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2024 ANNUAL APPEAL – CONTRIBUTION FORM
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Staying connected with the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle Appeal
Irecently had the opportunity to sit down for coffee with a prominent leader and champion of our commu nity. As the board leaders of our respective organizations, we chatted about the state of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, recent “wins” we’ve had in each of our camps, and commiserated about the sad state of affairs on the world stage.
hole I haven’t been down before.
When I got back to my office after the meeting that morning, I found my way to the Aug. 23, 1979, edition and scrolled through to the Social and Personal section of the paper. I was faced with a picture of my mother looking back at me from my parents’ wedding announcement as the newly wedded Mrs. Barry Stein. I had found my rabbit hole.
Next was over to the Aug. 12, 1982, paper.
In my role as board chair of the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, touting the virtues of our paper to anyone who will listen has become second nature to me. But I hadn’t prepared myself that morning to be on the receiving end of a small lecture about how important the Chronicle is as our community’s official archive. My ears had heard these words come out of my own mouth thousands of times but it was unexpectedly refreshing to hear these words coming from someone else.
I left our meeting invigorated and validated.
The work we’re doing doesn’t just have a one-week shelf life. The entire archive of every Chronicle — and our predecessor papers, the Jewish Criterion and the American Jewish Outlook – from 2010 stretching back to 1895, has been painstakingly digitized, a collaboration of Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, the Rodef Shalom Congregation Archives, the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center and the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.
More current editions of our paper live online in Issuu and are browsable from our website.
I’ve spent more hours browsing our archives than most others. There’s just something great about clicking over to the digital archives looking to go down a rabbit
A birth announcement most likely would not be in the paper immediately following the baby’s birth, right? Give the family a few weeks to get their sea legs. Low and behold, directly across from an ad for Larry Rubin’s Specialty Clothing (the clothier, by the way, who sold my father my bar mitzvah suit) was the birth announcement of yours truly.
This was shaping up to be an episode of “This Is Your Life.”
Onward!
The Oct. 26, 1995, paper announced that I would become a bar mitzvah on Oct. 28, 1995, and there to prove it was a grainy black-and-white of my 13-year-old mug. The paper ran my wedding announcement, and when my sons, Samuel and Ronen, were born in 2018 and 2020 — although we literally could have announced their births by shouting from the top of the U.S. Steel Tower — we instead announced them in the Chronicle.
And, baruch Hashem , when my wife delivers our third child in the middle of January, you’ll be reading about it in the pages of this paper.
They say, “journalism is the first draft of
history.” Pittsburgh Jewish journalism has chronicled the history of the Pittsburgh Jewish community for more than 125 years. Our hallowed archives are yours to peruse whenever and wherever you find the inspiration. And new history is added every week.
We can’t continue doing this work without your support. (Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming.) If you’re reading these words, you clearly support the award-winning journalism the Chronicle delivers to you every day online and every week in print. Please join me in making a generous donation online at pittsburghjewishchronicle.org, or by clipping the coupon on the opposite page to support News For Jews, honoring our past, our present and our future. PJC
Board chair
Evan H. Stein
Headlines
Jewish agencies worried about Allegheny County Council’s proposed budget cuts
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Allegheny County’s next budget may have a negative impact on nonprofits across the region, including those in the Jewish community.
At issue is a 46.5% property tax increase that Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato has included in her proposed $3.1 billion 2025 budget. Innamorato has said that the increase is the only way to effectively address stagnant state funding and increased operating costs, as well as the cessation of pandemic-era federal funds.
The property tax hike represents a 2.2 mills increase for homeowners. For a property assessed at $100,000, 2.2 mills would come out to $220 per year in tax.
Allegheny County Council has countered Innamorato’s proposed budget and tax increase with its own. It includes a 28.5% increase, or 1.35 mills, and is at least $70 million less than Innamorato’s budget.
Included in the council’s proposal is a nearly $21 million cut from the Department of Human Services, meaning it would spend $4 million less than under Innamorato’s plan and fail to qualify for $17 million in matching state funds.
That is where things get tough for Jewish organizations.
Nancy Gale, executive director of The Branch, said 20% of the organization’s budget comes directly from the county and much of that funding would be at risk if Innamorato’s budget doesn’t pass.
The Branch, which supports individuals with psychiatric, intellectual or developmental disabilities, has a contract with the
county for various programs, Gale said.
As an example, she cited money paid by the county for services provided by the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse, a licensed psychiatric and social rehabilitation program.
The Branch currently receives $70,000 for services provided at the Clubhouse. That sum hasn’t increased in more than a decade despite an increase in services.
“Now, the county is saying that those funds could be cut entirely if the budget that Sara Innamorato has proposed does not pass,” Gale said.
Gale said that while The Branch won’t turn away people needing services from The Clubhouse, budget cuts likely would lead to
more costly hospitalizations and to more people being unhoused.
“You have more people in distress that we’re preventing with the services we provide,” she said. “So, it’s really shortsighted and in the end could cost more to help those people if we don’t provide the basic services we’re providing.”
Leaders at Jewish Family and Community Services, another nonprofit, are also concerned about Allegheny County Council’s proposed budget.
Jordan Golin, JFCS president and CEO, said there will need to be significant cuts across the county if the council’s budget is approved.
“We’ve spoken to representatives of the
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have to make some tough decisions.”
–JORDAN GOLIN
Department of Human Services as they’ve been trying to figure out, if that compromised proposal passes, where we would be, what kind of shape we would be in,” he said. “They would have to cut all family centers, all out-of-school programs, all gun violence prevention and intervention programs. The list goes on.”
Programs like Meals on Wheels, senior centers and legal representation for children in the welfare system would all have to deal with budget cuts, as well, he said.
JFCS, Golin said, is most heavily dependent on county funding for its ISAC program
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The future of Jewish women and religious freedom explored in upcoming summit
By Deborah Weisberg | Special to the Chronicle
Asummit on the post-election landscape — and how women can mobilize to create change — is slated for Dec. 15, 1 to 4 p.m., at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland.
“Jewish Women and Religious Freedom in Pittsburgh: What Comes Next?” is sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh, with underwriting by trustee Nancy Weissman in memory of her mother-in-law, trustee Jacquelin Wechsler.
“This type of work was important to Jacquelin,” Judy Cohen, JWF’s executive director, said. “She believed in educating women about issues and about becoming advocates to effect change.”
Organized by grantee partner Jews for a Secular Democracy, the non-partisan gathering invites women, people of marginalized genders and their allies to explore the future of religious freedom and related topics, including antisemitism, reproductive rights, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights and public education.
The summit is the culminating, and only in-person, event in a series of webinars held this year.
Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Jill Beck will deliver the keynote speech on laws around religious freedom. She also will moderate a panel discussion featuring Cantor Kalix Jacobson of Temple Emanuel of South Hills; Jackie Perlow, supervising attorney of the Women’s Law Project; Kathleen Blee, distinguished professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh; and Carrie Wardzinski, a Pittsburgh-area organizer for the politically progressive group Red Wine & Blue.
“This conference is a way to bring people together to talk about current challenges to religious freedom and to connect the dots with other issues threatened by Christian nationalism and Project 2025,” said Paul Golin, executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, which developed the Jews for a Secular Democracy initiative.
“What I hope comes out of it is that attendees participating in breakout sessions will want to connect on the ground and work at the local level to make change,” he said. “What we are advocating for is a genuinely inclusive American
society, which is guaranteed in the Constitution.”
Organization-specific action tables ranging from Congregation Dor Hadash and Squirrel Hill Stands Against Gun Violence to YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh will enable participants to find the “wheelhouse” that interests them, said Alliyson Feldmann, a national storyteller for Planned Parenthood who served as a panelist on the project’s webinar concerning reproductive rights and religious freedom earlier this year.
She is a member of the steering committee which designed and guided the summit.
“We started planning what our final push would be back in August with no idea what state the country would be in post-election, and what would be meaningful regardless of the outcome,” Feldmann said, noting that overarching themes will include fighting disinformation propagated by Christian nationalists and inspiring attendees to pursue activism.
“Activism can take many forms,” she said, “like speaking truth, getting people to register to vote, getting them to the polls, signing up for a newsletter and making a donation.”
A female-centric summit reflects the crucial role of women as leaders in advocacy and action, Feldmann added.
“I have done a lot of work in the nonprofit and politically-leaning spaces
and the vast majority of people are women,” she said. “We get the job done, we are used to building communities and working cooperatively.
“The spaces we occupy are so multidimensional we have the most opportunity to effect change. We are involved in all aspects of life.”
Women are becoming increasingly politically engaged in advocacy and the judicial process, observed Beck, who is one of 12 female judges elected to the 14-member Pennsylvania Superior Court.
“It has been a slow progression for women to come into their own in leadership in politics, the judiciary and advocacy roles, and it is wonderful that people are recognizing and embracing it,” she said.
Since religious freedom is the pivotal summit topic, Beck indicated that she is looking forward, as keynote speaker, to the opportunity to enlighten people on separation of church and state, “a very complicated area of the law.”
She is hopeful, she said, that attendees “will come away with a better understanding of religion clauses, what they mean and how they are interpreted, and with some measure of hope.”
The unique challenges confronting Jewish people of marginalized genders in an ideologically conservative climate will be explored in a panel discussion that includes Jacobson, the first non-binary cantor in
Temple Emanuel’s history.
“The Jewish LGBTQ+ community is pretty robust and women in that community are aligned in the struggles they face, like those related to medical care and mental health treatment,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson, 28, was among the youngest cantors in their class at Hebrew Union College’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, and part of the first cantorial class to include transgender students.
“A lot of LGBTQ+ people are looking for community,” Jacobson said, “and Judaism has a rich history as a harboring refuge for people of marginalized genders.
“Part of my position as a clergy person in Pittsburgh is to be a repository of knowledge for those who don’t know so much about the trans or non-binary community, and as long as people are being respectful I am happy to answer their questions.”
Jacobson said that while they “cannot speak for the entire LGBTQ+ community,” having been openly part of it for more than half their life, they are “humbled” by the opportunity the summit is providing to enlighten others.
More information and registration for the summit can be found at jfasd.org/ pittsburgh-conference-december-2024/. PJC
Deborah Weisberg is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
p Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Jill Beck Photo courtesy of Elect Jill Beck
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.
SATURDAY, DEC. 7
Families with young children are invited to spend Shabbat morning with Rodef Shalom at its Shabbat with You. Drop in for a light breakfast, play date, sing-along with Cantor Toby and a Shabbat activity with Family Center Director Ellie Feibus. 9 a.m. $5 per family. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/ shabbatwithyou.
SUNDAY, DEC. 8
Join local heads of school for Keeping Kids TechSavvy and Secure, a discussion on fostering healthy screen habits in classrooms and at home. Explore the latest research, gain practical tips and learn strategies to support your child’s well-being and development. 10 a.m. JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill location. bit.ly/40GNbR6.
SUNDAYS, DEC. 8–DEC. 18
Grades K-3, join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for Jewish Children’s Discovery Center and learn about some interesting sites and cities in Israel through creative art and baking activities. Children aged 0-2 enjoy a friendly meetup for moms and tots with Jewish-themed music, activities and sensory play. 10:30 a.m. $75/semester for grades K-3; $50 for ages 0-4; 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com/art.
SUNDAYS, DEC. 8–JULY, 20
Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for its Men’s Tefillin Club. Services and tefillin are followed by a delicious breakfast and engaging discussions on current events. 8:30 a.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com.
MONDAY, DEC. 9
Join Rabbi Jessica Locketz for Wise Aging: Growing into Wisdom, a nine-session series designed for Jewish adults 55 and older — anyone open to conversations about what it means not just to get older, but to age wisely. Free for members, $72 for non-members. 7 p.m. rodefshalom.org/wiseaging.
