College decision process prompts pause and questions for students and parents
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
Faced with the ever-challenging question of what to do next, Pittsburgh Allderdice High School senior Aviv Davidson made a choice. Throughout the monthslong college selection process, Davidson, a star runner at the Squirrel Hill-based public school, considered several factors: To what extent would he run in college, how far was he willing to go from home, and, perhaps most difficult of all, what did he want his next Jewish experience to look like?
For Davidson, and scores of other students, parents, counselors and administrators, the task of ascertaining the character of Jewish life on campus — often before heading into a cafeteria, holing up in a library, singing a capella, attending a communal seder or tabling beside a leafy green quad — has been both enlightening and polarizing.
Near daily media reports coupled with digital chats have detailed numerous episodes involving college Jewish students. Illuminating and sobering anecdotes largely shared in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, have fueled communal conversation, congressional inquiries and presidential action.
Davidson, like scores of other applicants and decision-makers in this year’s pool, followed related news and social media chatter. About a week before the May 1 deadline, Davidson chose American University.
As for being Jewish on campus, “I didn’t want to go to a school that doesn’t care,” he said.
Leaving the nest
“The thing that’s on students’ minds is are
p With college decisions feeling weightier than ever, professionals recommend listening, learning and talking as a family.
they going to go someplace where they feel safe,” Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh interim principal Yikara Levari told the Chronicle.
Prior to becoming interim principal last month, Levari spent more than a decade leading Hillel Academy’s Girls High School. Being a secondary school administrator delivered a bird’s eye view on how students and parents approach an academic milestone.
There’ve always been questions about which schools offer which amenities — like kosher food, regular prayer services or Jewish studies programs — but since Oct. 7 and the start of the Israel-Hamas war, many of the inquiries about life on campus concern one’s ability to practice Judaism safely, Levari said. “But what that means could mean different things.”
Levari said she’s noticed more interest in predominantly Jewish spaces, including Yeshiva University and Touro University, and praised University of Delaware and Penn State
University as “places that have taken efforts to make sure Jewish students feel safe.”
One wrinkle is the growing role of college in Israel.
Both as a school administrator and parent of a high school senior, Levari has seen greater enthusiasm for post-secondary studies abroad.
Applicants and Israeli admissions officers seem to be sharing and requesting “a lot more information than ever before,” she said.
Pursuing college overseas won’t be right for everyone — much like no decision will be universally correct — but it’s important to provide students and parents with viable options, she continued. “We have a range of where students go, and as a school we don’t push one place.”
Each fall, admissions officers, Israel advocates and a slew of speakers pine for attention, and this year’s application and decision process has been no different, Levari said. “My job as an educator in sending these kids off to the
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next stage of life can be scary. You can’t control everything. You have to really help them and make sure that they feel protected — because in a way, that’s what we’ve always been doing: protecting them for their entire schooling.”
For parent Dana Blitstein, the college decision process wasn’t terribly taxing.
“I have a pretty easy child. She’s very self-directed and motivated to do a lot of things,” Blitstein said.
When it came to determining where the Allderdice senior would go next, Blitstein said her daughter identified schools with “larger, more diverse campuses,” friendlier tuition rates and sizable Jewish communities.
The process required choosing between Binghamton University, University of Maryland, The Ohio State University and Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. Blitsein’s daughter selected the latter.
The Squirrel Hill-based mother is happy about her daughter’s decision — of Penn State’s nearly 40,000 undergraduate students, about 10% are Jewish, according to Hillel International — but worry still exists.
“There’s no campus that’s going to be perfect or ideal,” Blitstein said. “Stuff is going to happen everywhere.”
Possessing that mindset propelled Blitstein to prepare her daughter for college by exposing her to “misinformation” and encouraging her to “be a participant in the Jewish community on campus.”
Fox Chapel resident Margo Litwin described the past year as a “fraught process.”
Watching her daughter choose where to go post-high school led Litwin to say, “There’s a lot of pressure on kids.”
At the same time, it’s not so simple for parents.
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OPittsburgh’s hungry with the opening of a new, much larger space in Squirrel Hill.
Now located next door to the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse on lower Murray Avenue, the nonprofit kitchen can accommodate more than 50 volunteers and generate over 300 kosher meals a week. Some are available on-site, while others are delivered to those in need through a dozen partner charities, including homeless shelters and food pantries.
Food insecurity continues to rise, according to data from the city of Pittsburgh, which reports that one in five residents — or more than 60,000 individuals — struggle to have healthful, adequate and culturally appropriate meals.
“Food insecurity is huge, given inflation, unemployment and government cuts,” said Rabbi Chezky Rosenfeld, who founded Our Giving Kitchen four years ago on upper Murray Avenue. “As many meals as we make there are organizations more than happy to take them.”
There’s also no shortage of eager volunteers, who are the key ingredient in Our Giving Kitchen’s success, he said.
Karen Gal-Or, of Squirrel Hill, shows up often for what she described as both a fulfilling and fun experience. She brings along her three young sons to teach them the importance of giving back, she said.
“It’s challenging to find volunteer opportunities that can include kids, but Chezky and [his wife] Bassie [Rosenfeld] make it fun for the whole family. My six-year-old helped with cookie making because it also meant cookie tasting. The kids are given plastic knives to work with.”
Gal-Or, an attorney, chose to celebrate her 40th birthday at Our Giving Kitchen by gathering a group of friends to make meals.
Rosenfeld, noting that it costs about $1,000 to sponsor 100 meals.
Sundays, and Wednesday mornings, are open to individual volunteers, and they come from all sectors of the community, Jewish and otherwise, Rosenfeld said, noting that a large percentage become regulars.
They work on an assembly line handling every aspect of production — from chopping vegetables and rolling out cookie dough to cleaning up — and average 100 meals in 90 minutes.
“It’s an impressive, well-run operation,” said Gal-Or. “It’s also sociable and comfortable. Very welcoming. They make it ridiculously easy to volunteer.”
A typical meal might include meatballs in vegetable-tomato sauce over rice, green beans and a chocolate chip cookie. “We rotate our menu every couple of months,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s all fresh, and stuff that can be refrigerated or frozen. There’s no junk in the meals we serve.”
They are stashed in microwavable containers in refrigerators and available to anyone who walks in, with no proof of income required.
Operating on the honor system enables recipients to retain their dignity, Rosenfeld said.
That approach appealed to Barb Kleyman, a retired chef, who began volunteering after reading about Our Giving Kitchen in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.
“I showed up one Sunday and was hooked by the idea that people needing to eat didn’t have to jump through hoops, show income and fill out a lot of forms,” said Kleyman, 72, of Point Breeze. “I volunteered at a food bank and so I know what people have to go through to prove eligibility.”
Volunteers at Our Giving Kitchen
Photo by Our Giving Kitchen
Headlines
Tech partnership brings Pittsburgh and Israel a bit closer
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer
Finding one’s way inside a covered parking garage could become easier thanks to an international collaboration. Hellbender, a Pittsburgh-based robotics innovator, and Israeli startup Cyberbee announced a strategic partnership to integrate Cyberbee’s visual localization technology into Hellbender’s stereo camera system.
The efforts, CEOs of both companies told the Chronicle, will bring real-time centimeter-level navigation to mobile robots in GPS-denied environments.
“The possibility, or the ability, for robotic platforms to perceive spatial understanding, navigate a map indoors, independent of any infrastructure, while not using heavy hardware or costly hardware, is a game changer,” Cyberbee CEO Hagay Klein said by phone from Israel.
“Cyberbee has a really interesting piece of technology, which is a vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm, that runs on very, very small ARM processors. In English, what that means is, they’ve written a really clever piece of code that uses a single camera and an inertial measurement device — basically, the same hardware that’s sitting in your cell phone in your pocket right now — and what it does is it’s able to both map the area around it and figure out where it is in that space that it just mapped at the same time,” Hellbender CEO Brian Beyer
Fence:
said. “Most of what we make are the eyes and brains of robots.”
By pairing each company’s strengths, “we’re bringing together our uniqueness and Hellbender’s uniqueness,” Klein said.
“It was just a marriage of products that made sense,” Beyer said.
The potential for robots that move in GPS-denied places is vast.
Whether the technology is used for defense purposes or on pallet jacks, thanks to the partnership drones and robots can “understand where they are within the world, and therefore move throughout the world and make good decisions,” Beyer said.
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Collins’ daughter Micaiah was recently charged by the federal government with conspiring to manufacture and possess a destructive device, and discussed the potential uses for the devices being built and tested. His daughter Nesta was arrested and charged with obstructing law enforcement and disorderly conduct at the anti-Zionist encampments at the University of Pittsburgh.
Bhavini Patel, executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh, reposted pictures of the Fence on her Facebook account, writing that, “This dangerous rhetoric incites hostility and opens the door to violence against Jewish and Hindu students, families and institutions.”
Masking hate as activism, she continued, erodes the foundation of pluralism and pits communities against each other, emboldening extremism, normalizing bigotry and poisoning democratic society.
In an interview with the Chronicle, Patel said that falsely equating entire communities with Nazism dehumanizes those communities and has real-world consequences that lay the groundwork for discrimination, harassment and violence, like the arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Free speech, she said, is vital, “but so is responsibility and suggesting that certain identities are oppressive or dangerous legitimizes hostility toward them.”
“It’s our responsibility as a society,” she
Within Pittsburgh, “things are coming out of Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh and other places.”
An added value of bringing Pittsburgh and Israeli companies and professionals together is “the mindset,” he continued. “When you mix up, I would say, the entrepreneurship, that is the Israeli style, and the engineering approach, that is the CMU style, and you connect them together, wonderful things happen.”
This partnership is proof, Inbar said. Thanks to 412x972, Hellbender sent hardware to Cyberbee. Within weeks, the latter “turned it into being location aware,” Inbar said. “This amazed the Hellbender team in terms of how quickly, how efficiently, they managed to do it in a manner that doesn’t consume very much power.”
