Great Synagogue (Johannesburg)
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street, Johannesburg, is known as the city's mother synagogue and "the crown jewel of Orthodox Judaism in South Africa."[1] All large-scale Jewish events in Johannesburg were held in the building, and throughout its existence it was the seat of the country's chief rabbi. Northward migration by congregation members led to the synagogue relocating in 1994, to be replaced by the Great Park Synagogue on Glenhove Road, Oaklands, built on the model of the Great Synagogue, whose own architecture in turn was inspired by the Hagia Sophia.[2]
History
On July 10, 1887, a year after the city's founding, the Witwatersrand Goldfields Jewish Association was founded at a gathering in B. Wainstein's shop. The Association's original purposes included maintaining the Jewish cemetery and offering services to the Jewish residents of the city. On September 19, 1887, the first Rosh Hashanah service was held in the Rand Club, attended by 500 people.
Several months after the association's foundation, its name was changed to the Witwatersrand Hebrew Congregation. In January 1888 the congregation purchased two plots of land on President Street to build a synagogue. On November 7 of that year, the Rev. Mark L. Harris of Kimberley laid the cornerstone and the work on Johannesburg's first synagogue officially began.
In March 1890, daily services began on the President Street Synagogue. At the time, schisms were forming in the young congregation and some members seceded to form the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation. The Witwatersrand Hebrew Congregation renamed itself the Witwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation.
South African president Paul Kruger awarded[further explanation needed] four plots of land on the corner of Joubert and De Villiers Streets for the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation to build its synagogue. Since the latter was near the original Johannesburg Park Station, this synagogue was known as the Park Station Synagogue or simply the Park Synagogue, and was opened by Kruger on September 14, 1892. The synagogue operated for 20 years and was purchased by the South African Railways and Harbours Administration in 1912, where it was serve as a military headquarters for the SARH regiment until it was demolished in 1928 to make way for a new station.
After the Park Synagogue was sold, the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation began building what would become the largest Jewish house of worship in South Africa. Between 1913 and 1914, the Great Synagogue was built, covering an entire city block between Wolmarans, Claim, Quartz, and Smit Streets. The site, chosen by the Jewish architect Hermann Kallenbach, was near the area where most of Johannesburg's Jews lived at the time.
The building was designed by Theophile Schaerer, and the contractors were Hoheison & Co. Siegfried Raphaely laid the cornerstone on September 3, 1913. Sammy Marks provided the bricks, and handed over the key to the rabbi, Dr. Judah Leo Landau, at the inaugural ceremony. Construction took almost a year, and on August 23, 1914, the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation officially opened its new synagogue under Landau.
The two congregations operated side by side for a total of 24 years, from 1891 to 1915, each with its own rabbi and congregation leaders. In 1898 Joseph Herman Hertz became rabbi of the Witwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation, where he remained remain until he left for America in 1911. In 1903 the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation asked Landau to become their rabbi, which he remained until 1943.
After protracted negotiations, an agreement to merge the two congregations was reached on May 30, 1915, forming the United Hebrew Congregation with its chief synagogue as the Wolmarans Street Synagogue.
Since its dedication, Chief Rabbis of South Africa have continued to be based there, including Landau, Louis Isaac Rabinowitz, Bernard M. Casper, and Cyril Harris.
Sources
- The history of the Great Synagogue on their website. URL accessed 14 November 2017.
References
