August 29, 2025 | 5 Elul 5785
Candlelighting 7:38 p.m. | Havdalah 8:36 p.m. | Vol. 68, No. 35 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Unification of JAA unveils new senior Rodef Shalom residences, centered on community and Jewish values and Temple Sinai brings mightier religious school
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL A new face at Hillel JUC
Meet Sami Weiss LOCAL
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End of summer bash
Chabad Young Professionals celebrate community Page 3
LOCAL Taking leadership to the next level
Lynda Heyman gets national Hadassah role
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LOCAL "Camera as Passport"
Holocaust-era exhibit opens at JCC
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There are plenty of common spaces for residents to gather in JAA’s new personal care residence. Photo courtesy of the Jewish Association on Aging By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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or Lou Plung, the Jewish Association on Aging’s new personal care residences are about community. Plung, the JAA’s immediate past chair, helped envision the 30 new units that were announced in 2024 as the first phase of an urban senior village off Browns Hill Road in Squirrel Hill, in the former Charles M. Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The new units are leasing now. When completed, the two-phase project will be home to a senior community of almost 400 people across a spectrum of support: independent living, personal care and memory care. That includes up to 58 people in the new units, as well as those at the AHAVA Memory Care Residence and residents at The New Riverview Apartments. The JAA is creating “an urban campus village,” Plung said. “We’re really excited about it.” That concept, he continued, will draw people to the campus. “People are going to move here, not just because there’s a good view of the river, but because they want to be a part of a community of people that they grew up with or remain friends with,” he said. “They will move here and still be able to connect to people that aren’t here, but there will be a unique
community here.” The campus will grow, develop and expand based on the wants and needs of the community, explained JAA Board Chair Glen Feinberg. “We’re at the front end of doing surveys and focus groups to get specifics,” he said. “What amenities does the community want? What do we need? What can create a sense of community? What can draw Riverview into the community?” he said. That community involvement will go beyond the physicality of the JAA’s campus, according to Mary Anne Foley, JAA president and CEO. “For personal care, which is the first phase of the project, when individuals move in, rather than us developing what the activity schedule needs to look like, we’re going to survey them,” she said. To put it another way, Plung said, “The idea is an intentional desire to create community.” That community might begin with JAA’s “wraparound services” that typically occur in a person’s home or off campus, and may continue if a person moves into the organization’s independent living units. The personal care units will be available if a person’s doctor determines there is a need, as will the AHAVA Memory Care Residence. Please see JAA, page 10
Students surround a Torah.
Photo courtesy of J-JEP
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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s Rodef Shalom Congregation and Temple Sinai work toward a shared future, their religious schools are following suit. Starting this fall, J-JEP and NextDOR will collectively operate as the “Unified Religious School.” “It’s pronounced, ‘Yours.’ Get it? Yours,” Rabbi Larry Freedman said. “That’s our working title. It needs some work.” Like its title, the educational institution is undergoing development. According to Freedman, URS’ director, the school is creating a model infused with its predecessors’ strengths. Before Rodef Shalom and Temple Sinai’s unification, each congregation maintained a religious school. Rodef Shalom, along with Congregation Beth Shalom, operated J-JEP, a religious school serving students from both congregations. Temple Sinai operated NextDOR. “J-JEP had a very strong lower grade program — lots of topics, lots of activities — but no high school program,” Freedman said. NextDOR, he continued, offered a meaningful program for teens. Please see Unification, page 10
Estate Planning & Planned Giving coming Sept. 5
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