Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 10-15-21

October 15, 2021 | 9 Chesvan 5782

Candlelighting 6:22 p.m. | Havdalah 7:19 p.m. | Vol. 64, No. 42 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Single seniors, COVID-19 and the challenge of community engagement

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Joining virtually

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LOCAL ‘The Soul of a Neighborhood’?

Locals react to book about Pittsburgh synagogue shooting Page 4  Audrey Glickman and Joe Charny

The loss of a community stalwart

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

D Todd Rascoe dies at 60 Page 8

Eradicate Hate Global Summit can help move the needle, speakers say

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

Beth El’s new membership model

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$1.50

r. Elaine H. Berkowitz, 77, has been a regular at Congregation Beth Shalom for years, but since the pandemic, her attendance has shifted primarily to Zoom.

Virtual attendance, especially during the holidays, isn’t always easy though, Berkowitz said. Once services finish, people don’t socialize like they do in person, and that’s something the North Hills resident misses.

“It’s very lonesome over the holidays,” Berkowitz said. “I don’t have any family.

After Rosh Hashanah, I turned the Zoom off and it’s kind of sad. I tried to make all the food, but with the Zoom it’s not been easy.”

Berkowitz’s household is among the 28% of those in Greater Pittsburgh comprised of a single Jewish adult — and 74% of those singles are above the age of 50, according to the 2017 Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

While local Jewish organizations offer a panoply of access points for community engagement — from classes and religious services to Sukkah hops and Purim carnivals — many of those programs are geared toward children, families or couples. Jewish seniors who are single often must work harder to find ways to engage with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, and the pandemic made participation even more challenging.

The veteran

Prior to the pandemic, Berkowitz had an active social life and enjoyed traveling.

As a member of the Army Reserves for 38 years, she completed four overseas tours: one in Iraq and three in Kosovo. She also volunteered with several organizations in Pittsburgh, including Operation Safety Net. “I was really busy all the time, but COVID really screwed a lot of things up,” she said.

host of national and local experts will meet next week in Pittsburgh to discuss — and seek solutions — to hate and extremism.

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit, held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from Oct. 18-20, was conceived following the attack at the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018. Among its 100 featured speakers and panelists will be former President George W. Bush; CBS news chief, Washington correspondent and host of the podcast “The Takeout,” Major Garrett; Anti-Defamation League CEO Kathleen Blee Jonathan Greenblatt; former Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas; CNN personality Fareed Zakaria; former Pennsylvania Gov. and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge; Kathleen Blee, a professor of sociology and Bailey Dean of the Heidi Beirich Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the College of General Studies at the University of Pittsburgh; and Heidi Beirich, the co-founder, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at the Global Project Against Major Garrett Hate and Extremism.

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle sat down with three of the scheduled speakers — Blee, Beirich and Garrett — to discuss the summit and how best to address the problem of hate in the U.S. and worldwide.

The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Kathleen Blee serves as co-director of the Collaboratory Against Hate, a joint venture between Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University, dedicated to combating extremist hate groups. She is also a member of Congregation

Please see Singles, page 14

Please see Summit, page 14

keep your eye on PittsburghJewishChronicle LOCAL

JCC honors staff

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Getting to know: Zoe Ruth

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Friday night lights at CMU Chabad

Headlines Beth El begins virtual membership option — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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s the pandemic stretched on and Zoom became a familiar mode of engagement, Beth El Congregation of the South Hills saw a “genuine community” developing online, said the congregation’s president, Susie Seletz.

The group joining services and programs virtually, Seletz said, often included people who lived far from Beth El but were drawn to the congregation’s size, as well as the warmth of its members.

In the spring of 2021, Beth El leaders convened a task force to explore how best to welcome and serve virtual attendees. The solution: virtual membership.

Chris Benton, Beth El’s executive director, participated in the task force and said virtual membership isn’t simply about providing Zoom links to weekday, Shabbat and holiday services, but enabling individuals to “connect with Beth El in a more formal way.”

The many benefits of virtual membership reflect the wide offerings provided to traditional members, Benton said. For starters, virtual members receive access to all religious services and classes, as well as the opportunity to meet with clergy for pastoral care or to explore conversion. Virtual members can also participate in Men’s Club and Sisterhood events, celebrate life cycle events — such as a bar or bat mitzvah — and attend religious school online. Additionally, virtual members can send Purim baskets, list loved ones in Beth El’s books of remembrance and access the congregation’s gift shop.

Virtual membership costs $660, which puts it within the range of Beth El’s traditional membership dues, Benton said.

Depending on someone’s age, and whether

p The Sufrin Family Chapel at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills Photo courtesy of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills

they’re married or single, Beth El dues range from $192 to $2544 per year.

Although Benton and Seletz are eager to welcome new virtual members, not everyone is eligible to join. Virtual membership isn’t open to current Beth El members, and virtual members must live 100 miles or more from the congregation, Seletz said.

Virtual membership underscores the importance of synagogue membership, Benton said.

“We have had people who during the High Holidays joined us virtually and want to make a donation,” she said. “This goes beyond.”

And, she added, Beth El leadership wanted to make clear “we aren’t leaving the people we’ve connected with virtually behind.”

Benton said she’s aware of other congregations nationwide that have sought to increase participation during the pandemic, and said

Beth El’s innovation reflects what’s best for the congregation moving forward. While at this point in the pandemic, in-person religious services are returning to many congregations across the country, virtual options remain at many institutions.

Although virtual membership offers a means to engage more formally with a synagogue, its future may not be promising. Americans’ participation in religious services has been declining “over the past two decades,” according to Gallup — since well before the pandemic.

With a recognition that “most U.S. Jews don’t go to synagogue,” rabbis and other organizational leaders have tried to innovate, according to the Pew Research Group in its report on Jewish Americans in 2020.

While virtual engagement became ubiquitous in non-Orthodox congregations during

the pandemic, Eric Yoffie, former president of the Union for Reform Judaism, decried the use of Zoom as a long-term substitute for in-person prayer.

In an article for Brandeis University, Yoffie wrote, “Zoom Judaism is wonderfully convenient, but alas, it is also, ultimately, religiously unfulfilling and terribly isolating.”

Although virtual membership can fill certain voids, neither Seletz nor Benton see it displacing traditional membership at the suburban synagogue.

“I don’t see us moving away from the in-person model as our primary model,” Seletz said.

“It’s just another way to expand the reach of Beth El,” Benton said.

It’s too early to measure the success of virtual memberships — Beth El just unveiled the program — but Benton said she’s already had “several serious inquiries” from people who have been active in the virtual community throughout the pandemic and also “some folks who have come out of the woodwork.”

Seletz, who grew up at Beth El, said she appreciates that a certain demographic may be drawn to Beth El’s virtual membership.

She lived away from Pittsburgh for 30 years, and during that time, found other congregations that filled many of her needs, but nothing matched Beth El, she said.

Had she not moved back to Pittsburgh as an adult, “I would be the kind of person who would be a virtual member,” Seletz said.

It’s that sense that keeps her optimistic about Beth El’s newest membership tier.

“If people are looking for that taste of the Pittsburgh Jewish community, this is a way they can connect with that warmth and friendliness they might not be finding elsewhere,” she said. PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines JCC thanks staff with day of wellness and renewal

 Sherree Hall and Rabbi Ron Symons affix a mezuzah.

 Michelle Hunter and Brian Schreiber transport meals for seniors.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

— LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer

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ince March 2020, the staff at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh has been doing whatever is needed to

keep operations running smoothly, according to Brian Schreiber, the JCC’s president and CEO. That work often includes accepting professional responsibilities beyond job titles to ensure the Squirrel Hill and South Hills centers remain open and safe to the community.

It is because of dedicated staff that the JCC has been able to fulfill its mission of staying

rooted in Jewish values while strengthening its members’ physical, intellectual and spiritual well-being, Schreiber told the Chronicle.

Months ago, JCC board members recognized its staff ’s dedication and challenged the organization’s senior leaders to demonstrate “better support,” Schreiber said.

On Oct. 15, Schreiber and other JCC

leaders will do so by closing the Squirrel Hill and South Hills facilities and welcoming nearly 150 JCC staffers for a day of wellness, renewal and appreciation at the center’s Henry Kaufmann Family Park in Monroeville. “This staff has been working Please see JCC, page 15

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Headlines Jewish Pittsburghers react to new book about attack at the Tree of Life building — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Staff Writer

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ournalist Mark Oppenheimer’s new book, “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of Neighborhood,” debuted at No. 1 on Amazon’s Sociology of Urban Areas charts.

The book, about the massacre at the Tree of Life building and its aftermath, was published only a few weeks before the third commemoration of the deadliest antisemitic incident in the United States, which occurred on Oct. 27, 2018.

To do his research, the author visited Pittsburgh more than 30 times and interviewed more than 250 people, including many survivors of the attack and Squirrel Hill residents.

Danielle Kranjec was one of those Oppenheimer interviewed. Kranjec, now director of campus initiatives for Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, was then enmeshed in local campus life and nearing the end of her eight years as the senior Jewish educator at the Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh when she spoke to the author.

 Danielle Kranjec Photo courtesy of Danielle Kranjec

Kranjec said Oppenheimer heard her speak at a 2019 Tisha B’Av observance at Congregation Beth Shalom, where she recounted a story about some of her students and their work with a group called Challah for Hunger. The organization hosted an event shortly after the massacre dubbed “Braiding Together Against Hate.”

In subsequent interviews, Kranjec retold the story to Oppenheimer and spoke about the University of Pittsburgh’s reaction to the massacre. Her recollections comprise a large portion of the chapter titled “The Symbols,” and her continued feelings of anxiety are included in a separate section of the book.

“I really recognized myself,” Kranjec said

about Oppenheimer’s portrayal of her. “I recognize the experience of my students on campus. I think he did a very good job.”

Reading the book, she said, was “healing.”

Barry Werber, a member of New Light Congregation, is a survivor of the shooting.

He was inundated with requests for interviews immediately following the attack and continues to field interview requests each year near the date of its commemoration.

Werber’s initial interviews with Oppenheimer occurred during the early rush of many interviews he gave, including those with CBS and an Israeli radio station.

“To be honest, I had so many different people coming to me and asking for interviews,” Werber said. “I don’t recall the initial meeting. I talked to a lot of people.”

Werber was sent an excerpt of the book that included his portrayal, and although he doesn’t remember his early contact with the author, he said Oppenheimer “got pretty deeply into my psyche,” and noted he wouldn’t have been so open if he didn’t feel that he was being treated fairly.

If Werber has one complaint about the book, he said, it is that he hoped to see more written about the consequences Please see Book, page 15

Commemorative Torah Study October 27th and the 18th of Cheshvan mark three years since the attack on Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation, and Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation. The Jewish Federation is honored to host Torah Study in honor of the eleven lives lost.

Eleven study sessions over two days with inspiring scholars to choose from.

October 24 Sessions from 3-3:50 p.m., 4-4:50 p.m., 5-5:50 p.m.

October 27

Sessions from 12-12:50 p.m., 1-1:50 p.m.

Register: jewishpgh.org/commemorative-torah-learning-instructors/ Learn more: 1027healingpartnership.org/commemoration/ commemorative-study-events/

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Headlines

University of Pittsburgh presents

PITTSBURGH SPEAKERS SERIES

Getting to know: Zoe Ruth using billowy swaths of fabric for effect. “You — LOCAL — can tie yourself up in it and cascade down from it and get quite a good workout.”

By Toby Tabachnick | Editor As a circus performer, Zoe Ruth was most interested in aerial rope, but also walked oe Ruth Sisson Silberblatt — or just tight wire and worked the wall trampoline, “Zoe Ruth,” as she prefers — has not in addition to performing other feats. yet been sawed in half or made to “Because I had the background in vanish inside a locked box, but she is some- gymnastics,” she said, “I had the strength times called upon as a magician’s assistant and flexibility to pick up a bunch of different as part of her duties as venue manager at things and be support for lots of different Liberty Magic downtown. types of acts.”

“I’m in on several secrets — I probably Zoe Ruth moved back to Pittsburgh in shouldn’t be,” laughed Zoe Ruth, 28, who has 2019 and has found a niche at Liberty Magic. worked at the Cultural Among her duties there District’s magic club is prepping the theater since its opening in for performances.

2019. “But that’s one of “I like to think of the fun parts of the job.” hosting a dinner party After being closed for and how I would in-person shows since like my space to look March 2020, Liberty if I was welcoming Magic opened again guests into my home last week, showcasing — and that’s kind of the prestidigitation of how I think about master magician Chris preparing the theater Capehart in its 68-seat for welcoming guests in theater — but not every day,” she said. before Zoe Ruth took She also enjoys the stage to exuberantly getting to know the welcome patrons back v e nu e’s p at ron s , to live performances in and works with the the Cultural District. marketing and design The Jewish Forest team to “keep them Hills native, who grew excited about theatrical up at Temple Sinai, magic,” she said. is no stranger to the As it was for stage. A graduate of ever yone involved Winchester Thurston in the entertainment School, she went on industry, navigating to earn a degree in the pandemic was a theater from Boston challenge for Liberty University’s College of Magic, Zoe Ruth Fine Arts, then spent said. The venue Zoe Ruth a year in New York p opened in February Photos courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust City before heading 2019, then, just 13 to Creede Colorado (population 312) months later, COVID-19 shut it down. where she worked as an actor at the Creede Performances moved online.