MONDAYS, DEC. 9–JULY 27
Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.
Join Temple Sinai for an evening of mahjong every Monday (except holidays). Whether you are just starting out or have years of experience, you are sure to enjoy the camaraderie and good times as you make new friends or cherish moments with longtime pals. All are welcome. Winners will be awarded Giant Eagle gift cards. All players should have their own 2024 mahjong cards. Contact Susan Cohen at susan_k_cohen@yahoo.com if you have questions. $5. templesinaipgh.org.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11
Wear your PJs and learn a latke about Hanukkah. Children ages 2-5 and their families are invited to join Rodef Shalom librarian Sam Siskind and Family Center Director Ellie Feibus for Hanukkah PJ Library in the Glick Children’s Library for an evening of Hanukkah stories, crafts and food. 5:30 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/pj.
WEDNESDAYS, DEC. 11-18
Chabad of the South Hills presents Nurturing Relationships, a new six-week course with Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum. Learn Jewish wisdom for building deeper connections in all your relationships. 7:30 p.m. Bower Hill Road. chabadsh.com.
WEDNESDAYS, DEC. 11–JULY 29
Temple Sinai’s Rabbi Daniel Fellman presents a weekly Parshat/Torah portion class on site and online. Call 412-421-9715 for more information and the Zoom link.
Bring the parashah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful with Rabbi Mark Goodman in this weekly Parashah Discussion: Life & Text. 12:15 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/life-text.
SUNDAY, DEC. 15
Chabad of the South Hills presents the CKids Chanukah Block Party, a totally epic indoor preChanukah event for the whole family. Dreidel dash, curbside karaoke, kosher food truck fest, make your very own glowing Chanukah sculpture. 2 p.m. 1700 Bower Hill Road. chabadsh.com/blockparty.
Kick o the JCC Maccabi Campus Games, Pittsburgh style. Join the community kicko event and cheer on the Steelers with the Maccabi Pittsburgh delegation. Don’t miss the excitement, food and team spirit. 3:30 p.m. JCC of Greater Pittsburgh. bit.ly/3YIsjXc.
MONDAY, DEC. 16
Join Rodef Shalom Congregation for the opening reception of the exhibit Secret Forest, featuring new sculptures by Jonathan Shapiro. This free exhibit is a program of the Music and More at Rodef Shalom series and will be on display in the Rodef Shalom Jewish Museum through Feb. 28, 2025. 6 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/forest.
Women are invited to join Chabad of the South Hills for Shabbat an Island in Time, Welcoming and Escorting the Shabbat Queen. An evening of insight, song and favorite dishes. 7:30 p.m. $18. 1700 Bower Hill Road. chabadsh.com/ladies.
Hear from guest speaker Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz
TRUSTARTS .ORG /BROADWAY
History Center, as he presents A Stroll Through the Past: Stories from the Rodef Shalom Archives Learn about interesting finds and stories from Rodef Shalom Congregation’s archives. 7:30 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/archives.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18
Join Chabad of the South Hills for the Grand Chanukah Seniors Lunch, a festive holiday program featuring a delicious kosher lunch, hot latkes, ra es and prizes. Wheelchair accessible. Pre-registration strongly suggested. 1 p.m. $5 suggested donation. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com.
Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for its annual holiday party. Enjoy Bingo with prizes, potato pancakes and more. RSVP to Geri at (412)421-5868 by Dec. 10. 1 p.m. Rodef Shalom Cong., Falk Library,4095 5th Ave.
FRIDAY, DEC. 20
Join Liron Lipinsky Salitrik, BBYO’s vice president of enrichment strategy, as part of Temple Ohav Shalom’s Rabbi & Friends Series. Lipinsky will present “The Kids are Alright.” 6 p.m. $10. Email jleicht@templeohavshalom.org for more information. templeohavshalom.org.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 25
The Tree of Life Congregation will hold an outdoor lighting of the Chanukah menorah. The public is invited. 5 p.m. Corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues. treeoflifepgh.org.
MONDAY, DEC. 30
Join Chabad of the South Hills for its annual Chanukah Festival featuring a grand menorah lighting, fire show, fire truck gelt drop, latkes, donuts, hot drinks, a photo booth, music and more. Free. Register in advance to be entered into a ra e for Chanukah swag. 5 p.m. Dormont Pool parking lot. chabadsh.com/menorah. PJC
Join the Chronicle Book Club!
The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Dec. 22 discussion of “Long Island Compromise,” by Taffy BrodesserAkner. From the Jewish Book Council, Evie Saphire-Bernstein:
“Five years after her wildly successful debut, ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble,’ Taffy Brodesser-Akner returns with an engrossing new novel, ‘Long Island Compromise.’
The book opens in 1980, when, thanks to the success of their polystyrene molds factory, the Fletchers lead a privileged life on Long Island. But after the head of the household, Carl, is kidnapped and held hostage for five days, no one in his family or community is the same. Carl’s three adult children — Nathan, Beamer, and Jenny — all deal with PTSD in different ways, and Carl’s mother and wife attempt to shield him from any further difficulties. While their intentions are good, the outcomes of their actions are unexpected and everlasting. ‘Long Island Compromise’ is about how one person’s actions can impact their family, and how their legacy — well deserved or not — will shape future generations."
Your hosts
Toby Tabachnick, Chronicle editor
David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer
How it works
We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Dec. 22, at 1 p.m.
What to do
Buy: “Long Island Compromise.” It is available at some area Barnes and Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon. It is also available through the Carnegie Library system.
Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will send you a Zoom link for the discussion meeting. Happy reading! PJC
— Toby Tabachnick
Concerts for all: Azure redefines family-friendly entertainment
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
If attendees drown out the music at an upcoming concert, one promoter won’t lose sleep. After all, it’s part of the experience.
Since becoming founding executive director of Azure Family Concerts Pittsburgh nearly four years ago, Anitra Birnbaum has worked to create louder, friendlier and more inclusive musical spaces.
“My oldest son has autism and he was my inspiration for doing this,” Birnbaum, 50, told the Chronicle. “Many people with autism and other related types of disabilities have great difficulties attending concerts where they have to abide by traditional concert etiquette.”
As opposed to having to sit silently in stuffy spaces beside buttoned-up patrons, Azure concerts promote a different experience, she said. The programs welcome people of “all behaviors” in the hope that attendees “get up, dance, move around, talk, sing, yell, make any kind of noise or movement and express themselves in any way that makes them comfortable.”
Less cacophonous than beautifully harmonious, the performances pair er-free environments.
“Azure concerts are open to the public and free,” Birnbaum said.
Get local help with your Medicare questions
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of South Hills featured KleZlectic, a Pittsburgh-based klezmer band inspired by jazz and classical influences. The
“Use
show, titled “Festive Families,” delivered holiday music with a “klezmer twist.”
p Participants hit the beat during an Azure Pittsburgh concert in Schenley Park.
Photo courtesy of Azure Pittsburgh
Palestinian diplomat Tareq Abu Hamed seeks to build bridges of understanding through science
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Tareq Abu Hamed believes the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies represents hope for the Middle East.
“We are a small model of how a sustainable Middle East can look, where people care, where people share the same concerns,” he said.
Don’t be fooled by the name of the institute Abu Hamed leads; he has loftier goals than simply making an impact on the world of science.
“I’m a Palestinian from East Jerusalem,” he said. “Both sides, Palestinians and the Israelis, want to live in peace, but they doubt there is a partner on the other side.”
Programs such as Arava, he said, connect people and ultimately bring them together — and that is how a sustainable Middle East will come to be built.
Created in 1996, the institute is located on Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel. Since its formation, Arava has brought together nearly 1,800 Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and international students.
Its goal is to educate future leaders who can meet the Middle East’s environmental
challenges with innovative, peace-building solutions. The institute features a university-accredited academic program and works to protect fragile shared environmental resources and eliminate conflict over natural resources with ground projects and research.
More than that, though, the institute is a melting pot of nationalities and political attitudes.
A third of the students involved in the institute’s academic program are Arabic speakers, including residents of Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan; a third are Jewish Israelis; and a third are international, including students from America.
This petri dish of opinions is something Abu Hamed encourages. He grew up in East Jerusalem and earned his doctorate in Turkey. He also studied at the University of Minnesota. He joined Arava Institute in 2008 and established its Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation before leaving to serve as the Israeli Ministry of Science’s deputy chief scientist, becoming the highest-ranking Palestinian working in the Israeli government at the time. He returned to Arava in 2016 and is a member of President Isaac Herzog’s Forum on Climate Change, leading the working group on regional cooperation and security.
He has spent his life working to build relationships with his neighbors.
“When I was in high school, I volunteered and worked at a kibbutz, which was next to my village,” he said. “It was my first exposure to my Jewish neighbor, and it stayed inside me. I experienced the power of being with
the other and how it shapes you, and wanted to be in a place that does the same thing.”
Arava, he said, combines his background in government and science, creating the opportunity for what he calls “environmental diplomacy.”
“We use science and the environment to build bridges, to build understanding and to build peace,” he said.
In addition to the mélange of backgrounds at Arava, Abu Hamed said the institute’s projects reflect its aim of environmental diplomacy.
“We do projects on the ground with Palestinians, with Jordanians and Moroccans,” he said. “It’s beyond the classroom. It’s projects on the ground with normal people and regional councils. We implement projects in Gaza, Jordan, Morocco and the West Bank related to climate change, cooperation on solar water desalination, solar water treatment, decentralized technologies.”
Asked if Arava leads with science or diplomacy, Abu Hamed said it’s a little of both, quoting an old joke from the field of academia — you go for the conference but stay for the coffee breaks.
“It’s where you make the connections,” he said.
Defendants accused of painting antisemitic graffiti at Chabad of Squirrel Hill, Federation, plead not guilty
By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
The two people arrested and charged with vandalizing Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh in July were arraigned on Nov. 26 in federal court. Both defendants, Mohamad Hamad, 23, of Coraopolis, and Talya A. Lubit, 24, of Pittsburgh, pled not guilty to charges of damaging religious property and conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States.
The charges stem from antisemitic graffiti painted on Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s building, including an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by the terrorist group Hamas to identify Israeli military targets, and graffiti painted on a sign outside the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s building.
Hamad was a member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard until Sept. 2024, when he was barred from the facility. Lubit is an Oakland resident.
Search warrants were executed in August and September 2024 at both defendants’ residences and their cell phones were seized. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a review of the contents revealed “messages during the month of July 2024 between Hamad and Lubit during which they planned their vandalism activities
and specifically discussed selecting Jewish targets. Review of Hamad’s phone also revealed that in the weeks leading up to the vandalism on July 29, Hamad referred to himself as a ‘Hamas operative,’ sent a picture of himself wearing a headband
with the Hamas logo to another associate, and exchanged messages with another individual regarding building an explosive device, including a video of a test detonation in early July 2024.”
The case has been assigned to District
Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand. The trial is estimated to take six days for both defendants. A trial date has not yet been set. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
p David Knoll points out the red inverted triangle spray painted on Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s building in July.
Photo by David Rullo
p Tareq Abu Hamed leads the Arava Institute in Israel, an organization using science to create environmental diplomacy. Photo courtesy of West End Strategy
Headlines
Justin Trudeau condemns antisemitism after Montreal pro-Palestinian protest where Netanyahu is burned in effigy
Justin Trudeau said Canada’s government would not tolerate antisemitism after a violent pro-Palestinian demonstration in Montreal where protesters burned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in effigy, JTA reported.
The Canadian prime minister was one of several officials to condemn the protest, which opposed a NATO conference on Nov. 22 and after which three protesters were arrested. It was one of a series of anti-Israel actions in recent days that have led to fallout in the Quebec metropolis, from the shuttering of a cafe in the city’s Jewish General Hospital to the cancellation of an Israeli-made film at a local festival.
