MW - GD - Pittsburgh, Hadassah, and Classrooms Without Borders: Discussions on Antisemitism - 2026

We are pleased to present these informative virtual programs focusing on the fight against antisemitism.

January 20 - The Rise of Contemporary Antisemitism: How Did We Get to This Moment?

In 2022, the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) reported that the number of antisemitic incidents in the US had reached its highest level since 1979. That was before October 7 and the ensuing war that unfolded in the Gaza Strip. Is it possible to identify a starting point for the increase of attacks on American Jews? Why has antisemitism been rising? Is it coming from the political Right or the political Left? This presentation from Classrooms Without Borders Scholar-in-Residence Avi Ben-Hur (see bio below) will shed light on how we reached this point and discuss where things might be going.

February 17 - Antisemitism: What Can We Do? What Are We Doing?

Given the shock many American Jews are evincing over the perceived rise in antisemitic attacks, one might get the impression that "we have fallen asleep at the wheel." Moderator Kate Lukaszewicz from Classrooms Without Borders leads a discussion with leading professionals (below) to answer the question: What are Jewish organizations doing to fight back against antisemitism, and what part can we play in this struggle as individuals?

Moderator

Kate Lukaszewicz brings 20 years of education experience to Classrooms Without Borders. She is an expert in instructional and assessment design, teacher professional development, and facilitating civil discourse in classrooms. She is an alum of Literacy*AmeriCorps, where she taught GED skills at the Allegheny County Jail; an alum of Teach For America Baltimore City, where she taught for several years; and, most recently, Kate taught Civics at Sewickley Academy, where she was awarded the R.P. Simmons Family Chair for Excellence in Teaching and was a Sculley Sabbatical recipient. In 2019, Classrooms Without Borders awarded Kate’s lesson plan on October 27th first place in a contest for commemorative lesson plans. In 2021, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of America History recognized her as one of ten designers of innovative lesson plans based on the Gilder Lehrman Collection of primary sources. A perennial learner, Kate has earned graduate degrees in Government, Public History, and Curriculum and Instruction. She participated in five CWB study seminars and staffed two more, in addition to leading a three-part series on the work of Primo Levi. Above all, Kate brings faith that teachers are key to opening minds and hearts.

Panelists

Originally from New York, Avi Ben-Hur has recently moved to Pittsburgh to become the Scholar-in-Residence for Classrooms Without Borders (CWB). Avi is an informal educator specializing in Holocaust studies, Antisemitism, Land of Israel studies, Jewish history & heritage and the Arab-Israeli conflict. He taught in Yad Vashem's International School of Holocaust Studies from 1996-2000 and has trained a generation of Israeli tour guides. Avi collaborated with Dr. Tsipy Gur in developing and implementing CWB's educator seminars in Europe and Israel.

Shawn A. Brokos spent 24 years as an FBI Special Agent, leading investigations in public corruption, violent crime, financial fraud, civil rights, and the opioid epidemic in Newark, NJ and Pittsburgh, PA. She created and supervised several opioid and darknet-focused task forces and oversaw the Tree of Life synagogue shooting investigation. A longtime Crisis Negotiator, she also served as the FBI Pittsburgh Crisis Management Coordinator and received the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence in Training. Since 2020, Shawn has been the Director of Community Security for the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, managing security strategy, crisis response, and training for 62 local Jewish organizations. She has helped secure over $8.2 million in grants, expanded emergency alert systems, and trained more than 40,000 people in active threat response. Shawn’s work has been recognized with the 2023 “Righteous Among the Neighbors” honor and the 2024 Rudolph Community Service Award.

Dr. Kelly Fishman is the Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League’s Ohio River Valley office covering Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, & Western Pennsylvania. Kelly began her career in higher education administration at the University of Miami (Florida), the University of Michigan, and Case Western Reserve University. After completing her master's degree in education, Kelly worked for over a decade as a high school English teacher, club advisor, and diversity, equity and inclusion lead at Solon High School in Northeast Ohio. Kelly joined the ADL in June of 2022 as the Education Director. In March of 2023 she moved into the Regional Director role. In addition to her work at ADL, she recently completed her Doctor of Education degree in diversity and equity in education through the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and has written chapters for the textbook Diversity in Perspective: Thinking and Acting.

Dan Marcus, Executive Director and CEO of The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh, is originally from London and has spent over 20 years working for the Hillel movement. Dan was Executive Director of Johns Hopkins Hillel and spent six years as Chief Executive of UJS Hillel in the UK, which is the national Jewish student organization supporting and representing over 8,000 Jewish students across the country. Dan was the Assistant Director at Hillel JUC from 2001-2006 before returning in 2013 as Hillel JUC’s Executive Director and CEO. Dan is a passionate advocate for Jewish students. His door is always open to every student and coffee (or tea) is always on him.

Julie Paris is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director at StandWithUs. Julie grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Tulane University with a BA in Judaic Studies with a minor in Business. After completing a fellowship in Israel, she graduated with an MA in Middle Eastern History from Tel Aviv University. She’s spent the last 25 years fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel in both her professional and volunteer capacity and is dedicated to educating and empowering the Jewish community and engaging both Jewish and non-Jewish communities to tell Israel’s story and fight back against misinformation. At StandWithUs, she works with organizations, community members, schools, and government officials to offer educational resources and training on .a variety of topics affecting the Jewish community today and fight back against the dramatic rise of antisemitism through legal resources and legislative change. You can read more about StandWithUs by visiting www.standwithus.com.

Event or registration questions? Please contact Hadassah at 847.205.1900 or midwest@hadassah.org.