August 16, 2024 | 12 Av 5784
Candlelighting 7:57 p.m. | Havdalah 8:57 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 33 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Lenda volorei ciendi non re nus Making memories in Michigan
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Pittsburgers Jewish Federation, in Israel await city controller challenge referendum to ban Pittsburgh another war and from doing business with Israel continue living
Pittsburgh youth return from Maccabi Games Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 LOCAL si de net voloritat quistium Page X Connecting through common history
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Bamileke community shares stories at Holocaust Center LOCAL
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Germany Close Upentis andae asimuss Fodictiumqui aut
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LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim
Educational seminar examines past and present BOOKS
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Celebrating Tu B’Av Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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Readers share their love stories Page 16
Rabbi Seth Adelson, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein and Rabbi Yitzi Genack are challenging a referendum that would prohibit the City of Pittsburgh from doing business with Israel. Photo by David Rullo By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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petition filed in Allegheny County Court on Aug. 6 seeks to bar the City of Pittsburgh from doing business with any entity that does business with or in the state of Israel. The proposed referendum, promoted on the website “No War Crimes on Our Dime” and various anti-Israel social media sites, is fiscally sponsored by the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America. Two challenges to the referendum were filed, one by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, joined by its President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein, Rabbi Seth Adelson, Cantor Laura Berman, Rabbi Daniel Fellman and Rabbi Yitzi Genack, and one by City Controller Rachael Heisler. The city solicitor did not file a challenge nor did anyone from Pittsburgh City Council. In a statement to the Chronicle, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s press secretary Olga George said the office was aware of the legislation “and it was sent to our law department for preliminary review.” The petition filed by the controller challenges the legality of the referendum while Federation’s petition challenges both the
referendum’s legality and the signatures collected to get the referendum on the ballot in November. According to the Allegheny County Elections Division, 12,495 signatures of registered voters living in Pittsburgh were required to get the referendum on the ballot. That number is 10% of those voting for governor in the last general election. Federation’s petition states that 15,253 signatures were collected but 10,387 of those are invalid for various reasons, including some signatories are not residents of Pittsburgh. It also challenges the validity of several of the circulators who collected signatures for the petition. For both Federation and Heisler, the language of the proposed referendum is problematic. It reads: “Shall the Pittsburgh Home Rule Charter be amended and supplemented by a new article prohibiting investment or allocation of public funds, including tax exemptions, to entities that conduct business operations with or in the state of Israel unless and until Israel ends its military action in Gaza, fully allows humanitarian assistance to reach the Please see Referendum, page 10
Yisrael Klitsner, Dr. Lauren Wasser and members of their family traveled from Israel to Zermatt, Switzerland, for vacation.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Lauren Wasser
By Adam Reinherz | Senior Staff Writer
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he threat of war upon war hasn’t stopped Akiva Sunshine from training for cross-country. The incoming 11th grader at Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh is 6,000 miles away from his first WPIAL race and intends on completing every scheduled outdoor training run before the starter pistol fires. Speaking by phone from Beit Meir, a moshav in central Israel, Sunshine told the Chronicle he’s spending the summer with NCSY Kollel, studying Torah, touring Israel and training for the upcoming cross-country season. “I’m happy that I’m here,” he said. “It’s my first time in Israel.” Over the past week — as war with Hamas continues — there’s been constant chatter of an impending war between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and paramilitary group. After Israel killed Hezbollah’s military commander, Hezbollah’s leader pledged a “strong and effective” response. Israel Please see Israel, page 10
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