Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle 12-8-23

December 8, 2023 | 25 Kislev 5784

Candlelighting 4:35 p.m. | Havdalah 5:38 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 49 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org

NOTEWORTHY

$2

Happy Chanukah

LOCAL Bring them home

‫חנוכה שמח‬

Vigils for hostages continue in Squirrel Hill Page 4

LOCAL Antique instrument gets a second life

Light a menorah, eat a 10/27 memorial doughnut: Chanukah is chance to be built to celebrate with community on unity, not unanimity

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

H The free event starts at the Dormont Pool parking lot, 1801 Dormont Ave. Participants who RSVP will be entered in a raffle.

On Dec. 8. Repair the World Pittsburgh is holding a Shabanukkah Fundraiser Party. The event, which runs from 4-7 p.m., will include several activities.

“We are going to be lighting the menorah and Shabbat candles. There will be latkes and jelly doughnuts and even a small dreidel tournament,” Repair the World’s program manager Annie Dunn said.

Raffle prizes include a gift card from Pigeon Bagels, a food and home supply gift basket from East End Cooperative Ministry, art by Jules Malis and a portrait from local artist Maggie Negrete.

While the evening boasts various fun

ow do you create a memorial for the 11 people murdered during the Oct. 27 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting? Is it possible for nine families and three congregations to agree on the scope, location and look of a memorial? Should they even try?

You begin, according to Jo Recht, by not even discussing a memorial. Instead, you work on creating trust.

“I think that we really had to develop trust,” Recht said. “At the beginning, people were still very, very wounded.”

Recht is a member of Congregation Dor Hadash. She serves as the congregation’s representative on the Memorialization Working Group and as a member of the 10.27 Healing Partnership’s steering committee, created in January 2020.

The steering committee, she explained, began meeting shortly after Maggie Feinstein was hired in late spring 2019 to head the 10.27 Healing Partnership. The committee had only one in-person meeting before the pandemic forced its work to move online.

Feinstein said that the idea of a memorial first arose during meetings of the steering committee.

“We realized that to have a memorial that centers on the experience of those directly impacted, we’re going to have to create a specific space for that to happen,” she said.

“And so, in 2020, we created a Memorialization Working Group.”

Please see Chanukah, page 10

Please see Tree of Life, page 10

A new Violin of Hope, from the North Hills Page 5

LOCAL

Fried leek fritters for Chanukah

 Multiple Chanukah events are bringing light to the community.

Photo by Paul Jacobson via Flickr at https://rb.gy/uk6p4p

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

Latke alternative: Keftes de prasa LOCAL

Page 14

A Fine collection

Philanthropists' art on exhibit at Carnegie Museum Page 16

T

hroughout Pittsburgh, community members will light candles, spin dreidels and enjoy eight nights of fried food. With Chanukah beginning Dec. 7, grabbing a menorah, digesting doughnuts and illuminating Pittsburgh’s dark skies has never been easier.

To kick off the holiday, Mayor Ed Gainey will light the Downtown Menorah outside the City-County Building at 5 p.m. on Dec. 7. The event, hosted by Chabad of Pittsburgh, will include live music, latkes and doughnuts.

Five miles away, Chabad of South Hills is hosting a Chanukah festival complete with a car menorah parade, live music, an 8-foot LED robot, photo booth, fire truck gelt drop, latkes, doughnuts and grand menorah lighting.

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Appeal The Pittsburgh Chronicle: A reflection of our community Board member Seth Glick

A

s an adolescent in Squirrel Hill in the late 1990s, I read the sports section of a local daily newspaper every morning during breakfast. It was exciting to wake up and see the scores of the games that finished after my bedtime. I especially loved poring over the box scores, where the real details of the game could be found. How many goals did Mario score? Was Barry’s batting average still above .300? Then, as I got a bit older and my parents got cable, those morning moments were gradually replaced by after-school “SportsCenter” binges and their seemingly nonstop roll of highlights.

In high school, print journalism played a small role in my life, in two notable ways: opening the Chronicle every week and reading Larry Rubin’s Specialty Clothing ad that had random bits of trivia; and the arrival of the Sunday New York Times, bundled up in a thin blue bag and chucked on our lawn through an open passenger window. I looked forward to both, and they encapsulated the best qualities of a newspaper: a source of facts, and curiosity of new places and ideas to discover.

Fast forward 20 years and I’m still a subscriber to the same two newspapers, but this time they have my name on the

address label. The Sunday Times, which still arrives in a thin blue bag, is, to me, a slow read to be enjoyed over the entire week. But it’s the other weekly arrival that is the one that truly connects me to my neighborhood, shul, coworkers, clients and the businesses where I shop.

because there’s a strong chance that at some point during the weekend a friend or family member will start a conversation with, “Did you see that article in the Chronicle?”

But my favorite moments are those weekend days when I have the luxury of

Let’s not take the Chronicle for granted.

It’s always been there for us as a written record of our community and a reflection of our day-to-day lives.

When the Chronicle arrives, the first thing I do is put last week’s issue into the recycling bin (usually while whistling “Yesterday’s Papers” by the Rolling Stones). Then, I open it and scan the articles, making a mental note of the ones I want to read right away.

After that, it remains a steady presence throughout my weekend. A copy is always sitting open on the kitchen table of my machatunim’s house while we’re over for Shabbos dinner. And I can always count on my mom and dad to text me about any stories that mention art, old books or “Seinfeld.” It’s almost required reading

spending an hour with the paper to read it front to back. Like a good book, it opens with attention-grabbing features.

It then moves to the local news, the impassioned op-eds and the engaging letters to the editor. After a quick bit of Jewish history and a tasty recipe for pareve brownies, it settles into a satisfying conclusion that continues the important tradition of recording the life cycle events of a community.

Other times, when life feel a bit busier, I just skip right to the back to see if there’s anyone I know in the community photo section or to check if I’ve finally been named

a Macher and Shaker (I’m still waiting, by the way).

We’re so lucky right now that the paper is produced under the watch of a veritable all-star team. A group of true professionals in the prime of their careers, who have each been part of this community for decades. As a board member, my favorite thing to hear is that “the Chronicle has never been better” because I couldn’t agree more with that statement. The paper is a reflection of our community, filtered through the unique lens and personality of its talented staff. Whether it’s Adam Reinherz’s captivating opening paragraphs (overflowing like the fourth cup of wine on Passover with puns, turns of phrase and alliteration), or Dave Rullo’s local coverage that gives us the news we need with all of the polished tools of a seasoned beat reporter, each issue is guaranteed to leave the reader well informed, entertained and connected.

Let’s not take the Chronicle for granted. It’s always been there for us as a written record of our community and a reflection of our day-to-day lives. Now, more than ever, it’s our turn to ensure that future generations will know the happiness of getting the newspaper, opening it up to the back page and seeing a picture of their child in a photo with their classmates, each one with an undeniable smile.

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

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Headlines Sundays in Squirrel Hill call for release of Hamas-held hostages — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

T

he familiar sights and sounds of community members continued Sunday as holiday shoppers ambled through Squirrel Hill’s business district while Pittsburghers demanded the release of an estimated 137 hostages still held captive by Hamas.

“Innocents remain in Hamas captivity.

They need to come home,” Amitai Bin-Nun said into a megaphone on Dec. 3.

“Every single person means the world to us,” Julie Paris told the crowd of almost 100 people.

For weeks, Bin-Nun and Paris have organized rallies on Sundays in Squirrel Hill, amplifying awareness through banners bearing pictures of the hostages, printouts of the captives’ names, Israeli music blasted from a speaker and chants of “Bring them home” and “Am Yisrael Chai.”

How anyone can ignore the hostages’ plight is incomprehensible, Tova Rose said.

Shouting into the megaphone, Rose described Kfir Bibas, a 10-month-old baby, who along with his 4-year-old brother and parents, are among an estimated 240 people abducted by Hamas two months ago.

“Kfir is the face of Oct. 7,” Rose said.

“Kfir is the face that reminds us that — when we don’t know where to stand because people want to polarize topics — we see a child, an innocent child, who at 10 months old, could never have done anything in the world deserving of what was done to him. He is the face of this. He is the face of every child: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, otherwise, because no child is deserving of this.”

The Israel Defense Forces estimates that 137 captives remain in Gaza. Despite freeing nearly 100 hostages during a seven-day pause in fighting, Hamas did not release the Bibas children, their mother, Shiri, or father, Yarden.

“I’m angry about what happened to them,” Rose said. “I’m angry about the responses from so many people in this world who have seen a family suffering, and who have torn down pictures of their faces. And I’m sad for them; I’m sad for these children who even when, God willing, they make it home safely will be with this trauma for the rest of their lives.”

Still, gatherings like Sunday’s offer optimism.

“I’m hopeful looking at all these people here today who have come together to support a family that we don’t know personally, but we feel for in every part of our soul,” Rose said.

Paris, the Midwest regional director of StandWithUs, urged attendees to channel that emotion into action.

Contact public officials and let them know the importance of bringing the hostages home, Paris said: “We need to get on the phone.”

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

p Amitai Bin-Nun speaks into a megaphone during a Dec. 3 demonstration in Squirrel Hill.

City Councilperson Erika Strassburger told the Chronicle that she attended the rally to “offer unequivocal support to bring the hostages home.”

“There can be differences of opinion, over policy, over politicians, but to bring innocent people who have been captured by Hamas — some as young as infants — home to their families is something that no one can argue with.”

Bhavini Patel, an Edgewood Borough councilperson and candidate for Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district, has attended several Sunday demonstrations.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

The gatherings, Patel said, are necessary appeals.

“We need to make sure that Hamas is held accountable,” she said. “We need to continue to keep that pressure on until every single one of the families are reunited with their loved ones.”

She noted that many Pittsburghers have personal ties to those abducted

by Hamas.

“There are people here who are directly connected to the individuals who are being held hostage, so although it might be far away we are feeling that pain right here at home,” Patel said.

The rationale for attending a demonstration that calls for the release of Hamas-held hostages should go without saying, state Rep. Abigail Salisbury told the Chronicle.

“These are people’s families that are missing. It’s first in their minds every second of every day, so I think the least we can do is take a little bit of our day to pray for them, to remember them and to try to do our best to advocate to bring them back home,” she said.

During several Sunday gatherings, organizers beseeched community members to urge elected officials to call for the release of the hostages.

A strong relationship between politicians and the public is a necessary component of democracy, Salisbury explained.

“I have a lot of people who contact my office to advocate for various issues — and I’m a state legislator, I’m not doing any international policymaking — but it’s always important,” she said. “We’re supposed to represent our communities.

So if we don’t know what people think, we can’t represent them.”

Calling, emailing or stopping by a politician’s office to talk about an issue is important, Salisbury said.

“It lets them know that this is something that their constituents care about,” she said. “And if they want to get reelected, then they should care about it, too.” PJC

p From left: Lauren Baldel, David Dvir, Amitai Bin-Nun and Julie Paris clutch a banner during a Dec. 3 demonstration in Squirrel Hill.

Photo by Adam Reinherz

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

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Headlines Old instrument goes from North Hills closet to Violins of Hope collection — LOCAL —

By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer

A

violin whose provenance includes Danish resistance during World War II has joined the Violins of Hope, a traveling collection of Holocaust-era stringed instruments.