Repertory Theatre.

“We did a weekly show called ‘Liberty She also happens to be a circus aerialist.

Magic @ Home’ that I hosted for about two “So my background is in theater, and I months,” Zoe Ruth said. “I think we had performed circus arts for a while when I eight episodes total that we made. That was was younger, and that’s probably the piece of a really great creative outlet during that my background that is most closely tied to beginning stage of the pandemic, when no the world of magic,” Zoe Ruth said. “What one was really sure how long this is going excites me about magic now is when it’s to last and no one was really used to being used truly as a storytelling tool as opposed cloistered at home.” to just a series of tricks — you know, when Now, she is thrilled the magic shows are the illusions are tied to a story.” back in person.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Zoe Ruth was “I go out for my curtain speech and it’s a competitive gymnast. As she transitioned like, oh my gosh, this energy,” Zoe Ruth said. her focus toward an artistic career, she was “You don’t realize how much you miss it drawn to circus arts as “a nice little step until you’re in a room of people and about between gymnastics and theater,” she said. to experience something magical together.”

She performed with a modern dance troupe Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is in Pittsburgh, where her work included a lot required to attend a performance at of acrobatic movements, then toured with a Liberty Magic, and masks are mandatory youth circus called Circus Smirkus based in should levels of COVID-19 transmission Vermont. She was also a member of the Zany in Allegheny County reach “substantial” or Umbrella Circus, a Pittsburgh-based troupe “high” as defined by the Centers for Disease that has performed worldwide.

Control and Prevention, according to the She also performed private gigs as a Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. PJC rope aerialist.

Aerial rope, she said, “is truly just a rope Toby Tabachnick can be reached at hanging from the ceiling,” with aerialists ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Seven Thought-Provoking Evenings of Diverse Opinions and World Perspectives

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Calendar Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Submissions also will be included in print.

Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon.  SUNDAY, OCT. 17

Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for the next Cooking2Gether Session with Partnership2Gether PittsburghKarmiel/Misgav-Warsaw. It will celebrate fall with unique twists on traditional American fall recipes. Our guest chef will be our very own Young Adult Engagement Director Daniel Heinrich. Learn how to make delectable American fall treats, including apple borekesim, an Israeli twist on an American turnover. Noon. jewishpgh.org/event/cooking2gethervirtual-cooking-class-5  SUNDAYS, OCT. 17, 24, 31; NOV. 7, 14

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.  SUNDAYS, OCT. 17, 31

Gather on Zoom with the Briya Project, for moments of ritual and writing in the eightweek writing course “Sh’ma - Hear Your

Inner Voice.” Each session will include a communal ritual and creative prompt to help you hear your inner artistic voice. 6 p.m. $200. ticketailor.com/events/briyaproject/564066  SUNDAYS, OCT. 17-NOV. 21

In this new series, Halakhic Conversations, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will discuss a variety of controversial halakhic issues relevant to the lives of contemporary Jews with Poale Zedek Rabbi Daniel Yolkut.

Ranging from end-of-life issues to the difficult test of coronavirus to the use of technology, the conversations will consider how the halakha is applied to today’s cutting-edge issues. $75 for all eight Zoom sessions.

10 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/halakhicconversations  MONDAY, OCT. 18

 MONDAY, OCT. 18-WEDNESDAY,

OCT. 20

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit was born out of the massacre at the Tree of Life building. Rather than remain victims of hate, the organizers have resolved to convert what happened into the most significant anti-hate rule of law initiative in the world and, to that end, are bringing together multidisciplinary global experts and leaders who are committed to the eradication of hate speech and violent extremism — in all its forms — around the world. Keynote speakers include George W. Bush, Major Garrett, Jonathan Greenblatt, Alejandro Mayorkas and more. $250.

David L. Lawrence Convention Center. eradicatehatesummit.org  MONDAY, OCT. 18-

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27

Join Moishe House Pittsburgh for a Monster Movie Night and Netflix watch party to get you in the Halloween spirit. Watch “Monster House.” Snacks will be provided to take home.

Let MoHo know if you do not have access to Netflix and they can provide a login. 1 p.m.

Register: forms.gle/ieF3MzzSyU93sVm36.

Join Classrooms Without Borders for a virtual tour of Israel. Monthly tours with guide and scholar Rabbi Jonty Blackman via Zoom. 4 p.m.

For more information and to register, visit classroomswithoutborders.org.

Join the Pittsburgh community to commemorate the 11 lives lost on Oct. 27, 2018. The 10.27 Healing Partnership, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Repair the World present volunteer opportunities, Torah study and an in-person and Zoom commemoration ceremony. For more information, visit 1027healingpartnership.org.  MONDAYS, OCT. 18, 25; NOV. 8, 15

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

 MONDAYS, OCT. 18-DEC. 20

Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will examine the accounts of some of the most interesting righteous gentiles in the Tanakh in his new course Righteous Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible. $55 for all 11 Zoom sessions. 9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/righteous-gentiles  TUESDAYS, OCT. 19-NOV. 9

In the workshop Making the Case for Israel, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will offer tools for how to respond to Israel’s critics in 2021. This is a course for those who want to see Israel prosper, and who would like to know more about how to answer the accusations that are now being made against Israel. $40 for all Zoom sessions. 9:30 a.m. foundation. jewishpgh.org/making-the-case-for-israel  TUESDAYS, OCT. 19-NOV. 30

Join Rabbi Daniel Yolkut for “Messiah,” an exploration of the history and philosophy of one of the most powerful (and destabilizing) ideas in the Jewish experience: Messianism.

A fascinating deep dive into the personalities and perspectives that shaped history-changing movements from Christianity to Zionism and continues to be a misunderstood but critical Jewish belief to this day. $75 for all Zoom sessions. 11 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh. org/messiah Please see Calendar, page 7

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Calendar q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 20-JAN. 26

Calendar: Continued from page 6 q TUESDAYS, OCT. 19-MAY 24

Sign up now for Melton Core 2, Ethics and Crossroads of Jewish Living. Discover the central ideas and texts that inform our daily, weekly and annual rituals, as well as life cycle observances and essential Jewish theological concepts and ideas as they unfold in the Bible, the Talmud and other sacred texts. $300.

9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/melton-2

q THURSDAY, OCT. 21

q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20

The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents The Untold Story of How the Stories Were Told: An Evening with Louis Schmidt. Schmidt was an official witness and interviewer for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Project. Listen as he tells the genesis of his involvement, how he was chosen for the position and the remarkable videotaped conversations he conducted with these unforgettable martyrs of one of world history’s darkest periods. 7 p.m. hcofpgh.org/event/the-untold-story-of-how-thestories-were-told

Join Jewish Residential Services for its annual meeting. Attendees will learn how JRS emphasizes relations to foster a more inclusive community for people with disabilities, and important updates about JRS and its programs from board chair, Lorrie Rabin, and executive director, Nancy E. Gale. JRS will also honor its community partner, The Friendship Circle, and Dr. Al Condeluci will address the daily struggles of people with disabilities. 7 p.m. jrspgh.org/ annual-meeting

q THURSDAYS, OCT. 21-JUNE 30

q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 20, 27;

NOV. 3, 10, 17

Bring the parashah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful. Study the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman. 12:15 p.m. bethshalompgh. org/life-text JC Oticon More More Clarity_Eartique 5/11/21

In The Jewish Moral Virtues, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff will explore Jewish teaching on critical moral virtues. Based on the qualities listed in the 13th century Sefer Maalot Hamiddot (The Book of the Choicest Virtues), Rabbi Schiff will explore the contemporary application of these moral virtues to our 21st century lives. $65 for all 13 Zoom sessions.

9:30 a.m. foundation.jewishpgh.org/jewishmoral-virtues

The Alan Papernick Educational Institute Endowment Fund presents Continuing Legal Education, a six-part CLE series taught by Foundation Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff. Earn up to 12 CLE credits. Each session is a stand-

alone unit; you can take one class or all six.

8:30 a.m. With CLE credit: $30/session or $150 all sessions; without CLE credit: $25/session or $125 all sessions. For a complete list of dates and topics, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org/ continuing-legal-education. q TUESDAY, OCT. 26

Join Hadassah Midwest as they welcome Wendy Evans, art historian, as she illuminates the art and lives of Jewish women artists.

7 p.m. $18. hadassahmidwest.org/RooseveltArt Join the Jewish Spark for Millennial Kosher with Chanie Apfelbaum, of Busy in Brooklyn.

Apfelbaum is a food blogger, writer, recipe developer and photographer. VIP reception begins at 6:30 p.m. Live cooking demo and three-course dinner begins at 7:30 p.m.

Fox Chapel Racquet Club, 355 Hunt Road.

Vaccination card required for participation. For more information, including all pricing options and to RSVP, visit jewishspark.com.

Join Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures for Made Local with Mark Oppenheimer, a virtual lecture with the author of “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood.” Oppenheimer will also be at Riverstone Books in Squirrel Hill for a book signing at 7:30 p.m. Register for the prerecorded, virtual event at pittsburghlectures.org/mark-oppenheimer.

q FRIDAY, OCT. 29

Join Moishe House as it partners with JFed, Repair the World, The Friendship Circle, and OneTable for Together at The Table: 10.27 Commemoration. There will be a virtual service with a brief kiddush and intention setting, followed by individual dinners at home. Time TBA. Register here: forms.gle/ ieF3MzzSyU93sVm36. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3

Join Hadassah Midwest for From Sarah to Golda: Female Jewish Leadership Past, Present and Future with Rebecca Starr, director of regional programs for the Shalom Hartman Institute. 11 a.m. $10 members; $12 nonmembers. hadassahmidwest.org/ tikvahleadership q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 3-JAN. 24

Through illuminating source texts and captivating case studies, Outsmarting Antisemitism — A four-part JLI course on the absurdity of antisemitsm considers the sources of this ancient scourge, along with the appropriate strategies for overcoming it. 7:30 p.m. Zoom or in-person. chabadsh.com PJC

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Headlines ‘A passionate guy’ with a ‘moderate façade’: Todd Rascoe has died at 60 — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

T

odd Rascoe was many things to many people.

A son of Pittsburgh’s South Hills, he graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School and Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied mathematics and computer science.

He then launched a globe-hopping career helping write the foundations of today’s modern software, during which he lived in Israel, saw the Berlin Wall fall in Germany and watched apartheid end in South Africa.

A family man who was cool under pressure, Rascoe was fiercely loyal to his Judaism, passionate about the music and meaning of prayer, and often the cement among members of his close-knit community.

“Todd was one of those unique and lovable Jewish men of our century,” said Rabbi Stephen Steindel, who led Rascoe’s graveside service at the Beth El section of Mt. Lebanon Cemetery on Oct. 1. “He was a passionate guy in a very kind of moderate façade [and] he was a very positive role model and an inspiration to many people.”

Rascoe died Sept. 28 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the neurodegenerative affliction that also claimed the lives of his mother, Jeanne, and, just six months ago, his brother David. He was 60 and leaves behind a wife, three children and a son-in-law; a father, brother and sister; and countless friends and relatives whose lives he touched.

Rascoe grew up in Mt. Lebanon and his family regularly attended Shabbat services at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills, where he became a bar mitzvah in 1974.

Steindel, then a self-described “rookie rabbi,” officiated at the service. An occasional guest at Rascoe family dinners on Friday nights, Steindel remembers playing street hockey with Todd and his brother during those years.

“He was a mensch [and] he got his hands dirty — he didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk,” said Rabbi Alex Greenbaum, who has served the Beth El community for the past 20 years. “His family helped make the Beth El that was made for me. … Todd was a force and he made sure people did the right thing.”

At the end of his junior year in high school, Rascoe took a multi-week USY trip to Israel, where he met his wife, Batia, then a high school freshman from Ashkelon volunteering during the trip. The two remained pen pals through Rascoe’s CMU semester abroad in Israel and his later move to Israel.

While Batia was serving in the Israel Defense Forces, they started dating and married in their early twenties. They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary earlier this year.

In Israel, Rascoe became a database developer for a startup, then he and Batia, an aspiring architecture student, moved to Frankfurt just as the Iron Curtain was falling.

“We were a young couple and he was very proud to be in Germany, in Europe, representing an Israeli company, being Jewish — he felt he was an important bridge and

8 OCTOBER 15, 2021

p Batia and Todd Rascoe

it was something that really embodied his personal philosophy,” Batia Rascoe told the Chronicle. “We were surrounded by geniuses, geeks, and he was very talented.

But what was unique about him was he had very strong people skills and emotional intelligence, before that term was a thing.”

The family returned to Pittsburgh in the mid-90s, as Rascoe’s mother fell ill with ALS. Rascoe took a vice president of manufacturing job with his brother at Thermal Industries, where he became fiercely protective of his staff and, in the words of one engineer then at the company, “brought us into modernity.”

