January 10, 2025 | 10 Tevet 5785
Candlelighting 4:55 p.m. | Havdalah 5:59 p.m. | Vol. 68, No. 2 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Anti-Israel activists renew BDS referendum initiative
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Terror averted
Upper St. Clair man arrested Page 2
LOCAL
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Groundbreaking eye transplantation project unites top experts from Pittsburgh and beyond
Getting to know: Jeff Brodsky
Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Community Relations Council Director Laura Cherner (left) stand with attorneys Efrem Grail, Carolyn McGee and Ronald Hicks, StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Julie Paris and Federation President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein in August after the defeat of a BDS referendum that would have asked Pittsburgh residents to bar the city from doing business with the state of Israel.
Photo courtesy of Julie Paris
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
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LOCAL A new Maccabi coming to Pittsburgh
JCC prepares for Campus Games Page 4
LOCAL Croissant French toast bake
A make-ahead recipe
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ctivists wanting Pittsburgh to divest from Israel are determined to force their will on the city, despite losing one battle in court last year. Not On Our Dime, a “volunteer-led campaign made up of a coalition of Pittsburghers,” according to its website, is attempting to gather more than 12,500 signatures before Feb. 18, hoping to force a referendum onto May’s primary ballot which would mandate changes to Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter. If successful, the referendum would compel the city to cease doing business with what it refers to as “governments engaged in morally reprehensible behavior — such as Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and apartheid policies in Occupied Palestinian Territories.” The text goes on to claim that Israel’s actions are in “stark misalignment with the values of Pittsburgh residents,” demands the city cease engaging with “corporations and entities developing tools and technologies used in acts of state violence against civilians,” and alleges that these tools could be used by the city against its residents. The referendum also would require the city to update its investment policies to “reduce arms production” and to promote “human dignity and human rights.”
The question Not On Our Dime seeks to add to the May ballot reads: “Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter be amended to align Pittsburgh’s finances with the City’s moral standards by: (1) establishing a financial policy to divert funds from governments engaged in genocide and apartheid—such as the state of Israel—and corporations doing business with them; (2) implementing investment policies with goals to reduce arms production and promote human dignity; and (3) increasing transparency of City business relationships and investments?” The organization’s website lists Project for Responsive Democracy as its fiscal sponsor. Project for Responsive Democracy is a 501(c) (4) organization created in September 2024. It lists Adeline Lord as its founder. Lord is a Democratic operative who previously served as a part-time aide in the District 5 office of City Councilmember Barb Warwick and as the vice chair of the city’s 15th ward, comprised of Hazelwood, Glen Hazel, Glenwood, Greenfield and a small portion of Squirrel Hill. As a 501(c)(4) organization, donations made to the Project for Responsive Democracy are not generally tax deductible and, as such, are not required to be disclosed. Please see BDS, page 10
Dr. José-Alain Sahel
Photo courtesy of Dr. José-Alain Sahel
By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
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t may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but a team of doctors and scientists — many based in Pittsburgh — are aiming to make vision-restoring eye transplants a reality. It’s the type of project referred to as a “moonshot,” but Dr. José-Alain Sahel is ready for the challenge. Sahel, who relocated to Pittsburgh from France about eight years ago because of rising antisemitism, is chair and distinguished professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has been tapped to co-lead the groundbreaking project with Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg, chair of ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University. They are bringing together a team of scientists, doctors and other experts from around the country to find a way to give sight to the blind. The project, called Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts, will receive an award of up to $56 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Please see Sahel, page 11
All About Pets begins on page 6 Eric Isselée/Adobe Stock
Pitt professor elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences