Talmud Torah Congregation (South Side)

Talmud Torah Congregation
Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center

Congregation Talmud Torah was located in the South Side of Pittsburgh. It was founded in October 1913 with help from Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky and chartered on November 19, 1913 with the following charter members: Abram Goldvarg, Alex Gordon, Simon Solof, Morris Mauerberger, M. Finn, Meyer Morris, I. Goldstein, Harry Engelman, Harry Hadas, Harry Baker, S. Kann, Jos. Bremer, Herman A. Lewis, Henry Weisberg, and Isaac Schwartz.

After using space in private buildings for several years, Congregation Talmud Torah acquired a storefront at 1908 Sarah Street and converted it into a synagogue in 1917. On the day of the dedication, the synagogue also served as a polling place for the American Jewish Congress election. The congregation broke ground on a new synagogue at the same location in 1930. The congregation burned the mortgage on the building in 1947, by which time the Jewish population of the South Side had already begun to decline. Congregation Talmud Torah dissolved sometime after 1970.

Jewish Population of the South Side

TypeYearPopulationSource
Talmud Torah Sisterhood membership192135Pittsburgh Jewish Community Book, 1921
Jewish children (South Side)192440"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)192649"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)192870"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)193060"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)193241"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)193447"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)193637"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)193836"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish households (South Side Flats) [Census Tracts 16A, 17A, 17B]193868Kuntz, Leonard. “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963,” 1970
Jewish households (South Side Slopes) [Census Tracts 16B, 17C]19385Kuntz, Leonard. “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963,” 1970
Jewish children (South Side)194043"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)194232"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)194420"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)194619"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)194828"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)195020"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)195219"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)195420"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)195612"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish children (South Side)19587"Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958," Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh
Jewish households (South Side Flats) [Census Tracts 16A, 17A, 17B]19633Kuntz, Leonard. “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963,” 1970
Jewish households (South Side Slopes) [Census Tracts 16B, 17C]19631Kuntz, Leonard. “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963,” 1970

Bibliography

  • “Talmud Torah Sisterhood,” Pittsburgh Jewish Community Book (1921) (online—Historic Pittsburgh).
  • Arnfeld, Ruth. “A Half Century of Faith,” Jewish Criterion, Sept. 11, 1942 (online).

Exhibit History

  • Author: Eric Lidji
  • Created: November 2, 2023
  • Current: November 2, 2023

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