Two Cities, One Story: Rooms and Gardens
The Nationality Rooms at the Cathedral of Learning are a tribute to the many ethnic groups of Pittsburgh. Each group gets a room, decorated in its traditional style. Cleveland has something similar: the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. Each nationality gets a garden planted with appropriate species.

Both of these institutions run head-first into one of the biggest questions of Jewish history. Are the Jewish people a "nationality," a "culture," a "religion," an "ethnicity," or something else entirely? What is the architectural or botanical heritage of a group of people that has lived all over the world?

For the second installment of our popular Two Cities, One Story series, we will partner will Sean Martin of the Jewish American Archives at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland to tell the story of the Israel Heritage Room here in Pittsburgh and the Hebrew Cultural Garden in Cleveland.

The free online program will take place on Thursday, July 16 at 7 p.m.
You can also view a recording of the previous installment of Two Cities, One Story, looking at the life of Civil Rights advocate Rabbi Jacob Rothschild.
[IMAGE: An early promotion for the Israel Heritage Room, 1980s (MFF 2055).]
Jewish Genealogy Society Relaunches "Z'Chor"
The Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh has relaunched its long-running monthly newsletter "Z'Chor."

Z'chor dates to the founding of the JGS-Pittsburgh in early 1983 and has been published on and off ever since.

In its current iteration, Z'chor will be a way to encourage communication within the Jewish genealogical community. It includes an events calendar, news of note, and a monthly column from the Rauh Jewish Archives. The first installment looks at a wonderful collection of yahrzeit cards from the Jewish Home for the Aged. The JGS is also encouraging people to submit Jewish family history stories for publication.

Click the link below to see the first issue. Future issues will be free to members of the JGS-Pittsburgh. To join or to renew your membership, visit the JGS-Pittsburgh website .
[IMAGE: A yahrzeit card from the Jewish Home for the Aged (2018.0028).]
Featured Cookbook: A Table Before Me
Among the casualties of the large fire at Congregation Beth Shalom in 1996 were back copies of the 1982 cookbook "The Best of Beth Shalom."

In the aftermath, the Beth Shalom Sisterhood began meeting in its temporary headquarters at Tree of Life to discuss a new cookbook.

A call for recipes generated some 800 entries. A five-person committee led by project director Sheila Glasser culled the entries down to about 300 recipes. They tested, edited and organized the recipes, and published "A Table Before Me" in 2002.

The cover was designed by Art Institute of Pittsburgh students.
Our featured recipe is "Chef Dave's Easy Pecan Bread Pudding." The recipe was created by Chef David Conley of the old Poli Restaurant.

Poli Restaurant was a Squirrel Hill institution for decades, a landmark at the five-way intersection of Murray and Forward. It closed in 2005, and the building was destroyed in a fire in 2015. The location is now home to Jewish Residential Services' new Seymoure and Corinne Krause Commons. The iconic lobster doorhandles from Poli's were salvaged and now adorn the JRS building.

Atop the recipe is this note: "Rich and soothing - your guests will declare it was well worth your excursion into this part of the dessert world."
The Rauh Jewish Archives is placing a special focus on Jewish cookbooks throughout 2020. If you have an extra copy of a cookbook published by a Jewish individual or a Jewish group in Western Pennsylvania, please contact Eric Lidji at 412-454-6406 or  eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org .
The Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives was founded in 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.