The Auckland Hebrew Congregation is a Modern Orthodox

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located at 514 Remuera Road, in Remuera, a suburb of

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, on the north island of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The congregation previously occupied University House as the Princes Street Synagogue from 1885, before relocating to a larger building on Greys Avenue in 1968. The congregation moved to its current location in 2022, having purchased the former campus of the Saint Kentigern Girls' School on Remuera Road. The synagogue serves around 500 local families.

History

Princes Street

The original synagogue building on Princes Street was designed and built by Edward Bartley in 1884–1885 in a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style, incorporating

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

and

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

design elements. The foundation stone was laid by David Nathan (1816–1886), an early Jewish settler and founder of the L. D. Nathan chain of stores, and the synagogue opened on 9 November 1885. The building could seat 375 people. It was built on the site of an earlier military guardhouse associated with Albert Barracks. The construction of the synagogue was a statement by the Jewish community in Auckland of their status and their acceptance in the local community. The building has a Category I listing with the

New Zealand Historic Places Trust Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of ancestral sites and heritage bui ...

. In 1968, the congregation moved to a new synagogue on Greys Avenue. Following the

deconsecration Deconsecration, also referred to as decommissioning or ''secularization'' (a term also used for the external Secularization (church property), confiscation of church property), is the removal of a religious sanction and blessing from somethin ...

, ownership of the Princes Street property reverted to

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...

as part of the Albert Park Reserve. It subsequently served as a branch of the National Bank of New Zealand, restored by the bank in 1989, preserving the stained glass windows as well as the Romanesque and Eastern decorative motifs. The building currently serves as the office for the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

's alumni relations and development department.

Greys Avenue

As the congregation grew in size, a larger building was needed to meet it needs and a plot was purchased on Greys Avenue, overlooking Myers Park. The former Princes Street synagogue was deconsecrated in 1969. The new inner-city synagogue was consecrated on 8 September 1968. The Greys Avenue building was designed by John Goldwater, a New Zealand Jewish architect, in a

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

style; and was the recipient of an architectural award in 1970. The synagogue and complex underwent a $6.63 million refurbishment in 2008 and

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...

, a Jew who later became

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...

, attended the reopening. After an earlier ban had been put in place, in 2010 the congregation led a successful challenge against the

New Zealand government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

, to allow ''

shechita In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is ritual slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. One who practices this, a kosher butcher is called a ''sho ...

''. In 2011, Israel's

Speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...

Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and su ...

addressed the congregation. It marked the first official Israeli state visit to the country in a quarter of a century, since President Chaim Herzog's visit in 1986. The buildings and sanctuary were used for filming by Simone Nathan in her 2022 TV series, '' Kid Sister''. The Greys Avenue complex was also home to Kadimah, the Jewish primary school, Auckland Jewish Immigration and the city's only

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

café.

Remuera Road

In 2019, with the assistance of the Woolf Fisher Trust, the congregation purchased the campus of Saint Kentigern Girls' School in Remuera. Kadimah relocated from Grey's Avenue to the Remuera campus in 2023. Other Jewish organisations and the Kosher café/deli are also in the process of relocating to the site, creating the main hub for Jewish life in Auckland. The city's

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

congregation, Beth Shalom has also been invited to relocate to the campus. The Auckland Hebrew Congregation plans to build a new sanctuary and synagogue in the future on the grounds of the campus. It currently holds services in the original homestead on the property. The house had been built in 1918 for the Louisson family who, later downsized to a smaller property and sold the home to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. The property and campus later formed part of Corran School, a private girls school, before becoming Saint Kentigern's Girls' School following a 2009 merger. There are also plans for a

mikvah A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or ( Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered t ...

on the site, a cultural centre and provision for Jewish youth groups. In recent decades, the congregation has stepped up efforts to encourage Jewish immigration to New Zealand, mostly focusing on Jewry in South Africa, Argentina and Israel.

Gallery

File:Synagogue, Princes Street, Auckland (21689925985).jpg, Former Princes Street synagogue in early 1900s File:University House (5936181299).jpg, Former Princes Street synagogue, now University House File:20230225 112416 Former Kadimah School and Auckland Hebrew Congregation.jpg, Former Kadimah School and Auckland Hebrew Congregation on Greys Avenue

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in New Zealand 1864 establishments in New Zealand 19th-century synagogues in New Zealand 20th-century synagogues in New Zealand Jewish organizations established in 1864 Jews and Judaism in Auckland Modern Orthodox synagogues Modern Orthodox Judaism in New Zealand Modernist architecture in New Zealand Modernist synagogues Religious buildings and structures in Auckland Synagogues completed in 1864 Synagogues completed in 1968 Synagogues completed in 2023 Synagogues in New Zealand