Brownsville

Brownsville, Pa., in the northwest corner of Fayette County, was the site of a fort in the mid-18th century. It was settled as a trading post toward the end of the century, and by 1800 had become the largest community in Western Pennsylvania, surpassing even Pittsburgh. It was incorporated as a borough in 1814.

The first Jewish settler in Brownsville was most likely Moses Heller, who was operating a business in the borough by 1870.^[1]Feldman, Jacob, The Jewish Experience in Western Pennsylvania, A History: 1755-1945. A larger wave of Jewish immigration came to Brownsville about twenty years later, when merchants including Samuel Green, Samuel Brown, Joseph Wise, the Goldstein family, J. Trumper, H. L. Beck, Abram Miller and others settled in the borough.^[2]“Brownsville Jewish Community,” Jewish Criterion, July 4, 1919 (online). By 1906, a small group was meeting for worship in the house of Sam Birkenfield in West Brownsville, across the Monogahela River. They chartered Congregation Ohave Israel about 1907. Charter members were Max G. Krause, Joseph N. Cooper, I. Herskovitz, John Altman, Edward Gottesman, Morris Lebowitz, Harry Levy, Abe Miller and B. Wise. ^[3]“Brownsville Congregation Burns Mortage,” Jewish Criterion, November 26, 1943 (online).. A second group of nineteen Jewish men who were predominately from Hungary and were living primarily in South Brownsville and across the river in West Brownsville chartered a second congregation called Tree of Life in 1915, although it soon disbanded and joined Ohave Israel.

Ohave Israel (sometimes spelled “Ohev Israel” or “O’Have Israel,” in official documents) met in private homes until 1916, when its members dedicated a wood frame synagogue on Arch Street between High Street and Prospect Street. The building was destroyed in a fire two years later. The congregation broke ground on a second synagogue at 210 2nd Street in Brownsville in 1919 and dedicated the building the following year. The spiritual leader of the congregation at the time of the second dedication was Rabbi J. Shapo, who had trained both at a teacher’s institute in Vilna, in present-day Lithuania, and at the University of Oregon.

Brownsville and South Brownsville population (total and Jewish)

The Jewish population of the Brownsville and neighboring South Brownsville grew through World War II to a high of around 400 and declined after the war. Available population figures fluctuate considerably between 1919 and 1951 and appear to double count people for Brownsville and South Brownsville, leading to inflated totals. Congregation Ohave Israel disbanded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and sold its synagogue building in 1979. A few years later, Ohave Israel donated its ceremonial fixtures to Beth El Congregation of the South Hills, which used them to furnish its new to Leizer Balk-Ahavas Zedeck Chapel.^[4]Leizer Balk-Ahavas Zedeck Chapel dedication program, 1983 (online). ^[5]“Volunteers ‘lion’ up to build new chapel,” Jewish Chronicle, July 1, 1982 (online). In early 2016, the former “Brownsville shul” was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[6]Goldstein, Carol. “Temple Ohave Israel: National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 2015 (online—NPS.gov).

Bibliography

• Synagogue Documentation Project Records
• Synagogue Documentation Project Photographs
• Hamburger Distillery Photograph (2001.0190)
• Cass Sunstein Papers (2004.0055)
• David Landay Papers (2015.0247)
• Carol Goldstein Research Notes (2016.0031)
• Temple Ohave Israel National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
• Constitution of the Congregation Ohev Israel of Brownsville, Pa. (dBM225_B7_O4_1954)
• Anne Litman oral history (NCJW)
• Julian P. Levinson oral history (NCJW)

Exhibit history

• Author: Eric Lidji
• Original: May 5, 2017
• Current: August 28, 2024

Jewish residents of Brownsville

A searchable record of known Jewish residents of Brownsville between the late 19th and late 20 centuries.

• Author: Jordana Rosenfeld
• Formatting: Lynne Jacobson
• Current: August 28, 2024