Beth Israel Congregation (Washington, Pennsylvania)

Jacob Goldfarb moved to Washington, Pennsylvania in around 1890. The following year,[3] he led the organization of Beth Israel Congregation as an Orthodox synagogue,[4] serving as both its rabbi and cantor.[7] It was Washington County's first Jewish congregation.[4]

By the turn of the 20th century, the Beth Israel had 22 member families, and an annual revenues of $600 (today $18,000).[8] It held services on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, and had round 20 children in its religious school.[8] In 1902, the congregation constructed its first synagogue building,[4] at the corner of Franklin and Spruce.[7] By 1907, membership was 26 families, out of a total Washington Jewish population of around 200 individuals. Annual revenues were $3,000 (today $82,000), and the religious school, which held classes daily, had 25 students.[7] Emmy Award-winning film and television producer and director Bud Yorkin was a member as a youth in the 1920s and 1930s.[1]

Goldfarb retired in 1941, becoming rabbi emeritus. He was succeeded as rabbi the following year by Maxwell Berger, described by Isaac Landman as "son of the chief rabbi of Toronto, Canada". Berger had previously served from 1940 to 1942 as the first permanent full-time rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Beckley, West Virginia.[9]

The congregation's current building at 265 North Avenue was dedicated in 1955. Designed by Alexander Sharove, it housed "two sanctuaries, classrooms, library, social hall, parlor, gymnasium/auditorium, and two kosher kitchens".[1]

David J. Matzner was rabbi in the 1970s. Born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1914, he received his rabbinic training first at the Jewish Teachers' Seminary in Duerzburg, then (from 1936 to 1938) at Yeshivat Torat Chayim in Jerusalem, where he was ordained. He returned to Weisbaden, working as sales representative, and was interned in several Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. He emigrated to the United States in 1950, serving as rabbi of Mount Sinai Congregation in Wausau, Wisconsin and Sons of Jacob Congregation in Waterloo, Iowa before coming to Beth Israel. He retired in 1978, returning to Israel for two years, before settling in Pompano Beach, Florida, where he died in 1986. A eulogy written by a former Beth Israel member in the Observer-Reporter described him as having "unique aura of sweetness and power".[10]

David C. Novitsky was rabbi in the 2000s.[11] A graduate of Touro Law Center, he was ordained in 1983 by the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. In addition to serving as a rabbi, he practiced as a litigation attorney for over 14 years, and is an adjunct instructor in the Religious Studies department of Washington & Jefferson College.[6]

As of 2012, Beth Israel was the only synagogue in Washington County.[5][6] Its rabbi was David Novitsky.[1][6] In early September 2020, Beth Israel ceased to exist. Attempts to use their website address were unsuccessful as the page is no longer found. The synagogue build is rumored to be for sale at this time.