Chat with us, powered by LiveChat
Results for: Jewish Life
Know what you're looking for?

JCC State of Mind: A weekly message to staff, board, and stakeholders

December 1, 2023 The Peloton bike at the JCC has become an integral component of my training for the DEKA World Championships being held this weekend in Dallas (more on that below), and at some point during my ride on the Peloton earlier this week, the instructor exclaimed, “Self-care is not selfish.” This was met with wild applause in the NYC Peloton studio, and it really got me …

read more

Start the New Year with a Mitzvah: Rosh Hashanah 2023

To ring in the Jewish New Year, more than 100 people gathered at both JCC's in Squirrel Hill and South Hills to celebrate and help give back to our community. Volunteers spent their time packing care kits filled with donation items that will be given right back to the Pittsburgh community. Care kits are being provided to local organizations fighting food and job insecurity, poverty, and …

read more

Fun Facts about the Jewish High Holidays

It's a special time of year, a time to "Start Fresh." To help you prepare, we put together an infographic -- kind of a "fresh" take with interesting facts and information. Wishing each and every one of you Shanah Tovah Umetukah, "A Good and Sweet Year."

read more

Cheesecake – The Taste of Shavuot

Holidays, especially Jewish Holidays, are not the best time to enforce a weight loss diet. Take Shavuot, which this year begins on the eve of Thursday, May 25. For reasons that some attribute to parsing of Jewish law and others, to a tradition that evolved amongst Eastern European Jews, dairy - cheese and one of its sweetest uses, cheesecake - is a Shavuot treat. And so, a …

read more

The Secret to a Sweet Passover: Matzo Brittle

I used to joke that I chose our synagogue because I liked the cookbook. There was some truth to that although as far as recipes go, the very best one was not in the book. Every year, some of us volunteered to do a mass bake of Matzo Brittle to sell to members, using a recipe that I believe was handed down from our rabbi's …

read more

“Borcas” — Grandma Cele’s Beet Preserves

Another Passover Recipe My husband's Grandma Cele often talked about making her Passover specialties for her sons - carrot candy and something she called "borcas." I did not grow up in a home with Old Country food traditions, so I had no idea what she was talking about. After she'd passed away and I wanted to continue the family tradition, I asked around to find a recipe …

read more

JCC PGH Leadership Succession 2023

The Board of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh is pleased to announce a planned executive leadership succession at the agency, effective September 1, 2023. Longtime JCC and community leader Brian Schreiber will assume a new role at the JCC as Chief External Affairs Officer & Special Advisor to the CEO after serving nearly 25 years as the agency’s President & CEO. The JCC’s Chief Program …

read more

Close up: Anna B. Heldman

On this International Women's Day, the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh recognizes Anna B. Heldman, a pioneer in human service and important part of our history. The JCC comes from a rich history as a settlement house that began in the Hill District in 1895. Miss Heldman joined the staff of the Columbian School and Settlement on October 1, 1902. The story of her 38 years of service …

read more

Make a Meal of Hamantaschen!

Don't get me wrong; we LOVE traditional hamantaschen. Yiddish for "Haman's pockets" and also interpreted in old legend as Haman's three-cornered hat, some of us consider these delectable sweet pastries as a way to get back at Haman, the villain in the Purim story in the Biblical Book of Esther. To commemorate his downfall, we eat his hat! Miriam Szokovski, in an article on unique hamantaschen recipes a couple of …

read more

An Evening with Yankees Pitcher Scott Effross

Having a space to openly talk about all things baseball, his Jewish identity, and mental health is a top priority for New York Yankees Pitcher, Scott Effross. Effross and his wife Brittany have chosen Pittsburgh as their home in the off season because they fell in love with its charm after she attended Duquesne University. Being a native of Twinsburg, Ohio, also meant the two would …

read more