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Elaine Weissman [Weissman]: Has membership in The Tree of Life affected
your position in the Jewish community? You were not active? Morris Oringer
[Oringer]: No. Not active. Weissman: Has it helped your family as far as
education goes or marriage? Oringer: The Tree of Life?
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Oringer: No. No, I wouldn't say so, because some of them were my side. And
myself and my sister Leona we're the only two in the family that still
belong to the Tree of Life. The rest of them belong to different groups.
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Weissman: Has it helped your business profession or.
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Oringer: By belonging to the Tree of Life?
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Weissman: No, I wouldn't say so. Weissman: Has it hurt it in any way?
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Oringer: Not in the least, no.
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Weissman: Uh, what class do you identify with? Are you upper class, middle
class, working class?
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Oringer: Oh no, middle is enough. Middle class.
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Weissman: Has-- Oringer: I'm a retired class. Weissman: That's right. And
has membership in The Tree of Life affected your chances of moving to a
higher class?
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Oringer: No, I don't think so.
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Weissman: And hasn't affected your position in the Jewish community?
Oringer: No. Weissman: Are members of the Tree of Life Upper class?
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Oringer: No, I wouldn't say so. I'd say for the most part, they were
middle.
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Weissman: Does membership in the Tree of Life or any other organization
affect your position outside of the Jewish community?
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Oringer: No, it doesn't.
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Weissman: Uh, do you remember the old Irene Kaufmann settlement?
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Oringer: Yes, I do.
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Weissman: What can you tell me about it?
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Oringer: I remember the name. Only I can't tell you too much about it. No,
the name stands out for some reason.
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Weissman: Did you belong to it? Oringer: No. Weissman: Did you go there?
Oringer: No. Weissman: Does the name Anna B Heldman? Do you remember
anything about that? There was a crusade to clean up prostitution and
gambling in Pittsburgh.
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Oringer: I heard about that, yes.
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Weissman: But no one in your family was active in it or um--
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Oringer: No, they weren't activated--active in that.
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Weissman: You were pretty young, but do you remember anything about the
red light district in the hill in the 1920s? Oringer: Vaguely, I've heard
of it. Weissman: You've heard about it? Oringer: [??] Bad. Weissman: Uh, do
you know anything about the founding of Montefiore Hospital?
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Oringer: I don't know anything about the founding of it, but certainly
I've heard of it.
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Weissman: Uh, when you were growing up, what type of jobs did most Jews
have that you knew?
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Oringer: The Jewish people that I was acquainted with didn't have jobs.
They had their own [laugh].
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Oringer: Kinds of businesses.
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Oringer: Or professions.
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Weissman: Uh, what do you think of intermarriage? You approve of it?
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Oringer: I don't think so. Weissman: May I ask why? Oringer: Because it
involves too many things. When you're brought up in one kind of
relationship. And then if your daughter or if you're going to get married,
you're brought up in one time and then your daughter, the woman that you
picked that you want to marry. Of an altogether different fate. Who has
entirely different views. It's pretty hard, as far as I'm concerned, to
reconcile these two. And it's. It's either to go one way or go the other.
In other words, you can't take a middle course. You can't-- she can't
believe what she wants to. And you-- uh, and you have want-- you want to
believe what you want to. That's the way I feel.
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Weissman: It'd cause a little friction. Oringer: That's right.
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Oringer: This one will completely overwhelm[??] the others.
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Weissman: Uh, have your views on Zionism changed?
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Oringer: No they haven't.
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Oringer: It's a good cause, it's a very good cause. If they hadn't [??]
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Weissman: Did you ever belong to an organization specifically for national
Jews like Russian, Polish, Hungarian? Nothing like that. And in the 1910s,
the Jewish philanthropies became a federation. Do you know or remember any
changes that occurred in this organization? Goes back a way.
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Oringer: I was a little bit too young.
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Weissman: So it didn't affect you. And then we're back to the
neighborhoods in Pittsburgh that you lived in. That was the North side.
