History

In the Beginning...

Beth Israel Center began in the summer 1958 as a dream by a small group of local businessmen, professionals, engineers and scientists from the Baldwin, Whitehall, Pleasant Hills and Jefferson areas. The site was the one-room Pleasant Hills Library, which, at that time, was located on the second floor of the old Pleasant Hills Fire Hall on Route 51. A total of 56 original families constituted the structure that emerged from these beginnings. Along the way, religious services were held in various locations, including the basement of the Presbyterian Community Church, the YMCA, and the Pleasant Hills Middle School.

On February 3, 1959 ten men from this fledgling association filed a petition for incorporation of Beth Israel Center as a nonprofit religious organization and, in March of that year, received our charter from the State. This important minyan included the following:

and our first President, Dr. Jacques L. Weiss. Our first rabbi was Rabbi Kauffman.