“Todd and his brother railed back against the big corporate owners and they kept talent,” said Jeffrey Wagner, a former engineer for 24 years at Thermal Industries. “The corporate people wanted to get rid of the high-salary people like engineers and Todd realized, without them, you don’t innovate.

“Todd was always a calming voice — when there was a lot of stress, he was cool and collected,” Wagner continued. “If it wasn’t for Todd, my career wouldn’t be where it is today … I’m definitely thankful for Todd being a part of my life journey. He was a good guy.”

While living in Squirrel Hill, the Rascoes became involved at Congregation Beth Shalom, where Todd Rascoe played key roles in the “library minyan” — a precursor to current, more inclusive services at the shul — and the development of J-JEP, a shared educational partnership between Congregation Beth Shalom and Rodef Shalom Congregation.

“He was a constant presence in the congregation and in front, leading the congregation,” said Dr. Jonathan Weinkle, a Squirrel Hill physician and a self-described “shul friend” of Rascoe’s. “With the roles he played over the past eight to 10 years, he had a large hand stabilizing Beth Shalom financially and ensuring

Photo courtesy of Batia Rascoe

we’ll be around for many more years — he was one of the hands that righted the ship.”

“Beth Shalom will really miss his presence,” Weinkle added. “That’s a loss.”

Rascoe became active at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and served for more than a decade on the organization’s Community Relations Council.

“The first time you spoke to Todd, it was really obvious he was an incredibly intelligent person — his intelligence and his passion came across right away,” said Laura Cherner, the director of the CRC. Israel was a key issue for Rascoe, according to several people who knew him.

“Todd — he knew something about a lot of things,” said Jonathan Budd, a friend of Rascoe’s. “He was very engaged with Israeli politics and he kept up to speed over the years with anything going on in Israel.”

“That concept of Zionism, the Jewish homeland — it was very important to him,” Cherner said.

In Squirrel Hill, Rascoe befriended Jewish families like the Budds. Jonathan Budd, who grew up in Minneapolis and moved to Pittsburgh in 1994, met Rascoe when their wives took an aerobics class together at Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

Budd, whose family attends Dor Hadash, said that “Todd and Batia are very friendly, warm and welcoming people — we saw that right away.

“The one thing about Todd is he was so proud of his kids,” Budd said. “If something was going well for them, he’d share the news — not as braggadocio, but in pride.”

“We used to say we parented deliberately,” Batia Rascoe said. “Todd invented all sorts of teaching methods for the kids, and he constantly invented things to teach them about life. He was a beaming dad. He was so proud.”

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

“His family was very important to him and his community was very important to him,” said Budd, whose son is roughly the same age as Ariel Rascoe, Todd and Batia’s middle child, now 27. “He was a very loyal person — whether to his synagogue or his employees — and very ethical.”

Rascoe’s eldest daughter, Shira, proudly recalled how her father got involved in all aspects of her, Ariel’s and Amallia’s education at Community Day School in Squirrel Hill. He even stayed at the school late in the evenings to lend his computer science background as they ran wiring through the Forward Avenue campus.

But what Shira Rascoe identifies with most when she thinks of her father is his compassion.

“He was a really good friend and a close friend,” she told the Chronicle.

“He was collecting people,” she laughed.

“Everywhere he went, he met people. And he kept people close and kept in touch.”

“He had a magnetic personality,” Batia Rascoe added. “People gravitated to him … and he had a great ability to listen to people. He was a fundamentally human and generous person.”

Batia Rascoe remembers the couple’s time in Germany, when they occasionally would go to a nearby U.S. Army encampment to attend services at a chapel that was a synagogue on Saturdays and a church on Sundays. One holiday season, Rascoe led services there and davened passionately.

“Every day he used to say to us, at least one time, ‘We are so blessed,’” Batia Rascoe said. “He was a positive, caring person until the last minute.

“He appreciated every little thing.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writing living in Pittsburgh.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines Students flocking to Shabbat dinners at CMU Chabad — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

L

ily Laredo’s freshman year at Carnegie Mellon University, like that of her quarantined, pandemic-impacted peers, was anything but typical. But this year, as COVID-19 restrictions ease and she is able to participate more in Jewish life on campus, the Westchester County, New York, native feels more at home.

“This year, everything’s like actually normal, and there are very few limitations on what you can and cannot do,” said Laredo, a sophomore studying business. “Every aspect of college has been great this year.”

At the center of Jewish life for many young adults like Laredo is Chabad of CMU, which started hosting Shabbat meals again when the fall semester began in late August. Every Friday night, dozens of young CMU students gather at the campus’ Chabad house, where they are welcomed by Rabbi Shlomo Silverman and his family for a home-cooked meal and a bit of reflection.

The fact that, this year, the meals are held in person instead of being picked up by students in to-go containers makes all the difference, Silverman told the Chronicle.

“I think we’re seeing a crazy number of students wanting to socialize and rebound

p Carnegie Mellon University students enjoy a meal at Chabad of CMU Photo courtesy of Rabbi Shlomo Silverman

and get back to normal,” he said. “It’s great.

I think people needed this for their mental health, their physical health. … We do the best we can to keep everyone engaged and excited.

But, the students, they’re definitely coming.”

Silverman estimates he and his family host about 50 students each Friday night for Shabbat dinner.

For Carmel Baharav, the dinner is a much-welcomed chance to unplug from the week.

“I can’t keep away from technology all

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Saturday but I can for two hours at Friday night dinner — and that gives me a little rest or rejuvenation,” said the Palo Alto, California, native, who is a senior studying computer science. “It’s really, really lovely to just be a person.”

Silverman said Chabad is active with on-campus programming and has found a receptive audience in the new freshman class at CMU. For example, they brought in the Jewish new year at Rosh Hashanah and hosted events in the sukkah for Sukkot.

“This past month, it’s the busiest month of the Jewish calendar — these are things that last year, we couldn’t do,” said Silverman, who stressed that Chabad always follows local and CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19.

“For safety and well-being, we do what we have to do,” he said, adding that guests wear masks indoors except when eating.

But the Friday night dinners have been very special, he said, and the students are appreciating the Silverman home events.

“Sophomores and freshmen this year are really brand new, so we sit around the table and sing songs,” Silverman said. “That Jewish camaraderie — you can’t replicate that with a to-go meal.”

Last year, CMU senior Jordan Loev would pick up meals from Chabad, then celebrate Shabbat with two or three close friends.

“Now, it’s 40 or 50 people sometimes,” he told the Chronicle. “Having that communal aspect again, being part of that extended Chabad family, is nice.”

Loev, who majors in finance and accounting at CMU, is looking forward to programs related to holidays like Hanukkah, because the fact that events are now in person is a total game-changer for him.

“Honestly,” he said, “it’s pretty amazing.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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OCTOBER 15, 2021 9

Headlines — WORLD — From JTA reports

Pennsylvania’s Jewish AG declares run for governor

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running for governor of the state.

Shapiro, a Democrat who has deep roots in the Jewish community, made the long-expected announcement on Monday, The Associated Press reported. The incumbent governor, Tom Wolf, who cannot run for a third term, said as long ago as 2019 that he favored Shapiro to succeed him.

Shapiro, 48, last year rose to prominence resisting efforts by former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in the state to stop the vote count or reverse it; Trump, who won Pennsylvania in 2016, lost it in 2020, but mounted a court battle over the vote count.

Shapiro is not likely to face any Democratic challengers, and no major Republicans have yet to settle on a front-runner for their ticket.

First Jewish wedding held in Bahrain in 52 years

For the first time in more than half a century, a Jewish couple was married in Bahrain on Sunday.

The wedding, held at the Ritz Carlton in Manama and certified kosher with help from the Orthodox Union, was a milestone for the Jewish community in the Gulf nation, which opened diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 and has recently made an effort to build a relationship with the American Jewish community.

Houda Nonoo, Bahrain’s former ambassador to the United States and the first Jewish Bahraini to hold the position of ambassador, shared the news of her son’s wedding on Twitter.

“While I know that every mother thinks their child’s wedding is monumental, this one truly was!” she wrote in a tweet.

Argentine court dismisses allegations of cover-up of Jewish center bombing

An Argentine court dismissed allegations that former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner sought to cover up Iran’s role in a deadly 1994 terrorist attack at a Jewish center.

The 1994 bombing of the AMIA building killed 85 people and injured hundreds.

Iran has been accused of orchestrating the attack. Fernández de Kirchner was indicted by a federal judge in 2018 for trying to obscure Iran’s culpability for the attack through a memorandum that set up a joint

investigation of the bombing, headquartered in Tehran.

On Oct. 7, the judges of Federal Oral Court 8 ruled that “the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, regardless of whether it is considered a political success or a failure, did not constitute a crime or an act of cover up.”

The allegations stem from the 2015 murder of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who claimed in 2015 that Fernández de Kirchner had a secret backchannel with Iranian officials who were involved in the bombing and worked to keep them free of suspicion. He was later found dead in his apartment, hours before he was to present his findings in court. His death was eventually ruled a homicide, after being initially deemed a suicide.

Latvia grants Holocaust restitution

Latvia’s parliament voted to pay $46 million to the country’s Jewish community for property that was stolen from it during the Holocaust from individuals with no surviving legal heirs.

The Holocaust restitution law passed last week by the Saeima, Latvia’s parliament, in Riga states that the country is not to blame for the Holocaust or the theft, which the law

states was conducted by the Nazis and later by the communists who replaced them as rulers of Latvia. Rather than reparations, the law refers to the payment as a form of “goodwill compensation,” according to the LETA news agency. The compensation voted on last week will be paid in annual increments of $4.6 million from the state budget to the Jewish community until 2032.

Stars of Ophir-winning film skip awards ceremony in protest

The award for best feature film at Israel’s Ophir Awards, the country’s top film honor and its automatic nominee for the foreign film category at the Oscars, went to “Let It Be Morning,” a film about an Arab-Israeli man forced to grapple with his identity as both Palestinian and Israeli.

But most of the Palestinian stars of the film skipped the award ceremony on Oct. 5, calling out what they described as appropriation of a Palestinian story.

The story follows a Palestinian citizen of Israel as he tries to return home to Jerusalem after visiting the village where he grew up to attend a wedding. When the Israeli army blocks the road back to Jerusalem, the man is forced to remain in the village and grapple with his identity as a Palestinian and citizen of Israel. PJC

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

This week in Israeli history — WORLD — Items provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Oct. 15, 1894 — Prime Minister Moshe Sharett is born

Moshe Sharett, a signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence who is the state’s first foreign minister and second prime minister, is born in Kherson, Ukraine.

When we are lost and sick of heart,

Oct. 16, 1986 — Terrorists capture flyer Ron Arad

We Remember Them.

Ron Arad, 28, an F-4 Phantom II navigator, is captured by Amal terrorists after bailing out over Lebanon. He is never seen in Israel again. He is believed to have been killed in 1988 or 1992.

Oct. 17, 1880 — Ze’ev Jabotinsky is born

Z e ’e v Vladimir Jabotinsky, the father of Revisionist Zionism, is born in Odessa, Russia. Pogroms in 1903 inspire his activism for Jewish self-defense and Zionism. He provides the intellectual foundation for Likud.

Oct. 18, 1988 — Court upholds ban on Kach

Israel’s Supreme Court upholds the Central Election Committee’s ban on Kach from the election for the 12th Knesset for violating a prohibition on parties whose object is inciting or engaging in racism.

Oct. 19, 1948 — Navy fights first major battle

The Haganah, the Wedgewood and the Noga attack an Egyptian troop carrier near Ashkelon in the first major battle for the Israeli navy. The Egyptian ship suffers enough damage to require towing home.

Oct. 20, 2013 — Buses promoting Women of the Wall are attacked

Haredi men hurl rocks at and slash the tires of buses bearing Women of the Wall ads promoting female worship at the Western Wall. The ads depict women with prayer shawls and Torahs.

Oct. 21, 1949 — Benjamin Netanyahu is born

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s ninth prime minister, is born in Tel Aviv. He is first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1988. He serves as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. PJC

Lee & Lisa Oleinick 10 OCTOBER 15, 2021

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Headlines For Orthodox Jews and Israelis, WhatsApp outage highlighted basic community infrastructure — and its vulnerability — NATIONAL —

By Julia Gergely and Shira Hanau | JTA

A

sher Lovy was expecting a flood of notifications on the morning of Oct. 4 when he posted information about a sexual abuse case to several WhatsApp chat groups devoted to tracking the work of his organization, which provides support to survivors of sexual abuse within the Orthodox community.

Instead, he heard nothing. WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app he uses, was down, along with Facebook and Instagram, three of the most widely used social platforms in the world.

“I was worried that people who were trying to reach us wouldn’t be able to,” Lovy said. He began to worry about what would happen if the outage extended later into the week, when Za’akah would ready its mental health hotline for Orthodox Jews who have crises on Shabbat, when many other services are closed or inaccessible.

“We have people contacting us on WhatsApp to get referrals for resources for therapists or lawyers, or just to talk and receive support,” he said. “I get texts at 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock in the morning from people in crisis who need support or resources, who do they reach out to if not us? …

The thought of WhatsApp going down on Shabbos is terrifying.”

