GETTING THE SEEDS TO TAKE ROOT AGAIN

However, as demographic patterns changed weekly attendance gradually dwindled and by the 80s only a small aging community regularly attended services, although the high Holy Festivals Continued to be observed with continuing magnificence. The situation was further transformed when Chief Rabbi Harris, on his arrival in the country, shaped a new policy of serving the whole Jewish community across South Africa, rather than being confined to one shul.

At the end of the 1980s Rabbi Dovid Hazdan became the Rabbi of Wolmarans. The regular Friday night and Shabbos community was small and at times was equal in number to the choir! There began to be talk about relocating the shul, some congregants maintained that the Shul must be moved brick by crick, while others said that they would never move, we have been here for so many years and we will endure forever. But after a few serious encounters with crime, the congregants began to talk more seriously about moving and began identifying a site for a new synagogue.

In November 1994, soon after celebrating its 80^th birthday, the Wolmarans Street Shul closed its doors. The sadness and poignancy were relieved by a unique element of hope that the Shul was actually taking a seed and going to find new soil where it would be able to take hold.

A Temporary Sojourn

The shul moved to the Hazdan home on Currie Street and began a minyan there for what was thought would be a year or two – the time it would take to get a new shul going. A beautiful little shul was built which could accommodate about 120.Within a few months many of the younger people from the neighborhood, as well as older members, began joining.  The shul became quite a vibrant place, particularly on Friday nights. On Shabbos day the kiddushim would take place in the garden, and the living rooms of the Hazdan home became a mini-hall. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the congregation rented the TAC (and put up facades reminiscent of the old shul which created an amazing atmosphere) – and a whole new community began forming. This arrangement continued for 5 years during which the congregation went through the process of creating what many had believed was no more than a pipe dream.

Rebuilding the shul was very exciting – and a huge challenge. There was a lot of negativity at the time, both from outside as well as from within the community. The sentiment in the mid-90s was that there really was no need to invest in the Jewish community. Many believed that the shul would never be filled and it would remain a white elephant.

Showing Confidence in the Future

At that time Rabbi Hazdan felt the need to make a confident statement about the future of the Jewish community in South Africa. It was essential to help undo some of the negative talk and shift the prevailing attitude. He felt that a community could not throw up its hands in despair, because that would, in fact, contribute to the demise of the wonderful and unique South African Jewish community.

The Rabbi together with a group of determined congregants took on the task of invigorating a community and showing confident in the future. On what was later called the ‘do-or-die’ Rosh Hashana of 1997, the community decided to commit itself to investing and rebuilding the shul.

It was on that Rosh HaShana that Rabbi Hazdan implored the community to move forward.

 In the Rabbi’s words:

“Just before the festival, a friend of mine and his family were involved in a tragic accident and I was at the hospital when the children were flown in to the trauma unit. People were running around in their trackies, dressed for speed. There was a flurry of wild activity as the medical staff dealt with the horrific pressure of trying to ensure that the children would survive. And then a few days later I went to visit somebody in hospice, in tranquil surroundings with classical music playing, all gentle and soft.

The contrast of these two different situations of healing was so immense, and this became the theme of that all-important Rosh Hashanah drosha – “how do we view ourselves as a South African Jewish community. Are we a hospice or are we a trauma unit?”

If you reach the point that you’ve written off this Jewish community as being in need of a hospice there is one set of circumstances – we have to move into a tranquil surrounding to make the death palatable and less painful and nurse ourselves through the final moments. But if we believe that there is a chance to make a difference and mobilize forces and not see ourselves as a dying community, there is a completely different set of circumstances. Then it is a trauma unit that is required and we have to put on our trackies and become an environment that is actually going to give life.”

An Emotional Response

 The appeal was met with an overwhelming response. The community came forward en mass exceeding its goal. Within a couple of years, by Rosh Hashanah 2000, the new community was ensconced in serene and exquisite new surroundings. Soon the shul was filled to capacity. To be sure, the task was not that quick and easy. Initially it was a struggle to fill the capacity of the shul with its 650 seats, but by Rosh Hashanah 2007 fifty seats were added with an overflow minyan of about 60 people. The shul is constantly trying to devise ways of adding even more seats!

A Feeling of Generations

The shul included the ambiance of the old by transporting the original fitments – the chandeliers, the menorahs, the bima, the pulpit, the pews, clock and ner tamid – yet incorporated beautiful new elements, such as the magnificent stained glass windows by Judith Mason (who also designed windows for the Constitutional Court). While it is a modern building, it is sensitive to the history of its predecessor, creating a beautiful harmony between the two.

A New Future

As has been done in the physical structure, so too regarding the atmosphere and ambiance of the shul.  We have tried to be relevant to the vast majority of our congregants, creating a compromise and meeting of minds between people coming from the older shul and our new membership. For example on Friday night the davening takes place with our beautiful choir, while on Shabbos mornings there is a more shtiebel type of davening. Also, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur while in the main sanctuary there is a magnificent service with chazzan and choir – reminiscent of times of old – at the same time a participative and intimate shitebel overflow service is provided as well. Many programs and events have also been included into the shul’s activities ensuring the involvement and participation of young and old alike.

Looking back throughout history Jews have always been on the move. With relocation comes the challenge of finding the exact formula to get the seeds to take root again and to allow the trees to flourish and to grow in a new environment; to be able to embrace new elements and hold onto the old in satisfying proportions, and so to forge a warm and a happy congregation committed to the timeless values of Torah and Am Yisroel.

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When building the shul it was decided to take the meaning of Beit Knesset literally (kinnus= a lace of gathering) and from the beginning a Beit Knesset was sought which would be more than just another shul but also a focal point of the Jewish community, a centre which would galvanize and bring Jews together from all different circumstances – a place of learning and cultural Jewish activity, beyond what was being reached with the prevailing structures at the time. What emerged was a shul with a community centre, The Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre, which has its own clientele and its own outreach way beyond what is normally involved in Jewish communal events. The Centre, which operates under the guidance of Hazel Cohen, has a separate leadership with a very warm and strong connection to the shul and dovetails with shul activities.

Adapted with kind permission from the Jewish Tradition, 2008 edition