The violin, which was donated weeks ago

by Ross Township resident Christian Dahl and his brother Peter Dahl, belonged to their father Ole Steffen Dahl, a Danish-born luthier who died in 2004.

Thanks to this collection, the violin has “an afterlife,” Christian Dahl, 72, told the Chronicle.

Since Ole Dahl’s death almost 20 years ago, the instrument remained in a North Hills closet.

“I thought somebody needs to have it and play,” Christian Dahl said. “It’s a decent instrument.”

Days before the donation, the violin was brought to Brighton Music Center along with a note describing its provenance.

The violin, “an early Hopf from the late 18th or early 19th century,” belonged to Ole Steffen Dahl. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1919, Dahl apprenticed as a violin maker in the late 1930s at Emil Hjorth and Sons, a “venerable firm” in Copenhagen, according to Christian Dahl.

p Violinist Joshua Bell and Avshi Weinstein discuss Ole Steffan Dahl's violin, Nov. 25

Photo by David Bachman

p Avshi Weinstein holds Ole Steffan Dahl's violin, the newest addition to the Violins of Hope collection. Photo courtesy of Tina Richardson

After Germany invaded Denmark on April 9, 1940, Dahl joined the Danish navy.

Although he and other Danish military personnel were interned by the Germans, Dahl secretly joined the Danish resistance, his son said: “The comforting smells of rosin and freshly carved wood were replaced by odors of gun oil and explosives.”

As the war continued, Dahl’s commitment to resistance grew. His childhood home

Korps Ågesin was “military,” according to the National Museum in Copenhagen’s resistance database.

Despite the museum’s possession of a blurry image of Dahl and members of the resistance group, little is known about Dahl’s wartime activities.

“The Danish resistance is still a very secretive

in Esbønderup, just north of Copenhagen, was used to hide Danish Jews, and according to family history, Ole “secretly helped transport Jews” from Lyngby, Denmark, to Sweden.

The mystery of resistance

Dahl was a member of Korps Ågesin, a group of resistance fighters who participated in bombing train tracks and impeding German supply lines, his son said.

Please see Violins, page 11

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

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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 SATURDAY, DEC. 9 Join Chabad of South Hills for a latke cook-off. Sixth through eighth graders will compete for the title of “latke masters.” Enjoy a doughnut bar, get special swag and write letters to the soldiers. 6:30 p.m. $10. Address given upon registration. chabadsh.com/latke. q SUNDAY, DEC. 10 Join the Joint Jewish Education Program for Latkepalooza.

Enjoy games, crafts, prizes, doughnuts and latkes. $5 per person or $20 per family at the door. 10 a.m.

Congregation Beth Shalom, 5915 Beacon St. jjep.org.

Join Chabad of the South Hills for Babyccino, a chic meet for moms and tots. Three classes of Chanukah delight for ages 0-3. Location given upon registration.

11:15 a.m. chabdsh.com/babyccino.

Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for the Squirrel Hill Chanukah Walk and Menorah Lighting Festival. Enjoy a variety of activities, including cookie making, a dreidel craft, cards for Israeli soldiers, a juggling show and more. The walk culminates with a Grand Menorah Lighting Festival complete with a fire show, ice-carved menorah, photo booth and hot latkes and doughnuts. 2:30 p.m. Corner of Beacon Street and Murray Avenue. chabadpgh.com.

Join Classrooms Without Borders in partnership with The Collaboratory Against Hate and the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh for the premiere of the film “Irena’s Vow.” 3 p.m. McConomy Auditorium, 5032 Forbes Ave., 15213. cwbpgh.org/event/irenas-vow-community-filmevent/?mc_cid=3e7160b202&mc_eid=300cbb162.

Chabad of Greenfield is excited to present its annual Greenfield Chanukah Festival. This year’s

celebration includes a grand helicopter gelt drop. Sen. John Fetterman will be honored for his unwavering supporting of the Jewish community. 4:30 p.m. 4315 Murray Ave. chabadofgreenfield.com. q SUNDAYS, DEC. 10 – JAN. 7 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 MONDAYS, DEC. 11 – JAN. 8 Join Congregation Beth Shalom for a weekly Talmud study. 9:15 a.m. For more information, visit bethshalompgh.org. q MONDAYS, DEC. 11 – MAY 13 H. Arnold and Adrien B. Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff presents Torah 2. Understanding the Torah and what it asks of us is perhaps one of the most important things that a Jew can learn. In Torah 2, Schiff will explore the second half of Leviticus and all of Numbers and Deuteronomy. 9:30 a.m. $225. Zoom. jewishpgh.org/event/torah-2-2/2023-10-09. q TUESDAY, DEC. 12 Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for a Menorah Car Parade.

Drive through the streets of Pittsburgh with menorahtopped cars and music. Share the joy and spread the Chanukah light. 4:45 p.m. JAA parking lot, 200 JHF Drive. chabadpgh.com.

Join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for a Schenley Plaza Menorah Lighting as they light the menorah on the sixth night of Chanukah. Celebrate with live music, latkes and doughnuts and a juggling show. 5:45 p.m.

Schenley Plaza, outdoor tent. chabadpgh.com. q TUESDAYS, DEC. 12, 29 Israeli politics is at the center of many critical Jewish conversations. But how does the Israeli political system

May the warmth and brightness of the Hanukkah lights fill your home

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 13 Enjoy an hour of nourishment for the mind, body and soul and explore words of wisdom for the month of Tevet at Chabad of Squirrel Hill’s Ladies Lunch and Learn. $18. Noon. chabadpgh.com.

Classrooms Without Borders scholar Avi Ben-Hur presents an update on Israel with analysis into the war as it unfolds. 2 p.m. cwbpgh.org/event/israelupdate-with-avi-ben-hur-12/?mc_cid=3e7160b202&mc_ eid=300cbb162.

Women are invited to join Chabad of Squirrel Hill on Zoom for a Rosh Chodesh gathering and to hear words of wisdom on the month of Tevet. 7:30 p.m. chabadpgh.com. q WEDNESDAYS, DEC. 13 – JAN. 10 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, DEC. 13- MAY 15 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh virtually presents two Melton courses back-to-back: “Ethics” and “Crossroads.” In “Ethics,” learn how Jewish teachings shed light on Jewish issues. “Crossroads” will present an emphasis on reclaiming the richness of Jewish history. 7 p.m. $300 for this 25-session series (book included). jewishpgh.org/series/ melton-ethics-crossroads.

q SUNDAY, DEC. 17 The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh presents Advanced Community Active Threat Training, a fourpart course that will address: the mind of the active shooter, predator versus prey, situational awareness and survival mindset, basic self-defense techniques, weapons awareness and disarming techniques.

Reality-based training. 2 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave. jewishpgh.org/ event/advanced-catt. q WEDNESDAY, DEC. 20 Join the Squirrel Hill AARP for its holiday meeting and party. There will be bingo with prizes, a Sarris gift basket and special refreshments in addition to the meeting. 1 p.m. Rodef Shalom Congregation, Falk Library. For more information contact President Marcia Kramer at 412-656-5803. q SUNDAY, DEC. 24 Join Shaare Torah and Poale Zedeck for United in Laughter, an evening of chdut and comedy to support United Hatzalah, featuring international Jewish comedy sensation Eli Lebowicz. $72. 5:30 p.m. Shaare Torah social hall, 2319 Murray Ave. shaaretorah.net/event/ comedy2023. q SUNDAYS, JAN. 7 – JAN. 28 Chabad of Pittsburgh presents the Jewish Children’s Discovery Center. Girls and boys grades 3-5 will practice cake-decorating skills while learning about the holy temple and what its beautiful golden vessels can teach us today. Girls and boys grades K-2 will create and decorate a wooden mitzvah house while learning about the holy temple and the values it represents. Girls and boys ages 3 and 4 will touch, taste, hear and feel their way through a journey of Jewish values and traditions.

With weekly storytelling, crafts, music and games, this class is sure to get out all the morning wiggles. Grades K-5: $60/4-week session; ages 3-4: $30/4-week session, $10/class. Noon. chabadpgh.com. PJC

Join the Chronicle Book Club!

During this difficult time,

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really work? In the Israeli Political System, Rabbi Danny Schiff will describe how the Knesset functions, how elections are handled, and how the courts, the laws and the demographics make Israel so politically unusual. Noon. $55. jewishpgh.org/series/the-israeli-political-system.

T

he Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle invites you to join the Chronicle Book Club for its Dec. 17 discussion of Senior Staff Writer David Rullo’s new book, “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the ’90s Scene.”

The discussion will take place in person at noon at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. A Zoom link will also be available.

About the book: “Beginning in the early 1990s, Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood began to transform from the post-industrial morass it had been suffering for the last few decades. Artists began to rent empty apartments, what were once shot-and-a-beer bars became hip dive bars and entrepreneurs found inexpensive real estate to follow their visions. It was in this landscape that the Beehive Coffeehouse began to attract a new '90s alternative crowd. The South Side Beehive ... was where the night often began, and weekends ended.”

Come meet the author and hear more about this thoroughly engaging story.

Email: Contact us at drullo@pittsburgh jewishchronicle.org, and write “Chronicle Book Club” in the subject line to register.

Specify if you will be attending in person or would like to participate online. Registration closes on Dec. 14.

Happy reading! PJC — Toby Tabachnick

Your Hosts:

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

What To Do

Buy: “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the '90s Scene.” It is available at most local book stores, from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and through the Carnegie Library system.

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Headlines Jewish communal professionals offer support while tending to their own mental health needs — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

S

ince Oct. 7, Debbie Swartz has focused on what she can do to help.

As the coordinator of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Parntership2Gether program, Swartz is well aware of how Hamas’ terror attack has affected the Jewish community and Israel. At least two people from Pittsburgh’s partnership region in Karmiel/Misgav were taken hostage. One, Roni Krivoi, a Russian-Israeli, was released in a side deal not part of the Israel-Hamas negotiations. Another is still in Gaza.

“It has been stressful,” Swartz said. “But I try to remember that, even though it’s personal for me, too, this is not just about me. This is about the Jewish people and our country, our homeland. So, I try to remind myself on really tough days that’s it’s been heartbreaking, what’s happened to the hostages. I’m thinking about them all the time.”

Swartz, like other Jewish professionals, has dealt with the anxiety accompanying her position since the war between Hamas and Israel began.

Swartz is married to another Jewish professional, Rabbi Howie Stein of Temple B’nai Israel, who also has fielded questions and concerns from his congregation.

“It’s definitely been high stress in our house,” she said.

She is concentrating on the things she can do through her work to help.

“That means connecting Pittsburgh with Israel,” she said.

When not doing that work, Swartz tries to be present in the moments she shares with her husband and daughter. The Pittsburgh community, she noted, is lucky to have strong resources available to professionals who might be experiencing mental fatigue from the war.

JPro, a national group that aims to help people who work in the Jewish nonprofit sector build their skills and advance their careers, has resources for professionals who work in the Jewish community and offers a place for those professionals to share concerns about the current crisis with colleagues from across the country, Swartz said.

