Just last week a group of J’Burgh participants and Israelis from Karmiel visited the Mayor’s office to receive the following proclamation from Mayor Ravenstahl declaring Oct. 26th J’Burgh Day!

You Can View The Proclamation Here!

Awhile ago we asked our J’Burgh participants if any of them would like the opportunity to guest blog. One amazing member stepped forward and told he would love to. This participant’s name is Alan Rosenbaum and he’s currently in his second year of Med school at Pitt. He also happens to be the Co-President of the Maimonides Society – the Jewish Medical student group. He has been a  strong and reliable leader this past year and it’s an honor to post what he wrote on our blog.

So here it goes…

Alan Rosenbaum

Being Welcomed

As Co-President of the Maimonides Society, the Jewish medical student group at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, I direct a group that brings together students of a similar faith in order to build a sense of community. But before choosing medicine as a career path, before coming to Pittsburgh for my studies, I have always been someone who has loved to travel. I find nothing more compelling than getting into other people’s cultures, understanding what makes them tick, learning how they make their decisions. Volunteering at a Sherpa school in the Himalayas? Beautiful. Staffing the Mexican Red Cross? Exciting. Assisting physicians at a health clinic in rural Tanzania? Amazing. I’ve had some once-in-a-lifetime experiences, crossed the path of admirable characters, and, hopefully, left a positive impact on the lives of others.

Out of everything I encountered, what really struck me was the way that each of these cultures received outsiders into their settlements, into their communities, and into their homes. Some of these peoples are amongst the poorest on the globe, yet they treated guests as if they were members of their own families. The Sherpa held Buddhist ceremonies, during which Tibetan monks would drape a scarf around my neck. In Mexico, my host family would invite their extended relatives and open their finest bottle of tequila. The Tanzanians spent the day slaughtering and preparing a goat or chicken to make a fresh curry. These gestures made you feel welcomed and accepted, a respected and valued member of their society.

While these experiences occurred in far-away locales, I found that Pittsburgh made equally inviting gestures upon my relocation here for medical school. Replace Buddhist ceremonies with East End Minyans, movie nights, or torah study; trade the family gatherings with a congregational one and swap tequila for beer; substitute chicken curry with latkes, egg salad, or pizza: Welcome to J’Burgh.

J’Burgh has been absolutely instrumental in my personal exploration of Pittsburgh. Through their events I’ve met new friends, discovered fun venues around the city, and matured my personal Jewish faith. With limited free time, this is one of my few means of meeting people outside of the medical school. And the events may not be directly religious – if I’m not feeling up to a Shabbat dinner, I can always skip those and attend a poker night or sporting event. If I’m too busy one week to do anything outside of school, J’Burgh graciously visits the medical school during our lunch hour, bringing guests from the community to share their personal experience and knowledge as rabbis, Jewish professionals, or Holocaust survivors.

And if that weren’t enough, the funding for these events came from J’Burgh – something that does not go unnoticed by your average graduate or professional student. I am not only grateful to J’Burgh – it has greatly expanded the opportunities available to me in my social life – but the group that fosters such a program: the dynamic, strong, and generous Pittsburgh Jewish community. After all, when others put forth a special effort to make you feel welcome, it makes you think long and hard about sticking around.

Hello!

It sure has been awhile since the J’Burgh Blog has been updated. Sorry about that. Things have definitely been busy around here and the blog is something that (sadly) gets pushed to the side when so much is going on. Since our Turkey Fry back in November we sure have had plenty of amazing events since then, not to mention our J’Burgh and P2K trip to Israel in December. If you want to learn more about our trip, check out that blog here: http://jburghgoestoisrael.blogspot.com/

The J’Burgh Israel Group.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

In honor of the approaching delicious, American holiday; we here at J’Burgh had quite a fun time this past Sunday evening. Thanks to Katie and Randy Whitlatch (and their adorable son, Nate) for hosting the 3rd annual event at their home. This year was a complete success with upwards of 30 J’Burgh attendees and 2 very larges fried turkeys to be eaten (along with other Thanksgiving faves).

Thanks to everyone who came and helped to make this event possible. Cannot wait til next year’s! Also, note to self, kosher marshmallows do not melt like regular ones do. Oops.

Here are some pics from the lovely evening. Please enjoy

watchin’ football and catching up.

Sophia showing off the green beens with onion topper. mmm.

Becca, Jonah, and Beth!

Two of our 3 hosts for the evening, Katie and Nate!

Nice posing Julie.

Benji, Perry, and Jonah.

Jack, Kiki, and Jason.

watchin’ the turkey fry…

yummy…

the lovely spread.

Once again, thanks to everyone who came and made this event such a success!

Until next time…

High Holiday Hangover Par-tay and J’Burgh PSL Sports Banquet

On Saturday night J’Burgh had a Fall Par-Tay at PSL players favorite bar, Hough’s.  We also combined it with our Sports Banquet where we gave some nice awards (mostly in the form of PSL t-shirts…wooo) to J’Burgh players. I hope everyone had a great time and enjoyed a nice beer and some delicious appetizers. yesss.

Jesse, Josh, and me.

A proud Aaron with his award.

Our MVP’s here at J’Burgh Sports. Craig and Beth.

Sock Monkey Makin’

And last but not least was a great event we had on Sunday where we partnered with Product Lexicon in East Liberty to help make sock monkeys! The finished monkeys will be donated to The Children’s Hospital! So as you can see…a pretty great weekend to be had by J’Burgh.

Beth’s Star Monkey!

Beth and me with our amazing sock monkey creations!

Until next time….