Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 12-16-22

Chanukah roundup: Community

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

It would be a Chanukah miracle if Jewish Pittsburghers could attend all of the Festival of Lights celebrations taking place throughout the area this season.

That’s because every congregation and Jewish institution seems to offer the chance to view a Chanukiah lighting, spin a dreidel, eat a donut or partake in other traditions associated with the holiday.

For starters, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is hosting a Chanukah Bash — before the holiday begins — at the Pittsburgh Opera, 2425 Liberty Ave., on Saturday, Dec. 17, from 8–11 p.m. The Federation invites the community to “enjoy music, traditional foods, drinks, carnival games and prizes with old friends and new,” along with a few surpises. The cost is $25.

Chabad of Greenfield kicks off its revelries with a community celebration on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 4 p.m. at the new Yeshiva School at 403 Greenfield Ave. The festivities include a giant gelt drop, dancing dreidels, Chanukah music, donuts, latkes, an appearance by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and other city officials, and the lighting of a 7-foot menorah constructed completely from Legos.

On Monday, Dec. 19, teens can participate in a Choco-Lit Covered Chanukah at Chabad of Greenfield, 4315 Murray Ave., at 7:30 p.m., including a menorah lighting, donut decorating and hot chocolate bar.

On Dec. 20, the Lego menorah will take a

short ride to Schenley Plaza in Oakland for the Chanukah Festival where Chabad of Greenfield will be joined by Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Lubavitch Center for a special performance by Jewish recording artist Tali Yess, a children’s choir, the Allderdice High School Marching Band and, of course, latkes and donuts.

All three Chabad organizations will begin the evening at 4:45 p.m. with the annual Chanukah Menorah Parade. This year, the parade has a new route, beginning in the Jewish Association on Aging parking lot near The New Riverview. It will wind through Squirrel Hill and Oakland before ending at the Chanukah Festival in Schenley Park.

Chabad of Greenfield’s public celebrations end Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 4:30 p.m. with a family Chanukah party featuring a hot dog and latke dinner, holiday crafts, donut decorating and an olive press workshop. And Rabbi Eli Wilansky will bring his olive press to several schools and senior living facilities, as well.

Doubling down on mitzvot, Chabad of Squirrel Hill is lighting a “can-orah” on the corner of Beacon and Murray on Sunday, Dec. 18. Made of cans donated at Chabad’s Giving Kitchen, all of the food collected will be given to the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. A day later, Chabad of Squirrel Hill will light a menorah downtown at the portico of the City County Building with Mayor Gainey at 5 p.m.

Parkway Jewish Center sells its building, but congregation remains united

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

What’s left when a congregation with a dwindling membership decides to sell its building after 67 years, abandon the generations of memories it represents and move to a new location?

Ask Lynda Heyman, and she’ll give you a simple answer: Family.

Heyman has served on the Parkway Jewish Center’s executive committee, along with Hal Lederman and Lauri Barnett Levine, since its president retired several years ago and the congregation decided to lead by consensus.

The Conservative congregation, located in the city’s Eastern suburbs, recently decided to sell its building and relocate a few miles away to Penn Center in Wilkins Township. The synagogue is being sold to Sri Venkateswara Temple, a nearby Hindu temple, Heyman said.

Parkway will remain viable as a congregation, though, sustaining the relationships formed in the building since it opened in 1955.

“Parkway is so much more than a synagogue,” Heyman said. “It’s a family. It is truly a family. That’s why we have members who have moved away but are still members because they can’t give up on Parkway.” The congregation’s members have been linked through the years by the bar and bat mitzvahs, consecrations, baby

 Parkway Jewish Center is selling the building it has called home for 67 years.

Photo by David Rullo

 A menorah made of ice at Chabad of Greenfield's 2021 Chanukah celebration Photo courtesy of Chabad of Greenfield

With countless options for Chanukah gifts, the perfect one may be down the street

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

A

Across the city, shop owners are gearing up for cost-conscious customers in search of meaningful gifts. While online sales hit $9 billion on Black Friday — a record amount that was 2.3% higher than last year’s total, according to Investopedia — local merchants are hoping patrons swap their digital devices for an old-fashioned trip to the store.

In a season of tradition, adopting a purposefully anachronistic approach may be the most fashionable thing this Chanukah.

Chocolate and candy: So obvious, so sweet, so why not?

Inside The Chocolate Moose are scores of beautifully wrapped sugary delights. Whether prospective purchasers are craving a particularly flavored jelly bean or one of countless decadent truffles, the Forbes Avenue store has customers covered.

Meira Gumerman, the owner of The Chocolate Moose, suggested dozens of items guaranteed to bring a taste of seasonal joy.

Whether it’s gummy sushi, little plastic toilets with sour candies inside or mini chocolates shaped like bottles, “giving and receiving sweets always makes people smile,” Gumerman said.

Clever Pez dispensers can elicit chuckles, and chocolate-covered pretzels are always coveted, but what does one get for that

super-sophisticated friend or delightful relative who enjoys nothing more than talking about their next trip abroad?

Easy enough, Gumerman explained. For the art lover and chocoholic, there’s Mast, a bean-to-bar chocolate. Wrapped in gorgeous paper with printed images of famous artwork, including Gustav Klimt’s “Mäda Primavesi” and Vincent van Gogh’s “Wheat Field with Cypresses,” the bars represent a partnership between Mast and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

According to the Big Apple-based chocolate company, a percentage of sales will raise funds needed to “keep the Met nourishing New Yorkers and the world for years to come.”

Books, records, Beanie Babies: Nostalgic, cool, collectible?

Eric Ackland is a self-described “book monger.” Between his two Amazing Books and Records stores, Ackland spends countless hours beside thousands of hardcovers and paperbacks.

But being a bona fide bibliophile doesn’t keep the business open. Understanding customers does, Ackland said.

“When people come into the store and they’re looking for a gift, I ask them, ‘What does the

person like? What do they like to read? To listen to? What are their interests?’ I can usually find something that’s pretty within the ballpark of what they’d like,” he said.

Ackland’s stores (downtown and in Squirrel Hill) are a vault of potential literary and musical treasures, but some of the gifts he’s stocking this season aren’t the likeliest tote bag-stuffers (yes, Ackland sells tote bags).

Apart from a score of Scherenschnitte (German-style scissor-snipped greeting cards), customers can purchase scented candles and Beanie Babies.

“These are from the late ‘90s, early 2000s,” Ackland said of the Beanie Babies. “They are in mint condition, they are cute and they sell.”

Even decades after the Beanie Babies craze crashed, he said, there’s still a community of people who collect the small stuffed animals.

“I bought them from someone who had hundreds,” Ackland said. “Some of them go for $20, $30 and $40 now. The only reason I am selling them for $10 each is I have to do triage with my time.”

Given the time of year, Ackland understands everyone is busy; that’s why he recommends gift cards as go-to presents.

“ The thing about gift cards is you’re not just giving people a used book or record or two,” he said. “You’re giving them the experience of shopping our store which is unique in this day and age. Bookstores have a lot of serendipity to them, which you don’t experience with online sales.”

YETIs, mezuzahs and about 49,998 other options

Kenny Cohen of Contemporary Concepts has about 50,000 items inside his East Liberty store, he said. Included within his vast stock are YETI products, flatware and even mezuzahs.

The cool thing about many of these items, he said, is that they can be engraved — in English or Hebrew.

Among other gifts, Cohen recommends Plates with Purpose. Created by Riverside Design Group, 15% of the money from each plate sold is donated to one of Riverside’s partner charities — nonprofits include the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity and the Oncology Nursing Society.

Not only do each of the plates benefit a good cause, “it looks like you planned ahead because we can customize them,” Cohen said.

Please see Gifts, page 15

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s Pittsburghers dust off their menorahs, ready frying pans and brace for eight days of avoiding unintended barefoot steps on misplaced dreidels, local vendors are likewise preparing.p Candy available at The Chocolate Moose Photo by Adam Reinherz

Art of Temple Emanuel member added to 9/11 Memorial Museum

when the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum came calling after it saw photos of the three paintings years earlier.

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Like most Americans, Ann Bregman Rascoe was horrified to watch the World Trade Center’s towers fall on Sept. 11, 2001.

Unlike many, though, Rascoe channeled those feelings into her art.

“I was extremely moved,” Rascoe told the Chronicle. “As soon as I could paint, it went from my brain to my heart, down my arm to the paper. There was no hesitation.”

The resulting works, a triptych of sorts, are impressionist interpretations of the towers crumbling, the steel from their girders interlocked like a torn web. The National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum reached out to Rascoe and added the original works to its collection earlier this year.

This wasn’t a role Rascoe imagined for herself as a young woman.

A Westchester County, New York, native, she attended Hunter College and pursued a career in education, in part because interacting with children came so naturally. After living in Syracuse, New York, she and her husband moved to Pittsburgh in 1963, settling in Mt. Lebanon. Eventually, she got a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in reading and

language arts and served her hometown school district as a special education program director.

Though she now lives in Florida, Rascoe remains a member of Temple Emanuel of South Hills and plans to be buried in Pittsburgh.

The art, of course, was always there.

“I remember, when I was a young child, I pored over illustrations — and I drew,” Rascoe said. “I love to be with kids. And I wanted the structure of a teaching position, not the struggle of trying to sell art.”

In her 60s, she retired. And then something unexpected happened.

“I began a second career at 62 years old,” Rascoe said. “And now, I’ve sold over 150 paintings and I’ve had nine shows.”

Rascoe has shown work in several spaces. But she still remembers the first painting she sold, a 16-inch-by-20inch watercolor of the Pebble Beach golf course, an admired U.S. Open stop in California.

“It was a big surprise — I had no idea what would happen,” she laughed. “I don’t need to sell. I only want to paint because I want to paint … and I don’t have to worry if someone else likes it.”

Rascoe, though, was especially touched

“This is a dream come true, that the museum wanted it,” Rascoe said.

Rascoe is serious about her art. Before moving to Florida year-round about a decade ago, she would rise in the morning and immediately go to her studio space and express herself. She was a prodigious painter, completing many works she’d share with family and friends.

The Sept. 11-themed works were no different.

“They just came,” she told the Chronicle. “They just flowed right out of me — I didn’t have to think or ponder whether they were right or wrong.”

