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Candlelighting 6:47 p.m. | Havdalah 7:44 p.m. | Vol. 60, No. 39 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Hellish tales of a holiday strike seasonal chord
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Last holidays at temple are a time for mixed emotions By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
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neighborhood collecting branches that fell or that gardeners had cut down.” Only once was it a pleasurable experience, recalled the now Squirrel Hill resident. “When I was 7, Hurricane Gloria hit right before Sukkos so there were trees knocked down everywhere,” Knoll said. “It was the happiest Sukkot we ever had, because piles of schach were everywhere.” Hebrew literature terms the holiday “the season of rejoicing,” but for South Hills residents, Sukkot 2010 was the season of the storm. On the night of Sept. 22 that year a “powerful microburst hit the South Hills,” recalled Marty Altschul. “Just as Temple Emanuel Torah Center classes were about to start,” the storm struck and lifted the temple’s sukkah “out into the middle of Bower Hill Road.” While the tumultuous tempest disrupted the planned spaghetti dinner and services at Temple Emanuel, all was calm outside of the rabbi’s house. Though the gale had leveled trees, uprooted frames and knocked out power throughout the neighborhood, “my new sukkah withstood the elements,” said Rabbi Mark Mahler. “To mix a metaphor, or more
ith memories of decades past and the uncertainty of days to come, there is an emotional surge ready to crest this holiday season. But given Temple Hadar Israel’s impending closure, the days of awe will have added emotion for members of the New Castle congregation. “It’s sad. We’ve been here for so many years, and this is it,” said Carole Schwartz, a temple member for more than 50 years. “Just saying goodbye to the temple and to friends from the congregation that you probably won’t see so often, it’s a tough one, it really is,” echoed Marcia Meyers, a board member who has attended the temple off and on since she was a young girl. With the synagogue slated to shut on Dec. 31, these High Holidays will be the last for Temple Hadar Israel, a congregation whose origins date to 1894. Back then, even before 40 people broke ground and incorporated what was once called Tifereth Israel Congregation, New Castle Jewish life had already been present for nearly 50 years. According to the Rauh Jewish Archives, the sprinklings of New Castle’s Jewish community started with Manassah and Sarah Heinlein in 1848, when a dry goods store was created by Heinlein and his father-in-law, Marx Arnold. Through employment at the shop, the city’s Jewish presence slowly grew. Years after Tifereth Israel, an Orthodox congregation, was established, Temple Israel, a Reform congregation, planted its New Castle roots in 1926. Tifereth Israel and Temple Israel catered to different religious interests, explained Jonathan Solomon, 70, a lifelong New Castle resident. With a mother who grew up in Temple Israel, and a father who was reared in Tifereth Israel, the High Holidays were an annual confrontation as each parent complained “about the other’s brand of religion, and it got really ugly.”
Please see Sukkot, page 16
Please see Services, page 16
Oncology nurse’s foundation brings smiles to families dealing with terminal illness. Page 2 LOCAL Robert M. Frankel, 89 Father of state legislator leaves legacy of civic engagement. Page 3
FOOD Grilled, but light
Try halibut and string beans for a satisfying meal. Page 14
Will this sukkah withstand the elements? Only time will tell.
Photo by Adam Reinherz
By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
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he winds blow, leaves fall, and down goes the sukkah. Less a lyric than a nightmare, the reality of the approaching holiday is that for as joyous as it is to celebrate Sukkot outdoors, for many Pittsburghers, the festival’s recognizable makeshift dwellings are often boxes built of horror. “As a kid, all you want to do is fit in,” said David Knoll, 38. Considering the Knoll family’s construct, “fitting in” takes on new meaning. “Ours was from a guy from shul,” Knoll said. “This was pre-chat groups or Craigslist. My dad found some guy who was getting rid of a heavy wood octagon-shaped sukkah.” For 10 years, the Knolls used the same structure, and although there were a lot of sukkahs in West Hempstead, N.Y., where Knoll grew up, only one was octagonal, he said. Making matters worse was that apart from sticking out like a green-shaded stop sign, the eight-sided hut had the most natural of covers. As opposed to using rollable bamboo mats or freshly delivered evergreen bundles for schach (temporary roofing), “every year before Sukkos, we had to go around the
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