Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 2-2-24

February 2, 2024 | 23 Shevat 5784

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Students for Justice in Palestine District 12 protest IDF soldier speaking at candidates spar Hillel JUC over Israel, campaign finance at CMU forum

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Shooting for the moon

CMU students make history LOCAL

Candlelighting 5:21 p.m. | Havdalah 6:23 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 5 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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By Toby Tabachnick | Editor

D taking place outside of the Pittsburgh landmark, entered the building for classes.

Shortly after 4 p.m., using a portable microphone and speaker, an SJP officer led chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Gaza, Gaza don’t you cry, Palestine will never die,” “Biden, Biden you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide,” and “1-2-3-4, Occupation no more; 5-6-7-8, Israel is a terrorist state.”

“From the river to the sea” has long been a rallying cry of Hamas and its supporters. It is a call for a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which would mean the end of the Jewish state and include the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.

Absent from the calls on Pitt's campus was any mention of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7 — which included the murder of babies and sexual assault of women — nor were there any comments about the 130-plus hostages still held in Gaza.

After claiming that Israel stole Palestinian land from her relatives and that SJP had a more difficult time scheduling events than Jewish groups on campus, the speaker addressed comments about SJP’s social media post promoting the rally.

The post said, “Join us tomorrow in protesting an IOF soldier speaking at an event at Hillel JUC building.” At least one social media user pointed out that the “O” in “IOF” should be a “D.” The speaker said the change was purposeful, and

uring a political forum that was frequently interrupted by cheers from the candidates’ supporters, or jeers from their hecklers, the three Democratic challengers for Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district faced off at Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday.

Incumbent Rep. Summer Lee, Edgewood Borough Councilwoman Bhavini Patel and Center for Victims President and CEO Laurie MacDonald did not debate, but instead responded to a series of questions read by moderators Heidi Norman, an Allegheny County Democratic Committee member; Chris Potter, government and accountability editor of WESA; and Avalon Sueiro, a CMU sophomore and president of CMU College Democrats.

More than 300 people — including scores of students, Jewish community members and people donning black-and-white keffiyeh head scarfs, an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause — packed the McConomy Auditorium at the Jared L. Cohon University Center.

The candidates were questioned on abortion, climate change, gun control and transgender rights, topics on which they largely agreed.

Issues on which they differed were foreign policy and the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on District 12’s constituents.

Patel minced no words in stressing the importance of “being a representative for everybody and showing up for your community,” something she said Lee has not done.

Patel has attended several local events supporting Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state.

“On Oct. 8, the next day, me and my team, we were at the JCC for a rally, being present

Please see Protest, page 13

Please see Candidates, page 13

A major gift for the benefit of Pittsburgh

 Elya Jacobowitz shows his support for Israel at the Cathedral of Learning on Jan. 24, as protesters chant anti-Israel slogans.

Photo by David Rullo

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

Science Center gets a new name Page 3

LOCAL Sharing the gift of dance

Local instructor recognized for inclusion Page 3

LOCAL A Girl Scout promise

Creating a Holocaust education patch Page 17

O

n an unseasonably warm day beneath a gray sky and periods of heavy rain, about 100 people gathered at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning on Jan. 24, ostensibly to protest speaker Yadin Gellman, an IDF commando veteran from the Sayeret Matkal Unit and an Israeli actor.

Instead, it became an opportunity for members of the protest organizer, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Pittsburgh, and others to make the same anti-Zionist claims that have been repeated at rallies since Oct. 7, and yell the same antisemitic chants against Israel.

The Gellman event was sponsored by the Student Coalition for Israel at Pitt and held at The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh.

The protesters were a mix of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University students, non-students carrying signs with messages that included “Babies should be born not bombed,” men and women wearing keffiyehs — a popular choice for those aligning with residents of Gaza and the West Bank — and at least one person wearing a shirt that read “Not in our Name” and holding a sign stating, “Jews say stop genocide of Palestinians.”

Police kept the crowd contained on the muddy lawn and puddled sidewalks in front of the building’s Bigelow Boulevard entrance as other students, uninterested in the events

Begins on p.6 cromary / Adobe Stock

Headlines CMU rover, Iris, reaches lunar trajectory despite not landing on moon — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

M

ore than 60 years after John F. Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech, Americans are still fascinated by space.

Case in point: Carnegie Mellon University students Paulo Rotband Marchtein Fisch, Zachary Muraskin and Sonja Michaluk were part of the CMU team that developed the Iris moon rover.

The 2.4999 kilogram, or approximately 5-pound, shoe box-sized rover was successfully launched into space, attached to the Peregrine lunar lander on the outside of the Vulcan rocket, on Jan. 8. And while it was unable to land on the moon, it did enter lunar distance and performed several experiments, which the team considers a success.

For both Fisch and Muraskin, the opportunity to work on a project that ended beyond the Earth’s atmosphere has been a dream since childhood.

Fisch said that as a boy growing up in Brazil, he was fascinated by cars and the engineers who designed them.

“I always wanted to be an engineer,” said Fisch, who earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, with a minor in aerospace. “For me, it was almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Before moving to Pittsburgh to complete his doctorate in robotics at CMU, Fisch did his undergraduate work in Germany. During the pandemic, he worked remotely from Brazil with Iris’ larger older brother, Moon Rover.

Muraskin’s fascination with space began in a very different way: The Connecticut native was interested in the weather patterns he observed during and after Hurricane Katrina.

“That really got me into science, meteorology, and then reading about physics and space,” he said.

Muraskin attended a few courses at CMU before heading to the Air Force Academy, where he pursued nuclear physics.

“That got me hooked,” he recalled.

He ultimately transferred to CMU. Two months later, he received an email asking if he

p From left: CMU students Sonja Michaluk, Zachary Muraskin and Paulo Rotband Marchtein Fisch helped develop the Iris rover that was launched into space on Jan. 8.

Photo by David Rullo

wanted to become an operator of America’s first robotic lunar rover mission.

“I was like, heck yeah,” Muraskin said. “I got involved shortly after and spent winter break here doing a lot of training.”

CMU has a very long history in rover development, Muraskin said, pointing to roboticist and research professor William L. “Red” Whittaker.

Whitaker founded and led CMU’s team in the Google Lunar XPrize in 2007 and continues to work with NASA in the development of autonomous rovers to explore the surface of the moon.

In fact, Fisch said, CMU is the only university in America that has lunar space programs and launches things into lunar space.

“Carnegie Mellon has always been at the forefront of space exploration and that continues today,” Muraskin said.

The pair talked with the Chronicle from the team’s “mission control,” a room designed to look like what appears in countless news reports and movies: Banks of computer monitors face large screens, allowing the team to watch their extraterrestrial missions.

Behind the room, a bank of windows looks down into a facility that would be the envy of any future scientist. A large portion of the room is, at first glance, a large sandbox. Fisch and Muraskin are quick to point out that, while similar to sand, the substance was created to mimic the moon’s surface, complete with craters created by team member Sonja Michaluk, a statistics and machine learning major.

Former and future rovers share space in various parts of the room, as does equipment like vacuum chambers. A vehicle with the NASA logo rests in another section of the room, near

wheels for various rovers and helium balloons that are connected to the robots during tests to help simulate the moon’s reduced gravity.

While both Fisch and Muraskin’s presence on the team would make sense to anyone picturing an aerospace squad, Michaluk might prove more puzzling. Her work, though, is vital to what the team is doing.

“I looked at ways we could standardize how we approached mimicking lunar terrain and how we could try to reduce variability and room for bias in our experimentation,” she explained.

As for the rover itself, one of the most remarkable things is, well, how familiar it looks. In fact, to those who have watched television programs like “BattleBots,” where highly weaponized robots fight in a caged ring, Iris might appear downright diminutive. That, though, is by design.

In a world where weight matters, Iris had to come in at under 2.5 kilograms. The team accomplished that with 1 gram to spare. Gone are the days of unlimited budgets, even for those designing robots that will roam the moon, so the rover is made of parts available to anyone who knows what to look for, including the cameras that were intended to send photographs back to the team.

Protecting the robot, and one of the more expensive parts of the design, was a “heat blanket,” that hung around the craft and was attached by a more expensive form of Velcro.

Of course, when you’re designing a robot for the moon’s environment, some things have to be made specifically for the conditions. Traditional grease, for instance, wouldn’t work.

“All that gas that’s in the grease would go out

of it,” Fisch said, “so we have to find materials that are not going to have that.”

And yet, even after spending years designing a rover that will last a trip to the moon on the outside of a rocket named Vulcan, attached to the Peregrin lunar lander, designed by the CMU spin off Astrobotic, a trip to the moon isn’t full-proof.

Muraskin said members of the team were in Florida and watched the Jan. 8 lift-off of the new Vulcan rocket.

“It was magnificent,” he said.

Shortly after returning to his hotel and taking a short nap, though, he started to get messages that there had been a “significant anomaly.”

The problem was with the lander, meaning Iris wouldn’t reach the surface of the moon.

Instead, the team spent time figuring out how it could prove as many of Iris’ systems as possible.

In the end, Iris was able to get 300,000 kilometers from the Earth, meaning it was able to operate in a “lunar trajectory.”

Muraskin said that of all the options available after an actual moon landing, this was the most desirable.

“Of all the worst-case scenarios, this was actually the best one because we got to do things for about 10 days.”

In fact, the statistics earned by the team, including Fisch, Muraskin and Michaluk — all Jewish — were impressive.

Muraskin listed the achievements: “The farthest American robotic lunar rover from earth; the first American robotic lunar rover to operate in cislunar space; the first university-operated rover to operate in space, period; America’s first robotic lunar rover to make it to Earth orbit; the first American robotic rover in space to be commanded by university students.”

“Technically, I think we were the first-ever rover to actually operate outside of a spacecraft because most rovers, if not all of them, are encapsulated inside a spacecraft,” he added.

“Ours was hanging off the deck.”

And while the Iris team is pleased with results, in space no one can hear you brag. The team continues to work on new projects that might one day explore previously uncharted parts of the lunar south pole. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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Headlines Telescope building and tzedakah giving: Daniel and Carole Kamin deliver historic gift to Carnegie Museums — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

“Y

ou Can’t Take It with You” isn’t only the name of an Oscarwinning film starring Jimmy Stewart; it’s the rationale for Daniel and Carole Kamin’s $65 million gift to the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

“At my age, which is now 82, it’s time to give back,” Daniel Kamin said. “I’ve done well and I’m not going to be able to take it with me, so why not?”

The Kamins’ gift, which represents the largest fiscal donation since Andrew Carnegie’s original contribution, follows the couple’s longtime charitable patterns, according to Steven Knapp, president and CEO of Carnegie Museums.

“Dan and Carole have been generous supporters of our museums for many years, and with this unprecedented gift they are further establishing their legacy as true leaders in Pittsburgh’s philanthropic community,” he said.

During a Jan. 23 news conference, the public learned that, in recognition of the Kamins’ gift, the Carnegie Science Center will be renamed the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center.

Science, and especially astronomy, have been lifelong fascinations, Daniel Kamin told the Chronicle.

“I actually built a telescope when I was

p Carole and Daniel Kamin

Photo courtesy of Carole Kamin

around 13 years old in the basement of what was then the Buhl Science Center,” he said.

The experience prompted two queries: What exists beyond space and, if the universe began 13.8 billion years ago, what happened before that?

“Those are two questions that no one’s been able to answer,” he said.

Daniel Kamin is a commercial real estate entrepreneur who’s headed Kamin Realty for nearly five decades.

Carole Kamin has served as president of the Ladies Hospital Aid Society, chairperson of National Society of Arts and Letters, and a trustee of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, Phipps Conservatory and numerous other organizations.

Daniel described Carole as “the ultimate volunteer and very, very personable.”

Although their gift to the Carnegie

Museums “was a major one,” it doesn’t represent the totality of their donations, he said: “There have been other ones, and there will be more.”

Many of the family’s gifts are anonymous, according to Daniel Kamin.

“We make smaller ones here and there all the time. I probably contribute to 200 groups per year,” he said.

According to rabbinic wisdom, one of Judaism’s hallmarks is charity. The Babylonian Talmud states, “Charity is equivalent to all the other mitzvot combined.”

