Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 9-26-25

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro addresses Eradicate Hate Global Summit

displayed following a fire at the governor’s residence, set during an alleged assassination attempt in the early morning hours of April 14, the second day of Passover.

He noted that former Pennsylvania Govs. Tom Wolf, Tom Corbett, Ed Rendell, Mark Schweiker and Tom Ridge, along with their respective first ladies, as well as members of Dick Thornburgh’s and Bob Casey Sr.’s families, all came to the governor’s residence in a show of support following the attack. The cadre was a mix of Democrats and Republicans.

Quoting Pennsylvania’s founder William Penn, Shapiro said the gathering was “an example for the nations.”

Political violence, he asserted, doesn’t only affect those targeted and their loved ones; it affects us all.

“It tears at the fabric of American society and the fundamental principles this nation was founded upon,” he said.

Shapiro highlighted other recent political violence, including the attempted

That violence, Shapiro said, makes everyone less safe and shouldn’t be used as a pretext for more violence.

Instead, additional opportunities need to be created for “peaceful and respectful dialogue respecting each other’s fundamental rights as Americans,” he said.

The restriction of free speech, censorship and prosecuting constitutionally protected speech will only erode freedoms and deepen mistrust, he continued.

Pennsylvanians, Shapiro stressed, must be safe to exercise their fundamental freedoms. He highlighted the work the state has done under his leadership, including funding 1,500 more state troopers and local law enforcement officers, and giving $15 million to churches, synagogues, mosques and other nonprofits to help cover security expenses.

The governor also spoke of the need to protect children and young people online.

Poale Zedeck, Shaare Torah end unification talks

By David Rullo | Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

Talks of a possible unification between Congregation Poale Zedeck and Congregation Shaare Torah have ended.

Members of Shaare Torah voted against continuing to evaluate a possible merger during a Sept. 14 meeting. Several blocks away, Poale Zedeck members voted to continue the process during a similar meeting on Sept. 7. Without a united consensus, explorations of unification between the shuls, Pittsburgh’s two oldest active Orthodox congregations, have ended.

“We set a threshold of 60% in favor of continuing in order for us to continue the evaluation,” Shaare Torah President Joshua Sunshine said. “Fifty-six percent voted in favor of the evaluation and 44% voted against it, so we stopped and aren’t doing it anymore.”

He said that both congregations would have had to approve the unification with more than two-thirds of its members in favor of a merger.

“It takes a lot of effort to do this evaluation, and we didn’t want to continue if there was no hope it would ultimately be supported by the congregation,” Sunshine said.

The September meetings were born out of the dissatisfaction of some members, who were unhappy with the idea of uniting the two congregations, according to Dr. Lou

 Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks to reporters after his address at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit.

Photo by David Rullo

 Congregation Poale Zedeck File photo

Headlines

Rabbi concerned about access to Jewish inmates in some prisons

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

Rabbis’ access to Jewish inmates is being restricted in state prisons, according to Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel.

Vogel is the executive director of the Aleph Institute-Northeast Region. The organization offers religious programs and services to incarcerated Jewish men, women and their families with the help of trained rabbis and volunteers.

At state prisons, Vogel said, a “rule of five” is being enforced that requires faith groups to have the attendance of five people in order to be permitted to have access to a rabbi or spiritual leader.

“If they don’t have a rabbi, it means there’s no one making arrangements for them to get together, hence there are no accommodations for the Jewish inmates,” he said.

The problem, Vogel explained, comes down to time and space. The state recognizes 26 different religious groups. Each group must have access to the chapel to meet. With so many different groups, the state has decided a minimum of five inmates are required to be considered a faith group and have access to the space and a spiritual leader.

A rabbi can continue to visit inmates individually, Vogel said, but the ability to hold services is restricted.

The situation is exacerbated, he explained, because of the way the state prison system houses inmates. The state ensures that prisoners are grouped together by certain classifications of crimes, Vogel said, with the intention being that someone imprisoned for not paying child support isn’t housed with a murderer. As a result, Jewish inmates are at a disadvantage when forced to create faith groups of five because they are housed in various areas.

“We know that there’s a very small number of Jewish inmates in every prison so there’s no

way of accommodating them,” he said.

In one prison, Vogel said, a rabbi is no longer allowed to lead services because there aren’t five Jewish prisoners housed together; he is unable to even send a rabbi as a volunteer because the Aleph Institute doesn’t have Jewish services there.

The solution, he said, would be for inmates to file a grievance and take the issue to court. That might be daunting, though, because of the fear of retaliation, as they would be confronting the very system that keeps them safe and supervises their time, both while incarcerated and on parole.

“If they file a grievance against one department, they’re afraid they aren’t going to get paroled, that they’ll be hurt by guards,” Vogel said. “In the inmate’s mind, there’s no end in sight to what could happen. He doesn’t want to get marked. He’d rather keep his head down and do his time, so he doesn’t get in any trouble.”

Vogel said that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which protects Pennsylvania prisoners’ religious rights, requires the state to allow access to rabbis but the “rule of five” infringes on that.

The issue isn’t only arising in the state of Pennsylvania but is happening across the nation, Vogel said, adding that he’s been in touch with rabbis in other states, like Connecticut, experiencing the same restrictions.

In emailed correspondence to the Chronicle, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Press Secretary Maria Bivens said that rabbis’ access is not limited in any state prison.

“Rabbis are always welcome to serve as Religious Advisors for those incarcerated,” she wrote.

Those visits are one-on-one in the prison’s visiting room, Bivens said.

Rabbis, and others who identify with the Jewish faith, are also able to volunteer and conduct services or classes for participants, regardless of how many people attend, she said.

The confusion, she explained, is that in 2018 the Department of Corrections was sued by an inmate. A settlement was reached that created the “rule of five,” which codified a rule allowing weekly faith group meetings without the presence of a faith leader to guide them, as long as five or more individuals participated.

“For consistency and fairness to all faiths, the

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‘Rule of 5’ was applied to all religious services,” she wrote. “Per the settlement agreement, if a faith group is led by a volunteer, such groups do not have to meet the ‘Rule of 5’ threshold.” Vogel, however, believes that prisons are now using that rule to limit who is considered an institutional religious leader, as opposed to a religious adviser.

Institutional religious leaders have access to areas of the jail that volunteers or religious advisers do not, like a chapel, he said. He added that institutional religious leaders provide functions that are not always recognized. To illustrate his point, he told a story about his early days with the Aleph Institute. Vogel was “burnt out” and feeling the weight of his work with inmates, he said, and shared his feelings with Rabbi Abraham Twerski. Twerski told him he should take some time off. Vogel did just that, taking three-month sojourn away from the prisons. When he returned to one prison, an inmate with whom he had not interacted asked him where he had been. When the rabbi asked how he knew who he was, the prisoner explained that a group of Jewish prisoners, who didn’t reveal to the prison that they were Jewish, noted his comings and goings, finding comfort in his presence. They took note when his biweekly visits ceased.

“We know that if we need a rabbi, there’s a rabbi coming in,” the prisoner told Vogel. “To me, it was loud and clear that even those inmates I didn’t visit were served by a rabbi coming in and receiving support from my visits,” he said.

And while he understands the tensions the state prison system is under, Vogel is clear about the consequences of the “rule of five.”

“The only rehabilitation in the prison system,” he said, “is religion. What we’re seeing now is that the Jewish inmate doesn’t receive any rehabilitation.” PJC

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

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p Rabbi Moshe Mayir Vogel speaks during an Aleph Institute event. Photo courtesy of Rabbi Moshe Mayir Vogel

Headlines

Displaced by fire, Squirrel Hill woman finds strength in faith and community

By Deborah Weisberg | Special to the Chronicle

Rosh Hashanah had special meaning this year for Emily Lawrence, one of 30 tenants of a Squirrel Hill apartment building displaced by fire Sept. 9.

“My year didn’t end too great, obviously, and I want to start the new year better,” said Lawrence, 27, and a member of Congregation Beth Shalom.

“I typically like to do my own prayers at home, but this time feels different,” she said shortly before the holiday. “This time I want to be around community.”

Rebuilding from the fire has been all about community for Lawrence, with donations of clothing, food, cash and other assistance pouring in from friends as well as strangers.

“The response has been overwhelming,” said Lawrence, who works in behavioral health. “I knew people would have my back, but what surprised me was the number of people who helped, and I’m just so grateful for their generosity and kindness.”

The morning of the fire, Lawrence dropped off her emotional support Lab-cattle dog mix, Pollie, at day care and was settling in with a client when she received the first of a flurry of texts asking if she was OK.

“It was from a former co-worker, so I texted back, ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’” Lawrence said. “And she wrote, ‘I think your apartment building is on fire.’”

Lawrence immediately called a neighbor to confirm and went online to find images of the structure in flames. The four-alarm blaze, which was later found to have been accidental and electrical in nature, went on for hours, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.

“I was shocked,” recalled Lawrence, who decided to stay at work until she could collect Pollie, and then drove to the Howard Levin Clubhouse, which was serving as an American Red Cross post.

“I made an emergency underwear run to Target, and then my dog and I hung out at the clubhouse,” she said. “The Red Cross helped me get the meds I needed, and the meds Pollie needed.”

The next day, when she went to inspect the charred remains of her former residence, the loss hit even harder, she said.

“A fireman was able to get me my

know if traumatized is the right word, but something died in me that day.”

Lawrence felt “stressed and overwhelmed,” not knowing what to do next, when helpers began showing up.

Joe Brophy, whom Lawrence worked with when both were at Community Day School, and who now lives in Washington D.C., became the point person, establishing a Google Form to coordinate everyone’s efforts. “Not living in Pittsburgh I couldn’t tell Emily to come stay on our couch, but I could organize the 15 to 20 people who were helping her,” he said. “I acted as an intermediary because there was so much she had to deal with.”

Another friend, Rebecca Remson, created a Google spreadsheet that helpers

could consult for “concrete ways” in which to meet Lawrence’s needs, and donated a queen-size bed for Lawrence’s new Squirrel

Lawrence said that unexpectedly finding a new place while walking Pollie just a couple

of days after the fire “felt like an act of God.”

A Beth Shalom friend, Shoshanna Barnett, gave Lawrence clothes. Through Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh she received a crockpot and other kitchenware, plus food from the agency’s Squirrel Hill Food pantry.

A 40-pound bag of kibble was sent anonymously to Pollie, who also received squeak toys from friends.

Lawrence’s boss at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, where Lawrence is a part-time swimming instructor, donated a couch, and Shoshana Hoexter, director of JGrad Pittsburgh, had her sons deliver a bookshelf that other friends loaded with board games and puzzles.

“Emily was active with our group while she was at Pitt, and she remains a part of our family,” said Hoexter, who cooked for Lawrence in the immediate aftermath of the fire and hosted her for Rosh Hashanah dinner.

“There’s a lot of trauma in losing all of your belongings in an instant, so she’s probably going through a mourning process. She’s very grateful that she and Pollie are okay, and she’s very grateful for people’s kindness.”

That so many entities and individuals have come together is a testament to what it means to live in Pittsburgh, Remson said. “It’s really special. Helping is part of our DNA.” PJC

Deborah Weisberg is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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p Emily Lawrence with her dog Pollie and Joe Brophy’s daughter Leora Photo by Joe Brophy

Headlines

I am not yet done: Yom Kippur

By Tim Miller | Special to the Chronicle Walls, towers and gates

One year during Yom Kippur, the Baal Shem Tov told the following parable: “There was once a very wise king who created the illusion of walls, towers and gates. He gave orders that people should approach him through these gates, ordering that his treasure should be scattered among the gates.” Most people stopped at the first or second gate, gathered a handful of the treasure, and left. “But eventually,” the Baal Shem Tov said, “[the king’s] beloved son went directly to his father, the king, and thus saw that there was no barrier between him and his father since the barriers were all illusions.”

