Hillel Academy celebrates the grand opening of the Yitzy Sutofsky Campus
“He embodied the mission of the school and was someone who was also a great athlete. He loved Torah, loved learning and was a role model and inspiration to a lot of people.”
How do you commemorate the completion of an $11.5 construction project?
If you are Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, you throw a party with hundreds of your closest friends that includes a Hachnasas Sefer Torah parade, the renaming of your campus, a breakfast honoring the naming of your girls’ high school and a concert featuring musician Eitan Katz.
The Sept. 1 celebration occurred less than a week after the beginning of the new academic year and marked the grounds being renamed the Hillel Academy Yitzy Sutofsky Campus.
Yitzy was a Hillel Academy student who died in 2023. Principal and Education Director Rabbi Sam Weinberg said he was “emblematic of the school.”
“He was an amazing kid and personality, a real role model,” Weinberg said. “He embodied the mission of the school and was someone who was also a great athlete. He loved Torah, loved learning and was a role model and inspiration to a lot of people.”
Yitzy’s father, Akiva Sutofsky, who works at the school as a counselor, said the renaming of the campus was “very humbling” and that, while his emotions were still raw at the loss of his son, he felt blessed.
“To name the school that I work at, that my kids went to, that we care so much about, it just means everything to us,” he said.
Sutofsky noted that his son, one of five children, loved learning and Torah. It was one of his last wishes that a Torah be written in his honor.
The new scroll, “Yitzy’s Torah,” was unveiled at the celebration. Hundreds of people, from as far away as Chicago and New York, attended the ceremony, which took place at the Sutofskys’ home. A parade marched the new Torah through several blocks to Hillel, where it will be housed in the school’s new shul.
The celebration attracted not only members of the Jewish community but also several local politicians.
City Controller Rachael Heisler said she wanted to be there to honor Yitzy.
“What happened to him was absolutely tragic,” she said. “When you an honor someone’s memory in this this way it’s very kind.”
City Councilperson Barb Warwick said she learned of the event from fellow council member Khari Mosley, who was Yitzy’s baseball coach.
Warwick said she became familiar with Yitzy when the City Council issued a proclamation in recognition of his life.
“As a parent, to have a child pass, it’s just beyond heartbreaking,” she said. “Anything you can do to support the family, you should. And, I have to say, it is so beautiful to see such a big crowd come out and so much community supporting the family for what will be difficult for the rest of their lives.”
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said the event celebrated not only Yitzy but the reimagining of the school.
“You see all the people coming out to celebrate this community asset, it’s part of the community’s health,” Gainey said. “Whenever you have an asset that people come to, they feel safe and respected. It’s important to be here as the mayor of the city and just say thank you for creating a feeling of community.”
In addition to the new sanctuary, the building’s renovations include a new structure added to the face of the school, a new roof, an upgraded HVAC system, a basement, a science lab and a second-story addition that is the new home of the girls’ high school, an elevator and making the whole building ADA compliant, Weinberg said.
Hillel’s Chief Executive Officer Daniel Kraut said the celebration was a long time coming, noting the vision for the project began in 2010.
“There was COVID in the middle, there was a lot of stuff,” Kraut noted. “We took a building that was built in 1958 and completely changed the entire campus. It’s exciting for our families, staff and teachers who are going to be able to teach in this state-of-the-art building. It’s great for alumni and the community.”
The finished campus, he said, is a “showpiece” for the entire community.
Kraut noted that the school’s new elevator will be named after Raffi Breen, a student who recently passed away.
The celebration also included a breakfast that recognized the renaming of the girls’ high school as the Fayth Aronson-Berkowitz Girls High School.
Aronson-Berkowitz, who passed away in 2014, attended Hillel before moving to Baltimore, where she worked as an educator.
Her brother, Adam Aronson, said it is special to have his sister’s name attached to the school.
“We’ve been involved in the school for more than 40 years,” he said. “My mother has been an administrator at the school, I graduated from the high school, my brother and sister graduated from the school. To have her name carry on in an educational setting is really something special.”
Speaking to those in attendance, Weinberg said that Hillel is “more than a school,” but “a home for the community.” He acknowledged the challenges the school has faced with the death of its students and emphasized the power of community.
“This school provides hope through which we can all live together, be together and be a part of the Hillel family,” he said.
Weinberg said the grand opening was invigorating.
“It’s an exciting moment for our school that our community has invested this much,” he said. “It’s really creating the future leaders of Jewish Pittsburgh and is very exciting.”
And while the construction is complete, Hillel Academy continues to fundraise to help offset the costs of the construction. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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