Rodef Shalom Temple
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Rodef Shalom Congregation
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Rodef Shalom's celebrated façade
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| Location | 4905 5th Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 40°26′53″N 79°56′37″W / 40.44806°N 79.94361°WCoordinates: 40°26′53″N 79°56′37″W / 40.44806°N 79.94361°W |
| Built | 1906 |
| Architect | Henry Hornbostel |
| Architectural style | Beaux-Arts |
| NRHP Reference # | 79002162 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 15, 1979 |
| Designated PHLF | 1971 |
Rodef Shalom Congregation is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania designed by architect Henry Hornbostel.
Located on Fifth Avenue on the border of the Oakland and Shadyside neighborhoods, it houses Congregation Rodef Shalom, the oldest Jewish congregation in Western Pennsylvania and the largest Reform congregation in the area. Across the street from the temple is the headquarters of Pittsburgh's PBS station WQED.
On the grounds of the building is Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden.
At first, Rodef Shalom was not Rodef Shalom. It was 1847, and a dozen Jewish Pittsburghers established a burial society they called Bes Almon (Mourners’ House) and purchased land on Troy Hill, on the city’s North Side, for use as a cemetery.
By 1848, the group had rented a room downtown, on Penn Avenue and Sixth Street, and formed a congregation called Shaare Shemayim (Gate of Heaven). Then came a split, with members striking out on their own to form congregation Beth Israel (House of Israel) in 1852. A year passed, and Shaare Shemayim and Beth Israel reunited under the Shaare Shemayim banner.
Rodef Shalom arose around 1855, after a second split in the Shaare Shemayim congregation. But, again, reconciliation came and, in 1860, the two congregations merged under the name Rodef Shalom.
The congregation’s charter, dated November 9, 1856, gives as its primary objectives “the furtherance of the cause of Religion” and “the establishment of a good school in which the young shall be instructed in the principles of the Hebrew Religion as well as general branches of knowledge.” By 1860 there were thirty-five member families, with fifty pupils enrolled in the school. The first Jewish confirmation in Pittsburgh was held in 1862 for six girls and one boy.
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