Category Archives: Holidays

The Advance of Art in Carnegie

Andrea Lepcio and France Hilbert

My friend Phil Salvato is fond of pointing out that a community that has art is a community that thrives in all other aspects— shops, restaurants, business, housing. When we look at the revival of Carnegie over the past few years, it is obvious that the arts are certainly a factor. Although we do have the 3rd Street Gallery and The Clay Place, I would point to music and live theater as major developments. Phil himself, while being mostly known for his painting, has been a tireless promoter of jazz in Carnegie for the past 20 years. The Pour House brings live music to Carnegie every Tues-Sat evenings. But what actually sets the Pour House apart from other taverns is that they also have live music during lunchtime and happy hour. Our Carnegie Library Music Hall (which also is known by its awkward but appropriate nickname, the Carnegie Carnegie) rounds out the musical offerings in the borough with performances ranging from opera to chamber music to choral works appropriate for that grand venue.

Just as significant as the growth of music is the growth of live theater in Carnegie. Our Music Hall hosts two resident theater companies— Pittsburgh Savoyards and Stage 62. These two very different theater companies have loyal followers in the Pittsburgh area and draw a lot of people into town from other communities. More recently, Hans and Virginia Gruenert moved Off the Wall Theater from Washington, PA to Main Street. Newly reorganized as The Carnegie Stage, it hosts the Off The Wall Theater company and the Firewall Dance company. This month The Carnegie Stage is hosting New Works Festival, a month long program of brand new one-act plays. This long running annual festival moved to Carnegie three years ago in another sign of Carnegie’s burgeoning theater scene.

The growth of the music and theater scene has caused a boom in new restaurants and shops in Carnegie. This in turn has caused other businesses, like engineering and software companies to want to locate in Carnegie. This Main Street ‘vibe’ helps them attract and retain employees. The spin off effects are real and observable. How many of you can say that you can walk from your office to have lunch at one of 10 unique non-chain restaurants? And that’s not counting the ice cream shop at Flying Squirrel. Critics of course will say that they can go to many other venues to hear live music and see live theater. That’s true. And they will say that they can drive to any restaurant they want. And that’s true, too. But what they can not say is that all of those things are in walking distance from their home and office. Yes, it’s great that we are bringing guests into town from neighboring communities. But while many communities claim that they are “great places to live, work, and play”, Carnegie is actually doing it.

OK, the original intent of this story was to tell you about two special guests we had at shul for Yom Kippur. But I migrated into talking about how great Carnegie is, and I can’t ever turn that spigot off!

I made several new acquaintances during the Holidays, including Harry Scheyer, Philip Green, and Ed Elikan. But of special interest were two women who are visiting Carnegie on arts related projects. They were surprised to learn that there was a shul in Carnegie, and that they could attend Yom Kippur services here, and it was close enough to walk!

Andrea Lepcio is a playwright who has lived most of her life in Boston. Her play Searching for the Pony debuted here in Carnegie last year, and I know some of you saw it. It is the story of a family dealing with breast cancer. Well, Andrea is back. Her newest play Tunnel Vision will have its world premiere here in Carnegie on October 16. It will run for two weeks at The Carnegie Stage on Main Street before heading to lesser known theater towns like NYC. Andrea will be here in Carnegie for the next month or so, as she helps the cast prepare. She told me that we should expect to see her at the shul during that time. Click HERE for more information about her upcoming production.

Talma statue in production

Talma statue in production

France Hilbert has an easy to remember name. She is France from France. Born and raised in Paris, but spending much of her adult life in NYC, France is a painter and sculptor currently living in Bar Harbor, Maine. In addition to her artwork, she was active in Yiddish life in NYC. She is known for her outdoor permanent exhibits like the statue of Talma, on display at the Theatre of the Valley of L’Yerres, in Brunoy, France. See more of France’s work HERE and HERE.

Samples of France Hilbert works.

Samples of France Hilbert works.

As Carnegie continues to renew itself, we should expect that events such as the visit of Andrea Lepcio and France Hilbert will become more typical and less rare.

