Letters to the editor June 11

Letters to the editor June 11

Roman’s exit a loss for community

Our Greater Pittsburgh Jewish community regrettably will be losing a strong asset with the departure of Gregg Roman, director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s Community Relations Council (“Roman leaving; to take ‘energy, drive and knowledge’ to Philly,” May 28). I have had the opportunity and pleasure of working with Gregg on several significant matters since he came to Pittsburgh a few years ago.  His dynamic personality, keen intellect and political astuteness have enabled him to accomplish key objectives, strengthen our Jewish identity in this region and clarify our role as proud supporters of Israel.

Fortunately, Gregg’s new position will enable him to make even more significant contributions to both our national and international goals. I fervently hope that Gregg Roman’s successor will be wise and strong enough to pursue the work of the CRC in similar fashion in the years ahead.

Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D.

Pittsburgh

Hometown heroes abound

The profile (“Clear Skies,” May 28) by Simone Shapiro of a Jewish WVU grad training to become an Air Force chaplain provides an excellent example of young Jewish stars in the area. WVU Hillel has a lot of such examples. It provides an incubation of future Jewish leaders local and national stars. Another example is the upcoming induction of David Cohen, a prominent sports law attorney and past president of WVU Hillel, into WVU’s Hall of Fame.  

Jacob Cohen

Baltimore, Md.

Temple Sinai will ‘come out’ this Shabbat

One of Temple Sinai’s core values is our commitment to embracing diversity. This has inspired us to be involved in the public celebration of our LGBTQA community for the first time. We had hoped to march in Pittsburgh’s annual Pride Parade on June 14.

However, because of the widening public controversy around Iggy Azalea’s invitation to perform on June 13, we have made the difficult decision not to march in the parade. We cannot condone the naïveté that the Delta Foundation has exhibited with its choice of featured performer and its inadequate responses to the wider community’s genuine concerns.

Instead, Temple Sinai’s “coming out” will be marked with a rich and very special Pride Shabbat Service at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 12.  We hope to welcome many from the LGBTQA community into our spiritual home that night. We will continue throughout the year to explore and deepen our connection between our Jewish faith and the LGBTQA community.

Rabbi James A. Gibson

Senior Rabbi, Temple Sinai

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