December 12, 2025 | 22 Kislev 5786
Candlelighting 4:36 p.m. | Havdalah 5:39 p.m. | Vol. 68, No. 50 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Former hostage Eli Sharabi visits Pittsburgh
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL A celebration of fellowship
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Mt. Lebanon readies for first public Chanukah celebration By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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Faith and friendship in Shadyside LOCAL
near-blindness, and had difficulties adapting to his time in captivity. Sharabi was released before Ohel, who endured an additional eight months in Hamas captivity before his eventual release on Oct. 13, 2025. The elder former hostage told of his conversations with Ohel’s parents after he was set free and his fight to ensure Ohel’s release, including appearing before the United Nations. “He was like a son, and I needed to fight for him like his parents were fighting for him,” Sharabi said. Sharabi’s Pittsburgh appearance was the idea of Israeli-American and Squirrel Hill resident Etti Martel, who enlisted the assistance of Michael Milch. Martel recounted her emotional meeting with Sharabi in Israel after his release. “All the worry, all the pain, it all came out,” she said. “I looked at him and asked for forgiveness — forgiveness for what we couldn’t prevent.” Milch said he and Martel worked with Rabbi Yisroel Altein and Chani Altein of Chabad of Squirrel Hill, as well as the Federation and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh. Sharabi, he said, is emblematic of a “human being’s great God-given ability to overcome any trial and tribulation, challenge or loss.” One of the lessons of Sharabi’s talk, Milch said, is the need to look after others. “Eli’s ability to be a father-like figure for so many amidst the hell on earth teaches us all that we have it in us to do the same with our loved ones and friends, even when times are tough,” he said. In opening remarks, Yisroel Altein compared Sharabi’s captivity to the Torah’s story of Joseph.
he streets of Mt. Lebanon will glow a little more brightly this holiday season. That’s because, for the first time, Mt. Lebanon’s holiday festivities will include a menorah lighting at Clearview Common on Washington Road. The celebration is a victory for a group of Jewish community members who advocated last year at a commission meeting for public recognition of Chanukah. The charge was initially led by Chabad of the South Hills Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum, who, for the last three years, has been asking Mt. Lebanon to allow a public menorah and Chanukah parade at its annual holiday celebration, which includes a Christmas tree. When attorney Bryan Neft first learned of Rosenblum’s struggles with the township he decided to get involved. Mt. Lebanon’s refusal to include a menorah in its public acknowledgement of the holiday season came at a time when Neft felt the Jewish community had been through enough. He cited Oct. 7, the push for BDS resolutions in the city of Pittsburgh and attempts to have Allegheny County pass a ceasefire resolution as examples of what he considers attacks on the Jewish community. Neft began having conversations with the township’s commissioners, some of whom were wary of appearing to endorse a particular religion or feared that permitting a Chanukah display could open the door to requests from offensive groups like the Ku Klux Klan. “My response was, if you get something ugly, deal with it when it happens, but this is legitimate,” he said. Neft encouraged concerned community members to come to the next commissioners’ meeting and speak in favor of the menorah. The commissioners eventually sent the matter to their Civic Engagement Advisory Board, which met with Rosenblum, Beth El Congregation of the South Hills Rabbi Alex Greenbaum, Temple Emanuel of South Hills Rabbi Aaron Meyer and other community members, Neft said. “Things progressed to the point where, by the summer, it had been decided they were going to have two menorahs,” Neft said. “Originally it
Please see Sharabi, page 16
Please see Mt. Lebanon, page 16
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The Exit Interview p Eli Sharabi (left) and brother Sharon appeared at Poale Zedeck on Dec. 7, 2025. Photo by David Rullo David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Laura Cherner leaves Federation post Page 6
LOCAL Keeping memory alive
Holocaust Girl Scout patch unveiled Page 8
LOCAL Righteous Among the Neighbors
Honoring our allies Page 22
“I
chose life,” Eli Sharabi told the more than 700 in attendance at Congregation Poale Zedeck on Dec. 7. It was a theme repeated during Sharabi’s discussion with Laura Cherner, director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council. Sharabi recounted the physical and psychological terror he experienced — including broken ribs and starvation — during the 491 days he was held in Gaza after his Oct. 7, 2023, abduction from Kibbutz Be’eri by Hamas. The conversation touched on many of the same experiences Sharabi described in his book “Hostage,” the first account published by an Oct. 7 hostage. The Chronicle Book Club discussed “Hostage” the same day as the event. At its core, Sharabi’s talk spoke of his fundamental will to survive and find meaning during his time in captivity. The husband and father of two told of his motivation to return safely to his family, a goal he realized was empty only after being released and learning of their murder during the initial terrorist attack in Israel. Sharabi’s retelling included details of being held in a Palestinian family’s home in Gaza before being moved to Hamas’ tunnels. He also spoke about the relationships he formed with fellow hostages, including Alon Ohel. Ohel is a pianist from Misgav, Pittsburgh’s sister region in Israel, who was kidnapped while attending the Nova music festival. At 51, Sharabi was older than those he was detained with and developed a paternal position within the group. That relationship was especially significant with Ohel, who suffered from untreated injuries, including
Chanukah HAPPY
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