Hannah Zusmanowitz can build a couch. She can also create community.
The South Side resident, who moved to Pittsburgh nearly a year ago, has spent her western Pennsylvanian tenure hosting Shabbat dinners overlooking downtown, trekking with new friends through Frick Park and recreating Jerusalem’s famous shuk in Squirrel Hill.
Bringing people together is at the heart of Zusmanowitz’s work as the young adult programming associate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. In that role, she strives to create the same sense of connection that shaped her own life. “If I can give someone even a fraction of the Jewish community that I was lucky enough to have growing up and in my life — like, that’s it. That’s what it’s about.”
Zusmanowitz, 24, came to Pittsburgh via Hilton, New York. The village of about 6,000 residents is about 20 miles northwest of Rochester.
“Growing up, me and my brother were the only Jewish kids at the public school that we went to,” she said. “My mom always made it a point that we’re going to synagogue.”
The drive, which Zusmanowitz completed at least twice a week for years, took about 40 minutes each way. In lieu of seeing the shlep as burdensome, however, Zusmanowitz mined its value.
Having a Jewish community, “takes effort, but what you get out of it is so much more,” she said. “The Jewish community is where I found my home, and where I found my people and my family. I just want everyone to be able to experience that.”
Since joining Federation about a year ago, Zusmanowitz has sought to foster Jewish connections throughout the city.
Every other month, through Federation’s Young Adult Division, she hosts Shabbat dinner.
Part of the purpose is modeling what’s possible, she explained.
“People sometimes feel if they didn’t grow up doing Shabbat, that it’s this big, super intimidating thing where you have to make brisket, and cook it for 10 hours, and this whole to-do,” she said.
“I think by us, and having members of the community host it, it really shows people that there is a space for you at the larger Jewish community table, and it also shows all the different ways that you can engage with your Judaism.”
Shabbat, she explained, is a relatively familiar term but understood quite differently.
Whether experiencing Shabbat means meeting friends for a Friday night meal or “going to shul and doing all the rituals,” however one chooses to engage, Shabbat is a “great way to unwind, meet new people and have deeper connections,” she said.
Community doesn’t spring from the ether, but is built and sustained. That understanding, Zusmanowitz explained, grew from mastering other tools.
For college, she traveled south to Georgia and studied furniture design and industrial design at Savannah College of Art and Design.
“I love building things. I love furniture, but it’s very lonely work a lot of the time. It’s just you and your materials,” she said.
After college, Zusmanowitz was apprenticed to a master upholsterer but decided to return home and take a part-time job at her former synagogue.
“At first, I was just doing marketing for them,” she said. “Then it grew into doing logistic stuff, and then congregant engagement.”
Before long, Zusmanowitz was teaching fourth grade religious school, overseeing the youth group and facilitating programs for young adults in their 20s and 30s.
“I loved the congregant engagement work, and I loved interfacing with the community,” she said.
“That’s what really got me out of bed every morning. That’s what got me going to the synagogue like six days a week.”
Zusmanowitz started pondering life as a Jewish communal professional.
“I was like, ‘I could do this as a career. I could actually focus my energy on this and actually make a difference and make it a career as well,’” she said.
While the idea percolated, Zusmanowitz followed another passion: natural history museums.
The U.S. has nearly 90 accredited institutions, according to the American Alliance of Museums.
Zusmanowitz aims to see one in every state — it’s how she ended up in Pittsburgh.
“My partner and I were trying to figure out where to move. We wanted to move out of Rochester, and we were thinking, maybe Chicago, maybe Toronto, maybe New York City. And while we were kind of in the weeds of all that, we decided to take a trip to Pittsburgh,” she said. “I really wanted to meet Dippy.”
The sculpture, which rests near the Carnegie Music Hall and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, is a life-size fiberglass model of Diplodocus carnegii.
Affectionately called “Dippy,” the sculpture depicts what many deem the “most famous single dinosaur skeleton in the world.”
On July 4, 1899, paleontologists — funded by Andrew Carnegie — discovered a nearly complete fossil skeleton of Diplodocus in the badlands of Wyoming. To mark 100 years since the discovery, “Dippy” the 3,000-pound sculpture was erected in Oakland in 1999.
Apart from seeing the cherished behemoth, Zusmanowitz and her partner spent a week visiting numerous neighborhoods across Pittsburgh.
“We just kind of fell in love with it,” she said. “Everywhere we went, we just found it very charming and the people seemed genuine — people really, truly, wanted to talk to you.”
When the trip was over, Zusmanowitz Googled “Jewish jobs in Pittsburgh.”
An opening at the Federation appeared.
Zusmanowitz applied, accepted the position, found an apartment and relocated with her partner.
Given her desire to cover the country, it’s natural to wonder whether Zusmanowitz may feel tempted to relocate again.
The Jewish professional immediately dismissed the notion.
Before visiting Pittsburgh, “I’d been to quite a few natural history museums,” she said. “None of them made me move.”
As she continues planning events for Jewish Pittsburghers and creating connections through YAD, Zusmanowitz recognizes the perils facing many young professionals.
“I think what everybody is looking for right now — what everyone is saying — is, ‘I want more friends. I want to be part of a community. I want to be part of a village.’”
Achieving those desires is possible, Zusmanowitz said. “All you have to do is be a villager to be part of a village.”
“That’s it. That’s all it takes,” she continued. There’s nothing to be scared about; simply show up, be willing to join, “that’s the big takeaway. You get out what you put in, and it’s not scary. Everyone’s in the same boat.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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