Three institutions, three alumni, one purpose at Pittsburgh’s Jewish day schools
'It’s a beautiful thing that we all work together and a testament to who we are as a community'
A very Pittsburgh thing is happening at Pittsburgh’s Jewish day schools: With Casey Weiss taking the helm of Community Day School this year, each of the city’s three day schools is now headed by one of its alumni.
The fact that the principals were once local students isn’t surprising — becoming an educator requires being educated. More so, across the U.S., the majority of young adults live in their hometowns, according to researchers and census data. But perhaps the most Pittsburghy feature among Pittsburgh’s day school leaders is less their choice of residence than how they describe their responsibilities and mutual admiration.
“Rabbi Rosenblum and Rabbi Weinberg, we are one team. And I feel that so deeply,” Weiss said.
“Something very unique about Pittsburgh is that the institutions have always had such a healthy respect for one another,” Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, CEO of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, said. “It doesn’t mean everything is always perfect, but generally the three schools have worked together.”
Apart from the annual Lag Ba’Omer celebration, reliance on backend software or routine meetings between institutional leaders, there’s a sense of commonality and collaboration among the schools, Rosenblum said.
Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh Principal Rabbi Sam Weinberg agreed.
“It’s a beautiful thing that we all work together and a testament to who we are as a community,” he said.
The three schools are located within about a mile of each other in Squirrel Hill. Walking between the institutions takes less than 30 minutes. Proximity increases not only the likelihood of interactions but a shared sense of belonging.
“This is a place that is just such a unique community where we all kind of live, and work, and eat and daven, and celebrate and mourn together — way before Oct. 27, way before,” Weiss said. “I just feel like as a child growing up we always joked that we belong to eight shuls, but we really did.”
Each school has a lengthy history: Yeshiva dates to 1941, Hillel to 1947 and CDS to 1972. With multiple generations of Pittsburghers having graduated from the institutions, the day schools remain a pipeline to furthering local Jewish life.
For nearly a century, Squirrel Hill and the East End have been Pittsburgh’s primary Jewish hub, according to the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives. And continuous existence in a space creates a culture, according to researchers.
In 1963, graduate students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work sought to explain Squirrel Hill’s character and reasons for sustainability.
“The residents are all very proud of their community,” students wrote. “Most are glad that there are educational programs in the synagogues, and various kinds of programs at I.K.C. (the Jewish Community Center’s precursor) which encourage continuation of traditional practices in the community. Non-residents generally view the community as predominantly Jewish, yet feel that this community has the best cultural advantages of any area in the city.”
“Growing up in Squirrel Hill it’s difficult not to feel a level of hakarat hatov (appreciation) toward our institutions and have this innate desire to give back to the community,” Weinberg said.
“From the perspective of our schools, their mission is built on history and recognizing the people who came before you,” Rosenblum said. “I remember sitting on the corner of Wightman and Hobart, where the Yeshiva Boys School is now, and I remember when this was a house. I remember Rabbi Posner and Rabbi Rosenfeld doing what they had to do to get it where it is today. I observed my own parents, who taught for a combined 100 years, and saw what it takes to change the life of a student.”
“This is a place that I was raised in, these very walls,” Weiss said of CDS. “My most fond memories as a child were at CDS. I baked hundreds of challahs with my mom for fundraisers for kids to go on an Israel trip. I participated in the Zimriya, where we practiced countless hours learning the dance to ‘Yerushalayim Shel Zahav’ and after that would meet up at Bruster’s Ice Cream. This is where I learned how to run, which is a practice that I do every single morning now. The fact that I get to lead a team of educators to instill those same values and memories into the future generation of the Jewish people is my greatest privilege. I just can’t think of any more sacred duty or meaningful work than this.”
The future of education, Weinberg echoed, is predicated on its past.
“I feel very appreciative for the education I received at Hillel Academy, but more so I want to give back so my children and their children and the children of Pittsburgh can continue to grow and feel inspired,” he said.
While each school is unique, a bond unites its leaders.
“All of us are so committed to raising Pittsburgh Jewish children,” Weiss said. “It’s our shared vision to have every Jewish child in a Jewish day school.”
“The fact that each of us are alums of our respective schools — it’s not only that it’s so Pittsburgh — it’s just a commitment,” she continued. “It’s a shared commitment between the three of us to the future of the Jewish children, to the Jewish children of Pittsburgh.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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