Having begun to see the fruits of their labor, Klein and Beyer are excited for the future. Inbar is as well.
Hellbender and Cyberbee, along with their CEOs, were introduced by Gal Inbar of 412x972. The tech-minded initiative, which was seeded by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, seeks to bring Pittsburgh and Israeli businesses together.
“One of the things that we at 412x972 work very hard on doing is to cross-pollinate,” Inbar said by phone from Israel. “Both locations have amazing technologies coming out.”
On the Israeli side, the Technion, Tel Aviv University and various technological units from the Israel Defense Forces are largely responsible for innovations, Inbar said.
noted, “to determine what kind of social permission is allowed for hate,” she said.
Beth Vander Stoep, assistant director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council, said the CRC was “appalled by the incident.”
“Done on graduation weekend with the knowledge that many Jewish, Israeli, Indian and Hindu parents would be coming to see their students graduating, it’s absolutely terrible that this has happened,” she said.
Vander Stoep said that the CRC was in constant contact with both Hillel Jewish University Center and the CMU administration to address the root causes of antisemitism on campus.
Speaking from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv the morning Edan Alexander was freed after more than 583 days in Hamas captivity, Julie
Paris, Mid-Atlantic regional director with StandWithUs, said the messaging was part of a “greater trend of the normalization of dangerous misinformation and the misappropriation and Holocaust inversion in making false comparisons between Nazis, Zionists and members of the Hindu community.”
The messaging, she said, is hate speech and should be fought with more speech.
“We should be out there speaking out. We should be signaling to university and campus administrators that we expect them to also issue statements and to speak out whenever they see hate speech targeting our communities,” she said.
And, Paris said, the anti-Zionist and antiHindu messages are simply more proof that the Jewish and Hindu communities should be working together.
“We are just touching the tip of the iceberg,” Inbar said. “There is so much more collaboration that could happen between Israel and Pittsburgh. I see not dozens, but I think over 100 potential similar deals that could evolve.”
Though before those partnerships form, some understanding must develop.
Pittsburghers must recognize that “although Israel is so far away, in some manners, it could be very close.” And for Israelis, Inbar continued, the challenge is “saying Pittsburgh in a proper way.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsbughjewishchronicle.org.
The two communities did just that Sunday, according to Vander Stoep, when Jewish and Hindu students came together to repaint the Fence with a positive message.
The new message, painted in blue and white, read “CMU 25” on one side of the Fence and “Keep your heart in the work” on the other side.
The messages painted on the Fence were not the only anti-Israeli messages featured during graduation ceremonies this weekend.
Students for Justice in Palestine posted a video of the University of Pittsburgh’s commencement ceremony that featured students carrying Palestinian flags with the messages “Divest from death” and “Divest from genocide,” written on them.
The organization was suspended earlier this year by the university, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union to sue Pitt on behalf of SJP.
The anti-Zionism and anti-Hindu messages, Paris said, are an opportunity for university administrators to take a stand.
“We expect administrators to speak out now like they would with all hate speech.”
And, in the end, she said, “We have to use our voices to speak out.”
The University of Pittsburgh did not respond to requests for comment by this article’s publication. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
A collaboration integrating Cyberbee’s visual localization technology and Hellbender’s stereo camera system brings Pittsburgh and Israel closer. Photo courtesy of Hagay Klein The
CMU Jewish and Hindu students repainted the university’s Fence with a positive message, covering a previous message conflating Nazism, Zionism and Hinduism.
Photo by Jim Busis
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.
SUNDAYS, MAY 18–JULY 27
Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for its Men’s Tefillin Club. Services and tefillin are followed by a delicious breakfast and engaging discussions on current events. 8:30 a.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com.
MONDAYS, MAY 19–JULY 21
Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Roll for Insight: Community-Building Role-Playing Games Meet every other week to connect and grow with new friends through playing tabletop role-playing games designed to inspire emotional depth. They will use RPGs to explore the intersection of identity, emotional resiliency and games to fight isolation and disconnection, and to meet new people and form friendships. Free. No experience required. 16 and up. 5:30 p.m. Jewish Community Center, 5738 Forbes Ave. 1027healingpartnership.org/rpg-club.
MONDAYS, MAY 19–JULY 28
Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org.
Join Temple Sinai for an evening of mahjong every Monday (except holidays). Whether you are just starting out or have years of experience, you are sure to enjoy the camaraderie and good times as you make new friends or cherish moments with long-term pals. All are welcome. Winners will be awarded Giant Eagle gift cards. All players should have their own mahjong cards. Contact Susan Cohen at susan_k_cohen@yahoo.com if you have questions. $5. templesinaipgh.org.
WEDNESDAYS, MAY 21–JULY 29
Temple Sinai’s Rabbi Daniel Fellman presents a weekly Parshat/Torah portion class on site and online. Call 412-421-9715 for more information and the Zoom link.
Bring the parashah alive and make it personally relevant and meaningful with Rabbi Mark Goodman in this weekly Parashah Discussion: Life & Text 12:15 p.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org/life-text.
THURSDAY, MAY 22
Join Chabad of the Squirrel Hill for Sip and Paint Night. Enjoy Israeli wine, desserts and good company while creating a beautiful painting of Jerusalem. 7 p.m. $25. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com/paint.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
Join Chabad of South Hills for their Women’s Spring
Event: Celebrating Our Jewish Homeland. An inspiring evening of celebrating beauty, strength, and resilience of our Jewish homeland with guest speaker Nami Friedman. Learn hands-on tips for relaxation and self-care, enjoy an array of wine, cheese and desserts, and take part in the annual ra e and auction with fun and amazing prizes. 7 p.m. Early Bird $25/person until May 23. 1700 Bower Hill Road. chabadsh.com/spring
Join Beth Sholom Congregation as they acknowledge those members of the Jewish community within the medical arts who have served Greater Johnstown throughout its history. Barry Rudel will give an overview of this 110-year history and present interpretative materials. Tours of Beth Sholom and its museum are available, as well. 7:30 p.m. Beth Sholom Congregation, 700 Indiana St., Johnstown, PA 15905. bscjohnstown.org.
THURSDAY, MAY 29
Rendezvous in Rodef Shalom’s Biblical Botanical Garden with drinks and hors d’ouvres for a free live performance with Doug Levine and Cantor Toby Glaser. 6:30 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/garden.
SUNDAY, JUNE 1
Join the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh for its annual Tikkun Leil Shavuot. Enjoy a night of Jewish learning with rabbis and Jewish thinkers.
Cheesecake and co ee served. 10 p.m. JCC Squirrel Hill, Darlington Avenue entrance. jewishpgh.org/ occasion/tikkun.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4
Join Rodef Shalom Congregation for Biblical Garden Open Door Tours: free, docent-led tours of the congregation’s Biblical Botanical Garden the first Wednesday of the month. 12:15 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/garden.
MONDAY, JUNE 9
Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for The Sound of Jewish Music, a magical evening for women featuring music, dance and inspiration. 6:30 p.m. $18/adult, $10/student in advance; $25 at the door. Katz Performing Art Center, 5738 Darlington Road. soundo ewishmusic.com.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18
JFCS Pittsburgh presents From Stigma to Strength: Understanding Mental Health History and Managing Anxiety, exploring the evolution of mental health understanding and providing practical tools for today’s challenges. The session will dive into the historical roots of mental health stigma, discuss how current global challenges trigger anxiety and present evidence-based strategies for maintaining well-being. Virtual lecture and participation is free. 6 p.m. jfcspgh.org/ CounselingRegistration. PJC
The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its June 29 discussion of “My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Family’s Past,” by Ariel Sabar. This 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award Winner was described by the Los Angeles Times as “a biography, a memoir, a meticulously reconstructed history of a largely vanished people and place. ... Transcending mere reportage, it acquires a novel-like warp and weft.” A compelling read, this book chronicles the author’s journey to understand his father’s KurdishJewishheritage in Iraq, where an ancient Aramaic-speaking community once thrived.
Your hosts
Toby Tabachnick, Chronicle editor
David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer
How it works
send you a Zoom link for the discussion meeting. Happy reading! PJC
We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, June 29, at 1 p.m.
What to do
Buy: “My Father’s Paradise.” It is available from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is also available through the Carnegie Library system.
Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will
Toby Tabachnick
Headlines
Report: Spike in Jew-hatred toward Jewish lawmakers due to new Meta policy
By Jonathan D. Salant | JNS
Antisemitic comments directed at the 30 Jewish members of Congress are up 500% since Facebook’s parent company, Meta, dropped its independent fact-checkers and rolled back its efforts to moderate posts on the social media site, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League.
The report, which the ADL’s Center for Technology and Society released on May 8, states that the Jewish lawmakers saw an average of 6.5 daily antisemitic comments until Feb. 4, after which the number rose almost five times to 29.9 daily, on average.
The spike began a month after Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, who is Jewish, announced in January that he was doing away with guardrails that restrict hate speech and false claims.
President Donald Trump and his allies have accused social media sites, including Facebook, of censorship, alleging that the
platforms have blocked or downgraded political posts with which their owners disagree under the guise of fact-checking.
“The results of this study support our expectation that Meta’s new policies would allow increased hate, antisemitism and
toxicity on Facebook, and potentially its other platforms as well,” the ADL report states.
“Rolling back its content moderation practices means highly visible Jewish users, such as members of Congress, are now receiving many times more antisemitic hate,” it adds.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL, blamed Meta for the spike in Jew-hatred directed at Jewish lawmakers.
“Meta bears responsibility for the harm that its recent moderation policy rollback has caused as it is enabling, if not actively encouraging, antisemitic, hateful and toxic activity on its platforms,” Greenblatt said.
“This hate targeted at Jewish members of Congress is not only unacceptable but also a reflection of what all American Jews and regular users experience online daily across Meta’s social media platforms,” he continued.
