May 17, 2024 | 9 Iyar 5784
Candlelighting 8:14 p.m. | Havdalah 9:20 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 20 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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LOCAL Lenda volorei ciendi non nus A legacy of relationships inre Monroeville
Rabbi Barbara Symons says farewell to Temple David andae amusam Et odictiumqui quistium si de net voloritat Page 2 LOCAL
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With subdued state ceremony, From abortion to Israel begins marking a somber business ethics to veganism: Rabbi 76th Independence Day Danny Schiff teaches his 100th class on Jewish law for lawyers
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The exit interview: Rabbi Ron Symons LOCAL Ovit, ommodi remos ero
A dancing segment filmed in the parking area at Kibbutz Re’im, where 364 people were killed at the Nova music festival, aired during Israel’s Annual Independence Day ceremony on May 13. Screenshot/GPO By Sam Sokol | The Times of Israel
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Reflections on 15 years of service to Jewish Pittsburgh Page 3
Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss LOCAL
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Dedication to education and advocacy LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim
Meet Upper St. Clair’s Isaac Bernstein Page 4
LOCAL Helping those with re food nus dolorum proinsecurity mi, cuptati Lenda ntibus.
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Alyssa Cholodfsky heads 412 Food Rescue Page 5
srael’s annual state torch-lighting ceremony aired Monday night in a radically atypical format, as the country began marking a bleak 76th Independence Day, the first since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror massacre in southern Israel. The event was pre-recorded, with the only previous such instance being during the pandemic in 2020. Save for a separately recorded message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an energetic and stirring address screened over historical footage and with patriotic music that fit awkwardly into the flow of the ceremony, the tone throughout was somber — a stark contrast to normal years, where crowds of hundreds of flag-waving Israelis would attend the celebration on Mount Herzl, with exuberant dancing, presentations and fireworks. The event is typically broadcast live, but government organizers filmed it ahead of time this year, ostensibly because of security concerns but amid speculation that they wanted to avoid the heckling of ministers, including of Netanyahu, such as that seen at Memorial Day ceremonies hours before. Until recently, the prime minister had not generally addressed the state ceremony at all, since it was traditionally seen as an apolitical event marking the transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day and presided over by the Knesset speaker. One darkly atmospheric section of the event — including tightly choreographed dancing — was filmed ahead of time in the parking area at Kibbutz Re’im, in the area where 364 people were killed at the Nova music festival.
The ceremony was held amid significant protest from those who felt the government should not be putting on a show at all, seven months after the largest single-day slaughter of Israelis in the country’s history unfolded on its watch, with IDF troops still in Gaza and with tens of thousands of Israelis internally displaced from their homes in the north and south. Some 1,200 were killed and 252 were taken hostage during the Hamas-led onslaught on Oct. 7, which sparked the ongoing war (and 128 of those hostages are still held in Gaza, many of them no longer alive). Among the most vocal voices against holding the traditional ceremony were some of the relatives of the hostages and the families who have lost loved ones or been uprooted from their homes as a result of the fighting in Gaza and on the Lebanon border. Some of them led an alternative “torchdousing” ceremony in an amphitheater in Binyamina, which was attended by roughly 1,000 people, many of whom held placards proclaiming, “No hostages; no independence.” Tens of thousands more joined other hostage families to commemorate the start of Independence Day at a similarly solemn rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square. Addressing the pre-recorded state ceremony was Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who offered a message to the 132 hostages still being held in Gaza (four of whom were held captive before the war). “The state of Israel was not there on Oct. 7 in Please see Israel, page 10
Rabbi Danny Schiff
Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh
By Justin Vellucci | Special to the Chronicle
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arolyn Slayton received her law degree from Duquesne University in 2012 but isn’t a practicing attorney. The program director for the Pittsburghbased Ryan Shazier Fund, though, likes to keep her attorney’s license active — so, about eight years ago, when she was a staffer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, she started taking Continuing Legal Education, or CLE, classes with Gefsky Community Scholar Rabbi Danny Schiff. “When I went to the Federation, I wanted to keep my credits,” she said — and she found she could do that through the classes taught by Schiff. Schiff led his 100th CLE session — and his first in-person session since the pandemic — at Rodef Shalom Congregation on May 9. That triggered frequent program participants like Slayton, who has studied for multiple years with Schiff, to think about their favorite topics the educator has tackled. Was it the one Slayton attended on the legal Please see Schiff, page 10
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