PITTSBURGH, PA - As I entered Temple Sinai, an unusual sight immediately jolted me - a jukebox adorned in blue and white with the flag of Israel. Instead of album covers in the jukebox, there were blue and white signs reading “Reform Jews 4 Israel,” with a note that they were provided by the World Zionist Congress.
Next to the Israeli jukebox sat a large table with the phrase “Am Yisrael Chai!” (which means “Israel lives”) and a sign proclaiming “Never Again Is Now.” Below the sign was a table with candles representing the prisoners taken by Hamas during the October 7th attacks on Israel.
There is no adjacent table with candles representing the 50,000 Palestinians that have been killed by Israel’s invasion of Gaza, or the unknown number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, estimated at over 10,000
My grandparents, both Jewish World War Two veterans and civil rights activists, believed that Israel was an apartheid state and for years, I had avoided spaces like the Temple Sinai due to their Zionist propaganda.
But, I wasn’t there last week for a Zionist event. I was there for the “De-ICE Ball,” a fundraiser for the local immigrants’ group, Casa San Jose, whose ICE bail bond fund helps immigrants get out of ICE detention centers.
The event brought in a record $18,000 for the small ICE bail bond fund, the largest amount that the fund has ever raised at an event in Pittsburgh.
“There's nothing like when the Jewish community shows up. You guys are no joke,” says Monica Ruiz, the director of Casa San Jose, a local immigrants’ rights center in Pittsburgh.
She recounts how when she first got involved in immigrants’ rights organizing in Pittsburgh more than a decade ago, she was shocked by how persistently Jews showed up for immigrants.
“It wasn't like [Jewish] folks just showed up like, ‘Hey, we're sorry that this is happening, we (would) like to help out, let us know what you'd like us to do,’” says Ruiz. “No, no, no, it was like, ‘Okay, we're here. What do you want us to do? No, no, we're here right now, right now. What do we do right now?’ And it never stopped. It never stopped.”
The crowd of over 100 Jewish activists breaks out in cheers as she praises Pittsburgh’s Jewish communities’ commitment to immigrants’ rights.
“I'm shocked at how many people showed up,” says Harry Hocheiser, one of the organizers of the event.
Harry is a member of the Dor Hadash Synagogue. In 2018, one of their congregation’s members, Dr Jerry Rabonwitz, was killed when a fascist shot 11 Jews, who attended three different congregations located in the Tree of Life Synagogue complex, just a few blocks from Temple Sinai
The shooter said that he murdered them because their congregations were fundraising to help immigrants through the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. This point has been largely erased from annual commemoration ceremonies of the massacre, but for some Jews like Harry it resonates.
“I think to some extent, that's faded from people's memories a little bit even here, but it's definitely in the back of my mind,” says Harry.
Harry thinks Jews, though, are largely motivated to help immigrants due to their own history of persecution.
He points out the fundraiser was taking place right around the 86th anniversary of the United States turning away the SS St. Louis, which was carrying over 900 Jewish refugees fleeing from Hitler, who were denied entry to the United States; 254 of the passengers would later be killed in the Holocaust when they were returned to Europe.
“It's knowing your history, and it's looking back to think, ‘Hey, you know what, what was it like for my grandparents,’” says Harry. “I can't imagine being turned back or turned away.”
Harry says another reason why the Jewish community is behind immigrants’ rights is because of the deep divisions within the community over Israel and Palestine.
71% of Jews voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Election according to the non-partisan Jewish Electorate Institute. The Jewish community still remains firmly opposed to Donald Trump, who has many ties to Neo-Nazi groups.
“I think particularly at this moment, there are a lot of people who are just looking to do something, and particularly for the Jewish community right now, this is something that doesn't have anything to do with Israel-Palestine, and so it's easy,” says Harry. “This is a nice place to come together and say, here's something we can all agree on, this important cause that needs to be respected and needs to be worked on at the moment.”
Even among the sponsors of the De-ICE Ball, there is a clear divide over Israel and Palestine.
The event is sponsored by the Jewish group Bend the Arc Pittsburgh, who endorsed Congresswoman Summer Lee. Lee labeled Israel’s attack on Gaza as a genocide and faced millions spent in AIPAC attack ads during her re-election in 2024. The fundraiser is also sponsored by Temple Sinai, whose rabbi helped lead some of those attacks against Congresswoman Lee.
However, for Harry Hocheiser, who's long been involved with Bend the Arc, he’s glad to see the Jewish community coming together to help the oppressed.
“Some people in the Jewish community say, ‘Well, the Jews have to stick together, and we're our own little world,’ and I don't believe that,” says Harry. “I think we've got to make connections with and build ties with all these other communities of people who are potentially at risk, and potentially also our allies and our helpers.”
