Closed Latrobe synagogue featured in documentary airing on WQED

The Beth Israel synagogue on Latrobe’s Weldon Street closed in 2015. But area television audiences can relive the congregation’s final chapter at 8 p.m Tuesday, when the WQED World Channel airs “There Are Jews Here.”

Beth Israel is one of four small Jewish congregations across the country profiled in the documentary film that debuted at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival on July 30, 2016 — after the Latrobe synagogue had closed its doors.

Former Latrobe resident Rosalyn Balk, who now lives with her husband, David, in Pittsburgh’s South Hills, will be among those watching.

“I’ve seen it seven times,” she said.

Watching is bittersweet. The film marks the end of the small congregation Balk’s family and other members cherished. But it also documents the bat mitzvah of her granddaughter, Ellie Balk, now 16, with her sister, Dalya, now 17.

“They held off the closing of the synagogue until they were bat mitzvahed,” Rosalyn said. “They were the last children in the synagogue.”

According to the Rauh Jewish Archives at Heinz History Center, Latrobe’s Beth Israel congregation was chartered in the first decade of the 2oth century, with 21 charter members all living in the town’s First Ward. The Weldon Street synagogue was dedicated in November 1954.

The congregation counted 37 member families in 1960. By 2015, it was struggling to gather the 10 members required for minyan, or a quorum for prayers.

Balk is pleased the synagogue has been preserved as the headquarters of the Latrobe Area Historical Society, which has kept intact Beth Israel’s memorial plaques and podium.

“Our legacy will go on,” she said.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.