The new Hermanus shul and community centre will be opening on schedule just before the High Holidays. Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein and Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Spiritual Leader to the Country Communities, will be officiating at the consecration of the synagogue, located corner Jose Burman Street and Lord Roberts Road, Eastcliff, on Sunday, 7 September.

The upcoming ceremony is the latest step in the unexpected and remarkable revival of Jewish communal life in Hermanus. In common with most other small-town Jewish communities, the original Hermanus Jewish community ceased to function in the mid-1970s. By the late 1990s, however, a renewed influx of permanent residents combined with the growing number of people with holiday homes in the attractive coastal town led to Jewish life being established on an organised basis once more.

In 2007, the congregation sold its 75 year-old shul in the town centre and purchased its present property on which to erect a smaller community centre. The centre comprises a shul, succah, communal hall and rabbi’s house.

The consecration ceremony will include the unveiling of the Ten Commandments in the synagogue, which are dedicated to the late Rabbi Cyril K Harris. Rabbi Harris settled in Hermanus shortly after his retirement at the end of 2004 and passed away there shortly afterwards. His wife, Ann Harris, still lives in the town, playing an active role both in the Jewish and general community.

Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft will be in Hermanus on the Shabbat preceding the opening to conduct full shul services. Jonathan Lipman, President of the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation, invited those who planned to attend the Sunday opening to “experience a traditional Hermanus Shabbat” by arriving a few days earlier. He also said that full High Holiday services would be taking place.

All those interested in participating in the consecration of the new Hermanus synagogue are invited to RSVP the shul secretary on shelli@telkomsa.net or 082 371 6423.