Metro Briefs October 2
The National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh Section, in partnership with the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh, the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh and Rodef Shalom Congregation, will hold a film screening and keynote presentation on human trafficking on Sunday, Oct. 5 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Rodef Shalom, 4905 Fifth Ave.
The event will feature the WQED multimedia film “Human Trafficking: Pittsburgh Fights Back” as well as a presentation by keynote speaker Mary Burke, who is founder and executive director of The Project to End Human Trafficking, a U.S.-based nonprofit that works on regional, national and international levels to raise awareness about the enslavement and economic exploitation of human beings.
“This event is intended to create a discussion about Pittsburgh’s role in the solution to a traumatic issue happening all over the world and, sadly, sometimes in our own community,” said Andrea Glickman, executive director of NCJW.
The event is free and open to the public, and reservations are required. Contact Cheryl Devecka at info@ncjwpgh.org or call 412-421-6118 for more information or to make a reservation.
The Lev Society of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh will hold a free program featuring Rauf Mammadov, director of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic. He will speak about Israel’s largest energy supplier and closest ally in the Muslim world on Monday, Oct. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the Federation building, 234 McKee Place.
The program is co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Foundation and the Jewish Community Relations Council.
Contact Christa Maier at 412-992-5249 or cmaier@jfedpgh.org to make a reservation.
The Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, in partnership with the Carnegie Science Center, will hold a program featuring the film “Jerusalem,” which shows views of the city, as it follows three young women – one Jewish, one Christian and one Muslim – who give glimpses of their cultures.
An interfaith panel will discuss what Jerusalem means to their religion. Speakers will be Rabbi Amy Levin, Congregation Beth Shalom; Karen Hussaini, president of the Syed Farooq Hussaini Islamic Interfaith Network; and Tim Crain, director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill University.
The program is on Monday, Oct. 13 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Carnegie Science Center, Rangos Omnimax Theater. There is a $10 charge. Dietary laws observed will be observed. Walk-ins are welcome; registration by Friday, Oct. 10, is appreciated.
Barry Nathan is the “Jerusalem” event chair for the CRC.
Contact Gregg Roman, CRC director, at groman@jfedpgh.org or 412-992-5234 for more information.
NA’AMAT USA, Pittsburgh Council has announced the honorees for its annual 2014 Spiritual Adoption/Scholarship event, which will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Congregation Beth Shalom.
Janie and Edward Moravitz were chosen in recognition of their leadership and service to the Jewish and general communities in Pittsburgh and Janie’s support of the Mother to Mother program of the Adele and Maurice Weiner Women’s Health Center in Karmiel, Israel.
The spiritual adoption/scholarship event supports myriad NA’AMAT services in Israel, including 260 day-care centers that are now equipped with safe rooms to prevent the necessity of exiting the buildings during bomb threats, 14 vocational high schools, legal advocacy, scholarship programs and a variety of other activities that benefit thousands of women and children in Israel.
With more than 800,000 members in nine countries worldwide, funds for NA’AMAT benefit Israeli, Russian and Ethiopian immigrants as well as members of Druz and Arab populations.
Contact the NA’AMAT office at 412-521-5253 or naamatpgh@hotmail.com for more information and to make reservations.
Chabad of the South Hills will hold Seniors in the Sukkah on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at noon, with musical entertainment, sandwiches, shaking of the lulav and etrog and raffle prizes. There is a $5 suggested donation; preregistration is required. The building is wheelchair accessible and is located at 1701 McFarland Road in Mt. Lebanon.
Contact Barb at 412-278-2658 or barb@chabadsh.com for more information or to make reservations.
The Pittsburgh School for the Choral Arts Every Voice! benefit concert will be held on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Wallace Event Center at Hosanna House, 807 Wallace Ave., Wilkinsburg.
The program will include wine, hors d’oeuvres, desserts and music from Klezlectic, a group that specializes in klezmer music but also performs American, popular, jazz and Jewish folk music. The performers are Janice Coppola, clarinet; Laura Daniels, vocals and keyboard; Mark Perna, trombone; Roger Day, tuba; and Jeff Berman, percussion.
Tickets are $75 and include tax-deductible donations. Tables of eight are available for $500 and half tables for $250. The evening will also include a Fund-A-Need for chorister scholarships and a live auction. The evening celebrates 10 years of growth and success in creating music and community in Pittsburgh.
Contact 412-267-7707 or eswora@oaklandgirlschoir.org for more information.
The Howard Levin Clubhouse, a program of Jewish Residential Services, will hold its eighth Bowl-A-Rama fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Forward Lanes in Squirrel Hill.
The Clubhouse is a program of support for people living with mental illness so that members live more socially rewarding, vocationally productive lives.
Contact 412-325-0039 to register.
Classrooms Without Borders will present Anne Nelson at the Art of Resistance Community Lecture on Monday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation. The program is free and open to the community.
Nelson is a researcher, playwright, journalist and educator, specializing in studying resistance to the Nazi regime in Germany and France. Her book, “The Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends that Resisted Hitler,” was named Editors’ Choice by The New York Times and called “a literary and historical masterwork” by German historian Hans Mommsen in the Frankfurter Rundschau. As a journalist and researcher she has reported from conflict zones, contributed to Human Rights Watch and consults on international media issues. Nelson has taught at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs since 2002.
Her lecture will be “The Art of Resistance: Nazi and Anti-Nazi Artists, Their Vision and Their Actions” and will include work by Katja Meierowsky, a painter and Jewish member of the Red Chapel.
Visit classroomswithoutborders.org or call 412-915-9182 for more information and reservations.
The ZOA awards dinner will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Congregation Beth Shalom. Jonathon Adelman of the University of Denver School of International Studies will deliver the keynote address.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Mayor Bill Peduto in honor of his support of ZOA’s Tolerance Education Program, which takes Pittsburgh public high school students to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Peduto has helped secure funding for the program and has chaperoned two bus trips.
Rhonda Horvitz will receive the Natalie E. Novick Community Leadership Award for her dedication as a volunteer who has been active with many local Jewish organizations, including ZOA, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the Hillel Jewish University Center.
The Israel Service Award will be presented to Ronna Harris Askin, who is president of American Friends of Israel War Disabled and serves on the boards of Congregation Beth Shalom and the Hebrew Free Loan Association.
Call Stuart Pavilack, executive director of the ZOA Pittsburgh office, at 412-665-4630 for more information and reservations.
The Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh invites the community to the Friends of Frick Fine Arts lecture and reception on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Frick Auditorium. Franklin Toker will speak on “After Digging Comes the Hard Part: Decoding Florence Cathedral Without Leaving Frick Fine Arts.”
Toker directed archaeological excavations under the Florence Cathedral for five years. The talk will be his first time explaining how, with his students and colleagues in Frick Fine Arts, he is turning archaeological data into new chapters in art history.
Contact Rachael Heiser at 412-648-2400 or rah87@pitt.edu for more information or by Oct. 22 to reserve a seat.
U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a member of the National Security Working Group, and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have announced that they have given a letter signed by 88 senators to Secretary of State John Kerry urging the administration to take steps to ensure that no assistance is diverted to Hamas, to support the Palestinian Authority’s effort to govern in Gaza and to discourage Palestinian unilateral measures at the United Nations and International Criminal Court that bypass direct negotiations and undermine the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The senators wrote, “As we look ahead to the next few months, we urge you to focus on three key objectives: (1) preventing Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities; (2) enabling the Palestinian Authority to move toward becoming the Palestinian governing authority in Gaza; and (3) preventing negative developments at the U.N. General Assembly, U.N. Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court that could derail any prospects for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.”
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