The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
The Hebrew Institute was a communitywide non-denominational religious educational facility for Jewish youth in Pittsburgh.
Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Ashinsky convened a meeting of local Jewish leaders in 1911 to discuss the formation of a “modern Talmud Torah.” It would be an afternoon Jewish religious school combining traditional Jewish subjects with emerging educational techniques and sensitivity to the American milieu. After struggling for years to gain community support, the project was advanced with a $25,000 matching grant from Louis I. Aaron, leading to a successful fundraising campaign. The first Hebrew Institute building (Walter S. Cohen architect, H. Miller & Sons contractor) was dedicated at the corner of Wylie Avenue and Green Street in the Hill District in November 1916.
Israel Abrams was the first director of the Hebrew Institute. He was one of the “Benderly Boys” who had studied under Samson Benderly in Baltimore. In a 1916 article about the “aims and activities” of the Hebrew Institute, Abrams described an egalitarian program providing education to boys and girls equally, the use of standardized curricula and trained teachers, a focus on the Hebrew language through the “natural method” also known as Ivrit b’Ivrit, experiential learning through programs such as a children’s synagogue, physically attractive quarters with a library, a playground, and clubs.
With the migration of the Jewish population away from the Hill District between the 1920s and 1940s, the Hebrew Institute began establishing a presence in emerging Jewish neighborhoods to the east. It created a satellite branches in the East End in association with B’nai Israel Congregation, in Squirrel Hill in association with Congregation Beth Shalom, and in the nearby small town of Greensburg. It sold its Hill District building to the Kay Boys Club in the early 1940s and relocated to Squirrel Hill, initially occupying a pair of residences at the northeast corner of Forbes Avenue and Denniston Street.
Under the leadership of Abrams’ son Solomon Abrams, the Hebrew Institute grew in Squirrel Hill. It dedicated a new building at the northwest corner of Forbes Avenue and Denniston Street in the mid-1960s. In addition to expanding its educational offerings for local Jewish youth, the Hebrew Institute building became an important incubator for community projects, such as Young People’s Synagogue and Congregation Dor Hadash.
The Hebrew Institute merged with the School of Advanced Jewish Studies and Community Day School in 1991 to create the Jewish Educational Institute.