
“People from camp got to know them and know me in the light that I want them to see us,” she said.
Throughout the summer, Zak led a project. Campers made butterflies. Some butterflies were yellow in honor of the hostages. Some were multicolored. By the end of camp, 303 butterflies were made — one for each day of the war.
Zak said she couldn’t walk anywhere without seeing a butterfly.
“That was the purpose, for people to feel them in their lives,” she said. “Butterflies are a small thing that you don’t need to pay attention to, but you just feel them, you feel them in the back of your head. It’s like people that may not be in our lives now, but they always are. This is how it is for me.”
Hours remained until Tisha B’Av ended. The day, which commemorates historic Jewish tragedies, is considered the saddest on the calendar.
When asked what it’s like telling her story to Jewish educators in a Jewish day school on a day marked by generational misfortune, Zak said she wasn’t sure.
“This is kind of different for me,” she said. “For others, it’s a really big thing, such a rare story. But for me it’s so close to me. I really don’t have a realization that today is Tisha B’Av. I really just feel like the days are going through me.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
By JNS
Speople on his current staff who think he is wrong,” Peter Savodnik wrote in The Free Press on Sunday.
After Savodnik concluded his interview with the pro-Israel senator, Carrie Adams, Fetterman’s communications director, called him to say, “‘I don’t agree with him’ about Israel and Gaza,” Savodnik wrote.
Adams added, “I have a sense that his international views are a lot less nuanced than my generation, because when he was growing up, it was might makes right, and for my generation and younger who, of course, are the ones protesting this, they have a much more nuanced view of the region,” per the Free Press.
“I’ve been a reporter since the summer of 1998, when I covered Bill Clinton’s trip to Martha’s Vineyard for the Vineyard Gazette,” Savodnik wrote. “This was the first time I’d ever encountered anyone — on Capitol Hill or anywhere else, on the record, off the record, on background, whatever — criticizing ‘the principal.’”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who is
cipal voted into office by the people,” Torres wrote. “If you cannot get with program, then you should no longer be part of the program.”
Adams has since changed the settings on a social media account to make it less public and only visible to those whom she approves. Fetterman told Savodnik that he was skipping the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week because his kids are off school, and he wants to spend time with them. PJC
p Tomer Zak outside Community Day School on Aug. 13
Photo by Adam Reinherz
p Sen. John Fetterman speaks to reporters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on June 27. Photo by Alex Traiman
We cannot give up the fight
white supremacist murdered 11 worshippers have turned against us.
We are proud of the 100-plus community members who spent hours upon hours poring over more than 15,000 signatures — the vast majority of which were invalid — to prevent an antisemitic referendum backed by the Democratic Socialists of America from appearing on the November ballot (see story on Page 1).
And we are grateful to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and City Controller Rachael Heisler for taking legal action to quash the petition seeking the referendum, which would have called for Pittsburgh to boycott any entity doing business with or in Israel. If passed, such a referendum would have hobbled Jewish organizations and threatened our security.
But we are also angry, and brokenhearted, that such an effort was necessary. How quickly things change.
In fewer than six years, Pittsburgh has gone from being “Stronger Than Hate” to being a harbor of antisemitism.
Remember after the shooting in the Tree of Life building, when the world saw Pittsburgh as the poster child of love and unity? Now it seems like some of those same people who stood shoulder to shoulder with Jews after a
And it makes us wonder: How genuine was all that professed support back in 2018 anyway?
Lest you think we are exaggerating the shift, just take a look at the social media
We are not novices when it comes to online hate. We saw it play out in the worst possible way when an antisemitic mass murderer, radicalized on the far-right social media site Gab, attacked three congregations on Oct. 27, 2018. And so we are naturally concerned that the antisemitic vile spewed from the far left
In fewer than six years, Pittsburgh has gone from being “Stronger Than Hate” to being a harbor of antisemitism.
accounts of some so-called progressive activists who have been targeting members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community — some by name — since Oct. 7, and who promoted the anti-Israel referendum.
They accuse us of genocide. They accuse us of trying to stifle free speech. They accuse us of controlling local politicians. They repeat age-old antisemitic tropes, while proclaiming they aren’t antisemitic — as if just saying so makes it true.
And they bully our allies, elected officials like Heisler, Sen. John Fetterman and Sen. Bob Casey, who had the courage and moral clarity to call out the anti-Israel petition as antisemitic.
on the more mainstream X and Instagram could endanger our physical safety as well.
Th at’s why we must continue to be vigilant, outspoken and united in fighting attempts to undermine our security and our commitment to the Jewish state.
To be clear, it is not necessarily antisemitic to criticize Israel or its government. But it is antisemitic to deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination and to live in peace without the threat of genocide — the same rights that BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) activists seek for Palestinians.
The BDS movement against Israel “does not support constructive measures to build
Israeli-Palestinian engagement, nor does it promote peace negotiations or a mutually negotiated two-state solution to the conflict,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. “Rather, BDS presents a biased and simplistic approach to the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict, positioning this dispute over territorial and nationalist claims as the fault of only one party — Israel — while ignoring other actors and dynamics such as Palestinian shared responsibility for the continuation of the conflict. BDS advocates for selfdetermination for Palestinians while denying to Jews that same right.”
The ADL goes on to note that BDS “often gives rise to tensions in communities — in the U.S. we see it particularly on college campuses — that can result in the isolation and intimidation of Jews and supporters of Israel. With the focus on negating Israel and its supporters, BDS campaigns may create an environment in which antisemitic actions and expressions may be emboldened.”
We see that happening in Pittsburgh.
Following Monday’s hearing, at which Judge John McVay signed a consent order that all sides agreed the petition lacked enough valid signatures, petition organizers said they would regroup to determine ways to get the referendum on a future ballot, that they will not give up the fight.
