The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Mordecai Moses and Zipporah Mordecai are believed to be the first Jewish family in Western Pennsylvania. Mordecai Moses Mordecai (1727-1809) immigrated to the United States from Lithuania. Around 1760, he married Zipporah de Lyon of Easton, Pa., whose family had been among the earliest Jewish settlers of Savannah, Ga. Mordecai Moses Mordecai partnered with Joseph Simon on a distillery in Lancaster, Pa. and by 1770 had started a distillery in Baltimore. As early as 1775, the Mordecais had relocated to Western Pennsylvania. They operated a whiskey distillery and a tavern in Bellefield, located several miles east of downtown Pittsburgh in the present-day Oakland neighborhood of the city. Zipporah Mordecai is believed to be the first Jewish women in Western Pennsylvania. While living in the area, they had a son, Samuel Mordecai, who is believed to be the first Jewish child born in Western Pennsylvania. The Mordecai family struggled financially and relocated to Philadelphia sometime before May 1779.