May 15, 2026 | 28 Iyar 5786
Candlelighting 8:12 p.m. | Havdalah 9:18 p.m. | Vol. 69, No. 20 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Study, eat, repeat: Tikkun Leil Shavuot returns for night of communal learning and cheesecake
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Justice David Wecht leaves Democratic Party
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Tikun Jr. brings Shavuot learning and community to young families By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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Gefsky Community Scholar, called the program an “intensely Jewish Torah-based communal experience that is really a distinctive feature of the Pittsburgh community.” “We’re one of the very few places that can bring the entire community together under one roof for a night of learning, where people will respectfully rub shoulders with those who have very different ideas about Judaism from their own ideas, and to be able to not only rub shoulders but sit together in classrooms and learn from people that they really don’t have an opportunity to learn from the rest of the year,” he said. The program, which has long operated in Pittsburgh, attracts hundreds each year because it “bespeaks the nature of the Pittsburgh Jewish community and its cooperative style,” Schiff added. This year, joining the fold of familiar teachers are Community Day School’s Casey Weiss and the Kollel Jewish Learning Center’s Rabbi Moshe Levy. Schiff said the two public figures are
eeking to emulate the bedrock of Pittsburgh Jewish communal learning, an upcoming Shavuot-related program for children and parents is touting the chance to study together, eat dairy and learn from diverse teachers, all under one roof. Tikun Jr., a two-hour-long program kicking off at 5 p.m. on May 21 at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill, “shamelessly rides the coattails of a fantastically successful” Shavuot program for adults, organizer Rabbi Larry Freedman said. Pointing to the similarly named Tikkun Leil Shavuot, Freedman described Tikun Jr. as an opportunity to choose from multiple 40-minute educational sessions and enjoy access to story time, singing and a kosher dinner. Each of the program’s offerings reflects an aspect of the holiday. Whether it’s learning about controversies concerning the Ten Commandments, using art to explore the “land of milk and honey,” or eating cheese pizza, sessions and activities incorporate Shavuot and seek to foster understanding and growth, Freedman said. “We’re very intentional in how we are structuring the program,” Rachael Speck, chief program and innovation officer at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, said. “It allows families to show up and be together and learn together on the holiday, but also allows for parents to step away from their children and engage more meaningfully as adults.” Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Long celebrated by staying up late, studying Jewish texts and eating dairy dishes, Pittsburghers have annually observed the holiday by gathering at the JCC in Squirrel Hill for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s program, eating cheesecake and learning from teachers
Please see Shavuot, page 10
Please see Tikun Jr., page 10
Politics and policies Page 2
LOCAL The search for roots
Upcoming genealogy program Page 4
LOCAL
p Cheesecake, study and community are the ultimate ingredients. Photo by Yulia Oliinychenko via Pexels By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
Honoring a legacy of care
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Shayna Bennett remembered Page 5
HOLIDAYS Beyond cheesecake
Shavuot’s ties to agriculture Page 7
500-year-old practice will continue on May 21 at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. Starting at 10 p.m., community members will gather and study Torah in celebration of Shavuot. Since the 16th century, Jewish communities have marked the holiday, which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, by staying up late and studying Jewish texts. In Pittsburgh, Tikkun Leil Shavuot, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, has enabled community members to congregate and learn from local educators representing various streams of Jewish life. Over the course of three 50-minute slots, Pittsburghers will have the chance to hear a “range of speakers from really every facet of Jewish thought on topics that are related to the Torah and to matters of significant Jewish study,” organizer Rabbi Danny Schiff said. Speaking with the Chronicle as a lead-up to the program, Schiff, the Federation’s
Automotive Special section coming May 29 Ivan Kurmyshov/Adobe Stock