September 10, 2023

Vol. 4, No. 37

Rosh Hashanah:

Rabbi Eliyahu Kochin card

Restaurants:

The Secher Brothers

Small Towns:

New Bethlehem

Databases:

Yahrzeit Plaques

Synagogues

Calendar:

Oct. 4-6: Galitzianer Days

Oct. 18: JGS Presents:

Jennifer Mendelshon

Community:

SHHS archives

"How We Got Here"

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Mystery portraits

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries,

Memorial Plaques, Books,

Population Figures, Synagogues, Newsletter Archive,

Shul Records America

Sept 15-17:

Rosh Hashanah

Pocket greeting card featuring High Holiday poem written in Hebrew by Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf Kochin of 1224 Colwell St—1920. Tape marks corners of card.

—from Mollie Brunwasser Papers [MSS 502]

Rabbi Eliyahu Wolf Kochin and his wife, Rebbetzin Batya “Bessie” (Reznick) Kochin, immigrated to the Hill District from Kovno province in the early 20th century. Rabbi Kochin led Tiphereth Israel Congregation (also known as Anshe Sanee or the Saneeyer Shul) and started the Hebrew Religious Academy. He also wrote a three-volume collection of sermons titled, “Sefer Aderet Eliyahu.” For the High Holidays in 1920/5681, he commissioned this greeting card with an acrostic of his name forming a short poem of blessings.

Rosh Hashanah begins this year on the evening of Friday, Sept. 15 and continues through the evening of Sunday, Sept. 17. The Rauh Jewish Archives wishes a happy New Year—5784—to all who celebrate its arrival.

Restaurants:

The Secher Family

Advertisment for Rudy’s Restaurant at 238 Diamond St. Announces re-opening of restaurant. Includes photograph of Rudy Secher—November 15, 1929.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

The story of Jewish-owned restaurants in Pittsburgh is often a story of families.

If you dig into the ownership, management, and staff of these restaurants, you’ll often find partnerships between husbands and wives, between parents and children, between siblings, and not a few siblings-in-law, too.

Adolph and Adella Secher immigrated to the United States from Austria-Hungary in the early 1900s. They had four children, Rudolph, Jack, Morris, and Fannie. Rudolph and Jack both went into the restaurant business.

Rudolph “Rudy” Secher (c1900-1954) married Jeannette B. Richest in 1921 and went to work for his new mother-in-law Anna Richest, owner of Richest’s Delicatessen. Rudy Secher went independent in 1925, opening Rudy’s Sandwich Shop at 10 Diamond Square. He opened a second location at 238 Diamond St. downtown in 1928, turning over management of the original location to his brother Jack. The Diamond Square location appears to have closed the following year. Rudy Secher moved to 604 Liberty Ave. in 1934 and added bar service. He relocated to the Diamond Market downtown in 1940.

Advertisment for Rudy’s Restaurant at 238 Diamond St. Includes photographs of lunch counter and dining room. Promotes specials for Passover—April 11, 1930.

—from Jewish Criterion

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

After the closure of the 10 Diamond Sq. location in the late 1920s, Rudy's brother Jack Secher acquired an interest in Klein’s restaurant and delicatessen at 1714 Murray Ave. in Squirrel Hill. He acquired the restaurant outright in 1933 under the new name Secher’s Food Shop. Jack Secher later relocated to Butler, Pa., where he remained employed in the food service industry.

All year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting Jewish restaurants in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate a material from a Jewish restaurant, or just reminisce, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.

Small Town Jewish History Project:

New Bethlehem

Color photograph of the former Krouse Auto Sales building at 441 Broad St. in New Bethlehem, Pa—May 2, 2023.

New Bethlehem is a small town in Clarion County. Throughout the early 20th century, it had between six and 10 Jewish families, perhaps 25 people total.

Too small to support a local congregation, or even a reliable religious school, the Jewish families of New Bethlehem typically sought communal resources in surrounding small towns, including Oil City, DuBois, Punxsutawney, Kittanning, and Butler. “To celebrate Jewish holidays, to participate in the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, to participate in services, and to express our Jewishness we had to travel miles to larger cities,” Charlotte Harris Rudel recalled in a memoir about her childhood in New Bethlehem in the decades before World War II.

Today, no Jewish families are known to live in New Bethlehem. And yet, Jewish history persists, thanks to a wonderful local educator. Joe Harmon, a civics teacher at Redbank Valley High School, teaches an annual elective on the Holocaust for 11th grade students. Harmon was one of 20 teachers selected by Echoes and Reflections and Yad Vashem to spend a week in Poland to visit central Holocaust sites, including the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Eager to help his students connect with local Jewish history, Harmon also welcomed the Rauh Jewish Archives to his classroom earlier this year. 

Bench at the Redbank Valley Public Library in New Bethlehem, Pa. given by Charlotte and David Rudel in memory of Sara and Morris L. Harris—May 2, 2023.

