March 29, 2024 | 19 Adar II 5784
Candlelighting 7:24 p.m. | Havdalah 8:24 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 13 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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LOCAL Lenda volorei ciendi non re nus Big Nosh is coming!
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At 20, New Community Chevra Changes coming to Rodef Shalom Kadisha preserves a history as talks with Temple Sinai continue
Chronicle’s Jewish food festival runs April 7–9 Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 quistium LOCAL si de net voloritat
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New digs for Chabad of the South Hills LOCAL
NCCK co-founder Malke Frank speaks during the Adar 7 dinner. By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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A building that allows for growth Page 3
LOCAL The loss of a CMU leader Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss
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LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim
Jared Cohon dies at 76 Page 5
LOCAL New kosher restaurant in Squirrel Hill Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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Bella’s looks to open soon Page 16
y the time they kindled yahrzeit candles, 20 years had passed. Table by table, seated inside Temple Sinai’s social hall, representatives of the New Community Chevra Kadisha struck matches and transferred flames to the small wicks. Members of the Jewish burial society rose, enumerated Pittsburgh’s deceased and recited the Mourner’s Kaddish and Traveler’s Prayer. Lighting candles, chanting orisons and learning Torah are common practices for Jewish burial societies on Adar 7. For hundreds of years, chevra kadishas have marked the day with ceremonies, fasts and evening meals. According to rabbinic literature, Moses died on Adar 7. The Midrash states that unlike those buried by a community of their peers, the great prophet’s interment was attended to by only God; symbolically, the Hebrew date is one of rest and celebration for Jewish burial societies worldwide. Adar 7 fell on March 17 this year. In accordance with their traditions, NCCK members gathered that Sunday evening to eat, interact and reflect. Special attention was paid to the group’s 20th anniversary. The passage of time necessitates a recapitulation of history, NCCK co-founder Malke Frank told 85 attendees. So, with toasts and vignettes, participants approached a lectern, recalled their service and articulated the group’s story.
NCCK begins
“When I think about growth, there were five or six of us sitting around Pat Cluss’ table,”
Photo by Adam Reinherz
Nancy Levine said of the society’s origins. NCCK officially began with a small cadre in 2004, but its seeds of inception can be traced two years earlier, co-founder Pat Cluss explained. In 2002, Cluss read an article in Reform Judaism magazine about death and Jewish burial. Intrigued by the quiet and sacred work, Cluss mentioned her fascination months later during a coffee outing with Frank. The fellow Squirrel Hill resident said she, too, was drawn to the ancient practices and had even reached out to Pittsburgh’s Orthodox chevra kadisha about joining its group. Cluss and Frank recruited several friends to meet with Rabbi Jamie Gibson of Temple Sinai. From that first conversation with Gibson, Cluss produced four pages of typewritten notes. “All of the things we would need to think about and do, and people we would need to talk to,” she said. “What I tried to do, by the way,” Gibson said of that encounter, “was raise all the questions from all the angles that would have to be dealt with.” A humorous inquiry was posed at the time about the group’s name. “What were we going to call ourselves at 20 years old when we weren’t new anymore,” Gibson said. “We’re still rolling along.” During its early years, NCCK met as often as twice a month to study, train and enlist members. With assistance from the late David Ryave of Ralph Schugar Chapel and David Zinner, the former executive director of the national organization Kavod v’Nichum, NCCK increased its understanding of classic Please see Chevra Kadisha, page 10
Rabbi Sharyn Henry celebrated her 20th anniversary at Rodef Shalom Congregation in 2019. She will retire in 2025.
Photo by Stephanie Rex
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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s Sam Cooke first sang in 1964, “A change is gonna come.” Change indeed is approaching for the two Reform communities — Rodef Shalom Congregation and Temple Sinai — in Pittsburgh’s eastern neighborhoods. Rabbi Sharyn Henry announced plans earlier this month to retire on June 30, 2025, after 26 years of service at Rodef Shalom. In an emailed statement to the community, Henry said she is “curious about what the future holds for me, and yet, it will surely involve my family, yarn, books and Torah. (And, of course, my dog.)” Henry told the Chronicle that the timing of her retirement was based on the continuing conversations about a possible partnership between Rodef Shalom and Temple Sinai, which began in December. “I sent the letter when I sent it so people would understand how my retirement fits into the whole conversation between Rodef Shalom and Temple Sinai,” she said. “I feel like in a year from June, things will be moving in a particular direction. They’ll know what they need to do about clergy leadership.” Please see Rodef Shalom, page 10
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