Vol. 4

No. 14

Restaurants:

Passover Seder at a Jewish Deli

The Jewish Encyclopedia:

Kosher Meals on Wheels

Neighborhoods:

Woods Run

Calendar:

April 5-13: Passover

April 16: Tammy Hepps

May 21: W. Todd Knowles

Community:

"Perseverance"

Under the Dome of Rodef Shalom

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Jewish Daily Forward exhibit

Mystery portraits

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries, Memorial Plaques, Books, Newsletters

Restaurants:

The Delis and Passover (Part 1)

Advertisement announcing upcoming Passover specials and Passover seder at Abrams & Friedman at 2016 Murray Ave.

—from Jewish Criterion, April 3, 1936 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

The Passover Seder traditionally occurs in the home.

Anyone far from home is supposed to be sought out and invited to the table. As the Haggadah declares early in its text: “All who are hungry, come and eat.”

In modern times, Jewish institutions all over the country have had to reckon with large groups of people without any home: the thousands of college students stuck on campus, the stateside solders denied a leave of absence, or the Jews who find themselves institutionalized when the holiday arrives. 

Article announcing pubic Passover Seder at the YM&WHA.

—from Y Weekly, April 15, 1932 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

By the late 1920s, the Young Men’s & Women’s Hebrew Association in Oakland was hosting a community Passover Seder for students, led by Rabbi Herman Hailperin of Tree of Life Congregation. In the late 1930s, Congregation Beth Shalom began offering a communal Seder for the entire Jewish community, “regardless of your congregational affiliations.” These community Passover Sederim continue today, joyously situated all across the Jewish spectrum.

Early on, though, unease hung over some of these events.

Rabbi Hailperin even went so far as to explicitly discourage people from attending his Seder unless it was a necessity. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Rabbinical Council of Greater Pittsburgh issued an annual Passover statement in the local Jewish press, urging against the trend of public Sederim. 

Advertisement for a Passover Seder at Weinstein's Restaurant, led by Cantor Joseph Fisch.

—Jewish Chronicle, March 4, 1955 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

“Pesach has always been a Holiday centered in the home,” read the 1957 statement from the Orthodox organization. “The weeks of meticulous preparations leave a deep and abiding impression upon every member of the household. The Seder nights transform the Jewish home, however humble, into a radiant palace where parents reign as king and queen and transmit to their children our sacred and beautiful traditions, as well as Israel’s hopes and aspirations. We strongly urge, therefore, that Pesach be spent in the home whenever possible.”  If people must attend a public Seder, the statement noted, it should have rabbinical endorsement. To that end, several local congregations began hosting communal Sederim starting in the 1950s.

All this was a response to changing standards within the Jewish community, but there may have been some instigating events. In early 1955, Weinstein’s Restaurant on Murray Avenue hosted a Seder. Not just a Seder, but, as announced in an advertisement, “A real old fashioned traditional Seder, with all the trimmings—Like Grandma’s.” It was $6.50 for adults, and $3 for kids.

This was not the first Passover Seder held at a local Jewish restaurant. Abrams & Friedman had hosted a “Seder Services With Dinner” at its Murray Avenue restaurant as early as 1936. But the Passover Seder at Weinstein’s Restaurant was widely and prominently promoted and was led by a local cantor who maintained associations withs Orthodox congregations throughout the city.

The following year, in 1956, the Rabbinical Council changed its message to include the following note: “It is a desecration of the fundamental and basic law of Passover to hold a Sedar (sic) at which non-Kosher food is served. We would like to point out that Kosher-Style meals served in Pittsburgh establishments are definitely not Kosher. It is unfortunate that some people are unwittingly misled by the terms ‘traditional’ and ‘Kosher-Style.’” 

Next Week: The Delis and Passover (Part 2)

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

Kosher Meals on Wheels

Kosher Meals on Wheels was founded in 1972 as a partnership of three local Jewish organizations. Jewish Family and Childrens Service referred clients to the program. The Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged prepared meals in its kitchen facilities. B’nai B’rith Women volunteers delivered meals and sometimes referred clients for visits from trained social workers.

The program initially provided 12 weekly meals for $10—one hot meal and one cold meal daily from Monday through Thursday and two hot and two cold meals on Fridays, in preparation for Shabbat. In the mid-1990s, Kosher Meals on Wheels was renamed Mollie’s Meals in honor of Mollie Dugan, long time volunteer coordinator for the program.

Black and white photograph showing a Kosher Meals on Wheels volunteer delivering a meal to a client of the program. Photograph by Lou Malkin of Vinard Studios.

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

Neighborhoods:

Woods Run

Exterior of Woods Run Settlement House with view of Western State Penitentiary in the background, January 22, 1921.

—from Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections [715.218948.CP] (online—Historic Pittsburgh)

There were three Jewish congregations on the North Side in the 20th century.

