Local Jewish early childhood educators participate in a study group on pedagogy. Teen Engagement and Impact: Measurement. In late spring 2019, the JL&L Department worked with the national Jewish Teen Engagement Funder Collaborative to measure the impact of The Second Floor teen- engagement programs at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh (JCC), Squirrel Hill. The goal was to assess success at achieving 14 desired teen-engagement goals. Ninth-graders at The Second Floor, Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill. This year the JL&L Department worked with the Teen Division of the JCC’s Department of Jewish Life to share the assessment findings with youth professionals and community leaders. Among the salient 35
results were that Pittsburgh Jewish teens scored significantly higher than the national average on these outcomes: • Jewish teens are inspired and empowered to make a positive difference in the various communities and world in which they live. • Jewish teens are able to express their values and ethics in relation to Jewish principles and wisdom. The JL&L Department, working with the JCC, will use initial data as a baseline for further assessment, with the goal of informing program design and innovation. Professional development for Jewish clergy. For Jewish spiritual leaders of all movements, the JL&L Department organized professional development opportunities on these topics: • Trauma-informed pastoral care and counseling, presented by a trained pastoral educator • The effects of trauma on the body and the brain, presented with the Center for Victims • Using Jewish tradition to help people heal from addiction, with Beit T’shuvah, a residential addiction- treatment center founded on Jewish values Jewish clergy in a training about trauma-informed spiritual care and counseling, Sept. 18, 2019. OneTable Pittsburgh. The Jewish Federation of Greater Home-based Shabbat dinner table ready for Pittsburgh supported the third year of OneTable OneTable Pittsburgh guests, Oct. 25, 2019. Pittsburgh, a program to empower young adults to create an enduring Shabbat dinner practice. Resources for participants include funding for food; digital guides to ritual, singing, and table discussions; learning opportunities; partnerships with other organizations; and an Airbnb–style online platform for signing and posting. As of May 1, 2020, OneTable Pittsburgh had hosted, in three years, 265 home-based dinners, offering a total of 4,200 seats at the table and serving 2,150 unique individuals. Honeymoon Israel Pittsburgh. Honeymoon Israel Pittsburgh provides trips to Israel for couples who are committed long-term and married couples within the first five years of marriage; each couple includes at least one Jewish partner. During the trip and in follow-up programming, couples engage in open-ended inquiry about 36
incorporating Jewish values and traditions into their families. The second cohort of 20 couples’ Israel experience was Jan. 16–26, 2020. Since their return to Pittsburgh, they have socialized in person and virtually. Before social distancing, they hosted neighborhood gatherings and a group dinner. Since pandemic-related quarantine, the cohort has created a quarantine baking club and initiated virtual gatherings, such as Jewish learning sessions. The inaugural cohort from the December 2018 trip has continued to socialize and gather for holidays, Shabbat dinners, discussions with the trip rabbi and other Jewish experiences. Honeymoon Israel cohort at the airport, before departing for Israel, Jan. 16, 2020. Grants for Adult Learning and Experiences. The JL&L Department distributes grants to support adult- engagement programs and projects “owned and operated” by community members. The department also serves as a resource and thought partner, helping to develop and refine grant-funded activities. In 2019–20, each of these organizations received a grant (although, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a few programs could not take place): • Tzohar Seminary, for a pilot adult-learning program combining in-depth Jewish learning with artistic exploration and expression (occurred February–March 2020) • Rodef Shalom Congregation, to bring many Jewish partners together for a day of learning Talmud, at A Pop-Up Beit Midrash With SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva (to be rescheduled) • Chabad of Squirrel Hill, for Celebration of Jewish Learning, a Jewish study session with a guest scholar, designed for a broad spectrum of Jewish women (to be rescheduled) • New Light Congregation, for Sing A New Light, a weekend of Jewish a cappella music featuring a visiting college choir (occurred February 2020) 37
THE JEWISH FEDERATION VOLUNTEER CENTER The Jewish Federation Volunteer Center matches individual volunteers and groups of volunteers with Greater Pittsburgh agencies and organizations that need volunteers. The Volunteer Center offers: • Volunteer Opportunities of the Month (VOOM!), to encourage volunteers to try new experiences with nonprofits throughout the city • I-Volunteer, which encourages young adults to partner with peers with disabilities, to complete projects in a social atmosphere • Volunteer experiences on international days of volunteering, such as Good Deeds Day and Mitzvah Day The Volunteer Center’s Role in the Oct. 27 Commemoration Volunteering played a key role in creating the positive tone of activities to commemorate the lives lost in the 2018 attack on three Pittsburgh synagogues. Working with organizations across Greater Pittsburgh, the Volunteer Center offered service opportunities that focused on local human needs. More than 1,000 volunteers participated in the Oct. 27, 2019, commemoration, making it the largest single-day effort the center had ever organized. As part of Oct. 27 commemoration activities, volunteers sorted foodstuffs at the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry of Jewish Family and Community Services. Photos: David Bachman. 2019–20 Highlights In addition to managing the volunteer aspect of the Oct. 27 Commemoration, in 2019–20 the Volunteer Center offered: • Mitzvah Day, on which volunteers performed more than 1,500 hours of service for 50 nonprofit organizations in Greater Pittsburgh • Volunteer projects as part of Martin Luther King Day at Community Day School, where 275 students participated • 10 small-group programs, July–February, in which volunteers offered service 38
