South Africa’s first and only Conservative synagogue opened in Johannesburg recently.
The shul, named Ohev Shalom, is led by an American Conservative rabbi, Dr. Nissim Wernick.
At present, about three-quarters of South African Jews belong to the Orthodox movement, with the remainder Reform, independent or unaffiliated.
The new synagogue is expected to draw flak from mainstream Jews because of Orthodoxy’s historical hegemony over South African Jewry.
A nucleus of about 50 families created the new Conservative congregation.
Johannesburg’s Jewish deputy mayor, Les Dishy, who takes over as the city’s mayor on Monday, referred to the occasion as “historic.”
Dishy stressed the need for Jewish unity, saying Jewish strength in the future lays in staying together, unfragmented.
He compared the Jewish religion to a tree, whose branches represent different congregations.
He made a “strong appeal” to “all in the congregation not only to maintain the ideals of humanism, justice and integrity that we are known for, but in these days of turmoil (to) do everything to bring about peace, harmony, love and understanding. Do this by way of prayer and by way of action.”
Rabbi Wernick said many Jews lack a spiritual home and he hoped the new movement would help to answer this need.
“The synagogue must be the conscience of the community,” he said. He stressed that the Jewish voice must be raised not only against anti-Semitism, but against genocide “by any other name, including ethnic cleansing.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