When asked where fellow landsmen should give tzedakah, Daniel Kamin, a

Charity Navigator, or a similar site like Charity Watch, Guidestar or ProPublica.

These online tools evaluate and track thousands of organizations so that an individual can determine “how much of the donations go to the program and how much goes to the administrators,” Daniel Kamin said. “You don’t want to have [an organization] where most of the money goes to pay the administrators.

That is not a good thing.”

Finally, after ensuring an entity operates like a responsible financial steward, there’s only one thing left to do: give.

“People should think through and

“Dan and Carole have been generous supporters of our museums for many years, and with this unprecedented gift they are further establishing their legacy as true leaders in Pittsburgh’s philanthropic community.”

– STEVEN KNAPP member of Rodef Shalom Congregation, said people should “first assess the areas of their interest. That’s important because there are so many possibilities and places to contribute.”

Next, prospective givers should turn to

contribute to the groups that they feel closest to,” he said. “There’s so many opportunities to help.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Lawrenceville dance instructor will be honored for commitment to inclusion — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

S

am Skobel appreciates the beauty of dance. Since the age of 2, the Lawrenceville resident has diligently practiced the art form. In recent years, however, her understanding has evolved.

As an instructor at Cynthia’s School of Dance in Ross Township, Skobel, 29, often introduces dance to diverse individuals.

Her efforts began six years ago.

At the time, a student in a wheelchair was in the studio watching a sibling’s class.

Skobel asked the unenrolled child if she, too, wanted to dance. After the child said yes, Skobel worked with colleagues to create an opportunity “specifically fitted for her needs,” Skobel said.

The child, who is now 16, is still dancing.

“She did ballet the first three years and now she does jazz and hip-hop too, which is so cool,” Skobel said.

Skobel told the Chronicle about another case involving a neurodiverse child.

Four years ago, the student would only sit in her parent’s lap, cry and place her hands over her ears. Now 8, the child is still dancing and “really into tap,” Skobel said.

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p Sam Skobel joins a student during dance class.

p Sam Skobel joins a dancer during a recital.

Photos courtesy of Sam Skobel

There have been numerous successes through the years, but the takeaway, she said, is that it’s essential to find “a way for everyone to dance.”

Having made good on that pledge time and again, Skobel is set to receive the Shore-Whitehill Award from The Branch, a Squirrel Hill-based organization that supports individuals with psychiatric, developmental or intellectual disabilities.

The Feb. 17 ceremony will occur during Temple Sinai’s Jewish Disability, Awareness,

Acceptance and Impact Month (JDAIM) program, according to Alison Karabin, a program director at The Branch.

“I’m really appreciative to receive the award,” Skobel said, “but I’m also just really appreciative that it’s something that matters to the Jewish community as a whole.”

Skobel grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, and graduated from Allegheny College. Her commitment to Pittsburgh — and bettering community — extends beyond teaching dance in the North Hills. During her

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

mornings and afternoons, Skobel is an early childhood educator at Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, where she regularly works with students requiring an individualized education plan. She also assists Temple Sinai with its inclusion and disability-related programming and has delivered several divrei Torah at the synagogue.

Drew Barkley, Temple Sinai’s executive director, called Skobel “an inspiration to all of us,” and said that “anyone should aspire to her extraordinary commitment to inclusion.”

Skobel credited her mother, Robin Skobel, with modeling a strong commitment to inclusion.

The awareness the award is generating is a reminder that whether it’s in dance, or any other activity, a disability does not preclude participation and success, Sam Skobel said.

All that’s needed, she continued, is a willingness to adapt: “As soon as we started doing that at the dance studio, more people started dancing.”

The lesson, she said, is “if we start adapting the situation in more places, more people will start doing more things … and as soon as we start adapting, everyone will get a chance to do what they want to do.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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Calendar Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions also will be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q FRIDAY, FEB. 2 Families with young children are invited to join Rodef Shalom Congregation for Shabbat with You, a preShabbat playdate, service and dinner to celebrate Shabbat together. 4:30 p.m. $5 per family. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/shabbatwithyou.

NextGEN Shabbat After Hours is back, and this time it’s bookish! Join Temple Sinai after its Mostly Musical Shabbat Evening Service for a cozy oneg just for NextGEN. There will be snacks, warm drinks and a book swap. Bring a book you have read and pick up your next read. Share recommendations with friends and enjoy browsing what others have loved. 8:15 p.m. templesinaipgh.org/event/shabbat-after-hours-.html#. q SUNDAY, FEB. 4 Be a hero in your community at the Jewish Federation’s annual Super Sunday. Help raise funds with the community alongside your peers and represent your favorite Jewish Pittsburgh agency. Free T-shirts, prizes kosher food and drinks provided. Two sessions available: 9-11 a.m.; noon-2 p.m. 30-minute training sessions take place Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 8:30 a.m. and Wednesday, Jan. 31 at noon. To register, visit jewishpgh. org/event/super-sunday.

Join Classrooms Without Borders for “Judaism’s Ancient and Ongoing Roots in Israel with Avi BenHur: A 3-part Course.” Delve into the depths of historical narratives and contested landscapes and explore the rich heritage and complex relationships that have shaped the region. 1 p.m. cwbpgh.org/event/ judaisms-ancient-and-ongoing-roots-in-israel-with-aviben-hur-a-3-part-course.

Enjoy “Jewish Composers: Cantorial to Broadway,” an afternoon of music to benefit the Rotunda Collaborative at the former B’nai Israel synagogue. Performers include Sara Stock Mayo, Doug Levine, Ken Karsh, Phat Man Dee, Janice Coppola, cantors, and singers from Aria 412, plus many members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community. 3 p.m. $18–$72. Rodef Shalom, Levy Hall, 4905 Fifth Ave. rotundapgh.com/projects. q SUNDAYS, FEB. 4 –DEC. 29 Join a lay-led online parshah study group to discuss the week’s 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. q MONDAY, FEB. 5 Join Rabbis Sharyn Henry and Jessica Locketz for Wise Aging Group, a five-session experience designed for Jewish adults 55 and older who are open to conversations about what it means not just to get older, but to age wisely. 7 p.m. $72. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/wiseaging. q MONDAYS, FEB. 5–MAY 13 H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff presents Torah 2. Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is perhaps one of the most important things that a Jew can learn. In Torah 2, Schiff will explore the second half of Leviticus and all of Numbers and Deuteronomy. 9:30 a.m. $225. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/torah-2-2/2023-10-09. q MONDAYS, FEB. 5–DEC. 28 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q TUESDAYS, FEB. 6–FEB. 20 Join Chabad of the South Hills for Kosher in the Kitchen, a kosher cooking experience for your little chef. Ages 4-11, divided into age-appropriate groups.

5:30 p.m. $18/class. 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh. com/kidscooking. q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7 Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Wellness

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FEBRUARY 2, 2024

Wednesday: Acupuncture with Peter Braasch, a certified practitioner of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. First-come, first-serve basis, and depending on time restraints your spot is not guaranteed. 6:30 p.m.

5739 Forbes Ave. 1027healingpartnership.org/event/ wellness-wednesday-acupuncture-3.

be matched up at the door. Must be 21 or older to participate. Limited to 30 teams, so don’t wait, sign up now. Drinks start at 7:15 p.m. with the trivia game starting at 8:15 p.m. Registration is required. Deadline to sign up is Friday, Feb. 9, at 3 p.m. bethshalompgh.org/ clues-and-schmooze-2024.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 7–FEB. 21 Join Rabbi Jonathan Perlman for Fun with Rashi: Torah Insights of a Medieval Scholar, a six-week introduction to the most famous of all medieval Torah commentaries that will become the foundation of much Jewish thought and strategy concerning the reading of sacred sources.

Students will develop critical skills learned from greatest of the first wave of commentaries and understand how they influenced Judaism in generations to come. Please bring a Tanakh to class. Register required by emailing janet@newlightcongregation.org.

q SUNDAY, FEB. 11 Temple Sinai Brotherhood and Women of Temple Sinai invite everyone for brunch followed by “The Arts Know No Boundaries: A Panel Discussion” related to Jewish Disability Awareness & Inclusion Month. Panelists include Anne Alter, Eli Kurs-Lasky, Kara Snyder, Flavio Chamis, Lindsey Kaine and Women of Temple Sinai President Lynn Rubenson. 10 a.m. templesinaipgh.org/ event/brotherhood-brunch/jdaim-event.html.

q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 7–FEB. 28 The 10.27 Healing Partnership and Emily Harris, experienced practitioner of Spirited Fun Improv, will be offering “Improv in the Community,” a one-hour, once a week improv program aimed at older adults (but open to everyone). Participants will cultivate a supportive, lighthearted space where their creativity and connection will shine. Games and scenes are inspired by participants’ life experiences and leave attendees refreshed and energized. 1 p.m. Squirrel Hill JCC, Room 316. 1027healingpartnership.org/event/improv-incommunity/2024-01-24. q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 7–MARCH 6 Chabad of the South Hills presents a new six-week course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, Advice for Life: The Rebbe’s Advice for Leading a More Purposeful Life. This new multimedia course is a journey through the Rebbe’s practical wisdom on work, family, health and well-being. 7:30 p.m. Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com. q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 7–MAY 15 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh virtually presents two Melton courses back-to-back: “Ethics” and Crossroads.” In “Ethics,” learn how Jewish teachings shed light on Jewish issues. “Crossroads” will present an emphasis on reclaiming the richness of Jewish history.

7 p.m. $300 for this 25-session series (book included). jewishpgh.org/series/melton-ethics-crossroads. q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 7–DEC. 18 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.

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. q THURSDAY, FEB. 8 Bring your lunch and join Cantor Toby Glaser for Lunch Time Liturgy to look at the prayers of Kabbalat Shabbat, the opening psalms and prayers of the Shabbat evening service. $54. 1 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org/lunch.

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership for Winter Forest Bathing: Meditative Walks in Nature. If you feel disconnected from nature, yourself, or others, consider joining our community and participating in this forest bathing series. Take slow, gentle walks in nature with frequent invitations to meditate or connect. 1 p.m.

Frick Environmental Center 2005 Beechwood Blvd.

1027healingpartnership.org/event/winter-forest-bathingmeditative-time-in-nature/2024-01-25.

q MONDAY, FEB. 12 Beth El Congregation of the South Hills invites you to the Adult Education Winter Speakers Series. Reception followed by a lecture from Bruce Ledewitz. 7 p.m. Free.

1900 Cochran Road, 15220, and online. RSVPs required. bethelcong.org. q WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14 Join Chabad of the South Hills for its Senior Lunch.

This month’s topic is “How to be Your Own Healthcare Advocate.” 1 p.m. $5 suggested donation; wheelchair accessible. Preregistration required at 412-278-2658.

1701 McFarland Road. q FRIDAY, FEB. 16 Are you looking for an informal, inviting way to teach your little ones about Shabbat and connect with other families? Join Cantor David Reinwald, Rabbi Daniel Fellman and Danie Oberman for a Tot Shabbat Service and Dinner at Temple Sinai. 5 p.m. Contact Daniel Oberman at danie@templesinaipgh.org. q SATURDAY, FEB. 17 Join Temple Sinai for a JDAIM Dance Party honoring 2024 Shore-Whitehall Award recipient Sam Skobel.

7 p.m. No charge, however there is a $10 suggested donation per person. Please register at templesinaipgh. org/event/jdaim-event.html.

Join Congregation Beth Shalom for the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s “Soul to Soul.” The first time in Pittsburgh, from klezmer to jazz to spirituals to show tunes — a rousing concert to celebrate what unites Jewish and African Americans. 7:30 p.m. Kaufman Center, 1825 Centre Ave. bethshalompgh.org/soul. q MONDAY, FEB. 19 Join Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh at its Here to Stay VIP donor event, including dinner, an open bar, live music from Tali Yess and keynote speaker Tamir Goodman. 5:30 p.m. For more details and tickets, visit yeshivaschools.com/heretostay.

q MONDAYS, FEB. 19; MARCH 4, 18; APRIL 1 Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership and practitioner Shawn Fertitta on the first and third Monday for Reikiinfused Sound Bathing. Immerse yourself in the soothing tones of crystal and Tibetan singing bowls.

