April 17, 2026 | 30 Nissan 5786
Candlelighting 7:43 p.m. | Havdalah 8:45 p.m. | Vol. 69, No. 16 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Community marks Yom HaShoah with testimony, music and remembrance
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Reflection and connection
NCJW’s Tikkun Yachad
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LOCAL
U Page 3
WORLD
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DOCUMENTARY “The Last Twins”
PBS documentary highlights a hero Page 16
For more than an hour, testimonies, poetry and reflections were shared. Taped remarks from survivors Sarah (Luel) Brett, Leon Brett, Harry Drucker, Elka Kolski and Moshe Kolski, Jack Sittsamer, Ilona Weiss and Jerry Guttman addressed faith, humanity and resolve. “God wanted us to live, so I lived,” Elka Kolski said. “Be a decent person, that’s all. Be good to everybody,” Harry Drucker said. “But life, you accept I guess,” Sarah Brett said. Descendants of the survivors lit six candles for the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Holocaust educator Michele Russo read “Music is Life,” a poem written by her student Aubri Holland. Local poet Valerie Bacharach read her poem “Begin Again.” Cantor David Reinwald of Beit Kulanu sang “Ani Ma’amin,” a song whose lyrics stem from 12th-century philosopher and sage Maimonides’ 13 principles of faith. Eric Lidji, director of the Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish Archives, reflected on survival and storytelling.
.S. Rep. Summer Lee, who represents Squirrel Hill, appeared at campaign rallies for Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, on April 7 at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Lee appeared alongside Hasan Piker, a far-left social media influencer who has over 3 million followers on Twitch. Piker has a history of antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric including justifying Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel; saying that Orthodox Jews are “inbred”; and calling a Jewish person a “bloodthirsty pig dog.” U.S. Rep. Richie Torres of New York has accused Piker of downplaying or denying “the significance of sexual violence by Hamas” during the Oct. 7 attacks. StandWithUs, an international and non-partisan Israel education organization, urged Lee’s constituents to call her office and voice their concern about her appearance with Piker. State Rep. Dan Frankel and state Sen. Judy Schwank, founders of Pennsylvania’s Jewish Legislative Caucus, issued a statement condemning Lee’s plans to campaign alongside Piker, whom they called “a commentator who has repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic statements.” Public officials, they said, “have an obligation to be unequivocal about the voices they elevate and the company they keep.” Referencing the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the statement added that “Dehumanizing language creates an environment where hatred is emboldened and violence becomes more likely.”
Please see Yom HaShoah, page 10
Please see Lee, page 10
p Musicians from the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra play while names scroll on a screen. Photo by Adam Reinherz By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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Antisemtic violence rising
2025 Diaspora report
Summer Lee ignores calls to cancel, appears with controversial streamer Hasan Piker By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Something kosher is on tap
Greenfield’s Mondays Brewery
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ommunity members commemorated Yom HaShoah by listening, observing, singing and remembering. With the aid of video projections, live music and candle lighting inside Levy Hall at Beit Kulanu (the building formerly housing Rodef Shalom Congregation, now home to the unified congregation of Temple Sinai and Rodef Shalom), nearly 200 Pittsburghers marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 13. Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh Director Emily Loeb framed the program as one dependent on testimony. Despite a dwindling survivor community, their voices must still be heard; commemorating Yom HaShoah, with reliance on survivors, is “one of our most enduring traditions,” she said. “For years, survivors have stood at this podium and shared their experiences with our community,” said Veronica Rocher Schmerling, a member of the Yom HaShoah Planning Committee. “With the passage of time, those of us who are children and grandchildren of survivors now have the responsibility of helping to ensure that the survivors’ stories continue to be heard.”
Legal Affairs Special section coming April 24
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