Today, she doesn’t paint as much, instead opting for illustrations in notebooks and leading art programs at the senior living facility in St. Petersburg, Florida, she calls home. Rascoe turns 91 in a month and uses a walker; a 2017 heart attack also forced her to slow down a bit.

But the painter of three striking works about the Sept. 11 attacks still shines through.

“I’m happy,” she said, “with what I have.” PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

 The Sept. 11, 2001 paintings by Ann Bregman Rasoe Images provided by Ann Bregman Rascoe

Former Forward Lanes space will provide new home for JFCS’ UpStreet

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

Teens, community members, elected officials and mental health professionals joined JFCS Pittsburgh for a ceremonial groundbreaking on Dec. 6 at the former Forward Lanes in Squirrel Hill, introducing the first physical location for UpStreet Pittsburgh.

In October 2020, JFCS launched UpStreet (upstreetpgh.org) as an innovative virtual means for teens and young adults (ages 12-22) to easily access free mental health services, JFCS Chief Operating Officer Dana Gold said.

During the past two years, more than 2,000 young people have used the virtual service, according to UpStreet Clinical Coordinator Erin Barr.

COVID-19 made it clear that this type of help was necessary, JFCS CEO Jordan Golin said.

University of California-San Francisco researchers reported in April that nearly half of young adults experienced symptoms of mental health challenges during the pandemic, and “more than a third of those were unable to access mental health therapy.”

“There are a lot of teens who need mental health treatment, who need some kind of mental health support,” Golin told the Chronicle. “And we know that the reason why they don’t get that support is that there are a lot of barriers that get in the way. Barriers can be insurance, ability to pay, parent permission and transportation.”

While the virtual UpStreet offering eliminates those barriers by allowing teens to log on with their phone, laptop or other device and get help in real time, the new physical space will provide necessary face-to-face connections, Golin added.

“There’s no substitute for being in the same room with another person,” he said.

For that reason, location mattered.

Both Gold and Golin stressed the value of positioning UpStreet at 5844 Forward

High School.

“Of the 44,000 youths living in the city of Pittsburgh, 20% struggle with their mental health; and suicide is the secondlargest cause of death for this same demographic,” Gold said. “If you look up the street, right up here, we have 1,430 students at Allderdice High School. That means that if these statistics are true, that means that 290 of those kids are struggling right now with challenges, that they may need a real outlet, before they become big, big problems.”

“Being so close to Allderdice, it’s going to be really easy for kids after school just to walk on over and get help,” Golin said.

State Rep. Dan Frankel praised UpStreet’s centrality: “It’s easily accessible, not just for Allderdice students or the day schools, but really citywide.”

JFCS Pittsburgh and its UpStreet program “could be a role model for a lot of other communities as well,” Frankel told the Chronicle.

Golin pointed to UpStreet’s future and said that a “long-term lease” was signed and construction would begin in the next month, with the goal of opening by the spring.

“We always knew that UpStreet needed a space, needed a place, needed a home,” Gold said. “So, in those challenging moments and those challenging hours after school time, you can make a good decision to walk down the street, come up to UpStreet, get coffee, get a snack, and talk to an adult, talk to a therapist, rather than drinking, or smoking or making some really poor choices somewhere else.

“We all know the challenges that youth have because we all come from families,” she continued. “We are all part of families, and families struggle, young people struggle and the adults who love [them] struggle, too; and UpStreet is here to guide, to give hope and to be there for any youth — whether in Squirrel Hill or Butler County, UpStreet is here.” PJC

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

p Dana Gold, Erin Barr and state Rep. Dan Frankel

Photo by Adam Reinherz

p Jordan Golin speaks during the ceremonial groundbreaking. Photo by Adam Reinherz

Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions also will be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon.

q FRIDAY, DEC. 16-DEC. 30

New Light Congregation's New Light Memorial Chapel is open for public visitation each Monday and Friday in December from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors are welcome to experience the space, reflect and learn more about New Light Congregation. In addition to the opening hours during December, the chapel is also available to the public by appointment. Contact New Light Congregation at 412-421-1017 for more information and scheduling. 750 Soose Road, Shaler Township, 15209. newlightcongregation.org.

q SUNDAY, DEC. 18

Join the National Council of Jewish Women for Mitzvah in a Moment. Make Chanukah cookies for reproductive health care providers. 3 p.m. 1620 Murray Avenue. ncjwpghevents.org/ upcoming-events.

Join Classrooms Without Borders and Rabbi Jonty Blackman as they light the lights of our menorah and celebrate the miracle of Chanukah. Of Maccabees and Miracles will explore some of the lesser-known stories behind the Chanukah traditions. 4 p.m. cwbpgh.org/event/of-maccabees-and-miracles-with-rabbi-jonty-blackman.

Join the Joint Jewish Education Program (J-JEP) for its annual Chanukah celebration, Latkepalooza Enjoy games, crafts, prizes, donuts and latkes. $5 per person or $15 per family. 10 a.m. Beth Shalom Congregation. jjep.org.

q SUNDAYS, DEC. 18 – JAN. 29

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

q MONDAY, DEC. 19

Join Chabad of the South Hills for South Hills Lights a glow-in-the dark communitywide Chanukah event. Enjoy menorah lighting, lively music, face painting, glow-in-the-dark tent, donuts and gelt drop. Free family fun. Enter the Grand Chanukah Raffle for $18. Registration online is strongly encouraged. Free. 5 p.m. Dormont Pool parking lot. chabadsh.com.

q MONDAYS, DEC. 19 – FEB. 6

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

q MONDAYS, DEC. 19 – MAY 15

Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is one of the most important things a Jew can learn. But most Torah classes begin in Genesis and never finish the first book. If you want a comprehensive overview of the whole Torah, Torah 1 is the course for you. In the first year of this two-year Zoom course, Rabbi Danny Schiff will teach Genesis, Exodus and the first half of Leviticus. In the second year, he will complete Leviticus and cover Numbers and Deuteronomy. $225. 9:30 a.m. foundation. jewishpgh.org/torah-1.

q TUESDAYS, DEC. 20 – FEB. 7

Join Temple Sinai for a weekly Talmud class with

Rabbi Daniel Fellman. Noon. On-site and online. For more information and for the Zoom link, contact Temple Sinai at (412) 421-9715.

q WEDNESDAYS, DEC. 21 – MAY 24

Registration is now open for “Melton Core 1: Rhythms and Purposes of Jewish Living.” This 25-lesson course will take you through the year’s cycle — the life cycle traditions and practices that bind us together. Explore not just the what is and how is of Jewish living, but the why is that go with them. 7 p.m. $300 per person, per year (25 sessions), includes all books and materials. Virtual. foundation. jewishpgh.org/melton-core-1.

q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21

Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for a holiday party, including bingo with prizes and refreshments, to celebrate all the upcoming holidays. See old friends and make some new friends. 1 p.m. Falk Library, Rodef Shalom Congregation. For more information, contact Marcia Kramer at 412-656-5803.

q MONDAY, DEC.

q MONDAY, JAN. 9

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

q TUESDAY, JAN. 10

Are you a senior with your afternoons free?

Temple Sinai is starting a new activity just for you — Lunch and a Movie. Join them for Moroccan food and enjoy the classic movie "Casablanca." $10. Noon. Register at templesinaipgh.org/event/ SeniorLunchMovie.html.

q THURSDAY, JAN. 12

26

Congregation Beth Shalom, along with Gift of Life, is hosting a bone marrow donor drive at the Squirrel Hill JCC. A simple cheek swab can save a life! Contact swoldenberg@bethshalompgh.org with any questions. 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. bethshalompgh.org/bonemarrow-and-blood-drive.

Join the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh for a Mini-Mitzvah Day Blood Drive

Schedule your life-saving appointment at either the South Hills or Squirrel Hill location. For the South Hills location, register at jewishpgh.org/event/minimitzvah-day-blood-drive-south-hills-jcc and use code C438. For the Squirrel Hill location, register at jewishpgh.org/event/mini-mitzvah-day-blood-drivesquirrel-hill-jcc and use code C189. 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Join Classrooms Without Borders for a post-film discussion of “Liga Terezin,” with Oded Breda, Michael Schwartz and moderated by Avi Ben Hur. “Liga Terezin” is a documentary that tells the incredible story of the soccer league which took place in Ghetto Theresienstadt, 40 miles northwest of Prague. 3 p.m. cwbpgh.org/event/post-filmdiscussion-liga-terezin.

q SATURDAY, JAN. 21

Join Temple Sinai for a special concert with musician Eliana Light. Great for all ages. Free and open to the public. Registration required. 7 p.m. templesinaipgh.org/event/ElianaLight.

q SUNDAY, JAN. 29

Join Temple Sinai and award-wining author Lisa Barr on Zoom to discuss her book, "Woman on Fire." 6 p.m. Free. Register at templesinaipgh.org/event/ LisaBarr.html. PJC

Join the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle in celebrating its diamond anniversary!

We invite you to help the Chronicle commemorate its first 60 years in a special feature section to be published Dec. 30 The section will take a look back at the last six decades through the photos, stories and advertisements that helped define our community and will set the stage for our next 60 years.

From local events to world affairs, from births to deaths and everything in between, the Chronicle has been the eyes and ears of Jewish Pittsburgh since 1962. We remain dedicated to serving you, our readers, and continuing to provide the news you need and the stories you want to read.

That’s something to celebrate.

To 120!

Phil Durler, Senior Sales Associate pdurler@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org | 724.713.8874

Getting to know: Malorie (Willow) Schecter

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

After six years abroad in Barcelona and London, Malorie (Willow) Schecter and her husband, Jonathan, were looking to move. Malorie’s family lived outside of Erie, Pennsylvania. Jonathan’s family was in Westchester, New York. The Schecters wanted to be closer to family.

But after having spent so many seasons living and traveling across Europe, the couple had a few other requirements for their new locale: They wanted to be near an international airport, and they wanted somewhere with access to cultural amenities, including a vibrant Jewish community, for their two young children.

During a 2019 visit to Pittsburgh, the family found their new home.

Pittsburgh was one of several stops on a list of potential places to relocate, Malorie Schecter said. The city had so much of what the family was searching for, but it was a Purim celebration with South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh that sealed the deal.

