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18 HASHALOM April
2017
April 2017
HASHALOM
19
COMMUNITY NEWS
COMMUNITY NEWS
Netzer wishes everyone in the community a Chag Pesach Sameach !
The Young Israel Centre’s year got off to a good start after all the
school holidays came to an end.
Lauren Shapiro and Amy Groer ran a Maddie seminar one Sunday
afternoon, helping high school students learn about how to be
good madrichim, as well as giving them tips and tricks of the trade.
We look forward to seeing what these future madrichim have up
their sleeves for our community.
4 Habonim madrichim from Johannesburg spent the first weekend
in March at the Young Israel Centre. They enjoyed a fantastic
Shabbat dinner with us before heading out to Jump for Joy after
Shabbat with a group of Durban youth.
Cheder lessons continue every Sunday morning and I encourage
everyone with children between Grade R and Grade 6 to make use
of this fantastic opportunity offered by the community.
We wish everyone a Pesach Sameach and look forward to seeing
everyone back at the Young Israel Centre after Pesach.
By Cheryl Unterslak
By Jess Stout
Young Israel Centre
Rabbi Vegoda comes to Durban once a month to give his excellent
ladies shiur and to teach the children in the various schools. This
month he went to give a shiur to the primary school students
at Eden and they had all learnt a lot, in a fun way and enjoyed
interacting with him. I love to watch Rabbi Vegoda’s wonderful
way of relating to the children and to see him teaching them Torah
with such a unique approach.
I met with the new team for Project Ten and they are the
most wonderful young adults and I’m so proud that they are
representing Israel here in the greater Durban community. Some
of the members of Project Ten came with me to teach the High
School students of Crawford, Clifton and Durban Girls College.
They gave such interesting talks about Israel and they gave the
students a better understanding about the many aspects of living
in Israel. All the students said that they learnt a great deal from
them. I wish the whole Project Ten team a lot of success working
in South Africa, and doing all their great work, helping so many.
We also had Rabbi Kornblum with us from Jerusalem and he gave
such interesting shiurim to the ladies in the morning and then to
the business men at lunch time. The Durban Jewish community
is very blessed to have Rabbi Vegoda, Rabbi Garber and Rabbi
Kornblum in Durban to share their incredible knowledge of Judaism
and it make it so practical and enjoyable.
Rabbi Garbers shiurim for adults and school children continue and if
anyone would like to join these lessons please can you give either me
or Rabbi Garber a call for details.
Talmud Torah
Hey, my name is Aidan. I amcurrently inMatric
at Eden College Durban. I enjoy photography,
keeping up my grades (surprisingly), creating
digital animations and devoting my time to
Netzer Durban. This my second year in the
movement and I look forward to seeing the
familiar faces and meeting the new one’s in
this incredible year to come!
Netzer Durban is VERY excited to be introducing our new Madrichim to the community. We are full of energy and enthusiasm to help run
Netzer Durban this year.
Hi, my name is Deni (like a mushroom) and
I’m in grade 10 in Eden College. I love art and
i love participating in sports in and outside of
school. This is my first year in the movement
and I am looking forward to a new year of fun
and being a Maddie.
A New Home for the DUHC
A new milestone in the history of the Durban United Hebrew
Congregation happened on Erev Shabbat of the 21st of Shevat 5777
(17 February 2017) when the first services were held at our beautiful
new Shul at the Silver Oaks complex. It was with mixed feelings of
joy, anticipation and excitement about re-locating to our new house
of prayer but everyone agrees that the new Shul is a sparkling jewel
in the history of the congregation. The DUHC has been most fortunate
to have a spiritual leader with vision and foresight in Rabbi Zekry
who has ensured that the DUHC has an incomparable new holy home,
adding to his efforts in community building.
Gratitude and appreciation are due to Stan Oshry who designed and
oversaw the construction of our magnificent new Shul which has
been miraculously built over a short time with no expense having
been spared to make this a superb Shul in design and content. With
restful colour tones and simplicity in modern design, the Shul seats
approximately 400 congregants. In the main Shul area, there is a
function hall for brachot, dinners and simchas. In honour of the Sacher family’s love of the Shul and their many contributions to
the welfare of the DUHC, the function hall has been named the Sacher Family Hall. In particular, Kol Hakavod to our Chairman,
Maurice Sacher, who successfully negotiated the sale of the Great Synagogue and the lease for the new Shul premises, and also
involved himself in the daily progress and construction of the new Shul. Thanks are also extended to Julian Beare for his advice and
recommendations; to David Levin for his legal opinions and contributions and to our long-serving administrator, Alan Cohen, who
coordinated the logistics of the move to the new premises.
The new Shul will continue to be the spiritual, communal and administrative hub of the Jews of Kwazulu Natal as the premises will
contain the Rabbi’s office, an administrative and reception area staffed by Val Cohen and Rachel Shalem, while the offices of the
loyal and long-serving staff of the Synagogue will be located within the same building including offices for Rabbi Lebowitz, Rev.
Lurie, Alan Cohen, the Chevra Kadisha and bookkeeper, Rose Williams, who will continue in their positions at the new location.
On the first Shabbat evening and morning at Silver Oaks, services were well-attended and everyone expressed their admiration
for the design, intimate atmosphere and holy spirit of the new Shul. The congregation now looks forward to many memorable
communal celebrations of chaggim and simchas at the new Sacher Family Hall. In addition, a Sukkah area available adjacent to the
Synagogue will also see many enjoyable Sukkot events and celebrations.
The sale of the Great Synagogue has seen the end of an era in the Durban Jewish community. But the opening of the new Synagogue
at the Silver Oaks complex means the beginning of a new era. Throughout South Africa, population movements and emigration have
led to the closure of long-cherished places of worship due to the decreasing Jewish populations in these areas. Many centres of
Jewish life and worship have gone but the DUHC has been proactive and positive in ensuring the continuity and building of the
community with new and innovative projects and accordingly, the DUHC has ensured that the congregation and the community have
a welcoming home at our new location for the future. An inaugural service is currently being planned and congregants will have the
opportunity to celebrate this milestone in the history of our congregation.
By: Michael Greenbaum
BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS
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