News 6A

Kimberley ex-pats Newsletter no 6A

September 2015

Dear Kimberley Expatriates – and those with an interest in the Jewish Community of Kimberley SA

Pictures of the Greene Shul

I was thrilled to receive, so quickly in response to Newsletter no 6, these lovely pictures of the Greene Shul. I feared the worst that there was no pictorial record of it. These pictures were sent by my cousin Brenda Danilowitz (in Connecticut) and were taken by Bernard Melunsky (now in London) in about 2004 when, as you see it was almost a ‘gonner’.

So I am moved to quickly send out an addendum that I am calling Newsletter 6A, which also includes news from Barney – the Congregation Chairman in Kimberley.

Barney Horwitz writes

Brilliant Newsletter. Thanks for this and particularly the request for donations. We are currently busy with what is going to be a very expensive “rejuvenation” of the exterior and interior of the Shul which we are gradually doing over the next year. After 113 years the outside brickwork has become weathered resulting in damp and damage to the plaster and paintwork on the inside to the extent that our insurers demanded that we repair before they will consider any further claims.

Regarding the coming New Year celebrations Barney says: We have a team including nine men and boys above barmitzvah age and five whole families coming for Rosh Hashanah so the beautiful shul will once again reverberate with life.

Barney will be sending you all his own annual Rosh Hashanah message and we look forward to that. He and his colleagues do a great job of keeping the community going. It’s good that we can communicate with him and each other through this newsletter and website. You can also see and add to the community face book pages here https://www.facebook.com/groups/284879511607854/

Leon Chonin’s family Story

For more information about life in the Greene or ‘Grinna’ shul - have a look at the wonderful and informative story that Leon Chonin (now in Canada) wrote about his grandparents Lipi and Hannah Weinstein http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley/Chonin.html . He says:

Lipi attended shul services every single night and being from Poland preferred the traditional orthodox services held at what the community called the “Grinna” shul in Baronial Street, near Klein Bros wholesale business. Its name was the Yiddish label given to the Eastern European Jews who were regarded as less knowledgeable and sophisticated than those British immigrants who built the Memorial Road shul. Those traditional European Jews who regularly attended the shul were members of the Klein, Zvi, Benjamin, Sussman, Jawno, Brenner, Geller, Magid families. Lipi invariably conducted the services with the assistance from Mr Zvi and Edel Chonin who later became his son-in-law. Before and during the nineteen fifties, shul services were held during the week at the Grinna shul and only on Shabbat at the Memorial Road shul. But on most Jewish festivals services were held at both shuls. As the integration of the Memorial Road and “Grinna” shuls took place Lipi participated in conducting the services at both shuls. He became the chazzan sheini and very close friends with all the rabbonim including Reverend Goldberg and Rabbi Bloch, but his closest friendship was with Rabbi Oscar Werner.

I wonder if we have the email addresses of members of the Klein, Zvi, Benjamin, Sussman, Jawno, Brenner, Geller, Magid families. If you know them – please send me a contact address. I went to school with Anna Zvi – but have lost touch – also with Bernice Kaplan, Does anyone have their addresses? There may be many people with an interest in the Kimberley Jewish Community who are not yet on our mailing list. Please send me any names and emails that come to your mind. I can check if they are already on the list. (Leon you said you would try to source some addresses for me?) It can go to anyone who might have an inters tithe Jewish Community of Kimberley – even if they are not associated with Kimberley themselves.

Response to the newsletter

It’s really lovely to get a response from you to the newsletter. It takes quite a bit of thought time and trouble to compile it – refine the lists and distribute it – and make the website. It would be so nice if you receive it, if you could send me a short note – even if just to say Hi I received it. It would be specially nice to hear from anyone still living in Kimberley.

Maybe you have a story about your own connection with either synagogue or just any aspect of your life in Kimberley and please send us some pictures of your time in Kimberley for the website. Have you any pictures or stories of communal functions – Yom Kippur Balls, Zionist pageants or even cheder classes. And we are still asking for wedding pictures inside or outside the shul for the wedding page.

Once more, if you have missed any of my previous ex-pats Newsletters you can find them here on the Kimberley Jewish Community website we have made http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley/News.html. Perhaps you would like to write about your family for the next newsletter?

If you are thinking of sending a donation to the Kimberley Community this year you should please pay directly into the Shul Bank Account, the details of which are below: Please confirm to: Adrian (Barney) Horwitz [ahorwitz@lantic.net] and tell him which names to mention in shul.

The banking details of the Congregation are as follows:

Bank: Standard Bank

Branch: Kimberley

Branch Code: 050002

Swift Code: SBZAZAJJ

Account Name: Griqualand West Hebrew Congregation

Account Number: 04-005-444-6

If you would like to draw the attention of any friends or relations to the Kimberly Community Website – you can just cut and paste the paragraph below.

Please take a look at the new Kimberley Jewish Community website created to celebrate and document the Jewish families who lived and worked in Kimberley South Africa. http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/kimberley/Home.html

If you have a story to tell, pictures to contribute or any comments to make, please contact the webmasters Eli Rabinowitz and Geraldine Auerbach via the contact page of the website.

Have a wonderful 5776.