The Beit Midrash Morasha is a

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

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 on Arthur's Road, in

Sea Point Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is an affluent and densely populated suburb of Cape Town, situated in the Western Cape, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). M ...

, a seaside suburb of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The congregation was first established in 1897 in

District Six District Six (Afrikaans: ''Distrik Ses'') is a residential neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa, located next to the city's Cape Town CBD, CBD. In 1959, people of color were banned from the area and most of them were resettled in Gugulet ...

, before relocating to Vredehoek in 1945. It moved to its present location in Sea Point in 1954.

History

The congregation, then known as Beth Hamedrash was established in 1897 on Buitenkant St in District Six as a

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

congregation. The building was built and paid for by Mr Israel Roytowski. The congregation was founded by

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

immigrants as they felt unfamiliar with the religious traditions of the

Anglo-Jewish British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British people, British citizens who are Jews, Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 202 ...

Gardens Shul. The building was consecrated and opened by Rev A. P. Bender of the Gardens Shul. The area at the time had a high population of

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

-speaking Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. As the Jewish community increased their economic standing and left the area, the congregation moved briefly to 22 Virginia Avenue in Vredehoek in 1945, where much of the Jewish population had resettled. As the congregation was growing it moved again to a larger building in 1954 on Arthur's Road in Sea Point, where there was an established Jewish community. The 1925 building had been a

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

, and was converted into a synagogue. In 1957, Rabbi Gourarie was appointed to lead the congregation and he gave his sermons in Yiddish. The

form of Orthodox Judaism failed to connect with Jewish residents in Sea Point, and in response it became a Modern Orthodox synagogue. The newly reformed congregation was led by Rabbi Mendel Popack. In 2018, the synagogue was severely damaged in a fire, and seven

Torah scrolls A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

were destroyed. It has since been redesigned and fully restored.

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in South Africa 1897 establishments in South Africa 20th-century synagogues in South Africa Ashkenazi Jewish culture in South Africa Ashkenazi synagogues Churches completed in 1925 Dutch Reformed Church buildings Former churches in South Africa Jewish organizations established in 1897 Orthodox synagogues in South Africa Modern Orthodox synagogues in Africa Synagogues completed in 1954 Synagogues converted from churches Synagogues in Cape Town

History

See also

References

External links