Future of Tree of Life focus of Fox Chapel program
People can hear plans for the future of Tree of Life in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood — the site of the 2018 shooting that marked the deadliest antisemitic attack in the country — during a mid-March presentation in Fox Chapel.
Carole Zawatsky is the new CEO of a nonprofit institute called Tree of Life, whose goal is to eradicate antisemitism. She will be among the guest speakers hosted by the Fox Chapel Area affiliate of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The reimagined Tree of Life facility will be part memorial, part museum and part worship space.
The AAUW program is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 14 at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Fox Chapel and Field Club roads.
Carol Sikov Gross, immediate past president of the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha Congregation, will be another guest speaker at the program themed “Remember, Rebuild, Renew.”
Gross is a lifelong member of the congregation and has been on the educational committees of Tree of Life for many years.
Zawatsky will lead the new nonprofit organization headquartered at Tree of Life, charged with helping guide its expanded mission. She previously held leadership positions at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, among others.
Eleven people died in the 2018 shooting at the synagogue, which housed the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations.
Gross and Zawatsky are expected to talk about the building plans, mission and projections for the synagogue’s future.
The rebirth is dedicated to the vision of a world free of antisemitism, the pair said.
While the site will still be home to the Tree of Life congregation, the mission has been reimagined to include a memorial to the victims, a museum, The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and an education center with outreach initiatives.
Architect Daniel Libeskind is leading the creative design team, working in partnership with Rothschild Doyno Collaborative of Pittsburgh.
Groundbreaking is expected this year, with construction scheduled to be complete in 2024.
Tawnya Panizzi is a TribLive reporter. She joined the Trib in 1997. She can be reached at tpanizzi@triblive.com.
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