Neither can we. PJC
So now we’re not allowed to eliminate terrorists?
Twelve innocent children were killed by Hezbollah at a soccer field in northern Israel. The next day I visited the site. Bloodstained bicycles were still strewn on the ground. I hugged and talked with heartbroken, crushed people. A few days later, Israel eliminated a senior Hezbollah terrorist in a surgical strike in Lebanon in response. Yet, Israel is expected to endure a massive attack from Hezbollah as if this is an inevitable, even justified, response. A few days later, a senior Hamas terrorist was killed in Tehran. Reports indicated it caused “embarrassment to the Iranians.” Again, Israel is expected to face volleys of rockets and drones in response.
Too many are acting as if this is a reasonable equation. The Iranian president has stated that they have a “right to respond” while the leader of Hezbollah said Israel has crossed some sort of “red line” and a response would be inevitable. That sentiment is echoed by a slew of articles across the world on how and when the attacks will occur asserting that “Iran has to respond” and that an “Iranian response is inevitable.”
But why should such a response be “inevitable?” Not only is this deeply flawed moral logic, it also sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the world.
evil in the world. Liberal democracies represent justice, morality, and freedom, while terrorists are murderers who want to rob us not only of our way of life but also
If tolerance for terrorist retaliation becomes the new international norm, sooner or later it will affect everyone.
When the United States eliminated Osama bin Laden, no one thought it justified an al-Qaeda attack on Washington or New York. When al-Baghdadi was killed in Syria, no one expected the U.S. to calmly accept the inevitable revenge of ISIS. Terrorists thrive because they don’t play by the rules, yet today the world behaves as if their rules are reasonable. The discourse that “everyone has their own narrative” has been transplanted into the war on terror. Even against the world’s most heinous murderers, there’s no longer right and wrong. Those who kill terrorists must consider that their feelings might get hurt and that we have no choice but to accept their revenge. We have a choice. There is good and
to slaughter our children. A high moral standard does not include acceptance of their hate-filled narrative. Terrorists have no immunity. They have no right to retaliate. They do not operate within the law. They live and operate outside the rules and we are justified in making them pay the price. Hezbollah and Hamas target innocent civilians, hide behind innocent civilians, and indiscriminately shoot at our innocent civilians. Iran, despite its attempts to portray itself as a normal state, has been and remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. The world needs to tell the Iranians that if they don’t want terrorists to be killed in Tehran, they should not welcome them into their homes.
By what moral code should Israel accept rocket barrages from terrorist organizations and rogue states? The narrative is outrageous. It equates a legitimate defensive action by a law-abiding state with the blatantly illegal actions of a terrorist organization. This kind of untenable and unethical narrative is to be expected from fringe groups that rationalize terror, but it can’t be something we accept in mainstream discourse.
And of course, what starts in Israel never stays in Israel. If tolerance for terrorist retaliation becomes the new international norm, sooner or later it will affect everyone. If this narrative takes hold, it will impact any country attempting to fight terrorism. It’s time to put an end to it and take a clear moral stand: Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas cannot attack Israel (or New York, or the London Underground, or music clubs in Paris), and there can be no justification for it. If they do choose to attack, the West should stand behind Israel’s response, because it’s the moral thing to do and because a precedent set in the Middle East never stays in the Middle East. PJC
Yair Lapid is the former prime minister of Israel and currently the leader of the opposition in Israel. This first appeared on The Times of Israel.
Guest Columnist
Yair Lapid
Chronicle poll results: PACs working to defeat ‘Squad’ members
Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Do you support the work of PACs to defeat ‘Squad’ members at the polls?” Of the 337 people who responded, 73% said yes; 21% said no; and 6% said they were not sure. Comments were submitted by 78 people. A few follow
The “Squad” is a very dangerous entity in this country. It’s really time for us to wake up and see the danger they are exposing us to.
Only if the PAC is within the jurisdiction of the elected official.
I support elimination of any and all politicians who rally against Jews, Judaism, or Israel.
PACs don’t defeat incumbents — voters do. All PACs do is make voters aware of the candidate’s shortcomings. I resent headlines in legacy media that suggest that PACs control voters; in a Democracy, it is always individuals who use their agency to vote.
Article about Tim Walz misleading
I read a headline in the Aug. 9 edition of the Chronicle stating, “Tim Walz, pro-Israel governor of Minnesota,” and then found an article online reporting that Walz is apparently a supporter of the Muslim cleric Imam Asad Zaman. Zaman has posted links to a pro-Hitler film on his Facebook page and praised Hamas, going so far as to share official Hamas press releases, and praised the Oct. 7 attack.
Walz’s administration donated $100,000 to the imam’s group, Muslim American Society of Minnesota, a group described by federal prosecutors as an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. Walz and Zaman have appeared on stage together at political events in Minnesota.
Describing Walz as a friend of Israel is a dangerous misreporting of the facts.
I hope a writer for the Chronicle dives into the information and writes an article about the real Tim Walz, not the wishful thinking version of him.
Georgia Atkin O’Hara Township Spiegler’s bar too low; Frank’s Fetterman bashing misplaced
In response to Oren Spiegler’s thanking Sen. Schumer for denouncing antisemitic graffiti in Pittsburgh (“Praise for Schumer,” Aug. 9), could we set the bar higher? Even Summer Lee condemned the defacement of a house of worship. Could we demand that our representatives support Israel and her elected leaders? Israel is a democracy with a government elected by the people. At a time when Israelis live in mortal peril, it is unconscionable for those with no skin in the game to tell Israel what to do. And most of those people are Democrats. They have enabled Iran monetarily, delegitimized Israel by parroting every unsubstantiated casualty claim and prevented Israel from responding with the strength needed to deter her enemies. And so here we are, with Iran emboldened and threatening another direct attack. Biden’s policies have cost many Israeli lives and have fostered the growth of antisemitism on America’s campuses and streets.
