Tree of Life - Or L'Simcha Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation (Hebrew: עֵץ חַיִּים – אוֹר לְשִׂמְחָה) is a Conservative Jewish synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation moved into its present synagogue building in 1953. It merged with Congregation Or L'Simcha in 2010, bringing its membership to 530 families. Originally founded as an Orthodox congregation in 1864, Tree of Life Congregation gradually moved closer to Conservative Judaism. In 1886, it affiliated with the Jewish Theological Seminary Association (JTS), at the time an Orthodox institution, but which developed the Conservative ideology in the early 1900s. Tree of Life joined with JTS offshoot United Synagogue of America about 1916, formally connecting to the nascent Conservative movement. In 2018, the synagogue was the target of a mass shooting in which eleven people were murdered and seven injured. It was the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States. The synagogue building remains vacant since 2018; whilst the congregation continues to worship.