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69-794: The congregation started in Green Point in 1944, eight years after South Africa's first progressive synagogue opened in Hillbrow in Johannesburg . The Cape Town congregation caters to over 3,000 Progressive Jews in the city. The congregation is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism , which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). The congregation represents around 18% of Jews living in Cape Town. The congregation

138-506: A kippah and tallit in services, likewise he expected women to cover their heads too. Kosher dietary laws ( Kashrut ) were not mandatory but were encouraged. Weiler also introduced a strong emphasis on Zionism , Temple Israel started the first local services where the Hebrew had Israeli-style Sephardic pronunciation rather than Ashkenazic. Hatikvah , the national anthem of the State of Israel

207-469: A Reform congregation. His first service was held in the Freemason's Hall at Clarendon Place at the edge of Hillbrow. After Weiler's arrival, a plot was purchased on Empire Road, Parktown and Weiler hired Herman Kallenbach to build a grand synagogue with lush gardens and where Weiler would serve as rabbi. However, just as building work was set to commence, a neighbourhood petition circulated against plans for

276-717: A Reform group in the Gold City. After beginning to hold services in private homes in 1930, Jerry founded the South African Jewish Religious Union for Liberal Judaism (later the South African Union for Progressive Judaism ). Jerry made contact with Moses Cyrus Weiler , at the time a student of the elder Idelsohn's at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion . After he was ordained in August 1933, Rabbi Weiler came to Johannesburg to found

345-519: A Sephardi style rather than the prevalent Ashkenazi style at the synagogue. Therefore, they were permitted to hold their own services in the Weizmann Hall. As their number continued to increase and the community became more settled, they built their own shul in the Weizmann Minor Hall, employing its own rabbi and administrative staff In 1975, Rabbi David Rosen , a young rabbi from England

414-538: A ceremony marking Temple Israel's 50th anniversary. There were no injuries or deaths, but the blast destroyed walls, ripped out windows and seats and turned cupboards and furniture upside down. Nonetheless, the celebration went ahead with Viljoen and Weiler in attendance. Mahommed Iqbal Shaik of the Dolphin Unit of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) later assumed responsibility during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings and he

483-559: A decision was made that there would only be one Chief Rabbi in South Africa, and he would be based in Johannesburg. The synagogue's Weizmann Hall, the largest Jewish communal hall in the Cape was used for Jewish functions and the wider Cape public. In 1958 it hosted a concert for the 1956 Treason Trial . The G&SPHC allowed the concert on the condition that the organisation hiring the hall

552-744: A dual function as a centre for African culture, literacy and poverty alleviation projects. In 1971, to mark Sherman's 25th anniversary with the congregation, the David Sherman Lecture was established. Each year, a prestigious speaker would be invited to give the lecture. The congregation has invited figures such as the Israeli politician Aryeh Eliav and Robert Kaplan, Chair of the United Jewish Appeal (UIA) South Africa. The congregation has also been addressed by Nobel Prize winners, F. W. de Klerk , State President of South Africa and Desmond Tutu ,

621-529: A facility in the area to provide cheap meals for vagrants. At a special Republic Day service, he reiterated that religious leaders, particularly Jewish religious leaders, who separated politics from religion failed in their duty. He also refused to attend a function held by the Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation that was honouring Prime Minister Vorster on his return from

690-461: A long-time G&SPHC president later became president of Cape Town's first Reform congregation, Temple Israel . Rabbi Dr IH Levine succeeded Rev Rosenberg in 1936 and stayed on until 1940, after getting his doctorate. The congregation also established the Talmud Torah, which had 103 students and offered Junior Certificate and Matric classes in Hebrew by 1943. Rabbi Abe Tobie Shrock was appointed as

759-493: A looser federation where each city made its own decisions and pushed back against the notion of a Chief Minister, arguing that it was against the democratic principles of Reform Judaism. In 1951, Cape Town quit the South African Union for Progressive Judaism and refused to return until 1963. The arrival of the congregation and Reform Judaism in Cape Town was met with opposition from Rabbi Israel Abrahams, spiritual leader of

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828-678: A major and minor hall, a Talmud Torah and Nursery School. In 1950, the congregation seceded from the Cape Board of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies after a series of tensions between the congregation and the Gardens Shul, particularly between Rabbi Shrock and Rabbi Abrahams. In 1949, Abrahams had blocked Shrock's appointment to the Beit Din . They also stood opposed to Abrahams' appointment as Chief Rabbi of Cape Town, and rejected

