1214 Wood St., corner with Hill St., vacant lot
A group of girls formed a Young Judea Club and this began the motion toward the Jewish Woman’s Club and a congregation.
On September 8, 1936, twenty-two families met at the home of Mr. and Mrs. S. Reich, followed by Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services later in September at the Knights of Pythias building, second floor, 745 Penn Avenue. They formed the Beth Israel Congregation of Wilkinsburg.
The congregation rented a hall at 759 Penn Avenue on January 1 of 1937, and the hall, with their work, became a synagogue.
The Beth Israel Congregation moved to 1214 Wood Street on the southeast corner with Hill Avenue. In 1947, Rabbi Theodore B. Sanders became the congregation’s spiritual leader and first ordained rabbi.
Sometime before 1977 the synagogue closed. Currently the corner is a vacant lot.
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“Beth Israel Sisterhood” in The Nugget: Wilkinsburg Golden Jubilee 1887–1937, pp. 114–115.
Wilkinsburg Public Library Digital Archives:
“Rabbi Installed at Beth Israel,” November 11, 1947.