Among the comments cited in the report are references to “you friggin’ moron Jew” and “how about you introduce a bill to
counter Israel’s influence in America, you Zionist shill.”
Meta said that all but one of the examples cited in the report wouldn’t have violated its policies before the January announcement.
“This report uses a flawed methodology and presents a false narrative, which its own findings contradict,” Daniel Roberts, a Meta spokesman, told JNS. “The document itself notes that there’s actually been a ‘decrease in the rate of antisemitic comments.’ As always, we remove violating antisemitic content when it’s found, and our enforcement here has not changed.”
The problem is larger than attacks on Jewish lawmakers, according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress and, per the ADL report, among those most targeted on Facebook with Jew-hatred.
“Social media has become a breeding ground for antisemitism,” Schumer said in a Senate floor speech on May 8. “But it’s not just elected officials. Social media has become an easy way for hate groups to organize and proliferate their message against all sorts of communities and individuals.”
“They go after Jewish-owned businesses. They go after synagogues. They go after families,” Schumer said. “They direct antisemitic slurs even against individuals who might not be Jewish.”
Jew-hatred has spiked since the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ADL reported 9,354 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews in 2024. That was the most since the ADL began tracking such incidents 46 years ago.
“We must not allow antisemitism to grow unabated in America like wild weeds,” Schumer said. “It must be confronted at every instance, and it must be rooted out. We all play a part in fighting back against the forces of intolerance.” PJC
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Headlines
In First Sunday Address, Pope Leo XIV Calls for Cease-Fire in Gaza, Release of Hostages
Pope Leo XIV spoke directly about Gaza in his first Sunday address since being elected on May 8, marking his first public comments as pope about the 19-month-old war between Israel and Hamas there, according to JTA.
“I am deeply pained by what is happening in the Gaza strip,” he said, according to translations of the speech, delivered in Italian at the Vatican. “May a cease-fire immediately come into effect. May humanitarian aid be allowed into the civilian population and may all hostages be freed.”
He also decried the war in Ukraine and praised the cease-fire, announced Saturday, in a conflict between India and Pakistan.
The speech — in which Leo proclaimed, “Never again war!” — and other moves by the new pope are being closely watched by supporters of Israel, many of whom felt alienated by Pope Francis’ response to the war in Gaza.
Francis also called for the release of the hostages, whom Hamas abducted from Israel, in his frequent calls for a ceasefire. But he also suggested that Israel could be guilty of “genocide” in Gaza and attended the inauguration of a nativity scene at the Vatican that positioned baby Jesus on a keffiyeh, or Palestinian scarf; last week, the Vatican announced that he had willed his popemobile to the children of Gaza.
On May 8, after Leo called for peace in his first public address as pope without mentioning Gaza, Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious
and intergroup relations, emphasized that such calls are standard fare from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. “All popes want peace,” he said.
Federal Security Grants to Synagogues Are Resuming After Two-Month Trump Freeze
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted a freeze on security funding for religious institutions, ending a monthslong pause that drew alarm from Jewish groups that had advocated for expanded federal security funding, JTA reported.
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding for synagogues, schools and Jewish community centers to pay for security measures to protect their buildings from attack. C ongress provided $274.5 million for the program in 2025.
Reimbursement payments to participating institutions were halted in March as part of an overall funding freeze on FEMA, the federal disaster relief agency. At the time, nearly 80 members of Congress from both parties signed a letter urging the Trump administration to reverse course.
That appears to have happened this week, Jewish Insider reported on Friday, citing an email sent by Jewish Federations of North America to its member federations.
“Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds are essential to keeping our communities safe, especially amid rising antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall, the Jewish Federations of North America vice president for government relations, said in an emailed statement. “We are relieved that the government’s review process has concluded and that funds will now be released, allowing nonprofits to be reimbursed for critical security investments
Today in Israeli History
May 19, 1966 — U.S. Agrees to Sell Bombers to Israel
they’ve already made.”
JFNA and the Secure Community Network, a nonprofit that helps Jewish organizations apply for NSGP grants, were alerted that FEMA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would immediately resume processing grant payment requests.
The news comes after a group of more than 130 House lawmakers signed a letter obtained by Jewish Insider urging House appropriators to allocate $500 million to the program for 2026.
Rumeysa Ozturk Ordered Free on Bail, After Judge Says Op-Ed Criticizing Israel is Insufficient to Justify Detention
A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University doctoral student who was detained by ICE agents on the street in Somerville, Massachusetts, in March amid a crackdown on pro-Palestinian students on visas, JTA reported.
As with Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian protest leader at Columbia University who was freed last month after being arrested by federal agents, the judge ruling in her case said he was concerned by her detention.
As justification for her arrest, the federal government — which says it is acting to stop antisemitism on campuses — had cited an op-ed Ozturk co-authored that was critical of Tufts’ response to the war in Gaza.
“There is no evidence here as to the motivation, absent the consideration of the op-ed,” U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III said during her bail hearing. He added, “There is absolutely no evidence that she has engaged in violence, or advocated violence,
she has no criminal record.”
In April, 27 Jewish groups filed an amicus brief expressing concern over Ozturk’s arrest, and Jewish students at Tufts said they did not support her detention. The government’s effort to deport her will proceed after she is freed.
Half of Gazans Say Hamas Did the Right Thing on Oct. 7
Half of Gaza’s residents, or some 1.1 million Palestinians, believe that Hamas’s decision to carry out the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre in Israel was “correct,” according to an opinion poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) last week and reported on by JNS.
The center, based in the Palestinian Authority city of Ramallah in Samaria, surveyed a representative sample of 1,270 people across Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip on May 1-4. (The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, the organization said.)
The poll came as the Israeli government approved “Operation Gideon’s Chariot” to defeat Hamas and bring about the release of the remaining 59 hostages, held by the terrorist organization for more than 570 days.
The entire population of Gaza will be evacuated to the southern part of the enclave during the fighting, and the Israel Defense Force will stay in every area taken, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on May 7.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents — 85% in Judea and Samaria and 64% in Gaza — said they opposed the disarmament of Hamas as a precondition to end Israel’s war on the terrorist group, which led the savage killing of some 1,200 people, primarily civilians, on Oct. 7. PJC –Compiled by Jarrad Saffren
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.
May 16, 1916 — Sykes-Picot Pact
Splits Ottoman Lands
Diplomats Mark Sykes of the United Kingdom and Charles Georges Picot of France complete the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a plan to divide the Ottoman territories in the Middle East between their countries after World War I.
May 17, 1939 — British Restrict Jewish Immigration to Palestine
A British government White Paper institutes extreme restrictions on Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine, signaling the British willingness to relegate Jews to permanent minority status in an Arab-led state.
p Women’s groups march through Tel Aviv on May 27, 1939, to protest the British White Paper.
By Hans Pinn,
May 18, 1973 — Poet Avraham Shlonsky Dies
Poet and translator Avraham Shlonsky, whose innovative use of language helped develop modern Hebrew, dies in Tel Aviv at 73. He worked as a road builder in the land of Israel until he succeeded with his writing.
President Lyndon Johnson’s administration announces the first U.S. sale of warplanes to Israel. Israel eventually buys 217 A-4 Skyhawk light bombers, which enter service as the Ayit (Eagle) in 1968.
May 20, 2011 — British Zionist Leader Arieh Handler Dies
Arieh Handler, who witnessed Israel’s Declaration of Independence, dies in Jerusalem at 95. He helped bring the Bnei Akiva youth movement to Britain and made aliyah in 1948 and again in 2006.
May 21, 1963 — Shazar Is Elected
President
Former Knesset member Zalman Shazar is elected Israel’s third president, succeeding Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who died. Shazar was a writer of the Declaration of Independence and Israel’s first education minister.
May 22, 1970 — 12 Are Killed in School Bus Ambush
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists kill eight children and four adults in an attack on an Israeli school bus about 500 yards from the Lebanese border. More than 20 others are wounded. PJC
National Photo Collection of Israel
Chronicle
Headlines
Continued from page 1
Phillips Place is adjacent to the Bench Trail in the western part of Frick Park. The quiet street has a cul-de-sac and brick homes built in the second half of the 20th century. Power lines run between Phillips Place and Beechwood Boulevard. Given the area’s topography, houses on Beechwood Boulevard have an elevation almost 100 to 200 feet greater than those on Phillips Place.
“The power lines on that stretch of homes are very hard to reach, but that isn’t an excuse,” Shugerman said. “However complicated it is, we’ve had no information from Duquesne Light.”
Alyssa Battaglia, Duquesne Light’s external communications associate, told the Chronicle in a May 6 email as “crews have been restoring the more than 325,000 customers affected by the storm, they have continued to discover more extensive damage to some customers and the circuits. Additionally, the weather events experienced over the past week since the storm have contributed to this delay.”
Prior to publication, Phillips Place residents told the Chronicle they received power around 1 p.m. on May 7.
The April 29 storm hit Pittsburgh around 5 p.m. Within the next hour, 5,600 emergency 911 calls were made to Allegheny County, WTAE reported.
On April 30, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey issued a Declaration of Disaster Emergency.
The storm produced winds between 70 and 90 miles per hour and caused “widespread destruction, including the tragic loss of at least one Pittsburgh resident, extensive structural damage and citywide utility outages,” Gainey noted. The damage included “hundreds of downed trees blocking major thoroughfares and widespread power outages affecting thousands of residents.”
Since Gainey’s announcement, two other Pittsburghers suffered storm-related fatalities, CBS News reported.
Where do we go now?
Phillips Place resident Juleen Radakowski, 42, told the Chronicle on May 6 the storm delivered a “one-two punch.” After power ceased shortly around 5:30 p.m. on April 29, a tree “fell on our house, went through the roof, through the attic, and punctured the ceiling of our bedroom.”
Shortly after the storm subsided, a fellow Phillips Place resident ascended Radakowski’s roof, removed the tree and tarped the hole. Radakowski praised her community and the support offered but noted the situation’s severity.