Locally, she said, there are many resources available. Since the 2018 antisemitic attack at the Tree of Life building, ample mental health

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resources have been offered by the Federation, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Family and Community Services and the 10.27 Healing Partnership, among other organizations.

The Hamas attack, coming just three weeks before the five-year commemoration of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, complicated the emotions of many, JFCS Clinical Director Stefanie Small explained.

“Some of my therapists have told me, when we’re dealing with Oct. 27, or everyday life, each person presents a little differently, each person has a different set of issues,” she said.

“When the Oct. 7 war started, all of our clients basically had the same issues. So, we’re hearing it hour after hour after hour, which is very difficult for therapists, who are feeling it themselves, to handle long-term. There’s no time to refill our pitchers.”

Small noted that the antisemitism triggered by the war compounded the stress her staff was dealing with as the Oct. 27 commemoration approached. And all of this came on the heels of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial.

“It’s not just my therapists; it’s therapists all over the city who are carrying this burden,” she said. The antisemitism surge of the last two months has been particularly stressful for Jewish professionals because, in addition to helping others with mental health needs, security efforts and communal support, they also comprise the

targeted community, Small explained.

She advised Jewish professionals to find someone with whom they feel comfortable to discuss their feelings honestly.

“When my therapists were feeling too much, they knew they could come to me, and they could say, ‘OK, we’re feeling too much. We need a break.’ And we work with them,” Small said.

She also suggests turning off the various forms of media as much as possible and recommends relying only on one or two trusted news sources.

Other recommendations for Jewish professionals: Pause social media for a day or two, and don’t take your phone to bed with you.

“I’m not going to tell anybody to delete Instagram,” Small said. “I’m not going to tell people to delete TikTok — they should probably, but it’s not the easiest thing to do. So, try to put a pause on it, mute it for a few days. Give yourself a break, and then go back to it.”

Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, said that Jewish professionals can learn some lessons from Oct 27, 2018.

She pointed to a survey published in 2020

by Rafael J. Engel, Daniel H. J. Lee and Daniel Rosen. One of the conclusions of the study, conducted about nine months after the synagogue shooting, was that Jewish professionals working with Jewish agencies at the time of the attack experienced vicarious trauma symptoms as first responders. Vicarious stress

or secondary traumatic stress are terms used to describe the effects therapists and other professionals experience working with traumatized people. And while first responders and mental health specialists anticipate working with traumatized people, Jewish professionals don’t necessarily have the same expectations. Added to the stress, Feinstein said, are feelings of shame or guilt when experiencing this phenomenon.

“They think, ‘How dare I take up this emotional space? Other people are going through much harder things than I am,’” she said.

The best course of action for Jewish professionals, when they feel these types of emotions, Feinstein said, is to acknowledge that they’re real and that it isn’t shameful. It’s simply a byproduct of being an empathic human being.

Some of the symptoms of these feelings might include an inability to sleep or turn off the news, obsession with details, and increased levels of anger and hopelessness that persist, rather than come in waves.

“We want to acknowledge when they come and figure out what you can do to ground yourself in your own reality,” Feinstein said.

“What can you do to control your own safety?

And what can you do to show care and compassion for those who are experiencing pain and suffering?”

One of the challenges experienced since Oct. 7, Feinstein said, is working to not alienate those with different belief systems and to recognize that a diversity of opinions exist.

It’s important, she noted, for therapists to be “agnostic” in their compassion.

In a community, she said, it’s essential for people to find a connection and not feel isolated or lonely.

Feelings of isolation, though, might be here for some time, Small acknowledged.

“Now that the genie has been let out of the bottle and we see where we stand with a lot of organizations, people and parts of the world, how do you put it back?” she asked. “You can’t.

We have to learn to live with the knowledge we’ve gained and possibly adjust our worldviews. It’s not time to do it in the midst of a crisis. It’s a difficult thing to do. Once the crisis ends, we’ll have a chance to debrief and look at what we learned. That’s when we can adjust our long views.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Pittsburgh police respond to swatting hoax at Tree of Life building — LOCAL —

By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer

P

ittsburgh police responded to an online threat reported to 911 on the morning of Nov. 30, threatening to “shoot up” the Tree of Life building on Wilkins Avenue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, according to Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Community Security Director Shawn Brokos.

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Law enforcement determined the call to be a hoax after responding and identifying it as coming from outside of Pennsylvania.

In an abundance of caution, Pittsburgh police increased their presence around Jewish institutions and marked units made spot checks throughout the day.

“We want to assure the community that this is a hoax and that the police presence is an abundance of caution and not due to a real, credible threat,” Brokos said.

Pittsburgh police, she said, worked to vet

the threat as quickly as possible and to assure that all was safe.

The hoax came at a time when the city, and nation, are experiencing a heightened threat tempo due to Israel’s war with Hamas. Incidents of antisemitic graffiti and vandalism have been reported in Pittsburgh neighborhoods since Oct. 7, when Hamas entered Israel, killing more than 1,200 and kidnapping an estimated 240 individuals.

The Tree of Life building was the center of the worst antisemitic attack in U.S.

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history on Oct. 27, 2018, when a gunman killed 11 congregants of Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life Congregation, and injured seven, including five Pittsburgh police officers.

Brokos urges anyone who sees anything suspicious to call 911 and report it to Federation at https://jewishpgh.org/form/ incident-report. PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

DECEMBER 8, 2023

7

Headlines Pro-Palestinian protesters target Philadelphia falafel shop owned by Jewish celebrity chef Michael Solomonov

 Goldie Falafel, owned by Michael Solomonov, was the target of a pro-Palestinian protest in Philadelphia on Dec. 3.

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

By Ben Sales | JTA

E

lected officials and Jewish groups are decrying a rally by pro-Palestinian activists in Philadelphia that targeted a restaurant founded by the Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov.

“Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” a crowd of dozens of people chanted outside the Rittenhouse Square outpost of Goldie, Solomonov’s kosher falafel chain. Video circulating on social media of the protest, organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, shows protesters crowding the restaurant shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, called the genocide chant “a blatant act of antisemitism — not a peaceful protest.” He said he had reached out to Solomonov, with whom he had previously filmed an Instagram video baking challah together ahead of Rosh Hashanah, to provide support.

“A restaurant was targeted and mobbed because its owner is Jewish and Israeli,” Shapiro wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This hate and bigotry is reminiscent of a dark time in history.”

A spokesperson for Solomonov’s restaurant group, CookNSolo, declined to comment.

The Philly Palestine Coalition protest also called for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. The group previously drew charges of antisemitism after it called for a boycott of “Zionist” restaurants in Philadelphia in response to the Israel-Hamas war, distributing a list of targets that were owned by Jewish or Israeli restauranteurs.

“Targeting businesses solely because of their Israeli and Jewish ownership is blatant antisemitism and only further contributes to the alarming levels of hate against Jews nationwide,” two top executives at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said at the time.

Others sounded similar notes on Sunday night. Philadelphia Congressman Brendan

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

Boyle posted, “I can’t believe I even have to say this but targeting businesses simply because they’re Jewish owned is despicable.” The Anti-Defamation League posted that “targeting businesses solely based on their Israeli or Jewish ownership is blatant antisemitism.”

Even some Jewish ceasefire advocates criticized the decision to target Goldie. Peter Beinart, one of the most outspoken Jewish critics of Israel’s actions, called the chant “idiotic and dangerous.”

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly two months ago, a range of Jewish locations across the country have been targeted by protesters and vandals — from synagogues to campus buildings to restaurants. The demonstration surrounding Goldie struck a particular chord because of Solomonov’s biography and his stated belief that food can help transcend cultural and political divides.

Solomonov was born in Israel and raised in Pittsburgh, then returned to Israel to kick off his culinary career, which he has parlayed into network of restaurants in Philadelphia and New York City all riffing on Israeli cuisine. He has said that he decided to focus on Jewish and Israeli food after his brother David was killed while serving in the Israeli army in 2003.

Five days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Solomonov announced that his four Philadelphia restaurants would be donating all of that day’s profits to United Hatzalah, an emergency medical organization in Israel; the group ultimately said it donated $100,000 to the organization.

The war has also tested Solomonov’s commitment to bridging across cultures.

In recent years, he has spoken repeatedly about his close friendship with Reem Kassis, a Palestinian cookbook author also based in Philadelphia. But in early November, the New York Times reported that the two hadn’t spoken since the war began.

The protest at Goldie came one day after Solomonov joined dozens of other food industry professionals in a Shabbat brunch potluck hosted by the Jewish Food Society in New York in response to rising antisemitism. PJC PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

Headlines — WORLD — Austin synagogue arsonist sentenced to 10 years

A man who pleaded guilty to setting fire to a synagogue in Austin, Texas, in 2021 was sentenced on Nov. 29 to 10 years in prison, JTA.org reported.

The sentencing of Franklin Sechriest came after a series of victim impact statements from members of Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform synagogue. Normal federal sentencing guidelines call for a five-year prison term, but prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge David Ezra to sentence Sechriest to 10 years due to what they said was the “tremendous damage” he caused and his “deep-seated hatred of persons of the Jewish faith.”

Sechriest pleaded guilty in April to two federal charges, including the destruction of religious property, which is classified as a hate crime. He admitted to setting a fire in October 2021 that damaged the sanctuary’s historic front doors and stained-glass windows, causing around $250,000 worth of damage.

Investigators found antisemitic and racist material as well as bomb-making supplies in his car and journals filled with hate speech in which he had written, “I set a synagogue on fire.”

“It was a solemn and sad day,” Jake Cohen, Beth Israel’s executive director, said. “No one wanted to be in this moment, be in this place. And yet we are grateful to the judge, Judge Ezra, for his thoughtful deliberation, for his respectful, kind, empathic words to our community.”

Antisemitic incidents have surged 320% in Germany since Oct. 7, watchdog finds

Germany has seen antisemitic incidents surge 320% since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to a federal agency’s report released on Nov. 28, JTA.org reported.

The Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism, known in Germany as RIAS, tracked 994 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and Nov. 9. That average of 29 cases per day exceeds last year’s RIAS tally during the same period by more than 300%.

The group recorded three cases of “extreme violence,” which it defines as attacks that can result in a loss of life or serious bodily harm, whether successfully committed or attempted.

One such incident occurred on Oct. 18 in Berlin, when two Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Jewish community center that houses a synagogue as well as a kindergarten.

The report also listed 29 attacks, 72 incidents of targeted damage to property, 32 threats, four antisemitic mass mailings and 854 cases of offensive behavior over the month-long period.

Mark Cuban selling Dallas Mavericks to Jewish philanthropist and casino owner Miriam Adelson

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is reportedly selling a majority stake in his NBA franchise to casino magnate and Jewish philanthropist Miriam Adelson, JTA.org reported.

Cuban, the Jewish billionaire known for entrepreneurial endeavors, including his starring role on ABC’s reality show “Shark Tank,” is

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

Dec. 8, 1885 — 1st Knesset speaker is born

Joseph Sprinzak, the first speaker of the Knesset and an interim president, is born in Moscow.

He helps establish p Joseph Sprinzak many institutions represented Mapai that form the founin the Knesset for dation of the state, a decade.

Teddy Brauner, National such as the Histadrut Photo Collection of Israel labor federation.