As part of Martin Luther King Day programming, students at Community Day School created blankets for children in need. The project partner was Project Linus (a new partner for Volunteer Center in 2019–20), which handled blanket distribution. Pandemic-Related Cancellations In early spring, the COVID-19 pandemic halted all in-person Volunteer Center service activities. The center canceled Good Deeds Day, as well as the Volunteer Mission to Israel. A record number of participants had registered for the mission. Registrants included a cohort from Warsaw, Poland. (Warsaw is now a Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Partner city, through Partnership2Gether.) As of June 30, 2020, the Volunteer Center continues to direct volunteers to projects they can complete while social distancing. The date on which the center can resume offering group volunteer activities is unknown. 39
IMPACT MEASUREMENT In addition to capturing data from Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and assessing community trends, the Department of Impact Measurement helps to determine how well Jewish Federation programs are serving Jewish Pittsburgh. Data collection and impact measurement today drive effective planning for the future. In 2019–20, the department assessed several impact areas: volunteerism (by focusing on Volunteer Center programs), leadership development (by focusing on the Wechsler Fellowship initiative) and Israel engagement (by focusing on the Shinshinim Program). Assessment comprised helping program officers appraise goals and strategies, defining measures to evaluate progress toward achieving goals, and content re-evaluation. The department also published Points of Entry: Interfaith Families in Pittsburgh, the first of five studies to follow up on the 2017 Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study. Key findings of this study follow. Initially, the department’s 2019–20 agenda included work on two other follow-up studies: one about part-time religious school education and one to identify gaps in services for individuals with disabilities. Both studies were delayed because of the exigencies of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching, long-lasting effects on Jewish Pittsburgh. Community leaders need accurate data to make effective decisions about addressing these effects. For this reason, the Jewish Federation launched a study with the working title Building Resilient Jewish Communities. An overview of this study follows. Points of Entry: Interfaith Families in Pittsburgh This study, based on interviews with interfaith couples and key informants, expands understanding of Pittsburgh’s burgeoning population of interfaith couples. This understanding establishes a foundation for programs, policy initiatives, and strategies to encourage interfaith couples to explore Jewish involvement for themselves and their children. Study findings included these points: • Pittsburgh lacks infrastructure for interfaith outreach. o Few organizations, initiatives or staff are explicitly tasked with engaging interfaith households. o A review of non–Orthodox synagogue websites found only five with homepages that explicitly welcomed interfaith families. • Many interfaith couples described themselves as not currently active in Jewish organizations but not averse to future involvement. • The traditional institutional assumption that interfaith couples have no interest in Jewish engagement has stifled experimentation with approaches to this population. • Interfaith couples prefer to be integrated into regular programming rather than programming specialized for interfaith couples. • Living outside Squirrel Hill is incorrectly viewed as a rejection of the Jewish community. o The decision to live outside Squirrel Hill was usually based on preference for suburban living and on housing cost, length of commute, proximity to family and friends, and public school quality. o Rather than moving to the suburbs to escape the Jewish community, many interfaith couples expected to find it in the suburbs and were surprised that they did not. o As interfaith families moved to the suburbs (especially to the North and South Hills), they had trouble finding Jewish neighbors and ways to connect with Jewish life. 40