During the event, which included crafts, games and activities, “our 5-year-old turned to me and said, ‘This feels like home,’” Schecter recounted. That comment, and conversations shared with other program participants, became “a formative moment” for Schechter’s family.

Months after the Purim carnival, the Schecters moved to Upper St. Clair. Schechter began volunteering at Temple Emanuel of South Hills’ early childhood center and helped Beth El Congregation of the South Hills with programming for young families.

The family enjoyed its new haunts for six months. Then COVID hit.

Even through the pandemic, Schecter wanted to remain connected to the community. She became the South Hills ambassador for PJ Library and credited Danielle West, PJ Library coordinator for Pittsburgh, with organizing “some great virtual events” during that period.

Last summer, as her youngest son prepared for kindergarten, Schecter recognized that she soon would have more time on her hands — and a friendship that began before moving to Pittsburgh helped her find a new role within the community.

During that 2019 Purim Carnival, Schecter met Stacie Stamm and Erin Herman, both of Amazing Journeys, a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in travel for Jewish singles.

The three stayed in touch. When the company was looking to expand, Schecter’s name came up as a potential hire, said Malori Asman, Amazing Journey’s founder and “chief amazement officer.”

Approximately one month ago, Schecter joined Amazing Journeys.

Given her communal involvement, various talents and appreciation of travel, Schecter is a boon to the company, Asman said.

Whether it’s aiding logistics or leading a trip, Asman is confident Schecter will contribute to the company’s ability to provide enjoyable and meaningful Jewish group experiences.

Schecter is excited about her future with Amazing Journeys.

“I teach religious school at Beth El. I coach an Odyssey of the Mind team. I lead Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. When people ask me what I do I tell them, ‘I am a full-time community member with a bunch of different organizations and it all just fits together.’ It’s nice to have adults in the mix now,” she said.

Joining Amazing Journeys allows Schecter to share her love of exploring the world with other Jewish adults, but international travel wasn’t always at the top of her mind.

After growing up in McKean, a borough in Erie County, Schecter received a scholarship to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Part of that scholarship enabled Schecter to spend three weeks studying internationally.

As the first person in her family to have a passport, she wanted to go somewhere exotic, she said.

Schecter decided on Thailand, but the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami caused her to change course. She ended up heading to Istanbul and spent three weeks between the fall and spring semesters of her junior year completely mesmerized by the experience.

“I was from this small town in Pennsylvania,” she said. “Going to Turkey was my first time on a plane.”

The experience was “truly lifechanging,” she said.

After realizing “how much history and culture was out there,” Schecter returned to Lafayette College, changed her major, withdrew her applications from law school and spent the next semester studying abroad in Europe.

“I had already taken the LSATs and was applying, and I thought, ‘maybe one day’ — but I was more interested in seeing how the world fits together,” she said.

It was an exciting time to be in Eastern Europe, Schecter said.

Between 2004 and 2007, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union.

Since her college days and subsequent years spent living abroad, Schecter has continued traveling. She’s boarded numerous planes, trains and buses worldwide, and every time a similar feeling returns.

“It’s this eye-opening experience of how connected everything is, and how much there still is to know,” she said. “It’s just this continued experience of awe and wonder.” PJC

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

— LOCAL —

p Malorie (Willow) Schecter Photo courtesy of Amazing Journeys

Volodymyr Zelensky named Time’s ‘person of the year’

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Jewish president of Ukraine, was named Time’s “person of the year” on Dec. 7 for galvanizing “the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades,” in the words of the magazine’s editor-in-chief, JTA.org reported.

“From his first 40-second Instagram post on Feb. 25 — showing that his Cabinet and civil society were intact and in place — to daily speeches delivered remotely to the likes of houses of Parliament, the World Bank, and the Grammy Awards, Ukraine’s President was everywhere,” Edward Felsenthal wrote in an article explaining the choice. “His information offensive shifted the geopolitical weather system, setting off a wave of action that swept the globe.”

Zelensky is only the fifth Jew to claim the honor in the magazine’s almost 100 years of awarding it. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earned it in 2010, and former Treasury Secretary Ben Bernanke won it in 2009.

Since the outbreak of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February, Zelensky has emerged as a Jewish symbol around the world.

Israel condemns Netflix movie about 1948 War of Independence Israel’s government has lashed out at Netflix over a new Jordanian movie that

they say disparages the country’s military and their actions in the War of 1948 that led to Israel’s independence, JTA.org reported.

“Farha,” Jordan’s entry into the Academy Awards’ best international feature race, is a historical drama about the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” the Palestinian term for the events that led to the founding of the state of Israel. In the film, a Palestinian teenager locked in a storage room witnesses a family being slaughtered by the Israel Defense Forces. Two small children and a baby are among the victims.

The movie debuted on Netflix on Dec. 1, and Al Saraya Theatre, a theater in Jaffa popular among Arab Israelis, planned to screen it. Its director, Darin Sallam, has said she based the film off twice-removed reallife testimony from a Palestinian refugee of 1948 who ended up in Syria.

But Israel has attacked the film and its producers over what the government says is an unfair portrayal of the IDF.

“To me, it is ridiculous that Netflix chose to release a film whose entire purpose is inciting mockery against IDF soldiers,” Israeli Finance Minister Avidgor Lieberman said.

USDA launches webpage listing kosher foods available to communities in need

After a year of advocating, The Jewish Federations of North America said it welcomed the Department of Agriculture’s decision to create a webpage listing kosher

foods in The Emergency Food Assistance Program, JNS.org reported.

In September 2021, Jewish and Muslim members of Congress sent a letter to the USDA urging the department to expand options for kosher and halal food. The USDA subsequently invited faith institutions to discuss the dietary needs of their communities.

Beginning in January, the USDA will increase the available kosher food products under its TEFAP program by 50%.

TEFAP, a federal program providing surplus food to food banks, recently launched a new website that lists kosher items and gives guidance and information on kashrut guidelines.

Israel’s PM, MKs, ministers, president to get 15% raises

Come January, the salaries of key Israeli government officials, including the president, prime minister, ministers and members of Knesset, are expected to rise by up to 15%, as a wage freeze imposed during the COVID-19 outbreak expires at the end of December, JNS.org reported.

The pay increases will also apply to judges. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut will see her monthly salary increase from about $30,000 to about $35,000.

President Isaac Herzog’s monthly salary will rise from around $19,000 to roughly $22,000.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid earns about

Today in Israeli History

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

Dec. 16, 1922 — Hebrew advocate Ben-Yehuda dies

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, often seen as the father of modern Hebrew, dies of tuberculosis at 64 in Jerusalem. He founded the Va’ad ha-Lashon, the forerunner of the Academy of Hebrew Language, in 1890.

Dec. 17, 1975 — Kissinger discusses Israel with Iraqi envoy U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger tells Iraqi Foreign Minister Saddun Hammadi in Paris that the United States is willing to see Israel “reduce its size to historical proportions” but not cease to exist.

Dec. 18, 1911 — Health care fund is created

A special convention of Jewish agricultural workers in Ottoman Palestine approves a proposal to create Kupat Holim Clalit (General Sick Fund) to pay for the health care of immigrants to the Land of Israel.

Dec. 19, 1903 — Nordau survives assassination attempt

Max Nordau, who co-founded the World Zionist Organization, escapes unharmed when a would-be assassin, angry over the Uganda Plan, fires two shots at close range during a Chanukah party in Paris.

Dec. 20, 1936 — Toscanini arrives in Palestine

New York Philharmonic conductor Arturo Toscanini arrives at the airport in Lod to conduct the opening performance of the Palestine Philharmonic six days later before a sold-out crowd of 3,000 people.

Dec. 21, 1973 — Peace conference

is held in Geneva

A Middle East peace conference opens in Geneva under the auspices of the United States and the Soviet Union. Syria skips the event because Israel refuses to recognize the PLO. The conference ends Dec. 29.

Dec. 22, 1948 — Britain fears a communist Israel

A cable to the State Department from a U.S. envoy recounts British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin’s concerns about the likelihood of Israel becoming a communist state and threatening the Suez Canal. PJC

$16,500 a month, while the incoming prime minister, Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu, will make around $19,000.

Israeli archaeologists say

2,200-year-old

sling bullet possibly linked to Chanukah story

Israeli researchers recently discovered a lead projectile dating from the Hellenistic period in the ancient palace at Yavne, an archaeological site in central Israel, JNS.org reported.

The 4.4-centimeter (1.7-inch) long projectile was designed to be launched from a sling. It is estimated to be 2,200 years old, placing it at the time of the battles between the Hasmoneans and the Seleucid Empire.

The story of Chanukah, celebrated this year between Dec. 18-26, commemorates the recapture of Jerusalem from the Seleucids in the second century B.C.E.

“It seems that we will not be able to know for sure if the projectile belonged to a Greek soldier,” said Pablo Bezer and Daniel Varga, managers of the Yavne archaeological site for the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“But it is not impossible that it is related to the conflict between the Greeks and the Hasmoneans. In the second century B.C.E., Yavne was pagan — an ally of the Seleucids [the Greeks who ruled Israel], and was subject to attacks by the Hasmonean armies.” PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

— WORLD —

p Henry Kissinger, meeting with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in September 1975, later that year spoke of an Israel much smaller than the country that emerged from the 1967 war.

p Max Nordau’s support for the Uganda Plan didn’t make a difference: The Seventh Zionist Congress rejected it in 1905.

An open letter to Bibi Netanyahu

Dear Mr. Netanyahu, Mazel tov on your reelection to serve as prime minister of the state of Israel. I am writing this letter to you as a proud yet concerned citizen of the state of Israel. I am an ardent Zionist and made aliyah from the United States as a single 28-year-old, after which I enlisted into the Israel Defense Forces. I am now raising my three children — two girls and a boy — in the Galilee, and am teaching them to be proud Zionists and proud of all our country has achieved in its short 75 years of independence. While I did not vote for you, I do not deny your many achievements in your 15 years as prime minister of Israel, so please do not discount me as a “hater” from the get-go. That said, I am deeply troubled about the coalition you are forming and would appreciate your honest and sincere attention to my concerns.

The apparent coalition you are forming includes two Haredi parties from which none of their members served in the IDF. I am not anti-religious or anti-Haredi and I recognize the complexity of reversing previously agreed upon exemptions for the Haredi population.