In response to Ivan Frank’s Fetterman bashing (“Fetterman has gone a ‘bridge too far,’” Aug. 9), Sen. John Fetterman is the rare Democrat who has unashamedly and unapologetically stood with Israel. He respects Israel’s right to set her own policies to protect her people. He doesn’t expect Israel to be a sitting duck, limited to defense without permission to preempt the enemy’s truly genocidal intentions (as do most of Israel’s “close allies”). He respects Israel’s assessment of what a two-state solution would mean for Jewish survival and recognizes her just fight against a neighbor that rapes, beheads, kidnaps and burns entire families alive. He trusts Israel, as a moral and decent nation that values life, to get the job done in the most moral way possible. Israel has demonstrated this to be true by achieving the lowest combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio in history.
The polls are in. Most Israelis recognize the dangers of a two-state solution and don’t support a hostage deal made at the cost of Israel’s security. Most Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza, condone the Oct. 7 attack and support Hamas. Contrary to the narrative of the vocal left (which represents only about 20% of the Israeli population), the government of Israel is not separate from the people of Israel.
No one believes Hamas has been defeated. Israel uncovers more tunnels and munition caches daily and is still under rocket siege from Gaza. Calling for an end to hostilities means leaving Hamas and Hezbollah with the capability and intention of destroying Israel. Israelis are not “settlers” in their own land. Nor are they “oppressors.” Israel must have the security that any nation should expect and which — as Hamas and Hezbollah demonstrate daily — she does not have.
Dr. Miriam Weiss
Squirrel Hill
The “Squad” is the most threatening group in Congress against Israel. They have the megaphone and are driving pro-Hamas rhetoric.
The “Squad” members do not determine policy, although they may influence it. Using PAC funds diverts Jewish resources that could be better used elsewhere and opens us up to the “Jewish influence” trope.
PACs or any other legal means could and should be used to promote candidates whose opinions and policies further our own goals. Similarly, PACs or any other legal means could and should be used to oppose candidates (such as “Squad” members) whose opinions threaten us and/or are toxic to those we love.
I don’t support PAC advertising in general. Without the accountability of having an actual entity (political party, opposing candidate, etc.), PACs are free to lie and distort whoever it is they are attacking.
This is the way the American democracy works. PACS are the way American citizens
get their message out to lawmakers and to voters. No one forces a voter to enter a ballot, but providing money to get a candidate’s message out is appropriate and kosher!
No, and I think we need to get money out of politics in general and have campaigns be publicly financed.
It’s deeply disappointing that we’re directing energy and money toward removing some of the most progressive allies in Congress and replacing them with moderates who don’t align with my values in any way.
Absolutely! As Jews, we must continue to be proactive in areas where we can effect change. PJC
Compiled by Toby Tabachnick
Chronicle weekly poll question: Are you following the Democratic National Convention? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle. org to respond. PJC
response to a terrorist attack. Arguing from ideological corners is not the way to achieve the goals of returning the hostages and punishing Hamas by removing it from political power.
Alfred B. (Fred) Bortz Pittsburgh
Punishing Hamas should not be left/right issue
In dueling letters of Aug. 9 and Aug. 16, Ivan Frank (“Fetterman has gone a ‘bridge too far’”) and Rocky Wice (“Is there even a bridge?”), two men whom I know and respect, offer opposing views of Sen. John Fetterman’s position on the war in Gaza. What struck me most about Wice’s letter was not his viewpoint, but that he described Frank’s position as “a laundry list of ... issues that the left always tosses out.”
This should not be viewed as a left/right ideological fight. This is about finding the appropriate
Antisemitic resolution signed by the uninformed
Once again, the insidious forces of the extreme left tried to demonize and delegitimize Israel. The latest antisemitic outrage is the reprehensible petition, submitted by the Democratic Socialists of America, proposing a Pittsburgh referendum to boycott Israel (“Jewish Federation, city controller challenge anti-Israel referendum,” Aug. 16).
Have these self-anointed guardians of our moral fabric proposed any other boycotts? Perhaps a boycott of China over its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities who have been moved to “re-education camps,” where they are subjected to forced labor and abusive political indoctrination? Or, perhaps, against China’s decades-long effort to eradicate Tibetan cultural and religious identity?
No, it appears that only Israel is the consistent target of their obnoxious self-righteousness. On Oct. 7, the day of the massacres and before any Israeli response, DSA posted the following on its website: “End the Violence, End the Occupation, Free Palestine. DSA is steadfast in expressing our solidarity with Palestine. Today’s events are a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime ... As socialists, we must act.”
The DSA website shows no calls “to act” for other incidents of human suffering throughout the world. It is curiously selective in its moral outrage. Its hypocrisy is nauseating. Its antisemitism is blatant.
In addition to the malevolent supporters of this resolution, there are the ill-informed, misinformed and disinformed supporters. My wife and I both spoke with volunteers collecting petition signatures at the Squirrel Hill farmers market. Their utter ignorance concerning the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict and the current war was manifestly evident. I spoke with one young woman who literally knew nothing. Her only argument concerned the images of suffering children and how the suffering must stop. I do not question her sincerity, but her reaction falls precisely into the Hamas strategy: Imbed yourself in the civilian population, dress your army in civilian clothes, use civilians as human shields, make every effort to show civilian suffering even if you must cause the suffering yourself, exaggerate the number of civilian deaths and then put all the blame on Israel.