The story is an essential one illustrating the Hasidic insight that “the Lord, may His name be praised, fills all worlds and there is no place devoid of Him. Every place in which a man is found, there His Glory will be found as well.”

Of course, a story like this prompts more questions than it answers. What part of our lives today, in late 2025, are illusory barriers

to realizing God’s presence? Pop culture, social media, news updates that we cannot escape? Or are these things actually ways of seeing and understanding God? And why did

the Baal Shem Tov choose Yom Kippur, of all days, for the telling of this tale?

Early America

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were especially important in colonial America for Jews. Rather than belonging to the rhythm of the entire Jewish year, in many cases the High Holidays (along with Pesach) were the only days in which isolated merchants and their families could feel Jewish at all. They used this time of year to travel long distances to a community large enough to have its own synagogue — in 1755, a man named Isaac Solomon traveled from Nova Scotia to Shearith Israel in New York City.

Jewish historian Jonathan Sarna writes of similar gatherings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In North Dakota, Jews traveled “for days by horse and buggy and by horseback” to a Jewish home hosting services, while in New York City, every available hall was rented out to cater to the Yom Kippur crowds. “One hall on New York’s Rivington Street,” Sarna writes, “housed five separate congregations, each on a different floor, with services lasting for twelve hours straight on Yom Kippur day.”

Germany, Ukraine and the Second Temple

Amid the scholar Victor Klemperer’s vast diaries of living in Germany from 1933-1945, he suddenly remembers Yom Kippur in 1901. In his early 20s by then, Klemperer recalled few antisemitic incidents until he and the few other Jewish students missed school because of the holiday. “The next day,” he writes, “our comrades told us, laughing and without the least malice … [that the teacher] had said to the reduced class: ‘Today it’s just us.’” As we think of all that has happened to Jews in America and elsewhere over the past few years, it’s worth remembering stories like this, along with every version of it that crowds our history.

A story from 19th-century Ukraine tells of

a man who got lost in the forest on his way to town to attend Kol Nidre services. Distraught to have no prayer book at hand, he prayed, “Master of the universe, what shall I do? But there is a verse, ‘The word of the Lord can be combined.’ I shall recite the alphabet and you, O Master of the universe, must combine the letters into syllables and words.” Who else but a Jew has ever thought of God, and language, and prayer, in this way?

When the High Priest left the sanctuary on Yom Kippur during the time of the Second Temple, he would pray, “May it be your will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, that no exile shall come upon us, neither on this day nor in this year. And if exile is to come upon us on this day or in this year, may we be exiled to a place of Torah.” Is the world today more dangerous and precarious than the other time periods mentioned here? If so, can we at least say that we are holding a corner of ground dedicated to Torah?

Dudja and ibn Ezra

In 1909, a recent immigrant from Russia to the United States confessed some conflicting feelings in a letter to the Jewish Daily Forward. Having spent his boyhood up until the age of 16 in yeshivas, he abandoned all of it shortly after arriving in America. “But the nature of my feelings is remarkable,” he said. “Listen to me: Every year when the month of Elul rolls around, when the time of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approaches, my heart grows heavy and sad. A melancholy descends on me, a longing gnaws at my breast.”

Unable to believe in God, the man nevertheless says that while attending services, “I forgot my unhappy weekday life, the dirty shop, my boss, the bloodsucker, and my pale, sick wife and my children. All of my America with its hurry-up life was forgotten.” Feeling dishonest about attending synagogue simply out of nostalgia, he nevertheless asks, “Where can one hide on Yom Kippur?”

Isn’t that the question! Another letter writer perhaps provides an answer, though, on why and how a nonbeliever can attend synagogue services: “These people are my brethren, they are the people among whom I was raised, and I love them. Dudja Silverberg [a very pious Jew] goes to shul to speak with God, I go to shul to speak with Dudja.”

Sometimes, this has to be enough. So much of Judaism seems to achieve its power and permanence through accumulation. While Yom Kippur is a huge day, freighted with history and our own relationship to it, it is preceded and surrounded by our daily lives, our daily choices, “to be Jews” — whatever that means to each one of us.

Preparing for this article, I was happy to find a poem by ibn Ezra that said, “I am weary of roaming about the world, measuring its expanse; and I am not yet done … ” None of us ever are. PJC

Tim Miller is a poet and writer living in Pittsburgh. He is online at wordandsilence.com.

p “In the synagogue” by Jakub Weinles Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Headlines

Chabad crosses the Alleghenies

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

Idiscovered a little fact the other day, and it brought a smile to my face. Here it is.

On the afternoon of the last day of Passover 1903, a group met on the second floor of 11 Townsend St. in the Hill District for a prayer service using the Nusach Ari liturgy. How about that? Are you smiling, too?

I’ve been telling people about this fact since I discovered it, and I have watched many faces slowly expand into delighted smiles. For everyone else, let me explain.

This gathering on Townsend Street was the first Nusach Ari service in Pittsburgh. What about now? Any smiles? No?

OK, maybe I need to explain a little more.

Nusach Ari is a liturgy developed by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi in the early 19th century based on the 16th-century teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria. Today, Nusach Ari is the standard mode of prayer used by all Chabad congregations throughout the world.

And so the service on Townsend Street marks an arrival of Chabad in our region. Not the global Chabad movement as it looks today, but adherents of its leaders and its teachings.

Smiles? Anyone?

Hmm. Perhaps even more explanation is needed.

See, before this fact emerged, the arrival of Chabad in western Pennsylvania was placed at late 1941. That’s when Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of New York, now known as the Frierdiker Rebbe, or “Previous Rebbe,” received a letter from Jacob Schiff of Congregation Anshe Lubovitz of Pittsburgh. The Jewish community had stopped investing in the Hill District, leaving dozens of Jewish kids without educational resources.

The Frierdiker Rebbe dispatched Rabbi Mordechai Dov Altein to Pittsburgh on Dec. 7, 1941 “to learn Torah and create activities among the youth.” Rabbi Altein started an afterschool cheder in early 1942. The following year, under the leadership of Rabbi Sholom Posner, this cheder

became an all-day school, now known as Yeshiva Schools.

From that nucleus was born Chabad of Western Pennsylvania, which today includes thousands of people and a constellation of synagogues, centers and school buildings.

Within this account is an unanswered question: Why did Schiff write in the first place?

“Anshe Lubovitz” means “people from Lubavitch.” The Russian town of Lubavitch was the seat of the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic dynasty from 1813 until 1915.

The term “Lubavitcher” is still used today all over the world as a synonym for Chabad Chassidim.

So what was the connection between

there is a schul. Its leader at one time was one Rabbi Schneersohn, whose spiritual guidance was such that he came to be known as ‘The Little Rabbi of Lubovitz.’ His fame extended to groups of Jewish orthodoxy beyond his own country and Yeshivas bearing the name of Lubovitz have sprung up in many lands. Today Rabbi Schneersohn is in New York City.”

Arnfield’s larger history contains many transmission errors. These slight discolorations of fact can occur when research over-relies on people without asking for paper to verify. Her description of Lubavitch is correct in some broad strokes but flubs details. One example: She seems to conflate several generations of Lubavitch leadership into a single person.

Based on nothing except a hunch, I suspect Arnfield interviewed the newly arrived Rabbi Altein, who offered a quick survey of Lubavitch history: the town in the Russian Empire, Rabbi Schneersohn, the Tomchei Tmimim network of yeshivas and the recent migration of the dynasty to New York City. In the giving over, perhaps some details got muddied.

Even so, Arnfield’s report is noteworthy. She senses some link between the Pittsburgh congregation and the Chabad Chassidim, but she cannot find a definitive connection. Were the founders of Anshe Lubovitz merely Jewish immigrants from Lubavitch? Were they Chabad Chassidim? Or, further yet, were they official emissaries of the movement?

Anshe Lubovitz Congregation and the Lubavitcher Chassidim? It’s never been clear. A shared name is not necessarily a shared identity. The town of Lubavitch was also home to Jews who were not Chabad Chassidim. Schiff may have simply taken a gamble that a shared homeland would engender some sympathy.

The Jewish Criterion stumbled over this question in September 1942, when it published a short history of Anshe Lubovitz Congregation as part of a longer community history.

Before offering biographical details about the congregation, author Ruth Arnfield wrote an aside, “There is a small town in Russia called Lubovitz, and in that town

Using county records, we know Anshe Lubovitz was incorporated in 1907. This occurred during the tenure of Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn, known as the Rebbe Rashab.

Although the Rebbe Rashab reckoned with Jewish dispersal, he discouraged American immigration. It is unlikely he would have sent Chassidim to Pittsburgh in the early 1900s.

So was Anshe Lubovitz a congregation of landsmen from Lubavitch, or were they Chabad Chassidim? The answer might come from their prayers. If they used the Nusach Ashkenaz siddur favored by much of Eastern European Jewry, they were likely landsmen.

Calendar

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

q SUNDAYS, SEPT. 28–DEC. 28

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.

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

q MONDAYS, SEPT. 29-DEC. 29

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.

q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 1–DEC. 31

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.

Join Chabad of the South Hills for Baby Loves Shabbat, music and movement for ages 0 to 3. Challah making and Shabbat songs. 3:45 p.m. 1701 Bower Hill Road. chabadsh.com.

q THURSDAY, OCT. 9

Join Chabad of the South Hills for Seniors in the Sukkah. Enjoy holiday music, a special Sukkot program a delicious lunch, and shake the lulav and etrog. Presentation on Medicare and making the right Medicare choice for open enrollment. $5 suggested donation. 1 p.m. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com.

q FRIDAY, OCT. 10

Bring a vegan dish to Temple David on Erev Shabbat Chol HaMoed for the Ninth Annual Vegan Sukkot Potluck in the sukkah and social hall. Services follow at 7:30 p.m. followed by a plant-based oneg Shabbat. This year we are honored to welcome speaker Michael Gribov, head of movement building at Jewish Vegan Life. Questions? Need recipe ideas? Contact Stan Beck at stanb@templedavid.org. Free. 6 p.m. 4415 Northern Pike.

Antisemitism,

an American Tradition: Pamela Nadell in conversation with Bret Stephens

Sunday, October 19, 2025 // 5:00 PM Carnegie Mellon University, Jared L. Cohon University Center, McConomy Auditorium 5032 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213

Join author and historian Pamela Nadell in conversation with New York Times columnist and 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner Bret Stephens about her new book: Antisemitism, an American Tradition. They’ll discuss the long history of antisemitism in American life and explore how understanding the past can help us stand up and fight back against hate.

q SUNDAY, OCT. 12

Join Pittsburgh’s Jewish community for an Oct. 7 commemoration. Whether you come to mourn, to learn or to stand in solidarity, your presence matters. Security will be on site. 6:30 p.m. JCC Levinson Hall. For more information and to register, visit jewishpgh.org/event/october-7commemoration-2.

q THURSDAY, OCT. 16

Chabad of Squirrel Hill presents Loaves of Love Women are invited to bake challah and sing songs of prayer with Sue Berman Kress and Julie Harris. $15. 7 p.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadphg.com/lol.

q SUNDAY, OCT. 19

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club on Zoom for its discussion of “Sons and Daughters” by Chaim Grade. 1 p.m. Email drullo@pittsburghjewish chronicle.org for registration link.