His experience is tailored to calm your mind, body and soul, promoting optimal healing. 10 a.m. South Hills JCC. 1027healingpartnership.org/reiki-infused-sound-bathing. q TUESDAYS, FEB. 20–MAY 14 Understanding and explaining Israel’s current position requires knowledge of history. In the 10-part course, A History of The Arab-Israel-Iran Conflict: All You Need to Know, Rabbi Danny Schiff will provide a full overview of the regional conflict that Israel has experienced over the last century. What pivotal moments brought us to where we now are, and what might that mean about where the conflict is headed? The cost of taking a course is never a barrier to participation. If price is an issue, please contact the organizer of this course so that we can make the cost comfortable for you. $145.

8 p.m. jewishpgh.org/series/history-of-the-arab-israeliran-conflict. q WEDNESDAYS, FEB. 21; MARCH 20 Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for its monthly meeting.

Refreshments will be provided. For further information, contact Marcia Kramer at 412-656-5903. 1 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, Falk Library, 4905 Fifth Ave. q SUNDAY, FEB. 25 Everyone has their own special recipe that they think is the best. Prove you have the winning recipe at Temple Sinai’s Kugel Cook Off. 10 a.m. templesinaipgh.org/ event/kugel-cook-off-sponsored-by-wots.html. q SATURDAY, MARCH 2 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for Sisterhood Shabbat. This year’s honorees are Shoshana Barnett, Tammy Hepps and Beth Jacobs. 9:30 a.m. Contact Helen Feder hrfeder@gmail.com. q SUNDAY, MARCH 3 Join Chabad of the South Hills for its annual Jewish Comedy Night, featuring comedian Chris Monty and opening act David Kaye. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. 7:30 p.m. Carnegie Stage, 25 W. Main St., Carnegie, 15106. $54/$45 early bird discount until Feb. 8. chabadsh.com/comedy. q THURSDAYS, MARCH 7–DEC. 5 Join Beth El Congregation of South Hills for Hope & Healing on Zoom the first Thursday of each month, a 30-minute program led by Rabbi Amy Greenbaum.

Chant, breathe, pray for healing and seek peace. Call the Beth El office at 412-561-1168 to receive the Zoom link. 5:30 p.m. bethelcong.org. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

T

he Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Feb. 25 discussion of “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,”

by Gabrielle Zevin. From Amazon.com: “Sam and Sadie — two college friends, often in love, but never lovers — become creative partners in a dazzling and intricately imagined world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. It is a love story, but not one you have read before.”

including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

It is also available through the Carnegie Library system.

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

Registration closes on Feb. 22.

Happy reading! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Your Hosts: Toby Tabachnick, editor of the Chronicle David Rullo, Chronicle senior staff writer

q FRIDAY, FEB. 9 Join Tree of Life Congregation as they celebrate Super Bowl weekend with a tailgate dinner followed by Friday night services and then oneg. A hot dog dinner will be served to kick off our enthusiastic football crowd before Shabbat begins. Free. 6 p.m. 4905 Fifth Ave. treeoflifepgh.org.

How and When: We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Feb. 25, at noon.

q SATURDAY, FEB. 10 Join Beth Shalom for a fun trivia event, including a raffle, open bar and snacks. Trivia will be played with teams of three to six. Bring your own team or

What To Do Buy: “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.” It is available at area Barnes & Noble stores and from online retailers,

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines — WORLD — Hungry Jordanians flock to new ‘October 7’ restaurant

A new eatery in Jordan that celebrates Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 people in Israel has gone viral on social media, eliciting praise in Arab circles, JNS.org reported.

According to Jordanian media, the “October 7” restaurant opened in Karak Governorate, located southwest of the capital Amman, offering pizza and two types of shawarma to hungry Jordanians.

Video posted online showed eager diners lining up outside.

One social media user noted that the “Gosta Coffee” shop in the Jordanian city of Zarka serves up a drink coined “Hola Gosta,” an homage to the Nazi genocide.

“The disgraceful glorification of October 7th has to stop. The incitement and hatred against Israel breed the terrorism and extremism which led to the brutal massacre,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Jan. 25. “We expect the Jordanian government to condemn this publicly and unequivocally.”

Robert Kraft’s foundation to combat antisemitism to run 30-second Super Bowl ad

Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism announced on Jan. 24 that it purchased a 30-second spot due to air during Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, JTA.org reported.

It appears to be the first time ever that a Super Bowl ad will focus on antisemitism.

“With the horrific rise in Jewish hate and all hate across our nation, we must stand up and

take urgent action now,” Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, said in a statement. “For the first time, FCAS will air an emotive ad during the Super Bowl, football’s ultimate championship game which brings people of all backgrounds together, to showcase examples of how people can #StandUptoJewishHate and inspire more people to join the fight against all hate.”

The announcement noted the recent spike in antisemitism reported by groups ranging from the Anti-Defamation League to the NYPD. The spot is part of the foundation’s “#StandUpToJewishHate” media campaign, which launched last year.

Number of living Holocaust survivors is about 245,000, according to new analysis

Fewer than 250,000 Holocaust survivors remain alive today, according to a new report by the organization that has sought to ensure that they are compensated for their suffering, JTA.org reported.

The oldest known survivor, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, is New Yorker Rose Girone, who turned 112 in January. She and her family fled Nazi Germany for Shanghai, where they endured terrible conditions before making their way to the United States.

The Claims Conference has long shared basic information about who is receiving the aid it negotiates annually with Germany and offered a similar number of estimated survivors last year. But the new demographic overview is the first to break down the population of Jewish survivors by country of birth and current country of residence; age;

Today in Israeli History — ISRAEL — Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Feb. 2, 1915 — Diplomat Abba Eban is born

Abba Eban is born in South Africa. He plays a crucial role in the passage of the U.N. partition plan for Palestine and p South Africa serves as ambasnative Abba Eban sador to the United was raised in England Nations and United and settled in States, a Knesset Jerusalem in 1944. m e m b e r, and foreign minister.

Feb. 3, 1919 — Zionists present case to Peace Conference

A Zionist delegation makes the case for a Jewish homeland in Palestine to the Paris Peace Conference. The delegation accepts the proposed British Mandate but asks that it support Jewish immigration.

Feb. 4, 1997 — Helicopter collision kills 73

Two CH-53 Yasur helicopters collide at night over northern Israel while ferrying troops and munitions to southern Lebanon, killing all 73 military personnel on board: Bedouin, Druze and Jews, secular and religious.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Feb. 5, 1890 — 1st Tu B’Shevat planting in Land of Israel

Zichron Ya’akov educator Ze’ev Yavetz takes students to plant trees on Tu B’Shevat, starting a tradition in the Land of Israel that the Jewish National Fund and teachers unions adopt in 1908.

Feb. 6, 2001 — Israelis directly elect Sharon

Israelis vote directly for prime minister for the third and last time, and the only time without also electing p Ariel Sharon the Knesset. Likud’s casts his ballot Ariel Sharon wins in his winning campaign for with more than 62% Israeli prime of the vote against minister on Feb. 6, Labor incumbent 2001.

Ehud Barak.

Feb. 7, 1999 — King Hussein dies

Jordan’s King Hussein, the second Arab leader to sign a peace treaty with Israel, dies of complications from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 63. He became king at 18 in 1953 after the assassination of Abdullah I, his grandfather.

Feb. 8, 2005 — Second Intifada is declared over

Israel’s Ariel Sharon, the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II close a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, by declaring the end of the Second Intifada. PJC

gender; and the percentages receiving various compensations and services.

It identifies survivors in more than 90 countries: 49% reside in Israel, 18% in North America, another 18% in Western Europe; and 12% in the former Soviet Union. The youngest are on the cusp of 80 and, in a reflection of geriatric gender disparities, 61% are women.

The organization says the statistics show that the work of helping survivors is far from over.

“Now is the time to double down on our attention on this waning population,” said Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference.

“Now is when they need us the most.”

American Israeli Tal Mitnick sentenced to 30 more days for refusing Israeli army service

Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-old dual AmericanIsraeli citizen, is serving his second 30-day sentence for refusing to be conscripted into the Israeli army, JTA.org reported. Mitnick had long planned to refuse to serve, citing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians under occupation.

More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Israel says roughly a third of that number are combatants.

“Israel has already lost this war,” Mitnick told The Guardian in a story posted on Jan. 23, the day he was ordered to return to a recruitment base to enlist for three years of military service as part of Israel’s mandatory draft. “More killing and more violence won’t bring back the lives lost on 7 October. I know people are hurt. Traumatized. But this doesn’t make anything better. To root out extremist ideas from Palestinian society, we must root them out in Israel.”

Refusal to enlist is rare in Israel, where support for the military is widespread among Israeli Jews and a mandatory term of service — three years for men and two for women — is broadly seen as a patriotic duty and rite of passage.

Meta fails to catch memes and innuendo promoting Holocaust denial, oversight panel concludes

An Instagram post using a SpongeBob SquarePants meme to promote Holocaust denial managed to evade Meta’s system for removing such content, raising questions about the company’s ability to combat certain indirect forms of hate speech, an independent oversight panel concluded in a case published on Jan. 23, JTA.org reported.

The finding came in a review of Meta’s handling of a post featuring a meme of Squidward, a character from the cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants, entitled “Fun Facts about the Holocaust.” A speech bubble next to the character contained lies and distortions about the Holocaust, including false claims that 6 million Jews could not have been murdered and that chimneys of the crematoria at Auschwitz were built only after World War II. Withstanding six complaints from users that generated four automated reviews and two human assessments, the post stayed up from September 2020 until last year when Meta’s Oversight Board decided it would examine the situation and the company subsequently announced the post violated its policy against hate speech. PJC — Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

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Headlines

Summer Fun for children and teens

 Camp Gan Israel campers enjoyed a day at Kennywood.

Photo courtesy of Chabad of Squirrel Hill

Get ready for camp by thinking about camp — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

O

utdoor swimming pools remain empty, but summer camp directors are teeming with advice. When asked for guidance about selecting a great option, local camp professionals had more pointers than marshmallows at an overnight.

When picking a summer camp, knowing who works there is essential, according to Nechama Gorkin, director of Camp Gan Israel Squirrel Hill.

“A camp program is really only as good as its staff,” she said.

One way of evaluating employees is by talking to directors and requesting information about their hires. Another means, Gorkin continued, is asking fellow parents or campers familiar with a camp and its counselors.

“Kids really know if someone’s paying attention to them,” Gorkin said.

Talking to other parents and campers is “really the best advice,” agreed Rachael Speck, division director of children and family day camping and teen engagement at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

“Find out how their experience has been, because a parent’s perspective and a child’s perspective will be obviously different — not better, not worse, but different from the

 Summer is a party.

Photo courtesy of Falcon Camp

perspective that a camp director or a camp staff member can give you,” she said.

Gleaning insight from parents and campers is critical, Speck added, but it’s also important to connect with camp administrators.

If there are questions about allergies, security or individual needs, for example, reach out to a director or other administrators. Camps often

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put a lot of information on their websites, but having a direct conversation ensures everyone is equipped for a successful summer, she said.

In recent years, Speck and fellow camp leaders have worked to create a more inclusive camping experience.

“Whether you have a child who is neurotypical or neurodiverse, it’s important to know your child’s needs and whether the camp is equipped to meet those needs,” she said. “Not every camp is right for every child.”

Be sensible when selecting a camp, Dave Devey, director and owner of Falcon Camp in Carrollton, Ohio, said.

“It’s important to take a realistic view of your child and know what their interests are and what’s age-appropriate,” he said.

Sometimes parents fail to recognize that younger children may need shorter terms or a day camp instead of prolonged weeks away from home. Other times, mistakes occur because summer goals aren’t aligned, he explained.

“If you want your kid to be a soccer star and they aren’t particularly interested in soccer, then a specialized soccer camp is not a good fit.

But if they want to be a soccer star and you send them to overnight camp with horseback riding, that’s not going to be a good fit either,” he said.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

In nearly 40 years of leading Falcon Camp, Devey said he’s offered plenty of advice about choosing a summer option.

“One of the important things for first-time families is you’re going to be nervous,” he said.

“You’re supposed to be nervous. It’s your job as parents, but you have to work through that.

