November 19, 2023

Vol. 4, No. 47

March for Israel

call for materials

Restaurants:

International Kosher Food Festival

Jewish Encyclopedia:

Beth David Congregation

Article:

The Law and The Future



Calendar:

Dec. 10: JGS presents: Claire Weill

through Nov. 21: Violins of Hope

through Nov. 27: Mosaics

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

March for Israel

call for materials

Black and white photograph showing Pittsburghers among an estimated 200,000 people who convened on the National Mall in Washington D.C. for the “Freedom Sunday” march to support to Soviet Jewry movement—Dec. 6, 1987.

—from Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Records [MSS 287]

An estimated 290,000 people convened on Washington D.C. this past week for the March for Israel, recalling previous marches organized by the Jewish community in 1987 and 2002. If you attended and would like to donate signs, posters, photographs, videos, or recollections, please contact the archive. 

Restaurants:

International Intersynagogue Kosher Food Festival

“If it was kosher—and ethnic—they ate it at the JCC.” Article with two photographs reporting on International Intersynagogue Kosher Food Festival—Feb. 14, 2002.

—from Jewish Chronicle

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project

Throughout our yearlong look at Jewish-owned restaurants, we’ve considered several attempts at a commercially viable kosher restaurant in Pittsburgh. For these purposes, "kosher" refers to a standard accommodating as much of the Jewish population as possible and overseen by local rabbinic authorities.

There was Braverman’s in 1923, F&F Delicatessen in 1948, the Kosher Restaurant in 1962, the Good Earth in 1973, and the Dairy Planet in 1987. 

Each of these kosher restaurants lasted less than a year. The market changed in the late 1980s. Since then, Squirrel Hill has always had at least one a kosher restaurant, and sometimes several at once. Among the kosher restaurants that have come and gone are Yacov’s, Sari’s, King David, Golden China, Platters, the Vegeteria, Pinati Mediterranean Grill, and Hamsa, as well as several kosher bakeries and grocery stores. If you have memories or documentation of any of these kosher restaurants, or if you remember other local kosher restaurants of the past that are not included on this list, please contact the archive.

The growth in kosher dining options since the late 1980s, and especially since the early 2000s, reflects various trends, including the growth in the kosher-keeping population locally. One sign of that growth came in 2001 with the “International-Intersynagogue Kosher Food Festival. The festival was organized by seven local Orthodox congregations and hosted by Shaare Torah Congregation. Some 750 people sampled dishes representing Mexican, Italian, French, Spanish, and Hungarian cuisines, as well as a kid’s menu. The following year, the festival moved to the Jewish Community Center of Squirrel Hill, where almost 1,000 people tasted Thai, Chinese, and Moroccan dishes.

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.

Jewish Encyclopedia of Western Pennsylvania:

Beth David Congregation

We looked last week at Beth Zedeck Congregation, which was founded around 1899 by Jewish immigrants from parts of the Russian Empire.

Beth Zedeck got an infusion of new members after 1903, when pogroms in Kishineff, Gomel, and other cities throughout the Russian Empire prompted a large Jewish outmigration from the region. Hundreds came to Pittsburgh. Many of these Jewish refugees initially affiliated with Beth Zedeck Congregation, but some eventually broke away in 1905 to found Beth David Congregation.

Beth David soon began construction of a synagogue on Miller Street. From photographs, the building appears to have been a near-exact replica of the Ohr Chodesh Congregation synagogue dedicated on nearby Roberts Street two years earlier.

During the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Beth David synagogue in August 1905, a platform collapsed over the construction site, wounding several people including Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky. Before the synagogue was finished, Beth David exhausted its available funds and merged back with Beth Zedeck to create the new Shaaray Tefillah Congregation, which used the Miller Street building and became widely known as “The Russian Shul.”

Color photograph of former Beth David Congregation and former Shaaray Tefilah Congregation synagogue on Miller Street in the Hill District—c1998.

—from Gerald Sapir Papers and Photographs [MSS 775]

Article:

The Law and The Future

White paraffin candle with burned wick and wax drippings down sides—Oct. 27, 2018.

(2019.168.2)

"All throughout the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial this past summer, I kept noticing similarities between the ongoing judicial proceedings and the perpetual work to chronicle the past.

"Before the trial, I never fully appreciated the importance of documentation in the American judicial process. In the early “discovery” phase of the trial, all the parties to a case jointly compile a body of evidence. Evidence can be physical objects collected from the scene, or photographs of the scene, or documents created by the parties or about the parties. Even when the evidence is voluminous, it is rarely sufficient on its own. Each side also calls witnesses, who first provide depositions and later give testimony.

"A similar mechanism propels the creation of history..."

Dec 10:

JGS Pittsburgh Presents:

Jewish Genealogical Resources in France

Waves of French-Jewish immigrants came to North America. In this presentation, Claire Weill will discuss some of the reasons behind emigration and tell you what else you can learn about your French Jewish relatives.

There is an extensive and varied collection of material available for genealogical research for the 20th and 19th centuries, and resources do exist for the 18th century. These include civil vital records, military documents, Census records, cadastral registers, National and Departmental Archives, and many databases. This presentation aims to show you where to find these materials and how best to use them to further your research.

The program is Sunday, Dec. 10, from 1-3 p.m. ET. 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. 

"Jewish Genealogical Resources in France" 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.

Claire Weill has French Ashkenazi Jewish roots. She is Professeure de Chaire Supérieure and teaches Spanish Literature. She has been involved in genealogy for more than 30 years, with a special interest in Alsace. She is a board member of the CGJ, Cercle de Généalogie Juive, the first Jewish French Genealogical association, with more than 700 members and a huge collection of information. She recently joined JewishGen as a Project Coordinator for the France Research Division.

through Nov. 21:

Violins of Hope

Violins of Hope is a community project of educational and cultural programs surrounding stringed instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. The central exhibit at the Posner Center at Carnegie Mellon University relates remarkable stories of these instruments and musicians. Each surviving instrument has a unique and inspiring story that connects both young and old to the history of the Holocaust in a deeply emotional, personal, and relatable way. Paralleling lessons of the past to present day issues is key to creating a future where diversity, equality, and inclusion are valued.

through Nov. 27:

From Darkness to Light

Presented in collaboration with Violins of Hope, this free exhibit in the Commons of Rodef Shalom Congregation features mosaics from artists around the world, created in response to October 27. Through their pieces, artists tackle antisemitism and injustice, and promote hope, resilience, and peace.

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 2,700 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 90 locations from 2 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 America

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.

The Rauh Jewish Archives was founded on November 1, 1988 to collect and preserve the documentary history of Jewish life in Western Pennsylvania and to make it available to the world through research assistance, programing, exhibits, publications, and partnerships.

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