Dec. 9, 1987 — First Intifada breaks out

Riots erupt in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in response to a fatal army truck crash the previous day, marking the start of the First Intifada. The violence kills 900 Palestinians and 100 Israelis by the end of 1991.

Dec. 10, 1952 — Israel inaugurates second president

Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 68, who made aliyah in 1907, is sworn in as Israel’s second president after 30 days of mourning for his predecessor, Chaim Weizmann.

Ben-Zvi serves three terms until dying in April 1963.

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Dec. 11, 1948 — U.N. Resolution 194 offers ‘right of return’

The U.N. General Assembly passes Resolution 194, addressing “the situation in Palestine” without naming Israel.

Palestinians interpret its call for refugees to return home as soon as possible as an unlimited “right of return.”

Dec. 12, 1920 — Histadrut Labor Federation is founded

The General Federation of Jewish Labor, known p A 1950 poster as the Histadrut, is founded in Haifa as declares that an immigrant an independent trade worker’s place is union for Jewish in the Histadrut. workers in Palestine.

David Ben-Gurion is elected secretarygeneral in 1921.

Dec. 13, 1961 — Prosecutor urges death for Eichmann

After Nazi Adolf Eichmann is convicted of 15 charges, including murder, crimes against the Jewish people and crimes against humanity, Israeli prosecutor Gideon Hausner successfully argues for a death sentence.

Dec. 14, 1981 — Israel annexes Golan Heights

The Knesset votes 63-21 for surprise legislation to annex the Golan Heights — captured in 1967 — and apply Israeli law there in place of military administration. The Labor Party boycotts the vote. PJC

selling a stake valued at $3.5 billion to Adelson, the widow of longtime Jewish megadonor Sheldon Adelson.

The deal represents something of a partnership for Cuban and Adelson, whose daughter is on the Israeli version of “Shark Tank,” according to Sports Illustrated. Cuban will retain control over the team’s basketball operations, while Adelson is expected to bring her casino know-how to Dallas, where some lawmakers seek to legalize recreational gambling.

The deal means Adelson, 78, will no longer hold a majority of shares in The Sands, the casino business that has generated most of her family’s wealth and allowed her to donate prolifically to Jewish and pro-Israel causes.

German-Jewish singer apologizes for falsely accusing Leipzig hotel of antisemitism

Gil Ofarim’s allegation that a hotel clerk in Leipzig, Germany, denied him a room after seeing his Star of David necklace ignited outrage when the pop singer made it in an October 2021 video that went viral. Jews and others protested outside the hotel, and the employee was temporarily suspended, JTA.org reported.

But Ofarim’s story fell apart under scrutiny, although he defended it, and he was charged last year with making a false accusation and slander. Now, Ofarim — born in Munich to an Israeli musician father — has admitted that he fabricated the incident.

“I would like to apologize — I am sorry, I have deleted the video,” Ofarim said in court on Nov. 28, in an admission that came as a surprise and suspended the case against him. To erase his

charges, he will donate 10,000 euros, or about $11,000, to Leipzig’s Jewish community and the House of the Wannsee Conference, a Berlin landmark, according to German media reports.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany, the country’s main Jewish administrative organization, issued a statement condemning Ofarim’s behavior and calling on him to “face the consequences of his lie in every way.” The group said the harm he has done has gone far beyond the hotel and clerk he has admitted to slandering.

Department of Education opens new antisemitism investigations

Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Tampa have joined an expanding list of schools under federal investigation for alleged failure to respond to antisemitism on campus, JTA.org reported.

Meanwhile, Harvard’s president has been summoned to address Congress about campus hostilities connected to the Israel-Hamas war, and the University of California, Berkeley, faces a new lawsuit over antisemitism that students there charge is “unchecked.”

The Department of Education’s civil rights office added the universities to its list of active investigations over the last week, just days after announcing seven other new investigations related to antisemitism or Islamophobia. The new investigation means that Columbia is now on the list twice. While the department does not share details of its investigations, independent reports say all three involve antisemitism allegations. PJC — Compiled by Andy Gotlieb

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Headlines Chanukah: Continued from page 1

activities, such as a photo booth and jelly doughnut shots, the goal of Shabanukkah is raising money, Dunn said.

“The work we do is really built on a foundation of Jewish service, Jewish learning and supporting our local community,” she said. “We really couldn’t be here without that support.”

Across Pittsburgh, congregations, organizations and individuals are finding ways to elevate their holiday celebrations.

A Chabad of South Hills latke cook-off will place children in grades six through eight against one another for the title of “latke master.” The Dec. 9 event, which begins at 6:30 p.m., costs $10 and includes a doughnut bar, special swag and the opportunity to write letters to soldiers.

Registration and information about the location is available at chabadsh.com/latke.

On Dec. 10, Latkepalooza returns to Congregation Beth Shalom with games, crafts, prizes, doughnuts and latkes. The annual event, hosted by the Joint Jewish Education Program, costs $5 per person or $20 per family at the door, and runs from 10 a.m. to noon.

Rabbi Larry Freedman touted Latkepalooza and other J-JEP initiatives as

Tree of Life: Continued from page 1

Invited into the group were one family member from each of the nine families who had a relative murdered during the attack, and two representatives from each of the affected congregations—Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life Congregation.

At that point, though, no one knew where the group was headed.

“We hadn’t yet formed a plan,” Feinstein said. “We wanted them to be the leaders of it, but that would take work and how to problem-solve, how to get through differences of viewpoints and opinions.”

So, before an idea was on the table, or a sketch was created, or there was talk of where the memorial would be, the group hired Selina Shultz, from The Conflict Lab, to serve as a mediator.

Shultz, who calls herself a “recovering lawyer,” was hired to serve as a neutral party, “to help foster cogent conversations and avoid unnecessary conflict and to really get this group together from the get-go,” said Tree of Life representative Suzanne Schreiber.

Feinstein said that Shultz’s role was important.

“We had somebody who facilitated it with the pure intention to help the group find consensus — that it wasn’t necessarily a voting process. It should be consensus-driven, and that was really to be trauma-informed,” she said.

Shultz worked with the group, first on Zoom, and later in person, to develop active listening skills and to build trust between members. Some of the activities included one-on-one meetings with the mediator, breakout sessions on Zoom and foundational work to train members how to listen to one another.

“We needed to learn how to listen and not be judgmental,” Recht said.

Amy Mallinger, granddaughter of Rose Mallinger, who was killed in the Oct. 27, 2018 attack, said the work was important to find unity.

“That was hard for us at the beginning, but 10

DECEMBER 1, 2023

opportunities to experience Chanukah through project-based learning.

Weeks ago, J-JEP students received 4-foot dreidels, which they decorated at home with their families. On Dec. 3, the huge tops will be

Hill, is encouraging people to register for the Dec. 10 Chanukah walk by 11 a.m. on Dec. 10 at chabadpgh.com/chanukahwalk.

The Sunday program, which runs from 2:30-4 p.m., will transition to a menorah lighting

“Chanukah is a great holiday of bringing light to the world. We are in dark times now and we need to increase that with light and celebration.”

–RABBI YISROEL ALTEIN displayed at Rodef Shalom Congregation.

The takeaway, from both Latkepalooza and other Chanukah-related ventures, is that the holiday is “fundamentally about the Jewish community deciding to stay Jewish — that’s what the Maccabees were talking about,” Freedman said. “On Chanukah, we get together and celebrate who we are, and what we’re about, and that feels best when we’re all together in one big community.”

Spending Chanukah as one continues throughout Dec. 10, as later that day a Squirrel Hill Chanukah Walk along Murray Avenue will enable participants to shop locally, make cookies, write cards to Israeli soldiers and enjoy several crafts.

Rabbi Yisroel Altein, of Chabad of Squirrel

festival on the corner of Murray Avenue and Beacon Street.

Along with a fire show, dreidel dancers, carved ice dreidel and live music, participants can enjoy hot latkes and fresh doughnuts.

“Chanukah is a great holiday of bringing light to the world,” Altein said. “We are in dark times now and we need to increase that with light and celebration.”

Those seeking an afternoon indoors can mark Chanukah with a movie.

With Carnegie Mellon University’s McConomy Auditorium’s doors opening Sunday at 2:30 p.m., community members are invited to join Classrooms Without Borders, in partnership with The Collaboratory Against Hate and the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, to

we did a lot of groundwork for that,” she said.

“We all knew why we were there.”

Crucial to the group were conversations they had with other organizations that had gone through the process of building memorials after various tragedies and shootings, including representatives from the National September 11 Memorial and Museum; the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting, which created the Ascentiate memorial; and the National Pulse Nightclub Memorial and Museum in Orlando, Florida.

The group also visited the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania — something Schreiber called “life-changing.”

She said the group met with the memorial’s director, who talked about the process, which involved 43 families and 15 years to complete.

“He threw a lot of questions out,” Schreiber remembered, “like, what kind of story do you want to tell.”

The group also spent time with Clifford Chanin, executive vice president and director of the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Chanin said he met with several representatives of the MWG and made several trips to Pittsburgh in the early days of the project.

“It was going back to the early stages of our project here in New York and explaining what we had done in the hopes that some of it might prove relevant,” he said. “That it has — to whatever degree it has — I’m glad to learn, but all of these processes take their own course at a certain point. They have to.”

Diane Rosenthal has served on the MWG not only as the representative of the Rosenthal family and her brothers, Cecil and David, but has also worked with Tree of Life, Inc.’s Interim Governance Committee.

She said that the process was initially difficult and intense, with many different voices and opinions, as well as people in various stages of grief.

“The families that were on the calls really put their heads together,” she said, “to come up with something that they felt was appropriate for the 11 lives that we lost.”

Early on, Rosenthal said, it was decided that a memorial would be built outside the new Tree of Life building. Its precise location was another point the group discussed, eventually opting for the same site as the building, near the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues in Squirrel Hill.

That was intentional, Schreiber said, and something that came from the group’s conversations with Chanin.

“If you go around Manhattan, there are fire houses that have created memorials to 9/11 and police stations, but he said, as far as the official memorial to 9/11, it’s going to be in Lower Manhattan, if not on the site, as close to the site as possible. We sort of took that to heart,” she said.

The group eventually moved on to consider things like the components of the memorial, Rosenthal said.

“I mean, even down to, ‘Do you want something that is peaceful like water or do you want a lot of trees?’”

Aware of many of the elements of the new Tree of Life building planned, Rosenthal said the group knew that the massacre of Oct. 27 would be commemorated inside the structure.

“But we wanted our own special place outside,” she said.

And while the memorial will be on the same property as the Tree of Life building, its design was left to the working group — and eventually Studio Libeskind, the architecture firm working on the building. That decision, though, like everything else, was decided upon by the group.

“The memorial itself is such a personal part of the project directly to the families who lost loved ones,” said Michael Bernstein, chair of the interim governance committee of the reimagined Tree of Life. “We really felt like it’s best up to those families to decide how it should be approached.”

If the MWG is beginning to think about the final product, it doesn’t mean the design is finished. Studio Libeskind is still working on sketches and the group is still thinking about things like design elements and materials.