Lovy’s fears did not come to pass: WhatsApp was back up after eight hours, along with Facebook and Instagram. But the outage, which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said was the most significant interruption in service in years, brought into sharp focus the degree to which WhatsApp is baked into the communication infrastructure for most of the world’s Jews — and how vulnerable that infrastructure may be.

With more than 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp is by far the most widely used instant messaging service in the world. Its simple platform, which works even on older flip phones, is the communication standard in many countries in Africa and the Middle East, and its early adoption in Israel and the relative unpopularity of iPhones there means it remains the country’s text messaging app of choice.

In the United States, its dominance is perhaps most clear in the haredi Orthodox world.

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p A man takes a selfie while visiting the grave of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the former head of the Lubavitch movement, on November 2, 2018, in Queens, New York.

Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images via JTA

Even as Orthodox rabbis were warning about the dangers to religious life posed by WhatsApp way back in 2014, as Facebook began to consider acquiring the platform, the app became popular in Orthodox communities as an easy way to communicate. “The rabbis overseeing divorces say WhatsApp is the No. 1 cause of destruction of Jewish homes and business,” the Hasidic newspaper Der Blatt reported in Yiddish that year. Its dominance in the communities only increased over time, with misinformation and anti-mask activism spreading quickly through group-text channels that were already well established before the pandemic.

It’s not just rumors that take hold on Orthodox WhatsApp chats. “We run all our groups of employees on various businesses through WhatsApp,” said Mordy Getz, a community leader who owns a health clinic and Judaica store in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

A unique confluence of factors drives the penetration and lasting power of WhatsApp in Orthodox communities.

Many community members have filters on their phones to prevent them from accessing external websites and social media platforms, so they receive all their information

through WhatsApp, according to Getz. (This creates its own problems, as misinformation can circulate easily and quickly without the ability to fact-check.)

What’s more, WhatsApp’s integrated voice notes option allows people with wide-ranging skills in written language to communicate with each other, a potential issue in communities where critics have charged that yeshivas do not always leave graduates with a strong secular education.

And WhatsApp video and phone calls don’t carry long distance calling fees. For Jewish families in which some members are Orthodox and others are not, or some members live in Israel and others in the Diaspora, WhatsApp can serve as a vital convening ground.

“Every Orthodox Jew has people in Israel and Europe,” said Getz. “You have to have WhatsApp if you want to talk to them.”

When that stops working, the distance can feel greater.

Orli Gal, a Philadelphia nurse, said her family, which includes people in Israel and across the United States, would have been celebrating a milestone in her sister’s medical training over WhatsApp when the outage cut off their communications.

“We’ve got people all over the world, and some of them are pretty elderly. This is the only way they know how to get in touch,” she said. “WhatsApp is the only thing that connects us all.”

Mendel Horowitz, a therapist and teacher in Jerusalem, was suddenly unable to be in touch with his 20-year-old son, Alty, who was vacationing in Egypt’s Sinai Desert with friends.

“I don’t want to say I was up all night worried because I wasn’t,” he said. “But it was on our minds that this is the only way to reach him and we can’t.”

The outage got Horowitz thinking about his own family’s reliance on WhatsApp and whether it was wise given the app’s vulnerabilities. “It’s not an emergency, but it gets us thinking about the next time somebody goes somewhere, we should have a plan B,” he said.

Horowitz wasn’t alone.

If WhatsApp were to disappear, “there would be no backup infrastructure” for communication within the Orthodox community, said Lovy.

The outage, Gal said, “mostly made me rethink: Why did we allow Facebook to buy it in the first place?” PJC

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OCTOBER 15, 2021 11

Opinion A plan for Jewish security — EDITORIAL —

I

n testimony this summer before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, called on Congress to provide significantly increased funding for security resources to help protect the Jewish community.

Last week, at the opening of the organization’s online General Assembly, Fingerhut demonstrated that JFNA is putting its money where its mouth is with the announcement of an ambitious campaign to raise $54 million in three years for LiveSecure, JFNA’s safety and security initiative.

LiveSecure’s goal is to equip all 146 Jewish federations in North America through the organization’s Community Security Initiative, described as “a single point of contact for critical incident coordination, information and intelligence sharing, safety and security training, and resources for every Jewish institution in a community.”

CSI is already a part of 45 federations. If JFNA can raise the millions projected in the

It has become clear that the ongoing threat and painful reality of antisemitism get in the way of the work federations and other Jewish organizations are doing. next three years, it will more than triple the number of communities with comprehensive community security initiatives. And with the infusion of additional dollars, the program will expand significantly efforts to help each community upgrade its defenses and ability to address emerging threats.

JFNA’s LiveSecure program reflects a recognition that rising antisemitism in America is a serious threat, and that community security is essential. Jews need to be free to go to services without being harassed. Jewish

children need to be able to go to school without catcalls and rocks and bottles thrown at them.

It has become clear that the ongoing threat and painful reality of antisemitism get in the way of the work federations and other Jewish organizations are doing. Put another way, the Jewish world cannot function under a cloud of antisemitic threats. A proactive response is necessary. The large sums of money being raised will mean that local security efforts will be funded in a regular and ongoing

manner rather than as a reaction to an emergency event or a terrible tragedy.

And the unprecedented sum to be raised — which includes grants to match and encourage local fundraising efforts — also puts the Jewish community in a strong position to lobby local and state governments to increase their commitments to secure individual Jews and their institutions. Last week, during an event at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $25 million in grants to boost security at nonprofits threatened by hate crimes. Similar grants are being pursued nationwide.

The LiveSecure initiative also illustrates a shift in Jewish communal culture and fundraising. Going forward, the list of needs that Jewish federations will be raising funds for — Israel, the elderly, social services, Jewish education and a host of others — will include security as part of the fundraising “ask.” As the LiveSecure Growth Plan puts it, the effort will “grow a culture of giving to security to maintain long-term support in our communities.”

We welcome the LiveSecure program and look forward to its success. PJC

The great replacement lie Guest Columnist Solomon D. Stevens

W

hen right-wing extremists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, I was a member of the synagogue that was threatened there.

The white supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us.” The great replacement lie was already in existence. But today, this lie is being embraced by an ever-growing element of our society. Tucker Carlson of Fox News has famously promoted the great replacement theory on his show. What was once owned by clearly identifiable extremists now presents itself as a legitimate, mainstream opinion. And with this, its threat to the country and its Jews has increased dramatically.

Many people in 2017 did not understand what the white supremacists in Charlottesville were saying. They were not saying that the Jews themselves would come to outnumber white Christians. While they have never considered Jews true whites, what they were outraged about then was their twisted view that the Jewish organization HIAS was engaged in a conspiracy to bring into America a large number of nonwhite, non-Christians in order to fundamentally change America. The charge was nothing more than a replay of medieval Jew-hatred.

In 2017, extremists were already saying that immigration (legal or illegal) was a threat to the America that they imagined once existed.

12 OCTOBER 15, 2021

America was not founded on white blood or Christian principles. It was actually founded on ideas inspired by the philosophy of John Locke that rejected old notions that countries needed to be grounded in religious belief and blood.

The idea being promoted today is that Democrats want to allow millions of nonwhite illegals into the country so that they can replace legitimate white voters and secure Democratic power for generations.

This is being characterized as a coup that must be resisted. While Jews are not always mentioned as the source of this coup, it is central to the conspiracy allegations. The man who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life building in 2018 blamed Jews for coordinating the flood of nonwhite, non-Christians into the U.S. In 2019, the man who killed 23 people in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, talked about the “Hispanic invasion” and the great replacement theory. And as reported by the Anti-Defamation League, Andrew Torba, the founder of the right-wing social media platform Gab, argued that the great replacement theory is a fact.

America was not founded on white blood

or Christian principles. It was actually founded on ideas inspired by the philosophy of John Locke that rejected old notions that countries needed to be grounded in religious belief and blood. America was a bold experiment — a new idea in this history of the world — and it is still struggling to succeed. Abraham Lincoln explained this in his Gettysburg Address. He said that our new nation was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men [we would say all people today] are created equal.”

In other words, our country is founded on the ideas of liberty and equality, not God and race. And we still do not know, as Lincoln put it so beautifully, “whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” Many Americans are coming to think of our country much differently than Lincoln. They have rewritten history in

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their own minds, believing that the country was founded on Christian beliefs and race.

And although these views are not held by a majority of Americans, the great replacement theory is growing in popularity. It is especially popular among the Republican base.

While it is not accepted by all Republicans, a misunderstanding of the American founding fuels the Republican base.

Donald Trump understood this and embraced religion and race in order to win the presidency in 2016. If the pandemic had not eclipsed this issue for a period of time, he would have won reelection easily. Even if Trump himself does not run for the presidency in 2024, the Republican Party will be energized by the same emotional appeals. It is both sad and ironic that Lincoln’s party has drifted so far from Lincoln’s principles.

This is why the issue of illegal immigration is so important. It’s not just about the possibility that the Democrats could lose the presidency in 2024. Even more than this, they could unintentionally enable Republicans in their attempt to redefine the animating principles of the American regime. If that happens, the bold experiment of our founders will not long endure. And the country that has for so long been a refuge for Jews will shift to a threat. As Jews, we must remain vigilant and challenge the conspirational view that Jews are behind the effort to destroy America. PJC Solomon D. Stevens has a doctorate in political science from Boston College and is the author of the book, “Challenges to Peace in the Middle East.” This piece first appeared in the Baltimore Jewish Times.

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Opinion Neurotic Jewish parents: A brief history and celebration Guest Columnist Tami Sussman

Editor’s note: The author of this piece lives in Sydney, Australia, which recently emerged from a nearly four-month COVID lockdown.

W

hile taking my toddler and doggo out to the park for our first post-lockdown walk, I was horrified to witness two friends-of-friends hug and kiss on the cheek upon greeting each other. While I am not in regular contact with these people, I can confirm that they do not live in the same household and they both have small children. I can also authenticate that these acquaintances do believe that COVID-19 is real (even for fully vaccinated people). They just don’t seem too fazed apparently.

Like many neurotic parents of my ilk, being “unfazed” is an unfamiliar state of being for me, especially in the context of global pandemics. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time something virus-related didn’t faze me.

In 2019 (simpler times), while pregnant, I sent out texts to clients and coffee dates a few hours before our scheduled appointment time asking, “Are you well?” Do not be fooled; this was not a platitude. My text was a genuine interrogation into the health

status of the person I was about to share a confined space with. I learned quickly in my first trimester that pregnant people catch everything and everything takes forever to get over. Another common text my friends, family and colleagues received before catch-ups read, “A reminder not to hug me.

Especially if your kids go to day care. Petri dishes of germs they are.”

Once the baby arrived my requests became more … direct. After an excited neighbor kissed my 3-week-old on the forehead (it all happened so quickly I didn’t have time to intercept), I laminated homemade “Do Not Touch the Baby” signs and stuck them to my pram and capsule.

I wish I could blame the germaphobia on pregnancy and breastfeeding hormones, but truth be told, I’ve always lived life on the edge (of a common cold). I come from a long line of illness-dodgers. My grandmother obsessively reminded her offspring to “wear the singlet so as not to catch a chill” (she spent a fair bit of time freezing in Chistopol during World War II, so who are we to judge?). My mother wouldn’t let me play with the chronically green-snotty-nosed kid at the playground. She still shudders when I mention his name.

The meningococcal disease messaging in New South Wales primary schools during the 1990s didn’t help either. Suddenly, sharing our water bottle with a dehydrated friend by the handball courts was a big no-no.

Images of forlorn kids with amputated limbs and grieving families at gravesites suddenly

entered the 8-year-old consciousness.

Clearly, that was before the phrase “secondhand trauma” had been invented.

Then came the glandular fever (also known as mononucleosis, or “mono”) warnings in high school. Known colloquially as the “kissing disease,” students would hear horror stories of teenagers stuck in bed for months at a time and all because of one brief “tonsil hockey game” outside the Scout Hall at Mikey’s bar mitzvah disco. It’s no wonder I took so long to “get with someone” (that’s what the cooler people called it in the 2000s). When I reached the ripe old age of 14, my much wiser sister sat me down and told me I needed to overcome my fear of another person’s saliva.

She turned to the whiteboard by my desk and drew a graph that illustrated how the increase in social status that accompanied kissing far outweighed the risk of chronic fatigue and failing Year 9. So, I overcame.

Well, I pretended to. While most kids experiencing their first kiss might think, “Wow this feels different but kinda nice,” I was thinking, “Saliva! Saliva! So much saliva!” The fact that we both had braces probably didn’t help.

So yeah, I’m pretty “fazed” when it comes to catching stuff.

Which brings us to March 2020. The ol’ coronavirus had just hit Australian shores and I had to attend a wedding in an official capacity. I greeted the happy unfazed couple, their unfazed family and unfazed guests with a smile, a wave and a boxing slip when they went in for a polite kiss. Everyone looked at me like I was a complete freak. Well, who’s

the freak now? (Me. I’m still the freak.)

