Rodef Shalom Congregation
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rodef Shalom Congregation is a
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
landmark in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, designed by architect
Henry Hornbostel Henry Hornbostel (August 15, 1867 – December 13, 1961) was an American architect and educator. Hornbostel designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States. Twenty-two of his designs are listed on the National Regis ...
. Located on
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
on the border of the
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
and Shadyside neighborhoods, it houses Congregation Rodef Shalom, the oldest Jewish congregation in
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
and the largest
Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
congregation in the area. Across the street from the temple is the headquarters of Pittsburgh's
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
station WQED. On the grounds of the building is the
Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden The Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden (0.3 acres) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Shadyside section is a Biblical botanical garden. Opened and free to the public since 1987 from June 1 through September 15. It was founded by Rabbi Walter Ja ...
.


History

In 1847, a dozen Jewish Pittsburghers established a burial society they called Bes Almon (Mourners’ House) and purchased land on Troy Hill, on the city's North Side, for use as a cemetery.


Early years

By 1848, the group had rented a room downtown, on Penn Avenue and Sixth Street, and formed a congregation called Shaare Shemayim (Gate of Heaven). They practiced
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
. The congregation's charter, dated November 9, 1856, gives as its primary objectives “the furtherance of the cause of Religion” and “the establishment of a good school in which the young shall be instructed in the principles of the Hebrew Religion as well as general branches of knowledge.” Over the next eight years, some members twice split off into separate congregations, but then rejoined. Congregation Beth Israel (House of Israel) formed in 1852 but was back within a year. Another group separated in 1855, but rejoined in 1860, a year after Shaare Shemayim rented a hall on St. Clair Street in
Allegheny City Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...
(now the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh). The re-merged congregations took the name Rodef Shalom at that time, with thirty-five member families, and fifty children enrolled in the school. Outgrowing the rental, construction began on its own building in 1861. Designed by architect Charles Bartberger, the first temple was built on Hancock Street (now Eighth Street) in downtown Pittsburgh. The dedication ceremony, on March 20, 1862, featured Rev. William Armhold, Minister, addressing the congregation in German. Josiah Cohen, a teacher in the congregation's day school, delivered a speech in English. Pittsburgh's finest vocalist, Sigmund Apfelbaum performed.


Switch to Reform

The first Jewish confirmation in Pittsburgh was held in 1862 for six girls and one boy. In 1863,
Isaac M. Wise Isaac Mayer Wise (29 March 1819, Lomnička – 26 March 1900, Cincinnati) was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author. At his death he was called "the foremost rabbi in America". Early life Wise was born on 29 March 1819 in Steingrub in B ...
, a founder of
Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...
in America, came to Pittsburgh. He had a great impact, and shortly after his visit, the congregation voted to adopt some Reform practices, including the Reform prayer book. The change didn't suit all Rodef Shalom congregants, with some resigning and forming the Orthodox Tree of Life Synagogue (later Conservative). The transition to full Reform practices came ins stages. As the years passed, services were shortened, women and men sat together, and an organ was installed—music was vital to Rodef Shalom even then, as the choir, directed by Bertha (Mrs. Jacob) Benswanger, was reputed to be “one of the best in the country.” The transition to the English language took time. When Louis Naumburg became minister in 1865, he spoke in German. Lippman Mayer, who succeeded him in 1870, spoke English but was more comfortable in German. Mayer, a strong proponent of Reform, later founded the Jewish Chautauqua Society. The changes didn't stop with language: By 1874, it was no longer mandatory for men to wear a hat or yarmulke and the congregation had joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Major changes for Rodef Shalom occurred in 1885. The congregation hosted a national convention rabbis, organized by Reform leadership. The resulting "
Pittsburgh Platform The Pittsburgh Platform is a pivotal 1885 document in the history of the American Reform Movement in Judaism that called for Jews to adopt a modern approach to the practice of their faith. While it was never formally adopted by the Union of America ...
" declared that Judaism was a religion, not a nation, and that the Bible was an ethical guide, not the infallible word of God. It stated that American Jews do not have to keep
kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
. This Pittsburgh Platform guided North American Reform Judaism until 1937, and caused a major split in American Jewry between liberal and traditional groups''.''


