Yom Kippur
Hilltop Garden Club
JGS Presents: Adina Newman
Chicken markets in the Hill
Cemetery database back online
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Pittsburgh Post, Oct. 4, 1900 |
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Yom Kippur 1900 was an eventful day in the world of Jewish Pittsburgh.
For Rodef Shalom, it was the last Yom Kippur held in the old Eighth Street Temple. By the end of the month, the congregation had begun work on a new and larger synagogue at the same spot. The congregation only remained in that new synagogue for a few years before relocating to its current synagogue on Fifth Avenue.
In the Hill District, Beth Hamedrash Hagodol on Washington Street celebrated the bris (ritual circumcision) of Louis Tintner's baby boy. A bris on Yom Kippur is rare. The Pittsburgh Post cited "an old resident" who said it had never happened before in Pittsburgh. A bris occurs when a boy is eight days old. It can be delayed for health reasons, but it is never postponed by the Sabbath or major holidays, even Yom Kippur.
The spiritual leader of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol in 1900 was Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz. But he was overseeing services at another congregation that year, most likely at Shaare Torah Congregation on Townsend Street. That evening, after the fast was over, the congregation hosted the wedding of a young woman named Rebecca Bender and the rabbi's cousin, Harry Sivitz.
It might seem strange today to have a wedding immediately following the long Yom Kippur fast. But the evening immediately following Yom Kippur has long been seen as a spiritually auspicious time for a wedding. As the Post noted, "quite a general belief is entertained among the young Hebrews that a marriage on this day will bring long life and fortune."
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Yom Kippur 1900 proved to be Rabbi Sivitz's last as the leader of Beth Hamedrash Hagodol. He was replaced the following year by the newly arrived Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky. Rabbi Sivitz remained with Shaare Torah Congregation and several smaller congregations for the remainder of his life.
The Rauh Jewish Archives wishes an easy fast and a meaningful day to all who celebrate the Yom Kippur holiday. The archive phone and email account will be closed in honor of the holiday, although the Detre Library & Archives reading room will be open during its usual hours on Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Hilltop Garden Club President Elizabeth Heller Cohen tending to the club's award-winning kitchen garden at the Pittsburgh Garden Market in Schenley Park, May 1941.
—Pittsburgh Press, May 21, 1941
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The Hilltop Garden Club was founded sometime in the late 1930s. It was likely the second or third Jewish garden club in the city, after the NCJW Garden Club.
While the term "Hilltop" today often refers to the neighborhoods along the ridge of Mt. Washington, in this case it referred to Squirrel Hill. The women who founded the club were largely members of Rodef Shalom Congregation living in Squirrel Hill. The founding president was Elizabeth Heller Cohen.
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Hilltop Garden Club first gained attention in 1941, when it won the competitive kitchen garden award at the annual Pittsburgh Garden Market.
The market chose a kitchen garden theme in deference to the times. Although the American involvement in World War II was several seasons away, concerns about food security were already in the air. The "motif" of the market that year was "defense."
That summer, the Hilltop Garden Club sponsored a "Savings Bond" contest in the Hill District. The club awarded Defense Savings stamps to the 15 best gardens in the neighborhood.
In the cramped Hill District at that time, some contestants planted gardens in their attics and on roofs.
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Helena Aronson (left) of the Hilltop Garden Club and Charlotte Bluestone of the Ivy League Garden Club inspect the landscaping at the new United Jewish Federation building on McKee Place, 1959.
—from Jewish Criterion, Oct. 30, 1959
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Jewish Criterion, Aug. 1, 1941 |
The Hilltop Garden Club retained a spirit of civic engagement throughout its existence. In 1959, it joined a coalition of six Jewish garden clubs that pooled resources to landscape the new United Jewish Federation building on McKee Place in Oakland.
Toward the end of the 1960s, it formed the "Keep America Beautiful Committee" to combat litter in Pittsburgh. Caroline Kingsbaker was a leading proponent of the cause. She gave presentations and wrote numerous letters to the editor.
All this year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting stories of Jewish club life in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate records of a local Jewish club, or just chat about clubs, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.
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Sept. 19: JGS Presents: Adina Newman |
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Adina Newman, EdD, is the owner of My Family Genie, where she assists clients with their research and blogs about her own family history. Her main interests are in Jewish genealogy, genetic genealogy, and New England. She has a doctorate in educational leadership and the certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. She volunteers as a Facebook moderator for a Jewish genetic genealogy group, Social Media Coordinator for NextGen Genealogy Network, and a discussion leader for ProGen 50. She was also a 2020 recipient of the AncestryProGenealogists scholarship.
This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.
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Into the Depths of the Hill District |
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Two unidentified women draw water from a communal hydrant behind a tenement on Poplar Way in the Hill District, in February 1907. Sixteen families shared the spigot.
—from Jewish Community Center Photographs, MSP 389
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Not that long ago, most people in Pittsburgh bought their poultry live.
Imagine the scene in the Hill District at the turn of the 20th century. You had tens of thousands of people living in a neighborhood without parks, without yards, without even vacant lots. And yet somehow they were getting their poultry live and nearby.
Where were all those chickens living?
In December 1901, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post ventured into the Hill District to "solve" this mystery, with somewhat shocking results.
Even more surprising: the author became one of the greatest and most beloved novelists in America.
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Cemetery Database back online |
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The Western Pennsylvania Jewish Cemetery Project is back online. We thank everyone for their patience as we worked to resolve this problem. We look forward to rolling out some improvements with the project later this year.
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[IMAGE: Marian Schreiber and employees at the Schreiber Trucking Company, c.1943—from Schreiber Family Papers and Photographs, MSS 846.]
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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. |
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Plan a Visit
Senator John Heinz History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
412-454-6000
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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.
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