• When an interfaith couple does affiliate with a Jewish organization, both the Jewish and non- Jewish member tend to report a warm welcome. The Points of Entry: Interfaith Families in Pittsburgh study revealed that, when an interfaith couple affiliates with a Jewish organization, the couple and their family tend to find a warm welcome. Building Resilient Jewish Communities: Measuring COVID-19 Impacts By assessing the experiences of Jewish households during the coronavirus crisis, with a focus on connections to Jewish life and Jewish institutions, Building Resilient Jewish Communities will provide data about the community overall and about groups within the community. The questions the study seeks to answer include: • Have Jewish institutions risen to the challenge of the crisis? • What were the short-term material, economic, health and emotional impacts of the crisis? • Did Jews turn to Jewish institutions in the time of crisis? • How might the economic situation impact Jewish life? • How might the internet make Jewish life more resilient? • Did Judaism help Jews cope with the crisis? Results of the study are scheduled for release in September 2020. 41
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA JEWISH CEMETERIES INITIATIVE The more than 80 Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania — established more than a century ago, mostly in small mill towns — were in danger. With few Jews remaining nearby and long-term management by volunteers unsustainable, how could the cemeteries be preserved? A time-ravaged wall in the Beth Abraham Cemetery, in the Carrick section of Pittsburgh, before the JCBA restored it. The Jewish Federation’s cemeteries initiative helps make repair and maintenance of Jewish cemeteries possible. Since 2015, the Jewish Federation Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemeteries Initiative has worked to assure the future of the region’s Jewish cemeteries by building the capacity of the Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh (JCBA). Partnering in the effort were volunteers, JCBA board members and the Cemeteries Task Force. In 2019, the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation provided the JCBA with a grant of $450,000 ($150,000 per year for three years) to implement a new business plan. One of the primary goals of the first stage of the business plan was the hiring of a full-time executive director. 2020 MILESTONE: HIRING OF JCBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR In March 2020, the JCBA hired Barry Rudel as its first full-time executive director. A veteran of Jewish communal service, he has worked primarily in fundraising and development to enhance Jewish Pittsburgh. Mr. Rudel is a passionate supporter of preserving local Jewish history through Jewish cemeteries. Along with the remaining two years of the grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, having a full-time executive director will help the JCBA meet the demand for cemetery management services. YEARS 2–3 OF THE INITIATIVE: WHAT’S NEXT? With the JCBA’s transformation under way, the Jewish Federation will continue working with the Transition Committee and be involved in fundraising for the $4–7 million endowment cited as necessary to care for cemeteries that do not have adequate resources to fund their own upkeep over the long term. 42
THE HOLOCAUST CENTER OF PITTSBURGH The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh connects the horrors of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism with the injustices of today. Through education, the Holocaust Center seeks to address these injustices and to empower individuals to build a more civil and humane society. The center educates and engages the public through informative events, programs and exhibits. Holocaust Center educators work with educators and students in Western Pennsylvania, as well as in parts of Ohio and West Virginia, to provide assemblies and virtual programs, field trips to the center, resources and materials, and teacher trainings and workshops. In 2019–20, the Holocaust Center reached more than 100,000 students, police officers, educators, school administrators and others. In 2019–20, following the Oct. 27, 2018, massacre at the Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha synagogue building, the Holocaust Center’s theme was The Holocaust Through a Local Lens. Submissions to the Waldman International Arts & Writing Competition, which the Holocaust Center presents, reflected the theme, as did several of the exhibits described below. Artist Luigi Toscano and director of the Holocaust Center, Dr. Lauren Apter Bairnsfather, with a portrait of Pittsburgh- based Holocaust survivor Francine Gelernter at the “Lest We Forget” exhibit on the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning Lawn, Oct. 17, 2019. Photo: Hector Corante, courtesy of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. 43
2019–20 Holocaust Center Highlights • Teacher Training and Curriculum Development. All trainings and workshops offered Act 48 continuing education credit. Act 48 is a Pennsylvania statute requiring schools in the state to teach about the Holocaust. o In July 2019, 22 educators attended the Summer Teachers Institute. To present the institute, the Holocaust Center partnered with various local organizations, including the Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives, Ujamaa Collective, the Center for Victims, the Pennsylvania State University, and Jewish Family and Community Services. A representative from each organization reported on a specialized topic. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany provided a grant for the institute. o Throughout the year, the Holocaust Center offered multiple one-day workshops for educators teaching grades 5–12. One workshop, Teaching the Holocaust Through the Theatre Arts, was a collaboration with Prime Stage Theatre and held at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. The education of students is one means of empowering individuals to build a more civil and humane society. Photo: Melanie Wieland, courtesy of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. • School field trips. In the 2019–20 school year, the Holocaust Center welcomed students from 21 schools in nine Pennsylvania counties. Students were from public, private, charter, Catholic and Jewish day schools, and home-school groups. All field-trip visitors heard from a Generations Speakers Bureau member who told a family story about survival. Freedom Area Middle School, Beaver County, brought all 7th-graders, split up into two groups over two days. Students from Mifflin County Junior High School traveled three hours each way to visit the Holocaust Center. Eight schools received a scholarship from the Holocaust Center. The scholarships, made possible by the Grable Foundation, underwrote buses and substitute-teacher costs. • Exhibits. o “Optic Voices: Roots” opened at the Holocaust Center in July 2019. Created by Pittsburgh-based Emmy Award–winning photographer, filmmaker, and activist Emmai Alaquiva, the exhibit showcased photographs of Auschwitz and other camps. Included 44
were reflections on social justice activities in Pittsburgh, including those after the Oct. 27, 2018, attacks. A total of 17 diverse groups visited the exhibit, along with multiple school groups. More than 100 guests attended the closing. o In October 2019 the international exhibit “Lest We Forget,” by Luigi Toscano, premiered in Pittsburgh, on the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning lawn. This exhibit featured large-scale photographs of Holocaust survivors, including 16 never-before-seen portraits of Pittsburgh-based survivors. (Additional portraits were displayed at the Carnegie Museums and Chatham University.) More than 300 guests attended the opening. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald offered remarks. “Lest We Forget” remained in place until mid-November, allowing more than an estimated 100,000 people to see the photographs. On Oct. 27, for the commemoration of the 2018 attacks in Pittsburgh, Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, and Attorney General Josh Shapiro toured the exhibit. In November, as part of the Kristallnacht commemoration, the Holocaust Center offered a candle-lit walk through the exhibit and a Havdalah. o After months of preparation, the Holocaust Center’s original exhibit “For You Were Strangers: Jewish Immigration to Pittsburgh, 1880–1990” premiered in February 2020. Approximately 100 people attended the opening, which featured remarks from local Jewish history scholars Dr. Barbara Burstin and the Heinz History Center’s Eric Lidji. The Holocaust Center made this exhibit available at hcofpghexhibits.org An interactive map of Jewish Pittsburgh is one of the many visuals in the Holocaust Center’s exhibit “For You Were Strangers: Jewish Immigration to Pittsburgh, 1880–1990.” The exhibit is available online. • Annual Kristallnacht program. The Holocaust Center partnered with Classrooms Without Borders to present the one-woman one-act play Etty, by actress and playwright Susan Stein. Following the performance — at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood — Stein joined respected Holocaust scholar Dr. Michael Berenbaum and Jewish Federation Board Chair Meryl Ainsman for a discussion with the audience of approximately 200. • Genocide Awareness Month. In April, the Holocaust Center partnered with the nonprofit organization Together We Remember to kick off Genocide Awareness Month by offering the program Together We Remember: What Does #NeverAgain Mean to You? In response to the quarantine restrictions of the pandemic crisis, the presentation became a virtual program. Panelists were Susan Bro, co-founder of the Heather Heyer Foundation; David Frey, PhD, professor of history and founding director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Syrian Kurdish refugee Heval Kelli, 45
MD; and Nichole Argo Ben-Itzhak, PhD, director of research and field advancement, Project Over Zero. As an extension of the program, the Holocaust Center participated in a 24-hour Genocide Awareness Vigil, presenting a talk about using art to start difficult conversations. The talk featured Luigi Toscano and Emmai Alaquiva. • The annual Yom HaShoah program, held on April 21, recognized the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps. This program, offered virtually, incorporated children of survivors telling a family’s story of liberation or reading a reflection about liberation. The program has been viewed more than 6,000 times. The April 21, 2020, Yom HaShoah Commemoration was a virtual remembrance, since the pandemic precluded an in-person gathering. This screen shot shows participants and readers. • International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Holocaust Center hosted a screening of the film “My Dear Children” for 40 people at Row House Cinema. Following the film, filmmakers LeeAnn Dance and Cliff Hackel conducted a Q&A session. • LIGHT Initiative. Spearheaded by Shaler Area High School teacher and former Holocaust Educator of the Year Nick Haberman, the LIGHT Initiative seeks to support the creation of Holocaust and genocide studies centers — LIGHT Centers — in schools. A grant from the Jewish Federation’s SteelTree Fund allowed the Holocaust Center to award 10 seed grants to 10 schools in 2019–20. The schools will set up LIGHT Centers in the coming year. • CHUTZ-POW! Superheroes of the Holocaust, vol. 4. The Holocaust Center completed the fourth volume in its popular CHUTZ-POW! comic series. Volume 4 tells the stories of six women’s experiences during the Holocaust, including a woman of color and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. 46