“I have a couple of neighbors that have had to throw diabetes medications away because the insulin needs to be refrigerated,” she said. Duquesne Light has been “heroic” in bringing power back to the nearly 300,000 people who lost it, but “why aren’t there more people brought in to help rectify this when it’s affecting jobs and health?”
Dr. Robert Davis, a Phillips Place resident, spoke with the Chronicle on May 6.
“We have been working without cell service, electric phone services, internet. We cannot access 911 for emergency services,” he said.
The inability to call 911, even with a landline, requires electric power if the user possesses
fiber-optic service, according to Verizon.
“During a power outage you will not be able to make or receive calls, including 911 calls, without a backup power source.” Depending on equipment type, battery backups are available; however, even post-installation, the 12-volt battery may only provide “up to 8 hours of basic voice service.”
For days, Davis and his family relied on community members for access to refrigeration, internet service, batteries and beds.
Davis, a psychiatrist, spent May 6 working from a friend’s attic.
“The services that people are accessing have been largely provided by neighbors and community members, which is amazing, but it’s due to a failure of our local and state government, and the inability to hold Duquesne Light accountable,” he said. “The county and city have really failed our community.”
Since 2019, Pittsburgh has consistently been ranked among the most livable places in the U.S.
“We want to have pride in our city, in where we live and in our county, but when it takes over a week to return service to people, well, that’s not living in a first-rate city,” he said.
Davis, 50, wants Pittsburghers to “hold our local, county and state government accountable, to hold Duquesne Light company accountable and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission accountable, because in the future it may not just be Phillips Place. It may not be my house. It could be someone else’s house.”
Searching for answers
Speaking with the Chronicle on May 6,
District 5 Councilmember Barb Warwick expressed gratitude for those who’ve worked “around the clock” restoring power and ensuring safety to Pittsburghers.
“We’re sort of still in the state of emergency,” she said. “Eight days without power following a 10-minute storm in a city the size of Pittsburgh in 2025 is unacceptable. There is clearly a structural, foundational issue with either our electric grid, with our ability to deal with large scale outages, whatever that may be.”
Earlier on May 6, during a city council meeting, Warwick called for a post-agenda regarding Duquesne Light Company’s response to the severe weather event.
The elected official, whose motion carried, told the Chronicle the post-agenda will determine what “investments” are needed to either place power lines underground or increase “better preparedness” for the next storm.
Within Pittsburgh, post-agendas serve as information-gathering sessions and not public hearings.
“While open to the public, there is no opportunity for public comment during these meetings, according to the city. “Specific guests are invited to share expertise with City Council on a targeted subject.”
Phillips Place resident Elena Davis praised Warwick’s efforts and called the councilperson “kind and sympathetic,” but said “nobody seems to know how to make this better.”
Like her husband Robert Davis, Elena Davis, 51, told the Chronicle on May 6 the situation has taken a toll.
“It’s a mental thing,” Elena Davis said. “Our kids are stressed.”
Davis’ high school daughter was slated to
complete three AP tests this week. That child, according to her mother, is sleeping at home each night; two of the Davises’ other children are staying at friends’ houses until power is restored.
“While we are frustrated, we’re not suffering. People have offered meals and told us to come sleep over, come work from our house, come stay here, move in. It feels unbelievable, it feels like we could weather any storm in this community,” Elena Davis said.
After the storm
Squirrel Hill is lined by numerous centuryold trees. As quickly as those wooden structures collapsed, communal resources arose.
On April 30, Anna Yolkut of Congregation Poale Zedeck, created a post-storm WhatsApp group for members to request aid, list materials and create matches within the community.
Later that evening, individuals who attended a Bnei Akiva of Pittsburgh-hosted ceremony commemorating Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut (national days of remembrance and independence for the state of Israel) swapped information about open freezer space.
Cindy Goodman-Leib, executive director of the Jewish Assistance Fund, told the Chronicle the organization will help individuals “navigate pressing, unexpected, emergency expenses” related to “damage from downed trees, replacement of food lost during power outages and other pressing, unexpected and out of the ordinary expenses.”
“Thank God we have this robust community,” Rabbi Andy Shugerman told the Chronicle.
Shalom Kohanbash, 40, told the Chronicle on May 6 he has remained without power for more than a week.
The more unique aspect of getting by in the dark, he said, is “because my wife has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, we’re trying to keep the scooter charged and keep the other assistive devices — the chairs and the beds — working.”
Since April 29, Kohanbash has relied on friends for batteries and other charging needs.
Leah Kohanbash, 37, told the Chronicle by phone on May 6, “We are living literally hourby-hour, day-by-day, because we have no idea when this power is going to come back.”
She described the situation as “very inconvenient” due to the difficulty of making plans: “We don’t know, at any minute we can get our power back.”
Even so, the Kohanbashes have treated elements of the week with some preparation.
On Friday, May 2, as Shabbat approached, the family set their dining room table and lit candles.
“Shalom made a huge, yummy, amazing pot of chicken soup because he was able to ignite the flame on our gas stove,” Leah Kohanbash
n a practice familiar to Jewish families for millennia, the Kohanbashes sat around their table, ate dinner and conversed before flames from nearby candles expired.
Speaking with the Chronicle on May 6, Leah Kohanbash said, “I guess we always need to be prepared. We can’t just rely on the city — he city should have a better plan in place, but we also need to look after ourselves and be prepared.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsbughjewishchronicle.org.
p A resident observes a fallen tree in Squirrel Hill on April 30.
Photo by Adam Reinherz
p Storm-related debris is cleared in Squirrel Hill on May 6.
Photo by Adam Reinherz
“It feels like it’s one of the biggest decisions in your life when you’re 17 or 18 years old. And as a parent, you realize it’s a big decision, but it’s not the big decision of your life,” Litwin said. “I think the process has gotten to be a
With a degree in nutrition and food science, Kleyman feels good about the quality of the meals, and helping to get them to those in need “feeds my soul,” she said.
“My husband teases me that when I’m in the kitchen and cooking, I’m in my zone. I get that same feeling at Our Giving Kitchen.”
pretty hard in high school, and I’m pretty burnt out;” in lieu of heading “straight into a college environment, I feel like what I need now is a little bit more real life experience,” she said. “It’s not about getting peace of mind, kind of just an opportunity to work on myself before I enter the crazy situation that we have to as students.”
With most of next year’s college freshmen having already committed to their schools, Lauren Lieberman, a Pittsburgh-based college guidance counselor with more than 20 years of experience, is looking ahead to the next cycle.
Speaking with the Chronicle, Lieberman urged students and parents to meaningfully engage in the college admissions process by obtaining as much information as possible.
“There’s really a lot out there,” she said. “My biggest suggestion is to take some time to think about this as a long-term project
Whether it comes to experiencing Judaism on campus or expressing one’s views about Israel or other matters, “there is a real fear, but you have to be able to talk about it,” she said.
Making an informed decision — whether as a student or parent — requires seeing campuses, speaking with current students and parents, pausing and determining personal preferences: “There’s so much noise in this space, and you have to do what feels the most right for you.”
With so much weight surrounding what to do next, the imperative sounds daunting, but “families do this all the time,” Lieberman said. “It’s what you’ve been doing since you had
that people in Netanyahu’s inner circle have expressed unusually harsh criticism toward the Trump administration in recent weeks.
“There’s chaos in the Trump administration — the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing,” said a senior figure close to the premier, according to the report.
“It’s not even clear if this has anything to
do with us. Everything operates according to the president’s whims. Sometimes that works in our favor, and sometimes it doesn’t,”
The premier’s office also expressed disappointment in the White House through ermer, during a meeting last Thursday between the top Netanyahu adviser and Trump, the report added.
In the U.S., Fox News also reported on the rift, citing analysts as saying Netanyahu stood as a “roadblock” to Trump’s diplomatic
esides the good feeling that Our Giving Kitchen volunteers take away from each session, they leave with two cookies in the spirit of the mission, Gal-Or said. “We are asked to keep one cookie and give the other one away.” PJC
Deborah Weisberg is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.
initiatives in the region, adding that Israel was not part of securing the expected release of U.S.-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, who was kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that started the war in Gaza.
Officials told The Times of Israel the move was a goodwill gesture by Hamas ahead of Trump’s Middle East visit, hoping that he will coax Israel to sign a deal freeing the remaining hostages in exchange for an end to the war. PJC
p Our Giving Kitchen has more than doubled its capacity to feed Pittsburgh’s hungry.
p Pittsburgh Allderdice senior Aviv Davidson is headed to American University in the fall.
Photo courtesy of Aviv Davidson
p Pittsburgh Allderdice senior Tali Blitstein holds her letter of acceptance from Penn State University. Photo courtesy of Dana Blitstein
p
Re-elect Mayor Ed Gainey
Roughly three weeks after Ed Gainey’s inauguration as the first Black mayor of the city of Pittsburgh, the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed. That afternoon, I remember speaking to a friend who said to me, “If Gainey manages to rebuild that bridge in the next year, no one would even dare run against him. He would surely win.” By the end of December 2022, 11 months after the bridge collapsed, it was opened to traffic again.
The rebuilding of the Fern Hollow Bridge wasn’t all Mayor Gainey’s doing. Everyone involved deserves credit. But three years later, Mayor Gainey, who navigated federal funding, PennDOT’s bureaucracy, architects, construction companies and city politics to get the job done on such an ambitious timeline, isn’t receiving the credit my friend was certain he would get.
Despite enormous challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Gainey has accomplished a lot in his first term. His Housing for All platform invested
nearly $100 million in local affordable housing, an accomplishment that City Councilmember Deb Gross called “more in the last three years than we as a city have seen in decades.” Gainey secured $600 million dollars to revitalize downtown. His administration increased shelter beds and transitional housing units to reduce the
from a PAC supporting Corey O’Connor showed a dilapidated and crumbling building in the Hill District with the title “Ed Gainey’s Legacy.” The mailer photo was from 2018. The building has since been restored and is in use as two apartments families can afford. But the implication that the Gainey administration is to be blamed for decades
immediately sent Public Works officers to refurbish Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh when they were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, declaring publicly that defacing religious institutions “cannot be tolerated” and “there is no place for Jewish hate, violence, or intimidation of any kind here in Pittsburgh.”