“What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling,” Trudeau said in a statement on Nov 23. “Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them.”
The demonstrators, many of whom came from student groups, protested the Western military alliance due to members’ support for Israel in its multi-front war. According to Canadian media reports, demonstrators smashed windows, burnt vehicles, attacked police officers and set off smoke bombs and fireworks during the protest.
Attendees could be seen waving Palestinian, Lebanese and Iranian flags as well as one with
the hammer and sickle, a communist symbol. Some protesters held a banner reading “intifada” in Arabic, a reference to violent Palestinian uprisings against Israel.
At one point, a group of protesters burned an effigy bearing the words “Netanyahu to the Hague,” a reference to the recent warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest issued by the International Criminal Court. Canada is one of several countries to confirm that it would arrest Netanyahu based on the warrant.
“This was nothing like lawful, peaceful protest,” said Bill Blair, Canada’s defense minister, at a conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “This was anarchy. It was an engagement in violence and hatred on display in the city of Montreal.”
He added, “Those behaviors are unacceptable and we condemn them, and in particular the hatred and antisemitism that was on display, in the strongest possible terms.”
Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96
She claimed Auschwitz was just a work camp, not a death camp, and that nobody had been gassed to death there.
She challenged a German court to prove that the Nazis committed mass murder, and declared on TV that the Holocaust was “the biggest and most sustainable lie in history.”
She spent years in prison, as an elderly widow, for lying about the Holocaust, and was deemed the “Nazi grandma” by German media.
On Nov. 21, Ursula Haverbeck, one of
Today in Israeli History
Arabs were expelled in 1948 instead of following their leaders’ orders to leave.
Dec. 9, 1914 — Revisionist Zionist “Mookie” is born
Dec. 6, 2007 — Helene’s palace is believed to be found
An Israeli excavation discovers the remains of a 2,000-year-old mansion in the Old City of Jerusalem that is believed to have belonged to Queen Helene of Adiabene, who died in Jerusalem around 55 C.E.
Dec. 7, 1921 — First nurses graduate in Jerusalem
Twenty-two women graduate from the Nurses’ Training Institute at Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem, making them the first nurses to receive degrees in the Land of Israel. They go to work at Hadassah-run hospitals.
Dec. 8, 1948 — Historian Benny Morris is born
Historian Benny Morris is born in Ein HaHoresh to a diplomat father and journalist mother. He uncovers evidence that many
Germany’s most infamous Holocaust deniers and a hero of the country’s far-right and neo-Nazi movement, died while awaiting her latest prison term, JTA reported. She was 96.
Her antics, particularly in the last two decades of her life, brought shame to many Germans and helped keep Holocaust denialism from being completely snuffed out of public life there. She routinely flaunted national laws designed to keep citizens like herself from denying or downplaying the atrocity of the Jewish genocide.
“We won’t have any impact on you with words,” one German judge, Lisa Jani, announced during one such 2022 sentencing of Haverbeck. In explaining why a prison term was necessary for the nonagenarian, Jani said the defendant had “strayed miles from the historical truth” and “damaged the memories of millions of murdered people.”
“She is a lost cause,” Magistrate Bjoern Joensson, who issued an earlier sentence against Haverbeck, said about her in 2015, according to German news agency Deutsche Welle. He added that it was “deplorable that this woman, who is still so active given her age, uses her energy to spread such hair-raising nonsense.”
Half of Israelis say no clear winner in war against Hezbollah
A survey taken hours before the truce in Lebanon suggests that half of Israelis think the near-14-month-long Israel Defense Forces’ campaign against Iranian-backed Hezbollah ended without a clear victor, JNS reported.
Asked by Israel’s Channel 12 News who
triumphed in the war, 20% of respondents said the IDF won, while 19% said Hezbollah did. Fifty percent said there was no clear winner. Some 11% said they did not know who emerged as the victor.
The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday, Nov. 27, ending nearly 14 months of hostilities. The IDF will respond “forcefully” to all violations of the deal by Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed last week.
As part of the deal, Israel promised to withdraw from Lebanon, where its military has been operating since early October, reaching as far as the Litani River on Tuesday for the first time since 2000.
As the IDF withdraws, Lebanese forces are to enter these areas and ensure that Hezbollah retreats north of the Litani, located some 18 miles north of the border. The U.S. and France are to oversee compliance by receiving regular updates from diplomats and military officials.
According to the Channel 12 survey, 30% of Israelis think the truce will collapse “after a short time.” Twenty-eight percent said they believe it would hold for several months, while 24% expressed trust that the ceasefire would last “for years.” Another 18% said that they did not know.
Asked if they support or oppose the reported terms of the agreement, 37% of Israeli respondents said they were in favor, 32% stated that they opposed and 31% said they did not have an opinion. PJC
— Compiled by Jarrad Saffren
Shmuel Katz, a Revisionist Zionism leader and Knesset member, is born in South Africa. Known as “Mookie,” he makes aliyah in 1936 and joins the Irgun. He arranges the 1948 arms shipment aboard the Altalena.
p Shmuel Katz, who served one term in the Knesset, was best known for his writing. Knesset
Dec. 10, 1952 — Israel inaugurates second president
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, a Ukraine native who made aliyah in 1907, is inaugurated as Israel’s second president after the mourning period for predecessor Chaim Weizmann. Ben-Zvi dies during his third term in 1963.
Dec. 11, 1948 — U.N. Resolution 194 offers “Right of Return”
The U.N. General Assembly passes Resolution 194, addressing “the situation in Palestine” without naming Israel. Palestinians interpret its call for refugees to return home as soon as possible as an unlimited “right of return.”
Dec. 12, 1943 — Settler leader
Hanan Porat is born
Settler leader Hanan Porat is born in Kfar Pines. His family leaves the West Bank village of Kfar Etzion after a massacre of Jews in 1948. He helps found the Gush Emunim movement in 1974. PJC
p Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold poses with the first graduating class of the Nurses’ Training Institute on Dec. 7, 1921.
Headlines
Trump warns there will be ‘all hell to pay’ if hostages aren’t released by Jan. 20
— WORLD —
By Jacob Magid | Times of Israel
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened those holding hostages in the Middle East with unprecedented American firepower if they are not released by the time he enters office on Jan. 20.
Trump first made a similar threat as a presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in July, but the latest warning posted on Truth Social came two days after Hamas released a propaganda video showing American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander pleading with the president-elect to secure his release.
The statement also came hours after the IDF revealed that another American-Israeli hostage — Omer Neutra — was killed during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught and that his body is being held in Gaza. Neutra had been thought to be alive, in captivity.
“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk and no action!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, without mentioning Israel or the Palestinian terror group by name.
“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” he continued.
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” Trump added.
He called for the hostages’ release several times throughout his presidential campaign, but also made a point of insisting that most of the hostages are no longer alive.
Accordingly, he was reportedly caught off guard when President Isaac Herzog told him in a call late last month that Israeli intelligence assesses that half of the hostages still in Gaza are alive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, said she raised the plight of the hostages during her dinner on Sunday night with Trump at the president-elect’s golf resort in Florida.
The outgoing administration is still working to secure a deal before Jan. 20 and President Joe Biden met with the families of the remaining American hostages last month in the Oval Office.
“I don’t care if Trump gets all the credit as long as they come back home,” Biden told the families during the meeting, according to one of the family members in the room.
After securing a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah last week, Biden said
he would launch another effort to secure a similar deal in Gaza, by leaning on Turkey, Qatar and Egypt, which all have ties with Hamas, in order to coax the terror group into a deal.
The topic was slated to be discussed when a Hamas delegation held meetings in Cairo on Monday.
But White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that there was no update to offer regarding the efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Kirby said during a Monday press briefing that Hamas remains “the main stumbling block.”
Arab mediators have held a different assessment, viewing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the main obstacle, given his continued refusal to permanently end the war and withdraw all IDF forces from Gaza in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages.
Successive polls have suggested that the majority of the Israeli public is in favor of this trade-off, but Netanyahu is beholden to far-right coalition partners who have rejected it outright, as they seek to re-establish settlements in Gaza and permanently occupy the Strip.
Hardline critics of such a deal have argued that it would allow Hamas to regroup, while Israel’s security establishment has retorted that the IDF can return to Gaza if need be.
Kirby said Monday that Hamas should now feel isolated, following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, and that its leaders should agree to a deal to end the war.
Later Monday, Strategic Affairs Minister
Ron Dermer met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken raised the ongoing efforts to secure a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza in addition to pressing Israel to advance a viable plan for the post-war management of Gaza.
The U.S. has long expressed frustration with Netanyahu over the latter issue, since, for months, the premier refused to discuss the matter at all.
In November, Netanyahu said he had directed the IDF to come up with a plan for boxing out Hamas from the distribution of humanitarian aid, but Washington and Israel’s Arab allies have warned that this goal is impossible as long as Israel continues to refuse the involvement of a reformed Palestinian Authority, given that they do not see any other viable option in Gaza capable of filling any vacuum left by Hamas.
‘Words alone have no power to comfort’
The family of Omer Neutra, the American-Israeli hostage whose death was announced by Israel on Monday, said words alone would not bring them comfort and called on the leaders of Israel and the United States to act to bring home the remaining hostages.
“In the 423 days since Oct. 7, we expected our leaders to demonstrate the same courage displayed so bravely by Omer and rise to the occasion on behalf of those who were killed and kidnapped, just as our beloved Omer showed until the very end,” Omer’s parents
Ronen and Orna and brother Daniel said in a joint statement, expressing their gratitude for the support they have received around the world during their struggle.
“Sadly, time has run out to bring Omer home alive and words alone have no power to comfort. Leadership will only be revealed in actions and results going forward. We call upon the Israeli government to work with President Biden and President-elect Trump, to use all of their leverage and resources to return all 101 hostages — living and the deceased — to their families as soon as possible,” they added.
In his own statement responding to the news, Biden said was “devastated and outraged.”
“A Long Island native, Omer planned to return to the United States for college. He dreamed of dedicating himself to building peace,” the president said.
He recalled meeting Omer’s parents last month at the White House where they again shared their story. “They told me how Omer’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors and how their family’s strength and resilience has been carried through the generations,” Biden said.
“To all the families of those still held hostage: We see you. We are with you. And I will not stop working to bring your loved ones back home where they belong,” Biden pledged.
Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Keith Siegel are the last remaining American hostages believed to still be alive. The bodies of four other Americans — Neutra, Judith Weinstein, Gadi Haggai and Itay Chen — are still being held in Gaza. PJC
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and President Joe Biden (L) meet with families of American hostages at the White House, July 25, 2024. Photo by Amos Ben Gershom/GPO
Headlines
— Immigration Services and Connections — a multi-agency collaboration that connects immigrants with resources and provides navigation support or service coordination, depending on the level of support needed.
The Jewish nonprofit holds the contract with the county and passes along funding to several other organizations with which it works.
“If the county executive’s proposal doesn’t go through, we’ll see many of the agencies with whom we collaborate have to make some tough decisions,” Golin said.
through immigrants moving into the region. Without the ISAC program, he said, immigrants may not come or stay in Allegheny County, leading to long-term issues.
Golin is blunt about the impact of the potential cuts.
“We’re talking about the loss of basic support services for people who are literally dependent on those services in order for them to get by,” he said. “If childcare services are cut, that means parents need to cut their work hours in order to stay home with their kids, which means their financial situation is going to get worse. There’s a cascading effect of impact when a large number of human services are cut.”
In fact, he said, the problems won’t stop with potential staff layoffs. Rather, he pointed out that the region has been experiencing continual population decline. One of the ways that loss has been tempered is
Continued from page 7
Birnbaum said she’s excited both about the performance and the increased interest in Azure concerts.
