Metro Briefs April 21
The Holocaust Center’s annual Yom HaShoah commemoration will be held on Sunday, April 23 at 6 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in the Katz Auditorium in the Robinson Building. The program will include music and singing, including a performance from the Chamber Choir of Pittsburgh School for the Choral Arts, and a candle lighting to remember victims, survivors, liberators and the righteous. There will also be time for silent reflection. This event is free and open to the community.
Due to limited seating, preregistration is encouraged at jfedpgh.org/Yom-Hashoah.
The 29th annual Westmoreland County Interfaith Community Memorial Service in Observance of Yom HaShoah will be held on Sunday, April 23 at 2 p.m. at Congregation Emanu-El Israel, 222 North Main St. in Greensburg.
The event, which remembers the lives lost during the Holocaust, is sponsored by the Seton Hill University National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education, Westmoreland Jewish Community Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Greater Latrobe Ministerial Association, Greensburg Ministerium, Congregation Emanu-El Israel of Greensburg, Greensburg-Jeannette NAACP, YWCA of Westmoreland County and Westmoreland Diversity Coalition.
Holocaust survivor Judah Samet of Pittsburgh is the featured speaker for the event. Born in Hungary, Samet and his family were taken to Bergen-Belsen, where they were imprisoned for 10 months; he turned 8 in the camp. His story is a chilling one, but one that must be heard.
The service is free and open to the public and includes readings, song, prayer and candle lighting. This year’s service will feature the lighting of eight candles: six in memory of the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust; one for the liberators; and one for 21st century victims of genocide.
The community is invited to Mitzvah Day at the Howard Levin Clubhouse Garden on Sunday, April 23. The garden is located at Community Day School, 2742 Beechwood Blvd. The day will include cleaning up the garden, weeding, planting and having fun. There are two shifts: 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 3 p.m. There will be a free pizza lunch at noon.
RSVP at 412-422-1850 or jpawlowski@jrspgh.org.
Community Day School’s middle school will lead an outdoor Yom HaShoah commemoration with music, prayer, readings and a candle lighting service with the theme, “Restoring Their Identities: The Fate of the Individual During the Holocaust,” on Monday, April 24 from 8:45 to 9:30 a.m. at the Gary and Nancy Tuckfelt Keeping Tabs: A Holocaust Sculpture, 6424 Forward Ave.
The program is sponsored by CDS parents in memory of their family members and loved ones who were victims of the Holocaust.
Contact 412-521-1100, ext. 3207 or jjones@comday.org to reserve seating.
Classrooms Without Borders invites the community to free lectures by Aron Bell. Bell is a former member of the Bielski partisans, the largest armed rescuers of Jews by Jews during World War II. He will be touring CWB partnering schools to meet and speak with students, and he will also speak publicly on Monday, April 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Cranberry Township Public Library (no RSVP is necessary). He will also speak on Wednesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. at the Holocaust Center, 826 Hazelwood Ave. RSVP at classroomswithoutborders.org.
The Squirrel Hill Historical Society will hold its next free meeting on Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m., at Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Ave.
Lauren Bairnsfather will speak about the Pittsburgh Holocaust Center, where she is the director.
Contact historysqhill@hotmail.com, 412-417-3707 or visit squirrelhillhistory.org for more information.
NA’AMAT Pittsburgh Council will hold its Book Buzz program (formerly Bagels and Books) with Helen Faye on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Marlene Behrmann Cohen. RSVP by April 23 at naamatpgh@gmail.com to obtain the address.
Temple Emanuel of South Hills invites the community to The Bible Players After Dark, an evening of adult comedy rated PG-shaloshesrei, on Saturday, April 29 at 7 p.m. The free event, sponsored by the Rabbi William Sajowitz Endowment Fund, includes wine and cheese, Havdalah and dessert.
The Bible Players are a Torah comedy duo based in New York City that teaches Jewish values around the nation. Andrew Davies and Aaron Friedman use theater and improv to infuse comedy and laughs into tales from the Torah and beyond. Since founding The Bible Players in 2011, they have toured America from New York to Texas to California, bringing their show to thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages, from pre-K through adults.
Visit templeemanuelpgh.org/events/sef or call 412-279-7600 for more information and to RSVP.
The South Hills Interfaith Movement will hold the 38th annual Interfaith Holocaust Observance Day on Sunday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Led by a team of interfaith leaders, the Holocaust Observance offers community members the opportunity to pray, reflect, discuss and remember.
The Holocaust Center and Community Day School are co-sponsoring the first annual Walk To Remember (WTR), a community event that will bring together Holocaust survivors and their families, honor the survivors and educate the public about the legacies of local survivors, on Sunday, April 30 at 9:30 a.m. at CDS, 6424 Forward Ave. in Squirrel Hill.
Participants will walk CDS’ perimeter six times to memorialize the 6 million. The walk will begin at the site of the Gary and Nancy Tuckfelt Keeping Tabs: A Holocaust Sculpture.
All proceeds from the WTR will be split equally between the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and CDS to fund Holocaust education at both organizations. This is a family-friendly event, and light refreshments will be served. The event will also include music and meeting with survivors.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.; the walk begins at 10 a.m. CDS students will perform music and give tours of the sculpture. The event will end at 11:30 a.m.
The event is free for Holocaust survivors and college/university students (with valid student ID), $18 for individuals, $36 for a group of two to four, and $50 for a group of five or more.
Contact 412-939-7289 or csahovey@hcpgh.org for more information, and visit jfedpgh.org/walk-to-remember to register.
comments