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Headlines
Federation’s Mega Mission returns — more mega than ever
— LOCAL —
By Sarah Abrams | Staff Writer
It’s been nine years since the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s last Mega Mission, a trip allowing community members to take a deep dive into Israel’s cities, culture and religious traditions.
Now, following two crises in the local Jewish community — the October 2018 synagogue attacks and the pandemic — Mega Mission is back and even bigger than before. The goal is to take 500 community members to Israel in 2022, which would be the largest group ever to travel from Pittsburgh to the Jewish state.
“Mega Mission represents an opportunity to show our community’s resilience,” Adam Hertzman, director of marketing for the Federation, told the Chronicle. “This is such a diverse community in terms of race, age and religious observation. Mega Mission brings together people from all walks of life to experience the importance of the Jewish community.”
There are several different tracks that participants can choose from when joining the Mega Mission, which will run from June 13-22, 2022. The family track includes intergenerational families or parents with children ages 10 and older, and will be centered on family-friendly activities, according to Hertzman. The first-timer’s track is the ideal choice for those who have never been to Israel and includes sightseeing, outdoor adventures and city tours. There is also a young-adult track with activities that include meeting with an Israeli entrepreneur and indulging in local whisky and wine tastings.
The itinerary for all programs includes several days in Tel Aviv, a Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem and a visit to Pittsburgh’s Partnership2Gether sister cities of Karmiel and Misgav. There will also be multiple stops to allow participants to speak with locals and indulge in Israeli culture.
Scott Seewald, a Mega Mission co-chair, was on the Federation’s previous Mega Mission in 2012.
“The Federation did a great job of creating a Mega Mission of hundreds of people while still granting participants the ability to bond with people in our age group,” he said. “I have been to Israel before, and the Mission is different. The Mission can uniquely allow people to do activities which can only be done on Mega Mission.”
Limited subsidies are available for participants who sign up for Mega Mission. The early bird special provides a discount of $1,000 to the first 500 participants who register before Dec. 12. There is an additional $500 subsidy for the first 60 young adults — between the ages of 22 and 45 — to sign up for the young-adult track. The first 30 children to sign up for the family track will also get a $500 subsidy. A more detailed list of available subsidies can be found on the Federation’s website.
So far more than 100 people have signed up for Mega Mission, and registration is well ahead of where it was at this point in 2011, according to Hertzman.
“It has always been such a great way to bring Jewish Pittsburgh together and, from our perspective, is a way to tell people about the work that the Jewish Federation does in a real, living way,” he said.
Visit jewishpgh.org/mega-mission or email Jordan Tal at jtal@jfedpgh.org to register for Mega Mission. PJC
Stacey and Scott Seewald on a hike during one of the first days of the 2012 Mega Mission.
Photo courtesy of Scott Seewald
Sarah Abrams can be reached at sabrams@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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Headlines
Rabbi launches free kosher food store in Squirrel Hill
— LOCAL —
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
As the coronavirus crisis exacerbated food insecurity for many Jewish community members, Rabbi Chezky Rosenfeld saw a need not being fully met by other programs and social service agencies.
“A lot of the programs out there are restricted to people in different demographics and with various requirements,” said Rosenfeld. “I was being contacted by different people who were in need or people that were aware of other people in need.”
At the same time, other families with a surplus of food were reaching out to Rosenfeld to see if he could find a use for it before it spoiled.
So, the rabbi began picking up food left on porches and delivering it to others who needed it. Eventually, he said, he decided to set up “a central space where people can bring all this stuff.”
The result is a free pop-up kosher store in the heart of Squirrel Hill, located in the former Shabbox space at 2118 Murray Ave., next-door to the Milky Way kosher restaurant.
Because the pop-up space has a refrigerator and freezer, Rosenfeld can now include fresh items that he couldn’t previously store, as well as food that won’t be used immediately.
Most important to Rosenfeld, the pop-up location allows community members to maintain their dignity while picking up their food. In fact, the rabbi makes it a practice not to be there when the free store is open.
“I want it to be really open,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to feel like someone is watching who’s coming and taking things.”
The store doesn’t have a sign-up list, registration or income requirements, and the food is available to anyone who needs it.
While the store offers free kosher food, Rosenfeld said he doesn’t intend to compete with other services and organizations, like the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. In addition to catering to different demographics, Rosenfeld said, he doesn’t have the capacity the food pantry does, and he isn’t offering the type of long-term solutions available from some other charities and organizations in the Jewish community.
The food available at the pop-up store, is a mixture of fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products and prepackaged meals like pizza and lasagna.
Volunteers check the donations to ensure they are kosher.
“And obviously, we only take closed packages,” Rosenfeld said. “We’re not taking things that are made in people’s kitchens.”
In addition to private donors, Rosenfeld said he received a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which helped secure the rent for the pop-up store’s location, as well as equipment.
The money came from Federation’s COVID-19 relief fund, said Adam Hertzman, the Federation’s director of marketing. To date, Federation has distributed more than $9.1 million dollars from that fund.
“The emergency relief is targeted for emergent needs,” Hertzman said. “A pop-up food corner was something the relief committee saw that met an emergent need in the community.”
Federation and its beneficiary agencies, including Jewish Family and Community Services and the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry, are seeing far more than the average number of families in need because of the pandemic, Hertzman said. The Federation can coordinate agencies to respond to needs quickly and efficiently, he added, pointing, as an example, to an emergency relief grant to buy a van shared by JFCS and Hillel JUC that is used for food deliveries.
“This is built on decades of collaboration, communication and trust building, of which I would like to say, Federation played a key part,” Hertzman said. “It’s on the strength of that that we were able to meet some of the COVID relief needs in such a strong fashion.”
Rosenfeld said he doesn’t have long-term plans for the free store, but intends to keep it open at least through the summer.
“I’ve been approached by some people who have asked me about keeping it open through the High Holidays, where there’s a greater need,” he said. “We use a lot of food during that time. We’ll see. Right now, I have it planned through the end of August. We’ll take it from there.”
The free pop-up store is open Thursdays, 9-11 a.m., and Fridays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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Food at the free pop-up store
Photos by Chezky Rosenfeld