“We’ve been really growing and expanding,” she said, pointing to last year’s schedule as proof. Along with 10 Azure concerts, Birnbaum oversaw several related programs at the Carnegie Libraries and multiple school-based assemblies.
“We’re doing more events than we’ve ever done before and we hope they continue growing and expanding,” she said.
Azure concerts are supported by Autism-Pittsburgh, a nearly 60-year-old organization that advocates for and works on behalf of Pittsburgh’s autism community.
Information regarding the size of Pittsburgh’s autism community is scant: The last statewide autism census occurred in 2014. Data from that time reported 4,894 individuals within Allegheny County with autism. The largest demographic, 47%, fell between the ages of 5-12. The census revealed that between 2005 and 2011, Allegheny County saw a 119% increase in the number of people with autism, a figure
Continued from page 4 Hamed:
Continued from page 8
And, he said, people are encouraged to share their personal and political opinions.
Arava, Abu Hamed noted, features a dialogue forum where students talk politics, culture, religion and family stories.
“Israeli Jewish students talk about their experience serving in the Israeli army. Palestinians share the experience of living in a Palestinian village, or as a refugee in a refugee camp,” he said.
The discussions, he said, aren’t easy, especially since they involve passionate
While The Branch’s Gale understands people’s anxiety about a higher tax hike — it’s estimated that Innmorato’s budget will raise taxes $15 a month on a house assessed at the county’s median value of $110,400, and council’s would impose a more modest $11 or $12 increase — she said that might prove
to be “penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
“Failing to raise this money could have a huge impact down the line,” she said. “You
consistent with national trends; across the country autism rates are increasing, especially among the young.
JAMA Open Network, published by American Medical Association, found rates of autism spectrum disorder rose between
young people. At the end of the day, he said, they might still disagree, but understanding is built.
Abu Hamed was in Pittsburgh last week with Rachel Kalikow, the chief executive officer of Friends of the Arava Institute, the nonprofit American arm of the Arava Institute, to meet with administration officials at the University of Pittsburgh.
The parties, he said, discussed ways of cooperation, student exchanges and joint research.
Kalikow said some semesters can include as many as 10 American students who might spend their junior year working with the Arava Institute.
2011 and 2022, “particularly among young adults, female children and adults, and children from some racial or ethnic minority groups.”
Increased ASD diagnoses among young adults “suggests that people may be going
“We have agreements with almost three dozen American universities, including Pitt, for student exchanges,” she said.
Those exchanges have become challenging due to the war between Israel and Hamas. In fact, the terrorist organization’s Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s response has made Arava’s work more difficult, Abu Hamed said.
“We see the impact of the war on cooperation, on joint publications, on new proposals,” he said. “People are stepping back. It’s not the way to go.”
Despite the work he has done to build relationships, several student groups at Pitt and outside agitators seem to be unaware of Arava’s work or its mission. Some of the
may not depend on those services, but your neighbor might. It’s very shortsighted to say we’ll cut them because we have to pay an extra $15 a month.”
Council was set to vote on its proposal at a Dec. 3 meeting.
Golin urged people to take action before then.
“People need to reach out to their County Council members and be an advocate before it’s too late,” he said.
The alternative, both Gale and Golin agree, could prove catastrophic.
“The thing to know is that the county provides vital services through a lot of organizations in the Jewish community and to have their work curtailed because county funding gets cut would be a real shame,” Gale said. “It would have a direct impact on the community.” PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Budget:
undiagnosed in childhood,” according to Autism Speaks, a national organization committed to autism-related research and advocacy. Surging local interest has led to more Azure concerts, but beyond greater frequency Birnbaum would like to see geographic growth.
Most Azure programming has occurred within Oakland or near Pittsburgh’s East End. Creating opportunities at different venues all around Greater Pittsburgh makes it easier for families to attend, she said.
That’s truly the goal — getting more families to attend, Birnbaum continued. “It’s important for the community at large to be a part of these concerts. It helps the community to gain more understanding and acceptance of differences.”
Azure concerts are driven by Jewish values, Birnbaum said. “Part of embracing differences at concerts is that it also translates into other spaces.” So whether it’s at a synagogue, the library or a concert hall, “the more exposure that people have to people with differences, the more inclusive the world will become.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
groups took to Instagram to protest Abu Hamed’s time on the campus, calling him a “normalizer of Zionism and with the Zionist organization.”
Abu Hamed said that in spite of these protests, he still believes in Arava’s mission.
“Dialogue through communication is not a weakness,” he said. “It’s how we build understanding. That’s how we build trust and that helps indirectly in negotiations. When I understand you, I estimate things you can give up on and you’ll do the same on my side.” PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
p Nancy Gale Photo courtesy of The Branch
p Attendees enjoy the "Festive Families" concert on Dec. 1. Photo courtesy of Azure Pittsburgh
Why I just subscribed to Haaretz
Guest Columnist Ely Karmon
Last week the Israeli government ordered a boycott of Haaretz by government officials and anyone working for a government-funded body, and banned government advertising with Israel’s longest-running newspaper. Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi proposed the resolution based on what he called the publication’s “defeatist and false propaganda” against the state of Israel during wartime. He alleges that some of Haaretz’s articles may even have “crossed the criminal threshold.”
The government’s longstanding antipathy toward Haaretz was translated into action after a speech by Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken in London, in which he said that the Netanyahu government “doesn’t care about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population. It dismisses the costs to both sides for defending the [West Bank] settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls terrorists.”
As a longtime researcher of terrorism, I was appalled by Schocken defining Hamas murderous terrorists as “freedom fighters.” I wasn’t alone. Schocken was criticized in his own newspaper by staff journalists who wrote they “unequivocally oppose the notion that terrorists, regardless of who they are, should be considered freedom fighters.” Leonid Nevzlin, one of the owners of Haaretz, wrote that Schocken’s statements were “appalling, unacceptable and inhumane,” saying they contradict “the values of the newspaper, my personal beliefs, and the principles of the overwhelming majority of journalists and the editorial team.”
Moreover, Schocken himself issued an apology: “I have reconsidered what I said. To be clear, Hamas are not freedom fighters. October 7 was a shocking event, and in an article in the newspaper I wrote that
the initiators and perpetrators should be severely punished.”
The Union of Journalists in Israel issued a statement stressing that the government’s decision was “intended to harm the freedom of expression of dozens of journalists at the newspaper, intended to sow fear and awe among journalists who do their jobs faith-
News and concerns about political interference in journalistic content. Journalists at Ch.13, joined by the Journalists’ Union, successfully fought off the appointment.
One is also left to ponder why the private cable TV channel i24 News recently started broadcasting in Hebrew 24/7, including Saturdays (when Channel 14, Netanyahu’s
Oiling the machinery of this hostile takeover of the media is a well-orchestrated and sometimes politically funded smear campaign against individual journalists and media outlets.
fully and serve a large readership.” Indeed, the decision to punish Haaretz is only the tip of the iceberg, one of a long series of moves to destroy press freedom in Israel.
Hours after the cabinet voted to boycott Haaretz, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation backed a bill mandating the privatization of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, which controls the public television and radio networks with extensive digital offerings as well. If the tender for the purchase of the IPBC is not met within two years, the decision effectively closes the public broadcaster. Three weeks ago, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation gave its backing to another bill granting the government increased control over the IPBC’s budget.
There’s yet a third piece of legislation aimed at granting the government oversight of television ratings data, which would allow the communications minister to assume control of the currently independent organization that supplies publishers with this information.
And earlier this year the media market was in turmoil following the unusual appointment of former politician Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich, a figure close to the Prime Minister, as CEO of Channel 13 TV
“house” channel, is off the air), while scaling back its English, French and Arabic broadcasts, which so effectively present the Israeli perspective in the international arena.
Oiling the machinery of this hostile takeover of the media is a well-orchestrated and sometimes politically funded smear campaign against individual journalists and media outlets.
Erdogan’s authoritarian playbook
This multipronged assault on the media is not unique to Israel. It takes a page from the authoritarian playbook wherever anti-democratic regimes seek to consolidate power. Turkey, my area of expertise, is a case in point. When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came into power in 2002, he and his Justice and Development Party set about creating a financial system that seized media companies struggling to repay their debts to the state, and ultimately allocated these outlets to private sector companies allied with the government. Today, more than 85% of Turkey’s private sector national media is controlled by companies that support the government or are bound to it by shared strategic interests.
Erdoğan’s grip on the media includes control over the state TV and radio broadcaster
TRT and the National Broadcasting Council, which contributed to his third presidential election victory in May 2023. Journalists and media outlets face judicial harassment that prevents coverage of the state’s authoritarianism, corruption, political cronyism, and Kurdish issues, and keeps the lid on stories that could embarrass the government and its allies. Of the 131 journalists detained since Erdoğan became president in 2014, at least 40 have been convicted. Turkey has become one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists.
Media personnel regularly face charges under the country’s terrorism law, such as spreading “propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “exposing a counter-terrorist official to the threat of terrorist organizations.”
The Erdoğan administration has also censored social media platforms. Instagram, for instance, was rendered inaccessible in August on the pretext of “catalog offenses” such as child abuse and drug use, but the ban was imposed after Instagram restricted access to Erdoğan’s condolence messages for the death of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Fortunately, Israel is not yet in Turkey’s dire situation, but if uncontrolled and unrestrained, its government’s policies in the media arena could transform Israel into an authoritarian regime, especially when combined with the challenge to the gatekeepers – the judicial system, the police and the Security Services.
To be sure, I often find myself in profound disagreement with Haaretz, but that is beside the point. The government’s decision against Haaretz is a disgraceful attack on the robust media environment we need here. I have taken out a subscription in solidarity with all journalists and media who defend the principles of freedom and true democracy. PJC
Ely Karmon is a senior researcher at The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism and a lecturer at the Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel. This article first appeared on The Times of Israel.
The dangers of divisive labels: Why Democrats must recenter an inclusive vision
reshared by the Pittsburgh chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace recently caught my attention. The graphic labeled Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard as “Hindu supremacists.” This term isn’t just inflammatory — it’s a dangerous tool of
bigotry, targeting an entire faith. It assigns collective guilt to a community based solely on religious identity.
Incidents like this highlight a troubling trend within a certain faction of the Democratic Party: a readiness to apply sweeping, incendiary labels in the name of combating hate, with little regard for the harm it causes to our own coalition.
As a proud Democrat and practicing Hindu, I know firsthand the power of building bridges between communities. I’ve spent my career forging coalitions around shared goals — economic growth, reproductive rights and environmental sustainability. Yet these efforts are increasingly under threat from hateful rhetoric
that alienates longtime allies committed to justice and equity. The rise of harmful labels targeting religious or cultural communities undercuts the very ideals we aim to champion in the Democratic Party. This divisive rhetoric risks fracturing the diverse coalition that delivered historic victories for leaders like President Barack Obama.
The Democratic Party’s greatest strength has always been its diversity — not only racial and cultural, but in thought. It’s a party where union workers, environmentalists, religious minorities and progressives can find common ground. However, this unity is being undermined by a subset of voices that prioritize ideological purity over pragmatic coalition-building.
These voices increasingly dominate conversations, pushing rigid litmus tests that alienate Democrats and potential allies. They seem to believe that uncompromising rhetoric is a sign of moral clarity. In reality, it often leaves little room for nuance or dialogue. This dynamic weakens the party’s ability to address the complex challenges facing our communities and pushes away people who share the same broader goals.
The labeling of Hindus as “supremacists” based on the actions or political stances of a few individuals is not an act of justice. It is an act of erasure. It dismisses
Opinion
Chronicle poll results: Shopping on Black Friday
Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Will you, or did you, shop on Black Friday?” Of the 187 people who responded, 63% said “No”; 21% said “Yes, on the internet”; 9% said “Yes, both in person at a store and online”; and 7% said “Yes, in person at a brick-and-mortar store.” Comments were submitted by 37 people. A few follow.
