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"Hermanus Times" A Crown of a Good Name - 12 September 2008
Kerry van Rensburg
It was with pride and joy that the Hermanus Jewish community, along with many distinguished guests from around the country, consecrated their new synagogue on Sunday. This historic occasion was officiated by Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein and Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, spiritual leader to the country communities known as ''the travelling Rabbi". For Jonathan Lipman, president of the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation, it was a particularly auspicious and personally moving day as when he and Rabbi Silberhaft and a small group of determined visionaries set out some ten years ago to save the old shul in Main Road, he was reminded of his late father who always said that a man should have a "Keter Shem Tov" which is the crown of a good name. The day's proceedings began with the unveiling of the foundation stone laid to commemorate the opening of the new synagogue situated on the corner of Jose Burman Street and Lord Roberts Road in Eastcliff. A mezuzah was then attached to the entrance doorpost before guests and congregants took their seats. The ornately embellished scrolls of the Torah were ceremoniously carried around the central worship area known as the Bima seven times before being placed inside the Ark or Holy of Holies.
A dream fulfilled In his opening address Rabbi Silberhaft welcomed the distinguished guests, who, among others, included president of the African Jewish Congress (AJC) Mervyn Smith, Rabbi of the Temple of Israel in Cape Town Richard Newman. Overstrand Mayor Theo Beyleveldt, representatives from the newly established Garden Route Jewish Association and the Oudtshoorn and Plettenberg Bay Jewish community, as well as representatives of the various religious groups in Hermanus and the local Jewish community. Silberhaft’s message was based on Genisis 28:12 where Jacob dreams about a ladder reaching into heaven and how the very place he slept, which was Mount Monah, would become the future site of the Temple or House of God. Silberhaft compared Jacob's dream to that of the visionaries in Hermanus who dreamed of building a new place of worship: "All of us are here for a special purpose. We are here to dedicate a synagogue. Apparently, then, it is a dream fulfilled." He paid tribute to Lipman and his executive for realising their dream despite seemingly insurmountable hardships along the way. As Silberhaft drew attention to the different furnishings and commemorative items in the synagogue, he said: "Yes, I do close more shuls than I open however here in South Africa we are privileged to have had wonderful people in the country communities." The Ten Commandments. which came from the Randfontein shul that closed ten years ago, were dedicated to the late former Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris who retired to Hermanus with his wife Ann. Part of the inscription says that he was "a great spiritual leader, humanitarian and a man of vision who led South African Jewry with dignity and distinction from 1987 to 2005".
Rabbi Harris" successor. Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein addressed the guests and made mention of the fact that Hermanus has the most southerly situated synagogue in Africa. He emphasized how the structure of all synagogues is based on the same design as the original Temple and they are miniature replicas of the tabernacle. He pointed out that continuity is an important element and that Jewish believers carry Judaism and its values with them wherever they go and it is not limited by roofs, walls or structures. Goldstein said that synagogues represent unity and it is the reading of Torah that brings the presence of God into the shul. He then prayed a blessing on the new synagogue
In his speech, Lipman paid respect to those who have since passed on that were instrumental in the revival of the old shul and thanked Rabbi Silberhaft for his involvement and encouragement through all the years and particularly during the building of the synagogue and centre. He said that in 2006 at a special meeting, they were given the directive to dispose of the old shul, acquire ground and erect a new centre. "Without the tremendous generosity of the Overstrand municipality, as well as the kind gesturesby Roussouw Theron of SRT Architects, we would have battled to meet our targets." Lipman also expressed his appreciation to the building contractor Jerome Kennedy for his "endless assistance and controlled temperament".
In conclusion Silberhaft said: "Let us make this house one of thriving Judaism for all generations to come." At the end of the ceremony it was clear that Jonathan Lipman wore his crown with pride. ADDRESS BY JONATHAN LIPMAN Chief Rabbi Goldstein, Rabbi Silberhaft, Rabbis, Major Theo Beyleveldt, representatives from various Jewish Organisations and Shuls, Distinguished Spiritual Leaders and Representatives of the various Religious Institutions within Hermanus, Fellow Congregants, Friends and Mommy.
It is with great honour and pride that I stand before you today at the consecration of The Hermanus Hebrew Congregation’s new Synagogue and Community Centre.