Beth Israel Congregation began in eastern Allegheny City in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Beth Jehuda Congregation began in western Allegheny City in the 1910s. The unincorporated Woods Run Congregation began in Woods Run at the northern end of Allegheny City in the late 1910s and early 1920s. 

Woods Run is the informal name of a small enclave way up north in Allegheny City. It is officially listed on city maps as part of the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood. Woods Run was named for a creek and watershed in the area.

In the early 20th century, an immigrant working-class community lived in Woods Run in a large plain between the the north banks of the Ohio River and the tracks of the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad. This immigrant community included a small Jewish population. These were largely merchants who operated ground level stores in the Preble Avenue business district between Eckert and Doerr streets and lived in apartments above their stores.

Detail of report from Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky, listing recent donations to the War Sufferers Relief Fund from members of the Woods Run Congregation.

—Jewish Criterion, Nov. 17, 1916 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

One of the earliest known pieces of documentation of Jewish communal life in Woods Run is a 1916 fundraiser for the War Sufferers Relief Fund. The Woods Run Congregation raised $18. The Woods Run Congregation commissioned a Torah scroll in September 1922 with the help of Rabbi A. M. Ashinsky and then formed a Mother’s Club and a religious school in November 1922 with the help of the Southwestern District of Pennsylvania Jewish Religious Schools.

The Woods Run Congregation typically held its largest gatherings at the Woods Run Settlement, a community building located at 3033 Petosky Street, one block back from Preble. For the rest of the decade, the bulk of the surviving documentation comes in the form of newspaper notices of Mother’s Club and religious school events. These smaller events were often held in the homes of members, and we’ve created a map showing all the known addresses.

Unsigned report inviting public to a Siyum Sefer Torah celebration at the Woods Run Congregation, held at the Woods Run Settlement House. Lists program of events and names of financial donors

—Jewish Criterion, September 15, 1922 [Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project]

The Woods Run Religious School appears to have stopped meeting in the late 1920s. Without a local option, Jewish students instead travelled south to Manchester for classes. By the time the first big Jewish population survey of Pittsburgh was conducted in 1938, only a few Jewish families remained in Woods Run.

The patterns of Jewish settlement throughout Western Pennsylvania can be divided into two basiceras: expansion and contraction. The era of expansion reached its fullest extent in the 1920s and early 1930s, as Jewish immigrants spread across the city and the region looking for opportunities. In each place, they also created the basic infrastructure of communal life: a synagogue, a religious school, and ties to regional Jewish charities, like the War Sufferers Relief Fund.

The era of contraction began in the late 1930s. It accelerated after World War II, as Jewish families relocated to Squirrel Hill and the East End.

Woods Run represents the turning point.

It was one of the smallest of the neighborhood communities formed in the early 20th century, and it was likely the first to close. Its brief existence is a testament to a time when the Jewish community worked hard to ensure that every pocket of Jewish families, anywhere in the city, could stay connected.

That completes our look at Jewish communities the North Side. 

Starting in April, we’ll jump across the Allegheny River to look at the former Jewish communities along Liberty Avenue, Penn Avenue, and Butler Street.

April 5-13:

Passover

A community Passover seder at the Young Men and Women’s Hebrew Association, 1958.

—from Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh Photographs [MSP 389]

Passover begins this year on the night of Wednesday, April 5 and continues through April 13. The Rauh Jewish Archives phone and email will be down on April 6, 7, 12 and 13 in observance of the holiday. The Library & Archives reading room will be open during its usual hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10-5.

April 16:

JGS-Pittsburgh presents:

"When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: How Terrible Enumerators Help Us Do Better Census Research"

with Tammy Hepps

IMAGES (clockwise from upper left): Tammy Hepps; Google Map showing households included in Enumeration District 144 of Homestead's Third Ward in the 1920 Census; Section of page 11A, Homestead Ward 3, ED 144 of the 1920 Census. Handwritten text reads, "Here Ends Enumeration of District 144 Homestead Borough Henry Silverstein."

On Jan. 2, 1920, Henry Silverstein began his first day as a census enumerator by turning left instead of right. Things went downhill from there, and within days he became so overwhelmed that he resorted to an illegal scheme to finish the job. Through this shocking story and the painstaking detective work that uncovered it, you’ll come to see the census—and your ancestors’ presence or absence in it—in a whole new light. You’ll laugh at Henry’s misdeeds, and you’ll grow your census research skills.

The program is Sunday, April 16 from 11-1:30 p.m. ET. This is a hybrid program. It is designed for in-person attendance but will have a virtual option.

“When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: How Terrible Enumerators Help Us Do Better Census Research” is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. Please register online. The program is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and the general public. To become a member of the JGS-Pittsburgh and receive a free membership code for this program, please visit its website.

