|
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF
1899 When he refused to retract his comments, Hertz was forced to leave Johannesburg on December 14, l899 for British controlled territory, and "...armed with a free first-class railway ticket issued by the Government, I reached Lourenco Marques,” he writes. It is the week he spent there that interests us here. It is worthwhile quoting the section on Lourenco Marques' Jewish community in Hertz' letter as it appeared in the London Jewish Chronicle of February 9, 1900 on Pg. 11 its entirety as there is so little contemporary documentation on the community. His letter is titled "The Boers and Religious Toleration, A Letter from The Rev. Dr. Hertz"
"Here I found Jewish conditions bad enough, but was not disappointed. As only one or two Jewish people have their families living with them, there is neither Schochet, congregation nor Beit Chayim (cemetery) in Lourenco Marques. My astonishment, on the contrary, was great when I found a prominent businessman a Shabbat observer, and another, a subscriber to the Jewish Quarterly Review.
The morning after my
arrival I requested Mr. Leon Cohen, editor of the Lourenco Marques,
“O Fortuno”, to notify the Jewish residents, through his paper, that
I desired to address them on some matters of vital importance to the
community, on Monday night, December 18th. The attendance was good,
and the thermometer not very much above 95 degrees. I impressed
upon them the necessity of doing three things. First, immediately
to elect a committee to interview the Governor-General of the
province for the purpose of receiving a grant of land for a
cemetery; that this committee have power to add to its number and as
soon as possible constitute itself into a congregation; and lastly,
that a sub-Committee be designated, who should co-operate with the
Jewish Vigilance Committee of Johannesburg and the Jewish Society
for the Protection of Women and Girls in London. This last
suggestion of mine is, alas, rendered necessary by the fact that of
late years the term "Jewess" has become a byword and a hissing on
the East Coast of Africa from Delgoa Bay northward to Port Said.
There must be, roughly speaking, (Aden, of course, excluded) some
750 Jewish women. Applied to 9-5% (sic) of them, the phrase, "the
immemorial chastity of the Jewess," is something less than a name,
and more even than a mockery. The necessity of acting on these suggestions was unanimously agreed upon, and the following strong Executive Committee was elected that very evening: - Leon Cohen, President; Solomon Benoliel, - Jules Cohen, - Herman Cohen, - Moses Lazarus, - Isaac Levy, and Fortunato Cagi. The last named has on more than one occasion displayed statesmanship of no mean order. Presiding at the temporary services during the last solemn Festivals, he harmonised Ashkenazim and Sepharadim by dividing each day's service into some half-dozen sections and alternating the pronunciation so as to suit the two jealous, wrangling parties.
"On the 21st of December I left for Durban. It was only on the boat that I began to feel the "bitterness of exile," the full significance of the term, Rand Refugee.... " Arriving in Durban (together with Winston Churchill) I found the local Jewish Relief Committee doing excellent work in aid of all Jewish persons in distress." Etc.... 1921 On 25 April 1921 an institution was established called; HONEN DALIM” – CHARITY FOR THE POOR.
The first committee of this newly established organisation was; Chairman – Leao Cohen Secretary – Marco Cohen Treasurer – J. H. Muller Vogals – Abraham J Levy, Reuben Barnett, Charles Cohen & L Rygor.
General Assembly; Chairman – Abraham Caji Secretary 1 – Leao Zugury Secretary 2 – I Berman
The purpose of this Association was;
1. To promote all means and get funds for acquisitions of ground and building of a Synagogue and school and maintenance of the cemetery.
2. To help the native Jewish domiciliated in L.M. when it is recognised that such help is necessary, also any others in transit, in the same circumstances.
3. To repatriate the indigents once only, to the nearest port.
4. To help with their protection and influence all Jews who need it.
5.
The
Management is competent to judge who are the Jews considered as
indigents. The site – building, where the synagogue was erected in Avenue General Botha street, formally Telegraph Avenue, was purchased from Delgoa Bay Land Syndicate 23 September 1921, and registered in the name HOM DALIM ISRAELITE BENEFIT ASSOCIATION.
Esther Muller, wife of John Henry Muller placed a deposit of 500 pounds as a guarantee of interest and others.