Our thanks go out to you Chief Rabbi Goldstein firstly for giving up of your most precious time to be here with us today, secondly for opening this wonderful community centre for us and lastly for your kind words of encouragement. We will take head of your kind words and hope to see more of you here in Hermanus in the not too distant future.
Thank you Mayor Theo Beylevedt for you kind words. Words that, we know, come from the heart, and thank you for our good relationship based on the mutual respect that we hold for one another.
To my highly capable and dedicated committee a very big YASHER KOACH... you really did good.
To my wife Zelda who has been such a great help and inspiration to me, a very large Thank You. My Darling I fear that you will be seeing a lot more of me from now on and that you may even wish that this project had not ended.
To Meyrick Levitas we give to you our profound thanks. Thanks… for listening to Rabbi Silberhaft and deciding to house your exquisite Torah with us in Hermanus. I can now tell you that for the past 10 years I have been hounding Rabbi Silberhaft for a small Torah so that we can offer the honour of Hagbah to the “not so strong and powerful” men within our congregation. I assure you that we will make very good use of this Torah and furthermore that Rabbi Silberhaft will be forever grateful to you for getting me off his case.
Our greatest gift to date has been the tremendous encouragement received almost on a daily basis from our Spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft who has had to put up with so much from me over the past 10 years. I’m sure, rabbi, that you are also pleased to see the end of this construction and with it hopefully my continued nagging and begging for what ever we have needed for the completion of our shul. Rabbi, believe me when I tell you that without your endless encouragement and assistance, this... what we see around us here today… would never have happened. Your presence, eagerness, and never-ending ability to help are always very special to us at the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation.
In 1997 the late Sonny Josman together with Bennie Rabinowitz and the late Leon Wilder fought tooth and nail to stop the immanent sale of the old shul building and put together a committee under the highly capable leadership of Cedric Glick. This committee got the old Hermanus Shul renovated and so ultimately gave us, the new Jewish residents in Hermanus a place from which to worship.
When my father, Kenny, passed away in 1998 I found myself in a rather precarious situation. I desperately needed to say Kaddish for the year and yet we didn’t have a daily minyan in Hermanus. I was all but ready to pack up and leave Hermanus when I spoke to Rabbi Silberhaft about my feelings. He asked me to tell him about who and what my Dad was and asked what my Dad would have expected of me. I told him that my Dad always said that man should have a “Ketter Shem Tov” – “A crown of a Good Name” and just how much my Dad really loved being Jewish.
Rabbi Silberhaft listened intently while I elaborated on who and what my Dad was and just how much he meant to all of us in the family. Eventually my good Rabbi told me of the importance of my spiritual involvement as well as the relevance of saying Kaddish. These discussions put it all into perspective for me and eventually got me into restoring the Jewish Cemetery here in Hermanus and making it, as well as the graves therein, a respectable place for people to want to go and visit. This I did in memory of my Dad, a man loved by all who knew him.
During this period, I worked very closely with Rabbi Silberhaft and we soon came to realise that we both shared the same visions for this community and I think that this realisation somehow gave Rabbi Silberhaft the “in” that he needed to getting me to run with Hermanus and that eager group of visionaries who saved the old shul and ultimately put us on the revival track that has culminated in getting us to where we stand today. Rabbi, I must tell you that it was only when I worked on this speech that I realised just how far we have come and I can honestly say that I have enjoyed it all immensely. Thank you, rabbi, for just being you.
It was the late Leon Wilder who planted the seed in my head for the local community to run the affairs of the shul and ultimately take it away from the “revival chairman” who resided in Cape Town. Leon said that in order for the community to prosper and grow, we needed to be in charge of our own destiny. When Leon Wilder passed away so suddenly, I realised that I had lost a great friend, one whom I both admired and was always pleased to see in Hermanus. Leon made me feel very special and always said that although he was never a great shul goer, he never missed shul in Hermanus because it just felt right to be a part of the service. I am pretty sure that Leon is also a very proud man today.
In 2006 at a Special General Meeting of the Community we were given the directive to dispose of the old shul, acquire ground and erect a new centre.
Many figures pertaining to the financial costs of our proposals were bandied about and a lot of people felt that we were over ambitious with what we proposed to erect with the very limited funds approved at that meeting.
Without the tremendous generosity and reduced pricing of the land motivated by Mayor Theo Beyleveldt and the Overstrand Municipality as well as the kind gestures as given by Rossouw Theron of SRT Architects and the overwhelming charity doled out by our contractor Jerome Kennedy of Kennedy & Hattingh we would never have been able to present this wonderful facility to you even at double the price. For helping us to stay within our meagre budget we are eternally grateful and thank you one & all.
