Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 9-22-23

Eradicate Hate Global Summit prepares for a third year of work

Pittsburgh’s spiritual leaders question how and who to forgive

By David Rullo | Senior Sta Writer

The Eradicate Hate Global Summit returns to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from Sept. 27-29.

The summit, billed as “the world’s most comprehensive anti-hate conference,” will feature more than 300 participants over three days. Antisemitism, hate against the LGBTQ+ community, the rise of far-right groups in Central and Eastern Europe, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, violent extremism, video games, financial systems and youth red flags are among the many topics that will be discussed.

Keynote speakers include Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security; Neil Potts, president of public policy at Meta; Holocaust survivor and author Inge Auerbacher; and CBS News Chief National Affairs and Justice Correspondent Jeff Pegues.

Summit founder and co-Chair Laura Ellsworth, partner-in-charge of Global Community Service Initiatives at Jones Day, conceived of the convention as a reaction to the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. It grew beyond that single incident, though, and, from the first summit in 2021, challenged and examined various forms of hate.

“We knew this problem extended beyond the borders of Pittsburgh,” Ellsworth said.

“We wanted to be able to prevent this kind of violence, whether it happened in our community or in anybody else’s community.”

Nonetheless, she noted that much of the work being done globally through the conference is informed by what is being done locally.

“We unfortunately understand this better than many communities that have not yet had that experience,” she said. “All of the work being done locally is included in a variety of ways in the summit.”

To that end, the first day will feature a plenary session called “Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Trial: Claiming our Voices in the Judicial Process.” Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, will moderate a discussion including survivor Audrey Glickman; Jodi Kart, whose father, Mel Wax, was murdered in the attack; Amy Mallinger, granddaughter of Rose Mallinger, who was murdered during the shooting; and first responder Officer Timothy Matson, who was injured in the attack.

That session as well as one titled “Survivors in Action” represent a central theme of the summit: to ensure the community is remembered not for the hate that happened here, but its response to it, Ellsworth said.

“Too often, voices of the victims are not included in prevention — are not included in

Adam Reinherz | Senior Sta Writer

Central to Yom Kippur is forgiveness, but how, and who, we forgive is debatable. The sages teach that on the 10th of Tishrei the Jewish people are annually cleansed of their wrongdoings. Sins wiped from the slate, though, are those committed before God; harms against another person require actions beyond prayer, according to Jewish wisdom.

With Yom Kippur days away, and forgiveness on many people’s minds, Chani Altein said it’s a perfect time to “clear the air.”

People don’t always act how they should; taking time to address this behavior is helpful for all parties, she said.

The Chabad of Squirrel Hill co-director recalled a teaching from author and parenting instructor Slovie Jungreis-Wolff.

“She compared a person walking around with resentment to the person in the airport who is schlepping three duffel bags, a heavy wheelie and another backpack,” Altein said. “The person is weighed down by the load, but meanwhile at the airport, there are people who checked in all their baggage, and all they’ve got

May you be sealed in e Book of Life

New CEO has a “JCC state of mind”

A chat with Jason Kunzman

Hillel JUC and Chabad On Campus partner

Cinnamon rolls with vanilla glaze

Reznik / iStock / Getty Images

 Laura Ellsworth and Mark Nordenberg at the 2021 Eradicate Hate Global Summit

Photo by Josh Franzos

 Who receives forgiveness is a question. Photo via iStock

Headlines

Jason Kunzman takes the helm of the JCC

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

The power of the Pittsburgh Jewish community was illustrated for Jason Kunzman and his wife, Dana, when he moved to the city in 2001.

“We didn’t know anyone, we didn’t have jobs and we pretty quickly landed on our feet,” he said.

The community, he said, wrapped his family “in a cocoon of care.”

Kunzman accepted the responsibility to help lead that community when he was named president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh at the organization’s annual meeting earlier this month. He had served as the JCC’s chief programming officer since 2017.

Kunzman succeeds Brian Schreiber, who served as the JCC’s president and CEO for almost 25 years and is now the organiza tion’s chief external affairs officer and special adviser to the CEO.

Kunzman’s career in Jewish communal life began in 2003 as the chief financial officer of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation. He worked at the JHF during its establishment of the Squirrel Hill Health Center.

“Working with the Jewish Healthcare Foundation on such an effort that was rooted in bringing back the values of Montefiore Hospital — which was sold and [whose proceeds] created the Jewish Healthcare Foundation — I really started to better connect with how I might be able to professionally contribute to the Jewish community,” Kunzman said.

Before the JHF, he worked at the accounting firm Schneider Downs in Pittsburgh, but his resume is diverse. He graduated with an MBA from the University of Baltimore and, before moving to Pittsburgh, served as a

Washington, D.C., where he worked in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. He left government work and in 2017 applied for the chief programming officer position at Pittsburgh’s JCC.

“[I] decided to throw my hat in the ring, having very little faith or confidence that I really had much to offer,” he said. “I had this stereotype that those within the Jewish communal professional network grew up through the network. Here I was, an outside candidate. I’m so blessed that things worked out the way that they did.”

Kunzman and his staff are hyper-focused on what community means, he said. For the JCC, that community stretches from Squirrel

located), and all points in between.

“Our sense of community and obligation really follows where we’re located,” he said. “That speaks to our openness, our sense of inclusivity. Our organization brings a willingness to be there for whomever in whichever way we can possibly be.”

That willingness to be there for the community was illustrated on Oct. 27, 2018, when the Squirrel Hill JCC operated as a central gathering point and a place where leaders from various Jewish organizations could meet following the massacre at the Tree of Life building.

During the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter trial, it was revealed that the murderer considered both the Squirrel Hill and

South Hills branches of the JCC as targets. Kunzman wasn’t surprised. He said it’s important to remain focused on the safety of the JCC’s members and staff.

“It’s an obligation that we have to one another to keep one another safe,” he said. “Whether it’s members, guests in our facilities, staff, security — we’re all in this together. And I think that that really helps me feel as though we’ve got eyes and ears all over the place.”

The JCC also played a critical role during the pandemic, providing vaccines as soon as they became available to the public.

Like all community organizations, the virus was a challenge to the JCC, but Kunzman said the organization has mostly recovered. That doesn’t mean, though, that

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“It’s an obligation that we have to one another to keep one another safe. Whether it’s members, guests in our facilities, staff, security — we’re all in this together.”

– JASON KUNZMAN

Jewish groups on campus collaborate to expand engagement

supports various minyanim catering to different denominations.

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Two groups on campus are working together to enrich Jewish life.

This Rosh Hashanah, Hillel JUC and Chabad on Campus collaborated on a dinner that drew almost 400 students.

The event, Hillel JUC’s executive director and CEO Dan Marcus said, was a demonstration of how to “create a Jewish student community in a way that is supportive to all Jewish students.”

Weeks from now, Hillel and Chabad will partner again on two holiday dinners inside a sukkah that can fit more than 100 people.

The fall festivities perfectly embody the relationship between the two organizations, Chabad’s co-director Sara Weinstein said.

Sukkot’s key items include the arba minim (four species): lulav (palm branch); aravot (willows); hadassim (myrtles); and etrog (citron). A special blessing is recited when holding the four pieces together.

Each element of the arba minim represents a different type of Jewish person, “and we want them all to come together,” Weinstein said.

The philosophy carries beyond Sukkot. In commemoration of five years since the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Chabad and Hillel will again partner. Months later, in honor of Passover, the two organizations will host a joint seder.

Repeated cooperation runs contrary to an assumption that two distinct entities — with disparate philosophies, unique needs and specific desires to support their own efforts — would adopt an aggressive winner-take-all approach to recruiting and retaining students.

“I experienced that as a student,” Kari Exler, Hillel’s assistant director, said. “I went to a school with not many Jews, where we felt that pull between going to Hillel and going to Chabad.”

Conversations often concerned, “What’s the difference between the two, where are my friends going, how does this align with my values and how are my values shifting,” she said. “I felt that — and it’s not a bad thing — but there’s enough going on as a Jewish student instead of needing to be pulled between two different organizations.”

Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein, co-director of Chabad at Pitt, said, “Whatever interorganizational politics people believe should exist, or not exist, why should a student be in the middle of that? We are all here for the same goals: to bring vibrant Jewish life to campus.”

It’s imperative to remember a core Jewish teaching, Rothstein said. “The Temple was destroyed because of sinat chiman (baseless hatred), and it’s going to be rebuilt because of ahavat chinam (love of others) — that

requires loving people whether they agree or disagree with me.”

Weinstein has served as Chabad’s

sides, to having students “feel like they have choices,” she said. Doing so, and creating trust, requires a “willingness on

When Hillel and Chabad combine, there are times when “I have to give up my own ownership of something, but that’s OK because what we really want is for the students to feel that they have ownership,” Weinstein said.

Empowering young people to see choices in Jewish life sometimes results in students shifting their involvement from one organization to another. The exchange is a welcome reminder of why campus professionals are committed to the next generation of Jews, according to Rothstein.

“People connect in different ways,” he said. “If someone comes to Chabad and doesn’t find the community they are looking for, why should they lose out on finding a vibrant Jewish community?”

The partnership between Chabad and Hillel, Exler said, “is one of the biggest blessings I have at this job.”

She described conversations with colleagues on other campuses about territorial and other challenges when seeking Jewish student engagement.

If there’s a problem here, “I just call our campus rabbi from CMU or Pitt, and we work it out together,” she said. “The internal communication and respect for one another allows us to demonstrate the external relationship and respect in a way that our students see and feel on campus.”

co-director for almost 35 years. Chabad’s relationship with Hillel, she said, has had “its ebbs and flows.” Still, “when there are bumps along the road we talk about it so we can do better.”

There’s a deep commitment, on both

everyone’s part.”

The organizations both maintain kosher practices. One difference between Chabad and Hillel, however, is each group’s approach to prayer. Chabad holds one type of service, regardless of students’ denominations; Hillel

Marcus said that “modeling for students how to collaborate, be in partnership and share resources is part of the DNA of the Pittsburgh community.”

“The culture and nature of the Pittsburgh community is to be caring and supportive of each other, and to find opportunities for collaboration when possible,” he added. In the coming months, apart from joint holiday gatherings, Hillel and Chabad are looking to increase their mutual support of Jewish Greek life in Oakland. The organizations are also hoping to bring student leaders together for training, discussions about events and opportunities to learn from each other’s approaches, Exler said.

“Though it may be surprising, or seem unique, the depth and nature of the relationship of the partnership is something we are very proud of,” Marcus said.

Shortly after Rosh Hashanah, Chabad and Hillel will follow their typical practice of sharing sign-up lists. The information will be used by the organizations individually and collectively to plan future programs.

The outcome, Rothstein said, is mutually beneficial: “When the tide rises, all the ships rise.” PJC

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

p Tables set for 2023 unity seder between Chabad on Campus and Hillel JUC

Photo courtesy of Chabad on Campus

p Students are all smiles before enjoying an evening with 400 friends last Passover.

Photo courtesy of Chabad on Campus

“We are all here for the same goals: to bring vibrant Jewish life to campus.”

– RABBI SHMULI ROTHSTEIN

Lifelong fundraiser, symphony supporter, Elliott Oshry has died

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Jodi Weisfield grew up Jewish in Squirrel Hill and worked for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2005. But it wasn’t until she returned as a major gifts officer in 2008, amid an $80 million capital campaign, that she met Elliott Oshry. In addition to serving as primary campaign counsel and, later, as a board member, Oshry frequently attended symphony performances and adored the orchestra’s work.

“We talked multiple times a day — he took me under his wing and taught me this profession,” said Weisfield, today the executive director of development for the University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and the College of Business Administration.

“He was so encouraging — he was such a cheerleader — and he gave you a lot of confidence in yourself,” Weisfield, who attends Rodef Shalom in Shadyside, said. “He really worked to create a culture of giving.”

Elliott Stephen Oshry, a lifelong Pittsburgh fundraiser who gave of himself while asking others to give to the organizations he cherished and championed, died on Sept. 6 following a battle with cancer.

Oshry, the younger of two children, was raised in Pittsburgh by a hard-working single mother who did bookkeeping, sometimes at Webster Hall Hotel, to pay the bills, his brother DeeJay Oshry said. The family of three lived with Oshry’s grandmother. Oshry’s mother, Clarice Oshry, née Berer, died in 1985.

Oshry became a bar mitzvah at Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill, where he later served as a board member and stayed active into his 70s. He became more dedicated to his Judaism after a trip to Israel around 10 or 15 years ago, his brother said. Before Friday night services every week, he liked to greet congregants at the synagogue’s door.

“We both grew up with my mother saying, ‘Our lives are private,’” DeeJay Oshry said. “We learned we didn’t talk to people about money.”

“So, we both went into fundraising.”

Oshry entered the fundraising world in 1973, after graduating from Duquesne University, where he worked on the school newspaper, The Duquesne Duke. He received a master’s degree from West Virginia University.

In his early years, Oshry worked in public relations for Rockwell International, an American manufacturing company previously based in Pittsburgh, and even ran a newspaper, The Revere. Later, he worked at Ketchum, a communications consultancy where his brother also worked, and as an independent fundraiser. At Ketchum, he climbed the ranks to the position of

executive vice president.

“He was a very effective listener but, even more, he could get to the heart of the matter — and he didn’t believe in soft-peddling board members,” DeeJay Oshry said. “He was a communicator, he was a teacher, he was a mentor. And all of these things made him an effective fundraiser.”

Oshry had several sayings, but fundraiser Andrea Glickman recalled one recently on the social media network LinkedIn:

“Generosity is not a matter of wealth, it’s a matter of character.”

“Rest in peace, Elliott,” wrote Glickman, a philanthropist who served as executive director of the Pittsburgh section of the National Council of Jewish Women from 2013 to 2017. “Although I didn’t know you for very long, your words and your impact will stay with me forever. #philanthropymatters”

Oshry was active with groups like the Jewish Association on Aging and Winchester Thurston School, his brother said. He served on the boards of Allies Health and Wellness, and the Fred Rogers Co.

Oshry fundraised passionately for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where he had served since 2011 as a board member.

“He was thoroughly engrossed in this organization,” said Melia Tourangeau, the orchestra’s president and CEO. “He was really articulate and passionate and authentic. And he really drove home the (organization’s) needs in a very effective way.”

“He was committed to this orchestra,” she added. “It was really special.”

Oshry also believed deeply in the mission of Winchester Thurston, said Scott Fech, its head of school.

“Elliott was a dedicated partner to

Winchester Thurston School for more than two decades, leading several campaign efforts, and freely sharing his wisdom, knowledge and expertise in philanthropy,” Fech told the Chronicle. “He believed deeply in our school’s mission, and his dedication to philanthropy was unmatched. He poured his heart into his work here at WT and with countless other mission-based organizations throughout the city and region.”

Oshry worked for 11 years as a consultant at KidsVoice, which provides legal representation and other advocacy to abused and neglected children in the Allegheny County child welfare and foster care systems.

At KidsVoice, Oshry’s work “touched so many lives,” remembered Scott Hollander, the organization’s executive director.

“Beyond his skills and work, anyone I know who met Elliott always said what a good man he is,” Hollander said. “He had a rare combination and unique gift of grace, calm, earnestness and goodness that put everyone at ease and made everything seem more positive and capable.”

“We’re a better and stronger team and organization because of Elliott,” he added. “His was a life well lived.”

Oshry grew up mostly in Squirrel Hill but lived later in Oakland and Pittsburgh’s West End — in, oddly enough, the Elliot neighborhood.

“We always said we couldn’t find a place called DeeJay,” his brother laughed.

For the last 12 years, Oshry lived in a Squirrel Hill home with his brother and his brother’s partner, Bart; the elder brother called it “really perfect” and “a great arrangement.” Until recently, they would go with friends every December to a bed-and-breakfast in Key West, Florida. It was their time to unplug.

Oshry was frequently on a plane traveling for capital campaigns nationwide. Years ago, DeeJay Oshry tried to pump the brakes with a trip to Europe.

“He said, ‘Oh, every city is the same as the last,’ and I said, ‘Let’s go to Paris,’” DeeJay Oshry recalled. “We landed, he looked out at the city, and he said, ‘Well, I haven’t been here before.’ And that was the beginning of a travel bug.”

Though he traveled more in recent years, Oshry remained passionate about fundraising, working nearly to the end.

And, until the end, he remained extremely close to his brother.

“I kind of have to learn how to live all over again,” DeeJay Oshry said. “We worked together. We lived together. We played together. He was a very intimate part of my life.”

“And there are a lot of people who are able to say that.” PJC

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p Elliott Stephen Oshry

Photo courtesy of Oshry family

“Generosity is not a matter of wealth, it’s a matter of character.”

–ELLIOTT OSHRY

Local educators grapple with AI in the classroom

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

With the new school year underway, and an increased number of students turning to generative AI for help with homework, college applications and simple amusement, local Jewish educators are determining appropriate usage.

At both Community Day School and Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, teachers and administrators dedicated back-to-school meetings to discussing ChatGPT. Released last November, the app uses natural language processing to solve equations, translate text, write copy and create conversation.

CDS is approaching the technology as “something exciting and innovative, instead of bad and taboo,” Ilana Kisilinsky, the school’s director of marketing and communications, said. “We want to teach students the honest and ethical way to use it as a tool.”

Teachers are developing guidelines, but the mindset is on how they can “stimulate curiosity and excitement” while also fostering trust, Kisilinsky said.

Such a scenario may occur when a student feels “stuck” with an assignment, the Jewish day school representative said. In response, a teacher might demonstrate how AI generates a prompt that serves as a catalyst for future work.

Ultimately, Kisilinsky continued, the goal is

having teachers and students team up through the learning process.

“It’s not about trying to catch them,” she said. “The expectation of students with AI is the same as it was with Wikipedia five to 10 years ago. Students should work hard and submit their own work, no matter what technology is around and able to be used.”

An Aug. 7 Brookings report reviewed responses to generative AI within public schools. While districts across the country differ between banning or integrating the technology, the think tank suggests schools “establish guiding principles, provide training resources and empower educators to implement those principles.”

Rabbi Sam Weinberg, Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s principal, said the Jewish day

school has been “monitoring AI for a while.”

Research and discussions culminated in a summer in-service program during which educators and school leaders reviewed “how to incorporate AI into the classroom; what we can do to advance our learning and students’ learning; and how to teach writing in the world of AI,” he said.

Whether it’s AI or other resources, Weinberg said, there are competing interests: “On one hand, we have to teach students how to use technology, but on the other hand, we have to teach students how to write.”

In accomplishing the latter, Hillel Academy is revisiting a bygone tactic.

“We are doing a lot more paper and pencil writing in the classroom where we can really teach some skills,” Weinberg said.

Although the old-school approach to composition is purposefully low-tech, educators are also integrating lessons on “how to use AI appropriately,” he added.

Determining correct usage isn’t a given.

Fifty-four percent of college students reported their instructors have “not openly discussed the use of AI tools like ChatGPT,” according to a BestColleges survey of 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Likewise, 60% of college students said “neither their schools nor instructors have specified how to use AI tools ethically or responsibly.”

Weinberg said Hillel Academy has rules against students relying solely on AI. The fact is, he continued, even with software claiming to detect the presence of app-generated text, educators and students need to demonstrate trust and maturity in a world where ethical lines are still being drawn.

“Kids know about AI,” he said. “They use it for bar mitzvah speeches and for science. We have to show them how to use it effectively. The question of ethics and technology is nothing new. We’ve been inevitably headed in this direction ever since ‘Terminator 2.’ The machines are getting smarter than us. This is just the calm before the storm.”

A spokesperson for Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh declined to discuss its response to AI. PJC

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

Jewish Pitt professor leads effort to help refugees and threatened scholars

But the story does not end with Afghanistan or Iran, places where the new scholars initially were rooted.

… There’s trauma, no doubt, but they know change is in their hands.”

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

Mirwais Parsa knew he had to flee Afghanistan.

Parsa, a macroeconomics researcher, had served the former minister of finance under the government of internationally backed President Ashraf Ghani. Working in Kabul, the country’s capital and largest city, he also lectured part-time at nearby Dunya University.

Then, on Aug. 15, 2021, after the last U.S. forces left the capital, the Taliban marched into Kabul and seized power.

With the U.S. embassy shuttered in Afghanistan, Parsa trekked to neighboring Pakistan and stayed there for two months as he waited for officials to process his passport.

He and his fiancée went into hiding when they returned and eventually paid the equivalent of $2,000 on the black market for exit visas.

“I was pretty sure things would go smoothly, but they didn’t,” Parsa told the Chronicle. “It was an absolutely terrible situation.”

He arrived in Pittsburgh on June 20, 2022. Today, he lives with his wife in Squirrel Hill and does research through the University of Pittsburgh.

His story is one of many.

On Sept. 1, the American Political Science Association awarded the Center for

Governance and Markets in the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) a civic engagement award for its work supporting refugees and threatened scholars.

The 2023 Outstanding Civic Engagement Project Award comes less than two years after the center launched its Afghan Asylum Project, an effort to help Afghans who supported American civilian and military efforts overseas apply for asylum in the U.S.

The project recruited more than 100 faculty, staff and student volunteers to help more than 6,500 Afghans who approached the center for assistance, Pitt officials said.

The award also recognized Pitt’s efforts to assist threatened scholars through the Afghanistan Project, which helped preserve the Afghan intellectual community by bringing 12 academics — like Parsa — to Pittsburgh. The university provided the new researchers with at least two years of funding to continue their work here.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the Center for Governance and Markets raised more than $100,000 to aid scholars there.

The center did not simply replicate its program for Afghan scholars, though, in Ukraine, center founder Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili said.

Instead, it began funding scholars inside Ukraine for those who could not or would not leave the country, Murtazashvili said. Most Ukrainian men are not allowed to leave the country due to military mobilization.

The Center for Governance and Markets also is supporting three students from Ukraine and one from Afghanistan to study at Pitt’s law school this year, officials said.

Murtazashvili knows life on the ground in Ukraine.

In the last week of August and the first days of September, the Squirrel Hill woman, who is Jewish, traveled to Kyiv via plane and train to kick off a construction and recovery initiative at the Kyiv School of Economics.

Murtazashvili is working alongside economics professor Tymofiy Mylovanov, who returned to his native Ukraine before the war. Mylovanov teaches classes at Pitt while leading the Kyiv School of Economics.

“The war is everywhere,” Murtazashvili, who last visited Ukraine about five years ago, said. “It was really super-inspiring, though, how positive people are despite everything

Ukrainians have mocked invading Russian forces by filling Kyiv’s streets with bombed-out Russian tanks — a bitter reference to the Soviet-era parades that once filled the country.

Murtazashvili said Ukrainians scholars she met “got very mad at this idea of ‘rescuing them.’” Many do not want the nation to face a brain-drain after the war.

Despite some sleepless nights — Murtazashvili spent at least two full evenings in a bomb shelter in her hotel’s basement — she said it was not hard to remain optimistic in the face of adversity.

“There’s a real sense of social unity, social cohesion — and everyone is doing their part,” Murtazashvili said. “You really get the sense that people are on the same page.”

“We never thought we would be doing this in our own work in this way,” she added. “It is with great compassion that we throw ourselves into this pursuit and accept this recognition.”

Pittsburgh is growing on Parsa.

“Pittsburgh is a very nice city; it’s not too big, not too small,” he said. “And the people around us are wonderful. They’re supportive.”

“The University of Pittsburgh also has been super-generous toward the people of Afghanistan,” he added. “They tried to rescue a lot of people, both those in academics or those who worked in government.” PJC

p AI allows children new access to knowledge.

Photo via iStock

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

p Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili Photo by Aimee Obidzinski/University of Pittsburgh

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

 SUNDAY, SEPT. 24

Join Rabbi Aaron Bisno for the conclusion of Two Sacred Evenings — a High Holy Days experience. Celebrate the richness of Judaism’s entry into the New Year 5784 with Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre services. 7:30 p.m. $100. Hicks Memorial Chapel, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 N. Highland Ave. C4IC.org.

 SUNDAYS, SEPT. 24 – DEC. 3

Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for its Men’s Tefillin Club. Enjoy bagels, lox and tefillin on the first Sunday of the month. 8:30 a.m. chabadpgh.com.

 SUNDAYS, SEPT. 24 – DEC. 17

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.

 MONDAYS, SEPT. 25 – DEC. 18

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

 WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 27

The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh welcomes back to Pittsburgh Tony McAleer, the subject of the documentary “The Cure for Hate” and a reformed white nationalist, for an enlightening conversation on how conspiracy theories begin, take root and how we can stop them. 6 p.m. Free. Chatham University. Woodland Road. hcofpgh.org/events.

 WEDNESDAYS, SEPT. 27 – DEC. 6

Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schi for The God Class. Schi will discuss Jewish views of God and how they’ve developed through the ages. 9:30 a.m. $150 Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. jewishpgh.org/ event/the-god-class/2023-09-27.

 WEDNESDAYS, SEPT. 27 – DEC. 20

Join AgeWell for an intergenerational family dynamics discussion group, led by intergenerational specialist/presenter and educator Audree Schall. Third Wednesday of each month. Free. 12:30 p.m. South Hills JCC.