On the campus of Chatham University in January, the release party for CHUTZ- POW! Superheroes of the Holocaust, vol. 4, coincided with the opening of “CHUTZ- POW! The Art of Resistance” exhibit, also at Chatham. Pictured here: Holocaust Center Director Dr. Lauren Apter Bairnsfather, Chatham University Women’s Institute Director Dr. Jessie B. Ramey and CHUTZ-POW! Project Coordinator Marcel L. Walker. Photo: Melanie Wieland, courtesy of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Library. The Holocaust Center’s library grew to include over 3,300 items, including books, films, and other resources. • Partnerships. Among the organizations with which the Holocaust Center partnered 2019–20 were Allegheny County Library Association, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Center of Life, Center for Victims, Chatham University, Classrooms Without Borders, Congregation Beth Shalom, Duquesne University (archives, Musmanno Collection at Gumberg Library, Inside/Out Program), Heinz History Center Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives, Homewood Cemetery, Jewish Association on Aging, Jewish Family & Community Services, Mt. Lebanon Public Library, Penn State University, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Playback Theatre, Prime Stage Theatre, Repair the World, Seton Hill University, South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh, Temple Sinai, Ujamaa Collective, University of Pittsburgh, and Ya Momz House. For more information, visit: hcofpgh.org 47
CLASSROOMS WITHOUT BORDERS The goal of Classrooms Without Borders (CWB) is to combat bigotry and discrimination by inspiring people to embrace diversity and promote tolerance, altruism, forgiveness, courage and love for humanity. An independently funded program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, CWB pursues its goal by: • Providing experiential-study travel seminars to educators and students from all backgrounds, using the visited country as a classroom. • Providing programs and curricula — for middle schools, high schools, universities and the community — that support CWB’s goal. CWB partners with 138 schools in five U.S. states, bringing impactful programs to students and educators alike. In 2021, CWB will celebrate its 10th year of programming. Classrooms Without Borders’ Poland Personally study seminar. Pandemic-Related Program Changes Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March–June 2020 Classrooms Without Borders offered online programming only, organizing more than 30 programs in just three months. Online events have included lectures by survivors of the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides, biweekly film screenings and discussions, book clubs and interfaith panel discussions. These programs have reached more than 3,000 educators, students and community members in more than 35 states and 15 countries. Travel Seminars From the first of six pre-seminar workshops through the completion of a post-seminar project, a CWB travel experience engages, challenges and supports participants as they grow and apply their expanding knowledge. CWB seminars have visited the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland and Spain. Classrooms Without Borders’ study seminars are highly selective experiences for educators and learners from all backgrounds. Each seminar group comprises participants committed to making lasting change in their communities. CWB supports educators financially and academically; educators, in turn, impact thousands of students each year in public, charter, private and parochial schools. CWB’s current study travel seminars feature instruction from noted scholars, key personalities, local educators, Holocaust survivors and Righteous Gentiles. Participants learn about the culture and history of the visited country, pre–World War II Jewish history, the rise of Nazi control and occupation, the local experience and impact of the Holocaust, and present-day memorialization and education. 48
The study seminars are more than a study of the Holocaust, however. CWB encourages participants to contemplate the deeper meanings and context of bigotry and anti-Semitism and draw parallels between the past and current events. Participants become witnesses who can pass on the lessons of the Holocaust to future generations. In the summer of 2019, more than 130 educators, students and adults participated in a study seminar. Spring and summer 2021 seminars will visit Germany, Israel, Italy, and Poland. Curriculum Development & In-School Programs CWB’s involvement with teachers and students reaches far beyond travel seminars. Most alumni retain connections with the organization for years, attending CWB lectures, films, plays, and other programs geared toward furthering professional development. The paragraphs that follow describe some of CWB’s ongoing projects and resources. Journey With Howard Chandler Mobile App. For use in the classroom and by participants in the Poland Personally seminar, Classrooms Without Borders launched a mobile app to ensure that Holocaust survivor Howard Chandler will continue to educate and inspire people for years to come. The app captures seven hours of Mr. Chandler’s testimony and other resources. In-school and community programs with guest scholars and teaching artists. In 2019–20, CWB hosted renowned historians such as Natalia Aleksiun, Stefano Bottoni and Ricky Law and featured inspiring authors, including Hendrika de Vries, Ali Aslan and Jack Fairweather. Susan Stein, Shirel Horovitz and others presented artistic and educational experiences. Through CWB, guest scholars and artists reached more than 10,000 educators and students. Curriculum Support Center for educators. This online information resource serves social studies, history, literary arts and drama teachers in more than 130 partnering schools. The platform allows CWB fellows to network and share original curricula, projects and tested digital classroom resources. For information, visit curriculum.classroomswithoutborders.org 49
