Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 9-29-23

September 29, 2023 | 14 Tishrei 5784

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Lessons of Sukkot shared by White Pittsburgh’s clergy and educators supremacist Hardy Lloyd pleads guilty

NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Instruments of liberation

Pittsburgh Jewish Music festival presents Violins of Hope concert LOCAL

Candlelighting 6:48 p.m. | Havdalah 7:43 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 39 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

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Israeli teens strengthen Diaspora relations

 J-JEP students collected 300 cornstalks for the sukkah at Rodef Shalom Congregation last year Photo courtesy of Rabbi Larry Freedman

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Bnot Sherut arrive in Pittsburgh LOCAL

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The Galitzianers of Canonsburg

A fascinating history of a Jewish community Page 7

T

he confounding crash of emotions experienced each Tishrei will continue as Jews quickly move from Yom Kippur to Sukkot. Five days after seeking forgiveness and entreating divine mercy, celebrants will transport to festively decorated temporary dwellings, joyously shake palm branches and enjoy the aromatic pleasure of etrogs.

Rabbi Amy Bardack of Congregation Dor Hadash has long appreciated the shifting spaces and mindsets.

“What always strikes me is the contrast,” she said.

Yom Kippur is an “inward-focused holiday,” where the day is dedicated to “thinking, repenting and asking for forgiveness.” Those actions occur almost entirely indoors, unlike Sukkot, she said, “where you’re supposed to move your dwelling place outdoors and focus on the harvest.”

Exodus 23:16 describes Sukkot as chag ha’asif (the festival of ingathering), a holiday marking farmers’ final harvesting of their fields.

Cantor David Reinwald of Temple Sinai said he’s drawn to Sukkot’s seasonal nature.

“Especially when I think about my memories of growing up in the Chicago area, Sukkot is very much the kickoff to the fall,” he said. “Being together out in the sukkah” was dependent on unpredictable weather patterns, in contrast to the 12 years he worked in southern California.

Last year marked Reinwald’s first Sukkot in Pittsburgh.

He said he happily welcomed the crisp air, loved having a Shabbat service in the sukkah and enjoyed eating soup in the hut.

“Sukkot is called z’man simchateinu (time of our joy). We need to embrace that element for the period of the week,” he said.

There’s another aspect to the holiday, Rabbi Meir Tabak said: “The sukkah is a physical representation of the time when we were in the desert and surrounded by clouds, which was Hashem’s way of telling us, ‘I got you. You are safe and secure.’”

In Leviticus 23, God tells Moses that the Children of Israel should live in booths for seven days “in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

Photo by DNY59 / E+ / Getty Images

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

H

ardy Carroll Lloyd will again spend time in a federal prison.

The white supremacist, who often refers to himself by the unearned monikers “reverend” and “doctor,” pled guilty on Sept.

19 in a federal courtroom in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Formerly of Dormont, Lloyd was living in Follansbee, West Virginia, on Aug. 10, when he was arrested on charges of obstruction of the due administration of justice, transmitting threats in interstate and foreign commerce and witness tampering.

All of the charges were related to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter trial.

According to the Department of Justice, Lloyd wrote threatening social media posts, website comments and emails directed against the jury and witnesses during the trial. He also placed, or had others place, stickers and flyers in predominantly Jewish areas of Pittsburgh — which directed people to a white supremacist website he runs — containing threats and antisemitic messages.

“Hardy Lloyd attempted to obstruct the federal hate crimes trial of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history,”

Please see Sukkot, page 10

Chag ! h c a e m Sa Maglara / iStock / Getty Images

Please see Lloyd, page 10

Headlines A ‘gift to the South Hills’: Music and stories from the Violins of Hope — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

A

free event next month in Pittsburgh’s South Hills seeks to redefine how to think about music, Jewish musicians and the Holocaust. The Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival will present “Stories from the Violins of Hope” at 4 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Temple Emanuel of South Hills.

“This was really done as a gift to the South Hills community,” said Aron Zelkowicz, the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival founder and South Hills native presenting the event.

“We wanted to offer something that had high cultural value.” “(Those attending) don’t have to travel downtown for a first-rate concert,” he added, “nor do they have to travel to Squirrel Hill to experience Jewish culture.”

The event will feature live music, as well as readings from James Grymes’ book “Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour.” That book, published in 2014, details stories of the string instruments restored by Israeli violinmaker Amnon Weinstein.

The instruments previously were owned or played by Jewish victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

Some of the instruments in Grymes’ book will be displayed at Carnegie Mellon University’s Posner Center as part of a Violins of Hope of Greater Pittsburgh exhibit, said Zelkowicz, a former member of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills who now lives in Boston.

Some of the violins will be played during the Oct. 9 event.

The “Violins of Hope” stories will be

p Aron Zelkowicz

Photo by Jon Fisher

p Book cover

Image courtesy of Aron Zelkowicz

“This program, and the entire exhibition, offers the Pittsburgh community an opportunity to remember our history while thinking about our actions and our future.”

–RABBI AARON MEYER narrated by Rabbi Aaron Meyer and Cantor Kalix Jacobson of Temple Emanuel; Rabbi Amy Greenbaum of Beth El Congregation; Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life Congregation; and cantorial singer Sara Stock Mayo.

“It really is, at its essence, 50% storytime, 50% concert,” Zelkowicz said. “A string orchestra seemed an appropriate and large-scale ensemble suitable for this

kind of event.”

Meyer said that the Temple Emanuel community is “honored” to host the event.

“This program, and the entire exhibition, offers the Pittsburgh community an opportunity to remember our history while thinking about our actions and our future,” Meyer said.

Greenbaum doesn’t yet know the reading she’ll be leading Oct. 9 — but she’s

excited, nonetheless.

“I think music is so powerful and it helps people to connect,” Greenbaum said.

“I was just honored to be a part of such a special event.”

“We’re especially proud of Aron [Zelkowicz],” she added, “and honored to be part of this, part of his journey.”

Grymes and Zelkowicz helped curate the event’s music selections and based the afternoon’s performances on an event Grymes led at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2014. That program has expanded to feature an ensemble of 10 string players comprised of members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Zelkowicz said.

Yiddish songs such as “A Yiddishe Mame”, “Zog nit keynmol” and “Vu ahi zol ikh geyn” have been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival in new, world-premiere string arrangements especially for this performance, he added.

Mayo, a Pittsburgh native, started her cantorial work in Brooklyn, then sang as a cantorial soloist at Temple Sinai for 12 years starting around 2003. Since then, she has sung at Beth El, Temple David and several other synagogues.

On Oct. 9, Mayo will present the story of Feivel Wininger, a Romanian violinist who survived in the Ukrainian ghetto in the 1940s by playing music at weddings and during holidays. Many years later, in Israel, Wininger’s daughter had his violin repaired so he could play once again in his elder years.

“These violins,” Mayo said, “they have stories to tell.” PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Headlines After 25 years at The Branch, Keely Chuba still ‘honored’ to serve community — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

“We’re able to help people achieve whatever personal goal they have.”

K

eely Chuba, The Branch’s longest-tenured employee, was honored for 25 years of service. In recognition of her dedication, Chuba received a silver necklace during an employee appreciation event, public acknowledgment and special mention to the board.

“Keely is patient, loyal, nurturing, professional, thorough, calm and focused on providing services in a respectful way that honors the individual’s goals,” Nancy Gale, executive director of the organization formerly known as Jewish Residential Services, said.

Since joining the agency in 1997, Chuba has made an indelible mark, Gale continued: “Keely is not only our longest-tenured employee, but she is also the most trusted by the people we serve.”

Chuba said she appreciates the kind words and honors, but noted that the reason why she’s stayed at The Branch is because “I’ve always loved what I do and I love the population that we serve.”

The organization’s mission is to enable people with psychiatric, developmental or intellectual disabilities to integrate personally and professionally into the community.

Chuba is proud that the organization

– KEELY CHUBA

p Keely Chuba

Photo courtesy of Keely Chuba

has broadened its services and population over the years.

“When I first started, the [Sally and Howard Levin] Clubhouse wasn’t open,” she said. “The organization was primarily focused on the Staisey House.”

Named for Judge Leonard Staisey, who, according to the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center, was “blind and championed the need for the inclusion of special needs individuals in the broader community,” the Staisey House provided “supervised, independent living for adults with chronic mental illness.”

Chuba pointed to the Clubhouse and Supported Living Program as evidence

of The Branch’s expansion during the past two decades.

The Clubhouse has become a space where people living with mental illness can build relationships and experience a “purpose-filled day” within a community setting. Additionally, the organization developed its Supported Living Program, which according to The Branch, “promotes independence for adults living with mental health diagnoses or intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who are able to live independently but need ongoing support.”

As the agency has grown, so has Chuba’s role.

She initially served in a relief position, filling in for staff in a group home. After

a full-time position opened at the Staisey House in 1999, Chuba took the job and several months later transitioned to the organization’s Supported Living Program.

The difference, Chuba explained, was that at Staisey House there were four apartments, that housed eight individuals.

The Supported Living Program serves people “living in their own apartments in the community.”

Finally, in July 2022, she became the team lead for the Supported Living Program.

Gale credited Chuba with helping countless individuals at The Branch: “She is the consummate provider of personcentered support for our participants, setting a great example for her co-workers.”

Chuba’s efforts may be singular, but so is her longevity.

A 2023 survey from North Carolina-based Relias noted that 54% of direct support professionals have worked at their current organization for four years or less.

Likewise, the Pennsylvania CapitalStar reported a 38% turnover rate among DSPs. Turnover and high burnout rates are “an unfortunate part of social services,” Chuba said.

The disruptiveness of DSP turnover was described by researchers in an April 2022 report from Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Safety, community participation Please see Chuba, page 11

Israeli teens arrive in Pittsburgh to strengthen Diaspora relations

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

W

hen Israeli teen Tair Gelerenter told her friends that she was moving to Pittsburgh, they asked why she wasn’t going to America.

“They said, ‘How come you’re going to Germany?’” Gelerenter, 19, told the Chronicle.

Although the Petach Tikvah resident corrected her friends as to Pittsburgh’s whereabouts, they still wondered, “Why not Miami?” she said with a laugh.

Weeks ago, Gelerenter and fellow Israeli teen Ayelet Setbon arrived in Squirrel Hill for a year of volunteering. They set up their apartment, shopped and quickly adapted to a lifestyle that requires both avoiding potholes while driving and carefully ambling over cobblestones en route to teaching at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Before last month, neither Gelerenter nor Setbon had been to Pittsburgh; even so, both wanted to spend a year here instead of compulsory military service.

The teens, according to the Israeli government, are among approximately 2,100 religious women, aged 17-24, who annually complete Bat-Ami through National Volunteer Service.

Called “Bnot Sherut,” participants spend between one and two years in “educational, health, social services, security, community PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

services, and environmental preservation frameworks that meet a wide swath of social needs in Israel and the diaspora.”

Last year, Setbon, 19, volunteered in Sha’alvim, a religious kibbutz in central Israel.

Gelerenter volunteered in nearby Modi’in, a city populated by many American expats.

“I heard stories about past Bnot Sherut, and the influence they had, and I was touched by it,” Gelerenter said.

There were other (warmer) locations available, but after Pittsburgh was proposed, Setbon knew it was “perfect,” she said. “It’s a small community where we can have a lot of influence.”

In recent weeks, the teens have met people at Shabbat services, while exercising at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and simply by walking through Squirrel Hill. Most of their interactions, however, have occurred inside classrooms at Hillel Academy. Through regular involvement with students, the teens add texture to discussions about Israel and its culture.

Rabbi Sam Weinberg, Hillel Academy’s principal, said the Bnot Sherut serve a critical function within the Jewish day school.