 WEDNESDAYS, SEPT. 27 – 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/meltonethics-crossroads.

 WEDNESDAYS, SEPT. 27 – DEC. 27

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.

 THURSDAYS, SEPT. 28 – OCT. 26

Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy for our healing consciousnessbuilding forest bathing series at the Frick Park

Environmental Center. We will take 90-minute gentle walks throughout Frick Park while nurturing our connection to the natural world through reflective practices. Forest bathing involves gentle walking in the woods in community with others and with trained forest bathing practitioners from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, as well as trauma-informed sta from the 10.27 Healing Partnership. Meet at Frick Environmental Center 2005 Beechwood Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. 10 a.m. Free. Registration required. pittsburghparks.org/event/forest-bathingfrick-environmental-center-8-25-2023/2023-09-28/.

 MONDAY, OCT. 2

Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill in the sukkah to shake the lulov, eat pizza and enjoy music and crafts. 5 p.m. 1700 Beechwood Blvd. chabadpgh.com.

 WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s new Tzelem Teen Group is a safe, inclusive space for nonbinary, trans, gender-expansive and LGBTQ+ teens. It will focus on topics such as healthy relationships, stress, belonging and identity; sessions also include opportunities to meet other teens and Jewish adult mentors and to discuss issues around transition and gender expression. Teens will meet monthly, with the Pittsburgh Tzelem group leader to explore the issues through games, art, discussion and by drawing on Jewish teachings. Learn more at a virtual information session for teens and their parents. 8 p.m. jewishpgh.org/event/pittsburgh-tzeleminformation-session.

 MONDAYS, OCT. 9 – MAY 13

H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar

Rabbi Danny Schi 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, Schi will explore the second half of Leviticus and all of Numbers and Deuteronomy. $225. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/torah-2-2/2023-10-09.

 MONDAYS, OCT. 16 – DEC. 4

Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schi for Modern Jewish Philosophy. In this course, Rabbi Schi will introduce the great Jewish philosophers of modernity and will

make their important ideas understandable and relevant to today. $95. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/modern-jewish-philosophy/ 2023-10-16.

 TUESDAYS, OCT. 24 – NOV. 14

Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schi for The Jewish Calendar Sometimes the holidays come “early,” and sometimes the holidays come “late.” Why? In this series, Rabbi Schi will explore the Jewish texts that gave rise to the Jewish calendar. How does the cycle of the Jewish year actually work, and what meaning does it o er to us? 9:30 a.m. Zoom. $55. jewishpgh.org/series/thejewish-calendar.

 WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1

Join Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle Senior Sta Writer David Rullo as he celebrates the publication of his book “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the ’90s Scene.” Rullo will be joined by Beehive founders Scott Kramer and Steve Zumo , as well as several of the people featured in the book. Performances by Liz Berlin, Phat Man Dee and Circus Apocalypse. Tiki Lounge, 2003 E. Carson St. Press only, 6-7 p.m.; public, 7-11 p.m.

 WEDNESDAYS, NOV. 1 – DEC. 6 Chabad of the South Hills presents a new six-week JLI course, “The World of Kabbalah – Revealing How Its Mystical Secrets Relate to You.” Discover the core mystical and spiritual teachings of Kabbalah and their relevance to everyday life. Learn to think like a Jewish mystic and gain powerful insights to fuel deeper self-understanding and personal growth. 7:30 p.m. Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com.

 SUNDAY, NOV. 5

Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schi and Nina Butler for this year’s Global Day of Jewish Learning – Pittsburgh Edition. As people gather for Jewish learning all over the globe, we will take part locally, focusing on the global theme of “The Values We Hold Dear” plus a light brunch. 10 a.m. $12. JCC Squirrel Hill, 5738 Forbes Ave. jewishpgh.org/event/the-values-wehold-dear. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Nov. 5 discussion of “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” by James McBride. From The New York Times: “The book is a murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel. The story opens in 1972, with the discovery of a skeleton buried in a well in Pottstown, Pa. The identity of the corpse is unknown but the few clues found (a belt buckle, a pendant and a mezuza) lead authorities to question the only Jewish man remaining from the town’s formerly vibrant Jewish community. However, instead of a simple whodunit, the novel leaves the bones behind and swings back to the 1920s and ’30s, to Chicken Hill, the neighborhood in Pottstown where Jewish, Black and immigrant folks make their homes. It’s a community of people bonded together by the links of love and duty, and it’s here that McBride’s epic tale truly begins.”

Your Hosts:

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

How and When:

We will meet on Zoom on Sunday, Nov. 5, at noon.

What To Do

Buy: “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.” It is available at area Barnes & Noble stores and from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is also available through the Carnegie Library system.

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

Happy reading! PJC

Toby Tabachnick

Headlines

Cancel or condemn? Jewish groups decrying UPenn’s ‘Palestine Writes’ festival are split on ideal response.

—

NATIONAL —

By Ron Kampeas | JTA

Anumber of Jewish organizations have condemned an upcoming conference on Palestinian culture, taking place at the University of Pennsylvania, that includes speakers accused of antisemitism. But the groups decrying the conference disagree about what the school should do about it.

The biggest name speaking at the “Palestine Writes” festival taking place next weekend, from Friday, Sept. 22, to the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 24, is that of Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd frontman who uses Holocaust imagery to bash Israel during his concerts. Other speakers at the conference, the Jewish organizations say, have used language that condones or encourages Israel’s destruction.

Jewish organizational responses have ranged from a call on the university to condemn the conference — which it did last week, albeit in terms that critics called inadequate — to a demand that the university shut the conference down or face legal consequences.

The disparate response point to a divide within the pro-Israel ecosystem over how universities should handle anti-Israel and arguably antisemitic speech on campus. While both sides of the discussion abhor such statements, one cohort of activists believes that federal law requires the university to quash the offensive speech, while t he other says the dictates of academic freedom demand that even repugnant speech be allowed, though they say it should be condemned.

Miriam Elman, executive director of the Academic Engagement Network, which works to counter antisemitic and anti-Israel activity on campus, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that her group would not demand the conference be canceled “unless there is a case of imminent threat, or bodily harm.” She added, “Our system of academic freedom and campus free expression is that: Offensive speech? Meet it with better speech.”

That approach contrasts with the demand issued by the Zionist Organization of America, which has urged its activists to tell the university to cancel the conference. If the university fails to do so, a recent ZOA action alert said, the right-wing pro-Israel group “may have a moral obligation to file a complaint under Title VI if this conference takes place.” Title VI refers to a section of the Civil Rights Act that bars discrimination in any institution that receives federal funds. Although the University of Pennsylvania is a private university, it receives federal research grants.

Palestine Writes has organized the annual festival since 2020, saying on its website that its founding was “born from the pervasive exclusion from or tokenization of Palestinian voices in mainstream literary institutions.”

Susan Abulhawa, the executive director of “Palestine Writes,” said in an email that most

of the festival was about Palestinians, and not Israel, but that naturally there would be expressions of criticism of the country.

“We have a glorious and rich heritage that is either being erased or appropriated by a 20th-century colonial enterprise that has worked overtime to denigrate us where they cannot fully erase us,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It’s disappointing, though unsurprising, that the university could not muster the courage to defend an indigenous people’s moral and necessary struggle against Israeli colonial fascism.”

A festival spokesperson clarified that the event ends several hours before the beginning of the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur, which starts on the evening of Sept. 24. The conference ends at 1 p.m.

Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish New Jersey Democratic congressman and Penn graduate, said in a letter to the university leadership that the university should at least disinvite Waters as well as Marc Lamont Hill, a Temple University professor and commentator fired from CNN in 2018 for calling for a free Palestine ”from the river to the sea” — a phrase many interpret as calling for the elimination of Israel. Hill said at the time that he was unaware of the phrase’s origins and that he was calling for a single binational IsraeliPalestinian state.

Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s former national director, told JTA that the event should trigger an inquiry by the Biden administration as part of its new plan to combat antisemitism. He also said Jewish alumni should organize to stop donating to the university. “The time has come for alumni to be more active,” he said, not just at Penn but on other campuses that have accommodated vehement critics of Israel.

After complaints from Jewish groups, the university made a statement acknowledging that the conference includes “several speakers who have a documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people. We unequivocally — and

emphatically — condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values.”

Elman’s group and the Anti-Defamation League each told JTA that they hoped the university’s condemnation would be more robust.

For Jewish and pro-Israel groups criticizing the conference, the most objectionable speaker is Waters, who is scheduled to speak on a Friday evening panel about the costs incurred by those who speak out on behalf of Palestinians. Rogers has used Holocaust imagery to criticize Israel, a practice watchdogs have called antisemitic because it trivializes the Holocaust and implies that Jews are now perpetrating its horrors on another people.

A number of other speakers have also been singled out by pro-Israel groups for their praise for members of designated terrorist groups or because they have used incendiary language to implicate all Israelis, not just their government’s policies.

The university’s statement, which was signed by Penn President Elizabeth Magill and two other senior officials, noted that the festival is not organized by the university, although a number of university-affiliated entities — such as the Wolf Humanities Center — are cosponsors.

“As a university, we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission,” the statement said. “This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values.”

Some critics said that Penn’s leadership had a duty to condemn university-affiliated cosponsors of the conference.

“Universities can definitely express disappointment, chagrin, dismay in faculty choices,” Elman said. “They can say ‘this is terrible judgment.’”

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said in an email to JTA, “Supporting academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas on campus, which ADL joins Penn in supporting,

does not abdicate Penn leadership from taking a position.”

According to Jewish Insider, the ADL, along with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, led a weeks-long effort to get the university to make a statement. The ADL recently released an analysis showing a sharp uptick in what it called “anti-Israel events” on college campuses.

“If Penn truly wants to show real support for the Jewish community, it must stop equivocating and start speaking out and taking action to stand with the Jewish community in an unequivocal, unambiguous manner,” Greenblatt said. The Jewish Federation did not return a request for comment.

Elman and ZOA both noted a difference in the treatment the university has accorded the festival and a Jewish law professor, Amy Wax, who has made incendiary comments about Black and Asian students on the campus. Wax is embroiled in disciplinary hearings, which has spurred criticism of Penn by free speech advocates.

The university’s caution with “Palestine Speaks” may stem in part from a reluctance to wade into another battle over academic freedom. The controversy comes as Wax has invited a white supremacist, Jared Taylor, to campus for a second time. His presence at a 2021 event at Penn stirred protests. The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted students who believe Wax invited Taylor in order to portray the university as an institution that represses free expression.

Michal Cotler-Wunsch, who this week was named as Israel’s envoy to combat antisemitism, told JTA that the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion demanded a tougher response.

“Held in a DEI campus reality proclaiming commitment to provide and ensure equal access, safety and security to all students and faculty members, [the conference] must be measured with the same yardstick as any other group, recognizing that double standards in the application of any principle or rule undermines it,” she said. PJC

p Roger Waters performs in Munich on May 21.

Photo by Angelika Warmuth/picture alliance via Getty Images

Headlines

Bomb threats target US synagogues during Rosh Hashanah, but few interruptions reported

— NATIONAL —

By Philissa Cramer | JTA

Police investigated bomb threats at a number of synagogues across the United States during the two days of Rosh Hashanah, as a wave of threats that have inter rupted congregations for months continued into the High Holidays.

All of the cases were ultimately deemed not credible and no incidents of violence were reported during the weekend holiday, as thousands of synagogues across the United States convened their members for multiple days of services.

Still, at a handful of congregations, services were evacuated or delayed because of the threats. That was the case, for example, at a Reform synagogue in New Jersey, where 300 congregants were told to leave the building shortly after services began on Friday night.

Jewish leaders had been on high alert because of the series of synagogue bomb threats, which began earlier this summer and which have all been deemed false. The Anti-Defamation League, an antisemitism watchdog, had reported that at least 49 threats had been made against synagogues over the previous two months across 13 states. Security organizations warned going into the holiday that although none of the previous cases were credible, all

synagogues that livestream their services so the perpetrators can watch the response in real time. That was the case at Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Millburn, New Jersey, whose livestreamed Friday night service was evacuated after a threat was received nine minutes after its scheduled start, according to a local news report. The service was suspended while congregants

evacuated and the building was cleared. ongregation Ahavat Achim, an Orthodox synagogue in nearby Fair Lawn, New Jersey, had been searched and cleared on Thursday night after receiving an anonymous call that warned of “two pipe bombs in a black backpack,” according to a local news report.

I ask everyone to please stay vigilant and look out for one another, especially during the High Holidays,” New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who is Jewish, tweeted on Saturday afternoon in response to the threats in Fairlawn and Millburn. “To those who made these antisemitic terroristic threats: You are cowards, and we will not back down.”

