December 20, 2024 | 19 Kislev 5785
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Candlelighting 4:38 p.m. | Havdalah 5:42 p.m. | Vol. 67, No. 51 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Dave McCormick’s DNA reveals identity of Jewish man missing for more new Chief of Staff Mark Isakowitz than a decade is ready to help implement the senator’s vision
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Abby Mendelson’s brother Mitchell Mendelson was buried in Poale Zedeck’s cemetery more than a decade after his unidentified body was discovered. Photo by David Rullo By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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n a cold December day, beneath a canopy of barren trees and one of the season’s first snowstorms, Abby Mendelson said goodbye to his brother during an afternoon graveside service. To anyone on the outside, the service was a typical Jewish funeral. Community members surrounded Mendelson and his family; Poale Zedeck Rabbi Daniel Yolkut delivered blessings, prayers and a eulogy that included references to the weekly parshah; mourners took turns shoveling dirt to cover the pine coffin housing Mitchell Mendelson’s remains. There was nothing that looked unusual about the events taking place. And yet, looks can be deceiving. Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. — W.B. Yeats Thinking about his relationship with his brother over the last few decades of his life while sitting shiva, Mendelson alluded to the Yeats poem “The Second Coming.” “He would spin out here and come back, spin out here and come back,” Mendelson said. “There were times that he would cut off all contact, be very insulting and then come back and be very avuncular.” That wasn’t always the case. Mendelson said he and his brother were
best friends growing up and “thick as thieves.” He described a series of games and activities played in the New York neighborhoods where they were raised. By the time Abby Mendelson was at college, the two were no longer as tight — Abby Mendelson was an older, more distant brother to his younger sibling who was busy playing sports and working on cars. That physical distance soon became emotional. The brothers saw each other infrequently during their adult years. The last time Abby Mendelson shared space with his brother was in 1996. He last communicated with him in 2009. It wasn’t simply his family with which Mitchell Mendelson frayed and tore the bonds of relationship. In 2012, while on a walk through a wooded area near his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mitchell Mendelson died, possibly from a diabetic stroke. The body lay on the forest floor for nearly three months until a hunter found him. The body didn’t have a wallet — it was most likely stolen at some point during the time he was undiscovered in the woods. When the police were notified, they canvassed the surrounding area. No one remembered him, not even a landlady from whom he rented a room. His remains sat unidentified for more than a decade as the trail seemingly grew colder and colder. The mystery of Mitchell Mendelson’s identity would have remained unsolved,
Mark Isakowitz has been named as Senator-elect David McCormick’s new chief of staff. Photo provided by Mark Isakowitz By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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f Pennsylvania Senator-elect David McCormick wanted to send the message that he was interested in getting to work immediately after he’s sworn into the Senate, he could have done worse than selecting Mark Isakowitz as his chief of staff. Isakowitz served as Sen. Rob. Portman’s chief of staff during Donald Trump’s first term in office and is currently Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy for the U.S. and Canada. He’s spent time as a lobbyist and even worked with the American Jewish Committee. McCormick’s new chief of staff said he was humbled by the opportunity and anxious to help the senator-elect accomplish his goals for the office. “Dave believes that the opportunity to make an impact for Pennsylvania, for the country, is precious,” Isakowitz said. He said that he hopes his experience working in the Senate and some of its more
Please see Mendelson, page 14 visuals6x/Adobe Stock
HAPPY
Please see Isakowitz, page 14
Chanukah