July 12, 2024 | 6 Tammuz 5784
Candlelighting 8:33 p.m. | Havdalah 9:39 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 28 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Congressional hopeful shares his vision Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 quistium si de net voloritat LOCAL Page X
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‘Changing a culture’: Inclusivity Recognizing Palestinian state at camp requires adaptation rewards Hamas, Fetterman says in Israel: ‘What’s wrong with you?’
The Exit Interview: Adam Hertzman LOCAL Ovit, ommodi remos ero
Staff and campers enjoy July 4 at J&R Day Camp.
Photo courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
Federation staffer looks back on last 10 years Page 3
LOCAL Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss Local teachers learn new lessons
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Enriching Holocaust education Page 5
LOCAL A conversation with Idina Menzel Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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“Take Me or Leave Me” tour Page 14
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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nclusion expert Aprilynn Artz pulled up to the Jewish Community Center’s South Hills Day Camp. She exited her car and noticed children and counselors surrounding the flagpole, joining in a timeless summer activity. “Everybody was engaged,” Artz said. The mental health professional saw several children with headphones. A few kids with sensitivity toward auditory stimuli had worn them for previous activities. For others, Artz said, it was their first time using the gear. Artz kept observing. Administrators were on site. Extra professionals were, too, but they were less noticeable. The scene she said, “was wholesome and fun and delightful and supportive. And it just looks like the best time ever.” Summer camps nationwide are aiming to increase their inclusivity. Achieving that goal requires more than bolstering diversity. It means creating a “sense of belonging and value,” according to the American Camp Association. Inclusivity isn’t just “serving neurodiverse kids or kids with diagnoses. This is about changing a culture,” Rachael Speck, the JCC’s division director of Children and Family, Day Camping and Teen Engagement, said.
Expert partnerships
Speck and Artz have worked together for nearly six years. The youth-centered professionals collaborate on improving inclusion at the JCC’s overnight camp, day camp and afterschool programs. What they’re targeting now is being “truly inclusive,” Speck said, which means if you entered a space “you wouldn’t know who is receiving support and who isn’t.” Artz is president of Connection: Counseling & Consultation and oversees a team of mental health professionals who serve the community. For the past year, the practice has partnered with Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh — the Squirrel Hill-based Jewish day school also runs a summer camp. “April and her team’s work is invaluable,” Hillel Academy Principal Rabbi Sam Weinberg said. “They have the unique ability to understand each child and put supports in place so that each child can succeed in each environment.” Whether at school or camp, inclusion is about reaching the same goal, Artz explained. “We focus on the social and emotional needs at each place,” she said. “It’s important; if you can’t get along with other people you’re gonna have a harder road.” Please see Camp, page 10
Estate Planning & Planned Giving starts on Page 6
Sen. John Fetterman speaks to reporters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on June 27. Photo by Alex Traiman By Alex Traiman | JNS
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two-state solution is something for which Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania hopes in theory, “but certainly not at this — not right now,” he told reporters in an intimate gathering in Jerusalem on June 27. “I was appalled when our allies, whether it’s Ireland or Spain or others, were calling for recognizing that — that’s outrageous,” he said of some countries recognizing an independent Palestinian state. “Why would you give Hamas that kind of a reward when you have Israeli citizens still held hostage, and you’re in the middle of a war?” “How is that, what’s wrong with you?” the pro-Israel senator said. “It’s crazy. I can’t explain it.” Asked what he thought of reports that the White House has been slow-tracking weapons shipments to the Jewish state, Fetterman said that he disagrees with President Joe Biden on the matter. “I’ve been very clear there’s no conditions, and that hasn’t changed with me,” he said. Please see Fetterman, page 10 Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels