Shabbat Shalom
This past week, I had the experience of being surrounded by women who are inspired to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I traveled to Washington, DC with a group of 20 women from our community to be a part of the International Lion of Judah Conference, which convenes more than 1,300 women […]
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Five members of Knesset (MK’s) have been in Pittsburgh for the last day. They came as part of a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel (one of our main overseas partners) and the Jewish Federations of North America in order to expose Israeli lawmakers to Jewish North American life. They visited Toronto, Cleveland and […]
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We had a magical Annual meeting this year. Just as we do every year, we honored over 35 volunteers from organizations and synagogues. These individual dedicate their time and talent to strengthen those institutions and to help further their missions. In the end, each helps us reach more Jews and serve their needs. In addition […]
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In just a few weeks, several members of Knesset will be traveling to Pittsburgh as part of a delegation of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federations of North America. They will visit Toronto and Detroit, in addition to Pittsburgh. The goal of this journey is to educate Knesset members about our Jewish […]
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This week, I am proud that Jessica Smith, our Director of Campaign and Financial Resource Development, has asked to share thoughts about an experience she had this summer: The interesting thing about the Annual Campaign is that it is, by its very nature, ANNUAL. It is cyclical. It is virtually, the same each and every […]
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I’ve been writing pretty much weekly for the last 12 years. I enjoy taking a little bit of time as Shabbat approaches to reflect on what I experience and to share my impressions and thoughts about our Federation, our Jewish community and our Jewish world. Often times, I receive feedback, luckily, almost always positive. It’s […]
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I spent about 5 1/2 days in France this past week. The first few days were spent in Sarcelles as part of a seminar for a group of Federation CEO’s and the second part was in Paris as a participant in the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors meetings. I learned a tremendous amount […]
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The Federation’s Vision Statement exclaims that we are striving “to build a thriving, vibrant and engaged Jewish community”. Another way to say that is we are trying to build a strong Jewish community. This past Saturday night, we were able to build community by bringing the diversity of our community together for our annual Tikkun […]
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I will not be writing a message next week so I want to take this opportunity to alert you about an important and wonderful activity taking place next Saturday night (June 11th). The Annual Tikkun Leil Shavuot will take place at the Squirrel Hill JCC from 10 pm until 1 am. This comes from a […]
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When I received my Master’s Degree from Brandeis University in 1993, it was in Jewish Communal Service. At the time I began my career, I became a member of the Jewish Communal Service Association. I “Googled” the definition of the word service and this was the first to appear in my web browser: “the action of helping or doing work […]
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I warn you right at the outset of this week’s post – THIS IS A SOLICITATION. Do you own a business that pays income tax to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? Do you know someone who owns such a business (they don’t even have to live in Pennsylvania – the company just has to be here)? If […]
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This week’s Torah portion, Kedoshim, begins with: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be HOLY (Kedoshim), for I the Lord, your God am holy. It then goes on with a listing of things we should do (and not do) in […]
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Israel Week offers everyone in the community some way to personally connect to Israel. Thank you to all the organizations and synagogues that are playing a role to make this a reality! This Israel Week is a celebration of twenty years of Partnership2Gether that couples Pittsburgh to Karmiel and Misgav. Thousands from our community and thousands in Israel […]
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We are still in the midst of the holiday of Passover, celebrating the freedom of the Jewish people. I write to you today about a program taking place next Thursday that commemorates one of the most tragic chapters in Jewish history – the Shoah (the Holocaust). Yom HaShoah will be commemorated on Thursday, May 5th at 7 pm […]
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A Jewish family from Yemen arriving in Israel at Ben Gurion International Airport, Aug. 14, 2013. (Moshik Brin/The Jewish Agency/Flash90) Typically, I take some time to share my thoughts about our Federation, our Jewish community and issues impacting the Jewish world. In place of my typical writing, I present to you a wonderful piece by […]
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We read often about how companies are using “Big Data”. Every time you go to a website and search for an item to buy, that same item seems to appear on other website you visit as an advertisement. Every month, I seem to receive a booklet of coupons from Giant Eagle and guess what, it’s […]
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Concurrently, in one 2 hour block on Tuesday morning, three meetings took place involving Federation volunteers and staff. I think it can gives a good snapshot or sense into some of what we are working on to support our community. 1. David Bernstein, the new Executive Director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (the […]
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While most of us were sleeping on Sunday night, the Jewish Agency for Israel rescued 17 Jews from the country of Yemen. The Jewish Agency has conducted these kinds of missions for decades, bringing Jews at risk to safety in the only Jewish country in the world. Specifically from Yemen, the Jewish Agency has moved […]
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Purim is one of the great celebratory holidays of the Jewish calendar. It rejoices in the victory of the Jewish community of Shushan over their planned destruction by the Evil Haman. What are our “Hamans” today? What or who is trying to destroy or endanger the Jewish people? One answer is that there are none […]
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Did you hear that the twins, Ben and Becca, had a B’nei Mitzvah party this past Saturday night? In an attempt to try something different for our young adult Federation donors, we overhauled what had been our Young Adult Main Event. Instead of a speaker, the Federation worked with a Hollywood writer and produced a […]
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