It would be remiss of me not to make mention of some of our local congregants who are no longer with us today. They were after all so instrumental in the initial growth of our community.
Dear Solly Durbach who sat on the perimeter wall of the shul in his Old Boys blazer waiting eagerly for us to open the doors every Friday evening. I remember on the odd occasion when in the depths of winter and we were 1 or 2 short of a minyan, Solly would say; “We’re in the Country man … count the women”. This became a standing joke amongst us faithfuls who opened the doors every Shabbat irrespective of the numbers.
Jeremy Kaplan who was so intrigued with his Jewish heritage and had such an enquiring mind. A man born with such gifted hands and taken away far too early.
Our very own and very special Rabbi Cyril Harris who gave us so much moral & spiritual upliftment. Rabbi Harris had the experience of small close-knit communities that we so desperately lacked. The one who got us thinking of having more than just a shul for our community and suggested that we take a serious look at improving the facilities that we have available for our congregants. The spin off of which we now have, aided so gallantly by his wife Ann Harris. Ann I must thank you for constantly steering us in the right direction and always showing us right from wrong. You really have been and continue to be an inspiration to us all.
We also fondly remember the hilarious Robbie Newman who with out hesitation got out of a gravely sick bed in order to help make a minyan for us even though it took all his energy and over 2 hours, just to get dressed… and that he did on more than just one occasion.
Then of course there was Abe Schneider who had to have been one of the kindest and most gentle souls I’ve ever had the great privilege of meeting … and naturally how we can ever forget Abe’s good friend and our late shamus, Gerald Goodman, who I still miss every day.
These 6 gentlemen must be sitting up there with very broad chests. Proud as punch in the knowledge that we have succeeded in our initial plans.
I can just hear Solly, the engineer, saying; “MMMM very good lines on the building and look… they don’t even have to count the women today.”
Jeremy must be so impressed with how we utilised all the bits and pieces from all the different shuls around Southern Africa and turned them into something as special as our shul is today.
Rabbi Harris must be thinking, “All I did was plant the seed at the right moment and just look at how well they’ve done.”
Robbie will be saying: ”Well done Jonno it looks magnificent… by the way… have you thought of offering the hall, for free of course, to the Bridge Club?” Just tell them that they will have to eat their bloody non-kosher sandwidges outside and get on with the serious business of playing of cards, inside.”
Abe must have the broadest smile on his face and will be saying “You know what chaps, that’s our community down there” with Gerald chirping in “Phew man, look at how beautiful and sophisticated the ladies look today … ooh whose that one over there.. I wonder if she’s married, ‘cause, you know… I’m available hey… no, no seriously... I am.”
We in Hermanus are so privileged to have been a part of such a great group of utter gentleman.
With that in mind, my vision for the future of our congregation is that we all get that little bit more committed, and to start that feeling of commitment, my committee and I have decided to utilise the additional R20 000.00 that we got for the sale of the Old Shul as a kick start for what we have called The President’s Fund. This fund will be for the benefit of our local community’s special needs. The needs of the less privileged in our society who require upliftment. This will be a sobering reminder to us of just what the vast needs of our society are. For anyone here today wishing to donate to this very worthy cause please speak to one of the committee members and ensure that your donation is earmarked for the President’s Fund.
As for the rest of our congregation’s commitment, we need to ensure that we are committed to ensuring that we are never without a minyan… whenever it is needed… and committed to letting all who will listen, know that we of the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to community involvement and that our shul… is such a lekker place to be in, that people will be begging us to become active members.
My advice to those of you who aren’t that active or involved… try us… you really won’t be sorry.
In conclusion I thank you one and all for being here today and to the visitors we hope to see more of you in Hermanus.
RABBI SILBERHAFT’S ADDRESS
Chief Rabbi Goldstein, Rabbis,
Jacob, our forefather, when journeying from the land of Canaan to Padan Aram prepares to spend the night by the road-side. He is homeless, friendless with little if anything to eat, and most of all, he is frightened. He gathers several stones to put beneath his head, lies down, sleeps and dreams.