Threats also occurred in other states over the holiday, which began on Friday evening and ended Sunday night. Services on Sunday at the Reform Temple Beth Am of Merrick and Bellmore, on New York’s Long Island, were delayed by 30 minutes after a threat was received by email. The Conservative Congregation Beth Shalom in Santa Clarita, California, was searched and cleared while services were underway on Saturday after receiving a phoned-in threat.

“I ask that your response to this cowardice act is to show up in strength tomorrow,” Rabbi Jay Siegel told congregants in a statement on Saturday.

In upstate New York, Congregation Berith Sholom, a Reform synagogue in Troy, was

searched and cleared after receiving a threat on Sunday morning, according to a local news report; the synagogue did not hold services on the second day of the holiday and no congregants were in the building at the time. The Reform Temple Beth-El in Geneva, New York, was also searched and cleared after receiving a threat on Sunday, according to a news report, as was a church in nearby Fairport on Saturday, where Congregation Etz Hayim holds services.

Multiple congregations were affected by a threat targeting a location near two synagogues in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope. One congregation, Kolot Chayeinu, was meeting in a larger space in Downtown Brooklyn. But the other, Park Slope Jewish Center, was briefly locked down while police closed and searched a block where a caller said a black bag with pipe bombs had been placed. The executive director of Kolot Chayeinu told a community listserv on Saturday night that local police said the caller had said “they hated Jewish people” and “did not make specific reference to Kolot or any other synagogue.”

This is not the first time false bomb threats have been called into a series of Jewish institutions. More than 100 threats were called into Jewish community centers in the early months of 2017. Most of the calls, it was later discovered, came from a teen in Israel. In 2020, dozens of JCCs received a separate series of emailed bomb threats. PJC

BE OUR GUEST FOR COMMUNITY HIGH HOLY DAY SERVICES!*

TOT SERVICES

Looking for an informal, inviting way to teach your little ones about High Holy Days? Join Cantor David Reinwald and Rabbi Daniel Fellman for a fun, active service of stories, singing, and dancing for families with children ages 0–5.

Kol Nidre: Sunday, Sept. 24, 5:15 PM (Social Time starts at 5 PM) (We’ll be outside in the Bodek Rose Garden if the weather is nice.)

YOM KIPPUR SERVICES*

Monday, Sept. 25 1:30 PM Beit Midrash

• 1:30–2:30 PM Jewish Journeys with David Johnson, WPXI-TV anchor and Temple Sinai member, will talk with several congregants about their Jewish journeys.

• 2:30–3:45 PM Beit Midrash Discussions including topics on gun violence prevention, Chevra Kadisha, lessons of the Yom Kippur War, and guided meditation.

4 PM Minchah Afternoon Service

5:15 PM Yizkor and N’ilah Service

(Rabbi Emeritus Jamie Gibson will deliver the Yizkor Service sermon.)

Break Fast (a light snack to break your fast) follows N’ilah

Visit TempleSinaiPGH.org to order your Card of Admission for High Holy Day Community & Tot Services or contact Danie Oberman at (412) 421-9715 ext. 121 or Danie@TempleSinaiPGH.org.

*Donation requested. For security reasons, registration is required for all services.

p Jewish institutIons have faced a spate of bomb threats in recent weeks.

Photo by cottonbro studio via Pexels

Headlines

Thousands of Jews again flock to Uman for Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage despite wartime warnings

The U.S., Israeli and Ukrainian governments have all called it an extremely dangerous voyage into the heart of an ongoing war, JTA.org reported.

But despite the warnings, tens of thousands of Jewish men and boys traveled to Uman, Ukraine, for an annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage that pays tribute to the influential Chasidic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

Haaretz reported that 11,000 Jewish pilgrims had been counted in the small town as of Sept. 13, just as a video circulated online of a pilot joining his Chasidic passengers in song.

Each fall, the thousands of Jewish visitors — who congregate to pray and celebrate at Rabbi Nachman’s grave — overwhelm the normally sleepy city’s infrastructure, filling its streets and vacant apartment buildings. Pandemic-era travel restrictions lessened but did not stop the pilgrims in 2020 and 20221, and they showed up en masse last September for the first Rosh Hashanah since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, against the urging of Ukrainian officials.

BDS resolutions down, ‘anti-Israel events’ up on college campuses last year, ADL tally shows

The number of student governments taking up resolutions to boycott Israel dropped sharply last year, even as anti-Israel activity on college campuses nearly doubled over the previous year, according to the latest tally by the

Anti-Defamation League, JTA.org reported.

The antisemitism watchdog releases an analysis of anti-Israel activism on college campuses annually as part of its regular reporting about antisemitism across the United States.

In recent years, the group has strengthened its ties to Hillel to gather better information about what’s happening on college campuses, where Jewish and pro-Israel groups have long said they are concerned about whether Jewish students who support Israel can feel safe and included.

Overall, the ADL’s latest report says, a groundswell in activism among pro-Palestinian students has resulted in many instances when Israel was condemned or students who support Israel were harassed. During the 20222023 school year, the group documented and verified what it said were 665 anti-Israel incidents, up from 359 in the previous school year.

The results, the report concludes, point to the emergence of “a more radical activist movement that seeks to make opposition to Israel and Zionism a pillar of campus life and a precondition for full acceptance in the campus community, effectively causing the marginalization of Jewish students.”

NJ court rules in favor of woman who used social media to lobby for Jewish divorce

Advocates for Jewish women who say their estranged husbands are abusing them by refusing to assent to a religious divorce are cheering after a New Jersey appellate court overturned a ruling against a woman in that state who used social media to advocate for her divorce, JTA.org reported.

Today in Israeli History

Sept. 25, 1982 — Israelis protest massacre in Lebanon

A lower court ruled in 2021 that the woman’s social media posts constituted harassment and incitement. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey got involved in the case, joining several Orthodox women’s rights groups already working on her behalf.

The woman, identified only by her initials, LBB, in the Sept. 6, 39-page court ruling, has been separated from her husband since 2019. She says that he has refused to give her a get, or ritual divorce document.

According to Jewish law, if a husband does not give his wife a get, she becomes an “agunah,” Hebrew for “chained woman,” who is unable to divorce and, therefore, to remarry — even if the couple has already completed a civil divorce.

Nearly 50,000 Jews ascended the Temple Mount in 5783

Nearly 50,000 Jews ascended the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Hebrew year 5783, according to the Beyadenu movement, an activist group that monitors Jewish visits to Judaism’s holiest site, JNS.org reported.

About 49,000 Jews went up to the Mount compared to 51,644 last Jewish year, which was a leap year with 13 months.

During the Jewish year, 236 visitors were arrested and around 62 were banned from visiting by administrative order.

“Despite intimidations and restrictions that were increased this year by the police, tens of thousands of Jews still chose to ascend to the holiest place in Judaism,” said Beyadenu CEO Tom Nisani. “There is no doubt that without the unethical police behavior, many more would have ascended.”

Meta’s Oversight Board urges improved distinction between hate speech and criticism of hate speech

In January, a Turkish Instagram user posted part of an interview with Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, making statements in praise of Hitler and denying the Holocaust as well — and swiftly had the post removed from the social media platform, JTA.org reported.

But that wasn’t a success story for Meta’s efforts to keep hate speech off Instagram, the company’s Oversight Board has ruled. That’s because the Ye interview was accompanied by a reaction video of a reporter condemning his comments and sharing a family link to Holocaust victims.

Meta’s hate-speech detection system failed to grasp that the user was criticizing Ye, not endorsing him. So the company removed the post, accusing the user of violating its hate speech policies.

Now, the Oversight Board, an independent body tasked with reviewing Meta’s content moderation decisions, says the owner of Facebook and Instagram should improve its efforts to distinguish posts that promulgate hate from ones that aim to combat it. Too often, the board explained in a summary of its decision, human and automated moderators flag posts that are meant to educate against hate and antisemitism.

The board reiterated recommendations made in previous cases that Meta check how often its content moderators and algorithms incorrectly remove posts meant to educate about or counter hate speech. PJC

— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

Sept. 22, 2000 — Poet Yehuda

Amichai dies

Yehuda Amichai, the poet laureate of Jerusalem, dies of lymphoma at 76. Themes of war, peace and loss are prominent in his poetry, which has been translated into more than 40 languages.

Sept. 23, 2003 — Diplomat Simcha Dinitz dies

Simcha Dinitz, whose diplomatic career included serving as ambassador to the United States from 1973 to 1978, dies at 74. He helped secure an emergency airlift of U.S. weapons during the Yom Kippur War.

Sept. 24, 1996 — Rioting responds to new tunnel exit

A northern exit from the Western Wall Tunnel to the Via Dolorosa opens to the public, leading to three days of Palestinian riots. The project is seen as an expression of Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.

Some 400,000 protesters march in Tel Aviv to demand an inquiry into Israel’s role in the Christian Phalangist militia’s massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon.

Sept. 26, 1955 — Oil is found in Heletz

Oil is discovered in Heletz, a moshav founded by Yemeni immigrants in southern Israel. Holding an estimated 94.4 million barrels of oil, the field becomes the site of the state’s first successful wells.

Sept. 27, 1950 — Third Maccabiah Games open

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

Sept. 28, 1970 — Egypt’s Nasser dies

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack shortly after brokering a ceasefire between Jordan’s King Hussein and PLO leader Yasser Arafat. He had expressed openness to peace with Israel. PJC

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

p President Moshe Katsav lays a wreath on the coffin of poet Yehuda Amichai in Jerusalem on Sept. 24, 2000.

By Amos Ben Gershom, Israeli Government Press Office

p A well pumps oil at the Heletz field in 2004.

By Moshe Milner, Israeli Government Press Office

Headlines

Summit:

Continued from page 1

response — in the way we think they should be and the way the field needs them to be,” she said. “Through their lived experiences, [they] understand these issues better than any academic who studied them, or any professional who works on them, because they lived them.”

Co-Chair Mark Nordenberg, the University of Pittsburgh’s chancellor emeritus and chair of its Institute of Politics, said that many community members are committed to doing what they can to make something good come out of the shooting.

“Everybody seems to be looking to the future and saying, ‘What can we do to minimize the likelihood that this will happen to other people,’” said Nordenberg, who has worked with Ellsworth since the first summit.

The summit, he said, has proved the success of its concept. Part of that achievement can be seen in the working groups created last year to toil within various aspects of the anti-hate field, including higher education and sports.

Some of the summaries of the work done by those groups will be presented on the first day of the conference in the plenary “The Summit Responds.”

“I think that the people that come this year will see that progress has been made on a number of important fronts,” he said.

The growing influence of the summit can be seen in the outgrowth of the sports working group, which was started last year and includes Michele Rosenthal, sister of Cecil and David Rosenthal, who were murdered in

Forgiveness:

Continued from page 1

is a light fanny pack. In life, don’t we want to be those people who are just sailing through, not being bogged down by resentment and indignation?”

Forgiveness is “a gift that we give ourselves and a gift we give to others,” Altein said. “We’re able to just be at peace.”

Rodef Shalom Congregation’s Cantor Toby Glaser agreed that forgiveness is personally beneficial, and said the process trumps the outcome.

“For me, forgiveness is 100% an internal act,” he said. “I don’t see it as an interaction between two people. I think there are very often instances where it’s important to let someone know that you have forgiven them — whether you forgive them — but I see that as kind of an externalization of an internal process that has already happened.

“Ultimately,” he said, “the act of saying that you forgive someone is performative; it’s not the work, and the intention, and the emotional labor that goes into forgiving someone, which hopefully should feel like an unburdening of your soul.”

R abbi Chananel Shapiro, menahel of the Kollel Jewish Learning Center, encouraged people to approach Yom Kippur by examining the hurt they’ve experienced.

“Holding onto that grudge is affecting you as well,” he said. “Letting go allows you to really start healing.”

That process operates on multiple planes: There’s the basic level of releasing any pain,

the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. The sports working group held a convening event at the stadium of the Liverpool Football Club in Anfield, England, Ellsworth said.

“All of the Premier League teams came, Formula One came, rugby came, lawn tennis came, FIFA and a number of NGOs all came to that event,” she said.

Ellsworth said Eradicate Hate worked with the United Nations on the event.

“The lesson we learned,” he explained, “is that if you empower students by exposing them to some of the tools they might use, you might be surprised at the good they will do.”

This year, Nordenberg expects there to be 15 school districts participating, including students and faculty, totaling about 200 people at the high school summit.

There will be some changes in the Eradicate Hate Global Summit organization this

the organization because retirement wasn’t helping his golf game. In reality, Moellenberg said he was excited about working with Ellsworth, whom he knew from his time as a partner at Jones Day.

“I knew that when she gets behind an enterprise, it’s going to be a success,” he said.