“Israel gets a lot of negativity in the news,” he said. “Our students hear this. They also hear reports about terror attacks and calls to pray for Israeli soldiers. What the Bnot Sherut do is allow our students to see Israel

p Ayelet Setbon and Tair Gelerenter

through a more positive outlook.”

The engagements foster “real relationships,” he continued. “After graduating, many of our seniors spend a year in Israel, so having an entire group of past Bnot Sherut gives our kids an extended family — people to go to for holidays, to visit or hang out with.”

Creating this network requires time and money.

Weinberg said that Hillel Academy

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Photo by Adam Reinherz

provides the Bnot Sherut with an apartment, car and stipend for living expenses.

“We incorporated the costs into our budget, and it’s something that we have no thoughts of discontinuing,” he said. “We view this program as an important part of our mission and our identity.”

Gelerenter and Setbon appreciate the community’s support and are eager to Please see Teens, page 11

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

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Headlines

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Getting to know: Chef Adam Lemieux — LOCAL —

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

I

t took Dr. Colby Chamberlain just one meal to fall in love with Adam Lemieux’s cooking.

About four months ago, Lemieux’s wife — Dr. Sarah Arnold — brought some of his dishes in for a group of 28 doctors and nurse practitioners at UPMC Shadyside Hospital.

Lemieux, a chef who lives in Point Breeze, was looking to grow his customer base.

“He made smoked beef over couscous — that was really good,” said Chamberlain, a North Hills native whose 12-hour shifts are broken up whenever she can grab a few minutes for lunch. “He’s really good with salads and he’s great with dressings. His salad dressings have really unique flavors.”

“The very first time she brought his stuff in,” she said, “we were hooked.”

Lemieux, who is Jewish and a Community Day School parent, launched his catering company, Chef In Pittsburgh, a few months ago. This summer, he started cooking in the professional kitchen at Temple Sinai, where his family attends services.

But that’s only part of Lemieux’s story.

Though he majored in business management at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, Lemieux found his knack for cooking early.

Raised Christian in Chicago’s northern suburbs, Lemieux worked summers from junior high school through college at a country club about 30 miles north of downtown Chicago. After graduating college in 2005, Lemieux worked in dining services; by 2008, he was enrolled in culinary school and taking gigs at places like the Tower Club, a Chicago venue popular with attorneys.

After culinary school, he dove into the world of Jewish cooking while leading a 1,200-meal-a-day kosher kitchen as executive chef of a Skokie, Illinois, rehabilitation center. Though he already loved Jewish staples like corned beef, brisket and matzo ball soup, in Skokie he became masterful at preparing dishes like potato kugel. (He prefers his kugels savory.)

“The weirdest thing for me was the gefilte fish,” Lemieux laughed. “I mean, I knew about it. But, opening a 10-pound can, that was a little weird.”

In 2011, he moved to Michigan, where he handled special-diet dishes — mostly halal and vegetarian — at the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus. He then worked at Wayne State University, where he met his future wife. They wed in 2014 and settled in Pittsburgh, where their son, now a second grader at Community Day School in Squirrel Hill, was born nearly two years later.

While Arnold completed her residency and later worked in internal medicine at UPMC Shadyside, Lemieux led another rehabilitation center’s kitchen — this time in Renfrew, Butler County. While diets often were restrictive, he started to finesse ways to

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

 Adam Lemieux Photo courtesy of Adam Lemieux

cook or roast vegetables that strove to retrain original flavors and textures.

Lemieux, who converted to Judaism during the pandemic, also became a holiday cooking hit among his wife’s family, some of whom have Pittsburgh roots dating back three and four generations.

“When I met Adam, it was funny because he was already a much better Jewish chef than anyone in my family,” Arnold said.

“His chicken noodle soup is the best chicken noodle soup you’ll ever have. His broths are insane.”

Lemieux, who left the Butler County job in January and became his own boss, has worked wonders with Arnold’s brisket recipe. Though not elaborate — it employs both Heinz ketchup and chili sauce — Lemieux carefully picks the right brisket cut, trims all the fat and cooks the meat slowly, often for 12 hours overnight.

He later cuts the brisket cold and reheats it, creating a dish that almost literally melts on the tongue. Lemieux often pairs brisket with mushroom farro, a source of plantbased protein cooked with lemons, green beans and roasted carrots.

“See, it’s nice and tender,” said Lemieux, as he sampled the dish at the Temple Sinai kitchen. “I’d say cooking it early and cutting it well, those are the secrets I’ve got.”

It’s easy to see why Lemieux is turning heads among doctors, Jewish families and those looking for well-cooked, ready-to-eat meals. In addition to making butter, which he prepares in several flavors, Lemieux even pickles daikon radishes.

“Things like that really make the difference,” he said. “I work to cook from scratch.”

When he cooks flank steak, Lemieux says he doesn’t grill or broil it. He keeps it tender and juicy by preparing it sous vide, placing it in a temperature-controlled water bath in a vacuum-sealed bag, for two hours at just 120 F. He lines the meat with organic date syrup — he finds it’s less bitter than molasses.

His pairings also are key. He puts tabouli Please see Lemieux, page 11

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines New JHF award honors legacy of Justin Ehrenwerth — LOCAL —

“The Justin Reid Ehrenwerth Award is a deserving way to honor the countless lives Justin impacted, and we’re proud to help carry on his legacy through recognizing organizations that embody his values and priorities around anti-hate, the environment, good government and mental health supports.”

By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle

S

ince he died in May at age 44, Justin Ehrenwerth’s memory definitely has not faded.

The Mt. Lebanon native, who ascended from law school to the Obama administration to nationwide efforts to tackle coastal resilience, has continued to shine brightly in the hearts of those who remember him.

“I sometimes come home and find I have three different people calling, wanting to talk with me about Justin,” his father, David Ehrenwerth, said. “That’s going to be something that goes on for a long time.”

Now, Pittsburgh’s Jewish Healthcare Foundation is ensuring that Ehrenwerth’s work legacy lives on as well.

In September, the downtown-based grantmaking foundation announced more than $1 million in grants, including funds to establish the Justin Reid Ehrenwerth Award and to support a second phase of growing the 10.27 Healing Partnership.

To preserve Ehrenwerth’s life’s work, JHF approved a one-time grant of $50,000 to the Anti-Defamation League’s Cleveland chapter. Ehrenwerth served as an active ADL board member while living and working in Louisiana.

JHF also greenlighted $200,000 to establish a JHF fund that will provide an annual award supporting organizations in Pittsburgh, Louisiana and Washington, D.C., which perpetuate the values, ideals and aspirations that Ehrenwerth exemplified in his lifetime, officials there said.

Ehrenwerth graduated from Shady Side Academy, Colby College in Maine and attended Brasenose College at Oxford University, where he received a master’s degree in philosophy, politics and economy.

He attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania, where he developed a passion for civil rights and public interest,

–KAREN WOLK FEINSTEIN

p Justin Ehrenwerth

Photo courtesy of the Ehrenwerth family

leading to his involvement in politics.

Ehrenwerth later served as legal counsel to President Obama and headed the coastal resiliency group The Water Institute.

“The Justin Reid Ehrenwerth Award is a deserving way to honor the countless lives Justin impacted, and we’re proud to help carry on his legacy through recognizing organizations that embody his values and priorities around anti-hate, the environment, good government and mental health supports,” said Karen Wolk Feinstein, JHF’s president and CEO. A selection committee consisting of members of the Ehrenwerth family and their designees, among others, annually will select an organization to recognize with an award amount determined by the committee, officials said.

“What we’re trying to do here is to try to find organizations that can continue his work,” David Ehrenwerth, a former JHF board member, said. “It is, in a way, having his goals and work continued, through the generosity of the foundation.”

JHF in September also approved funding up to $275,000 over four years to implement the second phase of funding

the 10.27 Healing Partnership, located at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. The funding will help to expand the organization’s programming and services beyond those affected by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and the Pittsburgh Jewish community, providing alternative healing therapies and community presentations, and coordinating efforts to build impact among school-age populations impacted by ongoing trauma, officials said.

The second phase also will pay for work with AgeWell at the JCC’s Virtual Senior Academy to better understand the trauma experienced by seniors within and beyond Squirrel Hill.

“Our September grants address a number of important areas, but of note is the grant to the 10.27 Healing Partnership to spread their work across all segments of a community, to help us stand together against hate and targeted gun violence, and learn more about trauma resolution,” Feinstein said.

“The 10.27 Healing Partnership serves an important healing role and also as a deterrent to future acts of hate,” she added.

Jason Kunzman, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, said his organization is grateful to JHF for the support.

“We know that many people have been impacted by the Oct. 27, 2018, attack, both directly and indirectly,” Kunzman said. “This grant will help us maintain our current services, as well as expand our outreach and programming in the broader community.”

In other news, JHF approved funding up to $100,000 — or $50,000 for each grantee — to establish a hub to combine Pitt Public Health’s expertise in data science with Carnegie Mellon University’s world-renowned expertise in AI, machine learning and computer science, officials said.

The grant will be used for a one-day workshop of University of Pittsburgh and CMU faculty to explore the components of a Pitt/CMU collaboration, for public health collaboration pilot awards, and for publication costs and personnel expenses. PJC Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

Local Jewish organizations targeted with bomb threat hoaxes — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

A

handful of local Jewish institutions recently received bomb threats which turned out to be hoaxes, according to Shawn Brokos, community security director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

Brokos declined to identify the organizations that were targeted but said the bomb threats were transmitted by online contact forms, occurred over the last several weeks and were timed to the High Holidays.

The language in each of the hoaxes has been similar, Brokos said, which has helped Pittsburgh’s Federation, the FBI and the Secure Community Network trace the

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threats to a single source, she said.

“They [SCN] are a really important piece because they are logging these threats across the country,” Brokos said. “So, if — let’s use Las Vegas as an example — there are synagogues who have received one of these online bomb threats through an online contact form, they’ll have a record of it. SCN is the holder of all these incidents and is able to look really quickly to see if there’s language that matches, emails that match or any type of correlation between what we’re seeing across the country.”

SCN was founded in 2004 under the auspices of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. It serves as the central organization dedicated exclusively to the safety and security of

the American Jewish community working with 146 federations, 50 partner organizations and more than 300 independent communities. It also works with the FBI and other law enforcement organizations.

SCN was instrumental in flagging former Pittsburgher Hardy Carroll Lloyd to authorities and detailing many credible threats that led to his indictment in August.

Last week, the white supremacist pled guilty to charges related to threats directed to jurors and witnesses during the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial. He will likely be sentenced to more than six years in prison.

Brokos said that the bomb hoaxes in Pittsburgh are similar to those that have occurred across the country recently.

According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency, there have been nearly 50 threats against

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Jewish institutions in the last two months across 13 states.

The person making the threats, Brokos said, has avoided detection using a VPN, or virtual private network, and assuming a false identity. Stolen identities can be bought on the dark web.

“They’re assuming a known identity that intentionally directs investigators to that person, but it’s not that person because their data has been compromised,” she explained.

The investigation, Brokos added, is proceeding rapidly.

Leaders of any organization that receives a threat should notify Federation and contact 911 to file a report. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Calendar Submit calendar items on the Chronicle’s website, pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. Submissions also will be included in print. Events will run in the print edition beginning one month prior to the date as space allows. The deadline for submissions is Friday, noon. q SUNDAYS, OCT. 1 – 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. q SUNDAYS, OCT. 1 – 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. q 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.