Speak to someone in administration at the camp. Look at their website. Ask questions. You have to be comfortable with the answers you’re getting. If you speak to a camp and you don’t get a good feeling, then go somewhere else; parent instinct is a good measure.”

Devey runs an overnight camp, but he said his advice applies to people considering day camps as well: “Look at the website, program, rules. Look at how they deal with discipline, communication, how they deal with staff ratio per camper. Ask about staff training and how they choose their staff.”

Parents, guardians or whoever is picking a summer option need to understand their role in the process, he said.

“If a camp has a rule that there are no cellphones allowed and you’re planning on hollowing out a book and sticking a phone in there so your kid can call you, don’t do it,” Devey advised. “You’re teaching them how to break rules.”

Part of what makes camp such a valuable experience is the countless hours of preparation.

Both Devey and Speck encouraged decision-makers to check a camp’s accreditation with the American Camp Association.

“That is the gold standard for camps,” Devey said. Inclusion requires directors answering questions “that you probably haven’t thought of asking,” like how many people per shower, or how many sinks are there.

Being part of the ACA means that “we have to adhere to over 300 operational and health and safety standards,” Speck said. “They help inform our staff training and really our entire camp operation.”

Whether it’s the ACA, American Red Cross or Department of Health, several entities ensure a camp follows best practices, she added.

Another thing for parents to consider when choosing a camp is cost, Speck said. She suggests parents find out whether there are additional fees for food, transportation, swimming or towels.

Please see Camp, page 11

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Camp Guide One Happy Camper grants make camp more affordable — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

E

mma Kaufmann Camp has been a summertime staple for Pittsburgharea Jewish children and teens for more than a century.

Formed as the Emma Farm Association on May 19, 1908, the camp — one of the oldest overnight Jewish camps in the U.S. — originally called 65 acres in Harmarville its home. It used the land to get city kids out of mill-polluted Pittsburgh air and allow them to take part in open-air recreation.

After the Irene Kaufmann Settlement took over management of Emma Farm in 1916, a 12-day stay there ran families $2 per person — if they could afford it.

Today, Emma Kaufman Camp offers a sprawling range of outdoor activities at a 200-acre campus along scenic Cheat Lake in Morgantown, West Virginia. Now operated by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, organizers like to say the camp “provides the perfect setting for adventures, sports and recreational activities on land and water; the perfect environment for each camper to learn, grow and develop independence, confidence and a sense of self.”

Again this summer, the Papernick Family Foundation, in partnership with the Jewish

p EKC campers enjoy a sunny day on Cheat Lake.

Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the Foundation for Jewish Camp, will help subsidize the cost of sending Jewish children to overnight camps such as EKC through its One Happy Camper grants.

“One Happy Camper grants are for children attending Jewish overnight camp for the first time,” said Carolyn Linder, the Federation’s associate director of Jewish life and learning.

To qualify for the financial aid, campers must attend an approved Jewish overnight camp — for the first time — for at least 12 consecutive days or longer, Linder said. They

must be entering grades 1 through 12 and identify as Jewish.

“In our region, Emma Kaufmann Camp, the overnight camp of the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh, is an approved camp,” Linder said. “But, families may opt to send their child to any of the other 150-plus approved, traditional and specialty overnight camps.”

In addition to EKC, potential campers and their parents can sort through a list of approved camps. That list can be found at jewishcamp.org/one-happy-camper/ find-a-camp-overnight/.

The list of camps includes places like Camp Ramah in Canada, a Conservative camp in Muskoka, Ontario, and Camp Young Judaea Midwest, a Zionist camp in Waupaca, Wisconsin.

“Jewish overnight camp can be a transformative experience in a child’s journey of identity building, creating relationships and participating in a community,” Linder said.

“Jewish overnight camps offer a wide array of activities appealing to a wide range of interests like aquatics, arts and crafts, basketball and soccer, dance, music, cooking, archery, drama, outdoor adventure and hiking, and so much more.”

Jewish overnight camp also weaves together Jewish values, culture and traditions with “the fabric of camp,” helping campers to connect to their own identity and the larger Jewish community, she added.

Through One Happy Camper grants, Jewish children attending overnight camp for the first time can receive $700 for camps running 12 to 18 consecutive days and $1,000 for camps running more than 19 consecutive days, Linder said.

Applications are being accepted for this summer, Linder said, and families can apply online at: app.onehappycamper.org/ ParentLogin/ParentApplication/Login. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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7

Camp Guide All the world’s a stage for Cultural Trust campers — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

T

heater production, cosplay and art exploration will be part of what’s offered at Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Camps for Creatives this July.

But, some of the biggest thrills for kids from kindergarten through 12th grade might be the field trips — which involve exploring Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, much of it within a stone’s throw of the Trust Arts Education Center at 805-807 Liberty Ave. downtown.

“Going to the different theaters, art galleries, public art … they can be inspiring,” said Kalee George, the Cultural Trust’s manager of arts education programs.

Each camp session runs for five days, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting Monday, July 8.

Week 1 starts with “To Cue or Not to Cue: Theatre Production Camp” for students entering sixth through eighth grade. During the workshops and classes, students will take center stage and “explore the dynamic intersection of creativity and technology,” camp organizers said.

Subjects ranging from set and costume design to the arts of lighting and sound engineering will be explored.

In Week 3, which starts on July 22, students entering eighth through 12th grade can take

p Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Trust Arts Education – Camps for p Stories of the Great Outdoors Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Creatives, Global Art Explorers Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

part in a session titled “Costumes, Cosplay and Capers! Costume, Stagecraft and Storytelling Camp,” George said.

Participants will design, sew and craft costumes, characters and props, all while diving into STEAM concepts and the exploration of teamwork. No prior sewing experience is required.

During the week of July 22, students entering first through third grades will join teaching artists in hands-on activities that encourage them to explore the visual arts, performance, music and more, organizers said. The five-day session will be driven by the Cultural District’s vibrant sites; participants can expect field trips to local art galleries and interactive workshops.

Students should plan to pack a lunch, water and snacks, George said.

Younger kids aren’t being left out of the action. On the week beginning July 15, Camp for Creatives will host a five-day early childhood camp dubbed “Stories of the Great Outdoors.”

Designed for children ages 3 to 5, “Stories of the Great Outdoors” offers a mix of storytelling and nature exploration. The storytelling “will come to life,” camp organizers said, through activities such as crafting nature-inspired art and moving like creatures from the tales.

This five-day camp meets at the Trust Arts Education Center each day from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

George understands the scope of arts programming the Cultural Trust seeks to share. In addition to managing the Camps for Creatives, she oversees Trust Arts Education programming such as its Saturday Family Workshops and “Creative Conversations,” where participants can get a behind-the-scenes peek at life and work at PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh.

“If you don’t have art in architecture, you just have sad, brutalist buildings,” she laughed.

Sometimes smaller activities and details also can come to define a five-day camp session, such as screenings of a film titled Please see Cultural Trust, page 11

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Camp Guide

Get a paying job & an internship ALL in one summer

Camp Gan Izzy returns to the South Hills

p Camp Gan Izzy of the South Hills campers in 2007

— LOCAL —

A

fter a 17-year hiatus, Camp Gan Izzy of the South Hills is returning this summer for children ages 4 to 11.

The camp is under the direction of Rabbi Levi and Hindy Rosenblum, youth directors of Chabad of the South Hills.

“Camp Gan Izzy of the South Hills is a place where children experience firsthand the richness, excitement and the

Photo courtesy of Hindy Rosenblum

warmth of Judaism in a lively and nurturing environment,” Hindy Rosenblum said.

“We offer an exciting mix of sports, trips, creative arts, swimming, culinary experiences, theme days and more. These are designed to be educational, fun and conducive to building character and nurturing friendships.”

Camp Gan Izzy “handpicks” its staff, Rosenblum said, “for responsibility, warmth and dedication and are sure to give your children a wonderful time.” PJC

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Camp Guide Camp: Continued from page 6

“It’s important for parents to know what’s included and not included because this varies a lot from program to program, especially in the Pittsburgh area,” she said.

Rabbi Sam Weinberg, Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s principal and educational director agreed. The Squirrel Hill-based Jewish day school operates a summer camp.

“Among the myriad of factors parents should also examine when choosing a camp are dates,” he said. “Check your family’s schedule. Too often parents sign children up for camp and don’t realize that the dates don’t actually meet their family’s needs.”

Also, for those seeking a particular level of religious observance, ask the director or camp leadership about food, Shabbat, dress code, playlists or other matters that ensure there’s a good match between camp and family, Weinberg said.

p Creating crafts and memories.

Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

And consider the seriousness of transportation, he added. “If your kid literally gets carsick every day, think twice before putting them on a bus the entire summer.”

Camp is a wonderful chance for so many people to connect in meaningful ways, Weinberg said. Don’t squander the opportunities by failing to do the necessary homework. PJC

GET YOUR KIDS INVOLVED IN SOMETHING REAL

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

Cultural Trust:

Founded in 1984 and celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Pittsburgh Cultural Continued from page 8 Trust is a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revi“Kennywood Memories” at the historic Harris talization of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, a Theatre, Downtown.

14-block arts and entertainment/residential Each five-day session costs $350 per person, neighborhood downtown. The district is one but George stressed nobody should shy away of the country’s largest land masses “curated” from registering due to the camps’ cost. In by a single nonprofit arts organization. PJC 2023, about 51% of all campers taking part in Camps for Creatives received some form Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living of financial aid. in Pittsburgh.

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Headlines Protest: Continued from page 1

that IOF means Israeli Offensive Soldiers, an appropriate name, she said, claiming the Israeli army has historically raped, arrested and murdered innocent Palestinians.

The protest didn’t only attract the attention of those wishing to express sympathy for the Gaza Strip.

Pittsburgh resident Elya Jacobowitz made his way to the top of the stairs of the Cathedral of Learning and began waving an Israeli flag before police asked him to leave the stairs to keep the area clear for students.

By 4:15 p.m., the protesters were on the move, marching down Forbes Avenue to Hillel JUC. As rally leaders used bullhorns to lead those walking in chants of “Free Palestine,” a passerby yelled, “from Hamas.”

Once at the Hillel-JUC building, the protesters congregated on the sidewalk and street, leaving only a small passage for those entering the building.

The organization sponsoring the IDF speaker,

SCIP, is a sub-community of Hillel JUC. Its leaders only learned of the planned protest the evening before the event, said Daniel Marcus, executive director and CEO of Hillel JUC. He called the protest “shocking” and “unacceptable.”

It was “deeply upsetting and disturbing to students and staff and a very painful experience,” he said.

Hillel worked with Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Community Security Director Shawn Brokos and campus security to ensure those attending the event would be safe, Marcus said.

“We will not be deterred or intimidated from providing meaningful Jewish and Israeli experiences to our student community,” he said.

Eitan Weinkle, president of SCIP, said that it was important for the organization to give students the chance to hear all perspectives.

But, he said, he wishes that those protesting the event would take the time to discuss the Hamas-Israel conflict rather than just intone antisemitic chants.

“It’s like Yadin said: The people protesting

are good people. We wish that they would commit themselves to dialogue and conversation rather than shouting ‘Globalize the intifada’ outside of a building where someone is speaking who watched a bus bombing when the second intifada occurred,” Weinkle said.

SCIP learned of Gellman’s story from a few Oct. 7 survivors the group met last year, according to Weinkle.

“We felt his story was very unique and particularly compelling to tell an Israeli perspective of Oct. 7 and what that was like,” he said.

Ben Koby, co-president of the Jewish Graduate Student Association at CMU, attended the event.

He said that the IDF soldier and his team neutralized dozens of terrorists, saving the lives of many people.

“He explicitly talked about how they came upon a car that was speeding away and they shot out the tires,” Koby said. “They found a terrorist who had two women tied up in the back that he was trying to take into Gaza. He said he took four bullets and had his arm almost completely blown off and almost bled to death.”

Gellman, Koby said, his voice filling with

Candidates: Continued from page 1

with our community, trying to be a shoulder to lean on,” Patel said. “Within a week-and-a-half, [Pittsburgh’s Jewish] Federation also had an event. We were there. It was a rally. You know who wasn’t present? The representative [Lee].”