1925
1926 On 29 August 1926 Chief Rabbi Dr. J. L. Landau M.A. PHD, consecrated the Lourenco Marques first synagogue.
Amongst those present were Mr Abraham Cagi, who extended a welcome to visitors, Mr E Salm, who presented the Chief Rabbi with the key for opening the building, Mr Z H Muller, Honorary Secretary of the congregation, Dr Elisario Montoiro, President of the Camara Municipality, Mr R Barnett, Mr Cohen, Mr A L Hart, Consul – Commercial for Norway, Mr Moffat, Cosul for the United States, Dr Grave, Dr Lommelino, Mr Hugo Hoffmann, the Reverend T E Morton, Mr A E George, Mr L Rygor and many others.
Before entering the building the Chief Rabbi gave a short address and read from the psalms. After the congregation had taken their seats inside, the two Sifrei Torah where placed in the ark by Mr Barnett and Mr Cohen. Rabbi Landau then delivered a consecration address making reference to the Jewish expulsion from Spain to Portugal in 1493. In conclusion the Chief Rabbi said, “there are only a few of you hear, but you nobly set yourselves a task and have accomplished it in the building of this little shrine. Be not ashamed of it.” Mr Muller thanked the Chief Rabbi and his wife for his great kindness in coming over from Johannesburg to perform that ceremony. Mr Muller then detailed the circumstance under which the synagogue had come to be built. PROMINENT PERSONALITIESOne outstanding example of the families arriving in Moçambique is that of Louis Rygor. He and his wife, Marie, fled Odessa in l905 and, after some years in England, established themselves in Mozambique in l9l3. "During the years immediately preceding World War I the retail and wholesale trade of the seaport was largely in Jewish lands, while Jews were also prominent in the shipping companies which retained offices in Lourenco Marques and Beira."
Rygor's commitment to the community led to his becoming the President of the synagogue, from its opening in l926 until his death in l948. Beautifully preserved tombstones in the Jewish cemetery, inscribed in Hebrew and English, testify to their importance.
One Isaac Benoliel was the proprietor of a haberdashery.
Ziggy Muller dealt in guns and ammunition, and Arthur May and Oscar Hoffman were engaged in general provisions. Jocum notes that there were a "number of Jewish widows who ran small hotels or guest houses." No doubt some refugees in the late l930s stayed in these establishments as boarders.
Judah Morris Barnett and his wife Mary had at least one child. Isidore Morris Barnett was born in Lourenco Marques in l9l6 and sent to Johannesburg for a Jewish education. He continued to be active in Jewish community affairs throughout his life.
COMMENTJewish life in Lourenco Marques had never been generally of strong and solidifying content. A possible reason for such a state of affairs is that Lourenco Marques Jewry was composed generally of individuals of most diverse background, both geographically and otherwise. It will be agreed that a trend like this does not tend to encourage and desired communal cohesiveness. An example to substantiate the above comment, these were the members of the Executive Committee of the Lourenco Marques Hebrew Congregation when Dr Landau consecrated the synagogue in 1926; President – Mr E Salm, a Hollander Treasurer – Mr L Rygor, a Russian Hon. Secretary – Mr Z H Muller, a Rumanian Committee – Mr J Barnett, a Britisher, Mr C Mosiff, a Pole & Mr Glazer, a Russian Shamas – Mr Joseph Levy, a Jerusalemite.
From the time the synagogue opened, a rabbi was invited (from South Africa) to officiate at a wedding at least once a year, according to Hyman Jocum's interviews with elderly members of the community in the l960s.
PRE WORLD WAR IIThe years preceding World War II brought another wave of refugees to southern Africa, this time fleeing the rise of Nazism. Some 1,650, turned away from Palestine, were interned for more than four years on the island of Mauritius (due east of Madagascar) by the British government.
In South Africa, Jews had long been associated with Bolshevism, and in the l920s a virulent anti-immigration movement called for restricting Eastern European immigration. In January l930, Dr. D. F. Malan, the Minister of the Interior, introduced the Quota Act.
With the rise of Hitler, South Africa produced a bumper-crop of homegrown Grey Shirts who agitated and lobbied in Parliament to halt the entry of German Jewish refugees. In l936 over 2,500 German Jews arrived, including approximately 545 who arrived in October l936 on the S. S. Stuttgart. The arrival of this ship, chartered especially to enable German Jewish refugees to reach South Africa ahead of anticipated anti-immigrant legislation, provoked demonstrations in Cape Town, the port of entry.
The following year, the Aliens' Act passed by an overwhelming majority, and the flow of German Jewish refugees into South Africa almost ceased. From February l937 to the end of March l940, only 2,915 Jews entered South Africa, the disproportionate percentage of whom had close relatives in the country. Between l940 to the end of l944 only 220 were admitted as permanent residents.
