The Muizenberg Shul, formally the Muizenberg Hebrew Congregation, 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 in

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for 'mice mountain') is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

, in Greater

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 ...

, in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

region of

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 established in 1924, and the synagogue was completed in the following year.

History

The foundation stone was laid on 14 February 1924 by Rev. A. P. Bender, who led the Gardens Shul. Construction was completed at the end of 1925 and the synagogue officially opened in 1926. It was built to serve both the growing Jewish resident population and the high volume of Jewish holidaymakers. 600 Jewish families from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

settled in the town in the 1920s. Rabbi Lionel Mirvis served the community as did his son, Rabbi

Ephraim Mirvis Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis (born 7 September 1956) is a British Orthodox rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1985 and 1992. Early life ...

(currently

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth The Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth is the senior rabbi of the United Synagogue, a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues. The Chief Rabbi is considered to be one of the more, if not th ...

), who led high holy days services at the shul. In a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

unveiling ceremony attended by former Premier of the Western Cape,

Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...

, the synagogue was honoured for its historical significance in 2021. Since 2020, the congregation has been led by full-time rabbi, Ryan Newman. According to Newman: “Muizenberg may be the largest Jewish community in South Africa during the holidays. We have a

minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...

of over fifty men every single day. You can’t walk a minute on the beach without seeing a group of people you know sitting together. The amazing thing is that you see Jews here from across the spectrum of

Orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

. You have people – and often very different rabbis – from

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 ...

, Mizrachi,

Ohr Somayach Ohr Somayach may refer to: * Ohr Somayach (book), commentary by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk **''Ohr Somayach'', common reference to Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk *Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, a network of yeshivas based in Israel * Ohr Somayach, Monsey, ...

, etc. all joining together in a single shul.” South Africa's Chief Rabbi, Warren Goldstein and his counterpart in the UK, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, attended centenary celebrations for the congregation in January 2024.

References

External links

* {{Synagogues in South Africa 1924 establishments in South Africa 20th-century synagogues in South Africa Ashkenazi Jewish culture in South Africa Ashkenazi synagogues Jewish organizations established in 1924 Modern Orthodox synagogues in Africa Neoclassical architecture in South Africa Neoclassical synagogues Orthodox synagogues in South Africa Synagogues completed in 1925 Synagogues in Cape Town

History

See also

References

External links