In 1847, twelve Jewish residents of Pittsburgh established a Jewish burial society named Bes Almon (Mourners' House) and bought land on Troy Hill for a cemetery. The following year, 1848, they rented a room at Penn Avenue and Sixth Street in Pittsburgh and formed a congregation which they named Shaare Shemayim (Gate of Heaven). In 1852, a group of members broke away from Shaare Shemayim and formed Beth Israel (House of Israel), but the next year Shaare Shemayim and Beth Israel merged under the name Shaare Shemayim. Sometime between 1854 and 1856 (probably in 1855) Rodef Shalom Congregation (Pursuers of Peace) was established by a group of congregants who left Shaare Shemayim. In 1860 Rodef Shalom and Shaare Shemayim merged under the name Rodef Shalom. The congregation’s charter, dated November 9, 1856, gives as its primary objects “the furtherance of the cause of Religion” and “the establishment of a good school in which the young shall be instructed in the principles of the Hebrew Religion as well as general branches of knowledge.” By 1860 there were thirty-five member families, with fifty pupils enrolled in the school. The first Jewish confirmation in Pittsburgh was held in 1862 for six girls and one boy. In 1859, Rodef Shalom rented a hall on St. Clair Street in Allegheny City (now the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh). Two years later construction began on the congregation's first building, designed by architect Charles Bartberger. The first Temple, located on Hancock Street (now Eighth Street) in downtown Pittsburgh, was dedicated on March 20, 1862. William Frank was president when the new building opened. Rev. William Armhold, Minister, spoke in German at the dedication, and Josiah Cohen (shown at right), who had been hired to teach in the congregation's day school, gave a speech in English. Pittsburgh's best vocalist, Sigmund Apfelbaum, sang. In its early years Rodef Shalom had been an Orthodox congregation. In 1863, Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, a founder of Reform Judaism in America, visited Pittsburgh. Shortly thereafter, a majority of the congregants voted to affiliate with Reform Judaism, and the congregation adopted the Reform prayer book. Many from the minority resigned and formed Tree of Life Synagogue (then Orthodox) in 1864. Rodef Shalom’s transition to full Reform practices took a number of years. Services were shortened, women and men sat together, and an organ was installed. By 1874, men were no longer required to wear a hat or yarmulke; the choir, reputed to be "one of the best in the country" was directed by Bertha (Mrs. Jacob) Benswanger; and the congregation had joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. The transition to the English language also took some time. When Rev. Louis Naumburg became minister in 1865, he spoke in German. Rabbi Lippman Mayer, who succeeded him in 1870, spoke English but was more comfortable in German. Mayer, a strong proponent of Reform, later founded the Jewish Chautauqua Society. In 1885, Rabbi Mayer and Rodef Shalom hosted an important meeting of Reform rabbis in Pittsburgh. The resulting "Pittsburgh Platform'' declared that Judaism was a religion, not a nation; that the Bible was an ethical guide, not the infallible word of God. It agreed that American Jews do not have to keep kosher. This Pittsburgh Platform guided North American Reform Judaism until 1937. J. Leonard Levy, a dynamic leader with an internationalist outlook, became Rodef Shalom’s Rabbi in 1901, having previously served congregations in Bristol, England; Sacramento, California; and Philadelphia. He worked to strengthen interfaith communication in Pittsburgh and beyond, started an international peace organization, and co-edited the weekly Jewish Criterion,in addition to preaching at both Sabbath and Sunday services at Rodef Shalom. Thanks to Rabbi Levy’s invitation, President William Howard Taft visited Rodef Shalom on Saturday, May 29, 1909, the first time that a sitting United States president spoke from the bimah of a Jewish congregation during regular Sabbath services (President Taft, center, and Abraham Lippman, president of the Congregation, right). During J. Leonard Levy’s rabbinate (1901-1917), Rodef Shalom was affected by new immigration patterns and demographic changes in Pittsburgh. The congregation grew dramatically, from 132 member families in 1901 to 363 by 1908. By the turn of the twentieth century, many members had moved from the Hill District into the booming East End neighborhoods of Oakland, Shadyside and East Liberty, but more than half still lived in Allegheny City. When a move was suggested due to crowded conditions in the Temple, it was voted down