April 5, 2024 | 26 Adar II 5784
Candlelighting 7:31 p.m. | Havdalah 8:32 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 14 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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LOCAL Lenda ciendi non re nus A view volorei of the war from Israel
Antisemitic incidents continue locally post-Oct. 7
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Ads, accusations and AIPAC: District 12 primary update
Visiting diplomat speaks with the Chronicle Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 quistium LOCAL si de net voloritat Toward the path of totality
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Rep. Summer Lee
Photo courtesy of summerlee.house.gov
Several yard signs in Squirrel Hill were vandalized with the depiction of bloody hands last week. Courtesy photo By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Pittsburghers plan for eclipse Page 3
LOCAL Saluting the contributions ofasimuss women Fodictiumqui aut entis andae
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LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim
A new exhibit opens at the Heinz History Center Page 10
LOCAL Celebrating a bat mitzvah at 94 Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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Laryn’s Finder’s big day Page 12
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ccording to the Anti-Defamation League, in just the first three months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, 3,291 antisemitic incidents were reported in the United States. The number represents a 361% increase compared to the same period the previous year. Pittsburgh wasn’t spared from the recent rash of hate. On Oct. 31, residents of Summerset at Frick Park awoke to antisemitic graffiti covering their sidewalks, benches and a gazebo. Beginning shortly after the start of the war, rallies in Oakland sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and other groups critical of Israel included the chanting of antisemitic and anti-Zionist slogans. Toward the end of October, community members’ signs in support of Israel were vandalized with graffiti and a wall at Allderdice High School was defaced with anti-Israel language. On the commemoration of Kristallnacht, a vandal attempted to smash the windows of a local Jewish-owned business, and when those attempts were unsuccessful, the perpetrator broke the windows of a company truck parked nearby. Yeshiva students and members of the Lubavitch community have been a constant
target of verbal attacks since Israel entered Gaza to dismantle the terrorist group Hamas. Other incidents, like the recent vote by the Allegheny County Council on a ceasefire resolution, have left many in the Jewish community feeling unsupported by some elected officials and anxious because of public comments containing antisemitic tropes and claims that Hamas’ brutal acts on Oct. 7 didn’t happen. (The resolution did not pass.) In the most recent spate of antisemitic activity, several yard signs in Squirrel Hill reading “We Stand with Israel” were defaced with red handprints. The symbol is similar to pins created by Artists4Ceasfire and worn at the Oscars by some celebrities, including Billie Ellish and Mark Ruffalo. In a press release, the group said, “The pin symbolizes collective support for an immediate and permanent cease-fire, the release of all the hostages and for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.” While the organization’s website claims the pin was designed out of an urgency to save lives, others have pointed to a more nefarious background for the symbol, going back to the second Intifada. In 2000, two Israeli soldiers took a wrong turn on their way to an IDF base and were Please see Antisemitism, page 18
By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
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s the April 23 Democratic primary approaches, the race for Pennsylvania’s 12th District House seat between incumbent Rep. Summer Lee and challenger Edgewood Borough Councilmember Bhavini Patel is heating up. The Israel/Hamas war has been a prominent issue for both campaigns, although it is not the focus of either candidate’s ads airing now on television and digital platforms. In Lee’s reelection ad, the freshman congresswoman emphasizes her work ethic and claims to have delivered $1.2 billion in federal funds to her community “while standing up to Republican extremism to make life better for all of us.” But in a news release following the launch of Lee’s ad, Patel refuted the congresswoman’s claim to have delivered $1.2 billion to Western Pennsylvania, calling it a “billion-dollar lie,” and asserting that the bulk of that federal funding was in the works before Lee took office in 2023. Patel’s televised ad seeks to portray Lee as an extremist who intends to “dismantle the Democratic party, undermine President Joe Biden and even wants to abolish the police.” Patel concludes by saying, “In the Trump era, Democrats have to stick together.” Please see Primary, page 18
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