The Tree of Life presents “Antisemitism, an American Tradition.” Join New York Times columnist and 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner Bret Stephens in conversation with author and historian Pamela Nadell about her new book, which investigates the dark and long history of antisemitism in American life. Together, they will explore how understanding the past can help us stand up and fight back against hate. $0 (virtual); $125 (VIP). 4 p.m. Carnegie Mellon University, Jared L. Cohon University Center, McConomy Auditorium, 5032 Forbes Ave. Register at thetreeoflife.org.

q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22

Join JFCS for Lunch & Learn: Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), designed to empower parents and guardians with skills, tools and confidence to support children with anxiety. Session is open to parents/guardians of school age children aged 7-18 still living in the home with a recognized anxiety disorder. Free. 1 p.m. Virtual through Zoom, link provided with registration. jfcspgh. org/event/lunch-learn-supportive-parenting-foranxious-child.

q THURSDAYS, NOV. 6, JAN. 15, MARCH 12, APRIL 30, JUNE 25

In the ever-evolving landscape of legal practice, understanding the interplay between faith and governance is crucial for lawyers. Join Rabbi Danny Schiff for an engaging CLE series that explores many intriguing questions. Individual classes: $45 with credit/$40 without credit. 8:30 a.m. Virtual. For a complete list of class dates and subjects visit, Jewishpgh.org/event.

q WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 5-DEC. 10

Join Chabad of the South Hills for a new JLI course, “The Kabbalah of Meaning,” exploring Jewish wisdom for finding the purpose that connects parts of life. No previous Jewish learning required. Online or in person. This course will satisfy the continuing education requirements of physicians, healthcare professionals, psychologists, social workers, LMFTs and LMHC/LPCs. 7:30 p.m. chabadsh.com. PJC

Stephanie makes the whole confusing world of health insurance feel simple and manageable. With her patience, kindness, and constant support, we always feel cared for and confident that she has our best interests at heart. has our best interests at heart.

BY RABBI YISROEL ROSENFELD AND BLUMI

Making a Difference by Saving Lives and Changing Lives in Israel

In times of crisis, having extra help can be critical and mean the di erence between life and death.

For Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical response and blood services unit, crises are a routine part of its life-saving e orts, and therefore having extra hands on deck in the form of volunteers is vital to the organization’s noble mission and heroic e orts.

With several overseas volunteer programs, Magen David Adom facilitates multiple opportunities for volunteerism and enables people to participate in meaningful and memorable activities that directly benefit Israel and its citizens.

The MDA Overseas International Volunteer Program, in which individuals get hands-on training with first responders and then spend time working on ambulances across Israel, is comprised of several distinct programs, each of which has unique o erings to accommodate a wide range of volunteers.

Whether it is the Israel Experience Program, a six-week program for people ages 18 to 30, Masa Tlalim, a four-week program for people ages 18 to 50, Destination Israel, which is a four-week program for people ages 18 to 40 sponsored by Onward Israel and based in Tel Aviv, or programs for overseas medical professionals to use their expertise treating patients in Israel, overseas volunteer opportunities through Magen David Adom abound.

For past participants of these programs, the memories created by the experience last a lifetime.

For Rachel Orlo , a New York City resident who volunteered in Israel in 2008 through Magen David Adom, it was a life-changing experience. After hearing her friend, who had volunteered the previous summer, talk about how incredible the overseas volunteer program was, Orlo was motivated to go, and she’s glad she did.

“It was very collaborative. Everyone was included. It didn’t matter how old you were, your race, your religion, your gender. Everyone was super nice and extremely welcoming,” Orlo said. “I think just being able to be immersed in another country, a di erent culture, a di erent language, it really almost forces you to be uncomfortable. And that’s how you grow.

“The memories I have are just really in my heart. … It’s a warm feeling of how I feel about the organization,” she added. “Even to this day, it’s an organization that I feel extremely proud to be a part of. … I’m really thankful for everything they’re doing for Israel.”

As a result of her experience on Magen David Adom’s overseas volunteer program, Orlo has put an emphasis on remaining connected with the organization, and over the years she’s rolled up her sleeves to volunteer

in a variety of ways.

“When I moved to New York, I was always trying to get involved with Magen David Adom,” she said as she talked about her involvement with the organization years after her volunteer experience.

“I have a 60-pound Goldendoodle who’s a trained and certified therapy dog, so I bring him with me to hospitals and visit patients and sta . … To be able to come to blood drives or do anything volunteering with Magen David Adom with my dog, that to me is the most full-circle moment ever. I’m so appreciative and grateful for my experience and being able to now give back with my dog.”

According to Yonatan Yagodovsky, director of the Fundraising and International Relations Department of Magen David Adom in Israel, the volunteer initiative is both welcoming and wide-ranging.

“Magen David Adom’s Overseas Volunteer Program welcomes volunteers from across the world. These volunteers are exposed to the multifaceted Israeli society, meeting patients from all societies and religions,” he said.

Yagodovsky noted that the volunteers “undergo medical training that prepares them for volunteering on MDA ambulances and mobile intensive care units, assisting to save lives and change lives throughout Israel.”

He added that many participants in the Magen David Adom program are planning to work in the medical field, and this volunteer experience “presents them with an active introduction, providing them with skills, knowledge and a sense of capability that will serve them well later in life.”

Aaron Troodler

 Dr. Larry Weiss, left, and Yonatan Yagodovsky, director of the Fundraising and International Relations Department of Magen David Adom in Israel. Courtesy of Dr. Larry Weiss

 Rachel Orloff and her dog, Charlie

Courtesy of Rachel Orlo

Continued from page 7

Yagodovsky said that the volunteers often walk away from the experience feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride, both in terms of their e orts to help Magen David Adom and the people they serve, as well as their general contributions to the State of Israel.

“They return to their home countries having experienced Israel in a unique way, having had a positive e ect on society, and become wonderful ambassadors for the State of Israel and for the incredible work of Magen David Adom,” he said.

For Dr. Larry Weiss, who recently moved from Baltimore to Florida, Magen David Adom was an opportunity to make a di erence in a time of need. A retiree who has 38 years of experience in emergency medicine, Weiss was horrified by the atrocities of Oct. 7 and wanted to put his medical skills to use in an e ort to help in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks.

Within five days after contacting Magen David Adom, the organization had obtained an emergency license for Weiss to practice medicine in Israel, and he was o to Israel shortly thereafter, where he served with one of Magen David Adom’s mobile intensive care units.

“I saw a lot of really sick people and I feel like I had an impact. I made a di erence,” Weiss said.

“The MDA personnel in Israel are great,” he added. “I think it’s the best trained prehospital care provider in the world. I know there are other great providers, but I can’t imagine any set of providers being better. They’re extremely well-motivated, well-trained and hard-working.”

Weiss, whose volunteer experience with Magen David Adom had him working in Jerusalem and then in the Mercaz, the heavily populated area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, cited a specific case that he believes epitomizes the magic that is Magen David Adom.

His first case as a volunteer was assisting and treating a relatively young man su ering a cardiac arrest at a playground. The Magen David Adom first responders intubated the patient on the sidewalk, which is a very dicult procedure in that type of setting.

After noting that perhaps less than 5% of patients survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, Weiss said that the patient survived the ordeal, which is primarily attributable to the quick response and quality medical care that was provided at the scene.

“Because we were on a mobile ICU, we saw the sickest patients, and the civilian health care system seemed a little stressed,” Weiss said. “We would go to the Kupat Cholim clinics … and we could see these poor people were inundated. They would tell us that half of their physicians and nurses were in Gaza.”

Ilana Smaletz, who is currently a

senior at Tufts University, volunteered with Magen David Adom in the summer of 2023. Although the program was supposed to be for a month, Smaletz was able to extend her time as a volunteer and ended up staying for three months, an experience that she said “was awesome.”

After deciding that she wanted to spend her summer in Israel, Smaletz, who knew that she ultimately wanted to do something in the medical field or with biology and wanted to get some hands-on experience, ended up at Magen David Adom.

“Because I did not yet have a driver’s license, I was not able to do an EMT program in the U.S., nor in Brazil, which is my country of origin. So, I was like, that’s such an amazing opportunity to be a part of that,” she said, referring to the overseas volunteer program.

Little did she know that there was a family connection to Magen David Adom, which is something she only discovered while in Israel at the time.

“One day, I was having dinner at my great-uncle’s house … and he was like, ‘Wait, but you know, right, that your great-grandfather was in MDA,’ and then he showed me all the pictures and everything — I had no idea whatsoever. And it was really nice, because I got to see his ID and actual pictures of him in his MDA uniform. I was very touched, because I had no idea, and it was a really nice discovery.”

Smaletz has fond memories of her time as a volunteer, whether it was the help she was able to provide others or the friendships she formed.

“I fell in love with my station, fell in love with my drivers, fell in love with the volunteers. I had amazing cases, very interesting, cool cases,” she said.

“Every time you go to Israel, it’s like Israeli culture is the best thing ever. But when you get to go into their home, and when they’re most vulnerable,

you learn a whole di erent side to the Israeli culture … which is amazing,” she added.

Smaletz’s experience with the overseas volunteer program was so positive that she went back to Israel in December 2024 and asked if she could volunteer again with Magen David Adom. To this day, she remains involved with the organization and loves having the opportunity to attend various programs with American Friends of Magen David Adom.

For physicians and other medical professionals, there is a unique opportunity with Magen David Adom that is coming up later this year.

The International Seminar in Emergency Response 2025, which will take place in Israel from Dec. 7 to 12, 2025, o ers participants the opportunity to take part in emergency medical training from experienced first responder teams while also connecting with attendees from around the world and with the State of Israel.

With a full schedule of events and activities focusing on disaster preparedness, responding to mass casualty events, meeting with Israeli physicians and medical professionals, volunteering on ambulances and touring Magen David Adom’s facilities, participants in the seminar will gain a wealth of knowledge and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Magen David Adom first responder on the front lines in Israel. In addition, attendees will visit several sites connected to the Oct. 7 attacks and meet with some of the heroes that survived and whose incredible e orts helped save the lives of others.

For information about the International Seminar in Emergency Response 2025, email Vicki Angel at vickia@mda.org.il.

To learn more about Magen David Adom’s volunteer programs and other ways to get involved, visit afmda.org. ■

 Participants in Magen David Adom’s International Volunteer Program

Courtesy of American Friends of Magen David Adom

 Ilana Smaletz holds a photo of her great-grandfather in his Magen David Adom uniform. Courtesy of Ilana Smaletz

Adom:

Headlines

Two-thirds of a 15th-century Portuguese High Holiday prayer book were lost to history. Until now.

A rare 15th-century Portuguese Jewish manuscript, long incomplete after it was split into three parts, is whole again after the National Library of Israel reunited its final missing pieces, JTA reported.

The Lisbon Mahzor, which contains Sephardic prayers for the High Holidays, Three Festivals and more, was produced by the Lisbon school of Portuguese Jewry in the final years before the region’s Jews were forced to either convert or be expelled in 1496.

“It appears that even in their most difficult moments the Portuguese Jewish community did not give up its books — they took these cultural treasures along to their next destination,” Chaim Neria, the curator of the National Library of Israel’s Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection, said in a statement.

The small-format manuscript on parchment features artistic decorations throughout, including lace and geometric and floral motifs typical of Portuguese manuscript illumination.