“And behold a ladder was standing upon the ground, and its head reached into the heavens. And angles of G-d ascended and descended upon it.” (Genesis 28:12). Jacob hears the voice of G-d. He is guaranteed safe passage. In addition, G-d promises him that this place, the very ground upon which he is lying, would someday belong to his offspring – would someday belong to the children of Israel. Jacob awakens confused and frightened. He exclaims”
“Surely, this is none other than the House of G-d.” (Genesis 28:17)
A remarkable dream indeed! Many years before modern psychologists discovered that dreams are not what they seem to be, the Rabbis of the Midrash insisted that this dream too, was not what it appeared to be, but was rather, an expression of the future. They tell us that the place where Jacob slept was to become the future site of the Holy Temple. For this was Mount Moriah.
The ladder represented the stairway to the altar, the earth under it is the altar in the House for G-d, and the angels symbolized the high Priests ascending and descending the altar. (Genesis Rabbah, 68:12). Not so simple a dream after all!
All of us are here for a special purpose. We are here to dedicate a Synagogue. Apparently, then, it is a dream fulfilled, for we also have dreamers among us – dedicated and devoted dreamers. They who dreamed of such an edifice and were told by others with a bit of skepticism: “Perhaps you are dreaming too high – perhaps you are very much like the ladder in Jacob’s dream. You are men of the world who are wise in other matters, with your feet on the ground, but when you dream of so magnificent a Synagogue your minds are way up in the heavens. And, as is generally true with anything worthwhile, there was the skepticism, but our dreamers, withstood and overcame it, and here we are today to dedicate an apparent reality. We have the stones, the place, and we have the altar – as was true in Jacob’s dream.
Let us see, however, if we have not left something out of our dream.
We have the stones, the ladder – even the house itself – However, we do not seem to have taken account of the angels, or of the priests in the dream. Angels are symbolic of prayer which comes from the heart and from the mind. Not prayer alone, but all of the spiritual concepts and values of our religion must be practical – this is of utmost importance. Then we will have accounted for the angels.
Today we pay tribute to Jonathan Lipman and his executive for realising their dream, and our dream. Jonathan, it has been a bumpy ride with many challenges, but we made it. VERY WELL DONE TO YOU AND YOUR COMMITTEE.
My involvement with this newly established community spans almost 13 years from the time when the Late Leon Wilder and Cedrik Glick spearheaded the revival or re-establishment of this congregation.
There are people and organisations who would like to take the country communities department away from the SAJBD. Today’s simcha is an excellent example of why that would be a bad idea. It is important to understand the work of my department.
Dear friends, when the Hermanus community ceased to function in the mid 1970s, the custodianship was handed over the country communities department of the SAJBD for its safekeeping. After some 20 years when it was decided by the remaining trustees not to sell the original synagogue building but to rather refurbish it and revive the defunct Hermanus community, the SAJBD refunded the capital amount to the newly formed local committee, and this was the seed money and forerunner to what you are witnessing today.
Yes, I do close more shuls than I open, however we in South Africa are privileged to have had wonderful people in the country communities who invested their utmost when establishing and running these communities.
To preserve this wonderful history, when I close shuls, I retain items that can be used in new or other shuls. Therefore the;
Friends, one of the greatest boosts we received was when former Chief Rabbi Harris and his wife Ann decided to make Hermanus their community of choice for their retirement.
I have wondered what Hermanus meant to him and Ann. I believe a key to this is found, in a hint, in Rabbi Harris’s autobiography, For Heaven’s Sake where he described the community of his early childhood in Scotland:
I quote - “The Ayr Hebrew Congregation, of which my father was the proud chairman … was very close-knit and intimate, and the hundred or so Jewish souls of the seaside town really seemed to care about each other. Perhaps it was the war which brought everyone closer together but I believed every community was as warm as that, and it was one of the reasons I decide early on to become a congregational rabbi” – end of quote.
He often spoke about how lovely it was to live in a small village Jewish community. He said to me that when he retires he wants to retire to a small community where he can assist in building a community. This I feel endeared Hermanus to him.
In choosing to come to Hermanus, the note he struck in shaping his life, silently, privately but equally powerfully, was in a way a return to the kind of community in which his father had been chairman.
With Rabbi Harris’s retirement to Hermanus, in an important personal ways, his life came full circle, bringing him back to the atmosphere and values of his early life with his beloved parents.