This program will be recorded and made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members. Those who attend in person are encouraged to stick around after the program for refreshments and a meet-and-greet with JGS members.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

Tammy Hepps is a historian of the Jewish experience in Western Pennsylvania. She combines in-depth historical research with techniques from technology and genealogy to reconstruct overlooked stories from the past in an engaging way. She has presented her findings around the world, including the Library of Congress and the International Jewish Genealogy Conference in Jerusalem. Her best-known research is into the history of the Jewish community in the former steel-making center of Homestead, PA (HomesteadHebrews.com). Tammy earned her AB in computer science from Harvard and is a Wexner Heritage Fellow.

May 21:

JGS-Pittsburgh presents:

"Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research"

with W. Todd Knowles

Billions of family records. Where do you start?

FamilySearch is an international, nonprofit dedicated to helping all people discover their family story. It is one of the largest genealogical websites online and grows larger every day. Learn how to make the most of the FamilySearch collection, with a special focus on locating Jewish ancestors among the records.

The program is Sunday, May 21 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET. This is a virutal program, occurring only online. “Using FamilySearch for Jewish Research with W. Todd Knowles” is a collaboration between the Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh and the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center. Please register online. The program is free for JGS-Pittsburgh members and $5 for the general public. To become a member of the JGS-Pittsburgh and receive a free membership code for this program, please visit its website.

This program will be recorded and made available to current JGS-Pittsburgh members. Those who attend in person are encouraged to stick around after the program for refreshments and a meet-and-greet with JGS members.

This program is possible through the support of the William M. Lowenstein Genealogical Research Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation.

W. Todd Knowles, AG, is a Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch, where he has been for almost 25 years. Soon after being introduce to family history at the age of 12, he discovered his Jewish roots. The journey to find these Polish Jews led to the Knowles Collection, six databases containing the records of almost 1.5 million people. His blog about the collection can be found at knowlescollection.blogspot.com.

Community

From the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

and Prime Stage Theatre

"Perseverance"

The world premiere of "Perseverance" at the Prime Stage Theatre brings to the stage a powerful memoir of healing and renewal. Few visitors to the G&S Jewelry Store in Squirrel Hill during the 1960s and ’70s were aware that the cheerful proprietor, Melvin Goldman, had spent his teens enduring the horrors of Auschwitz before arriving as a penniless refugee in postwar Pittsburgh intent on reshaping his family’s destiny and replacing Darkness with Light, one shop patron at a time. Based on the Book "Perseverance: One Holocaust Survivor's Journey from Poland to America" by Melvin Goldman and Lee Goldman Kikel.

From NEXT Pittsburgh

"What's Under the Dome at Rodef Shalom?"

NEXT Pittsburgh's Boaz Frankel visits with archivist Martha Berg to discover the secrets of Rodef Shalom Congregation's historic Fifth Avenue synagogue.

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 the Jewish Studies Program

PRESSED: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward

Detail from front page of Jewish Daily Forward, including photograph showing President and First Lady Kennedy, 1960.

Founded in 1897 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the Jewish Daily Forward became the most widely read Jewish news source anywhere. By the 1920s, this Yiddish-language daily had more readers than the New York Times. With rigorous reporting, incisive editorials and powerful commentary, the Forward chronicled the events that affected immigrants eager to earn their place in American life. This was the paper read by congregants from its neighborhood’s many synagogues, by families squeezing into tenement apartments, by sweatshop workers and pushcart vendors. Its articles were debated on park benches and at local haunts like the Garden Cafeteria and the Royal Café, its discarded pages then used to wrap fish for Friday night Sabbath eve dinners. The Forward’s ideals have been held dear for generations of readers, not just on the Lower East Side but across the country and around the world.

The new exhibit Pressed at Hillman Library on the University of Pittsburgh campus looks into the vast Forward archive to present a selection of metal plates used to print photographs in the paper from the 1920s to the 1960s. These plates are accompanied by prints made just for this exhibition. These prints have rendered the images with greater clarity than they had as dotted, halftone prints in the newspaper. The Forward pages on which some of these images appeared are also displayed. These pages are enlarged and reproduced from microfilm and photographs because printed copies of the newspaper have not been preserved at the Forward or in any other archive, although they occasionally pop up at auction or in private collections. Together these images of strikes and activists, Yiddish theater stars and baseball players, daily life and historic moments, present the depth and breadth of this singular publication, its audience and Jewish life in America and around the world.

Pressed is organized by the Forward in collaboration with the Museum at Eldridge Street, and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System and the Jewish Studies program. It will remain on display through April 2023.

As part of the exhibit, the Rauh Jewish Archives has created a display surveying the history of local Yiddish newspapers in Pittsburgh. The display includes enlarged reproductions of pages and advertisements from The Volksfreund, the Jewish Indicator, and the regional office of the Forward.

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 almost 400 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.

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.