Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 11-17-23 by Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

November 17, 2023 | 4 Kislev 5784

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL CMU

CMU, Pitt students hold antisemitic rally.

Candlelighting 4:43 p.m. | Havdalah 5:44 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 46 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Pittsburghers join historic ‘March ‘Don’t forget for Israel,’ bring messages home the hostages’: Federation CEO brings vital messages from Israel

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LOCAL Progressive Jews  Almost 300,000 people fill the National Mall during a Nov. 14, 2023 “March for Israel.”

Photo by Adam Reinherz

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Progressives feel abandoned by left. Page 3

LOCAL Antisemitic Vandalism

Vandal strikes on Kristallnacht. Page 4

LOCAL Bunny Bakes

Coffee shop/bakery serves dual purpose Page 16

embers of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community boarded early-morning buses, walked miles and joined about 290,000 people for a historic gathering in Washington, D.C. The Nov. 14 event, organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, featured public support for Israel, condemnation of antisemitism and a demand to return nearly 240 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. As hordes filled the National Mall, and an estimated 250,000 people watched online, celebrities, influencers and politicians stressed several messages during the “March for Israel.” “Today, in the thousands, we stand as one to say, ‘Am Yisrael Chai,” Broadway star Tovah Feldshuh said. “I am here because the horror and the terror that unfolded in Israel and Palestine has sent shock waves far beyond their borders that affect and disrupt lives right here in the United States,” CNN political commentator Van Jones said. “I cannot be silent when Jews fall under attack today, I just can’t do it. And that’s why I’m here.” Natan Sharansky, a Soviet dissident and Israeli politician and activist who spoke at Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews, a 1987 gathering in D.C. that also welcomed more than 200,000 attendees, told Tuesday’s crowd, “Many of your grandfathers fought for our freedom. Many of your parents fought for our freedom. Many of you fought for our freedom. And that’s what made all the change.”

Mijal Bitton, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, passionately recalled her connection to persecuted Argentinian, Egyptian and Syrian Jews. “I stand here for all of us who remember that in every generation they stand up against us to destroy us. And for all of us who thank God that America and Israel changed the world and became our safe havens,” she said. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Joni Ernst (R-IA), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) demonstrated bipartisan support for Israel in its war against Hamas. “We are here united, Democrat and Republican, House and Senate, to say, ‘We stand with Israel,” Schumer said. Johnson characterized the war as a fight between “civilization and barbarism,” and said, “The calls for a ceasefire are outrageous.” “Let me be clear: Israel has an absolute right to defend itself against Hamas terror,” Jeffries said. “Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad.” “We will not shutter in fear as too many in fear already have. We will not sit quiet as antisemitism is being promulgated in classrooms and campuses around the country,” Ernst said. “The brutal reality of Hamas cannot be diminished: They murder babies. They rape women. They abuse the elderly. They killed 30 of our fellow Americans, hundreds of our Israeli friends, and are currently, right now, holding 200 Please see March, page 10

 Family members of those taken hostage by Hamas implore listeners to keep the hostages' names, faces and stories in mind.

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Finkelstein

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

wo nights on a plane and one day in the Jewish state gave Jeffrey Finkelstein perspective on Israel’s month-long war. “The theme of trauma was constant throughout my time in Israel,” said Finkelstein, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s president and CEO. Whether meeting with individuals whose loved ones are held hostage in Gaza or speaking with a dispatcher from Magen David Adom who “answered calls from Israeli citizens as Hamas invaded, raped and murdered innocent people,” Finkelstein said he repeatedly heard haunting and horrifying tales regarding Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The quick visit, Finkelstein said during a Nov. 6 debriefing, gave Israelis an opportunity to share vital messages with the Diaspora. One critical point, he said, was raised by Osnat, a woman whose “Aunt Ruti and Uncle Avraham, their daughter Karen and grandson Ohad were taken hostage from Kibbut Nir Oz. The grandson turned 9 as a hostage.” Osnat made it clear that “we need to put pressure on the International Red Cross and the international community,” Finkelstein Please see Hostages, page 10

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Headlines CMU, Pitt students rally, chant antisemitic tropes — LOCAL — By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

ore than 100 Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh students gathered at CMU’s “Walking to the Sky” statue to chant “From the river to the sea” and “From the Philippines to the Gaza, globalize the intifada.” The rally, which started as a classroom walk-out promoted on social media by Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Pittsburgh, occurred on the 85th commemoration of Kristallnacht. It was billed as a call for a ceasefire in Gaza but became a gathering place for students to shout antisemitic, anti-Zionist and anti-capitalist tropes. After several minutes of chants, a student who identified himself as Muhammad Ali took aim at Hillel JUC, expressing disappointment with the group’s statement on Instagram that cautioned Jewish students about the walk-out. The speaker also criticized a group of Jewish students who raised money for IDF soldiers in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped another 240. The crowd appeared to agree with his sentiment, shouting “Shame!” in response. The fundraiser, the speaker said, “coincided with statements from U.S. officials condemning pro-Hamas Palestinian groups on campus.” He did not mention the fact that Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and other countries. Several of the speakers mentioned 10,000 Gazan citizens who, they claimed, have been killed since the beginning of the conflict. The figure has been reported by the Hamascontrolled health ministry but has not been verified by outside sources. The students made

p CMU and Pitt students attended a Nov. 9 rally at CMU, carrying anti-Israel signs Photo by David Rullo

liberal use of the number without mentioning those killed or kidnapped by Hamas. In fact, sympathy for Israel or the victims of Hamas’ attack was in short order, with most of the crowd repeating chants calling for end to Israel’s “imperialism,” while screaming accusations of genocide against the Jewish state. Philosophy major Leo Deng, co-founder of the group Carnegie Mellon College Progressives, conflated the issue of IsraeliPalestinian relations with what he called his group’s “common fight to end capitalism.” He said this even though he is a student at the seventh-most expensive college in

Pennsylvania, according to collegecalc.org. Several speakers addressed the receptive crowd, many wearing Palestinian keffiyehs, or scarves, and carrying signs in support of a ceasefire and the Palestinian cause. Among the speakers was a student from Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that bills itself as the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. On Oct. 7, the day Hamas savagely attacked Israel, JVP released a statement claiming that “the source of all this violence” was “Israeli apartheid and occupation — and United States complicity in that oppression,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The rally was not without protest. Before the event began, one student walking through the field where the event would take place, hollered, “Why don’t you go back to Gaza?” Another individual, the university said was not a student, shouted, “Return the hostages!” in response to the crowd screaming, “From the river to the sea!” Campus security interceded, the male said, telling him that he had to stop because the university didn’t want to create a problem on campus. The administration disputes the individual’s version of the events, telling the Chronicle, in an emailed statement, that the person was permitted to talk and that security personnel simply asked him to step down from a wall where he was standing for safety purposes Nearly an hour before the rally began, CMU issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying that the university requires a CMU community sponsor in order to hold a demonstration on campus. No student group, it wrote, was willing to serve in that role. “As such, the rally is not approved to take place on our campus. As always, University Police, coordinating with other campus partners, will work to promote safety and security,” CMU officials wrote. Peter Kerwin, the university’s director of media relations, reiterated that statement. “Carnegie Mellon public safety and student affairs staff attempted to reach a campus organizer for this event, but were unsuccessful. We made clear in messages to those promoting the event that it was not authorized without a university sponsor, as outlined in our Freedom of Expression policy,” he told the Chronicle in an emailed statement. Chabad of Carnegie Mellon University Rabbi Shlomo Silverman said that he reached Please see Students, page 11

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Headlines After Hamas attack, progressive Jews are feeling abandoned by their left-leaning peers — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

oaz Munro has advocated for progressive causes for years. He’s concerned about climate change and cares a lot about abortion rights. He posts on social media frequently about racial justice and generally supports liberal politicians. While those causes remain important to him, he has become wary of the organizations that promote them. That’s because, when it comes to the safety of Jews, many of those same groups are either silent, indifferent or hostile, he said. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent struggle to defend itself and rescue the 240 hostages being held in Gaza, many progressive Jews are feeling abandoned by those whom they thought were allies. “I would definitely say we’re the only historically oppressed religious or ethnic group that is treated this way by progressives consistently,” Munro said. The former Pittsburgher, who now lives in California and works in tech, said he’s been aware of the phenomenon for some time. During the Hamas-Israel conflict of May 2021, he noticed “an explosion of antisemitism online.” “It didn’t surprise me too much that progressive friends would be very critical of Israel — I had known that going back to college,” Munro said. “But what did surprise me was the level of attacks on Jews, and the anti-Jewish memes and statements online that were sort of being smuggled in as pro-Palestinian.” After the broad outpouring of empathy following the antisemitic attack at the Tree of Life building in 2018, Munro believed that his progressive peers would continue to stand in solidarity with Jews. So, when he called attention on Facebook to physical attacks on Jews in the U.S. during the 2021 Hamas-Israel conflict, he assumed people would condemn the violence regardless of their views on Israel. That’s not what happened, though. “What I heard was just a lot of silence,” Munro said. “I posted about it multiple times. And then when people did respond, if they weren’t Jewish, it seemed just as often to be sort of putting me down rather than showing support. Or, if there was support, it was very qualified support. “The sense I got was that they felt like, ‘OK, well maybe people shouldn’t be attacking Jews but you know, it’s probably exaggerated.’ And ‘Why are you putting yourself at the center of things rather than Palestinians?’ Or, ‘Maybe now you understand what Palestinians are going through.’ It was just sort of a sense of satisfaction, like we were being rightly punished for something, and that really shocked me hard.” Munro, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and has studied Holocaust history extensively, was dismayed by that response. He felt that, “If people are OK with this now, they’re going to be OK with anything,” he said. “And I could just sort of see the whole future ahead of me and it was going to a really dark place.” After that, Munro realized that “left-wing activists — basically people who focus a lot on identities and standing up for marginalized PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Pro-Palestinian activists during a protest in support of the terror attack against Israel, in New York City on Oct. 8.

Photo by Luke Tress/Times of Israel

identity groups — were indifferent to what happens to us at best, and that this was actually quite a widespread sentiment.” When Hamas savagely attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Munro again witnessed a surge in antisemitic rhetoric from the progressive community. But this time, he said, he wasn’t surprised like he was two years ago. “I already knew what to expect,” he said. “And now I’m seeing a lot of my Jewish friends, who did not understand this two years ago, are understanding it now. I think the scale and brutality and shock of the massacre is impossible to ignore in the same way that attacks on Jews in New York and L.A. in 2021 could be ignored.” While Munro still supports many progressive causes, he is less enthusiastic about some of the movements that promote them. “I’m very, very skeptical at this point of any self-proclaimed progressive organization,” he said. “It would really have to be courageous and stand out from the pack in affirming that Jews deserve to exist and matter and have self-determination, even if they want to support Palestinian causes as well. And if I don’t see that, I’m not going to support the movement, even if it’s just silent.”

‘Heartbroken’

George Heym, a criminal defense attorney and “card-carrying progressive,” is also leaving some of the organizations that he feels have left Jewish people behind. “I’m literally heartbroken,” said the native Pittsburgher, who ran for judge for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on a criminal justice reform platform in 2021. “ A movement that I spent years fighting for and alongside, and supporting financially and with my time, has, for the most part, decided that Jewish victims don’t matter, using every rationale in the book.” “It’s sad,” Heym continued. “Some are overtly antisemitic. And some are, I would say

well-meaning, but ignorant of the facts — and willfully ignorant, frankly.” The realization first came clear after Allegheny County Council member Bethany Hallam — a progressive whom Heym supported during her 2019 campaign — posted on social media a video and a poem that seemed to celebrate the savage Hamas attack of Oct. 7, he said. While aware that “there was kind of an antisemitic undercurrent, particularly regarding Israeli/Palestinian issues” among progressives, Heym was nonetheless “shocked” by their reactions to the Hamas attack. He recalled the social media posts of a man who is “relatively big in the progressive community” and someone with whom Heym worked in the past. “He posted this long antisemitic screed on Facebook, basically pulled from antisemitic sources,” Heym said. “You know, that Israel has no connection to the land and all those kinds of things. But the bottom line of his post was, ‘Therefore, I cannot condemn the actions of Hamas because they were provoked for the past 75 years.’” Heym responded to the post by writing, “Do you realize how antisemitic this is? You’re refusing to condemn rape, murder, torture, kidnapping.” After some back-and-forth on Facebook, in which the individual doubled down on his positions, Heym blocked him, “because I realized he is a guy who fights for every other group under the sun. Yet when it comes to Jews — show me how there can be some kind of provocation that is large enough to justify what [Hamas] did. That’s how he sees the world. And I was shocked, broken. I couldn’t believe this person, who I thought was a good person, could go that far.” Heym said he has never asked anyone to change their perspective on the Palestinian/ Israeli conflict. “I’m not saying you must take Israel’s side,”

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he said. “All I asked for was people in the progressive community and the politicians that represent me to unequivocally condemn rape, murder, torture and kidnapping.”

‘Scared and confused’

Regent Square resident Ellie Gordon, now in her 30s, has been an activist for progressive causes since childhood. “I wore a little bracelet band that said, ‘Stop global warming’ when I was in elementary school,” she said. She’s involved in groups supporting women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights and environmentalism. She first noticed antisemitism coming from others in these groups while in college, she said. “There are folks who were anti-Zionist and anti-Israel and, at the time, I felt weird about it, but I didn’t know enough to understand how directly that was connected to antisemitism,” Gordon said. “When there were starting to be some marches against Israel, that’s when I started noticing that I was feeling unsafe — the way that people were talking in communities that I was in. It made me feel scared and so confused — like, I thought that we were all the same.” Despite having “so much in common,” she said, she felt antipathy toward her because she was Jewish. After college, when she participated in groups advocating for racial justice and bodily autonomy, she would “inevitably encounter one to multiple people, to the entire organization, saying things that were — by that time I had learned — antisemitic.” Those statements, usually related to Israel, went beyond the government’s policies, Gordon said, and veered into challenging Israel’s right to exist. Since Oct. 7, she said, things have been “particularly painful.” Please see Progressives, page 4

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Headlines Vandal tries to smash local Jewish business owner’s window on Kristallnacht — LOCAL — By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

bout a week ago, Michael Jacobs posted a “We Stand With Israel” sign outside his Beechwood Boulevard business, Marvista Design + Build. Several days later — on the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht — a vandal not only tore down the sign but attempted to smash his storefront windows. “About 3:50 a.m., somebody came over to the building with a hammer and starts smashing the windows in the front, banging violently against them,” Jacobs said. Unsuccessful in breaking the windows, the vandal left. But a few seconds later she returned. She tried again to smash the windows, then ripped down the sign supporting Israel. Before leaving the scene, she tore down a literature rack in front of the building and smashed the windows of the company truck parked nearby. Jacobs knows all this because it was captured on his security camera. “The miracle is that our windows of the building did not break,” he said. “It’s, like, very weird. I mean, she was just violently swinging. A lot of anger.” The sound from the hammer against the glass was so loud, he said, that neighbors thought it was gunshots and called the police. Security camera footage shows police cars coming onto the scene about 15 minutes later. “They actually went around the whole building and checked all the doors,” Jacobs said. “But when I called the police in the morning, the officer that came out really didn’t know any of this. I just had heard that maybe they reported gunshots. He didn’t know anything at the time.” Jacobs said the police are investigating and he hopes that if the suspect is apprehended, she will be prosecuted for a hate crime. “I think that we’ve reached a new level here,” he said. “It’s one thing to be defacing public property, spray-painting things, etc. But now you’re going to attack a Jewish business and try to break in the building and destroy? So, to me, this is kind of next level. I want to elevate this

Progressives: Continued from page 3

“There are people at organizations and people that I’ve been volunteering with for years and who I thought were my friends who are — I find this hard to say — but they are essentially like celebrating a terrorist group who massacred people,” she continued. “And it’s so confusing.” Now rethinking her involvement in some progressive groups, as well as her voting strategies, Gordon said the Hamas/Israel war has been an unwelcome awakening. “I have become fearful about being involved in volunteering with these things that I care about,” she said. And when filling out her ballot, she said, “I have to try to do deep-dive research to see if some person is antisemitic and if they’re going to be endangering the lives of myself and other people in the Jewish community. And am I going to volunteer for a politician again, without 4

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

p Broken windows on truck belonging to Marvista Design + Build

p Two signs supporting Israel are now displayed at Marvista Design + Build Photo courtesy of Michael Jacobs

p Suspect caught on camera trying to smash the windows of Marvista Design + Build in Squirrel Hill

so that it gets taken seriously. Everybody’s very unnerved in the community right now.” Jacobs reported the incident to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. He said he would also reach out to the Anti-Defamation League. If the suspect is identified and apprehended, she likely will face a charge of criminal mischief, according to Shawn Brokos, the Federation’s director of community security. But Brokos has reported the incident to the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office so that they can review it to see if it qualifies as a hate crime. To prove a federal hate crime, the suspect must be shown to have animus or bias against a victim’s ethnicity or religion. “The fact that the suspect struck the window, directed at a ‘We stand with Israel’ sign, would be indicative of hate or bias against either Jews or Israelis,” Brokos said. “What we don’t know is, did that suspect know that it was a Jewish-owned business, which would lend more credence to it being a hate crime. I know it is being investigated and reviewed, but a cursory look, yes, to me, it would certainly fit in with the definition of a federal hate crime. At the very least, criminal mischief.” Brokos said there has been a significant uptick of concerning incidents in the Pittsburgh area since the Hamas-Israel war broke out after terrorists from Gaza invaded Israel on Oct. 7.