The summit, he said, is the most comprehensive multidisciplinary conference in the anti-hate field.

“We are working in partnership with the United Nations, the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development], the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other organizations there,” he said. “We are working with the Christchurch Call, which is based in New Zealand and came out of that horrific massacre.”

He said he’s humbled by how much the conference has already accomplished and is looking forward to the third summit.

Ellsworth, too, is excited about the work the Eradicate Hate Global Summit continues to do.

Another convening event occurred in Boston as summit leaders teamed with Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

“The work that we have done is being woven into many other places, on a national and international level,” Ellsworth said.

A new event this year is a high school summit on Sept. 28. That event was inspired by the reaction of South Allegheny School District students who came to the summit, watched the documentary “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” and part of the “Not in our Town” PBS series, and were so motivated that they went back to their school and created an Eradicate Hate club, Nordenberg said.

year, as well.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh formerly served as the fiscal agent of the summit and provided other forms of support. The summit has now created a nonprofit corporation, Nordenberg said, receiving both state and federal tax-exempt status.

The change, he said, means that the organization can now approach foundations and philanthropists for funding and can apply for government grants.

As part of the change, Charles H. Moellenberg was named president of the new nonprofit.

“Chuck,” as many know him, said facetiously that he decided to get more involved with

“It was our dream that the summit would become the centrifugal force for the most talented people in the world,” she said. “If you look at the evolution over time and you look at the leadership of the working groups, they are working tirelessly on goals that we have identified and that no one organization could do.

“My greatest joy,” she continued, “is what is reflected in this year’s summit: hundreds of people from around the world committed in a very real way to achieve these goals together. That commonality of interest and purpose is what this was built to achieve.” PJC

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

note in the text, that person should still declare in front of 10 people that seeking forgiveness was attempted.

Dyen said she’s spent much of the past year contemplating Judaism’s stance on forgiveness.

Six weeks ago, after months of testimony, she attended the conclusion of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial. Following the jury’s decision to impose the death penalty, Dyen, a survivor of the attack, was among 22 people who read victim impact statements. Despite public testimony describing lingering trauma, loss and a quest to defy hatred, the killer refused to address, or make eye contact with, the victims and their family members.

but in a deeper sense it’s about “understanding that humans are not perfect, that we all make mistakes, and that the person who hurt you has the ability to change for the better,” Shapiro said. Doing so, enables people to “emulate Hashem’s qualities.”

On the night of Yom Kippur, at the conclusion of the Kol Nidrei prayer, three verses are excerpted from Numbers 14 and 15. The passages describe a conversation between Moses and God about the Children of Israel’s wrongdoings.

Rabbi Doris Dyen said these verses typify forgiveness.

“The Jewish approach, it seems to me, is that forgiveness is actually to repair the relationship between two parties, two people or two entities,” she said. “The assumption is that both

parties were hurt in some way.”

The Torah identifies an engagement between the Jewish people and God, and “it’s such an interesting idea that God also was hurt by what the people did, and the people were hurt possibly by what they feel God did or didn’t do,” she said.

The wrinkle, Dyen continued, is that if forgiveness is framed as repairing a relationship, what happens when one party refuses to comply?

The Shulchan Aruch, a 16th-century code of Jewish law, maintains that a person must try to seek forgiveness three times: “Each time, someone should take three people with, and if reconciliation was not achieved on the third time, the person seeking forgiveness is no longer obligated.” Even so, according to a

“That person did not show remorse, did not ask for forgiveness,” Dyen said. “Yes, you can say you understand that there might have been reasons that pushed this person to do what he did. But do I have to forgive him for what he did? I don’t think so. I don’t feel that I have to because no request was ever made that I, or anyone, any of us, in this Jewish community forgive him for what he did. We can come to understand it. We can wish peace for the family if people feel that, but the concept of forgiveness doesn’t apply here in a certain way.”

Forgiveness is about “repairing a relationship, and one side hasn’t shown the interest or concern to repair a relationship,” she said. “In the Jewish understanding of it, as I understand it, forgiveness is a two-way street, and that’s because the purpose is to repair the connection in a healthy way.” PJC

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

“The lesson we learned is that if you empower students by exposing them to some of the tools they might use, you might be surprised at the good they will do.”

–MARK NORDENBERG

p “Holding onto that grudge is affecting you as well.”

Photo by Cari Hume via Flickr

Headlines

Kunzman:

Continued from page 2

the new CEO is resting on its laurels.

“The trajectory is positive,” he said, “but there’s still work to be done. Inflation, rising costs — everything seems to be more complicated than it was pre-COVID.”

Keeping an eye on the JCC’s bottom line is Kunzman’s first priority because, he said, an organization can have the best vision, mission and aspirations but without a solid bottom line none of that matters.

The No. 2 priority, he said, is the JCC’s staff — and he is proud of his team.

“It’s our obligation to the staff, and the community to make sure that we’ve got the right people in the right places to make the trains run on time and that we’re always striving to be providing the best possible service we can,” he said.

The third challenge is to ensure that the organization is constantly in pursuit of excellence in everything it does.

“And we do a lot,” Kunzman said, “serving folks from 0 to 100. The intentionality, the rigor that is required to be excellent in everything we do — that’s hard.”

Kunzman will be at the JCC’s helm during some significant changes.

Next year, Rabbi Ron Symons, the JCC’s director of Jewish life and founder of the Center for Loving Kindness, will leave the organization. And, the 10.27 Healing Partnership, founded after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, is scheduled to wrap up operations in 2028.

The new CEO prefers to think of the transitions as opportunities.

“I have a hard time thinking about anybody that could have been a better founder of the Center for Loving Kindness,” he said. “We were blessed to have [Symons] at the time.”

Kunzman said the world has changed since the Center for Loving Kindness’ founding, though, and he expects its next evolution to mirror those changes. Symons, he said, is involved in talks about how the next chapter for the center will look.

The 10.27 Healing Partnership, Kunzman said, is focused on the five-year commemoration of the attack.

“Following the event, there’s still a lot of work to be done,” he said. “As those needs continue to ebb and flow, so will the 10.27 Healing Partnership.”

Kunzman knows he has big shoes to fill. He described Schreiber as forwardthinking and rooted in the importance of community.

“Brian has often said that growth is the only way forward, whether it’s the number of programs or experiences, the bottom line or partnerships,” Kunzman said. “What he meant by that is that growth in impact is most important. That is what I will take away as my primary learning from Brian.”

Kunzman said he is humbled to follow Schreiber.

“I look forward to the challenge of honoring his legacy, not only at the JCC but within the community as well,” he said.

Schreiber’s impact on the organization will be celebrated at the JCC’s Big Night on March 9, 2024.

One thing Kunzman won’t do in a hurry is fill his previous role. He said he’ll first take time to grow into his new position.

In the meantime, the husband of Dana, whom he calls his Jewish compass, and father of two — Seth, 19, a sophomore at Indiana University in Bloomington, and Gabby, 15, a sophomore at Pittsburgh Allderdice — will stay focused on fulfilling the JCC’s mission.

Those interested in following Kunzman’s tenure at the JCC can read his weekly blog, JCC State of Mind, on the organization’s website. PJC

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

Donald Trump wishes happy Rosh Hashanah to ‘liberal Jews who voted to destroy America and Israel’

— NATIONAL —

By Jackie Hajdenberg | JTA

Former U.S. president Donald Trump launched his latest broadside against liberal Jews — while wishing them a happy Rosh Hashanah.

“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives!” read the text of the image Trump posted Sunday night, near the end of the holiday marking the Jewish new year. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistakes and make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”

The image also included a portrait of Trump, the frontrunner for next year’s Republican presidential nomination, against the backdrop of an American flag.

That picture was followed by a list of five actions the former president took that were celebrated by many of his Jewish supporters. Those included moving the

U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; and signing an executive order that expanded the government’s ability to investigate campus antisemitism complaints, among others.

“Wake Up Sheep. What Natzi / Anti Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel?” read the text of the image, which included a number of factual and spelling errors.

It was unclear who created the image — which Trump shared without adding a caption of his own. The post concluded with a heart emoji and the apparently sardonic message, “Clearly, one of the greatest Anti Semites of our time! #Trump2020 #JEXIT.” The second hashtag refers to a campaign to persuade Jewish voters to leave the Democratic party.

Sunday’s post is not the first time Trump has suggested that liberal-leaning Jews — who make up a majority of American Jewry — are working against the country’s interests.

As president in 2019, during a meeting with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis,

Trump told reporters, “I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

Last October, Trump posted on Truth Social that Evangelicals were more appreciative of what he has done in Israel than “people of the Jewish faith.” He added, “Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!”

And in December, he took aim at “Jewish leaders” following criticism of a dinner he hosted with the Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and Kanye West, who had posted a stream of antisemitic comments.

“How quickly Jewish Leaders forgot that I was the best, by far, President for Israel,” Trump said then in an official 2024 campaign statement. “They should be ashamed of themselves. This lack of loyalty to their greatest friends and allies is why large numbers in Congress, and so many others, have stopped giving support to Israel.”

On Monday, the American Jewish

Committee condemned Trump’s statement on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Claiming that American Jews who did not vote for Mr. Trump voted to destroy America and Israel is deeply offensive and divisive,” the group wrote, urging political candidates to refrain from using incendiary rhetoric.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, also condemned Trump’s comments on Monday, accusing Trump of advancing an antisemitic stereotype that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States.

“It is dangerous and wrong to suggest an entire segment of the Jewish population voted to destroy America and Israel,” Greenblatt said. “Whether or not it’s intentional, President Trump is playing into conspiracy theories about dual loyalty here.”

Greenblatt added that although his organization supported many of the policies listed in the image Trump shared, “ADL doesn’t believe that our community needs to be lectured about how to vote.” PJC

p JCC President and CEO Jason Kunzman volunteers at an AgeWell J Cafe lunch. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

The Yom Kippur War: Reflections of a battalion physician

Columnist Itzhak Brook

The 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War occurs this year. The war was launched in 1973 in a surprise attack by Syria and Egypt on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. This war posed the most serious threat to the existence of Israel in modern history. Even though Israel was eventually able to achieve a military victory, the country paid a steep price, both in lives lost and in the citizenry’s confidence in their leaders and themselves.

I was a battalion physician during the Yom Kippur War. Like thousands of Israelis, I joined my battalion which had been assigned to supply the armored corps’ General Adan’s (Bren) Division with ammunition, fuel, water and food. These soldiers risked their lives, replenishing tanks with fuel and ammunition under enemy fire. I watched them overcome countless difficulties and perform their mission, despite constant danger, many of them paying the ultimate price. It was a daily struggle for survival, requiring resourcefulness and performance despite the constant presence of fear and anxiety.

In addition to caring for my soldiers’ physical combat wounds, I unexpectedly found out that helping them cope with fear under fire was one of the most acute and difficult problems I faced. Not only did I have to counsel my fellow soldiers, but I had to deal with my own anxiety and fear.

I had faced these issues acutely as an Israeli medical officer during the Yom Kippur War. The war broke out suddenly and unexpectedly, and within hours my reserve supply regiment was thrown into battle

Wayne’s response to the Marines in movies I had seen. I told them to be tough and strong and to go back to their duties. It did not work, as I seemed to have failed to help them.

I admitted my own fear. I told them that they were not less manly by admitting fear. Then I explained the choices they had with how to cope with their fear and left it to them to decide how to deal with this. Most of the time a short talk was enough to relieve their burden and almost all felt able to go back to their duties. A few needed some anti-anxiety medication and a handful had to be evacuated.

open to direct fire and bombardment. The psychological strain was immense. We were not used to being passive and having to absorb the blows inflicted upon us. The realization that this war could have been avoided if we had been mobilized earlier made it even more difficult. Not everything we heard over the radio was true — as we experienced firsthand how desperate our situation was. The survival of the country was in jeopardy.

Soldiers under strain came to me for counseling. Some wanted medication, others wanted to talk and a few could not cope with the pressure. I felt ill-equipped to deal with these problems. As a reserve medical officer, I was never trained to deal with battle stress. Besides, in a “macho” society as Israel was at that time, it was heresy to admit that one is experiencing fear.

My instinct and, indeed, the way I dealt with those soldiers, was to deny them the right to admit fear. I used the model of John

It gradually dawned on me that I actually shared the same feelings as these individuals. I was as frightened as they were. How could I not be? Shells were falling, airplanes were strafing us and missiles were flying in our direction. It is natural to be afraid. This was a new revelation for me to admit that, “Yes, I am afraid as well.”

Actually, fear can be your friend as long as you use it to be cautious and responsible. It also seemed to me that our adversaries were probably as afraid as we were. The outcome of this conflict between two frightened armies would be decided by who was going to perform their job despite fear.