There are legitimate critiques to be made of Gainey’s administration. But Pittsburgh’s biggest problems, including rising antisemitism, don’t begin with him. In fact, when it comes to many of the most difficult systemic issues facing the city, his administration has made tackling them a top priority.
unhoused population of the city. He kept nearly 1,000 Pittsburghers in their homes with his “Lawyer for the Day” pilot project, which provides legal assistance for eviction prevention. And the mayor has made sure every bridge in the city is inspected to prevent another collapse.
But the closer we get to the primary, the more I see Mayor Gainey being denied the credit for his achievements. Despite his advances in affordable housing and city development, two weeks ago a mailer sent
of disinvestment and neglect by previous mayors is absurd.
Then there is the mayor’s support for the Jewish community. Mayor Gainey has consistently lived up to his often-stated goal of making Pittsburgh’s Jewish residents feel safe. He provided additional security patrols during High Holidays and when a Jewish home and business were vandalized. He loudly condemned antisemitic violence, including the two violent attacks on Jewish University of Pittsburgh students. And he
Our city’s population has been declining since the 1950s. Did we really expect Mayor Gainey to reverse decades of economic challenges in three and a half years? Did we hold Tom Murphy, Luke Ravenstahl or Bill Peduto to the same standard? If we had, none of them would have served for more than one term.
Don’t fall for these bad-faith attacks. Join me in voting to re-elect Mayor Ed Gainey on May 20, 2025. PJC
Nancy Bernstein has lived in Squirrel Hill since 1991 and is active in local, state and national politics.
From grudges to grit: Why I’m backing Corey O’Connor for mayor
Corey O’Connor and I had a rough start. When I supported Tom Murphy over Bob O’Connor — Corey’s dad — in the 2001 Democratic primary for mayor, teenage Corey made it abundantly clear how he felt about that. I remember him standing in the back of a political event, arms crossed, a scowl on his face and not the slightest interest in small talk. I admired his loyalty, even as I stood on the receiving end of it.
that produce underqualified, entitled heirs, but Corey O’Connor shows what it looks like when what is passed down is a heartfelt belief in service. Growing up in a household where dinner table conversations were about neighborhood problems and real solutions didn’t inflate his ego — it deepened his sense of purpose.
A twice-failed referendum effort stoked divisions and sought to punish local Jewish organizations for the war in Gaza.
Corey spoke up, early and often.
The Jewish community in Pittsburgh — like any marginalized group — deserves leaders who show up and stand up for them.
For a decade, Corey and I represented
and paid sick days for employees within our city, but he didn’t just fight for those values from the dais — he fought for them on doorsteps. In living rooms. At community meetings. His convictions show up not just in his votes, but in his day-to-day commitment to serving people.
Progressive policies are crucial to supporting our residents and growing our city. But laws and ordinances aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on if folks don’t feel safe or protected or they can’t access the housing or services they need.
That’s why I’m proud to support Corey O’Connor to be our next mayor.
But time has a way of unfolding things. Bob O’Connor did eventually become mayor, and in the short time he was able to serve before he got very ill, he and I developed an extremely productive relationship. We shared a vision for a Pittsburgh that takes care of its people, and we worked together to deliver for our neighbors — setting aside old rivalries for the good of the city.
That’s one of the many ways Corey is like his dad: He’s not a grudge holder. He’s a relationship builder. A listener. A public servant who knows that doing right by Pittsburgh means showing up with humility, empathy and an open door.
There’s no shortage of political legacies
He was also the product of an interfaith marriage, raised in Jewish Squirrel Hill while attending Catholic school. He grew up celebrating family events in both synagogues and churches, gaining a deep appreciation for different faiths, cultures and traditions. That upbringing gave Corey a natural sense of how to bridge divides and a commitment to standing against hate and intolerance.
This is a scary time in America for Jewish communities like Squirrel Hill. In the last year and a half, we’ve been subjected to a shocking new wave of antisemitism in the form of vandalism, harassment and abuse.
many of the same residents in Squirrel Hill, Hazelwood and Greenfield — him on the City Council, me in the state House. When folks called him for help, I watched Corey show up, listen and roll up his sleeves to solve problems.
It’s well known that Corey and I worked closely after the attack on the congregations in the Tree of Life building to develop legislation at the city and state levels to prevent gun violence. But the truth is, our collaboration didn’t begin or end there. In council chambers, Corey fought for and won crucial funding for housing and small business support during the pandemic
Pittsburgh is a city full of promise, but we need leadership that turns that promise into reality. Corey brings the experience, the values and the work ethic to get it done.
Some endorsements come from a place of political convenience. Mine comes from experience — from watching a kid with a grudge grow into a public servant with grit and grace.
We may have had a rough start. But I believe Corey O’Connor is exactly the leader Pittsburgh needs for a strong, unified city that works for everybody. PJC
Rep. Dan Frankel represents Pennsylvania’s 23rd District in the state House of Representatives.
Chronicle poll results: Safety
Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Since Oct. 7, 2023, have you avoided a Jewish event due to safety concerns?” Of the 278 people who responded, 23% said yes; 77% said no. 57 comments were submitted. A few follow.
I definitely thought about whether to attend the menorah lighting and a few other events. I ended up attending though. I think that everyone is doing their best to keep the joy in Judaism despite all the “oy” around us.
Generally speaking, I’ve felt safer at Jewish communal events since Oct. 7, not to mention even prouder to be part of them.
I’ve avoided a number of Jewish events as I no longer feel safe in Squirrel Hill or in the East End of Pittsburgh.
Now more than ever we need to show up and be counted.
I feel like a coward when I do not participate, but the fear wins.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, have you avoided a Jewish event due to safety concerns?
It hasn’t stopped me, exactly, but I feel it’s important to note that potential danger at Jewish events — especially large public ones — is always in the back of my mind.
The ‘what about Sudan?’ trap
Guest Columnist
Daniel Friedman
In the torrent of protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, a familiar refrain echoes from defenders of the Jewish state: “If these activists truly cared about the loss of life, why aren’t they protesting the wars in Myanmar, Sudan, the Congo, the Maghreb, Haiti?” Clearly, their selective outrage betrays antisemitic bias, right? And there’s some truth to that. But this response, while intuitively satisfying, walks into a rhetorical trap laid by the very people it seeks to expose.
It’s not hypocritical for these protesters to focus on Israel instead of civil wars, ethnic cleansings or failed-state carnage elsewhere. It is strategic. The comparison isn’t their blind spot. It’s their entire point.
The bloody conflicts in places like Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are driven by sectarian hatred, militias, warlords and totalitarian regimes. Antisemites would love for you to draw comparisons to Israel’s war in Gaza. But why would you?
Israel is engaged in a defensive war against a genocidal terrorist organization. Hamas, embedded within Gaza’s civilian population,
openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish people and has repeatedly shown its commitment to that mission through murder, rape, hostage-taking and indiscriminate rocket fire.
There is a world of difference between a democratic state defending its citizens from a fanatical, foreign-funded death cult and armed groups slaughtering civilians
I feel bad about it, but it has crossed my mind a few times. We are scheduled to go to see an Israeli comic and I’m a little nervous about it.
When I go to my temple there is an armed guard, so I feel safe.
I have a license to carry a weapon. It goes where I go. Never know where you need a little help.
I put my trust in God. I rely on his watching over me and anyone else that is at any event that I attend. His will is the way that things will go. And I accept that.
It’s not so much that I have avoided events, but I’m concerned, anxious and wary of Jewish gatherings.
No, and I hope I won’t, but I have hidden my Magen David necklace many times.
I’ve avoided Jewish events since Oct. 7 — not out of fear for my physical safety but out of concern for how other Jews might
is not racism. It’s truth-telling.
When protesters chant against Israel with fury and singular obsession, they’re not just condemning collateral damage or expressing concern for Palestinian civilians. They are insisting that Israel is not a country with the right to self-defense but rather an imperialist aggressor, a rogue regime like what Bashar Assad recently ran in Syria or the Janjaweed
The question is not: “Why aren’t they protesting Sudan, too?” The question is: “Why are they treating Israel as if it were Sudan?”
in a bid for power or tribal supremacy. Lumping them together does not serve the cause of peace or human rights. It serves the narrative that seeks to demonize and delegitimize Israel.
That is where the trap lies.
The moment defenders of Israel argue, “Why don’t they care about Sudan or the Congo?” In doing so, they’re inadvertently accepting the comparison. They’re granting the idea that Israel’s actions belong in the same category as these other conflicts. They’re treating Israel like just another troubled nation caught in a violent mess of its own making. But Israel is not just another country. The war it is fighting is not just another civil war. And acknowledging that
militias in Darfur. They want the world to see Israel not as a nation under attack but as the attacker itself. In other words, the moral equivalence is not the flaw in their logic, it is their very mission.
By shouting only about Gaza, they are sending a message: Israel is the problem. Not Hamas. Not Hezbollah. Not Iran. Not Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces. Not Myanmar’s junta. Only Israel. Only the Jewish state.
The goal is not justice but isolation. And all too often, well-meaning people play right into that trap by allowing the conversation to focus on comparisons, rather than confronting the lie at the heart of the accusation.
behave or the kinds of conversations and rhetoric I might have to endure.
I attend by myself, not with my kids.
The question should not be about the attack on Israel on Oct. 7; it should reflect our safety concerns after Oct. 27, 2018. If Jews were unafraid after our local antisemitism attack, then the Oct. 7 attack should have no effect, and vice versa.