Note: it’s important to clarify that the above photo of Andrea and France in the sanctuary was not taken during the Yomtov; I took it after the Wednesday Maariv service following the conclusion of Yom Kippur. —Rick

 

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Founders Day

Falk Kantor

Falk Kantor

Each year on Shabbos Zachor we take a moment to remember Markus Sherman, the man who founded our congregation. His yahrzeit is just two days before Purim. The Sherman family was one of the first Jewish families to move to Carnegie and by the Spring of 1896 there were enough families to form a small congregation. Initially they met in the Sherman home. But Carnegie was in a dramatic growth mode and soon the congregation outgrew the Sherman house. The congregation had its first board meeting in May of 1898 and just a few more years after that board decided that the congregation had grown big enough to require its own building. In 1903 the board filed incorporation papers with the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. The charter stated, “The purpose of this corporation shall be the worshiping of the Almighty God according to the faith, doctrines, discipline and usages of the Orthodox Jewish Church”. If you find the term Jewish Church odd, I will tell you that in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania all religious institutions are referred to as churches. This terminology has an interesting history, on which I will elaborate at another time.

There were 15 signers on the original charter. Some were names that are well known to us even today: Sherman, Klee, York, Miller, Speizer. Others we have lost track of. One of those names was Falk Kanterowitz; he is listed as one of the first officers of the congregation. To me, he was just a name on a piece of paper until in 2009 a man named Abraham Goldberg contacted me from Jerusalem. He asked if we had information on Falk Kantor, the first president of the Carnegie shul. Wow! Who would expect such an email? He was doing research on the Silverstone family, a well known rabbinic family in Liverpool, England. Well, I dug up for him what I could, which wasn’t much. Together, Abraham and I pieced together information by combining what he had from family records and what we could find in the Criterion, the old Pittsburgh Jewish paper.

Beaver Falls shulWhat a fascinating story unfolded! Falk Kanterowitz came from a family of “shul builders”, if I may use that term for people who were the community organizers within the Jewish community. Falk Kantor (yes, he came to Carnegie as Falk Kanterowitz) built the first shul in Carnegie and was our first president. The shul was located on Broadway St. at the site of the current Family Dollar store. And it turns out that Falk also built the Beaver Falls shul. It was a regular family affair. Samuel Rabinowitz, we believe to be a nephew of Falk, was the founding president of the Beaver Falls shul. Another nephew, Rabbi G. Silverstone, was the rabbi of a shul in Washington DC. Please see the article from the Criterion on the right. At first blush it looks like a simple story of a shul opening, but the story takes on a different flavor when you realize that Kantor, Rabinowitz, and Silverstone were close family members.

You might think this story of historical detective work would have ended after we concluded our findings. Then one day out of the blue, one of our members, Joe Hoffman, said to me at shul, “I met a woman named Francis Bebo at the Steubenville shul, and she says her great grandfather built the Carnegie shul.” Really? I contacted her, and her and husband John paid me a visit. Yes, she is a descendent of Falk and Ada Kantor. Falk’s daughter Rose married Joe Bales, and then moved to Washington, PA. Florence is a descendent of the marriage. She has family pictures, one of which is the photo of Falk that you see above.

It turns out that another descendent, a Dr. Falk Arnheim from Mt. Lebanon is a grandson. As well, there are three brothers who carry the Kantor family name and are great grandsons. One of the brothers carries the name Falk Kantor and lives not far from the Tiphereth Israel Cemetery in Shaler where Falk and his wife Ada are buried. This coming Shabbos we will honor Falk and Ada Kantor with a special Kiddush at shul. Members of the Kantor family will be in attendance. I hope you will join us for this very special Founders Day.

 

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Hungarians

Budapest cookiesLast month I told you about a controversial Holocaust memorial in Budapest. Today, on this last day before Hanukkah, let me share a photo I received this week from Budapest. It requires no explanation.

 

This past Shabbos we had a very nice Kiddush in honor of two members of the Sherman family: Connie and Dr. Sam Sherman. It was hosted by their daughter Patty Barnet and her husband Alan.  Sam was the youngest child of Markus Sherman, our shul’s founder.  I told Patty that each year on the Shabbos before Markus’ yahrzeit we have what amounts to an informal “founders day” simply by remembering Markus and his contribution to us. This year that will fall on Feb 28, and Patty said she would like to be present. Many of you know that the Carnegie Shul was founded primarily by Hungarians, and that includes the Sherman family. Most of the Hungarian immigrants came to Carnegie well over 100 years ago, but the path to Carnegie was not always direct.  There were many Hungarian Jews in the Homestead-Braddock area and some of those families came to Carnegie. Others took a different path. Ike and Miriam Sax left Hungary in 1952 (not a simple feat to accomplish during the early Cold War years) and after some intermediate transit stops, came to settle directly in Carnegie. Aside from Patty, we have contact with the descendants of other original charter signers Benjamin Turk and Falk Kantor. Perhaps this year we can embellish our “founders day” remembrance by inviting them.  Mark your calendar: February 28.

