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I have been livestreaming services from my living room since March 13, hoping to bring some semblance of the familiar to a totally unfamiliar situation.  No one could have anticipated that I would still be doing so seven months later.  Despite the hope and desire for in-person High Holy Day services, the health and safety of our congregation had to take precedence, thus my...Read more...

We’ve just concluded what a significant percentage of the Jewish population might say is our holiest day of the year. Coming at the conclusion of Ten Days of Penitence, and an even lengthier month prior, the goals for this period of introspection have remained constant for the millennia: reflect on our past actions; make amends to those whom we have wronged; identify ways to become an even...Read more...

Shalom. I a Jeffrey Myers, the Rabbi of the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh. You might wonder what I am doing standing on the roof of my synagogue? Is this a modern version of a Rabbi on the Roof?  Well, yes and no.
I’m here to shout from the rooftops that the Tree of Life lives. Neither 10.27 nor a pandemic has stopped us from our mission to bring Judaism to all who seek it. While we have not been meeting in our beloved building since 10.27, we never closed. We have continued providing religious services, education for all age groups, life observances and cultural and social programming, despite the challenges that we have faced.
Soon we will be announcing important news about our rebuilding campaign, but for now, I stand here to remind all who seek us that we are still here.
"Etz Chayim Hi", we are a Tree of Life to all who seek us, and all who support us are enriched. If you are looking for a place to pray these holidays, we warmly welcome you.  Just go to our website, www.treeoflifepgh.org/highholidays, and there you can find information to be our guests for our virtual services.
May the coming year of 5781 be one of good health and joy to your family, and may we soon be able to gather safely in person to celebrate doing Jewish together.
L’shana Tova Tikatevu v’Techatemu. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Video credit - Sandy Riemer

We are about to enter the High Holiday season of 2020. This year will be different from our last several years in many ways.

We will not be at the corner of Wilkins and Shady in our building. We will not be at the Calvary Episcopal Church, which was so welcoming to us in 2019. We will not even be together in the same place celebrating the New Year. We will have virtual services, each of us in our own homes on our computers or...Read more...

During this month of Elul, the final month of the Jewish calendar, we are called upon to reflect upon our year in a period of introspection. I ponder the big questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? The conversation that I have with God gets me to think about how I have fared during the year, and what I might do to become a better version of myself.

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