The Federation is receiving an average of two reports of these incidents every day. They range from anti-Israel graffiti to hateful texts and emails to verbal assaults on the street — some coming from students on school buses. When these incidents are reported, research is conducted on the person making these statements or committing these acts. The incidents are shared with law enforcement. “The ultimate goal,” Brokos said, “is to determine is this person a potential threat? Or is this person doing it as a scare tactic? It could be one and the same but the biggest goal is to be proactive and to determine if the folks doing this are real credible threats.” So far, she said, while there has been “threatening activity,” there have been no recent threats directed at specific individuals or organizations. Brokos said she did not expect to see the type of activity that has been occurring in the last few weeks. “What we’re seeing now is concerning actions coming from our own neighborhoods, and that’s not something I had anticipated on the afternoon of Oct. 7,” she said. “So, to me, that is something very unsettling.” She commended police throughout Greater Pittsburgh, including on college campuses, saying they have been “fantastic with supporting our requests for additional patrols or for assistance in various situations. And we are working

hand-in-hand as well with the FBI. So I can say definitively we have a tremendous law enforcement response and focus on this right now. And that is absolutely essential. And it’s going to continue to be that way for some time.” Community members should not hesitate to call 911 if they are threatened or victimized, Brokos stressed. “We need reports of everything that is considered suspicious because you cannot connect the dots until you collect the dots,” she said. “And there’s a lot of dots out there right now.” We have an excellent team,” Brokos added. “And it’s not just law enforcement. It’s also our community partners. We met with the mayor last week, and he has promised resources and is trying to aid us as well.” Jacobs said he also will be contacting Mayor Ed Gainey’s office. “We’ve reached a new level of antisemitism,” he said. “It’s mind-blowing that it’s happening, literally minutes from Tree of Life. It’s mind-blowing that it happened on the night of Kristallnacht. There has to be a major response to this because if there’s not a major response to this, then it just almost eggs on other people to do it.” His answer to the hatred? Putting up two signs. PJC

knowing about their stance on this? I’m going to be volunteering for a lot of causes a lot less and I’m going to be doing a lot less advocacy because I can’t support people that are so hateful.” She’s concerned that advocacy groups will be losing needed support from the Jewish community if they don’t reject antisemitism. “Without accepting and respecting all parts of someone’s identity — like being Jewish — they’re going to be losing a lot of the contributions that we deeply need, and that we deeply want to make,” she said. “And that’s a scary thing.”

activists and then the minute it’s about Israel, everyone’s quiet,” the high school senior said. “And it’s hard not to take that personally.” It’s also hard, she said, “to watch people you consider to be friends and supporters and adults you look up to in your life, be advocates for absolutely everything except for your people. What are we supposed to think about that?” Lately, Balk said, she is looking to her Jewish community for comfort. “When big tragedies like this are occurring, you need community and you need people who understand you,” she said. “It’s good to talk to people who have different opinions than you. It’s good to open your eyes. But, honestly, I don’t care about any of that right now. Right now, I just want to be with my people. Because the people who aren’t my people are not advocating for me like I thought they would.” It took at least five days after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli civilians before any of her non-Jewish friends reached out, she said.

“And I remember I said to my Jewish friend, ‘Wow, finally someone said something.’ And she said, ‘No one said anything to me,’” Balk recalled. The slow response — or silence — of her non-Jewish friends, she said, was hurtful. When incidents of injustice against other marginalized communities arise, Balk is “always the first to reach out and make sure my friends are doing OK,” she said. “And so I kind of expected nothing less. But I got a whole lot less.” Balk, who plans to major in political science and gender studies at college, still holds firm to her progressive values, she said, but she’s grappling with how best to engage. “My beliefs are my beliefs, and that’s not going to change,” she said. “But it does make it harder to want to support people who aren’t supporting me. It does.” PJC

Photo courtesy of Michael Jacobs

‘I just want to be with my people’

Squirrel Hill resident Talia Balk, 17, has been an outspoken advocate for many progressive causes, including abortion rights, racial justice and equality for LGBTQ people. But since the Hamas/Israel war broke out, she’s been feeling “very isolated,” she said. “I see so many people speak up for every social justice cause on the planet and act like

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Image from video provided by Michael Jacobs

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

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

Headlines Israeli emissary heads home for wartime service, brings message of unity back to Pittsburgh — LOCAL — By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

he Hebrew word shaliach means “one who is sent.” For years, Rabbi Evyatar Ifergan has perfected that role. The process of becoming an emissary, he said, began well before arriving in Pittsburgh last August. Nearly 12 years ago, around the time of their wedding, Ifergan and his wife, Chen, began discussing the possibility of making the U.S. a temporary home. “We were busy as students,” Ifergan, 35, said. “Then kids started showing up: one baby, the second and then the third one. It was a busy life.” As their children aged, Ifergan worked as a nurse; still, he kept thinking about teaching Diaspora Jews about Israel. Finally, during a shift at the hospital, Ifergan realized he truly “wanted to do something else.” He enrolled in a post-graduate program for science instructors, began teaching and kept working as a nurse. Even after taking on his new job, though, Ifergan couldn’t ditch the emissary itch and the family decided it was time to explore foreign outreach. The Israelis registered with the World Zionist Organization and spent a year in Dallas, and a summer in a New York camp, before arriving in Pittsburgh several months ago. Leaving Israel was somewhat challenging for their children, who are now 10, 7 and 6, but the transition to Pittsburgh was “smooth,” he said. “The first day of school they just walked inside, and it was great,” Ifergan continued. “They’re very lucky.” Their kids attend Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, and Evyatar and Chen Ifergan both work at the Jewish day school. Chen teaches Judaic studies and Hebrew to first graders. Evyatar teaches Mishnah (a precursor to the Talmud and earlier written record of Jewish oral law) and Hebrew to middle schoolers, and Chassidut (Hasidic philosophy) and Hebrew to high schoolers. He also runs an extracurricular drum club. Pittsburgh’s Jewish community is “amazing,” Evyatar Ifergan said. “From the first day, we just felt home.” The past month has reinforced that sentiment. On Oct. 7, the Ifergans were in Pittsburgh, celebrating the Jewish holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. Nearly 6,000 miles away, Hamas launched a terrorist attack that led to the ongoing war in Israel, the deaths of an estimated 1,400 Israelis, and the abduction of an estimated 240 people, who are being held in Gaza. An estimated 10,000 Palestinians have also been killed, according to the Associated Press. Although being an emissary had long been Ifergan’s dream, when the former IDF medic learned of Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, there was only one option, he said. “Pittsburgh is a great place, but in that moment I felt I had to go, right now, immediately,” he said. “Chen knew I needed to go. She saw it. On the first day, she told me, ‘Go. It’s going to be hard for me but that’s what we need to do.’” PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Rabbi Evyatar Ifergan

Ifergan texted his commander and began looking for a flight. All the while, Ifergan’s kids were crying. “I told them, ‘I’m going to be back soon. The first opportunity I have, I’m going to be back’,” he said. Ifergan flew to Israel from New York on Oct. 10. He connected with his commander and traveled north. Ifergan phoned home. “I told them that everything is OK and that I’m not in a dangerous place because I was recruited up north, on the border with Lebanon. I told them what kids need to hear,” he said. Ifergan and his unit spent their time training and patrolling at night, he said. The relative quiet “is not like Gaza right now.”

Photo by Adam Reinherz

For two weeks, Ifergan served alongside fellow soldiers and reservists. Back in Pittsburgh, community members rallied to support Chen and the Ifergan children. A meal train, complete with treats and toys, arrived constantly for the family. Friends stopped by to give extra attention to the Israelis. “Even if we will stand up and say thank you for a whole day in a row, it won’t be enough for sure,” the Ifergans wrote in a thank-you message to the community. “We are so happy to be in this community and feel so at home. You have all made us feel so secure and safe.” Two weeks after arriving in Israel, Ifergan asked his commander if it was possible to return to Pittsburgh. Given the relative quiet up north, Ifergan wanted to know if he could

p The Ifergan family visits the White House.

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go home, see his family and continue his work in the Diaspora. His commander agreed. The Haifa-born emissary boarded a plane and flew back to Pittsburgh. On Oct. 25, a fellow teacher met him at the airport. Ifergan’s kids were in tow. Since returning to Pittsburgh, Ifergan has spoken with students and colleagues about the war. The emissary said he tries conveying a particular message based on his own experiences: “Do the research yourself. Don’t listen to social media, which is exploding from people all over with their own opinions and agenda — right, left, doesn’t matter. Please do the research yourself. Read history books and make your own opinion about the world.” Through regular chats, Ifergan remains in contact with his commander. From his home in Squirrel Hill, he keeps reading about the situation in Israel. Each day, he continues teaching at Hillel Academy. Shortly after returning to Pittsburgh, several acts of vandalism, including the spray-painting of hateful messages, occurred. Ifergan isn’t scared, and neither should the community be, he said. “These are the acts of a minority, whose purpose is just to bring our spirits down,” he said. “The purpose of these things, and the horrible videos that go on social media, is just to create pressure on us and pressure on the world. But we have to be strong and believe that we will win, eventually.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Evyatar Ifergan

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Calendar 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. q SATURDAY, NOV. 18 Join Chabad of the South Hills for C-Teen, Jr., for Jewish tweens grades 6-8, at Top Golf. 6:30 p.m. $15. 400 Presto-Sygan Road, 15017. For more information, contact Rabbi Levi Rosenblum, rabbilevi@chabadsh.com. q SUNDAY, NOV. 19 Oh! What a Night! “The Clergy Boys” is a funny, heartwarming musical tribute about four good kids who went rogue and became cantors. Join Congregation Beth Shalom for strolling supper and cocktails before the show at 6 p.m. or just come at 7:30 p.m. for the show. This is the congregation’s annual Come Together Gala fundraiser honoring Terry and Kenny Steinberg. Tickets and info at bethshalompgh.org. q SUNDAYS, NOV. 19 – DEC. 3 Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for its Men’s Tefillin Club. Enjoy bagels, lox and tefillin on the first Sunday of the month. 8:30 a.m. chabadpgh.com. q SUNDAYS, NOV. 19 – DEC. 17 Join a lay-led online parshah study group to discuss the week’s Torah portion. No Hebrew knowledge needed. The goal is to build community while deepening understanding of the text. 8:30 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q MONDAY, NOV. 20 Explore the rich stories of our matriarchs with Mrs. Rovky Herman during Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Torah and Tea. 7 p.m. $18. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com. q MONDAYS, NOV. 20 – DEC. 4 Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff for Modern Jewish Philosophy. In this course, Rabbi Schiff will introduce the great Jewish philosophers of modernity and will make their important ideas understandable and relevant to today. $95. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/ modern-jewish-philosophy/2023-10-16.

q MONDAYS, NOV. 20 – DEC. 18 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.

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.

q MONDAYS, NOV. 20 – MAY 13 H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff presents Torah 2. Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is perhaps one of the most important things that a Jew can learn. In Torah 2, Schiff will explore the second half of Leviticus and all of Numbers and Deuteronomy. $225. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/torah-2-2/2023-10-09.

q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 22 – MAY 15 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh virtually presents two Melton courses back-toback: “Ethics” and “Crossroads.” In “Ethics,” learn how Jewish teachings shed light on Jewish issues. “Crossroads” will present an emphasis on reclaiming the richness of Jewish history. 7 p.m. $300 for this 25-session series (book included). jewishpgh.org/series/meltonethics-crossroads.

q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 22 – DEC. 6 Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff for The God Class. Schiff will discuss Jewish views of God and how they’ve developed through the ages. 9:30 a.m. $150. jewishpgh.org/event/the-god-class/ 2023-09-27. Chabad of the South Hills presents a new six-week JLI course, “The World of Kabbalah – Revealing How Its Mystical Secrets Relate to You.” Discover the core mystical and spiritual teachings of Kabbalah and their relevance to everyday life. Learn to think like a Jewish mystic and gain powerful insights to fuel deeper self-understanding and personal growth. 7:30 p.m. Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com. Join Chabad of Pittsburgh for The World of Kabbalah, a 6-week JLI course. Discover the core mystical and spiritual teachings of Kabbalah and their relevance to everyday life. You’ll learn to think like a Jewish mystic and gain powerful insights to fuel deeper selfunderstanding and personal growth. Curious why there’s so much buzz around Kabbalah? Discover it for yourself by attending The World of Kabbalah with Rabbi Yisroel Altein. 7:30 p.m. $90/course. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com. q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 22 – DEC. 27 Bring the parashah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful with Rabbi Mark Goodman in this weekly Parashah Discussion: Life & Text. 12:15 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/life-text.

q SUNDAY, DEC. 3 Get into the Chanukah spirit with Chabad of Squirrel Hill by baking Chanukah Gelt Crinkle Cookies to take home and to share. Also, enjoy a special Chanukah balloon show. 3 p.m. $10/child. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com. q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 6 Join Chabad of South Hills for a pre-Chanukah Legoland and build your own light menorah, enjoy a mystery Maccabee quest, mega-dreidel showdown, glow nut lab and hot dinner. 4:15 p.m. $13/child. Early bird, $10/child for anyone who registers before Nov. 23. chabadsh.com/lego.

q SUNDAYS, NOV. 26- DEC. 10 Join Chabad of South Hills for Babyccino, a chic meet for moms and tots. Three classes of Chanukah delight for ages 0-3. Location given upon registration. 11:15 a.m. chabdsh.com/ babyccino.

q THURSDAY, DEC. 7 Join Chabad of the South Hills for the annual South Hills Lights Chanukah festival. Enjoy a car menorah parade, live music, an 8-foot LED robot, photo booth, fire truck gelt drop, latkes, doughnuts and grand menorah lighting. 4:30 p.m. Free. 1801 Dormont Ave., Dormont pool parking lot. chabadsh.com/lights.

q THURSDAY, NOV. 30 Chabad of Squirrel Hill presents A Celebration of Light, an evening of women’s song and stories exploring the gift of Chassidism. 7 p.m. $10. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com.

q SATURDAY, DEC. 9 Join Chabad of South Hills for a latke cook-off. Sixth and eighth graders will compete for the title of “latke masters.” Enjoy a doughnut bar, get special swag and write letters to the soldiers. 6:30 p.m. $10. Address given upon registration. chabadsh.com/latke. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

he Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Dec. 17 discussion of Senior Staff Writer David Rullo’s new book, “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the ’90s Scene.” The discussion will take place in person at noon at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. A Zoom link will also be available. About the book: “Beginning in the early 1990s, Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood began to transform from the post-industrial morass it had been suffering for the last few decades. Artists began to rent empty apartments, what were once shot-and-a-beer bars became hip dive bars and entrepreneurs found inexpensive real estate to follow their visions. It was in this landscape that the Beehive Coffeehouse began to attract a new '90s alternative crowd. The South Side Beehive ... was where the night often began, and weekends ended.” Come meet the author and hear more about this thoroughly engaging story.

Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line to register. Specify if you will be attending in person or would like to participate online. Registration closes on Dec. 14. Happy reading! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Your Hosts:

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

What To Do

Buy: “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the '90s Scene.” It is available at most local book stores, from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and through the Carnegie Library system.

STORIES COME TO life HERE. Connect with Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.

In your mailbox or all the time online at pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 5915 Beacon Street, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 6

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

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Headlines Jewish and Black artists come together for night of poetry and music on anniversary of Kristallnacht — LOCAL — By Abigail Hakas | Special to the Chronicle

y the time Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life congregation took the stage on Nov. 8, the audience at the University of Pittsburgh’s Alumni Hall had already heard more than 90 minutes of music and poetry. But they waited patiently for the final performance of the night: Myers singing the world premiere of Psalm 121 composed by Cantor Gerald Cohen. Cohen prefaced the piece with a short explanation of the significance of the Psalm. After the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, when an antisemitic gunman entered the Tree of Life building and killed 11 worshippers, Myers was asked to lead a prayer service and found himself unable to speak. He turned to the Book of Psalms and found solace in Psalm 121, which declares that help and protection come from God. As the music started to play, Myers sang in a slow, somber drawl. When the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus behind him joined in, Myers’ voice brightened up, carrying throughout the entire auditorium with force. At the end of the Psalm, Myers took his glasses off and looked upward with a solemn, reverent expression. In an interview after the performance, Myers said his “singing was the message.” Cohen composed the piece, commissioned by members of the Tree of Life Congregation, to reflect the struggle Myers faced in the days

p Left: Rabbi Jeffrey Myers looks up after singing Psalm 121. Right: Gerald Savage during his interactive performance

Photo by Abigail Hakas

following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. “He, at the beginning of the piece, is having difficulty even getting the words out,” Cohen said. “It’s the young people, the Youth Chorus, the hope of tomorrow, that really brings him back to some hope.” The event, “Resonance of Hope: Building Bridges Through Music,” was organized by Violins of Hope Greater Pittsburgh, an educational program built around instruments owned by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust — some of the same instruments used by string players throughout the event and during Myers’ song. The performance fell on the eve of the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, a series of Nazi pogroms against Jews in Germany. Jewish poet Valerie Bacharach read her poem “Violins of Hope” while Peter Kope and Michele de la Reza danced to “Quartor pour la

fin du temps,” or “Quartet for the End of Time.” The music was composed by French musician Olivier Messiaen in a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany, where he performed it for an audience of prisoners and guards. The two dancers entangled each other, sometimes embracing and sometimes falling slowly apart as Bacharach spoke of the lives ended during the Holocaust. “Too many names, too much barbed wire,” she said. “How do we understand a number impossible to understand?” Earlier in the night, Myers sang “Ashrei Hagafrur,” composed by Hannah Senesh, an Israeli poet. Senesh joined a special operations force during World War II and parachuted behind German lines for rescue efforts. She was captured and tortured for information but refused to give it up and was sentenced to death by firing squad. In her final moments, she refused to be blindfolded. That resilience and courage were emblematic of the themes for the night. Despite the horrors of history being discussed, hope and solidarity undergirded the performances. The music and poetry were interspersed with a dialogue between two Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts students, Raymair Bundridge and Harrison Salvi, who respectively represented the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a friend of King’s who joined the march to Selma, Alabama, in the fight for civil rights. “He was a witness, coming to America and seeing slavery and seeing the struggle of Black Americans in the South, and saying, ‘We know

persecution. We know what it feels like to be persecuted. It is up to us in this moment to speak out and stand up to persecution,’” Emily Loeb, director of programs and education at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh said. Speaking to that solidarity, African-American pianist Gerald Savage led the audience into song during his performances of “Keep your Eyes on the Prize,” “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around” and “We Who Believe in Freedom,” occasionally encouraging the audience with a “Can you sing that with me?” until the audience joined in and began to clap along with the beat. Sandy Rosen, chair of Violins of Hope Greater Pittsburgh, said the event was designed to showcase the shared humanity of all people. “We all love music. We all laugh. We all cry. We have the same love for our children and our families,” Rosen said. “And if we have these bridges, and if we have these communities of relationships, then perhaps there will be more people that stand up to protect each of us.” But nothing spoke more to the themes of hope, solidarity and resilience than Myers’ voice echoing alongside those of the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus while three string players performed on the restored WWII violins. “The piece is a journey from sorrow or despair, to hope,” Cohen said. “Whether it’s the words of the Psalm, the songs of a child, or beauty and nature, there are things in the world that hopefully bring us back to a sense of hope and a sense of meaning in the world.” PJC Abigail Hakas is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

Nearly 100 Jewish educators gathered at Rodef Shalom for Yom Limud — LOCAL — By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

or the first time in nearly a decade, Jewish educators gathered at Rodef Shalom Congregation for Yom Limud, or a day of learning. The nearly 100 in attendance on Oct. 29 spanned the breadth of progressive Jewish Pittsburgh, including Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform and even non-affiliated organizations, and featured teachers and madrichim from all geographic points around the city. “That’s the beauty of this,” said Temple David Rabbi Barbara Symons, the chairperson of the event’s working committee. “It was all of the supplemental religious schools. I take great pride in that.” The event, Symons said, began at a meeting of PAJE (Pittsburgh Area Jewish Educators), who remembered a similar event the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh used to host that provided professional development opportunities. When the idea of creating a new Yom Limud was raised, Symons said she’d be willing to coordinate the event but only if she had a working group of PAJE member with whom she could collaborate. “Everyone brought their skills and their interests and their passions and their connections,” PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Yom Limud planning committee (from left): Karen Morris, Maria Carson, Andrea Guthrey, Barbara Symons, Steph McFerron, Stephanie Wolfe, Marci Barnes, Larry Freedman. Photo provided by Rabbi Barbara Symons

Symons said. “We really worked well together.” The work required wasn’t simply selecting what would be taught or who would be teaching. It also involved a lot of logistics, Symons said, including gathering supplies, hanging signs, creating QR codes and helping to figure out what food would be served. She said much of the work fell to Joint Jewish Education Program Assistant Director Stephanie Wolfe. J-JEP is a collaborative, pluralistic religious school run by Rodef Shalom and Congregation Beth Shalom, open to K-12 students in Greater Pittsburgh. The day turned out to be “incredibly successful,” Wolfe said. That accomplishment might be attributed to one of Symons’ main goals: making sure the day made good use of the educators’ time. To that end, the committee tried to streamline the events. Temple Emanuel of South Hills Torah Center Director Steph McFerron said the goal was

important if her teachers and students were going to miss a day of classes. “I really wanted to ensure that if I was going to send all of our teachers and teens it was worthwhile,” she said. “So, I volunteered to help with the planning.” The end result, Symons explained, was that people arrived, grabbed folders containing information for the day, got some coffee and went straight to their first session. Topics were decided earlier in the year through a survey of PAJE members. “That was important. We wanted to be intentional,” Symons said. “We didn’t want to just find presenters. We wanted to find presenters who are good at presenting what we want to be presented.” Local and national experts led the presentations including, among others, Rabbi Emily Meyer; BBYO’s Vice President of Enrichment Strategies Liron Lipinsky; Jewish Federation

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of Greater Pittsburgh Security Director Shawn Brokos; Director of Federation’s Community Relations Council Laura Cherner; Director of Jewish Education and Arts at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh Maria Carson; Jewish educator Em Duhamel; and Rabbi Daniel Brenner, named by Newsweek Magazine as one of America’s most influential rabbis. Faculty sessions included discussions on reaching all learners, classroom management, illuminating Hebrew and Jewish texts and leading tefillah. Affinity groups — or small cadres of people gathered around a topic — took place during brunch and included bringing Hebrew to life, the best use of madrichim, technology and even discussions about Israel by shinshinim visiting Pittsburgh. A few of the topics discussed by area madrichim included “Antisemitism: What to Know and How to Stay Vigilant,” “Being a ‘Bridge’ Between Students and Teachers” and “Inclusion: LGBTQ+.” Symons said that those heading the sessions were leaders in the field. “They were the top of the top locally, as well as a couple that came in from elsewhere thanks to a Federation grant,” she said. Symons is leaving Pittsburgh in 2024 and moving to New York, so she won’t be in the city for the next year’s Yom Limud, but she hopes Please see Yom Limud, page 14

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Headlines

Columbia University suspends Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine — NATIONAL — By Ben Sales | JTA

olumbia University has suspended two pro-Palestinian student groups — Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine — saying they violated university policies and expressed “threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The suspension runs through the end of the fall semester, about six more weeks, and marks a significant crackdown by the school on the two groups as campuses nationwide have erupted in debate, activism and occasional violence surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” read a statement issued Friday by Gerald Rosberg, Columbia’s senior executive vice president and chair of its Special Committee on Campus Safety. A statement issued later on Friday by the two groups said to “Keep an eye on Columbia.” “You can shut our organizations down, but can’t stop our hearts from beating for liberation, humanity and the freedom of Palestine,”

read the statement. “Our actions will be louder than our words.” On Saturday night, JVP activists held a Havdalah ceremony on campus “in solidarity with censored students,” a student representative told the New York Jewish Week. The suspensions mean that the groups cannot receive university funding or hold events on university space. To be reinstated, Rosberg said, they will need to show “a commitment to compliance with University policies” and meet with university officials. SJP, whose national umbrella celebrated Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, has been banned at Florida’s public universities as well as Brandeis University. This appears to be the first time a university has suspended JVP, a Jewish anti-Zionist group. At Columbia, the two groups have held a series of protests and other actions calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and accusing Israel of “genocide.” Columbia has been a hot spot for campus activism surrounding the conflict, and an Israeli student was assaulted there in what police called a hate crime. Supporters of Israel have criticized the school for what they call a tepid response to the anti-Israel activism, and late last month, Jewish billionaire Henry Swieca quit the board of Columbia Business School, saying that the campus is “unsafe” for Jews. On Thursday, the two suspended groups

 Columbia University

held a “die-in” in front of the school’s Low Library, and SJP put up a placard with a series of demands that the JVP chapter promoted online. The final demand, “No more dual degree,” was an apparent reference to the school’s undergraduate dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University. Rosberg threatened anti-Israel activists with formal punishment on Wednesday, when a group staged a nine-hour sit-in at the Columbia School of Social Work that was promoted by SJP. According to the Columbia Spectator, the campus newspaper, Rosberg communicated through representatives that the activists were in violation of school rules and faced academic sanctions. The Spectator reported that Rosberg told the activists they were “interfering with the traffic of people who are trying to come in and get an education here and pursue their goals here in the School of Social Work.” He added, “I want to say to you as clearly as I possibly can that what you are doing,

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

all of you, just by being here, is a serious violation of our rules.” The announcement of the suspension comes after dozens of national Jewish groups, campus organizations and state legislators signed a letter demanding universities withdraw their schools’ recognition of and funding for SJP following Oct. 7. It also comes about a week after Columbia announced the formation of a task force to identify short- and long-term strategies to combat antisemitism at the university and its affiliated institutions. “During this especially charged time on our campus, we are strongly committed to giving space to student groups to participate in debate, advocacy, and protest,” Rosberg wrote. “This relies on community members abiding by the rules and cooperating with University administrators who have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone in our community.” PJC This story originally appeared in New York Jewish Week.

New polling shows Summer Lee has low approval ratings — LOCAL —

ep. Summer Lee, who represents Squirrel Hill, may be vulnerable to a primary challenge, according to new polling, Jewish Insider reported. The survey, conducted between Oct. 21-23 by Embold Research, showed that Lee’s disapproval rating was 43%. Only 38% of the respondents said they had a favorable view of the freshman congresswoman. Of the 860 respondents, 57% were Democrats or leaned Democrat. The poll was commissioned by political activist Madison Campbell, who told Jewish Insider that she found Lee’s numbers “very surprising” and “didn’t expect for them to be that low.” Campbell is the founder of Survivor PAC, a new political action committee that is focused on rising crime. “In one section of the poll, which was done to assess voter sentiment on a range of issues and candidates in advance of last

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Tuesday’s elections in Allegheny County,” Jewish Insider wrote, “more than 80% of voters said that they were concerned about the safety of the local Jewish community in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.” Lee will be challenged in the Democratic primary this spring by Bhavini Patel, an Edgewood Borough councilwoman, who has been critical of Lee’s lack of support for Israel and for her Jewish constituents. Lee was one of only 10 representatives to vote against a House resolution condemning Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel and voted against a resolution condemning antisemitism and support for terrorist organizations on college campuses. Patel raised $201,000 in one month, according to her campaign, with 75% of the donations coming from Western Pennsylvania and 99.2% coming from individuals, not PACs. Lee raised a total of $175,000 last quarter, according to Jewish Insider. PJC — Toby Tabachnick PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines — WORLD — Education secretary: Colleges could face funding cuts if they don’t address antisemitism

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said colleges could lose federal funding if they fail to address antisemitism and other bigotries, following up on a meeting last month with Jewish leaders alarmed by rising antisemitism on campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, JTA.org reported. “I would want to provide support for these universities, provide guidance. And if there are egregious acts, I want to make sure that we’re investigating,” he told CNN. “Ultimately, if we have to withhold dollars from a campus refusing to comply, we would.” Cardona’s comments do not represent a new policy, but they suggest that Cardona is prepared to be aggressive in pressing colleges to act. In a release on Nov. 7 formally announcing a letter to colleges, Cardona tied the letter’s instructions to what Jewish organizations have said is a massive spike in antisemitism on campuses since Hamas terrorists struck Israel on Oct. 7. The letter sent to colleges that receive federal funds, which is signed by Catherine Lhamon, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, describes in its first paragraph “an alarming rise in disturbing antisemitic incidents and threats to Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students on college campuses and in P-12 schools.” In her second paragraph, Lhamon ties the money the schools get from the government to their legal obligations to protect minority students.

Poll: Three-quarters of American Jews fear Israel-Hamas war is making their communities less safe

Large majorities of American Jews are worried for their safety amid Israel’s war with Hamas and believe antisemitism is on the rise, according to a new poll, JTA.org reported. Two-thirds of American Jews also support the Biden administration’s policy on Israel and the vast majority support military aid for Israel. Most Americans overall also support military aid for Israel, the poll found. According to the poll, which was commissioned by the Jewish Federations of North America and published on Nov. 9, 75% of American Jews are either very or somewhat concerned that the war will cause issues in terms of security and safety in their communities. Nearly three in 10 said they knew of “physical acts of violence or acts of hate” against Jews in their communities, and 72% of Jews said antisemitism in their local communities has increased over the past few weeks. Zero percent believe it has decreased. Most Jews also believe antisemitism will continue to increase. Asked to describe how they feel or the climate in their local community since the war started, 32% of Jews responded “tense,” 21% said “uncomfortable” and 20% said “scary.” Sixteen percent of Jews said it felt “normal.”