That said, I am truly terrified that the path you are leading us down — where the Haredi population continues not to serve in the army and continues not to learn the core subjects — will spell doom for the future of the state of Israel and the future of my children. Please explain to me why this is not a problem that keeps you awake at night, because it does so for me. Please explain to me how our country can sustain itself when one-third of the population does not contribute to its economy or its defense. Please explain what you will do as my prime minister — as you promised to be — to ensure that my secular Zionist children will be able to have a future in Israel without having to bear the burden of one-third or more of the population.

Your emerging coalition also appears to undermine the role of the Ministry of Defense, placing authority over much of what takes place in Judea and Samaria into the hands of Betzalel Smotrich who will serve in the newly created position of a minister within the Ministry of Defense. Your coalition will also appoint Itamar Ben Gvir, a provocateur who did not serve in the IDF, as the minister of National Security. Please explain to me how Smotrich, Ben Gvir and their partners will not set fire to the tinder box in which we already live. In just a few short years from now, my son will be enlisting into the IDF. Please explain to me what you and your coalition partners will do to ensure

that my son’s life won’t one day be taken in vain, G-d forbid. Please explain to me why my son should have to fight — and perhaps even give his life in defense of his country — when other mothers’ sons do not.

Also of concern is that your government has placed decision-making over educational enrichment programs into the hands of Avi Maoz, an extremist who wants to remove funding for any programs dealing with tolerance, Arab-Jewish relations, homosexuality and more. Please explain to me how the Ministry of Education will be able to provide quality education to Israel’s children — the future of this great country — with an extremist like Maoz at the helm.

What’s more is that your coalition will include Aryeh Deri as a minister, despite his past conviction of taking bribes while serving as the minister of Interior, and his more recent admission to tax fraud. Please explain to me how Israeli citizens can trust politicians such as Deri to do what is in the country’s best interest when they themselves have knowingly violated the law. Please explain to me what you will do as prime minister to restore the people’s faith in their elected representatives.

I am not asking for these explanations cynically — I genuinely want and need to hear your perspective on these issues, because politicians’ points of views are oftentimes obscured by dirty politics,

name-calling and shouting matches. In your election campaign, you talked about forming a right-wing and stable Zionist government, but I don’t see anything Zionistic in many of the coalition members with whom you have partnered. I don’t see anything Zionistic in members of Knesset not serving in the IDF. There is nothing Zionistic in members of the Knesset prioritizing their time and efforts on ensuring that their constituents lack the most basic tools they need to contribute to Israeli society.

Mr. Netanyahu, you are a great leader with a storied past and have made many contributions to the state of Israel. But today, it is no longer clear to me that your leadership is steering the state of Israel in the right direction toward securing a prosperous Jewish and democratic state where all citizens have equal rights and obligations.

As a concerned mom, I need to hear what you will do to ensure that my children and my children’s children have a bright future in our Jewish homeland.

With sincere wishes for success in your next term as prime minister. This country’s future depends on it. PJC

Kim Salzman is the director of Israel and Overseas Operations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. She is a trained lawyer and practiced law in Israel and New York. This column first appeared on The Times of Israel.

Blowing the whistle on FIFA’s systemic antisemitism

Since this World Cup’s festivities began, Qatar and FIFA’s proxies have made their intent to exclude Jews very clear. FIFA’s silence has been deafening.

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has arguably become the most controversial to date, raising widespread indignation over myriad issues concerning its host, including Qatar’s decision to ban beer from stadiums and its mistreatment of the press, the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers, 6,500 of whom have died since Qatar was awarded the Cup.

Many issues have been spotlighted, but another has gone unaddressed: FIFA’s refusal to handle its own systemic antisemitism.

First, a FIFA website designed to sell World Cup tickets and accommodations sought to make easily identifiable Jewish guests feel unwelcome. To book tickets, fans had to book through an intermediary page according to their country of residence. Israel — where nearly half of all Jews live — was initially omitted, replaced with “Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Silence from FIFA.

Reports then emerged that Qatar had banned Jewish guests attending the World Cup from public prayer and reneged on a promise to offer cooked kosher food at games, despite the demand for it, given that 10,000 to 20,000

Israelis were expected at the Cup. Again, silence from FIFA.

On four occasions, high profile experts on antisemitism wrote to FIFA, asking that two antisemitism advisers be permitted to attend and monitor the tournament. The proposal could have been implemented for free. These advisers and their insights certainly could have been valuable at an event hosted by a country that has given nearly $2 billion to Hamas, which aspires to commit genocide against the Jews. FIFA ignored the letters.

Antisemitism has since surged at the games. Qatar has allegedly exercised double standards, allowing fans to protest against Israel at the Cup, but not against other countries. Fans have also sought to bully Israeli reporters, at times denying the Jewish state’s existence and

screaming that Israelis are not welcome.

With FIFA evidently struck dumb in the face of antisemitism, fans and FIFA officials must seize on this World Cup as an opportunity to demand that FIFA rectify its systemic antisemitism, both current and historical.

FIFA must first do so by offering Israel the opportunity to rejoin FIFA’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Israel’s expulsion from the AFC in 1974 was antisemitic and has permanently stifled the Jewish state’s world soccer prospects.

Attempts to boycott Israel, including its presence in the AFC, have long been designed to undermine and eliminate Israel’s existence and the Jewish people’s right to

An open letter to progressives: It’s time to speak out

It seems like everyone’s talking about antisemitism lately. Some are perpetrating it in an increasingly bewildering succession of tweets and media appearances. Others are covering it on various news channels. The Jewish community, as we do, is dissecting the details and working

to understand what all of this means for us. And there are influential voices out there, for which we are existentially grateful, urging solidarity to our community in this agonizing moment that seems never-ending. The president even felt it was important to take a stand, and the White House hosted a roundtable on the matter last week.

But certain urgent voices have remained disconcertingly silent, and it wasn’t until I reflected on the social media posts I was seeing getting shared and celebrated for their support of the Jewish

community that I stopped to think about who I wasn’t seeing. I wasn’t seeing major progressive groups and organizations taking this moment to stand with the Jewish community.

I wanted to believe perhaps I’d simply missed something. After all, I have always worked in progressive spaces myself. I know how much this movement cares about the safety, dignity and flourishing of all communities in this country.

But diving into various digital channels and searching through recent public statements yielded nothing. I saw plenty of

commendable statements of solidarity aimed at other groups. Perhaps I wasn’t searching hard enough.

It shouldn’t take this much effort to uncover sentiments of support in a time of need.

The progressive movement should be a seamless, natural ally to the Jewish community. But despite the fact that so many Jews in this country find themselves ideologically aligned with the progressive left, for a long time now

Guest Columnist Kim Salzman

Guest Columnist Jordan Cope

Guest Columnist Neta Meltzer

Chronicle poll results: Antisemitism coverage

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Does the Chronicle provide an appropriate amount of coverage about the rising tide of antisemitism?”

Of the 172 people who responded, 76% said “yes, about the right amount of coverage”; 18% said “no, too little coverage”; 4% said “too much coverage”; and 2% had no opinion. Comments were submitted by 37 people. A few follow.

Yes, but I would like to see deeper analyses of differences between criticism of Israel’s policies and antisemitism.

Good coverage, from differing vantage points, which is desirable.

More news, less angst please. We all know it’s bad; focus on news not opinions.

Cope:

I think the Chronicle does a fantastic job at covering this critical topic (which is no easy feat).

In addition to reporting it, it’s worth understanding why it’s happening.

Not everything you put under the heading of antisemitism qualifies. Criticism of Israeli policy does not qualify.

I believe appropriate coverage is only part of what’s needed. The other — and perhaps the most important — part involves efforts to combat it. I’ve never felt enough serious effort has ever occurred.

We all need to know what is happening around us. Can’t hide from antisemitism.

The rising tide of antisemitism deserves more and deeper coverage by the Chronicle. I sense a reluctance to deal with antisemitism masquerading as anti-Zionism largely coming from the left.

As antisemitism rises, so should coverage.

I don’t think that contemporary antisemitism stands on its own and is frequently inextricably linked to other forms of hatred such as racism and homophobia.

Keep up the good work!

I really can’t say if the amount of antisemitic coverage is too little or too much. Mainstream media, really sensationalizes all catastrophic news in hopes of “selling more soap.” I believe the Chronicle is fair in its reporting. I just don’t want to see it stir up the masses too much.

Keep up exposing it, making us aware. PJC Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Sour cream or applesauce? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

Continued from page 10 Meltzer:

self-determination. The first large-scale boycotts against Israel in the AFC arose during the 1958 championship — well before Israel assumed control over the disputed territories, belying any notion that they were based on specific political issues. Such boycotts were predominantly spearheaded by Muslim countries, many of which forfeited their matches in order to avoid engaging with Israel. This was an attempt to normalize antisemitism in the global community.

Eventually, in 1974, Kuwait spearheaded a resolution that, based on stolid Arab rejection of Israel’s sovereignty, resulted in Israel’s expulsion from the AFC. Team Israel would remain a nomad in the international soccer world until joining the much more competitive Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) 20 years later.

Israel’s expulsion from the AFC, and FIFA’s institutionalization of this discriminatory conduct, stifled Israel’s sports ambitions. Despite having won an Asian Cup and qualified for the World Cup while in the AFC, Israel has qualified for neither a World Cup nor a European Championship since joining UEFA. Israel’s presence in UEFA is unnatural. It remains the only country in the league that is not located in Europe.

To combat antisemitism, FIFA must combat the double standards it has institutionalized against the Jewish state. Article IV of FIFA’s statutes clearly proscribes discrimination against a country, individual or group based on national origin, ethnic origin, religion or political opinion. In accordance with its own governing

policies, FIFA must offer Israel the option of returning to the AFC. FIFA must also use Article IV, as appropriate, to punish any team that threatens to impede such efforts.

FIFA’s senior leadership must also refrain from normalizing antisemitism targeting Israel, such as agreeing to meet with patent antisemites, such as Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas, a Holocaust denier who has incited violence, and head of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub, who was banned from FIFA after inciting violence against the Argentinean team because it planned to play in Israel.