2019–2020 Program Highlights ● CWB’s nationwide Call for Lesson Plans initiative. To commemorate the lives lost in the 2018 shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue building, CWB organized a nationwide call for lesson plans to tackle racism, hate and anti-Semitism; to engage students in meaningful dialogue about the synagogue attacks; and to inspire students with a message of violence-preventing activism. All lesson plans are available in CWB’s online Curriculum Support Center at curriculum.classroomswithoutborders.org/lesson-plans/ ● Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher training with Facing History. CWB collaborated with Pittsburgh Public Schools to bring Dr. Mary Johnson, senior historian at the nonprofit organization Facing History and Ourselves, to lead a training workshop required for all middle and high school social studies teachers. Staci Rosenthal, Facing History’s program associate, also facilitated the training. Staci Rosenthal of Facing History and Ourselves helped to present a training workshop required for all Pittsburgh Public Schools middle and high school social studies teachers. • Israel-Pittsburgh Joint Teacher Exchange. Eight Israeli history teachers chosen by Israel’s Ministry of Education joined teachers at four Pittsburgh-area schools for 10 days of mutual learning. The exchange helped teachers rethink teaching methods and curricula about racism, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. The subjects taught in each school differed. In a racially diverse inner-city public school, the Israeli-U.S. teachers’ team concentrated on racism in Germany and in the United States during the 1930s and used the students’ knowledge to get them engaged in important discussions about contemporary racism in American society and in their own school. At a suburban public school, the teachers from Israel joined an interdisciplinary team of history, ELA and art teachers to create a historical exhibition about the Holocaust. At a local independent school, the focus was on the Israeli perception of the Holocaust over the years and on different academic approaches to the history of the Holocaust. In all participating schools, a portion of the program consisted of open discussion about Israel and Israeli youth. These discussions opened dialogue about local issues of inclusion and diversity. In 2021, as part of CWB’s Educational Leadership Seminar, the Pittsburgh-area educators will tour Israel and visit the Israeli teachers’ schools. 50
• Combatting online hate speech: A lecture by Shannon Foley Martinez. Former white supremacist Shannon Foley Martinez left the white supremacist movement and now works with Google and Twitter to fight online hate speech. CWB brought Ms. Martinez to nine schools in Pittsburgh and Wheeling to tell her story to approximately 2,000 students. In addition, she presented her lecture to the Wheeling community, in an event co-sponsored by the NAACP, the Wheeling Human Rights Commission and the YWCA. ● Discussion of “They Played for Their Lives.” Dr. Nurit Jugend, director of the film “They Played for Their Lives,” and Holocaust survivor Frank Grunwald spoke to 1,500 students at eight schools and 250 people at three community events across Greater Pittsburgh. The film is a powerful documentary about Jewish musicians who in the Holocaust saved their own lives by playing music. ● CWB’s Antisemitism, Hate and Social Responsibility Conference. CWB brought together more than 400 educators, students, spiritual leaders, and community members for two days of learning about ways to combat hate in classrooms and everyday life. The conference included academic lectures, panel discussions, 17 interactive workshops and two exhibits relating to the Oct. 27, 2018, attacks. Speakers included Dr. Michael Berenbaum and Dr. Peter Hayes and included former white supremacist Shannon Foley Martinez. After the conference, one participant texted: “1 year ago [at the 2018 memorial for lives lost in the attacks on the three Pittsburgh synagogues, I] cried with other people from Pittsburgh & I promised myself to do what I could to stop hate in my school & community. I now have more ideas & resources to help me live out this promise.” More than 400 educators, students, spiritual leaders and community members attended CWB’s multifaceted two-day Antisemitism, Hate and Social Responsibility Conference. For a full report on Classrooms Without Borders activities, visit classroomswithoutborders.org/programs-report 51