House of Representatives censures Rashida Tlaib for Israel remarks

The House of Representatives censured Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Palestinian American Democrat, for her rhetoric in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel,

Today in Israeli History — ISRAEL — Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Nov. 17, 2008 — Car bomb kills gangster Alperon

Yaakov Alperon, 53, an organized crime leader who survived at least three attempts on his life, is killed when his car is blown p Yaacov Alperon up in Tel Aviv. He survived as many grew up poor as as three attempts one of 12 children on his life before in an immigrant dying in a car bombing on Nov. 17, family. 2008.

Nov. 18, 1951 — Rock star Yoni Rechter is born

Yoni Rechter, considered one of Israel’s greatest musicians, is born in Tel Aviv. He has some success in a band, Kaveret, and a rock duo, 14 Octaves, before his career takes off in 1979 with his first solo album.

Nov. 19, 1977 — Sadat visits Jerusalem

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrives to a 21-gun salute at Ben Gurion Airport and is driven to Jerusalem for a historic 36-hour visit, launching a peace process that results in a treaty in March 1979.

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Nov. 20, 1944 — Paratrooper Haviva Reik is killed

Haviva Reik and two other paratroopers from Mandatory Palestine are among 40 Jewish fighters executed by the Nazis in Slovakia. Reik was a native of Slovakia who made aliyah in 1939 and joined the Palmach.

Nov. 21, 1984 — Operation Moses begins

Working with the CIA and Sudanese State Security, the Mossad launches Operation Moses to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Almost 8,000 are flown from refugee camps in Sudan in less than seven weeks.

including using the term “from the river to the sea,” JTA.org reported. The 234-188 vote on Nov. 7 saw 22 Democrats vote to censure Tlaib and was sure to sharpen divides among Democrats over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Some Democrats vehemently defended Tlaib’s right to free speech and others said the “From the river to the sea” term signifies the elimination of Israel. The vote was largely on party lines, though four Republicans voted against censuring Tlaib. Tlaib said she would not be intimidated by the censure vote, which will require her to stand in the well of the House chamber and listen to House Speaker Mike Johnson explain why she is being censured. “I will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words,” she said. The censure resolution was initiated by Rep. Rich McCormick, a Georgia Republican.

Australian Kmart removes Christmas ham bag from shelves after Jewish group complains

A ham bag was removed from Australia’s Kmart website after the Australian Jewish Association complained that its message, “Merry Ham-mas,” looked too similar to Hamas, the terror group that invaded Israel on Oct. 7, JTA.org reported. The text is printed on the ham bag in festive red and green lettering, with a Christmas tree replacing the first “A.” “Although this is potentially funny (the AJA committee has tossed around some non-PC jokes) it’s really not a good look,” the AJA wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We suspect some product manager

may cause the company some embarassment [sic]. So we’ve politely written to Wesfarmers corporate suggesting the product be pulled,” the group wrote, referring to Kmart’s parent company in Australia. In an update, the AJA wrote that the organization had been contacted by Kmart senior management and that the ham bag had been taken off store shelves and the Kmart website. “We got it wrong on this occasion, and we apologize unreservedly,” a spokesperson for Wesfarmers told The West Australian. “When designing this product, we clearly didn’t think through all the implications and the product has been removed from sale.”

German day care center named for Anne Frank changes its name

A German day care center named after Anne Frank is changing its name, alleging that children have a hard time understanding the message behind the story of the Jewish diarist murdered in the Holocaust, JTA.org reported. The day care is in Tangerhütte, a small town in northern Germany. Debate over the center’s name drew attention across the country, but Mayor Andreas Brohm defended the move. German media reports that parents wanted the center to focus on international diversity, hence the new name of World Explorers. The International Auschwitz Committee, which was founded by Holocaust survivors, strongly condemned the renaming. The Jerusalem Post reported that the school had used the Anne Frank name since 1970. PJC — Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

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Headlines March: Continued from page 1

innocent men, women and children hostage. How anyone in America could sympathize with these terrorists is truly unfathomable.”

Bringing a message to D.C.

Like most attendees, Gal Gilboa Dalal arrived in Washington shortly before Tuesday’s program. The Israeli told the Chronicle he came to “meet with as many influencers” as possible. Five weeks earlier, Dalal, 29, and his brother Guy Gilboa Dalal, 22, attended the Nova Music Festival. Hours into the peaceful party, Hamas terrorists killed 260 people. Gal Dalal escaped the terror. His brother was taken captive by Hamas. “I feel like I need to tell his story,” Dalal said. The Dalal brothers enjoy psych trance, but hearing music characterized by mesmerizing rhythms with high beats per minute wasn’t the only reason to attend Nova. The main draw, Dalal said, was being around similarly spiritual people who “believe in peace and love.” For weeks, Dalal has tried sharing that message — and telling listeners about his brother’s kindness, guitar playing talents and love of Japanese culture — but the conversations sadly drift into other topics about regional conflict, he explained. “The people who were taken really don’t have anything to do with this war,” he said. “These civilians are not just a number. It’s my brother. He’s my best friend. I love him so much and I miss him so much.” Understanding the simplicity and profoundness of those words doesn’t require historical expertise; people who know nothing about Israelis or Palestinians should be able to “see how awful and devastating this incident was,” Dalal said. What happened on Oct. 7 was solely about “massacring innocent people.” “My goal here is to make sure people understand,” he continued. “Make sure people know their story and my brother’s story. Make sure

Hostages: Continued from page 1

said. “She asked, ‘Why is it that the International Red Cross demands to visit terrorists in Israeli prisons, which Israel allows, and the same is not happening for these hostages held in the Gaza Strip?’ She wants us to remember the difference between right and wrong.” There’s a message for Pittsburghers, Finkelstein said: “Don’t forget their families. Don’t forget the hostages. Keep their names, faces, stories and humanity front and center. Talk to everyone — influential public officials, media — about the hostages.” Finkelstein credited Federation’s support of the “Shabbat for Hostages” installation at Schenley Plaza as a way of raising awareness locally. Erected on Nov. 3 and dismantled one day later, the temporary structure displayed nearly 240 empty seats at a Shabbat table. Personalizing the vacancies were photographs and biographical details of the young men and women, children, seniors, Israelis and foreigners who remain hostages of Hamas. Included among the unoccupied spaces were highchairs and teddy bears for the toddlers. Walking through the installation, Finkelstein said, was “a very, very powerful experience.” He anticipated the Nov. 14 rally in 10

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

p Gal Gilboa Dalal came to Washington, D.C. to speak about his brother who remains a hostage of Hamas. Photo by Adam Reinherz

p Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) leads bipartisan support for Israel on Nov. 14, 2023. Photo by Adam Reinherz

p Pittsburghers David Oshlag, Bhavini Patel and Dori Oshlag show support during the Nov. 14, 2023 gathering.

Squirrel Hill resident Hannah Adelson was among 600 Pittsburgh residents who traveled to D.C. About 400 people traveled on buses organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Adelson, 16, called the march “empowering” and praised the many listeners who arrived “with open hearts and a whole lot of love for what was going on in Israel.” Through her work with United Synagogue Youth, and in conversations and programs with fellow Jewish teens, Adelson plans on sharing her observations after returning to Pittsburgh, she said. Rabbi Howie Stein also plans on conveying his impressions. “It was overwhelming to be with that many people, Jews and non-Jews, supporting Israel,” Temple B’nai Israel of White Oak’s spiritual leader told the Chronicle. Whereas being a Jew often generates feelings of loneliness, today’s demonstration thwarted that sense, he continued: “We have support from everybody, from politicians, from government officials. Americans and Israelis are together. This is not a path we have to walk by ourselves.” Bhavini Patel, a Democratic candidate for

Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district, similarly spent nearly 10 hours on Federation transport and walked miles through the nation’s capital in a demonstration of support. “Showing up for my community is important to me. It’s something I take very seriously, so when I was given the opportunity to take the bus down to D.C. today with the Pittsburgh group it was an easy decision,” she said. “Our Jewish neighbors in Western PA are hurting, and I think it’s important to connect with our communities when they tell us they are in pain. To understand that pain requires you to show up. I will always show up for all my neighbors.” Throughout the day, Pittsburghers implored each other to carry the messages home. Squirrel Hill resident Ann Powell, took the microphone on Pittsburgh Bus 10, and said, “We need to be visible and vigilant. One day in Washington is not going to be enough.” Moshe Barber helped passengers don tefillin, invited people to recite Psalms and encouraged travelers to light Shabbat candles. Performing these Jewish deeds creates a “direct hotline to God,” he said. Rabbi Sam Weinberg, principal of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, told the Chronicle the Jewish day school brought 104 students to the march and will spend Wednesday helping students process their experiences. As Pittsburghers made their way to and from the National Mall on Tuesday, dozens of

gatherers assembled afternoon prayer groups. People shouted “Am Yisrael Chai.” Individuals dispersed pins bearing the faces and names of the hostages. Representatives of Neturei Karta, a fringe group of Haredi Jews, held signs including, “Judaism rejects Zionism, the State of Israel and its atrocities” and “The Zionists ignited the fire both now and in the past.” Separated by fencing, yellow tape and police officers, counter-protesters yelled the Hebrew words “Kofer” and “Apikores,” terms that describe heretics. Dressed in a matching Stronger Than Hate T-shirt and yarmulke, Rabbi Larry Freedman, director of Pittsburgh’s Joint Jewish Education Program, said the day’s value stemmed from placing oneself among a sea of landsmen. “I think there’s something about setting aside the particular way each one of us expresses our Judaism — the way we each live out our Judaism — and saying we are here for the greater good,” he said. Marching on Washington required travel, patience and listening. The message Pittsburghers should bring home is about Jewish peoplehood, not polarization, he continued: “Sometimes we have to find a little grace. Stay mission focused, keep your eye on the prize and stop trying to make everyone ideologically pure to suit you. It’s not about you, it’s about us.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Washington D.C. to be impactful as well. The demonstration would be a chance to “show people that we stand with Israel and we stand against antisemitism, which is spiking like we’ve never seen before,” Finkelstein said. As a lead-up to the historic gathering, Pittsburghers demonstrated their commitment to Israel and the Jewish people through financial contributions, he explained. Adam Hertzman, Federation’s vice president of marketing, said that the $6.68 million raised (as of Nov. 8) by Federation’s Israel Relief Fund is impacting immediate needs on the ground. “We allocated part of the Israel Relief Fund to refurbish a bomb shelter in our Partnership2Gether region. It did not have a working toilet or sink,” Hertzman said. Other significant infrastructural concerns were made apparent during a visit to Ofakim — a southern city heavily attacked on Oct. 7 — Finkelstein said. With only 75% of the homes having safe rooms — and many of those rooms without locks — nearly a quarter of Ofakim’s residents must take refuge in public bomb shelters. On the morning of Oct. 7, however, the public shelters were locked, Finkelstein said. “Fourteen terrorists entered Ofakim and went house to house to slaughter people, or they killed people when they ran outside of the shelters,” he continued.

Terrorists murdered at least 50 people in Ofakim, according to the Associated Press. Finkelstein recounted entering the house of Rachel, a 65-year-old resident of Ofakim who, along with her husband, was held captive at home by Hamas terrorists. “To distract them, Rachel took care of the terrorists and fed all of them. She baked Maamoul cookies,” Finkelstein said. “After [Rachel and David] were in the house with these terrorists for 14 hours, a special unit of the police entered the home, killed four terrorists and found the fifth hiding in a closet. Rachel and her husband were saved.” Walking through Rachel’s residence brought back horrifying memories for Finkelstein. “There are bullet holes throughout the home,” he said. “And while I know the bullet holes were there because Israeli police took down terrorists, personally, having walked through the Tree of Life building on several occasions, it was very personally jarring to me to see that again.” Finkelstein’s returned from Israel with several lessons for Pittsburghers, Hertzman said. “It’s hard sitting in the U.S. to understand the magnitude of the impact that this has had on the ground in Israel,” he said. “If there was one big emotional takeaway it was that personally, it has rededicated me to doing everything we can to help. I’m in the fortunate

position of being able to take action. I think people sometimes feel helpless in a situation like this but there are so many things people can do, including giving.” “Federation allocates money, and that money goes through JFNA to JAFI (The Jewish Agency for Israel) or JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution),” he continued. “Something that I don’t think people understand about a crisis is there are very strict rules about sending money to foreign nonprofits. The importance of our relationship with JFNA and their ongoing relationship with international nonprofits is it enables us to send aid immediately.” Giving to Federation also supports local causes, Hertzman said. “The needs in Pittsburgh are going to be great as well,” he said, “in part because of the ongoing needs, in part because the war in Israel has the potential to retraumatize a community already having gone through the trial of the Oct. 27 killer this summer, and the enormous rise in antisemitism.” In the two weeks following Hamas’ attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose by almost 400%, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The spike, Finkelstein said, is something “I’ve never seen before in my lifetime.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

the hostages won’t be forgotten. They are not just posters, they are not just pictures, they are human beings that have families that worry about them.”

Bringing the message home

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Photo by Schuyler Sheaffer

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Headlines Students: Continued from page 2

out to CMU’s administration and was awaiting a response. “We will do whatever we can to push the administration,” he said. “I have been meeting the president — it’s not like we’re not connected. They’re listening to us and say they feel bad…. They’re saying they don’t know what the response is going to be.” The rabbi said that students calling for intifada should be held accountable, whether they understand the implications of their chants or not. “If you are saying things that are openly calling for violence against the Jewish people, you can’t say things and then go, ‘I didn’t realize.’ I think that’s something people should be responsible for. Do a little research.” Silverman said that some Jewish students believe are not supported by the university. “They feel like no one is listening,” he said. “They’re done dealing with the administration. The main focus is on the Jewish community and doing things together.” Chabad at Pitt Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein said that he isn’t surprised by what he’s seen. “In every generation, people are going to hate us,” he said. “It’s people showing their true colors.” He said that there has always been antisemitism present in academia. Rothstein said that he supported academic

freedom of expression, but it has to be tempered by honesty. He noted that often what gets reported doesn’t tell the whole story. “It’s a false narrative they’ve been selling for years,” Rothstein said. “So, academia and inappropriate journalism had created a monster that’s going to threaten people globally and kill people.”

the administration at the moment,” he said. Koby said that many Jewish students are upset that a non-sponsored rally was allowed to occur. The rally was held shortly after the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi had an Israeli flag torn from its building and learned that the fraternity was criticized in a meeting of