I love to be out with all the people on Black Friday. But, alas, I have no money to shop or car to get me there. I tried to complete all my Hanukkah shopping prior to the day. All I need now is gelt.
I will be going to at least one store on Black Friday: Giant Eagle, which has some great one-day buys that were featured in a mailing I received this week.
Continued from page 12
the complexities of a community and reduces individuals to a dangerous stereotype. Worse, it contributes to an environment where hate and violence against Hindus, already on the rise, can flourish.
The coalition that fueled Obama’s success was a model of inclusivity and strategic unity. It was built on shared values, not rigid ideological conformity. Maintaining that coalition requires discipline, empathy and a commitment to respecting diverse viewpoints.
As Democrats, when we fail to push back against harmful rhetoric within our own ranks, we send a dangerous message: that some communities matter less than others, that their voices and concerns are secondary to ideological purity. By allowing divisive and exclusionary language to go unchallenged, we risk losing the very groups who have long been key to our coalition. This
Will you, or did you, shop on Black Friday?
You can get the same deals on other days when the crowds are not so big.
is not only a moral failure but a strategic misstep. Longtime Democrats, especially from immigrant and religious minority communities, are growing disillusioned —
I did some “early” Black Friday shopping earlier this month. Lots of stores start doing promos beforehand. The trick — for some stores — is to hold out to Cyber Monday because that’s when the best deals really are.
Just another day. If I need anything, I’ll buy it. If not, I won’t.
If by Black Friday shopping you mean sitting in a food coma in front of the TV after overdoing it with family the entire day before, then yes!
I went once years ago; it’s not worth dealing with the crowds.
I find the entire Black Friday thing weird and slightly pathological.
No. I’d rather spend my money giving to
weakens our ability to build lasting majorities and win critical elections.
In cities like Pittsburgh and across the country, working-class Hindus have long
The path forward is clear: Democrats must recommit to the principles that made the party a beacon of hope for so many.
not because they’ve abandoned progressive values, but because they feel abandoned by a party that seems increasingly indifferent to their concerns. As these communities are sidelined, we lose not only their votes but their trust and their commitment to the broader mission of equality. This fracture
J Street is a ‘reasonable middle ground’
It was refreshing to hear J Street’s Nadav Tamir give voice to sentiments widespread among American Jews yet too often ostracized by mainstream organizations (“‘American support is not a blank check’: An interview with J Street Israel’s Executive Director Nadav Tamir,” Nov. 29).
Among young Jews like myself, who feel alienated both by groups like Jewish Voice for Peace that have trivialized violence against Israeli civilians, and also by the corrupt, far-right Israeli government, it is common sense to support this reasonable middle ground.
Jonah Berger Squirrel Hill
A reminder to university faculties
Free speech is a privilege and a forum to express one’s opinion, but it is not an endorsement for inciting violence against one particular group of people and dissenters (“Pitt equity, inclusion committee votes in special meeting,” Nov. 22).
Free speech is a reminder to the faculty of universities to teach students how to think, but not promote their own biases and political preferences. During World War II, the intelligentsia of German universities espoused the evil aims of the Nazi regime’s final solution, murderous annihilation of millions of Jewish people. Integrity seems to have disappeared today from civilization. So, who can you trust? The critical minds of simple, good people, respectful of values of tolerance and good will for all.
Solange Lebovitz Pittsburgh
charities on the upcoming Giving Tuesday. I prefer to shop in person and on less busy days.
I shopped on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and got “Black Friday” sales.
Of course — the Kindle books on Amazon are on sale! Who wouldn’t?
At my age, I need nothing but good health. PJC
— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick
Chronicle weekly poll question:
Do you think that Hamas will agree to a deal releasing the hostages before President Biden leaves office? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle. org to respond. PJC
recognized or respected.
The path forward is clear: Democrats must recommit to the principles that made the party a beacon of hope for so many. This means rejecting divisive labels and focusing on policy solutions that unite rather than divide. Critiquing harmful ideologies is essential, but it must be rooted in facts — not broad stereotypes. Conflating a person’s religion with their political views is not only wrong but dangerous. It creates a chilling effect that discourages participation and fosters division.
supported a progressive agenda. They care deeply about issues like healthcare, education and climate change. Yet many are now reconsidering their political engagement. The reason is not a shift in values but a sense that their contributions and identities are no longer
If Democrats want to build lasting majorities and enact meaningful change, we must embrace the full diversity of our coalition. That includes saying no to those within the party who push for ideological purity at the expense of broader unity. PJC
Bhavini Patel is an Edgewood Borough councilmember and former PA congressional candidate.
Pitt’s med school should stand against antisemitism
Thank you for publishing the story “Jewish students at Pitt’s School of Medicine face anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric” (Nov. 29). As an alum of the University of Pittsburgh’s medical school, class of 1978, I am appalled. The rhetoric described in the article goes beyond free speech. It is ugly antisemitism and nothing short of that.
My education taught me to treat all people, irrespective of their color, their race or their religion. People are people. The fact that someone would publicly state that supporting Israel means one can’t be a physician is beyond belief.
I am currently retired and living in Israel. Clearly, I have a different point of view. I am hoping that the medical school and the University of Pittsburgh take a stronger stance against antisemitism, which of course includes anti-Zionism. There is no place for a keffiyeh at a pinning ceremony.
I also think support for Pitt’s medical school will change if such behavior continues. Deborah Rotenstein, MD Jerusalem
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. Send letters to:
letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org or Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence, we cannot reply to every letter.
Life & Culture
Tomato basil bisque
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 29-ounce can of tomato sauce
By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle
Most Sundays I make a fresh pot of soup to keep on hand for lunch and dinner during the week. My tomato bisque soup is simple to make, using canned tomatoes to keep the prep work to a minimum.
This is not the tomato soup you grew up with. I love the extra flavor in the canned fire roasted tomatoes, whose blackened bits add color to the soup. This is full of fresh basil and herbs and has a bright, refreshing flavor.
I’m not sure whether I like this recipe better pareve or with added cream. I typically lean toward dairy, but this is so flavorful and hearty in its vegan form that it’s hard to choose.
This bisque is especially yummy served with seasoned flatbread, garlic toast or fresh bread with butter, and my family loves to have this alongside grilled cheese.
Ingredients
Serves 6, generously
4 tablespoons olive oil
Half a large yellow onion, diced, about 1 ¾ cups
Water, see instructions
3 teaspoons sugar
1 bay leaf
¼ cup loosely packed fresh whole basil leaves
½ teaspoon fresh thyme or a pinch of dry
1 teaspoon sea salt
¾ teaspoon of Aleppo pepper or paprika
Optional:
1 tablespoon heavy cream per bowl of soup, served at the table
The most time-consuming step is sautéing the onions in olive oil, which takes about 15 minutes, but it’s important for the flavor that the onions cook slowly and evenly.
Place a larger-sized soup pot over mediumlow heat to warm for a couple of minutes before adding the olive oil to the pot. Allow the oil to warm for 2 minutes, then add the diced onions. Stir the onions into the oil; stir every 2-3 minutes until the onions soften. Watch the heat on the onions and turn it up or down as needed to avoid the onions burning on the edges.
Add the garlic and stir constantly for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Pour the entire can of fire roasted tomatoes into the onions and oil, mix well and raise the heat to medium. Set the empty can aside for later.
Add the bay leaf, fresh basil leaves, thyme, sea salt and pepper. You can use black pepper if you prefer, but I love the light smokiness of red peppers. Stir in the herbs and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the can of tomato sauce to the pot. Fill each of the tomato cans ¾ full with water. This will get all of the tomato bits out of the can, which will contribute to the broth. Pour the water into the soup, raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a soft boil.
Add 3 teaspoons of sugar. (It’s folklore but I swear by it: A little sugar in any tomatobased recipe will reduce indigestion.)
Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook uncovered for 25-30 minutes.
This comes together easily so it may look done about 15 minutes into this step, but it’s important to allow it to cook fully so there is
depth of flavor. Vegan and vegetarian food can be made from very simple ingredients, but they need time and care to bring out the best flavors.
Remove the bay leaf from the pot.
Using an immersion blender, or a large blender that can handle hot liquids, puree out the small chunks of tomato and onion in the broth. Even after blending this won’t be perfectly smooth; it has a great texture with some occasional vegetable bits.
If you’d like to make this dairy, add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream per bowl at the table. The heavy cream softens the acidity a bit without watering down the broth. The cream will melt into the soup as you stir it.
Garnish with fresh basil leaves if you like.
Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC
Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.
p Tomato basil bisque
Photo by Jessica Grann
Life & Culture
A forgotten immigrant: Rabbi’s inquiry sheds light on 1891 Mammoth Mine explosion
By Oran Zweiter | Special to the Chronicle
As a new resident of Pittsburgh and a historian operating at the crossroads of Jewish law and American history, I was intrigued to come across a rabbinic responsum related to a major, and tragic, event that occurred in the Pittsburgh area in the late 19th century. This responsum is a perfect example of how rabbinic documents can serve as important sources for t he history of Jewish communities and individuals, and in this case, teach us about a little known chapter of the history of Jews in western Pennsylvania.
On Jan. 27, 1891, a terrible explosion occurred at the Mammoth Mine Number One, owned by the H.C. Frick Coke company in nearby Scottdale, Pennsylvania (approximately 32 miles from Pittsburgh). The Pittsburgh Post described the explosion as the “worst mining disaster that ever occurred in the United States,” killing more than 100 people, and in a different story identified the victims as nearly all being immigrants (sadly, worse mining disasters have occurred since). There were no local Jewish newspapers at the time, and I have not found any mention of the event in any of the national ones that would provide details about any Jewish victims. The list of names on the memorial plaque at the site contains a few names that could be referring to Jews, but no further information is available. One lesser known source, however, d oes directly relate to a Jewish victim of the tragedy.
Soon after the disaster, Rabbi Mordechai Leib Winkler of Mad, a town in eastern Hungary, received a halachic (Jewish legal) inquiry. Rabbi Winkler was asked whether or not the widow of one Avraham Yuda Krebs, who was believed to have been killed in the Mammoth Mine disaster, was permitted to remarry. We do not have any biographical information about Krebs; however, the responsum may allude to his place of origin. The person who inquired about Krebs’s wife to Rabbi Winkler also was a rabbi, in the town of Berebesti, Romania, and previously
ongoing legal attachment to her husband. In the case of the Mammoth Mine, it seems it was known that Avraham Yuda Krebs was an employee there on the day of the explosion, but there was no identification of his body.
