“Without Jerusalem, the land of Israel is as a body without a soul.”
Elhanan Leib Lewinsky; Hebrew writer & Zionist leader (1857-1910)
“In a way, I was born twice. I was born in 1934 and again in 1955 when I came to Pittsburgh. I am thankful to say that I lived two lives.”
Roberto Clemente; Baseball Legend (1934-1972)
Today’s Yom Yerushalayim marks 56 years of a reunited Jerusalem. On the 28th of Iyar 5727 in the midst of the Six-Day War, Israeli paratroopers entered the Old City and conquered the last remnant of the Second Temple, the Kotel/Western Wall. Under the fog of war, the Moroccan Quarter that surrounded the wall was bulldozed to create the large, open plaza known to many a Birthright participant today. For the first time in thousands of years, Jews would again have unfettered access to this holiest site in Judaism. As much as the Kotel returning to Jewish hands has united world Jewry, the administration of prayer at the wall has proven itself a controversial wedge issue between an emboldened Ultra-Orthodox rabbinate, an overwhelmingly progressive Diaspora Jewish community and a largely secular Israeli public who frankly does not see what the big deal is all about.
While the abstract questions surrounding who controls prayer at the Kotel only concretized in June 1967, the question of the centrality of Jerusalem and Israel had already been a topic of fierce debate in Europe for centuries. While shocking by modern standards where an Israeli flag often abuts the Aron Kodesh/Holy Ark, the theology of Reform Judaism in the 19th Century was unambiguously anti-Zionist. The first synagogues to be called Temples emerged in 1818 Germany as a way of saying the Temple can no more be found in Jerusalem than in Hamburg, Berlin or Westphalia.
Decades later in 1885 as the focal point of Jewish life was slowly but surely moving towards the New World, leading Reform Rabbis met at Pittsburgh’s Concordia Club to chart the future of their movement. The document they created, known as the Pittsburgh Platform, stated unequivocally “We expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the administration of the sons of Aaron; nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish State.” Eventually as the experiment of assimilation into European society proved first impossible and then tragic, the needle moved radically towards embracing the idea of a Jewish nation-state.
The only loose end you may be left with is what were these Reform rabbis doing in Pittsburgh of all places? Well, as the Bar Mitzvah boy Oliver Roth, his mother Blair and certainly savta Keren would proudly tell you, the City of Bridges is quite possibly the best place to be a Jew in the entire world, excepting Jerusalem for reasons stated above. Another, more accurate reason is that 19th century Reform Judaism made a big bet on the American Midwest that they are still praying will pay off.
Either way, the Steel City’s Jewish community is renowned for its hospitality, something the future MLB legend Roberto Clemente discovered when he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954. On arrival, the young, Puerto Rican ballplayer could not quite believe how cold winters got in the Allegheny Mountains. The Kantrowitz family of Pittsburgh’s Jewish neighborhood, Squirrel Hill, shared both physical and metaphysical warmth in the form of buying the slugger the first winter coat he’d ever owned. If you know the Roths, and if you don’t you should, then you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that story.
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, May 19th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar
Bar Mitzvah of Oliver Roth
Saturday, May 20th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Shavuot – First Night
Thursday, May 25th
Services: 6:30pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:30pm
Lecture to Follow at 8:30pm (see below)
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, May 26th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat – Shavuot Second Day
Bat Mitzvah of Kayla Kleiman
Saturday, May 27th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:30pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 2nd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 9th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parashat Beha’alotcha
Bat Mitzvah of Emma Brownstein
Saturday, June 10th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 16th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Shlach
Bar Mitzvah of Theo Daquin
Saturday, June 17th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Events
US College Campuses: Jews still welcome? Online speaker event
Wednesday, May 24th
8:00pm – 9:00pm
Registration Details
Leil Tikkun Shavuot Lecture
Give me Israel and Give me Zionism…but do not give it yet: Diaspora Jewry’s paradoxical love affair with a Jewish state we choose not to live in
Thursday, May 27th
8:30pm – 9:30pm
Services begin at 6:30pm with dinner by reservation at 7:30pm. Iced Coffee with Bailey’s and a selection of Cholov Yisroel cheeses, will be served at the lecture with, please G-d, kosher cheesecake.
Registration Details
Art Show at the JCC
Sunday, May 28th
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Admission Fee: 1,000 JPY for adults and 500 JPY for kids
Registration Details
New Member Shabbat
Friday, June 2nd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner: 7:00pm
Registration Details
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website.
Announcements
Mazal Tov to the Perilman and Roth Families on Oliver’s Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat. Although nominally a Seattleite, Oliver’s blood runs ‘black and yellow, black and yellow’. Join us at the JCC this Saturday morning as Oliver reads the six(!) aliyot he’s prepared and the one(!) aliyah his father Alan has also prepared.
Thank you to everyone whose presence greatly enhanced our simcha at Akiva Levi’s brit milah and naming ceremony this past Tuesday. Israeli Ambassador Gilad Cohen, US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel and his Amy Rule served as kvatters. Dr. Max Scheer was the sandak and Hertsel Simantov utilized his expert skills to perform a flawless bris on Akiva Levi. We were fortunate to have representation at the bris from the Israeli, American, German, Czech and Bahraini Embassies, without a doubt the first time that sentence has ever been written in human history. An enormous debt of gratitude is reserved for everyone who participated in welcoming our new son into the Jewish people and the JCC. Even for those who couldn’t make it in person but sent their best wishes, we felt your presence just the same.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Monthly meetings have been taking place for quite some time in-person at the JCJ. Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club enjoys exploring Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Bamidbar
Candle Lighting: 6:24pm
Havdala: 7:26pm