"New Community Center"
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
The Hilltop Jewish Community Club served Jewish families in the “hilltop” neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, including Allentown, Arlington, Beltzhoover, Carrick, Knoxville, Mt. Oliver, and Mt. Washington.
The city of Pittsburgh annexed these independent boroughs and townships at various points between 1872 and 1927. By the mid-1920s, these “hilltop” neighborhoods were home to several Jewish families. Aware of this growing Jewish population, Knoxille merchants Morris and Irene Fivars identified some 25 Jewish families spread across the entire area. They formed the Hilltop Jewish Community Club in 1925 based out of the third floor of Weil’s Hall at 239 Climax Street in Belzhoover. Henry and Hattie Weil owned the hall and donated the space to the club.[1]“New Community Center,” Jewish Criterion, Jan. 30, 1925 (online).
The Hilltop Jewish Community Club acted as a synagogue, religious school, and Jewish community center. It formed the Hilltop Jewish Brotherhood in 1927.[2]“Hill Top Community Club notice,” Jewish Criterion, April 4, 1927 (online). A local Mother’s Club oversaw a local religious school with the help of the Southwestern District of Pennsylvania Jewish Religious Schools Program. Starting in 1927, the Hilltop Jewish Community Club held High Holiday services using a borrowed Torah and a hired part-time rabbi.[3]“Hill Top Community Club notice,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 14, 1927 (online).
The club dissolved sometime after 1942, as the Jewish population of the hilltop began coalescing in Arlington Heights to the east and the Brookline and Dormont to the south.[4]“Hill Top Community Club notice,” Jewish Criterion, May 8, 1942. [5]Kuntz, Leonard Irvin, “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963.” (1970). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1864. … Continue reading
Parents, students, and teachers associated with the Hilltop Jewish Community Club include Sidney Amdur, Adelaide Arenstein, Alvin Arenstein, J. Axelrad, Anne Berman, Rose Caplan, Rita Cartiff, Sylvia Cartiff, Lillian Cohen, Florence Davidson, Herman Davidson, Max Dektor, N. Dubbs, Dorothy Eckstein, Mrs. Herbert H. Eckstein, Ben Edelstein, Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Edelstein, Sadye Edelstein, Sylvia Florence Edelstein, Caroline Fink, Morton Finn, Mrs. M. Finn, Donald Fivars, Evelyn Fivars, Grace Fivars, Morris Fivars, Irene Fivars, Ethel Frankel, Florence Frankel, Minnie Frankel, Mrs. S. Frankel, William Frankel, Gloria Friedman, Louis Friedman, Mrs. Louis Friedman, Phyllis Friedman, Reeva Gelman, Abraham Gutmacher, Morris Gutmacher, Sam Gutmacher, Zelda Gutmacher, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Haas, Gerson Haas, Rhea Haas, Theodore Haas, Rubin Horovitz, Roland Jacobs, Louis Jossman, Rose Klein, Joseph Levine, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Markowitz, Isador Marmorstein, Henry Mustin, Mrs. Jack H. Orinstein, Edith Oshrey, Abraham Peckett, Clara Peckett, Dora Peckett, Lillian Peckett, Sarah Peckett, Mrs. Samuel E. Penn, Sadie Rider, Albert Rubenstein, David Rubenstein, Morris Rubenstein, Mrs. M. Rubinstein, Philip Schneider, Irving Schwartzman, Mrs. J. Seewald, Abe Shear, Ethel Siegal, Irving Silver, Mr. R. O. P. Silverman, Harry Silverstein, Louis Silverstein, Rose Silverstein, Lillian Slone, Sidney Slone, Vivian Slone, Bernard Steinberg, Gertrude Tillman, Jerome Veldenger, Loretta Veldenzer, Herman Vinegar, Jennie Vinegar, Bebe Weil, Hattie Weil, Henry E. Weil, J. Weil, Yetta Weil, Mrs. Daniel Yamshon, and Jacob Zuckerman.[6]Hilltop Jewish Community Club notices, Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project.
References
| ↑1 | “New Community Center,” Jewish Criterion, Jan. 30, 1925 (online). |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | “Hill Top Community Club notice,” Jewish Criterion, April 4, 1927 (online). |
| ↑3 | “Hill Top Community Club notice,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 14, 1927 (online). |
| ↑4 | “Hill Top Community Club notice,” Jewish Criterion, May 8, 1942. |
| ↑5 | Kuntz, Leonard Irvin, “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963.” (1970). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1864. (online—LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses). |
| ↑6 | Hilltop Jewish Community Club notices, Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project. |