I’m still the freak who has hand sanitizer attached to every pram, scooter, tricycle and car door compartment. I’m still the freak who sprays my toddler’s ball with Glen20 if I notice another random child has touched it in the park. But like my fellow neurotic germaphobic parents, I’m still great value.

Because when you’re not laughing at our meshugas, you’re asking us for an antibacterial wipe that you know we’ll have stashed in our bag. You can count on us to intervene when a green-snotty-nosed kid invades your child’s personal space because you’re too awkward to say anything to their parents.

You can rest assured that moving forward, we will never ruin that birthday party by putting a kid with gastro symptoms on the jumping castle. In short, our being “fazed” makes life safer and more enjoyable for the “unfazed” types. We’re basically taking on the mental germ load for you. You’re welcome.

If reading this has given you reason to believe that you might be an “unfazed” type and you’d like to know more about becoming a COVID-safe parent, feel free to get in touch digitally or stop me for a chat in the park. Just don’t initiate a hug or a kiss. It’s not 2019 anymore. PJC Tami Sussman is a Sydney-based author with a background in theater, comedy, spoken word poetry and copywriting. She is a regular contributor of humorous opinion pieces for online and print magazines. This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel.

Chronicle poll results: ‘Squirrel Hill’ book

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ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Mark Oppenheimer’s new book, ‘Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood,’ was published this week. It recounts the events of 10/27 and their aftermath. Do you intend to read the book?”

Of the 233 people who responded, 29% said they were “eager to read the book now,” and 27% said they planned to read the book at a later time. Forty people (17%) said they were not interested in reading the book, and another 12% said they would not be reading the book because it would be too difficult to relive 10/27 and its aftermath. Thirty-five people (15%) said they were not yet sure whether they would be reading the book.

Thir ty-six people submitted comments. A few follow.

A cottage industry of professional mourners has been created as a result of the murders ... not quite ready to hear another one at this moment.

Depends on the reviews. If it looks informative beyond what we in Pittsburgh already know or makes profound well-written insights, I’ll read it. But not just because he’s writing about a tragic event in my PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Mark Oppenheimer’s new book, “Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood,” was published this week.

It recounts the events of 10/27 and their aftermath.

Do you intend to read the book?

28.88% Yes, I am eager to read the book now.

15.09% Not sure yet.

17.24% No, I’m not interested.

26.72% Yes, but sometime later, not right now.

12.07% No, it would be too difficult for me to relive 10/27 and its aftermath in a book.

community which I have read reams about.

I hope it sells well, but I want to move on and heal without sadness.

Further open discussion of the tragic events should be healthy, and encouraged.

I bought the book for myself and one for each of my sons. This is a story about all of us.

It’s reprehensible that the author and publisher hope to profit, via book sales, from our tragedy. Every penny they receive (i.e., blood money) should go to charity. This book disrespects the dignity of the deceased.

I’m a Tree of Life member and don’t want to read his thoughts on what I still live every day.

Ordered the book on the first day it was available. It behooves us all to take in all the journalism available, so that we understand where we stand in the world. The Fourth Estate is our mirror...

Have already read it and find the book a well reported chronicle of the events and people involved.

Not only is this a must read, it should be taught in classrooms.

I was interviewed by Mark but at this particular moment in time, with the anniversary approaching, I need to to wait until the anniversary passes. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

This week’s poll question

Are you planning to mark the three-year commemoration of the shooting at the Tree of Life building? Visit our website, pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, to respond. PJC

We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned. Mail, fax or email letters to:

Letters to the editor via email:

Website address:

letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 5915 Beacon St., 5th Flr., Pittsburgh, PA 15217

Fax 412-521-0154

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pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

OCTOBER 15, 2021 13

Headlines Singles: Continued from page 1

“I’m fine being alone. I’m very self-sufficient.

I have a lot of things to do, but not being able to go places makes me mad.”

Berkowitz longs to travel again, but is often perturbed by the treatment of those traveling alone. She doesn’t understand why the cost of a hotel room is the same for a couple as it is for just one person, or why seating at so many events — Jewish programs included — isn’t single-friendly.

“When I’m at a function, if it’s not reserved seating I’ll wait till everyone sits down because I don’t want to break up anyone,” she said. “I just think it’s the right thing to do. I don’t want to take up two seats — then

Summit:

someone can’t sit with their spouse.” She said going to certain functions can be “lonely,” but nonetheless, she makes it a point to attend.

“You got to get out, volunteer and be with friends,” she said.

The minyan-goer

Squirrel Hill resident Marcia Stewart started frequenting morning minyan at Tree of Life Congregation after her father died almost 30 years ago. Stewart, 91, was a regular attendee until the pandemic began in March 2020.

“I miss going to minyan in the morning but truthfully, at this point, if I can sleep past quarter of 6 I’m not going to get up and go to minyan,” she said. “I’m not someone who gets up and throws on clothes and runs out of the house. I’m 91 years old — my motor doesn’t run that quick.” did when I was one step removed.

Continued from page 1

Dor Hadash, one of the three congregations attacked in the Tree of Life building.

Blee will appear on several panels at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, including one examining online radicalization.

How important is it that this kind of summit takes place in Pittsburgh?

I think it’s very important. One of the originating ideas for the summit is that Pittsburgh becomes known for the solution — not only what happened to us — and that the community is bringing together experts to intervene.

That’s the goal of the conference. That’s also the goal of the Collaboratory [Against Hate], to develop data that informs this. In the future those two efforts will be linked together.

How can we go about finding solutions to hate?

Sometimes people talk fatalistically and say things like, “people will always hate people,” and “there will always be crazy people who take out their feelings in violent ways.” What we’re seeing in Pittsburgh and nationally and internationally is something different that we can’t chalk up to human nature. We’re seeing people deliberately and strategically provoked by a set of actors who are trying to damage society. I think we need to separate what is human nature. I’m not a psychologist but I am a sociologist, and I can tell you that we’re looking at a socially created phenomenon. So, at the level of the summit, the idea is to bring together people, researchers and some people who are activists, but also people in the policy arena and legal arena to think about the issues from those levels.

You aren’t simply an academic studying hate. You also are a member of Congregation Dor Hadash. Is this work harder for you to do because of what happened on Oct. 27?

It’s much harder, but it also feels much less optional than it ever has. I feel more committed to the work. I’ve been doing this since the early ‘80s. It never occurred to me that this would happen in my world.

But that’s the lesson. I think it is harder. On the other hand, in some ways, I know more about being in the victim community than I 14 OCTOBER 15, 2021

Heidi Beirich spent 20 years working at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, concentrating on tracking rightwing extremism movements and working on SPLC’s Hate Map. Beirich will be speaking about extremism on several panels.

Why did you get involved in the Eradicate Hate Global Summit?

Stewart recently broke four ribs. Between the injury and pandemic, she said she’s more homebound than ever.

Nonetheless, she is grateful to have her three children living nearby. Their company keeps her busy and occupies many mealtimes.

While some of her contemporaries enjoy lunch dates, Stewart isn’t keen on joining.

“I can raid my own refrigerator,” she said.

Stewart’s husband died five years ago. She still attends concerts and theater throughout the city, but apart from morning minyan, she isn’t sure what opportunities exist to engage in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.

“I’m not a stereotypical 91-year-old,” she said. “I drive. I drive at night, but I won’t drive on the turnpike.”

Stewart is hopeful that once her ribs heal and the pandemic subsides, she’ll be able

to go out again.

“You have to make a life for yourself,” she said. “You have to be self-propelled and find a place for yourself in the community.”

connected. The Tree of Life was emblematic of this. The guy was definitely an antisemite, but he was going to the synagogue because he was angered about immigration, that immigrants were essentially wiping out white power. These things do not exist in isolation. We cannot fight one form of hate and bigotry in isolation from another.

We all need to stand up and say, “No, this does not represent us.” It’s antidemocratic, violence-inducing and just plain horrible.

and how does the larger media complex play a less major role in that arena than it used to.

The idea of bringing experts in this field to talk through issues and come up with practical solutions that we can do within the next year, before the next conference, was really important. It’s a lot of people in disparate groups, like the ADL, SPLC, academics and what not, and we all have opinions and ideas, but we’ve never sat in a room in this way.

Major Garrett is the chief Washington correspondent at CBS News. He is also the host of the podcast “The Takeout.” From 2012 to 2018, he was the network’s chief White House correspondent.

Before his time at CBS, Garrett worked at both FOX News and CNN.

Since Oct. 27, 2018, we’ve seen a lot of conferences and discussions about hate. Do you think this summit is different than what we’ve seen in the past?

The organizers asked me if I would play a role. They said maybe I would be willing to be an emcee or give a keynote address. My first response was, “Are you sure you want me?”

They said, “You’ve earned in your career a reputation for listening to both sides, bringing on to your various shows, especially your podcast various voices, treating them seriously and with respect and creating a space where dialogue can happen. We want to make that part of what we’re discussing in Pittsburgh.” As it looks now, I’ll be an emcee one day and I’ll be giving a keynote address at some point. I’m beyond honored and overwhelmed with the task. I just hope I live up to it.

I think so and I hope so. It’s a very intentional decision to come up with practical solutions.

I think that’s what makes it different. I attend a lot of meetings and webinars where we talk about the intel and the problems with it, or we talk about domestic terrorism and what’s fueling it, or we discuss what happened Jan. 6. It’s rare to have a conversation about, “OK, we know these things are happening, we have the data, but now, what are we going to do about it?” I think that’s important.

How important is it that we see hate connected across groups — today it might be antisemitism that’s rearing its head but tomorrow it might be antiLGBTQ+ hate and the next day anti-Muslim hate?

I think it’s really important. Antisemitism has a special place; it drives so many movements and has been responsible for so much violence for so long. The hate crime data that recently came out was at a 12-year high. People talk about the anti-Black and anti-Asian numbers, but the antisemitism numbers were really high and considering the size of the Jewish population, it’s really concerning. At the end of the day, most of the people that hate Jews hate a whole bunch of other people. These things are really

How did you get involved with the summit?

Will your keynote address talk about the national media and the role it plays in conversations about hate?

That will certainly be a component, but one of the things they’ve invited me to do is come to Pittsburgh and attend all three days of the summit. I’m going to attend everything, and I’m going to listen and take notes and work these observations into my address, but certainly it will include the national media and the larger media universe. My career places me in the changing continuum of media. My first job as a journalist, for pay, was in 1994. I’ve watched many changes in the media universe that have not directly brought us to where we are now but have intensified things. So, it’s about how do we talk, how do we listen, how do we not press the rage button so much quicker than the discourse button — what’s happened to civility

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The cyclist

Prior to the pandemic, Squirrel Hill resident Joe Charny was a staple at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

Charny, 93, often rode the stationary bikes and chatted with others nearby. Once the pandemic began, however, Charny changed his routine. These days, he mostly walks in the parks and through Squirrel Hill’s business district. He still attends morning minyan at Tree of Life, but now through Zoom.

Charny said he tries to attend various Please see Singles, page 17

What was it like covering the White House? What lessons did you learn there?

That all questions have to be grounded in reality. That being provocative by itself is rarely useful. It doesn’t help the country learn anything, doesn’t help test the president and just makes you stand out for all the wrong reasons. I’ve been in the press room since the 1990s. I started out in the fifth row and moved to the front row. That was a priority of mine. I listened to a lot of questions, but the best questions asked of any president or press secretary were grounded, not only in political realities — the facts behind the question — but where the pressure points are for whatever question you’re asking. If you’re a good reporter, you can find those pressure points. Also, the shorter the question, the tighter the question on those pressure points, the better the answer.

You seem to be optimistic about the role the media can play. What makes you feel like there is a promise for a better day?

The cliché is that I’m an optimistic person.

Trust me, there are plenty of days where I have profound doubts and feel profoundly discouraged. We’re coming to Pittsburgh to discuss one of those moments. I saw plenty of those moments during the 2016 campaign. I never had to think about security as a reporter until 2018, but we did and so did many other news organizations. Ultimately, this experiment of America and democracy and pluralism, and the ability to converse through starts and fits, and sometimes angry and passionate debate, get to better results. We don’t do it naturally, but we do it over time. I have reflected most recently on aggravation that turns to hate and violence, but this is a much deeper conversation about its origin and racial dynamics and the American experience and how different it is depending on what your race is. This has led me to another conclusion, which is this feels very hard. We’re doing some of the hardest work we’ve ever done.

We’re attempting, we’re actually looking at the work with eyes that are open in ways we haven’t before. That’s what gives me hope because any society that’s brave enough to do that hardest work of all is deserving of some optimism. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines JCC: Continued from page 3

pretty much around the clock for the past year-and-a-half and has not gathered for almost two years,” Schreiber said. For this reason, bringing people together for a day of “learning, togetherness, some care and maybe even a little bit of fun,” is critical to moving forward and staying strong.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCC staff has worked above and beyond,” said JCC board chair William S. Goodman.

These individuals are the “linchpin to delivering programs and services to our members and community.

“The board of the JCC collectively decided that the staff needed to take a pause,” Goodman added.