At an unknown point in time, the mahzor was split into three parts, with the first, containing Sabbath prayers, being delivered to the National Library of Israel in 1957.

The final two parts had been lost to history until they recently came up for auction and were withdrawn and purchased on behalf of the library due to their historical significance.

The three parts of the Lisbon Mahzor will now be digitized by the National Library of Israel for study and research, according to Neria.

Anti-Israel soccer boycott campaign launches Times Square billboard

A coalition of anti-Israeli organizations and activists is calling on international soccer federations to boycott the Jewish state, lighting up a Times Square digital billboard last week to kick off the campaign, JNS reported.

The effort to sideline the Blue and Whites from competing comes ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, where the billboard is on display, will host eight matches, including the final.

According to the campaign’s website, the demands for the head of soccer federations include boycotting Israel’s national team and Israeli clubs and banning Israeli players. The site calls to “flood the federations,” listing the phone numbers for the heads of the UEFA national soccer federations in Belgium, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Spain.

The main organizers include the AmericanArab Anti-Discrimination Committee, CodePink, Tech for Palestine, Gaza Tribunal, The Hind Rajab Foundation and Health Workers 4 Palestine.

Among the anti-Israel activists joining the campaign are Bobby Vylan, Craig Mokhiber and Liam Cunningham.

Fiji inaugurates embassy in Israel’s capital of Jerusalem

The South Pacific country of Fiji inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem last week, becoming the seventh nation to have its diplomatic

Today in Israeli History

influenced country of Syria instead of British Mandatory Palestine.

mission in the capital of Israel, JNS reported.

“The special bond with your great nation is deeply revered by the people of Fiji,” said its prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, who traveled to the Jewish state from halfway around the world with a delegation of his senior government ministers for the inauguration.

“The opening of our embassy is a great testament to the enduring connection between our two peoples.”

Rabuka, who took office three years ago, first announced the move in February. He heads a three-party government that includes the right-wing Christian Sodelpa Party, one of whose leaders’ demands was that Fiji open an embassy in Jerusalem.

The move follows a decades-long campaign by an evangelical organization — the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem — through its network of churches across the Southern Pacific.

Six countries have their embassies in Israel’s capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea.

Jerry leaves Ben & Jerry’s, progressive Jewish ice-cream giant, as company battles owner on Israel speech

Jerry Greenfield, one of two founders of the iconic progressive ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, has stepped down citing political pressure from the brand’s parent company, Unilever, JTA reported.

The Ben & Jerry’s brand has clashed with Unilever over Israel in recent years, and Greenfield’s co-founder Ben Cohen has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza. But

Greenfield’s resignation letter, which Cohen posted to social media, does not mention Israel issues at all. Instead, it cites domestic political issues on which Greenfield said Ben & Jerry’s had been “silenced.”

In the letter, Greenfield writes that a guarantee of political independence was the bedrock of his agreement to sell to Unilever two decades ago.

The surprise announcement follows years of tension between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever, which started in 2021 when the company board announced that they no longer wanted to sell ice cream in “occupied Palestinian territory.”

The move — which Cohen and Greenfield endorsed in a New York Times op-ed in which they noted that they were “Jewish supporters of Israel” — touched off a years-long legal battle that ended with its Israeli brand splitting off and being sold to a different entity that continued to do business in the West Bank.

Greenfield has since been quiet on Israel issues compared to Cohen and the company itself. In March, Unilever removed the company’s CEO (who was neither Ben nor Jerry) over what both parties agreed was pro-Palestinian activity — including planned donations to the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace and social media posts calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of pro-Palestinian protest leader Mahmoud Khalil.

In May, the Ben & Jerry’s board called Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide.” In July, Unilever cut off funding to the company’s charitable foundation. Unilever has also moved ahead with plans to spin off the brand into a separate venture, a move Cohen has publicly attempted to head off. PJC

— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

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

Sept. 26, 2002 — Declaration signer Rabbi Warhaftig dies Rabbi Zerach Warhaftig, a founder of the National Religious Party and a signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, dies at 96 in Jerusalem. A native of Belarus, he made aliyah in 1947.

Sept. 27, 1950 — Third Maccabiah Games open

The Third Maccabiah Games, originally scheduled for 1938 but canceled by the British for fear of illegal immigration, begin in the 50,000seat stadium in Ramat Gan with 800 athletes from 20 countries.

Sept. 30, 1957 — Backdated signature facilitates nuclear program

French Prime Minister Maurice BourgèsMaunoury backdates to today his signature on a letter of cooperation with Israel on a nuclear reactor. He actually signs the letter Oct. 1, the day he is voted out of office.

Oct. 1, 1947 — Nobel laureate Aaron Ciechanover is born

Biochemist Aaron Ciechanover is born in Haifa. He becomes one of Israel’s first science Nobel laureates in 2004 when he shares the chemistry prize with Israeli Avram Hershko and American Irwin Rose for work on ubiquitin.

Sept. 28, 1995 — Oslo II is signed

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat sign the IsraeliPalestinian Interim Agreement for the Gaza Strip and Jericho, known as Oslo II. It establishes the elected Palestinian Authority.

Sept. 29, 1923 — Golan Heights given to Syria Borders drawn primarily by the United Kingdom and France after World War I give the Golan Heights to the new, French-

Oct. 2, 1187 — Saladin captures Jerusalem Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, captures Jerusalem from crusaders after a siege that began Sept. 20. Saladin is tolerant of Jews and allows them to live in the holy city again in 1190. PJC

p Bailin of Ibelin surrenders Jerusalem to Saladin.

p Knesset Speaker Yosef Sprinzak attends the opening ceremonies of the Third Maccabiah Games in Ramat Gan on Sept. 27, 1950.

of

Headlines

Those who feel abandoned by government, he said, often find refuge “in the dark corners of the internet where their righteous frustration is taken advantage of and used to foment hate.”

To help combat that, he said, Pennsylvania is processing driving permits and licenses more quickly, investing in education, delivering free breakfasts, providing more mental health support and access to vo-tech classes for students, and creating additional economic opportunities in the state.

These initiatives, he acknowledged, won’t end political violence but may convince people that the government can work for them.

As is often the case when addressing political and hate-inspired violence, Shapiro recalled the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the most violent antisemitic incident in United States history, and the unity following the attack.

“I believe in America,” he said. “We are stronger than hate.”

After stressing the need for unity, Shapiro went on to criticize the Trump administration, referencing the president’s response to the Charlie Kirk assassination.

“Unfortunately, some — from the dark corners of the internet all the way to the

Oval Office — want to cherry pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn,” he said.

In a news conference following his address, Shapiro said that Trump had failed a “leadership” and “morality” test, which “makes us all less safe.”

Asked by one reporter if Jewish leaders like Shapiro should be “calling out” violence like “the Israeli army moving into Gaza

City,” the governor did not distinguish between actions taken during war and political violence. Instead, he said he has been “outspoken” about the fact that children in Gaza “need to be fed” and that “the violence needs to end, the hostages need to come home and this war needs to be over.”

Shapiro also criticized Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he

accused of “taking Israel down a very dark and dangerous path, isolating Israel in the world even more than they were before, which I think threatens Israel’s security.”

He went on to reiterate his belief in a two-state solution, and the idea that Israelis and Palestinians should live peacefully “side by side.”

When asked by the Chronicle if comparing Israel’s military response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack to political violence in America might make Jewish Pittsburghers less safe, the governor declined to respond.

“I answered that question,” he replied, refusing to say more before moving on to other questions.

Shapiro’s address to the Eradicate Hate Global Summit was the first time a politician in office addressed the conference in its five-year history.

A day earlier, the summit announced a collaboration with the Counter Extremism Project on the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization, in which the former residence of the concentration camp’s commandant will be converted to a center combatting extremism and violence.

More than 435 students and educators from 35 schools also convened at the Eradicate Hate Student Summit. PJC

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

Felder, Poale Zedeck’s president.

“I think it was in the best interest of the process,” Felder said. “They organized it and brought it to the board. The board decided to bring it to the congregation to have a discussion and vote to proceed or not.”

P oale Zedeck ultimately decided to move forward.

Felder said he’s not disappointed by Shaare Torah’s decision to reject a possible merger.

“I’ve been president for 10 years and I was not pushing for a unification,” he said.

That contrasts with the opinion of Sunshine, who started his second two-year term as Shaare Torah’s president earlier this year. He said he was in favor of continuing the exploration.

“I think it would have benefited the synagogue to see it through and learn from the exp erience,” Sunshine said. “I think that there were big dreams that were part of the unification evaluation and it’s harder to dream those big dreams when you have a single congregation.”

David Chudnow is both a Shaare Torah board member and an associate member of Poale Zedeck. He said he wasn’t surprised by the congregations’ decisions regarding unification talks.

“There are people with very strong opinions on both sides,” Chudnow said. “There are people who feel this conversation needed to happen, that we needed to look at this seriously because we probably have to do it, and there are people who said if you start these conversations then you are causing it to be inevitable.”

Chudnow isn’t originally from Pittsburgh and isn’t necessarily tied to the history and legacy of either congregation. Instead, for him, the goal should be to maintain a strong Modern Orthodox Jewish community. In fact, he said it’s his love of both shuls that left him without strong feelings one way or another about a possible merger.

“That was my conundrum,” he said. “I appreciated that this committee was trying to decide if there were reasons to merge.”

The two congregations, Chudnow said, already collaborate on a lot of programming and have built a close-knit community.

“Even if there’s no more conversation of merging, we’re going to continue. Neither

is going to go our own separate way or stop talking to the other shul,” he said.

The process of exploring a merger between the two congregations began in April, following a letter that was sent to members of both Poale Zedeck and Shaare Torah, saying that formalized conversations meant to evaluate opportunities for collaboration, up to and including “full unification,” had begun.

A steering committee, comprised of six volunteers from the two congregations’ executive boards, was formed and unification expert David Weinberg, who assisted in the merger between Reform congregations Rodef Shalom Congregation and Temple Sinai, agreed to help with the exploration on

a pro bono basis.

Ultimately, the letter said, unification might not make sense.

In the end, Sunshine said, because neither shul is experiencing financial woes and no crisis exists pushing the unification, it was harder to convince members of the two congregations to make a dramatic change, especially if they identify with one shul’s culture more than the other.

Now that unification is in the rear-view mirror, he said, energy has been generated to tackle some of the issues highlighted during the talks.

“I think we’re going to build groups of committees and groups of people to look into that carefully,” Sunshine said. “I’ve already set up several meetings with individuals and groups that are interested in working on those issues.”

Felder, too, said now that talks have ended it’s time for Poale Zedeck to move forward and put its proverbial shoulder to the wheel.

“We have to up our game so that we can move forward and improve things,” he said. “We’re certainly not unique. The tools are here. We’re not in any financial difficulty. We just have to be in a constant state of fundraising and looking for new members.”

Felder said the idea of maintaining two separate congregations may prove to be the best decision.

“People like to have two shuls. It’s nice to have different shuls and to go back and forth,” he said. “I think competition and choice is good. So, it’s just a matter of, can it be sustained? We have to work on it, get the younger people involved and hopefully grow membership.” PJC

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

p Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro addresses the Eradicate Hate Global Summit.

Photo by David Rullo

p Congregation Shaare Torah

Photo by David Rullo

Headlines

Chabad:

Continued from page 5

If they used Nusach Ari, they likely held some identity as Chabad Chassidim.

