Music, memories and mission fill B’nai Israel’s former sanctuary
The goal is establishing a venue that 'breaks down barriers and brings people from different cultures, different ethnic backgrounds, different political philosophies, together'
In lieu of donning yarmulkes, former synagogue-goers wore hardhats upon reentering Congregation B’nai Israel. The once majestic domed venue, which last held Jewish services in 1995 and now goes by “The Rotunda,” briefly opened for a May 15 fundraiser.
Hosted by Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, owners of the former B’nai Israel sanctuary, the event featured live music, catered food and tributes.
Rick Swartz, Bloomfield Garfield’s executive director, described the evening as a “kickoff to what’s going to be a four-year odyssey in getting this building restored as a community owned and managed arts, education and event center.”
Since purchasing the building from Beacon Communities in December for $598,100, Bloomfield-Garfield has administered minor repairs to the site while establishing a timeline toward a bigger project.
“We’re at the point now where we can begin some initial improvements this fall, and then hopefully by the fall of 2026 we’re well underway to bringing the basic systems back to the building: electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning — and possibly, if we can — replacing the roof,” Swartz said.
A subsequent phase, which would commence in 2027, involves restoring the interior and constructing a multipurpose space with flexible seating.
“We’re trying to create a facility that’s basically a public commons,” Swartz said. Whether event organizers wish to hold political fora, environmental meetings, discussions on education or virtually any topic, the goal is establishing a venue that “breaks down barriers and brings people from different cultures, different ethnic backgrounds, different political philosophies, together.”
Swartz, who joined Bloomfield-Garfield in 1981, likened the finished project to the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.
“It would bear a lot of similarities,” he said. “We won’t have the classroom space, we won’t have the recreation amenities that the JCC has. But the spirit and the intent for this building would be very parallel.”
Located at 327 Negley Ave., The Rotunda would serve residents of neighborhoods including Stanton Heights, Highland Park, Morningside, Friendship and Bloomfield.
“We need a space here that will be kind of a bulwark against the notion that these neighborhoods are going to somehow gentrify and become something on the order of San Francisco in the next 25-30 years,” Swartz said. “This building is going to be a symbol of our effort to keep these neighborhoods open to everybody, affordable for as many people as we can accommodate, and really stitch urban legend together that will for the next 60-70 years speak to why we think these neighborhoods are so special.”
Pittsburgh City Councilperson Khari Mosley called the May 15 kickoff a “multicultural moment.”
“It’s not just Jewish folks that are here in this amazing synagogue celebrating the reuse of this space. It’s also about sustainability, and the reuse of a space, and bringing a space back to life that has meant so much to so many generations of Pittsburghers,” he said.
Mosley spent much of the evening celebrating with other Pittsburghers — those who prayed at B’nai Israel decades ago and those who hope to create new memories within the venue.
“Being a Black Pittsburgher and understanding a special connection that Black Pittsburgh, that Jewish Pittsburgh, have — this is a way to reconnect to that. It’s important in this moment that that reconnection is focused on,” he said.
Opened in 1924, B’nai Israel’s circular sanctuary could accommodate 1,000 worshippers. Attendees of the May 15 event learned about the room as well as the congregation’s history from a video narrated by Sara Stock Mayo. Playing near the building’s entrance, the short film included a series of vintage stills.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, one of several politicians who attended the event, called the former worship hall a “great asset for the community.”
“You can still feel the spirit when you are in there,” he said. “The positive spirit that you have here, the new rehabilitation that’s going here, the history that this building has created, the history that will be told — the future of the building and what’s going on — it’s a positive story for the whole city.”
State Sen. Jay Costa, who was honored during the event, praised The Rotunda as offering residents a means to connect to the past and craft a promising future.
“The diversity of space that will be here and available to folks is truly unique,” he said. “That’s what I like about it. It’ll be a great place for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.”
Costa said he’s committed to seeing that resources, both from the state and private entities, continue supporting the project.
In March, The Rotunda received a $675,000 grant from the Allegheny Foundation, according to Bloomfield-Garfield.
Nearly $10 million is needed to restore The Rotunda; about $1.6 million has been raised, according to Swartz.
“We’re still in the infancy of our fundraising stage for the project,” he said. “If there’s anybody who would like to become a major contributor, and would like to put their name on the building at some point in time, we’re very open to that conversation.”
As party-goers spent the night toasting a bright future, several attendees addressed the past.
“This is a surreal experience,” Squirrel Hill resident Flora Lee Katz said.
The nonagenarian, who was confirmed at B’nai Israel and celebrated her children’s bar and bat mitzvahs at the synagogue, hadn’t entered the building since 1995.
Neither had Fox Chapel resident Betty Rich, 57.
Speaking with the Chronicle, Rich recalled attending services at B’nai Israel every Saturday for nearly 20 years.
“I sang with my grandfather for 15 of them,” she said.
Rich’s grandfather, Mordecai G. Heiser, was B’nai Israel’s cantor from 1942 until his death in 1989.
Pointing to an abandoned choir loft, Rich remarked, “I always was short and I had to stand on a box for people to see me.”
Rich spent Thursday night reminiscing with former synagogue members. Several attendees recalled sliding down a sloping hallway leading from the sanctuary. Other people described bygone kiddushes, programs and family celebrations. A few people stopped Rich to say they remembered when she and her grandfather sang on Shabbat.
Looking at the building, Rich told the Chronicle, “This is my connection to my grandfather. For it to have a new life is amazing. I’m excited to see what it will become.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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