April 14, 2023 | 23 Nissan 5783
Candlelighting 7:40 p.m. | Havdalah 8:41 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 15 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL The Vegan Rabbi’s thought Lenda volorei ciendifood nonfor re nus
$1.50
Beth Shalom, Pittsburgh Girls Rabbi Aaron Choir partner for Yom HaShoah Bisno establishes concert Center for Interfaith Collaboration
Akiva Gersh onandae nourishing the soul Et odictiumqui amusam quistium si de net voloritat
Page X Page 4
LOCAL LOCAL Ovit, ommodi remos ero Racism in Israel explored The Pittsburgh Girls Choir will perform “Anne Frank: A Living Voice” on April 16 at Beth Shalom as part of a Yom HaShoah commemoration.
Photo provided by the Pittsburgh Girls Choir
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
Ethiopian activist Shula Mola comes to Pitt Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss LOCAL LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim Local Jewish athlete ascends new heights
Page X Page 5
Lenda nus dolorum re pro Alpine mi, cuptati Grayson Honig, champion skiier ntibus.
Page X Page 16
K
athryn Barnard first heard “Anne Frank: A Living Voice” nearly two decades ago. “Then, about 10 years ago, Aron Zelkowicz, the founder of the [Pittsburgh] Jewish Music Festival, asked me if we would perform it and I absolutely fell in love with it,” she said. Barnard is the artistic director and founder of the Pittsburgh Girls Choir, a choral group for girls aged 6 to 18 that was launched in 2005 as the Oakland Girls Choir. On April 16, the choir will sing the work, which incorporates entries from Anne Frank’s diary, along with “Ani Ma’amin” and Srul Irving Glick’s “Palm Trilogy,” in partnership with Beth Shalom’s Derekh program, as part of a Yom HaShoah commemoration concert at the Squirrel Hill Conservative synagogue. The collaboration between Beth Shalom and PGC had its genesis when Maria Angelica Caruso, director of the Bodiography Center for Movement, told Judith Hoenig Adelson of Beth Shalom about a partnership between PGC and local dancers using words from Anne Frank. “When I heard the description of what was going to take place, I thought this would possibly be a great thing to produce in our sanctuary,” Adelson said. Caruso, though, played more than an
introductory role. She was, until recently, the head of La Roche University’s dance department and was asked to choreograph “Anne Frank: A Living Voice.” Instead, she offered the opportunity to a composition student, Sarah Pereira, who is Jewish, to choreograph “Anne Frank: A Living Voice” for six dancers. PGC’s Executive Director Angela Goldberg said the partnership between PGC and Beth Shalom stemmed from “a beautiful coincidence.” “We were on a Zoom call with Maria talking about the most appropriate venue for the concert and then, enter Judy, [Adelson],” Goldberg said. “Anne Frank: A Living Voice” was written by Linda Tutas Haugen as a commission for the San Francisco Girls Chorus. It is based on portions of Frank’s diary written while the teenager was hidden from the Nazis in Amsterdam. Barnard, who isn’t Jewish, said she selected the piece because she’s always felt a strong bond with Judaism. “I love and respect it,” she said, “but more than anything, I hate the abuses that happened and I’m a strong advocate for children. I think that was an impetus to really want to do these pieces.” For chorus member Eliza Meyer, it wasn’t Please see Choir, page 10
Rabbi Aaron Bisno
Photo courtesy of Rabbi Aaron Bisno
By Toby Tabachnick | Editor
R
abbi Aaron Bisno has faith in the future — and the future, as he sees it, will be one of faith. He hopes that his new Pittsburgh-based nonprofit ensures that’s true. Bisno, the Frances F. & David R. Levin rabbinic scholar at Rodef Shalom Congregation, recently launched the Center for Interfaith Collaboration (C4IC). Its inaugural program, an interfaith panel of clergy, will take place on Sunday, April 16, at Calvary Episcopal Church at 1 p.m. Bisno served as senior rabbi of Rodef Shalom Congregation from 2004-2022. When that tenure ended last summer, he was offered an office at Calvary Episcopal Church and the title of rabbi-in-residence. He delivers sermons there on a voluntary basis and teaches a course on Sunday mornings with Calvary’s Rev. Jonathon Jensen called “A Priest and a Rabbi Walk into a Classroom.” Please see Bisno, page 10
Next Issue: Special Edition
ISRAEL AT
75 stellalevi/ E+