In his evaluation of the case, Rabbi Winkler acknowledged all the circumstances, including the severity of the explosion. Due to this, he dismissed the possibility that Krebs escaped and remained alive without notifying anyone, which would have meant that he and his wife were still married and she could not marry anyone else. In addition, Rabbi Winkler invoked the aforementioned Jewish legal tradition of relying upon circumstantial evidence to determine the death of the husband. In this case, the circumstantial evidence dictated that since it was known that Krebs was an employee at the mine, and that no survivors were found, he must have been among the victims of the explosion. Rabbi Winkler declared it acceptable to assume that Krebs died and that his wife was free to remarry, providing a thin sheet of silver lining to an otherwise terrible situation.
served as a rabbi in Ricse, Hungary. Both of these towns are in the vicinity of Mad, the town of Rabbi Winkler, the ultimate recipient of the inquiry. The fact that both rabbis involved in the case resided in the same general vicinity implies that they had a geographical connection with Krebs, who presumably came from the same region in Hungary-Romania. Rabbi Winkler, a highly regarded halachic legal decisor from the same region as the victim, was called upon to rule on whether Krebs could be assumed
to have died in the disaster, and therefore
Jewish law generally requires firm evidence that a woman’s husband is deceased before she can remarry. In cases of situational uncertainty, however, such as a husband lost at sea or at war, Jewish legal tradition generally relies upon standards of evidence that normally would not be accepted. The purpose of this is to prevent the wife from becoming an “ agunah ,” a woman who may not remarry due to her
The tragedy of the Mammoth Mine explosion was covered extensively in the general press, with newspapers across the country reporting on the disaster. The fact that most of the victims were immigrants would not of itself suggest that there was any particular Jewish connection to the event. Furthermore, the absence of any specific materials produced by the small, developing Jewish community of Pittsburgh would have led us to pass over this intriguing, albeit tragic, event. However, the story of a forgotten immigrant and his family’s concern with Jewish law helped produce a window into an otherwise unknown chapter of American Jewish history. PJC
Rabbi Oran Zweiter is the head of the Jewish History and Tanach departments at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. He is also a doctoral candidate in American Jewish History at Yeshiva University. He can be reached at zweiter@gmail.com. Eric Lidji of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center assisted with this piece by providing some sources.
Life & Culture
Jonathan Shapiro’s ‘Secret Forest’ exhibit taps partisan life for modern purpose
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer
In sculptor Jonathan Shapiro’s ninepiece show, debuting at Rodef Shalom Congregation on Dec. 16, his works, ranging in size from 15 inches to almost 8 feet, recall the stories of Jewish partisans: members of resistance groups who battled Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.
Shapiro’s idea for “Secret Forest” was spurred by Miriam Brysk’s “Amidst the Shadows of Trees: A Holocaust Child’s Survival in the Partisans.” After reading about Brysk’s survival in the forest as an 8-year-old gun-toting child, Shapiro ventured down the rabbit hole of related literature.
“I continued to research stories of the partisans,” he said.
Accruing knowledge prompted action, and for six months Shapiro sculpted inspired pieces. His pieces in “Secret Forest” are both a nod to history and a call to now.
“We have to be the partisans,” he said. “I’m trying to make sure that there are other partisans out there.”
During a conversation with the Chronicle, Shapiro oscillated between fear and empowerment.
“The current climate is nerve-wracking,” he said.
Rising antisemitism and xenophobia cannot be understood devoid of history, he said. “Secret Forest” beckons viewers to recall earlier periods while standing in the present. Doing so, Shapiro said, provokes a struggle between the works’ weight and time.
“Be aware that this happened, that there were people fighting,” he said.
Between 1942-1944, as many as 20,000 Jews battled German forces in the forests of eastern Europe. Several Jewish fighters escaped ghettos and camps, but life amid the trees wasn’t easy. Apart from evading detection and locating food, shelter was scarce. Partisans tried to survive the winter by building huts from logs and branches, according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, a project of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Through crafted wood and accompanying QR codes, Shapiro’s pieces depict aspects of the partisan story. One sculpture recalls living conditions. Another piece refers to Frank Blaichman,
a Jewish partisan who cycled between farms and towns in occupied Poland, acquiring and selling black market goods to support his family and community while resisting Nazi occupation.
The partisans expressed a “renegade spirit” that must be followed today, Shapiro said. “I got to share the history and pass the history forward to new people who don’t know the history.”
Shapiro’s efforts arrive amid a dearth of Holocaust knowledge.
Fewer than half of Americans (45%) know that approximately 6 million Jews were killed in the Shoah. And, only 45% of respondents know that Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany through a democratic political process, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.
The Claims Conference revealed similar societal ignorance in a study finding that nearly half of Americans (45%) cannot name even one of the more than 40,000 concentration camps
and ghettos that existed in Europe during the Holocaust.
Shapiro knows that offering free Holocaust education through art is ambitious, but “people take things in in different ways,” he said.
The artist’s endeavors aren’t new. For years, he’s juxtaposed history and emotion in natural forms. Years after crafting “Given to Nature,” a 15-foot wooden carving in the Fairmont hotel’s lobby, Shapiro dedicated a 2022 show at ZYNKA Gallery in Sharpsburg to shining light on antisemitism.
Since that exhibition, “it has not gotten better, it’s only gotten worse,” Shapiro said. “The volume has only gone up.”
Mayda Roth, Rodef Shalom’s director of development, said the exhibition has a communicative quality.
“Secret Forest” is similar to Shapiro’s previous collections in that the wood is adeptly
“transformed into something that speaks to the people,” she said. “We hope people will learn from these pieces, and be inspired to learn more about the efforts of the partisans in WWII.” Shapiro agreed that his newest creations employ a familiar voice, but said the sense of threat has exacerbated.
“I’m hearing words like ‘mass deportation.’ There was just a literal Jew hunt in Amsterdam. There’s Nazi stickers being put up on Forbes Avenue and in Squirrel Hill,” Shapiro said. Being a partisan requires having a “fighting spirit, a spirit that never gives up, a spirit that keeps on going through tribulation — no matter what — that maintains some level of hope and a willingness to persevere through the s---, because that’s where we are right now.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
“Shelter" by Jonathan Shapiro
Photo by Huggybear media “Bicycle” by Jonathan Shapiro
Photo by Huggybear media
CEO Howard Swimmer, Medical Director Dr. Caroline Simard Swimmer, DVM, Dixie Ray and Mabel Z
Life & Culture
Righteous Among the Neighbors: Bill Peduto
By Alyson Lushko | Mt. Lebanon High School
Righteous Among the Neighbors is a project of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh that honors non-Jewish Pittsburghers who support the Jewish community and take action to uproot antisemitism. In partnership with the LIGHT Education Initiative and Mt. Lebanon High School, student journalists interview honorees and write profiles about their efforts.
This year’s Righteous Among the Neighbors honorees are Dr. Joshua Andy, Terri Baltimore, Arlene and Jeff Berg, Josiah Gilliam, Bill and Mardi Isler, James Lucot, Bill Peduto, Lynne Ravas, and Selina Shultz. To learn more, visit hcofpgh.org/righteous-among-the-neighbors.
On the fateful day of Oct. 27, 2018, shots were fired in the Tree of Life building, home to three synagogues in Squirrel Hill.
Bill Peduto, Pittsburgh’s mayor at the time, recalled that tragic day as one of the “most horrific acts of antisemitism in American history.”
Eleven people were murdered, and several seriously injured, including first responders.
Due to his honorable actions as mayor during the attack, Peduto is a recipient of the Righteous Among The Neighbors award given by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Righteous Among The Neighbors recognizes the work of non-Jews who show allyship toward the Jewish community.
On the morning of the attack, Peduto had some time off and was catching up on sleep when he received a phone call from his chief of staff, Dan Gilman. When a second call came moments later, he knew something was terribly wrong.
“The words he said to me were ‘active shooter at the Tree of Life, multiple casualties, officers down,’ and it hit me very hard,” Peduto said. “I just said to him, ‘Can I call you back in one minute?’ and I put the phone down and I prayed. We arrived at the synagogue before SWAT. We were there with
Peduto recalled public safety officers arriving at the scene from all over Pittsburgh and watching as they took control of the shooter. Once the scene was secured, Peduto knew the next step was helping the families receive the information they needed and strengthening the community.
“I lived right by Tree of Life, and so it had a profound effect upon me personally,” he said. “ I knew a lot of the families that lost loved ones.”
The days that followed were sleepless for Peduto as he provided aid in every way that he could.
“The immediate actions that occurred were going to the JCC and meeting with the leaders of the Jewish Federation [of Greater Pittsburgh] and then going downstairs where family members were waiting for news,” Peduto said. “Then going to the hospitals to visit the people who were wounded, and that evening going to the homes of the people
Peduto knows he will never recover from the impacts of the attack, even though six years have passed since that day.
“I don’t think I have and I don’t think I will,” he said. “I think there is a certain level of PTSD that occurs with anybody that is in a leadership position. You balance it by knowing how much more the families and community have suffered, but you don’t lose that feeling of loss.”
Peduto’s passion for helping the Jewish community recover from this horrific act of antisemitism has inspired him to continue on a path to prevent the spread of hate.
“What I have decided to do is dedicate the next chapter of my life in addressing hate extremism and polarization through a group called the Strong Cities Network,” Peduto said.
The Strong Cities Network is an organization of more than 240 cities dedicated to government-led prevention of hate. In
August, 78 leaders from across the United States met in Pittsburgh where the formation of the organization’s North America Regional Hub was announced. Each city that joins will engage a small group of local staff in that region to offer support and respond to specific city needs. This organization differs from others of its kind because in addition to targeting the prevention of hate, it encourages wellbeing and resilience in a community.
Peduto feels confident that Pittsburgh’s Jewish community will continue to grow in strength as people come together in the face of tragedy and rise above it.
Ultimately his goal is that, regardless of one’s religious community, we will “be able to see that being a part of that interfaith dialogue helps us to recognize how we are more alike than different.” PJC
Alyson Lushko is a junior at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Thousands of Chabad rabbis pose for ‘massive display of Jewish pride’
By JNS
The thousands of Chabad rabbis who posed for a group photograph on Sunday during the international conference of shluchim (“emissaries”) in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, created an image that “is not only a massive display of Jewish pride” but “also sends a message of resilience, confidence and strength to Jewish communities around the globe,” Chabad stated.
“It’s a high-energy moment that will
certainly have somber notes this year and an opportunity to sense the global
impact of Chabad-Lubavitch’s work,” the movement added.
It noted the absence of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad emissary in the United Arab Emirates, who was recently murdered.
“After a year of tremendous challenges, this conference unites the leaders who stand on the frontlines of the global Jewish community,” stated Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, who replaced his late father, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, as director of the conference.
“From the war zones of Ukraine and Israel to rising antisemitism worldwide, shluchim bring unwavering support and hope to every individual, ensuring no one is left behind,” he added. “This weekend renews their strength and mission to serve with even greater impact.” PJC
p Former Mayor Bill Peduto
Photo by Brian Cohen
p Thousands of rabbis gathered in New York at the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries pose for a group photo in front of Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn on Dec. 1, 2024. Photo by Shmulie Grossbaum/Chabad.org
Celebrations
Bar Mitzvah
Logan Stanley Magrish of Adat Shalom Congregation, son of Heidi and Dan Magrish, will become a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. His proud grandparents are Bari and Steven Blumhof, and Joy Moravitz and the
Torah
A light unto the nations
TWedding Announcement
Janice and Nathan Bahary joyfully announce the marriage of their daughter Sigalle to Eytan on Nov. 3, 2024, at the Pearl River Hilton in Pearl River, New York. The father of the groom, Rabbi Jonah Layman, officiated. Sigalle’s grandparents are Muriel and Arthur Lorring, the late Herbert Perlin, and the late Suzette and Heskel Bahary. Eytan is the son of Lenore and Rabbi Jonah Layman of Olney, Maryland. Eytan’s grandparents are Ruth and Rabbi Robert Layman, Estelle Leibowitz and the late Ephraim Leibowitz. Sigalle and Eytan met while both attending the University of Maryland, from which they graduated. Sigalle is an analyst for Giant Eagle and Eytan is an education program administrator for the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. PJC
and delicatessen
5885 Forbes Avenue • Squirrel Hill, PA 15217 phone #: 412-521-8100
Stop in for some Ruggalah, Hanukkah cookies, potato pancakes, matzo ball soup, brisket, and more!
Happy Hanukkah
Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld
Parshat Vayeitzei
Genesis 28:10 – 32:3
he Torah portion of Vayeitzei tells us the story of Yaakov, the third of our forefathers. While his birth and early life are discussed in the previous portion, we now learn of his life after leaving his father’s home. It is here where we find Yaakov forging his own unique identity and approach to serving G-d.
