Metro Briefs January 16

Temple Sinai will host the Winter Institute for Temple Youth (WINSTY), a social action weekend from Jan. 17 to 19. More than 112 teens from across the state, including 35 from Pittsburgh and West Virginia, are expected to attend the program.

The teens will volunteer a combined 672 hours of work for 20 city nonprofits. There also will be an education component to the weekend and the teens will have time to meet and socialize.

Some 85 volunteers who will be helping the teens over the course of the weekend and 29 families have opened their homes to visiting teens.

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WINSTY is a function of the North American Federation of Temple Youth/ Pennsylvania Region (NFTY/PAR). Contact Jackie Braslawsce at jackie@templesinaipgh.org or 412-303-5769 for more information.

Judy Cohen, photoarchivist at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, will speak about the Mantello Rescue Mission, Sunday, Feb. 9, at Young People’s Synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

Mantello was a Hungarian Jew who got a job in the Salvadoran Consulate in Switzerland, from which he issued thousands of certificates of Salvadoran citizenship to Jews throughout Europe during World War II.

Cohen, who has researched this time period, has collected material for the Mantello archive and curated a Mantello exhibit at the Holocaust Museum.

YPS and the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh are co-sponsoring the event.

The Sisterhood of Rodef Shalom will screen “The Rape of Europa,” at its next Movie Night, Sunday, Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., in Levy Hall.

“The Rape of Europa,” a 2007 award-winning documentary, explores the plunder of great European art by Hitler during World War II, much of it from Jewish families and collectors.

The subject retains popular culture interest with the upcoming release of “The Monuments Men,” a George Clooney film on the same topic of the return of Nazi-stolen artwork.

The screening is free and open to the community.

The Jewish Domestic Abuse Task Force will sponsor a Lunch & Learn, Wednesday, Jan. 15, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Labor Zionist Education Center located at 6328 Forbes Ave., in Squirrel Hill.

Guest speaker Rhonda Fleming, education director of the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, will discuss “Understanding the Batterer’s Mindset.” Fleming is the supervisor for the MEN/S batterer intervention program at the Women’s Center & Shelter, and also facilitates weekly groups with men.

The program is free and open to the public. Participants are asked to bring their lunch; drinks and light snacks will be provided.

If Pittsburgh Public Schools are closed due to weather conditions or if there is a two-hour school delay, the program will be cancelled.

Call Bari Benjamin at 412-521-3800 or Dee Selekman at 412-521-5253 for more information.

Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha is hosting its monthly Zugot Pot Luck Dinner, Friday, Jan. 17, for young adults, ages 22 to 40.  The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a special musical Shabbat program, followed by a dairy potluck dinner. Contact Alex Speck at 412-521-6788 or aspeck88@yahoo.com for reservations.

Congregation Beth Shalom is presenting the second year of its Health Initiative Lecture series.

The lecture series was designed to increase communitywide awareness of current health-related issues and allows for professionals to share their wisdom and experience with the Pittsburgh community.  


Dr. Lewis Kuller, a researcher and professor of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health, will kick off the 2014 series on Monday, Jan. 20, with a discussion entitled “Do We Live Too Long?” Kuller is internationally recognized for his contributions to the study of cardiovascular disease, including the use of noninvasive techniques to detect early stage heart disease.

Kuller’s presentation will take place at Congregation Beth Shalom, at 7:30 p.m. in the Samuel & Minnie Hyman Ballroom.  


Here is the rest of this year’s lecture schedule:

• Tuesday, Feb. 11: “Palliative Care: Why Should You Care?” with Dr. Robert M. Arnold, professor of medicine and chief of the Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics at the University of Pittsburgh;

• Monday, March 10: “Help Kids Take Responsibility for Their Health” with Dr. Deborah Gilboa, board-certified family physician and clinical assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh;

• Tuesday, March 25: “Finding Your Way To and Through College: Fostering Resilience in Today’s Culture of Stress” with Kurt Kumler, director of counseling and psychological services at Carnegie Mellon University.

Central Scholarship and Loan Referral Service (CSLRS) is taking scholarship applications for the 2014-2015 school year.

Applications are due by Feb. 11. Area Jewish students may apply at

centralscholarship.org.

CSLRS, a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh administered by Jewish Family & Children’s Service, coordinates the efforts of a group of organizations, agencies and scholarship endowment funds, which provide scholarships to local Jewish students enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education.

Any Jewish high school senior or those enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate or technical school with demonstrated financial need and living in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington or Westmoreland counties may apply. Applicants must reside in one of these counties for at least two years before applying, and financial need must be demonstrated.

Last year CSLRS awarded more than $400,000 in scholarships to 204 area Jewish students.

Contact Alayne Lowenberger, JF&CS scholarship program director, at alowenberger@jfcspgh.org or at 412-422-7200 for more information.

Parkway Jewish Center will hold a Tu B’Shevat-themed lecture, Friday, Jan. 17, at 7:15 p.m.

Brian Wolyniak, an urban forester with the Penn State University Extension and Allegheny County Office, will speak about trees locally and across Pennsylvania.

The lecture, following 6 p.m. Friday night services, is free and open to the public.

The Jewish Community Center and Jewish National Fund will present a Tu B’Shevat Shabbat Dinner, Friday, Jan. 17, from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. in the JCC’s Levinson Hall.

The evening will include dinner and family friendly activities, Taste of Israel treats and Israeli dancing.

Cost of the event is $10 per person, $14 per community, $36 per family of four, JCC members. $48/community. Children under 2 are free.

Registration is required. Contact Lauren Goldman at 412-521-8011, ext. 852.