The strategy works. Those who don’t understand the context of the war are swayed by the images of suffering. They are oblivious to Hamas’ genocidal goal to destroy Israel and all of the Jews living there. They are unaware that Hamas is a terrorist tentacle of Tehran (along with Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Syrian and Iraqi militias) against whom Israel is fighting an existential war. They are blind to Israel’s extensive efforts to protect civilians. John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point, maintains that Israel has created a new standard for urban warfare in the caution it takes to prevent civilian deaths.
This disgusting resolution was proposed by hateful antisemites in order to demonize Israel. It would have little effect on Israel and only harm Pittsburgh. There is little doubt it was signed primarily by ill-informed people, swayed by images of war shown through biased mainstream news and crazed social media posts.
Reuven Hoch Pittsburgh
One hundred percent yes. It’s unfortunate but necessary when elected officials support terrorists over allies.
Life & Culture
Rustic blueberry scones
By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle
Ibought some beautiful blueberries at the market, and I couldn’t wait to get home and whip up a fresh batch of blueberry scones for brunch.
This is a flexible recipe, so you can substitute other fruit, or even chocolate chips, but I love how blueberries soften and bake down in these scones.
I like a scone that has both crumbly edges and a soft center, which these deliver, and if you use a larger grain sea salt when baking, you’ll also get a few bites with a little pop of salt. Scones use about half the sugar of muffins, so don’t expect the flavor to be super sweet.
The addition of heavy cream to the butter and flour mixture makes the dough sticky, so popping the mixed dough in the freezer helps make these much easier to work with.
I recently started weighing ingredients rather than measuring them. The moisture in the air affects the weight of the flour, so weighing the flour helps add consistency to baking recipes. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, simply measure the flour and add an extra tablespoon or two if you feel that it’s needed.
I can’t stress enough the importance of fresh ingredients when baking. I made this
recipe with a new jar of baking powder and the consistency was totally different than the last batch that I made. These baked up high and had a soft crumb inside. I don’t buy large amounts of spices, flour or baking ingredients
for this reason. It can be more cost-effective to buy in bulk, and I often recommend doing so, but the fresher the ingredients, the better the baked goods.
Ingredients:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour (240 grams), plus 2 tablespoons more for kneading
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ rounded teaspoon sea salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
Zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ plus 1 tablespoon of heavy cream, divided 1 large egg
Optional: large grain sugar for a garnish
The butter needs to be as cold as possible when you make the pastry, so weigh and measure all of the ingredients first so that it’s easy to make the dough without the butter getting too soft.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk ¾ cup of heavy cream with one large egg. The remaining tablespoon of cream will be used to brush the scones before baking.
Cube the butter by cutting one stick lengthwise into 2 long pieces, then cut those again lengthwise to make 4 long pieces before cutting the pieces into 1-inch cubes.
Add the cold butter to the bowl and mix it by hand with a pastry blender. If you don’t have a pastry blender, a potato masher will do a good job.
Work the pastry for a few minutes so that the flour and butter mixture looks sandy with pea-sized pieces of butter.
Whisk in the cinnamon and lemon zest before adding the blueberries to the bowl. Give them a good stir, pour the egg and cream mixture over and stir with a strong spoon or spatula until just combined.
Dust a pastry board or a clean countertop with 2 tablespoons of flour, and pour the
dough onto the board.
Dust your hands with flour and gently turn the dough over a few times and shape it into a ball. Even with the extra flour, you will still find this dough soft and sticky. Don’t add more flour; any added flour will make these too dry in the end.
Cut a piece of parchment paper long enough to fully cover a baking tray. Take a pie plate or cake layer pan and place the full sheet of parchment paper over that pan. Lift the ball of dough into the middle of the pan, pressing it down gently with your fingers so that it fills in the pan and has a flat top. Pop this into the freezer for 20-25 minutes to firm up.
Preheat your oven to 425 F while the dough is chilling in the freezer, and put the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
You don’t want the dough to freeze through; you just need it to chill enough so that you can cut it easily into pieces that retain their shape before baking. Take the dough from the freezer and lift the paper from the pie plate or layer pan, and move the paper and dough to your baking pan. Use a sharp knife to cut the disc into 6-8 triangular pieces. Separate them, leaving at least 2 inches between each piece. Brush with the remaining tablespoon of heavy cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. Bake for 20-24 minutes, watching carefully toward the end so that the bottoms don’t burn. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the scones to cool for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. Cool for an additional 15 minutes before serving.
I love these plain, but you can add a little butter, jam or cream.
These can be stored for 2 days in a tin or a break box. Don’t cover the scones with plastic wrap or store it in a plastic container or the consistency will change.
Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC
Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.
p Rustic blueberry scones
Photo by Jessica Grann
Life & Culture
Jason
Schwartzman plays a small-town cantor with a spiritual crisis in ‘Between the Temples’
By Stephen Silver | JTA
The first sound in “Between the Temples” is a piercing blast from a shofar. Several scenes of the new film are set in a synagogue and depict familiar Jewish tableaus including bat mitzvah preparation, the rabbi/cantor relationship, donors who play an outsize role in Jewish life and a nerve-wracking family Shabbat dinner.
In other words, it may be the most Jewish mainstream movie of the year.
“Between the Temples,” which arrives in theaters Friday, tells the story of Cantor Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), who works at a Reform synagogue in upstate New York and is grieving the death of his novelist wife a year earlier. Carol Kane stars as Carla, his childhood music teacher, who grew up without Jewish tradition but now wants an adult bat mitzvah.
The duo forms the heart of a warm intergenerational buddy comedy-drama that plays out in an archetypal Jewish setting.
“We’re thinking about two people … at two different crossroads, of this cantor who is having a crisis of faith, and what that would look like, against someone who is seeking to have faith, and seeking to embrace faith, and how they would help each other, and the kind of connection that would result from that,” Nathan Silver, the film’s New York-based director and co-writer, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Between the Temples” was shot in part at Silver’s parents’ synagogue in Kingston, New York: Congregation Emanuel of the Hudson Valley (it’s called “Temple Sinai” in the film). Silver (not to be confused with Nate Silver, the political prognosticator) said it was important to him and his colleagues to depict a small-town Jewish community not typically shown in the movies.