Chamber Music Pittsburgh presents the Jerusalem Quartet, featuring works by Haydn, Paul Ben-Haim, and Debussy. Use promo code JERUSALEM10 to receive $10 off each ticket purchased. We will also be collecting non-perishable donations for the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. Each ticketholder that brings a donation will receive an Access Pass, good for one free CMP concert ticket to any future performance. 7:30 p.m. $35-53. PNC Theatre at Pittsburgh Playhouse, 350 Forbes Ave. chambermusicpittsburgh.org/4326-2. q MONDAYS, OCT. 2 – DEC. 18 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4 Are you a Galitzianer? Thousands of Jewish immigrants from historic Galicia (including parts of present-day Poland and Ukraine) settled in Western Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century. For the first of our annual “Special Interest Days,” the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center are celebrating these ancestors of the community.

10 a.m. Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St. For more information, visit heinzhistorycenter.org/event/ galitzianer-days-10042023.

Join Chabad of the South Hills for Seniors in the Sukkah. The lunch event will include a fall prevention presentation and immunization clinic.

Pre-registration required, 412-278-2658 or barb@ chabadsh.com. Noon. $5 suggested donation.

Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road. chabadsh.com.

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-tzelem-information-session. q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 4 – DEC. 6 Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff for The God Class. Schiff 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. q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 4 – 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. q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 4 – 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. q WEDNESDAYS, OCT. 4 – MAY 15 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh virtually presents two Melton courses back-toback: "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. q THURSDAYS, OCT. 5 – OCT. 26 Join the 10.27 Healing Partnership and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy for our healing consciousness-building 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

Wishing a Joyous and Healthy New Year to All –Barb Warwick and the District 5 City Council Team

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 staff 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-bathing-frick-environmentalcenter-8-25-2023/2023-09-28/. q FRIDAY, OCT. 6 Rodef Shalom wants to spend Shabbat with You. Families with young children are invited to join Cantor Toby Glaser and Family Center Director Ellie Feibus for a pre-Shabbat playdate on their playground, services and dinner to celebrate Shabbat together. 4:30 p.m. $5 per family. 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org. q MONDAYS, OCT. 9 – MAY 13 H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff presents Torah 2.

Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is perhaps one of the most important things that a Jew can learn. In Torah 2, Schiff will explore the second half of Leviticus and all of Numbers and Deuteronomy. $225. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/ torah-2-2/2023-10-09. q SUNDAY, OCT. 15 Rodef Shalom Brotherhood presents the East Winds Symphonic Band in a free Music with a Mission cabaret concert featuring a celebration of music from stage and screen. Cash donations to the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry are welcome.

7 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. rodefshalom.org. q MONDAYS, OCT. 16 – DEC. 4 Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff for Modern Jewish Philosophy. In this course, Rabbi Schiff 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-jewishphilosophy/2023-10-16. q TUESDAYS, OCT. 24 – NOV. 14 Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff for The Jewish Calendar. Sometimes the holidays come “early” and sometimes the holidays come “late.” Why? In this series, Rabbi Schiff 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 offer to us?

9:30 a.m. Zoom. $55. jewishpgh.org/series/ the-jewish-calendar.

q THURSDAY, OCT. 26 Join The Branch for its annual meeting as it welcomes the CEO of the Blue Dove Foundation to discuss transforming the way the Jewish community understands and responds to mental illness. 7 p.m. Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse, 2609 Murray Ave. q FRIDAY, OCT. 27 – SUNDAY, OCT. 29 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s season opener tells powerful stories of tragedy, hope and human connection. The program’s central work, “Sounds of the Sun,” is a world premiere by Jennifer Archibald, which celebrates the life of Florence Waren, a Jewish dancer who lived in Paris and worked with the French Resistance during World War II. Also included is the emotional “Monger,” created by award-winning Israeli American choreographer Barak Marshall. The world premiere is presented in partnership with Violins of Hope Greater Pittsburgh. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St. Tickets can be purchased at pbt.org. q WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1 Join Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle Senior Staff 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 Zumoff, 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. q 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. q SUNDAY, NOV. 5 Join H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff 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-we-hold-dear. PJC

helping you plan for what matters the most

With the increasing costs of long-term care, having the help of a legal professional when planning for your family’s future can help you make better decisions that can result in keeping more of your money.

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

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Headlines Following the majority — HISTORY —

By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle

T

ree of Life Congregation in Canonsburg had a “no dirty laundry” rule.

According to its bylaws, “Any member having a complaint against another Brother, shall not bring charges before a squire until he brings same before the Congregation who shall try to make a settlement.” The president would appoint a committee to consider the case. The parties would agree to abide by the decision of the committee or face the threat of a fine. The case would be recorded in the minutes.

No minutes survive, and so it’s hard to know how often this provision was utilized and whether congregants accepted its rulings or ran to the squire anyway.

The “beit din” provision is a reminder: People disagree. It’s normal, even within a small, homogeneous community. That’s because no community is truly homogeneous — at least no community of humans.

And most small communities aren’t so small, either.

At its peak between 1915 and 1950, the Jewish population of Canonsburg was between 240 and 330 people, tying the town with McKees Rocks as the 25th largest Jewish community in Western

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p By the early 1950s, Tree of Life Congregation in Canonsburg was “more a place for nostalgia than worship,” according to community chronicler Arnold Cushner. The congregation held a homecoming in October 1951 to welcome alumni back to town.

Image courtesy of the Arnold Cushner Research Collection, Rauh Jewish Archives

Pennsylvania. That may be small for a community, but 330 is still a lot of people.

Within any group that size, some divisions are inevitable.

The few surviving records for Canonsburg reveal some of those divisions: age, gender, ideology — all of which still persist within our Jewish community today. One important

division of that immigrant era has mostly become a thing of the past: ethnicity.

The Jewish community of Canonsburg was largely Litvak, coming from Lithuania and adjoining parts of Poland and Russia. But a sizable minority came from Galicia.

Galicia was a historic region within the

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

former Austro-Hungarian Empire. It covered parts of present-day southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. The Jewish Genealogy Society and the Rauh Jewish Archives are holding Galitzianer Days at the Heinz History Center on Oct. 4-6 to celebrate the Galitzianer ancestors of our community. As part of our preparatory research, we discovered a pocket in Canonsburg.

They first appeared as a group in a January 1919 donor roll published in the Jewish Criterion. It listed contributors to an assistance program for survivors of Galician pogroms. Surnames included Abrahams, Burg, Brand, Buker, Bluestone, Caczkes, Finkel, Karvan, Klahr, Klee, Katz, Morris, Pickholtz, Popover, Shapiro and Spitzer.

It’s not clear whether all these people were Galitzianers, but many were. Thanks to the research of Arnold Cushner, we know that the Klahrs and the Klees were one family with Galician roots. Finkel and Burg have also been confirmed as Galitzianers.

Canonsburg probably represented the fourth- or fifth-largest cluster of Galitzianers in Western Pennsylvania, after Pittsburgh, McKeesport, Braddock and possibly Donora.

The Galitzianers of Pittsburgh and McKeesport were each large enough to have their own congregations. Those in Braddock, Canonsburg and Donora weren’t.

There were consequences to not having a Please see History, page 11

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

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Headlines — WORLD — Antisemitism summit in NY expected to draw thousands

The ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) is gearing up for its next big event on the subject of antisemitism: the 2024 Never Is Now summit, which is already open for registration, JTA.org reported.

The annual summit, which was moved to March from its usual time in the fall, may be the organization’s most significant ever.

Antisemitism in the United States is at its highest level in decades, according to ADL, which closely tracks antisemitic incidents through reporting and antisemitic sentiment through polling.

The most recent ADL poll of U.S. antisemitism, conducted last fall, found that 85% of Americans believe at least one anti-Jewish trope, up from 61% in 2019. About 20% of Americans believe six or more tropes — a worrisome marker and nearly double the 11% reported in 2019.

“Faced with this state of emergency,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO and National Director, at the last Never Is Now summit, “ADL will rise to the challenge and deliver on its core purpose: protecting the Jewish people.”

More than 7,000 participants attended the 2022 summit in person and virtually, representing 40 countries and nearly all 50 states.

The 2024 summit will take place March 4-7 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York and will feature an all-star lineup of figures from government, entertainment, media, business, sports, academia and the greater Jewish world.

Medieval German synagogue added to UNESCO World Heritage list

A United Nations committee designated a group of medieval Jewish buildings in Erfurt, Germany, as a World Heritage Site on Sept.

17, JTA.org reported.

UNESCO, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, also gave the World Heritage designation to a ruins site near the West Bank city of Jericho, angering Israeli officials by describing its location as in the “State of Palestine.”

The designation in Erfurt, a former East German city, was cause for celebration — the announcement, which came at the close of Rosh Hashanah, was broadcast live at the local city hall, where applause broke out.

Three buildings were honored by the Parisbased U.N. agency: Erfurt’s Old Synagogue, which dates back to the late 11th century; a mikveh, or ritual bath, which is now situated under a newer building; and a 13th-century stone building that captures what Jewish life was like there in medieval times.

California county calls off ‘American Christian Heritage Month’ after fierce backlash

Two months after proclaiming that July would henceforth be known locally as “American Christian Heritage Month,” the board of supervisors in El Dorado County, California, has reversed course, J. Jewish News of Northern California reported.

The county’s elected governing body unanimously rescinded the proclamation on Sept.

19 following backlash from local Jews, the American Civil Liberties Union and others who said it inappropriately advanced the idea that the United States is a Christian nation.

Marla Saunders, a massage therapist in South Lake Tahoe, said she was “verklempt” after the decision, using the Yiddish term meaning “overcome by emotion.” Saunders, who is Jewish, started an online petition calling on the board to rescind the proclamation. The petition had more than 1,000 signatures as of Sept. 19.

The five supervisors in El Dorado County, a rural area with 200,000 residents south of Lake Tahoe, voted on July 18 to mark every July as American Christian Heritage Month.

The vote passed 4-1, though one supervisor maintains that she abstained but was recorded as an “aye.”

Adidas CEO: Kanye West didn’t mean his antisemitic comments

The new CEO of the athletic wear giant Adidas said he doesn’t believe the company’s former collaborator, Kanye West, “meant what he said” when the rapper went on a months-long series of antisemitic tirades that cost him the company’s endorsement last fall, JTA.org reported.

Bjørn Gulden, who joined Adidas from rival Puma in January after it had already dropped West, made his comments on a podcast hosted by Norwegian hedge fund manager and philanthropist Nicolai Tangen.

Adidas dropped West, who now goes by Ye, after weeks of public pressure that followed him tweeting he was going “Death Con 3 on Jewish people” and saying on a podcast about the company, “I can literally say antisemitic [expletive] and they cannot drop me.”

Gulden called the collapse of West’s Yeezy brand “very unfortunate because I don’t think he meant what he said and I don’t think he’s a bad person. He just came across

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

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

Biochemist Aaron Ciechanover is born in Haifa. He becomes one of Israel’s first p Aaron Nobel laureates in Ciechanover 2004 when he shares shared the 2004 the chemistry prize Nobel Prize in with Israeli Avram chemistry.

By Amos Ben Gershom, Hershko and American Israeli Government Irwin Rose for work Press Office on ubiquitin in cells.

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— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

PRICES EFFECTIVE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1 – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023 Candle Lighting Time Friday, September 29, 2023 • 6:48 p.m.

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

Sept. 30, 1957 — Backdated signature facilitates nuclear program

A newly uncovered letter provides the strongest evidence yet that Pope Pius XII knew about the Nazi extermination of the Jews as it was happening, the latest in a series of recent discoveries that have transformed the debate over the Catholic Church’s conduct during the Holocaust, JTA.org reported.

The letter was sent by Rev. Lothar Koenig, a German Jesuit priest, in December 1942 and informed Pius of the mass murder of thousands of “Poles and Jews” at Belzec, a Nazi death camp.

