June 11, 2013
Speaker: Jackie Braslawsce, Director of Informal Education at Temple Sinai
Information from Temple Sinai Website
Temple Sinai comes from humble beginnings: a tiny room at Forbes and Murray housed our offices; two neighboring churches opened their hearts and their doors to us for our worship and Religious School. Dr. Burton E. Levinson, our first rabbi, accepted the challenge of molding a new congregation in Liberal Judaism from a small group of unaffiliated families who knew neither each other nor what Reform Judaism had to offer them.
Temple Sinai’s growth was phenomenal. In August 1947 we purchased the Worthington Mansion and converted it into a magnificent house of worship and learning, creating the Barnett Chapel from what was originally the dining room. Within a few short years, we had grown so large in number that High Holiday services were held at the YM&WHA building in Oakland. Outgrowing that, in 1949, services were moved to Carnegie Music Hall, where they remained for a number of years. Then in 1955 came the campaign to buy the property next door and build a sanctuary that could hold everyone who wanted to belong.
“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in doing something it is only when convenient, when you are committed, accept no excuses – ONLY RESULTS!”
~Ken Blanchard
Back to Program Videos by Topic
Squirrel Hill Historical Society 