20th century

J. Leonard Levy, a dynamic leader with an internationalist outlook, became Rodef Shalom's Rabbi in 1901. He had served congregations in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England;
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, California; and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Rabbi Levy was known for his work to strengthen interfaith communication in Pittsburgh and beyond. During his Pittsburgh tenure, he started an international peace organization and co-edited the weekly
Jewish Criterion The Jewish Criterion (OCLC 2262915) whose editors included J. Leonard Levy (rabbi of Rodef Shalom) and Charles H. Joseph, was one of two weekly papers for Jews in Pittsburgh. It was published 1895-1962, with the initial editor being M. K. Susman. ...
, in addition to preaching at both
Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
and Sunday services at Rodef Shalom. At Levy's invitation, President William Howard Taft visited Rodef Shalom on Saturday, May 29, 1909. This was the first recorded time that a sitting United States president spoke in a synagogue. During Levy's rabbinate, Rodef Shalom nearly tripled, growing from 132 member families at his start to 363 by 1908. Pittsburgh was changing. New immigration patterns brought more Jews to the city and new demographic patterns saw many of these new arrivals and longer-standing congregants moving from Allegheny City and the Hill District to emerging eastern neighborhoods like
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
, Shadyside, and East Liberty. Nevertheless, more than half of Rodef Shalom's members still lived near the Allegheny City Temple, so when a move was suggested due to crowded conditions, the congregation opted to expand where it stood. The original Temple building was torn down in 1900, replaced by a Charles Bickel-designed edifice. The new, larger structure was dedicated on September 6 and 7, 1901. Shortly thereafter, an annex was added for religious school classes. By 1904, however, the congregation had already outgrown the space. Congregational leaders came to see Oakland, Shadyside, and
Squirrel Hill Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated a ...
as the new cultural and residential centers of Pittsburgh. Rodef Shalom sold its new-but-outdated home to the Second Presbyterian Church, their downtown neighbor, for $150,000 and began its move toward the east, buying a lot near the corner of Morewood and Fifth avenues for $60,000. (See
Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
.) Samuel H. Goldenson came to Rodef Shalom in 1918, a year after Rabbi Levy's untimely death. He instituted further reform practices, persuading members to give up their privately owned pews in favor of a more democratic system of unassigned seats, a decision that attracted many more members. Solomon B. Freehof replaced Goldenson when he left for New York's Congregation
Emanu-El Emanu-El (also spelled Emanuel) ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל ''imanuél'', "God swith us", from עִמָּנוּ ''imánu'', "with us" + אֵל ''el'', "God"), or Temple Emanuel, may refer to the following Jewish synagogues: Australia *Emanuel Sy ...
in 1934. He provided regular preaching, and also wrote extensively on Jewish law and ritual. Freehof chaired the group that updated the Union Prayer Book. He wrote book reviews for over 35 years, with a readership of more than 1,500 Christians and Jews. He was president of the
Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. I ...
and the
World Union for Progressive Judaism The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries ...
. His wife Lillian wrote plays and novels and organized Braille services. The Religious School added the Levy Hall auditorium (designed by Ingham & Boyd), and the Cohen Chapel, completed in 1938. A large social hall, named in honor of Dr. Freehof, was built in 1956, and an addition to the back of the building provided an entrance from the parking lot, funded by Allen H. and Selma W. Berkman. With more congregants than the Temple could serve, Rodef Shalom encouraged the creation of new Reform congregations, helping shepherd Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill, Temple Emanuel in the South Hills, and Temple David in Monroeville into existence. Freehod retired in 1966, and was succeeded by his assistant, Dr.
Walter Jacob Walter Jacob (born 1930) is an American Reform rabbi who was born in Augsburg, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1940. He received his B.A. from Drury College (Springfield, Missouri, 1950) and ordination and an M.H.L. from Hebrew ...
, originally hired in 1955. Membership peaked at approximately 2,300 families in the early 1960s. Jacob founded the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah and was president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He and his wife Irene established the Biblical Botanical Garden at Rodef Shalom in 1986. Now Rabbi Emeritus of Rodef Shalom, Dr. Jacob remains active in Pittsburgh and abroad. He was instrumental in the creation of
Abraham Geiger College Abraham Geiger Kolleg is a rabbinic seminary at the University of Potsdam in Potsdam, Germany. History Abraham Geiger Kolleg was founded 1999 as the only seminary in Germany since the Holocaust, when the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Jud ...
, the first rabbinic training college in Germany since the Holocaust. Dr. Mark Staitman, associate rabbi since 1975, served as Rabbi of the Congregation from 1997–2003. Dr. Staitman is known for his involvement with
Soviet Jewry The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For ...
and served as Chairman of the
National Coalition Supporting Soviet Jewry The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ), formerly the National Council for Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), is an organization in the United States which advocates for the freedoms and rights of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic S ...
. In 1989-1990 a major capital campaign restored the sanctuary. In 2000–2003, other areas of the building were updated for contemporary usage and handicap accessibility and a new porte-cochere entrance from the parking lot was added.


