November 1, 2024 | 30 Tishrei 5785
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Lenda volorei update ciendi non re nus Antisemitism
ADL regional director weighs in
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A festival of books Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss
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LOCAL Minto volupta ssimim
Acclaimed Jewish authors coming to Beth Shalom LOCAL
Rabbi Walter Jacob dies at 94
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting survivor Audrey Glickman at microphone leads a reading along with other survivors of the attack. From left: Martin Gaynor; Deane Root; Carol Black; Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers; Augie Siriano; Andrea Wedner; Rabbi Doris Dyen; Stephen Weiss Photo by Joshua Franzos By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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Pittsburghers gather to commemorate Oct. 27
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Et odictiumqui andae amusam LOCAL quistium si de net voloritat Planting love in Shanksville Page X
Kavod garden grows interfaith connections
Candlelighting 5:58 p.m. | Havdalah 6:57 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 44 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Lessons of Oct. 27 Lenda nus dolorum re pro mi, cuptati ntibus.
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A commemoration at Community Day School
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n overflow crowd of more than 400 people gathered Sunday evening at the Squirrel Hill Jewish Community Center to commemorate the lives lost, survivors and legacy of Oct. 27, 2018. The sixth annual ceremony was the first to be held at the JCC — previous commemoration events were held in Schenley Park — and included in attendance Jewish community members, spiritual and lay leaders and a bevy of politicians. Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, said the commemoration working group decided to change the location of the event after considering that there may be fewer people attending over the next several years. Additionally, the Jewish community gathered for several large events this past year, including the Oct. 7 commemoration, which all pulled on public safety resources. Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stern, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger — members of Congregation Dor Hadash, New Light Congregation and Tree of Life Congregation — were murdered when a gunman entered the Tree of Life building and committed the deadliest act of antisemitic violence in U.S. history. The ceremony, which included both familiar and new elements, was opened by Feinstein acknowledging those murdered, as well as the continued trauma felt by the Jewish community, amplified by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack in Israel and the
subsequent uptick in antisemitism. “Here in Pittsburgh, we all hold the legacy from 10/27/18, that we are stronger together,” she said before noting that the attack brought out “some of the best that Pittsburgh had to offer.” Feinstein’s remarks were followed by the lighting of 11 yahrzeit candles by loved ones of the 11 victims. New Light Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, a survivor of the attack, chanted “El Malei Rahamim,” followed by a recitation of Psalm 90 by Dor Hadash Rabbi Amy Bardack. Feinstein noted that one of the remarkable things to come out of Oct. 27 and the subsequent trial was the growth of relationships. One example is the bond formed with Nicole Vasquez Schmitt who, as assistant U.S. attorney, was part of the team that successfully prosecuted the case against the shooter. Along with her son Hudson and keyboardist Shay Carter, Vasquez Schmitt performed two songs —Leonard Cohen’s familiar “Hallelujah” and “A Million Dreams” from the film “The Greatest Showman.” “I think it really speaks to dreaming about a better world and making a better world,” she said. “And that’s something we want to do in honor of the 11.” Congregational readings by New Light’s Barbara Caplan, Tree of Life’s Robin Friedman and Dor Hadash’s Bruce Herschlag followed the musical performance. Before Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers led the crowd in a rendition of “Mi Sheberach,” Asher Goodwin and Ilan Gordon addressed the audience. The two college students were attacked Please see October 27, page 10
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Rabbi Walter Jacob was affiliated with Rodef Shalom Congregation for 69 years, likely the longest rabbinic tenure in the history of western Pennsylvania. By Eric Lidji | Special to the Chronicle
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hen Rabbi Andrew Busch and Rabbi Debbie Pine were deciding whether to accept positions at Rodef Shalom Congregation in the early 1990s, the young rabbinic couple asked around about its Senior Rabbi Walter Jacob. They noticed a trend. Everyone who didn’t know Rabbi Jacob personally talked about his professional accomplishments: his decades on the pulpit of one of the leading Reform congregations in the country, the depth and breadth of his scholarship across hundreds of articles and books, the institutions he had created and the leadership positions he had held. Everyone who knew him personally talked about his kindness. The late Rabbi Joseph Glaser put it more succinctly when he said Jacob combined “scholarship with menschlichkeit,” a Yiddish term conveying compassion and decency. Jacob died on Sunday, Oct. 20, at the age of 94. His death brings to a close one of the most admired and globally significant rabbinic careers in the history of this region. Jacob was born in Augsburg, Germany, on Purim day 1930. He came from a German Please see Jacob, page 10
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