The day of appreciation will serve another purpose as well: There are several staff members who joined the agency after the pandemic started who — either because of

Book: Continued from page 4

of the massacre.

“I was hoping it would be more of how the Squirrel Hill community, or the community in general, reacted,” he said.

Sara Stock Mayo, a community activist and co-leader of Kesher Pittsburgh, said Oppenheimer approached her shortly after the massacre.

“I’m a storyteller, I’m a person that believes in narratives and hopefully trying to get them told right in terms of lived experiences and trying to look at the whole landscape,” Mayo said.

Oppenheimer did that well, she said, adding that she appreciated seeing the author at community events — not pushing for a story, but simply showing his support.

“He came and was just there,” Mayo said.

“He just wanted to be with the community and observe. He was really lovely and very

distancing or masking — haven’t really met their colleagues, Schreiber said.

Milestones in several staffers’ careers also will be celebrated. There are individuals who are marking five-, 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-year anniversaries with the JCC. Other staffers are retiring or have recently retired. Throughout the day on Oct. 15, each of these individuals will be recognized.

Schreiber doesn’t want to give away any surprises but said several of the Oct. 15 activities would provide a sense of “light and fun.”

Along with a mini carnival and prizes, there will be a state of the organization address, a chance for group study and an opportunity to welcome Shabbat — just as the organization does each Friday.

Fara Marcus, JCC’s director of development and marketing, said she’s looking forward to spending a day with colleagues off-site.

“As an employee of the JCC it is so inspiring and heartwarming to know that our CEO, chair of the board and leadership

down to earth.”

While some Pittsburghers featured in Oppenheimer’s book praised the author, the book’s publication hasn’t occurred without controversy.

Shaare Torah Rabbi Daniel Wasserman, for example, has voiced dissatisfaction with his portrayal in the book.

“I gave this man time and talked about things I really did not want to go over, but I was trying to help him,” Wasserman wrote in a text statement. “His response was to present a fabricated portrayal as he introduced me to the reader that was untrue, unnecessary and unkind. And, after spending time with him, he still got some of the details I shared with him wrong.”

(See pg. 18 for more on Wasserman’s disappointment with the book.)

Audrey Glickman, a Tree of Life member and survivor of the massacre, views the book as a lost opportunity and said she was “dissatisfied” with its contents.

“Dissatisfied in all directions,” she said.

Former Pittsburgher awarded Nobel prize in economics

J

oshua Angrist, 61, an at Oberlin. He attended the Israeli-American economist Hebrew Institute and grew up who grew up in Pittsburgh, at Congregation Dor Hadash was awarded the 2021 Nobel where he celebrated his bar prize in economics, together mitzvah. His doctorate in with David Card and Guido economics is from Princeton Imbens, for pioneering the University. He is the son of use of “natural experiments” Stan and Sarah Angrist of to “understand the causal Squirrel Hill and currently works at the Massachusetts effects of economic policy and p Joshua Angrist Institute of Technology. other events,” according to the Photo courtesy of Sarah Angrist Angrist made aliyah in Jerusalem Post.

1982, served in the Israeli Defense Forces The prize was formally known as the and spent 10 years on the faculty at Hebrew Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic University in Jerusalem.

He has published Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The widely on many subjects, including charter winners share 10 million Swedish crowns schools, transportation, labor economics ($1.14 million).

Angrist was educated at the Wightman and natural experiments. PJC School, Linden Elementary School and Taylor Allderdice before leaving for college — Toby Tabachnick

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believe in the wellness of our staff,” she said.

The board and leadership’s decision to make this public acknowledgment of appreciation has “helped me and all of us continue doing the important work we do every day.”

Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, likewise praised JCC leaders for recognizing the challenges staff have recently faced.

“The experience of needing to close our doors for the safety of our community, and then constantly figuring out how to reopen them safely has been very taxing,” said Feinstein. “To take a day to be together as a work family and connect with each other is such a gift.”

Engagement surveys and conversations with staff have made it clear to Schreiber that the pandemic has taken its toll on the organization, he said.

When people come to the JCC, they’re often seeking enjoyment or an opportunity to promote their own health. While staff members are always eager and ready to oblige, Schreiber said, the challenges

of managing and providing services to a community throughout a pandemic, on a daily basis, hasn’t made the agency the “easiest and most fun environment to work in the last couple of years.”

To be told that staffers need greater support isn’t surprising, he said.

“We have a board of directors that doesn’t just manage its fiduciary responsibilities but cares deeply about our professional staff and the role that they play in serving community,” Schreiber added. This type of awareness and commitment, from both the board and the JCC staff, is “part of keeping the agency strong.”

Schreiber stressed the “critical role” the JCC plays in the community and that its board and staff will need to remain cognizant of the work ahead.

“We’re investing in our staff so that they can take care of the community,” he said.

“That’s what our mission is all about.” PJC

 Barry Werber

 Sara Stock Mayo

Photo by Adam Reinherz

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

Photo courtesy of Sara Stock Mayo

“Dissatisfied in what got portrayed, dissatisfied in what didn’t get portrayed and dissatisfied in the incorrectness.”

Glickman said Oppenheimer squandered the opportunity to create the definitive work about what happened on Oct. 27, 2018, and its aftermath.

“Books have no time constraints,” Glickman said. “You should really focus on them to a bigger extent than what he did and present more detail and be more careful than he was.”

Glickman noted many inaccuracies in Oppenheimer’s work, including the fact that Rabbi Alvin Berkun never worked at Congregation Beth Shalom.

She said the book presents a slanted view of the community, including Oppenheimer’s claim that Jews in the city’s Hill District were afraid of the Black and immigrant communities moving into the neighborhood and, as a result, fled for Squirrel Hill.

Glickman took particular umbrage at the fact that Oppenheimer failed to mention the morning minyan hosted by Beth Shalom

following the massacre, which included the three congregations that were attacked.

Several community members contacted by the Chronicle who were featured in the book declined to comment.

While this is the first book that includes both narrative accounts of the attack and extensive interviews with the community, it probably won’t be the last — something Werber thinks is OK. “I think it has to be repeated,” Werber said. “I go back to the famous statement, ‘History forgotten is history repeated.’ Some of the younger generation doesn’t know about the Holocaust. I know it happened.

I had relatives that lived through it. It [the massacre at the Tree of Life building] has to be repeated in honor of the 11 that were lost. It’s a necessity. I don’t want people to forget it. I don’t want people to back to living thinking, ‘This is past history, it will never happen again.’” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

OCTOBER 15, 2021 15

Life & Culture Writing Hebrew letters creatively is a Jewish tradition.

This rabbi sees sacredness in doodles, too.

p Rabbi Emily Meyer Photo courtesy of Rabbi Emily Meyer

p An illustration of the Hebrew word “ahava,” which means love

— ART —

By Shira Hanau | JTA

W

hen the pandemic kept Rabbi Emily Meyer stuck at home last year, she took up a hobby familiar to any elementary school student — doodling.

But Meyer, a Jewish educator in the South Hills — whose husband, Rabbi Aaron Meyer, is senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel of South Hills — didn’t use the margins of a notebook as her canvas. Instead, she started drawing around

Image courtesy of Rabbi Emily Meyer

Hebrew letters, using brightly colored markers to hug the contours of the aleph bet, the Hebrew alphabet, sometimes making detours to doodle images related to each letter. Then she started posting them on Facebook as Doodly Jew. In the process, she realized that the doodling process could be a tool to teach Hebrew words, Jewish prayers and the names of the weekly Torah portion.

“This is not art that you can hang up in a museum, right? These are really doodles,” Meyer said. But she stressed that art doesn’t have to be professionally produced to be worthwhile, saying, “There’s actually a cognitive benefit to drawing shapes and

Beth Abraham Arch Section 10 This large and intricate iron work is a reflection of the commitment of the Beth Abraham community toward their Carrick cemetery. Erected in 1934 across from the parking area, Beth Abraham would continue to expand with new sections. It is JCBA’s largest cemetery.

images to represent words.”

Over time, Meyer began collaborating with other Jewish educators to produce more involved videos, still based on her drawings. In addition, Jewish educators across the country have used Meyer’s videos to teach vocabulary — a boon at a time when many Hebrew schools have remained virtual and teachers are contending with challenges engaging students.

“That for me is definitely the most rewarding element of this, finding a way to reach into the screen of the students and help them engage,” Meyer said.

We spoke to Meyer about how she became Doodly Jew, the historical tradition that inspires her and how she hopes Hebrew education can evolve. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

JTA: How did you come up with the idea of doodling as a way to teach Hebrew?

I’ve been a teacher for a long time and I am a rabbi. It’s hard to find ways to engage students.

Teachers are always doing amazing work, and in the pandemic had to step up and figure out how to do their amazing work in a mostly digital realm. So I wanted to help create something to make it easier for teachers to engage students online. I thought about ways to simply, quickly, show something interesting about Hebrew. I know it’s really hard to teach a second language or a heritage language online.

But actually doodling around the letters of the aleph bet is age-old — it’s part of Jewish tradition to have illuminated manuscripts.

Tell me more about how you see Doodly Jew as connected to historical examples of art related to the aleph bet.

For more information about JCBA cemeteries, to volunteer, to read our complete histories and/or to make a contribution, please visit our website at www.JCBApgh.org, email us at jcbapgh@gmail.com, or call the JCBA office at 412-553-6469 JCBA’s expanded vision is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Foundation

16 OCTOBER 15, 2021

Art has been a part of Judaism for as long as we understand, and creativity is really valuable in seeing shapes and letters in the aleph bet.

In the story of all the letters coming to God

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and asking which one can be used first for the creation of the world, they’re making their case to be used first in the creation of the world. It talks about how each letter has words that are connected to it, are integral to it, like the letter took on the personality of the words that they begin. And the shape of the letters is meaningful, what letters make up the shape of other letters, like the “heh” being made up of that hidden “yud” in there. And from those ideas we go to the illuminated manuscripts of the 1100s to 1200s and beyond.

Making Hebrew beautiful is a part of the evolving story of Jewish interpretation.

Making Hebrew beautiful is valuable.

What do you want your audience, or students who are learning from your videos, to get out of your doodles?

I want students to get a deeper appreciation for Hebrew, more familiarity with vocabulary and playfulness, love of learning. That’s part of what Judaism has as a core value. So I’m just hoping to enhance that love and that creativity and that excitement for engaging with Hebrew.

We know that children learn best when they’re doing something creative or doing something playful. I also talk about that when I work with teachers, showing them that being creative is part of this tradition and that we shouldn’t shy away from playing with the letters.

Do you have a favorite video that you’ve done so far?

My favorite work that I’ve been doing is my collaboration pieces, so I got to collaborate with some amazing artists like Chava Mirel and Eliana Light and Ben Pagliaro on songs and prayers, with the added visual benefit of doodling, and that’s been absolutely rewarding.

Hopefully that shows teachers and students that art can be a way to engage with the prayers of our tradition, not being afraid to give students colored pencils or markers to use during tefilah [prayer] time. I hear from a lot of teachers that they’re looking for ways to engage students during tefilah, and hopefully just getting to play with art, getting to play with prayer artistically, is good inspiration. PJC PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Life & Culture Singles: Continued from page 14

Jewish functions and meetings — once a month, he and other survivors of the Oct. 27 shooting at the Tree of Life building meet at JFCS — because seeing people and “keeping moving” are essential.

“The fact that I’m alone and old is no reason not to be active,” he said.

Charny’s wife died in 2013.

“I can’t bring my wife back to life, and so most of the things I do I do by myself, but that’s no reason to stop doing anything,” he said. “I try to be as active as I can be every minute of the day. Some days it doesn’t work and I just stand there and say, ‘What the hell is going on’ but I really do try to keep moving.”

The advocate

Squirrel Hill resident Joyce Driben has long pondered the Jewish community’s relationship to adult singles, and especially those with disabilities. Driben, 75, is blind and wears two hearing aids.

She said getting to services can be challenging, and once she arrives, she doesn’t always enjoy being there.

“Unless I walk into a synagogue with someone else, I will be left standing,” she said.

Driben loves when people approach her to say hello, but would appreciate it if they also said goodbye. That way, she said, she could avoid “talking to thin air.”

Driben also is appreciative when people bring her food at a function, but after they deliver the meal, she said, it would be great if they offered even a bit of conversation.

She knows people are often uncomfortable making small talk with a stranger, but it would mean a lot to her and to other senior singles, she said.

“If you see a person standing or sitting by themselves, walk up and say hello,” she said.

“Particularly for someone with a disability, we don’t have the flexibility of getting up and introducing ourselves.”

Whether it’s offering a senior a ride or inviting that person for a Friday night dinner, the gesture would go far, Driben said.

The Jewish communal staffer

Greenfield resident Audrey Glickman is active with Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community.

In addition to working at Congregation Beth Shalom, Glickman, 64, is involved at Tree of Life, where she regularly leads services.

She believes Jewish communal organizations are good at creating opportunities for learning and prayer for adults, but not necessarily for socializing and recreation.

“That’s what’s missing for our age,” Glickman said. “I know it’s a pandemic, and we can’t do this during a pandemic, but people recently singled at this point are having a hard time.”