“I condemn speech that advocates the eradication of any group of people.” – CMU PRESIDENT FARNAM JAHANIAN Despite the problems, Rothstein said that Pittsburgh’s campuses are better for Jewish students than some others in the Northeast. “There are a lot of people who do support us, a lot of awesome people,” he said. Hillel JUC Executive Director and CEO Dan Marcus said that he is in conversation with senior administrators at the university to advocate and support students. Ben Koby, co-president of the Jewish Graduate Student Association at CMU attended the rally. He said because of the rally, and the university’s inaction when vandals tore down posters of the Israeli hostages that his group put up, students feel abandoned by the administration. “The students have almost no confidence in

administrators for hanging a banner that read “AEPi stands with Israel,” according to two students who requested anonymity. Koby said his group has spoken over the last month with university officials, warning that the situation would escalate. “They continue to do nothing,” he said. CMU President Farnam Jahanian issued a prepared statement late Friday, Nov. 10, saying that Jewish students had been subjected to “hateful phrases and slurs.” He specifically referenced the chant “from the river to the sea.” “I condemn speech that advocates the eradication of any group of people,” he wrote. He also said that he had “heard accounts” of members of the Arab and Muslim community

being called “terrorists,” “degenerates” and “animals.” “Slurs dehumanize, divide and deeply hurt members of our community. Such rhetoric is antithetical to our values, fostering neither the intellectual rigor nor the inclusive environment we work tirelessly to cultivate,” he said. “I need to call out the deep pain and fear that these words and phrases can cause,” Jahanian wrote. “Even when language may be protected under our policy on free speech, it still has the power to create fear of antagonism and violence. Let me be clear, I condemn speech that advocates for the eradication of any group or dehumanizes others. I strongly urge all members of this community to refrain from using language that targets a particular group and causes hurt and fear in friends, classmates or colleagues.” The university, Jahanian continued, is committed to “meaningful dialogue” on campus “through the lens of respect and responsibility.” “We are all part of one CMU community, and we share the responsibility to show care and concern for one another,” he wrote. “Words have power. Let’s be respectful and intentional in how we express our views.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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ALLOCATING ASSETS IN YOUR ESTATE PLANNING This is one in a series of articles about Elder Law by Michael H. Marks., Esq. Michael H. Marks is an elder law attorney with offices in Squirrel Hill and Monroeville. Send questions to michael@marks-law.com or visit www.marks-law.com. Part of estate planning is deciding who will inherit from you when you are gone, usually under your Will or Trust, or trust provisions in your Will. Most married couples leave their estate to each other, then, when both are gone, to children or other favored beneficiaries. (We call this “I Love You Wills”). Your Will or trust can help you say who, when and how beneficiaries will inherit from you, especially for a dependent person such as a child or young adult or a person with a disability. It’s also important to understand that some assets you leave behind go to whoever you have named as a Pay on Death Beneficiary, Joint depositor with Right of Survivorship, etc. on each account. Such assets pass outside the control of the Will, to the individuals you name in the written, signed instructions you give to your financial institution. Such beneficiary designations take precedence over anything in the Will. For this reason, as part of your estate plan, it’s important to coordinate your beneficiary designations on such assets with the planning represented by your Will or Trust. Often, my clients want to leave specific dollar amount bequests or specific financial accounts to particular recipients. If there will be more than one beneficiary, I ordinarily recommend instead leaving your estate to them as percentages or fractional shares of the whole, e.g. one half, or ten percent, not as specific assets or amounts – though with exceptions. One reason to avoid bequests of specific dollar amounts or specific assets is that there is unpredictability in forecasting exactly what you will leave behind. You can’t know if your estate will grow or shrink, or if

specific accounts will increase or dwindle. Specific dollar amount bequests can also lead to quirky, unintended consequences under PA law. Dollar amount bequests get priority over the bequest of the remainder of the estate. Suppose that I leave $25,000 to some distant relatives but the remainder or residue of my estate to my own children, who of course I most especially want to benefit. Then my estate unexpectedly shrinks, and all that’s left is used to pay the dollar amount bequests that have priority over the remainder inheritance. My distant relatives get paid, but my own children don’t! Sometimes we use specific dollar amount bequests but with limitations, e.g. “$25,000, but not more than 5% of my net estate for distribution,” as a way to avoid that risk. My clients often want to leave particular real estate properties or tangible personal belongings to particular people. Parents might want to leave their residence to one particular child, for example. Or, if a child lives in your home with you, you might want to make sure that they can stay living there after you’re gone for a period of time, under a life estate interest or right of occupancy. Rental properties, second homes, vehicles or collectibles might also be designated for certain individuals, or a business enterprise might go to some of the children and not others. Vacation homes present special issues, specifically how and by whom they will be managed, and used by the owners and their families. In fact, for any real estate owned jointly, with family members or others, think through, discuss, plan and agree in advance on management and use, and also for the contingencies that might arise. What happens if somebody dies, or wants out and wants to cash in their share? The same important rule applies in buying a home with an unmarried partner or business associate. Just because people are family doesn’t mean that they might not argue and fight, especially when money is involved. By the way, one advantage of making a written agreement

is that first you have to think it through clearly enough in advance, to be able to write it down! When it comes to your personal property, the contents of your home, your furnishings and personal effects, I usually assume that such tangible personal property is of zero cash value, until it’s actually sold and turned into cash. Generally, families and survivors handle those matters casually and informally. Your “stuff ” is usually handed in one of three ways: distribute it to those who want it, donate whatwever charity will accept and dispose of the rest. Another kind of asset that you might leave behind that has special complications is qualified retirement accounts and funds, like IRAs. If you leave such an asset behind to someone as an “inherited IRA,” all the proceeds of the retirement account are taxable income for the recipient. (In fact, if left to anyone other than a spouse or

charity, it’s taxed twice! - under PA inheritance tax and by U.S. income tax.) However, for charitable bequests, it can be smart to use more of your IRA and retirement account money, rather than non-IRA funds to go to the charity which will not have to pay income tax OR PA inheritance tax. That way, you get more bang for the buck and more value from the IRA for the charity. Finally don’t forget that planning against bad events like incapacity during your lifetime with Powers of Attorney is just as important, because before someone becomes deceased and needs a Will, they may become disabled, and that’s when POAs are crucial.

At Marks Elder Law, we help people every day with issues like these. I invite your questions and feedback. Please let me know how I can help you and your family.

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We provide expert help with long term care planning, powers of attorney, wills, trusts and special needs. We explain the benefits, risks and opportunities involved with elder law, disability and estate planning and help you implement financial and tax strategies to protect your wealth during your life and afterwards. Michael H. Marks, Esq. member, national academy of elder law attorneys

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NOVEMBER 17, 2023 11

Opinion

Sanctioning Jew-hatred doesn’t conflict with the First Amendment Guest Columnist Jonathan Tobin

embers of the congressional “Squad” are always at their best when playing the victim. In that light, Nov. 7 was a banner day for Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) as she tearfully assumed the mantle of martyrdom when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to censure her for statements “promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” The ramifications of the censure vote extend far beyond the halls of Congress. A growing chorus of antisemitic invective is being heard on America’s streets and on college campuses. Similar efforts to call out those who call for Israel’s destruction and in favor of terrorist atrocities against Jews are being resisted by those who claim that doing so is an unconstitutional and unethical effort to silence free speech or to enforce a pro-Israel version of cancel culture. Some assert that the anti-Israel protests — even those that clearly cross over into antisemitism — must not only be tolerated but that any effort to punish or subject to public opprobrium those who engage in such vicious behavior is evidence of intolerance of legitimate political opinions. That includes those individuals who feel more than comfortable tearing down posters with the images of men, women and children being held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Would they tolerate support for lynching? Nobody is repealing anyone’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression, no matter how hateful. But the right to say whatever you want — as long as it’s not a direct

incitement to violence — doesn’t mean that the rest of society is obliged to treat those engaging in open antisemitism as respectable members of society. We have every right to censure or call them out for doing so. And in the wake of Oct. 7, as expressions of hatred for Jews and Jewish safety are becoming so widespread, it is more important than ever that those who are behaving in this fashion are treated in the same way society disdains neo-Nazis or avowed racists like members of the Ku Klux Klan. Had a member of Congress expressed open racism against African-Americans, Hispanics or Asians, as well as supported violence against these groups, there would be no hesitation within either party about not just censuring but expelling them. Elsewhere, the fact that some people openly sympathize with the cause of those advocating for the mass murder of Jews is an unfortunate fact. There is no doubt that universities would expel students or fire professors who supported the lynching of African-Americans or some other act of mass murder. And no law firm, corporation or mainstream publication would hire someone with that on their record. Nor would there be any movement within college administrations to help such people make their way in life, let alone be guaranteed the success that a degree from an elite school can bring. But when it comes to those engaging in antisemitism, it appears any thought of public ostracism is controversial. This testifies to the mainstreaming of hatred for Jews not so much in the fever swamps of the far right or far left, but in the very institutions of academia, journalism and business that are the loudest in opposing racism against anyone else. Indeed, mainstream institutions are slow even to acknowledge how this atmosphere has led directly to violence against Jews, including the apparent killing of a 69-year-old Jewish man in California by a pro-Hamas demonstrator.

That publications like The New York Times were reluctant to label this as murder or a hate crime, even after they rushed to assert that the killing of a Muslim boy was the result of Islamophobia, is more evidence of the double standard at play here. And that is the true scandal about postOct. 7 America.

Tlaib crosses a line

Tlaib’s attacks on Israel and President Joe Biden for his support for the Jewish state, in which she embraced the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a call for the elimination of Israel and those who reside in it — led to the censure. Her smears of Israel as an “apartheid state” and false charges that it is committing “genocide” against Palestinians (which, in context, was clearly intended as a defense of Hamas “resistance” efforts) motivated Republicans to move ahead with the measure. While Tlaib has disingenuously claimed that the “river to the sea” slogan is “aspirational” and merely an appeal for freedom, she is a supporter of the antisemitic BDS movement and has repeatedly called for Israel’s elimination. The vote in favor of censure was 234-188 with 22 Democrats breaking party discipline and crossing the aisle to vote to condemn Tlaib while four Republicans bucked their party to oppose it. Three other Democrats and one Republican merely voted “present.” This vote matters because it labels her behavior as being so abhorrent that it forced at least some in her own party to treat it as beyond the pale. Still, most Democrats didn’t vote for censure. And only 67 signed on to a letter condemning the use of the “from the river to the sea” slogan as an obvious call for genocide of Israel’s Jews, though without naming Tlaib. The reason for this was partly partisan since in the current political environment,

party labels mean far more to most politicians than principles. But according to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is a popular figure among liberal Jewish Democrats, the real issue was “freedom of speech.” That’s a similar theme being sounded by those who disagree with efforts to punish students and professors who express support for Hamas and echo Tlaib’s antisemitic libels while also intimidating Jewish students. Similar arguments are heard in defense of those who march in the streets in support of Hamas’s genocidal agenda or who tear down posters with the images of Israelis who have been kidnapped and dragged across the border to the Gaza Strip, where they are being held by Hamas. Anti-Zionism is antisemitism As New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, another avowed anti-Zionist, wrote last weekend, as far as many on the political left are concerned, the question is: “When it comes to Israel, who gets to decide what you can or can’t say?” But the misnomer here is the false claim that Tlaib or students chanting for an “intifada” are engaging in “criticism” of Israel’s government. If it were merely criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his policies, there would be no issue. But the anti-Zionists don’t want a different Israeli government or a Jewish state with alternative policies or borders. They want to “decolonize” Israel, which is to say, destroy it, evict or kill its Jews and replace it with a Palestinian state. And that state would — inevitably, like every other majority Muslim nation in the region — be one where adherents of other religions would, at best, be a discriminated-against minority whose safety would be subject to the whims of Islamists. The reason why anti-Zionists are antisemites, regardless of whether some can claim Jewish Please see Tobin, page 16

We Arab Israelis are holding a lot of pain Guest Columnist Ghadir Hani

riends, I ask that you share my words. It is hard for all of us to find words these days, and it is even harder for me as an Arab citizen of Israel. Today, we are a month since that damned morning, that morning when the sky fell. Even today, time does not dull the pain. On the contrary, what we could not digest in the first days, the extent of the horrors, the shocking murder of families, the abuse, all the personal stories with names and faces, now cause us all to tear up, cry, remain speechless incapable of expressing the depth of pain. The brutal war continues to hit us all, more and more dead and wounded in body and soul. All of us, even those who are not physically injured, are hurting. In one moment, our lives became a whirlwind of blood, rage, fear and terror. The Arab public in Israel, to which I belong, found itself speechless in the face of the horror. For me, the knowledge that people in Hamas — my people, the Palestinian people — deliberately 12

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

chose to murder and abuse Israeli citizens and foreigners, among them the elderly, women and children, is unfathomable and unforgivable. I will shout everywhere and with all my voice: Whoever is capable of harming the innocent, whoever is capable of perpetrating such atrocities, is not a human being. I am ashamed that those murderers belong to my people. A lot has happened since that cursed Shabbat. So many ripples to the circles of pain and destruction. I am painfully aware that many in the Jewish public have no compassion for the citizens of Gaza. I also know the arguments — that Hamas was elected with a majority of votes, and so on. It saddens me greatly that the suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, whose lives have been unlivable for so many years, is perceived with indifference and sometimes even with glee among many in the Jewish public. I hear around me, also in relation to the Arab citizens of Israel, horrible statements of revenge on Arabs wherever they are. I am not afraid to say, even if they come to question me, that I feel the pain of the citizens of Gaza. A human heart can unfortunately contain a lot of pain. The thousands of children who were killed in the bombings in Gaza are children with dreams, who played and lived in hardships that not many

people even know. Their small palms buried in the rubble flood me with tears. Humanity is becoming extinct in our region, but we must not lose our humanity. Those children in Jabaliya, Khan Yunis or Gaza, their deaths are terrible tragedies. We, the Arab public in Israel, are also still in shock. As per usual, in times of security and tension, silence is the natural act. The silence stems first of all from fear, lest they see us as the enemy. The obvious must be said out loud. The Arab public in Israel is shocked by the actions of Hamas. The Arab public in Israel is shocked by the endless number of dead in Gaza. The Arab public in Israel is afraid that it will pay a heavy price for the terrible Hamas assault, because of the feelings of revenge of many in the Jewish public. In the absence of a public space that can contain this complexity, many of the Arab public remain silent. Those who are not silent speak. Many of them speak with courage in condemning the assault and the importance of the solidarity of the Arab population in Israel with their Jewish neighbors. Their position is that of the majority of the Arab public. It is not for nothing that in Kfar Qasim, Batira, Bir

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HaDaj, Berhat and other towns, civil initiatives began to operate to help evacuees from the surrounding area and the north. Amid my despair, I cling to glimmers of hope within a civil society that helps everyone — in the willingness of my Bedouin friends to risk their lives to save others on Oct. 7, such as Amer Abu Sabila from Abu Talul, who was murdered while saving two girls in Sderot. Friends, we have no choice. Two peoples will continue to live side by side, and therefore the forces of light must fight extremism, hatred, violence and all the death-mongers. Only if we act together can we look into the eyes of our children and offer hope for better days. This is the time to do everything for the common future of both nations. The moderate forces, those who desire life, both in the Jewish public and in the Arab public, must say out loud the obvious: This is our country, and we must reach out for peace. The outstretched hand will meet many hands. We are the majority. PJC Ghadir Hani is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, an award-winning peace activist, and a member of the Habima-Almanbar Initiative a Religious Vision for peace. This first appeared on The Times of Israel. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Opinion Chronicle poll results: Politicians’ calls for a ceasefire

ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Do some politicians’ calls for an immediate ceasefire without conditions in Israel’s war with Hamas put Jews in jeopardy?” Of the 300 people who responded, 89% said yes; 7% said no; and 4% said they weren’t sure. Comments were submitted by 95 people. A few follow.

Anyone who calls for an immediate ceasefire is naive or is not concerned about Israel’s survival as a Jewish state. A ceasefire would enable Hamas to regroup and strengthen for more savage attacks on Israeli civilians, something which it has warned it will perpetuate if able.

Do some politicians’ calls for an immediate ceasefire without conditions in Israel’s war with Hamas put Jews in jeopardy? 4% Not sure

7% No

They should rather be calling for Hamas to surrender.

Until Hamas shows an effort by releasing the hostages, I don’t think Israel has a choice but to defend itself. Even Bernie Sanders, whose previous public statements on Israel have often been other than helpful, now says that Hamas cannot be negotiated with. Immediate ceasefires lacking some sort of enforceable agreement with an enemy that is willing to sacrifice such a high percentage of its civilian population are pointless. I so wish that this were not true, but it is.