Pius’ actions during the Holocaust have been the subject of debate for decades.

While serving as a senior Vatican official before ascending to the papacy, Pius had signed a treaty with Nazi Germany. Later, as pope, he maintained a public silence as Italy’s Jews were rounded up and deported to death camps.

For years, some prominent Vatican historians have argued that the pope was indifferent to the fate of Europe’s Jews. Other scholars, meanwhile, have argued variously that Pius was unaware of the full extent of Nazi war crimes and that he pursued secret back channels to funnel as many Jews to safety as possible. PJC

1916 MURRAY AVENUE 412-421-1015 • 412-421-4450 • FAX 412-421-4451

— ISRAEL —

Under borders drawn primarily by the United Kingdom and France after World War I, the Golan Heights are given to the new nation of Syria instead of being included in Mandatory Palestine.

Newly discovered letter shows Pope Pius XII likely knew about Nazi death camps

Murray Avenue Kosher

Today in Israeli History

Sept. 29, 1923 — Syria gains Golan Heights

that way. And that meant we lost that business, one of the most successful collabs in history. Very sad.”

An Adidas spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company’s position on ending the Yeezy partnership hasn’t changed.

p Bailin of Ibelin surrenders Jerusalem to Saladin.

Oct. 2, 1187 — Saladin captures Jerusalem

Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, captures Jerusalem from crusaders after a siege that began Sept. 20.

Saladin is tolerant of Jews and allows them to live in the holy city again in 1190.

Oct. 3, 2005 — Choreographer Sarah Levy-Tanai dies

Sarah Levy-Tanai, a choreographer who incorporated Mizrahi and Ashkenazi elements and won the Israel Prize in 1973, dies at age 94 or 95. She founded the Inbal Dance Theater in 1949.

Oct. 4, 1992 — El Al 747 crashes

El Al Flight 1862, a 747 carrying cargo from New York to Tel Aviv, crashes into an apartment complex in Bijlmermeer, Netherlands, 16 minutes after taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where the plane had changed crews.

Oct. 5, 1898 — Painter Nachum Gutman is born

Painter Nachum Gutman is born in Moldova.

At 7, he moves to Ottoman Palestine. He paves the way for Israeli artists, writers, painters and sculptors to move away from European influences. PJC

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Headlines Sukkot: Continued from page 1

The verse is mentioned in a Talmudic dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva regarding the construction of the dwellings. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the booths were literally booths; however, according to Rabbi Akiva, the booths were “clouds of glory.”

Tabak, the chapter director for Pittsburgh NCSY, said there’s a lesson to be learned when entering modern holiday structures.

“Even though we don’t see these clouds today, we are still surrounded — every moment — by Hashem’s goodness,” he said.

Sukkot has wonderful messages, but for many people, those lessons are enshrouded in practical concerns, explained Maria Carson, director of Jewish education and arts at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

For starters, “it’s expensive,” she said.

A 4-foot-by-6-foot sukkah with interlocking frame, a schach mat to place on top and shipping costs total more than $700 on sukkahoutlet.com.

Another possible detriment to the holiday is that it’s difficult to celebrate “if you live in an apartment,” Carson noted.

The lack of space to easily build the structure requires celebrants to visit other people’s dwellings for an entire week.

Finally, Carson said, there’s the whole harvesting concept: “I don’t feel super connected to the Israeli agricultural season.

I’m not a farmer — I like to be inside.”

After a conversation with another Jewish educator, Carson began warming to the often cool holiday.

“She told me that God is always with us no matter where we are dwelling, whether it’s in small or even temporary structures,” the JCC staffer said.

From that conversation, Carson began thinking about Sukkot as a time of “showing empathy to people who are unhoused or have temporary housing.”

Lloyd: Continued from page 1

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said.

“His guilty plea underscores that anyone who attempts to obstruct a federal trial by threatening or intimidating jurors or witnesses will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.”

The binding plea agreement includes a 78-month jail sentence and not more than three years of supervised release. The judge in the case is not bound by that agreement when sentencing Lloyd in December, although Shawn Brokos, the director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said judges typically honor the binding agreements.

Lloyd faced up to 10 years in prison for the obstruction charge, up to five years for the threats charge and up to 20 years in prison for the tampering charge.

p Sukkah building

Photo by Norton Gusky

p A Sukkah

Photo by periwinklekog

“The sukkah is a physical representation of the time when we were in the desert and surrounded by clouds, which was Hashem’s way of telling us, ‘I got you. You are safe and secure.’”

– RABBI MEIR TABAK Reframing her understanding of the holiday enabled her to realize that “we are celebrating that God can be with us during dark times,” she said.

The message echoes a question about what to do if it rains during the first night of Sukkot.

In his gloss on the Shulchan Aruch, a 16th-century code of Jewish Law, Rabbi Moses Isserles described the scenario and noted that, before retreating indoors, one “must eat an olive’s worth” and recite Kiddush in the sukkah.

Near the end of that holiday prayer is the

“We are in grateful appreciation of our partnership with law enforcement and the community members who worked so tirelessly to bring Lloyd to justice.”

– SHAWN BROKOS Lloyd has been in and out of prison since 2004 when he was charged with killing his girlfriend in Squirrel Hill. Acquitted of the murder, he was found guilty of illegal firearm possession and sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Lloyd bragged about the murder and taunted the victim’s family when he

was released.

In 2017, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison and nine months of supervised release for using public computers at libraries in Mt. Lebanon and Dormont to order martial arts weapons and to watch videos of women being abused. He was also recorded giving the Nazi salute at a Mt. Lebanon protest and distributing flyers

Shehecheyanu blessing: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org. in the city’s East End. On Oct. 6, 2020, Lloyd was released from prison after serving 24 months for violating his probation, which prohibited him from accessing social media or communicating with anyone to promote terrorism. He relocated to Austin, Texas.

In 2022, the Texas Department of Public Safety offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to Lloyd’s arrest after he posted a series of threatening comments online promising to carry a firearm onto the Texas State Capitol grounds.

“This is another great day for justice,” Brokos said. “We are in grateful appreciation of our partnership with law enforcement and the community members who worked so tirelessly to bring Lloyd to justice.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Chuba: Continued from page 3

and other “important day-to-day outcomes” can be negatively impacted by the “lack of stable, reliable supports.”

Elected officials pointed to these challenges while declaring Sept. 10-16 DSP Recognition Week.

“Every day, direct support professionals work hard to provide those in need with critical support that leads to more independent living and a better quality of life,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who joined Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in putting forth the resolution. “Our bipartisan resolution ensures that these professionals receive the recognition they deserve. I thank all direct support professionals for making such an incredible difference in the lives of so many seniors and those living with

Teens: Continued from page 3

strengthen Jewish peoplehood, they said.

Still, the teens’ arrival comes at a precarious moment in U.S.-Israeli relations.

During a meeting last week between President Joseph Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden reaffirmed the “unbreakable bond between the two countries” but expressed concern regarding “fundamental changes to Israel’s democratic system, absent the broadest possible consensus,” according to the White House.

For 37 weeks, hundreds of thousands

a disability.”

Chuba told the Chronicle that her work, and that of her colleagues, matters.

“It makes a difference in people’s lives by helping them stay independent, stay out of the hospital, not have to live with their family and rely on family for support, and connect to and make friends,” she said. “We’re able to help people achieve whatever personal goal they have.”

Whether it’s maintaining an apartment or some other aim, “our role is to help them organize things and help achieve those successes.”

After 25 years, being part of that process is worth much more than an award, Chuba said: “It’s an honor and I love what I do.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

of protestors have demonstrated in Tel Aviv, and across Israel, against the judicial overhaul proposed by Netanyahu’s government.

Following the Knesset’s July approval of an initial bill aimed at curbing Israeli Supreme Court powers, the Biden administration called the decision “unfortunate.”

Since arriving in the States, Gelerenter and Setbon have been asked about Israel’s government. The teens said they’ve also been told about a growing detachment within their demographic.

Fifty-six percent of Americans aged 18-29 hold an unfavorable view of Israel, according to a 2022 Pew Research report.

p From left: Sharon Notovitz, Keely Chuba and Sharon Shapiro gather outside Morris Hall, a building supported by The Branch Photo courtesy of Keely Chuba

“Things are going on in Israel, and I come from there, but I don’t feel the separation that everyone is talking about,” Setbon said.

Her comments align with a Pew finding that 89% of Israeli adults said relations between the U.S. and Israel are “good.”

Setbon said she and Gelerenter are not in Pittsburgh to explain diplomatic relations or government policies; instead, they’re here to create connections and strengthen bonds between Jews.

Progress has already been made, Gelerenter explained.

“We were greeted so nicely when we arrived, and that’s not a small thing,” she said.

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

p Roasted vegetable platter

strawberry thing, a cake. It was one of the best things I’ve had in my life.”

Lemieux’s son also has gotten into the action; the two like to cook latkes together for Chanukah. And Lemieux’s son loves his dad’s soup.

Arnold said she’s impressed by Lemieux’s tenacity as he launches his cooking operation.

“I think it’s bold of him, and I think it’s more rewarding for him,” she said. “He’s excellent at what he does. And it’s nice to see him doing what he does best — on his own terms.” PJC

Lemieux:

“His desserts are my favorite. He made this — made fresh from kale, parsley, celery, sweet peppers and more — with quinoa strawberry thing, a cake. instead of bulgur wheat. He marinates olives and capers for his roasted cauliflower. His It was one of the best carrots, carefully cooked, are bathed in a lime-chili glaze. things I’ve had in my life.”

“Hot or cold, I end up selling a lot of Continued from page 4

vegetables to people,” he laughed.

Dr. Priyanka Jagar knows why.

Jagar grew up vegetarian in India and lived in Chicago for three years before taking a UPMC Shadyside residency about nine years ago. She’s a big fan of Lemieux’s quiches and

History: Continued from page 7

place of their own. Galitzianers used a notably different prayer book than other Jewish immigrant groups from Eastern Europe.

The bylaws of Tree of Life congregation firmly note, “The Services shall be Ashkanasha.” As longtime local Willie Katz recalled in a 1991 historical essay about the Jewish community of Canonsburg, “Our Congregation subscribed to the liturgy of Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Hungary, etc.”

So what did the Galitzianers do?

To borrow a Talmudic term, they must have “followed the majority.” Even though they accounted for perhaps a third of the PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

– DR. PRIYANKA JAGAR

Photo courtesy of Adam Lemieux

“People keep inviting us for Shabbat meals, which is very kind. It’s actually unbelievable,” Setbon said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m in a kibbutz, or a yishuv, where everyone is taking care of me and making sure I’m OK.” The teens reiterated their gratitude to their new community.

“What I was told about Pittsburgh is that the people are special — that there’s everything … and not just one type of Jewish person,” Gelerenter said. “That’s what brought me to Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh is the best.” PJC

Indian friend rice.

But Jagar, who has Lemieux cook her ready-to-eat meals regularly, said she also

has a sweet tooth.

“His desserts are my favorite,” said Jagar, who lives in Highland Park. “He made this

Justin Vellucci is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

community and provided many of its stalwarts, there is no evidence that they created a community within the community. Sam Finkel even led prayer services, presumably according to prevailing Litvak preferences.

(Something similar exists today. There is a group of Sephardim in Squirrel Hill who meet monthly for Shabbat and during the holidays. Throughout the rest of the year, many privately use their preferred prayer books amid the prevailing Ashkenazi service.)

Ethnic distinctions within the Ashkenazi population faded in time. There are many possible explanations, ranging from the Johnson-Reed Act to the Birnbaum siddur.