Our entry for New Bethlehem includes:

• population figures for the borough and its Jewish community;

• a list of Jewish families known to have settled in the town;

• a selection of newspaper articles documenting key Jewish events, such as a 1928 interfaith Thanksgiving service held at a local church;

• materials from the papers of resident Isadore Krouse;

• a memoir from Charlotte Harris Rudel on life in the town before World War II;

• current photographs of sites in the town documenting a Jewish presence.

Databases:

Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project

Memorial board from the former Chofetz Chaim Congregation, currently hanging at B'nai Emunoh Chabad in Greenfield.

The Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques database now contains 2,711 records from 12 institutions.

We recently added 115 plaques from two memorial boards from the former Chofetz Chaim Congregation, which currently hang at B’nai Emunoh Chabad in Greenfield. Rauh Jewish Archives volunteer Christine Dietrick transcribed the plaques.

We are actively transcribing yahrzeit plaques from congregations from throughout the region. Each month, we’ll use this space in the newsletter to report on additions to the database. We are currently working through a backlog of nearly 20,000 individual records. The more help we have, the quicker we’ll go. 

We’re currently looking for volunteers who can read and transcribe Hebrew names and dates. Work can be completed remotely or in-person at the Archive. To volunteer, email us or call 412-454-6406.

Western Pennsylvania Synagogues Project

Screen capture from Western Pennsylvania Synagogue Project, showing listing for Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Congregation.

The Western Pennsylvania Synagogue Database now includes 90 listings from 24 congregations in 19 different parts of the Greater Pittsburgh area.

Recent additions include the locations of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Congregation, Beth Israel Congregation of Allegheny, Beth Israel Congregation of Wilkinsburg, Beth Jehuda Congregation of Manchester (North Side), and B’nai Zion Congregation of Homewood and Squirrel Hill. 

Oct. 4-6:

Galitzianer Days

Are you a Galitzianer?

Galicia was a historic region of the Austry-Hungary, stretching across parts of present-day southeastern Poland and western Ukraine.

At the turn of the 20th century, tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants left Galicia for parts of America, including Western Pennsylvania. They established congregations, mutual aid societies, and cemeteries. 

For our first Special Interest Days, the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives are hosting Galitzianer Days at the Heinz History Center on October 4-6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This free, drop-in event is a chance for anyone to learn more about their Galitzianer roots and to connect with others in the community.

Handmade clock from Machsikei Hadas Congregation, listing times for prayer.

Visit the reading room on the sixth floor of the Heinz History Center for

• a display of rarely seen historic materials from local Galitzianer organizations;

• a take-home guide to the historic Galitzianer community locally;

• one-on-one research assistance with JGS-Pittsburgh experts;

• a chance to meet others locally who are researching Galitzianer ancestry.

This event is free but does not include admission to the Heinz History Center’s regular exhibits. For more information, please contact the archive.

Oct. 18:

JGS Pittsburgh Presents: Jennifer Mendelsohn

DNA has the potential to be an essential and exciting genealogical tool. But many Eastern European Jewish testers find their DNA results completely overwhelming and unnavigable. In her talk “No, You Don’t Really Have 7900 4th Cousins," Jennifer Mendelsohn will help those with Ashkenazi heritage learn how to make sense of their DNA results. She’ll cover the basics of DNA testing, including why our match lists are so large (hello, endogamy!), why all our matches seem to match each other (endogamy, again!), and how to spot the meaningful matches and separate them from the faux ones. Using real-life examples of DNA success, you’ll learn techniques that will help you work effectively with DNA to expand your Ashkenazi family tree.

The program is Wednesday, Oct. 18, from 7:30-9 p.m. This is an online program, occurring exclusively on Zoom. The program will be recorded, and the recording will be made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members. 

"No, You Don’t Really Have 7900 4th Cousins" is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives.

Please register online. This program is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. To become a member of the JGS-Pittsburgh and to receive a free membership code for this program, please visit its website.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

Jennifer Mendelsohn is a sought-after genealogist who specializes in helping Eastern European Jewish families shattered by the Holocaust reclaim their history. Her journey began in 2013, when she reunited her husband’s grandmother—a Polish Holocaust survivor who had lost her entire immediate family and most of her extended family—with three living first cousins she had never known. Since then she has worked on scores of cases, solving complex family mysteries using a blend of traditional and genetic genealogy. Her sleuthing was featured in the 2019 bestseller “Inheritance” by Dani Shapiro. In 2022, she co-founded the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History, which seeks to promote DNA testing as a tool for helping Holocaust survivors find family.

Mendelsohn is also known for the innovative use of genealogy as a tool for activism. She created the viral hashtag #resistancegenealogy, which uses genealogical and historical records to fight disinformation and honor America’s immigrant past. The project received international media attention, including being featured on CNN.com, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Yahoo News.

