January 7, 2024

Vol. 5, No. 1



Announcing:

The Early 1970s

Neighborhoods:

Hazelwood

Article:

Logan Street



Calendar:

Jan. 14: Chuck Weinstein

Jan. 15: "The Sofer"

Feb. 4: Nolan Altman

Community:

URA photographs

SHHS archives

"How We Got Here"

JCBA "Road-Trip"

Research Tools:

Newspapers, Cemeteries,

Memorial Plaques, Books,

Population Figures, Synagogues, Newsletter Archive,

Shul Records America

Announcing:

The Early 1970s

Black and white photograph showing five women from Ladies Hospital Aid Society outside the Forum Theater in Squirrel Hill with the title “Something for Everyone” on the marquee, as part of a new member luncheon—November 1970. Pictured left to right: Frances Mendelow, Audrey Lazar, Mrs. David Burstin, Joyce Berman, and Mrs. Fred Danovitz.

—from Ladies Hospital Aid Society Photographs [MSP 0032]

The most popular saying about history is also one of the most unsatisfying: 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

—George Santayana

Why is it unsatisfying? Because it often feels as though we are all condemned to repeat the past, regardless of how well we remember it. Humanity is perpetually confronting situations that resemble former situations. If you’ve lived long enough to watch a few of these cycles, you may have noticed patterns of behavior that can feel inescapable. Does history really help?

The 13th-century scholar Moshe ben Nachman, also known as Ramban or Nachmanides, developed a rabbinic concept of Jewish history called “maaseh avos, siman l’banim.” It means, “acts of the fathers are a sign for the children.”

The book of Genesis contains many grand motifs—barren women miraculously giving birth, younger siblings given precedence over their older siblings, the tensions between a small tribe and the larger nations surrounding it. According to this rabbinic concept, the Torah presents the lives of these patriarchs and matriarchs to reveal the recurring patterns embedded into Jewish history.

Nachmanides took the idea even further. To him, this concept of history explained not only the vast sweep of human affairs but also all the perplexing bits of minutia. He wrote, “It is for this reason that the verses narrate at great length the account of the journeys of the patriarchs, the digging of the wells, and other events. Now someone may consider them unnecessary and of no useful purpose, but in truth they all serve as a lesson for the future.”

In his way, Nachmanides was describing what we now call “local history.”

Some people prefer their history big—world-changing people and events. They may consider it unnecessary to study the affairs of a city, a community, a neighborhood, or a street. But there is a purpose to researching life in these locales: these are the places where most of us have the greatest influence. 

For it to work, though, you need to have enough records to tell the stories.

Our previous community collecting initiatives focused on specific subjects: cookbooks (2020), clubs (2021), memoirs (2022), and restaurants (2023).

For our fifth year, we’re looking at a moment in time. 

Over the coming year, we’ll be reviewing the early 1970s in the Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania. We’ll look at consequential people, organizations, events, and themes occurring between 1970 and 1974, with the occasional drift into earlier and later years as needed to follow storylines. 

While the fashions have certainly changed over the past half century, the dramas facing the local Jewish community in the early 1970s are still relevant and pressing today. There was new leadership and new organizations. There were changes in the status of women and youth. There were changes in the relationship between the various movements within Judaism, and changes in the relationship between the Jewish community and the communities surrounding it. And there were international issues with local echoes, like war in Israel, the plight of Soviet Jewry, and the ongoing Vietnam War.

As we tell stories from this five-year stretch, we’ll review available archival documentation, reveal the gaps in the historic record, and ask you to help us fill those gaps, so that we can all learn better lessons for the future.

We’ll start next week with “Identicom,” an annual symposium analyzing the most pressing concerns facing American Jewry in the early 1970s. 

All year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting stories of Jewish life in Western Pennsylvania in the early 1970s. If you would like to donate a material from this time period, or any historically relevant materials documenting Jewish life in this region, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.

Neighborhoods:

Hazelwood

Color photograph of Congregation Ahavos Zedeck synagogue at 200 Glen Caladh St. in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh—undated.