Lastly, but perhaps most important as an immediate first step, FIFA should adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism in order to guide the organization in addressing future discrimination toward Jews and the Jewish state. The IHRA definition represents an international consensus. It has been endorsed by 865 institutions, including nearly 40 countries and some of soccer’s greatest institutions — the English Premier League, the Argentine Football Association and Borussia Dortmund.

FIFA’s inaction in the face of antisemitism has enabled the institutionalization and acceptance of hate in the world of international soccer. FIFA should give itself a thorough review and finally show antisemitism the red card, disqualifying anti-Jewish bigotry from the game for good. PJC

Jordan Cope is the director of policy education for StandWithUs, an international, non-partisan educational organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism. This column first appeared on JNS.

Calling all memories!

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle is celebrating its 60th anniversary this month! Tell us, in 300 words or less, what the Chronicle has meant to you over the years.

Send your submission to newsdesk@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Your submission may be included in our 60th anniversary issue, Dec. 30! PJC

Continued from page 10

that movement has behaved as if we are either inevitable supporters — no matter their approach to our oppression — or unimportant ones.

recent history. And I was expected to understand why my community, to borrow (as I find myself so often doing these days) from David Baddiel, “didn’t count.” But I don’t understand, because it doesn’t actually make sense.

The progressive movement is long

Throughout my tenure in progressive environments, I encountered deafening silence through the violence in Pittsburgh, Poway and Colleyville. I was told my identity didn’t qualify me to join work groups focusing on diversity, solidarity and inclusion. I was called a Zionist (I am one — they meant it as a slur). Assumptions were freely and unapologetically made about my political leanings, my perspectives and my general pleasantness based on the fact that I was born in Israel and that I am a Jew. Throughout it all, I was expected to continue supporting the causes that have always meant so much to me — and I still do.

I watched the movement, rightfully, shower other communities with much-needed solidarity in some of the most challenging political moments in

overdue to reconsider its approach to — and its very understanding of — the Jewish community.

Let this serve as an open letter to progressive groups across America. At this moment, Jews are making note of our allies, and, perhaps naively, we expect those we’ve always supported to be there for us, too. But that’s not why you should boldly and proudly and publicly announce your support of the Jewish community. You should do it because this is exactly what a movement that is truly progressive, in its values and its actions, would do. PJC

Neta Meltzer is the national vice president of community engagement with Zioness Movement. This column first appeared on The Times of Israel.

The progressive movement is long overdue to reconsider its approach to – and its very understanding of – the Jewish community.

Anonymous (12)

Mark & Sharon Ackerman

Carol & Jon Adler

Bette & Phillip Balk

Hannah & Sam Balk

Judy Balk & Andy Schaer

Marshall & Karen Balk

Chris & Eric Benton

Dexter Braff & Lynda Abraham-Braff

Bill Cartiff & Niqua Bouvier

Heidi Cohen

Vered Cohen

Mark & Ellen Diamond

Tibey & Julian Falk (z”l)

Dorothy Goldstein

Andrew & Tracy Gross

Rabbis Amy & Alex Greenbaum

Jackie & Arnie Greenwald (z”l)

Steve & Tricia Haberman

Steve & Lynn Hecht

Foster & Mindy Hutchinson

Cynthia Jampole

Art Katz

Cheryl & Miles Kirshner

Myra & Marvin Lalli (z”l)

Sheila Levine

J. Robert Myers

Daniel & Bernice Natelson

Casey & Marilyn Neuman

Sharon & Eric Perelman

Karla & Bob Perelstine

Michael & Cynthia Platto

Geri & Steve Recht

Andy & Stacey Reibach

Deb & Al Scheimer

Carl & Roni Schiffman

Fern G. Schwartz

Susie & Carl Seletz

Don Selig (z”l)

Julie & Bob Silverman

Sylvia Slavkin

Ileane & Emmanuel Smith (z”l)

Cliff & Jan Spungen

Adele & Warren Sufrin

Sol & Lin Toder

Beth & Ira Ungar Irving & Joan Weinberger

Chanukah:

menorah,” Rosenblum said. “It will stay there. I’m very excited about it,”

Continued from page 1

Chabad of Monroeville, too, plans to “Light Up the Night,” on Monday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m. at the Monroeville Community Park Amphitheater. Rabbi Mendy Schapiro said the event is the largest winter holiday program in the eastern suburbs. The program will include a menorah lighting, carnival games, refreshments, donuts, treats, souvenirs and a fire truck chocolate gelt drop. On Sunday, Dec. 25, the center will host a Rosh Chodesh/Chanukah service, followed by breakfast; that evening it will host a Chinese dinner, for which reservations are required.

A short trip down the parkway, Chabad of the South Hills presents a “Glow in the Dark Chanukah” at the Dormont pool parking lot at 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19. The event features a heated tent, glow-in-the-dark face paint, live DJ, donuts, raffle and a Chanukah gelt drop.

This year, for the first time, Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum, along with his son Levi and daughter-in-law Hindy, are taking the Chanukah show on the road. On Wednesday, Dec. 21, they will light a menorah in Washington, Pennsylvania, beginning at 5 p.m. on the Washington County Courthouse lawn.

Attendees will celebrate with latkes, a raffle, hot drinks, take-home menorah kits and Chanukah treats. The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh helped to sponsor the event through a grant.

“We bought a beautiful menorah, a light-up

Parkway:

Rabbi Yossi Feller is ensuring those living north of the city are included in the festivities this season. Chabad of Cranberry is hosting a public menorah lighting on Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center starting at 5 p.m. The celebration will include a “Grand Gelt Drop” with the Cranberry Township Fire Company, latkes, donuts, hot drinks and dancing dreidels.

Celebrating Chanukah publicly, Feller said, can be a response to the antisemitic rhetoric that has been on the rise.

“Our response to hatred will never be to cower or hide our faith,” he said. “Let us hold our heads high as Jews. They want us to be afraid, but our victory will be to stand tall and proud gathering in greater numbers than ever to celebrate our Judaism in public.”

Chabad’s Young Jewish Professionals is hosting Drinks and Dreidels on Monday, Dec. 18 at the Art Room in the Strip District. The following night, it will hold a Grand Menorah Lighting in the parking lot of the Downtown Shul, 810 Fifth Ave.

In Ambridge, Beth Samuel Jewish Center is offering a virtual celebration along with a Kabbalat Shabbat service Friday, Dec 16. Attendees are invited to gather on Zoom at 7 p.m. The “En-Light-ened” service will include new and old Chanukah stories, songs and poems. On Dec. 18, the congregation will host a Chanukah Party and Latke Fest, including an online auction, raffle, donuts, games, crafts and

music. The party is $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers.

Temple David in Monroeville is hosting special Chanukah-themed events throughout the month, including a Chanukah program for young children Dec. 17 at 9 a.m., a teen Chanukah movie night on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. and a family Chanukah dinner on Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. All events are open to the public but advanced registration is required.

The Joint Jewish Education Program is hosting its annual Latkepalooza on Sunday, Dec. 18, at Beth Shalom Congregation from 10 a.m. to noon. The community celebration includes latkes, sufganiyot, games, crafts and prizes. The event is $5 per person or $15 per family.

Beth Shalom will begin celebrating Chanukah a few days early. On Friday, Dec. 16, the congregation hosts Shababababa, a musical Shabbat for families with young children, with Rabbi Seth Adelson. A child-friendly dinner follows the 4:30 p.m. service. Adult meals are $18, children’s are $9, and a family is capped at $42.

The congregation will light the first Chanukah candle on Sunday, Dec. 18, at its adult Chanukah party featuring hors d’oeuvres, drinks and songs.

Temple Sinai is holding a festive Chanukah dinner before a holiday Shabbat service on Friday, Dec. 23 at 5:30 p.m. Families are invited to bring their Chanukkiot and candles and join a celebratory meal.The meal is $10 for adults and $5 for children.

Families will enjoy songs and a festive meal at Rodef Shalom’s Chanukah celebration on Thursday, Dec. 22, as well as a special

candlelighting during Shabbat services on Friday, Dec. 23.

Poale Zedeck is hosting a Chanukah party on Sunday, Dec. 18, for members as well as non-members. The adult-only celebration includes a latke smorgasbord and live music. The party is $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers who register before Dec. 14 and $25 or $30 at the door.

Beth El Congregation of the South Hills and Temple Emanuel of South Hills have teamed with PJ Library for “Donuts and Dreidels” on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at the South Hills JCC. Temple Emanuel Program and Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Mangan said she’s excited about the event because “the entire South Hills community can come together and celebrate, no matter how you affiliate.”

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill helps families prepare for the holidays on Saturday, Dec. 17, with a “Let’s Get Ready for Chanukkah Celebration” where attendees will build menorahs and make dreidels. And each night of Chanukah, the JCC will display a video on its webpage of its menorah lighting, enabling people to be in community virtually. PJC

Many events require advance registration. Please check the various institutions’ websites for up-to-date information.

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

artwork around that building that nobody seems to want. We’re looking for homes for it.”

Continued from page 1

namings and confirmations — as well as “the sad stuff,” she added.

“I’m not from Pittsburgh, and I had what I refer to lovingly as the year from hell,” Heyman said. “In 15 months, I lost two aunts, an uncle and both my parents — and Parkway was my family. They helped with the kids. They helped with food. They checked in on me.”

Cantor Henry Shapiro, the spiritual leader of Parkway, said the congregation provided his first and, so far, only pulpit since he became invested as a cantor at Hebrew College in 2012.

Recalling words commonly attributed to Mark Twain, Shapiro said that although the decision was made to sell the building, “the reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated.”

When past President Robert Korfin stepped away from his position, Shapiro said, the congregation met and decided to remain open. Then came the pandemic — which brought with it an uptick in participation, thanks to Zoom services.

“We had a minyan every Friday night on Zoom, and a good minyan, too,” Shapiro said. “Before that, we had been missing more often than not. I think that people that were stuck in their homes were missing that and realized that there’s a reason to keep it in their lives.”

Despite members wanting to ensure the congregation remains active, some realities can’t be ignored. There are just over 50 family

Gifts:

Continued from page 3

“Charcuterie is very in these days,” he said. “I don’t know if people were staying home and eating more cheese and drinking more

unit members of Parkway. That’s down from the congregation’s high of several hundred. And, as the numbers have declined, the remaining members have aged.

