Ohev Tzedek

The divergent groups of Jewish immigrants in the northern and eastern sections of Youngstown did not account for all of the city’s Jewish population. Jewish immigrants living south of the Mahoning River accounted for approximately forty percent of Youngstown’s Jews. Prior to the city’s annexation south of the Mahoning River, south side Jews attended temple services at congregations located in the near north side of the city. Growing difficulties and inconveniences resulting from the lengthy walk from the south side to services held at Emanu-El Congregation on the near north side provided the impetus to organize their own Orthodox temple “on the other side of the viaduct.”[1]           

Congregation Ohev Tzedek, Youngstown’s sixth Jewish congregation, formed in 1920 and received its official charter in 1922 as an Orthodox synagogue. The small group of south side Jewish immigrants initially convened at congregants’ homes. For several years thereafter, the members celebrated Sabbath and High Holiday Services in various locations, including a second-floor hall atop a cabaret at the intersection of Market and Falls Streets, and in rooms above the Youngstown Sanitary Milk Company on Erie Street, east of Market Street.[2] By 1925, “a persevering little band of workers…through small donations… accumulated enough to purchase” property at 93 East Myrtle Avenue.[3] At an estimated cost of $25,000, Ohev Tzedek’s seventy members dedicated its building in grand style in the spring of 1926. Of the opening the Youngstown Vindicator commented “…this new Temple, marking the beginning of a new era is regarded as the initial step toward further congregational development south of the viaduct.”[4] Irving Ozer also stated, “the East Myrtle Avenue Shul’s families appear to be much poorer than their brethren closer to the city.”[5] Financial difficulties including unpaid utility bills and piecemeal payment of annual membership dues resulted in repeated threats of foreclosure for nearly a decade. Despite several years of financial hardships and geographical exclusion from the more numerous and prosperous north side congregations, Ohev Tzedek maintained a religious school, sponsored summer community picnics, and eventually acquired its first rabbi in 1943.[6]    

The development of Youngstown Jewry from two congregations, one Orthodox and one reform, at the end of the nineteenth century to six separate communities at the conclusion of the second decade of the twentieth century illustrated the affects of Eastern European Jewish immigration and revealed the deeply rooted socio-cultural and religious differences inherent within each ethnic group.   

Ohev Tzedek original temple from 50th anniversary booklet 1975. MVHS Collection

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society educates and promotes an interest in the history of the Mahoning Valley by collecting, preserving, and developing material representative of the people who have inhabited the region.

Website Copyright 2008 ©  Mahoning Valley Historical Society

Website hosting  by Directed Technologies, Inc.