Allegheny County PA Archives History .....Ahavas Achim Cemetery - White Oak, Allegheny County, PA April 30, 2021
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Chuck Fuller csf56210@gmail.com April 30, 2021.

In December, 2012, a small abandoned Jewish cemetery was partially surveyed and listed here. Six years later, the cemetery was cleared and restored by a group of volunteers, enabling a more detailed survey of the cemetery to be completed. Herewith is a brief history of the ongoing preservation efforts at the Ahavas Achim Cemetery, Rippel Road, White Oak, Allegheny County, PA.

Rippel Road runs from Rt. 48 in White Oak, south to Center Street. Near the intersection with Center Street is a stone wall that runs along the edge of the road for approximately 100 feet. In 2012, the area behind the wall was overgrown and wooded. A small number of tombstones could be seen in the fall, after the vegetation died back. Seven grave markers were found -- four upright, one lying face-up, and two face-down in the dirt. The fallen stones were left undisturbed, the others photographed. 

In 2018, the cleanup of the cemetery became the subject of an Eagle Project for a local Boy Scout. Guided by a pastor who had noticed the stones in the overgrown lot, the team cleared the overgrowth and reset the stones that had fallen. They surrounded the 1600 square foot plot of land with a split-rail fence and erected a Star of David to identify it as a Jewish cemetery. Their story was the subject of an article in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle on July 17, 2019.

The future maintenance of the cemetery, renamed Ahavas Achim for the congregation that established it in the 1890’s, will be managed by the Jewish Cemetery and Burial Association of Pittsburgh (JCBA). Inquiries related to the cemetery may be directed to info@jcbapgh.org . More information on individuals interred at Ahavas Achim may be found at FindAGrave.com.


Bergstein, Fannie (Rittenberg), 21 Sep 1874 – 20 Sep 1912, In Memory of Our Mother

Berkowitz, Bertha (Greenwald), 12 Mar 1837 – 14 Nov 1912 

Goldman, Moses “Morris”, Mar 1852 – 6 Sep 1918

Mendlovitz, Joe, ca 1883 - 9 Nov 1902, age 19 yrs, 

Rittenberg, Isaac, 1863 – 17 Aug 1924, Father

(Unknown), Leah, died 8 May 1911


Additional Comments:
Location coordinates: 40° 19' 22" N, 79° 49' 03" W

File size: 3 Kb