B'nai Israel Boy Scout Troop 3
[IMAGE: Nathaniel and Theodore Pinsker Papers and Photographs (MSS 658)]
Last week, we looked at B'nai Israel Girl Scout Troop 117, created in the 1920s to provide activities for Jewish girls growing up in the East End.

The troop went on outdoor adventures, like hikes in the woods. But in many ways, the activities are similar to those of the non-scouting clubs sponsored by Jewish institutions in the Hill District, like the IKS.

B'nai Israel Boy Scout Troop 3 began in the late 1920s or early 1930s. It was a traditional scouting troop, focusing on the "knowledge and art of Boy Scout lore," as the Jewish Criterion put it in a 1931 article.
[IMAGE: Jewish Criterion, May 8, 1931]
Our records of Troop 3 come from the Nathaniel and Theodore Pinsker Papers and Photographs [MSS 658].

Nathaniel Pinsker was involved in the troop in the early days. His son Theodore Pinsker followed in the troop in the 1960s. The collection documents both eras, starting with this scouting booklet titled "What Is a Boy Scout?" in English and Yiddish.

The majority of the collection documents activities in the mid-1960s, when scouting had become popular in the East End and Jewish scouting had established its own rituals, such as the Ner Tamid Award.

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. 

[IMAGE: "What Is a Boy Scout?" pamphlet, 1931—Nathaniel and Theodore Pinsker Papers and Photographs (MSS 658)]
July 21: JGS Pittsburgh present Mark Halpern
A great many Galician researchers have acquired copies of family records from repositories in Poland and Ukraine or online images provided by the State Archive or Genealogical organizations. Over the last 20 years, the work of Jewish Records Indexing—Poland and Gesher Galicia has made these records more readily available to all Galician researchers.

In his talk "Understanding Your Galitzianer Family through Vital Records," Mark Halpern will examine these vital records and provide a strategic framework for acquiring Galician records and furthering research. He will provide a historical perspective on the regulations that governed Jewish recordkeeping. He will make sense of the regulations covering civil marriages that impacted the legitimacy and surnames of children. Close examination of sample birth, marriage, and death records will reveal the information contained in the records, identify the records having the most genealogical value, and discover surprises found in many of these records.

The program is on Wednesday, July 21 at 7 p.m. It is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. Please register online.
While on business in Poland, Mark Halpern became interested in his roots. Now retired, Mark works with JRI–Poland, JewishGen, IAJGS, and Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia (JGASGP) helping others research their roots. Mark serves on the Board and Executive Group of JRI-Poland, is the founder of Bialystok Area Jewish Genealogy Group, is on the Advisory Board of Gesher Galicia, and is past President of JGASGP. Mark chaired the program committees for the 2009 and 2013 Conferences and served as advance coordinator for the 2018 Warsaw Conference. Mark was honored in 2018 with the IAJGS Lifetime Achievement Award.

This program is made possible by support from the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation.
July 25: "Beth Israel Center: Before Charter"
[IMAGES: (Left) Construction site for the Beth Israel Center synagogue on Gill Hall Road, c. 1962—from Beth Israel Center Records, MSS 1084; (Right, Top) Construction underway on the second floor addition to Temple Emanuel of the South Hills, 1960—from Temple Emanuel of the South Hills Records; (Right, Bottom) Advertisement for the Beth El Congregation Building Fund, 1959—from Beth El Congregation of the South Hills Calendar.]

Throughout the 1950s, the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin, Pa. and the Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory in Large, Pa. attracted Jewish engineers and scientists to boroughs along Route 51 in the South Hills. They formed Beth Israel Center in 1958 and maintained it for the next 60 years. 

Before it closed in 2018, Beth Israel Center donated a wonderful collection of congregational records to the Rauh Jewish Archives. Using those records, we’ll reconstruct the early years of Beth Israel Center, starting with the initial gatherings in 1957 and culminating with the incorporation of the congregation in February 1959. We’ll also look at the larger development of Jewish life in the South Hills at that time, including the arrival of Beth El Congregation to the Mt. Lebanon area and the expansion of Temple Emanuel of the South Hills.

"Beth Israel Center: Before Charter" is a free virtual program and will take place on Sunday, July 25 at 11 a.m. Please register with the link below.
This program is made possible with support from Beth Israel Center.
August 8: Rosh Chodesh Elul
Rabbi A. M. Ashinsky, Louis I. Aaron and others lay the cornerstone at the Hebrew Institute on Wylie Avenue in the Hill District, 1916—from Hebrew Institute Records, MSS 512.
The Hebrew month of Elul is traditionally a time of spiritual reflection before the High Holidays arrive in the fall. In keeping with its mission to provide communal opportunities for reflection, support and connection, the 1027 Healing Partnership is organizing a free afternoon of learning on August 8 from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 5505 Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill.

Presenters include Sara Stock Mayo, Cantor Julie Newman, Rabbi Doris Dyen, Rabbi Moshe Mayir Vogel, and Robert and Stephanie Miller. Rauh Jewish Archives Director Eric Lidji will lead a discussion on Deuteronomy 27:1-8, which describes one of the earliest public monuments in Jewish history.

For more information, please contact Ranisa Davidson at the 10.27 Healing Partnership at 412-339-5424 or rdavidson@1027healingpartnership.org.
Tell your friends!
[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.
Plan a Visit

Senator John Heinz History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
412-454-6000

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.