The building’s upkeep has also proved challenging.

“The building is rather old and there are some repairs that we did and there are some repairs we are looking to do, but with a smaller group it’s hard,” Shapiro said. “This is a big building, and you still have to heat it — and other utilities. We literally have six furnaces. It was becoming a challenge.”

The new space is the right size for Parkway, Shapiro said; and if by chance there is the need for a larger space —a life cycle event or High

wine [during the pandemic] but charcuterie seems to be a thing.”

Though the art of placing appetizers on a wooden board or stone slab has existed for at least 500 years, charcuterie boards have blossomed in popularity since 2020.

Holiday service, for instance — the congregation has access to larger rooms in its new home.

Since deciding to sell its building, the congregation has sorted through the six decades of material it has acquired, deciding what to keep and what to discard, Heyman said. They’ve contacted families who donated artwork or other items and offered to return them. The kitchen appliances and supplies are going to a local charity; other items, though, have presented more of a challenge.

“We have more prayer books than we will use because of the size of our membership,” Heyman said. “We reached out to the Jewish community, asking if anyone would like the books, but no one is interested. Unfortunately, we’ve got a lot of

The Instagram hashtag “charcuterieboard” has more than 2 million posts.

L ike appetizers on a tray, there are literally thousands of options when it comes to holiday gifts. Regardless of their choice, Cohen hopes givers keep something else

Some items will make the trip a few miles down the road to the congregation’s new home.

“We are taking the ark, the ark doors, the eternal light, the menorahs that were done by one of our members to commemorate the 6 million Jews. We’re taking the yahrzeit plaques and a light that’s here for the 6 million,” Heyman said.

Rick Sternberg, a former president of the congregation, said he’s happy to be staying in the boundary of the Wilkins Township Police Department.

“When I told tell them we were leaving, I said that they are one of the reasons we are staying in Wilkins Township,” Sternberg said.

“We’re part of a wonderful community,” Heyman said. “We’ve tried to be good neighbors. They’ve been good neighbors to us.”

Community and family have been the hallmark of Parkway for nearly seven decades, she added. And members aren’t ready to say goodbye.

“We said, we’ve gotten an offer and have three options,” Heyman recounted. “We can stay here and make do; we can sell the building and close; or we can sell the building and move. Over 87% of the membership said, ‘Let’s sell the building and move.’ They were very clear; they do not want to merge with another synagogue. They want their own space.” PJC

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

in mind.

“Shop local,” he said. “Whether with us or someone else.” PJC

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

p Parkway Jewish Center has been sorting through more than six decades of memories before moving to its new location.

Photo by David Rullo

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

Hooray! It’s Chanukah!

It’s that magical time of year when we indulge in the custom of cooking with olive oil and deep-frying foods. I published a doughnut recipe last year for bimuelos, which are round, Turkish fried doughnut balls similar to an Italian zeppole. A filled doughnut, or sufganyah, takes a bit more time. I only make these once a year, so I think it’s worth the extra effort.

Many of us live in places without a good bakery to buy doughnuts for Chanukah. It’s very satisfying to make them for yourself — and it’s also the loveliest time to make memories with children. Children can and should be involved in the preparation and clean up. Our holidays are about family and not about perfection. The kids will be so pleased with their creations even if the jelly filling is leaking out all over the plate.

Although I mentioned jelly, you don’t have to stick to jelly to fill these doughnuts. You can use a chocolate or vanilla pudding mix, Nutella or make a pastry cream if you’re feeling inspired. As for the topping, choose your favorites. I prefer plain and powdered sugar for sufganyot, but sometimes I use cinnamon sugar or glaze the top with a

chocolate ganache.

Because of the multiple steps, this is a day-ahead or a morning-of project.

Sufganyot

Makes 12 large or 24 small doughnuts

Ingredients

2½ teaspoons yeast 2 cups warm milk 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 4 tablespoons sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 3 egg yolks 5 cups all-purpose flour

2 quarts of oil for frying; you can reuse this oil. I suggest something neutral and for high heat.

Filling of your choice

Granulated sugar or powdered sugar for finishing

Directions

Remove the eggs from the refrigerator at least an hour before it’s time to bake. I always advise baking with room-temperature eggs to get the best result.

I suggest using an electric stand mixer for this recipe because this is a stickier dough and needs a bit of kneading.

Warm the milk, but keep it below a simmer. If the milk is too hot, the yeast will not rise and the egg yolks will curdle.

Pour the milk into the mixer bowl, and add the yeast.

Add the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the butter and let it rest for 2 minutes, allowing the butter to melt into the milk.

Using a paddle or a dough hook attachment, start the mixer on a low setting and add in the egg yolks and the salt.

Add the flour, half a cup at a time.

Once the ingredients look combined, let the dough knead for 5 minutes.

Add the last tablespoon of butter, cut up, and mix for one more minute.

Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray, then cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour in a warm place.

After 1 hour, punch down the dough. It should feel sticky but lighter than a bread dough.

Cut parchment or wax paper into 12 or 24 small pieces (depending on the size of the doughnuts you want to make), about 6-inches square, then divide the dough into individual portions.

Dust your hands in flour — the dough is sticky and the flour will make it easier to form the balls. Place each piece of dough on its own square of paper.

Cover with plastic wrap, tucking the edges down so air can’t get in, and let rest for another 45 minutes or until doubled.

(Note: I once had the experience of finding my dough still very wet and unable to hold a shape even after an hour. I don’t know if

p Sufganyot

Photos by Jessica Grann

‘The Wanderers’: A look at relationships through two Jewish lenses

By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

Several times throughout “The Wanderers,” Anna Ziegler’s very Jewish play running at City Theatre through Dec. 18, the Yiddish phrase “Ein ba’al ha-nes makir b’niso” is repeated by various characters.

The phrase translates to: “The person who is in the midst of the miracle, doesn’t recognize it at the time.”

It’s a fitting mantra for the two seemingly disparate couples whose relationships are at the heart of this provocative 105-minute production.

Abe and Sophie, both writers, are secular Jews living in Brooklyn. Schmuli and Esther are members of the Satmar Jewish community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — a Hasidic sect that eschews modern culture and adheres to strict gender roles. The production’s scenes alternate between the two couples, who at first appear unconnected, but whose lives soon begin to reflect and illuminate each other’s.

Despite being an award-winning writer of popular novels, and having a loving wife and two children, Abe is dissatisfied with his life. Sophie, a writer who has been unable to achieve professional success,

is dissatisfied as well. Esther, a free spirit confined by the boundaries of her ultra-Orthodox community, is likewise discontent. Schmuli, wholly devoted to the life into which he was born, never even wonders whether he is fulfilled.

As Esther says at one point in the show: “Who really understands whether or not they are happy?”

There’s a lot more than the quest for happiness going on in this play. Author Philip Roth looms large throughout, echoing themes of

identity and assimilation. Familial responsibilities, feminism, generational trauma and infidelity all course through the characters’ monologues, dialogues and actions.

The performances are strong, particularly those of the female leads. Moira Quigley plays Esther’s rebelliousness tempered with a sweet and gentle demeanor. Esther is a deeply-drawn, multi-faceted character, and Quigley strikes just the right balance, portraying Esther’s range of emotions with confidence and dignity. Likewise, Allison

Strickland is well-cast as Sophie. Strickland adeptly conveys her character’s wit and intelligence as she navigates her husband’s midlife crisis while coping with her own angst.

Sarah Goeke (Julia) — a movie star who is corresponding with Abe and with whom Abe is contemplating having an adulteress affair — exudes a delicate remoteness, which we come to understand in greater depth as the show progresses.

Nick Lehane (Schmuli) is convincing as a man utterly devoted to the life into which he was born — but willing to step just outside the lines to listen to classical music. Lehane plays Schmuli with honesty and respect.

Jed Resnick as Abe deftly captures the vibe of a Brooklyn-based Jewish writer, self-centered but nonetheless inexorably attached to his family and to his people.

The play offers two windows into Judaism: the ultra-religious, with its walls of confinement, simultaneously safe and stifling; and the secular, portrayed by characters bent on the freedom of shunning their heritage — but unable to entirely. Ziegler doesn’t show a preference. But in her Yiddish refrain — “Ein ba’al ha-nes makir b’niso” — she does question the utility of wandering, in all its meanings. PJC

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

p Moira Quigley (Esther) and Nick Lehane (Schmuli)

Photo by Kristi Jan Hoover

Bar Mitzvah

Liam Rosenberg is the son of Pinchas and Aviva Rosenberg and brother of Jonah and Eli.  He will become a bar mitzvah on Dec. 17, 2022, at Congregation Beth Shalom. A seventh-grader at Community Day School, Liam has been captain of the track and cross-country team. He is also on the CDS teams of basketball and ultimate frisbee.  Liam has also studied violin for many years and was selected to play in the Symphonette ensemble of Three Rivers Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall with this group. Active in Young Judaea, he has participated in Camp CYJ Midwest since age 8. He enjoys traveling to new places, downhill skiing and spending time with Arya, the dog.

Every human encounter has significance

the right time, thereby advancing the story in the way it was preordained by God.

Bat Mitzvah

Molly Sabrina Rosenson will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Dec. 17, 2022, at 10 a.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Molly is the daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Rosenson, and granddaughter of Susan and Stephen Jordan and Fern and Ronald Bathurst, all of Pittsburgh. Molly is a seventh-grader at The Ellis School, where she is on the Future City team and enjoys participating in theatrical productions. PJC

In Parashat Vayeishev, a long narrative form emerges, unlike any we’ve seen thus far in Genesis. The Joseph story spans 13 chapters and features character development, conflict, suspense and a plot full of twists and turns.

Most biblical stories are terse, without extraneous details. In Vayeishev, however, there is a seemingly unnecessary interlude between Joseph and a man from Shechem. Joseph has just shared his dreams with his brothers, inciting their hatred and anger. Whether naively or deliberately, Jacob, his father, sends Joseph toward Shechem to find his brothers who are tending the flock, putting his favored son in direct danger. It is here where we encounter a minor exchange with an unnamed man: “And a man found him and, look, he was wandering in the field, and the man asked him, saying, ‘What is it you seek?’ And he said, ‘My brothers I seek. Tell me, pray, where are they pasturing?’ And the man said, ‘They have journeyed on from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dotan.’”