Politicians who share this view are not educated on the history of the Middle East. In my opinion, they should not be part of the U.S. Congress or House of Representatives. It is reckless, as they know it won’t happen without release of all of the hostages, setting up Jews everywhere for hostile attack.

89% Yes

Hamas must be destroyed. Then we can talk about a ceasefire.

Summer Lee is one of those politicians. I will now never vote for her and will actively campaign against her.

Immediate unconditional ceasefire is immoral and anti-Israel. Do those politicians call for “immediate and unconditional safe return of innocent Israeli hostages”? If they don’t call for that most basic humanitarian need, they are either dimwitted or (more likely) anti-Israel.

While an immediate ceasefire without conditions might put Jews in jeopardy, continuing the current assault with so many civilian casualties and minimal opportunities for civilians to evacuate definitely puts Jews in jeopardy, and also put Jews in the position of acting no more morally than the terrorists. I’m a liberal Jewish Democrat who believes that Israel shouldn’t let up until all the hostages are released. Anything less just invites more kidnappings in the future.

A ceasefire will, among many things, slow down the worldwide antisemitic fury around innocent Gaza deaths. This would lessen the increasing threat to Jews worldwide. Anti-Israel and anti-Jewish passions will only worsen until Israel changes tactics in Gaza. That is the threat that needs to be addressed in order to save Jewish lives/property around the world. The tactical change should include a ceasefire in place in Gaza/West Bank with a very strong international monitoring system and conditions, and only last until innocents are both out of the north and well supplied with life necessities ... or Hamas breaks the ceasefire. There was already a ceasefire. Why would Hamas honor another? PJC — Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Did you attend the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

— LETTERS — PA primary scheduled for a Jewish holiday

We read in the Chronicle that the spring primary falls on Pesach (Passover). Although there is an alternative to vote earlier with absentee ballots, many hundreds of potential voters may not feel good that they are losing an opportunity to participate in the regular voting process. It’s therefore timely that we contact government officials in Harrisburg and voice our concern about the conflict between voting and observing the Yom Tov of Passover. Michael Moshe Milch Squirrel Hill

Prospect of peace between Palestinians and Israel is ‘distant’

As horrific and bloody as the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been, an even greater tragedy awaits once the war ends. Even after thousands of people have died and much of Gaza has been leveled, and even if Hamas is somehow largely destroyed, nothing will have changed. The war will eventually stop, but it will be a respite that will not last. That is because an old adage that has reached the status of being a cliché is applicable in this case. It is too often said that insanity can be defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Too many on both sides have been doing the same thing for too long, and there is no indication they will stop. If anything, they will only more firmly contend that living alongside the other side is impossible. Hamas and other Palestinian extremists think that if they commit enough barbaric acts of terrorism, they are going to somehow prevail. After those attacks, many Israelis think that if they just hit back hard enough it will deter future murderous assaults. They are both wrong. And until there are enough people on both sides who are willing

to talk instead of fight, it will just be a matter of time until the cycle of violence repeats itself. Unless that happens, neither Israelis nor Palestinians will live in peace as successive generations take up arms unable to see any alternative and the killing will continue. But the possibility of peace looks even more distant today than it did on Oct. 6, despite the thousands who have died since then. Ambassador Dennis Jett (Ret.) Pennsylvania State University

Suffering of Gazan civilians is the result of Hamas’ ‘miscalculation’

I would like to respond to Eileen Yacknin’s Nov. 10 letter to the editor, “Criticism of clergy’s open letter to Summer Lee.” The suffering of the citizens of Gaza is terrible, but it is due to a horrible miscalculation by Hamas. After the massacre of Oct. 7, Hamas retreated to the densely populated neighborhoods of Gaza, believing that there they would be safe from Israeli retaliation. Nothing short of a massive bombardment by Israel would be able to dislodge them from their miles of tunnels. That would lead to the death of thousands of noncombatants, something they thought Israel would never do. But Hamas didn’t realize the emotional trauma its massacre would have on the Israeli public. Israel has been urged not to respond the way the U.S. responded to the 9/11 attack. That is an erroneous comparison. The U.S. had no idea where the perpetrators of 9/11 were located. The Israelis knew exactly where to find the 10/7 butchers. Civilians paying a terrible price in war is an old story, but the possibility of Hamas repeating the horror of 10/7 must, tragically, be eliminated by the current Israeli operation. Mitchell Nyer Pittsburgh

We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned. Mail, fax or email letters to: Letters to the editor via email: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle,5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pgh, PA 15217. Fax 412-521-0154 Website address: pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Life & Culture Perfect apple pie: A Thanksgiving treat Ingredients:

7-8 cups of Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced ¾ cup white sugar ¼ cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ¼ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon lemon zest 1 tablespoon lemon juice ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons butter or margarine 2 pie crusts, homemade or store-bought 1 teaspoon of sugar for sprinkling

p Perfect apple pie

Photo by Jessica Grann

— FOOD — By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

hile many Americans prefer pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, my favorite dessert for the holiday has always been apple pie. I often share family recipes because they are tried and true. I go back to these recipes again and again because they are beloved and well received. My apple pie recipe is almost identical to my mother’s,

but I use some brown sugar and vanilla to bring the flavor to the next level. You can prepare your own pie pastry if you prefer, but I make this pie with storebought frozen pie pastry. I place the disposable pie tin into a pretty baking dish and nobody ever knows that it isn’t a homemade crust. If you have a favorite baking apple, feel free to use it in this recipe, but I’m a purist like my mother, and I use tart Granny Smith apples because they don’t turn into mush after baking in the oven for an hour. You can also use a mix of two apple varieties if you prefer.

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Preheat the oven to 425 F and place the wire rack in the middle of the oven. Thaw the pie crusts on your countertop while you are preparing the apple filling. The pastry should feel cool to the touch but be thawed enough so that you can remove the top layer from the foil pan. If the pastry gets so warm that it looks soft, pop it back into the fridge for 10 minutes. Combine the sugars, spices, salt, lemon juice and zest, vanilla and flour in a large bowl. Mix the ingredients well with a whisk. Core and peel the apples, one at a time, and add the sliced apples to the bowl, tossing them well in the sugar mixture. If you peel all of the apples at once, they will turn brown as you’re working, so try to avoid that. Core one apple, slice it in half, peel one half, then cut the slices to fill the bowl. I vary the sizes, with some thicker than others, but overall I cut them about ¼-inch wide, with 12-14 pieces per apple, depending on the size of the apple. That is why I measure the apples by cup. Toss the apples well in the sugar after every addition. Store-bought crusts come in one size, and you can only stuff so many apples in and still be able to seal the crusts on the edges. The only downside is that there is never enough pastry to bake beautiful, fluted edges. You can tell from the photograph that my pie does not have beautiful edges; I did this on purpose to normalize using store-bought pastry. Home cooks can get intimidated by pastry because they can’t always make it look “perfect.” Don’t let that stop you! The flavor is the same and your family will still appreciate the effort that you put into baking. If you’re using homemade pastry and can stretch it out, you should be able to fit a full 8 cups of apples into the pie and have plenty of room left to flute your edges. As I mentioned above, I bake this in a pie plate. It supports the pie, catches spills and looks pretty on the table. Take one of the pie shells — foil pan and all

Yom Limud: Continued from page 7

there won’t be another 10-year gap. The planning committee is working on the next step, McFerron said. It is meeting soon to evaluate the feedback it’s received. “We’re going to try and figure out what will make the most sense. We’re thinking of doing something either yearly or every other year,” she said. “We have a structure now that seems to have been successful.” J-JEP Director Rabbi Larry Freedman,

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if you prefer — and place it on a pie plate. You can also take the crust from the foil pan and place it across the pie plate, just as you would if you purchased pastry that comes in a roll as opposed to frozen in a pan. Pour the apple filling into the bottom crust and arrange the apples as tightly as possible. Use a rubber spatula to scrape any liquid from the bowl and pour it over the apples. Cut two tablespoons of butter or margarine into teaspoon-size chunks and dot those across the top of the apples. Try to get as much of the apple mixture in as possible, with a rounded mound of apples toward the center of the pie. Keep in mind that the apples will collapse when they bake, so your finished pie won’t look so tall. Take the second pie crust and gently pull the edges away from the pan. Turn it upside down over the bottom portion and gently insert your fingers into the pan to help the pastry fall away from the foil pan. Gently pat the crust down over the apples and seal the edges of the top crust to the bottom crust. You can use your fingers or a fork to do this. If the top pastry tears a little, use your fingers to smooth it out and bake it as is. Use a sharp knife and cut a two-inch slit in the middle of the top crust to allow for venting. You can brush the top crust with an egg wash before baking it if you prefer. Bake for one hour or until a knife inserted through the slit goes through the apples easily. If it needs a little more time, put it back into the oven, but watch it carefully. If the crust looks too dark, loosely place a piece of foil over the top and continue baking. I start checking the pie at about 50 minutes because different ovens and baking dishes can affect the baking time. If there is a lot of excess juice bubbling up around the edges at about the 50-minute mark, take the pie out of the oven and use a pastry brush to spread the juice up and over the top of the pie crust, then continue baking for about 10 minutes; that will give the top crust a beautiful color. When you remove the pie from the oven, sprinkle the top with 1 teaspoon of white sugar. Allow the pie to cool completely before serving. You can make this the day before so that your oven is free to use for the turkey on Thanksgiving. Do not cover the pie with plastic wrap because it will make the pastry too soft. Loosely cover it in foil or use a cake dome for storage. Pies also store well in an empty, cool oven. Wishing you and your family a happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh. who taught at the event, said that the sessions provided an added benefit, occurring in the shadow of Israel’s war with Hamas. “I suspect that and hope that the teachers are even more proud of what we do because the world still seems to enjoy killing Jews and we revere and keep teaching the Torah,” Freedman said. “We believe that what we do makes the world a better place and makes us better people.” he said. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

8 EVERYDAY MIRACLES EXAMPLES OF YOUR IMPACT IN ISRAEL BASIC NEEDS

TRAUMA RELIEF/MENTAL HEALTH

The war disrupted basic services of all kinds, including food production. Farmers forced out of their homes and farm workers called up to military service dramatically reduced harvests. Leket Israel received funds to mobilize more volunteers to help pick vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products.

The terrorist attack took a tremendous toll on Israelis’ mental health across the country. Thanks to your giving, our international partner World ORT now provides support and services to help students and staff deal with their trauma, grief and fear.

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

Targeted assistance to vulnerable populations and their caregivers, including the elderly, young children, people living with disabilities, Russian-speaking Israelis, Ethiopian Israelis, Holocaust survivors, and marginalized populations.

LOCAL EFFORTS & VOLUNTEERS

8.8% 11.1%

3.6%

*Includes $15M multi-year gift collectively allocated 11/3/2023

20.3%

Organizations need to scale up effectively, and one way hospitals handle demand is to bring in volunteers. Pittsburgh sent six volunteer doctors to help for 10-day rotations.

The Jewish Agency for Israel immediately helps families when terrorists injure or kill a member of the household. The needs this year exceed twenty times a normal year.

$602.1 MILLION

18.6%

Casualties from the Oct. 7 attack and cascading medical problems overwhelmed hospitals. Ziv Medical Center near our Partnership2Gether sister region of Karmiel/Misgav received funds to help.

EMERGENCY OPERATIONAL

FUND FOR VICTIMS OF TERROR

Jewish Federations’ Total Dollars Raised:

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES & HEALTHCARE

NATIONAL ALLOCATIONS TO DATE BY NEEDS

29.9%

Your support enhances capacity and provides operational support to evacuees, special populations, frontline communities and those responding to the crisis through organizations including the Israeli Volunteering Council.

7.4%

EVACUATION, HOUSING, RESPITE & SUPPORT FOR FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES

Thousands of Israelis have been forced from their homes, and millions run repeatedly to bomb shelters. Dror Israel, an organization that educates and empower young people on the social and geographic periphery, received funds to support traumatized children and families evacuated from Gaza border communities.

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Total Dollars Raised:

$6.7 MILLION

Jewish Federations’ Total Dollars Allocated:

$147.8 MILLION

Please give at: jewishpgh.org PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

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NOVEMBER 17, 2023 15

Life & Culture Bunny Bakes & Specialty Coffee sells kosher sweets, trains disabled community members for work

p Julie Mazer, head pastry chef, decorates cupcakes at Bunny Bakes & Speciality Coffee, a new coffee shop and bakery that will provide career skills and employment for youth and adults of all abilities.

— LOCAL — By Abigail Hakas | Special to the Chronicle

quirrel Hill has gained a new certified kosher business this month: Bunny Bakes & Specialty Coffee, a coffee shop and bakery run by Friendship Circle, a Jewish nonprofit dedicated to building relationships between disabled and able-bodied community members. The store is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Friday at 1926 Murray Ave. for those looking to grab a coffee or dessert, but Bunny Bakes’ mission is more complex than just providing kosher baked goods. Bunny Bakes serves not only the public but the Friendship Circle community. Many of its employees are disabled members of Friendship Circle who are in a training program to learn the skills required in the workforce. Some of those employees have moved to full-time positions with the bakery, while others are making their way through the individualized program before looking elsewhere for work. The “Bunny” in Bunny Bakes comes from the nickname of the late Bernita Buncher, an avid supporter of Friendship Circle and an advocate for those with disabilities. When Friendship Circle acquired the building that would later house Bunny Bakes, Buncher immediately pitched having a shop staffed by disabled community members. The store has 10 employees, half of whom are disabled, and another six in the training

Tobin: Continued from page 12

ancestry, is that they advocate for treating Jews differently than any other people on the planet. They say that only Jews have no right to life and sovereignty in their ancient homeland, and as such, should be denied the right to self-defense against those seeking to slaughter them. That is what those demanding a ceasefire in Gaza so as to allow Hamas to survive and win the current war are doing, and it’s nothing but discrimination. And let’s be clear: 16

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

p Bunny Bakes & Specialty Coffee provides an inclusive workplace for youth and adults of all abilities, providing the opportunity for them to gain skills and confidence that can lead them to employment beyond its doors.

program. In the training program, they learn customer service and food safety skills that have helped some members move to positions at local restaurants. The training program isn’t new; Bunny Bakes has its origin in a series of bakery pop-ups that began in 2020 to offer disabled Friendship Circle members a place for career training and community-building. For Rabbi Mordy Rudolph, co-founder and executive director

p Bunny Bakes & Specialty Coffee offers teas, specialty coffees and high-quality coffee beans, as well as cookies, pastries and baked goods in a fully ADA-accessible space that is welcoming and open to the community. All photos by Jack Wolf

to fit wheelchairs, an adult changing table in the bathroom and lights that can be dimmed on request for those with sensory issues. Friendship Circle Director and co-founder Rivkee Rudolph said the goal was to have a bakery that had accommodations built in. “Obviously, we’ll accommodate as needed, but there should be minimal accommodations required from someone who needs it,” Rivkee Rudolph said. “The idea of universal design is

Bunny Bakes has its origin in a series of bakery pop-ups that began in 2020 to offer disabled Friendship Circle members a place for career training and community-building. of Friendship Circle, one of the organization’s goals has been to provide more adult-centered spaces for its older community members. “Our philosophy is that you don’t age out of Friendship Circle, and anyone who has been a part of Friendship Circle is always welcome back,” said Friendship Circle’s co-founder and Executive Director Rabbi Mordy Rudolph. “It felt to us for a long time like the next phase of socialization for our adults is going to have some work component to it.” Creating that space doesn’t stop with the program — it goes to the very design of the store, down to the placement of the chairs, which leaves space for those in wheelchairs to move freely. It’s ADA-accessible, tables designed

that from the beginning, we have everybody in mind and then as needed, we can build accommodations.” But the focus on accessibility doesn’t take away from the products themselves. The married Rudolphs were more than eager to talk about their shared passion for coffee. Bunny Bakes sources its coffee from Pittsburgh coffee company De Fer Coffee & Tea. “We’re all pretty serious coffee drinkers here, and we wanted to make sure that if we were going to sell coffee it was high-quality, great coffee,” Rivkee Rudolph said. Bunny Bakes also offers kid-friendly drinks made with flavored steamed milk, something Rivkee Rudolph has said is popular

