Temple Ohav Shalom

Temple Ohav Shalom is a Reform congregation in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.

Amid a wave of suburban development in the 1960s, Jewish families began moving into the townships north of Pittsburgh, including Ross, Shaler, McCandless, Hampton, Pine, and Richland. Some of these families came from the city of Pittsburgh while others came from small towns further north, such as Butler and New Castle. Some came from out of the region, attracted to Allegheny County by employment or other reasons.

A group of 10 families met at the home of Joe and Eileen Sawdai on March 9, 1968 to establish the North Hills Jewish Community Center. The hope was to better serve the existing Jewish population in the North Hills and encourage new Jewish families to relocate to the area. The North Hills Jewish Community Center was envisioned as a religious, educational, and cultural organization with the eventual goal of establishing a synagogue in the area. A community meeting was held at the Northway Mall Community Center on March 17, 1968. Among the first activities of the North Hills Jewish Community Center was a Passover Seder in the dining room of North Hills Passavant Hospital. Within its first year, the group arranged regular Shabbat and Holiday services, adult and youth education, social events, administrative meetings, and a newsletter.

As the North Hills Jewish Community Center developed organizational capacity and raised funds toward a permanent synagogue throughout the 1970s, it met in private homes and rented spaces throughout the area. In these early years, it established numerous community and interfaith partnerships. The congregation started a Sisterhood and a Men’s Club in 1974. The Sisterhood took responsibility for arranging social and holiday gatherings, which allowed the board to devote more energy toward institutional advancement. The congregation acquired two Torah scrolls from Beth Israel Congregation on the North Side of Pittsburgh, an ark and other artifacts from the Aliquippa Jewish Community Center, and prayer books from Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh.

Through the 1970s, The North Hills Jewish Community Center made many efforts toward establishing a synagogue. It received a bequest of property from the estate of philanthropist Ben Paul Brasley but ultimately determined that the cost of extending utilities to the remote area would be too costly. Other possibilities included an American Legion Hall south of Wexford and a building project with the Young Women’s Christian Association. A major set back came in 1975 and 1976, when it was discovered that a member had embezzled the entire accumulated building fund, leading to protracted legal proceedings. The congregation gradually rebuilt the fund and acquired a former Assembly of God church on Duncan Avenue, which it dedicated as a synagogue on March 16, 1980.

The early members of the congregation represented a range of religious observances. The congregation considered affiliating with the Conservative movement but struggled to accommodate certain requirements of the movement, including an eastern ark, a fully kosher kitchen, and a prohibition against members smoking on the Sabbath. Additionally, the congregation felt it would be hard to accommodate a Conservative rabbi who would need a kosher home within walking distance of the synagogue. The congregation also considered the Reconstructionist movement, but ultimately chose to affiliate with the Reform movement, joining the Union of Reform Judaism in 1982. In 1981, the North Hills Jewish Community Center formally changed its name to Temple Ohav Shalom. The new name was intended to eliminate ongoing confusion about the offerings of the organization by better highlighting its role as a religious institution.

With continued growth of the Jewish population of the North Hills, the membership of Temple Ohav Shalom grew through the 1980s and 1990s. The congregation outgrew its Duncan Avenue synagogue and acquired the former North Hills Racquet Club on Thompson Run Road, dedicating the renovated building as a synagogue in 1999.

Cemetery

As the congregation grew and aged, it required cemetery grounds. It initially purchased a section of plots in the Allegheny County Memorial Park. It later established the Temple Ohav Shalom Memorial Garden within the grounds of the Beth Shalom Cemetery.

Art

In the early 1980s, Johanna Akyuz proposed a congregational quilt. Congregants created a design of 30 blocks—a border of 18 blocks with the interior blocks depicting symbols from Jewish holidays. Members who worked on the quilt included Gerri Greenberg, Janet Nadel, Barbara Nussbaum, Lydi Poller, Lainee Scholl, and Linda Waxman. The quilt was dedicated in September 1984 and currently hangs on the wall of the social hall.

Artist and member Michael Kraus designed the ark in the main sanctuary of the Thompson Run Road synagogue. The design features twin hand-carved stone arches with bronze doors inspired by an 18th century synagogue in Suchowala, Poland. Krause also created a sculpture for a Holocaust memorial garden at Temple Ohav Shalom. The garden was established by the Roseman family in memory of Jack Roseman’s brother Leibel, who was killed in the Holocaust.

Organizations

Throughout its existence, Temple Ohav Shalom supported auxiliary groups including a Sisterhood, a Men’s Club, a preschool, and a Hebrew school. It also provided space and resources for the Hadassah-North Hills chapter, Northway ORT, and Chana Leah BBYO.

Clergy

Spiritual leaders of Temple Ohav Shalom include Rabbi Richard Address (1970-1972), Rabbi Alan Sherman (1972-1973), Rabbi Philip Sigal, Rabbi David Brusin (1974-1975), Rabbi Bennett Greenspon (1976), Rabbi Ellen Lewis (1977-1979), Rabbi Kurt Stone (1979-1980), Rabbi Karen Soria (1980-1981), Rabbi Margaret Wenig (1981-1982), Rabbi Peter K. Gluck (1982-1983), Rabbi Norman Mark Klein (1985-1991), Rabbi Sharyn Henry (1991-1996), Rabbi Art Donsky (1997-2013), Interim Rabbi David Katz (2013-2014), Rabbi Bryna Milkow (2014-2016), Rabbi Jeremy Weisblatt (2017-2022), Cantor Julie Newman, and Rabbi Aaron Bisno (2024-present).

Bibliography

Rauh Jewish Archives

• Temple Ohav Shalom (Allison Park, Pa.) Records [MSS 1390]
• Nancy and Larry Garber Papers and Photographs [MSS 1388]
• Temple Ohav Shalom materials, from Corinne Azen Krause Papers [MSS 113] (catalog record).
• Temple Ohav Shalom materials, from Jewish Chronicle Records [MSS 906] (catalog record).
• Temple Ohav Shalom materials, from Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh Records [MSS 287] (catalog record).
• Temple Ohav Shalom materials, from Jewish Archival Survey [MSS 196] (catalog record).
• Temple Ohav Shalom news [Serial] (catalog record)
• “The happy cooker,” North Hills Jewish Community Center/North Hills Group of Hadassah], [TX715 .N67 H37 1975] (catalog record)
• “Community Cookbook,” North Hills Community Outreach [TX715 .N67 1999] (catalog record)

Exhibit History

• Author: Eric Lidji, Catelyn Cocuzzi
• Created: January 27, 2026
• Current: July 3, 2026

Acknowledgements

• This entry was made possible with a grant from Nancy Garber.