897-555: A prominent figure in Modern Orthodoxy , and held a PhD in philosophy from New York University . The synagogue was a polling station in the 1994 South African general election and President Nelson Mandela visited the congregation in May of the same year. In his address, he appealed to Jewish expatriates to return to South Africa. In 1998, the synagogue was the intended target of a bomb attack by PAGAD , however, it's cell noticed that

966-415: A proposal for the creation of the position of Chief Minister under which all Progressive congregations would fall. The appointee would have been Rabbi Weiler, who was based in Johannesburg. Weiler had sent Victor Brasch as his emissary to Cape Town to assure the community of the need for central control, based in Johannesburg, and enuring that each congregation follow the same formula. However, Cape Town wanted

1035-470: A sense of harmony, with Rabbi Steinhorn retiring in 2004. In the 2000s, the synagogue faced challenges that were common to congregations everywhere such as aging congregations, expensive infrastructure and younger generations that were less interested in religious observance. There were also numerical challenges, Cape Town's Jewish population had peaked at 25, 000 but had declined to 15, 000 as people opted for smaller families than generations before them. In

1104-565: A service. Parents also voiced their disagreement with the Christian-sounding name for the rite. However, Confirmation, which had become common in American Reform Judaism, persisted in Cape Town under Rabbi Sherman's leadership. By 1977, the Green Point congregation had been holding Confirmation services for 31 years. In the 1940s and 1950s there was a Johannesburg-Cape Town cultural split when Temple Israel in Green Point rejected

1173-458: A suburb of Johannesburg , in the district of Gauteng , South Africa . Designed by Hermann Kallenbach in the Art Deco style, the synagogue was completed in 1936 and is the oldest of eleven Progressive synagogues in South Africa. The synagogue is classified as a provincial heritage site. The congregation is affiliated with the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of

1242-572: A synagogue in a residential area. Eventually a decision was made to sell the plot and buy a smaller 0.30 ha (.75-acre) plot on Paul Nel Street in Hillbrow, where there were already synagogues such as the Great Synagogue and Poswohl Synagogue. Kallenbach used the same Art Deco design that he and his partners A.M. Kennedy and A.S. Furner had prepared for the Parktown site, but scaled it down according to

1311-454: A trend in American Reform Judaism, where the Bar Mitzvah at age 13 was replaced with Confirmation at age 16, requiring students to study for an exam and then lead a service. However, in South Africa there was instant backlash to the Christian-sounding name of Confirmation and because of the ingrained rite of passage that a Bar Mitzvah held for Jewish boys and men. Weiler quickly reintroduced

1380-699: A visit to Israel in 1976. He received anonymous death threats and the security police tapped his phone. He was supported by most of the congregation, the Cape Jewish Board of Deputies and Rabbi Duschinsky, head of the Beth Din. His work permit was not renewed by the government after five years in the country Rabbi Rosen was replaced by Rabbi Dr Elihu Jack Steinhorn from New York City , who had previously served Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, Connecticut . He had also trained under Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ,

1449-514: Is leased to a Christian church for Sunday services, at a nominal fee. Temple Israel's site houses a school that enrolls Jews and non-Jewish students. The shul has established an outreach program, the M.C. Weiler Primary School, in Alexandra township. The women of Temple Israel began such programs in 1944, believing that Jews must help fellow both believers and their other neighbors in need. Businesswoman Reeva Forman got involved with Temple Israel in

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1518-556: Is octagonal in shape and it was the first purpose-built synagogue on the Atlantic seaboard and was built to accommodate over nine hundred people. It was originally fitted with hard wood seating (upholstered in red leather), an Aron Kodesh panelled in teak and lighting that took the form of fluorescent tubes in the shape of a Magen David . The building was officially opened in September 1934 by Cape Town's Jewish mayor, Louis Gradner and it

1587-511: The COVID-19 pandemic, the congregation live-streamed services, an option that was unavailable to Orthodox congregations. Online attendance for services such as Yom Kippur was especially high and much greater than Temple Israel's combined membership. Temple Israel in Green Point also houses, Czech Memorial Scroll 128, a Sefer Torah . As the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia , some of the artefacts such as

1656-505: The Gardens Shul . He arranged a series of meetings on the perils of the Reform tradition, and upon his appointment as Chief Rabbi in the Cape in 1951, attempted to prohibit his rabbis, cantors and Hebrew teachers from meeting with rabbis and other representatives of the Reform movement. He also attempted to prevent the movement from hiring communal halls. Dr Herman Kramer, a long-time president of

