March 8, 2024 | 28 Adar I 5784
Candlelighting 6:02 p.m. | Havdalah 7:01 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 10 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY
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LOCAL Lenda volorei ciendi non re nus Acclimating immigrants
After widespread backlash, Summer Lee cancels CAIR appearance
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Tree of Life reveals founding board of directors
JFCS program aids Pittsburgh newcomers
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Et odictiumqui andae amusam LOCAL quistium si de net voloritat Laurie MacDonald withdraws Page X Tree of Life building rendering with new memorial. The organization’s founding board of directors was named in March. Photo copyright Studio Libeskind
LOCAL Ovit, ommodi remos ero
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Petitions were challenged in court
Rep. Summer Lee Page 6
LOCAL Rabbis and cantors write Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss
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LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim Rabbis and cantors express concerns to Rep. Summer Lee Page 8
LOCAL Laughter is the best medicine Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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Dovid Taub’s podcast aims to keep you laughing
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By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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ep. Summer Lee canceled her March 2 speaking engagement at the Council on American Islamic Relations Philadelphia annual banquet after facing harsh criticism for planning to speak alongside individuals who have engaged in antisemitic and homophobic rhetoric. Both Jewish Insider and Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle published articles detailing the troubling remarks of the other advertised speakers at the event: author and former professional basketball player Ibrahim Jaaber, stand-up comedian Nadirah Pierre and keynote speaker Shaykh Yasir Fahmy. In an email Jaaber wrote about the bombing of a Gazan hospital: “This is the best lies these demons could come up with to cover their horns,” invoking a centuries-old antisemitic trope. In the same post, he accused Israel of wanting ‘GENOCIDE” and said the media was “Chucking and jiving for their Zionist masters.” Pierre posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 7: “May Allah destroy them even worse than they have tried to destroy others.” Fahmy has called Zionism a “sick, sadistic cult,” and has spoken against members of the LGBTQ+ community, calling their
Photo by Maureen Kelly Busis
lifestyle “destructive.” Republican Dave McCormick, who is running against Democrat Bob Casey for his seat in the United States Senate, was the first to call on Lee, who represents District 12, to resign for agreeing to speak alongside individuals who spewed hate. In a video, McCormick said the voters of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania expect a higher standard from their leaders. “They expect more than associating themselves with antisemites,” he said. “They expect moral leadership, moral clarity.” A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro took issue with the hate speech that had been used by the trio and said leaders have a responsibility to both speak and act with moral clarity. “The governor believes there is no place in our commonwealth — founded by William Penn, centered on the values of tolerance — for religious intolerance, whether it be antisemitism or Islamophobia. This hateful, antisemitic rhetoric cannot be tolerated — and it should be condemned, not elevated by our political leaders,” the spokesman said. State Rep. Dan Frankel, who represents Squirrel Hill and is a co-chair of the Pennsylvania Jewish Legislative Caucus, expressed disappointment with Lee and her Please see Lee, page 6
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he Tree of Life organization announced its founding board of directors, and it includes some familiar names to the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Michael Bernstein, who served as the chair of the organization’s interim governance committee will continue in the position with the new board. He will lead a board whose members stretch across the Jewish communal, philanthropic, nonprofit, education and business worlds and includes members of the Tree of Life congregation, Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and the Memorial Working Group, as well as honorary member First Lady of Pennsylvania Lori Shapiro. Bernstein said board members were nominated by a group of individuals who have been involved with the Tree of Life organization, including those on the interim governance board. “We talked about what kind of board we wanted and the profile of those who we were looking to attract,” he said. Once they started reaching out, he said, “Virtually everybody we asked agreed to participate.” And while the Tree of Life is a “Jewishly rooted organization,” Bernstein said that the mission of the organization goes Please see Tree of Life, page 7 InsideCreativeHouse / Adobe Stock
Financial Planning
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