Patel also called out Lee for “tweeting misinformation” about the Israel-Hamas war, including retweeting an article from Al Jazeera wrongly claiming that Israel had bombed a hospital in Gaza.

“The president, within an hour, reported that the IDF was not responsible for bombing that hospital … and it was proved that that was false,” Patel said. “The current representative kept that tweet up for roughly two-and-a-half to three weeks, until she was finally asked on multiple occasions by members of this community, our historic Jewish population, to take the tweet down.

“To me, that is stoking hatred, that is stoking antisemitism,” Patel continued. “And it puts people in our communities in a tragic, dangerous position. That is unacceptable.”

Lee — who began calling for a cease-fire soon after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and was one of only nine House Democrats to vote against a bipartisan resolution condemning the Hamas attack — responded by saying that the topic of the war between Hamas and Israel “elicits deep pain in multiple communities.”

“The reality is that peace — a just and lasting peace — has to start with centering all of the folks who are impacted,” she said.

Lee said she’s spent time “talking to a wide swath of each community,” and that she “wasn’t at every event because I have a job in Washington, D.C.” (Later during the forum, though, in a response to a question about supporting unions, Lee emphasized that she has shown up for “every single strike that we’ve had since I’ve been in office.”)

Lee also claimed that she had met with “every Jewish organization” that had requested a meeting with her. Several audience members reacted loudly, contesting that claim.

Since Lee took office in January 2023, the Chronicle has requested to meet with her 11 times. All of those requests were either ignored or denied.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p From left: Summer Lee, Laurie MacDonald and Bhavini Patel at the Barbara Daly Dank Political Forum at Carnegie Mellon University on Jan. 28 Photo by Maureen Kelly Busis

MacDonald, who said her father was from the Middle East, weighed in on the Israel-Hamas war by saying while “it’s not easy to put together a coalition of peacemakers in the Middle East, it’s something I’m very passionate about. I want to do it to honor my father and to honor all the people who have been massacred, who have been raped and destroyed by this terrible terrorist over there.”

“I think if we work together and continue with the Abraham Accords, and get that process going, then we can find room for everyone in this world,” MacDonald said.

In a question about U.S. foreign policy, Patel called out Lee for voting against sanctioning countries that provide weapons to Iran. Iran, she said, in turn “provides weapons to terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Patel, who has a master’s in international relations, also criticized Lee for tweeting that President Biden did not have the authority to authorize airstrikes in the Red Sea against the Houthis when, “in fact, he actually does have the authority to do that.”

“When we’re unable to actually take these foreign policy concerns in a serious way, and engage with them in an intellectual way, when we’re just focused on posting rather than understanding the challenges, I think it sets us up for challenges,” Patel said.

Responding, Lee referenced her law degree and said that “no, the president does not have the authority to declare a war or offensive strike prior to authorization of Congress.”

While Biden has been criticized by some members of Congress for the strikes on Yemen, experts say that provisions of U.S. law — including the Constitution’s Article 2 — give the president the authority to launch “limited foreign military action,” according to a Reuters

analysis. Other presidents have launched limited defensive military actions without the approval of Congress, including in 2011, when then-President Barack Obama authorized air strikes on Libya without congressional approval.

Patel criticized Lee for voting against creating the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which is intended to build consensus on threats “posed by the Chinese Communist Party and to develop a plan of action to defend the American people, our economy, and our values,” according to house.gov.

“Your vote matters,” Patel said. “How you vote has direct consequences for the stability of our own country. The rhetoric is not enough. You can talk one thing and say one thing, but it is the vote that actually counts when you’re trying to serve in D.C.” Lee responded by saying that the bill was a Republican “attempt to malign the Chinese government and the Chinese people, as we are talking about seeing a rising tide of anti-Asian hate.”

In contrast, despite a rising tide of anti-Jewish hate, Lee voted against a resolution condemning the Hamas Oct. 7 attack and is a vocal critic of the Jewish state on social media.

There have been a total of 3,283 antisemitic incidents in the United States between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7, according to the Anti-Defamation League, marking a 361% increase in reported antisemitic incidents when compared to the same period the previous year.

Patel and Lee sparred again toward the end of the forum when the candidates were asked what law they would most like to see passed.

Lee said she would most like to see Citizens United overturned. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was a 2010 Supreme Court decision enabling corporations and other

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

emotion, was a “hero” and “extremely inspiring.”

A University of Pittsburgh spokesperson said that Hillel JUC is an independent nonprofit organization and that its building is privately owned.

“Most of the demonstration occurred on streets owned by the city of Pittsburgh,” the spokesperson, Jared Stonesifer, said. Since the Hillel JUC event and demonstration occurred off-campus and were not sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, the groups didn’t have to comply with the university’s event planning guidelines.

Weinkle believes that Gellman’s story highlights the tragedy and violence of Hamas’ terrorist attack.

“In order to really understand any of this, personally, I want to hear all perspectives possible, and Yadin’s is an incredibly important one,” he said. “I think that to discount it is incredibly dangerous. His story is very powerful. It painted a very solemn and real picture of what happened on Oct. 7 and that shouldn’t be lost on anyone.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. outside groups to contribute unlimited funds to politicians’ campaigns.

Lee is anticipating that the United Democracy Project — a super PAC — will spend heavily against her and in support of Patel this election cycle. UDP spent nearly $4 million in ads trying to defeat Lee during the last election. She has accused AIPAC — which she has conflated with UDP — of trying to unseat her because she is a woman of color and to quash the voices of the underserved.

Seemingly taking a jab at Patel, Lee said it was detrimental to the creation of a “reflective democracy” of “Black and brown and young and working-class people,” if “people can court a $100 million super PAC to come in and say, ‘help me, save me so that I can be the champion.’”

Patel, whose family immigrated from India, responded by saying, “It’s interesting. You know, I’m standing here in front of you as a woman of color. I was first in my family to graduate college.

I grew up working in my family’s food truck. …

And so, this idea that it’s just certain types of people that suffer, or that it’s not a big picture, is actually incorrect.”

Patel noted that roughly 70% of the funding for her campaign has come from within Pennsylvania, and most of those donations were $250 or less.

“So we’re very proud of the broad coalition that we’ve built here and we’re going to continue to run an honest campaign and continue to crisscross the district, show up as principled progressive Democrats who want to get the job done,” she said.

Throughout the forum, MacDonald emphasized her two-decade career working with victims of violent crime and marginalized communities.

Some in the crowd loudly heckled her, though, when, in response to a question about bills targeting gender-affirming care, she said that the people who live in District 12 “have no families’ and “live in squalor.”

“That’s not fair,” MacDonald said. “I work there. I help those families. I don’t need to take that. … I love everybody. And I love all of you, too, even if we disagree.”

The Pennsylvania primary will be held April 23, the first day of Passover. To get a mail-in ballot, go to vote.pa.gov. PJC Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

13

Opinion Extending the smear of injustice Guest Columnist Rabbi Danny Schiff

O

n Nov. 10, 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed the infamous “Zionism is racism” resolution. A baseless canard against the world’s only Jewish state, the resolution charged Israel and all Zionists with one of the darkest contemporary accusations of hatred. Proof that the accusation was entirely without merit came from the General Assembly’s decision in 1991 that the resolution needed to be nullified.

But by the time the General Assembly rescinded the 1975 fantasy of falsehood, the damage was done. The liars had won. Many around the world had already been persuaded that Zionism must be racism because for years the U.N. had allowed the outrageous allegation to stand.

Back then, many thought that the U.N. could hardly sink lower. They were wrong.

A decade after the “Zionism is racism” charge was removed from the books, the U.N. convened a “World Conference Against Racism” in Durban, South Africa. The scene on the streets outside the 2001 Durban conference gave a clear indication of where South Africa was heading. As one reporter described it, “thousands of South Africans were marching, many of them wearing T-shirts with the words, ‘Israel is an apartheid state,’ next to the conference’s official logo. Lots of protesters were holding placards with anti-Israel and antisemitic slogans written on them, and

some were even handing out copies of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

At the Durban gathering, an assembly of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) passed a resolution that was resoundingly adopted, calling Israel “a racist apartheid state.”

Not only had the racism label stuck, but now — with the U.N. stamp of approval — Israel had become the only nation in the 21st century to be accused of apartheid.

its poison into global veins. No wonder that many have come to believe that one of the worst allegations that can be made about any state assuredly applies to Israel.

Back in 2001, many thought that the U.N. could hardly sink lower. They were wrong.

On Jan. 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice, one of the six principal bodies of the U.N., delivered “provisional measures” in the genocide case that South Africa brought

Long months, perhaps even years, will pass before the court issues a final ruling. That ruling may be favorable or unfavorable, but the damage will already have been done.

Clearly, if racism is about discriminatory attitudes and policies, then apartheid is far worse. According to the international definition, apartheid refers to “inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group.”

Never mind that Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel enjoy precisely the same rights, that Israel has repeatedly offered to live side-byside with a Palestinian state that is similarly peaceful, and that Israelis have never sought to dominate anyone — at UN agencies the truth is seemingly immaterial. Apartheid it must be.

And how does one punish an apartheid state?

With boycotts, divestments and sanctions.

For two decades, the apartheid defamation — never challenged by the U.N. — has dripped

against Israel. Some were heartened that the court did not take any practical steps that might have curtailed Israel’s military actions against Hamas, and that it called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of the Israeli hostages.

Small comfort.

In reality, the court provided ample reason for concern because it declined to state the obvious: that Israel is engaged in a legitimate war of self-defense against Hamas and that South Africa failed to show that Israel has any intent whatsoever to destroy the Palestinians in whole or in part. That’s exactly what the brave Ugandan judge, Julia Sebutinde, wrote in her admirable dissent.

Instead, the court said the following: “In the Court’s view, at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to

be capable of falling within the provisions of the Convention.”

If apartheid is considerably worse than racism, then genocide is the “crime of all crimes” — a monstrous transgression that has now been weaponized against Israel. The truth is that in every single decade since 1948 the Palestinian population has expanded dramatically. Notwithstanding the present war, it will be true of the 2020s as well. Yet Israel is in the dock accused of the ultimate crime of genocide. Rather than summarily dismissing South Africa’s ill-conceived charges, the U.N.-sponsored court provided the world with “appear to be capable” language.

Long months, perhaps even years, will pass before the court issues a final ruling. That ruling may be favorable or unfavorable, but the damage will already have been done. Many around the world will believe that Israel is guilty of genocide because a case was brought in a U.N. court and 15 judges said, “appear to be capable.” Yet again, the U.N. will have allowed an outrageous allegation to stand for a protracted period.

First, they gave credibility to the charge of racism. Then to apartheid. And now genocide. The U.N. hasn’t missed a step in assisting those who seek to make Israel into an international pariah.

In this miserable picture, one thing is certain: Long after the U.N. with its disgraceful record of ethical missteps has been forgotten, the Jewish dream of helping to build a more decent and civilized future for humanity will yet prevail. PJC Rabbi Danny Schiff is the Gefsky Community Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Fetterman shows support for a U.S. ally — and bravely stands his ground Guest Columnist Adam Arthur

O

n Jan. 27, 2024, in an incident that crossed the firm line between protest and targeted harassment, a group of Palestinian independence protesters gathered outside of Sen. John Fetterman’s house in Braddock, Pennsylvania. The incident was marked by taunts from demonstrators, accusing the senator of complicity in genocide against Palestinians. Fetterman responded in the most appropriate and commendable way possible: by standing his ground, and displaying an Israeli flag from his roof.

This protest demonstrated the long-standing issue of popular-elite divides in foreign policy discourse. It also demonstrated the deep ignorance of those gathered outside of Fetterman’s house of the necessity of the United States’ commitment to its allies abroad, particularly in such a volatile region as the Middle East.

Unlike Saudi Arabia, whose state-sanctioned 14

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

Wahhabism creates vulnerable internal politics, Israel remains one of the United States’ most consistent allies in the Middle East. This is something that Fetterman clearly understands, having called out South Africa for misapplying and abusing its own history by

faulty understanding of history. Among them exists a self-reinforcing culture of disinformation that portrays Israel not as something special — the only Jewish-majority state in the world — but rather as a neo-colonial enterprise comprising the subjugation of an indigenous

Fetterman made it clear that even under pressure, he has the willpower to stand up for not only a United States ally in the Middle East, but also the only majority-Jewish state in the region — and for that matter, the world. grafting its own national anxieties onto the current conflict in Israel. That South Africa’s stance is viewed as a source of moral legitimacy

by Palestinian independence protesters further betrays their ignorance.

The “Free Palestine” set, often chanting the genocidal and antisemitic slogan “From the river to the sea,” have made clear their own

people. As such, these protesters insist on projecting their own anxieties over European colonialism and the United States’ treatment of indigenous populations onto a country with a substantively different historical context.

Furthermore, implicit in this “Free Palestine” activism is apologia for terrorism. The Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 should leave us as

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Americans reminded of our own experiences with the Al-Qaeda-led terrorist attacks of Sept.

11, 2001. We should remember that, at the time, there was no room for sympathy with the enemy forces who attacked our country. We should similarly have no tolerance or patience for any sympathy with such entities who would launch an assault on a United States ally, regardless of their motivations.

This is something that Fetterman, as a U.S. senator, comprehends firmly: The United States must stand by its allies and must not call for solutions that kowtow to a mutual enemy. The state of Israel, a steadfast U.S. ally, is under attack — yet a swarm of demonstrators hassled a U.S. senator for the purposes of threatening and intimidating him into turning his back on an allied state plagued by a war it did not ask for.

The actions of these demonstrators belie a disturbing anti-Americanism, not to mention that they ought to consider they have found themselves — at least on this issue — on the same side as far-right antisemites and jihadists. These demonstrators Please see Arthur, page 15

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Opinion Chronicle poll results: Benjamin Netanyahu

L

ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Do you want Benjamin Netanyahu to stay in office when the latest Israel-Hamas war is over?” Of the 455 people who responded, 42% said “I want him to leave office now”; 39% said “no”; and 19% said “yes.” Comments were submitted by 114 people. A few follow.

Do you want Benjamin Netanyahu to stay in office when the latest Israel-Hamas war is over?

Though I tend to lean to the right when it comes to Israeli politics, I don’t think Bibi is fit or has the right intentions and can act reckless at times.

19% Yes

Israel has had enough of the same for far too long. It’s time for a new government with new ideas.

39% No

42% I want him to leave office now

This is for the Israeli electorate to decide, not Jews who do not live here and certainly not by Biden’s people.

Netanyahu is a corrupt menace to Israel and its democratic system of governance. His unwillingness to accept a Palestinian state with security guarantees

Arthur: Continued from page 12

should take a good look in the mirror and consider what it means about themselves and their cause, that these have now become their political bedfellows. Like both other groups — far-right extremists and Islamist militants — the “Free Palestine” movement has displayed a disturbing disdain for both the security of the United States and the sovereignty of its allies abroad.

He has done plenty for Israel over the years and has sacrificed his life and the lives of his family for the betterment of Eretz Yisroel.

He is a courageous leader like Winston Churchill.

The U.S. and the current president are deliberately interfering in Israel’s politics and should keep their collective noses out of its business. There are plenty of problems in our country to focus on.

I have been a big fan of Netanyahu in the past, and I believe that he was being unfairly politically prosecuted before 10/7.

However I believe his time is up. It’s time for the country to move on with new leadership.

for Israel ensure that there will not be peace and that Saudi Arabia will not recognize Israel and its right to exist.

Although I don’t necessarily believe that Bibi is that much more ethicsdriven than The Donald, I do strongly believe that Bibi is the best choice to protect Israel from its existential enemies.

The United States, during the Biden administration, has shown bravery in standing up for the sovereignty of allies. This includes the sovereignty of Ukraine, under threat from Russia. This also includes Israel, whose sovereignty is under threat not only from Hamas but also a global network of activists who viciously attempt to cast doubt on the state’s legitimacy. Thankfully, this is something that Sen. John Fetterman has made clear that he has no patience for.

Fetterman has shown a great deal of strength

and commitment in his response to the crisis faced by Israel. He understands that the United States cannot allow a weakened Israel, and that any cease-fire or conclusion of hostilities must occur on terms that are favorable to Israel — and by extension, favorable to the United States.

Fetterman made it clear that even under pressure, he has the willpower to stand up for not only a United States ally in the Middle East, but also the only majority-Jewish state in the region — and for that matter, the world. For that, we should

Since I fear that there will always be a realistic threat of war — be it from Hamas or Iran or any number of other predatorial entities — then I most trust Bibi to protect our homeland.

He’s a right-wing thug.

Now is not the time to change leaders.

There will be a reckoning after the postmortem of the war.

I believe he is contributing to the international condemnation of Israel. The sooner he leaves, the better.

You must support your leaders in times of conflict. Saying no would show little confidence. That isn’t a message I want to send. PJC — Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Were you ever a counselor

or a camper at a summer camp?

Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

remain continuously grateful that the good senator represents our state.

We can hope for a similar level of commitment from John Fetterman to both the United States and our allies abroad — including Israel — in the future. PJC Adam Arthur holds degrees in Asian studies and international affairs from Florida State University. His written work has appeared in Modern Diplomacy, Geopolitical Monitor and Petrichor PGH. He lives in Pittsburgh.

— LETTERS — Candidates and controversy: cast your vote

Laurie MacDonald’s belated entry into the U.S. House Democratic primary for District 12 will divide the April 23 vote against incumbent Congresswoman Summer Lee (“Laurie MacDonald wants to serve Pennsylvania as a moderate Democrat,” Jan. 19).

A divided field almost always results in a win by the incumbent.

This is an important race. It requires a solution to the splitting of votes.

Rep. Lee is one of only 10 members of the House to vote against bipartisan resolution H.Res.771 “Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists.”

MacDonald announced her candidacy four months after Bhavani Patel’s tireless campaign had cemented her role as a strong challenger, with committed volunteers, major endorsements and successful fundraising. In a New York Times interview, Patel said: “Something that keeps coming up in my conversations is that Congresswoman Lee continues to equivocate. We’re responding to something that is evil — the murder, rape, kidnapping of children, men, women and grandparents. There shouldn’t be any equivocation on this.”

The Chronicle quotes MacDonald as calling Patel “a nice girl, but she’s a girl” who does “not know anything.” Yet Patel’s experience includes a master’s in international relations from the University of Oxford, working as the community outreach manager for Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, and serving on the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Advisory Board and as a Biden delegate for the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

In contrast, MacDonald’s tenure as CEO/president of the Center for Victims invites scrutiny. The Chronicle asked about controversy: “An article published by WPXI in 2020

reported that MacDonald and others at the Center for Victims made homophobic and racist slurs during her time as president and CEO.” MacDonald answered that they “were part of a personnel issue, the story aired just once, and then, because it was false, never appeared again on any newscast.”

But an internet search reveals two well-documented investigative reports aired by WPXITV, featuring accounts by four former employees of Center for Victims, headed by MacDonald.

WPXI obtained six letters sent to the nonprofit’s board of directors. One of the letters claimed that “stupid Jews,” “fat lesbians” and the “n-word” were among the slurs used by Center for Victims leaders.

Center for Victims now faces a federal discrimination lawsuit that includes allegations of a toxic work environment. The organization also was sued for wrongful termination of a longtime employee with a disability, who voiced her grievances on WPXI-TV. That suit was resolved in mediation in 2020.

MacDonald told the Chronicle she opposes incumbent Lee because “She’s just divisive.”

But it’s also divisive to split the Democratic field, ensuring another two-year term for Lee. MacDonald says she ran “as a Republican against Sean Logan for a state Senate seat in 2000.” Why not again run as a Republican and not split the Democrat field?

If MacDonald wins the Republican nomination she could then run against the Democrat nominee — Lee or Patel — on Nov. 5.

Laurel Herman 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.

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FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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Life & Culture Portobello stroganoff, dairy or pareve — FOOD —

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

P

ortobello stroganoff makes a beautiful vegetarian weeknight dinner. The mushrooms are filling and give you a meaty flavor that offsets the sour cream nicely.

You can make this recipe pareve by choosing vegan sour cream instead of dairy sour cream. It’s nice to have options, but I prefer this dish made with real sour cream.

This stroganoff goes well with pappardelle pasta or over wide egg noodles.

Add this to your list of recipes for “meatless Mondays”!

Portobello stroganoff

Serves 2-3, but can be easily doubled

Ingredients:

3 8-ounce packages (24 ounces) of smallcap portobello mushrooms, washed and chopped 1 large yellow onion, diced 2-3 large cloves of garlic, minced ¼ cup olive oil, divided 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1½ cups vegetable broth, or water with 1 teaspoon of mushroom- or pareve beefflavored consommé powder

p Portobello stroganoff ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste ¼ teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon of fresh or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme ½ cup sour cream or vegan sour cream Grated Parmesan cheese, optional Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Photo by Jessica Grann

Serve over pappardelle or wide egg noodles

Wash the mushrooms well and trim off the dead end of the stem. You can use the entire mushroom unless the stems are very woody (stringy.) In that case, remove the stems entirely and only chop the mushroom caps. You can cut the caps into thin slices or dice them.

Diced mushrooms cook more quickly than large slices.

In a large pot, boil enough water to cook a half-pound of pasta; then add pasta.

In a large sauté pan, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and turn the heat to medium. Allow the oil to warm for a minute or two before adding the diced onion to the pan. Stir well and sauté for 10 minutes or until the onions are just starting to brown. If the onions are cooking too quickly, adjust the heat and stir them every minute or two.

Add the additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and all of the mushrooms, stirring them well to get them evenly coated with oil.

Sprinkle with about a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté the mushrooms for about 20 minutes, or until they are soft and can be pierced with a fork, and the cooking liquid from the mushrooms has cooked off.

Make a small well in the middle of the pan and add a touch of oil, then put the garlic and spices into the oil.

After 15 seconds, stir the garlic, thyme and pepper into the oil in small circles. As the garlic becomes fragrant, you can stir it completely into the mushrooms. I like to sprinkle this mixture with a little more salt and allow it to cook for another 2-3 minutes before adding the flour.

Add the flour to the pan and stir immediately and quickly, coating the mushrooms in the flour. Add 1½ cups of broth (or water with consommé) to the pan and stir it until the flour is dissolved. The liquid will start to thicken.

When you see consistent bubbles coming up in the sauce, stir the mushrooms well and take the pan off of the heat.

Stir in the sour cream, checking to see if it needs more salt or pepper, and cover until the pasta is finished cooking.

You can strain the pasta and serve the stroganoff on top, or you can combine the pasta into the stroganoff. If you would like to mix it before serving, you can scoop the cooked noodles directly from the cooking liquid with a strainer and add them to the mushrooms. I usually add about ¾ of the noodles and a small ladle of cooking water to help the ingredients combine, then stir in the remaining noodles.

I serve this in bowls, and it’s amazing topped with grated Parmesan cheese and a little bit of fresh parsley for color.

Bonus: You can make this recipe as is, and add 2 cups of whole milk in place of the broth and sour cream to make a beautiful, thin and milky portobello soup.

Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

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Life & Culture ‘Writing women and girls back into history’: local Girl Scout creating Holocaust education patch — LOCAL —

By Abigail Hakas | Special to the Chronicle

A

fter being a Girl Scout for a decade, Lily Sassani is now aiming for the Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive.

Lily, 16, was deliberating what to do for her Gold Award project when her mother and troop leader, Rachel Sassani, gave her a book about the Girl Guides, the Girl Scouts in Europe. The book explained how the Girl Guides helped during World War II by keeping morale high, feeding and healing soldiers, and contributing to the war effort.

As she read, a particular story stood out to Lily: The Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany, notorious for Nazi medical experimentation on its female prisoners, had a troop of Girl Guides who cared for and lifted the spirits of the people in the camp. As women were taken to be experimented on, the Girl Guides would make note of who was taken and what happened to them so the atrocities didn’t go undocumented.

After doing some additional research, Lily decided that for her Gold Award project, she would create a patch for the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania to educate Girl Scouts

 Lily Sassani

Photo courtesy of Lily Sassani

about the Holocaust and the role the Girl Guides played in World War II. Lily will be designing the curriculum for the patch, something she referred to as “daunting,” but she isn’t alone. She is collaborating with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.