I hope you have a festive Hanukkah, and I welcome your comments about the Hungarian families in our shul.

 

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2013 High Holiday Bulletin

For those who are not members but wish to have a copy of our High Holiday bulletin, click HERE.  Service times are on the last page.  Many thanks to Michael Roteman who wrote, formatted, and edited the entire thing.  Great job!

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Carnegie Shul Chatter – August 15, 2013

Candle lighting time is 7:59

A Righteous People

As I read this week’s parshah, Ki Thetze, and thought back over the last two parshahs, it occurred to me once again that many of the mitzvos that Moses reiterates in his farewell address have a common goal – to make the Jewish people a righteous people; a people who stand apart and above, in ethical and moralistic terms, of the pagans and idol worshippers of the day.

Two weeks ago Moses issued a challenge to his people, to choose the fork in the road that would take them on the high road to the laws of God, or down the wrong road to a hedonistic life lacking in the rewards that God had promised to the Jewish people.

In this week’s parshah we see a continuation of the recounting of mitzvos that would make our ancestors far more righteous, far more humanitarian, than any of their contemporaries.  There are 74 mitzvos in this parshah and among those that stand out to me are those dealing with the burial and dignity of the dead, treatment of slaves, treatment of servants and employees, fair treatment of debtors, laws pertaining to warfare, and proper treatment of a divorcee.  There are even laws on how to treat a fallen animal.

Yes, God has given us laws to make us a righteous people, and yet, as humans we all too often do not live up to the standard that God has asked of us.  With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur right around the corner, can there be a better time for us to resolve to be a little more righteous during the coming year?  I believe that the rewards will be well worth the effort.

The Shofar

The holiday edition of our newsletter, The Shofar, was e-mailed to our members with e-mail addresses this week.  If you did not get one, please let me know.  I will be glad to send it to you even if you are not a member.  Members who do not have e-mail received paper copies by snail mail.

I am posting here our holiday schedule.  Please note that the schedule correct time for the Breaking of the Fast is 8:12.

Holiday Schedule 5774, 2013

Rosh Hashanah

Wednesday, September 4

Evening Service…………………… 7:15pm

Thursday, September 5

Preliminary Service………………. 8:30am

Shachris…………………………………. 9am

Torah Reading……………………….. 10am

Sermon…………………………….. 10:45am

Musaf………………………………. 11:15am

Recess……………………………….. 1:15pm

Tashlich……………………………… 6:15pm

Minchah………………………………… 7pm

Maariv……………………………….. 7:15pm

Friday, September 6

Preliminary Service………………. 8:30am

Shachris…………………………………. 9am

Torah Reading……………………….. 10am

Sermon…………………………….. 10:45am

Musaf ……………………………… 11:15am

Shabbos

Saturday, September 7

Morning Service…………………… 9:20am

Yom Kippur

Friday, September 13

Kol Nidre …………………………… 7:15pm

Sermon……………………………… 7:30pm

Maariv ………………………………. 7:45pm

Saturday, September 14

Preliminary Service…………………… 9am

Shachris……………………………… 9:30am

Torah Reading……………………. 10:30am

Sermon…………………………….. 11:15am

Yizkor……………………………….. 11:45am

Musaf………………………………. 12:15pm

Recess……………………………….. 2:30pm

Minchah…………………………….. 5:50pm

Neilah……………………………….. 6:50pm

Breaking of the Fast……………… 8:12pm

Sukkos

Thursday, September 19

Morning Service…………………… 9:20am

Friday, September 20

Morning Service…………………… 9:20am

Thursday, September 26

Preliminary Service………………. 9:20am

Shachris……………………………… 9:40am

Yizkor…………………………………… 11am

Simchas Torah

Friday, S­­eptember 27

Morning Service…………………… 9:20am

 

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