In an oral history from the late 1960s, an interviewer asked Morris Klahr whether

these distinctions mattered to him. He was a Galitzianer married to a Pole. “Were you interested in marrying someone from the same part of Europe as you?” she asked.

“Didn’t matter,” he said. “We were American.”

His wife, Esther, added, “What’s the difference?! We’re all Jews. There was an awful lot of that: There’s a Galitzianer.

There’s a Polishe. There’s a Rishishe.”

That was the late 1960s. But even by 1936, the big Galitzianer shul in Pittsburgh understood that surviving in America required a broader vision. In an anniversary volume that year, Bendit Fassberg wrote, “It is, of course, a trite phrase that America is a melting pot of nations … But … The Machsikei Hadas Congregation has been,

on a small scale, a melting pot of the Jews.

Its leaders were recruited from all kinds of Jews, Jews from Russia and Jews from Galicia; Jews who had learned English in England and otherwise; its members hail from many countries of Europe, geographically, and, religiously, belong to all kinds of persuasions of belief, from fundamentalists and conservatives to orthodox, liberal, etc.

And all these different Jews have learned to respect one another, each to tolerate each other’s differences, and to co-operate for the benefit of all.” PJC

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

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

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

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Opinion The state of our brokenness Guest Columnist Yossi Klein Halevi

T

hough Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av are both fast days, the most serious of the Jewish calendar, they represent opposite religious sensibilities. Tisha B’Av, commemorating the destruction of the Temple, the exile of the Divine Presence from Israel and the end of Jewish sovereignty, is the black hole of Jewish history, a day that begins with despair and only gradually, toward the end of the fast, manages to restore some hope.

Yom Kippur, by contrast, is about spiritual optimism: the power of penitence to evoke forgiveness. Not of God’s distance but closeness to Israel.

This year, in Tel Aviv, Yom Kippur turned into Tisha B’Av, an intimation of destruction.

This Yom Kippur was also the 50th anniversary of that Yom Kippur. Unlike any other of Israel’s wars, Yom Kippur 1973 continues to haunt us. It is the war that never ended, that still grips us in that stunned moment when we came face to face with our collective mortality, when the roads to Tel Aviv and Haifa were open to the invaders and we realized that we could lose it all. We obsessively review the latest revelations from the archives, continue to debate the role of Golda and Dayan and Dado, as though it were still the winter of 1974.

The eerie tendency of the Israeli calendar to converge with the Jewish calendar, as it did on Yom Kippur 1973, is once again trying to tell us something urgent. The message 50 years ago was that we had become complacent, arrogant, self-satisfied. What is the message of this year’s Yom Kippur?

Over the last year, something elemental has been desecrated in our shared Israeliness, and Yom Kippur has forced us to face ourselves.

I don’t know if the following observations

add up to a coherent argument, nor am I sure they should. Some of my points may appear to contradict other points. This is not the moment for definitive declarations but for heshbon nefesh, a collective self-accounting.

Just as Yom Kippur 1973 never ended, we are likely to linger in Yom Kippur 2023.

3. The Supreme Court did not rule that it is forbidden to place a mechitzah in a public space, but that each municipality may set its own rules. Tel Aviv has the right to determine the nature of its public space, just as ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak does. There are dozens of Orthodox synagogues in Tel Aviv and, despite

This year, in Tel Aviv, Yom Kippur turned into Tisha B’Av, an intimation of destruction.

1. The scenes of Jews shutting down Jewish prayer in a Jewish state are unbearable.

The anguish experienced by religious and traditional Jews is not the result of political manipulation (though the government and its supporters are certainly attempting to do that). The religious sensibility has experienced a profound desecration. It was a relief to see the statement from protest leaders distancing themselves from the event: “We’re all pained by the events on Yom Kippur ... We won’t assume the role of the police or the courts even when the heart is anguished, and especially not on Yom Kippur, the day that unites us all.”

2. Rosh Yehudi, the extremist Orthodox group that insisted on praying publicly in Tel Aviv with a mechitzah, or gender barrier, despite a court ruling, didn’t come to pray as much as to “demonstrate a presence,” in army parlance, to challenge the authority of the court.

The group regards Tel Aviv as the next fortress to conquer — after the hilltops of Samaria, after the mixed Arab-Jewish towns of Lod and Acre where small communities of militant Orthodox Jews have “settled,” often exacerbating tensions between Arabs and Jews. “When you see the secular world, you have to think of how to change it,” said Yisrael Zaira, head of Rosh Yehudi. In the current atmosphere, “settling” in the heart of Tel Aviv — and that is how the organization perceives its aggressive outreach — is a declaration of war.

the demagogic claims on the right, no one is threatening their right to pray.

4. In past years, Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur was a model of tolerance. There was no secular outrage against a mechitzah in the streets.

What changed this year is the government’s war against liberal Israelis, who are fighting for the survival of their Israel, their ability to continue living in this country. This year a public mechitzah in Tel Aviv was especially provocative, given the growing phenomenon of women being pushed to the back of the bus — metaphorically and sometimes literally — around the country. I wish the protesters had resisted the provocation of Rosh Yehudi, but I understand their desperation.

5. Orthodox Jews understandably outraged at the breakup of a prayer service need to reconsider the scenes of Haredim physically attacking members of the Women of the Wall and ripping apart their prayer books.

Those assaults have been going on for years, without protest from almost any part of the Orthodox community.

6. One politician saw the Yom Kippur desecration not as a tragedy but an opportunity.

Prime Minister Netanyahu could scarcely wait until the end of the fast to tweet that “leftists had rioted against Jews.” There is a direct line connecting Netanyahu’s infamous whisper into the ear of a prominent rabbi two decades ago that “the left has forgotten how to be Jews” to

his post-Yom Kippur tweet. Netanyahu has escalated his hateful rhetoric: It is now “the left” against “the Jews.” Not only have leftists forgotten how to be Jews, they aren’t really Jews at all. No Israeli leader has done more to turn Jew against Jew. Doing so on Yom Kippur is the culminating moment of his career as inciter-in-chief.

7. Over the last years, since the Second Intifada, there was a softening of tensions, even a kind of convergence, between secular and religious Israelis. The militant secularism of the state’s early years seemed to be fading, replaced with a softening toward religion, a longing for spirituality. That process has been most dramatically expressed in Israeli popular music, with its embrace of religious themes. It has extended to other areas of culture too. Yet now this government has revived a desperate form of militant secularism. That is not the least of its sins against the Jewish people.

8. For me, one of the most painful scenes was the break-up of Chabad’s outdoor Yom Kippur services in north Tel Aviv. Chabad should not be conflated with Rosh Yehudi.

Its approach is not aggressive, but embracing.

Chabad deserves gratitude, not contempt.

9. As a passionate participant in the prodemocracy movement, I fear that, as a result of the Tel Aviv confrontation, we have lost stature among some parts of the public that had been sympathetic to us. Still, next Saturday night, I intend to be back on the streets with my fellow demonstrators, no less determined to stop this government’s moral and political corruption of Israel, though now a little more tentative when I chant our slogan, “Busha!” — shame.

The shame has touched us all. PJC Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, where he is co-director, together with Imam Abdullah Antepli of Duke University and Maital Friedman, of the Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), and a member of the Institute’s iEngage Project. This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel.

The Jewish holiday that reminds me of my conversion Guest Columnist Winnie Hann

D

uring the autumn of my first year of medical school, I noticed what looked like a lean-to built onto the side of my dorm’s rooftop. It was adorned with leaves and plastic fruits, and someone had hung their old bedsheet to create one of its walls. The wolf from “The Three Little Pigs” could have blown it away with a single huff. I had no idea what it was and was too busy to ask. I was having enough trouble understanding biochemistry that year.

Nearly two decades later, I figured it out.

“Ohhh, that’s what that was!” I exclaimed to my rabbi who was teaching me about Sukkot during my conversion. It was like the time I rewatched an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and understood what “shonda” meant. What other Jewish Easter eggs had been hiding in plain sight?

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

My rabbi explained that Sukkot commemorates the Israelites’ 40-year journey through the desert. That structure I had seen in medical school was a sukkah, of course. As my mind conjured up the memory of that bedsheet flapping against the wooden posts, I was perplexed. The Korean immigrant in me who had once lived in a trailer and had ached for a brick home couldn’t understand a holiday celebrating life without permanent shelter.

The Jew in me now understands. This holiday is about the strength that powered the Israelites through their journey. Their story is also one of faith. Faith that no doubt wavered but endured.

As I approach Sukkot this year, I’ve been reflecting on my journey of conversion and life as a Jew. And as I see it, that journey has gone through three phases.

Phase A might as well be called Phase Awesome. My rabbi taught me the life cycle events and the holidays, but we also discussed Kabbalah and what the divine meant to him and me. It was like free therapy. A year later, I went before a jury of three rabbis who

peppered me with questions that my in-laws later confessed would have stumped them.

Once the jury decided I had passed, I underwent the mikvah ritual.

I was now a member of the club. And everything is awesome when you’re part of a team, right? I loved it. Lighting Shabbat candles, making latkes, drinking Manischewitz. I was handed a set of holidays and rituals by which I could weave spirituality into my life. This was the glorious honeymoon phase. But all honeymoons must come to an end.

Then came Phase B, and B was for “but.” It was a word I heard from far too many members of my club. But you don’t look Jewish. But your name isn’t Jewish. But please explain to me how exactly you’re Jewish. You read Torah so beautifully at services, but weren’t you reading the transliteration?

I have felt many times like I was not American enough. Now I wasn’t Jewish enough.

I grew up under the white gaze. Now I was dealing with the white Jewish gaze. This was the phase when I thought to myself that this might have been a huge mistake.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Not too long after my conversion, I brought salsa verde chicken to a Rosh Hashanah dinner. It is a dish that my family has always loved. It’s tangy and has a mild kick. At the dinner, a Jewish guest turned to me and said, “You should know that the chicken at Rosh is actually supposed to be sweet — for a sweet New Year.” This person probably meant no harm. But I felt injured. I was a fraud and so was my chicken.

So phase B was not awesome. It was so not awesome that phase B had two parts. The first part was all the questioning and judgment from others. The second part was the internalized oppression that began to sink in. I found myself anticipating the judginess, and I started doubting myself.

So that brings me to phase C — complicated.

Complicated because my life as a Jew is but not always awesome, especially since I don’t “pass” in the Ashkenormative American Jewish world. After 15 years, there are times when I still feel “other.” But I have embraced phase C Please see Hann, page 13

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Opinion Chronicle poll results: Hostage exchange with Iran

L

ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following 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?” Of the 231 people who responded, 43% said yes; 42% said no; and 15% said they didn’t know. Comments were submitted by 80 people. A few follow.

It gives license to grab more Americans.

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?

There will be no way to guarantee the money goes to only humanitarian needs.

This is just one piece of this administration’s failing Middle East policy for the safety and security of the United States and that of our allies. It is reminiscent of policies of the last 20 or 30 years which have proved themselves to be ineffective and ill-advised.

Hann: Continued from page 12

because indeed it is the most Jewish phase.

Ironically as a convert, I have the privilege of being uber-Jewish because my complex Jewish experience is inherently filled with lots of navel gazing. My husband, who was born to Jewish parents, has never once questioned his identity

We are a country that prizes its citizens’ well-being. And we put some reasonable conditions on the use of the funds.

The $6 billion are frozen revenues from past Iranian oil sales. This is not U.S. taxpayers’ money. So, in a sense, the U.S. is helping free five illegally detained U.S. citizens at no cost to the U.S. in exchange for five Iranians.

15% Don’t know 43% Yes

It’s about time. That situation couldn’t go on forever.