1725-545: The May 2008 South Africa riots in providing shelter and food in the Weizmann Hall to 200 displaced people. In 2010, the synagogue engaged its present senior rabbi, Rabbi Dovid Wineberg from the Chabad movement. He brought back certain practices that had fallen into disuse. Rabbi Pini Hecht, also from the Chabad movement, has been with the congregation since 2013 as an assistant rabbi, and as

1794-531: The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). Temple Israel officially opened on August 23, 1936, as the mother synagogue of Progressive Judaism in the country. Johannesburg mayor Maurice Freeman , a member of the Jewish community, laid the cornerstone on September 22, 1935. The founding rabbi was Moses Cyrus Weiler . The progressive streams of Judaism began during the Enlightenment in 18th-century Europe, and

1863-561: The 1970s with an estimated Jewish population of 120,000 of whom 11,000 identified with the Progressive movement. As of 2019 , the Jewish population was estimated at 70,000 with around 6,000 Progressive Jews. Temple Israel was built in 1936 on the corner of Claim and Paul Nel Streets when the Jewish population of Hillbrow amounted to around 800. The interior maintains much of the original features such as wood panelling and parquet floors. The bimah has twin gold columns and menorah shapes going up

1932-674: The Anglican bishop. On other occasions, figures such as Dr. Alon Liel , Israel's ambassador to South Africa addressed the congregation and Tony Leon , leader of the opposition have addressed the congregation. In 1965, a second temple was opened in Wynberg to serve congregants in the Southern Suburbs. The most recent congregation was formed in 1998 in Milnerton . The original Temple Israel in Green point

2001-482: The Bar Mitzah and any dedicated students that were committed to Conformation did so under the guise of Hebrew names such as Bnei Emunah . The innovations in the services included the use of English alongside Hebrew, gender equality on synagogue committees and the eventual introduction of Bat Mitzvah ceremonies. The Hazzan was also replaced by professional mixed choirs. Weiler also made it compulsory for men to wear

2070-540: The Board of Deputies to host a lecture by visiting Rabbi Solomon Freehof , president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the World Union for Progressive Judaism . The synagogue also began to accommodate for Sephardi Jews that arrived as refugees from the Congo , others had been deported from Egypt and a third wave came from Rhodesia . As their community grew, they sought services that were conducted in

2139-563: The Chief Rabbi and the local Beth Din would not recognise the conversion as valid nor the marriage or the Jewishness of the child she was carrying. However, Rabbi Steinhorn defended the conversion as valid. The synagogue's committee considered disaffiliating from the Union of Orthodox Synagogues and setting up it own Beit Din. Eventually, the decision was taken to stay in the Union and to re-establish

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2208-444: The Chief Rabbi. All the sermons at all radio broadcasts, communal services and functions arranged by the Beth Din and the UC would be delivered by the Chief Rabbi in his capacity as spiritual head. If the Chief Rabbi decided to allow another rabbi to do so he insisted on vetting and editing their sermon beforehand.″ Tensions eased in 1969, when the position of Cape Chief Rabbi was abolished and

2277-522: The Durban Hebrew Congregation and Rabbi of the Communities of Natal (1956-65). Meanwhile, in rejoining the UC, the congregation's independence was curtailed; ″Only the UC executive could decide which rabbis could join the Beth Din. All synagogues had to accept the UC constitution without reserve. All communal services would be arranged only by the UC. All special prayers would be issued only by

2346-587: The Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation, the holy congregation, the House of Jeshurun.” In the meantime, the Gutman family hosted services at their home, before the congregation hired premises at the Old Sea Point Town Hall. The architect, J Lonstein was hired to design a new synagogue for the congregation and the building was completed in 1934, with Jan Smuts laying the cornerstone on April 18. The building

2415-617: The Marais Road Shul president accepted an invitation to attend the induction service of a Reform rabbi at Temple Israel, with the Cape Beth Din determining that there was neither reason nor halachic grounds to refuse to attend or for an Orthodox rabbi not to attend a chuppah under which a Reform rabbi participated. Sherman took a discreet yet courageous stand on issues of human rights, he opposed apartheid and spoke at protest meetings. During his tenure, Major Hall at Temple Israel had

2484-723: The Orthodox Marais Road Shul in Sea Point, later became president of Temple Israel. In 1965, Rabbi Sherman was critical of a concordat that was signed in Johannesburg between the Orthodox Chief Rabbi , Bernard M. Casper and Chief Minister of the United Progressive Jewish Congregations Rabbi Arthur Saul Super. They agreed that from "the religious point of view there is an unbridgeable gulf between Orthodoxy and Reform." Super

