Cneseth Israel Congregation

Cneseth Israel Congregation was founded in December 1903 by a contingent from Ohel Jacob Congregation, which later became New Light Congregation. Like those congregations, Cneseth Israel was initially associated with Jewish immigrants from Romania. Its synagogue was known informally for a time as “the little Romanian shul.”^[1]Feldman, Jacob. “The Jewish Experience in Western Pennsylvania,” Pittsburgh: Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 1986 (catalog record).

Cneseth Israel rented meeting space at various locations throughout the Hill District until 1910, when it purchased a former Mormon church on Miller Street for $5,600 and converted the building into a synagogue.^[2]“Local Realty Market Now Fairly Active,” Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 11, 1910 (online—Newspapers.com). The congregation was initially led in a part-time capacity by Rabbi Eliyahu Kochin but was mostly lay-led throughout its existence.

County property records suggest that Cneseth Israel may have considered purchasing cemetery property in Baldwin Township sometime after 1918.^[3]Baldwin Township A-32 Map, c. 1918 (online). The congregation ultimately acquired cemetery property in Shaler Township in the late 1920s.

Cneseth Israel dedicated a new synagogue in 1946 at a converted house at 1112 N. Negley Ave. in the Highland Park section of the East End. The congregation remained in the building until 1978, when it merged with nearby Adath Jeshurun Congregation.^[4]“Orthodox Synagogues Join In East Liberty,” Pittsburgh Press, Sept. 30, 1978 (online—Newspapers.com). The merged congregation relocated to Monroeville in 1996 and eventually closed in 2003.

Bibliography

• Congregation Cneseth Israel records [2014.0197] (catalog record).

Exhibit history

• Author: Eric Lidji
• Original: July 29, 2022
• Current: July 29, 2022