Moçambique, therefore, became yet again a shelter for reluctant refugees. The Jews who succeeded in escaping Nazi occupied Europe travelled via Lisbon, it being one of the last neutral European ports, or even via Shanghai, Java (Indonesia), or Macao (another Portuguese possession) on Portuguese travel documents.
Not only were most of the new arrivals destitute, Portuguese law prevented non-citizens from seeking employment of engaging in commerce, “with the result that the entire community was wholly dependent upon the Joint Distribution Committee.” Another source states that it is the Council for Refugee Settlement that supported these new arrivals and “built a synagogue, engaging a cantor....
“They stayed either in Maputo or Beira awaiting entry visas to South Africa or Northern or Southern Rhodesia, which also had restrictive immigration policies.”
BEIRAIn Beira, the Jews were “living in pitiable conditions...and were allowed to enter Northern Rhodesia on compassionate grounds. There were part of a group of 40 families who were stranded in Beira and who narrowly avoided being returned to Germany.... They were saved by the prompt action of J. M. Barnett, Beira's only Jewish resident." The problem centered around possibly forged documents from Germany. While the fate of these 40 families was hanging in the balance, the aid of various consulates in Beira was enlisted with the result that visas were obtained for places such as Uganda, Kenya, a dozen for Northern and Southern Rhodesia and even Mauritius.
Louis Rygor was also instrumental in assisting refugees in Lourenco Marques, and reportedly saved some 80 refugees from being returned to Europe when he was able to arrange for their financial assistance through the good offices of the Council for Refugee Settlement, thus enabling them to disembark.
REV CANTOR FEIVEL METZGERAnother Jewish refugee was the Rev. Cantor Feivel Metzger, a Pole who had spent most of his life in Germany. He had worked for two years with a South African Jewish congregation, but at some point was “stranded in Lourenco Marques on a visitor’s visa.” Eventually he was able to obtain a visa for Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia in August l939. Establishing residency enabled him to locate his wife and two children (via the International Red Cross), who were trapped at the outbreak of the war in September l939. Metzger’s wife and children escaped via Switzerland to Trieste, Italy, and with Portuguese travel documents, which Metzger obtained through a Jewish contact in Lourenco Marques, arrived on the Italian ship “Gerusalemme” at the port of Beira where Metzger met them. SOLLY
ISRAEL It was during the middle of the war, that some 500 Jews celebrated Pesach, the festival of liberation, in Lourenco Marques. This may mark the largest number of Jews ever (to be found?) in the Portuguese colony. After the war some remained to establish businesses. Others left for English-speaking countries in Southern Africa, and still others made aliyah or even returned to Germany. MOIRA FARJAZ (nee THAL) One member of the Maputo community was Moira, the granddaughter of Maurice (Moshe) Thal, a businessman and president of the small Jewish community of Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia in the l920s and l930s. She married Ze Forjaz, a "radical architect and member of Frelimo, who became a member of the first post independence government of Moçambique." Moira was a close friend of Ruth First, and has made a successful career as a film-maker and is currently operating an art gallery in Lisbon
PAMELA dos SANTOSPamela dos Santos was certainly one of the most interesting Jews in the Maputo community. Exiled from South Africa because of a "liason dangereuse" with a black man, she moved to Tanzanya. There, she met Marcelino dos Santos, a young Frelimo activist. They married and had a daughter. Dos Santos was to become the head of Moçambique’s parliament and second in command to Pres. Joaquim Chissano.
1957 On 3 September 1957 Mr Simon Lewis from South Africa contacted Mr Hawell who had been acting as Secretary for the Lourenco Marques Jewish Community for some years.
The position appeared that the whole community consisted of Mr Hawell and his wife, and another married Jewish couple; Mr Rygor and his unmarried sister, the son and daughter of a very old Lourenco Marques Jewish family, who carried on their parents business after their deaths. In addition, there was a Mr Amram, a Portuguese Sephardic Jew, and an elderly married couple of Jewish origin, whose children married into the Christian faith and who no longer regard themselves as Jews. It was therefore seen that the local Jewish community consisted of 4 males and 3 ladies.
Mr Lewis also reported that the synagogue was in an extremely dilapidated condition, but on an approach to Mr Schlesinger, he undertook the repairs without expense to the community.
