August 15, 2025 | 21 Av 5785
Candlelighting 7:59 p.m. | Havdalah 8:59 p.m. | Vol. 68, No. 33 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Maccabi athletes take the field Teamwork and preparation kept at Pirates game, celebrating Jewish pride and community JCC Maccabi Campus Games safe and joyful
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Room to grow
A new home for Chabad at CMU LOCAL
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A social media star IRL
Montana Tucker visits Pittsburgh Page 4
LOCAL Lessons from an Olympic medalist
Scott Seewald, board chair of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
Photo courtesy of the Pirates
By Andrew Rich | Staff Writer
T Ori Sasson on focus and resilience
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BOOKS Book review
“Sons and Daughters”
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he JCC Maccabi Campus Games teen athletes descended on PNC Park as a part of Jewish Heritage Night on Tuesday, Aug. 5, taking a night off from competition to watch some Pirates baseball. The night began with a parade around the field. About 2,000 teen athletes from Montreal to Ukraine to Pittsburgh, as well as coaches and parents, took a lap around the dirt warning track that circles the field. Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Board Chair Scott Seewald threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game began. He pitched to his son Daniel as the crowd cheered them on. “I don’t mind speaking in front of crowds; I don’t mind sharing Jewish joy and talking up the JCC — throwing a pitch is making me a little nervous,” Seewald said. The coming together of sports and Jewish culture was abundant throughout the night.
Yellow caps — stitched with a Star of David and the word “Pirates” spelled in Hebrew lettering — could be seen all around PNC Park, with Jewish Pittsburghers cheering on the Pirates against the San Francisco Giants (the game ended with a Giants win, 8-1). This year’s Maccabi Games had a new model of operation. Rather than relying on home hospitality, athletes stayed in the dorms at the University of Pittsburgh. “Over the last few years, it’s gotten more and more difficult to find families who are willing to house an athlete,” said the Games co-Director Lynn Zelenski. “So the approach was made to the University of Pittsburgh. They were thrilled. They’ve been wonderful partners.” The new model enabled the planning of evening activities for Maccabi participants, including Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park, “college night,” evening baseball and basketball games, and interacting with a Please see Pirates, page 10
Fall Arts Preview Coming August 22
Alina / Adobe Stock
Jewish baseball players participating in the JCC Maccabi Campus Games enter the Petersen Events Center in Oakland.
Photo by Adam Reinherz
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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amaraderie, Jewish joy and support for Israel made the JCC Maccabi Campus Games memorable. Safety and security issues did not. That was deliberate, explained Eric Kroll, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s deputy director of community security. Beginning in October 2024, Kroll and colleagues met weekly to design an environment where nearly 2,000 visiting athletes and another 3,000 coaches and spectators could comfortably experience the Games. “We didn’t want everyone constantly seeing security or law enforcement,” he said. “We wanted people to participate in all the events and feel good about the city.” Mostly, he continued, “We wanted parents to feel that their children were in good hands.” Please see Games, page 10