2553-923: The Reform movement. In comparison, the percentage of Johannesburg Jews affiliated to the Reform branch has always been under 10%. The profile of the local Atlantic Seaboard Jewry differed from the Yiddish-speaking Jewish migrants that settled in District Six and Woodstock, Cape Town generations before. They were usually South African-born and spoke English in the family home. They mostly attended local government schools rather than Jewish schools ( cheders or yeshivot ). They were usually more affluent than their migrant parents and they abandoned many religious practices, favouring modern dress and haircuts and sometimes anglicizing their names. In Johannesburg, Weiler had faced backlash for introducing Confirmation at age 16, requiring students to study for an exam and then lead

2622-621: The Torah scrolls were rescued and stored in a warehouse in Prague. Donors from Westminster Synagogue bought 1 564 scrolls from the Czechoslovak government in 1964. The scrolls were restored and many have been sent to congregations around the world, including Temple Israel. The congregation is served by four rabbis; Temple Israel (Johannesburg) The Temple Israel is a Progressive Jewish congregation and synagogue , located in Hillbrow ,

2691-446: The UJW, as a social and charitable organisation, had no right to invite a Reform minister (Sherman) to address them. “I am not going to tell my lady members that they must not go… but I really don’t think you should go” and admitted that some women who had not intended to go were now going “out of perversity”. According to Sherman “Orthodox women were instructed not to attend the trefe lecture in

2760-778: The congregation had invited Dr Azila Talit Reisenberger , an Israeli-born theologian, at the University of Cape Town to address the congregation. Rabbi Harris later apologised to Dr Reisenberger admitting that his statements had been incorrect and defamatory. In 2002, there was a fresh dispute between the synagogue and the Chief Rabbinate. The previous year, the synagogue had married its deputy president, Saul Berman to Karin Barnard, ex-wife of heart surgeon Christiaan Barnard . Karin had converted to Judaism by Rabbi Edmond Amsellem in Paris , however,

2829-588: The congregation's new spiritual leader in 1944, he was a graduate of Jews' College in London and had been the principal Jewish chaplain to the South African Defence Force , Acting Head of the Department of Hebrew at the University of Witwatersrand and rabbi of Yeoville Synagogue. Temple Israel was excluded from the induction ceremony for Rabbi Shrock. Rabbi Abrahams of the Gardens Shul only agreed to conduct

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2898-530: The early 1990s when she heard the congregation was going to sell the synagogue. The purchase vote failed by one. She has served as chairwoman of Temple Israel since 1994. Marais Road Shul The Marais Road Shul , formally the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation (G&SPHC), is a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Sea Point , a seaside suburb of Cape Town . The congregation was first established in 1926, and

2967-455: The face of these challenges, the decision was made to concentrate more efforts into making the synagogue into a vibrant community centre, a vision that both Rabbis Rosen and Steinhorn had in mind. Rabbi Levi Silman had joined as Youth rabbi to work with people from eighteen to thirty-five. Rabbi Silman introduced separate youth services on Fridays in the Small shul. The congregation also responded to

3036-484: The induction service on the condition that he alone would perform the ceremony. The congregation also donated a Sefer Torah to the SA Jewish War Appeal that was transported to Paris to be used by Jewish refugees in a DP camp. Meanwhile, membership of the synagogue soared and additional premises had to be hired for High Holy Day services. The congregation eventually resolved to build a Communal Centre with

3105-550: The movement is supportive of egalitarian seating and female participation in services, support for LGBT rights and flexibility over Kashrut dietary laws. It is one of four Progressive, the others being Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue on Oxford Road, Temple Bet David in Sandton and Beit Luria (opened in 2019) in Randburg . The Progressive movement in South Africa and the overall South African Jewish population reached its high point in

3174-505: The notion of a Chief Rabbi for the Cape. This would allow Abrahams to interfere in the running of the G&;SPHC and presume a higher status than Rabbi Shrock. The congregation's representatives did not attend a vote for a Chief Rabbi and in their absence, Rabbi Abrahams was elected, with Rabbi Shrock as deputy Chief Rabbi. Shrock rejected the position and the congregation left the Cape Board of Deputies and United Council of Synagogues. A decision

