I am going to write it again this year. One of my most favorite evenings in the Pittsburgh Jewish community is coming up in just two weeks. Our annual Tikkun Leil Shavuot, night of study, is taking place at the JCC in Squirrel Hill on the first night of Shavuot which is Saturday, June 4th. While we have had to decrease the number of sessions due to COVID, we are excited to be bringing this in-person program back this year. We thank all the Rabbis and leaders who will be teaching. We equally thank those who typically teach that we are unable to accommodate because of space constraints for their flexibility. We hope to be back to “normal” next year.

You can check out the full schedule of sessions kicking off at 10 pm on our webpage at jewishpgh.org/tikkun.

Less than a week after the Tikkun, approximately 240 Pittsburghers will be making their way to Israel as part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s MEGA MISSION. This will be the very first Mega Mission arriving in Israel from any community since the start of the pandemic. We will be sharing pictures and posts on Facebook and are being joined by a reporter from the Jewish Chronicle. While all of you should be with us in Israel, you will be able to follow all our inspiring experiences.

The Federation’s newly adopted Mission Statement is “cultivate resources, connect people and collaborate across the community to live and fulfill Jewish values”. The Tikkun Leil Shavuot and the MEGA MISSION are perfect examples of our connecting the diversity of our Jewish community with each other while grounding those experiences in Jewish values. The financial resources referenced in “cultivate resources” fuel these and so many other activities.

I love that we are focused on our mission!

Shabbat Shalom.