Glickman said many of her peers could use a break from their everyday demands.

Whether it’s dealing with teenagers or college-aged children, caring for aging

parents or managing financial matters, “none of it is playtime,” Glickman said.

Jewish organizations — and their members — could strive to change a culture, Glickman suggested. As opposed to simply holding meetings or programs, organizations could encourage adults to arrive early and fraternize. Or after the event concludes, participants could gather elsewhere.

Glickman said she and other people from the Squirrel Hill Historical Society regularly go out for ice cream together following their meetings. But that type of post-program activity doesn’t typically happen with Jewish events.

“We are always structured in things,” Glickman said.

Whether it’s game nights, opportunities to play music together or some other way to meet up in a carefree way, “we should be pretty good at doing this,” Glickman said. “We have the connections, and it will strengthen the community.”

Suggestions to curb the isolation

For 13 years, Amy Gold has worked with seniors and singles at the Squirrel Hill JCC. As program coordinator and information and referral specialist at Agewell at the JCC, she has welcomed visitors for lunch at J Cafe and directed them to other programs.

When the pandemic halted many of these in-person offerings, Gold encouraged those with computer access to participate in Virtual Senior Academy, an online learning platform.

“Although the in-person contact is still missing, it does provide a different form of socialization and interaction,” she said.

Even so, Gold acknowledged it’s a difficult time for singles. Before COVID-19 shutdowns began, one-third of adults between the ages of 50-80 said they lack regular companionship, a University of MichiganAARP study found.

For older adults, the pandemic has “exacerbated” social isolation and loneliness, according to the National Council on Aging.

Gold not only knows the data but the names and stories that fill the demographics.

She tells people that if they’re feeling isolated, their friends and neighbors are probably feeling so as well.

“Reach out and include someone on a walk, or on a front porch or backyard visit,” she said. “This will make you feel better as well as another person or group of people.”

With winter soon to come and the pandemic still remaining, there’s a chance Pittsburghers will experience another season of ice and isolation. Gold knows she can’t change the weather, but she believes the community can better itself and aid adult singles by warming each other’s hearts.

“We have to look out for each other and reach out to each other,” she said. “We never know the positive impact one check-in phone call or one invite might have on you and someone else.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Starting October 18, proof of vaccine will be required to enter the building, so that our community can stay safe while you work out, swim, get a massage, and more!

How to show proof of vaccination: • You only need to show proof one time • In person (cannot be mailed or emailed) • You can present your vaccine card, a photocopy of the card, a digital version on your mobile phone, or a record from your healthcare provider showing that you received your vaccination.

Bring your vaccine card in now and open the door to all the JCC has to offer.

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

OCTOBER 15, 2021 17

Celebrations

Torah

B’not Mitzvah

Family

Addison Bella and Cameron Dara Silverman will be called to the Torah to become b’not mitzvah at Temple El Emeth, Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 16.

The girls are in the eighth grade at Akiva Academy. They are the daughters of Laura and Phillip Silverman and granddaughters of Carole and Leonard Rubenstein and Steve and Bobbi Gerson of Pittsburgh, and Elyse and Harry Silverman of Youngstown.

Addison is president of the National Junior Honor Society and a member of Akiva’s Lego Robotics team. She also plays soccer and is a member of the American Flyers diving team and Logan Ducks swim team. Her other interests include solving and collecting Rubik’s Cubes, magic and drawing. Cameron is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and the Lego Robotics team. She enjoys tennis and soccer and is a member of the American Flyers diving team and Logan Ducks swim team. Cameron enjoys drawing, especially cartoons.

Both girls enjoy playing with their baby brother, Ari Levi, and their dog, Reese.

Birth Dr. Michael and Emily Cohen are excited to announce the birth of Sophie Quinn’s brother, Brody Lucas Cohen, July 21, 2021.

Grandparents are Dr. Robert and Debbie Cohen, of Boca Raton, Florida, formerly of Pittsburgh, and Martin and Janis Jacobs of Yardley, Pennsylvania, and Boynton Beach, Florida. Great-grandmother is Jacqueline C. Weiser of Delray Beach, Florida, formerly of Pittsburgh. Brody Lucas is named in loving memory of his greatgreat-grandfather, Alex Clovsky, and his great-grandmother, Carol Jacobs.

Engagement Robin and Jerome Friedman of Point Breeze are thrilled to announce the engagement of their daughter, Lauren Gail Friedman to Joseph Brendan Graham, son of Maureen and Edward Graham of Metuchen, New Jersey. Lauren is the granddaughter of Trudi and William Feldman, the late Arthur Bloom and the late Freda and Leonard Friedman all of Pittsburgh. Joseph is the grandson of Ellen Patricia Walsh, the late Stephen Walsh and the late Joan Graham and Edward Graham, all of Metuchen. Lauren is an elementary school teacher with the New York City public school system. Joseph is a senior cyberthreat intelligence consultant at Mandiant. Lauren and Joe are both graduates of Penn State University, and they are currently living in Soho, New York City. A summer 2023 wedding is being planned in Pittsburgh. PJC

Chai

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18 OCTOBER 15, 2021

Rabbi Daniel Wasserman Parsha Lech-Lecha Genesis 12:1 - 17:27

I

n this week’s Parsha we are introduced to the eternal mission of our father, Avraham, and our mother, Sarah. We could debate the nature of Judaism and whether Avraham and Sarah were “the first Jews,” but it is certainly obvious that Avraham and Sarah were the founders of the Jewish family.

Family is about connections and is about unbreakable bonds. Family also comes with responsibility to each other, to a way of life, and to the continuation of a legacy. Indeed, God Himself attests to the character, the strength, and the nature of that family fabric in Breishit 18:19 — “For I know that because [Avraham] commands his children and his family after him that they must uphold the Way of God to do [that which He determines] is correct and just.” We, the Jewish people, are a family.

A book was recently released about the massacre at the Tree of Life building. (The title of the book notwithstanding, can we please use the correct terminology? It was an attack — a massacre, not a shooting. A shooting is something you do in a gallery or at a range, this event was a massacre!) I was one of the many people interviewed for the book and mentioned in the book. The author presented most of my words and thoughts correctly, but did not present everything accurately. In addition, the manner in which the author chose to color some of the interview, and the context into which he put some of my statements were not reality. They were his chosen perception and were fabricated to fit into the story he wants to tell. There was one thing that he got totally wrong.

He suggested that I look at the community through a lens of my people versus not my people, and my kind of Jews versus other kinds of Jews; that I only create real relationships with, and look to help, my kind of Jews.

Not only is this incorrect, it is contradicted by quotes from me that appear in the book.

The author correctly pointed out that our Orthodox Chevra Kadisha is different from the non-Orthodox Chevra Kadisha. The two groups have very different Jewish world views and very different understandings of many of the principles of Judaism. One such difference was recently explored in the pages of this paper. Our Chevra Kadisha is a community Chevra Kadisha that serves any member of the Jewish community who asks for our services. It makes no difference if the person or family identifies as Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or any else, or is affiliated or unaffiliated. Frankly, we don’t even ask if the person is halachically Jewish. Part of the ritual is that we ask forgiveness from the deceased at the close of every Tahara (ritual washing) that we do and again at the funeral.

We appreciate the importance of what we do and the gravity of the holiness of the ritual.

Nonetheless, we are humans and humans are fallible. So we ask forgiveness in case we did not live up to the high standard that the ritual demands. We did not, however, have a gathering to ask forgiveness for suspending

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Taharas during the pandemic because we did not suspend our activities during the pandemic. Even during a pandemic a supermarket does not close, a shul does not close, a hospital does not close, and a Chevra Kadisha does not stop doing Taharas and providing burial rituals and assistance. It is true that in the early days of the pandemic, as we were learning how to manage the situation and we were trying to figure things out, we were forced to take extra precautions and to modify certain practices. Even for those necessary measures and modifications we

Family is about connections and is about unbreakable bonds. Family also comes with responsibility to each other, to a way of life, and to the continuation of a legacy. literally shed tears as we asked forgiveness from the deceased at the end of the Tahara and at the funeral. To us, the suggestion that a Tahara can be performed by lighting candles and getting together on Zoom is an affront to the hallowed ancient tradition. Yet, in the aftermath of the massacre as we prepared for the grim task of what we simply call the clean-up, both of the leaders who were with me step-by-step coordinating the effort, Rabbi Elisar Admon and Mrs. Naomi Balaban, and I unanimously agreed that we should reach out to the members of the non-Orthodox group to join us in the clean-up efforts. Because there are moments in life that family puts aside any differences and comes together as one.

So the legacy of Avraham and Sarah is that we are a family. True, there is no fight like a family fight, and family members can push each other’s buttons more effectively than anyone else. But members of a family are there for each other no matter what, even if we don’t see eye to eye on very serious and important issues. We must remember that and uphold that legacy in our Jewish world today.

Many of you reading these words know that this column is a service of the Vaad HaRabanim of Greater Pittsburgh. I suspect that this will be the last time that I write this column as a member of the Vaad and on behalf of the Vaad. I wish to thank those who have taken the time over the years to read my words and to discuss them with me. I look forward to greeting each of you in Israel as my wife and I hope that we will merit to make Aliyah this summer. PJC Rabbi Daniel Wasserman is Rabbi of Congregation Shaare Torah and President of the Gesher HaChaim Jewish Burial Society. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries GLUCK: Dolores Gluck, on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. She celebrated her 95th birthday on Sept. 27, 2021. Daughter of the late Samuel and Sara Kaufman. Beloved wife of 50 years to the late Edwin L. Gluck. Beloved mother of Richard (late Meehee) Gluck, Fredericka (Hollis) Pence, Peter (Diane) Gluck and Andrew (Yvette) Gluck. Sister of Gerald Kaufman.

Grandmother to Julia, Alexander, Alona, Zach, Maleah, Adam, Rachel, Suzanna and Kevin. Aunt of Ann and James Kaufman.

Dolores was born in Pittsburgh and was a lifelong resident of Squirrel Hill. She attended Colfax Elementary School, Falk, and graduated from Winchester-Thurston.

Dolores received her bachelor of arts degree in English from Smith College in 1948 and her master’s in International and Public Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

While attending classes at Smith College, Dolores began dating the love of her life, Edwin Gluck, while he was stationed at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts in 1945. She was her brother Gerald Kaufman’s campaign manager for his successful bids to become a Pennsylvania state legislator in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Full of life, Dolores was an avid Pittsburgh sports fan cheering for the Pirates, Penguins and Steelers equally, with her family. She took dance lessons from Gene Kelly, loved big band music and danced to Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller big bands at the Casino at Bemus Point on Lake Chautauqua where she spent many summers with her parents and brother. She continued the tradition of summer vacations with her husband and four children in Beach Haven, New Jersey, for many years. Dolores was the owner and proprietor of Made By Hand, on Craig Street in Oakland, for over two decades. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to the Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, The American Craft Council, 1224 Marshall Street NE, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55413, or the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, 201 N. Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. schugar.com GURIN: Sally Schechter Gurin, 92, a retired educator and devoted mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sept.

14, 2021, in Philadelphia. Sally was a lifelong Pittsburgh resident but moved in recent years to be closer to family. She is survived by her children, Milton Gurin and Crystal Gurin, and grandchildren, Evan Burgos and Adam Burgos, along with his partner Donna Padilla. She will be missed by her nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, cousins, friends and her great-grand-dog Fausto. For 58 years, Sally was married to her best friend, Norman Gurin, also of Pittsburgh, who passed away in 2008. She was the daughter of the late Benjamin J. Schechter and Fanny Crystal Schechter, and sister to the late Ellis Schechter. Sally was a graduate of Pennsylvania College for Women, now Chatham University, and later earned a degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh. She went on to have PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

a distinguished, 30-year career as a firstgrade teacher in the Woodland Hills School District, at Eastmont and then at Wilkins. As Mrs. Gurin, she was revered by her colleagues and students alike. She also took an active role in the teacher’s association, contributing to contract negotiations. Sally enjoyed life for its simple pleasures. She treasured time spent with friends and was an enthusiastic traveler. One of her greatest attributes was her empathy. She was known for her extraordinary compassion, concern and care for loved ones, especially in times of need. Sally’s resolve to care for others was made possible by her own fortitude. She was confident and resolute, known and admired by her family for her strong will. A memorial service will be held at Rodef Shalom, Pittsburgh, on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 at 11 a.m. The family will greet mourners (masks and vaccination required) beginning at 10 a.m.

KATZ: Greta Katz, age 92, of Wilkins Township, on Thursday Oct. 7, 2021. Beloved wife of the late Victor. Loving mother of Marcia (Jack) KatzSussman, Paul H. (Elizabeth) Katz, and Ellen (Nick Rosenberg) Edery. Proud grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of 12. Loving sister of Burton Lieberman and the late Marilyn Schwartz. Daughter of the late Emanuel and Diana Lieberman. Many special nieces and nephews. The family would like to extend a sincere “thank you” to her caregivers: Dr. Sachin Bahl, Barb, Juanita, Tonya and Lou Ann and Nicole at Heritage Hospice. A private graveside service was held at the Adath Jeshurun Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Heritage Hospice. Professional Services trusted to the D’alessandro Funeral Home & Crematory Ltd. Lawrenceville. dalessandroltd.com PAPALE: Brian Papale, 55, of Johnstown (formerly of Pittsburgh) passed away on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, after complications from cancer.