Early records for Anshe Lubovitz are nearly non-existent. No minutes survive, no membership lists, no correspondence. With the discovery of this service notice from 1903 can we begin to make a case that Anshe Lubovitz identified as Chabad Chassidim? If so, the Chabad lineage in western Pennsylvania is 38 years older than previously assumed.

That maybe got a few more smiles, but I think we can do better.

Chassidic history in North America is understudied, especially before the 1920s. Jewish historians have often ignored it, or overlooked it. It is easy to overlook. It requires specialized knowledge and fluency in several languages. Chassidic congregations rarely put “Chassidic” in their name. You have to know the code words, like “Anshe Sfard.”

Chabad history presents an even finer distinction, especially before the movement relocated to America in 1940. “Toldos Chabad B’artzos Habris: 5660-5710” is an official chronicle of the Chabad movement on this continent from 1900-1950. It lists Anshe Lubovitz among 48 Nusach Ari congregations active by the late 1940s,

 An announcement in the local Yiddish newspaper Der Volksfreund in 1903 for the first Nusach Ari service in Pittsburgh notes the unhappiness when people in one synagogue are praying from different prayer books, “one like this and one like that, one in this style and one in another style.” Photo courtesy of the National Library of Israel

but it does not mention Pittsburgh in its chapter on Chabad in North America before World War I.

A 2005 survey by Ira Robinson only found two Nusach Ari congregations in North America outside New York by 1900 — one in Baltimore and one in Philadelphia. Perhaps there were others, hidden in undiscovered historical records. Congregation Tzemach Tzedek of Cleveland, for example, claims it

Federation notifies community of security breach

TWere the founders of Anshe Lubovitz merely Jewish immigrants from Lubavitch? Were they Chabad Chassidim?

Or, further yet, were they o cial emissaries of the movement? — LOCAL —

he Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh announced on Friday that it experienced unauthorized access to its network in November.

“We take the security of the personal information entrusted to us very seriously, and moved immediately to secure our network,” said Jeff Finkelstein, the Federation’s CEO and president, in a prepared statement. “We engaged experienced cybersecurity professionals and reported the incident to law enforcement. We are now going through the process of notifying those individuals whose information may have been affected.”

Notifications by mail went out to those potentially affected beginning on Sept. 19. Notices also were to be delivered via email to those without physical addresses on record, and by newspaper advertisements.

“We continue to take significant measures to protect information and to prevent an incident like this from happening again,” Finkelstein said. “Let me emphasize: the Federation’s financial accounts require multiple levels of authentication and were not at risk of unauthorized access at any time.”

Federation officials said there is no evidence directly linking the incident “to specific incidents of financial fraud or identity theft.”

After learning of the data breach, the Federation took additional steps to enhance the security of its network, “commenced a thorough investigation assisted by external cybersecurity professionals, and reported the incident to law enforcement,” according to a notice on the Federation’s website. “Following the completion of the investigation, it was determined that some of the Federation’s files may have been accessed

or removed by the unauthorized individual(s) between November 5, 2024, and November 12, 2024,” and the Federation then conducted a thorough manual review of the impacted data.

On Aug, 20, 2025, the Federation determined that “the potentially impacted files may contain personal information of certain individuals,” that may include: “name, Social Security number and/or tax identification number, driver’s license or government issued identification number, date of birth, online account access credentials, financial information, health insurance information and/or limited medical information.”

The Federation encourages those impacted “to take actions to help protect their personal information, including placing a fraud alert and/or security freeze on their credit files, and/ or obtaining a free credit report,” the notice on the website states. “Additionally, individuals should always remain vigilant in reviewing their financial account statements, explanation of benefits statements and credit reports for fraudulent or irregular activity on a regular basis and report any suspicious activity to the proper authorities.”

The Federation is providing complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services for those whose Social Security number may have been impacted.

For further questions about this incident, or to determine if affected, individuals may contact the dedicated response line at 1-833-844-7059 (toll free), available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., excluding holidays. More information can be found at https://jewishpgh. org/jewish-federation-of-greater-pittsburgh-notifies-individuals-of-data-securityincident. PJC

— Toby Tabachnick

has operated continuously since 1903.

If the Cleveland group convened anytime after Passover, then our service on Townsend Street just might be the first Nusach Ari service held west of the Allegheny Mountains.

Eh?

OK, OK. Fine. Maybe this isn’t really your thing.

But here’s one last thought.

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Oct. 19 discussion of “Sons and Daughters,” by Chaim Grade.

From Amazon.com: “Originally serialized in the 1960s and 1970s in New York–based Yiddish newspapers, Chaim Grade’s ‘Sons and Daughters’ is a precious glimpse of a way of life that is no longer — the rich Yiddish culture of Poland and Lithuania that the Holocaust would eradicate. We meet the Katzenellenbogens in the tiny village of Morehdalye, in the 1930s, when gangs of Poles are beginning to boycott Jewish merchants and the modern, secular world is pressing in on the shtetl from all sides. It’s this clash, between the freethinking secular life and a life bound by religious duty — and the comforts offered by each — that stands at the center of ‘Sons and Daughters.’”

Your hosts

Toby Tabachnick, Chronicle editor

David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer

How it works

We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 1 p.m.

What to do

Buy: “Sons and Daughters.” It is available at some area Barnes & Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is also available through the Carnegie Library system.

Does it seem odd to hold an inaugural service on the afternoon of the last day of Passover? Why not the first day? Why not the evening before, or in the morning?

If you visit a Chabad community today on the final afternoon of Passover, you can join the custom of Moshiach’s Seuda — “Messiah’s Meal.” It connects the redemption from Egypt with the ultimate redemption, complete with four cups of wine and three matzos.

I asked resident Chabad historian Dr. Eli Rubin what he made of this Nusach Ari service from 1903. He replied, “They certainly would not have called it Moshiach’s seuda at that point, but it is possible that it was already a Chassidic custom to celebrate the eighth with an extra measure of fervor, and just a few years later, in 1906, the Rashab would turn this into the official custom of Lubavitch, which later became known as Moshiach’s seuda.”

And so it is with some confidence, although not complete certainty, that we can imagine this minyan of Chabad Chassidim, gathering for mincha on the second floor of a building in the Hill District, praying for the coming of the Messiah, speedily in our days. Amen! PJC

Eric Lidji is the director of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. He can be reached at rjarchives@heinzhistorycenter. org or 412-454-6406.

Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line. We will send you a Zoom link for the discussion meeting. PJC — Toby Tabachnick

For

a

good new year, start with gratitude

Guest Columnist

Avi Weiss

With war raging in Gaza and in Ukraine, and with America facing deep dangerous division, the High Holiday greeting of “Shanah tovah,” or “Have a happy new year,” seems out of sync with reality. Is there any more suitable formula that we can adopt that would help us navigate these tumultuous times?

A good start may be to recognize that “Shanah tovah” does not mean “Have a happy year,” but “Have a good year.” And truth be told, not everything that is happy is good, and not everything that is good is happy.

I have seen drunkards boast of being happy, though their lives are anything but good.

Nearly 40 years ago, when I suffered a heart attack and endured quadruple bypass surgery, I was certainly not happy — the recovery was long and excruciating. Yet, when I recall the doctors, nurses, and staff whose care sustained me, I felt grateful. I felt good. As the Psalmist teaches, “It is good to offer thanks.” Goodness, at its core, is inseparable from gratitude,

involving what the rabbis call “hakarat hatov” — recognition of the good.

Even the Hebrew word for “thank you,” “todah,” is rooted in lehodot — “to acknowledge.” A true thank you is never perfunctory; it is a humble admission: I could not have done this without you. Paradoxically, that admission becomes a gateway to inner peace. Fittingly, in the ancient Temple, the thanksgiving offering was itself part of the broader category of peace offerings.

How does this paradox work in practice? Thankfulness requires humility. It acknowledges that we are not self-sufficient, that our lives are interwoven with the care and support of others. In admitting limitation, we begin to experience a deeper sense of wholeness. To say “I cannot do everything” is not a confession of defeat, but an opening to connection. We discover that the very boundaries of our strength and control are what create the space for others to enter our lives.

And when we recognize that truth, something remarkable occurs. We begin to notice and be thankful for the small, often overlooked gifts of the other: the loyalty of family, the kindness of a friend, the courage of a police officer and firefighter, the service of a bus driver, the steadiness of a routine. Gratitude, born of humility, awakens us to the beauty of people and details around us that we too often

take for granted.

Practiced together, humility and gratitude create what might be called the atmospherics of love. This is what I call the H+G=L formula. Love does not flourish in a climate of self-sufficiency and pride. It thrives in giving and receiving. It is this love that mellows the soul. If hate, in its passion, has driven humanity to commit terrible deeds, it is love, in its greater passion, that has allowed us to endure.

One of the ways the gift of gratitude comes alive for me these days occurs when encountering IDF soldiers. I feel … Katonti — a profound humility — knowing that Israel would not be, without them. Many of us carry personal stories that reflect this mixture of gratitude and love. Here is mine: our grandson Amichai is about to enlist. In a heartfelt grandfather–grandson conversation, I told him I would prefer he not serve as a fighter.

“But Sabi,” he replied, “you wanted my older siblings to be fighters. Why am I different?” I explained, “That was 10, 15 years ago. I was younger then, and stronger. I’ve already done my share (of worrying).” He responded: “Sabi, you’ve done your share. Now it’s time for me to do mine.” We hugged as I whispered in his ear, “Thank you for touching my soul.”

Perhaps the legendary Mister Rogers said it best when recalling his mother’s wisdom

on how to deal with scary times: “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” I would add: And remember to thank them. Through them, we are reminded that even in the darkest times, there is goodness that should be acknowledged. We may not always feel thankful. But if we speak words of thanks, if we act with gratitude, the feelings will follow.

In this spirit, I offer this meditation daily: Please, God, help me to give thanks for all the blessings You have bestowed upon me, and help me that my heart not feel heavy with blessings I do not have. And please help me to receive this day with love and with overflowing meaning.

So, this year, may our “Shanah tovah” wishes not only be words of greeting, but also words of gratefulness — spoken to those near and far, whose presence is itself a blessing: Shanah tovah. May it be a good year, a year of thanksgiving — a year of humility, of gratitude, of love. PJC

Avi Weiss is the founding rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Bronx, New York, and founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat rabbinical schools. He is a co-founder of the International Rabbinic Fellowship. This article first appeared on The Times of Israel.

What would RBG do about all this Jew-hatred?

Guest Columnists

Aliza Lavie and Gil Troy

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Sept. 18, 2020, erev Rosh Hashanah. The surge in antisemitism since then has many wondering whether she reflected a Golden Age of American Jewry that has ended. Perhaps asking “What would RBG do?” can help avert these doomsday prophecies.

Ruth Bader was born in March 1933 in the miracle that is America. She remained forever grateful. Her father fled Jew-hating Odessa in 1909 when he was 13, eventually becoming a modest furrier. Her mother was the first in her family to be born into freedom. Ginsburg often said, “What is the difference between a bookkeeper in New York’s garment district and a Supreme Court justice? Just one generation, my mother’s life and mine bear witness. Where else but America could that happen?”

That’s why in 2018, as some radical voices deemed America systemically and irredeemably racist, Ginsburg still championed progress. “Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than other nations, but rather in her ability to repair her faults,” she explained while swearing in new citizens. Toasting her life, their lives and the United

States, she proclaimed: “We have made huge progress, but the work of perfection is scarcely done.”

Ginsburg trusted America’s “growth potential.” She told the story of the Constitution as “the extension … of constitutional rights and protections to once-excluded groups: To people who were once held in bondage, to men without property, to Native Americans and to women.”

protection” for all.