“They’re in the middle of nowhere, but they’re a couple of hours away from New York City,” Silver said.
As the film begins, Cantor Gottlieb is suffering both a spiritual and a professional crisis, especially since his grief has robbed him of his ability to sing. Kane’s character is the daughter of secular Communists, while her late husband wasn’t Jewish.
“I grew up in a totally secular household,” Silver said, noting that when his parents moved from suburban Boston to the Hudson Valley, “they wanted to find some kind of community, so they joined a temple.”
The “seed of the movie,” said Silver, was his own mother’s decision to take an adult b’nai mitzvah class. “There’s a movie there!’” he remembers being told by a publicist friend, Adam Kersh. “‘You gotta do like a “Harold and Maude” riff where the late-inlife bat mitzvah [student] falls in love with her cantor or rabbi.’”
Kersh ended up serving as a producer on the film.
Silver said he consulted with a rabbi, Mikey Hess Weber, at the script-writing stage, to make sure the film got its Jewish elements right, while one of the producers, Jesse Miller — himself a bar mitzvah tutor — helped during the production. Silver called Miller “an essential resource on set, and helped everyone with Hebrew and any questions we might have.”
Robert Smigel, who plays Rabbi Bruce in the film, said he also consulted a rabbi — his own — to get the details right. He plays a senior colleague trying to help Ben and set him up with his daughter Gabby (Madeline Weinstein). Although Rabbi Bruce drives a car with the license plate “TKKNOLM,” meaning “Tikkun Olam,” the Hebrew shorthand for social justice, Schwartzman’s character has trouble seeing him as a role model.
“I was sort of representing what Jason was dissatisfied with in everyday life,” Smigel told JTA of the character. “A rabbi who’s a bit self-absorbed and focused on the mundane aspects of being a rabbi, raising money for the temple, and not necessarily the most inspiring spiritual leader, at least for Jason.”
An observant Jew and comedy stalwart who worked on “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” Smigel is best known as the voice and puppeteer behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He has spoken in interviews over the years about how the Yiddish theater and Jewish insult comedy traditions inspired that character.
Smigel also co-wrote “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” the 2008 comedy in which Adam Sandler played an Israeli
commando who becomes a New York hairdresser.
Smigel thought the message of “Between the Temples” about Judaism was primarily positive.
“What I love about this movie is that it doesn’t mock religion in any way,” Smigel said. “It doesn’t mock Judaism. It cuts to the essence of Judaism, where a lot of it is questioning, you’re permitted to ask questions, you’re permitted to have doubt. And then, on the other side, it’s about humility and what we’re here for.”
A critical scene in “Between the Temples” comes near the end: a claustrophobic Shabbat dinner scene that includes all of the major characters. It will look familiar to fans of recent Jewish-themed films such as “Uncut Gems” and “Shiva Baby,” where Jewish families collide loudly and angrily on occasions usually set aside for holier pursuits.
“We shot that over the course of two nights with two cameras,” Silver said. Two versions were written and filmed, with different actors arguing for different versions.
“When an actor is fighting for their character, you can’t deny that, there’s like a passion there, so we embraced that,” he said. “This tension, this aspect of what this sequence looked like in the finished film, this added to the chaos of the actual sequence.” Ultimately, the two versions, plus a third sequence, were combined for the finished scene.
Schwartzman is Jewish on his father’s side — his mother is Talia Shire, part of the Italian-American Coppola family of great showbiz fame — and he’s played Jewish characters throughout his career, and more than his share of grieving husbands.
“I’m proud to be Jewish, but, yeah, I just consider myself everything. I’m just lucky to be here,” Schwartzman said in an interview in 2009 with Heeb Magazine. In the film’s press notes, Schwartzman — a musician who used to play with the band Phantom Planet — shares that he learned how to play and sing all of the Jewish music featured.
“I wanted to understand the structure and theory behind these songs and how they were arranged,” the actor said in the notes. “It was for my own pleasure but also so that I could understand the songs and absorb them and have them be part of the character. It was so fun to figure out how to play the songs, to find the little nuances and melody, and to hear different versions of how they’re sung. I really fell in love with the music.”
The film is also a comeback for Kane, 72, the Jewish actress who starred in seminal Jewish classics such as Joan Micklin Silver’s “Hester Street” and Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” in the 1970s.
“Carla’s wanted this all her life, and she decides to go for it, even though it’s very problematic because her only child, her son, thinks it’s a joke,” Kane said of her character’s late-life spiritual turn, in the film’s press notes. “So, she has to deal with the fact that he doesn’t believe in it and still powers through, which is so brave and so hard.”
While it premiered at Sundance in January, “Between the Temples” also appeared on the Jewish film festival circuit, including as a centerpiece in July at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
“It was delightful to have it with this Jewish audience,” Silver said. PJC
p Jason Schwartzman plays a cantor and Carol Kane plays an adult bat mitzvah student in Nathan Silver’s film “Between the Temples.”
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
The thoughts of your heart
One of the modern tools I enjoy using when studying the parsha is Ctrl+F. The patterns in the verses that in days of old took devotion, diligence and brilliance to notice, can now be noted and studied with a quick find function.
This leads me to a unique word usage that comes to prominence in this week’s parsha, Eikev. If you search all of the Book of Devarim (which I did) for the term meaning “in your heart” ( בבלב ) you will find it a total of six times, spread throughout the 34 chapters of the book. Yet, you will note
Canaan and question their ability to survive their ascension to the Land of Israel. The second occurrence is the exact opposite. Here, the Jewish People are looking into the future and they have already successfully settled the land — and at that moment, they indulge national and religious arrogance. They see their success formed by their “righteousness” and the “strength of their hands.” God dispels this illusion, too, and explicates that the success grows from His infinite strength and love of his People.
What is so interesting about this pair of thoughts that the people have — linked in the phrasing of “in your heart” — is that they are exactly the opposite of each other. The Jewish People are both overconfident and insecure. Yet, God’s response to each
that there is a cluster of four instances, two thirds of the total, that appear in our parsha. Each one is addressed to the Jewish People and their thoughts as they cross over the Jordan into the Land of Israel. The clustering of these references calls our attention to a unit that we can interpret as one.
Of that cluster, there are two specific references that give us an idea of the whole.
The first instance, at the very beginning of the parsha (7:17-18): “If you say in your heart: ‘These nations are greater than me; how can I dispossess them?’ do not be afraid of them; remember what your God did to Pharaoh.” Here, the Jewish heart is questioning the Jews’ ability to fulfill their destiny of settling the Land, and God reassures them, reminding them of the recent Exodus from Egypt.
The next instance stands distinct from the first. Here the verse reads (9:4): “Do not say in your heart...: ‘For my righteousness God has brought me in to possess this land.’”
The first reference tells us of the Jewish People’s response as they look over the horizon into a new land and they feel afraid. They see the strength of the peoples of
of these is that their experiences need to be put into fuller religious context. Before they enter the land and they are overcome by the strength of the people of Canaan, they must zoom out to see that it was God who took them from Egypt, a nation far more powerful than the chieftains of Canaan. When the Jewish People are settled and secure and they look back with satisfaction at what they have accomplished, and once more have cut God’s role out of the picture, they again need to take a broader perspective and note the wide frame of time and destiny.
The pairing of these experiences and responses demonstrates that no matter the circumstance or environment, the inclination of our hearts is to cut the frame in a way that leaves God out. To this we must continue to respond with a reframing, both broader and deeper, that shows God’s impact throughout history, that will allow us to accurately interpret God’s role and ours. PJC
Rabbi Yitzi Genack is the rabbi of Shaare Torah Congregation. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.
COHEN: On July 31, 2024, Norman Cohen, 90, passed away peacefully. He is survived by his beloved wife and soulmate of nearly 68 years, Marilynn Weitz Cohen, and his loving children, Dr. Evelyn Cohen Reis (Dr. Steven Reis) and Jordan Cohen. He will be dearly missed by his three grandchildren and his many nieces and nephews. He was the cherished brother of the late Ruth Orleans (Arnold) and brother-in-law of Alan Weitz (Cynthia) and the late Barbara Weitz. Born in Norfolk, he lived in Washington D.C., Potomac, and recently, Pittsburgh. After graduating from George Washington University, he earned a law degree from Georgetown University. In addition to a long career at the U.S. Agency for International Development, he was a volunteer commissioner for the Montgomery County Housing Commission for 20 years. He served as a visionary leader of the Lafayette Federal Credit Union Board for over 45 years and was honored by their naming their headquarters building after him. He demonstrated his strong belief in tikkun olam through his work in Asia, Africa and Central America, and his many years as a volunteer. He leaves behind a legacy of love, compassion and a commitment to repairing the world. He will be deeply missed and forever remembered by those whose lives have been touched by his kindness, acts of service and passion for uplifting communities. Funeral services were held at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, where he was a founding member. Interment at Judean Memorial Gardens in Olney. Memorial contributions may be made to Congregation Har Shalom or the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation.
SCHOENFELD: David Bruce Schoenfeld, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. Beloved son of the late Lillian and Ira Schoenfeld. Brother of Janice E. Schoenfeld (Willem Mineur). Uncle of Leah and Eric Schoenfeld. David was mentally challenged. He grew up with lots of love in his home. He became a kind, polite and caring young man. He had a lot of empathy with a wicked sense of humor. Graveside services and interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Friendship Circle-Pittsburgh, 1922 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com PJC
Ada Lou Silverberg deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 02-24-05198 of 2024, Steven E. Silverberg, Executor, c/o David J. Slesnick, Esq., 310 Grant Street, Suite #1220, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Ellen
Bernard
Pinsker .Herbert Goldstein
Harvey Rice .Rhea Mark
Marc Rice .Rhea Mark
Paula Riemer .Ruth Feldman
Joyce Unitan .Aaron Zwick
Contact the Development department at 412-586-2690 or development@jaapgh.org for
Sunday August 25: Liza Canter, Elizabeth Cohen, Leonard Ehrenreich, Dr Morris H Glick, Bertha Klein, Harry Lipser, Paul A Love, Harry H Marcus, Rhea Mark, Sophie Masloff, Gussie Sacks, Morris Schwartz, Herbert Sternlight, Rose Zweig
Monday August 26: Zelda Cohen, Meyer David Elovitz, Fanny Kramer, Mary Lang, Hazel Pinsker Lemelman, Albert P Levine, Zelman Lee Moritz, Tillie K Morris, Irene I Posner, Mollie Rothman, Samuel Selkovits, Gabe Shapiro, Melvin Tobias, Eva Ulanoff, Rabbi Hugo Unger, Sarah Wesely
Tuesday August 27: Sarah Aronson, Irwin George Berman, Nathan Corn, Milton David Daniels, Abraham Herman, Ida Garber Hytovitz, William Kaplan, Samuel S Lewinter, Leon Loibman, Morris Middleman, Hazel Rose Newman, Samuel Simon, Harry Suttin, Merle Weitz, Leah Wekselman, Samuels Zionts
Wednesday August 28: Eda Yitta Katron Ash, Etta Borof Ontville, Charlotte Charapp, Lois Pearlman Diamond, Dora Fargotstein, David Finkel, Ronald Friedken, Arthur Friedman, Faye Glasser, Libbie Glasser, Herbert Goldstein, Rebecca Goldstein, John J Gruene, Charles Laufe, Kenneth Phillip Levenson, Pauline Loibman, Anne P Morris, Mary Plung, Harry Serbin, Clara Ida Shapiro
Thursday August 29: Samuel Danzinger, Abraham Gernstat, Samuel Green, Elliott Hansell, Jennie Herron, Richard Lebby, Dina Schiff, Tzulel Seiavitch, Harvey Edward Thorpe, Hymen Weiss, Gussie Wright
Friday August 30: Andrew Cohen, Minnie Drosnes, Lena K Friedman, Benjamin Heller, Elenora Soupcoff Heller, Hyman Herman, Norma Kalmenson, Rose Kress, Phillip Lerner, Bessie Mallinger, Shirley Markowitz, Molly Pollock, David Rabinovitz, Meyer Maier Talenfeld, Jacob Wells, Joan Elise Ratowsky Whitley
Saturday August 31: Marion Jessica Blumenfeld, Helen Finkel Eger, Esther Fried, Max Hadburg, Lottie Heller, William Katz, Rose Lieber, Louis Olitzky, Bettie Olender Polak Tanur, Anita Ohringer Ruslander, Gabrielle Heliene Segall, Sam Weinberger, Aaron H Zwick
TRUST TERMINATION:
Advertising Trust Termination due to the death of Shirley P. Sacks on 05/24/2024.