The first words of this portion, “and Jacob went out of Be’er Sheva,” allude to one way in which Yaakov differed from his father and grandfather. Beer Sheva was named for the oath (shevuah) of non-aggression which Yitzchak (and Avraham before him) made
way that Avraham and Yaakov respectively dealt with Lavan. When Avraham witnessed Lavan’s dishonest practices, he did not seek to influence him to change his ways. Instead he suggested that they each go their separate ways: “If you go right, I will go left….” Yaakov on the other hand traveled to Charan, the place that represented the depths of Lavan’s depravity. He married into Lavan’s family and worked for him for two decades. While Lavan never changed his ways, Yaakov succeeded in reinforcing the power of light and goodness, specifically through his engagement with Lavan. It was that time spent in Lavan’s house that allowed Yaakov to build a family and attain great wealth.
Avraham and Yitzchak engaged with the forces of evil only as much as necessary to prevent them from causing harm. Yaakov
True and enduring peace does not come from building walls between ourselves and those who seem to seek to do us harm.
with Avimelech, the king who ruled the land at that time. The Midrash explains that one reason for Yaakov’s departure was to avoid having to make a similar oath.
Yaakov’s avoidance of this oath, which his father and grandfather were happy to make, was an expression of his unique approach to engaging with forces of negativity.
Both Avraham and Yitzchak engaged with the world they lived in, but only to the extent necessary to ensure that it did not interfere with their Divine service. They did not seek to influence the powers around them, except to ensure that their Divine service would not be disrupted. They were therefore satisfied with a treaty that guaranteed Avimelech would not harm them, even though it meant committing to not attempt to influence him and his people.
worked to transform those places of darkness into sources of light.
Just two weeks ago, the Jewish world reacted with shock and pain at the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Hashem Yinkom Damo, one of the Chabad shluchim to the United Arab Emirates. Much has been said about Zvi’s dedication and self-sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish people living in that land. Zvi was there because he knew that there were Jews who needed his help to engage with their Judaism. But beyond that, his presence there was a declaration that the light of Judaism must be brought to every part of the world. True and enduring peace does not come from building walls between ourselves and those who seem to seek to do us harm. As descendants of Yaakov we must go to every place and share with them the values of light, love and life that G-d gifted us in the Torah. PJC
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Yaakov on the other hand, engaged with the forces of opposition with the intent of transforming them. He was not satisfied with being left alone, and instead sought to be a light onto the nations. Yaakov saw each challenge as an opportunity for growth and was not willing to cede any ground.
This distinction is also evident in the
Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld is the rabbi at the Lubavitch Center and the executive director of Chabad of Western Pennsylvania. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.
Janice
Obituaries
ABROMSON: Myra Abromson, late of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, died Nov. 27, 2024, survived by husband, Nathan F. Abromson, Esq., daughter Amy Lynn Kaminsky and son Henry Abromson, Esq. She was born and raised in Connellsville, graduated from University of Cincinnati and taught in Pittsburgh while her husband attended law school. Thereafter, she accomplished her life’s goal of raising their children to embrace and practice their Jewish heritage and to perpetuate it. Myra was also a respected leader in a number of local organizations. She was 76 years old.
COHEN: Dr. Peter Z. Cohen, MD, passed away peacefully at his home at the age of 86. He is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Jane Kaufman Cohen. He was the adored father of Lee Cohen and Jodi and Alan Klein, and the cherished Poppy of grandchildren Andrew Klein and Rebecca and Michael Segal, and of great-grandchildren Madeline, Benjamin and Roman Segal. Dr. Cohen retired at the age of 83 as a revered member of the Pittsburgh orthopaedic community. A talented, dedicated surgeon and gifted teacher, he was a professor at the University of Pittsburgh for over 50 years, where he was given the coveted Golden Apple Award by the orthopaedic residents. Thanks to his winning spirit as a leader and his camaraderie with his colleagues, e was appointed to serve as Pitt Orthopaedic Alumni Chairman for more than two decades. Dr. Cohen graduated from Pitt undergrad in 1959 and Pitt Medical School in 1963 before completing his orthopaedic residency under Dr. Albert Ferguson at Pitt in 1968. After his stint in the military as a major and the chief of orthopaedics at DeWitt Army Hospital at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, Dr. Cohen returned to Pittsburgh. He was appointed chief of orthopaedics at Montefiore Hospital where he served for 25 years and was elected to two terms as medical staff president. Renowned for his work in geriatric orthopaedics, Dr. Cohen’s many accomplishments included being honored by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as one of the Twelve Most Influential Persons In Medicine in Pittsburgh for 2002, and serving as the founding director of Senior Sports and Fitness at UPMC and as co-director with Dr. Freddie Fu of the 2005 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, an event which was covered by television and newspaper media across the country. Toward the end of his career, Dr. Cohen was appointed chief of orthopaedics at the Oakland VA Medical Center, where he continued to train Pitt orthopaedic residents. Dr. Cohen’s other activities over the years included chief of orthopaedics at West Penn Hospital, member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Committee on Aging, other national and local committees, grant approved research projects, publications in peer reviewed journals and international presentations. Private graveside services held at Homewood Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. The family requests that donations in Dr. Cohen’s memory be made to the charity of
CROOP: Ruth Croop, age 92, of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, passed away on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Dec. 1, 1931, she moved to Pittsburgh when she married her beloved husband, the late Martin N. Croop, on Aug. 22, 1957, after a whirlwind courtship after meeting on vacation in the Poconos. Loving mother of Jan (Cliff) Spungen, proud Grammy of Leah (John) Herbst, and adoring Great-Grammy of Elliot and Maya Herbst, all of Mt. Lebanon, and caring aunt of many nieces and nephews. Ruth enjoyed being from Brooklyn during the heyday of the Dodgers, and never lost her accent. Upon moving to Pittsburgh, she quickly became a passionate Pittsburgh sports fan, especially of the Steelers. She loved reading, taking long walks and playing mahjong and many card games. With her devoted husband, Marty, she first traveled all around the country and then around the world. She was always excited to plan her next trip, and continued to travel with her daughter, Jan, following Marty’s death in 2008. Ruth and Marty always enjoyed their Saturday date nights, with meals ending with large chocolate desserts. Ruth’s best friend was her dear sister-in-law who shared the same name, Ruth Croop. They spoke on the phone every single day and spent every Thanksgiving together. At her passing she was a resident of Concordia of Bridgeville (formerly Country Meadows), where she received love and compassionate care during her too brief stay. Special thanks to Jen Little, David Herrle, and the entire staff of the Memory Unit for going above and beyond in their care of Ruthie. Services were held at William Slater II Funeral Service. Burial at Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Beth El Section. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions may be made to Beth El Congregation of the South Hills, 1900 Cochran Rd. Pgh, PA 15220, or to the Alzheimer’s Association.
by many loving cousins, nephews, nieces and friends, all with whom he maintained a lifetime of close relationship, and his former wife, Susan Nydes-Bailey, and most beloved friend, Sherry Shadrach and her daughters, Sheana Shadrach Kurtz and Amanda Shadrach Griffin. Larry’s deep love, time and attention for his family and friends knew no bounds. Lawrence Bruce Nydes was born March 19, 1947, and raised in Pittsburgh’s Stanton Heights neighborhood, attending the Sunnyside School, proudly bar mitzvahed at B’nai Israel Synagogue and graduated from Peabody High School (‘65). Larry attended the University of Pittsburgh and earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and honors history and graduated in the top 5% of his class (‘69). He was also a William Fulbright and Woodrow Wilson Fellowship nominee. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, J.D (‘72) in the top third of his class and eventually received an MBA from Duquesne University (‘92). Throughout his accomplished legal career he served primarily as a corporate attorney within the oil and natural gas industry in western Pennsylvania at Equitable Resources, Inc. (senior corporate counsel 25-plus years), Penneco Oil Co. (vice president and general counsel) and Texas Keystone Inc. (legal counsel). Larry spent time with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection (deputy attorney general), and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (university legal counsel). For over 50 years, Larry was an active member with the Allegheny County Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, as well as the American Bar Association, West Virginia Bar Association, American Gas Association, Pennsylvania Gas Association, Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania and West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, and the National Coalition from Competitive Electric Energy Market. He was skilled and experienced in trial work and oral argument before state and federal appellate courts. Larry proudly and honorably served in the U.S. Naval Reserves for over 20 years and was activated in Operation Desert Storm serving as
Estate of Shirley Sacks a/k/a Shirley P. Sacks, late of the City of Pittsburgh No. 02-2405029. Joel Pfeffer, Esquire, Executor 535 Smithfield Street, Suite 1300 Pittsburgh, PA 15222; or to Joel Pfeffer, Esquire c/o Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP 535 Smithfield Street, Suite 1300, Pittsburgh PA 15222
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Edward M Goldston Fruma Chaya Leebov
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Sunday December 8: 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
Monday December 9: Joseph Bardin, Ida G Barniker, Emma Eligator, Nathan Granoff, Abe Herman, David Kaufman, David Klein, Fruma Chaya Leebov, Rachel Levy, Rose Rosenberg, Lucy Sachnoff
LEVY: Charilee Alexander Levy, on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Beloved wife of the late Reinhardt Levy, M.D. Loving mother of Allison Levy and Jon A. (Tracy Prizant, M.D.) Levy, M.D. Sister of the late William (late Shirley) Alexander. Grandma of Alex (Nathan Bennett) Levy, Josh and Lauren Levy. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Charilee enjoyed cooking, baking, garden club and flower arranging. Her greatest joy was her family. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to The Friendship Circle, Pittsburgh, 1922 Murray Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217.
NYDES: Lawrence B. Nydes, age 77, of Mt. Lebanon, passed away with the comfort of his family around him on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. Loving father of Judd Nydes (Stephanie Nydes) and Joshua Nydes (Elizabeth Pasternak Nydes); grandfather to his joyful Nell Nydes; brother of Burton J. Nydes; and son of the late Julius P. Nydes and Rosella (Stevenson) Nydes Labovitz. He was also survived
Tuesday December 10: 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
Wednesday December 11: 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
Thursday December 12: Nettie R Broudy, Pescha Davidson, Israel Levine, Max Mallinger, May Schachter, Ben E Sherman, Sophie Patz Strauss, Louis Thomashefsky, Charles Wedner
Friday December 13: 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
Saturday December 14: David Ackerman, Alan Adler, Bertha Lillian Berliner, Simon Blatt, Morris Braun, David Breman, Sarah Cramer, Gussie Finkelstein, Jacob Firestone, Sol Z . Heller, Rebecca Hoffman, Hyman Kalovsky, Ithamar Lando, Frances Elling Levine, Morris Levine, Tema Lewinter, Sam Makler, Benjamin Mitchel, Esther Bluestone Morrow, Jacob Offstein, Elly Mars Goldstein Resnik, Sam Sacks, Silas J Simensky, Ethel Solomon, Jack Talenfeld, Dr Louis Weiss, Bessie Zakowitz, Samuel Zaremberg
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Obituaries
Obituaries:
Continued from page 19
a legal counsel in Naples, Italy. Larry derived great joy in decades of community involvement with the Big Brothers Organization of Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon Little League Coach, Jewish Community Center (JCC) of South Hills and Squirrel Hill, Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame of Western Pa., Adat Shalom Synagogue, along with the American Legion later in life and numerous other civic and charitable organizations around Pittsburgh. Larry shared a special love for Pittsburgh and enjoyed watching and attending all Pittsburgh sports, along with playing in numerous basketball and softball leagues as well as being an avid golfer. He cherished his lifelong and incredible collection of photos of his beloved family and friends and his curation of Pittsburgh sports memorabilia. Larry was a frequent traveler to New York City to visit Judd and Josh as well as traveling throughout America (all 50 states) and across the world to dozens of countries, which he so much enjoyed. However, watching his sons grow into the quality of men that they are, was his life’s greatest joy. Arrangements were entrusted to William Slater II Funeral Service, Scott Twp., 412-563-2800. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation, 5757 Waterford District Dr., Ste. 310, Miami, FL 33126, parkinson.org. slaterfuneral.com
PORTER: Edward Lee Porter, a beloved family man and business and community leader, passed away on Nov. 23 at the age of 87. Ed had an enduring commitment to a wide range of civic, educational and cultural institutions. Philanthropic with his time and resources, Ed served on the boards of Kansas City’s Jewish Federation, Jewish Community Foundation, Village Shalom, Jewish Community Center, and New Reform Temple. Ed was born in Pittsburgh on Dec. 24, 1936. He attended high school at both Taylor Allderdice High School and Valley Forge Military Academy (PA), graduating at the age of 16. After a year of college, he proudly served in the U.S. Army for two years and was stationed in Korea. He received an accounting degree from the University of Pittsburgh and began working for Giant Eagle as a third-generation executive from one of its five founding families. In 1983 Ed moved to Kansas City with his family to become president of Milgram Food Stores. Ed went on to become president of Argus Health Systems, a division of DST and Financial Holding Corporation. Ed was devoted to family, education, community and faith. He was an enthusiastic golfer who reached single-digit status. He was an avid reader and claimed to have read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica over the course of a year in high school. Those who knew him couldn’t doubt it. Ed was known for giving so much of himself, his time and his generosity. He did things because they were right, not because they were popular. He is survived by his loving children and grandchildren: his children Debra
It’s Important To Pre-Plan.