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watch the premiere of “Irena’s Vow.” The movie, which begins at 3 p.m. is a “powerful reminder of the indomitable human spirit in the face of the Holocaust’s darkness,” Classrooms Without Borders representatives said. “Given the dark days we have experienced since war broke out in Israel, our community invites you to join us.”

On Dec. 12, from 4:45-5:30 p.m. community members are invited to join Chabad of Squirrel Hill for a Menorah Car Parade. The iconic procession begins at the JAA parking lot, 200 JHF Drive.

Later that evening, from 5:45-8 p.m., Chabad of Squirrel Hill will host a menorah lighting at Schenley Plaza complete with live music, latkes, doughnuts and a juggling show.

Through programs and opportunities to celebrate communally, “We’re trying to create more excitement than what we’ve done in the past,” Altein said.

For eight nights, he continued, Chanukah celebrants typically light their menorahs near windows or outdoors to cast a purposeful glow, because “we are meant to bring it to the outside, for the world to see.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

And despite words like “consensus,” not all members of the working group agree with the decisions made.

Marc Simon, son of Sylvan and Bernice Simon, who were murdered in the Oct. 27 attack, said he and his family feel the proposed memorial is “very underwhelming, non-inspirational and inappropriate — both conceptually and in its design.”

“My opinion is not meant, in any manner, as a reflection of Studio Libeskind, as they have produced many outstanding memorials throughout the world,” Simon wrote in an email. “The MWG and, to some extent, TOLI are ultimately responsible and were tasked with the duty of appropriate memorialization.”

Simon is part of the MWG, as is Sharyn Stein, who said she joined the group to make sure her husband, Dan, who was killed in the shooting, had a voice.

As a New Light member, her interest in the new Tree of Life building was limited. That changed, though, over time.

“It was just the memorial I was thinking about,” she said. “As time went on, I realized the big picture was important.”

Stein said the unity the group found doesn’t mean unanimity.

“There were ups and downs over the years. It was a struggle and it’s gotten to the place where we’re in a good place,” she said. “We’ve definitely found consensus, not total agreement.”

For Amy Mallinger, a unanimous decision isn’t needed. She was happy to learn more about the other families and hear their perspectives on the monument.

“In the beginning,” she said, “we weren’t strangers, but we were kind of people sitting in a room. Now we’ve become a group where we understand how people think and understand what certain people are going to say before they even say it in some sense. It’s really brought us together, in a way.” PJC David Rullo can be reached at drullo@ pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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Headlines Violins: Continued from page 5

organization, and my father never talked about it until the end of his life,” Christian Dahl said.

After developing “some Alzheimer’s symptoms,” Ole Dahl would occasionally “blurt some things out,” but details of his involvement remain a mystery.

What’s known, said the son, is that Ole Dahl’s violin was a welcome distraction from war.

Between 1938 and 1945, the Nazis invaded and occupied more than 20 countries. The only one that “actively resisted” the deportation of its Jewish citizens was Denmark, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Despite the danger, Danish residents ensured that Denmark’s nearly 8,000 Jews “found hiding places in homes, hospitals and churches.” And a group of fishermen helped ferry approximately “7,200 Danish Jews and 680 non-Jewish family members to safety across the narrow body of water separating Denmark from Sweden.”

“My father’s youngest brother said that my father was gone for an appropriate amount of time to have taken Jewish people to Sweden and back. I can’t say that he did that because he never said it, but if his brother knew about it, then that’s something that I would be very proud of that my father did,” Christian Dahl said.

After the war’s conclusion, Ole Dahl joined the British Army, met Diana Parry, a member of the women’s branch of the British army, married, and moved to the U.S., where he worked as a violin maker with Lyon & Healy in

p Ole Steffan Dahl (top left) and members of Korps Ågesin, Danish resistance fighters, in 1945.

Photo courtesy of Christian Dahl

Chicago before joining Kenneth Warren & Sons.

In 1967, Ole Dahl opened his own shop in Bloomington, Indiana.

Diana worked beside him as an “accountant, salesperson and self-taught varnish expert,” in a store that was a “local landmark for professors and students from the Indiana University School of Music,” according to Ole Dahl’s obituary in the Chesterton Tribune. “Together, they rented and sold instruments, worked with aspiring students, repaired thousands of bows, glued hundreds of cracks, and otherwise served the general needs of the musical community.”

Telling the story

Weeks ago, Avshi Weinstein, son of Violins of Hope founder Amnon Weinstein, was contacted by Brad Wittmer, owner of Brighton Music Center.

“We have a very unique violin,” Wittmer wrote to the Israeli.

Given its provenance and Ole Dahl’s story, Wittmer wondered if there was interest in the instrument.

Days later, Weinstein attended a Violins of Hope event with Grammy-award-winning violinist Joshua Bell and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The Nov. 25 concert, according to the PSO, was designed to “give voice to lessons and stories from the Holocaust, while pointing toward our future using music to build bridges of understanding and inspire deeper connections across our community.”

Following the performance, the audience was invited to listen to Weinstein, Bell and PSO music director Manfred Honeck in conversation.

Seated on Heinz Hall’s stage, Weinstein described the origins of the Violins of Hope project and said each performance furthers interest in a collection that now includes nearly 100 instruments.

The newest addition, he said, belonged to Ole Dahl, a member of the Danish resistance.

Bell, a child prodigy who first played Carnegie Hall in 1985 at age 17 was surprised

by Weinstein’s announcement.

“I did not know this story,” Bell said. “Ole Dahl was my local violin maker when I was 4 years old in Bloomington. I got my first violin from [him].”

Christian Dahl told the Chronicle that his father would be proud of the donation and the violin’s continued journey.

“It helps tell the story of the Danish resistance,” he said. “I think the world needs that. It needs people to recognize that we are all the same underneath, and we all want decent lives, and no hate.” PJC Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Wishing you a

Happy

Chanukah!

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

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

11

Opinion Returning home: The long road ahead Guest Columnist Adele Raemer

W

e are at the 60-day mark since the start of this formidable war.

While there is still a very long road ahead of us before we can think of returning to our homes, I want to take the opportunity of this calendarial benchmark to explain what I, as a longtime resident of a kibbutz situated less than 2 kilometers (a little over a mile) from the border with the Gaza Strip, will need in order to be able to return home.

On Friday night, Oct. 6, before I went to sleep, I told my visiting 33-year-old son: “If you don’t see me when you get up, it will be because I’m going to drive out to the field of squills and take pictures of them as the sun rises.”

Luckily, I was too tired to follow through with my plans. I know for a fact that around the time I had planned to drive to that field, the area was overrun with terrorists and people were slaughtered near those very flowers.

I want to go home. Aside from getting our hostages back, the thing I want most right now is to go back to the community and home that I have been lovingly building for decades.

Life as a refugee in a hotel is not like it is when you are a tourist on vacation, when you have gone to relax and enjoy

the benefits of a specified, limited period of pampering and touring. When you are a refugee in your own land, life in the limitations of a hotel room — as beautiful as it may be — is life on pause.

Life not knowing how long your stay will last because going home is not an option under your control, when your home is located in a closed military zone. As desperately as I want

all the years I lived on Nirim. That will require much more than mortar and lumber.

I will need to be able to rebuild the knowledge that the IDF soldiers have all their eyes on the border and on the communities which dot our border, 24/7/365. In order for us to be able to live there, and sleep there, with peace of mind and security, I will need the ability

What I will need in order to return to my home will be to rebuild the sense of security and resilience that I felt during all the years I lived on Nirim. That will require much more than mortar and lumber. to go back to my turquoise dining room wall, the familiar smells and sights of my community, the red anemones that will bloom in February despite the war, there are conditions for that to be able to happen, and those prerequisites are both non-negotiable and complicated.

Houses and roads are easily built in time; all you need is cement, tar and a lick of paint.

What I will need in order to return to my home will be to rebuild the sense of security and resilience that I felt during

to reconstruct the scenario that I held on to so securely for decades: that our soldiers are immediately ready to jump to action when needed. On Oct. 7, it took the IDF battalions seven hours to arrive at Nirim!

I will need to rewind my psyche, back to the sense of safety that I had on Oct. 6, knowing that I can drive out into the fields before sunrise and photograph the wild flowers of our beautiful Negev.

However this task will be much more difficult than it was in the past, because,

as a resident of Nirim post-Oct. 7, I understand that the aura of security that I had on Oct. 6 was no more solid than the fog of the morning desert that burns off and dissipates with the rising sun. Sixty days on, the Adele of December 2023 understands that the sense of security she had before her home was overrun with marauding, murderous terrorists was merely a mirage.

If I am ever able to move back to my home on Kibbutz Nirim, the atmosphere of security will need to be real, solid, tangible. I have no idea how that can be achieved. That will be for the IDF and our government to build, but if that does not happen, then we can forget about the Western Negev. And if we give up on the Western Negev, we can give up on the Zionist dream.

Author’s note: I cannot close without mentioning that my usual editor, Judih Weinstein Haggai, who is an AmericanCanadian-Israel citizen, and a very dear friend, was unable to edit due to the inconceivable fact that she is still — after 60 days — being held captive in Gaza by the monstrous terrorists. #bringherhomenow PJC Born in the USA, Adele Raemer has lived in a kibbutz on the border of the Gaza Strip since 1975. She is a mother and a grandmother and moderates a Facebook group called “Life on the Border.” This piece first appeared on The Times of Israel.

We are the lion cub Guest Columnist Dena Udren

A

s a freshman at the University of Michigan in 1998, I decorated my dorm wall with that famous picture of Yitzhak Rabin and Yassar Arafat shaking hands. Between them stood President Clinton with his arms outstretched, embracing them like the proud father of two sons who have finally decided to make up.

I grew up on this promise of peace in the Middle East, and I was optimistic that in my lifetime we would finally get this whole historic feud sorted out.

Alas, I realized my dream was a delusion.

During my junior semester abroad in Jerusalem in 2000, the second intifada broke out. Out went my naivete about Arab-Israeli peace, and in came my newfound understanding that, in fact, not everyone wanted what I wanted. Offering a hand in peace didn’t mean we would get peace in return. Instead, we got exploding buses, cafes and markets. Despite my parents’ fearful pleas, I refused to leave early and give in to terror.

Five years later, I got married in Squirrel

12

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Hill; two days after that, my husband and I made aliyah. It was the summer of 2005 and, as we got out of the cab from the airport, we were shocked to see orange-clad youth pushing huge dumpsters into the middle of a main Jerusalem thoroughfare, lighting them on fire in protest of the eviction of Gush Katif.

Maale Adumim and now Beit El. By living here, I see myself as fulfilling God’s prophecy to Jacob in Beit El, made roughly 3,800 years ago: “Behold, I am with you; I will guard you wherever you go, and I will return you to this soil, for I will not forsake you” (Bereshit 28:15). My father Jay is named after this biblical Jacob, and my name is Dena, daughter of Jacob.

Let’s trust God and not the fear that is too often raging in our hearts. There is an ultimate plan even if I can’t see it, especially when my vision is clouded by tears.

I had a feeling we weren’t in Kansas anymore. We had landed into one of the most traumatic summers in Israeli history. We heard the last Jews in Gush Katif warn us, “If you force us out, next they’ll be shooting rockets at Ashdod and Tel Aviv.” Most of us ignored them then; can we do so now?

