Happy Hanukkah - 2011

Rodef Shalom - Johnstown - photograph - courtesy of JAHA.ORG

Hanukkah begins tonight at sundown and lasts until December 28-th. I wish I had more Jewish History photographs and items. But I don't. If you do - please feel free to send them to me so that I can post them. The following is a brief history from http://bethsholomjohnstown.org/HistoryPage.html%20:

A few Jews had arrived in Johnstown sometime before 1850, but the largest immigration began with an influx of Russian Jews fleeing pogroms in the 1880s. According to The Horse Died in Windber: The History of Johnstown's Jews of Pennsylvania (written by Rabbi Leonard Winograd), "In 1856, there were nine [Christian] churches, and almost a synagogue." One newspaper reference in 1854 placed the number of Jews in Johnstown in excess of "thirty." [Whether that meant thirty individuals or thirty families is far from clear.] Like almost all others in Johnstown at that time, Jews lived within the city limits, mostly in Cambria City. There was no synagogue in Johnstown to serve the Jewish community until 1905. Regular religious services were held, and Hebrew was taught,in Jewish homes. Between 1905 and 1951, five synagogues were built to serve the Johnstown Jewish community during various stages of its history. The one synagogue functioning now is Beth Sholom Congregation. Source: Johnstown (PA) Jewish History Page.