Gill (George), David Porter (Carol), Barbra Hill (Ron); and his cherished grandchildren Rachel and Lindsay Gill, Sophia and Joseph Porter, and Alec and Jaden Hill. Ed was preceded in death by his loving wife, Karen, to whom he was married for almost 65 years, his brother Richard Porter and his parents, Al and Lillian Porter. A funeral service was held Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, at Louis Memorial Chapel in Kansas City, Missouri. Donations may be made to Torah Learning Center, New Reform Temple or Village Shalom. Online condolences for the family may be left at louismemorialchapel.com.
SINIAKIN: Esther B. Siniakin, beloved wife of the late Manuel “Mingy” Siniakin, passed away on Nov. 10, 2024, at the age of 93. Esther was born in Pittsburgh to Nathan and Rose Zapler and was the sister of the late Kenneth Zapler. She is survived by her daughter, Barbara Gottlieb, her son Neal Siniakin and her granddaughter, Emme Tyler (Melissa Gottlieb). Services and interment were private.
OKUR: Sara “Toosie” Myers Winokur. Sara Myers Winokur, better known her entire life as Toosie, was born in Pittsburgh on July 29, 1926, to the late Simon Myers and Ethel Wasbutsky, and died on Nov. 27 in Sarasota, Florida. She was predeceased by her brother Louis Myers. She is survived by the loves of her life: her sons Jeff (Martha) and Greg (Amy); her four grandchildren, Emily, Daniel, Zack and Katie; and four great-grandchildren. Toosie was beloved by all who knew her. People had fun wherever she went. She was known for her warmth as well as her ready laugh. She grew up and raised a family in Squirrel Hill. She later moved to Shadyside, where she lived for the next 20-plus years. In the mid-1970s she began to spend several months each year on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida, where she eventually moved permanently. Toosie made many devoted friends in both Pittsburgh and Sarasota over her long life. Although most if not all of her contemporaries are gone, she also made friends with her friends’ children who usually referred to her as their “Aunt Toose.” Her family would like to thank all staff members of the Memory Care Unit at Plymouth Harbour in Sarasota. A very special debt of gratitude is extended to Ingrid Fahrenheim who cared for Toosie for the final four or so years of her life. Toosie loved Ingrid and so do we! Services private. In lieu of flowers the family encourages contributions to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank or a charity of your choice. PJC
The Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh (JCBA) welcomes inquiries about the purchase of burial plots in JCBA cemeteries.
It’s Important To Pre-Plan.
Plan Now – Save Later
The Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh (JCBA) welcomes inquiries about the purchase of burial plots in JCBA cemeteries.
Notice of Price Increase
JCBA is committed to the proper care and maintenance of sacred grounds, and is devoted to the stewardship of Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania.
JCBA is committed to the proper care and maintenance of sacred grounds, and is devoted to the stewardship of Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania.
Plots are available in the following JCBA cemeteries:
JCBA is committed to the proper care and maintenance of sacred grounds, and is devoted to the stewardship of Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania.
Plots are available in the following JCBA cemeteries:
Agudath Achim – Beaver Falls
Agudath Achim – Beaver Falls
Machsikei Hadas
Machsikei HaDas
Plots are available in the following JCBA cemeteries:
Agudath Achim – Hampton
Agudath Achim – Hampton
Anshe Lubovitz
Anshe Lubovitz
Agudath Achim – Beaver Falls
Beth Abraham
Beth Abraham
Agudath Achim – Hampton
Beth Jacob – West Mifflin
Anshe Lubovitz
B’nai Israel- Steubenville
B’nai Israel – Steubenville
Beth Abraham
Holy Society – Uniontown
Holy Society – Uniontown
B’nai Israel- Steubenville
Johnstown Jewish Cemeteries
Johnstown Jewish Cemeteries
Kether Torah
Holy Society – Uniontown
Kether Torah
Johnstown Jewish Cemeteries
Kether Torah
New Castle Jewish Cemeteries
New Castle Jewish Cemeteries
Poale Zedeck Memorial Park
Machsikei Hadas
Poale Zedeck Memorial Park
New Castle Jewish Cemeteries
Rodef Shalom
Rodef Shalom
Shaare Torah
Poale Zedeck Memorial Park
Shaare Torah
Tiphereth Israel - Shaler
Rodef Shalom
Torath Chaim
Shaare Torah
Tiphereth Israel - Shaler
Torath Chaim
Tree of Life Memorial Park
Tiphereth Israel - Shaler
Workmen’s Circle #45
Workmen’s Circle #45
Torath Chaim
Workmen’s Circle #45
We anticipate plot and burial fees at all JCBA cemeteries to increase in 2025.
Plot Prices & Burial Fees will increase 1-1-25. Plan NOW to secure current pricing and significant savings.
We anticipate plot and burial fees at all JCBA cemeteries to increase in 2025.
For more information please visit our website at www.jcbapgh.org, email us a or call the JCBA at 412-553-6469.
For more information please visit our website at www.jcbapgh.org, email us at office@jcbapgh.org or call the JCBA at 412-553-6469.
For more information please visit our website at www.jcbapgh.org, email us a or call the JCBA at 412-553-6469.
cemeteries, to volunteer, to read our complete histories and/or to make a contribution,
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JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation For more information about JCBA
Life & Culture
The
it, and for what publication? (The answer turned out to be Jason Turbow, for New York Magazine.)
By Leila Sales | JTA
My 77-year-old mother does not like stuff. She abhors clutter. She reuses everything. If you were to buy her a bottle of nice olive oil as a hostess gift, it would sit unopened in her pantry for the next 20 to 40 years. When I ask what she wants for Hanukkah, the answer is always the same: nothing.
But last December, my mother came to me with a specific request: She wanted eight lists of cultural recommendations, one per night. It turned out to be the best present I’ve ever given her.
The eight categories I selected were books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, musical albums, recipes, websites and longform articles. I listed eight items per category, and I annotated them, explaining why I thought my mom might like each one.
This project required a deep dive into my own consumption habits — for example, I read plenty of longform articles, but I don’t have a system for tracking them. I vaguely recalled reading a piece about bagel vendors once taking on the mafia, but who wrote
More importantly, these eight nights of lists made me think carefully about my mother. What does she like? What media had she already consumed? How did she feel about it?
I didn’t want to recommend “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” to her because I knew she’d already watched it. What else was like that? Maybe “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” another witty comedy starring a Jewish female lead, which I had loved? Maybe “Only Murders in the Building,” which also has a great old-school Manhattan vibe? I had felt so-so about that show when I watched it, but I could imagine my mom liking it more. Maybe “Hacks,” which is also about female comedians? I hadn’t seen that one yet, but trusted sources (aka my friend Sarah who watches a lot of TV) had vouched for it. I ended up including all three of those on the TV list.
“Only Murders” was the big winner for my mom. “Broad City,” on the other hand, did not make the cut — I’d absolutely adored it, but ultimately I decided not to include it on my mom’s TV list; I thought the humor might be “too millennial” for her.
I realized in doing this project that I could make eight lists for anyone in my life, and
they would all be different. The point of giftgiving isn’t just to give your loved ones stuff that you like. If it were, Hanukkah would be easy — I’d just buy everyone eight nights of single-origin chocolates and be done with it. The point is to give people stuff you like that you have reason to believe they will also like. At their very best, gifts feel personal: I am the only person who would have gotten this for you, and you are the only person I would have gotten it for.
That’s a high standard to maintain for every gift. If you need to find something for all your colleagues or cousins, it’s reasonable to get them some nice soaps on the theory that most people, sooner or later, will wash their hands.
But for those few special people where you want to get them something truly personal, I maintain that curated lists are one of the best options. A personalized list of recommendations says: I pay attention to you. I notice what you do and don’t like. I respect your preferences. I have taken the time to look at this piece of media through your eyes. I am happy to work within the overlap between you and me, the segment of Venn diagram where our tastes align.
At a time when more and more people want intangible media or experiences, giving
a list can be far better than giving a physical item. If you try this out for your own loved ones, feel free to use the eight categories that I gave to my mom, or create others more suited to the recipient: mobile games to play, cities to visit, local restaurants to eat at… the list for potential lists is endless.
My mother has spent the past 12 months happily working her way through her lists. She still has plenty of untouched items (figuring out how to listen to podcasts has proved elusive), but she always tells me when she engages with something I recommended. She wound up liking “The Good Place,” once she figured out how to watch the episodes in order rather than at random. (Don’t ask.) And she loved the Moosewood Baked Tofu recipe. She has shared her eight lists with her friends, and she tells me that they now all think she’s an extremely cool, finger-on-thepulse sort of person. “They’ve never even heard of Haim,” my mother tells me with deep satisfaction, referring to one of the recommendations on the music list.
As Hanukkah approaches once again, I asked my mom what she wants this year. “I don’t want anything,” she said, like always. “Just add to my lists.” PJC
This story originally appeared on Hey Alma.
Design by Avital Dayanim
The Early Learning Center at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh celebrated Grandparents Day by
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Photo courtesy of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh
Tailgating Hillel JUC style
While celebrating Shabbat Over Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh students created a Shabbop tailgate experience before the Pitt football game.
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Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC
Giving thanks at CDS
Community Day School students celebrated Thanksgiving with an art activity.
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Photo courtesy of Community Day School
Dear JCC Friends,
If you’ve ever entered our doors, you’ve benefited from the annual funds we raise through Big Night.
Big Night is so much more than a party.
It’s a celebration of the JCC’s vital role in fostering and supporting our community. True to our mission, the JCC meets community needs for all ages, from infants to bubbies.
Sustaining the JCC as a resource is important for the well-being of all of us.
We’re going for the gold at the JCC’s 19th Annual Big Night celebration Big Night: Olympics, Saturday, March 1, 2025.
Our community needs you. You’re the key to helping us redefine what’s possible.
Give or pledge your gift today and make a BIG difference.
Fara Marcus, JCC Chief Development and Marketing Officer
For more information and to pledge, please contact Sara Rhoades, Director of Annual Giving at srhoades@jccpgh.org or 412-697-3510.
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