For the last 18 years, I have lived in the West Bank — first Gush Etzion, then

I have returned home to the very soil of Jacob’s promise, and I know that God will not forsake me.

My message to my fellow Jews in this time of national and existential catastrophe is to take to heart these three crucial points: First, we must fight. In the words of the late rock ’n’ roll legend Tom Petty, “You

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could stand me up to the gates of hell, but I won’t back down.” What we experienced as a country on Oct. 7 could surely be described as the gates of hell.

So, we must all fully support the IDF and the Israeli government in their efforts to rescue our hostages and obliterate Hamas.

Second, now is the time for Jewish pride and unity. The only way we will be victorious over our enemies is as a unified people, dedicated to our survival and ultimate triumph. Hamas doesn’t distinguish between a left-wing or a right-wing Jew; we are all in this together.

And, thank God, that is something that, here in Israel, we finally understand.

That’s why non-kosher Israeli restaurants quickly turned their kitchens kosher so that they could cook meals for all the soldiers. That’s why thousands of diverse volunteers have picked produce in abandoned Jewish farms on the Gaza border. I heard about a mother who suggested that her enlisted daughter look for a nice Jewish boy in the army. Her daughter told her that she can’t tell anymore who is religious because all the soldiers are wearing a kippah and tzitzit!

Please see Udren, page 13

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Opinion Chronicle poll results: Latkes or doughnuts

L

ast week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Latkes or doughnuts?” Of the 243 people who responded, 91% said latkes, 7% said doughnuts, and 2% said neither.

Comments were submitted by 51 people.

A few follow.

This was a very interesting question.

I can have doughnuts all year long, but latkes are usually saved for Chanukah. So I opted for latkes.

Latkes or doughnuts?

7% Doughnuts

2% Neither

91% Latkes

Finally — and perhaps this is the most important point — we need to put our faith in God. Not in Netanyahu, Biden or any other world leader. We appreciate Biden’s supportive speech and aid, but decades of American scolding have taught us to temper our excitement. As a dual citizen, I felt torn when I watched Biden’s speech.

What is eaten is insignificant. It is the light (candles) that is the essence.

Latkes for sure with sour cream and caramelized onions.

I love both latkes and doughnuts but for two completely different reasons.

Latkes are part of a dinner, and doughnuts are part of a breakfast, so I really can’t compare the two but enjoy both about the same.

Both! Doughnuts with dulce de leche and latkes with hot sauce.

Really? There are people who do doughnuts?

I make about 140 latkes every year at Chanukah, but I never make them at any other time. People eat doughnuts all year ’round.

Continued from page 12

I’m diabetic, so either way Chanukah is eight cheat days, and I love it all.

Latkes, with apple sauce AND sour cream.

Latkes, hands down!

Udren:

Latkes: too much fat. Doughnuts: too much sugar. No refuge.

There should have been a choice for both.

I believe his grief was genuine, but I winced at the admonishments concerning “the two-state solution” and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — as though it were all our fault or we had not made enough sacrifices for peace.

Moreover, we can hide our mezuzot and Jewish stars, but ultimately, the world will still hate us. At every Passover seder we sing “Vehi She’amda,” which reminds us: “In every generation they stand up against us to destroy us. But the Holy

One, Blessed Be He, redeems us from their hands.”

With God’s help, our captives will continue to be redeemed and our soldiers will triumph. Now is the time to storm the gates of Heaven with our prayers. Let’s trust God and not the fear that is too often raging in our hearts.

There is an ultimate plan even if I can’t see it, especially when my vision is clouded by tears.

I will leave you with one final symbol

According to East European tradition, potato latkes. PJC — Compiled by Toby Tabachnick

Chronicle weekly poll question: Are you planning to

attend a Chanukah party or other type of Chanukah-related event? Go to pittsburghjewishchronicle.org to respond. PJC of our national strength: a fierce lion, which is the tribal symbol of Judah. We are that brave lion cub who will fight for his life and his pride with weapons, prayers, unity and a steadfast faith in God. As the Israeli singer Moshe Hillel sings: “Do not be afraid Israel/ Because you are a lion cub, aren’t you?” PJC Dena Udren lives in Beit El, Israel. She grew up in Squirrel Hill.

— LETTERS — Reasons for ceasefire letter should have been examined in article

The Chronicle’s recent article on the letter from local Jews calling for a ceasefire (“Many signers of letter calling for ceasefire, and thanking Summer Lee, are anonymous,” Dec. 1) is a textbook example of an ad hominem argument — when you can’t, or won’t, engage with the message and instead attack the messenger. Rather than engage directly in a discussion of why local Jews might speak in favor of a ceasefire, the Chronicle chose to comment on the inclusion of anonymous signatories. This deflection trivializes both the views of those of us who chose to speak out and the concerns of those who were reluctant to sign their names publicly.

Like so many others, I was appalled by the actions of Hamas on Oct. 7. I was also deeply saddened and concerned by the Israeli government’s response, which seems doomed to failure. The massive attacks on Gaza are unlikely to eliminate Hamas — rather, they will likely foster a new generation of Palestinians with reasons to hate Israel. My concern for Jews everywhere led me to proudly sign the letter supporting calls for a ceasefire.

I signed publicly knowing that I am fortunate to be able to take a controversial stand.

Given the intensity of discourse on the topic, many in our community might be struggling to balance their fears for Israeli friends or relatives with concerns that the massive Israeli military response might cause needless death and destruction. Many might have felt the pressure of the prevailing winds of uncritical support for Israeli actions. To take a stand so out of odds with one’s family and community is not an easy thing to do. For some, signing anonymously might have been all that they could muster.

The Chronicle had an opportunity to explore these concerns, or at the very least, to report on the substance of the ceasefire letter. By choosing to nitpick about the identities of the signatories of the ceasefire letter, rather than engaging with the sentiments within, the Chronicle has missed an opportunity to understand views shared by many in our community. If the Chronicle had asked, they likely would have found that many of us chose to speak in favor of the ceasefire because of — and not in spite of — our concerns for Jews in Israel, and for everyone in the region.

There is no ‘body versus soul’ conflict

In the 13th century, hostage Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg refused to be ransomed, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. No fool he.

What Rabbi Meir did not foresee was capturing hostages explicitly to exchange for convicts who attempted or actually succeeded in murdering civilians. Releasing pay-toslay killers guarantees future deaths of civilians in Israel. The only unknown is how many civilians will die.

Curiously, Michael Oren imagines that Hamas will respond positively to an offer of free passage from Gaza in return for the remaining hostages’ release, and that Hamas would willingly sail off to Algeria, Libya or Iran (“Israel’s Choice: Body or soul,” Dec. 1).

He does not mention that in 1970, Palestinians tried to depose Hussein, the Jordanian king. Hussein’s forces repulsed the PLO, killing and wounding thousands of Palestinians and forcing thousands more to flee to Syria and Lebanon. Most of the Palestinian leadership ended up in Lebanon, and they undermined the central government of that country.

It seems less than likely that any country would offer entry to the bestial Hamas and risk what Jordan and Lebanon experienced from Palestinian designs against their countries.

There is no body versus soul conflict. As Rabbi Meir understood, that which best promotes the survival of Israel, which is inseparably Jewish and democratic, is the best choice in the extraordinarily difficult circumstances that Palestinians inflict upon Israel. And Palestinians perversely reward their own barbarism with trays of sweets.

If that happened among Israelis, the world would lose whatever is left of its collective mind.

Julia Lutch Davis, California

Harry Hochheiser Pittsburgh We invite you to submit letters for publication. Letters must include name, address and daytime phone number; addresses and phone numbers will not be published.

Letters may not exceed 500 words and may be edited for length and clarity; they cannot be returned. Mail, fax or email letters to: Letters to the editor via email: letters@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org Address & Fax: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, 5915 Beacon St., 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 Website address: pittsburghjewishchronicle.org We regret that owing to the volume of correspondence, we cannot reply to every letter.

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

13

Life & Culture Keftes de prasa: Sephardic leek fritters for Chanukah — FOOD —

By Jessica Grann | Special to the Chronicle

W

e celebrate Chanukah for eight days and nights, which gives us so many opportunities to make special meals and memories at home.

Like most of my neighbors, I make potato latkes for the holiday, but we especially look forward to having keftes de prasa, which are typical in Ladino-speaking Sephardic communities. In Syrian communities, these fritters are called edjeh.

I love keftes, and they are a staple at holiday meals. They are typically served for Rosh Hashanah and Passover, but I always make them for Chanukah as well. I use the same recipe year-round, and these are perfect for the holiday because they are pan-fried in olive oil.

There are so many kinds of keftes; some have different herbs and some use boiled and mashed potato. Other versions use spinach, Swiss chard and onion.

I like this simple version that reminds me of Chinese scallion pancakes. They fry up beautifully, so I make them several times during the holiday week. I especially like to serve them with crispy chicken schnitzel.

If you’re looking for a new vegetable latke recipe, this is the perfect thing to try.

Ingredients:

3-4 whole leeks, about 1.25 pounds 3 large eggs 3 tablespoons matzo meal ⅓ teaspoon sea salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or Aleppo pepper 1/16 teaspoon allspice (optional) ⅓ cup olive oil for pan-frying

Leeks tend to be sandy, so I suggest soaking them before cooking. If you purchased whole leeks with the dark leafy green tops, prepare them by cutting off the bottom and cutting off the dark green part as well. Set those aside to use later — leeks add a beautiful flavor to homemade soup stocks — just be sure it wash them well before cooking.

Cut the leeks lengthwise before cutting each half into about 1-inch-wide chunks.

You should have about 3 cups of leek slices.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and a teaspoon of salt.

Add the sliced leeks to the pot and allow the leeks to soak in the water for about 10 minutes. Drain the water. If the water had a lot of sand or bugs, repeat this step until there isn’t any sediment in the bottom of the water when checked.

Drain and rinse the sliced leeks in a colander.

Fill up the same pot halfway again with water and a teaspoon of salt.

1-800-GET-PHIL

p Keftes de prasa

Photo by Jessica Grann

Add the sliced leeks to the salted water and put the pot onto the stove at a high temperature to boil. Once the water starts to boil rapidly, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes.

Drain the leeks in a colander and set the colander back onto the empty pot to cool.

Any extra water will drain into the pot.

Once the leeks are cool to the touch, press them with the back of a spoon or a spatula the same way that you would press water out of spinach before cooking with it.

While the leeks are cooling, whisk the eggs and mix in the matzo meal and spices. Allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes. This will give the matzo meal time to soften, which will give you a lighter fritter. Mix the cooked leeks into the egg and matzo meal mixture and stir well. You may see some small pools of egg, which is normal. If the mixture looks sloppy, add another tablespoon of matzo meal and let the bowl sit for a few minutes before frying.

(A note about the optional allspice: This spice is used strongly in some recipes and not at all in others. My husband prefers it to be used sparingly, but he notices if I omit the spice completely. If allspice in savory food is not your cup of tea — most Americans think of it as a baking spice — then omit it.

If you like the spice, then you can double the suggested amount and adjust to taste.)