A native Long Islander now based in Baltimore, Mendelsohn serves on the board of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland and is the administrator of Facebook’s Jewish Genetic Genealogy group, with over 10,000 members worldwide.

Prior to her work as a genealogist, Jennifer spent many years as a freelance journalist. Her work has appeared in countless publications including People, Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Time, and Tablet. In addition, she is the author of a children’s book and helped fashion guru Carson Kressley pen his New York Times best-selling mens’ style manual “Off the Cuff.”

Community

Squirrel Hill Historical Society Archives

Squirrel Hill Historical Society has added a collection of 60 historic images of Squirrel Hill to the Historic Pittsburgh website. The collection contains selected images from three organizations: the Squirrel Hill Historical Society, Squirrel Hill Urban  Coalition, and Mary S. Brown Memorial-Ames United Methodist Church. The photographs document many aspects of life in Squirrel Hill, including many beloved businesses from the 1990s that no longer exist.

From the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh

"How We Got Here"

Each family is unique. 

Each family has its own traditions, its own spirit, and its own dynamics. 

Despite all these differences, every Jewish family in Western Pennsylvania has at least one thing in common: They all have a story about how they got here.

Perhaps your family sailed in steerage across the Atlanti in the 19th century.

Or perhaps your family drove the Pennsylvania Turnpike in a station wagon in the 1960s to work for the universities and hospitals during Renaissance.

Or perhaps your arrival into one of the many Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania involves marriage, or conversion, or a surprising DNA discovery.

Each of these stories is special, and each contributes to the larger story of our community. To collect and honor these origin stories, the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh is launching a new initiative called “How We Got Here.” To participate, just write a short account explaining how you or your ancestors came to settle in Western Pennsylvania. All stories are welcome.

Stories will be eligible for inclusion in the JGS-Pittsburgh’s monthly newsletter Z’chor and also for preservation in the Rauh Jewish Archives. For more information about this initiative, or to contribute, contact Eric Lidji.

From the Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association

"Road Trip: The Jewish Cemeteries of Western Pennsylvania"

The Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh has released a new documentary showcasing Jewish cemeteries in Western Pennsylvania.

“Road Trip: The Jewish Cemeteries of Western Pennsylvania” is a one-hour tour of the many cemetery properties overseen by the JCBA, as well as an overview of the organization’s ongoing work to care for these sacred burial grounds. The video is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate these special Jewish cultural sites in our region. The video includes many historic photographs and documents from the collections of the Rauh Jewish Archives. 

From Rodef Shalom Congregation

A mystery in primary colors

The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle reports on an effort by Rodef Shalom Congregation to identify two people from a pair of mid-19th century portraits in the congregation's holdings. Do you recognize these two people?

Research Tools

The Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project contains digitized, searchable copies of four local English-language Jewish newspapers between 1895 and 2010. It is a valuable tool for researching almost any topic about Jewish history in Western Pennsylvania. For a primer on using the website, watch our video.

Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project

The Rauh Jewish Archives launched the Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project in 1998 to preserve burial records from Jewish cemeteries across the region. Over a period of fifteen years, the information was compiled into a searchable, online database containing approximately 50,000 burial records from 78 Jewish cemeteries throughout the region.

Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project

The Rauh Jewish Archives launched the Western Pennsylvania Yahrzeit Plaques Project in 2020. The goal was to create a comprehensive collection of burial records from memorial boards at synagogues across the region. Volunteers are currently transcribing these boards and records are being added monthly to our online database. The database currently contains more than 2,000 listings.

Rauh Jewish Archives Bibliography

University of Pittsburgh librarian and Rauh Jewish Archives volunteer Laurie Cohen created this comprehensive bibliography of the Rauh Jewish Archives library holdings from 1988 through 2018. It lists nearly 350 volumes arranged by type and then by subject. This a great tool to use early in your research process, as you’re surveying available resources on a given subject.

Jewish Population Estimates

Looking to figure out how many Jews lived in a certain part of Western Pennsylvania at a certain moment in time? This bibliography includes more than 30 estimates of the Jewish population of Pittsburgh and small-towns throughout the region, conducted between 1852 and 2017.

Synagogues

A database of buildings throughout Western Pennsylvania known to have hosted Jewish worship services. Includes links to photographs and citations with original source material. Database currently includes 57 locations from 18 institutions

Rauh Jewish Archives Newsletter

The Rauh Jewish Archives has been publishing a weekly newsletter since 2020. The newsletter contains a variety of articles about local Jewish history, including much original research not found anywhere else. You can find and read every issue—more than 150!— in our new index.

Shul Records Americ

Online finding aid from JewishGen listing congregational archival collections held at publicly accessible repositories across the United States. Includes 63 listings from the Rauh Jewish Archives, as well as other repositories with Western Pennsylvania congregational records.