Several synagogues in Pittsburgh have been adapted from private houses—one of them half a block away from here. This one seems no longer to be a synagogue, so it has gone from residential to institutional to residential again. The inscription is mostly in Hebrew, which old Pa Pitt regrets that he does not read, so perhaps a reader can inform us which congregation was here.
Update: Note the kind comment below interpreting the inscription:
Cong. Machzikei Hadas
“Supporters of the Law/Religion”
The English part of the inscription memorializes Mr. & Mrs. Bennie Fineberg, perhaps the donors.
We could try to imagine what the front of this house looked like before its conversion. But we needn’t put in the effort, because a nearly identical house is right next door:
This one has been converted to apartments, and it has suffered some alterations, but nothing that takes very much imagination to remove in our mind’s eye and restore the original look of the house.
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