August 23, 2024 | 19 Av 5784
Candlelighting 7:36 p.m. | Havdalah 8:34 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 34 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Lenda volorei A family’s storyciendi non re nus
Speaking of love and loss after Oct. 7 Et odictiumqui andae amusam Page 2 LOCAL si de net voloritat quistium Summer in Spain
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LOCAL Ovit, ommodi remos ero
Diller teens return more connected to Judaism LOCAL
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‘We won’: Jewish Pittsburghers Pittsburgh help defeat BDS ballot Public Schools referendum employee battles with district over anti-Israel graffiti, defacing of Israeli flag From left: Community Relations Council Director Laura Cherner with attorneys Efrem Grail, Carolyn McGee and Ronald Hicks, StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Julie Paris and Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein after the defeat of a BDS referendum that would have asked Pittsburgh residents to bar the city from doing business with Israel. Photo courtesy of Julie Paris
All about blueberries Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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Minto volupta ssimim
Scones for brunch FILM
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“Between the Temples” Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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A cantor’s spiritual crisis Page 17
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ewish Pittsburghers found reason to celebrate on Monday, Aug. 19, waking to news that the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America — the fiscal sponsor of the group No War Crimes on Our Dime — had pulled its petition to place a referendum on November’s ballot. The referendum would have required the City of Pittsburgh to cease doing business with any organization or individual that does business with or in Israel. In a lengthy X (formerly Twitter) post, PDSA announced its decision on Sunday night, just hours before a hearing on the matter in Allegheny County Court. “Unfortunately, today their efforts to push us off November’s ballot succeeded,” the PDSA’s statement read in part. The revocation of its petition was made official before a full courthouse — packed mostly with members of the Jewish community and their supporters — by Judge John T. McVay during proceedings that lasted barely five minutes. The decision to withdraw the petition,
negotiated between PDSA’s legal team and lawyers for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and City Controller Rachael Heisler, was based only on the invalidity of signatures gathered to put the referendum on the ballot. McVay did not rule on the legality of the referendum’s language, which could leave open the possibility of a similar petition being filed during the next election cycle. “Those who support Israel unconditionally have poured resources into these legal challenges that we simply cannot keep up with,” the PDSA wrote in its online statement, seemingly conceding defeat. Reaction from Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein was succinct. “We won,” he said outside of the courthouse. “Whatever the other side says, we won.” And while Finkelstein said that he was happy with the decision, he also expressed disappointment at not having arguments heard about the legality of the referendum’s Please see Referendum, page 12
A student mural with the Israeli flag at Pittsburgh Public School’s Science and Technology Academy was painted over to include a chai symbol.
Photo courtesy of Rod Rothaus
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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od Rothaus remembered being devastated when he first saw the graffiti at the Pittsburgh Public School’s Science and Technology Academy in Oakland. On a green wall, written in large letters, was the phrase “End Genocide.” Rothaus said he asked three school employees how long the graffiti had been there. He was told at least a week, meaning that students saw it during their final week of classes last spring. “I was heartbroken for the Jewish students that had to walk past that,” Rothaus recalled. “I was furious and offended and, frankly, more than anything, I was hurt.” Rothaus, a district employee providing IT support to the schools, showed the graffiti to Please see Schools, page 12
Fall Arts Preview begins on Page 6
Photo by Dale Lazar