Claims against said Trust may be filed as follows and sent to: PNC Bank, National Association
Attn: Sharon L Whitney
300 Fifth Ave, 31st Floor Pittsburgh, PA 15222
And/or: Joel Pfeffer, Esq.
Meyer Unkovic & Scott LLP 535 Smithfield St. #1300 Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from ... In memory of... Anonymous .Harold Leighton Winkler
Sherry Cartiff .Irene Posner
& Jeff Cohen .Zelda Cohen
Dickter
Headlines
IDF recovers remains of six hostages murdered in Gaza
— ISRAEL —
By Joshua Marks | JNS
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday morning recovered the bodies of six hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, from a tunnel in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In an operation involving the IDF and Israel Security Agency, the bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre.
The total number of hostages remaining in the hands of Hamas in Gaza now stands at 109.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that every effort will continue to be made to return all of the abductees, both alive and dead.
“Our hearts grieve over the terrible loss. My wife Sara and I convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. I would like to thank the brave IDF and ISA fighters and commanders for their heroism and determined action,” the premier stated.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “We must not stop for a moment from working in every way possible to bring back all the hostages—the living to the embrace of their families, and the dead to be laid to rest. This is Israel’s highest moral duty.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called it a “daring and dangerous operation in the Hamas tunnels in Khan Younis.”
“I share in the mourning and the heavy sorrow of the families,” he said, adding, that the operation was “another expression of the determination and courage of the fighters,
“Lead me to a rock that is too high for me.”
Lee & Lisa Oleinick
alongside the operational freedom of action that we have achieved all over the Gaza Strip. We will continue to expand it and realize the goals of the war — the dissolution of Hamas, and the fulfillment of our commitment to return all abductees to Israel.”
Munder, 79, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife Ruthi, their daughter Keren and 9-year-old grandson Ohad. Ruthi, Keren and Ohad were released in the November hostage deal. Their son, Roi, was murdered during the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7 along with some 1,200 others.
“We will always remember Munder, with his clear voice, his warm smile and his endless love for his family and the kibbutz,” the kibbutz said in a statement.
Metzger, 80, also a member of Nir Oz, was kidnapped alive and the IDF announced his death about two months ago. His wife, Tamar, who was also kidnapped to Gaza, was released in November.
“He worked at the Nirlat factory and in recent years in a garage. Member of the Kibbutz Winery. Father of three sons and grandfather of seven grandchildren. Yoram will be remembered in all of our hearts as a pleasant and smiling man, who always made everyone feel immediately at home,” the kibbutz said.
Peri, 80, was also kidnapped from Nir Oz, of which he was a member.
“Chaim was 80 years old, father of five children and grandfather of 13 grandchildren. An entrepreneur, humanist and peace activist. On the day of the massacre at the kibbutz, Chaim managed to save his wife Asanat before being kidnapped himself. He survived in inhumane conditions in the Hamas tunnels for months, until he was brutally murdered in captivity,” the kibbutz said.
Buchshtav’s death was announced on July 22. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim, where the 34-year-old resided. His wife, Rimon Kirsht Buchshtav, was abducted with him and then released on Nov. 28 as part of a cease-fire agreement.
Dancyg, 76, was kidnapped from Kibbutz
Nir Oz. The IDF announced his death in late July, along with that of Buchshtav.
“Alex Dancyg was a historian, educator and farmer. Born to Holocaust survivors, he became one of the founders of educational delegations to Poland. Alex worked at Yad Vashem for about 30 years, where he trained thousands of guides in Holocaust education,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a volunteer group focused on bringing the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza back to Israel, said at the time.
“Hostages who were held captive with him reported that Alex spent his time in captivity giving history lectures to fellow captives. Alex was an avid reader with a passion for history and enjoyed various sports. Yesterday would have been his 76th birthday,” the statement continued.
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan paid tribute to Dancyg, saying, “Alex’s essence embodied both in spirit and substance his love for the land and thirst for knowledge. His vast library at his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz reflected his deep connection between his cherished Israeli and Jewish identity and his Polish birthplace.
“Alex successfully integrated these perspectives into his teaching of the events of World War II in general and of the Holocaust in particular. The news of his tragic death strengthens our commitment to ensure that Alex’s legacy and the stories he passionately preserved are never forgotten.”