in favor of enlarging in the same location. The original Temple building was torn down in 1900, and a larger building designed by architect Charles Bickel was built on the same lot. It was dedicated on September 6 and 7, 1901, with an annex for religious school classes added shortly thereafter. By 1904, however, the congregation had already outgrown this new building. Congregational leaders now saw Oakland, Shadyside, and Squirrel Hill as the new cultural and residential centers of Pittsburgh. They agreed to sell their building for $150,000 to the Second Presbyterian Church, their downtown neighbor. The Temple paid $60,000 for a lot near the corner of Morewood and Fifth Avenues. Their new building would cost $250,000. Henry Hornbostel, the architect Andrew Carnegie selected to design his college (Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie-Mellon University), won the design competition for the new building on Fifth Avenue. Hornbostel respected the traditional but he was also a modernist and incorporated many new ideas in the design of the Temple. The double dome, 90 feet in diameter and constructed without structural steel, used the Catalan vault, a Spanish vernacular style brought to the U.S. by Rafael Guastavino. For the exterior, Hornbostel chose local yellow brick, with decorations in colored terra cotta. The design incorporated four representational stained glass windows by William Willet, from the 1901 Temple, along with a large stained glass skylight in the dome and a lunette over the Fifth Avenue entrance. The 1907 Kimball organ is the largest of its kind still in use. The Temple sanctuary holds over 900 people on the first floor and 300 in the gallery. The building symbolized the Congregation's love of tradition and at the same time, its modern approach to Judaism and to life. The building was finished in time for High Holy Day services in 1907. Rabbi Samuel H. Goldenson, who came to Rodef Shalom in 1918, the year after Rabbi Levy’s untimely death, persuaded members to give up their privately owned pews and to substitute a more democratic system of unassigned seats that brought in many more members. After sixteen years at Rodef Shalom, Rabbi Goldenson went to Congregation Emanu-El in New York. In 1934, Dr. Solomon B. Freehof became Rabbi of Rodef Shalom. In addition to regular preaching, Dr. Freehof wrote many books on Jewish law and ritual and chaired the group that updated the Union Prayer Book. For more than 35 years, Dr. Freehof's weekly book review series attracted audiences of more than 1,500 Christians and Jews. He served as president of the Central Conference of American and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. His wife Lillian wrote many plays and novels and organized a Braille service group at Temple. The congregation continued to grow, reaching peak membership of approximately 2300 member families in the early 1960s. The Religious School, designed by Ingham & Boyd and containing classrooms, Levy Hall auditorium, and the Cohen Chapel, was completed in 1938. A large social hall, named to honor Dr. Freehof, was built in 1956, and an addition at the back of the building, donated by Allen H. and Selma W. Berkman, provided an entrance from the parking lot. As the number of congregants exceeded what the Temple could serve, Rodef Shalom encouraged and helped new Reform congregations to start -- Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill, Temple Emanuel in the South Hills, and Temple David in Monroeville. Dr. Walter Jacob was hired in 1955 as Rabbi Freehof’s assistant; he became Rabbi of the Congregation in 1966, after Dr. Freehof’s retirement.  Dr. Jacob founded the Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah and has served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He and his wife Irene established the Biblical Botanical Garden at Rodef Shalom in 1986.  He is now Rabbi Emeritus of Rodef Shalom. Recently, he has been instrumental in establishing the Abraham Geiger College, the first rabbinic training college in Germany since the Holocaust. Dr. Mark Staitman, associate rabbi since 1975, served as Rabbi of the Congregation from 1997-2003. Dr. Staitman is known for his involvement with Soviet Jewry and served as Chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. In 1989-1990 a major capital campaign restored the sanctuary, and in 2000-2003 other areas of the building were updated for current uses and handicap accessibility, and a new porte-cochere entrance from the parking lot was added. The new century brings new opportunities for growth to a congregation that continues to honor its history of nearly one hundred fifty years of Jewish community in Western Pennsylvania.