Discrimination against Jews is antisemitism. This is why the Jewish community has every right to demand that those who call for Israel’s extinction be correctly labeled as antisemites. It is equally hateful to claim that antisemites should be tolerated or treated better than those who advocate for discrimination or violence against other minorities. The awful atrocities of Oct. 7 were deeply traumatic for all Jews. But that injury has been compounded not just by the indifference of much of the world, including those who publicly comment about any tragedy, but by the way the mass slaughter of Jews has

actually encouraged the spread of antisemitism throughout the world. The problem for Jews is that a percentage of Americans support an ideology — left-wing intersectionality — that is squarely behind such discrimination and ready to rationalize, if not openly back, violence against Jews. We can see how this has already led to violence and the creation of an atmosphere in cities and colleges where Jews have good reason to fear for their safety. That means that it is incumbent on institutions — whether they are universities, corporations or Congress — to demonstrate

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with moms bringing their children in for “Mommy and me” dates. When asked for their favorite thing on the menu, both Rudolphs said the coffee, adding that the cinnamon buns and carrot cake muffins were good dessert options. The menu is in its first phase, focusing on sweets such as brownies, muffins and its most popular offering so far: cinnamon rugelach. The next phase, planned to roll out in about a month, will launch a slate of savory options alongside pre-ordering. Bunny Bakes also plans to add more gluten-free options to the menu. Bunny Bakes has one gluten-free option and a few nut-free and vegan options, including dairy alternatives for drinks. But above all else, Bunny Bakes is about community engagement. The team participated in a Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s milkshake and cookies event to raise money for charity, something they want to do more often moving forward. “That was a big reason why we chose to have a bakery and café — so that our members had as much opportunity to interface and have that visibility with the community,” Rivkee Rudolph said. The store opened on Nov. 8 during the hustle of Election Day, but the excitement hasn’t died down for the team. “I know it’s been an exciting experience for me,” she said. “Watching them develop the skills that we need for them to be a part of our bakery team has been very satisfying, encouraging and really just exciting to see the way that it’s been received and how it’s all come to life.” PJC that while people who hold such views have every right to speak, march or publish, they do not have a right to be tolerated or treated as a respectable member of society. As long as they are being told by the arbiters of public opinion, like The New York Times, that their advocacy for violence against Jews is something that everyone should accept as legitimate and even acceptable discourse, Jews aren’t safe in America ... or anywhere else. PJC Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate), where this first appeared. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Torah Thanksgiving, families and Toldot Hazzan Barbara Barnett Parshat Toldot | Genesis 25:19 – 28:9

ibling rivalry, parental favoritism, trickery, a stolen blessing and a death threat make for a pretty dysfunctional family — or a Biblical reality TV show. It’s also the synopsis of “Toldot” — this week’s Torah portion. In Toldot, which means “generations,” the new generation of Abraham’s family comes to life as Isaac and Rebecca welcome the birth of twin boys: Esau and Jacob (Esav and Ya’akov in Hebrew). Even as fetuses in the womb, the twins fight and, as they emerge, Jacob is born clutching Esau’s heel as if he is trying to beat his brother to the birthing canal finishing line. Esau grows to be a skillful hunter, a true outdoorsman. Jacob is described as “ish tahm,” a quiet, perhaps studious, man who sits at his tent and raises cattle. (Gen. 25:27) “Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah favored Jacob” (Gen. 25: 28), the Torah tells us. Indeed, the fuel for dysfunction in family dynamics. When Esau, after a day of hunting, comes home famished and tired, he sees Jacob cooking a pot of stew. After Esau asks Jacob

for a bowl of his stew, Jacob only agrees in exchange for Esau bequeathing upon him his birthright — the blessing their father, Isaac, will pass on after his death. Esau agrees to the harsh terms, grumbling about having no need for his father’s blessing when he’s about to die of hunger and fatigue if he doesn’t get something to eat immediately. It’s an

It’s an extreme example, but it’s the sort of drama that might resonate with families whose seemingly unbreachable chasms can divide them forever — especially at this time of year. We have them in our family; I would guess you might have them in yours. And that brings me to Thanksgiving.

We will meet; we will eat turkey and pumpkin pie, watch football and, perhaps, even heatedly discuss the political scene. But mostly, hopefully, we will be “just family.” impulsive and in-the-moment transaction that will have impact later in their lives. It will have repercussions for the family and beyond. As the elderly, blind Isaac lies upon his deathbed, a deception hatched by Rebecca and Jacob leads, indeed, to Jacob receiving the cherished blessing of the elder son. Esau is both bereft and furious, threatening to kill his younger sibling. Jacob runs away and it takes 22 years and a lot of soulsearching (literally, on Jacob’s part) for the brothers to reconcile.

This year, we’re traveling to Chicago (our hometown) to have Thanksgiving with the family we left behind last year when we moved to Pittsburgh. There are very big political divisions in the family. Some of them concern the American political scene; some concern the frightening situation in Israel and Gaza. Yet, we will meet; we will eat turkey and pumpkin pie, watch football and, perhaps, even heatedly discuss the political scene. But mostly, hopefully, we will be “just family.”

My sister, at whose house we’ll gather, begins the feast by asking each of us to express one thing for which we are grateful. After the eyerolling by some, everyone has something to say. It sets a tone, if not for reconciliation (unlikely as Jacob and Esau would reconcile after a couple hours and a full stomach), then for a civility and at least a pretense of good cheer. So, hopefully, no storming out or slamming of doors. When Jacob and Esau eventually reconcile (in the parasha a couple of weeks from now), Esau falls onto Jacob’s neck and kisses him (although some commentators translate the act as biting, not kissing). And although you might be inclined to bite your disaffected relations (metaphorically with a sarcastic barb), I’m guessing you won’t. Instead you’ll embrace (or bump fists or elbows), not wholeheartedly, but in the interest of keeping peace, maintaining civility and enjoying the moment. Wishing all of Pittsburgh, our adopted city, a happy, meaningful Thanksgiving from our family to yours. PJC Hazzan Barbara Barnett is a Jewish educator and cantor living in Pittsburgh. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.

5833 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15217 412-223-4600

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Celebrations Birth Announcement

B’nai Mitzvah Eitan Elhassid is the son of Rebecca and Dror Elhassid and is the best older brother to his two younger sisters. He is the grandson of Dr. Audrey Corson and Daniel Kazzaz, of Bethesda, Maryland, and Tsipora and Meir Elhassid of Rehovot, Israel. He is active in his school’s LGBTQ+ and racial justice initiatives. He is a skilled tennis player and skier with a passion for archeology, ancient history and modern anime. Eitan will celebrate his bar mitzvah with Congregation Beth Shalom on Nov. 18, 2023.

Betsy and Marc Brown joyfully announce the birth of their granddaughter, Cory Ren Brown. Cory was born on Oct. 28 and is the daughter of Marley and Andrew Brown of Hoboken, New Jersey. Her other proud grandparents are Debbie and Bob Goldman of New Hyde Park, New York. Great grandparents are Patty and Stanley Levine and Ben and the late Ruth Brown. Cory Ren is lovingly named for her maternal great grandmother, Carolyn Goldman, and paternal great grandmother, Ruth Brown. KenIMarryYouHOL23_6.qxp_Layout 1 10/16/23 5:40 PM

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bagel factory DELICATESSEN

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Stop in for our famous pumpkin rolls…Miniature pumpkin gobs… Pumpkin coffee cake and our famous pumpkin cream cheese… And don’t forget the blue and white Israeli bagels

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Elana Dorothy Weisfield will become a bat mitzvah at Rodef Shalom Congregation on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. Elana is the daughter of Jodi and Andrew Weisfield and the sister of David and Amaya Weisfield, and her dog Loki. Elana is the granddaughter Holly and Burt Wald of O’Hara Township and Cynthia and Michael Weisfield of Mt. Lebanon. Elana is a seventh grader at Falk Laboratory School. Her favorite hobby is musical theater and has studied at Pittsburgh Musical Theater since she was 8. She also plays softball and does gymnastics. Her bat mitzvah project was a fundraiser for Pigsburgh Squealers, a pig rescue located outside of Pittsburgh. Elana chose this project because she loves animals, especially pigs. PJC

Mazel Tov! Mazel Tov!

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Eli Lasus will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah at Beth El Congregation on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023. Eli is the son of Jay and Rebecca Lasus and older brother of Hannah Lasus. His proud grandparents are Herb and Clare Bachner, Rindy Lasus, and Marty and Joan Lasus. A seventh grader at Mellon Middle School, Eli plays the baritone saxophone in the Mellon jazz band, and he also plays piano. Eli enjoys playing soccer, basketball and skiing (snow and water). He loves traveling, spending time with his family and friends, and attending Emma Kaufmann Camp in the summer. For his mitzvah project, Eli is volunteering as a buddy with Miracle League and Friendship Circle.

But so is a birthday, a graduation, What is a special occasion…a birth, an athletic victory, an academic a b’nai mitzvah, an engagement, achievement…anything that deserves a wedding, an anniversary? SPECIAL OCCASIONS DESERVE specialSPECIAL recognition.ATTENTION Absolutely! But so is a birthday, a graduation, What is a special occasion…a birth, an athletic victory, an academic a b’nai mitzvah, an engagement, achievement…anything that deserves a wedding, an anniversary? special recognition. Absolutely!

Mazel Tov! And there is no better place to share your joy than in... And there is no better place to share your joy than in... The more you celebrate in life… the more there is in life to celebrate! SEND YOUR CELEBRATIONS, MAZEL TOVS, AND PHOTOS TO: The more you celebrate in life… announcements@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Obituaries FREEMAN: Ruth Freeman, on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Beloved partner of Fredrick Rossi, Jr. Loving mother of Cheri Riznyk and Michael Klawansky. Sister of Sylvia Ali. Grandmother of Clio Riznyk. Born in 1940, Ruth was named after her mother’s favorite cousin and childhood playmate Ruth Poritsky, who sadly perished in Auschwitz. Ruth was profoundly affected by the Holocaust, and the stories about the loss of relatives and millions of others. Like her mother, Ruth found art to be a kind of spiritual liberation. As a way of coping with life’s adversities, Ruth always expressed herself through art. Ruth was the second daughter of Irma and Louis Freeman. She was raised in Pittsburgh during the post-war years in a traditional Jewish home, attending temple and Hebrew school regularly. She began painting as a child and won prizes while attending Peabody High School. She also attended the Carnegie Museum Art classes led by Joseph Fitzpatrick. After graduating she enrolled in and studied at Carnegie Tech from 1958 to 1962. Ruth said as an art student she often painted with her mother. While at Carnegie Tech she studied under Samuel Rosenberg and William Libby. During college she worked at a local coffee shop where she was among the beatnik crowd. Ruth started teaching full-time as a substitute teacher in Pittsburgh Public Schools which she found extremely difficult and stressful, so much so that she became ill. After recovering, she was given a scholarship to attend Ivy School of Professional Art, and was able to get a job with Joseph Horne’s, both drawing and doing layouts for print ads. In 1966 Ruth married Saul Klawansky, who had two children at home from a previous marriage; the couple had one boy, Michael. The family moved to Israel where Ruthie flourished. First she taught many subjects, but soon got work as a commercial artist and other art jobs. However, the marriage failed and she returned to Pittsburgh with her son. Ruth pursued art education at Carlow College, and after receiving her teaching degree, she taught at Saint Mary’s and also received grants to work at an alternative high school at Presbyterian Church in East Liberty. Ruth remembered the experience fondly. She said she enjoyed working there because there were very small, informal classes, with no discipline issues. She later went back to subbing for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and worked there for many years. Ruth had been a practicing artist for most of her life. For years she was extremely prolific, and worked in printing and design, as well as painting. Ruth first showed her work alongside her mother, Irma Freeman. She had many works in group and solo exhibitions over the years. In her work, artist Ruth Freeman gave concrete form to figures from her fantasies, including mermaids, flying figures and imaginary animals. The media she used to give form to these fantastical images varied from two-dimensional acrylic paintings to prints made from watercolor or ink monotype and wood-cut or linoleum-cut relief. Freeman had exhibited her work and shows by the Pittsburgh print group and Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and at Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh Artist Gallery, Shadyside Arts Festival, Three Rivers Arts Festival and Westmoreland Museum. She also exhibited her work in an immigrant print show in Jerusalem, Israel. Her illustrations have appeared on covers of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. Ruth gained a commercial art degree from The Ivy School of Professional Art. She taught drawing at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and art at various centers of education in Pittsburgh. Ruth said that as an art student she often painted with her mother. While Ruth continued in search of her own style, she believed that she both influenced, and was influenced by her mother’s craft. She also exuded the spirit of her mother, who was by nature sympathetic to the Bohemian lifestyle. Graveside services and interment were held at Shaare Torah Cemetery. Contributions may be made to The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, 5006 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com LIBERMAN: Irving Liberman, Ph.D., age 86, of Pittsburgh, died suddenly on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Modest and unassuming, one would never guess Dr. Irv Liberman was a researcher at the Northrop Grumman (previously Westinghouse) Science and Technology Center in Churchill, where he performed important research and development on lasers and optical systems. His work has contributed greatly to our nation’s defense, as it relates to military systems, fusion energy and miniature atomic clocks. Irv was born in 1937 in the Bronx, New York. His parents, Jewish immigrants from Poland, were David Schor, a skilled operator in the garment industry, and Pauline (Szapszewicz) Schor, a homemaker and talented seamstress. Yiddish was the language of the home. David died of an acute infection in 1938 in the days before penicillin became readily available. Pauline remarried, and Irv and his older sister Helen were adopted by their stepfather, Abram Liberman. When Irv was 3 years old, much to his mother’s chagrin, he took apart a Big Ben alarm clock. Much to her surprise, he put it back together again. Whenever he received a new toy, he had to take it apart to see how it worked even before he played with it, demonstrating his curiosity and engineering skills that would lead to his rewarding career. Irv earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the College of the City of New York. He then attended Northwestern University where he earned both his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering. These were the days when corporations visited campuses across the country to recruit top technical talent. Westinghouse came calling, and in 1963 Irv began his career, which would span 35 years, in the company’s R&D Center in Pittsburgh. In 1993 Irv Liberman was named one of R&D’s 50 Stars to Watch. Irv married Lois Hrabar in 1970. They lived in Pittsburgh except for a six-year stint in New Mexico beginning in 1974, when Irv was on loan from Westinghouse to Los Alamos National Laboratory. There he lent his expertise to the lab’s hydrogen fusion research. Over Please see Obituaries, page 20

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

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday November 19: Hannah R . Adler, Shirley Ankin, Minnie Berkovitz, Wilfred Irwin Berman, Bernard Caplan, Harriet Friedlander, David Glick, Gerald Goldberg, Mildred Levinson, Sadie Levy, Celia Maglin Lupovitz, Samuel Margolis, Louis Rapport, William Rosenbloom, Charles Saltsburg, Thelma Sapir, Freda Schwartz, Samuel F . Shaeffer, Michael Supowitz, Elizabeth Kramer Swartz, Solomon Weinstein, Robert H . Wolf, Leo Arthur Zober Monday November 20: Max Cohen, Helen Pearl Cushner, Max Engelberg, Arthur Firestone, Annie Friedman, Gertrude Glasser, Samuel Morris Goodman, Evelyn B . Letwin, Norman H . Marcus, Rosa Rokhkind, Jeannette Samuels, Mildred Schoenberger, Samuel Silverman, Jean Walters Tuesday November 21: Joseph Bardin, Ida G . Barniker, Emma Eligator, Nathan Granoff, Abe Herman, David Kaufman, David Klein, Fruma Chaya Leebov, Rachel Levy, Rose Rosenberg, Lucy Sachnoff Wednesday November 22: Benjamin Aberman, Cecelia Edith Greenberger, Milton E . Helfer, Sarah Herring, Bertha Brown Horovitz, Samuel Kaufman, Adolph Lefkowitz, Bessie Jenoff Lincoff, Dorothy Margolis, Lester Marshall, Harry Meyers, William Rakusin, Charles Ruttenberg, Israel J . Saul, Louis David Simon, Judy Smalley, Samuel Westerman Thursday November 23: Leo L . Americus, Fannie Bowytz, Karen Kaplan Drerup, Irving Gibbons, Clara Helfand, Eva Herron, Jennie W . Mogilowitz, Jack Myers, Louis Sadowsky, David Louis Smith, Martha Spokane, Samuel Srulson, Dena Stein, B . William Steinberger, Sylvia E . Swartz, Sari R . Talenfeld, Betsy Mark Volkin, David A . Weiss, Ida C . Wise, Anna Zacks Friday November 24: Nettie R . Broudy, Pescha Davidson, Israel Levine, Max Mallinger, May Schachter, Ben E . Sherman, Sophie Patz Strauss, Louis Thomashefsky, Charles Wedner Saturday November 25: Dr . Solomon Abramson, Max Adler, Saul Cohen, Ethel Simon Cooper, Robert Davidson, Chaya Dobkin, Marcella Dreifuss, Nathan Fireman, Ruth Hirsch, Isador Katz, Bessie Levine, Lena Riemer, Sara Berkowitz Rozman, Etta M . Sigal

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NOVEMBER 17, 2023

OH WHAT A NIGHT!

