The Zionist Bulletin (April 1915)
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Shaare Zion Congregation was a religious Zionist congregation in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. It emerged out of religious services held at the Zionist Institute of Pittsburgh during the High Holidays in late 1914. By the following spring, it had more than 40 members. It initially dedicated all financial donations to the Jewish National Fund.
Shaare Zion Congregation obtained a charter in August 1919 with a mission to “maintain a place of worship and to teach, study and uphold the Hebraic religion together with the principles of Zionism.” Names listed on the charter include Rev. Jacob H. Helfer, Simon Danilowitz, David Philips, Benjamin Helfer, Max Amdursky, Thomas Marmins, Meyer Kramer, Jacob Friedland, Morris A. Berman, Frank A. Amdursky, Abe Rosenberg, William Shear, Philip Caplan, Jacob Leff, Hyman Katz, Julius Wisoko/Wesoky, Louis Wisoko/Wiscoko, Joseph Kirnel, P. Wolfe, and Isadore Pearlman. The congregation remained active into the late 1920s.