I have not hosted or sponsored events as I didn’t want to create a situation where I put people in harm’s way.
I don’t live where I can easily get to any Jewish events. The Chronicle is now my only connection.
— Compiled by Adam Reinherz
Chronicle weekly poll question: Have you become concerned about the Trump-Netanyahu relationship? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC
No country is above criticism, and no military action should be beyond scrutiny. But it’s not about the war in Gaza or checkpoints in the West Bank. Even when there’s calm in Israel, the anti-Zionist mob finds ways to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state. It’s not a matter of whether Israel is taking excessive measures to defend itself. It’s whether Israel has the right to defend itself — in other words, the right to exist.
When you compare Gaza to Sudan, you’re not just slandering Israel. You’re flattening the moral universe. You’re erasing the difference between democracy and dictatorship, between defense and aggression, between law and terror.
We must not take the bait. The question is not: “Why aren’t they protesting Sudan, too?” The question is: “Why are they treating Israel as if it were Sudan?” That inversion is the heart of the injustice. And it is why these protests, far from being merely biased, are blatant expressions of antisemitism.
Because if you convince the world that the Jewish state belongs in the same category or even the same sentence as the world’s worst actors, then you’ve already won the battle to delegitimize it. And that, not the death toll or the suffering, is the true goal of the protesters’ rage. PJC
Daniel Friedman is the assistant professor of political science at Touro University.
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Life & Culture
By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle
This apricot glazed chicken has become a family favorite this year. My husband asked me to keep the glaze in the fridge at all times, and his tastebuds tend to be my gauge for success.
The ingredients are so simple, but they come together so well. You will taste savory, sweet, tangy and smoky in each bite. I enjoy the flavor of duck sauce, but I don’t care for the soupy consistency or how the meat turns out when it’s baked in the oven — it always reminds me of boiled soup chicken, especially if it is covered when baked.
I experimented many times to get the glaze and cooking technique just right, and I’m so happy to be able to share it with you. This recipe makes enough sauce to glaze about three pounds of chicken pieces, but it will last for weeks in the fridge if you have any leftovers. This is also excellent to add to any kind of sweet and sour roast or meatball recipe. My version is cost-effective and allows you to avoid extra salt or preservatives that come in store-bought duck sauce.
Ingredients:
1 jar of Apricot Preserves
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of onion powder
⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder
¼ teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
Or
A rounded half teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
If the jar of apricot preserves that you find is a bit smaller than a pound (I’ve seen many that are 12-14 ounces per jar) you can go ahead and follow the recipe as is. Empty the jar of apricot preserves into a saucepan and place over low heat. It takes a few minutes for the preserves to start to soften. Add the lemon juice, salt and spices to the pan and stir well with a whisk. It will take a few more minutes over low heat for the jam to liquify. Allow the mixture to gently simmer for about 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. I tend to use the lowest heat setting to keep the sugar in the preserves from burning. If you need to, turn the heat up to medium until the mixture is gently bubbling, then reduce the heat to low again. The goal is to get the spices to blend well with the fruit base, but this doesn’t need to be cooked for a long time.
Remove from heat and allow the glaze to cool. This is the best time to taste the glaze, so if you feel that it needs a bit more garlic, salt, tangy lemon or spice, feel free to add a bit more in small increments and adjust it to your taste. When this is freshly made, you can really taste the onion and garlic, but that softens up and melds together when cooked with the chicken. When this is cool enough to handle, I use a spatula and pour the mixture back into the original glass container for storage. Refrigerate once it’s cool, but it’s easier to glaze the chicken if you put the jar out on the counter for an hour before using.
I like to use dark meat on the bone for this recipe. You can choose drumsticks, thighs or a mix of the two. As I mentioned above, there will be enough sauce to cover up to three pounds of chicken. If you’re making less, just use what you need for the day, but be careful not to contaminate the jar of sauce with any utensils that could have touched the chicken. I’m all about easy cleanup, but lining a sheet pan with parchment paper didn’t give me the sticky, bubbly glaze that I wanted. I tried this on a plain metal sheet pan and in a glass baking dish — I suggest a glass baking dish. Cleanup is easier and there was a bit more sauce left in the bottom of the pan to put on an extra layer of glaze near the end.
Set your oven to 375 degrees and place the wire rack in the upper third of the oven. Lightly grease or spray your glass baking dish before adding your chicken pieces. Don’t overcrowd the chicken in the dish — leave an inch or two between each piece. Sprinkle the chicken very lightly with salt and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven — the chicken will look white and bland, but the magic comes after you add the sauce. I add about a tablespoon of glaze per piece of chicken, using a bit less on drumsticks. Use a clean spoon to dip into the jar (or pot if you just made the sauce.) It’s a bit easier to
spread the sauce if you have a silicone brush, but you can use a small silicone spatula or the back of a spoon. I coat each piece as well as possible. Sometimes the sauce will melt and sort of slide off the chicken into the baking dish. When this happens, just take your spoon or basting brush to get the sauce out from the bottom of the pan and quickly reglaze each piece.
Reduce the heat of the oven to 325 and bake for another 25-30 minutes. Food safety guidelines for chicken suggest a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees. I really like to get the glaze to turn a golden color so by the time that this bakes, it’s normal for the chicken to be be-tween 180-190 degrees when probed. The glaze keeps the meat from drying out, so I don’t worry too much about the temperature being higher. You can take the chicken out of the oven and quickly glaze the pieces again with any remaining sauce in the bottom of the pan, then allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving. It tastes great this way — but I personally like to take an extra step. I brush on about a teaspoon of the glaze fresh out of the jar, put the broiler on and cook this for an additional five minutes to blacken the skin a bit before removing the chicken from the oven. This ensures a thicker glaze, and in my opinion it’s worth the extra effort and also brings out the smokiness from the pepper.
You can also use this glaze if you’re grilling — just paint on the glaze with a silicone brush about halfway through cooking and add a bit more near the end — but you will need to take any extra from the jar since there is no tray to keep the glaze from dripping down onto the coals. This is a truly family-friendly recipe — all ages will love the flavor in the sweet and sour glaze. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC
Jessica Grann is
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p Apricot glazed chicken
Courtesy of Jessica Grann
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Maddy Harinstein is the daughter of Jenn and Matt Harinstein, and sister of Scott Harinstein. She is the granddaughter of Linda and David Harinstein of Pittsburgh, and Jay and the late Sharyn Berliner of New York. Maddy enjoys theater, singing, dance, swimming, playing tennis and basketball, and spending time with her friends and dog, Chewie. A seventh grader at Falk Laboratory School, Maddy will celebrate her bat mitzvah on May 17, 2025, at Rodef Shalom.
Sarah Yuval Molliver will be called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 17/Iyar 19, Parshat Emor, at Temple Beth El in Portland, Maine. Sarah is the daughter of Michal Frank and Derek Molliver. Her grandparents are Mallke Steinfeld Frank and Ivan Frank, and Saralynn Clark, z”l, and Mark Molliver, z”l. Sarah is a seventh grader at the Friends School of Portland. Her favorite school subject is writing. She loves the performing arts and spending time with friends, her dog Chica, and visiting with out-of-town family. As part of Sarah’s bat mitzvah project, she has chosen to raise money to support the restoration of Kibbutz Nachal Oz, where her mother and family were members, after the devastating attack of Oct. 7, 2023. PJC
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Counting up through the omer
“There are 525,600 minutes in a year,” goes the famous song from the musical “Rent.” We humans love to count. We count days, weeks, years — marking birthdays, anniversaries and seasons — and in Jewish life, we elevate this habit into sacred practice.
We count the days of the week — six days of chol (ordinary routine) and one day of kadosh (holiness), Shabbat, set apart in time. We count months in our beautifully intricate Jewish calendar, even adding a leap month seven times every 19 years to keep our festivals aligned with their seasons. Without that correction, Rosh Hashanah might fall in November and Hanukkah in June!
Counting is at the very heart of this week’s Torah portion, Emor. Emor lays out the sacred calendar, detailing the holy days: “the first day of the seventh month” (Rosh Hashanah), “the 15th day of the first month” (Pesach), “the 15th day of the seventh month” (Sukkot), and so on. And right now, we are in the midst of one of the most profound periods of counting in the Jewish year — the Counting of the Omer.
Emor tells us: “From the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering — the day after the Sabbath — you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week — fifty days…” (Leviticus 23:15–16).
Each night, we recite these verses and bless the mitzvah of sefirat ha’omer — counting the omer. What began as an agricultural practice, counting the days from the barley harvest at Pesach until the wheat harvest and first fruits at Shavuot, has become a time of profound spiritual journey.
More than just marking the days, the omer counts the journey of our ancestors from the narrow place of Egypt to the wide, open space of revelation at Sinai. It marks the transition from physical slavery to spiritual freedom, from brokenness to wholeness, from surviving to becoming a people with a shared destiny.
Over time, Jewish tradition infused this agricultural practice with deeper meaning, especially through the lens of Kabbalah.
The Kabbalistic journey
The 16th-century Kabbalists deepened this practice by mapping the seven weeks of the omer onto the seven lower sefirot — the divine qualities or emanations through which God’s presence flows into the world. These are:
• Chesed (lovingkindness) — generosity, compassion, grace
• Gevurah (strength, discipline) — boundaries, restraint, discernment
• Tiferet (beauty, harmony) — balance, splendor, heart-centeredness
• Netzach (endurance) — perseverance, leadership, determination
• Hod (humility, gratitude) — glory, surrender, radiance
• Yesod (foundation) — connection, bonding, integration
• Malchut / Shechinah (sovereignty, presence) — receptivity, divine indwelling, manifestation
Each week, we’re invited to reflect on how these divine qualities can shape and refine us.
This week: Hod — humility and gratitude
This week, the fifth week of the omer, focuses on hod, often understood as humility. But as I was once taught, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” At its heart, hod is about gratitude — recognizing the other, and acknowledging the role of the other, including God, in our own growth, success and well-being.
