Rauh Jewish Archives Launches Online "Sitting” Tours
At this time when people are stuck at home, the Rauh Jewish Archives is offering a series of online "sitting" tours of local Jewish historical sites.

Just like our popular walking tours, a "sitting" tour allows you to visit historic sites throughout Western Pennsylvania and discover their hidden stories. But a sitting tour takes place in your home, using a combination of Zoom video conferencing, Google Street View, and digitized materials from the archives.

Each 30-minute tour will zigzag across the region and toggle through time, allowing you to experience Jewish history in an immersive and interactive way. 

Here is the schedule through the start of Passover:

Tuesday, March 31 at 6 p.m.: Gene Kelly’s Pittsburgh: Part 1
Thursday, April 2 at 6 p.m.: The Survivors of Kishinev
Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m.: The History of the JCC in Five Buildings

If your organization would like to schedule tours for your members, please contact Eric Lidji at eslidji@heinzhistorycenter.org or 412-454-6406.

[IMAGES: (left) The former Kether Torah synagogue as it appears in a screen capture from Google Street View and (right) a circular advertising the synagogue building fund in 1921 (Rice Family Papers, MFF 2072)]
The Cornerstone Ep. 2: Merchant's Savings & Trust
The Rauh Jewish Archives has launched its first podcast. The Cornerstone connects Jewish places throughout our region to materials in the archive. 

Each episode investigates one place in Western Pennsylvania. The second episode tells the story of Merchant's Savings & Trust. The former bank building on Fifth Avenue played an important role in the development of Jewish life in Pittsburgh.

Be sure to check out the exclusive StoryMap , where you can see cool photographs, documents, and newspaper articles featured in the episode.

You can subscribe to the Cornerstone on the Heinz History Center website .
Help, Heartbreak, and Hope from a Century Ago

How did the 1918 Flu Pandemic impact Jewish people throughout Western Pennsylvania? And how did local Jewish institutions respond?

In our latest blog post , we dig into the archives of the local Jewish Criterion to search for connections to our current public health crisis.

[IMAGE: Jewish Criterion, February 14, 1919, page 13.]
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.
Visit Online

The Senator John Heinz History Center is currently closed to the public, however we have you covered with an array of virtual history offerings. 
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.