Put a frying pan over medium heat and

add the olive oil to the pan. Allow the oil to warm for a few minutes. I love to use olive oil both for health and for the flavor it gives to fried food, but you need to be mindful of the heat of the pan so the oil doesn’t burn.

For large fritters, I measure the mixture using a ¼-cup measuring cup. Measure the desired amount and use the back of the measuring cup or a spoon to flatten out the fritter before adding another one. Don’t overcrowd your frying pan. It’s OK if only 3 or 4 fit in at a time.

Fry for 3-4 minutes on the first side. Check to see if it’s golden brown before flipping it over to fry for an additional 3 minutes.

For small fritters, use about 2 tablespoons per serving. Cook for 3 minutes on the first side, turn and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Once cooked, remove them to a tray lined with paper towels to drain the grease.

You can serve these as quickly as they can cool. I typically have a line of people in the kitchen looking for a fresh one right out of the pan.

This recipe makes about 8 large pieces or about 14 small ones. If you love the flavor, you can easily double the recipe.

Chanukah alegre! Chanukah sameach!

May we see victory and miracles with our own eyes. Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.

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Leave the cooking to us!

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Dear JCC Friends While we were excited to announce the theme of BIG NIGHT 2024 back in September, after careful consideration we are shifting our focus.

We are proud to share BIG NIGHT 2024’s new theme: SHINING A LIGHT ON COMMUNITY. Changing the theme for our annual celebration was no small decision, but we are glad for the opportunity that the new theme provides.

These times are hard to process, and sustaining the JCC as a resource for our community is of vital importance for the well-being of all of us. This new theme gives us a chance to shine a light on all the good that goes on in this community each and every day. Our mission stays the same, creating safe spaces and meeting community needs for all ages.

The new theme is apt as we honor Brian Schreiber, a guiding light of our community for the past 25 years, through the newly created Scholarship Endowment Fund.

Please support the JCC’s essential role in our community and honor Brian with a pledge or gift today.

Sincerely, Fara Marcus, Chief Development and Marketing Officer BIG NIGHT Chairs Nancy and Woody Ostrow Lori and Jimmy Ruttenberg Dory and David Levine

For more information fmarcus@jccpgh.org • 412-339-5413 bit.ly/bignight24

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

15

Life & Culture Milton and Sheila Fine Collection opens at Carnegie Museum of Art

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DECEMBER 8, 2023

 Installation of the Milton and Sheila Fine Collection, 2023

Photo by Chris Uhren, courtesy of Carnegie Museum of Art

— ART —

By Emma Riva | Special to the Chronicle

O

ver his decades of collecting fine art with his wife, Sheila Reicher Fine, Jewish hotel magnate, philanthropist and arts advocate Milton Fine didn’t always intend that it would one day be in the Carnegie Museum of Art. Rather, that intention developed over time through his involvement with the museum.

Milton Fine, who died in 2019, was a trustee of the Carnegie Museum, chair of the board and an advocate for the revitalization of the Carnegie International in the 1980s and the creation of the Andy Warhol Museum in 1994.

On Nov. 18, the collection of more than 100 works of art — which includes pieces by contemporary artists like Jeff Koons, Robert Mapplethorpe and Kiki Smith — became available to the public at the museum for the first time in the form of the Milton and Sheila Fine Collection.

The exhibit will run through March 17, 2024.

The Fines were active members of the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and knew each other through mutual friends and family before their marriage in 1989.

“Our whole courtship was about art and purchasing art,” said Sheila Fine, who grew up in Point Breeze.

Though Sheila Fine was not an art collector before meeting Milton Fine, she was able to develop her own taste through their travels to the Venice Biennale, studio visits in New York or trips to the galleries in Paris that her husband loved. The couple built most of their collection together, with equal input from both of them.

“I wasn’t sure I could fit into Milt’s life, but he was such a wonderful partner.

He never put pressure on me. I felt

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

very comfortable very quickly. At these exhibitions we went to, I would say to Milt, ‘Let’s go where there aren’t a lot of people, I really want to see the art,’” Sheila Fine recalled.

Sheila Fine shared that her husband was red-green colorblind, but that didn’t stop him from developing his own eye. His unique perception of color and composition added to his rigor as a collector.

“We never bought anything that one of us disliked,” Sheila Fine said. “We learned that our taste was similar. He’d ask me first ‘What did you like?’ We focused on the same things. We wanted to share the beauty of what we had.”

The Fines often gravitated toward emerging artists — when they bought Koons’ sculpture “String of Puppies,” he was still in an early stage of his career.

That piece became a fixture of their Fox Chapel home, in the entryway.

The art in their home was a staple of their family life.

“I wondered what grandchildren look at when they saw these puppies, so I knelt down to see it at a child’s level,” Sheila Fine said. “From that viewpoint, you can really see how the mouth affects the figure in a work of art.”

Though the Fines had a serious appreciation for contemporary art, they maintained a sense of playfulness and saw the artwork they owned as something to make their home more welcoming for the people they entertained.

They eventually became eager to share their art with the museum they both loved.

“We loved having the art in our family home, but it’s so much more spectacular in the museum,” Sheila Fine said. “And things shared are just so much more fun when they’re shared with everyone.”

Please see Fine, page 22

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The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh wishes you and your loved ones a peaceful Chanukah filled with love and the warmth of family and friends, because light prevails over darkness! jewishpgh.org

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DECEMBER 8, 2023 17

Celebrations

Torah

Birth

Jewish privilege Rabbi Zalman Gurevitz Parshat Vayeshev | Genesis 37:1 – 40:23

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No matter how far one removes himself from his own Jewish heritage, his Jewish privilege, also known as neshama, will never dissipate, and with proper nourishment, it can come back to life.

In the story of Chanukah, there was a group of Jews called Misyavnim, or Hellenists. They crossed enemy lines and joined the Greeks in their campaign to eradicate Judaism from the Holy Land. Similarly, today on college campuses, there is the tragic sight of Jewish students who spread misinformation and lies about our brothers and sisters in Israel. The most painful part of a Chabad campus rabbi’s mission is watching Jewish students support causes that adversely affect the well-being and safety of the Jewish community.

This explains our expression of gratitude

they never saw their parents being actively Jewish. Nevertheless, I’m able to see the joy and tranquility that they have when performing a mitzvah. Although they thought that they were not connected, they are reconnecting.

May the light of the Chanukah candles light up our homes, our souls and the entire world. PJC Rabbi Zalman Gurevitz is the rabbi at the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center in Morgantown, West Virginia. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Pittsburgh.

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n the prayer “V’al Hanissim” (“And for the miracles ...”) that we recite during Chanukah, we thank G-d for the miraculous victory that the Maccabees had over the wicked Hellenic government: “You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton sinners into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah.”

While it’s understood that the victory of the “mighty into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few” exemplifies the miracle, the second part of the prayer — “the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton sinners into the hands of those who occupy themselves with Your Torah” — raises the question of why one would assume that being pure, righteous and occupied with Torah study would somehow put one at a disadvantage. We know many righteous Torah scholars who are also strong enough to defend themselves and their community.

to Hashem during Chanukah. Although there were Jews who acted as a fifth column in supporting the Greeks, nevertheless the Maccabees were victorious. Not only were they victorious in eradicating the Greeks and restoring the Temple, but G-d also delivered the mighty, wicked and impure — referring to the Jewish Hellenists — into the hands of the Maccabees. Even those who were so far off that they were willing to cross enemy lines were brought back to be proud of their Jewish heritage.

No matter how far one removes himself from his own Jewish heritage, his Jewish privilege, also known as neshama, will never dissipate, and with proper nourishment, it can come back to life.

How do we nourish our Jewish soul? Our Torah teaches us that when we put on tefillin, light the Shabbat candles, give tzedakah, put up a mezuzah, eat kosher, study Torah and love our fellow Jews, we bring our souls back to life. Even a neshama that has been dormant for many years will wake up by performing a mitzvah.

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Obituaries BARAFF: Adalyn Pakler Baraff, of Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, passed away peacefully at home at the age of 102 surrounded by her family. Wife of the late Gerald Baraff.

Loving mother of Dr. Robert “Bobby” Baraff and Marjorie Baraff, PhD. Beloved grandmother of Nicole “Nikki” Baraff Sherman, Rick Baraff, Jamie Baraff Pond and Jeremy Baraff. Great-grandmother “GG” of Lochlan Sherman. Wonderful sister of Silvia Dillon and the late Ben Pakler, Hyman Pakler, Lena Cooperman, Doris Rosenthal, David Pakler, Esther Weiss and Lawrence “Pete” Pakler. Sisterin-law of the late Ruth Baraff and Patsy Pakler. Aunt of Marcine Baraff, Sharon Baraff, Mitchell (Rae-Gayle) Pakler, Fred (Maureen) Pakler, and numerous other nieces and nephews. Adalyn attended Fifth Avenue High School and Peabody High School. She played basketball for Peabody at a time when girls were only permitted to dribble half court because they were considered too “delicate” to dribble full court. She was an enthusiastic participant in many organizations, including the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, National Council of Jewish Women, Jewish Community Center, Amelia Earhart Club, Babe Didrikson Zaharias Club, ORT and Squirrel Hill AARP. Adalyn was also a den mother for the Brownies and Cub Scouts, and a member of the B’nai Israel Congregation and the Rodef Shalom Congregation. Adalyn enjoyed many activities including mahjong, golf, swimming, contract bridge, duplicate bridge and most of all, shopping. Her impeccable sense of fashion and relatable personality made her an excellent women’s clothing salesperson at Kaufmann’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, where customers would ask for her by name. Adalyn was married to her high school sweetheart, Gerald Baraff, for 50 years. She was an excellent homemaker, a spectacular cook, an expert shopper and a savvy coupon clipper. She regularly brought homemade food to her friends and relatives. She lovingly cared for several relatives who were terminally ill. Adalyn thoroughly enjoyed countless hours of babysitting her grandchildren and attending all their events. As a devoted Pittsburgher, the Pittsburgh City Council officially declared July 4, 2021 (her 100th birthday) as Adalyn Baraff Day. Still driving a car in her 90s and walking without a cane past the age of 100, Adalyn was full of life and truly one of a kind. At 102, Adalyn was still blessed with a wonderful memory, recalling many interesting and funny facts and lifetime stories in vivid detail. She made her home health aides laugh daily with her remarkable wit and sense of humor. The family would like to thank Adalyn’s aides, Ann, Tanika and Lashawn, for their wonderful and dedicated care over the last year. Adalyn’s love for her family and friends was unrivaled. Through her selfless generosity, she touched the lives of so many. Adalyn was adored by everyone who met her for her loving, humble and giving nature. Contributions may be made to Adalyn’s favorite nonprofit, HighView (gohighview.com/donate), or a charity of the donor’s choice. Services were held at Temple Sinai Memorial Park. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com COHEN: Melvin Cohen passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones at age 68 on Nov. 28, 2023. Son of the late Abe Cohen and Ruth Alterman Cohen, devoted husband to his wife, Nan, an extraordinary father to his daughters Elyssa, Abbe and dog Cookie, and loving friend of Donna Schano.