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION The Jewish Community Foundation enables donors to fulfill their philanthropic dreams and leave a legacy that will impact our community in the decades to come. Resources made possible by endowments, trusts, bequests and donor-advised funds help address pressing needs, enrich our culture and strengthen Jewish Pittsburgh. The Foundation, with more than $267 million in assets under management at the end of 2019–20, encompasses more than 1,462 individual Foundation funds. The Foundation added 71 new funds this year, including six new Lion of Judah Endowment funds. In the last fiscal year, the Jewish Community Foundation received more than $22 million in new dollars — an amount among the highest per year in the Foundation’s history. These funds, received mostly before the coronavirus pandemic, reflect confidence in the Foundation’s portfolio and management and investors’ enthusiasm for Jewish community. The Foundation’s prudent, successful investment strategy continues to generate returns for those who trust the Foundation to execute their charitable plans. As the economy braces for continuing pandemic fallout, the Foundation is well positioned to maintain top-tier performance. Please visit foundation.jewishpgh.org to explore the Foundation’s work and investment performance in detail. The Foundation’s Pandemic-Related Response By June 30, the Jewish Community Foundation had distributed more than $371,000 to help local and international organizations meet emergent pandemic-related needs, ensuring that Pittsburgh’s Jewish organizations could maintain essential operations. In addition, the Foundation has helped keep the people inside those organizations safe, by providing funding for protective equipment and physical adjustments. Specifically, Foundation grants helped to furnish the items listed in section of this report called The Jewish Federation’s Response to the Pandemic Crisis. Other Highlights of Jewish Community Foundation Grant Funding In addition to emergency funding provided as part of the pandemic response, the Jewish Community Foundation continued support of the important initiatives that follow. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation LIFE & LEGACYTM program in Pittsburgh. In the last two years, the Jewish Community Foundation has helped 19 local organizations secure $26 million in endowment pledges through the Harold Grinspoon Foundation LIFE & LEGACY program in Pittsburgh. These commitments will help to ensure a vibrant and thriving Pittsburgh Jewish community for generations to come. Funding for the position of Foundation scholar. With Jewish Community Foundation support, Foundation Scholar Rabbi Dr. Danny Schiff will continue his popular classes about Judaism and Jewish ethics, his Continuing Legal Education series, and other conversations about current events viewed through a Jewish lens. For information about learning with Rabbi Schiff, visit foundation.jewishpgh.org/foundation-scholar Rabbi Dr. Danny Schiff Photo: Joshua Franzos 52
OneTable Pittsburgh. Support from the Jewish Community Foundation and the Community Campaign has empowered young adults, through OneTable Pittsburgh, to create an enduring Shabbat dinner practice. In three years the program has engaged thousands of unique individuals. As of June 2020, because of quarantine restrictions, OneTable Pittsburgh dinners are virtual. A grant from the Foundation will support the relaunch of this successful program, in the original in-person format, when in-person dining can be restored. Visit dinners.onetable.org/ landing/Pittsburgh to learn more about OneTable Pittsburgh. Investment in the future of Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemeteries. In 2019, the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation provided the Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh (JCBA) with a grant of $450,000 ($150,000 per year for three years) to implement a new business plan. In this report, see Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemeteries Initiative to learn about the milestones achieved to date and expectations for Year 3 of the funding. With continuing support from the Jewish Community Foundation, the Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh has a structure and business plan in place that will allow correction of long-term problems, such as the drainage issue shown here, in Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish cemeteries. Curriculum against anti-Semitism and hate. A grant from the Jewish Community Foundation supports the educational resource Antisemitism, Hate Crimes and Individual Responsibility: A New Curriculum to Fight Antisemitism in Western Pennsylvania. The curriculum, developed by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, is being virtually during the pandemic. Impact measurement. Insights provided by the Department of Impact Measurement have been important guideposts as the Jewish Federation has planned to meet changing community needs. To assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Jewish Pittsburgh, Jewish Community Foundation support enables continuing study of resources needed to build resilient Jewish communities. In this report, see the section Impact Measurement for details. 53
AWARDS EMANUEL SPECTOR MEMORIAL AWARD 2019–20 recipient: MERYL KIRSHNER AINSMAN The Spector Award is the highest honor presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. The award is given for exemplary service to the community in a single year or over the course of many years. DORIS AND LEONARD H. RUDOLPH JEWISH COMMUNAL PROFESSIONAL AWARD 2019–20 recipient: DR. JORDAN GOLIN The Rudolph Award recognizes the exceptional personal and professional commitment of a Jewish communal professional employed by the Federation or one of its partner agencies. The awardee is selected for his or her contribution to improving the quality of services offered in the community and to the enhancement of Jewish life. GIFT OF CONSEQUENCE AWARD 2019–20 recipients: SANDY & LARRY ROSEN Recipients of the Gift of Consequence Award have demonstrated a commitment to the Jewish community throughout their lifetime and established significant endowment funds to ensure the future vitality of our community. PNC COMMUNITY BUILDERS