August 26, 2022 | 29 Av 5782
Candlelighting 7:43 p.m. | Havdalah 8:42 p.m. | Vol. 65, No. 34 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL Local politician targeted on Gab
Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park!
$1.50
Interfaith leaders speak out against Mastriano By David Rullo | Staff Writer
S
Services; they are then vetted by the U.S. government to ensure that they meet eligibility criteria. Lin recognized the program’s strengths and his family’s ability to meet its guidelines. He logged onto Facebook and found a group pairing Ukrainians with U.S. hosts. He spent hours researching the next steps. He then told Topal that he’d found a family in need and was setting up a Zoom call to speak with them the next morning. Topal was a bit apprehensive: “I was like, ‘I don’t meet people on Facebook. That’s sketchy, right?’” Lin reassured her that he did his due diligence, and said, “these people are awesome.” Messages between the Pittsburghers and Ukrainians were exchanged and a time to
everal interfaith community leaders spoke out against Republican gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Doug Mastriano at an Aug. 17 virtual press conference, just two days before a campaign rally in Pittsburgh featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “United and Win,” the Aug. 19 Mastriano rally, was organized by Turning Point Action. Jewish Pittsburgher Meryl Ainsman opened the press conference by saying that Pittsburgh is “no place for hate,” and decrying Christian nationalism and Mastriano’s use of the social media site Gab. “We believe in equality among races, among ethnic groups,” Ainsman said, “and we feel the two of them [Mastriano and DeSantis] represent the exact opposite of that.” Gab is widely recognized as an online home for extremists and conspiracy theorists. The man charged with killing 11 Jews at the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018, posted antisemitic messages on the site before the massacre; in his Gab bio, he described Jews as the “children of satan.” It was revealed several weeks ago that Mastriano not only maintained a presence on Gab, but that he paid the site $5,000 in “consulting fees,” leading all new accounts on the platform to automatically follow him. His page was littered with scores of antisemitic comments left by people following him on Gab, many of them targeting his Jewish opponent, Josh Shapiro. After criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, Mastriano released a statement saying, “I reject anti-Semitism in any form,” and closed his Gab account. Notably, he has not specifically condemned the antisemitic comments on his page or the social media site. Jewish community member Jeffrey Letwin said that as a 62-year member of Tree of Life, he considers the gubernatorial
Please see Ukraine, page 10
Please see Mastriano, page 25
Antisemitic posts aimed at state Rep. Dan Frankel
Page 2
LOCAL Meet the shinshinim
Rabbi Seth Adelson throws out the first pitch at Jewish Heritage Night at PNC Park Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh’s new emissaries arrive from Israel
Page 3
LOCAL Navigating the tensions of Orthodox Judaism
Pittsburghers support to Ukrainians unwavering six months after Russian invasion By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer
S Former Pittsburgher Hannah Lebovits confronts tough issues on Twitter
Page 5
ix months ago, Squirrel Hill residents Claire Topal and Robert Lin, like many other people worldwide, made several donations to help Ukrainians after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. For the first time in their lives, though, the Community Day School parents felt like “we should really do something tangible,” Topal said. Weeks passed. The couple scoured the internet. Lin discovered Uniting for Ukraine, a program launched by President Joe Biden on April 21 offering up to 100,000 fleeing Ukrainians a “safe and orderly” means of entering the United States and remaining for two years of parole. People in the U.S. wanting to help Ukrainians through the program file paperwork with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Fall Arts Preview begins on page 9