One would probably expect me to write about Yom Kippur this week, but I will leave that to our skilled and inspirational Rabbis at our Pittsburgh area synagogues. I had planned to write about last night’s Shore Whitehill Award, an award established by the Federation that “celebrates volunteers who promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in the fabric of Jewish life through advocacy or direct service to individuals and families”. I also had planned to write about this past week’s Ben Gurion Society (BGS) dinner at a private home in Squirrel Hill. BGS is for our young adult donors who contribute a minimum of $1,000 to the Federation.

Instead, I want to call your attention the fact that the Federation has several “mailboxes” open for Hurricane relief. Our national system has alerted us that the damage to the Houston Jewish community is extensive to both Jewish communal infrastructure as well as to the personal property of the Jewish community. If you have not yet contributed, I direct you to our website at www.jfedpgh.org. If you have already contributed, consider giving more. No overhead is taken off these donations by our Federation or the Jewish Federations of North America. We and our national system are able to do this because of your support of our Annual Campaign.

Wishing you an easy but meaningful fast and a Shabbat Shalom.