Ginsburg understood that Nazism came wrapped in civil masks. Hitler, she noted, created a “Holocaust kingdom” full of “laws deployed by highly educated people, teachers, lawyers and judges, to facilitate oppression, slavery and mass murder.”

Describing the Nazis’ “brutal speed” in murdering 424,000 Hungarian Jews in just eight weeks in 1944 with the help of the

"We have made huge progress, but the work of perfection is scarcely done.”

–RUTH BADER GINSBURG

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, and surrounded by Jews and other immigrants, she lived under the shadow of casual American Jew-hatred and its ugliest expression, the Holocaust. During a childhood vacation in Pennsylvania, she reported seeing signs at a resort that read: “No Dogs or Jews Allowed.”

She devoted her career to weaving those threads. Noticing the “rigid” social segregation at Cornell University between Jews and non-Jews, and then spurned by some Harvard law professors for “taking the place of a qualified male,” Ginsburg realized that you can only fight discrimination against Jews, women or anyone universally, not particularly. Hate is like pollution, poisoning everyone. It’s not about securing rights or reparations for your group, but demanding justice for all. As a lawyer, her pioneering cases expanded women’s rights by invoking the Constitution’s guarantee of “equal

local population, she said: “Hungary was the first country in Europe to adopt an antiJewish law after World War I,” restricting the admission of Jews “to institutions of higher learning.”

In an era when many advanced by assimilating, Ginsburg remained who she was. She declared: “My heritage as a Jew and my occupation as a judge fit together symmetrically,” which is why she displayed a large silver mezuzah on her doorpost and, on three walls of her chambers, in artists’ renditions of Hebrew letters, the command from Deuteronomy (16:20): Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.”

A model of civility that is sadly lacking today, she was particularly close with her ideological opposite on the court, Justice Antonin Scalia. The two high-achieving New Yorkers bonded over their shared passions for food, opera and the U.S.

Constitution. Scalia once asked about RBG: “What’s not to like … except her views of the law, of course?”

Before she died, spreading antisemitism targeted her, too, as Jew-hating incidents in New York City spiked 22%. She was already “RBG,” the pop star. Vandals defaced a poster at a Brooklyn subway stop advertising a book about her, drawing a swastika and scribbling “Die, Jew.”

Ginsburg admired leading American Zionists like Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah. She also appreciated that the stature of Louis Brandeis, her predecessor on the Supreme Court, reassured the skittish Jews of the 1920s and 1930s that if Brandeis was a Zionist, “then it was OK for them as well.”

In 2018, she accepted a special lifetime achievement award from the Genesis Foundation in Israel. Then, too, she called herself a judge “born, raised and proud of being a Jew,” pursuing America’s and Judaism’s “demand for justice, for peace and for enlightenment.”

Given that — and her sense of “security” as a Jew — it’s hard to believe that Ginsburg would have been silent as so many fellow citizens in her country escalated from criticizing to demonizing Israel, turning “Zionist” into a slur and targeting Jews on the very campuses that shaped her. “In striving to drain dry the waters of prejudice and oppression,” she taught, “we must rely on measures of our own creation, upon the wisdom of our laws and the decency of our institutions, upon our reasoning minds and our feeling hearts.”

Please see Lavie and Troy, page 13

Opinion

Chronicle poll results: Most meaningful aspect of the High Holidays

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an online poll the following question: “What aspect of the High Holidays do you find most meaningful?”

Of the 179 people who responded, 38% said prayer and reflection; 30% said time with family; 19% said community connection; 11% said food and festive meals; and 2% said taschlich or other symbolic rituals. Comments were submitted by 29 people. A few follow.

The food, festivals and community connection are important, as well as spending time with family. The symbolic rituals have their place as well as a key components of tradition. But it is important to not forget that we must reflect on our sins of the past year, make amends, and reflect on how to improve in the new year, not just as individuals but as a community. We are responsible for each other’s actions and are indeed our brothers’ (and sisters’) keepers. Even in times in which we are persecuted (which is always, basically), we are still capable of great harm. And we must not forget that.

Lavie and Troy:

Continued from page 12

Hearing the shofar is on the top of my list.

An opportunity to reflect on both negative interactions and experiences with

She would have warned Jews not to be too defensive and to find allies against bigotry. She wanted them “to rejoice in the resistance of the Jewish people to evil fortune, armed with the courage and faith that has enabled them to survive through centuries of exiles, plunderings and persecutions.”

Celebrating the 350th anniversary of the American Jewish community, Ginsburg rejected the contemporary culture of competitive victimhood. She recalled that Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, who shared her faith, once described himself as belonging to “the most vilified and persecuted minority in history.” Yet,

others and the time to attempt to heal those open wounds. A time to reflect on how we missed our moral goals and work on directional corrections for the future. In both cases, by establishing real workable resolutions we operate to make the new year more pleasant, productive and filled with greater success and joy for ourselves, our families and our society.

What a wonderful opportunity to seek atonement for what we have done wrong in the past year.

Always family first but also a chance to be forgiven, forgive and reset.

Apples and honey for a sweet new year!

All of the above are important to me. I’m proud to pass on family traditions of gathering together with friends, family and community to come together, pray, engage in rituals and eat special foods. It’s very special to see how my

she preferred Justice Arthur Goldberg’s “affirmative comment”: “My concern for justice, for peace, for enlightenment, stem[s] from my heritage.”

These days, it’s easy to despair. Five years after her death, RBG still teaches us all to seek the light and generate more of it. PJC

Aliza Lavie is a former member of the

24-year-old values these traditions.

On Yom Kippur, we are called upon to apologize for any deeds that have caused harm (however justified they may have seemed at the time). Every culture would benefit from including this tradition of reconciliation.

Family time is as meaningful as prayer and reflection.

For me it is a time of deep spirituality and I love hearing the traditional prayers. I look forward to attending services at Chabad. It reminds me of my childhood growing up in New York.

All of the above. PJC — Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Do you seek to make amends or ask forgiveness from others before Yom Kippur? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

Israeli Knesset and author, most recently, of “Iconic Jewish Women: Fifty-Nine Inspiring, Courageous, Revolution Role Models for Young Girls.” Professor Gil Troy is an American presidential historian, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and the author, most recently, of “The Essential Guide to Zionism, Anti-Zionism, AntiSemitism and Jew-Hatred.” This article first appeared on JNS.

Jewish Useful Idiots

What do Hannah Einbinder, Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer have in common? (“‘Free Palestine,’ Jewish actor Hannah Einbinder says in Emmys speech,” online, Sept. 15). They top my list of Useful Jewish Idiots.

Useful to whom?

Well, here’s who: Hamas, the terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel. This is not just my opinion. Einbinder, who added “Free Palestine” to her Emmy Award acceptance speech, was just recognized by Quds, the news outlet that serves as a mouthpiece for Hamas, the Jewish Journal reported. Quds praises and approves Hannah Einbinder!

The Useful Idiots have added their Jewish names to the enormous hordes of non-Jews from all walks of life who are in there pitching, with all their might, against Israel: Javier Barden, Susan Sarandon, Summer Lee, the Squad, Tucker Carlson, Cynthia Nixon, etc. Of course these are the garden variety non-Jewish antisemites.

But are any of the antisemites or Useful Idiots, especially the Jewish ones, aware of the following facts?

• Since its establishment in 1948, in order to survive, Israel has fought in at least 10 major wars and two large-scale Palestinian intifadas, in addition to many smaller military operations.

• At least three offers of statehood for Palestinians were rejected.

• Over $40 billion dollars in aid was sent to the Palestinian territories between 1994 and 2020.

• Despite the $40 billion in aid, the Palestinian economy remained fragile, while 350-450 miles of secret tunnels were constructed.

• On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel resulting in the deaths of 1,200 innocent people, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of more than 250 others. This attack is widely documented as an assault of extreme savagery against a civilian population. The atrocities included sexual violence and torture and is considered to be the worst assault on Jews since the Holocaust.

• Israel continues to practice tikkun olam — repairing the world —through medical and scientific breakthroughs including lab-grown human kidney tissue, spinal cord transplantation and gene therapy for antibiotic resistance.

• Israel offers disaster and humanitarian relief all over the world: Haiti (earthquake, 2010);

Japan (tsunami, 2011); Brazil (dam collapse, 2019); Turkey and Syria (earthquake, 2023); plus dozens of non-governmental disaster relief efforts, i.e., medical and developmental projects.

Why did Jewish Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer make the Useful Jewish Idiot list? Sanders has tried to block aid to Israel, and Schumer denounced Benjamin Netanyahu on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

My belief is that Hashem, who waits for us all, will have questions for them.

Judith Robinson Pittsburgh

Summer Lee’s accusations ignore the complex realities of war

In “Summer Lee escalates criticism of Israel, calls for U.S. arms embargo amid Gaza war” (Sept. 19), it’s reported that Lee once again accuses Israel of genocide. I wonder: If Lee were in Congress in 1945, would she have accused the Allies of genocide after the firebombing of Dresden in February 1945, which killed 25,000 civilians? A month later 100,000 Japanese were killed in the firebombing of Tokyo. And we all know about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Were the Allies guilty of genocide? The loss of life of German and Japanese civilians was horrific but the Allies were responding to acts of great evil by the German and Japanese governments. The same could be said of the war Israel is waging in Gaza, a response to Oct. 7.

The slaughter of Jews by the Nazis was different. German Jews were killed because they were Jews. Prior to the rise of the Nazi regime they lived peacefully alongside their fellow German citizens. What German Jews experienced under the Nazis cannot be compared to what is happening in Gaza today. What the Jews experienced in Nazi Germany was genocide. What the Gazan Palestinians are experiencing is due to decades of confrontation and bloodshed. Summer Lee should educate herself on the difference.

Mitchell Nyer Pittsburgh

We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned. Send letters to: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org or Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence, we cannot reply to every letter.

Life & Culture

It

Kippur break fast at my house without this egg casserole

By Skye Estroff | The Nosher

Our family’s approach to Yom Kippur break fast is a Southern one. Many North Americans associate this feast with an array of sweet kugels, bagels with all of the accoutrements, rugelach in every flavor, blintzes and maybe a special cake or two. Chances are you have never seen a spread filled with egg casserole, cream cheese grits and homemade biscuits.

Before the early 1900s, my family had not either. How did this menu come to be for a half-Sephardi, half-Ashkenazi Jewish family? It’s a funny story.

I recently recovered my great-grandpa’s autobiography that had been stowed away in storage. He detailed the lengths that it would take to acquire kosher food in Georgia in the early 20th century. Quick synopsis: It required special connections and effort to secure the holiday food necessities from the certified grocer. The “good stuff” was reserved for the residents of Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah, while little was set aside for small-town Jewish families. My family was one of the latter so we had no choice but to incorporate ingredients that were more accessible

into our meal planning. Eggs, grits and f lour were much easier to secure than specialty meats. Thus, Southern-style cuisine became intertwined with our family meals and traditions.

All of this to say that I’ve grown accustomed to this style of break fast. I prefer it to the regretful annual reminder that my stomach is not meant to digest mounds of mayonnaise-laden proteins or seconds of

sugar immediately after 24 hours without. Simple, flavorful and easily digestible foods are the strength and strategy in our Southerninspired menu.

The hearty pièce de résistance of our table is my mom’s egg casserole. It’s silky, cheesy and smells amazing coming out of the oven. Egg casserole can be made in advance; refrigerate overnight and forget it until an hour before sunset.

