May 12: Lag B'omer
Lag B'Omer is a springtime Jewish holiday, named for its occurrence on the 33rd day of the "Omer" period between the festivals of Passover and Shavuot.

"But," as the local American Jewish Outlook noted in 1936, " just as through the centuries one city was built on top of another more ancient than itself, so in Jewish history, the various days of the year came to be associated with events coming on the same day or during the same period although many centuries apart." Lag B'Omer has come to commemorate various markers and milestones throughout Jewish history, such as the death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochi and the cessation of a plague afflicting the students of Rabbi Akiva.

The day is closely associated with students and has often been celebrated in religious schools with plays, dances, and hikes. Some events were more social than scholarly. As seen above, the Young Men's Zionist Association of Pittsburgh held a Lag B'Omer dance at the former Duquesne Garden in 1918.

[IMAGE: Jewish Criterion, April 26, 1918, page 21.]
May 13: Guyasuta Gangsters
In the summer of 1930, a handful of Pittsburgh gambling racketeers went into the dog racing business. They financed and opened a greyhound racing track near the intersection of Freeport and Fox Chapel Roads. Lawsuits and criminal investigations kept the Guyasuta Kennel Club in the headlines for six weeks. The track closed permanently and left in its wake political controversy that contributed to the founding of Fox Chapel Borough.

Public historian and preservation expert David Rotenstein will tell the story of the Guyasuta Kennel Club in an illustrated online program on Wednesday, May 13 from 7 - 8:30 p.m . He'll introduce participants to some of Pittsburgh's most influential Jewish racketeers and gamblers and the lasting mark they left on Pittsburgh’s history.

To register, please contact mobsburgh@gmail.com .

To learn more about David Rotenstein and his research into the world of organized crime in Pittsburgh, visit his blog Mobsburgh .
May 17: Hebrew Institute Reunion
Did you attend classes at the old Hebrew Institute?

The Rauh Jewish Archive is hosting an online reunion on Sunday, May 17 from 11 a.m. to noon. It's an opportunity to share your memories of the Hebrew Institute—and maybe to see some people you haven't seen in a while.

The Hebrew Institute was the first community-wide Jewish educational institution in Western Pennsylvania, operating from 1916 to 1991. It opened in the Hill District and later followed the Jewish population to Squirrel Hill.

The reunion will include a brief history of the Hebrew Institute by Rauh Jewish Archives Director Eric Lidji and an announcement about a project to collect the stories of former students of the school. If you have any photographs or documents from your time at the Hebrew Institute, please bring them to show.

[IMAGE: Hebrew Institute Director Dr. Solomon Abrams standing before an advertisement for his WQED series "Hebrew at Home," sponsored by the Pittsburgh Zionist District, c. 1959 (Hebrew Institute Photographs, MSP 512]
The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives was founded in 1988 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the documentary history of Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania. You can help the RJHPA continue its work by making a donation that will directly support the work being done in Western Pa.
Visit Online

The Senator John Heinz History Center is currently closed to the public, however we have you covered with an array of virtual history offerings. 
A proud affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the  Senator John Heinz History Center  is the largest history museum in Pennsylvania and presents American history with a Western Pennsylvania connection.