May 1, 2026 | 14 Iyar 5786
Candlelighting 7:58 p.m. | Havdalah 9:01 p.m. | Vol. 69, No. 18 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL “From Moses to Marley”
Hit music producer hits Beth Shalom
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NFL leaders urge local Black NFL draft and Jewish students to build in Pittsburgh becomes stage connection for unity, service and community impact
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LOCAL A healthcare innovator recognized p New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, meets with student leaders on April 22. Photo by Adam Reinherz By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer International President and CEO Adam
A The work of Dr. Jeffrey Cohen
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LOCAL “Israel on Trial”
Legal perspectives on the Jewish state Page 4
LOCAL A message of support and healing
Rabbi Suzanne Offit comes to Pittsburgh Page 5
long-term assignment was delivered to area college students inside Oakland’s University Club last week. The task, as explained by figures nationally celebrated for their athletic and civic contributions, demands patience, perseverance and using sports as a model for social progress. Speaking to local student leaders from the Black and Jewish communities on April 22, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and two-time Super Bowl champion Charlie Batch invoked a common trope. “Sports is the one thing that builds community and builds those bridges,” Kraft said. At games, fans sit together and “don’t really focus on how they worship, or whether they went to college or what their job is,” Shapiro said. “You are rooting for your team — or if you’re an Eagles fan like me, you’re rooting against the other team.” With the NFL draft drawing an estimated 805,000 visitors to Pittsburgh, Batch saw more than a celebration of football. The former Steelers quarterback urged students to treat the moment as a starting point for lasting social change — not an endpoint. “What are the lessons that you’re learning here, when everybody leaves Pittsburgh and now it’s up to us to continue what we’re trying to do?” he asked. Hosted by Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, the fireside chat and dinner was held in partnership with the NFL, Hillel International, UNCF (United Negro College Fund) and the Steelers. Organizational representatives, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Hillel
Lehman, Stillman College President Yolanda Page, and Jim Rooney, son of the late Steelers Chairman and President Dan Rooney, attended the program and reinforced the panel’s central message of perseverance and unity. Encouraged by the directive, student leaders sat together inside an ornamented dining room at the Henry Hornbostel-designed club, ate a kosher catered dinner and shared experiences, worries and hopes for a better future. The exercise sparked both intimate table discussions and larger group presentations. “I know how hard it can be to stand up against hate on campus,” Molly Peters, 20, said. “Each community can be even stronger if we come together and work together.” “Sometimes it’s easy to feel alone in this world with everything that’s going on; but when you see all these people in this room here for one same goal, I think that just goes such a long way in reassuring me that we’re all going to be OK,” Jonah Geisner, 22, said. Students told the Chronicle the event fostered meaningful connection between peers. “I grew up in a place where there was a lot of Jewish individuals, but I never really knew a lot about their experiences and their culture,” Temi Oladeji, 20, said. “Being able to talk about it with them today and learn more about it was really amazing.” “This is something that I don’t get to do enough,” Avery Brown, 20, said. Reflecting on the event the following day, Goodell praised the gathering and said, “Respect for everyone is really important in today’s world — appreciating our differences and appreciating what we can do together.” Please see Connection, page 10
p Mikey Karoll holds a diamond encrusted football at the NFL draft on April 23.
Photo courtesy of Mikey Karoll
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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ith the NFL draft welcoming an estimated 805,000 people, the National Football League and community members used Pittsburgh as a platform to promote unity, grit and care for others. “We like to believe in the National Football League that we can bring communities together,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. Speaking on April 22 at a unity dinner in Oakland, Goodell told community members, including a group of Jewish student leaders, the draft could be a mechanism for avoiding distractions and creating “commonality outside of maybe our daily lives.” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who attended the dinner, said that tikkun olam (repairing the world) is the “very essence of what my parents taught me, what my faith teaches me, that leads me to doing this work for you as governor.” Hearing those words was an impetus to telling peers to “be more open and willing to go into spaces that they may not think is for them,” University of Pittsburgh student Noa Solomon, 19, said. “You never know what you’re going to learn, or what people will learn about you, and there’s no harm in just going and having a new experience.” Please see Draft, page 10
May Nosh
Special section coming May 8 Duncan Andison/Adobe Stock