When going in for the bake, know that the egg mixture will be settled so the ratio of bread to egg mixture will look skewed. It’s not. The “casserole” bakes like a souffle, so the egg mixture will rise and create a pillowy texture to complement the crusty bits of challah that are exposed at the top.

Feel free to modify this recipe to use any kind of bread (i.e. whole wheat, gluten-free, sourdough, etc.), milk instead of half-andhalf or a different sharp cheese (Gruyere or manchego would be nice). That’s the essence of my mom’s style of Southern Jewish cooking — make it tasty, but creatively configure the ingredients to work for the specific group you’re hosting. Serve her egg casserole alongside cream cheese grits, thick-cut biscuits plus a little bit of fruit and not only will you be covered for the holiday, you’ll get a taste of the lesser known tradition that we hold so dear.

Notes:

The casserole needs to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight, before baking.

Egg casserole can be made in advance; refrigerate overnight and forget it until an hour before sunset (start from Step 7).

Total Time: 3 hours – overnight Yield: Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 8 ounces challah, cubed (half a challah)

• 1½ cups shredded yellow cheddar cheese

• 6 large eggs

• 2 cups half-and-half

• 1 teaspoon mustard powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

1. Spread the cubed challah across the bottom of a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish.

2. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the bread cubes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, mustard powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder until well combined.

4. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread and cheese in the baking dish.

5. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate it overnight (or at least a couple of hours) to allow the bread to absorb the egg mixture.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

7. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes while the oven preheats.

8. Bake, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the casserole is set in the middle. You can insert a knife in the center to check if it’s fully cooked (it should come out clean).

9. Let the casserole cool for a few minutes before cutting and serving. PJC

p Egg casserole

Photo by Skye Estroff

Please join us for our annual Yom Kippur

program

From Division to Renewal

A Conversation on Forgiveness and Democracy

Thursday, October 2 • 2-4 pm

JCC Squirrel Hill • Levinson Hall

Moderated by Rabbi Hindy Finman, Center for Loving Kindness Director

Speakers

Representative Dan Frankel proudly serves Pennsylvania’s 23rd legislative district. He is the Democratic Chairman of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Health Committee, where he works to expand access to health care.

Jon Delano is an American journalist, attorney, and adjunct professor. He was the Money & Politics Editor for KDKA TV CBS in Pittsburgh for over 30 years and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College for 25 years.

In a time of deep division, the voices of politicians and journalists often shape the nation’s most difficult conversations. As Yom Kippur calls us to reflect, forgive and renew, we explore how empathy, accountability and shared responsibility can illuminate a path forward. Join us for a powerful discussion on how unity, rooted not in agreement but in mutual respect, is the true foundation of democracy.

This unique Yom Kippur experience will include guided reflection, prayer, and a Yizkor memorial service. It is open to people of all faiths and is geared toward middle school age and up.

Free and open to the community: Please RSVP

Life & Culture

New Light Congregation brings in Rabbi Iscah Waldman for fifth year of High Holiday scholarship

By Emma Riva | Special to the Chronicle

Achance encounter at Rabbi Iscah Waldman’s daughter’s bat mitzvah in Teaneck, New Jersey, turned into a five-year connection with New Light Congregation in Pittsburgh.

New Light’s Rabbi Jonathan Perlman happened to be at the Teaneck shul one Shabbat and heard Waldman davening at the bat mitzvah. Waldman’s style of leading services resonated with Perlman, so he invited her to be a visiting scholar for the High Holidays in 2020. She’s come back every year since.

As visiting scholar at New Light Congregation — a small Conservative congregation in Squirrel Hill that describes itself as “the most haimish shul in town” — Waldman will be helping lead prayers, delivering a d’var Torah and teaching throughout the High Holidays.

“I’ve led services since I was 15,” Waldman said. “At this point, I can’t imagine fasting for Yom Kippur without leading services.”

She wasn’t always at the bimah, but she began leading mincha and shacharit services at a young age. Her father was a rabbi, so she learned the structure early on and found she had a knack for it. Since then, Waldman has worked for the University of Pennsylvania and is now director of Jewish studies in the Upper

School at Golda Och Academy in Teaneck. Coming to Pittsburgh as a visiting scholar “is very helpful for my teaching, since I’m constantly preparing new classes and I always learn something that connects from the community there,” she said. She teaches a number of electives in Teaneck, including business ethics, and is able to draw from everyday life for her coursework.

But Waldman’s true passion, in both teaching and studying, is midrash, the texts from rabbis across generations that interpret and analyze Torah stories and Jewish law.

“I have a graduate degree in midrash. Very

practical!” she joked. “For me, midrash is about the psychology of the reader. I’m not looking for what’s the backstory, but instead what does it reveal to me about the writer of the midrash and how we read it. What does it tell us about the rabbis?”

One example she cites as to why she loves midrash is the teachings on the Akedah (the Binding of Isaac). “The rabbis ask ‘Why doesn’t Abraham protest? Why is he so silent during the whole procedure of God asking him to sacrifice his son?’ Not only does he not protest, he barely speaks,” Waldman said. “I think that really bothered the rabbis, so they

provide a lot of different options. What could he have been thinking in his head? What was Sarah thinking in hers? When you read it, you might get angry at God, or at Abraham. But it’s all about what you bring to it from your own psychology.”

Her d’var Torah at New Light will focus on the theme of “Praying to a Passionate and Dispassionate God.” When does God intervene or express emotion, and when is God less involved?

“There are times in the text when God doesn’t display emotions but might still have pathos and not reveal it. It’s kind of like as a parent, when your kid gets hurt and cries, you don’t cry along with your kid, but you still love them,” Waldman said.

In addition, she’ll be teaching at tashlich and between mincha and ma’ariv on Yom Kippur.

In the last five years, she’s come to know Perlman, his family and New Light congregants. Though it’s one of Pittsburgh’s smaller congregations, bringing in a visiting scholar reflects New Light’s commitment to Jewish learning and spiritual growth.

“I know it’s a small congregation, but they’re really welcoming, warm and loving to each other,” she said. “Pittsburgh seems very unusual to those of us who are in bigger Jewish communities in how there’s a sense of unity. It’s really nice to see people from different denominations working together.” PJC Emma Riva is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p New Light Congregation sign

Photo by JIm Busis

p Rabbi Iscah Waldman Photo courtesy of Rabbi Iscah Waldman

Sarah and Andrew DeWitt are thrilled to announce the engagement of their son, Evan DeWitt to Emma Reed . Evan is grandson to Carol and Bruce DeWitt in Ocala, Florida, and Shirley and Ron (z”l) Moritz in Mt. Lebanon. Emma’s parents are Robert and Olga Reed from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Evan and Emma will be married in Washington, D.C., in the spring.

Susie and Carl Seletz are delighted to announce the marriage of their daughter Nikki to Josh Freeman on May 25, 2025. Nikki’s grandparents are Sam and Hannah Balk, Sukky Seletz, and Dr. Jules (z”l) and Rilda Seletz.  Josh is the son of Arlys Freeman and Ed Freeman, and the grandson of Roger (z”l) and Myra Greenberg, and Jean (z”l) and Phillip (z”l) Freeman. Nikki and Josh met on a Birthright trip and are living in Minneapolis. PJC

bagel factory

and delicatessen

• Matzo Balls

• Matzo Ball Soup (pint or quart)

• Bagels or Mini Bagels

• Nova Lox & Pastrami Lox (by the lb.)

• Herring - cream

• Blintzes - cheese (6pc min)

• Blintz Sou es

• Potato Pancakes (2 per order)

• Homemade Chopped Liver

• Homemade White sh, Tuna, Egg & Chicken Salad

• Israeli Salad

• Herbed Chicken Breast

• Beef Brisket (by the lb.)

• Noodle Kugel

• Roasted Vegetables

• Bialys - onion & poppy

• Challah - plain or raisin (round)

• Cookies - mini

• Macaroons

• Brownies

• Honey Cake

• Apple Cake

• Rugelach - assorted (by the dozen)

• Mini Pastries

• Sweet Breads

• Co ee Cakes - bundt

Homemade Cream Cheese

Plain, Herb, Chive, Garlic, Vegetable, Salmon, Raspberry, Cinnamon Raisin Walnut

Pastry Trays Deli Trays Fish Trays Fruit Trays

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When

life comes alive: The surprising Torah perspective on a life truly

lived

6 days a week (Tuesday–Sunday)

412-521-8100

In Moshe Rabbeinu’s parting words to his beloved people, he tells them (Deuteronomy 31:2), “I am one hundred and twenty years old today, I can no longer come and go.” At face value, it seems that Moshe was telling them that his strength had left him; he no longer had the stamina to lead them. The Talmud (Sotah 13b) challenges this interpretation based upon the Torah’s testimony about Moshe at the time of his death: (34:7) “His eyes did not dim and his vitality never left him.” If so, then what did Moshe mean when he said, “I can no longer come and go”?

with Torah wisdom that the thought of death was too much for him to bear. This “blockage” was a special gift that Moshe received from G-d on that day, allowing him to make peace with his death. This is what Moshe Rabbeinu taught his people, and it is a theme frequently found in the Torah.

Life for all

In the Torah’s instruction about setting up cities of refuge for the unintentional murderer, it states (Deuteronomy 4:42), “He should flee to one of these cities and live.” From the words “and live,” the Talmud (Makkos 10a) extrapolates a rather curious law: “It was taught, a student who is exiled (for unintentional manslaughter to a city of refuge), his teacher is exiled with him. As it says, ‘and he will live.’ This means that something should be done for him so that he should have life.” In what way,

Moshe Rabbeinu lived a life so infused with electrified joy and meaning through his connection with Torah wisdom that the thought of death was too much for him to bear.

The Talmud states that Moshe was indicating that the wellsprings and gates of Torah wisdom that he had always found access to had been blocked off from him. He was no longer able to “come and go,” meaning to participate in the “give and take” in the study of Torah. This sounds rather strange. The Torah testifies that Moshe was fresh and full of energy even on his final day, so how can it be that he couldn’t access the vast troves of Torah knowledge that he had labored to acquire and teach over the course of his 40-year career? Moshe was the person who learned the Torah directly from G-d himself!

A most unusual gift

The Sifsei Chachamim commentary on Rashi (Deuteronomy 31:2) offers a fascinating explanation as to why Moshe was denied access to Torah wisdom on that day. He writes, “in order that he should not be pained about his eminently decreed death, therefore, the wellsprings of wisdom were blocked off from him. For Moshe, who lived only for wisdom, was now at peace with his death, for without wisdom why should he live?” Moshe Rabbeinu lived a life so infused with electrified joy and meaning through his connection

however, does exiling his Torah teacher with him afford him any more “life” than he already has? Rambam (Rotzeach V’Shmiras Hanefesh 7:1) cites this law and reveals the rationale of this teaching. He explains that for those who study Torah, life without Torah study is considered lifeless. Rambam reveals that not only Moshe Rabbeinu, but anyone who becomes a student of the Torah and applies oneself to its study, will find that one is not really alive without being able to study Torah. To this end, the Torah requires that his Torah teacher or an entire academy be exiled with their teacher, in order that he can continue to live, even while in exile.

These are two strong examples — Moshe at the end of his life and a Jew sent to a city of refuge — where one sees that connecting with Torah wisdom is profound and allows one to truly live PJC

In memory of my teacher Rabbi Doniel Lehrfield, whose life was a testament to the ideas expressed in this d’var Torah.

Rabbi Moshe Levy is the dean of the Kollel Jewish Learning Center. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.

