March 24, 2023 | 2 Nissan 5783
Candlelighting 7:18 p.m. | Havdalah 8:18 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 12 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL The loss of a community stalwart Lenda volorei ciendi non re nus
Community members collect yahrzeit plaques, other mementos, as Tree of Life prepares for the future
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10.27 Healing Partnership to continue through 2028
Richard Kann dies at 84 Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 quistium si de net voloritat LOCAL
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Experts LOCAL explain Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s trial proceedings Ovit, ommodi remos ero
p Community members gathered at the 10.27 Healing Partnership in February 2019 for a mezuzah hanging ceremony. The organization has announced its intention to continue until 2028.
Photo courtesy of Maggie Feinstein
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
Delays, jury selection, death penalty Page 3 Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss
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A chat with the Jewish frontman of LOCAL “This American Life” Minto volupta ssimim
Ira Glass comes to Pittsburgh Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati Page 4 ntibus. Page X
p Stephanie Davis searches for yahrzeit plaques bearing her grandparents’ names.
Photo by Adam Reinherz
By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
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hen the doors to Tree of Life Congregation’s building briefly opened on March 19, Stephanie Davis didn’t know what to expect. More than 1,600 days had passed since she last entered the synagogue. Davis wanted to return to the building after the Oct. 27, 2018, attack. Tree of Life was where she attended Hebrew school, where her brother became a bar mitzvah, where her sister celebrated her wedding and where Davis taught music on Sundays. Her father, Morris Sedaka, memorialized his own parents, Victor and Sophie Sedaka, by donating in their names. For generations, Davis’ family ties were bolted to the walls for passersby to remember. On Sunday, she entered the building to retrieve those plaques Just three days earlier, she saw a message on Facebook announcing a 90-minute window for people to “pick up yahrzeit plaques, art and other remaining items.” Between 10:30 a.m. and noon, Davis and about 20 others — many of whom were congregational leaders — searched the social hall.
Inside the expansive room were tables holding hundreds of yahrzeit plaques, but they were a mere fraction of the items collected. Assembled inside the social hall were photos, books, discarded prayer shawls, old Torah covers, cassettes, VHS tapes, T-shirts, a bowling trophy, paintings, posters, bags of garbage, bookcases, menorahs, ceiling tiles, tools and furniture. There were rows of stacked chairs, vacuums, lecterns, filing cabinets, refrigerators and a vintage couch whose pink, brown and off-white hues recalled an era when synagogues had youth lounges and the youth lounges hosted flocks of children and teens. Alan Hausman, Tree of Life’s president, said the congregation is doing its best to ensure salvageable items avoid a landfill. Some furniture went to nearby synagogues, churches and nonprofits. Dishes and glassware are going to immigrant families. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers and his wife, Janice Myers, spent more than two hours on Sunday searching stacks for things area children might enjoy. “We want to do as much good as we can,” Please see Tree of Life, page 9
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he 10.27 Healing Partnership announced plans to continue operations through 2028. Created after the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre at the Tree of Life building, the organization made the announcement despite the imminent cessation of its funding, which is from a federal Antiterrorism Emergency Assistance program grant administered by the Pennsylvania Commission for Crime and Delinquency. Funding will end on Sept. 30. The Partnership made the decision after a lengthy strategic planning process, which involved input from community stakeholders including family members of the 11 people murdered during the attack, survivors of the attack, constituents from the three congregations targeted, Jewish community organizations and survivor communities of other hate-based mass violence. The Partnership is announcing its decision nearly six months before its funding ends to assure the community that it is committed to continue its services during the trial of the accused shooter and the commemoration ceremonies through 2028. Maggie Feinstein, director of the Partnership, said the organization asked key questions in Please see Healing, page 9
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