3243-582: The rabbi would be declared persona non grata. They reasoned that Rabbi Steinhorn was in breach of contract as he had refused to respect the authority of the Chief Rabbi. Then the rabbinate made claims that Rabbi Steinhorn had failed to act in accordance with principles of halacha . He was accused of having included people who were not Jewish in certain ceremonies, and of having given Jewish burials to people who might not have been Jewish. They ordered rabbis to refuse to officiate with Rabbi Steinhorn at any religious occasions including shiva prayers. The legality of

3312-534: The road Orthodoxy was at odds with the increasingly religious Chief Rabbinate in Johannesburg, where a Jewish religious revival had taken place. In 1999, the Beit Din instructed the G&SPHC committee to retire Steinhorn, and they refused. Then the Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris and other rabbis sent letters to the 1, 300 members of the congregation. The letter informed the members that the committee had refused their request to retire Rabbi Steinhorn, and that

3381-415: The smaller plot size. Kallenbach also choose the site for the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street. Weiler fostered what has been referred to as ‘Weilerism’, a specific form of Reform Judaism specific to a South African context. This was "rather more cautious than the principles of his American and British counterparts" however, still quite radical by South African standards. Weiler was keen to replicate

3450-411: The synagogue be closed and the property sold. Reeva Forman, a businesswoman in the cosmetics industry fought to keep the synagogue open. Forman grew up in an Orthodox Jewish congregation in Doornfontein , but nevertheless felt compelled to support Temple Israel. At the time the congregation attracted around sixty attendees to its Shabbat services. The rabbi returned to London and Forman began to manage

3519-421: The synagogue had security and decided instead to bomb the Wynberg synagogue. Shortly afterwards, a Youth Centre, where all local Jewish children could congregate and socialise was constructed. The synagogue also developed retail stores in the vacant Weizmann foyer that served only as an entrance to the Hall and Sephardi Shul upstairs and generates income from renting the retail units. Rabbi Steinhorn's middle of

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3588-470: The synagogue was completed in 1934. It had initially intended to become a branch of the Gardens Shul in the City Bowl, but opted for independence, and became the larger of the two. It is the largest Jewish congregation in South Africa , and by 1994, it had become the largest in the South Hemisphere . The Sephardi Hebrew Congregation , established in 1960, also operates a shul from the G&SPHC's Weizmann Hall on Regent Road in Sea Point. The congregation

3657-599: The synagogue. She appointed David Bilchitz , a legal scholar, to be the lay rabbi for the congregation. At Temple Israel's 80th anniversary celebration in 2016, a permanent exhibition was launched delving into the evolution of the Reformed Movement in South Africa and the history of the synagogue, the Heritage Centre. In 2017, only 50 attended regularly, although 300 attended on High Holy Days . The congregation consists primarily of old, frail, lonely and poor people from Hillbrow, Berea , Yeoville , and Parktown. These Jews still regard it as their spiritual home. The synagogue

3726-411: The trefe hall. The result was an exceptionally large attendance.”. The congregation had more cordial relations with Rabbi David Rosen , who led the Marais Road congregation between 1975 and 1980. Rabbi Rosen conducted a Bat Mitzvah service with the participation of the Temple Israel choir and the two synagogues worked together to set up a facility in the area to provide cheap meals for vagrants. In 1982,

3795-407: The wall. There is also an egalitarian three-sided gallery that runs around the main seating area. The idea to build the synagogue was sparked by a visit in 1929 of Prof. Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882-1938) who was visiting family in Johannesburg at the time. He held forth on Jewish music and the origins of Progressive Judaism, as Reform was also called. Idelsohn encouraged his brother Jerry to found

3864-458: The weddings at which he officiated, his recommendations on potential converts and his rabbinic statements would no longer be considered valid. No weddings Rabbi Steinhorn conducted would be regarded as legitimate nor would the offspring of those weddings be regarded as Jewish or in their turn be able to marry Jewish people. However, the congregation defied the chief rabbinate and instead backed Rabbi Steinhorn. The Chief Rabbinate also complained that

3933-467: Was a much larger building that was later demolished. Part of the land was developed for apartments and a smaller synagogue was rebuilt to better meet the needs of the community. Between 1994 and 1997, Dana Evan Kaplan , an American rabbi, led the congregation. In 2020, a study by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the Kaplan Centre at the University of Cape Town found that 18% of Jewish respondents in Cape Town identify as progressive. During

4002-451: Was a registered welfare fund assisting members of the families of the accused and that no advertising or tickets should give the impression that the organisation responsible for the concert was of a political nature, and no speeches or addresses could be made on the night of the concert. In 1962 they rejected a request by the National Party to hire the hall, on the grounds that it was not to be used for public political meetings. They allowed

4071-495: Was also sung alongside God Save the King . He also attempted to advance a free membership model whereby the synagogue would be entirely funded by the city's wealthiest Jewish individuals such as mining magnates. The model was not feasible, an unsuccessful proposal was made to Ernest Oppenheimer , who was uninterested in Judaism. On 6 August 1983 a limpet mine exploded outside the synagogue, four hours before State President Marais Viljoen and Rabbi Weiler were scheduled to attend

4140-439: Was brought to South Africa in the 1930s by Jews fleeing persecution in Central and Eastern Europe . Progressive Judaism aims to strike a balance between modernity and tradition. Progressive Judaism has given prominence to the moral commands over the ritual observances. This is not to abandon rituals altogether, but to highlight that by themselves they are insufficient unless they are accompanied by ethical conduct. This means that

4209-446: Was consecrated by Rev. AP Bender, spiritual leader of Gardens Shul . Rev. P Rosenberg was the first spiritual leader of the newly built synagogue. Shortly after its opening, a decision was made to establish a choir and the following year, Cantor Morris Katzin, from Riga , Latvia was appointed. The synagogue also had an organ and use of electricity was permitted on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. However, Rev Rosenberg's appointment

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4278-458: Was first established in Sea Point in 1926 at Monreith, Hall Road, the home of Mr and Mrs Gutman. A meeting took place at their home to advance “representations of a number of the younger members of the Community for the purpose of electing a strong working Committee to go into the question of the proposed new Synagogue”. A constitution was drawn up, establishing; “the congregation shall function as an Orthodox Hebrew congregation and shall be known as

4347-448: Was founded in Green Point in 1944 by founding rabbinic couple, Rabbi Dr David Sherman (z”l) and Bertha Sherman (z”l). Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler (z”l) founded the Reform movement and led the movement's mother synagogue, also called Temple Israel , in Hillbrow. Although Weiler had been tasked with establishing a national Reform movement, he resisted establishing other congregations outside Hillbrow during his first ten years. He felt that it

4416-421: Was granted amnesty. Jews began emigrating from South Africa in the 1970s and by the 1990s most of the Jewish population of Hillbrow had migrated to the northern suburbs or emigrated. In 1994, the SAUPJ hired a rabbi from London to lead the congregation. The rabbi felt that with the exodus of Jewish residents and changes in the neighbourhood, a synagogue in the location was no longer viable. He recommended that

4485-420: Was hired. He dedicated many sermons to the incompatibility of Judaism and apartheid and attempted to foster a community stance on racial segregation. He was also heavily involved in interfaith activities, as the founder and chairman of Cape Inter-Faith Forum, the Council of Jews, Christians and Muslims, later the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative. He also worked with Reform colleagues at Temple Israel to set up

4554-403: Was made to federate with the Roeland Street and Vredehoek synagogues to strengthen their position. The congregation rejoined the UC in 1955 on the condition that by rejoining, it did not imply that the congregation would be under the authority of the Cape Chief Rabbi and that the synagogue would remain independent. Rabbi Shrock resigned from his position in the same year, becoming Chief Rabbi of

4623-415: Was more important to build a significant membership in Johannesburg before expanding nationwide. In 1943, he relented and agreed to help set up the first progressive congregation in Cape Town, and was able to call upon Sherman, his friend and Hebrew Union classmate. Sherman led Temple Israel in Green Point for the ensuing decades, seeing exponential growth with 25% of Cape Town Jewry affiliating themselves with

4692-492: Was only representing Johannesburg's progressive congregations in the agreement. Rabbi Sherman argued that it amounted to “allowing ourselves to be read out of the community of Klal Yisrael." Rabbi Rabinowitz, who led the Orthodox Marais Road Shul in Sea Point from 1959, was sympathetic to Abrahams' viewpoint. Rabbi Sherman was addressing a 1963 function held by the Union of Jewish Women, Rabbi Rabinowitz and his wife refused to attend. He wrote to his congregants telling them that

4761-534: Was short-lived. He had been ordained at Jews' College in London and was dissatisfied with the Orthodox character of the congregation. He wrote to Lily Montagu , who had tasked Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler with bringing Reform Judaism to South Africa, and distanced himself from Orthodoxy. He supported the arrival of a Reform synagogue in Cape Town, anticipating it to have good chances of success. Rosenberg subsequently served both Reform and Orthodox congregations after his departure from Marais Road. Dr Herman Kramer,

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