The Holocaust Center is helping to craft the process that Girl Scouts will undertake to earn the patch. The curriculum is not set, but Lily believes it will involve group discussions and, potentially, visits to Holocaust Center exhibits. After Girl Scouts learn about the Girl Guides, they will use that information to complete a project, anything from a poem to an interview with a Holocaust survivor.

Emily Loeb, the Holocaust Center’s director of programs and education, hopes this project will establish a partnership between the

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Holocaust Center and Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania that will extend beyond the patch so that Girl Scouts can continue to learn more about the Holocaust.

“We’re always looking for ways to reach different groups of people,” Loeb said. “This is a way that we can introduce Holocaust education to a group of young women and young girls who don’t necessarily have access to this information, so it’s a great way that we can reach a new community.”

While the patch creation is in its early stages, Lily hopes it will be ready by year’s end. Lily and the team at the Holocaust Center hope that the patch may be replicated in other places in the United States, potentially even becoming a national patch.

The project was funded by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh’s grant program. JWF pools money from its trustees to fund grants, and at least half of the funds go specifically to Jewish community organizations.

It was a competitive year for Jewish community grants at JWF, but Executive Director Judy Cohen said the Holocaust education patch appealed to JWF’s goal of facilitating social change.

The patch is about “writing women and girls back into history,” Cohen said, and provides an opportunity for Girl Scouts to learn to be upstanders like the Girl Guides were

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during World War II. “Young girls are getting so many messages today, and it’s a very difficult time to be an adolescent girl in our society,” Cohen said. “Any opportunity to raise girls up for positive images, confidence, empowerment, is going to make a difference, and that’s why I think it’s really important to do this work.”

Lily is no stranger to those difficulties.

A student at Burrell High School in the New Kensington area, she’s the only Jewish kid she knows.

“Ever since I’ve been little, I’ve always been aware that I’m Jewish and aware that I celebrate these things with my mom and my mom’s parents,” Lily said. “But I never actually processed that, to be blunt, never actually processed that other people weren’t Jewish as well.”

But in middle school, when Lily’s class was reading a book on Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, she realized she had a perspective other kids did not have.

“It was a pivotal time for me because reading the stories in that book, reading his perspective on what he had to experience was horrific,” she said. “This would have been me if I was born 80 years ago in that area. This would have been me, this would have been my family.”

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FEBRUARY 2, 2024 17

Celebrations

Torah

Bat Mitzvah

Words and rhetoric as a murder weapon

Lital Friedman will become a bat mitzvah on Feb. 3, 2024, at Congregation Beth Shalom. Lital is the daughter of Shiri and Josh Friedman, sister of Niv and Arbel, and granddaughter of Rabbi Stephen and Lisa Steindel and Vita and Mike Friedman. A seventhgrader at Community Day School, Lital plays on the CDS soccer and basketball teams, as well as Squirrel Hill baseball and softball, JCC basketball and indoor Dynamo soccer. She spends her summers at Camp Young Judaea Midwest in Wisconsin, loves reading novels and has never met a dog she didn’t like.

Wedding Announcement

Cindy and Terry Lerman were delighted to welcome in the New Year with the marriage of their daughter Rebecca to Jesse Helfer at the Fairmont Hotel in Pittsburgh. Jesse is the son of Denise and Bob Helfer of Pittsburgh. Rebecca is a practicing attorney with Ally Settlement Company and Jesse is a project manager at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Biomedical Information. The devoted couple intends to continue to reside in Pittsburgh with Luna, their loving golden retriever. PJC

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Hazzan Barbara Barnett Parshat Yitro | Exodus 18:1-20:23

T

he Talmud teaches, “Anyone who humiliates another in public it is as though he were spilling blood … since we see that after he blushes, he turns pale (the blood runs from his face).” (Bava Metzia) Shaming, slander, public lies on the campaign stump — simple humiliation or outright murder?

It’s so easy these days. Cellphones and social media. In the blink of an eye, lives ruined, reputations destroyed, the victim’s world ripped apart and left for dead.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the Ten Commandments— especially “Do not murder” (“Lo tirtzach”) in the current political climate of our country. Which brings us to this week’s Torah portion, Yitro, in which Moses is given the Ten Commandments high on a mountaintop amidst enough drama to set a Hollywood blockbuster.

As the Israelites wait at the base, Moses ascends Mount Sinai and receives from God the Ten Commandments. They are sweeping in scope, governing both our relationship with God (bein adam la’makom) and our relationships with each other as humans (bein adam l’chaevero).

The Torah is not intended as an artifact of an ancient time, but is a living, breathing document to be turned and studied and interpreted and reinterpreted, to guide us in every age. So how might we understand the commandment “Do not murder” for today?

Innuendo, rumor, conspiracy theories layered on conspiracy theories can be effective murder weapons for individuals and entire peoples — way beyond humiliation.

“Hey, you know the guy who’s running against me for (insert elected office). I just heard that his father was the ringleader of a plot to kill the leader of (insert state, country or city). Any of you hear that?” Or the equally malign, “Hey, I’m only asking questions. I don’t know, but I heard … you know?” Negative campaigning has been with us since the

Scout: Continued from page 17

As she looked around the class, Lily noticed that the other students didn’t seem to engage with the material. She realized that her experience as a Jewish girl meant that she approached the book differently.

“It really dawned on me that being a member of this community, this marginalized community, makes you really understand the pain these people are going through more than people who have not been taught to empathize,” she said.

That moment, and the many times she heard jabs or jokes made at the expense of the Jewish community, fueled her desire to create the patch to inspire empathy in others and show other Jewish Girl Scouts that they are not alone.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

founding of the U.S., but it’s different now, amplified, amped up and weaponized like never before.

For every hate-filled rumor or bit of innuendo that emerges on or off the campaign trail, a thousand (or a million) smartphones light up, and tweets, retweets, quoted retweets and embellishments of said original tweet infest social media, spread like feathers on the wind. Rumor and supposition become sudden facts, soon bleeding onto Instagram (complete with photoshopped images!) and TikTok (of course, with accompanying deepfake video). Except now, it’s morphed like some twisted game of Telephone. The alleged villain is no longer simply the candidate’s father, but the candidate themself.

Vilified and destroyed. Their political career is finished as threats sweep their cell phone, email, the voicemails of their family, colleagues, even private citizens with almost no connection at all to the original story.

As Jews we should be especially sensitive to this. After all, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” started as a propaganda hit piece. Imagine if social media had been around. It’s not hard to imagine the character assassination morph to the assassination of an entire ethnic or religious group. Of course, this is not news and has happened too often in our history and continues in the renewed surge of antisemitism.

But it’s not just us, of course. Immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQI+ individuals have all been victimized by character assassination.

“Do not murder,” says the Torah. But like so many of the Torah’s commandments, it is layered with meaning and subtext, and interpretation for the times in which we live.

This is a core reason why we begin and end the Torah, studying it anew every year, mining the text for guidance to lead us to what Rabbi Hillel said while explaining the Torah while standing on one foot: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this— go and study it!” (Talmud Shabbat 31A) PJC Hazzan Barbara Barnett is a Jewish educator and cantor living in Pittsburgh. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.

“Being the only Jewish kid that I know, being in touch with my Jewish identity has always been important to me,” she said. “I have always felt it was important to not belittle that part of me and to respect it and respect the culture that I am from.”

For Lily, the patch is a way to unite the two communities she cherishes: her Girl Scout community and the Jewish community.

“It’s made me very excited about being able to spread more awareness not just about Jewish history but being able to tie the Girl Scout history with it as well,” Lily said. “I’m really just proud and honored to be able to be someone who can bring this kind of information to people and bring people together.” PJC Abigail Hakas is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Obituaries GARFINKEL: Harold (Raven) Garfinkel, 86, of Pittsburgh and Sarasota, Florida, died on Jan. 26 in Sarasota. Raven was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and he graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and the University of Pittsburgh. He was predeceased by his beloved parents and sister, Sam and Sara Garfinkel and Cookie Landman. He is survived by his adoring wife, Esther (Essie), and loving children, Steve (Mindy), Sandy (Kate) and Mike (Lynne). His devoted grandchildren are Ryan and Matt, Sam (Liz) and Danny, and Adam and Jami. Other survivors include Raven’s beloved sisterand brother-in-law Jane and Marvin Kinstlinger and brother-in-law Bob Landman, and many wonderful nieces and nephews. Raven took over the family business, Harry Survis Auto Center, and built it into a thriving regional success. He was very active in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and traveled to Israel and the Soviet Union to help Jews abroad. He was a spark of joy to all who knew him, and he will be sadly missed by countless friends. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Beth Shalom Cemetery. Contributions may be directed to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, 2000 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 or the Jewish Community Center, 5738 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217. schugar.com JACOBSON: Betty Jean (Wintner) Jacobson, age 99, of Squirrel Hill, formerly of Palm City, Florida, passed away on Jan. 26, 2024. Beloved wife of the late Eugene Wintner and Elliott Jacobson. Born on Jan. 28, 1924, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, she is the daughter of the late Mollye and Edward Lichtenstein. Loving mother of George Wintner, Kerry (Dr. Joel) Smooke, Lawrence (Jacqueline) Jacobson, Alan (Carol Marcus) Jacobson, Paul (Lois Wilkinson and Carol Jacobson) Jacobson, and Dawn. She was preceded in death by her brother, David Lichtenstein.

Loving grandmother and great-grandmother of Molly, Michael and Harper Feinberg, Eric Smooke and Chelsea Pepper, Micah Wintner, Jeremy Jacobson, Heather, Judd, Kean and Rory VanSyckle, Courtney, Twa, Marlee and Dylan Jacobson, Brooke, Nathan, Lily, Ezra and Asher Stern, Chelsea and Jaime Jacobson, Anna, Richard, Abigail and Hazel Cornwall, and Matthew, Hannah and the late Elizabeth Marcus. She is survived by many special friends, including Donna Kuhl, Bea Mitro, Bea Kierzkowski, Paris Peterson and many beloved in Palm City. The family would like to give a special thanks to AHN Hospital & Hospice for their wonderful care.

Memorial contributions can be made to the hospice of your choice. All arrangements made by Pittsburgh Cremation & Funeral Care, Robinson Township.

JONAS: Stanton Jay Jonas, Jan. 29, 1929 to Jan. 29, 2024. Stan Jonas passed away, at age 95, at Masonic Village of Sewickley, where he was surrounded by family over the last several days. He was predeceased by his siblings, including his beloved sister Nellie Shulgold, and by his first wife, Rhoda Fisher Jonas. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, and his sons Scott, Joel (Patty Stamler) and Ed (Jackie); granddaughters Chloe Jonas and Rachel Stamler-Jonas, and great-granddaughter Eliana Harrison. He graduated from Pitt’s School of Pharmacy, and was then chief pharmacist / staff sergeant at Honshu Airbase in Japan. When he returned stateside, he worked for Thrift Drugs, quickly transforming a slow Johnstown store into the second highest-performing store in the chain. He initiated the first pharmacy at the Allegheny County Health Department. He was pharmacist coordinator for the 1970 “Rubella Sunday” vaccination campaign, then the largest single-day immunization program by injection in the United States. After obtaining his Masters in Public Health at Pitt, he became health administrator for the Clack Health Center. In later life, he was president of the Allegheny County Pharmacists Association, chaired the Poison Prevention Committee, promoted Project Bundle Up, and volunteered in many other settings.

From 2005 until this past year, he was curator of the Grimm Pharmacy Museum at Pitt. “Dad” and “Grandpa” was always an indefatigable force of nature, whose bywords for many years were “no problem” and “can do.” While he had many professional accomplishments, he was above all, a loving family man. Graveside service and interment were held at Beth Shalom Cemetery.

Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com KATZEN: Harry “Hank” Katzen, 63, of Orlando, Florida, passed away peacefully Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, in his home surrounded by his wife and children. Hank was born Sept. 1, 1960, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to Marcus and Henrietta (Harris) Katzen. Hank is survived by his loving family members: his wife Marcie, his children Malcolm Katzen, Max (Elana) Katzen, and Mason Katzen, his mother Henrietta (Marcus z”l) Katzen, and his siblings Hirsh Katzen (Melissa Marshall) and Halbert Katzen. Hank graduated from DuBois High School in Pennsylvania and the State University of New York at Binghamton, then worked in the family real estate business. He was a lifelong music lover, played guitar with many different friends and family throughout his life, and enjoyed seeing live music. He loved skiing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, fishing, traveling, and spending time with friends and loved ones. He also dedicated much time and energy to a wide variety of charitable endeavors. When he married his wife, Marcie, in August 1990, he shared that it was her love of Judaism and family that flamed his passion for tradition, parenthood and “a sense of obligation to be G-d’s partner.” Together, they raised three sons: Malcolm Alexander, Max David and Mason Ross, all of whom attended the Jewish Community Center’s pre-school program and Jewish Academy of Orlando. All three graduated from college and are working in their chosen fields. After he and Marcie wed, they moved to

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following:

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Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Toker Judith Blumenfeld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Morton Blumenfeld Marc Darling & Susan Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anne M . Darling Edward M . Goldston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .David Brown Marjorie Halpern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leonard Chasick Ilene Iskoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martha Trachtenberg Amy R . Kamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Kamin Judith & Falk Kantor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louis Kantor Carole Kaufman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann R . Hendel Linda Levine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jacob Levine Amy C . Lowenstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William M . Lowenstein Rhoda Rofey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Celia Rofey Anne D . Rosenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jacob Rosenberg Anne D . Rosenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minnie Rosenberg David Rosenberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Minnie Rosenberg Lois & Ira Rubin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Elinoff Marc Tepper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gertrude Tepper Ronald M . Tepper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gertrude Tepper Contact the Development department at 412-586-2690 or development@jaapgh.org for more information.

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday February 4: Leonard Chasick, Israel Fineman, Harry Frank, Rachel Goodman, Lena Gordon, Louis Kantor, Esther Lehman, Freda Levine, Sarah Lurie, Herman Ryave, Rose Schwartz, Anna E .

Shapiro, Tillie Shillit, Samuel Toker, Jack Wagner, Jeffrey S . Weiss, Sylvia Wittlin Monday February 5: Isaac Apple, Fannie Binstock, Morton Blumenfeld, Alfred Devon, Josephine Handmaker Feldman, Reva Hankin, Albert F . Klein, Joseph G . Lazear, Moishe Ofshinski, Serrae Roberts, Ben Simon, Louise S . Sobel, Ida J . Wilner, John Wirtzman, Annette Wolk Tuesday February 6: Anna Friedman, Louis Friedman, O . Hicks Friedman, Fanny Gitelman, Jack Morris Glantz, Ann R . Hendel, Milton B . Krupp, Joseph Lewinter, Celia Lipsitz, William Mintz, Ruth Brill Moldovan, Celia Rofey, David M . Rosenberg, Samuel Earl Schugar, Rose Sherry, Bennie Silverman, Henry Singer, Tillie Tex Wednesday February 7: Abraham B . Amper, Philip Anolik, Sophie Auerbach, Gertrude Brody, Leah Canter, Esther Covel, Anne M . Darling, Harry Friedman, Mendel Helfand, Morris Herr, Samuel Horelick, Samuel Kamin, Julius Skigen, Mary Davis Solomon, Esther Spiro, David Zytnick Thursday February 8: Meyer Borofsky, David Brown, Morris Goldberg, Gertrude Grossman, Edward Haims, Leeba Hausman, Lillian Hoffman, Abram Katkisky, Helen Klein, Sam Lavine, Jacob Levine, Max Malkin, Morris Malt, Minnie Rosenberg, Rachel Sheffler Shuklansky, Abe Weiner, Louis Weiss, Gussie Wolf Friday February 9: Bessie Taback Americus, Rachel Eisenberg, Dora Feldman, Sarah R . Fineman, Adolph Graff, Joseph R . Kaufman, Isadore Libson, Milton Emanuel Linder, Morris T . Mason, Ben Neiman, Anna Goldie Pearlman, Gertrude Tepper, Anna H . Wolfe Saturday February 10: Max H . Barnett, Harry Cohen, Joseph Cohen, Sarah Finkelstein, Norman B .

Goldfield, Sadye Goldstein, Minna Hohenstein, David Kaplan, Sarah Kaufman, Rose G . Klein, Charlotte Reiter, Isaac Rosenberg, Bertha B . Rosenfeld, Freda Rosenthall, Blanche Schultz, Celia Soloman, Samual Spokane, Ruth Steiger, Isaac Zuckerman

The Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh (JCBA) welcomes inquiries about the purchase of burial plots in JCBA cemeteries.

JCBA is committed to the proper care and maintenance of sacred grounds, and is devoted to the stewardship of Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania.

Plots are available in the following JCBA cemeteries: Agudath Achim – Beaver Falls Agudath Achim – Hampton Anshe Lubovitz Beth Abraham B’nai Israel- Steubenville Holy Society – Uniontown Johnstown Jewish Cemeteries Kether Torah

For more information please visit our website at www.jcbapgh.org, email us at office@jcbapgh.org or call the JCBA at 412-553-6469.

For more information about JCBA cemeteries, to volunteer, to read our complete histories and/or to make a contribution, please visit our website at www.JCBApgh.org, email us at office@jcbapgh.org or call the JCBA office at 412-553-6469

Please see Obituaries, page 20

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FEBRUARY 2, 2024

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Obituaries: Continued from page 19

Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he served the community as a board member of Agudath Achim Synagogue, a board member of the Jewish Community Center, a campaign co-chairman for the Altoona Jewish Federation, and co-chair of the UJC’s General Campaign. Hank got involved in the Greater Orlando Jewish Community upon arrival in 1993, making quality gifts, volunteering for leadership positions and emphasizing overseas needs. After serving on Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s Executive, Major Gifts, Religious Pluralism, Finance, Strategic Planning and Allocations, and Executive Search Committees, he was awarded the Byron Selber Young Leadership Award. He was proud of converting an empty building in the heart of Orlando into a premier downtown historic property. Similarly, he stewarded the conversion of an aging shopping center site into a modern dormitory and retail property across the street from UCF. With his commitment and leadership, the Central Florida Hillel built a home at the University of Central Florida and Hank went on to serve on the International Hillel Board. Funeral Services were held Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, at the Yank Frank Memorial Chapel at Temple Israel Cemetery with Rabbi Emeritus Aaron D. Rubinger of Congregation Ohev Shalom officiating. Donations in Hank’s memory may be sent to Central Florida Hillel or the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. May he rest in peace and may his memory always be a blessing. Service entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 933 Lee Road, Suite 101, Orlando, Florida 407-599-1180.

NEFT: Howard S. Neft, 80, passed away in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Jan. 25, 2024. Born in Pittsburgh to Morris and Irene Neft, Howard attended Taylor Allderdice High School and graduated from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, with a degree in journalism. After graduation, Howard moved to Chicago where he worked selling advertising for the Chicago Tribune. During the Vietnam War Howard was stationed at O’Hare Airport as a member of the Air Force Reserve. It was in Chicago that he met the love of his life, Lynne “Susie” Neft. They married in 1971 and eventually raised their two children in Northbrook, Illinois. Howard’s journalism background led him to co-found N.V. Business Publishing, where he published trade magazines for the Corrugated Box and Recycled Paper industries. He was renowned in the paperboard packaging industry for his publications, his knowledge and his unique sense of humor. His career allowed for him to travel extensively in North America and Europe. After a family trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1995, he and Susie decided to make it their second home and enjoyed many trips back and

forth as snowbirds. They retired to Scottsdale in 2008, after selling his stake in N.V. Publications.

Howard kept busy in his retirement years volunteering for several years as an aviator at the Sky Harbor Airport. He also worked part time for Arizona Hors D’oeuvres in Tempe and eventually started a position at the McCormick Stillman Train Park in Scottsdale. His lifelong passion for collecting and running model trains made this his dream job. Howard was a member of the Paradise and Pacific Railroad Club of Scottsdale, where he made many friends who shared his love of model trains. Howard’s amazing sense of humor and generosity made him incredibly memorable and won him friends all over the globe. Howard was a devoted father, husband, grandfather and beloved member of his extended family. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Richard Neft, his in-laws Dr. Leonard and Naomi Favus, and his beloved wife of 51 years, Susie. Howard is survived by his children Jordan Neft and Rachel (Chris) DePalma, and grandchildren Isaac and Adeline DePalma. He will be greatly missed by beloved nephews, nieces, cousins, sisters-in law, brothers-in-law and special close friends from around the world.

Services will be held at Paradise Garden Memorial Park in Scottsdale on Tuesday, Jan. 30. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or Hospice of the Valley.

WEINER: Bronia Weiner, 105, died on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Born April 16, 1918, in Storojinetz, currently part of Ukraine, she was the daughter of Chanina and Rosa Toiwes and was one of five siblings.

She was predeceased by her father, Chanina Toiwes, her mother, Rosa Toiwes, her daughter Ruti, and her husband Karl. Bronia and Karl met while acting in the Yiddish theater in Storojinetz and married in 1939. She is one of the last remaining survivors of the Holocaust, having suffered the horrors at the Bershad concentration camp in Transnistria, where she lost her mother and baby daughter Ruti. After the war, Bronia and Karl reunited and moved to Timisoara, Romania, to start their family. In 1960, the family fled communist Romania, leaving all of their possessions behind in search of freedom in the United States, settling in Pittsburgh. Later in life, Bronia achieved one of her dreams of working in the medical field and became a nurse. She worked for 15 years at Pittsburgh’s Montefiore Hospital, where she became a beloved member of the hospital community. Bronia loved nothing more than her family, singing, dancing, Mineo’s pizza and a cold beer. She is survived by her children, Sam (Marilyn), of Delaware, Marcel (Sue), of Texas, and Roslyne Schulman (Mark, deceased) of Maryland; grandchildren, Jared (Carey), Courtney Villere (Justin), Danny (Jay), Benjamin, Gavin and Rebecca Schulman; and great-grandchildren, Vanessa, Simone, Reese and Griffin. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 5509 Centre Avenue, Shadyside. Interment Adath Jeshurun Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the U.S. Holocaust Museum (ushmm.org/support), or the charity of your choice. schugar.com PJC

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Community Bring them home

Community members braved poor weather conditions and gathered on the corner of Murray Avenue and Darlington Road in Squirrel Hill to demand the release of the estimated 132 hostages held by Hamas. Along with reciting prayers, and singing “Hatikvah” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” participants heard about Itay Chen and Matan Angrest. The two young men have remained captives in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

p Tammy Kaplan Shemesh hangs a banner bearing the image of Matan Angrest.

p Dovid Jacobowitz and Anthony Chancellor gather during the Jan. 28 demonstration.

Photos by Jonathan Dvir

Righteous among the neighbors

Nice threads

The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and the LIGHT Education Initiative, in partnership with Mt. Lebanon High School students, participated in Righteous Among the Neighbors. The project honored non-Jewish Pittsburghers who have supported the Jewish community and stood up against antisemitism, particularly in response to Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.

Partygoers got into the groove at “Peace, Love and CDS” on Jan. 27 at the Energy Innovation Center. The ‘70s-themed party celebrated Community Day School and honored retiring Head of School Avi Baran Munro.

p Participants gather on Jan. 17 at the South Hills Jewish Community Center.

p From left: Rabbi Howie Stein, Rabbi Seth Adelson and Debbie Swartz

Photo by Toby Tabachnick

Macher and Shaker

One Table

Photo courtesy of The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

Frank Schiffman was inducted into the Public Relations Society of America Pittsburgh Renaissance Hall of Fame at the annual Renaissance Awards on Jan. 25. The award honored Schiffman’s 46-year career in marketing and communications in the commodity chemicals and water treatment products industries, including his current role as the business manager/director of marketing for Westlake Water Solutions.

p Frank Schiffman accepts his award.

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Photo courtesy of Alex Oltmanns

Temple Emanuel of South Hills hosted a community interfaith dinner as part of its Abraham’s Table learning series. The collaboration between Temple Emanuel of South Hills, The Turkish Cultural Center and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church allows members of each organization to come together for a shared meal and stay for a presentation about shared values between the three Abrahamic religions.

p Making space at the table

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Photo courtesy of Temple Emanuel of South Hills

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