When we say “thank you” — to a friend, a family member, or to God — we are stepping out of our own self-focus and recognizing our interdependence. It’s an act of humility that connects us more deeply with those around us. Moses, for example, models humility not by thinking less of himself, but by recognizing his mission as God-given and by constantly advocating for his people.
Making
every moment count
Emor reminds us that time matters — that every day, every moment, can be infused with holiness. The omer teaches us not just to count days, but to make our days count.
As the poet Mary Oliver asked:“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” In Jewish tradition, even when a task feels overwhelming, we are taught: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” We count our days and our blessings, we count our losses and make their lives count, and we rededicate ourselves to the work of healing the world.
Even when the task seems impossible, we must try, as it says in Pirkei Avot (2:16), “Lo alecha hamlachah tigmor…” — “We are not obligated to complete the task, but neither are we absolved from trying.”
We make every moment, every second, every heartbeat, count. As we count these omer days, may we also count the ways we can bring more kindness, gratitude, and humility into the world.
PJC
Cantor Barbara Barnett is a Jewish educator and cantor living in Pittsburgh. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.
Cantor Barbara Barnett Parshat Emor Leviticus 21:1 – 24:3
Obituaries
FIEDLER: Sherma Feldman Fiedler, age 98, passed away peacefully at her home in Lake Worth, Florida, on May 5, 2025. Sherma was born in Pittsburgh on Jan. 28, 1927, to Maurice and Lillian Feldman. She graduated from TaylorAlderdice High School and received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh. In her youth, Sherma studied dance with Gene Kelly, who went on to be a film star. At Pitt, she met Morton I. Fiedler, who had just returned from his tour of duty as the commander and pilot of a B-17 in the Eighth Air Force, based in England. The two married on Sherma’s 21st birthday. They moved to White Oak, where they raised their family. They were members of Temple B’Nai Israel, and Sherma was active in the temple sisterhood and sang in the adult choir under the direction of Cantor Gold. They were also members of Baldoc Hills Country Club. In the 1970s, the Fiedlers moved to Chicago, and Sherma enjoyed working as an official during election years. When the couple retired to Lake Worth, Florida, Sherma was a regular duplicate bridge player, and took up tennis with her friends in their community. She is pre-deceased by her husband of 70 years, and her sister Elaine Friedlander. Survivors include her children Nancy Fiedler Millman (Jeff) of Cave Creek, AZ, and David Fiedler (Becky), Barrington, IL. She is also survived by her granddaughters Amy Fiedler, M.D., San Francisco, and Morgan Delack (Nathan) of Barrington, Illinois, and two great grandchildren, Hannah and Caleb Delack. The family extends heartfelt gratitude to her devoted caregivers Francine Fenelon and Marie Mode Coulanges. Graveside services, officiated by Rabbi Howie Stein, were held on Monday, May 12, 2025, at the Temple Cemetery, in Versailles Borough. Arrangements were cared for by Strifflers of White Oak Cremation and Mortuary Services, Inc., 1100 Lincoln Way, White Oak, PA 15131 (Sue Striffler Galaski, supervisor, 412-6786177). To share a memory or condolence, please visit www.strifflerfuneralhomes.com
FISHER: Frank Benjamin Fisher, age 82, passed away May 1, 2025, with family by his side. Frank was born in Pittsburgh to Dr. Morris and Myrtle Fisher. Frank was raised in Pittsburgh and attended Taylor Allderdice High School. He was an Adelphi member with what turned out to be his lifelong friends, before earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and serving in the Air Force Reserve. While in Pittsburgh he met the love of his life and his wife of over 59 years, Lynn Caplan. Frank and Lynn traveled the country with his career in the homebuilding and mortgage business. Frank loved helping coach his sons’ Little League Baseball team, and still enjoyed discussing their World Series wins 40 years later. His love for the Pittsburgh Steelers never waned, and he made sure to watch their games every Sunday. He loved cars and car magazines, and he could tell you the year and model of any car on the road. He loved spending time with his granddaughters Morgan and Madeline, happily spoiling them with whatever they wanted. When Frank got to laughing about something, it often ended up with him crying from laughing so hard — which then caused everyone else to laugh just as hard. He leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter and the occasional inappropriate joke. Frank is preceded in death by his parents, and his sister Grace Fisher (husband Monte Wasch). He is survived by his wife, Lynn, who tirelessly cared for him while his health declined from Parkinson’s disease, and their two sons and their families — Reid Fisher of Dallas, and Todd Fisher and his wife, Samantha, of Dallas, with their children Morgan and Madeline. He is also survived by his sisters Estelle Comay (and husband Dr. Bruce Rabin) and Susan Fisher (and husband Gary Schieneman), and his brother Gordon Fisher (and husband Wesley Scott). Donations can be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in honor of his sister Grace.
Carl B. Frankel, a distinguished labor attorney and former general counsel of the United Steelworkers, died May 5, 2025, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He retired in 2000 from the USW after a 32-year career defending and supporting union members in court and at the bargaining table. Frankel was born on Nov. 22, 1934, in Chicago, a son of immigrants from Russia. His father, Max, worked in a laundry and operated a newsstand where Frankel worked as a boy. His mother, Minnie, was a garment worker and steward in her shop for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Frankel’s wife, Rita A. Frankel, an advertising executive, preceded him in death on April 10, 2012. She held creative positions with several advertising firms in Pittsburgh, starting with Ketchum, MacLeod and Grove, and was a pioneer in television commercials that featured women in executive positions. Frankel was a two-term member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society board of directors and its community outreach committee, and a member of the steering committee of the Cardozo Society, a charitable organization of Jewish lawyers. A scholarship student, Frankel earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1954 and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1957 at age 22. He played on the men’s basketball team one year and joked that he led the league in two categories, bench slivers and shooting percentage (one for one). Early in his career, after a few years f private practice specializing in workers’ compensation cases and as a labor law editor for the Commerce Clearinghouse, Frankel became a supervising or trial attorney in the Chicago and Milwaukee offices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Frankel received a Sustained Superior Performance Award from the NLRB in 1966 and an Outstanding Performance Award in 1967. An NLRB colleague described Frankel in Steelabor, then the union’s membership magazine, as “the best agent they ever had. He burned with a white heat in doing everything he could to help working people.” Frankel joined the USW’s legal department in 1968. He served the union under four International Presidents — I.W. Abel, Lloyd McBride, Lynn R. Williams and George Becker. Frankel served as an associate general counsel for the USW from 1968 to 1997, when he was named general counsel, a position he held until his retirement in 2000. Frankel was a close advisor to Williams as he presided over the union during the tumultuous steel industry
collapse of the 1980s. In his memoir, “One Day Longer,” Williams described Frankel as a “brilliant lawyer, writer and draughtsman, a detail person of enormous patience.” As general counsel, he oversaw all of the union’s legal affairs in the United States and Canada. He also served as lead counsel in massive trade litigation involving anti-dumping and subsidy cases, and in steel trade negotiations with foreign nations. Frankel argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and in nearly all U.S. Courts of Appeal. He was supervising counsel in a groundbreaking lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which led to massive job losses in American industry. He helped to train younger staff lawyers in the USW’s well-regarded legal department, and acted as legal advisor to the union’s officers, directors and staff, and supervised outside counsel. “One of my most satisfying efforts was helping to train and lead the finest set of young lawyers in the land,” Frankel said in 2019. “In case after case, they produced significant victories not only for the Steelworkers but for workers generally.” As associate general counsel, Frankel defended a 1974 consent decree with the government that reformed seniority systems in basic steel plants to resolve problems of equal employment
Please see Obituaries, page 20
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Contact the Development department at 412-586-2690 or development@jaapgh.org for more information. THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS —
Sunday May 18: Alexander Bardin, Anna Bourd, Abraham Mitchell Caplan, Bernard Carlton, Jerome Gelman, Leah M Greenberg, Bessie N Harris, Betty York Joseph, Benjamin Kellman, Rose Levin, Joseph J Martin, Mark Milchman, Samuel Saul Morris, Sylvia Rosenberg, Phillip Ruben, Abraham Saville, Amelia K Silver
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Tuesday May 20: Lena Davidson, Irwin J Harris, William Kempler, Edna F Levine, Judith Gutkowska Mendelsohn, Saul M Morris, Saul Schein, Ada M Shepard, Abraham Shiner, Maurice A Steinberg, Samuel Stoller, Rosalee Bachman Sunstein, Celia S Wedner
Wednesday May 21: Herman Barnett, Myer D Berman, Ida Burns, Harry Davidson, Robert K Finkelhor, Henry Fried, Ernest Gartner, Elise K Goldman, Martin S Kaiserman, Arthur Seymour Markowitz, Sylvia Shaer, Meyer Weinberg
Thursday May 22: Herman Barnett, Rae Rubin Farber, Jennie Gross, Adolph Hersh, Edward A Lenchner, Lizzie Lieberman, Helen G Match, Arnold Ivan Meyers, Mary Rotter, David Rubenstein, Rose Rudick Pinsker, Morris L Sands, Lillian Goodman Smith, Ed Snider, Edwin Snider, Fannie Rosenthal Weinberg
Friday May 23: Edna Ruth Goldberg Abelson, Gitel Busis, Morris Fivars, Herbert L Friedlander, Sol S Goldstein, Wolf Morris Kaiser, Clara Sigal Kwall, Jack H Lembersky, Louis Marcus, Mildred Greenwald Miller, Zalman Miller, Aaron Pattak, Hildegard Perlstein, Isadore Rosen, Nathan Sadowsky, Leo E Sattler, Anna Stein
Saturday May 24: Ida Stern Cohen, Charles Friedberg, Emil Geminder, Samuel Goldberg, Irving Levenson, Sarah Holstein Lindenberg, Joseph Orlansky, Hyman Rogal, Ida Sacks, Helen Werner
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Obituaries
Obituaries:
Continued from page 19