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Oringer: Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill. So we moved to Washington, PA.
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Weissman: Uh, did you join any other groups for Jewish people? Oringer: No
I don't think so. Weissman: Did you drop from membership in any groups?
Oringer: No, we didm't belong to any.
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Oringer: We moved to Washington, got to the Tree of Life. I was about 18.
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Weissman: Where are your parents buried?
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Oringer: The old Tree of Life cemetery.
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Weissman: All right. Uh, do you own a cemetery plot for yourself?
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Oringer: Well father provided for that. Weissman: You have.
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Weissman: A family plot? And it's the Tree of Life. Oringer: Tree of.
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Oringer: Life. See, they have two.
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Oringer: Cemeteries we belong to the [??].
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Weissman: Uh, is there such a thing as a family club in your family? The
monthly meetings or twice a year-- Oringer: No. We tried.
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Oringer: To have a little family reunion. But it doesn't happen every
month, maybe on an annual or maybe 2 or 3 or 4 years, you know, separation
or something. Trying to get together occasionally. We had one.
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Weissman: Is there anything else you can think of you'd like to talk
about? We have publications, but Tree of Life probably just sends out their
weekly bulletins.
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Oringer: Well, I told you that little puppy, that little book that I have
for.
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Oringer: Its 70th anniversary. Weissman: No you didn't, tell me about it
again.
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Oringer: The Tree of Life when.
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Oringer: They had their 70th anniversary. I wrote this little book on
three score years and ten. And my sister Leona.
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Oringer: Drew a tree on the cover.
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Oringer: I got materials to do it. I wrote a little book about how the
Tree of Life started.
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Weissman: The history of the--
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Oringer: It's a history of the Tree of Life [??]
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Weissman: How many years ago was that when they had their 70th
anniversary?
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Oringer: Let's see. I think this is-- I think the Tree of Life is
100-something[??] years old.
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Weissman: That's going back a long time, that'd be 40 years ago.
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Oringer: I think this was. 26 or.
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Oringer: 29. Somewhere in there. I think I have the date wrong when it was
70 years.
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Weissman: Is there anyone else you think I could interview that would give
me some information about Pittsburgh? Ruby Cohn said they're all gone
[laughs].
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Oringer: Is it the.
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Weissman: Older ones? Yeah. They want senior citizens, even if they live
in Squirrel Hill. We have people interviewing there. They're going to
Riverview.
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Weissman: Checking them out.
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Weissman: So you can't help. You'll think about it. Oringer: I tell you if
I think-- Weissman: And you'll let me know if there's anything else. Well,
thanks a lot, Morris. That takes care of it. Tell me a-- repeat what you
just told me. What about the house that you lived in with the Swiss chard?
Oringer: Oh [laughs].
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Oringer: We live.
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Weissman: Where?
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Oringer: On Juniata [ph] Place. Our-- in a very large lot, 275 foot front
375 foot back. We had a full size tennis court and we had great barbers, 2
or 3 different kinds of grapes. We had a 75 foot long. Soared 75 foot long
patch of Swiss chard and we provided the army US Army with at least a
barrel every week of Swiss chard. We had a cow, a Holstein cow, we had
white Leghorn chickens, we got our own milk and we had everything there.
And I played tennis on that court with Rabbi Halpern. But I don't know
whether I ought to say thanks. Stop it. That home was sold to a developer.
The whole thing. Another belt she could not take care of all of it. We sold
to this developer who built put a 30 foot wide street through the center
and built nine homes on it.
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Oringer: And I think they are still. And they were not cheap homes.
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Oringer: This goes way back when.
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Weissman: Well, about how far back-- was this after you were through with
college?
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Oringer: No, this was just about when I was in college. 22, 23
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Weissman: 1922. Oringer: And we moved to Squirrel Hill. Weissman: Right.
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Weissman: The Tree of Life Cemetery Sharpsburg is it?
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Oringer: Right.
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Weissman: Two bedroom apartment, apartment, modern sectional furniture,
plants, piano, nothing especially striking or unusual.
