Rabbi Sivitz in a Family Home Movie, Pittsburgh, 1921
Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz stands behind a young man asleep on a Schenley Park bench, then poses with his family, in a family home movie filmed in Pittsburgh on 15 August 1921.
Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, 15 August 1921. About five minutes, silent. Rauh Jewish Archives, Heinz History Center.
A summer day in Schenley Park
This is a silent family home movie, filmed on 15 August 1921 in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh. An older man with a gray beard and round glasses spends the day outdoors with his family. That is Rabbi Moshe Shimon Sivitz, the rabbi of Shaare Torah synagogue. The Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center keeps the film.
The rabbi of Townsend Street
Rabbi Sivitz was born on 15 November 1855 in Tsitevian, a town in Lithuania. He came to America in 1886. He lived in Baltimore for about two years and moved to Pittsburgh in 1888.
He studied in Lithuania with several teachers, among them Rabbi Eliezer Gordon of Telz. A 1912 Hebrew book about rabbis, Ohalei Shem, says other cities offered him jobs, but he turned them down and stayed in Pittsburgh (HebrewBooks).
Shaare Torah
Shaare Torah began as a small prayer group in 1887. In 1888 Rabbi Sivitz became its rabbi. In 1889 the group bought the Bethel Methodist Church on Townsend Street in the Hill District. Later they tore the church down and built their own synagogue at 35 Townsend Street. The name Shaare Torah means Gates of Wisdom.
On 2 March 1930 the congregation burned its paid-off mortgage. Rabbi Sivitz spoke at the celebration and told the history of the congregation in Yiddish. The Criterion called him “the oldest Orthodox rabbi in Pittsburgh.”
His Hebrew school
He also started Pittsburgh’s Hebrew school (Talmud Torah). In 1912 it had 150 children. He raised the money for it himself, collecting every week. A 1926 ad called it the city’s “Pioneer Talmud Torah Founded in 1886 by Rabbi M. S. Sivitz.” He stayed its principal until he died.
His books
He wrote several books on Jewish law and the Bible, including a five-volume work called Mashbiach (1918 to 1933). In 1931 the Criterion quoted Professor Saul Lieberman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem: “Students at the Hebrew University utilize the ‘Masbiach’ as a textbook.” Rabbi Sivitz made almost no money from his books. Friends paid for the printing, and he gave away hundreds of copies to schools, yeshivas, synagogues and universities (Jewish Criterion, 26 June 1931, page 10).
A leader in the community
In 1921 the local Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Criterion, reported him leading many weddings. Some took place in his study at home.
In 1930 Britain stopped Jewish immigration to Palestine, and Pittsburgh Jews held a protest. Rabbi Sivitz opened it as the dean of the city’s rabbis. On 9 June 1935 he spoke at the dedication of the new chapel at the Shaare Torah cemetery in Carrick.
His son Sammy
His son Samuel, called Sammy, ran publicity for Rowland & Clark, a chain of movie theaters in Pittsburgh. He likely made the film himself. He died of pneumonia in California on 27 February 1923, aged 35, and more than a thousand people came to his funeral in Pittsburgh.
The film and what followed
His first wife, Maita (Mattie) Sivitz, died on 2 April 1919.
His second wife, Esther C. Sivitz, died in February 1936. She was 63 and had been born in Palestine. Her funeral was held at their home, 1229 Epiphany Street. She was buried in the Gates of Wisdom cemetery in Carrick.
Rabbi Sivitz died in July 1936 at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh. He was 82. He was buried in his synagogue’s cemetery. The Criterion wrote that from his small study at home he “gained world-wide recognition.” It also said, “to Pittsburgh Jewry he was a patriarch.”
Pittsburgh kept honoring him that year. On 23 August 1936 Simon Shoop, a former student, gave a eulogy for him on the Jewish radio hour on KQV. On 20 September a memorial service was held at Shaare Torah. In October community leaders met to keep his Hebrew school going. The Criterion said he had founded it fifty years earlier.
In the 1950s Shaare Torah moved to Squirrel Hill. Ground was broken for the new synagogue on 17 August 1952. Its school wing, with eight classrooms, was named the Rabbi Sivitz Memorial Talmud Torah Building (American Jewish Outlook, 15 August 1952 and 21 August 1953).
In 1979 his granddaughter, Maita Levine, gave his record book from the Kinyan Torah society in Tsitevian to the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati.
Timeline
- 15 November 1855
- Moshe Shimon Sivitz is born in Tsitevian, Lithuania.
- 1886
- He moves to America, first to Baltimore. The Pittsburgh Hebrew School later dates its founding to this year.
- 1887
- Shaare Torah begins as a small prayer group.
- 1888
- Rabbi Sivitz becomes its rabbi.
- 1889
- The congregation buys the Bethel Methodist Church on Townsend Street.
- 1909
- Shaare Torah builds a new synagogue at 35 Townsend Street.
- 1918
- He publishes the first volume of his book Mashbiach.
- 2 April 1919
- His first wife, Maita (Mattie) Sivitz, dies.
- 15 August 1921
- The family films “Sleeping Beauty or a Beauty Sleep, Which?” in Schenley Park.
- 27 February 1923
- Samuel Sivitz dies of pneumonia in Los Angeles, aged 35.
- 2 March 1930
- Shaare Torah burns its mortgage. Rabbi Sivitz tells its history in Yiddish.
- 1930
- He opens the Pittsburgh protest against limits on Jewish immigration to Palestine.
- 26 June 1931
- The Criterion quotes Professor Saul Lieberman on Mashbiach.
- 9 June 1935
- He speaks at the new Shaare Torah cemetery chapel.
- February 1936
- Esther C. Sivitz, his wife, dies at 63.
- July 1936
- Rabbi Sivitz dies at Montefiore Hospital, aged 82.
- 23 August 1936
- Simon Shoop, a former student, gives a radio eulogy on KQV.
- 20 September 1936
- Memorial service at Shaare Torah.
- 17 August 1952
- Ground is broken for the new Shaare Torah in Squirrel Hill, with the Rabbi Sivitz Memorial Talmud Torah Building.
- 1979
- Maita Levine gives his Kinyan Torah record book to the American Jewish Archives.