Brian was an avid Pittsburgh sports fan and Grateful Deadhead who loved to make people laugh. He was happiest when sharing his passion and knowledge of sports or music. He is deeply missed, and forever loved, by his fiancée, Chrissy Oswalt, and his pride and joy, his sons, Jordan Papale and Noah Rodgers. He is also survived by his beloved mother and sister, Helen Papale and Renee Smith (Rob Spivak); late brother-in-law, Bryan Smith and his loving nieces, Sydney and Morgan Smith; his cherished Aunt Elenor and Uncle Marc Goldstein and cousins Lori, Drew (Lauren), Jacob, Elizabeth, Hannah, Maya and Jesse. Private service and professional arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from …

In memory of …

A gift from …

In memory of …

Nancy Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bernice Finegold

Mark Browar Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Browar

Harvey L. Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fannie Rice

Mark Browar Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marion Browar

Dr. Lawrence N. Adler. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dr. Henry Goldstein

Phyllis Perry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Morris Levine

Elaine Arlott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arthur Speizer Reggie Bardin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joseph Bardin Reggie Bardin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evelyn Letwin Donald Berk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Berkowitz Rozman

Marion Reznik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eleanor Bergstein Richard, Mindy, & Logan Stadler . . . . . . . .Benjamin Platt Richard, Mindy, & Logan Stadler . . . . . . . . . . Noah Saxen

Charles S. Berney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anne Firestone

Richard, Mindy, & Logan Stadler . . . . . . . . Charles Saxen

Michael & Christine Cushner. . . . . .Helen Pearl Cushner

Cheryl Sober . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Norma Harris

Ruth Haber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward L. Friedman

Edris Weis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Shaffer

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday October 17: Arthur Levine, Solomon Linder, Jennie Rosen, Mayer Eli Ruben, Rose Shapiro, Freda Siegel, Charles Weiss Monday October 18: Benjamin C. Brown, Evelyn Wolk Caplan, Ruben Cohen, Dr. Bernard Cramer, Samuel T. Greenberg, Frank Grossman, Ida Kaplan, Dena Katzenberg, Morris Krantz, Minnie M. Lavine, Raymond Paul Lazier, Rebecca Paris, Adolph Roth, Nina Ruben, Anna Sadowsky, Leonard Schulhof, Helen R. Seiavitch, George Sherman, Doris Wechsler Tuesday October 19: Goodman George Altman, Jacob L. Berkovitz, Leo Berkovitz, Sylvia Breman Braun, William Cohen, Sidney Leo Friedman, Jennie Gernstat, William Glasser, Helen B. L. Hersh, Norman Katz, Rachel Klahr, Arnold Klein, Nathan A. Kopelman, Phillip Levy, Edwin E. Lichtenstul, Michael J. Niderberg, Paul Numerosky, David Rosen, Meyer David Rosenthal, Harry H. Samuels Wednesday October 20: William Darling, David Friedman, Miriam Magadof Glantz, Sadie Goldberg, Goldie Gross, Sam L. Herer, Louis Kaufman, Sarah Krimsky, Louis Max Labovick, Diana Z. Myer, Capt. Morris A. Rudick, Philip George Savage, Goldie Schwartz, Mary Smalley, Sara R. Solow, Dr. Marshall Steinberg Thursday October 21: Belle Abramson, Leroy E. Broder, Samuel Chaban, Bella Chotiner, Edward Goldstein, Isadore Goodman, Samuel Greene, Regina Labowitz, Sam Markowitz, Jennie Murstein, Minnie Protetch, Samuel Segal, Ben Smolar, Ben Vinocur, Florence H. Weiss Friday October 22: Freda S. Barbrow, Sadie Brand, Philip L. Escott, Lottie Haas Fried, Esther Green, Mollie Malt, Addie Mayer, Ida Stein Morgan, Dr. Irving Perlmutter, Louis Pollock, Rose Richmond, Anna Snyder, Dorothy J. Spolan, Max Stein, Selma Zober Saturday October 23: Simon J. Anathan, Irving Clovsky, Bessie Cohen, Sarah Levine, Max Lipkind, Doris Lipner, Joseph Mandel, Herbert B. Marks, Grace Miller, Aron Reznick, Lena Schuster, Myra Fern Seder

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OCTOBER 15, 2021 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

SIEGEL: Erica Ann Siegel, 70, of Roseland, New Jersey, died on Sept. 30, 2021, after a long illness. She was born March 26, 1951, in Washington,

Pennsylvania, a daughter of Doris Brown Siegel and Dr. Joseph F. Siegel. Erica earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington & Jefferson College and her master’s of science in nursing from Pace University. She practiced for many years as a certified registered nurse anesthetist in Pittsburgh before moving to New Jersey to be near family. Erica was an accomplished pianist and singer and a gifted creative

writer, and was known for her intricate handicrafts. Erica is survived by her sister, Pamela Siegel, of Canonsburg; her brother, Michael Siegel, of Scenery Hill; her daughter, Sarah Sulkowski; her son-in-law, Michael Kurzer; and her two granddaughters, Alexandra Kurzer and Lisa Kurzer. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son, Robert V. Sulkowski, III. A graveside service

was held at Beth Israel Cemetery in Washington at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, with Rabbi David Novitsky officiating. Memories of Erica may be shared via the Piatt & Barnhill Funeral Home at piattandbarnhillfh.com. Memorial contributions may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Piatt and Barnhill Funeral Directors, Inc., Charles R. Piatt, owner/ supervisor and Andrew C. Piatt, director. PJC

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Private swimming pool for townhouses | $299,000 Coldwell Banker Laurel Ridge Realty Marian Silverstein | (412) 979-2202 | silversteinmb@aol.com

Smith-Rosenthal Team

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Jason: 412-969-2930 | Caryn: 412-389-1695

Jasonasmith@howardhanna.com Carynrosenthal@howardhanna.com

5501 Baum Blvd.

Pittsburgh PA 15232 Shadyside Office | 412-361-4000

Business & Professional Directory ANTIQUES & RUMMAGE

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GET THE news.

THEN GET THE FULL STORY

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❀ In the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle For home delivery, call 410.902.2308

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OCTOBER 15, 2021

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Real Estate REALTOR SERVICES

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OCTOBER 15, 2021 21

Life & Culture ‘Fiddler’ meets ‘The Sopranos’: A gritty, forgotten novel by Sholom Aleichem is published in English for the first time — BOOKS —

By Penny Schwartz | JTA

M

ove over, Tevye the dairyman.

Make room for Moshkele the thief, the rough and tumble rogue hero from the wrong side of the shtetl in a newly rediscovered work of fiction by Sholom Aleichem.

The recent publication of “Moshkele the Thief: A Rediscovered Novel” (Jewish Publication Society/University of Nebraska Press), translated from the original Yiddish and with an introduction by Curt Leviant, marks the first ever English-language translation of the novella by perhaps the most popular and most widely read Yiddish writer.

Sholom Aleichem, the pen name of Shalom Rabinowitz (1859-1916), was a masterful storyteller whose keen eye, wit and humor earned him the reputation as the Jewish Mark Twain. He left a legacy of novels, plays, essays and stories that have been translated into dozens of languages.

His fictional stories of Tevye, the everyman’s philosopher of Jewish life, family and faith in a shtetl village in Czarist Russia, inspired the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”

But even though Aleichem could write about flawed characters and the grittier side of shtetl life, Moshkele is a far cry from Tevye. The all-but-forgotten tale, first serialized in Yiddish in a Warsaw newspaper in 1903 — a year before Rabinowitz would leave Kyiv for New York City, and three years before his death at 57 — explores the underside of Jewish life in Eastern Europe.

The novella brims with the doings of horse thieves, cheats, swindlers and a pious tavern keeper who doesn’t hesitate to show off his comely daughters to sell a few more bottles of vermouth.

The book also captures relations between Jews and non-Jews, another rarity in popular Yiddish writing of the day.

It took the astute eye of Leviant, a seasoned translator and scholar of Sholom Aleichem’s work, to spot references to “Moshkele the Thief ” (“Moshkele Ganev” in Yiddish) while doing research at the Hebrew University Library in Jerusalem. A retired Rutgers University professor of Hebrew literature and the author or translator of more than 25 books (including the forthcoming novel, “Me, Mo, Mu, Ma & Mod”), Leviant was thumbing through old copies of the Yiddish quarterly “Di Goldene Keyt” when he noticed a brief mention of the title.

“Moshkele” is not included in the 28-volume “The Complete Works of Sholom Aleichem,” published after his death.

“I felt I was at the edge of a gold mine,” Leviant wrote in an email.

Back at home in New York, his query to the National Yiddish Book Center turned up copies of the three Yiddish editions

p The cover of Curt Leviant’s translation of “Moshkeleh the Thief” Photo courtesy of The Jewish Publication Society via JTA

p Sholom Aleichem, circa 1900

Photo by FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images via JTA

of “Moshkeleh Ganev,” dating from 1913 (Warsaw), 1927 (Kiev) and 1941 (Moscow).

“I read this short novel in one sitting and decided that his gem must make its way to the public,” Leviant recalled. He immediately began translating.

Leviant captures the broken syntax and jargon of the shtetl demimonde, who prefer euphemisms like “I shot a bird” or “I whistled it out of the shed” to refer to their crimes.

Moshkele prefers horses to his religious school rabbis from a young age, and is portrayed as an intimidating but lonely soul, rejected in love and disdained by his coreligionists in the small town of Mazapevke — anticipating misunderstood literary gangsters from Isaac Babel’s Benya Krik to James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano.

The story unfolds over the course of 20 brief chapters, reflecting the rhythm of its original run as a serial, cliffhangers and all. Early on, the narrator teases with the tantalizing scandal of Tzirele, the beautiful unmarried daughter of Chaim Chosid, who runs Mazapevke’s tavern. Unlike her sisters, Tzirele wants more from life than being matched in marriage and mothering a brood of children.

In a rebellious turn that might have shocked contemporary readers, Tzirele runs away with the town’s Christian liquor tax collector, who arranges for her to take up residence at the local monastery until they can be married. With nowhere else to turn, Tzirele’s bereft family pins its hopes on Moshkele for her rescue.

Even amidst the trauma, the book’s tone remains wry: The monastery garden is “an earthly paradise, as it was called in Mazepevke, even though no Jew had ever had the privilege of setting foot in it.” Sholom Aleichem also occasionally breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader directly: “But let’s cast philosophy aside and return to our novel,” he writes at one point.

Sholom Aleichem himself was pleased with the novel, Leviant explains in the book’s introduction. “’I now feel as if I’ve been born anew, with new — brand new — strength. I can almost say that now I’ve really begun to write. Until now, I’ve only been fooling around,’” Sholom Aleichem wrote in a letter published in a later biography.

It certainly opened up possibilities for other writers in Yiddish. Leviant writes that the next generation of Yiddish writers — including Sholem Asch and Isaac Bashevis Singer — “had no qualms representing the seamy side of Jewish life.”

By the time “Moshkele Ganev” was published, Sholom Aleichem was at the height of his literary career and popularity, Leviant noted. “Perhaps earlier, he would not have attempted a portrait of a ganev,” he wrote. “The fact that the book was serialized in full shows that readers were clamoring for the next installment.” PJC

www.pittsburghjewishchronicle.org 22 OCTOBER 15, 2021

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Community Chabad House serves students on campus

Time to weight

Chabad House on Campus partnered with area campuses to create educational and tasty experiences.

Exercise classes continue at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

p Squirrel Hill members enjoy a parking garage workout session. p While visiting the University of Pittsburgh, Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein instructs students on the meaning of the Shema prayer during a Bagels, Lox and Tefillin event.

p Rabbi Shmuel and Sara Weinstein are joined by Randi Congleton, assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Chatham University, during Chatham’s Student Engagement and Employment Fair.

Photos courtesy of Chabad House on Campus

p South Hills members pump iron indoors.

Hi, my name is

NCJW and Women’s March

Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh welcomed new families at an Oct. 5. program.

p Chaya Sara and Dr. Hiam Naiditch

Photo courtesy of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh

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Happy Hour at Grist House Craft Brewery The Young Adult Division (YAD) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh connected attendees to each other and to the spectrum of brews at the Grist House Craft Brewery, Millvale on Oct. 7.

p From left: Avi Steindel, Adam Livingston, Victor Newman, Josh Cohen, Brenna Rosen and Elaine James

Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section representatives joined thousands of activists at the “March to Defend Our Reproductive Rights,” organized by Women’s MarchPittsburgh, on Oct 2.

p More than 100 signs made by NCJW Pittsburgh community members were distributed to attendees.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

p NCJW was a national co-sponsor of the Rally for Abortion Justice, which included 600+ events on the same day across the country.

Photos courtesy of National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section

OCTOBER 15, 2021 23

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