Chassidim Shul

Last updated

Chassidim Shul
Chasside Synagogue005.jpg
The Chassidim Shul in Yeoville also known as the Lubavitch or Chabad house
Religion
Affiliation Judaism
Rite Nusach Sefard
StatusIn-active
Location
Location Flag of South Africa.svg Yeoville, Johannesburg South Africa
Greater Johannesburg OpenStreetMap small.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown within Greater Johannesburg
South Africa adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Chassidim Shul (South Africa)
Geographic coordinates 26°09′17″S28°05′07″E / 26.1546°S 28.0852°E / -26.1546; 28.0852
Architecture
Completed1963
Direction of façadeEast
Website
None

The Chassidim Shul also known as the Chabad House is a synagogue in Yeoville, Johannesburg, South Africa built in 1963 and designed by the firm of Morgensten & Morgensten, the husband and wife team of Jacques Morgenstern and Riva Morgenstern. They met at the University of the Witwatersrand in the Department of Architecture in the 1940s and ran a successful and award-winning architectural practice in Johannesburg. [1]

Contents

The cornerstone was laid in 1963 by Mr Henry Jacobson, in memory of his parents, long-standing members of the Chassidic community. The building committee included Rabbi Aloy, obm, Mr Shaul Bacher, obm, Mr Mitzie Yachad and others. The Shul was finished about a year later. [2]

The Chassidim Shul served as a place of worship and study and other activities of Chabad-Lubavitch. It was famous for its Shabbat farbrengens and extraordinary Chassidic joy and dancing on Simchat Torah. [3]

In retrospect “that little shul in Yeoville” has proven to be a powerful engine that changed the face of Jewish South Africa. It brought Yiddishkeit, Lubavitch and the Rebbe into the hearts of literally thousands of Jews through the establishment of more than a dozen Chabad shuls in Johannesburg, Natal and the Cape. [4]

With the change in demographics in Yeoville it is no longer in use as a Synagogue.

Design

A beautiful building, Chassidim Shul's modern and distinctive design was ahead of its time:

It is notable externally for its vigorous, sculptural nature. The roof is a heavy V-shape protecting the simple shape of the building which consists of an enclosure by screens of different density and transparency – warm-coloured stone and modelled grilles and facings in terrazzo by the sculptor Edoardo Villa. [5]

The mystic lions of brass and bronze over the Holy Ark inside the building were also by Villa [6] but these have since be removed. Villa worked on a number of Morgenstern and Morgenstern's other buildings.

Heritage Status

Chassidim Shul is recognised as an important heritage asset for the following reasons:

Related Research Articles

Yeoville is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F. Originally intended as a "well-to-do" neighbourhood, it instead developed into a white working class and lower middle class area as the city expanded northwards and public rail access improved. From the 1920s onwards it became a significant enclave of German Jewish and Eastern European Jewish immigrants. It was designated as a "white area" under the Group Areas Act during the apartheid era. It became a "grey area" in the 1980s, as a limited number of non-white residents began to rent in the area. From the end of the 1970s, a growing number of night clubs and galleries opened in Yeoville, or relocated from Hillbrow. This led to the neighbourhood becoming the leading nightspot in the city.The white population began to decline in the 1970s, and this white flight accelerated in the early to mid 1990s, with most residents migrating to the northern suburbs. Today, it is widely known and celebrated for its diverse, pan-African population but notorious for its high levels of crime, poverty and degradation.

Berea is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the South African province of Gauteng. It is east and adjacent to the Johannesburg CBD. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">770 Eastern Parkway</span> Lubavitch World Headquarters

770 Eastern Parkway, also known as "770", is the street address of the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, located on Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The building is the center of the Chabad-Lubavitch world movement and considered by many to be an iconic site in Judaism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardens Shul</span> Jewish religious building in Cape Town, South Africa

The Gardens Shul, formally, the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation (CTHC) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the Company Gardens, in the Gardens neighborhood of Cape Town. It has the oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa, dating to 1841. The congregation, known as "The Mother Synagogue of South Africa," possesses two historic structures, the 1863 synagogue known as the Old Shul and the 1905 synagogue. The South African Jewish Museum, located in its grounds, also occupies the Old Shul and is responsible for its upkeep. The 1905 building is an example of Edwardian architecture and has been called "one of the most magnificent synagogues in the world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schiffschul</span> Former synagogue in Vienna, Austria

Schiffschul, officially Khal Adas Yisroel, was a former Orthodox congregation and synagogue, located at Grosse Schiffgasse 8, in the second district, known as Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria. The synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis on Kristallnacht in 1938. The congregation worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite.