The forum said of Buchshtav that he “was a humble and unassuming man who loved life in Kibbutz Nirim. A sound technician by profession, Yagev had a deep passion for music. From a young age, he played guitar and flute, later expanding to other instruments, some of which he built himself. Together with his wife Rimon, Yagev cared for five dogs and five cats, several of which they had rescued and rehabilitated.”
Popplewell’s death was announced on June 3. The 51-year-old British Israeli was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nirim by Hamas terrorists. His mother, Channah Peri, 79, was released in November. PJC
The six hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists and who were murdered in Gaza. Their bodies were recovered by Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel
Wednesday, September 4 • 5:30 pm Levinson Hall • 5738 Forbes Avenue
Please join us as we celebrate this year’s awardees, elect and install the 2024-2025 Board of Directors and celebrate our community’s incredible accomplishments over the past year. All are welcome to attend.
Mazel Tov to Our Awardees
• Rogal-RuslandeR leadeRship awaRd: Sharon Werner
• s. J. noven Koach awaRd: Samuel W. Braver
• ida and samuel latteRman volunteeR mitzvah awaRd: Yisrael Klitsner and Lauren Wasser-Klitsner
• loving Kindness awaRd: League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh
• lillian goldstein senioR adult volunteeR awaRd: Kathy Jones
• caplan-liebeR human Relations awaRd: Veronica Garcia
• the pittsbuRgh Jewish chRonicle Jcc volunteeR of the YeaR: Rabbi Elimelech Seidman
Life & Culture
Haifa readies world’s largest underground hospital
the late Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer who the hospital is named after — and charities.
The evening will conclude with a reception in Palm Court.
By Etgar Lefkovits | JNS
HAIFA—The rows of hospital beds with adjacent oxygen units line the underground parking lot.
Four operating rooms, a maternity ward and a dialysis center are among the facilities that Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus has set up three levels down in its parking garage.
The largest hospital in northern Israel has created the biggest underground hospital in the world, and is gearing up for what could be an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The three-floor, $140 million Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital was constructed following the Second Lebanon War with the terrorist organization in 2006, when the Iranian proxy fired about 70 missiles on this northern port city over a month, shaking the hospital in an era before the Iron Dome aerial-defense system was in place.
“We made a commitment that this scenario cannot happen again,” recalled hospital director Professor Michael Halberthal during a tour of the facility on Sunday.
The 2,000-plus bed subterranean emergency hospital, which has been ready if unused over the last decade, is essentially a 1,500-car garage that has been seamlessly converted into a fortified hospital for warfare, and which can be put in full use within eight hours.
Nearly two decades after the last major war with Hezbollah, the security threats have only grown, with the Shi’ite terrorist group, which has been raining down missiles on Israel almost daily since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre that triggered the war in Gaza, better trained and more heavily armed, with a missile stockpile experts estimate at 150,000 projectiles capable of striking virtually the entire country.
Halberthal said that the Israeli military assessment for an all-out war is that Hezbollah would fire a missile at Haifa every four minutes for 60 days, leading to thousands of casualties.
“We wanted peace of mind so we can continue to work, and to reduce exposure time if there is a sudden missile attack on northern Israel,” he said.
The facility, which was based on a model in Singapore, received 30% funding from the state, with the remainder financed by Jewish and Christian philanthropists — including
During the pandemic, it was converted into the largest COVID-19 facility in Israel.
With tensions with Hezbollah running high, the underground hospital is again primed for use.
One of its three 20,000-square meter (5-acre) floors has been cleared of cars these last 10 months and put on standby, even as above ground the hospital has treated hundreds of casualties from the war, including the Druze children wounded in the Golan Heights attack.
Restrooms, showers and even a daycare area in the underground facility can fit 8,000 people at full capacity, with electricity, water, oxygen, food and gas to make the facility self-sufficient for several days of warfare, the hospital director said.
A fortified hospital underground command center replete with smart-screen TVs and a state-of-the-art hospital data computer system was donated by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews for a medical center where nearly one-third of its staff are non-Jews.
No panic
“There is no panic but citizens are concerned,” said Tal Siboni, head of the Haifa Municipality’s emergency call center, which since Oct. 7 has been operating in an underground bunker. “The phones are not ringing off the hook but we are prepared.”
This city of 300,000 residents, 12% of whom are Arabs, is, like many other Israeli communities these last 10 months, on edge.
About 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes in northern Israel following the attacks from Lebanon, with some relocating to Haifa.
Veteran Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav has said that in a full-scale war, Hezbollah could fire as many as 4,000 projectiles a day at northern Israel.
“I am being accused of being too pessimistic but it’s better to be too pessimistic,” he said on Monday, confirming his remarks, which raised eyebrows and were reported in the Arab world, even as he voiced the hope that an agreement could be reached to avert all-out war.
“We are the target,” the mayor said. “[Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah says it openly.” PJC
— ISRAEL —
p The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital in Haifa
Photo courtesy of Rambam Health Care Campus
Great greet
Where it happened
Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh hosted a summer meet and greet on Aug. 4 at Wightman Park. The event welcomed members under age 18 and facilitated summer connections
Meeting
of the minds
Hillel JUC student leaders from the University of Pittsburgh
Sunday Fun Day
Community Day School hosted a Sunday Fun Day at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Henry Kaufmann Family Park in Monroeville.
met with Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel.
p Starting the semester off right
Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC
Photo courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh
After eight great weeks, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s James & Rachel Levinson Day Camp said
p
Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh hosted the 2024 Lev Society Event. The Aug. 8
p Lev Society members: Bobbi Zimmer Kann, Marlene Silverman. Bernice Meyers and Bobbee Kramer Photo by David Bachman
Head back to school with all your favorites— and earn perks toward FREE gas & groceries while you shop!
