June 21, 2024 | 15 Sivan 5784
Candlelighting 8:36 p.m. | Havdalah 9:44 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 25 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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LOCAL Lenda volorei non re nus Sharing storiesciendi of survival
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Local Jewish community targeted with another round of antisemitism
Tree of Life prepares for groundbreaking
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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Holocaust Center’s Generations Speaker Series begins andae amusam Et odictiumqui quistium si de net voloritat LOCAL
and community leaders. CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer will emcee the event. Attendance is by invitation only. After sitting basically unchanged since the attack on Oct. 27, 2018, much of the former Tree of Life building, at the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues, was razed earlier this year to prepare for the construction of a new structure designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. Zawatsky said the groundbreaking will be an “incredible moment” and the first public expression of all the work that has gone on over the last several years “to rebuild, to create something, to show the world what resilience is. We get to burst forward and show this is how we remember and educate and celebrate.” Bernstein said the project has been in development for a long time, The last few years, he said, were spent planning for a site to channel the sadness and grief while carrying the full weight of “resiliency and the very Jewish value of repairing a shattered world.” “To get to a place where we’re ready to be a truly public institution is very exciting,” he said. Libeskind said the groundbreaking is “crucial and momentous. It’s a moment that highlights the reality of the building and that’s important for everybody.” The groundbreaking and subsequent laying of the foundation for the building, Libeskind said, is a “transformation.” “It’s the victory of life over dark events and
ebecca Wells was surprised when a couple passing her home took issue with a sign in her yard. The black-and-white placard read “We Are All Losing” in English, Hebrew and Arabic and was printed by the group Standing Together, a self-identified “grassroots Jewish-Arab movement fighting for peace, equality and social justice in Israel-Palestine.” Wells thought it was unusual to argue with that message, especially given the group that created the sign. And yet, in the early evening of June 7, during Bloomfield’s First Friday event, which celebrates the neighborhood’s art scene, Wells heard through an open window someone say, “ ‘We’re all losing.’ What the f--- does that mean?” Wells tried to engage the people in conversation, but the passerby responded with what she called “typical ‘Israel’s committing genocide’ comments.” “They said that I have blood on my hands and then they said to kill myself,” Wells said. That, though, was only the first disturbing incident of the night. Later that evening, Wells noticed that her Israel flag, as well as her “We Stand with Israel” and “Black Lives Matter” signs, were gone. She called her husband, who was out of town, told him what happened and said she was sure she’d find them in someone’s trash. Sure enough, a quick walk around the block confirmed her suspicion. “They were placed right in a trash can. I said, ‘I don’t think so,’ grabbed them, took them back to my house and put them in the window.” She called the police, who took a report and requested footage from the couple’s doorbell camera. The footage showed the criminals stealing the items, as well as spouting several profanity-laced comments while giving the house the middle finger.
Please see Tree of Life, page 10
Please see Antisemitism, page 10
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BBYO celebrates 100 years LOCAL Ovit, ommodi remos ero New Tree of Life building rendering By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
Photographs and memories Page 3
LOCAL Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss At rest at last
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LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim
Pittsburgh WWII soldier gets Jewish burial Page 4
LOCAL Finding your roots Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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Ashkenazi genealogy course offered this summer
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early six years after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, ground will be broken on a new building and memorial at the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The ceremony on Sunday, June 23, will include second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, and Gov. Josh Shapiro. Musical performances will feature members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Northgate High School Choir and the sounding of the shofar by survivor Audrey Glickman. Diane Rosenthal, sister of shooting victims Cecil and David Rosenthal, will speak, as will Tree of Life, Inc. CEO Carole Zawatsky; Michael Bernstein, chair of Tree of Life, Inc.; Alan Hausman, president of Tree of Life Congregation; event co-chairs Meryl Ainsman and Jeffrey Letwin; and Tree of Life, Inc.’s Academic Advisory Committee member Eric Ward. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, survivor and rabbi of Tree of Life Congregation, will be joined by interfaith clergy from Pittsburgh and around the country for an interfaith blessing. Three videos will be shown as part of the ceremony: “Our Resilience,” featuring reflections from survivors, victims’ family members and first responders; “Our Supporters,” offering reflections from public officials; and “Our Path Forward,” including reflections from project
Photo copyright Studio Libeskind
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