I have always been uncomfortable with the concept of “beshert.” If good fortune is “meant to be,” the same would be true of unjust suffering. Are bad things that happen to good people also beshert? If so, God bestows blessings on some people and curses on others. That is a theology I cannot accept. I do not believe in a God that intervenes directly in human affairs.

Instead, I prefer Rashi’s interpretation: that the man Joseph meets is just a man. We encounter people in mundane circumstances who end up playing a small but consequential role in our life stories. That has implications for how we view all human beings. Anyone at any time could have a purpose we never become aware of. One of my core values is the inherent dignity of every person. This is expressed in Pirkei Avot 4:3: “Ben Azzai used to say: do not despise any man, and do not discriminate against anything, for there is no person that does not have his hour, and there is no thing that does not have its place.” It is easy for us to overlook a person who does not play a leading role in our own narrative. It is easy for us to

The story could have easily moved directly to Joseph’s arrival in Dotan. What is the meaning of this unnecessary part of the narrative?

Midrash interprets this passage as an encounter with an angel. God is silent during the Joseph saga. By positing that the man is an angel in disguise, the sages are inserting Divine intervention into the narrative. God, through an angel, is directing the scene, ensuring that the plot proceeds as planned. It is tempting, then, to interpret this interlude as an example of “ beshert, ” Yiddish for “meant to be.” The man just happened to be there at

dismiss the value of a person we do not like or do not know. We are each of us created in the image of God. Knowing that, we need to surmount our own narcissism and seek out the dignity and worth of each human being we encounter. The seemingly unimportant scene with the unnamed man reminds us of a simple and profound truth: that every person has a purpose on this earth and is therefore deserving of our respect. PJC

Rabbi Amy Bardack Parshat Vayeishev Genesis 37:1 - 40:23

Rabbi Amy Bardack is the rabbi of Congregation Dor Hadash in Pittsburgh. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.

One of my core values is the inherent dignity of every person.

EHRENREICH: Marc Ehrenreich, on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022, age 43, died of natural causes in his home. He was the beloved son of Sanford and Linda Ehrenreich, the brother of Andrea Ehrenreich Regan, and brother-in-law Michael Regan. He graduated from Winchester Thurston High School and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He was an avid college and professional basketball and football fan. For almost 20 years Marc worked as an associate financial advisor for what is now RBC Wealth Management. Marc was highly valued, respected and relied upon by his clients and colleagues. Everyone privileged to know Marc thought of him as a kind, generous, compassionate, caring person who was always concerned about the welfare of others. Marc saw the positive in other people and was an extremely perceptive person and a great problem-solver. Marc will be missed but not forgotten by his loving parents, extended family and friends. In addition to his parents, sister and brother-in-law, Marc is survived by his beloved nephews Charles, Max and Eli Regan, Aunt Karen Shipkovitz (Dr. Harvey Shipkovitz), Uncles Irwin Ehrenreich (Linda G. Ehrenreich) and Dr. Ronald Goldschmidt (Cathy Goldschmidt), and many loving cousins. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Homewood Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made to Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh or the Epilepsy Association of Western PA. schugar.com

HAST: Barbara Hast, age 86, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Beloved wife for 47 years of the late John Hast. Beloved mother of J. Stephen Hast (Katherine) of Hampton Township and Lawrence Hast of Pittsburgh. Grandmother of Jeffrey, Ryan, Kevin and Brandon. Sister of Diane Butturff, Charles Livingston and the late Suzanne Kingsbaker. Barbara graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an education degree at the age of 33. She graduated summa cum laude while raising her two sons. She worked as a teacher at the Western PA School for the Deaf and was an assistant director of special education for the Pittsburgh Public Schools. She loved traveling, movies, bridge, tennis and mahjong. Graveside services and interment were held at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Center for the Deaf, 1854 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

MATES: Dorothy Mates, age 94, of Pittsburgh and Hollywood, Florida, died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Daughter of the late Max and Carolyn Pincus. Beloved wife of the late Stanley R. Mates. Loving mother of Jeffrey and Linda Mates and Donald (Vikki) Mates. Proud grandmother of Simon, Stacey and Jenna. Special thanks go to the loving and devoted staff at Westminster Place. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel. Interment private. Contributions may be made to: Presbyterian Senior Care Foundation, 1215 Hulton Road, Oakmont, PA, 15139. schugar.com

MUNTER: Zola Pober Munter, on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Beloved wife of Stephen O. Munter. Daughter of the late Dr. Hyman and Melva Pober. Mother of Sloan J. Munter and Greer Munter Whalen. Also four grandchildren: Hollis, Cooper, Coltyn and Madelaine Whalen. Special cousin Sharon Ryave Brody. Zola was a lifetime volunteer in the medical community: at Montefiore Hospital, the Starzl Transplant Institute and Family House. She adored her grandchildren and was very engaged in their lives. Always in motion, Zola lived an active and adventurous life. The most elegant hostess, she loved to entertain and loved a party. Service and interment private. Contributions may be made to UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Development UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 1B, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

SIMON: Hillard “Larry” Simon: Jan. 8, 1933 – Dec. 8, 2022. Beloved husband of the late Evelyn Simon. Cherished father of Cindy (Michael) Platto and Sam (Sharon) Simon. Super Zadie to “his boys” Joshua and Zachary Platto. Son of the late Abraham Max and late Clara Simon. Brother of the late Gerry Simon and late Berkley (late Cina) Simon. Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. A devoted husband, dedicated father, proud grandfather and pillar of the scrap metal industry for 70 years, Larry will be greatly missed by all that knew him and especially by his family, poker pals and scrap metal “Junkies,” whose dedication and friendship were unwavering and so greatly appreciated. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Congregation Beth El of the South Hills or JARC Florida (jarcfl.org/donate). schugar.com PJC

Susan

Susan

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The Goldberg Family Dorothy Mustin Ruth Haber Edward L. Friedman

Anonymous Abe Mullen

Dan Kendis

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Maurice A. Berman

Emanuel & Mollie Goldenberg

Aaron Krouse Shirley Krouse

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Anna Natterson

Robert Miller Sylvia Cramer

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Schlesinger & Seed Families

Karen K. Shapiro

Cheryl Sober

Ada Hilsenrath

Charlotte Ruthrauff

Saul I. Perilman

Edward F. Reese, MD

Norman H. Schlesinger

Esther Shapiro Levy & Samuel Levy

Norma Sheffler Harris

Freda G. Spiegel Ethel Greenberg

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Harry Tannenbaum

Joan M. Zeiden Albert Epstein

Robert & Susan Zohlman

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Ilene Zwick

Ilene Zwick

Contact

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS

Gilbert S. Goldman

Charlotte & Harold Levy

Leonard Klevan

Sadye & Isadore Steinman

Sunday, December 18: William Aronovitz, Fannie Gertrude Becker, Belle Bennett, Nathan Bennett, Joseph Braunstein, Hannah Cohen, Meyer Fineberg, Benjamin Finkelhor, Louis Fishman, Philip Hoffman, Milton Kuperstock, Samuel Kurfeerst, Benjamin Levin, Abraham Lincoff, Benjamin Jacob Platt, Leon Ryave, Fannie Solow, Philip Stein, Max Zeiden

Monday, December 19: Essie Finesod, Hymen Glickman, Ralph Hoffman, Harry Katzen, Sylvan Meth, Max Osgood, Mary R. Sachs, Dorothy Saul, Dorothy Weiss Schachter, Sylvia Snyder Sealfon, Benjamin S. Shapiro, Elaine Supowitz, Charles Tillman, Mary Weinerman

Tuesday, December 20: Rose Blatt, Reuben Bliwas, Raymond Cole, Lena Eisenberg, Jacob Erenrich, Birdie Weiler Greenberg, Celia Liberman, Morris Miller, Ed Newman, Stella G. Pervin, Louis Riemer, John Rothstein, Lawrence E. Schachter, Marcia E. Schmitt, Sarah Schor, Faye Schwartz, Herman Schwartz, Charles Stewart, Anna Swartz, Fannie White, Dave L. Wyckoff

Wednesday, December 21: Ella Braemer, Harry B. Cramer, Anne G. Diznoff, Esther H. Friedman, Benjamin Gordon, Alexander Grossman, Joseph Grumer, Sylvia Rudov Klein, Harry Lieberman, Percy A. Love, Alfred (Kurlie) Miller, Esther Monheim, Sophie Ruben, Sidney J. Rudolph, Norman H. Schlesinger, Dr. Donald M. Schwartz, Morris Serbin, Bessie Sherman, Violet Slesinger, Morris A. Taylor, Louis Venig

Thursday, December 22: Rose Cohen, Isaac Dobkin, Stuart Richard Harris, Zelda Sparks Hepner, William L. Kaplan, Morris L. Karp, Frank Levine, Meyer Levy, Ella Farber Lipman, Harry Marshall, Csipa Shapiro, Marc Wells Shapiro

Friday, December 23: Marci Lynn Bernstein, Thelma Chizeck, Julius B. Epstein, Miriam Ginsburg, Jacob Goldblum, M.D., Lawrence Louis Green, Mollie G. Kartub, David Aaron Liebman, Bella Marians, Dorothy Mustin, Anna Natterson, Rebecca Oppenheim, Annette Reidbord, Edward David Rosenberg, Howard Bernard Schwartz, Selma Schwartz, Milton Shermer, Bertha Tabachnick

Saturday, December 24: Samuel Avner, Helen N. Broida, Esther F. Busis, Jacob Coon, Murray D. Goldstein, Samuel Litman, Mary Malyn, Louis Marlin, Alex Pollack, Nathan A. Potosky, Annette Reicher, Sara B. Rosenberg, Hattie Shire, Max Shulman, William Silk, Della Ruth Stearns, Louis F. Stein, Mildred Weiner

410.902.2300, ext. 1.

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following:

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A gift from ... In memory of...

the Development department at 412.586.3264 or development@jaapgh.org for more information.