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

the years of his successful career, Irv worked with many Department of Defense agencies, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Applied Research Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. He generated eight patents, published more than 50 articles on laser technology, was responsible for managing 25 scientists and technicians, and held both Top Secret and Q (atomic) government clearances. After retiring in November 1998, Irv became a volunteer at the Parkinson Foundation of Western Pennsylvania. He was elected treasurer in early 2000 and helped build a strong and healthy organization so that it can continue serving the needs of this community in the coming years. Irv kept active by walking and biking, playing tennis and bridge, and attending opera, ballet and the symphony. He enjoyed investment research and was a founding member of a 42-year-old stock club called Quantum Jumpers. He is survived by Lois Liberman, his wife of 53 years, his sister Helen Gritz, his sister-in-law Rose Hrabar, his nephews David Gritz, Philip Hrabar, Brian Hrabar, and Geoffrey Hrabar, his niece Linda Gritz, many grand-nieces and grand-nephews, one greatgrand-niece, and one great-grand-nephew. Funeral was held on Saturday, Nov. 11, at Monongahela Cemetery of North Braddock, 1111 Fourth St., North Braddock PA 15104. Arrangements entrusted to the Thomas L. Nied Funeral Home, Inc., 7441 Washington St., Swissvale. Donations can be made in Irv’s memory to a charitable organization of your choice. niedfuneralhome.com

Special Guest Narrator Local Radio Personality Margaret J. Krauss

MUSKAL: Beverly (Zeff) Mallit Muskal, on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Beloved wife of the late Gerald “Jerry” Mallit and the late Sam Muskal. Loving mother of Linda (Mark) Alpern, Barbara (Hal) Levenson and the late Howard Mallit. Daughter of the late Julia and Harry Zeff. Sister of the late Betty Zupon and Nathan Zeff. Cherished grandmother of Alexa Jacalyn Alpern, Brett Austin Alpern, Grant Erik Levenson and Amanda Brooke Levenson. Graveside services and interment were held at Agudath Achim Cemetery, Forest Hills. Contributions may be made to American Heart Association, 444 Liberty Ave #1300, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

“COME TOGETHER 2023” PRESENTS

THE CLERGY BOYS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19 AT 7:30PM Congregation Beth Shalom 5915 Beacon Street A funny heartwarming musical tribute about four good kids who went rogue and became cantors. Tickets Available for purchase at the Door

Tickets & info: BethShalomPgh.org

RAFFLE TICKETS! PGH Sports Memorabilia Burton Morris Signed Artwork Post Show Drawing!

Consider joining our honorary chairs, Terry & Kenny Steinberg, before the show at 6:00PM for Strolling Supper & Cocktails. Kosher supervision under the VAAD Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh. Proceeds benefit Congregation Beth Shalom.

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

ROBERTS: Arlene B. Roberts, on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. Beloved wife and best friend for 62 years of the late Arnold Roberts; treasured mother of Reid Roberts (Theresa Greco); devoted sister-in-law of Joan (late Daniel) Benjamin; cherished “Nana” of Drew (Hristina Denic-Roberts) and Max (Lauren Ciampa) Roberts; loving proud great-grandmother of Leni Denic-Roberts; also survived by niece Marti (Phil) Heller and nephew Bruce (Jodi) Benjamin. Arlene was devoted to her family and a keeper of family traditions. She brightened our days with her art, jokes and stories. Arlene was, with her partner Arnold, a Life Master in bridge. She was active in various roles in Rodef Shalom Congregation. She was also an avid sports fan who especially loved the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates. She will be missed and forever loved and remembered by her family and friends. Graveside services and interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

Unveiling BERGER: An unveiling for Arnold (Arnie) Berger will be held on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, at 11 a.m. at New Light Cemetery, 750 Soose Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15209. PJC

Estate Notice Scott Alan Brown, Deceased April 10, 2023, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania No. 02-23-05505 Sandra Lee Esposito, Executrix; 209 Countryside Drive, McKees Rocks, PA 15136 or to Bruce S. Gelman, Esquire, Gelman & Reisman, P.C., Law & Finance Bldg., 429 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1701, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA FAMILY DIVISION No. FD-22-9123-002 CAMILLA M. LUNSFORD, Plaintiff, vs. CLEVELAND BROWN HALL, Defendant. NOTICE: If you wish to defend you must enter a written appearance personally or by an attorney and file your defenses or objections in writing with the Court. You are warned that if you fail to do so, the case may proceed without you and a judgment may be entered against you without further notice for the relief requested by the Plaintiff. You may lose money or property or other rights important to you. YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LAWYER, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW. THIS OFFICE CAN PROVIDE YOU WITH INFORMATION ABOUT HIRING A LAWYER. IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO HIRE A LAWYER, THIS OFFICE MAY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH INFORMATION ABOUT AGENCIES THAT MAY OFFER LEGAL SERVICES TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS AT A REDUCED FEE OR NO FEE. Lawyer Referral Service, Allegheny County Bar Association, 400 Koppers Building, 436 Seventh Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Phone: 412-261-5555 Email: LRS@acba.org Bruce S. Gelman, Esq., Attorney for Plaintiff, Camila M. Lunsford

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NOVEMBER 17, 2023 21

Life & Culture

p “Ten Portraits of Jews in the Twentieth Century” installation at the Andy Warhol Museum

Photo courtesy of Aaron Levi Garvey

Warhol Museum installs 10 ‘Jewish Geniuses’ amid controversy — ART — By Emma Riva | Special to the Chronicle

ndy Warhol painted Mao, machine guns and Marilyn Monroe, but the public was scandalized in 1980 when he painted Jews. The New York Times claimed that Warhol’s “Ten Portraits of Jews in the Twentieth Century” “reek[ed] of commercialism, and their contribution to art is nil,” and The Philadelphia Inquirer called the portraits “Jewploitation.” But this month, Andy Warhol Museum Chief Curator Aaron Levi Garvey, a Jewish curator and historian originally from New York, installed them at the museum. “I never understood calling these portraits commercial or vapid,” Garvey said. “What of Warhol’s work isn’t commercial? He worked with the idea of what an icon is.” The 10 Jewish subjects that Warhol, art dealer Ronald Feldman and JCC of Greater Washington Gallery Director Susan Morgenstein selected in 1980 were actress Sarah Bernhardt; United States Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis; philosopher Martin Buber; physicist Albert Einstein; psychologist Sigmund Freud; comedians the Marx Brothers; Israel’s Prime Minister Golda Meir; songwriter George Gershwin; and writers Franz Kafka and Gertrude Stein. The installation at the Warhol, Garvey said, was initially conceived as a gesture of solidarity coinciding with the five-year commemoration of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Then the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7 happened. Fear of controversy over highlighting Jews during a period of escalating violence and brutality in Israel — as well as personal antisemitic threats that Garvey said were made against him via email and voicemail — could have caused the Jewish curator to postpone or cancel the exhibit. But he’s no stranger to anti-Jewish hate and decided to go through with the installation. “People used to carve swastikas into my desk when I was in high school, and I 22

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

experienced major antisemitism in college,” he said. “I want viewers of ‘Ten Portraits’ to learn and be open to dialogue.” The portraits share a room on the fourth floor of the Warhol with Keith Haring’s “Untitled (Elephant)” — a literal elephant in the room alongside a figurative one, Garvey noted. In the lineup of Warhol’s “Jewish geniuses,” as the artist nicknamed them, the views and figures represented are complex. Kafka abandoned Judaism. Bernhardt hid her Jewish identity. Stein supported the Vichy government of France, an actively anti-Jewish regime. Einstein is quoted as saying: “I should much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish state” in a 1938 speech entitled “Our Debt to Zionism,” even though he was offered the position of president of Israel. One of the many things that makes “Ten Portraits” so timely and provocative is that it asks viewers to consider what being a Jewish icon means. All the portraits are of Ashkenazi Jews and speak to a certain image of Jewish identity. However, rather than Jacob Riisesque tenement photography or depictions of Jewish suffering and tragedy, Warhol highlighted Jewish exceptionalism in the arts, government and sciences. “I want viewers to think about all of these people in multitudes, in a non-linear fashion,” Garvey said. “It’s about Jewish exceptionalism but in a multitude of ways. All of the subjects contain multitudes. In the wall text, I put that Martin Buber was a Zionist philosopher. Someone told me I couldn’t say that, and I was like, ‘Well, that’s what he was,’” Garvey recalled. Garvey said that the museum’s internal response to the installation has been mixed, including various complaints that misidentified Garvey’s ethnicity and some inflammatory antisemitic remarks. But nonetheless, Garvey and Warhol Director Patrick Moore co-signed an exhibition statement calling for peace and solidarity. “Patrick didn’t have to put his name on the wall text with mine,” Garvey said. “I told him he would get flack for it, but he did it anyways.” The Warhol’s fourth floor also contains

Warhol’s “Zeitgeist” series, including a screenprint of Nazi-era German architecture, as well as a series of screenprints of machine guns, a screenprinted map of the Soviet Union, a screenprint of a “self-defense against rape” poster, and “The Big C,” a memorial to the AIDs crisis. The fourth floor is a testament to Garvey’s chutzpah as a curator and ability to hold contradiction and stand his ground. “Kafka, who’s in the portraits, has a word named after him — ‘Kafkaesque’ — for ‘scary, daunting, questionable, dark times,’” Garvey said. “These portraits can literally show how us we develop new language for thinking about dark times. Or, you can just come look at beautiful people and have some solace.” And the portraits are beautiful, with stark squiggles beneath Kafka’s piercing dark eyes, quadrants of technicolor rendering Gershwin’s profile, and all three Marx Brothers in playful triplets of orange, red, and black linework. They’re elegant and arresting. Their sheer size is overwhelming. There’s something delicate in each portrait’s face. They showcase what Warhol did best: Turn people into icons. “The only face out of this group most people could recognize is probably Einstein, so it puts a face to these legendary people,” Garvey said. “I would love to see what 10 portraits Warhol would make for this century.” The installation of “Ten Portraits” comes at the same time as The Frick Pittsburgh postponed “Treasured Ornament,” a planned exhibition of classical Islamic art. Frick Executive Director Elizabeth Barker told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the reasoning behind postponement was that “When war broke out in the Middle East, we were as heartbroken as everyone, and we realized that we were about to open an exhibition that a forgiving person would call insensitive, but for many people, especially in our community, would be traumatic” and that “we didn’t want to put our front-of-house people in the impossible position of discussing the war because we care about them and don’t want them to be vulnerable.” Barker later issued an apology for “the offensive and utterly wrong impression that

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I equated Islam with terrorism and that I saw Jews and Muslims — communities with millennia of peaceful interconnection — as fundamentally opposed.” Adam Hertzman, a spokesperson for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, told the Tribune: “Few people in the Jewish community would have been concerned about an exhibit on Islamic art because we understand that has nothing to do with Hamas, which is a terrorist organization.” At The Warhol, Garvey faced the challenge of giving appropriate talking points to docents about “Ten Portraits” when the ongoing Hamas-Israel war adds a layer of complexity. However, rather than cancel the exhibition as the Frick chose to, “Ten Portraits” continues to be displayed. “I wish The Frick could have had a conversation with The Warhol institutionally, and we could have used the exhibits together,” Garvey said. “Ten Portraits” addresses some of the thorniest questions of Jewish identity. Is assimilation into Western institutions or loud-and-proud exceptionalism the better position for Jews? Where does Israel fit into the conversation? Golda Meir is as explicit of a connection to the modern state of Israel as you could get, but Bernhardt, Kafka, Brandeis and Freud died long before its founding. And Warhol himself wasn’t Jewish. He created the images but had little investment in Jewish history or culture. It’s easy to forget that Warhol was not just soup cans and celebrities. Valerie Solanas hated him so much that she shot him. He was a gay man and a devout Byzantine Catholic, living in contradiction. In contemporary art, critics and curators drum up much discourse on whether museums should focus on the beauty and grandeur of history (think “art for art’s sake” or the Old Masters) or the social-political issues of the present (think diversity initiatives and archival materials). With “Ten Portraits,” Garvey proves that the best art and the best curation can do both. PJC Emma Riva is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh. PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Community Quite a good deed

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh partnered with Vitalant and American Friends of Magen David Adom to host several blood drives. The efforts, organizers said, ensure there is ample blood supply and products available should there be a need overseas due to war in Israel.

p Christine Solie gives blood.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Keeping the flame going

An installation of 1,500 candles was created at Schenley Plaza. The candles formed a Star of David and called attention to the war in Israel, lives lost and nearly 240 hostages still under Hamas control.

p Organizers David Dvir, Sofia Rubin and Dovid Jacobowitz

Photo courtesy of Julie Paris

Violins of Hope

A Violins of Hope concert was followed by a Unity Shabbat meal on Nov. 3 at Carlow University.

p The concert was part of the ongoing Violins of Hope exhibit.

p From left: Rabbi Shmuel Weinstein, Sara Weinstein, Shoshana Hoexter, Pat Siger, Dr. Kathy Humphrey and Marlee Myers Photos courtesy of Sara Weinstein

Donation of Art

Classrooms Without Borders

p Ann Rascoe and Mack Macksam, a retired Army major and a founder of the Veterans Arts Museum of Tampa Bay. Photo courtesy of Ann Rascoe

p Educator Randy Nord speaks about the importance of educating future generations. Photo courtesy of Classrooms Without Borders

Former Pittsburgh resident Ann Rascoe donated prints of her original watercolors commemorating Sept. 11 to the Veterans Arts Museum of Tampa Bay.

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Classrooms without Borders welcomed teachers to Winchester Thurston School on Nov. 12 for a conversation about bigotry, antisemitism and hate.

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