This was a brave and humanitarian initiative by the administration to bring home American citizens. The funds released belonged to Iran.

42% No

Even though it was their money, we paid for the release of hostages — negotiated with terrorists — over $1 billion per American. as a Jewish man. How un-Jewish is that — a life without questioning?

I realize now that my conversion process is my own version of Sukkot. My life as a convert has required strength and faith, both of which have wavered along the way.

I suspect this was true for the Israelites as well. They undoubtedly experienced moments of weakness and doubt that shrouded their journey through such

While I value people and their right to be free, I worry about setting a precedent: Kidnap Americans and be rewarded.

I am happy for the five American hostages and their families, but the larger message concerns me.

Life is more important than political positioning. Bravo for saving five more Americans. insecurity. Perhaps along with celebrating strength, we should also celebrate its underbelly: vulnerability. Perhaps I, too, should celebrate my own vulnerabilities: when I read Torah in front of my nearly all white congregation, when I cook chicken for Rosh Hashanah, when I walk into Ashkenazi spaces.

I will approach Sukkot thinking about the uncertainties that I have overcome and have

While the world awaits the next Iranian hostage-taking, how much worldwide Iranian terrorism will $6 billion pay for?

And when did the U.S. abandon its policy of not negotiating with terrorists? What calculus sets the value of a single hostage at $1 billion? Who are these billion-dollar men? The U.S. has lost its mind.

Standing on principle and refusing to pay ransom (because doing so just encourages more capture of Americans) sounds great, until you realize that you are talking about living human beings who may be tortured by their captors. Saving lives should be the No. 1 priority.

This exchange only encourages terrorist groups to do the same, now that they know our leadership will cave to their demands. PJC — Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Do you think it is possible to end antisemitism? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC

yet to encounter. I would like to think that I will be able to celebrate my frailties along with my successes. But just as I wish for others to be patient with me, I must be patient with myself. PJC Winnie Hahn is a Korean American Jewish convert who by day practices medicine and by night dreams of doing stand-up comedy. This piece was originally published on Hey Alma.

— LETTERS — Trump’s Rosh Hashanah message was ‘beyond the pale’

In an excellent letter to the editor in the Sept. 22 edition of the Chronicle, Stephen M. Flatow of New York City calls for consequences to be imposed on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for his latest antisemitic and inaccurate utterances in which he seeks to rewrite history — falsely asserting justification for the Holocaust (“There must be consequences for Abbas’ antisemitic rhetoric”).

I wonder what consequences there will be, if any, for the latest antisemitic statements of former president and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

With his usual bombast, bluster, condescension, arrogance and chutzpah, Trump recently delivered a fake Rosh Hashanah message, wishing a happy new year to “liberal Jews who voted to destroy America and Israel,” referencing our community’s decisive vote for Joe Biden for president in 2020. Trump continued: “Let’s hope you learned from your mistakes and make better choices moving forward.”(“Donald Trump wishes happy Rosh Hashanah to ‘liberal Jews who voted to destroy America and Israel,’” Sept. 22).

It is beyond the pale to level a broadside attack against millions of individuals who voted their conscience in electing Joe Biden as president, votes which included a desire for the preservation of our democratic system of governance, which Trump is intent on destroying in favor of an autocracy. With Donald Trump, of course, nothing is beyond the pale: When you perceive yourself to be king, you say whatever you please, let the chips fall where they may and, if anyone is offended, tough.

I would call to mind foreign policy expert and esteemed syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman’s Aug. 16, 2019, New York Times essay titled, “If you think Trump is Helping Israel, You’re a Fool.” Trump is, in fact, a menace to our community and to our country and its system of governance. He is a “leader” the Founding Fathers would have considered an abomination.

Oren Spiegler Peters Township

Memories of Elliott Oshry

I read about the passing of Elliott Oshry (“Lifelong fundraiser, symphony supporter, Elliott Oshry has died,” Sept. 22) and I have to say I feel a sense of happiness having known and worked with him on the Hillel Jewish University Center’s successful capital campaign to build the student center in Oakland more than 20 years ago. He and I linked arms as professionals and got it done.

What struck me about Elliott, besides the unusual spelling of his first name, was how genuine he was. He knew everybody in Pittsburgh, when I knew almost nobody because PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

I was new in the ’Burgh. That time is a nice legacy for all of the Pittsburghers who were involved and contributed.

My condolences to his family and many friends.

Daniel Wiseman Cranford, New Jersey

Abbas has not prepared Palestinians for peaceful co-existence with Israel

By what right does Mahmoud Abbas demand a Palestinian state on land that Israel liberated from illegal Jordanian occupation while defending Israel’s people from intended genocide (“No peace in Mideast without Palestinian state, Abbas tells UN,” Sept. 22, online)? What steps has he taken to build the infrastructure needed by a viable state? What effort has he made to prepare the people living under his administration for peaceful co-existence with the nation-state of the Jews?

The answer is that he has been doing the complete opposite of what he should have been doing. He has grown rich by embezzling monies donated for his people’s benefit, diverted humanitarian aid to efforts to delegitimize Israel and refused to negotiate with Israel on setting secure and mutually acceptable borders as required by the Oslo Accords. Until he accepts the fact that any Palestinian state that might come into existence will have to be the Jewish state’s good neighbor (and not its replacement), there will never be a real Palestinian state.

Toby F. Block Atlanta, Georgia

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

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

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Life & Culture Sweet and sour cabbage for Sukkot — FOOD —

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

S

tuffed cabbage is a quintessential Sukkot meal that can bring back warm memories and is loved and appreciated by almost everyone. Many people have a favorite recipe that reminds them of their childhood. My grandmother made a sweet-and-sour version in a thin tomato sauce.

Stuffed cabbage is typically plated with two rolls per plate, which represent a Torah scroll — that’s why this is such a cute dish to serve on Sukkot or Simchat Torah. While it’s often thought of as an Eastern European or Ashkenazi dish, vegetables stuffed with ground beef and rice are common throughout the Balkans, Turkey and the Levant as well.

When I think of the foods that our grandparents ate, they are mostly very simple — they just need a bit of preparation and time to cook.

Rice is mixed with meat and spices to make the dish go further, and in-season vegetables are abundant and affordable. This dish — an elevated meal for the holiday — can be madefor less than $20.

Unstuffed cabbage has become all the rage because it has fewer steps, but it only takes 10 minutes to roll the cabbage leaves. A game-changing trick to prepare the cabbage is to freeze the head a day or two before you plan to cook. This removes the time-consuming step of

blanching the cabbage leaves one by one in boiling water and ensures a pliable cabbage leaf for rolling.

Makes about 12-15 rolls

Ingredients

1 large head of cabbage, frozen whole For the meat filling: 1½ pounds ground beef ½ cup of rice, pre-soaked in water 1 egg ¼ cup finely diced or grated onion 3-4 minced garlic cloves 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1½ teaspoons kosher salt 1½ teaspoons allspice 1½ teaspoons paprika 1 teaspoon black pepper 3 tablespoons raisins (optional) For the sauce: 3 cups tomato juice 2 tablespoons tomato paste 3 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 bay leaf ½ cup of water, if needed, to ensure that the tomato sauce covers the cabbage rolls.

A day or two before you cook, place your head of cabbage in the freezer. Take it from the freezer a good 6 hours before making your meat mixture.

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p Steps in rolling sweet and sour cabbage

Photos by Jessica Grann

Put the entire head into a medium-sized pot and cover it with cool water. This helps the cabbage thaw.

Cut the stem from the cabbage and carefully cut into the core, leaving a cone-shaped indent about 3 inches deep. Discard the outer two or three leaves of the cabbage, and gently peel each piece away, one by one. If you find that the cabbage is frozen in the middle, let it sit under cool running water until thawed completely.

It is much easier to peel the cabbage this way than it is to peel raw cabbage and helps to aviod tears. Wash each leaf to be sure that it’s free of any dirt or bugs.

Cabbage leaves are pliable and easy to work with. The only downside of freezing it is that the interior leaves can turn slightly brown, looking as though they were soaked in tea around the edges. That doesn’t matter in this dish because you will be covering the stuffed cabbage rolls in a tomato mixture and the color won’t show once they are cooked.

Freezing the cabbage leaves does cause the small interior leaves to be fairly useless once thawed. I use those small leaves or any torn leaves to line my baking dish. This can help keep the cabbage from browning on the bottom while it’s baked.

Once all of the leaves are separate and clean, take sharp kitchen shears and cut a small V-shaped indent into the stem of the cabbage. This removes the hardest part of the stem and makes for easier rolling.

Soak the rice in warm water for 15 minutes, then strain.

Add all ingredients of the meat mixture into a large bowl and mix by hand until well combined, being careful not to overmix.

Cabbage leaves are different sizes so you will need to adjust the amount of meat mixture depending on the size of the leaf. For the largest outside leaves, use about ¼ cup of meat per leaf. For the smaller leaves, use about 2 tablespoons of meat. Scoop the meat into the cabbage leaf, placing it in the middle near where the point of the “triangle” was removed by cutting the stem out. Fold one up and over on an angle, then the next size. Give it a half turn before folding the outside edges into the center, and then roll it up completely and as

tightly as possible. Start with your largest leaves because they are the easiest to work with.

Place each cabbage roll seam-side down into a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish.

This recipe makes about 12 to 15 rolls.

If you’re left with extra filling, make some small meatballs to stuff between the rolled cabbage leaves.

If you want a little extra sweetness, tuck 2 to 4 raisins into the meat in each piece before rolling. The raisins will plump up when baked inside of the meat.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine and whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Put the dish of rolls onto a large baking sheet, so if any sauce escapes your oven will stay clean.

Pour the sauce over the cabbage, covering it completely but not to the point where the pan overflows. If you need extra liquid to cover the rolls, add up to ½ cup of water.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 F for 1.5 hours.

Reduce the heat to 300 F and bake it for another hour. Low and slow is the rule for cabbage rolls. The rice soaks up about 90% of the sauce. If you have too much sauce, uncover and bake them for an additional 20 minutes, which is also the step to take if you want your rolls to be browned on the top.

Allow the rolls to rest covered for 10 minutes before serving.

It is not uncommon for a few rolls to look as though they are unraveling. As long as they were rolled tightly before baking, this can be easily fixed. Typically they only come apart at the bottom seam, and you can tuck the end nicely under the roll when plating.

The flavor improves as the cabbage rests, so this is a great meal to make a day ahead and warm in the oven before serving. You can add another cup of tomato juice when rewarming the cabbage rolls to keep them moist.

If you like an extra bit of lemony zing, serve it with lemon wedges to squeeze over the cabbage. Salt and pepper to taste.

Wishing you happy cooking for a happy holiday! Bless your hands! PJC

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Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

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15

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

T

he 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.”

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, 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.

SPECIAL OCCASIONS DESERVE SPECIAL ATTENTION But so is a birthday, a graduation, What is a special occasion…a birth, an athletic victory, an academic a b’nai mitzvah, an engagement, achievement…anything that deserves a wedding, an anniversary?

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theOCCASIONS more thereDESERVE is in lifeSPECIAL to celebrate!

SPECIAL ATTENTION But soTOVS, is a birthday, a graduation, What is a special occasion…a birth, SEND YOUR CELEBRATIONS, MAZEL AND PHOTOS TO: an athletic victory, an academic a b’nai mitzvah,announcements@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org an engagement, One child, one tutor, achievement…anything a wedding, an anniversary? one school year. that deserves special recognition.

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SEND YOUR CELEBRATIONS, MAZEL TOVS, AND PHOTOS TO: announcements@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Rabbi Aaron Bisno Parshat Sukkot 1 Leviticus 22:26 – 23:44; Numbers 29:12–16

A

Mazel Tov! Mazel Tov!

