Letters to the editor

Gratitude for Calvary’s quiet acts of kindness
I read with keen interest Deborah Weisberg’s article about the relationship between the Rev. Jonathon Jensen of Calvary Church and the Tree of Life community (“Tree of Life and Calvary Church celebrate faith, festivals and friendship,” Dec. 8). I want to add my own words of appreciation. In the winter/spring of 2022, during a painful and uncertain professional transition, I suddenly found myself unmoored and without a clear place to land. It was a deeply disorienting time for me and for my family, and one with enormous implications for my future. After 18 years as a rabbi in Pittsburgh, the ground beneath me felt less certain than it had ever been.

Jonathon heard what I was experiencing and reached out. We met for coffee and spoke as colleagues about the challenges of leading congregations through polarized times. He intuitively understood what was happening, as well as what was needed. And before our conversation concluded, just as he had done for Tree of Life, the Rev. Jensen offered what he could.

Welcoming me as a respected colleague, Jonathon Jensen invited me to hang my hat at Calvary. He gave me an office; a seat around his leadership table; and a role at his church as rabbi-in-residence. But even more, by seeing me in the fullness of my humanity, Jonathon returned to me a sense of acceptance and trust precisely when I needed it most. These generous acts of neighborliness and friendship — some might call it Christian charity; I call it human decency — reminded me that such qualities still did exist in congregational life. And as such simple gestures often do, his sincerity and kindness seeded a true partnership and friendship that have sustained us both these last four years.

Deborah Weisberg’s article showed us what Jonathon Jensen and Calvary Church have done heroically for our Jewish community in moments of public crisis. I write simply to add: Jonathon Jensen and the good people at Calvary are no less extraordinary responding to the personal crises that unfold out of public view.

For this, I shall remain ever profoundly grateful.

Rabbi Aaron Bisno
Pittsburgh

A world still waiting to be redeemed
In the space of just a few days during this holiday season, our world has suffered immeasurably: A massacre of Jews celebrating the Chanukah festival in Australia, which was reminiscent of the senseless slaughter which took place at the Tree of Life building in 2018 (“Community reacts to Australia Chanukah shooting,” online Dec. 14; this issue, Page 1); the murder of American soldiers and an American interpreter in Syria; a gun massacre at Brown University; and the slaying of accomplished actor and producer Rob Reiner and his wife. At the same time, peace in Ukraine and the Middle East appears elusive and the killing continues.

All of this takes place as we are seeking holiday cheer through the celebration of Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa.

We look to our leaders for moral guidance and comfort and often find those traits to be scarce.

A cherished prayerbook that had been used at my synagogue includes the following in a passage of responsive reading: “In a world torn by violence and pain, a world far from wholeness and peace, a world waiting still to be redeemed … “ The writer knew that our world would always be afflicted.

Oren Spiegler
Peters Township

Religious expression should be confined to private property
In regard to “Mt. Lebanon readies for first public Chanukah celebration” (Dec. 12):

I was a resident of Mt Lebanon for over 30 years and served as its first municipal planner. I have always objected to expression of a religious group on public property, whether it is a Christmas Tree or a menorah. Such displays should be placed on property owned by the religious group that desires to affirm their religious belief where others can see it.

Ruth Reidbord
Pittsburgh

Please don’t fold your tents
Dear Judy Mars Kupchan (“How goodly were these tents,” Dec. 12):

Please don’t fold your big white tents. In fact, erect more of them and more often where those same women and men from all the organizations in your neighborhood (Orthodox, Reform, Masorti) and all others can come together to celebrate the beauty of being Jewish. Let those be joyous occasions where people can share food and warm memories, present and past, about their own Jewish experiences.

We as a culture historically have set yearly gatherings where we memorialize past events in our history and we gather in large numbers in response to a happening that endangers our Jewish welfare.

What we Jews also need to do is create an occasion where people from all Jewish denominations gather together to share, in whatever form, the joy of being Jewish.

We in Pittsburgh are fortunate that each Shavuot we can participate in a Tikkun Leil when our entire Jewish community comes together to learn. Beyond Shavuot our modern-day Jewish world should be able to create a positive annual event where we can all gather to share with others our own warm Jewish histories, not only for us, but also for today’s Jewish children.

Howard Meyerowitz
Pittsburgh