Melvin lived his life to the fullest with his “can-do,” “keep-going,” attitude and fought every battle with a smile on his face. A special thank you to Dr. Vikram Gorantla, Dr. David Weber and their staff, with a special acknowledgment to nurse Jenny Rabuck for providing us with excellent care. Melvin will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment private.

GALANTY: Janet Galanty passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, at home in O’Hara Township surrounded by her loving family. Mrs. Galanty was born to Levi and Tabitha Swab and raised in O’Hara Township. She graduated from Aspinwall High School in 1957 and went on to study business. She worked as a Bell telephone operator before meeting Sharpsburg merchant Sanford Galanty on a blind date; they were married from 1962 until his death in 2020, and theirs was a devoted partnership dedicated to family, friends, travel and Mr. Galanty’s hardware and carpeting businesses. Mrs. Galanty spent time as a Girl Scout leader and

In memory of...

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Contact the Development department at 412-586-2690 or development@jaapgh.org for more information.

THIS WEEK’S YAHRZEITS — Sunday December 10: Ella Braemer, Harry B . Cramer, Anne G . Diznoff, Esther H . Friedman, Benjamin Gordon, Alexander Grossman, Joseph Grumer, Sylvia Rudov Klein, Harry Lieberman, Percy A . Love, Alfred (Kurlie) Miller, Esther Monheim, Sophie Ruben, Sidney J . Rudolph, Norman H . Schlesinger, Dr .

Donald M . Schwartz, Morris Serbin, Bessie Sherman, Violet Slesinger, Morris A . Taylor, Louis Venig Monday December 11: Rose Cohen, Isaac Dobkin, Stuart Richard Harris, Zelda Sparks Hepner, William L . Kaplan, Morris L . Karp, Frank Levine, Meyer Levy, Ella Farber Lipman, Harry Marshall, Csipa Shapiro, Marc Wells Shapiro Tuesday December 12: Marci Lynn Bernstein, Esther F . Busis, Thelma Chizeck, Jacob Coon, Julius B . Epstein, Miriam Ginsburg, Jacob Goldblum, M .D . , Lawrence Louis Green, Mollie G . Kartub, David Aaron Liebman, Samuel Litman, Mary Malyn, Bella Marians, Dorothy Mustin, Anna Natterson, Rebecca Oppenheim, Annette Reidbord, Edward David Rosenberg, Howard Bernard Schwartz, Selma Schwartz, Milton Shermer, William Silk, Della Ruth Stearns, Louis F . Stein, Bertha Tabachnick Wednesday December 13: Samuel Avner, Milton Backal, Baruch Berenstein, Bert Bergad, Sydney Bertenthal, Helen N . Broida, Murray D . Goldstein, Fredric Alvin Green, Samuel M . Hyman, Minnie Van Praagh Jacobs, Philip Katz, Joseph Levy, Ella Markowitz, Louis Marlin, Louis Miller, Gust H . Oppenheim, Ralph Pecarsky, Sol E . Podolsky, Alex Pollack, Nathan A . Potosky, Annette Reicher, Sara B . Rosenberg, Abraham W . Shapiro, Hattie Shire, Max Shulman, Rae Specter, William B . Waldman, Mildred Weiner, Bernard H . Weiss, Ann Whiser Thursday December 14: Harry I . Alpern, Isadore Caplan, Samuel Davis, Samuel Finkel, Louis Gallet, George J . Golden, Joseph Goldhamer, Celia Kaddell, Charles Kanselbaum, Lina Kapner, Phillip Larry Katz, Louis Kessler, Sarah E . Kramer, Blanche Levine, Louis Monsein, Jacob Robinson, Shirley B .

Samuels, Sarah Stein, Albert Zweig Friday December 15: Pearl Alinikoff, Ethel Berry, Beyne R . Bricklin, Ida Briskin, Sheldon A . Cohen, Thomas Cohen, Abe Darling, Charles Finesod, John J . Fischer, Morris R . Gordon, William L . Kann, Arnold Kanselbaum, Gertrude C . Kimball, William Krapin, Samuel Fishel Londo, Sgt . Max Marcus, Mary Podolney Goldberg, Mollie Rubin Pretter, Joseph Recht, Harry Rice, Charlotte June Ruthrauff, Erma R .

Spielberger Saturday December 16: Edna Sarah Bennett, Max L . Berg, Moses Bluestone, Paul Cooper, Sadie Mermelstein Feinberg, Celia Garber, Henrietta Goldman, Phillip Goodman, Nathan Greenberg, Rose B . Gross, Ethel Farber Hoyt, Yetta Klein, Dr . Marvin Kurfeerst, Celia Levin, Racille Light, Ruben Marcus, Samuel Neustein, Belle Mandell Rodin, Ruth Sachs, Bessie Sands, Abraham Schulman, Julius Shapiro, Louis Shapiro, Raymond Weinberg, Bella Zeman

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Obituaries Obituaries: Continued from page 19

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volunteered with her children, Harry and Jill, for many years at the Harmarville Rehabilitation Center, where she worked in the Yellow Ribbon gift shop as well. Mrs. Galanty was also a member of Hadassah. In addition, Mrs. Galanty enjoyed gardening, puzzles and games, and vacationing with her family.

She was also a lover of animals, housing an array of dogs and cats and taking care of senior dogs later in her life. Mrs. Galanty is survived by daug hter Ji l l (Wi l liam) Gallagher; grandchildren Liam and Taryn Gallagher, and Samantha and Ben Belanger; daughter-in-law Elizabeth Belanger; brother Raymond Swab; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by husband Sanford, sons Harry and Stephen, and brother Wayne. Services were held at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. Interment B’Nai Israel Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh (humaneanimalrescue.org/donate/) and the Pancreatic Cancer Society (donate. cancer.org) schugar.com WEDNER: Eleanor J. Diamond Wedner, of Squirrel Hill, peacefully on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023.

Daughter of the late Harry and Elsie Diamond. Beloved wife of the late Albert Wedner. Loving mother of Scott (Randi) Wedner and Ronald (Andrea) Wedner. Cherished grandmother of Steven (Lindsey) Wedner, Hilary (Jorge) Soriano, Philip Wedner and Mindy (James) Hilton. Loving great-grandmother to Lillian and Isabel Wedner, Naomi Soriano, and Lincoln and Cooper Hilton.

Preceded in death by sister Frances Diamond, and brothers Morris Diamond and Julius Diamond. Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews, five step-grandchildren and four step-great -grandchildren. Eleanor was born and raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Lafayette High School and became a bookkeeper. She moved to Pittsburgh in 1951 when she married the love of her life, Albert, and they were married almost 58 years. She was a homemaker while sheraised her two children and then went back to being a bookkeeper once they were grown. Eleanor was also a grand master bridge player. Graveside services and interment were private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Ahava Memory Care Unit c/o the JAA, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217 or Sivitz Hospice & Palliative Care, 200 JHF Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc. schugar.com PJC

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Wishing you a season of love, laughter, and light Happy Hanukkah from Barb Warwick and the District 5 City Council Team!

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Life & Culture Fine: Continued from page 16

The Fines had close relationships with the curators and directors of the museum, and Eric Crosby, Henry J. Heinz II director of the Carnegie Museum, helmed the Milton and Sheila Fine Collection alongside Tiffany Sims, Margaret Powell curatorial fellow and Cynthia Stucki, curatorial assistant for contemporary art and photography.

“Collectors ask themselves ‘Will this painting stand the test of time?’ It’s risky,” Crosby said.

“When the Fines began collecting in the 1980s, they were on the cutting edge — photography, or paintings and sculptures that might seem unfamiliar to museumgoers, these challenging forms of abstraction and conceptual art. It’s only with the benefit of hindsight that we can see that they worked with some of the most important artists today.”

Crosby’s curatorial vision for The Fine Collection greets museumgoers with a neon bolt of lightning in the form of Mark Handforth’s “Ziggy Stardust” (2004), which casts a red, purple and orange glow across the darker lounge space between the Fine Collection and the Museum’s Scaife Galleries.

“We wanted to really activate the lounge and give people this electric feeling: ‘This is the Milton and Sheila Fine Collection,’” Crosby said. Once inside, visitors can enjoy the eclectic mixture

see elements of the collection on a more domestic-looking wall space.

“One of the challenges of curating a private collection is moving the private domestic space for the home to the

A unique feature of the exhibition is the “Collector’s Salon” room, which Crosby designed to allow viewers to flip through artbooks at a table and chairs and see elements of the collection on a more domestic-looking wall space. of mediums that the Fines gravitated toward, including Robert Mapplethorpe’s portrait of Keith Haring and Gillian Wearing’s photographic self-portrait as Andy Warhol.

A unique feature of the exhibition is the “Collector’s Salon” room, which Crosby designed to allow viewers to flip through artbooks at a table and chairs and

public space. When you wander through a residence like the Fines’ it’s not organized in an art historical way or chronological way, there are all kinds of surprises from the living room to the bedroom to the foyer. We wanted to honor that surprising spirit of play,” Crosby said.

Though museums are archives of beauty and knowledge, displaying a

private collection allows visitors to see how art isn’t just for white-walled spaces, but for appreciation in the home.

Beyond academic or institutional value for its contributions to art history, each object in the collection had personal significance to the Fines.

“It’s inspiring to see the effect a life lived collecting can have,” Crosby said.

“And buying art doesn’t have to be inaccessible — Milton and Sheila bought from artists at the beginning of their careers — you find your art world to participate in, you find your art world to make sense for you.”

Sheila Fine also encouraged the public to think about the role art can play in their daily lives.

“When I looked at works of art, I was drawn towards the way the paint was applied or the design and asked myself: Was it something that was soothing?

Exciting? Stimulating? I wanted to live with things that added to the joy of life,” Sheila Fine said. “This is such a terrible time for us, particularly for Jews, but living with art, even if you only can afford one painting … Living with art enhances your life.” PJC Emma Riva is a freelance writer living in Pittsburgh.

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Community Showing solidarity in the Jewish state

Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Jason Kunzman traveled to Israel on a solidarity mission with JCC leaders from across the country. Along with visiting Kfar Aza and hearing from Israeli intelligence officers about the horrors committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, participants volunteered in the Jewish state.

p Jason Kunzman, second from left, and fellow JCC leaders help tend olive trees.

West Point in Western PA

p JCC leaders visited the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Research at the Shamir Medical Center and learned about hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat posttraumatic stress disorder.

Photos courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh

Tree of Life welcomed West Point Jewish Chapel Choir for a special Veterans Day concert. A dessert reception and coffee bar was held after the Nov. 11 event.

p Alan and Lauren Mallinger, second from left and third from left, join members of the choir.

p Let voices ring.

Photos courtesy of Lauren Mallinger

Making friends at Friendship Circle

p Friendship Circle reaches new heights during an event at Ascend Point Breeze.

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG

p Dessert is the perfect meal to foster friendship. Photos courtesy of The Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

DECEMBER 8, 2023

23

KOSHER MEATS

Empire Kosher Fresh Whole Frying Chicken

• 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.

4

49

lb.lb.

Price effective Thursday, December 7 through Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Available at 24

DECEMBER 8, 2023

and

PITTSBURGH JEWISH CHRONICLE

PITTSBURGHJEWISHCHRONICLE.ORG