—from Gerald Sapir Papers and Photographs [MSS 775]

In a flat Pittsburgh, the Jewish populations of the Strip District and the Hill District might have been one community. Instead, the two groups rarely interacted, despite their proximity. A steep cliff separated one from the other. 

Topography is the hidden force guiding much of Western Pennsylvania history.

The Jewish community of Hazelwood was also shaped by its landscape. The neighborhood fills a plain along Second Avenue, bounded by a hill and a river.

The river separated Hazelwood from Jewish communities in Homestead and the South Side. The hill separated it from Greenfield and Squirrel Hill.

Hazelwood developed over the second half of the 19th century with the construction of railroad lines followed by the opening of a Jones & Laughlin steel mill. With the mill came an immigrant population, including the earliest Jewish settlers. They initially settled around the intersection of Second Avenue and Vespucius Street. The area is now the parking lot of the city recycling plant. At the time, it was a distinct neighborhood known as Glenwood.

These early Jewish settlers chartered Congregation Ahavos Zedeck Anshe Glenwood in 1910. As the Jewish population of the neighborhood expanded west into Hazelwood throughout the 1920s, the congregation expanded its name, becoming Ahavos Zedeck Anshe Glenwood and Hazelwood.

Isolation often guided decision-making.

In a meeting from December 1921, Ahavos Zedeck appointed a committee “to go and see Rabbi Ashinsky to avoid disturbance caused by sending auto to take children to Hebrew Institute while we have a Rabbi in our midst.” The Hebrew Institute was a community-wide educational facility for Jewish children. It was based in the Hill District but served all of Pittsburgh. In the early 1920s, it purchased a car to collect children from farther-flung parts of the city. 

The Jewish community in Hazelwood, though, viewed all this shuttling around as a “disturbance” to the afternoon schedule. It preferred a local educator. 

Ahavos Zedeck rented meeting space for nearly 20 years. The minutes of the congregation report numerous attempts throughout the 1920s to raise the funds needed for a permanent home. Those attempts finally came to fruition in 1928, when the congregation dedicated a synagogue at 200 Glen Caladh St. 

The date is noteworthy. 

Throughout the 1920s, a separate Jewish community was gaining momentum at the top of the hill. A group of Jewish families living in Greenfield started the Murray Avenue Hebrew School as early as 1921 and soon began holding regular services for adults. These families established B’nai Emunoh Congregation in the summer of 1927 and soon dedicated a synagogue.

By the early 1930s, B’nai Emunoh was promoting itself as the congregation for Jewish residents of the Greenfield and Hazelwood Avenues district—a large area extending all the way down the hill to Second Avenue in Hazelwood.

Between the community surveys of 1938 and 1963, the Jewish populations of Squirrel Hill and Greenfield grew, while the Jewish population of Hazelwood disappeared. Ahavos Zedeck sold its synagogue in 1956 and installed commemorative plaques in four places throughout the community: the Jewish Home for the Aged on Browns Hill Road, B’nai Emunoh in Greenfield, Beth Israel Center in Pleasant Hills, and Beth El Congregation of the South Hills. 

This concludes our yearlong review of small neighborhood Jewish communities throughout the city of Pittsburgh. This review focused on synagogues, schools, and community centers. We hope to return to this topic in the future to add information about Jewish businesses and families in these communities. 

Article:

The Last Days of Logan Street

Photograph from the Lower Hill Redevelopment collection showing Urban Redevelopment Authority surveyor standing outside Haimovitz Poultry Market at 91 Logan St—1955.

—Pittsburgh City Archives, Office of the City Clerk

“‘Do you remember a street called Logan in the Hill District?’ asked Bernard Kaplan, smiling broadly because existence of one of Pittsburgh’s most colorful streets is little remembered. ‘It ran from Fifth Avenue to Bigelow Boulevard and was crammed with butcher shops, fruit stands, small grocery stores, delicatessens, merchants selling from carts — anything you could think of.’ Most of the area is now covered with concrete…” That’s how the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Douglas Smock introduced a 1977 article about the legacy of post-war redevelopment in the lower Hill District and nearby Uptown.