The long history of this Jewish Community was interrupted at Moçambican Independence in 1975, when most of the community left the country. The synagogue was abandoned and turned into a warehouse. The cemetery fell into disrepair and was badly vandalized. Without the synagogue, and in a climate of official hostility to religion, organised Jewish life in Moçambique came to a halt.
SYNAGOGUEThe abandoned synagogue, in spite of claims to the contrary, was not nationalised after independence. The property became a place for “bandits, prostitutes and drug addicts, and at some point was briefly used as a church.” The government took it over more by default than intention. People broke into the synagogue (as they did schools and any other abandoned structures) to scavenge wood for otherwise unavailable fuel to survive the deprivation of the years of civil strife. Eventually the Red Cross, housed in an adjacent building, acquired the property for storage. Only the weeds and wild grasses in the courtyard flourished. As the Soviet Union went into decline, Moçambique’s Government began to modify its economic and political policies - as well as its formerly hostile attitude towards religion. Samora Machel, then Moçambique’s President had renounced Marxism and began returning religious structures to their previous owners. Alkis Macropolous, a local non-Jewish businessman who had been raised among Jews, had started a campaign to have the synagogue returned. He ran an advert in Moçambique’s only newspaper, Noticias, seeking support, and sent letters to government and nongovernmental private charities. Regrettably, only four books were found on the premises when the synagogue was returned. The oldest was printed in old Russian script in Latvia dating from the turn of the 19th century. Before long the synagogue was back in Jewish hands in 1989 through the generosity and efforts of Alkis Jorge Macropulos. Although no religious services were held for lack of a knowledgeable leader, a group of Jews gathered every Saturday to light candles, study Hebrew and sing Yiddish folk songs. Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur were celebrated and successive seders were held. 1993 and 1994 were years of milestones, including the establishment of regular Shabbat services on Friday nights, the first blowing of the Shofar in at least 15 years, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Moçambique and Israel at which time there were around 80 people affiliated to the Jewish community.
1994 Another great milestone of this period was the reception of a Sefer Torah at the synagogue. When the community scattered in 1975-76, the two Sifrei Torah were sent by Mr Martin Moses for safekeeping to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies in Johannesburg. They were however found to be not kosher. South Africa’s Chief Rabbi C K Harris took it upon himself to solicit the donation of a Sefer Torah from the Schoonder Street congregation in Cape Town. Rabbi Harris personally delivered the Torah on 11 April 1994. The day happened to be Rosh Chodesh, the day beginning a new month on the Jewish calendar, making it possible to read from the Torah on that day. 1996 On 23 August 1996 Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Spiritual Leader of the African Jewish Congress officiated at the 70th Anniversary of the consecration of the synagogue.
2000 During June 2000, the African Jewish Congress held its annual congress in Maputo which was attended by 40 delegates. Among the participants were Chief Rabbi & Mrs Harris and H E Mr Itzhak Gerber, Israeli Ambassador to Moçambique.
CEMETERYAlthough Rev Hertz appealed to the community in December l899 to acquire land for a "Beit Chaim,” Hyman Jocum, relates that in the l960s he visited the Maputo Jewish cemetery and discovered tombstones dating back to the l880s. Miss Rygor told him how she battled with the authorities for years to get these Jewish tombstones removed from the multi-denominational cemetery to the Jewish cemetery.The names on the tombstones testify to the diversity of the community: Rygor, Harrison, Barnett, Cagi, Vidra and Zaffrany. There are 2 tombstones in the Maputo Jewish cemetery inscribed with the names of the Barnett family. Mr. Alec Israel, born in Rhodesia and for years an editor at the Jerusalem Post, well remembers J.M. Barnett, whom he met in the l960s and who served as a shipping agent for Israel's father's Indian textile import business.
The community has made great progress in restoring the cemetery.
When work started in 1992, the plot
was a garbage dump and a homeless person lived in the Ohel, Chapel.