The Oxford Shul is an Orthodox synagogue in Riviera, Johannesburg near the suburbs of Saxonwold, Houghton and Killarney. The congregation was established in 1943 and moved into its current building in 1962. The sanctuary is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, with seating for 1,500 congregants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torah Academy School, Johannesburg</span> School in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

The Torah Academy is a Chabad Jewish day school in Johannesburg, South Africa. It comprises a boys' high school, a girls' high school, a primary school and a nursery school. The Mission of the school is to "provide and promote the highest quality Jewish and general education to a diverse community of Jewish children... [and] to cultivate students to reach personal excellence, and to be responsible members of society." Although the school is Chassidic Orthodox, families of all levels of observance are welcomed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chabad affiliated organizations</span> Organizations affiliated with the Chabad movement within Hasidic Judaism

Chabad affiliated organizations and institutions number in the thousands. Chabad is a Hasidic movement, a branch of Orthodox Judaism. The organizations and institutions associated with the movement provide social, educational and religious services to Jews around the globe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Houston</span>

The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008, Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Congregation B'nai Abraham</span> Historic Orthodox synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Historic Congregation B’nai Abraham, officially B’nai Abraham Chabad, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 523-527 Lombard Street, in the Society Hill neighborhood of the Center City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Established as a congregation in 1874 and the current synagogue building completed in 1910, worshipers can access daily, Shabbat, and holy day services in the Ashkenazi rite. B'nai Abraham is home to a Jewish Preschool, as well as Lubavitch of Center City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilna Congregation</span> Synagogue in Philadelphia

The Vilna Congregation is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Society Hill section of Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The synagogue was traditionally home to an active Hasidic Ashkenazi congregation that held Shabbat and holy day services, was affiliated with Lubavitch of Center City. In more recent years, the synagogue became the home of an Orthodox women's mikvah run by the Lubavitch Hasidic community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doornfontein Synagogue</span> Oldest synagogue in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Doornfontein Synagogue or Lions Synagogue is the oldest synagogue still in use in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Temple Israel is the oldest of eleven Progressive synagogues in South Africa. It is a provincial heritage site, built in the Art Deco style by architect Hermann Kallenbach. It is located in the Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow. It is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Shul of Bal Harbour</span>

The Shul of Bal Harbour is a Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in Surfside, Florida named by Newsweek as one of America's 25 most vibrant congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marais Road Shul</span> Jewish religious building in Cape Town, South Africa

The Marais Road Shul, formally, the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation (G&SPHC) is a notable Modern Orthodox synagogue in Sea Point, a seaside suburb of Cape Town. The congregation was first established in 1926, and the synagogue was completed in 1934. It had initially intended to become a branch of the Gardens Shul in the City Bowl, but opted for independence, and became the larger of the two. It is the largest Jewish congregation in South Africa, and by 1994, it had become the largest in the South Hemisphere. The Sephardi Hebrew Congregation, established in 1960, also operates a shul from the G&SPHC's Weizmann Hall on Regent Road in Sea Point.

The Beit Midrash Morasha at Arthur's Road is a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Sea Point, a seaside suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. The congregation was first established in 1897 in District Six, before relocating to Vredehoek in 1945. It moved to its present location on Arthur's Road in Sea Point in 1954.

References

  1. "MORGENSTERN and MORGENSTERN".
  2. ‘The Chassidim Congregation, A Short Historical Review’, Dr Lissos
  3. ‘The Chassidim Congregation, A Short Historical Review’, Dr Lissos
  4. "Welcome to My awesome site | My awesome site".
  5. ‘A Guide to Architecture in South Africa’, Doreen Greig, 1971. 154
  6. ‘A Guide to Architecture in South Africa’, Doreen Greig, 1971. 154