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Sukkot’s call to reject lashon harah

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Torah

s we gather beneath the makeshift shelters that lend the Festival of Sukkot its name, we are invited to reflect upon the incomplete and uncertain nature of the structures we erect around us — both the physical buildings within which we live as well as the ephemeral beliefs into which we pigeonhole others.

The sukkah, with its thatched roof and permeable walls, speaks to the reality of our physical experience. The fact that we are enjoined to see the stars through the sukkah’s ceiling, and to feel the wind and water that blow through its sides, is testament to Judaism’s insistence that we acknowledge that what we believe will protect us is but temporary. Our homes, after all, are but “sticks and stones.”

reflection. Now, only days later, our tradition invites us to reflect once more — but this time we are not enjoined to reflect upon ourselves per se, but rather upon the whole of the narratives we’ve constructed about those around us.

The feebleness of the beliefs we construct about others becomes painfully evident in the harsh glare of the true impact of lashon harah, wherein others insist we are entitled to their innuendo and false narratives shatter any illusions that “words can never hurt” us.

Indeed, if the sukkah’s walls could talk, they’d describe the impermanence and inadequacy of physical elements to protect us from nature’s harshest decrees. And, too, these same walls would implore us to recognize that our inherited, perhaps whispered, perceptions of others are similarly inadequate and incomplete. For our beliefs about others, or the pigeonholes we build for others, are too often influenced by suggestions and gossip — by lashon

Our beliefs about others, or the pigeonholes we build for others, are too often influenced by suggestions and gossip — by lashon harah — and thus, our beliefs, like our sukkot themselves, are held up by flimsy and false material.

In the same way, the humble walls of our sukkot also teach us that our beliefs about others are only partial and often false. Of course, our ideas and judgments about others are necessarily based on our own limited understandings (so humility is counseled) but, even worse, all too often, our perceptions are shaped by the ill-intentions of others.

There is a Rabbinic teaching that speaks directly to the impact of innuendo and talk that isn’t kind. The Rabbis teach there are three parties involved in such vile talk, what Judaism knows as lashon harah.

They are the speaker, the listener and the one spoken of. Our Rabbis write, when words that disparage or besmirch are exchanged, each of the three parties are harmed by the speaker’s irresponsible speech (we need not ascribe such acts to malevolence), perhaps in ways one might not at first recognize. But one party, our Rabbis tell us, the one whose free mind is claimed — the listener — is hurt most grievously of all.

Does this reasoning surprise you? On Sukkot, it is the foundation of our faith.

Sukkot arrives only days after Yom Kippur, the holy day on which our tradition invites us to engage in our greatest acts of self-

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

harah — and thus, our beliefs, like our sukkot themselves, are held up by flimsy and false material.

And so, as we celebrate Sukkot this year, let us reflect upon the fragility of both the physical structures upon which we rely (including our own bodies), as well as the ephemeral stories we have erected for ourselves about others. For in spite of the fact that within both our buildings and our beliefs we feel secure (most days), neither is forever and in some of the truest ways, both are necessarily false.

Therefore, as we gather within the impermanent embrace of our sukkah, let its fragile walls remind us that just as these physical structures are unsteady, so too are the narratives we craft about others. Let us determine to create in all our dwellings stability and strength founded upon authenticity and truth. PJC Rabbi Aaron Bisno is the Frances F. & David R. Levin Rabbinic Scholar at Rodef Shalom Congregation and the founding director of the Center for Interfaith Collaboration. This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Wishing you a joyful Sukkot!

ENRICH YOUR LIFE THIS FALL WITH JEWISH FEDERATION ADULT LEARNING FALL CLASSES With Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff

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The Legal Dimensions of Shabbat MAR. 28, 2024

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Classes are generously supported by the Elaine Belle Krasik Fund for Adult Education Full inclusion is a core value of Jewish Pittsburgh. The Jewish Federation welcomes invitees of all abilities, backgrounds, races, religious affiliations, sexual orientations and gender identities.

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

17

Obituaries Jewish Association on Aging gratefully acknowledges contributions from the following:

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Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frieda Gelman Margolis Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mildred S . Miller Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ethel Bodek Rogers Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Philip Rogers Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Louis Zeiden Donald Berk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leo E . Berkowitz Rhoda & Jay Gefsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allan H . Barnett Jan & Ed Korenman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacob Kuperstock Harold & Cindy Lebenson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allen A . Broudy David Pettler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan M . Pettler David Pettler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marti Pettler Simma & Lawrence Robbins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sam Nadler Simma & Lawrence Robbins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isadore Nadler The Rev . Marcia A . Tremmel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louis A . Livingston Nancy Waldman Yuskovitz & Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fannie Sulkes Cohen Contact the Development department at 412-586-2690 or development@jaapgh.org for more information.

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday October 1: Esther Aronovitz, Allan H . Barnett, Jack Bergad, Cecilia Weis Bluestone, Frances Sylvia Brown, Ann Colker, Annette Klee, Charles Kovacs, Bernard S . Labbie, Fannie Lieberman Lawrence, Sadie Moldovan, Joseph Moskovitz, Samuel H . Richman, Louis M . Sachs, Aaron Joel Schwartz Monday October 2: Sylvia Auslander, Leo Berkowitz, Gilbert B . Cramer, Iris Cummings, Murray Feiler, Rose Fisher, Elinor Sarah Goldman, Jack Hirsch, Joseph Louis Hochman, Rose Isaacson, Sophia Korsunsky, Sam Nadler, Joan M . Pettler, David Nathaniel Racusin, Walter Jacob Robins, Myer Shapiro, Alexander Sharove, Ben Shrager Tuesday October 3: Ida M . Breman, Sam Chizeck, Judith Kochin Cohen, Lillie Levy, Shirley Watchman Loefsky, Selma Luterman, Esther Mallinger, Frieda Gelman Margolis, Rose L . Miller, Sarah Mormanstein, Lena Newberg, Sadye Breman Novick, Rose Cohen Rattner, Mollie Robins, Joseph Scott Wednesday October 4: Allen A . Broudy, Fannie Sulkes Cohen, Shachny Grinberg, Jeanette Gross, Rebecca Herman, Anita Lois Hirsch, Meyer Jacobs, Pauline Klein, Paul G . Lazear, Joseph Robert Lipsich, Clara M . Oberfield, Harry Pearl, Marti Pettler, Melvin N . Rosenfield, William Sable, Tillie Scott, Jacob Soffer, Samuel Supowitz, Louis Zeiden Thursday October 5: Harry Americus, Jacob Feigus, Ruth Klein Fischman, Harry Girson, Samuel W .

Gould, Albert Halle, Samuel W . Jubelirer, Jacob Samuel Kuperstock, Jack H . Mar, Samuel Moskowitz, Nathan Osgood, Anna Paris, Eli J . Rose, Anna Rosenfeld, William Rosenstein, Bertram W . Roth, Cantor Harry P . Silversmith, Mary Cotler Weiner, Louis H . Zucker Friday October 6: Simon J . Anathan, Paul Anolik, Ismor Davidson, Goldine Lapidus, Rebecca Lederman, Belle B . Maharam, Esther Mankin, Isadore Nadler, Esther Pomerantz Silverman, Anne S .

Slesinger, Evelyn Ziff Saturday October 7: Jeanette Berkman, Meyer Bernstein, Ben Cohen, Blanche S . Cohen, Leona Yorkin Dym, Warren G . Friedlander, Clara Goldstein, Meyer Haltman, Toba Markovitz, Mildred S . Miller, Edith Murstein, Fannie Scheinholtz, Yetta E . Segal, Moses Weinerman

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COANE: Ethan Coane died peacefully at his Pittsburgh home during the week ending Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Services and interment were held on Aug. 23, 2023, at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery (Pittsburgh). He is survived by nephews Gary (Diane) Kaplowitz of Concord, California, Andy (Lore Filgueira) Kaplowitz of Seattle, Dan Zimmerman of Fairfield, Connecticut, and Matt (Catherine) Zimmerman of Charlottesville, Virginia; cousins Steve (Carol) Cohen (Holland, Pennsylvania), Marc (Helene) Cohen (Ardmore, Pennsylvania) and Sandy (Andy) Cohen Newman (Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania); and former brother-in law Alan Zimmerman (Fort Lee, New Jersey). He was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin Coane (Philadelphia) and Mildred Coane (Pittsburgh); his sisters Linda Coane Kaplowitz Copeland (Olympia, Washington), and Honey Coane Zimmerman (Cranford, New Jersey); and his nephew David (Shelley) Kaplowitz (Duvall, Washington). Ethan will be remembered fondly by his family and his neighbors, especially Alli and Eric Lewis, who became close friends, and his longtime friends Ira Litman (Philadelphia), Garry Wamser (Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), and Sherri Angel (Pittsburgh). May his memory be for a blessing to all whose lives he touched, always. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com FISCHMAN: Faye (Florence Margaret) Fischman, June 5, 1934 – Sept. 21, 2023. Beloved wife of the late Melvin Fischman. Loving mother of Dennis (Rona) Fischman, Cantor Yael (Jonathan Charry) Fischman, Gary Fischman, late Ronald Fischman, and late Joel Fischman. Daughter of the late William Chosky, late Rose Greenberg Chosky, and late Yetta Zwick Chosky. Sister of Sandra (late Sam) Gilliam. Also survived by grandchildren Avigayil and Nava Fischman-Charry, Erez and Rebecca Fischman-Cohen and their mother Stessa Cohen.

Faye was a longtime member of Parkway Jewish Center. She was a former receptionist at Jewish Family & Children’s Services and former president of the Resident Association of Beacon Place. Faye was an avid reader and amateur librarian, managing the Parkway Jewish Center and Beacon Place libraries. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment Homewood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Parkway Jewish Center, 201 Penn Center Blvd., Building One Suite 530, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 or your favorite charity. schugar.com HOFKOSH: Dena Hofkosh died on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, at the age of 68, peaceful and curious about this step on her journey. Dena had a New York City childhood of roller skating, Central Park, theater, a long subway ride to Bronx Science High School and New York University. Dena’s warm and loving parents, Jack and Naomi, both physical therapists, nurtured her curiosity and taught her the value of integrity and independence. Her mother’s sister, Ruth Silverstein, a high school Spanish teacher, took her to Europe at the age of 13 and launched a love of travel and languages. She initially resisted her parents’ pressure to attend medical school (NYU) but realized their wisdom and was profoundly grateful that they set her on that path. In 1979, Dena married classmate Jay Weiskopf and the couple moved to Pittsburgh for medical training. Dena fell in love with Pittsburgh and put down deep roots in Squirrel Hill, which had a comfortable cement:tree ratio and bagels within walking distance from home. Dena completed pediatric residency and fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, her professional home for a 40-year career. She evaluated countless children with developmental challenges and sat with their families sharing difficult news as well as hope. She had a passion for medical education and, as the pediatric residency director, oversaw the professional development of over 700 pediatric residents at Children’s Hospital. Dena excelled at gathering the right group of people to help bring ideas into fruition. One of her favorite phrases, “Help me think about this,” launched many collaborative educational projects including Med Ed Day at Pitt Med School and the UPMC Physician Well-Being Symposium. She was president of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors and the associate dean for faculty affairs at Pitt Medical School. At the time of her retirement in 2021, Dena was serving as the vice chair for faculty development in the Department of Pediatrics, setting standards for educational scholarship and providing mentorship for faculty. Dena fell in love with her children before each was born and they deepened her compassion and insight into the joys and challenges of parenting, making her a better pediatrician. Dena was never happier than when she was with her daughters. She adored her sister, brother-in-law and their wonderful children. The family was small but full of love. Dena struggled for years with her sexuality, finally “coming out” as a lesbian at the age of 48 and leaving her marriage. While she continued to regret the pain she caused people she loved, she lived the rest of her life with integrity and obvious joy. She was visible and vocal about diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in the medical community, serving on the board of directors of the Persad Center, developing PRIDEHealth and planning learning experiences in LGBTQ+ health for medical students. As an openly gay woman in a position of leadership, she was a role model for students, trainees and faculty in the LGBTQ+ community. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine established the Dena Hofkosh Medical School Pride Alliance Scholarship Fund in her honor. Dena married her best friend, Kim Patterson, a social worker, in 2017 having found the perfect yin to her yang. They both embodied the

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Please see Obituaries, page 20

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MAY YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES HAVE A JOYFUL SUKKOT! THIS YEAR AND EVERMORE. A planned gift sustains Jewish Pittsburgh & ensures the preservation of your values and traditions for generations to come!

