Scarf seller comes to Pittsburgh to honor victims
Entrepreneur with "no reason" to help demonstrates "exceptional" behavior.
Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha members Renee Abrams, Ina Sable, Marlene Haus and Marcia Stewart joined entrepreneur Jeanne Pim, of Maryland, for lunch at the Frick Cafe in Point Breeze on Wednesday, May 29. The gathering facilitated an opportunity for kinship, and to wear matching silk scarves depicting Viennese artist Gustav Klimt’s “The Tree of Life.”
Following the events of Oct. 27, Pim sent scarves to several members of the congregation. Pim, a Maryland native and scarf seller, explained she has always felt a connection to Klimt’s work “with its rich shades of gold, curling branches and caramel-colored trunk rising up from a jewel-toned garden,” and decided to sell 100 “Tree of Life” scarves in order to raise money for the congregation. By Dec. 17, Pim sold 115 scarves and received several monetary donations totaling $4,500. That sum was presented to Alex Speck, of Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, on May 29.
Meeting with Pim, and hearing of her desire to benefit those in Pittsburgh, was an opportunity to connect with a new friend from afar, explained Abrams.
Pim is “not Jewish, she doesn’t live here, she has no reason to reach out and offer emotional support to congregants or fiscal support to a synagogue that needs repair,” said Abrams. “When an individual takes this upon themself with no other backing and wants to do this, I find it to be exceptional.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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