Architecture

A design competition was held and
Henry Hornbostel Henry Hornbostel (August 15, 1867 – December 13, 1961) was an American architect and educator. Hornbostel designed more than 225 buildings, bridges, and monuments in the United States. Twenty-two of his designs are listed on the National Regis ...
— the architect
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
selected to create Carnegie Institute of Technology (now
Carnegie-Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
)—emerged the winner. Hornbostel's Beaux Arts styling merged the traditional with the modern. The double dome, 90 feet in diameter, was constructed without structural steel, instead using the
Catalan vault The Catalan vault ( ca, volta catalana), also called thin-tile vault, Catalan turn, Catalan arch, boveda ceiling (Spanish ''bóveda'' 'vault'), or timbrel vault, is a type of low brickwork arch forming a vaulted ceiling that often supports a floor ...
, a Spanish vernacular style brought to the U.S. by
Rafael Guastavino Rafael Guastavino Moreno (; March 1, 1842 February 1, 1908) was a Spanish building engineer and builder who immigrated to the United States in 1881; his career for the next three decades was based in New York City. Based on the Catalan vault, ...
. For the exterior, Hornbostel chose local yellow brick, augmented with colored terra cotta flourishes. The design incorporated four representational stained glass windows by
William Willet William Willet (November 1, 1869 – March 29, 1921) was an American portrait painter, muralist, stained glass designer, studio owner and writer. An early proponent of the Gothic Revival and active in the "Early School" of American stained ...
, saved from the 1901 building, along with a large stained glass skylight in the dome and a lunette over the Fifth Avenue entrance. They installed a 1907 Kimball organ, the largest of its kind still in use. It seats more than 900 on the first floor and 300 in the gallery. The building was finished in time for High Holy Day services in 1907 at a cost of $250,000.


Notable events

On October 30, 2018 Rodef Shalom hosted the memorial services of Cecil and David Rosenthal one of the 11 victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that had occurred three days earlier among the attendees are members of the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
as Cecil and David were the brothers of former community relations manager Michele Rosenthal.


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Rodef Shalom Congregation website

WQED onQ: Rodef Shalom
{{Authority control Jews and Judaism in Pittsburgh Religious buildings and structures in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Beaux-Arts synagogues Beaux-Arts architecture in Pennsylvania Henry Hornbostel buildings Reform synagogues in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Synagogues completed in 1906 1856 establishments in Pennsylvania Religious organizations established in 1856