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SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 19

Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 18

spirit of tikkun olam — the dedication to repair the world — and together built a life of service and a welcoming home. They shared a love of travel, watching the sunset in Rehoboth, glamping in the RV, and all the hilarious, awful, moving, joyful and mundane parts of a full life. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019, Dena learned to face her mortality with grace and to live fully with both grief and joy as her constant companions. She is survived by her wife, Kim Patterson, her daughters, Julia Martin (Derek) and Sarah Weiskopf (Mikynsi Steffan), her sister Sonia Hofkosh, her brother-in-law Jon Hulbert and their children, Eliza Hofkosh-Hulbert (Ledah Wilcox) and Nina Hofkosh-Hulbert. She is also survived by many grateful colleagues and friends. Services were held at Rodef Shalom Temple. Interment Homewood Cemetery. To honor Dena’s legacy, donations may be made to: Dena Hofkosh MD Endowed Fund for Faculty Development at UPMC Children’s Hospital justgiving. com/hofkosh, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Dena Hofkosh Medical School Pride Alliance Scholarship Fund, engage.pitt.edu/project/27349, or a charity of your choice.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com.

KARELITZ: Lee M. Karelitz, age 65, of Green, Ohio, passed away Sept. 18, 2023, at his home with his family by his side. He was born in Pittsburgh on Dec. 27, 1957, to Edwin and Bess (Rosenbloom) Karelitz and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School and Penn State University. Lee spent time in various district manager roles with K-Mart, as a CFO with Fishers Foods, and recently with UFCW in Cleveland. He was a member of Temple Israel in Canton. Lee served his Jewish community in many roles throughout his time with the congregation including, Temple president, Brotherhood president, and Federation president. During his time in these roles, Lee was awarded the Kruman Brotherhood Service Award and the Rovella Kopstein Award.

Recently the Temple honored him for his years of service by designating him a Lifetime Trustee. Lee is survived by his loving wife of almost 40 years, Paulette; daughters, Ashley (Dan) Schagrin and Caitlin (Joe) Lanese; grandchildren, Mia, Ellie and Henry; siblings, Ann Laaff and Ira (Olga) Karelitz; sister-in-law, Amy Karelitz. He is preceded in death by his parents; brother, William Karelitz; brother-in-law, Jeff Laaff. Funeral services were held Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 10 a.m. at Temple Israel with Rabbi David Komerofsky and Rabbi John Spitzer officiating. Final resting place is North Lawn Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Lee Karelitz Philanthropic Fund through the Canton Jewish Federation. arnoldfuneralhome.com, Arnold-Canton, 330-456-7291

MERVIS: Betty Jean Mervis, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.

Beloved wife of the late Abe Mervis and Alan Zatman. Loving mother of Cynthia Mervis Watson, M.D., (David Katzin), Jana L. (David) Kahn, Ph.D. and Scott (Mary) Mervis. Sister of Marcia (Tony) Garland, the late Donald (late Theresa) Lascher and late Norman (surviving spouse Pat) Lascher. Mena to Ryan (Ashli) Watson, Justin Kahn, Chelsea Mervis, Hunter Mervis, Ivy (Brad) Mervis-Fuchs and Sawyer Mervis. Great-grandmother of Myla Mervis-Fuchs. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment B’nai Israel Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the Jewish Association on Aging, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. schugar.com ODOROFF: Elizabeth Odoroff, Ph.D. Liz was born on June 3, 1943, and died Sept. 19, 2023, at the age of 80. She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, but lived in Pittsburgh since the late 1960s. She is survived by her husband of 37 years, David Morgan, and her children, Adam Goldstein, Emily Cook and Andrew Morgan. She is predeceased by her father and mother, Maurice and Minnie Odoroff, and her older brother, Charles Odoroff. Liz received a BA in English and education from the University of Minnesota, an MA in English from Brown University and a Ph.D. in rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University. She taught English at Taylor Allderdice High School from around 1967 to 1971 and taught composition and other classes part-time at the University of Pittsburgh from the mid-1970s until her retirement in 2007. She was a very accomplished teacher at Taylor Allderdice and the University of Pittsburgh.

She maintained contact with some of her students at Taylor Allderdice for her entire life. She was a very outgoing person who was remarkably upbeat and positive in the face of life’s challenges.

She was a patron of the arts. She was one of the founders of the Children’s Library of Pittsburgh.

She loved reading murder mysteries and she loved to listen to NPR radio. Graveside services and interment were held at Homewood Cemetery. Contributions may be made to Farm and Wilderness Family Camp, 401 Farm and Wilderness Road, Plymouth, VT 05056, or Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library, 5401 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. schugar.com SACHS: Herbert Sachs, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. Beloved husband of the late Roslyn N. Sachs. Loving father of Katie (Adam) Lauzar, Amy (Larry Hershman) Alfred and Heidi (Rick Maletsky) Sachs. Brother of Annabelle Joseph and the late Marcia Grodin. Pop of Victoria, Sarah and Zachary Alfred-Levow, Rachel and Jacob Lauzar, David, Max and Hannah Maletsky. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation. Contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice. schugar.com PJC

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PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 21

Chag sameach!

Life & Culture Seasonal late summer supper — FOOD —

!

By Keri White | Contributing Writer

I

Wishing you a

Joyful

Sukkot Jason Kunzman, JCC President and CEO Scott E. Seewald, JCC Board Chair Staff & Board of the JCC

am what is known as a “lurker” on Instagram.

I rarely comment or share, but I do scroll and frequently gravitate to food posts.

I saw both of these recipes a few weeks ago, and they caught my eye. The first one, the chicken with tomatoes, I never did manage to find the source when I went to recreate it: What you see below was an invention based on my recollection (and apologies to the original chef, who deserves all the credit).

The second one, featuring zucchini, courtesy of Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame, was a bit fussy for my taste. If I may be so bold as to disagree with Chef K, similar results can be achieved with a simple marinade and grill, and I share that version below.

I made both of these one Sunday evening at the beach and there were no leftovers, the best sign of a successful meal!

 Grilled zucchini

Photo by Keri White

Grilled zucchini

 Chicken with marinated tomatoes and onions Photo by Keri White

Chicken with marinated tomatoes and onions

Serves 6 I used breasts, but boneless thighs are fine for those who prefer dark meat. We let the tomatoes sit on the chicken for about 5 minutes before tucking in; a longer spell would be even better, allowing the juice to seep into the meat.

Serve this with a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the dressing.

For the chicken and marinade: 3 cloves garlic, crushed ½ cup mayonnaise ½ teaspoon salt 1 lemon 1 teaspoon pepper 2½ pounds boneless chicken, sliced horizontally into thin cutlets For the tomato/onion mixture: 2 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into chunks 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved 1 red onion, cut in half then sliced thinly ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup balsamic vinegar ½ teaspoon kosher salt Generous grinding of fresh cracked pepper ¾ cup loosely packed basil leaves, cut into ribbons

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a zip-seal bag or a sealable container. Add the chicken and toss it to coat thoroughly. Refrigerate it for a few hours or overnight.

An hour before dinner, mix all the tomato ingredients except the basil. Toss and set it aside at room temperature.

Heat a grill to medium-high and begin to cook the chicken. Allow the pieces to sear 22 SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

for about 3 minutes, and then rotate them 90 degrees; this creates those delightful-looking grill hash marks.

After another 3 minutes, flip the chicken and repeat the process. The chicken cooks on each side for about 6 minutes or 12 total minutes.

Check for doneness; if the chicken needs more time, lower the heat or move the chicken to the exterior of the grill where the heat is less intense and cook it for a few more minutes until done.

Place the chicken in a dish with sides (like a Pyrex lasagna pan or a large, deep platter).

Pour the tomato mixture over it, toss it to coat and cover it with foil. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle it with the basil ribbons and serve.

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Serves 6 Confession time: I first followed Keller’s directions for this recipe — it involved salting the zucchini to drain it (like you would do for eggplant.) Then it required sautéing it in a pan with a good amount of oil to brown it — and standing over the stove to ensure even cooking and to avoid burning.

Then the squash was baked in the oven for a bit, coated with a very tasty miso-maple glaze.

It was delicious. With all due respect to the esteemed chef and his staff, for simple summer meals, this was just overkill.

Below, I share a simplified version of the dish which might not achieve the same level of refinement for true gourmands. But if I’m rolling off the beach or out of the pool, or even walking across an air-conditioned room to prepare dinner, this version is just fine.

I marinated the squash with Bachan’s Japanese barbecue sauce, but you can use anything you like — bottled Italian dressing, oil and vinegar, Soy Vey, etc.

3 medium or 6 small zucchinis 3 tablespoons oil About 3 tablespoons your favorite sauce

Remove the ends and stem from the zucchinis and cut them lengthwise. Hash the cut sides of the squash and toss it with oil and sauce. Let it sit for a few minutes or a few hours.

Heat a grill over medium-high and cook the zucchini for a few minutes on each side until lightly charred.

Lower the heat and/or move the squash to the exterior of the grill where the heat is less intense.

Continue cooking until the zucchini is cooked through and a bit soft, about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness. PJC Keri White is a Philadelphia-based freelance food writer. This story first appeared in the Jewish Exponent, an affiliated publication.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Community Casting sins into the park

In accordance with new year traditions, BSUSY teens walked to Frick Park and held a tashlich program.

p Iniquity pardoned, transgression forgiven

Photo courtesy of Marissa Tait

Recipe for a mitzvah

Temple Emanuel of South Hills volunteers baked apple cake for High Holiday bags for seniors.

p The secret is in the ingredients.

Photo courtesy of Temple Emanuel of South Hills

Great racers

Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh students joined 10,000 runners on Sept. 24 for Pittsburgh’s annual Great Race.

p Rain can’t dampen these smiles.

Photo courtesy of Robert Davis

New year, old unity

Chabad on Campus and Hillel JUC jointly welcomed more than 300 students for Rosh Hashanah dinner.

p Teamwork is the dreamwork.

Photo courtesy of Chabad on Campus

Care kits at both centers

In celebration of Rosh Hashanah, more than 100 people packaged care kits for the community. Contents included items to fight food and job insecurity, poverty and homelessness.

More than 1,200 care kits were packed at both the Squirrel Hill and South Hills Jewish Community Centers.

p Giving back, one hand at a time.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Sounds like something good is happening.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

23

KOSHER MEATS

• All-natural poultry — whole chickens, breasts, wings and more • All-natural, corn-fed beef — steaks, roasts, ground beef and more • Variety of deli meats and franks Available at select Giant Eagle stores.

Visit gianteagle.com for location information.

Empire Kosher Fresh Bone-In Split Chicken Breasts

5

49 lb.

Price effective Thursday, September 28 through Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Available at 24

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

and

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