Rabbi Moshe Levy Parshat Vayeilach Deuteronomy 31:1-30

Obituaries

Jeffrey Singer, age 70, of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, while vacationing in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — his happy place. Jeffrey was born on Feb. 2, 1955, to Pauline and Irving Singer, and was the nephew of Maurice (Marilyn) Grob and Frances (Thomas) Winland. Jeffrey graduated from Peabody High School and the University of Pittsburgh. Public service was important to him, working as an EMT paramedic assistant for many years, and most recently for the Allegheny County Treasury Department before retiring. He enjoyed many activities, including cooking and baking, basketball, watching the Steelers and spending time in North Myrtle Beach. He was preceded in death by his aunts, uncles, parents and twin brother, Jerrold Singer, and is survived by his daughter, Rachael Singer, and her mother, Roberta Gerson, brothers David (Ilene) Singer and Fred (Carol) Singer, numerous nieces and nephews, and best friend Bobbie Jo Comes. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Mount Lebanon Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association,  4hcm.org schugar.com PJC

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Letters of Administration on the Estate of Sonia-Marie Morley, deceased, of 7430 Frankstown Ave., Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA, 15208, No. 02-25-05075, have been granted to Nathaniel Morley, 1026 Liverpool St., Apt 2, Pittsburgh, PA 15233, who requests that all persons having claims against the Estate of this Decedent make known the same in writing to him or his attorney, Thomas E. Pandaleon, Esq., 6824 Thomas Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15208, and all persons indebted to this Decedent make payment to the same.

Shomer Yehuda, deceased March 2023, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania No. 022303058

Avrahom. M Cohen, Administrator; & Elchonon Friedman Co-Administrator; P.O. Box 8202, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 or to Kim A. Bodnar, Esquire, 304 Ross Street, Suite 701, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

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Headlines

UK, Canada, Australia

By JNS Staff

The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia on Sunday all recognized a putative Palestinian state, acting amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

The synchronized announcements, coming within minutes of each other, defied opposition from the American and Israeli governments, which said such a move would be a reward for terrorism.

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“Since 1947, it has been the policy of every Canadian government to support a two-state solution for lasting peace in the Middle East,” read a written statement by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “This envisioned the creation of a sovereign, democratic and viable State of Palestine, building its future in peace and security alongside the State of Israel.

“Hamas has terrorized the people of Israel and oppressed the people of Gaza, wreaking horrific suffering,” the statement continued. “It is imperative that Hamas release all hostages, fully disarm and play no role in the future governance of Palestine. Hamas has stolen from the Palestinian people, cheated them of their life and liberty, and can in no way dictate their future.

“The current Israeli government is working methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established. … It is in this context that Canada recognizes the State of Palestine and offers our partnership in building the promise of a peaceful future for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel,” Carney said.

Moments later, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a similar statement.

He said that his country’s recognition of the “independent and sovereign State of Palestine” reflects Australia’s “longstanding commitment to a two-state solution, which has always been the only path to enduring peace and security for the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples.”

Albanese stressed that “the terrorist organization Hamas must have no role in Palestine.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a video statement, said, “Today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly — as prime minister of this great country — that the United Kingdom formally recognizes the state of Palestine.

“In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East, we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and of a two-state solution. That means a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state — at the moment we have neither,” he said.

Several other countries, led by France,

rejected the recognition of a Palestinian state by Commonwealth countries and called it a “reward” for Hamas.

“This declaration does not promote peace, but on the contrary — further destabilizes the region and undermines the chances of achieving a peaceful solution in the future,” the foreign ministry said.

“Hamas leaders themselves openly admit: This recognition is a direct outcome, the ‘fruit’ of the October 7 massacre,” the statement continued. “Don’t let jihadist ideology dictate your policy.”

The statement stressed that the Europeanbacked Palestinian Authority is “part of the problem and not part of the solution,” citing its continued incitement to terrorism and ongoing, years-old policy of payment for terrorists and their families known as “pay for slay.”

These payments led the American administration to sanction the P.A. and bar its officials from entering the U.S. to attend this month’s annual U.N. General Assembly general debate in New York.

“In any case, Israel will not accept any detached and imaginary text that attempts to force it to accept indefensible borders,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

“Political gestures aimed at a domestic voting audience only harm the Middle East and are not helpful. Instead, if the countries that signed this declaration truly wish to stabilize the region, they should focus on pressuring Hamas to release the hostages and to disarm immediately,” the ministry said.

The leader of the British Conservative Party called the declarative move “absolutely disastrous.”

“We will all rue the day this decision was made,” Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch wrote on X. “Rewarding terrorism with no conditions put in place for Hamas. It leaves hostages languishing in Gaza and does nothing to stop the suffering of innocent people caught in this war.”

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would propose the immediate annexation of the biblical heartland in response to the countries’ recognition of a Palestinian state.

“The recognition by the U.K., Canada and Australia of a ‘Palestinian’ state, as a prize for the murderous Nukhba terrorists, requires immediate countermeasures: the immediate application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the complete dismantling of the ‘Palestinian’ terror Authority,” Ben-Gvir posted on X.

The Nukhba Force is the elite Hamas unit that spearheaded the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. PJC

p Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left) and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney pose before the start of the G7 summit, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, June 15, 2025.

Photo by Suzanne Plunkett/WPA Pool/Getty Images via JNS

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Life & Culture

You should binge-watch Netflix’s ‘Long Story Short’ for the High Holidays

By Rabbi Benjamin Resnick | JTA

During Selichot services, I led members of our congregation in our first recitation of “Ashamnu,” the confessional acrostic that we accompany by striking our hearts.

There will be many recitations of the confessional to follow in the coming week. Yet it is the first — said late at night, and not, in my community, in the midst of a great throng but instead in an intimate circle — that always moves me the most. I have long loved Selichot, which on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah begins a cycle of prayers for forgiveness. It is an experi ence that, for me, offers an invitation into the heights of the holidays themselves, but without the attendant rabbinic pressures — and it is often a highlight of my own Jewish year.

And then I went home, still humming “Ashamnu” and still thinking about my friends and family who sang it along with me, and something rather incredible happened. I turned on Netflix and there they were again: “Ashamnu,” Selichot and the extraordinary drama of the High Holidays,

as I have never before seen them depicted in anything remotely mainstream. In a storytelling landscape that almost always depicts American Jewish ritual life in terms that are wildly unrealistic (“Nobody Wants This”), pediatric (“You Are SO Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah”), or chaotic bordering on hostile (“Bad Shabbos”), this was something different. In an unusually

effective scene, one of the central characters in “Long Story Short” finds herself in shul, unexpectedly, on Yom Kippur. Like so many other scenes in Raphael Bob-Waksburg’s animated series about a Jewish family, it was letter-perfectly accurate, loving and profound. It was astonishing. If you have already seen it, then you know. And if you have not seen it, in all seriousness and as a rabbi, I am advising you to binge the entire 10-episode run over the next week as Yom Kippur approaches.

What is so incredible about the “Ashamnu” scene in particular — and this could also be said of the series as a whole — is how artfully it plays against much of what we’ve come to expect from depictions of synagogue life on television. Contemporary Jewish American artists, from Larry David to the Coen Brothers (many of them, perhaps, let down by synagogues at some point) tend to use synagogue scenes as grist for an endlessly satiric mill — the staid sanctuaries in which an unrepentant Larry commits his peccadillos, the horrific vacuousness of suburban Jewish life in “A Serious Man.” There are scattered exceptions, of course, and I admire both David and the Coens as brilliant and important Jewish storytellers. But there is more to say about Jewish American life, and synagogue-going, than is possible to say from within the four narrow cubits of satire.

Enter “Long Story Short,” which is certainly the most Jewish television show airing right now on any mainstream platform and also, very likely, among the most authentic pieces of Jewish American narrative art in the 21st century. And it is very funny. There are moments of satire, in particular a riotously funny send-up of bar mitzvah candle-lighting ceremonies in the opening episode. But unlike most other shows of its ilk, Judaism and the Jewish characters that populate the story (which is all of them, more or less) aren’t the joke. They are simply the reality, the context in which tragedy transforms itself into farce and farce, in turn, transforms itself into tragedy again.

And, though it might seem like a surprising

thing to say about an animated series, it presents that reality with unflinching, almost documentary-like precision. Some examples:

An unnamed character in the “Ashamnu“ scene appears in a full tallit (no churchstyle stole, like the one worn by Rabbi Noah Roklov in “Nobody Wants This”) and, when asked by a main character if he knows of “a guy named Noah here,” replies dryly, but not unkindly, “There are probably like 50 Noahs in here.”

An old woman, also in a tallit, next to whom the main character takes a seat, explains lovingly that Jews confess in plural language.

The episode that is largely devoted to parents trying to decide whether or not to send their children to a Jewish day school.

The moment when an adult child, faced with a sibling’s increasing observance, tells their mother that there is no one right way to be Jewish, and the mother responds immediately (and I quote) with, “But there is — a progressive egalitarian Conservative Judaism with an emphasis on ritual and community over faith and blind practice. That’s literally the only way it makes sense. I figured it out. And I gave it to my children because I love them. But they reject it because they want to reject me.”

These examples — one of a vast number that I could recite — all speak to a core aspect of why I found the show so moving on Selichot night and why it is so wildly successful overall, both narratively and aesthetically. It’s packed with so many highly specific Jewish cultural and religious touchstones — not to mention untranslated and unexplained Hebrew phrases — that I suspect, absent a solid day-school education (Bob-Waksberg, the son of a Jewish educator, had one), aspects of it would seem abstruse if not unintelligible. It’s all so ardently, shockingly particularist, which is a crucial element of faithfully rendering any culture and something that I think about a lot, both as novelist and as a rabbi.

As Jews in America, most of us, either through osmosis or because we seek it out, come to know a great deal about the majority cultures that surround us. They know less about us. That has always been — and will always be — a structural aspect of minority experience. That is why it is an ongoing challenge, in many corners of the entertainment industry, to tell stories from the particularist perspectives of minority and under-represented groups. It’s a worthy, important goal, both ethically (because it’s the right thing to do) and aesthetically (because stories absent culture are bland).

But despite all the laudable effort towards diversifying the kinds of American stories we tell, I have never seen a show that depicts a Jewish American reality that is recognizable to me — hilarious, unabridged, profound and reverent. Until now.

Representation matters. Do yourself a favor and start binging. PJC

Rabbi Benjamin Resnick is rabbi of the Pelham Jewish Center in Pelham, New York and the author of the novel “Next Stop.”

Story

a scene in a synagogue on Yom Kippur.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Getting together again

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh held its annual meeting on Sept. 16 at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The gathering included recognition of Louis

with the 2025 Emanuel Spector Memorial Award, Mary Anne Foley, with the 2025 Doris & Leonard H. Rudolph Jewish Communal Professional

Champions in swimming again.

and

the

Leah Rothman, Aria Small and Ahuva Meisels were elected Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh Middle School Girls GO leaders. The students will be tasked with planning and running programs for

Photo courtesy of Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh p

Photo courtesy of Community Day School

p Maggie Feinstein accepts her award from FBI Pittsburgh ASAC Tim Swanson. Photos by David Bachman

B. Kushner,

Award,

Maggie Feinstein, with

2025 FBI Director’s p

Helping the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry serve 2,750 community members

$475,000 in local impact grants for emergency medical equipment, food rescue and therapy in Israel

Sustaining AgeWell Pittsburgh to reach 10,000+ older adults and family caregivers annually