The walls were raised, tombstones repaired and re-erected and tons
of garbage were removed, in the process of which more graves were
discovered. Water was piped in and trees grass and flowers were
planted. 2000-2020 During this period, the Jewish community was led by Larry and Diane Herman, of Jerusalem and Los Angeles. A general refurbishment of the synagogue was undertaken in 2010, on the occasion of the first bat mitzvah ever to be held in Maputo, that of Juliana Vaz. This was followed by the first bar mitzvah in many years, of Jordan da Silva, in 2013. In this period, Shabbat services, Friday night and Saturday morning were regularly held. Although there was rarely a minyan,the Torah was regularly read, preceded by the blessing on Torah study (as distinct from the blessings read for aliyot). All the chaggim were observed. Friends in South Africa, notably David Loewenthal, Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Rabbi Levi Lipskar, Robbie Brozin and Hadley Shapiro always made sure that the Maputo community was supplied with its ritual needs, from matzah and wine at Pesach to a lulav and etrog at Sukkot. Thus, the historical bond between the Jews of Maputo and the Jews of Johannesburg has remained strong. Matzah and haggadot were distributed to Jewish U.S. Peace Corps volunteers scattered throughout Mozambique, reminding them of their roots notwithstanding their distance from home, thanks to Ellen Eiseman.
2010 The community was formally legally reconstituted, adopting the name “Associação Honen Dalim – Comunidade Judaica de Moçambique,” as the articles of association state, “. . . in continuity on the path begun by the Associação de Beneficiência Israelita Honen Dalim created in 1901 in then Lourenço Marques.” Among the founding committee members were António Urbano dos Santos Filho, grandson of John Henry (Ziggy) Muller.
2011-2012 Under the leadership of Larry Herman and Andrew Davey the Maputo Synagogue, which was in an increasingly fragile state, was rebuilt from the ground up, to the original architectural plan. The original walls (duly reinforced) and floors remain, but a completely new roof, supporting structure, doors and windows, all in accordance with contemporary building codes, were added.
2013 Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft and Mrs Ann Harris returned the community’s Sefer Torah from South Africa, and a beautiful Hachnasat Sefer Torah and rededication ceremony was held on 16 December 2012. The President of the Republic of Mozambique was represented at the event by the then-Minister of Justice, Maria Delfina Bemvinda Levy. 2017 The general refurbishment of the Jewish Cemetery of Maputo was carried out by José Douwens Soares and his son. Many of the gravestones were restored with the financial support of the African Jewish Congress. Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft officiated at a rededication ceremony of the restored cemetery on 18 February 2018. During this same period, the Jewish community joined COREM, the Council of Religions of Mozambique, as a full member, and was regularly represented at interfaith events in Maputo (notably the national Peace and Reconciliation Day holiday on 04 October, and at important visits, such as that of Pope Francis), and joined the Commonwealth Jewish Council as well. A parent-run Sunday Hebrew School was started for the community’s children, and a playground added to the grounds of the synagogue (courtesy of Stanley Wei and Hayden Hawry). A U.S.-based non-profit 501(c) (3) support organization, Friends of the Jewish Community of Mozambique, Inc. (FoJCM), was started, in order to facilitate fundraising for community and charitable endeavours in the country.
2019 In the wake of the destruction Cyclone Idai wreaked in Beira, various Israeli and international Jewish aid organizations sent volunteers to Mozambique to help in the relief effort. The community (through the Sunday Hebrew School) pitched in to raise funds, and to house and feed the volunteers and provide logistical support. As a consequence of that episode, it was discovered that there is a Jewish section in the Santa Isabel cemetery in Beira, and that it is tended with great dedication by the cemetery staff. 2020 Lauren Wojtyla and Natalie Tenzer-Silva, all who have been actively involved in various leadership positions of the community were re-elected as officers of the community in February 2020, while Samuel Levy was re-elected as President, a position he has held since 2016. That same month, Benjamin Aisen was bar mitzvah in the synagogue on Shabbat morning, with more than 100 people in attendance. As of this writing (February 2021), Purim 2020 was the last time that the community held in-person services at the Maputo synagogue. In response to the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on gathering for worship, community life has gone online. There are twice-weekly study sessions – one for Parshat Hashvuah and the other on Halachah or Jewish history (usually calibrated with the holiday cycle), and even former community members participate from time to time. The community is also making security improvements to the synagogue, with the financial assistance of JAFI, and is planning to build an annex which will contain a kosher kitchen, new bathrooms, and a study to serve as a working and teaching space. This is part of our general program to help our community grow in Torah and mitzvot. “Reflecting on the wonderful achievements of this historic community thus far, if they have achieved or will achieve anything, they acknowledge it is only with the generous hand of Almighty G-d. May He continue to give us life and strength in the work He has assigned to each and every one of us.”
SAMUEL LEVY RABBI MOSHE SILBERHAFT PRESIDENT SPIRITUAL LEADER ASSOCIAÇÃO HONEN DALIM AFRICAN JEWISH CONGRESS COMUNIDADE JADAICA DE MOCAMBIQUE
|