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A leading indicator: Celebrate the growth of region’s Jewish community

A leading indicator: Celebrate the growth of region’s Jewish community

There is new evidence of the region’s growing vibrancy. It came Wednesday in a report commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh that showed growth in a five-county area’s Jewish population. This is a feather in Pittsburgh’s cap, a sign not only of economic and cultural growth but of the area’s welcoming climate and capacity for expanding its middle class.

The survey counted 49,200 Jews in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, up 17 percent since 2002. The region’s high-tech economy is believed to have fueled the increase. Of 186 survey respondents who moved to Pittsburgh over the past five years, the greatest number, 72, said they came for jobs while the second-greatest number, 55, cited university studies.

This correlates with factors driving growth of the Jewish populations in other cities and the decline of Jewish communities in others. A story posted last February on the website of the Orthodox Union cited a “broad job market in all industries, especially in the medical, legal, hospitality and defense industries,” as a key reason for growth of the Orthodox population in Orlando, Fla. On the other hand, decline has decimated many congregations in old industrial centers and prompted the closing in December of Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle after nearly 125 years.. The synagogue’s 300-year-old Torah, smuggled out of Poland during the Cold War, was moved to Hillel Jewish University Center in Oakland.  

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The growth of the Jewish population must reflect more than the economy, however. To sustain a Jewish community, the region must have grocery stores and restaurants for those seeking to meet dietary requirements. It must have a sufficient number of schools for those who opt to enroll their children in faith-based instruction. The broader population must be receptive to religious and ethnic diversity. Then there are the universal livability issues, such as affordable housing and low crime rates. Pittsburgh is hitting on all of these cylinders.

The Jewish Federation commissioned the study, performed by a team from Brandeis University, to develop plans for meeting the community’s needs. While Squirrel Hill remains the hub of the community — and a convenient place for those who require a synagogue and amenities within walking distance — the report documented a diffusion of the Jewish population into the suburbs. The South Hills and North Hills now account for 20 percent and 9 percent of the Jewish population, respectively.

The report did not identify the newcomers’ previous homes, so it is unclear how many came from towns such as New Castle and how many from outside the area. While there has been some growth among Orthodox Jews, it noted, the larger increase involved those describing themselves as secular or “just Jewish.”

The growing community portends dividends for Pittsburgh because Jews long have contributed to the area’s political development and economic and cultural life. Historian Barbara Burstin’s two-volume “Steel City Jews” spells out this legacy in illuminating detail, spanning 1840 to 1950.

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The Brandeis report described Pittsburgh’s Jewish population as highly educated — 84 percent of adults have at least a bachelor’s degree — and “mostly middle class.” Pittsburgh needs more middle-class families to support its neighborhoods and schools and meet workforce needs. 

But other cities do, too. As the report noted, 18 percent of survey respondents indicated plans to move out of Pittsburgh within three years, largely for work-related reasons. Pittsburgh must work with the Jewish Federation to keep those households here and attract others so that the story Ms. Burstin celebrated continues to unfold.

First Published: February 25, 2018, 5:00 a.m.

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