Did You Hear?

I am writing on Thursday night having just left Buffalo Blues in Shadyside.  Our Shalom Pittsburgh(the Federation’s outreach programming arm for 22-45 year olds) effort holds lots of bar nights for our young adults.  I have been to many.  This week, four of our community efforts to reach out and engage Jewish young adults joined forces […]

Sunday, I carried the coffin and helped fill the grave of my last remaining grandparent.  My father’s mother died at the age of 98 on Simchat Torah.  She was the youngest and the last living of 11 children born in Rumania.  She lived those early years without running water or electricity.  She emigrated to this country, […]

Earlier this week, our Federation staff divided up and went to three of our local agencies:  Riverview Towers, the Jewish Association on Aging and the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry of Jewish Family and Children’s Service.  At each site, we volunteered our time to assist clients.  This was all part of our effort to kick […]

At the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday night, we announced our financial achievements for the year. Our Campaign goal of $13.5 million, the highest ever for our community, was attained. Our Foundation, now with over $200 million under management, added over $18 million. Our work to raise Educational Improvement Tax Credit […]

On Sunday, Shalom Pittsburgh will hold its Fourth Annual Apples & Honey Festival, in Schenley Park. Literally hundreds show up every year for this great program. If you have a young family or grandchildren in town, you don’t want to miss this. If you know of a young Jewish family that would like a Jewish program that […]

A fabulous JCC with state-of-the-art exercise equipment, seniors playing mahj, a preschool with adorable children, and a memorial to the Holocaust. A day school with Hebrew words and Judaica covering the walls. A gorgeous facility for seniors, with shared kitchen facilities in every unit. I could be describing our Pittsburgh Jewish community’s renowned institutions. In […]

The Jewish Delegate Assembly of Greater Pittsburgh Condemns unequivocally the hateful “price tag”* graffiti and vandalism against Catholic and Orthodox Christian, Muslim and Jewish institutions and individuals in Israel as reported in the Israeli press. These vile acts do not represent the feelings of respect our communities have for each other. Urges Israeli authorities to […]

Throughout the world, persons who are identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) often face pervasive discrimination which sometimes includes state-sanctioned violence and the possibility of execution. Laws that punish people for who they are or are perceived to be creating a deep culture of hatred that can place LGBT people and their allies […]

Older Americans who are living in poverty often suffer in silence, living in the shadows while trying to make ends meet. A single life change—a costly illness, loss of a job, or death of a spouse—can quickly threaten the financial stability of seniors. This has become especially true during the most recent recession. In 2008 […]

Jewish tradition teaches us that we must feed the hungry. Hunger is a problem that affects people of all ages, but it is a particularly devastating problem for children. There is both a moral and an economic imperative to address this problem. “Food insecurity” is a new term in the American lexicon. It has replaced […]