It is my personal honour to dedicate the 10 Commandments to our former Chief Rabbi - Cyril Harris, with the following inscription: The Ten Commandments in this synagogue are dedicated in sacred memory of Chief Rabbi Cyril K Harris OBE. A great spiritual leader, humanitarian and man of vision, who led South African Jewry with dignity and distinction from 1987-2005, after which he retired to Hermanus, because dear friends - his life and personality embodied the values contained in the 10 commandments.
Unfortunately Almighty G-d had other plans. But we were however privileged to have Rabbi Harris in our midst for some 10 moths.
Today we continue to be fortunate to have Ann as a member of this community. She plays a key role in both the local and general communities of Hermanus. ANN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR INVOLVEMENT AND FOR BEING THE VOICE OF REASON.
Friends, in conclusion, now that we have built our structure, let us then endeavour to make our dreams a living reality. Let us make this House one of thriving Judaism for all generations to come. Amen
It now gives me pleasure to ask you to rise as I invite Chief Rabbi Dr Goldstein to address us. Chief Rabbi.
THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK CELEBRATES WITH BAR MITZVAH – 10 OCTOBER 2008
Hermanus Jewry celebrated their new shul and communal centre in fine style over the High Holiday period, with a barmitzvah and inspiring and well attended Yom Tov services. Congregants commented enthusiastically on the wonderful atmosphere and sense of bonding that characterized recent communal events. The ongoing revival of Hermanus Jewry has entailed not only providing a new set of physical structures for its activities but, even more importantly, generating an exciting new spirit of identification, participation and general optimism within the community.
On the Shabbat immediately before Rosh Hashanah, the congregation celebrated only its second barmitzvah in 25 years, with its newest adult member Dylan Single leining Parshat Nitzavim in the presence of his parents Shelley and Frank. He is the great-grandson of Reverend Kassel, who ministered for many years at Cape Town’s Garden Synagogue.
Tashlich – the symbolic casting away of one’s sins before a natural body of flowing water – was observed with a difference in Hermanus. Rosh Hashanah this year coincided with the annual Whale Festival, for which the Hermanus is particularly noted. Congregants gathering to recite the prayers along the town’s famously beautiful shoreline had the rare – perhaps even unique – privilege of doing so before within sight of whales breaching, one of nature’s most awesome spectacles and a most appropriate reminder of how Rosh Hashanah is also a celebration of the world’s creation.
Full Rosh Hashanah services were conducted by Chaim Ehrlich from Johannesburg. Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Spiritual Leader to the Country Communities, delivered the sermons while his son, Yossi, blew the Shofar. Yom Kippur services were conducted by Cantor Stuart Serwater from Cape Town. A festive Rosh Hashanah dinner and communal breaking of the fast took place in the community hall.
One of the leading lights in the community is Ann Harris, who settled in the attractive Western Cape coastal town at the beginning of 2005 with her husband, the late Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris ztl. She remarked on the decorous, intimate and deeply meaningful High Holiday services that had taken place this year, noting the contrast between them and those held in the large shuls she had attended throughout her life. Congregation President Jonathan Lipman concurred, describing the services as the best he had attended since leaving Cape Town with his parents in 1976.
For Rabbi Silberhaft the newly developed Hermanus shul, in whose establishment he was closely involved at every stage of the process, perpetuates both Judaism in the town and, in a small yet very meaningful way, the spirit of other no longer functioning country communities. As he pointed out in his speech at the opening of the new centre last month, various ceremonial items now proudly in use in Hermanus once belonged to such congregations.
“Yes, I do close more shuls than I open” he said on that occasion, “However, we in South Africa are privileged to have had wonderful people in the country communities who invested their utmost when establishing and running these communities. To preserve this wonderful history, when I close shuls, I retain items that can be used in new or other shuls”.
As a result of this, the Hermanus shul can be seen as being in a way a living museum of South African country Jewry. One parochet is from Upington and the other from Bethlehem. The pulpit and rabbi’s chairs are from Witbank, the bima and some of the pews from Robertson, other pews from Ceres and Worcester, and the Ten Commandments from Randfontein. Of the Sifrei Torah, one is from Potchefstroom and another is on loan from the Meyrick Levitas family, formerly from Springs.
In his President’s Address at last month’s opening, which was attended by over 270 people, Lipman said that it was up to each and every member of Hermanus Jewry to maintain the exciting momentum that had been established over the past decade. “We need to ensure that we are committed to letting all who will listen, know that we of the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to community involvement and that our shul is such a lekker place to be in, that people will be begging us to become active members” he said. |
