Metro Briefs December 10

AARP Squirrel Hill Chapter 3354 will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at New Light Congregation, 1700 Beechwood Blvd. at Forbes Avenue. Following the business meeting, there will be a holiday party with games, prizes and refreshments.

Contact Frieda D. Safyan at 412-521-2804 for more information.

Rabbi Jonathan Perlman of New Light Congregation will be conducting a class on “Solomon’s Erotica” as part of the congregation’s continuing adult education series discussing “The Wisdom of Solomon.” Class will be held the third Wednesday of the month starting Dec. 16 through June at 7:30 p.m. at New Light Congregation. No knowledge of Hebrew is needed. The community is welcome.

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Contact Rabbi Perlman at 412-904-3601 for more information.

Rabbi Keren Gorban will be officially installed as associate rabbi of Temple Sinai on Friday, Dec. 18 beginning at 7 p.m. during erev Shabbat services. Gorban’s installation will be officiated by Rabbi Arnie Gluck, who was Gorban’s childhood rabbi. 

Gluck serves as the rabbi of Temple Beth-El of Hillsborough, N.J., and has been at the forefront of many outreach, social services, social justice and educational initiatives and programs throughout New Jersey, the United States and Israel.  Gluck received rabbinic ordination and a Master of Art in Hebrew literature from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is an alumnus of the University of Albany and the One-Year Program of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 

Gluck will also lead Temple Sinai in a Lunch and Learn titled “The Radical Teachings of Moses” on Saturday, Dec. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The learning session will include a discussion of the ideas about power, religion and the image of God as found in Deuteronomy.  All are welcome and should bring a dairy/pareve potluck dish. 

Call 412-421-9715 or visit templesinaipgh.org for more information.

Nominations are now open for the 2016 Shore-Whitehill Award. The Shore-Whitehill Award, created in 1996, is named for Robert Whitehill and the late Barbara Shore and celebrates volunteers who promote inclusion of people with disabilities in the fabric of Jewish life through advocacy or direct service to individuals and families.

Organizations that nominate awardees receive a grant of $1,000 to help underwrite the costs of a recognition event and/or inclusion activities. Awardees receive an original sculpture by the late Sylvia Plutchok, a Pittsburgh-based artist.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Jewish Residential Services give the award annually.

The deadline for nominations for the 2016 Shore-Whitehill Award is Jan. 15. The 2016 nomination form is available at jrspgh.org/shore-whitehill.

Contact Jewish Residential Services at shorewhitehill@jrspgh.org or 412-325-0039 for more information.

Pittsburgh School for the Choral Arts (PSCA) presents its annual All Choir Holiday Concert, “Peace on Earth,” on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 4 p.m. at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, 5121 Westminster Place. A reception follows the concert. The suggested donation at the door is $10, or you can reserve a seat at Showclix.

All PSCA choirs – Concentio (which includes the Chamber Choir), Via, Harmonia, Melodia and Vivo, the boys choir – for a total of more than 100 choristers in grades one to 12, will be performing.

Included in the concert are “Chanukah Prayer for Children,” “Hope for Resolution,” “Al Shlosha” and “Bashana.”

The PSCA offers programs, classes and camps to enrich families, communities and lives.

Visit pghchoralarts.org for more information.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh announced that the application deadline for the 2016 Pittsburgh Onward Israel internship program is Tuesday, March 15. Pittsburgh Onward Israel places students in eight-week unpaid summer internships in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Students accepted into the internship program will be in Israel June 8 to Aug. 8. The program secures internship positions in Israeli private- or public-sector organizations according to students’ interests and skills. Students will gain employment experience by working in Israeli organizations four days a week. Included in the internship program is a Hebrew study program and structured opportunities to learn about and experience Israeli society.

Program participants will also learn about Israeli culture and meet Israelis by exploring on their own the markets, nightlife, arts scene, beaches and restaurants of Tel Aviv.

Past Pittsburgh Onward Israel interns have added professional experience to their resumes by working in fields such as engineering, education, public relations and business.

During personal days off student interns will stay with host families in Pittsburgh’s Partnership communities of Karmiel and Misgav in the Central Galilee. Pittsburgh students will convene at a retreat with Jewish students from across North America and throughout the world.

Pittsburgh Onward Israel, organized by Israel Experience, is a program partnership with the generous support of the Beacon and Shapira foundations and other lead philanthropists, The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

The cost of the Pittsburgh Onward Israel program is $600, which covers lodging, insurance, in-Israel transportation, program expenses and a board stipend to cover two meals a day. Each participant makes individual arrangements for travel to and from Israel.

Applicants must be college or university students who are from the Pittsburgh Jewish community or who attend school in Pittsburgh. Preference is given to underclassmen. Applicants must have had one short-term experience in Israel, through a Birthright Israel or teen travel program.

Details and applications are available from Michael Feinberg at michaelf@hilleljuc.org.

The Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and Familylinks are pleased to announce that their respective senior centers, AgeWell at the JCC and Vintage Inc., have achieved national senior center accreditation, making these two centers the first in Western Pennsylvania to have achieved such a milestone.

Through a collaborative grant from Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Area Agency on Aging, AgeWell at the JCC and Vintage partnered to jointly pursue senior center accreditation through the National Council on Aging (NCOA)/National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC).

NCOA’s National Institute of Senior Centers offers the nation’s only national senior center accreditation program. To advance the quality of senior centers nationwide, NISC developed the program with nine standards of excellence for senior center operations. These standards serve as a guide for all senior centers to improve their operations today — and position themselves for the future. The accreditation process improves and strengthens overall senior center operations. It results in official recognition that a senior center is meeting its mission in a nationally accepted, professional fashion.

AgeWell at the JCC and Vintage serve as two of Allegheny County’s Senior Center Community Focal Points, providing an array of programs and services ranging from nutrition, fitness and wellness, socialization and recreation, volunteerism, information and referral and outreach to Allegheny County’s older adults age 60 plus.

AgeWell at the JCC has been part of the senior center network of Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services, Area Agency on Aging, since the early 1970s, providing a variety of programs and activities to stimulate the participants physically, mentally and socially, for 43 years. Unique to the senior center program is a decade old partnership — AgeWell Pittsburgh. AgeWell Pittsburgh is a collaborative program of the Jewish Association on Aging, Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and Jewish Family & Children’s Service. The goal of the collaboration is to provide seamless delivery of services to Pittsburgh’s older adults, providing support to live as independently as possible.

Vintage Inc., a service of Familylinks, was founded in 1973 as a comprehensive, urban senior center in the East End of Pittsburgh and has a focus on promoting the wellness of older adults. Vintage plays an important role in the lives of older adults by offering a wide array of high-quality activities with a focus on proactive health and wellness such as yoga and tai chi, dance and art classes, travel to museums and live performances, computer classes, health screenings, informational speakers and daily meals. Vintage is a licensed provider of Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, an evidence based program for adults to learn management strategies for conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, cancer and other ongoing health issues. Highmark, the Allegheny County Medical Society and the United Way of Allegheny County support this program.