Annette Alper

Minnie Hoffman

Anonymous Sophie Ruben

David & Judith Clovsky

Florence Meyers Clovsky

Paul & Margaret Clovsky

Florence Meyers Clovsky

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Cohen Dr. Donald M. Schwartz

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Sam Finkel

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Jan. 8 discussion of “The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World,” by Jonathan Freedland. From Barnesandnoble.com: “Award-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Jonathan Freedland tells the incredible story of Rudolf Vrba — the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz, a man determined to warn the world and pass on a truth too few were willing to hear — elevating him to his rightful place in the annals of World War II alongside Anne Frank, Primo Levi, and Oskar Schindler and casting a new light on the Holocaust and its aftermath.”

Your Hosts:

•Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle

•David Rullo, Chronicle staff writer

How and When:

We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Jan. 8, at noon.

What To Do:

Buy: “The Escape Artist.” It is available at area Barnes & Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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.

We hope you enjoy the book. PJC

Toby Tabachnick

Headlines

Alleged serial burglar arrested again

Pittsburgh Jewish community of stealing items from their homes.

Andrew Clinton is in custody again. Clinton, 21, was arrested on Saturday, Dec. 10, for robberies in Squirrel Hill.

The Squirrel Hill resident was identified as a suspect in a home robbery in the Pocusset Street area earlier this month. He was caught on a surveillance camera burglarizing a neighbor’s home, according to published reports. When confronted by law enforcement officers, he cooperated, confessed to multiple robberies unknown to police at the time and gave detectives several items he allegedly stole.

Clinton was released on bail in June pending a February trial for multiple counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief in Squirrel Hill, Fox Chapel and O’Hara Township.

At the time of his arrest in April, Clinton was accused by several members of the

According to Det. Francesco Rosato Jr., Clinton previously posed as a handyman to gain access to homes in Squirrel Hill, Fox Chapel and O’Hara Township. He has impersonated a home improvement contractor, general contractor, landscaper, HVAC technician and a gynecological resident. At times, Clinton, who is not Jewish, purported to either be Jewish or someone wishing to convert. He attended functions at Jewish institutions before rabbis and others expressed concern. After community leaders consulted with Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Community Security Director Shawn Brokos, Clinton was banned from several Jewish institutions due to his questionable behavior.

Anyone believing they might be a victim of Clinton or noticing items missing from their home, is urged to contact the Pittsburgh Police. PJC

Rullo

CONTENT

WHEN DO YOU NEED TO ADD AN ELDER CARE CONSULTANT TO YOUR TEAM?

This is one in a series of articles about Elder Law by Michael H. Marks., Esq.

Michael H. Marks is an elder law attorney with offices in Squirrel Hill and Monroeville. Send questions to michael@marks-law.com or visit www.marks-law.com.

Sometimes people call me an “elder care” expert. I’m not. I am an elder law lawyer. I practice law. The legal strategies that I undertake to help my elderly and disabled clients may include

• Estate planning: Making sure my clients have legal plans and arrangements in place in, so the the people they want to be in charge are in charge at the right time, including through the use of Powers of Attorney, Wills and Trusts.

• Asset protection planning: Making sure my clients get the care and services that they need while helping them save as much as possible of their own money, by implementing affirmative, proactive, sometimes creative legal strategies.

• Cost of care planning: Sometimes when there’s not a lot of money to start with, the goal is to make sure that what’s there is used wisely and well, and to use legal strategies to stretch it as far as it will go to get the care that’s needed.

• Long-Term Care benefits strategic planning, applications and appeals, especially Medicaid

But there are others in the field who are actually elder care experts. Their job is to help patients and families plan to obtain the right kinds of care. An Elder Care Consultant often has a background as a nurse, social worker, healthcare administrator, or in some healthcare or social service capacity. An Elder Care Consultantacts as a health care advocate on behalf of patients and families.

Question: When should you consider using the services of an Elder Care Consultant to advise you?

I most often recommend that my client add an Elder Care Consultant to their team of advisors to help with a discharge and placement decision. A private advisor may be able to give more diligent, personal help and expertise than a busy hospital discharge planner can provide. They may help answer questions such as: What level of care is needed? Rehab hospital, nursing home or assisted living? Where specifically should they go?

Which care facilities providing the right level of care are local and convenient for the family? Where has the care quality of care been slipping, and where has the quality of care been improving lately?

While I am in these facilities on occasion, an Elder Care Consultant and their supporting team are frequently personally present in these facilities, and are able to evaluate and assess services and conditions. It’s their job rather than mine to be able to guide a patient and a family to the best specific placement when a patient is being discharged or transferred.

A private Elder Care Consultant may also help by:

•Evaluating the patient’s medical, psychological, cognitive and social needs;

•Understanding medication management;

•Offering functional assessment review and level of care guidance;

• Working with care facility staff on your behalf;

• Developing, implementing and monitoring a plan of care, in a facility or at home;

•Maximizing quality of life and independence and preserving dignity;

• Showing up in a crisis and at the hospital;

• Providing information and answers for patient and family;

• Making home care living arrangements;

•Accompanying a patient to medical appointments;

• Tackling inpatient care problems;

•Addressing questions and problems concerning medical bills;

•Resolving healthcare insurance claims and problems;

•Pursuing long-term care insurance claims;

• Conducting a home safety assessment;

• Helping to plan and secure benefits;

• Paying bills and financial management;

• Knowing what additional supports and resources are available; and

• Providing supporting caregivers as needed.

Elder Care Consultants are particularly helpful when a patient has no family close by. Jeff Weinberg of Caregiver Champion calls this part of his service having “boots on the ground.” He says he can be the “eyes and ears” on behalf of out-of-town family, to help care for a patient here.

One question that sometimes arises is whether or not an Elder Care Consultant will help with financial

services such as bill paying The willingness and ability to provide some of these financial services varies from one provider to another, and depends on the specific circumstances in each case as well.

Patty Hansen of IKOR of Western Pennsylvania says that her company provides “life care management for seniors and individuals with disabilities.” In addition to acting as a healthcare decision-maker when needed, her company does also provide help with every day bill paying and financial management.

How should you choose an Elder Care Consultant?

• Referrals from individuals or other professionals

•Read reviews

•Telephone and meet in person to assess compatibility.

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

SPONSORED

helping

plan for what matters the most

Michael H. Marks, Esq. michael@marks-law.com member, national academy of elder

David

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it had to do with the heat of the kitchen or the humidity, but I added about another half cup of flour and mixed it in until the consistency looked more like a soft bread dough. I covered it again and let it rise for another half hour before breaking it into portions. Things don’t always go as planned, even when we follow recipes perfectly, but you can almost always repair an issue in the kitchen by making a small adjustment.)

I cut slices of carrots when I deep-fry anything because it attracts the black oxidization away from the treats, and I add a fresh carrot slice to the oil with every new batch of doughnuts.

Heat the oil in a wide, deep pan to at least 340 F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the oil it by adding a small piece of carrot or dough and see if it immediately floats. If it sinks, then wait another 5 minutes and try again; if it floats, you’re good to go.

Use the recommended amount of oil for frying — the doughnuts need the depth to cook well. You should be able to fry 4-5 doughnuts at a time, but this depends on the width of your pot.

Pick up each square of paper from underneath to gently turn the doughnut into the pot. This will keep fingerprint indentations from forming. If it’s sticky, use a knife to help scrape the dough away from the paper.

Fry doughnuts until just golden, then

turn them over, usually about 2-3 minutes per side.

If the oil smells really strong, turn down the flame a notch or two to prevent the oil from burning, otherwise you’ll have to dump the entire batch.

Remove the evenly-browned doughnuts to cool on a baking rack lined with paper towels. If you’re using granulated sugar, dip the warm doughnuts into the sugar after they’ve cooled for about 10 minutes. If you’re using powdered sugar, either roll them or sift sugar over them after they are completely cooled. Powdered (icing) sugar makes a pasty mess when the doughnut is too hot.

Allow the doughnuts to completely cool before filling them. Use a pastry bag with a point or some sort

of jelly injector to fill the doughnut with jelly or cream. You could use a cake decorating set in a pinch or a Ziploc bag with a small diagonal cut over one corner, but you will get a better result with a specialized tool. If you don’t have a special tool I advise making a small X in the top center of the doughnut with a paring knife and inject the filling in from the top, leaving an extra dollop on top to cover up the knife mark.

Fill the doughnuts from the top center or the side and then dust with sugar.

Wishing you and your family a Chanukah sameach! We should all see the miracles in our lives. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

December fun at Friendship Circle

Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh members celebrated December birthdays and enjoyed the theme “In the Woods!” by creating bookmarks using stickers, flowers and markers. Apart from challenging one another in a friendly Beyblade tournament, members made ivy wall hangings and created pine cone bird feeders

Macher and Shaker

More Machers and Shakers

Rabbis Amy Bardack, Alexander A. Greenbaum and Amy Schomer Greenbaum were among 40 rabbis who received honorary doctorates at a Jewish Theological Seminary convocation ceremony on Dec. 5. JTS celebrated and honored the rabbis’ achievements for their more than 25 years of service.

p Shinshin Michal Dekel joined Temple David

p Community members enjoyed a Thanksgiving celebration with the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse. Photo courtesy of The Branch

p Nisht do nokh azoyner

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

p Daisy Vazquez and Abby Blank

Photo courtesy of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife received the Chachamat Lev award from Keshet, a national organization that works for full LGBTQ equality and inclusion in Jewish life. Fife received the award during Keshet’s recent OUTStanding Gala in New York City.

p S. Bear Bergman, Carson Gleberman, Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife and Amram Altzman

Photo courtesy of Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife

p Twenty-six undergrad and graduate students attended four sessions led by Rabbi Aaron Herman, Rus Devorah Wallen, Sharon Saul and Dr. Yaakov Guterson. Photo courtesy of Chabad at Pitt

p Rabbi Amy Bardack

p Rabbi Alexander A. Greenbaum

p Rabbi Amy Schomer Greenbaum

THANK

Michele & Lawrence Aron

Arnie & Sandy Begler

Aaron & Jennifer Brauser

Lynne “Peach” Brauser

Julie Cohen

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Ken & Jodi Eisner

Adam & Frederique Ennis

Gerald Feldman

Nancy & Larry Garber

Robert & Carolyn Gibbs

Kenneth & Alysia Knapp

Susan Loether

Jane Segal

TEMPLE OHAV SHALOM

Arnie Begler abegler@pipitone.com