Guide to the Records of the Congregation Adath Israel, 1920-1993
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Congregation Adath Israel Records
- Creator
- Adath Israel Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS#276
- Extent
- 2 cubic feet (4 Boxes)
- Date
- 1920-1993
- Abstract
- The Adath Israel Congregation was one of a number of small shuls that were active in the Pittsburgh area in the middle of the 20th century. Founded as an Orthodox synagogue in 1920 and chartered in 1925, the congregation continued to conduct services until 1993. The records include the minutes of monthly sisterhood meetings from 1950 to 1970, yearly seating plans and pledges from the High Holy Days from 1958 to 1983, financial ledgers from 1957 to 1988 and check stubs from 1968 to 1983.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History of the Congregation Adath Israel (1920-1993)
The Adath Israel Congregation was one of a number of small shuls that were active in the Pittsburgh area in the middle of the 20th century. Founded as an Orthodox synagogue in 1920 and chartered in 1925, the congregation continued to conduct services until 1993. Unlike most of the other Pittsburgh synagogues, Adath Israel was formed by a mixed group of no particular national extraction. Congregation membership appears to have reached its peak of 40 or 50 families in the 1940s. In following years, the membership dwindled, mostly because of deaths and the migration of the Jewish community out of the Oakland neighborhood.
The congregation owned the building at 3257 Ward Street in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. Built in 1898, the building may have been used as an orphanage prior to becoming a synagogue. This building served as its synagogue, Sunday school, and home for its janitor and for at least one of its rabbis. Regular services were held in the synagogue building. In the period covered by this collection, High Holy Day services were held in the Carnegie Lecture Hall so that those who attended could be accomodated. In 1950, the congregation purchased land for its own cemetery from the Kether Torah Cemetery.
The sisterhood was primarily involved in fund raising for the synagogue. The minutes cover the regular monthly meetings and the monthly board meetings. They held social events such as card parties, sold raffle tickets and cards, and accepted donations to mark special events in the members' lives.
When the congregation disbanded in 1993, the officers and sisterhood donated the synagogue property and assets to the United Jewish Federation Foundation for the establishment of a permenant endowment. The three congregational Torah scrolls were donated to Yeshiva Or David in Jerusalem. Paole Zedek, an orthodox Squirrel Hill congregation, assumed responsibility for the cemetery and yarhzeit notices.
Scope and Content Notes
The records include the minutes of monthly sisterhood meetings from 1950 to 1970, yearly seating plans and pledges from the High Holy Days from 1958 to 1983, financial ledgers from 1957 to 1988 and check stubs from 1968 to 1983. One volume holds the minutes of congregational minutes from 1944 to 1984. These were written in Yiddish until October 1949, after which they are in English. Other materials include the By-laws and Constitution, in Yiddish, a cemetery map for the Adath Israel Cemetery, a list of U.S. War Bonds (1941-1947) held by the congregation, and other miscellaneous papers and correspondence.
Arrangement
The Congregation Adath Israel Records are housed in four archival boxes and are arranged chronologically.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in four accessions and were combined into one body of records in 1997.
Acc.# 1995.0143 Gift of Sidney Snitzer 1995
Acc.# 1995.0146 Gift of Sidney Snitzer 1995
Acc.# 1995.0147 Gift of Sidney Snitzer 1995
Acc.# 1996.0141 Gift of Sidney Snitzer 1996
Sidney Snitzer was president of the congregation when it closed.
Preferred Citation
Records of the Congregation Adath Israel, 1920-1993, MSS#276, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by N. Weikers on October 30, 1997. Inventory edited by S. Melnick.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Susan M. Allen on November 3, 1999.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Adath Israel Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)