Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood has been without a coffee shop since Staghorn Garden Cafe closed in 2020, and residents have been vocal about wanting one back: in Greenfield Community Association surveys in both 2023 and 2024, a coffee shop was the most requested new business, named by 61% of respondents. Early next year, the neighborhood gets its answer in Shoresh, a hybrid coffee shop and Jewish learning center taking over the former First National Bank branch at 4300 Murray Avenue.
Shoresh (Hebrew for “root”) is the project of Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman and educator Frances Lasday, both Greenfield residents. By day, it will run as a weekday coffee shop pouring espresso drinks and serving kosher baked goods. Evenings and weekends, the space shifts into Jewish learning mode with Talmud, Chassidut and Hebrew classes, community gatherings, book clubs and small prayer communities.
A “Well-Caffeinated Shteibl”
The tagline is a nod to the Yiddish word for a small, informal house of prayer and study, a model Goodman traces back centuries to Jewish communities turning the local general store or butcher shop into a prayer and study space after hours. The modern predecessor is Lehrhaus, the nonprofit Jewish tavern and house of learning in Somerville, Massachusetts. In place of membership dues, coffee sales are meant to cover the building’s rent and utilities. The nonprofit is already running classes and events inside the building during renovations, including a recent Yom Kippur service, its first bris, and an August kickoff with live klezmer music.
Inside a Former Bank
The brick building at the corner of Murray Avenue and Loretta Street spent decades as a bank, and enough people still wander in with checks to deposit that the founders taped a “THIS IS NOT A BANK” sign to the door. The old teller counter is coming down to make way for an L-shaped coffee bar, while the massive downstairs vault, its combination lost to history, may become an additional classroom.
The Kosher Status
Shoresh plans to serve kosher baked goods, and Goodman and Lasday say they have spoken with Rabbi Yitzi Genack of the Vaad Harabonim of Pittsburgh about certification. As of now, though, there is no known kosher certification for Shoresh ahead of the opening.
The founders say the exact scope of what they will be able to serve still has to be worked out between the equipment, the building permit, the health department and the Vaad.
Shoresh is planned to open in early 2027 at 4300 Murray Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood. Planned coffee shop hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the space closed as a coffee shop on Shabbat and open to small prayer communities. More information is at shoreshpgh.org.
Add Comment