AWARD 2019–20 recipients: DR. BARBARA & MR. DAVID BURSTIN The PNC Community Builders Award recognizes a Jewish Federation leader or leaders whose volunteer efforts have resulted in a stronger and more vibrant Greater Pittsburgh community. GERALD S. OSTROW VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019–20 recipient: JAMES P. WAGNER This award recognizes the special efforts of a volunteer leader who has dedicated significant service to the community and has fostered partnerships among the Federation and its agencies. WILLIAM AND OLGA STARK YOUNG LEADERSHIP AWARD 2019–20 recipient: MARCIE J. SOLOMON This award recognizes a young leader who has rendered outstanding service to the Pittsburgh Jewish community. SHORE–WHITEHILL AWARD 2019–20 recipient: DOROTHY POLLON Created in 1996, the Shore-Whitehill Award celebrates volunteers who promote, through advocacy or direct service to individuals or families, the inclusion of people with disabilities in the fabric of Jewish life. SONIA AND AARON LEVINSON AWARD 2019 recipient: DAVID SUFRIN The Levinson Award is presented to recognize demonstrated leadership advancing intergroup relations in harmony with the Jewish ideals of social justice. Note: Nominations for this award close in August, following publication of the Jewish Federation’s annual report. 54
2019–20 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Robert I. Mallet Marsha Marcus OFFICERS Philip Milch Meryl K. Ainsman, Chair Melissa Rackoff Jan Levinson, Vice Chair Deborah Resnick Charles Porter, Vice Chair Jane Rollman Scott Tobe, Vice Chair Todd Rosenfeld Susan G. Berman Kress, Secretary Cynthia Shapira Ellen Teri Kaplan Goldstein, Asst. Secretary Bob Silverman Gilbert Z. Schneider, Treasurer Marcie Solomon Stephen F. Halpern, Asst. Treasurer MEMBERS Marc Brown David Ehrenwerth Elyse Eichner Adam Falcone Josh Farber Richard Guttman Linda Joshowitz Judith Kanal Simone Karp David Knoll Scott Leib Jeffrey W. Letwin PAST CHAIRS Barbara S. Burstin David Burstin Richard E. Kann Woody Ostrow Louis B. Plung James A. Rudolph William C. Rudolph Stanley C. Ruskin Ruth G. Schachter Cynthia D. Shapira Daniel H. Shapira David S. Shapira 55
JEWISH FEDERATION STAFF Jeffrey H. Finkelstein, President & CEO* Tracy Grandelis, Assistant to the President Brian Eglash, Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer* CENTRAL SERVICES Milo Averbach, Chief Financial Officer* Accounting Jenny Kaplan, Controller Linda Gordon, Financial Manager Roberta Jean King, Accounting Associate, Receivables Monica Waya, Accounting Associate, Payables Lindsey Strassman, Accounting Associate, Special Projects Community Security Shawn A. Brokos, Director Erin Wyland, Security Coordinator Human Resources & Office Operations Tanya Gore-White, Manager Rob Dziekan, Maintenance Supervisor Bryan Ellsworth, Maintenance Staff Bex Frankeberger, HR Assistant Information Technology Rick Mast, Director of Business Technology Services Bill Petro, Manager of IT Support Services COMMUNITY BUILDING & PLANNING Ilene Rinn, Director of Planning* Planning Janice P. Bahary, Agency Relations Planning Manager Shelly Parver, Assistant Planning Director Raimy Rubin, Manager of Impact Measurement Kimberly Salzman, Director, Israel & Overseas Operations Debbie Swartz, Israel & Overseas Planning Associate Ravid Biton, Shinshinim Program Coordinator Marlene Layton, Community Building Specialist Mandy Rosenberg, Community Building Specialist ____ *Member of the Management Team 56
Community Relations Council Joshua Sayles, Director Laura Cherner, Assistant Director Jewish Life & Learning Rabbi Amy Bardack, Director Carolyn Linder, Senior Manager Cheryl Johnson, Community Building Specialist Jewish Federation Volunteer Center David Chudnow, Manager Bex Frankeberger, Coordinator FINANCIAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN Jessica Brown Smith, Senior Director of Development* Emily Richman, Director, Development Operations Roi Mezare, Associate Director, Major Gifts David Guzikowski, Manager, Campaign Operations Joseph Enten, Senior Development Officer Drew Greenwald, Development Associate Meredith Scott Hyman, Development Associate Jessica McClelland, Database Administrator Kristen Brandt, Database Technician Young Adult Engagement Karen Podorefsky, Director, Young Adult Engagement and Community Collaboration Carolyn Slayton, Young Adult Programming Associate Meryl Franzos, Development Specialist JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION Daniel O. Brandeis, Esq., Director* Sharon Perelman, Esq., Director of Planned Giving, Associate Director Rabbi Danny Schiff, DHL, Foundation Scholar Patti Dziekan, Foundation Executive Assistant Jan Barkley, Foundation Programs Coordinator Katie Moose, Foundation Accountant Eric M. Probola, Foundation Coordinator MARKETING Adam Hertzman, Director* Mihal Ehven, Digital Marketing Associate Joyce Hinnebusch, Marketing Associate Ilana Kisilinsky, Marketing Associate Toni Murray, Marketing Associate/Writer Karley Parker, Events Manager Grace Simmons, Digital Marketing Associate ____ *Member of the Management Team 57
CLASSROOMS WITHOUT BORDERS Tsipora Gur, Director Ateret Cope, Operations Manager Daniel Pearlman, Post-Seminar Programs Manager HOLOCAUST CENTER OF PITTSBURGH Lauren Bairnsfather, Director Emily Bernstein, Education Outreach Associate Tanya Bielski-Braham, Development Associate Jackie Reese, Marketing & Education Associate Christina Sahovey, Operations & Volunteer Program Associate Marcel Walker, Chutz-Pow! Project Coordinator Ryan Woodward, Library & Education Associate 58
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