Insights From Experts and Reflections on a Year Without Precedent

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s 2019 annual meeting, FED Talks: Celebrating Community Strength, will include insights from three guest speakers who have made healing or trauma their life’s work. The meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 5, at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, 980 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh 15222. The theme of celebration extends to recognition of 2019 award recipients Farrell Rubenstein and Daniel Marcus. The presentation portion of the evening will be 7–8 p.m. A dessert reception (dietary laws observed) will follow, 8–9 p.m.

FED Talks guest speakers will be:

• Jonathan Weinkle, MD — A physician at Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill Health Center, advisor to the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and author of Healing People, Not Patients, Dr. Weinkle will reflect on the ways that Judaism informs how doctors can respond to trauma.
• Rabbi Shira Stern, DMin — A disaster spiritual care provider for the American Red Cross, Rabbi Stern will share insights about helping people access their own spiritual resources. Rabbi Stern is the director of the Center for Pastoral Care and Counseling, in Marlboro, N.J. She is an author and the consulting editor of Mishkan R’fuah: Where Healing Resides.
• James E. Young, PhD — Dr. Young’s international career has focused on understanding the Holocaust and creating meaning from grief. Recipient of the 1994 National Jewish Book Award for The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning, Dr. Young will discuss the importance of the way we shape our memories. Dr. Young is professor emeritus and the founding director of the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

“Looking at models of healing is helpful as Pittsburgh’s Jewish community continues to establish a new normal, after the Oct. 27 attack. To heal we have to ask, ‘Who are we now? How do we get to where we need to go?’ Questions like these can guide us as individuals, and they must be at the core of community strategy, so we can focus our strength.”

Meryl K. Ainsman, Chair of the Jewish Federation’s Board of Directors

At the Sept. 5 event, community leaders who will be celebrated are:

• Farrell Rubenstein, retired, recipient of the 2019 Emanuel Spector Memorial Award, the highest honor presented by the Jewish Federation. The award recognizes exemplary service to the community.
• Daniel Marcus, recipient of the 2019 Doris & Leonard H. Rudolph Jewish Communal Professional Award. The Rudolph Award recognizes the exceptional personal and professional commitment of a Jewish communal professional employed by the Jewish Federation or one of its partner agencies. Marcus is currently the executive director of The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh.

In considering the Jewish Federation’s activities over the past year, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Jeffrey H. Finkelstein reflected that “caring for the community after the Oct. 27 attack became an unexpected priority. I look forward to reporting on how we have addressed this priority while attending to the many needs our community had prior to the attack.”

The entire community is invited to attend this event. Admission to FED Talks: Celebrating Community Strength is $10 per person when preregistering online at jewishpgh.org/annual-meeting. Online preregistration will be available until 10 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 3. At the door of the Sept. 5 event, admission will be $20 per person. Additional information and help with online registration are available by calling 412.992.5251.

Underwriting support for the annual meeting comes from the Lillian & Dr. Henry J. Goldstein Annual Meeting Endowment Fund of the Federation’s Jewish Community Foundation.