January 14:

JGS Pittsburgh Presents:

Choosing a Genealogy Software

Chuck Weinstein will walk you through the criteria for selecting software to record and track your software, along with reviews of the features and benefits of the most popular software packages currently on the market.

The program is on Sunday, Jan. 14, 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. 

"Choosing a Genealogy Software" 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.

Chuck Weinstein has been tracing his family history for more than 30 years. A past-president of the JGS of Long Island, Chuck has also been active with JewishGen for over 28 years. In that time, he has served as a Moderator for the JewishGen Discussion Group, Director of KehilaLinks, and is now the Towns Director of the JewishGen Research Division. His family tree goes back to the 15th century and he has helped numerous researchers break through the brick wall in their own family trees. He was Co-chair of the 2016 IAJGS Conference in Seattle, and wasLead Chair of the 2023 IAJGS Conference in London.

opening January 15:

Rodef Shalom Congregation Presents:

"The Sofer: A Tribute To My Zayde"

The Sofer is a multi-generational narrative about Pittsburgh artist Rosabel Rosalind's relationship with Zayde, her grandfather, a retired Orthodox rabbi with whom she lived for the first twelve years of her life. (He spent part of his career in Western Pennsylvania, leading Beth Samuel Jewish Center in Ambridge.) Fragmented by time and memory, the story recounts details from the years Zayde and Rosalind lived as roommates, interspersed with historical reimaginings and stark cultural observations that span past and present. 

The book follows Zayde and Rosalind, as she came of age in a Conservative Jewish household and as she continues to come to terms with her Jewishness. The Sofer is about the haunting of memory, history, and tradition in the face of a resurgence of anti-Semitism, through an intimate and inherited perspective. 

The original manuscript of The Sofer is 185 pages and is entirely hand-painted with beet juice, citing Zayde's affinity for Manischewitz brand borscht and the complexities of diasporic Jewishness. Sofer, translates to a Jewish scribe of ancient texts, and it is also Rosalind's maternal name; her Zayde’s last name. Thus she transcribed the familial, ancestral, and historical, using an untraditional hand-made ink, per scribal ritual, with a combination of painting and comic techniques and specific Sofer lettering of Rosalind's design.

February 4:

JGS Pittsburgh Presents:

Patronymic Naming and Cemetery Research

Headstone inscriptions provide one of the most important tools for researching Jewish genealogical history: patronymic naming, or names derived from paternal ancestors. This presentation will familiarize attendees with the evolution of family surnames and the practice of patronymic naming. Recognizing the components of patronymic naming, participants will learn how to take advantage of these clues to link their family through generations. Nolan Altman will review an actual case study using headstone inscriptions and will show participants online resources to help find headstone information.



Altman will also show examples of headstones and explain what you’re likely to find if you take a trip to the cemetery. He will explain the meaning of symbols that you will find on stones. Even if you can’t read Hebrew, you can understand the inscriptions. He will also show many examples of inscription trends, some odd inscriptions, and errors in inscriptions…even well-known ones. With a presentation on cemetery records, you wouldn’t expect to leave laughing, but he guarranties you will.

The program is on Sunday, Feb. 14, 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. 

"Patronymic Naming and Cemetery Research" 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.

Nolan Altman was bit by the “genealogy bug” when he was inspired to write his family history in 1996 in memory of his mother. After making use of the valuable information on JewishGen, he volunteered to do data entry on various projects. In time, he was asked to become the Coordinator for JewishGen’s Holocaust Database and subsequently the Coordinator for the JOWBR (JewishGen’s Online Worldwide Burial Registry) project. Nolan works with volunteers from around the world helping to grow both databases for the benefit of family members and researchers. Nolan currently holds the position of JewishGen’s Director for Data Acquisition and focuses on growing the JOWBR, Holocaust and Memorial Plaques databases. In 2021, JOWBR won the IAJGS Outstanding Project Award.

Community

Urban Redevelopment Authority Archives

The City of Pittsburgh Archives has launched a new digital archive containing thousands of photographs and documents spanning more than two centuries. Of particular interest to local Jewish history is a collection of more than 2,000 photographs of properties in the lower Hill District taken by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in the late 1950s prior to demolitions in the area. 

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. 

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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