Fear could send you running away, freeze you, or make you charge forward to eliminate the source of the fear.

I started changing my approach when I counseled my soldiers/patients. I shared with them the fact that I was also afraid as they were. “It is OK to be afraid,” I told them. I observed a relief in their faces when

I found out that not only was I able to help others by legitimizing their fear, but I was able to help myself each time I counseled a soldier. I found the method of coping with a soldiers’ fear the hard way, out of necessity. I hope that this approach can help other medical officers cope with their own and their patient/soldier anxiety and fear on the battlefield.

This war almost brought about the destruction of Israel, but for the bravery of those young and old soldiers who fought side by side. They compensated for the lack of manpower, equipment and supply with improvisation, resourcefulness, courage and determination. These ordinary people became unwilling heroes who saved Israel. This war articulated my personal definition of courage: the performance of one’s duty despite one’s fear. PJC

Dr. Itzhak Brook, MD, is a graduate of the Hebrew University School of Medicine (1968). He is a professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University and the author of the book “In the Sands of Sinai – A Physician’s Account of the Yom Kippur War.” He can be reached at ib6@ georgetown.edu. This piece first appeared in the Washington Jewish Week.

“This was such a nice day,” my husband said the evening after Yom Kippur last year.

I laughed. My husband is not Jewish. Though he had taken off work and gone to services with me, he had not fasted. Of course it had been a nice day for him!

As we headed into this year’s High Holidays, though, I thought about that moment, and my reply, and why it was perhaps too glib.

My husband and I don’t have children yet, which is to say that I’m not trying to model behavior for anyone in my home. I’m just trying to observe these particular days in a way that feels right, and he is coming along with me as I do that.

Being Jewish, and knowing Jewish history and celebrating Jewish cultures, has always been very important to me. As an adult, I’ve realized that having some connection to Judaism, as well as Jewishness, is

important to me, too. And it’s important to me that my husband understands that. But it is equally, if not more, important that he not be made to feel unwelcome in Jewish spaces because I brought him there.

This means explaining why we’re eating apples and honey and round challah. It meant, when we decided to join a synagogue, that the single most important thing about it was that he would feel welcome there. I chose the one that we

spouses and partners and whoever else were in the community.

It also means that my husband doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. I fast on Yom Kippur, and he eats (it is worth noting here that, in 2020, 46% of American Jews said they fasted for all or part of Yom Kippur. Which means that, actually, my husband is doing what most American Jews are doing, and I am not).

Separate traditions, shared ritual Everyone, and every couple, is different. But for me, the most important thing in celebrating Jewish holidays together is making sure that they are meaningful and welcoming for both of us.

did because they offered a blessing to non-Jewish family members who were in attendance for Yom Kippur services, and because this was done in a way that didn’t feel like they were ticking a box or rolling their eyes, but stressing how welcome these

The day is something different for me than it is for him. I fast because I find it useful. To me, it helps set Yom Kippur apart. It encourages reflection. It makes me feel connected, somehow. He doesn’t fast — as a diabetic, he explained, it would be very hard and dangerous to not eat all day. But we both attend services. “It’s important to understand the specific dynamics of your faith and what practice actually looks like,” he told me when I asked why he does this. “And I find the actual ceremony interesting.”

And that is, to me, part of what makes the season meaningful. That we are experiencing it separately, for our own

Please see Tamkin, page 13

Fear could send you running away, freeze you, or make you charge forward to eliminate the source of the fear.

My non-Jewish husband doesn’t fast for Yom Kippur. We spend the day in shul together anyway

Guest Columnist

Emily Tamkin

The High Holidays are, or can be, about carving out a little piece where you can take that time, that space. They’re a time of reflection and resolve.

Chronicle poll results: Apologizing during High Holidays

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Is it your High Holiday custom to approach friends and family to apologize for hurt you have caused?” Of the 169 people who responded, 56% said, “No”; 39% said, “Yes, in person and individually”; and 5% said, “Yes, en masse on social media.” Comments were submitted by 24 people. A few follow.

I did apologize for my past to some people. It was a good thing to do. It made a huge difference.

I feel it’s disingenuous. I endeavor to do better year-round not just now.

I apologize throughout the year. I make three attempts.

Since I do not see my friends very often,

Tamkin:

Continued from page 14

reasons, and also together.

And when I really sit and think about why my response last year was glib, it is this: The thing that was especially meaningful for me was that we were observing the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one together.

To put it another way, it’s my new year. But it’s a new day in our lives together. It would be OK if he weren’t there, or didn’t feel like going. But it’s nice that he’s there.

“We are stubborn,” we read in the Yom Kippur confession. Last year, my husband pointed at the words on the page and smiled (I am very stubborn). And that — the gentle reminder from my husband that he was there, and paying attention, and that this day has relevance to our lives, is one of the things that I remember most fondly.

Is it your High Holiday custom to approach friends and family to apologize for hurt you have caused?

I do a hybrid of face-to-face and in-person. I always feel better for making the apologies, even though it is probably the most awkward thing I do every year.

It’s not easy but always good.

I don’t wait for once a year. I apologize, if necessary, as soon as possible.

This past year I didn’t cause any hurt, thankfully.

This need to apologize does occur on the High Holidays, but it is also a part of my daily life. If I am aware that I have inadvertently hurt someone, I will go out of my way to express my regret for my actions. I believe that treating others with respect matters — and that I have the moral responsibility to be accountable for my actions.

I am very careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings all year, therefore I never have to apologize for anything. If I can’t say something nice to someone, I don’t say anything at all.

It requires one’s ego to be squashed, but it’s necessary. PJC

— Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Jews are heading into a new year. But our families are heading into a new season with us, too. We’re experiencing time and its passage together. And we’re taking a moment to pause and to look back on what was, promising to try to be good to yourselves and to each other.

It’s hard, sometimes, to manage a moment to do that. The High Holidays are, or can be, about carving out a little piece where you can take that time, that space. They’re a time of reflection and resolve. And that belongs to a relationship as much as it does to a religion.

All of which is to say that my husband was right. It was a nice day. PJC

Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist. She is the author of “The Influence of Soros and Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities.” This story originally appeared in the Forward. To get the Forward’s free email newsletters delivered to your inbox, go to forward.com/ newsletter-signup.

Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle Poetry Contest

Our readers are invited to submit poems to the Chronicle’s Poetry Contest. Winning entries will be published in our Oct. 6 issue. The theme is “harvest.”

Three winners will each receive a $54 gift card to Pinsker’s Books and Judaica, supplied by an anonymous donor. All submissions must be received no later than Sept. 22.

Guidelines:

Poems must be submitted to newsdesk@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Please type “Poetry Contest” in the subject line. The poem must be in a Microsoft Word file. No PDFs or handwritten entries will be accepted.

• One submission per author.

• Must include the author’s name, address, phone number and email address.

• Poem should reflect the theme of harvest.

• Unpublished poems only. PJC

Chronicle weekly poll question: The U.S. just released $6 billion and five Iranians held in the U.S. in exchange for five Americans held in Iran. Do you think that this was the right thing to do? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

There must be consequences for Abbas’ antisemitic rhetoric

Your Sept. 8 news article “Mahmoud Abbas peddles falsehoods about the Holocaust” (online) reported the latest antisemitic speech by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in which he justified the Holocaust on the grounds that Hitler “fought [the Jews] because of their social role, and not their religion ... their role in society, which had to do with usury, money, and so on.”

Your article noted that Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, demanded “an immediate apology” from Abbas. But instead of apologizing, Abbas doubled down. His official spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, defended Abbas’ anti-Jewish tirade, claiming it “was a quotation from writings of Jewish, American and other historians and authors.” (He did not name any of those alleged historians or authors.)

Abbas’ spokesman also dismissed all criticism of his antisemitism: “We express our strong condemnation and outrage at this frenzied campaign for just quoting academic and historical quotations,” Abu Rudeineh said in Abbas’ name.

This is not the first time Abbas has made remarks justifying or denying the Holocaust or slandering the Jewish people in other ways. Each time, various statesmen have condemned the remarks and called for an apology. But when Abbas refuses to apologize, there are never any consequences. Unless Abbas realizes that there is a price to pay for antisemitism, he will never have an incentive to desist. I suggest steps such as these:

• American Jewish and Zionist organizations should announce that they will no longer meet with any representatives of the Palestinian Authority.

• American and European cities that have “twin city” partnerships with PA cities should suspend those relationships.

• The Biden administration should stop paying the PA’s bills. The U.S. is giving the Palestinian Arabs $650 million this year. U.S. law prevents the money from going directly to the PA (so long as the PA pays salaries to terrorists), so the funds are sent to non-government projects that the PA would otherwise pay for — in effect, the Biden administration is paying the PA’s bills. That should stop.

Stephen M. Flatow New York, New York

Correction

In the cookie recipe appearing in our Sept. 15 issue (“Adding some spice to honey cookies”), two ingredients were inadvertently omitted. The recipe should include 2 eggs and 6 tablespoons of oil. We regret the error. PJC

Life & Culture

Cinnamon rolls with vanilla glaze

—

FOOD —

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

Homemade cinnamon rolls are made with run-of-the-mill ingredients, but the flavor is incredibly decadent, and these have become a special treat for my loved ones and me.

It took me years to get the result that I was looking for — a pastry dough that is strong but soft, a filling that is not dry and stays in place while baking, and a light vanilla sugar glaze that isn’t too sweet or too runny. One of the reasons that I love cinnamon rolls is that they just get better the closer you get to the center — and the flavor in the center of this roll is divine. The cinnamon filling seeps out a little and bakes into the bottom of the dish, creating little pieces of chewy sugar that remind me of toffee. Real butter is used in every step, and you can be sure that this recipe will taste better than anything that you can get from a fine bakery.

I have a lot of dairy recipes that can be made pareve. This is not one of those recipes — enjoy it as is with real milk and butter. I suggest letting your stand mixer do the work and knead the dough with a bread hook because milk doughs are sticky to knead by hand.

I failed many times trying recipes for cinnamon rolls. The dough often came out dry, but I found that using bread flour as opposed to all-purpose flour made all the difference.

Although there are a few different steps, this is a fairly easy recipe.

Cinnamon rolls with vanilla glaze

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2¾ cup bread flour

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons (¼ cup) melted butter

1 packet of yeast (2¼ teaspoons)

1 large egg at room temperature

For the filling:

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup gently packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted before measuring

2 tablespoons whole milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

To prepare the dough, place the flour, sugar and salt in a mixer bowl and whisk it together.

Attach a dough hook to the mixer.

Measure the milk and butter into a medium-sized saucepan and warm the milk to 105 F. If you don’t have a thermometer, keep in mind that you want it to be warm but not boiling, so be careful not to scald the milk.

Take the pot from the heat and stir in the yeast.

Let it rest for 3-5 minutes before turning the mixer to low and adding the hot milk to the flour. You can use a rubber spatula to clean the milk pan and get any bits of yeast from the pan into the mixing bowl.

Turn the mixer setting to low and when the milk and flour are about half combined, add 1 egg. Continue to mix for 3-5 minutes or until well combined. This is a sticky dough to handle, but it will form into a ball. Do not add any extra flour.

I drizzle about a teaspoon of cooking oil over the top of the dough and use a big spoon to turn the ball of dough in the bowl a few times so that the oil covers the surface of all sides.

Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes.

While the dough is resting, melt the butter for the filling and add it to the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt, giving

the ingredients a good stir so that they are well combined.

I roll out the dough on a marble pastry board or a very clean countertop. The oil that was added at the end to the dough should be enough to make the dough easy to work with. If it seems very sticky, you can put about a teaspoon of oil onto your surface, spread it out with your hands, then place down the dough.

Use a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle, about 10-inches-by-16 inches. You won’t get a perfect rectangle — just roll it out as well as you can.

Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly over the dough.

Start turning the dough in on the longer side and roll it by hand as tightly as you can; pinch the ends to keep any extra cinnamon-sugar from escaping out the sides.

Use the sharpest knife in your drawer to cut 10 to 12 evenly-sized pieces.

Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate or a deep square baking dish.

Arrange the pieces in the dish. You can leave a bit of space between the rolls because they need room to expand. If the pieces seem a bit loose or floppy, don’t be concerned because it will all come out in the end.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise for 60 minutes or until they double in size. If you let the dough rise on top of a warm oven, be sure to turn the dish a quarter-turn every 15 minutes so that the pieces rise evenly.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F. I find that they bake best if the rack is in the middle of the oven.

Remove the rolls after 1 hour or when the internal temperature hits 195 F. Overbaking can cause dryness, so watch them carefully toward the end.

