For two-thousand years, the synagogue, responsible for educating generations of Jewish students and families, has stood at the center of Jewish life and learning.  And for a century and a half, since the earliest days of the Reform Jewish movement in the United States, Rodef Shalom Congregation has been Pittsburgh's response to this historic chain of tradition.  The rabbis who have served this congregation over the last 150 years have done so with distinction.  Indeed in the second half of the last century, the most prodigious and widely-published Reform rabbis were arguably Rodef Shalom's own Dr. Solomon B. Freehof (1934-1966) and Dr. Walter Jacob, who continues to serve our congregation as Rabbi Emeritus and Senior Scholar. 

In the twenty-first century, Rodef Shalom continues to be a beacon of Liberal Jewish learning and scholarship.  Yet no longer is Reform Judaism's congregational rabbinate a scholarly class unto its own.  Today our congregation's membership is comprised of many intellectually accomplished and curious individuals in a myriad of fields, and as our congregation prepares to celebrate our sesquecentennial, Rodef Shalom's banner of scholarship is shared jointly between our professional leadership and our membership at large.

Believing that only a serious and meaningful engagement with our tradition’s texts and rituals; values and ethics; music, liturgy and culture will ensure the Jewish community’s survival, at Rodef Shalom we are committed to providing individuals and families with both classroom-based and informal/non-traditional opportunities to engage the best of our tradition.  What’s more, through the use of our state-of-the-art facility, endowed lecture and music series, rabbis and educational staff, as well as local and national Reform Movement resources, we encourage an active engagement with the most current Jewish scholarship and thought. 

At Rodef Shalom we take pride in the fact that our congregation has long been recognized for its commitment to education and scholarship.  And further, we take seriously that in every generation the obligation "to teach your children" falls to every member of a Jewish community, and we understand that Jewish learning is something that must continue lifelong.  But perhaps most significantly, Rodef Shalom is a place where our entire congregational family makes this ideal a reality each and every day.