Original Tree of Life synagogue part of to-be demolished Pittsburgh Playhouse
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As the Tree of Life Congregation seeks to move forward from a horrific massacre five months ago, it is hoping to regain a piece of its past.
The congregation, one of three targeted in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in October in Squirrel Hill, said it would like to have the cornerstone from its original synagogue in Oakland.
“I think that anytime some person tries to wipe you out in the present, it makes you reflect on how valuable it is to recognize where you come from and how long you have been there,” said Tree of Life President Sam Schachner.
Schachner says there are a handful of congregants who remember the old building and that having the cornerstone may hold more meaning for them.
The old synagogue became the Pittsburgh Playhouse’s Rockwell Theater after Tree of Life moved its congregation to Squirrel Hill in 1952. Point Park University has owned the buildings that made up the playhouse since 1968.
Point Park opened its new Playhouse in Downtown last year. The university plans to demolish the old playhouse in Oakland and sell the land, said Point Park spokesman Lou Corsaro. The three-story complex in Oakland has been made obsolete by the Downtown playhouse, Corsaro said in a statement. The property is more valuable as a clear site with no buildings than with the old facilities, the statement said.
“As for the Tree of Life cornerstone, we are engaging with the Tree of Life on it, but it’s all early in the process,” said Corsaro.
The cornerstone is embedded in the facade of the Oakland building. It is located at the bottom of the building to the right of the far right column that’s part of the building’s Greek temple style construction. It that reads “Erected 5666,” the Jewish calendar year for 1906, the year the synagogue was built.
If you didn’t know it was there, it would be easy to overlook it. Tree of Life president Sam Schachner was not aware of the cornerstone until last Sunday when he received a call from the university.
“I don’t know that there would be many of us that would think or realize that it was still there,” said Schachner. “Given what we have gone through, it seemed appropriate in honoring all that occurred and all those that we’ve lost to include that kind of article in whatever might end up being an exhibit about Tree of Life going forward.”
On Oct. 27, Robert Bowers killed 11 people and injured seven in an attack while Shabbat morning services were being held at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. The synagogue is home to the Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations.
“I think a lot of things like this will have different meanings for us over time,” said Schachner. “As much as four or five months have gone by, and many of us are still processing the tragedy that we went through. So our automatic response is to try to keep those things that seem relevant and valuable. And this is certainly one of those things that places our synagogue in kind of a historical context.”