He was one of the twelve men who formed the first local Jewish institution, the Bes Almon Burial Society, and he was also instrumental in founding the first Jewish congregation and first Jewish charity in the region. He watched the local Jewish population grow from double digits to the thousands and the communal landscape grow to include dozens of large and small organizations.

In 17 pages, handwritten in German in an old ledger, Frank describes his youth in Germany in the 1830s, his decision to come to America in 1840, his religious observances, his courtship with his future wife Pauline, their winding path to Pittsburgh, his early business partnerships, and his family affairs.

Frank is a straightforward writer. He mostly compiles facts. As is often the case with memory, some of those facts became faded with the passage of time. He claims he founded the Hebrew Benevolent Society with “Louis Jaraslowsky” in 1847. He actually founded the organization with Leopold Jaroslawsky in June 1854, which we know thanks to an article published that summer.

Some time after Frank’s death, his son Isaac W. Frank translated, typed and annotated the memoir. In the early 1950s, this translation came to the attention of Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus at the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati. Marcus requested permission to publish an excerpt in his upcoming “Memoirs of American Jews, 1775-1865.” The original German manuscript was missing at the time, and so Marcus reproduced the faulty transliteration. (Our manuscript was given by Ellen Lehman, a descendent of Frank.) Others later mistranslated that transliteration, leading to confusion.

For many years, there was debate among local Jewish historians. Was the society named “House of the Widower,” “House of Mourning,” or “House of Eternity?” Only much later was “House of Eternity” deemed to be closest. 

We watch him storm out of an apprenticeship with a German shoemaker because the boots stink. “If the farmers want their boots mended they should do it themselves.” We see him sitting in a saloon in Lancaster, Pa. on the afternoon of Rosh Hashana, struggling to write a marriage proposal to his future wife, Pauline Wormser. “What it was, I am too modest to say, as I had never written a love letter before, as I was 23 years old and had to provide a living since my tenth year. No love affairs entered my mind.” We learn that he dissolved a business partnership with David Strassburger by cutting their “Strassburger & Frank” sign in half. He took “& Frank," ampersand and all.

All year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting memoirs of Jewish life in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate a memoir, or just chat about the stories you've read, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.

—from J. B. Bernstein Papers and Photographs [MSS 1190]

Joseph B. Bernstein (c.1894-1985) was a leader in Zionist activities in the Pittsburgh area. The J. B. Bernstein Papers and Photographs [MSS 1190] document his professional and philanthropic career from 1914 to 1970.

The Hebrew Burial Association—also known as Chesed Shel Emes—is a Jewish burial society with two cemeteries. The original cemetery was organized by Shaare Shamayim Congregation in 1853, possibly following a dispute over the ownership of the older and independently managed Bes Almon Cemetery.

“Cookbooks” was the theme of our 2020 collecting initiative. If you have a local Jewish cookbook to give the archive please email or call 412-454-6406.

The Rauh Jewish Archives will join ACH Clear Pathways Director Tyian Battle, Multimedia Producer Njaimeh Njie, and Hill District community leader Terri Baltimore to communal institutions, partnerships and tensions, migration, arts and culture, racial justice uprisings, and more. The panel will be moderated by BOOM Concepts Co-Founder D.S. Kinsel.

The program is on Wed., January 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET It's free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. Please register online. 

Dick Goldman is Vice President and Membership Chair for the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies (IAJGS). He is responsible for programming at the Jewish Heritage Club in Valencia Lakes (Boynton Beach, FL) and is president of the community’s Genealogy group. He served as president of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland for a number of years, and has lectured widely and frequently. Dick and his wife Roz relocated to Florida in 2018. Since March 2020 he has offered programs using ZOOM, and he has been seen and heard by groups locally and throughout the country. 

At this early stage in the transition, CMU is asking for help. They want you to try out the new site and to let them know what you think about it.

These transitions can be exciting, and they can also be frustrating. The Rauh Jewish Archives is currently learning the new system, in order to help researchers make the switch over the coming months. We are always available to help you troubleshoot problems, and we hope to provide training workshops in the near future. You can contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.

The Rauh Jewish Archives was founded on November 1, 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.