April 26, 2024 | 18 Nissan 5784
Candlelighting 7:53 p.m. | Havdalah 8:56 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 17 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Jewish Pittsburgher recounts Etna Borough Council passes Iran’s attack on Israel cease-fire resolution
Supreme Court justice urges advocacy Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 quistium LOCAL si de net voloritat Nicholas Lane dies at 84
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Etna Borough Council passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Israel’s war with the terrorist organization Hamas on April 16 Photo by David Rullo
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By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
A Tissenbaum and her husband, Allan, fell asleep Saturday night believing they — along with her brother, sister-in-law and mother-in-law — would be doing the sort of things members of the Diaspora do when they come to Israel in the middle of war: working on farms, making sandwiches, cleaning and repairing buildings, etc. Iran, however, had other plans. The Tissenbaums were woken by notification after notification on their phones. It wasn’t long before a message arrived saying that the mission had been canceled. “And then we started getting notifications about the drones that were being sent from Iran,” she said. “At first, it was like, ‘What? How could this be?’” Tissenbaum and her family were staying at a small, boutique hotel and were unsure of what to do if Tel Aviv was hit by rockets and drones.
t an April 16 meeting, Etna Borough Council voted to pass a resolution urging “the United States Federal Government to work cooperatively toward an immediate deescalation and permanent cease-fire in Israel and Occupied Palestine.” The unanimous vote came after a chaotic and confused conversation about the resolution, which council members received just four days earlier on April 12. It was not available to the public before the meeting. The language of the bill, which was written by council members Jessica Semler and Alice Gabriel, was altered three times during the meeting. Solicitor John Rushford was asked to read the final version near the end of the discussion but was unable to do so because of computer issues. Instead, Semler restated the changes that were made. Due to the late date that council members received the resolution and the confusion that took place during deliberations, Council Chairperson Dave Becki asked several times if the council would prefer to table the vote until its May meeting. That suggestion was rejected. The approved resolution calls for the Biden administration “to call for and facilitate de-escalation and a permanent cease-fire
Please see Iran, page 11
Please see Council, page 11
Historian and community stalwart Page 3
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Photo courtesy of Charlene Tissenbaum
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By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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Showcasing Jewish films from around the world Page 16
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From left: Lisa Taerk, a kibbutz resident, Gerry Tissenbaum, Ellen Tissenbaum, Allan Tissenbaum and Charlene Tissenbaum stand before a freshly painted bomb shelter at Kibbutz Urim in the Gaza envelope while on a JNF mission to Israel.
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ou’ll excuse Charlene Tissenbaum for experiencing a bit of mental whiplash. The South Hills resident arrived in Tel Aviv on April 12 as part of a mission organized by the Jewish National Fund. She was prepared to enter a country at war. When she arrived, she found Israel operating under the maxim of “business as usual,” despite its mission to dismantle the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. “We went out to dinner,” she said. “We’re staying at the hotel, hanging out at the beach and I kept saying, ‘This is crazy. There’s a war going on.’” She spent Shabbat morning at the beach while people played soccer around her. Soon, she started to hear from friends at home asking if the mission, which was supposed to start at 4:30 a.m. the next morning, was still taking place because there was talk of an attack from Iran.
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Coosh448 / Adobe Stock
Sameach!