While the rolls are baking, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter and milk until nicely combined, then add in the vanilla and salt and whisk the ingredients a few more times.

A crust will appear on this glaze after sitting on the counter for a few minutes. Just give it a good stir right before you add it to the warm cinnamon rolls.

Let the rolls cool for 10-15 minutes after removing them from the oven, then use a spoon or spatula to cover the tops with the glaze. Allow the glaze to seep in for 10 minutes.

Use a knife to gently cut around and remove each roll.

You can serve these warm, but cover them with plastic wrap once they are completely cooled to keep the dough from getting dry.

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

p Cinnamon rolls with vanilla glaze

Photo by Jessica Grann

The cinnamon filling seeps out a little and bakes into the bottom of the dish, creating little pieces of chewy sugar that remind me of toffee.

Yom Kippur High Holidays of Hope

Reconciliation:

Pittsburgh Community Leader Leon Ford and Former Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert in Conversation about Moving Beyond Past Offenses and Building Relationships

Monday, September 25 • 3-4:15 pm

Levinson Hall • JCC Squirrel Hill

On this most special of days, join us in conversa�on with Leon Ford and Former Pi�sburgh Chief of Police Sco� Schubert in a conversa�on about reconcilia�on.

11 years ago, Leon Ford was shot five �mes by the Pi�sburgh police, paralyzed from the waist down as a result of mistaken iden�ty. Ford’s en�re life changed in an instant.

A�er years of reckoning and learning to transform pain and anger into healing, Ford and Schubert have nurtured a loving rela�onship commi�ed to reconcilia�on.

Join us to witness their conversa�on in celebra�on of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The event includes a contemporary Yizkor (Memorial) Service for all of our losses.

Learn more and RSVP: jccpgh.org/event/high-holidays

For info: rsymons@jccpgh.org

Photo: Former Police Chief Sco� Schubert and Leon Ford

Photo courtesy The HEAR Founda�on

Life of Jewish dancer Florence Waren documented in new work for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

improvised when choreographing the work.

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

Jennifer Archibald believes Florence Waren’s story transcends the Jewish community.

Waren was a Jewish dancer who lived in Paris and worked with the French Resistance during World War II.

Archibald, a graduate of the Alvin Ailey School and Maggie Flanigan Acting Conservatory, is the founder and artistic director of the Arch Dance Company and the program director of ArchCore40 Dance Intensives. She has choreographed for the Ailey II, as well as ballets in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Memphis, Kansas City, Tulsa, Nashville and Grand Rapids, and has worked with Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and MAC Cosmetics.

“There are so many communities that have suffered,” Archibald said. “I think we are honoring a woman that has been brave and has had resilience and has shown loyalty and has been hopeful through all her risk-taking decisions. I think watching that happen on stage should give people hope. She was definitely a light for a lot of people.”

“Sounds of the Sun,” about Waren, will premiere as part of “Light in the Dark,” the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s season opener, Oct. 27-29.

Archibald was always interested in documentary ballet, so when the PBT approached her

“A lot of the stories in ballet lie in fantasy,” she said. “I thought if I could create something that brought a sense of real life to the stage, you can make sure that all of the audience members sitting there could relate. … If you can see yourself on stage, which is clearly something happening in this story, it is exciting and memorable.”

Archibald is invested in more than the onstage movement of the work, though.

She pieced together a score that includes different music — including classical — and a Jewish composer who specializes in percussion.

The score will include the voice of Waren, which Archibald was able to find in a documentary made by the dancer’s son.

“It’s really like going through a memory,” she

gives a real strength of being there with her.”

Archibald has worked on the project for the last eight months. She said that working in the documentary format requires more time than a typical piece. Part of that time was spent trying to find information about Waren, which wasn’t easy. Google didn’t have much to go by, so Archibald searched for family members. She was able to contact a granddaughter who sent her the documentary she used for the work.

The choreographer said that spending so much time preparing for the work gave her the type of bodily energy similar to what actors experience when readying for a role. It was important, she said, to put herself into Florence Waren’s body.

Once the preparation was complete, Archibald

“I choreograph on the spot,” she said. “As long as the concept is alive and full on my body before I even came here, then it’s just me living in the moment. By the time you get ere, you can be very clear on how you direct and how you cue and what emotion needs to appen here when you’re looking this way or that.”

The movements she choreographs draw on her training in street dancing, ballet and modern dancing — blending genres and aesthetics seamlessly.

Archibald sees herself as a storyteller committed to showing an emotional arc from beginning to end. She said it’s important when working in documentary ballet to ensure the integrity behind the work is solid. All of this can be emotionally draining, but it’s worth it in the end.

“You’ve got to be completely present for 30 minutes and the score has to be there, the story has to be linear, then you’ve got the movement,” she said. “As long as everything is in context, then I am emotionally alive when I go into the space, and everything falls into place. That’s how I coach the dancers, as well.”

“Sound of the Sun,” Archibald said, has relevance because of its subject.

“Honoring a woman that moves through life with bravery and integrity is something that needs to be celebrated,” she said. PJC

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

Crafting strategies that allow you to keep more of your assets during your lifetime;

Exploring the many payment options for disa bility and longterm care services;

Designing instruments that protect your assets from Medicaid spend-down requirements;

Ensuring that your affairs will be handled the way you want if you experience a serious injury or illness; and

Administering your estate to ensure proper distribution of your assets while minimizing any taxes owed.

We help families understand the strategies, the benefits, and the risks involved with elder law, disability law

p Dancers rehearse Jennifer Archibald’s “Sounds of the Sun” for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s season opening.

Photo by David Rullo

Life & Culture

Andy Samberg plays a famous Jewish WWII photographer in upcoming biopic

—

FILM —

By Jackie Hajdenberg | JTA

Ahistoric wartime photography partnership from the 1940s — often credited as the first to capture many of the horrors of the Holocaust — is getting the Hollywood treatment.

Kate Winslet stars in “Lee” as model-turned-wartime-photojournalist Lee Miller, who often worked alongside David E. Scherman, a Jewish photographer portrayed in the film by Jewish actor and comedian Andy Samberg. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday.

Miller, then employed by Condé Nast, and Scherman, employed by LIFE Magazine, were among the first to enter the city of Nuremberg, the Dachau concentration camp and Berchtesgaden, where the Nazi Party had its “Eagle’s Nest” fortified alpine retreat. They also covered the D-Day invasion of Europe, the first battles on the beaches of Normandy and the liberation of Paris in 1944.

While on assignment, Scherman survived two small plane crashes. His first near-death experience in wartime came in April 1941, before the United States had entered the war. Scherman was headed to Cape Town when his ship was shelled by a German warship disguised as a merchant vessel. Scherman’s photographs of the warship, smuggled back to the United States in tubes of toothpaste and shaving cream, were published in LIFE and later used by the British navy to identify the boat and sink it.

towel on the floor. The concentration camp had been liberated the day before.

“She understood the meaning of being able to stomp her dirt and mud-laden boots on Hitler’s prissy bath mat — it was the mud of Dachau, which she had just seen and witnessed,” Ellen Kuras, the cinematographer who worked on “Lee,” told Vanity Fair. “Lee Miller had a great sense of irony. Even though we may not have seen that

explained. “Why? Because Scherman was Jewish and that morning they had been in a very different type of shower room,

one that was disguised as such, but was in fact a gas chamber. There are thousands of words in those two pictures.” PJC

Scherman was also one of the first photographers to enter Munich during the war, where he discovered Hitler’s home, the location of which was not yet known to Allies, according to his obituary in The New York Times. It was there that he and Miller took some of the most iconic photographs from their creative partnership — most notably of Miller in Hitler’s bathtub, coincidentally snapped on the day of Hitler’s suicide in Berlin. In the series of photographs, a portrait of Hitler sits on the tub to her left, and her boots, still dusty from the duo’s visit to Dachau earlier that morning, dirty up the

in photographs, we wanted to be able to capture that.”

When Miller finished posing, Scherman took her place and Miller took the camera, her son Antony Penrose told the Jewish News ahead of an exhibition about her photography in 2015. (Penrose also wrote “The Lives of Lee Miller,” the book upon which the screenplay for “Lee” was based, and he appears in the film as an extra.)

“Now if you were to see the photo of Scherman, Lee tilts up to fully include the shower head prominently,” Penrose

p From left: Jewish actor and comedian Andy Samberg portrays World War II photographer David E. Scherman in the biographical film “Lee.”

Images courtesy of Rich Polk via Getty Images for IMDb and Wikimedia

“Lee Miller had a great sense of irony. Even though we may not have seen that in photographs, we wanted to be able to capture that.”

– ELLEN KURAS

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“You shall die on the mountain that you are about to ascend” (Deuteronomy 32:50), God tells Moses at the end of this week’s Torah portion — news Moses does not take sitting down. And who could blame him for seeking to thwart this heavenly decree? According to Midrashic tradition, Moses offered 515 prayers that God might change God’s mind (Devarim Rabbah, 11:10). He enumerated his many virtues and acts on behalf of the Israelites despite his transgressions in hopes that God would relent (Midrash Tanchuma Va’etchanan, 6). He even rebuked and then hid from the angel of death when the time came (Sifrei Devarim 305). Moses sought to defy God in his final act, according to rabbinic tradition, despite being the greatest prophet who ever lived (Deuteronomy 34:10). Or maybe because of it.

During this sacred season of the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, we read one of the most challenging texts in all of Jewish tradition: “On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on the Fast of Yom Kippur it is sealed — how many will pass from this world and how many will be born, who will live and who will die, who will reach the ripeness of age and who will be taken before their time.” In a world where we know far too many are taken before their time, in natural disasters and in acts of violence caused by malicious human will rather than God’s, how can we possibly understand these ancient words?

Some argue that we can’t, that we are not meant to, that ultimately our fate is in God’s hands. If you find that theology is comforting, I encourage you to embrace it and read no further, because I would propose a different meaning entirely. Remember, Moses didn’t accept his heavenly decree. As he had done for the Israelites, the rabbis imagine Moses pleading, interceding, and acting on his own behalf when confronted with the possibility of his mortality. He didn’t take it sitting down, and I believe

“It is not the death of sinners You seek,” the prophet Ezekiel tells us, “but that they turn from their wicked ways and live” (33:11). This aspect of God’s mercy Moses knew well, for he had to appeal to it time and again on behalf of the Israelite people. “Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own,” Moses pleads after the creation of the Golden Calf and the destruction of the first set of Tablets; “God (you are) endlessly patient, loving and true ... forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin” (Exodus 34:6-9). He used these same words to appeal to God on behalf of the people following the Sin of the Spies (Numbers 14), and he tried a similar tact after Korach’s rebellion (Numbers 16). The Israelites sin, Moses intercedes and God relents, our text teaches us. Given his track record of success, it’s less surprising that he would try again when confronted with his own mortality.

this troubling text should be read metaphorically to remind us that neither should we.

We simply don’t know how many years we will have on Earth. Some will have an astonishing longevity of years as they transcend risky life choices; for others, we will cry voluminous tears as we are reminded that bad things happen to good people far too often. We don’t know who will live and who will die. Though we don’t know when our time on Earth will end, being confronted with the fact that it will reminds us to make the most of each moment — just as Moses our teacher did. PJC

Rabbi Aaron Meyer is the senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel of South Hills. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association.

Rabbi Aaron Meyer Parshat Ha’azinu Deuteronomy 32:1–52

In a world where we know far too many are taken before their time, in natural disasters and in acts of violence caused by malicious human will rather than God’s, how can we possibly understand these ancient words?

Obituaries

BLUESTONE: MaryLou Bluestone, Sept. 13, 2023, at age 92, of Pittsburgh. Loving wife to the late Alexander Bluestone. Cherished daughter of the late Mary Miller Leipold and dear niece to (Lloyd) Henry and Margaret Lighthiser. She was the special cousin of the late Joseph H. Miller and friend to surviving wife Helen A. Miller. She is also survived by many cousins: Janet DiGnazio, Diane Miller, Joey McCafferty, Susan Miller and more. Affectionately called “Fairy Godmother” to Frank DiGnazio, Nicole DiGnazio, Jessica Grimmer and Maureen Biesinger. MaryLou began her career at Kaufmann’s downtown office and later worked at the law office of her husband Al. Together they enjoyed travel, attended the opera and Pirates games. MaryLou was an avid reader and expert at decorating and fashion. She was skilled at knitting blankets for family and babies at Children’s Hospital. Mare enjoyed a good celebration with family and friends, always willing to add her special touch. She will be fondly remembered for her charitable generosity, love of babies and animals, sassy humor and a colorful, fun personality. Special thanks to caregivers Lynn, Joyce, Willa and Adrienne. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to any pet shelter; Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213; or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105. schugar.com

Sandra (Sandie) G. Brand passed away peacefully on Sept. 10, 2023, surrounded by her loving family. With her deep commitment to family and passion for life, Sandie lived to the fullest. Whether you bumped into her at the opera, on the tennis court or at the bridge table, you could count on Sandie for the most engaging conversation. Earlier in life, she graduated from Penn State University where she learned to play bridge. An ardent player from then on, Sandie became an esteemed Ruby Life Master, only a few points shy of Gold after her last tournament. She became a medical technologist, worked for JDRF and held numerous volunteer leadership positions, including membership chair at Rodef Shalom where she made lifelong friends. As a wife, Sandie found comfort and happiness in her husband’s sense of humor, his support and their shared love of travel. They explored picturesque landscapes across the country and fascinating places around the world. She was a fierce advocate and pillar of support for her children and for countless friends and family members who already miss her dearly. Known as Grandmama to her beloved grandchildren, Sandie’s greatest joys were watching them swim, develop their passions and eat Hershey’s (smoochie) Kisses from her purse. The world has lost an irreplaceable woman who will be remembered for her zest for life, her thoughtful handwritten letters on monogrammed stationery and her effortless, unfailing love for those she held dear. Sandie is survived by her husband, Robert N. Brand; her daughter, Heidi Spear; her son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Christy Spear, and their children Elijah, Eve and Ethan Spear; her sister Jeannie Gurgon; and her niece Megan (Jim) Simpson, and their children Ben, Eri and Alex. Sandie also is survived by Laura Brand, Adam Weene (husband), their children Max, Zoe and Eli Weene; Leigh and Elizabeth Brand, Gus and Lily Lehmuller, George and Caroline Brand. Services were held at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc, family owned and operated. schugar.com

COHEN: Eugene R. (“Huey”) Cohen, beloved husband of Dorene Binstock Cohen, passed away peacefully on Sept. 17. Huey was born in Pittsburgh on Aug. 31, 1929, to John C. and Cecelia Feldman Cohen. He attended many schools throughout the East End of Pittsburgh and graduated from Riverview Academy in Georgia. Huey proudly served in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army in the accounting department, in Trieste, Italy. It was during his service that he became a pilot, sparking a lifelong love of flying planes. In his later years he reveled in the kindness of strangers when they acknowledged the 101st Airborne baseball cap he was rarely seen without. After years of being a jack-of-many-trades (working in the steel mills and J.A. Williams Department Store, to name a few), Huey and Dorene became the owners of a successful furniture store called Furniture World in North Versailles. Located across the street from the wildly popular East Land shopping center, Furniture World became a household name. Huey was cherished by his three children — Jeffrey Cohen, Cathy (Steve) Frank and Brian (Lori) Cohen. He was the adored Papa of Jason (Miriam) Frank, Hannah Frank,

Please see Obituaries, page 20

Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following: A gift from ... In memory of...

Ronna & Harry Back Ethel Shaffer Pariser

Reggie Bardin .Bernard Hoddeson

Lynne Gottesman & Debra Ritt .Louis Wesoky

Joan G Israel Sylvan J Israel

Jerrie Johnson Leslie Lou Mullen

Amy R Kamin .Sarah Deborah Kamin

Aaron Krouse .Selma Krouse

Marilyn S Latterman .Earl Latterman

Robert & Judi Miller Harold Benjamin Cramer

Robert & Judi Miller .Isreal Miller

Rona Mustin Bessie Ruth Roth

Ellen Pearlstein David Pearlstein

Ellen Pearlstein .Jeannette Pearlstein

Dorothy Samitz Miriam Wald Steerman

Judith Shadden Torrance .Flora May Kahn Shadden

Selma P Ryave .Esther Y Podolsky

Selma P Ryave .Irving Leonard Podolsky

Sunday September 24: Max Berezin, Florence F Blass, Ida K Borovetz, Henry Browarsky, Michael

H Cohen, Ruth Geduldig, Donald L Klein, Hyman Leipzig, Leonard Levine, Marie Morris, Sarah Finkel

Moses, Samuel A Myers, Beile Levinson Ofshinski, Ethel Shaffer Pariser, Esther Y Podolsky, Abraham

I Rose, Jessie Ruben, Harry Shapiro, Abe Sobel

Monday September 25: Louis Alpert, Eugene Brown, Louis Chotiner, Morris Cohenn, Fannie Coon, Ida Goldberg, Anna Halpern, Isaac Halpern, Eugene Rosen, Sylvia Rosenzweig, Alex Sherman, Freda

Spokane, Minna B Trellis

Tuesday September 26: Charles Bahm, Herman Goldman, Ben A Herman, Bernard Hoddeson, Jacob Jacobs, Ise Kramer, Frieda Miller, Benjamin Mossoff, Florence Rubin, Arnold Sommer

Wednesday September 27: Max Danovitz, Max Dobkin, Hyman J Dobkin, Ruth P Kamin, Sarah Kamin, Herman Lang, Mollie Levine, Rose Levine, Max C Levy, Ruth O Martin, Ida Osgood, Irving Leonard Podolsky, Estelle L Schaeffer, Samuel Siegal, Alfred Supowitz, Rebecca Cody Zeff

Thursday September 28: Mollie Brand Amsel, Ruth Haltman Caplan, Gerald C Davidson, Thekla Zimmern Gordon, Esther Mandell, Samuel Maryn, Michael Sattler, Morris Saxen, Jeanette Schutzman, Harry T Weiner

Friday September 29: Joseph Bowytz, Freda K Unikel Bregman, Leah Breman, Dora Brody, Sadie Colton, Bess R Escott, Laura Fletcher, Helen Goldfeder, Leana M Herman, Earl Latterman, Harold Martin Lewis, Ben Markowitz, Celia Miller, Mollie Osgood, Dr Gerald L Ostfield, Elizabeth L Ostfield, M .D , Eleanor W Pettler, Israel Raphael, Clarence Rosenberg, Bessie Ruth Roth, Albert Solomon, Henry Ziskind

Saturday September 30: Beatrice Ash, Jacob Bennett, Max M Bergad, Morris R Cohn, Max Dine, Harry Dorsey, Jacob Florman, Bess Hansell, Millie Kanowitz, Morris Kempler, Selma Krouse, Pvt Isadore Levy, Ernest Mannheimer, Katie Levine Marcus, Anna Mazer, Bella Olinsky, Esther Simon, Max Staman, Anna Stein, Nathaniel Steinberg, Barbara Ruth Weisenberg, Louis Wesoky, Louis Aaron White, Milton Wirtzman

In the rising of the sun and its going down, We Remember em.

In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter, We Remember em.

In the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring. We Remember em.

In the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer, We Remember em.

In the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn. We Remember em.

In the beginning of the year and when it ends, We Remember em.

When we are weary and in need of strength, We Remember em.

When we are lost and sick of heart, We Remember em.

When we have joys and special celebrations we yearn to share, We Remember em. So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are part of us. We Remember em.

Obituaries

Obituaries:

Rebecca (Jonathan) Holder, Jessica (Benjamin) Simon, Amanda (Matthew) Hymansmith, Zephyr (Bruce-Robert) Salz, Katherine (Gil) Salz and Aaron Salz. He is the great-grandfather of Mari and Hazel Hymansmith. A lifetime lover of learning, Huey will be remembered for his gentle heart and adventurous spirit. He was quick with a smile, witty comment or joke. His family lovingly referred to him as “the bear,” partner to the “the bird,” his wife Dorene of over 69 years. Graveside services were held at Poale Zedeck Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorial gifts may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 2835 E Carson St Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com

FISHER: Maxine L. Fisher, on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Beloved wife of 48 years to Dr. Stephen Fisher; and former spouse of Robert Ginns. Maxine is survived by a daughter, Lauren Adilev; a granddaughter, Meira; and grandson, Naphtali, all of Jerusalem, Israel. She was predeceased by her son, David Ginns (Lorraine Smith). Mother-in-law of Mitchell B. Cohen. Sister of Thomas (Jane) Lundy. Sister-in-law of Jay (Lisa) Fisher. Also survived by nieces and nephews. Maxine was a longtime member of Rodef Shalom Congregation and served on the board of its Sisterhood. She was an avid mahjong player. Maxine was an addiction medicine counselor with a degree in counseling from Duquesne University. She was gifted with a broad understanding and ability to see the best in everybody. Services were held at Rodef Shalom Congregation. Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated for more than a century. schugar.com

ORLANSKY: Herbert Daniel Orlansky, age 94, of Squirrel Hill, passed away Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. Herb is survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Jacqueline; adoring children Alan Orlansky and Jill (Michael) Machen; treasured grandchildren Lindsay Machen (Michael Abendroth), Jennifer (Ezra) Simons, and most precious great-granddaughter Jackie Ann. Born in Pittsburgh to parents Louis and Elizabeth (Betty) Orlansky, Herb was a proud University of Pittsburgh graduate. He was a partner in Murdoch Pharmacy, and eventually opened the first Giant Eagle Pharmacy. Herb will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Graveside services were held at Beth Shalom Cemetery, 1501 Anderson Road, 15209, on Monday, Sept. 18. Contributions may be made to Hillman Cancer Center, Canterbury Family Hospice, Ahava, or the Crohns Foundation. Professional services trusted to D’alessandro Funeral Home & Crematory, Ltd., Lawrenceville. dalessandroltd.com.

For as long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as, We Remember em.

Lee & Lisa

Oleinick

SYMONS: Diane Ruth Symons, of Williamsville, New York, on Sept. 16, 2023. Diane was born on Sept. 14, 1938, to Samuel and Blanche Subotnick. The widow of Gerald Symons (d. 2017), Diane is survived by her son Dr. Andrew Symons, daughter-in-law Einav, and grandchildren Gilad (Tampa, Florida) and Shira of Buffalo, New York; her son Rabbi Ron Symons, daughter-in-law Rabbi Barbara Symons of Pittsburgh, and grandchildren, Aviva (Oakland, California), Ilana (New York, New York), and Micah (New York, New York); her sister Lois Resnick, brother-in-law David, and nieces Beth and Stefanie of New City, New York; her sister-in-Law Flora Steigman of Chicago, Illinois; her sisterin-law Laura Epstein and brother-in-law Alvin Epstein of Rockville Centre, New York, and Boca Raton, Florida; along with nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews and very close friends across the country. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Diane raised her family in Lynbrook, New York, and retired to Buffalo, New York. As a schoolteacher in NYC public schools, a weight loss advisor, a corporate secretary, a retail salesperson, and the owner of Walls ‘n Windows (Valley Stream, New York), Diane educated, organized, motivated and brought interior design excellence to the community. As a leader of Temple Emanu-El (Lynbrook, New York), Diane guided her peers, educated the next generation, and helped those in need. A skilled cook with a green thumb, Diane, with Jerry at her side, opened their home to friends, family and community alike. Funeral services were held in West Babylon, New York on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Andrew and Einav will be having a period of mourning on Thursday at 31 Pino Verde Dr. Williamsville, New York, from 3-8:30 p.m. The family requests that your donations in Diane’s memory go to Congregation Shir Shalom, 4660 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221 C/O the Rabbi’s Mitzvah Fund. Family guestbook available at Amherstmemorialchapel.com. Arrangements under the direction of Amherst Memorial Chapel LLC., (716)-636-4174. PJC

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p Hank Greenberg scores after hitting a home run to give the Detroit Tigers a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 10, 1934.

Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Bench restoration leaves no stone unturned

Twenty years after a mosaic bench was dedicated to mark friendships between the Pittsburgh and the Israeli Karmiel/Misgav communities, members of the original group returned to Squirrel Hill to restore the seat outside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Robinson building.

The clock is ticking

Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh’s high school girls cross-country team competed in the 21st Annual Red, White & Blue Classic. The 5,000-meter event welcomed teams from Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League’s Class 1A.

School starts with pizza and a climb

After the first day of Torah Center at Temple Emanuel of South Hills, students enjoyed a pizza lunch and headed to Altitude Trampoline Park for an afternoon of fun.

Starting school with a smile

Seasonal sweet treat

Community

p Hillel Academy coaches and athletes gather on Sept. 9 at White Oak Park. Photo by Kira Sunshine

p Positive attitude at Altitude

Photo courtesy of Temple Emanuel of South Hills

p Rachel Marcus, past associate executive director at the JCC; Sherree Hall, JCC’s senior director of facilities and wellness; and Julie Farber, the artist who led the creation, design and restoration of the bench Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

p Mendel Rosenfeld, Dov Saul, Shaya Greenberg and Mendel Markel enjoy a laugh before the start of school. Photo courtesy of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh

p Shana tova u’metuka: Have a happy sweet new year. Photo courtesy of Community Day School

Day School students enjoyed apples and honey.

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