opportunity for black workers and women. Frankel was proud of his role in a hard-fought campaign to unseat an entrenched company union at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, and establish USW Local 8888. Local 8888 is the union’s largest local. The representation election was held on Jan. 31, 1978. Open to 19,000 ship builders, it was the largest single workplace election ever held in the South and the largest election conducted by the NLRB in the 1970s. The union won, but the shipyard appealed the victory. Delays in recognizing the union led to a strike a year later. A return to work that April led to a bloody confrontation with police and, in October 1979, an appeals court upheld the NLRB’s decision that the election was fair. Today the local represents more than 10,000 workers at Newport News Shipbuilding operated by Huntington Ingalls Industries, a Navy contractor that builds and refurbishes technologically advanced warships including aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines. Throughout his years with the union, Frankel was an active participant in contract negotiations with the steel industry, including efforts to save several steel companies in bankruptcy and the jobs they provided. He led or actively participated in 10 rounds of USW bargaining with the steel industry, three rounds in the can manufacturing industry, three rounds in aluminum and two rounds in the tire industry. During the steel crisis of the late 1980s, the union was confronted by corporate demands for concessions. The union took the approach that concessions should be recognized as investments to be returned when corporate profitability resumed. Improvements were made in union rights and non-monetary issues during this period, since USW bargaining leverage was significant, but the possibility of important economic gains was constrained. The employment of outside contractors by LTV and other steel companies to replace union workers whose jobs were already at risk was an enormous issue for rank-and-file members across the industry. At the direction of Williams, Frankel developed new language to curb the use of outside contractors and protect union jobs. That work, Williams later said, became the basis for “the best contracting out language in any agreements in industrial America.” The new language was first adopted in 1986 by LTV, then the weakest company, followed by Bethlehem Steel, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, and U.S. Steel after a six-month lockout. “We were working to save what we could of the industry, not for contractors, but for our members, for their communities and for their sons and daughters,” Williams wrote in his memoir. Frankel was a union-nominated member of the Kaiser Aluminum corporate board of directors from 2006 to 2009, and later director emeritus. He was a member of the LTV board of directors from 2001 to 2009. He was an elected fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and a member of the Board of Directors of US TOO, a prostate cancer support and advocacy organization. In retirement, Frankel was executive director of the USW’s Campaign Conduct Administrative Committee, which oversees the union’s election of officers and district directors. Frankel also taught courses at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. And at age 83, he began to learn how to play a guitar, a lifelong ambition. In 2019, Frankel was appointed as a patient representative to a research and outreach advisory board at the Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh. Carl B. Frankel was the beloved husband of the late Rita Frankel. Son of the late Max and Minnie Frankel. Brother of the late Sol Frankel. Survived by nieces Gail Turrett, Deborah Frankel, and Judith Lamb; nephews-and-niece-by-marriage Rich Ansell, Bruce Ansell, and Amy Ansell Statman; and dear friend Bonnie Wax. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment PRIVATE. Contributions may be made to the Odyssey Endowment Fund at the University of Chicago, 5802 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 or the Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. www.schugar.com
GORDIN: Alan Gordin passed away on May 8, 2025, at the age of 77. He was born on October 23, 1947, in Riga, Latvia (then part of the former USSR) to Pesach and Faina (Nadlin) Gordin, in a traditional Jewish family. Alan earned a degree in dentistry from the Riga Medical Academy and was cherished by his patients for his skill and warmth. In 1980, he immigrated to the United States and settled in New York City. He worked as a dental assistant before later pursuing a career in oil and gas trading, which brought him back to Moscow for a time. Upon moving to the United States, Alan deepened his connection to Judaism and remained passionately committed to Israel and Jewish causes throughout his life. He was a vibrant, dynamic person with a wide range of interests and a deep love for both his immediate and extended family. Alan is survived by his daughter, Alexis Schottenstein of New York and Florida; his brother, Vitaly Gordin, MD, and sister-in-law, Maria Gordin, of Hershey, Pennsylvania; his nephews, Yuri Gordin, MD, of Palm Springs, California, and Jacob Gordin, Esq., of Baltimore, Maryland; and his former wife,
Randee Schottenstein, of New York and Florida. Graveside Services and Interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Contributions in Alan’s memory may be made to the Jewish National Fund. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. www.schugar.com
KLAUSNER: Aviel Klausner, April 26, 2025, beloved husband of Andrea (Gindler), formerly of Pittsburgh, father, brother, son, uncle, cousin, and friend died early Saturday morning while folk dancing. Born in Israel in 1956 to a loving family and kind and brilliant parents Yehudah, z”l, and Yocheved, who instilled in him a deep love of learning and of his Jewish heritage, overflowing kindness, and a desire to connect with people. He had an intellectual and curious mind, and a purity and joy of heart through which he continued to approach all things throughout his life. Aviel grew up and spent his time between Israel and the U.S., living for a time in Princeton, New Jersey and Detroit where his father studied and worked as professor. Aviel eventually returned with his parents to Be’er Sheva, where he attended Ben Gurion university after serving in the Israel Defense Force, and moving later to Cambridge, Massachusetts to receive his Ph.D. in computer science from Harvard. There he fell in love with and married his cherished wife Andrea, who was pursuing her master’s degree in education at Harvard at the time. In the Boston area Aviel also fell in love with the Harvard Hillel community, the folk dancing community, and his job and colleagues at InterSystems, where he looked forward to his work every day, which continued to stimulate and bring him joy, even as a senior developer 38 years later. Aviel moved back to his hometown of Be’er Sheva with his wife and children in 1990, where he lived a short walk away from parents and enjoyed being able to spend more time with his three brothers, David, Meir, Moshe, nieces and nephews, and extended family. Upon returning to Boston in 1996, Aviel built a warm and loving home in Newton with Andrea and their three children, Zak, Yael and Ben, and became a beloved fixture in the Newton Center Minyan (now Walnut Street Minyan) community, and in the Israeli folkdance community. Aviel died while folk dancing, an activity that he was passionate about. Aviel engaged in every activity with deep enthusiasm and a childlike delight and curiosity; he was endlessly optimistic, giving and loving unconditionally. Avi filled each moment of his life with people and pursuits that brought him delight and so much joy, everything from Torah study and prayer, celebration of holiday traditions, family dinners or time spent time with his beloved wife and children, helping friends and community members, writing code and connecting with colleagues, treasure-hunting at yard sales, dancing, yoga, tending to his plants and spending time in nature, or just telling jokes, editing a Wikipedia article, solving puzzles, or enjoying good scotch or a cup of coffee. His sudden loss is felt immensely by his family and the countless people and communities he touched. Immense too is the gratitude, honor and love felt by those who had the privilege of knowing this kind, unique and joyful soul. Funeral Service was held on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Walnut Street Minyan, 858 Walnut St., Newton, MA. Burial followed at Independent Pride of Boston, 776 Baker St., West Roxbury, MA. Contributions in Aviel’s memory may be made to the Walnut Street Minyan Tzedakah Fund
LIEBERMAN: Steven Zane Lieberman, March 24, 1955May 5, 2025, of Squirrel Hill passed away on May 5, 2025, surrounded by family, due to complications from cancer. Steve was a kind man and a quiet gentle soul that had incredible empathy for all he met. He never met a stranger or someone he did not try to help. Steve worked for many decades for Duquesne Light and First Energy where he had many friends. He retired in 2019 to spend his retirement years with his beloved wife of 14 years Suzy Snyder Lieberman and his three sons, his four grandchildren and their spouses and one great grandchild with one on the way; who will be named Zane after Steve. He is also survived by his brother Wayne Lieberman and his wife Bridget and their children and grandchildren as well as his brothers-in-law Donald (Lisa) and William Snyder and many loving cousins.
MALKIN: June Malkin, 1929-2025. A beloved wife, mother, sister, and friend passed away peacefully at the age of 95 on Friday, May 9, 2025. She lived a long, beautiful life--one filled with laughter, love, loyalty, and really good shoes. June was the beloved wife of the late Arnold and mother to Jeffry and the late Jack Malkin. She was the mother-in-law of Linda and the grandmother of Osagioduwa, Sandra and Evans Malkin. She was the sister of Sue Fisher, with whom she spoke every day without fail. June was a fixture of her community-offering support, sharp advice, a perfectly raised eyebrow, and often a delicious meal to friends and neighbors alike. She was an advisor to everyone who walked into the boutique, Choices, where she assisted until nearly the end of her life. June was a fiercely loyal family member and friend. She was the kind of person who showed up-not just for the good times, but also for the hard ones. If you were lucky enough to be in her circle, you knew you had someone in your corner for life. June will be deeply missed, lovingly remembered, and often quoted. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be made to a charity of donor’s choice. www.schugar.com
NEIMAN: Paul G. Neiman, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Beloved son of the late Carl and Pauline Neiman. Brother of Harriet (Martin) Singer. Nephew of the late Lillian Bart and late Dorothy (late Milton) Schock. Services and interment were private. Contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. www. schugar.com PJC
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No power, no problem
After the April 29 storm left several local schools without electricity, educators pivoted and kept the learning lights on.
Running the robots
Let’s build something
Community members and volunteers from
and the
Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, with help from Ambius, delivered a chestnut tree to
p tree located behind the Secret Annex in Amsterdam. Photo courtesy of Anne Frank Center USA
p Designing a future through advanced programming, mechanical building and teamwork. Photo courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh
Community Day School, Sunny’s Community Garden, The Branch
Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse gathered at Community
p
French toast with friends Hillel JUC hosted its annual senior sendoff for students graduating from University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. The yearly affair was held at Pamela’s Diner.
p
Photo courtesy of Hillel JUC
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Photo courtesy of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh
p Families and educators from the Temple Ohav Shalom Center for Early Learning meet at North Park for a group playdate and Shabbat celebration. Photo courtesy of Temple Ohav Shalom
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